Today I read an article that should scare the hell out of every American citizen. I am going to provide excerpts from the article which appeared in the NY Times.
The call to action was titled “Election Results and Legal Battles: What Now?” Shared in the days after the 2020 presidential election, it urged the members of an influential if secretive right-wing group to contact legislators in three of the swing states that tipped the balance for Joe Biden — Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania. The aim was audacious: Keep President Donald J. Trump in power.
The group, the Council for National Policy, brings together old-school Republican luminaries, Christian conservatives, Tea Party activists and MAGA operatives, with more than 400 members who include leaders of organizations like the Federalist Society, the National Rifle Association and the Family Research Council. Founded in 1981 as a counterweight to liberalism, the group was hailed by President Ronald Reagan as seeking the “return of righteousness, justice and truth” to America.
The council stood out, however, not only because of its pedigree but also because one of its newest leaders was Virginia Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas and a longtime activist in right-wing circles. She had taken on a prominent role at the council during the Trump years and by 2019 had joined the nine-member board of C.N.P. Action, an arm of the council organized as a 501(c)4 under a provision of the tax code that allows for direct political advocacy. It was C.N.P. Action that circulated the November “action steps” document, the existence of which has not been previously reported. It instructed members to pressure Republican lawmakers into challenging the election results and appointing alternate slates of electors: “Demand that they not abandon their Constitutional responsibilities during a time such as this.
The Thomases have long posed a unique quandary in Washington. Because Supreme Court justices do not want to be perceived as partisan, they tend to avoid political events and entanglements, and their spouses often keep low profiles. But the Thomases have defied such norms. Since the founding of the nation, no spouse of a sitting Supreme Court justice has been as overt a political activist as Ginni Thomas. In addition to her perch at the Council for National Policy, she founded a group called Groundswell with the support of Stephen K. Bannon, the hard-line nationalist and former Trump adviser. It holds a weekly meeting of influential conservatives, many of whom work directly on issues that have come before the court.
Ginni Thomas insists, in her council biography, that she and her husband operate in “separate professional lanes,” but those lanes in fact merge with notable frequency. For the three decades he has sat on the Supreme Court, they have worked in tandem from the bench and the political trenches to take aim at targets like Roe v. Wade and affirmative action. Together they believe that “America is in a vicious battle for its founding principles,” as Ginni Thomas has put it. Her views, once seen as on the fringe, have come to dominate the Republican Party. And with Trump’s three appointments reshaping the Supreme Court, her husband finds himself at the center of a new conservative majority poised to shake the foundations of settled law. In a nation freighted with division and upheaval, the Thomases have found their moment.
The above raises so many questions about the neutrality of the Justice Thomas.
Yesterday, I wrote about how the culture of sports needs to change and how Juwan Howard should be fired if he is being held to the same standards all other employees at U of M. I received lots of feedback. The best I received was the following:
“Well Tom if you were in Ukraine right now you wouldn’t care about UM and Wisconsin. It’s all relative”
For my final comment on the Juwan Howard incident. I want to share a comment from a Facebook friend who knows more about basketball than any person I know.
“Sorry for the decision but sorrier for the loss of decorum. In my opinion Juwan has always been pure class. Personally, Harbaugh and Juwan are great choices for UM sports as they represent the school and lead with passion and dedication…Juwan’s suspension is justified. Your first reaction as coach is to get your players off the floor in a Big Ten hostile environment but Juwan went to his Chicago roots letting it be known he defies an insult. He must try harder to reform those standards which I am sure served him well in the NBA .In coaching a team you remember your insults and save them as a lesson learned, NBA included. College being a training ground for life is a different world. Trust in Juwan, he is a smart man who will honor his status, family and team. He will learn an important lesson by finding out who really supports him and his opportunity to improve from his tantrum. Me , I would have sat him for the rest of the year, let him seek counsel, rest, recruit and start fresh. Reflection helps us all deal with our flaws.”
What are you doing to stop the violence? Get vaccinated and get your booster.
Orchid of the Day: President Biden for his handling to date of the Russia/Ukraine conflict. This offsets the onion I gave him for the evacuation of Afghanistan.
Onion of the Day: MSU and U of M men’s basketball teams. It has not been a good week for either team.
Quote of the Day: “Have worried about her influence on her husband, a Supreme Court Justice, ever since learning early last year about her supporting the Jan. 6 insurrection. As with all Republican relationships, they refuse to observe any rules or norms whatsoever in pursuit of their own agenda.
I’m at the point where I’m tired of Dems and other fair-minded independents, and even those fair-minded Republicans like Liz Cheney, fighting against these assholes with one-hand tied behind their backs.
It’s way past time for Merrick Garland to file conspiracy charges against Trump and EVERY SINGLE Senator, Congressman and financier of the ‘Big Lie’ and lock the fuckers up. There is more than enough ‘in plain sight’ evidence against all of them…not to mention what the Jan. 6 Committee has additionally uncovered….to Constitutionally and rightfully proceed against them with the full force of the people of the United States vs. all of them…and any other consequences of doing that be damned (protests, etc.) be damned. It’s time…it’s well past time.” A friend, after reading the article about Ginni Thomas
Video of the Day: The Lion King, for my daughter Katy and her family who attended The Lion King at the Detroit Opera House on Sunday. The grandkids couldn’t wait to tell us all about it Sunday evening.