Maddow on pause because I just can’t take anymore right now. And you know, it’s not just the onslaught of breaking, awful news, it’s also (and this happens frequently), the disorientation that arises when a big scoop turns out to be something we’ve heard before, maybe even more than once and often over a year ago (recent example, David Farenthold’s Washington Post story on trump’s hypocritical dependence on immigrants without legal status at his various businesses).*
Before pausing the news just now, I learned the identity of this MAGA-hat guy that I used on a SoulCollage card as a stand-in for the rot that trump has exposed. Turns out he’s the worst of the worst. He’s Andrew Anglin, founder of the Daily Stormer website, terrorist extraordinaire. He was one of the organizers of the Charlottesville protest two years ago. He’s a Holocaust denier who advocates Jewish genocide and has an army of like-minded white nationalists at his disposal. The Southern Poverty Law Center calls him “a prolific Internet troll and serial harasser.”
Well — judges in three recent high profile cases have awarded Anglin’s victims damages.
If you remember, these are the kinds of law suits that the Southern Poverty Law Center filed to good effect against klansman years ago.
The imposition of damages on white nationalists and their organizations counts as GOOD NEWS, particularly since we now know that the Department of Justice cannot be relied upon any longer to do the right thing (the legal, moral thing). As long as these cases come before judges appointed in the pre-trump era, we can hope for more satisfying outcomes.
* in reading the Washington Post piece this morning, I can appreciate what’s hopeful there, too, actually.
In a world where Democrats are slow-walking the impeachment process, we can look to state courts for interim justice. They have to be courts out of the reach of AG Barr, of course, but since they are, they’re also courts not bound by the OLC memo prohibiting indictment of a sitting president AND their judgments cannot be subject to presidential pardon power. Surely state laws are being broken by not only hiring undocumented immigrants but in instructing them in where and how to get fake papers.
Meanwhile K arrived home from his 49th trip to China last night and I’m off to Western Mass. tomorrow for a writing retreat. I kinda wish I was staying home honestly.
Lastly, what good news have you to report? I’ll start: CBD oil seems to be helping with my joints!
Perhaps I need to try that oil.
I got a capsule with 100mg of turmeric in it too, so it’s much more economical. Some people swear by the THC infused gummy bears but I’m Not really up for finding out how I’d respond to even little amounts of that.
Let’s see….good news. The baby is bright and thriving…yay. There have been no fires in Washington or British Columbia to spoil our summer, which has alternated lovely warm clear days with at least one rainy day a week, so our trees are not so stressed. Andrew McCabe and Peter Strozk have brought suit against the DoJ to protest their firings. Your Kellyanne Conway image is appropriate…Mike says she has a face for radio. Mean, I know, but gawd, she’s awful.
You said it all girlfriend! Yes to a retreat. I will be in Westfield Massachusetts with oldest friends Tuesday through the 20th (YAY for us.)
I’ve been reading up on Agnes Martin (late to the game, I confess) … how she didn’t “take a newspaper” … and I think how much simpler it would be to bury my head in the sand
But as I scanned my Facebook feed, I saw pictures of the opening of my Texas legislator’s district office, just up the road from the house we hope to buy … she is young (a new mother who brought her nursing child to work with her during the legislative session) … bright (a three-time Jeopardy champ) .. forward thinking (a charter member of the LGBTQ caucus in the Texas House) … a change agent (who just drafted a call for a special session of the legislature to address gun control) … here, perhaps, is where I can make a difference, joining with like-minded others …
I guess I’d better keep up with the news …
The retreat will be wonderful .. sounds like good medicine. Everyday makes for an interesting day filled with emotions that feel like ping pong balls bouncing back and forth scrambling my brain so that it becomes impossible to know what I’m feeling. Feeling grounded is becoming more and more foreign.
I’m thinking I might actually get to meet Hazel this week ..
Good News, our HR department just announced that they will be reviewing identification documents for employee I-9s. Imagine that, HR actually doing HR stuff. I’m just glad it’s not us lowly underpaid admins responsible for verification of documents anymore. We weren’t even trained on what to do if we suspected someone was presenting fake documents.