TENNESSEE STRIKES BACK — Local governments have reappointed Representatives Justin Pearson and Justin Jones back to their seats at the Tennessee House of Representatives after being expelled by the Republican supermajority for a “breach in decorum.” Yesterday, after his reappointment, Pearson pledged to “continuing to fight, continuing to advocate until justice rolls down like water.”
FLORIDA IS UNDERWATER — literally. If you haven’t seen the news, look at the images from Fort Lauderdale Airport. The local paper, the Sun Sentinel, reports that over 26 inches of rain have led to massive flooding across most of South Florida — “The shocking deluge could break multiple state and even national records for rainfall, once all is said and done.”
CROOKED THOMAS — It’s been a week since ProPublica broke the news about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas accepting luxurious trips (totaling millions of dollars) from Republican mega-donor and never reported them. Just a few hours ago, ProPublica came back with another report on how Texas billionaire Harlan Crow, the man funding Justice Thomas with ‘personal hospitality’ gifts, has also (unreported to the public) purchased property from the Supreme Court Justice. There is a good write-up by Lisa Needham over at Substack titled “Why Clarence Thomas doesn’t give a damn about ethics,” as Politico and other outlets report on how the U.S. Supreme Court skates through controversy and scandals. My question is — will the Department of Justice get involved? Time will tell.
REPUBLICAN WHOES — One narrative lane that has emerged over the past few days is — Republicans Are Worried About Young Voters (read: Young Voters Are The Problem). You saw it embedded within Scott Walker's whinny rant about Republicans losing Wisconsin — and most recently from Kellyanne Conway's recent Fox News appearance.
These comments from Walker and Conway are notable, not just because they attack young people, but because they are a not so veiled attempt to nationalize Ron DeSantis's attack on "woke," and shift blame straight to young voters as a means to get to the actual target: clampdown on civil liberties and rights by exploiting the fears and insecurities of voters through the weaponization of anything related to "diversity and inclusion."