@adambonin's Threads
Friends, please stop promoting this crap. It's another press stunt from an entities which does them all the time to try to raise money from unsuspecting anti-Trumpers. See, e.g., dailykos.com/stories/2017/6…
I mean, remember this one? Same people.
This is what they do. Stop promoting it. Be discerning readers.
If you want to remember Warren Zevon tonight, the 15y anniversary of his passing, may I recommend the LARRY SANDERS SHOW episode in which he appeared? It shouldn't be on YouTube, but since it is .... this is classic and perfect. Written by Peter Tolan.
If you have only the time for one or two songs, start with "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner," from Zevon's final Letterman appearance.
Next, "Boom Boom Mancini," from Letterman, 1987.
It really bothers me to see REVENGE OF THE NERDS listed at all, let alone as high as 8th, on a list like this. Anyone viewing the film with contemporary eyes should be horrified by it. vulture.com/article/25-bes…
The capsule summary says it's "a satisfying series of fulfilled wishes, the nerds get their, you know, revenge."
It's actually watching the Nerds behaving worse than the jocks: spying on, then selling nude pictures of sorority members. And more. (2/)
It's actually watching the Nerds behaving worse than the jocks: spying on, then selling nude pictures of sorority members. And more. (2/)
Lewis, an alleged hero, rapes a woman by deception -- she only consents to sex with him because he's wearing a Darth Vader mask and she thinks it's her actual boyfriend. (3/)
What a patriot sounds like: McCain, 2008 RNC: "And, finally, a word to Senator Obama ... you have my respect and my admiration. Despite our differences, much more unites us than divides us. We are fellow Americans, and that's an association that means more to me than any other."
"I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's. I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here. I loved it for its decency, for its faith in the wisdom, justice, and goodness of its people. I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea."
More from McCain's 2008 RNC speech. 
I never put this together before, but: as @ZephyrTeachout helpfully noted in 2009, part of the argument for why the Senate, not SCOTUS tries impeachments is that, in Gouverneur Morris's words, "The supreme Court were too few in number and might be warped or corrupted." (1/)
Delegate Roger Sherman specifically objected to SCOTUS trying impeachments as being improper "because the Judges would be appointed by him."
That's right, Originalists: the Framers didn't want SCT justices ruling on corrupt acts by the President who nominated them. (2/)
That's right, Originalists: the Framers didn't want SCT justices ruling on corrupt acts by the President who nominated them. (2/)
You can find Madison's notes here on that day's debates here (9-8-1787): avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/d…
The other thing they did that day was expand the grounds from treason/bribery to include HC&M - George Mason noted "Attempts to subvert the Constitution may not be Treason" (3/)
The other thing they did that day was expand the grounds from treason/bribery to include HC&M - George Mason noted "Attempts to subvert the Constitution may not be Treason" (3/)
5-2 decision holds that defendant's gangsta rap video, threatening named police officers who were to testify against him in criminal case, is not protected under First Amendment. Convictions for terroristic threats/witness intimidation stand.
Oh, gosh, Justice Wecht's concurring opinion -- on the intent test for such a conviction -- is a fun dive through music. Must've been fun for his clerks. cc: @alyankovic pacourts.us/assets/opinion…
This is, I hope, the first time @train has ever been cited in a judicial opinion.
This is how you end the #VMAs. From 25 years ago:
Ok, this is going to send me down a #VMA nostalgia cascade. Nirvana, "Rape Me/Lithium/Krist Please Don't Do That! (at 4:10)", 1992 VMAs.
Madonna, "Vogue," 1990 #VMAs.
Among its many triumphs, BLACKKKLANSMAN gives us Spike Lee's most effective closing montage since BAMBOOZLED. Is it melodramatic? Sure. But it is earned and necessary. Do read @aoscott's review. nytimes.com/2018/08/09/mov…
Also: if you didn't know John David Washington was Denzel's son, you'd know it pretty quickly anyway. There's a distinctive cadence, especially in some of the small talk, for which he is a clear and proud inheritor.
And I was worried towards the end that the Patented Spike Lee Dolly Shot I was so looking forward to wasn't actually in the movie. Don't worry, friends: it's there. Be patient.
Hey, Progressive Lawyers of Twitter: pick a folder, whether it looks boring or interesting. Dive in. Report back. #StopKavanaugh
Brett Kavanaugh, in an August 31, 1998 edit memo to his co-authors of the Starr Report, less than two weeks before its release. archives.gov/files/research…
In a Christmas Eve memo, 1998, Brett Kavanaugh argues that a sitting President cannot be indicted, but a subsequent President and AG can indict a former President. archives.gov/files/research…
The 3d Cir opinion on Chaka Fattah et al's corruption convictions is now online. Bottom line: while it overturns certain charges and reinstates others, the number of 10-year concurrent sentences he's still facing means no change in his jail time. www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/16439… (1/)
All the convictions relating to the illegal excess campaign loan from Al Lord and the various schemes to repay him and Tom Lindenfeld stand, including RICO. Convictions relating to the phony Porsche sale, for which the trial court judge directed acquittal, are reinstated. (2/)
As to the bribery charges involving Fattah and Vederman, the Court tossed the convictions based on improper jury instructions pre-McDonnell, with remand for potential retrial on those counts. Here's how the Court sums up its ruling. (3/)
#nn18 to everyone tweeting on the #BlackAssCaucus hashtag, and otherwise expressing ways that we can be more reflective and inclusive, I can assure you that this board member (as well as my colleagues) is listening.
Philadelphia is my home, and I will be working to ensure that #nn19 works with all our local communities to make this our best conference yet - not just reflecting Phila and the SEPA suburbs but our allies in Camden and beyond. #nn18
I have big ambitions for what local #nn19 host committee can do, between outreach/inclusion for local activists, agenda-setting, local venues and vendors worth supporting, and more. We'll need everyone's help. When we're ready to start, pls join and spread the word.
Siskel vs. Ritter; Zevon sings.
Sorkin character has daddy issues.
Springfield invests in new infrastructure.
"My family, Kay ... not me."
Man tries erasing heartache; can't.
Archaeologist leads Nazis to Torah.
As to PA investigating grand jury on child sex abuse in various Catholic dioceses, @SupremeCtofPA decision today seems to say an interim report shall be issued on August 14, pending redaction of anything re: individuals who've sought privacy protections.
.@SupremeCtofPA cannot at this time resolve the question of how much additional process a person accused in the grand jury report is due, and has slated that issue for oral argument in September. Regards reputational interests as "fundamental right" under PA Constitution.
Court's opinion hints at how comprehensive, awful the grand jury report's substance is.
It's a nice, albeit sideways effort to address the Kennedy Center Honors' massive deficit of Hispanic or Latinx honorees.
And as @IsaacSpaceman has long-ago noted, they're not terribly good for Asian honorees, either.
Also, huzzah for Philip Glass! It's Koyaanisqatsi time.
If it's July 13 and I'm still a Philadelphian, there's some videos I'm obligated to promote, again. 33 years ago today, Live Aid. First, Ashford & Simpson welcome Philly's own Teddy Pendergrass back to the stage for the first time since his accident.
From Wembley, U2's starmaking Live Aid performance -- a/k/a "the one in which Bono gets lost and the band is forced to vamp for a long time and has no idea where he is,"
(From a RS oral history of that performance: ) rollingstone.com/music/music-fe…
On this day in 1776, true American hero Caesar Rodney - his body withered by cancer of the jaw and asthma - completed an epic 80-mi horse ride from Dover to Phila, through a thunderstorm, to break the tie in Delaware's delegation and cast the decisive vote for Independence. (1/)
His vote was decisive because the delegates wanted a unanimous vote; Delaware was deadlocked and New York abstaining (courteously). And in so doing, he apparently forfeited the ability to ever travel to London where a physician was available to treat his particular cancer. (2/)
Rodney proclaimed, before the Second Continental Congress, "As I believe the voice of my constituents and all sensible and honest men is in favor of Independence and my own judgment concurs with them, I vote for Independence." New York came off the sidelines as well. (3/)
She writes, on pp 1726-27, that "there is little reason to think" that reversals would do the Court's reputation great damage, and specifically cites Roe for evidence that the Court cannot "declare a permanent victor in a divisive constitutional struggle."
Barrett then says, explicitly, "I tend to agree with those who say that a justice's duty is to the Constitution and that it is thus more legitimate for her to enforce her best understanding of the Constitution rather than a precedent she thinks clearly in conflict with it."
Barrett explicitly writes on p 1735 that Roe has *not* become superprecedent, despite efforts to make it so, and that it "has acquired no immunity from serious judicial reconsideration."
Every competent judicial nominee can give the speech about oh-how-important precedent is. That's not enough. An express commitment to Roe itself is necessary.
Here's what then-Judge Clarence Thomas said in 1991.
This, from then-Judge Alito, was good enough for Sens. Specter, Collins, and Murkowski to vote yes in 2005.
I'll make it simple, @chuckschumer: shut the Senate down. No unanimous consent, no nothing. A Supreme Court nomination cannot reach the floor in 2018.
We are far too close to the 2018 midterms for a nominee to be considered. In the past 50+ years, only one (Souter) has been submitted to the Senate this late in an even-numbered year.
Senate is at 50-49 with McCain's absence; it only takes one Republican to stop this, and @SenatorCollins and @lisamurkowski are not up this year. Nor is @SenJohnKennedy, who's been unafraid to stand up in Judiciary hearings. Retiring @SenBobCorker @JeffFlake could make a stand.
Conservatives win in JANUS, 5-4. Abood is overturned. From Justice Kagan's dissent: supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf…
More from Justice Kagan on the awful, intended consequences of today's decision, the culmination of a long conservative campaign to impair public sector unions.
Conservative majority insists that "An important factor in determining whether a precedent should be overruled is the quality of its reasoning," but that's just an open-ended invitation to overturn *any* well-settled precedent with which they disagree. As Justice Kagan writes:
And with that, any kind of redistricing reform in Pennsylvania, be it nonpartisan or the GOP-crafted disaster to gerrymander judicial districts as well, appears to be dead for the 2021 cycle. cc: @PoliticsWolf @DKElections
This means that within the restrictions of the PA Constitution (textual + LWV vs Torres ruling), the General Assembly draws 2021 congressional map subject to Gov veto, and a five-member commision with tiebreaker chosen by Dem-majority PA SCT draws the state legislative map.
If a Democratic Governor were to deadlock with a Republican-controlled General Assembly, *hypothetically*, then Congressional map drawing ultimately would be kicked to the PA SCT.
To quote Clubber Lang, my prediction? Pain.
Just to go a bit further: the only thing that can make this Supreme Court opinion release worse than it's already going to be, given a 5-4 conservative Court, is if Kennedy announces his retirement tomorrow.
However, given how close we are to the midterms, there is no reason for the Senate to consider any nominee until 2019. The Court can operate fine with eight members.
This language from Justice Kennedy, in a concurrence today, is chills-inducing for anyone who understands the administrative state and modern American government.
For non-lawyers: Chevron is the case which allows for the modern administrative state. It says, basically, that agencies can promulgate regulations implementing congressional statutes, and can fill in the gaps and ambiguities so long as their construction is a reasonable one.
In other words, without Chevron's call for deference to administrative agencies' interpretation of statutes under their bailiwick, you'd have to go back to Congress to fill every textual nook-and-cranny in the law. And so nothing would get done.
