If the threat was real they wouldn't need to make up stories

Morgan Stephens of Daily Kos reported Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon introduced a bill for some Supreme Court reforms. It’s got some good things and some things I think would make no difference. Some of the things in the bill: + Add six justices to the court for a total of 15. They would be added one at a time in the first and third years of a presidential term. + Laws passed by Congress would need a two-thirds majority, rather than a simply majority, to be overturned. + A method to keep senators from blocking a nominee by refusing to vote, which is what happened in 2016 when Obama nominated Merrick Garland and Moscow Mitch blocked it. + As Stephens wrote, “requiring justices to consider recusing themselves and make their written opinions public.” Asking justices to consider recusing themselves doesn’t seem to be strong enough to curb the conflicts of interest. What if a justice refuses to consider it? Other than that last one the proposals look good, though I would add a retirement age or a tenure limit, which Americans “overwhelmingly support” according to a 2023 Pew Research survey. Much of the article explains the various scandals that show why these reforms are necessary. Of course, as long as the House is in Republican hands and the Senate has a 60 vote filibuster this bill isn’t going anywhere. It will need to be reintroduced in January. An Associated Press article posted on Kos discussed the damage from Hurricane Helene. I can’t summarize it, so will quote a few things that caught my attention.

Helene’s devastation comes as climate change exacerbates conditions that allow such storms to thrive, rapidly intensifying in warming waters and turning into powerful hurricanes and typhoons, sometimes in a matter of hours. ... More than 4 million homes and businesses were without power Friday morning in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks utility reports. The hurricane came ashore near the mouth of the Aucilla River on Florida’s Gulf Coast. That location was only about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of where Idalia hit last year at nearly the same ferocity, causing widespread damage. Cities as far inland as Atlanta were drenched, with just car roofs poking out of the water in some neighborhoods. ... “Please write your name, birthday, and important information on your arm or leg in a PERMANENT MARKER so that you can be identified and family notified,” the sheriff’s office in mostly rural Taylor County, Florida, warned those who chose not to evacuate in a Facebook post. The dire advice was similar to what other officials have dolled out during past hurricanes.

I’ve been refreshing the weather map all day, watching the rain patterns swirl (including rain over the Detroit area) as it appears the eye has been stalled over the Kentucky-Tennessee border northwest of Nashville. The storm prompted a meme in the comments of a pundit roundup for Kos. I don’t know who created the meme. exlrrp posted it. Above a photo of chairs, a fridge, and litter in a yard with Florida Gov. Ron DeathSantis on the phone. The caption says, “Hello, President Biden, it’s Ron! May I please have some socialism?” Yes, FEMA is prepared and in action. Up in the body of the roundup Greg Dworkin quoted Jonathan Weiler of Jonathan’s Quality Kvetching Newsletter. I added emphasis.

At a recent Trump rally, a friendly reporter asked an attendee how illegal immigration is affecting his life. The attendee said it wasn't, but that such people were getting something handed to them for free and that was wrong, so they should go back to where they came from. At least he was honest. If the problem of unauthorized immigrants were such a scourge in the United States, in terms of crime, adverse economic impact and so on, Trump, Vance and their ilk wouldn't need to make up stories to prove their point. But Vance, like Trump, isn't lying about Springfield to expose a larger truth about immigration. He's exposing a larger truth about himself, that he's willing to fabricate and falsify in service of the most sinister motives. Namely, to foment the kind of hatred necessary to make people comfortable with their government committing terrible acts against groups Vance is doing everything in his power to dehumanize, including children.

Walter Einenkel of Kos reported that Pete Buttigieg has been helping VP candidate Tim Walz prepare for his debate with JD Vance set for Tuesday evening. An excerpt of Einenkel’s post:

Buttigieg said Walz is “a very ‘what you see is what you get’ kind of person." And while that is a big part of his appeal, it’s Walz’s career choices and what they say about his values that impressed Buttigieg the most. "He's a teacher, an NCO in the military, a football coach, right?” Buttigieg said. “A coach is measured by how well your players do. A sergeant is measured by how well your soldiers do. A teacher is measured by how well your students do,” he continued. “So what all of that has in common is, it's not about you.” That is a “spirit” and “ethos” that isn’t common in elected officials, Buttigieg explained.

All that makes Buttigieg an even bigger fan of Walz. Stephens reported that Biden signed an executive order related to guns. Some of the things in it: + Assess threats from machine-gun conversion devices and of 3D-printed guns that don’t have serial numbers. + Come up with a plan to lessen the trauma of active shooter drills.

“Many parents, students, and educators have expressed concerns about the trauma caused by some approaches to these drills,” a White House statement said. “Federal agencies need to help schools improve drills so they can more effectively prepare for an active shooter situation while also preventing or minimizing any trauma.” ... Active shooter drills, which have become ingrained as a part of life for school-aged children in America, have lasting negative effects on their mental health. According to research by the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, a study found “insufficient conclusive research affirming the value of active shooter drills.” In fact, the opposite occurred. Instead of feeling calmer and more prepared, students, parents and teachers became increasingly depressed and anxious, with some exhibiting physiological health issues after the drills.

A week ago Stephens reported that at a livestream event hosted by Oprah Winfrey Harris talked about guns.

“I think for far too long on the issue of gun violence, some people have been pushing a really false choice,” said the Democratic presidential nominee. “To suggest you’re either in favor of the Second Amendment or you want to take everyone’s guns away.” Throughout her campaign, Harris has pushed back on the cynical GOP stance that if lawmakers aren’t in favor of any and all guns circulating without regulations, that means they want to “take away all our guns.” This black-and-white framing leaves no room for common-sense gun reform at the national level. But reform is a winning policy stance: Research shows that six in 10 Americans favor stricter gun laws.

Those stricter gun laws include a ban on assault weapons, universal background check which includes at guns shows, and red flag laws. Oliver Willis of Kos reported:

A new study published in the Harvard Kennedy School’s Misinformation Review found that fact-checks of lies from Donald Trump are more likely to make his diehard supporters believe in his falsehoods.

Candidates and pundits watch for an October Surprise in an election year. It’s a bit of bad news that a candidate won’t have time to recover from. In 2016 James Comey reopening the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails released eleven days before the election damaged her campaign and some people thought that doomed her chances. So how is this for a surprise (though maybe a bit early), discussed by jellis of the Kos community quoting an article from The Guardian:

A private equity firm owned by Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, has been paid $157m in fees since 2021 without returning any profit to investors, according to a US Senate inquiry… The paper reported that Kushner was using contacts cultivated while working as a White House adviser during Trump’s presidency… “Affinity’s investors may not be motivated by commercial considerations, but rather the opportunity to funnel foreign government money to members of President Trump’s family, namely Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.” Wyden said the foreign investors’ fees included $87m from the government of Saudi Arabia…

It’s also not much of a surprise. Rep. Jamie Raskin started making noise last year about where the Pandemic Prince gets his money. It didn’t get far because Raskin was up against Rep. James Comer who is willing to indulge any thread of evidence that might be used to impeach Biden but mighty slow to investigate any Republican. But see the article just before this one on whether these revelations will make any difference in the nasty guy’s support.