Crooked Media - What A Day: All Elon the botch-tower

Friday, May 13, 2022
BY BRIAN BEUTLER & CROOKED MEDIA

 -Elon Musk, very convincing genius

The looming, likely demise of Roe v. Wade has enticed Republicans across the country, at all levels of government, to let their social-issues freak-flag fly, and the vision they have for America is as horrifying as you’d expect—maybe worse.

  • In a virtual address to the George Mason University School of Law, Justice Samuel Alito voiced his disgust with the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County which extended the the Civil Rights Act’s protections against discrimination on the basis of sex to LGBT people. Alito called that opinion—written by Justice Niel Gorsuch and joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and the Court’s four liberals at the time—”indefensible.” Even with the confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, there’d presumably only be four votes to overturn Bostock, but if Republicans are able to tighten their grip on the Court this decade, Alito gave us a big honking clue about whose rights he’s gunning for next. 
     
  • Just two days earlier, Republicans in Louisiana went to extraordinary lengths to revive their own Don’t Say Gay bill. In light of the backlash to Florida’s Don’t Say Gay law, Louisiana lawmakers killed their farther-reaching version of the same legislation at the committee level. But on Tuesday, Republicans in the Louisiana House broke out a rarely used procedural tool to force a vote on it, and voted 55-39 to bring it back from the dead. 
     
  • This one-line story from the Associated Press underscores just how medieval Republicans have become, by setting the bar for what counts as moderation from them these days: “Louisiana women who have abortions won’t face possible murder charge after state House amends bill.” That’s it, that’s the tweet/story.

The shrinking of the “charge women who have abortions with murder” caucus coincides with the emergence of a new “starve babies” caucus. 

  • By way of no-background: American parents have been struggling for weeks with a nationwide baby formula shortage. The shortage stems from an enormous February recall of tainted formula by Abbott Nutrition, one of the two major U.S. formula manufacturers, and the ensuing closure of the plant responsible for the contamination. It has been exacerbated further by existing supply-chain kinks. On Thursday, the White House unveiled a plan to ease the shortage, which may include invoking the Defense Production Act to require manufacturers to increase domestic output. 
     
  • The Republican plan for the shortage, by contrast, is to take formula away from migrant babies in U.S. custody. “While mothers and fathers stare at empty grocery store shelves…the Biden Administration is happy to provide baby formula to illegal immigrants coming across our southern border,” Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) said Thursday. The “starve babies in U.S. custody” caucus has since grown to include “Ultra MAGARep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY)
Midterm elections are almost always tough on the incumbent party, but if there’s hope for the Democrats it’s that Republicans have become too certain of their own victory to keep hiding who they really are. It’s up to Democrats to hold a spotlight up to them.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is officially the second biggest movie release since the start of the pandemic! Over on X-Ray Vision: Jason & Rosie are talking to writer Michael Waldron, to ask just how much of the film was informed by his obsession with Don Draper. And on Keep It, Ira and Louis have thoughts on Hollywood actresses that are obviously taking roles for the paycheck and name Elizabeth Olsen specifically! Keep up with all of the latest news in culture by listening and following X-Ray Vision and Keep It wherever you listen to podcasts.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to his Russian counterpart, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, for the first time Friday since Russia invaded Ukraine. Austin initiated the call, for the purposes of urging Shoigu to implement “an immediate ceasefire.” Despite fielding a request that the Russian government would officially dismiss as a non-starter, the conversation lasted a full hour, and reflects a change from Russia’s previous posture of refusing such calls altogether. The thaw in relations may also reflect implicit Russian acknowledgment that its invasion is headed toward failure. Russia suffered a significant, embarrassing defeat in the Donbas on Friday, when Ukrainian forces destroyed a Russian pontoon bridge while Russian forces and artillery were attempting to cross it. On Monday, President Biden signaled a pivot of his own, toward trying to find an offramp for Russian President Vladimir Putin, so he doesn’t continue the war simply because “he doesn’t have a way out.”

It’s been over 24 hours since the House January 6 Committee issued subpoenas to five Trump-loyalist House Republicans, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and the most interesting thing about it is that those Republicans didn’t announce their intent to flout their subpoenas out of hand. That suggests they’re on the horns of the most Republican possible dilemma: If they defy their subpoenas or challenge them in court, they can expect Democrats to do the same thing, if and when the GOP takes over the House and launches all the sham investigations its members have openly fantasized about. On the other hand, if they honor their subpoenas, they might have to tell the truth about their involvement in the insurrection and/or their knowledge of Donald Trump’s conduct while the Capitol was under siege. A real Fascists Triangle, as they (ok, I) like to say.

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China’s Mars rover has found evidence that water existed on the planet for much longer than scientists previously believed

Jelani Cobb will be the next dean of Columbia Journalism School.

Scientists have grown plants in moon soil

A lost Very Good Girl sneaked into a strange house, and then into bed with the sleeping couple who live there, and she fit in so well, they didn’t even realize it wasn’t their dog until the morning; many friends were made in the course of returning her to her true home.

. . . . . .


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What A Day: More like SLAY-TO

Friday, May 13, 2022

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