unraveling

31.March.2023

"Overwhelmingly disruptive"

That was the Idaho Press' print headline on Thursday, quoting Ada County Commissioner Rod Beck's complaint about the petition to dissolve the Meridian library district. (Meridian is Idaho's second largest city now, by a wide margin. #1 Boise is in the same county.) You had to take the jump to get to the whole sentence.

“To dissolve a district would be overwhelmingly disruptive,” Commissioner Rod Beck said. “I would hope that the library board and petitioners can get together and resolve some of these differences.”

You don't have to have a worthy, or legitimate cause to raise a large stink, as the Concerned Citizens of Meridian demonstrated. Their petition to dissolve the district—which would require the county commission to liquidate all of its property and assets—was built on a list of books somebody didn't like, that the CCoM retrieved from “probably online somewhere” according to its co-founder, Mike Hon. The Idaho Press checked, and found that fewer than half of the titles are even in the library. But Hon is pleased as punch about the big stink.

“This was one avenue and we’ll regroup and we’ll see where that goes,” Hon said, sitting on a bench in the Idaho Statehouse. “As far as I’m concerned, we got 800 people to come out and discuss this issue. So for me that’s a win in and of itself.”

I was surprised that the commission's Ryan Davidson found his way to "no." He did give some comfort to the book banners, opining “I do think concerns about materials in libraries are valid … they were worthy of a public hearing.” {Spoiler alert: no, they weren't.)

The legislature continues to work in its final days (we hope) of this session to keep fomenting moral panic, so there's that. (Gee, how many of them are supporting our philanderer-in-chief, do you suppose?)

Now what?

Enjoying the front (web) page of WaPo this morning, the 66px font for the TRUMP INDICTED banner, and all the crazy stuff spinning off of it. Perhaps the most bizarre of the follow-on headlines is Trump and advisers caught off guard by indictment. I mean, he said himself he expected to be indicted a week ago Tuesday, the usual in-our-face attempt to take over the narrative, working to rile his credulous supporters. Now it's a surprise that it's actually happening? After Michael Cohen spilled the beans, and went to jail for being the conduit of the hush money dirty work? (And after the two impeachments, and on and on?)

It's not like we don't all know the guy is a criminal. They just didn't expect it to come down so soon? Of course, he could legal-wrangle himself out of yet another tawdry jam, given that there is apparently an endless supply of wanna-be celebrity lawyers willing to torch their "careers" for 15 billable minutes in the limelight. (And willing to believe that they'll actually be paid for their work; never the sharpest tools in the drawer.)

“It was a surprise to everybody,” said David Urban, a longtime Trump adviser who is not working on his 2024 presidential campaign.

And the ever-optimistic, ever-wrong Boris Epshteyn, now said to be "taking a leading role" in the legal team "had even begun telling the former president that he would not be indicted at all."

Whoops. For his part, Trump pumped his Truth Social organ to write that “Thugs and Radical Left Monsters” had just “INDICATED” him. Indeed.

Jabin Botsford's photos are aptly chosen; a downcast descent from his red, white and navy aeroplane (always descending) for the lead page, and an image from Waco last Saturday comprising everything, everywhere, all at once: the weird stance of the looming, shadowy figure; the finger-pointing; the promiscuous display of American flags; the red cap (in hand, less he muss his golden-ferret hairdo); and the underwhelming attendance (hinted at).

There's also the Republican rivals, leaders rally around Trump headline, sometime-lawmaker Lindsey Graham pontificating that “He thinks most people will see it as a weaponization of the law,” Graham said. “From a political point of view, it’s going to solidify Trump’s standing with the Republican Party.”

Bankrupting a casino used to be the prime example of Trump's business "acumen," but bankrupting a whole political party sets a new nadir. (He fell short of doing the whole country.) I'm old enough to remember the 2020 GOP non-platform, making itself into the party of whatever the big guy says. Just send him another $24 and all contributions will be matched up to 1,500 percent, ha ha.

What Dana Milbank said: The GOP response to Trump is one hell of an indictment. I thought it was perhaps coincidental, unintended irony that that headline is running on a URL ending with house-gop-debates-public-urination, but no, that's in there too. The mid-opinion lead-in is precious:

"After three months on the job, House Republicans have so far failed to address the top issues facing the country. But at least they have addressed the No. 1 issue."

Colorado's Rep. Lauren Boebert showed us there is a worse fate than having nowhere other than "public" to urinate (and having it remain a criminal offense in the nation's capital), trotting out the bees in her head to launch yet another unforgettable comedy meme. Not to be outdone in that genre, Tucker Carlson is what-abouting "unrest," as other members of the Fox "News" group fulminate about "hate," "police states" (remember "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters"?), "election fraud" (of course), "banana republics," and of course "repulsive" and "disgusting," from Sean Hannity (who did end by urging his audience to refrain from violence; just like Trump said "peaceful" once). Plus perfect projection.

“If they can come for him, they can come for anyone,” tweeted Rep. Andy Biggs (Ariz.).

Let us hope so. That's kind of what the rule of law is all about. Meanwhile, how's that moat around Mal-a-letgo coming along? We've got the governor saying "Florida will not assist in an extradition request," even as as Trump lawyer Joe Tacopina said Friday that the former president wouldn’t “hole up in Mar-a-Lago,” so no Saddam Hussein final act for him. Also, he insisted that "the president [sic] will not be put in handcuffs." (Where's Mike "the Fifth" Flynn to lead the chorus of LOCK HIM UP when you need him?)

"The causeway that leads to Mar-a-Lago has long been a rally spot for Trump supporters, especially during his presidency, when they would regularly gather to cheer on his motorcade.

"But as the sun set along the causeway Thursday, more people were fishing for sand perch and croaker than had shown up to the support the former president. Shortly before 8 p.m., only a half dozen Trump supporters had amassed in their usual spot...."

30.March.2023

His boys are right behind him

So, finally, an inkling of accountability is nipping at the heels of Former Guy. His sons are the very model of indignation. Can you imagine? You don't have to imagine. Junior opened his podcast (“Triggered”) today, "saying he had heard the news 15 minutes earlier. “This is stuff that would make Mao, Stalin, Pol Pot, it would make them blush,” he said, adding a warning to Republicans who he said don’t support his father: “Just wait until they come for you, because they will.”

Trying to parse that. Authoritarian states? The worst, murderous authoritarians of our era? Blushing? Good lord, what would he know about blushing?

The lesser son tweeted out the breezy and entirely unsupported accusation that “This is third world prosecutorial misconduct. It is the opportunistic targeting of a political opponent in a campaign year.” Campaign year, what? Oh, right right right, every year is a campaign year, so the crime family must never be prosecuted.

God bless the 23 randomly chosen Manhattan residents for their service, listening to "at least eight witnesses and most likely reviewed a host of documents related to Mr. Trump’s role in paying hush money to a porn star," meeting three afternoons a week for more than a month. And lest we forget:

"An earlier grand jury voted in 2021 to indict Mr. Trump’s family business, the Trump Organization, and its chief financial officer, Allen H. Weisselberg, on tax-related charges. Mr. Weisselberg ultimately pleaded guilty and testified at the company’s trial, which ended in a conviction."

25.March.2023

Think of the (older) children

We've got a tempest in a teapot about a two-year old Community Partner Grant Program (using federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for schools) that Idaho's legislature insisted have none of its funds go to preschool programs (and to have it wrapped up by end of June, 2022). Age 5 to 13, because of the adamant non-support for a state role in "pre-K" education. Not that our legislature is anti-education, or anything.

The Idaho Reports story quotes Rep. Wendy Horman (R-Idaho Falls), one of the co-chairs of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee referred to the "robust discussion on funding preschool activities in the state," and said:

“One of the ways that we successfully advocated for these funds to go to after-school programming with community partners, such as 4-H, was to assure the members that the funds would be restricted to use of those between the ages of 5 and 13.”

Every recipient checkbox-affirmed they knew the rules and would follow them. But the head of the Department of Health and Welfare told legislators last month that ten organizations may have used funds to serve children ages 0-4. The JFAC co-chairs went to the Attorney General's office and "presented him with the list," and in reponse, Raúl Labrador "sent civil investigative demands – a subpoena-like request for information and documents – to [Director Dave] Jeppesen, two other IDHW employees, and all recipients of the grants, including those who weren’t on the list provided by Jeppesen."

That gives us the spectacle of our Attorney General going after his own client, a state agency, and informing Jeppesen "and two DHW employees that they could not use the department’s deputy attorneys general that would normally represent state agencies in legal actions." With his own representation, then:

"Jeppesen’s petition to dismiss the civil investigative demand, or CID, centers on three arguments: As attorney general, Labrador is investigating his own clients at IDHW, thus creating an adversarial relationship; Labrador has no statutory authority to investigate IDHW; and the AG’s office reaffirmed twice, in November and January, that the department was in compliance with federal legal guidelines and legislative intent."

Labrador's spokesperson said he's just looking everywhere for "suspected wrongdoing," before giving the conclusory quip that “That includes the IDHW employees who were responsible for disbursing these unlawful grants.” (Because Labrador said he had "ample evidence" of wrongdoing.)

The Idaho Press coverage includes the legislature's response to move "the last wave" of the program over to the Department of Labor over their concerns about IDHW. And the AG's office says “Appropriate conflict firewalls have been established.”

Taxpayers are paying for both sides of this intramural game, as usual.

Just go home, would you?

We've reached the point of the Idaho legislature's annual session when they said they'd be done, but they're not. As Melissa Davlin put it on Idaho Reports this week, "The legislature didn't hit its targeted adjournment date, and still has some major issues looming," all issues of its own making, of course. Things like two more bills on 'harmful' materials in libraries. And doing the very most basic task they face every year, setting budgets. (Here's a crazy idea, why not do that work first and then have all the culture war stuff afterwards?)

One of Chuck Winder's library bills "would require each library to establish a citizens’ review committee to advise the board of trustees." Appointed members would be a sort of Village People collection, a parent of a minor who attends the institution (for school libraries, I guess), a member of local law enforcement's sex crimes unit, "one member of the religious community" (from so many varieties to choose from!), "and library patrons."

"Winder’s bill would allow courts to respond quickly to enjoin the library materials in question and to give a quick hearing on whether it is indeed obscene or not. Under the bill, a prosecuting attorney could request injunctive relief in district court within one day of acting on the allegation, and the court would render a decision within two days of the trial’s conclusion."

I'm sure our court system is chomping at the bit to get into this work of state censorship.

A trustee of the Meridian Library District (currently fending off a torches and pitchforks group of "concerned citizens" that want to disband it) testified that if the bill is passed,

“In all likelihood ... my recommendation to my fellow board members would be that we immediately rescind all library cards for minors, 0-17, (and) we cancel those cards, and then pass a policy that minors cannot enter the library unaccompanied by their parents to enter the library. We cannot risk the legal liability.”

23.March.23

Three Dee Chess

I'd never heard of Drew Findling, but by this clip from Ari Melber's show on MSNBC, I see he's in the alternate univers of "Trump's Lawyers." After the 1 minute set-up, I'm watching his body language, shaking his head no to the allegation he's supposed to rebut. The allegation is that Donald J. Trump solicited and/or conspired to solicit fraud to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia in his favor.

Findling shakes his head with a wry smile, as if, you know, nothing could be further from the truth? The first word across his lips, while he's still shaking his head "no" is "yeah"; an interesting look at cognitive dissonance in action.

"So, so Ari, I'm familiar, my team is familiar with all those statutes, and while I'm looking at this, you know, camera, I could tell you we're incredibly familiar with those statues, they aren't new to us, we do a lot of political cases, we're absolutely confident, having looked at the evidence that our client has not violated any of those..."

He waves his right hand and wipes "dismissal" without missing a beat.

"We're not going to look at it two dimenssionally, we're going to look at it three dimensionally, which was done, and he's completely innocent!"

Melber tried to redirect over the top of that, "What did he mean when he said 'find'?" then asks again, "Then what did he mean when he said 'find votes' that don't exist, after certification, what could that possibly mean other than, find votes that don't exist?"

Findling started "well," waved his other hand, waited till the end and gave it this go:

"Well, I will, I will say this and that is, that again, ok, looking at the entire 62 minutes [waving both hands, and letting a sheepish grin escape] putting it all in context [is he laughing?!], there was nothing illegal said by our client. Nothing. And so anyone who wants to listen to 62 minutes will know, that that was a perfectly legal phone call."

Perfectly legal! Brian Tyler Cohen picks it up from there, noting that "why these people continue to go on air remains one of life's great mysteries." (Speaking of body language, right when Cohen sets up the clip of Trump's "own words," the YouTube stream cuts to an ad. Brilliant.)

Another morning read prompts me to revise the old lawyer joke to our age of oligarchy:

Q: What do you call the prosecution of the leading psychopathic authoritarian?

A: A good start.

Robert Reich's latest features the runner-up "libertarian" oligarch, Peter Thiel. What connects Trump’s likely arrest with the bank bailouts? Same old, same old: follow the money. In 3-D.

22.March.2023

Let the ticking commence!

This morning's chuckle is editor George Rasley's headline from the Richard Viguerie screed farm, Conservative HQ: Countdown Clock To Trump Indictment And Arrest Is Running. Not exactly breaking news, that's been marking the hour in the hallway for years now. He manages to sneer at Manhattan's DA, New York's AG, and George Soros in the first sentence. Then gushing about all the Republicans who have "rallied to defend" the former guy, this:

"House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and the other top Republicans on the Administration and Oversight committees on Monday sent a letter to Bragg to demand that he turn over documents related to his Trump investigation and testify before Congress after reports said that Trump could face an indictment as soon as today."

("Today" is now Wednesday, btw.) Jordan worked the Soros angle too, as reported in Politico: “This is a [George] Soros-backed, crazy, left-wing prosecutor … and he is doing this purely political sham,” Jordan said. Give him credit for knowing a thing or two about purely political shams, at least. He is the ShamWow! of the House of Representatives.

Remarkably, Jordan's thundering letter to Alvin Bragg led with the whack notion that being "a former president of the United States" and now once again "a declared candidate for that office" sets one above the law. Quite the hill for a "lawmaker" to die on. Not to be outdone, "Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky went even further, suggesting DA Bragg should be jailed for abuse of power," Rasley reports. Would that jailing be before or after any sort of judicial action, one wonders? Bragg's response (quoted by Rasley) sounds pretty measured to me:

"We will not be intimidated by attempts to undermine the justice process, nor will we let baseless accusations deter us from fairly applying the law."

That's "typical of the arrogant Left," Rasley snarls. He's so beside himself, he failed to quote some "friend" who agrees with him, but only "capable lawyers with whom we have communicated." How droll. Oh, and poor little rich kid was a victim of blackmail, really? That allows Rasley to avoid "adult film actress" and the more pointed "porn star" in favor of "the blackmailer herself."

Junior's gf Kimberly Guilfoyle is now "former Trump advisor," and "interviewing" new lawyer Joe Tacopina with sound bites of "all-out war," "loud and proud," and the "MAGA Moat." There be dragons.

Greg Sargent has an opinion about Jim Jordan's sordid attack, and how it demands an answer.

[I]t’s not clear that Jordan, the Judiciary Committee chair, has thought this through. The course of action signaled by the letter — also signed by Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) — could go sideways for Republicans in unforeseen ways....

“This is an extreme move to use the resources of Congress to interfere with a criminal investigation at the state and local level and block an indictment,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.), the ranking Democrat on the Oversight Committee, told me. He likened the aggressive GOP enforcement of absolute “impunity” for Trump to “the kind of political culture you find in authoritarian dictatorships.”

You probably won't be shocked, shocked, to hear from Judd Legum that Trump allies misrepresent crime in NYC, by which they mean what about all those crimes that other people have committed. Former punching bag Mike Pence took an incredulous stance in working the "crime wave" angle, with Kevin McCarthy and Ron DeSantis piling on.

"All of these arguments," Legum writes, mistakenly elevating the political circus acts, "are based on the false presumption that street crime is inherently more serious than white-collar crime. But there is an even bigger issue: the claim that crime is at record levels in New York City is false."

Yeah, but what is truth these days, anyway? And statistics, how do those really stand up to a well-chosen anecdote? But maybe, just maybe... with his links to Bloomberg:

New York City remains the safest of America's six largest cities. It is also safer than most smaller metro areas as well. Manhattan, the borough that Bragg represents, is one of the safest places to live in the entire United States.

Update: Sorry to beat the sorry drum, but reading Monday's report on the political responses to the coming shoe drop, Elise Stefanik, "the highest-ranking member of the House so far to endorse Mr. Trump, predicted in an interview that the expected indictment “only strengthens President Trump moving forward.”

Because... the Party of Law and Order? The horse race zero sum game? The horrible unfairness of it all? A lesser light, Florida's Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, went still further:

“This is unheard-of, and Americans should see it for what it is: an abuse of power and fascist overreach of the justice system,” Ms. Luna said in a statement to The Times.

Further down, we read that Roger J. Stone Jr. was cohosting a streamed "Prayers for Trump" call. It beggars imagination.

21.March.2023

Criminal behavior

While out cavorting on the edge of spring in Nevada, southern Utah, the Grand Canyon, Tucson, and an extraordinary visit to Arches National Park, my boy and I were having too much fun hiking, biking, and site-seeing to keep up on all the news. We were connected, intermittently, so not totally out of the loop. One of the best ways to stay current is with Heather Cox Richardson's Letters from an American, the first draft of history. Professor Richardson provides depth and breadth of one or a few stories on a daily basis. I'm a few behind on those, too, but I read the last couple as we were on our way home, and am back to staying current, first thing in the morning.

Yesterday's edition, delivered just after midnight here, is of course about the hottest topic of the day, while we wait for Alvin Bragg's shoe to be propelled toward the former guy, for his campaign finance abuse before the 2016 election. You know, the Stormy Daniels tale, for which Michael Cohen confessed, pleaded guilty, and served some jail time, for acting on behalf of his client. No spoiler alert is needed 6½ years on; his client has no plausible claim to innocence. Which, weirdly, is not preventing most of the supposed party of law and order, and family values from still supporting him. If this were fiction, it would be bad fiction, and Ron DeSantis would have removed it from school libraries already.

The response to the calls for a "Patriot Moat" around Mal-a-Lardo has been "anemic" so far, HCR reports, although the chat rooms are amply full of bluster. "Remember 2a is there incase 1a fails" one brave keyboard jockey punched. The last go-to-war for former guy produced a thousand convicts (with perhaps a thousand more to come), so the scum de la crême may be otherwise occupied.

FWIW, Trump's latest lawyer, the colorfully blustering Joe Tacopina, dismissed the idea that there'd be a shootout at the Not OK Corral, at least. But maybe the House Republicans can circle their wagons? From HCR:

"[T]he chairs of three House committees—[House Judiciary Committee chair Jim] Jordan, House Oversight Committee chair James Comer (R-KY), and House Administration Committee chair Bryan Steil (R-WI)—sent a letter to [Manhattan district attorney Alvin] Bragg criticizing his investigation as an “unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority,” even though there has been no announcement of any charges.

"The chairs claim they want to know if federal money was used in the investigation, but Representative Daniel Goldman (D-NY) noted: “Defending Trump is not a legitimate legislative purpose for Congress to investigate a state district attorney. Congress has no jurisdiction to investigate the Manhattan DA, which receives no federal funding nor has any other federal nexus.”

You may remember Goldman from the first impeachment of Donald J. Trump, when he was the Democrats' lawyer in the House proceedings, with a front row seat to the Jim Jordan clown show. But let's give a former RNC chair the last word this morning:

"Other Republicans are trying to deflect attention from the former president’s potentially criminal behavior and to focus instead on what they say is overreach by prosecutors. But when former vice president Mike Pence this weekend said he was “taken aback at the idea of indicting a former president of the United States,” former Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele tweeted "Why the hell are you 'taken aback by the idea of indicting a former President' who has engaged in criminal behavior? Why continue to make excuses for Trump who would rather see you hanged & rancid behavior you decry in others?"

Equinox #1, 2023

In a nutshell

Two things from today's random walk through cyberspace: this guy I'd never heard of, named Tommy Vietor, has a FABULOUS voice, and if whatever his day job is gives out, he should just get into voiceover work. He's on Brian Tyler Cohen's half-hour vlog (with a click-baity title that's unnecessary), and I enjoyed swimming in the sound.

And Vietor's capsule summary of our soon-to-be-indicted former guy: "Trump's primary messages is grievance." Our poor little rich kid psychopath.

18.March.2023

Dialing for Dollars is trying to reach me

One of the channels that has insinuated itself into my spam bucket is "wokelish," no doubt thanks to the chain of reselling email addresses among right-wing grifters. They're swimming around with the Epoch Times, Charlie Kirk, Jack Prosobiec, Junior, and MAGAtoons. Of course I never "subscribed," and they don't bother with the b.s. saying I did. There is an "unsubscribe link," fwtw, which is less than 0. In looking for the faux footer, I found this, instead, complete with own-quotes:

"This content is a work of satire and parody. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Any opinions expressed in this content do not reflect the views of the author or publisher. In fact, they probably reflect the opposite of the views of the author or publisher. The purpose of this content is to entertain and possibly make you question the reality of the world around you. So please, don't take anything too seriously, unless it's the importance of a good laugh."

They have an address in Leesburg, Virginia, that seems fitting. And a copyright notice, with "All Rights Reserved." The "news" sending address is labeled "Kash Patel," catching my eye. It addresses me as "Friend," as if. Leads with "The government and fake news media are lying to you!" and on about how January 6th wasn't so bad. "The majority of the protesters were peaceful." (Just like the antifa and BLM folk, eh.)

Inside, Patel styles himself as "the former head of counterterrorism and former senior aide" to the former guy, is that what he was? Pseudo Kash says he's launching the "Kash Foundation," which, you can't hardly make this stuff up, "to offer legal help to America First defendants like the ones from the January 6th witch hunts." Emphasis in the original, of course.

Can I send him some money "as a personal favor"? (And trust him to use it to help other grifters, ha ha?) Any amount of Kash cash will help him reach his exceedingly modest goal of $33,000, say $10? $25? $50, 100, 250, 500, 1,000, 2,500??? For that amount, he should offer me a Founding Rube title.

Just in case you think the IRS has gone too far in enforcing the tax code, says there, "The Fight With Kash Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. All donations are tax-deductible." Just like Steve Bannon's Build the Wall grift.

Pi day, 2023

Ron DeSantis is a dangerous liar

Once you've untethered yourself from fact, you're free to move about the country and promote authoritarianism. And of course project your own bad acts on others. Judd Legum: Florida book bans are not a hoax. The sociopathic Melon Usk makes a cameo appearance.

A dress code, that's all we need

Margaret Renkl is writing about Tennessee, but it's just about all true for Idaho as well, as the Republican party is fresh out of ideas, and is left only with cultural warfare.

"The idea that this legislation is a top priority for anybody is ludicrous, and once upon a recent time, even Republicans knew that. Men have performed in women’s clothes for centuries, with no harm to children. Drag is part Saturnalia and part camp and part artistic expression, and all manner of human beings enjoy it....

"The claim that anti-drag laws, as well as the new laws banning gender-affirming care for minors, are designed to protect children is also ludicrous. If Tennessee Republicans were serious about protecting children, our public schools would be fully funded. The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services wouldn’t be in calamitous disarray. The General Assembly would be trying to stem the tide of guns in a state awash in them instead of looking for ways to add to the flood."

4.March.2023

Habeas corpus

Jim Jordan claims to have "dozens and dozens" of "whistleblowers." So, 48, at least? His first salvo with his "weaponization of the House majority" subcommittee was to bring forward three witnesses that weren't actually whistleblowers. As the ranking members of the Judiciary committee, and the subcommitte described, while they "put forward a wide range of conspiracy theories, did not present actual evidence of any wrongdoing at the [DOJ] or [FBI]." Also, "the transcribed interviews we have held thus far refute House Republican narrative about “bias” at the Department of Justice."

"Third, these interviews also reveal the active engagement and orchestration of disturbing outside influence on the witnesses and, potentially, the Republican members of the Select Subcommittee. A network of organizations, led by former Trump administration officials like Kash Patel and Russell Vought, appears to have identified these witnesses, provided them with financial compensation, and found them employment after they left the FBI. These same individuals lobbied for the creation of the Select Subcommittee in the first place. They have a story to tell, and they appear to be using House Republicans to tell it."

"Fourth, and finally, nearly all of the Republicans involved in this investigation—the witnesses, some of the Members, and certainly their outside operators—are tied together by the attacks of January 6, 2021. The witnesses whom we have met objected to the arrest of individuals suspected to have laid siege to the United States Capitol. Others of the “dozens and dozens,” we suspect, participated directly in the riot. If this investigation is an attempt to whitewash the insurrection or hedge against pending indictments, it has been spectacularly ineffective—but these extremists share a view antithetical to the safety of our republic, and the American public has a right to be concerned."

Jim Jordan should put up, or shut up, but he never does either.

3.March.2023

Idaho's culture warriors

The Idahdo Family Policy Center and its main man, Blaine Conzatti hit my radar a month ago, as seen in a tour of the sausage factory, when he was presenting the CHILD PROTECTION ACT, HB71 on behalf of his organization. It's such pleasant garb for walking Christian theocratic rules by the receptive audience of the Republicans in the Idaho legislature. Who's not in favor of child protection, after all? (Well, that same supermajority, when it comes to preventing True Believers from withholding life-saving medical care from their children.)

Anyway, Conzatti has been spending ample time at the statehouse this session, presenting a lot of the far-right agenda. The IFPC is working on a dress and behavior code to make sure we clamp down on the the rampant public striptease acts lately. HB 231 is "relating to sexual exhibitions," don't you know. Not counting, ah, "gender-bending roles in Shakespeare," or high school cheerleading, or Mrs. Doubtfire. Just what's

"patently offensive to an average person applying contemporary community standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable for minors,"

so I'm sure we could all agree on that. "Any minor, or an accompanying parent or legal guardian of such minor, who is exposed to [said] sexual conduct ... "shall have a private cause of action against the person or institution that failed to take reasonable steps to restrict the access of minors. For 4 years. Think about it. Take your time. What would you do with, say, $10,000 for your trouble?

"Padding" was under discussion. I assume grabbing one's crotch is right out. "Members of the committee, including Crane, his brother Rep. Jaron Crane, R-Nampa, and Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, expressed that they thought the definitions in the bill sufficiently describe obscenity without using the word." The bill lists "Sexually provocative dances or gestures performed with accessories that exaggerate male or female primary or secondary sexual characteristics." Unless they're "cheerleading."

Then after last year's infamous attempt to criminalize Idaho librarians (HB666, no less) Conzatti and Rep. Jaron Crane, R-Nampa, and Sen. Cindy Carlson, R-Riggins are pushing HB139 with just civil penalties this time around. How about if we allow minors or their parents or guardians to sue for $10,000 if a minor obtained "obscene" materials that the school or library didn’t take “reasonable steps” to prevent? Vigilante justice is the best, right? Without defining obscenity (because that's not easy), but sure, we've got an Idaho Lottery, why not an Idaho Civil Litigation Crapshoot? I'm sure lots of school kids (and their parents or guardians) would love to play.

Oddly enough, this year's go didn't just sail through the House Education Committee either. They discussed sending it to the amending order, and returning it to the sponsor to clean it up. And Rep. Judy Boyles, representing the far-right, as usual, said that “Frankly, I am appalled that there is this kind of discussion,” Boyle said of discussion around amending the bill. “There is nothing wrong with this bill.”

The committee disagreed with her, 9-8, and sent it back to the sponsor (and without enough time to deal with another library control bill (HB 227). Boyle left in a huff, and said she was quitting the committee. The far right-leaning Speaker, Mike Moyle wasn't ready to let her go, said "I would rather have something in writing." Me too!

2.Mar.2023

Next level victim-blaming

The dimmest stars in the Republican firmament are shining for all they're worth. George Rasley's headline for ConservativeHQ was inevitable: "Pelosi team directly responsible for J6 security failures." Supposedly "damning internal communications," compiled by Republican Reps. Rodney Davis, Jim Banks, Troy Nehls, Jim Jordan and Kelly Armstrong, from "months of investigation" (so soon?). It's "evidence that had been ignored by the Democrat-led Jan. 6 committee," don't you know, because of the vast conspiracy the former Speaker of the House had to have the MAGA team defile the Capitol and threaten her life? It doesn't have to make sense.

The cognitive dissonance is impressive, and shows the power of indefatigable bad faith and partisanship. One measure is three words that do not appear in the screed in any form: sedition, insurrection, Trump. Weird, huh? They imagine Speaker Pelosi was "culpab[le] for the J6 protest turning into breach of the Capitol."

Whiskey's for drinking

Not exactly breaking news that there's a lawsuit about water rights and land use burbling in Idaho but our wet behind the ears Attorney General found a way to get himself in the news, by joining Texas in a federal lawsuit over the Clean Water Act. What do you do to make a splash when half the states are already at the party? (Rebecca Boone's report for the AP said "roughly half" the states, 24 in one case, led by the West Virginia AG and brought in North Dakota; and another case brought by Texas last month. Go figure.)

The report is that the two cases are more alike than different, but Raúl Labrador figured out how to leap into SECOND place rather than coming in TWENTY-SIXTH.

On Tuesday, Labrador's spokeswoman Beth Cahill said the attorney general's legal team decided the Texas suit was the better choice because having just two states listed as plaintiffs would allow Idaho's interests to be “front-and-center.”

Labrador never scored very high on "plays well with others" when he was in the (then) back-bench House Freedom Caucus, blowing up his one potential accomplishment of an immigration deal a decade ago, because... health care for undocumented immigrants was a bridge too far. And you know, nobody dies because they don’t have access to health care, right? “I’m just going to move on and work with other members of the House Judiciary Committee to try to craft legislation that can actually … pass the Judiciary Committee and pass the House,” Labrador said back in the day.

That never happened. Labrador quit Congress and tried to be Idaho's governor, and that never happened. Bit of a grudge against the guy who beat him for the job? He tried to lead the state Republican Party, and presided over a truly debacular state convention one time, and now he's stumbled into statewide office, finally, as AG. That brings us back to today's story, which actually was on the wire a week ago, after public records request had exposed the "potentially deep rift" in our state's ruling party.

[The AG's] office did not inform [fellow Republican, Gov. Brad] Little or the leaders of the relevant state agencies that the multistate lawsuit was happening before it was filed without Idaho, according to the requested public documents. State law makes Labrador the attorney of record for most state agencies, and historically the attorney general’s office has consulted with the agencies about potential litigation.

“We were not consulted and knew nothing about the lawsuit until after it was filed,” wrote Jess Byrne, the director of the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, in a Feb. 23 email to the governor’s office. Byrne called the situation, “very concerning to say the least.”

The governor learned the lawsuit was happening through a press release from Wyoming’s governor, Little’s spokesperson Emily Callihan told The Associated Press via email. Labrador’s office only reached out after the governor’s staffers began asking about the suit, she said.

1.March.2023

Enter the lamb

With the jetstream tweaked in climate transition, and CONUS getting another wave of continental polar winter, Idaho's getting something more like "the usual" than not. Snow in the mountains, occasionally at lower elevations, such as Boise's half-mile above sea level. Such as the 3 to 4" of fluffy white that snuck in as February was sneaking out.

Good morning, March! By mid-afternoon, it was sunny, warm (in the 40s) and windy, and most of the snow melted away in the valleys.

Our all-important snow-water equivalent, compared to the the three-decade baseline (1991-2020) is right around average in the northen Rockies and Cascade range, trending well above average going south, to double the average and more in the Sierra and Arizona.

Never mind the occasionally catastrophic delivery system, that is good weather for the arid west.

raveling

Tom von Alten