Today's News: Pro-Choice Underground

The world is not laughing at you anymore America. We’re aghast in horror.

— Mark (@Markfry809) June 25, 2022

Harvard Law professor Noah Feldman writes: 

It is no exaggeration to say that the Dobbs decision, written by Justice Samuel Alito and joined by four other conservatives, is an act of institutional suicide for the Supreme Court. 

The legitimacy of the modern court depends on its capacity to protect the vulnerable by limiting how the majority can infringe on basic rights to liberty and equality. 

The Dobbs majority not only takes the court out of that business. It holds that the court should never have expanded the protection of liberty and equality in the first place.

 ...State legislatures can and will now pass laws that violate or eliminate those rights. The lower courts will have to adjudicate them. Ultimately the Supreme Court will have to weigh in again. 

The reason all this will happen is that the court didn’t just overturn Roe. By overturning Casey, it called into question the core idea that the justices follow precedent. Casey stood for the idea that the court would uphold its past decisions absent a major, transformative reason to do so. Under Casey, lower courts would leave precedent in place. 

That norm is now gone. It’s open season on fundamental rights. 

 ...the modern Constitution will never be the same. Neither will the Supreme Court. 

Dobbs will go down as one of the worst decisions in the court’s history. Dobbs reverses rights on which the whole country has relied for half a century. The court has never done that before. The consequences will be disastrous — and far-reaching. 

History may look back at the period in which we are living and call it The Great Regression. It is a time in which on issue after issue, we are seeing decades and sometimes centuries of progress reversed. We have never seen anything like this before in our history.

— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) June 25, 2022

We're a little over 5 months away from drowning witches

— david cross✍ (@davidcrosss) June 26, 2022

And it is getting very weird, very fast. 

America now has a new cottage industry, a kind of pro-choice underground sub-culture now developing quickly, with the goal of alerting women whether states have abortion access, and helping women in need to travel to the states that do, or to Canada. 

Here is advice on how to secretly find and book abortions using library computers so as to not leave any digital breadcrumbs for police agents to find.

just a little fyi from a friendly librarian: many libraries will allow you to use their public computers without a library card and most, if not all, of these computers wipe the history the moment you log off. just in case you have to do some research without using personal info.

— kiwi 🥝 (@kiwik1ng) June 25, 2022

And here's how to wipe a phone:

I am not a security expert in any capacity so please rely on those who are: https://t.co/lhK8m7fVAw

— Charlotte Shane (@CharoShane) June 26, 2022

Palate cleansers

What an awful couple of days, and its not going to get any better next week. 

SCOTUS still has more cases to announce (including another gun case). 

And Canadians are wondering why Pierre Poilievre hasn't said anything yet about abortion, but is talking about kicking MPs out of caucus for the crime of Insufficient Loyalty to Dear Leader. 

And the FreeDumb Convoy now says Ottawa police told them they can park their trucks wherever they want to. 

Yeah, just great news from all over. 

So here are some palate cleansers, just for tonight - we'll get back to politics soon enough. 

 First, this great photo from NASA - it is described as "perhaps the most-terrifying space photograph to date" and it shows Space Shuttle astronaut Bruce McCandless floating untethered, using his Manned Maneuvering Unit to keep him alive, the first person in history to do this. 

Here's some funny stuff:

HOW TO FLY THE CANADIAN FLAG pic.twitter.com/pcyKUbwMXw

— Brittlestar (@brittlestar) June 20, 2022

Incredible. https://t.co/CPvY16XWTA

— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) June 26, 2022

I just wanted to tweet something that made hearts happy for a minute

— SPENCE, TODD (@Todd_Spence) June 26, 2022

An incredible story from Daily Kos:
A Homeless Man Was Seen Throwing A Birthday Party Celebration For His Dogs. The World Responded. https://t.co/sKJEsDyCHI

— Cathie from Canada 🇨🇦 😷🏳️‍🌈 (@CathieCanada) June 26, 2022

Clever dog..🐕🎲🤯 pic.twitter.com/l6Hhzrz26X

— 𝕐o̴g̴ (@Yoda4ever) June 19, 2022

Today's News: The War on Women

The loss of abortion rights in the United States is the news of the day -- the US Supreme Court has overturned Roe V Wade, redefining women's rights and allowing states to stop women from getting abortions.  

After deciding 40 years ago to make abortion into a divisive partisan issue, Republicans have finally caught the car. 

Republican state legislatures and governors spent years pandering to their pro-life voters by passing rigid, cruel but meaningless laws criminalizing abortion -- they thought draconian laws didn't really matter because Roe V Wade would never be overturned anyway so they would never have to try to enforce them. 

Meanwhile, the American Pro-Life Taliban were entranced by their hazy water-coloured memories of how marvelous America used to be, back in the good ol' days before Roe V Wade -- back when men were men and women were women and "decent" women were ashamed to get pregnant "out of wedlock" and the bad girls give birth secretly in maternity homes thus ensuring a "domestic supply of infants" for adoption while the girls crept home in shame. 

Yeah, good times....

So here we are -- today, all of a sudden, Roe V Wade is overturned. 

And all those awful laws criminalizing abortion are now in effect.  So criminalizing abortion has created a "War on Women" just as criminalizing marijuana created a "war on drugs" 70 years ago. 

But society has changed -- women aren't ashamed of having sex any more, or of getting pregnant, and for 50 years abortion has been just another medical procedure that sometimes women needed. Society no longer views pregnancy as something embarrassing. 

But by criminalizing abortion, these stupid awful laws have criminalized everyone associated with abortion - the teenagers and the young couples and the entropic pregnancies and the families, the doctors and nurses and pharmacists and social workers, even the taxi drivers. They're all supposed to be going to jail now.

That'll show 'em who's boss! 

Folks, its just not going to work. 

The New Yorker has a major article today on this:

Truly dystopian and horrifying.

"have entered an era not of unsafe abortion but of widespread state surveillance and criminalization—... of anyone who comes into meaningful contact with a pregnancy that does not end in a healthy birth." https://t.co/VBS1xK88A0

— Dr. Amy Tan 譚玉英Racism=Public Health Crisis-she/her (@AmyTanMD) June 24, 2022

Jia Tolentino writes: 

...   The future that we now inhabit will not resemble the past before Roe, when women sought out illegal abortions and not infrequently found death. The principal danger now lies elsewhere, and arguably reaches further. 

We have entered an era not of unsafe abortion but of widespread state surveillance and criminalization—of pregnant women, certainly, but also of doctors and pharmacists and clinic staffers and volunteers and friends and family members, of anyone who comes into meaningful contact with a pregnancy that does not end in a healthy birth. 

Those who argue that this decision won’t actually change things much—an instinct you’ll find on both sides of the political divide—are blind to the ways in which state-level anti-abortion crusades have already turned pregnancy into punishment, and the ways in which the situation is poised to become much worse.

Locating the demand for abortion access in the courts made it a fight waged mostly by lawyers, which in turn pushed the movement—including providers and people who have abortions—to the margins.https://t.co/W7Um5gCwkp

— The New Republic (@newrepublic) June 25, 2022

Today's News: Pushing back

FreeDumb Convoy:

First, here's some actual news from the real world - Covid vaccines saved 20 million lives:

20,000,000 https://t.co/NT4RfBMWuo

— James Moore (@JamesMoore_org) June 24, 2022

Next, we are finally seeing some push-back to that awful meeting held yesterday that Conservative MPs held on Parliament Hill:

The Conservative Party keeps courting the convoy, in all its anti-vax, anti-mask, anti-media, pro-conspiracy, prosecute-public-officials-glory. They’re playing with fire, and they might get burned. So might the rest of the country. https://t.co/AnGsJWMS9v

— Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) June 24, 2022

In this Star column, Arthur writes: 

These are neither serious nor reasonable people. And while they are free to express themselves, they should not be welcomed within what should be accepted standards of shared politics, or reality.

They're ringing in my left ear right now, Dan. Original Convoy wanted the Governor General's help in overthrowing the Government. She apparently was not helpful. Who will the Canada Day Convoy turn to? Three polite suggestions. Rex Murphy, Jordan Peterson and the man on the moon. https://t.co/kLYeIlQpDp

— Charles Adler (@charlesadler) June 23, 2022

Andrew Coyne says:

This is QAnon-level craziness, and Conservative MPs are cheering them on.

— Andrew Coyne 🇺🇦 (@acoyne) June 22, 2022

From the NDP:

Disgusting to see more then 20 Conservative MPs welcome Convoy Occupyers (including a former Trump staffer) into a Parliamentary mtg room.
In the next election Canadians will not forget.@HazelEros @hockeydan@RetiredCdnRJB@mes200000 @jacklasalle1https://t.co/JyeE69RA6S

— Lorne Nystrom (@LorneNystrom) June 24, 2022

"Their goal was to overthrow the democratically elected Parliament and that's not something that we should be supporting," NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says of reports that a group of Conservative MPs met with "Freedom Convoy" organizers yesterday in Ottawa.#cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/xNHTZvEjUn

— CPAC (@CPAC_TV) June 23, 2022

Here's an interesting development -- it appears Ottawa citizens are again preparing to defend their city:

Saw this on the "Ottawa" subreddit. Organizers are the same people who blocked convoy supporters at an intersection & made them remove convoy flags/decals, before they would let them pass. #NeverVoteConservative #TreasonConvoy #FreeDumbConvoy pic.twitter.com/BzNEFl5tcl

— Riona (@Riona_Murchadha) June 23, 2022

Never forget the Battle of Billings Bridge!

Never forget. pic.twitter.com/MTelgL2nA1

— The Lefty Canadian Radical (@Tori_TLCR) February 22, 2022

Finally, check out the replies to this tweet:

Which hashtag do you prefer? #FreeDumbConvoy, #FluTruxKlan, or #TimbitTaliban? Or is there another one you are partial to?

— Canadian Resistance 🇨🇦 (@CanadensisMax) June 23, 2022

#FreeDumbConvoy gets the most votes but here are some more suggestions from the comments: 

#Clownvoy 

#ChristofascistCrusades 

#Omicronvoy 

#PlagueInc 

#IvermectinInsurrection 

#TaliBanjo 

#Yeehawdists 

#trucklodytes 

#TreasonTruckers 

#RedneckTaliban 

#VictimhoodExpress 

#TonkaTantrum

 Finally, this one:

Whatever, they can all just #TruckOff

— Prairie Cat 🇨🇦🌎☮️ (@CanadaSaysStop) June 23, 2022

Today's News: FreeDumb all the way!

Its hard to even think about how crazy the FreeDumb Convoy is getting, much less write about it.

Justin Ling has a major article today in Vice that describes a leaked intelligence report about the anti-vax nutjobs who intend to try to overthrow the Canadian government, or at least take over Ottawa this summer. 

Constitutional sheriffs! Intelligence assessments! Fired Trump advisors! Photo ops with Canadian politicians!

This story has it all. https://t.co/a4PB5p77GA

— Justin Ling (@Justin_Ling) June 22, 2022

Ling's article is about a report from the Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre which describes "ideologically motivated violent extremism (IMVE)" and details some of their nutty beliefs - that Covid never actually existed, that "the elites" have been releasing “biological weapons”, that the culprits are “not just the government of Canada…which is controlled by a much higher element, be it the World Economic Forum, or if you want to go right up to the Pope".  Self-proclaimed Convoy leaders plan to deputise themselves and others as “constitutional sheriffs” to arrest “Justin Trudeau and all the premiers and all the health ministers.” 

These are the guys that Conservative politicians keep telling Trudeau to meet with. 

Yeah, sure.  Great plan, that...

And Conservative politicians actually did meet today with several of the Convoy yahoos.

They were greeted by multiple Conservative MPs, including leadership candidate @LeslynLewis, @JeremyPatzerMP, @Ryan_R_Williams, @ArnoldViersen and @DeanAllisonMP – among others. #Cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/Zn8YcairwX

— Jaro Giesbrecht 🇨🇦🇸🇰 (@JaroGiesbrecht) June 22, 2022

Topp has been facing a court martial over a video he recorded, in uniform, endorsing the trucker convoy and occupation in Ottawa.

Alexander has recently taken to saying that public health officials should be prosecuted for their role in promoting vaccines.

— Justin Ling (@Justin_Ling) June 22, 2022

Amid Alexander's long anti-vaccine rant (including tirades against all public health measures and PCR tests) it seems like multiple MPs got up and left.

Worth noting, his presence there shouldn't have been a surprise. He was listed on the event.

— Justin Ling (@Justin_Ling) June 22, 2022

Alexander is now saying that masks are partly responsible for an uptick in violence and mass shootings in America. His evidence? Executioners have to be masked in order to execute someone.

— Justin Ling (@Justin_Ling) June 22, 2022

Just to give you a sense of Marazzo's whole deal, here's some social media posts.

As I've said a bunch before: I don't think everyone who supported the convoy/"freedom" movement wants to try the Prime Minister for treason.

But a lot do! pic.twitter.com/5IVCYA0DcV

— Justin Ling (@Justin_Ling) June 23, 2022

So these are the people that Conservative MPs invited into our Canadian Parliament and met with, just as though they were normal?

And checking Canadian media reaction, you would have had the impression these were ordinary concerned citizens, too -- CTV called them "freedom movement" figures while CBC dutifully reported the Conservative talking point describing them as "Freedom Convoy organizers" who are "just average citizens that have concerns". 

No editorials, no scolding columns, no blasts of outrage against the Conservatives for greeting these guys. 

At this rate, we're going to need that Emergencies Act again this summer:

NEW: "It was absolutely needed to end that protest." @OttawaPolice Interim Chief Steve Bells tells @EvanLSolomon the use of the Emergencies Act was "necessary" to bring an end to the Ottawa blockades. #ottnews #cdnpoli https://t.co/Z60naVC7En

— The Evan Solomon Show (@EvanSolomonShow) June 21, 2022

Today's News: Investigations all over

There are three important investigations going on right now -- the Mass Casualty Commission (AKA the Portapique massacre) in Nova Scotia, the Jan 6 Committee hearings in Washington, and the Uvalde massacre investigations in Texas. 

They all had significant events happening today. 

Mass Casualty Commission (Portapique massacre): 

The Nova Scotia RCMP have testified repeatedly at these hearings and though I haven't reviewed all the testimony I can't remember reading of a single time when they accepted responsibility for significant mistakes, errors in judgement, miscalculations, or clumsy ineptitude -- nope, all the things that went wrong in April 2020 when a crazy nut spent hours driving around killing people and burning houses and 22 people died has all just been blamed on fog of war, acts of god, not knowing what was happening, it was dark, or somebody else's fault. 

So today, it was the RCMP Commissioner's turn to be blamed, for the awful communications after the event. Lucki apparently ordered the RCMP commanders on site to release the number of people killed and they futzed around and didn't do it so she did and then they were all insulted and so she went to Nova Scotia to reprimand command staff and she made people cry. 

Oh, the horror! 

Here is the report (PDF) where this chain of events is detailed - Public Communications between RCMP and Governments following the Mass Casualty.

RCMP statements were riddled with mistakes and omissions after N.S. mass shooting https://t.co/xtVgvTRHVB

— Todd Battis (@battisctv) June 21, 2022

The Nova Scotia RCMP management seem to have screwed up from the beginning of this nightmare. They have blamed everyone except themselves.
So now it's the Commissioner's turn.

— Cathie from Canada 🇨🇦 😷🏳️‍🌈 (@CathieCanada) June 22, 2022

This is what Evan Scrimshaw wrote tonight about the whole debacle: 

Here's where we have to read the tea leaves – what was said in the meeting between Lucki and Campbell is unknown, except that Campbell said that he made the decision to disobey her direct order on operation grounds, and that Lucki was so harsh some people cried. On the latter part, boo hoo. Who fucking cares if your boss was mean to you after a monumental fuckup. Cry more. On the former part, also fuck off, because I didn’t think that police officers got to disobey direct orders because they feel like it. Under no reasonable org chart does the fucking Commissioner not trump whatever the fuck his job title was, and he disobeyed a direct order. Yeah, you get yelled at for that.

Other commenters are not impressed with the sudden burst of political tut-tutting after politics reared its ugly head.

New rule: if you haven’t mentioned the inquiry into the absolutely horrifically bungled RCMP response into the #Portapique massacre prior to today, you don’t get to pretend to care about it now that there’s some bullshit peripheral political brouhaha.

— Shannon 🇺🇦 (@zchamu) June 22, 2022

It’s so depressing. They fucked up during the shooting and then could not explain themselves, and here we are. It’s unfair to the victims, the families, Nova Scotians and the many good officers out there driving down gravel roads with the buffalo on the door.

— Stephen Maher (@stphnmaher) June 21, 2022

Oh, and by the way...

Top Mountie denies claim she interfered in N.S. shooting investigation | CBC News https://t.co/7bXSvL9NK5

— National Newswatch (@natnewswatch) June 22, 2022

Jan 6 Committee: 

Powerful testimony at the hearings today, from people whose lives have been ruined because they stood up for the US constitution and did the jobs they were sworn to do. 

This statement from Rusty Bowers was particularly moving:

"I do not want to be a winner by cheating," wrote Arizona GOP House Speaker Rusty Bowers in Dec. 2020.

He testified to the #Jan6Committee that he refused pleas from Trump's team to de-certify the state's electors https://t.co/Um1ScPawG2 pic.twitter.com/Icq1SfbWYu

— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) June 21, 2022

A gasp in the room as Shaye Moss testifies she received countless violent and racist threats on Facebook messenger including the threat “You’re lucky it’s 2020 and not 1920.” #January6thCommitteeHearings

— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) June 21, 2022

Lady Ruby and Shaye,

I know what it’s like to have the President of the United States attack me. Stay strong. We are better than him and we will prevail. Much love!

— Alexander S. Vindman (@AVindman) June 21, 2022

"I was thinking about the weird, psychotic fear that has overtaken millions of Americans...friends I have known for years now seem to speak a different language, a kind of Fox-infused, "Gish Galloping" patois that makes no sense" omg @RadioFreeTom 😂 https://t.co/22kFnBBHIY

— Tim Miller (@Timodc) June 22, 2022

Adam Schiff's closing statement today may just be the most powerful speech of the year. Every American needs to watch this. Make sure to share it with a friend. https://t.co/OLIKc7MmKC

— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch) June 21, 2022

National Indigenous Peoples Day

June 21 is National Indigenous Peoples Day - here are some tweets that I liked about this important day.

Here is Trudeau;s speech: "such strength, such resilience"

Miigwich PM @JustinTrudeau for this. It brought tears to my First Nations eyes. A’ho!🪶👊🏽🇨🇦💔🧡#IndigenousHistoryMonth #IndigenousPeoplesDay pic.twitter.com/nFW6ic9BND

— Indigenous Voices Matter🪶🇨🇦🧡🇺🇸💙🇺🇦💛 (@Voic6Indigenous) June 21, 2022

Rise, revive, resist, reclaim, restore! We are the generation our ancestors foresaw to rise & take our rightful place in this day and age. We have overcome 500 years of tyranny against our survival. We gained strength & did not die. We are still here. We thrive, we rise in love❤️ pic.twitter.com/7F7QPznxaB

— Brandi Morin (@Songstress28) June 21, 2022

Here is a link to the Indigenous Ally Toolkit

Today is the National Indigenous Peoples Day. A good occasion to review the Indigenous Ally Toolkit https://t.co/rwM6l7izNl pic.twitter.com/NJflPG2qBd

— Najmeh Khalili-Mahani (aka Naj) (@play_d_pain) June 21, 2022

Celebrate with us — today’s #IndigenousPeoplesDay pic.twitter.com/r7VAEPv0N6

— Lakota Man (@LakotaMan1) June 21, 2022

So many things we could all learn better:

I interviewed Indigenous language learners/speakers and one Sm'álgyax learner said there's a term in their language used often that means "good enough" & everything ppl did was "good enough" & there was no negative connotation to that, which represents an ideology of enough-ness.

— Emilee Gilpin (@emileegilpin) June 21, 2022

Considered by some to be a Father of Confederation, Jose Kusugak (1950-2011) played a critical role in efforts leading to the creation of Nunavut in 1999 and devoted his life to raising awareness of Inuit identity & issues. Read more: https://t.co/QhB7e6Ekjm #NIHM2022 pic.twitter.com/vTc6smsSXC

— Canada Post (@canadapostcorp) June 15, 2022

The Federal Court of Canada has certified a class-action lawsuit against the federal government on behalf of off-reserve Indigenous children who were taken from their families and placed in non-Indigenous care.https://t.co/8pHc0JUZfY

— CBC Indigenous (@CBCIndigenous) June 20, 2022

Does Bannock Have a Place in Indigenous Cuisine?
Though it's typically considered traditional food, its origins are more complicated https://t.co/kNjPvvFa1S #TheWalrusArchives

— The Walrus (@thewalrus) June 21, 2022

Visualizing the Climate Crisis Through the Lens of Indigenous Photographers | This collection of work illustrates the interconnectivity of Indigenous identity, the land, and the climate crisis.

Explore the collection in partnership with @ndigenousphoto: https://t.co/4F788tXVq9 pic.twitter.com/jf8BGdKs42

— Pulitzer Center (@pulitzercenter) June 21, 2022

Here's some progress too:

Marilynn “Lynn” Malerba, a Native American woman and lifetime chief of the Mohegan Tribe, will be the next U.S. treasurer, the White House announced.

Her signature will appear on U.S. currency. https://t.co/T1ef5PHRJR

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) June 21, 2022

Today's News: Updates

A batch of updates tonight - here we go

Juneteenth:

Drew Litton, The Colorado Sun #juneteenth2022 pic.twitter.com/EHo0SjG7v7

— Editorial & Political Cartoons (@EandPCartoons) June 19, 2022

Steve Sack, The Minneapolis Star Tribune @ThatSteveSack #juneteenth2022 #CRT pic.twitter.com/idsnMwgQ1F

— Editorial & Political Cartoons (@EandPCartoons) June 19, 2022

Pride:

This observation from Peggy Atwood:

Here comes Gilead. Wall hangings. Pride events targeted in surge of anti-LGBTQ threats, violence https://t.co/86ohwgNtjK

— Margaret E. Atwood (@MargaretAtwood) June 20, 2022

Ukraine Russia War: 

Interesting summary from military analyst Mike Martin comparing the fighting in the Donbass with the Ukraine advances around Kherson, a much more significant battle. 

Here are some parts of this thread:

NB this is more territory than the Russians have taken in the East by the way.

— Dr Mike Martin ⛵️ (@ThreshedThought) June 18, 2022

These people paint themselves as realists, but the Ukrainians—ultimate realists—know that concessions now will embolden Putin, or the next leader, to come and have another go.

The only option for Ukraine is complete defeat of Russia within Ukrainian borders.

— Dr Mike Martin ⛵️ (@ThreshedThought) June 18, 2022

They know—like the Finns do after 1941—that the only way to ensure peace from Russia is to hand them their arses on a plate.

— Dr Mike Martin ⛵️ (@ThreshedThought) June 18, 2022

Also a great article in The Atlantic comparing Ukraine and Chechnya:

"Putin’s strategic patience is based on sound precedent."
"Should the West abandon a ravaged #Ukraine to a similar fate—a flawed cease-fire leading to a failing state that is prey to a refocused Russian assault—this will be the scenario."@NeilPHauer
2/2

— Nicolas Tenzer (@NTenzer) June 20, 2022

Update of the update - I just saw these tweets about Lithuania's partial blockade:

This Lithuania’s partial blockade of goods to Russia’s exclave Kaliningrad is something to watch. Lithuania is fully justified in taking this step blocking prohibited goods from transiting its territory. Russia will see this as a provocation & escalation & will seek to respond. https://t.co/xhJsiXPQyp

— Alexander S. Vindman (@AVindman) June 20, 2022

You know what *would* have an effect on the outcome of the war? Russia leaving Ukraine.

Use that energy you have for LT to tell Russia to get out of Ukraine, stop raping women and children and stealing food.

Also, stop being a groupie for the Kremlin. https://t.co/Re25t7F2Gf

— Terrell Jermaine Starr 🇺🇦 (@terrelljstarr) June 21, 2022

Today's News: About authoritarianism

Over the last several days, I have seen a number of tweets and comments about authoritarianism as people try to understand what happened with everything from Jan 6 Insurrection to the FluTruxKlan, and what's coming up. 

Here's a roundup - 

First, Lindsay Graham has said some remarkably stupid stuff over the years, but this one takes the cake:

81 million Americans weren’t afraid of him. https://t.co/PVihXS2ULV

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) June 17, 2022

pic.twitter.com/nBjV1g2dA5

— wheredkittygo (@wheredkittygo) June 18, 2022

This is the most pure, artless, guileless expression of the authoritarian personality I've ever seen. https://t.co/6J0Fv5dOyS

— David Roberts (@drvolts) June 17, 2022

🎯 pic.twitter.com/Hn2LMDKyuA

— Alex Max Leupp (@ALXinPDX) June 18, 2022

"Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish." ~ Euripides

— quotebot (@quot3bot) June 20, 2022

When @jonkay wrote his book on conspiracies he told me something I never forgot: when someone who has gone over the edge hears an hard truth from someone they’d normally trust, instead of re-evaluating their own view, they assume their trusted person is now compromised. In on it.

— Matt Gurney (@mattgurney) June 19, 2022

Winslow is 💯 correct. "When they go low, we go high" has proven a sucker's game. Time to pull out all the stops and treat this like the war that it is. We're engaged in an Oxford debate under Queensberry rules, while the 🐢 and ilk have brought a nuclear arsenal to a gun fight. https://t.co/ssuazpZsUE

— Jackie Blue 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇺🇦 🌻 (@MsFuddleDuddle) June 18, 2022

Moving on to our very own Canadian authoritarian wanna-be, I think Poilievre's war room has finally figured out what his message should be -- keep saying "freedom" over and over, whether it makes any sense or not:

"Narnia is cool and coolness is it's nationality." That's why I'm running to be King - to put you back in control of your life and make Narnia the coolest country in the wardrobe.

See how meaningless his words are? pic.twitter.com/kwjRMqdSgX

— Kyle Anderson (@DrKyle) June 20, 2022

Today's News: Pride parade again

Today was Saskatoon Pride parade day - thousands lined our streets, in spite of the heat, for our first parade since 2019:

In photos: Sun shines on Saskatoon's 2022 Pride Parade https://t.co/WZWBfSdfEi

— TheStarPhoenix.com (@TheStarPhoenix) June 18, 2022

Happy Pride Saskatoon! Parade starts in two minutes. #HappyPride #yxe pic.twitter.com/B0vrDpJz51

— Janice Braden (@JL_Braden) June 18, 2022

The usual sights of rainbow flags and ear-to-ear smiles returned for the Saskatoon Pride parade on Saturday. https://t.co/pjQoDaxKXX

— CTV Saskatoon (@ctvsaskatoon) June 19, 2022

What a wonderful day in this beautiful weather to celebrate Pride in Saskatoon. I'm thankful for the splash park at the end of the route because is was cooking out there. pic.twitter.com/FUG5quYtMR

— Kyle Anderson (@DrKyle) June 19, 2022

Today, GGP clients and staff gathered to decorate our van and walk in the Saskatoon Pride Parade! We are so proud to take part in this annual tradition. For many of our clients, this was their very first time seeing a pride parade, let alone being in one! What a joyful day 🏳️‍🌈 pic.twitter.com/5QKlIGNP9U

— Global Gathering Place (@global_place) June 18, 2022

Today MN–S celebrates diversity with Pride! Métis citizens, friends, and family-members walked in the Saskatoon Pride Parade. Together we are working to create a rich culture of understanding by embracing inclusiveness and diversity. #ThrivewithPride #PrideMonth pic.twitter.com/vdMSJR1Tdh

— Métis Nation–SK (@metisnationsask) June 18, 2022

We are proud to partner with @USaskMedDean to #ShowOurPride today at the annual Saskatoon Pride Parade. Thx to everyone who joined us! 👍🏻 🏳️‍🌈@SMSS_SK @ResidentDocsSK @DennisKendel pic.twitter.com/ynIxVGicCx

— Sask Medical Assoc. (@SMA_docs) June 18, 2022

Today's News: A tangled ball of string

The LA Times has a major article describing the gang of third-raters, rubes, grifters and gullibles who were trying to overturn Biden's election. 

First, it's all just one big tangled ball of string -- the same bunch of fellow travellers keep turning up through all sorts of Trump Administration scandals. For example: 

...Some of the key players in the group were already working together in New York City before the election to crack the laptop of Hunter Biden, son of the Democratic nominee, said former Overstock.com Chief Executive Patrick Byrne, who was a major funder of the effort ...[and] was in an intimate relationship with Russian agent Maria Butina, who was convicted in the U.S. in connection with Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. 

Yes, there's Russia again -- if you look into anything connected to the Trump administration, Russia always seems to show up, like a cat sneaking in through any opened door.

Second, they actually did have a strategy to try to overturn Biden's election -- to prove the voting machines of key counties were corrupt, and to convince state lawmakers the election results were so tainted that they needed to reject state results: 

...they planned weeks of lawsuits, attempts to access voting machines and ways to persuade lawmakers to reject key state election results, driven by a frantic mission whose goal was to keep then-President Trump in office after an election he lost. .

..Some said they believed Trump’s months of claims that he could only lose if the election was stolen, others cared less about politics and were already convinced that fraud tainted all American elections.

Ultimately, they produced a report that supposedly wrapped it all up, with the goal of convincing Republicans in Congress on Jan 6 to either return the election results to the states, or to themselves accept alternate slates of Trump electors.  

The final Hail Mary was to get the presumably Trump-supporting Supreme Court to end the Jan 6 certification - a plan that did not succeed when Nancy Pelosi carried on immediately after the riot, and the Republican senators were unable to delay the vote. 

Also, and I believe this was key, Antifa DIDN'T SHOW UP so there were no bloody clashes in the streets which would have justified Trump declaring martial law and shutting down the certification. The goal on that day was to delay the certification and throw everything into chaos:

😳Ginni Thomas was working w Sidney Powell who admitted that the Capitol riot would have given time for SCOTUS Justice Alito to stop the certification… then the alternate slate of electors plan would make it to the Supreme Court where the stacked court would vote to allow it.🗳 https://t.co/CdTAoAs8Y2 pic.twitter.com/giKjubMGUp

— Venture Capital (@kelly2277) March 25, 2022

Chief Justice John Roberts can’t force Clarance Thomas to resign but he can absolutely ask him to.

— Chris Hahn (@ChristopherHahn) June 16, 2022

Today's News: Remember remember....

It doesn't quite scan like "Remember remember the 5th of November", but remembering Jan 6 2021 is now a cottage industry in the United States and the Jan 6 Committee hearings are getting more fascinating with every passing day. 

Today we found out how Trump kept himself surrounded by third-raters who would promote his fantasy that the election had been stolen. And who still promote it. 

But Vice President Mike Pence knew in December that Biden had won the election and he also knew that the Vice President did not have the authority to reject or change the American election results after states reported them. (Why he didn't announce this in December is a question asked by MSNBC tonight too.) 

We also found out that during the Jan 6 insurrection, Pence and his family and staff were within 40 feet of the protestors who wanted to "hang Mike Pence".

Everyone else (frightened): They were so close
Elected Republicans (pissed): We were so close

— Andy Richter (@AndyRichter) June 16, 2022

Judge Luttig kills the Eastman plan/Greenbay sweep dead. Testifies there is "no support in either the Constitution or the laws of the US..to count alternative slates of electors."

— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) June 16, 2022

Luttig closes with this: "I have written that today, almost two years after that fateful day in January of 2021, that still, Donald Trump and his law allies and supporters are a clear and present danger to American democracy." pic.twitter.com/tBxqRrCvlO

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 16, 2022

Judge Luttig correctly sees the coup-plotters of January 6 as revolutionaries against American democracy.

— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) June 16, 2022

Luttig was the conservative judge that W thought about nominating to the Supreme Court but then he picked Alito instead. What a loss that was to America!

I know this is bad for democracy and all, but "Third, I've decided I should be on the pardon list, if that's still in the works" is objectively the funniest thing that's been said by an attorney for the president since Four Seasons Landscaping.

— Susan Simpson (@TheViewFromLL2) June 16, 2022

So then Tom Nichols decided to start a meme:

I've decided I should be on the pardon list. If that's still in the works. pic.twitter.com/a75xqO44NS

— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) June 17, 2022

And there are now hundreds of tweets in the series.

Today's News: Some comments on the passing scene

Just a bunch of observations today on the passing scene.

First up, interest rates. And I do mean up.

Now, perhaps there is a problem with the conventional wisdom that raising interest rates will stop "inflation". The problem is - maybe it won't.

As Atrios (economist Duncan Black) describes it: 

A problem at the moment is the conflation of "increases in the Consumer Price Index" with "inflation" and they aren't precisely the same thing. At least, the theoretical concept of "inflation" which economists think about when they are lost in their models is not identical to this, especially over the not-very-long-term.

Supply chains bottlenecks, energy price spikes, and various monopoly power pricing are not "inflation" as imagined by economists. If it isn't essentially "too much money sloshing around" then "less money sloshing around" is not the solution. 

Inflation as currently experienced by consumers is not the "inflation" that is solved by jacking up interest rates and driving people out of work, and in fact this solution is likely to exacerbate the problem in addition to creating additional economic misery. 

 Good job, everyone, as usual. Now you can move on to the next disastrous idea while blaming (spins wheel) trans people. 

turning a big dial that says "Recession" on it and constantly looking back at economists for approval like a contestant on the price is right

— Osita Nwanevu (@OsitaNwanevu) June 15, 2022

Folks, please spend a moment reviewing this data. The lie that Joe Biden or policies implemented to help people struggling with COVID caused our current inflation levels needs to be put to rest once and for all. https://t.co/VB2up4j85G

— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) June 14, 2022

Beware promoting "told you so" economists who got the causes of this inflation wrong, who continue to harp on Biden Admin public policy as the problem even though inflation is a global problem and Biden policies played a minor role in fueling the current situation.

— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) June 14, 2022

Second, conspiracy theories. 

I saw some tweets yesterday from Abacus so I looked up the data. It isn't pretty. 

They recently published three articles about "Trust & Facts: What Canadians Believe"

- almost half of those interviewed think "much of the information we receive from news organizations is false.”  And they also don't believe what the government tells them either.

- a significant percentage believe in political, economic or racist conspiracy theories. 

- and a smaller percentage believe in Covid conspiracy theories. 

Here are some charts: 

Today's News: "You can't handle the truth!"

Whoever this “someone” was… https://t.co/DD07Eluflj pic.twitter.com/JADr2lqewN

— Mark Gerretsen 🇨🇦 🇺🇦 (@MarkGerretsen) June 14, 2022

Here's one thing I noticed today -- because Trudeau has Covid and has to appear on video in the Commons, he doesn't get interrupted by hecklers as much, and he can actually make his points without interruption. So, silver lining...

Here is Dale Smith's summary of today's Question Period back-and-forth. Canadians know the truth of the convoy insurrection, we know who had our backs and who did not, and we still support the Emergencies act: 

While in isolation for his COVID diagnosis, the prime minister pledged to appear virtually, and all of the other leaders were present for a change. Candice Bergen led off, script in front of her, and she went on a paean about telling the truth—which is rich coming from her—and demanded that the prime minister have Marco Mendicino step away from his job. Justin Trudeau, by video, read a list of people who stated at the time of the occupation that their powers had been exhausted, which is why they invoked the Emergencies Act. Bergen outright demanded Mendicino’s resignation, and Trudeau reminded her police should not be able to grant themselves emergency powers, which is why government invoked the Act to give them powers that he listed. Bergen again demanded Mendicino resign, and Trudeau said that this was about the Conservatives trying to hope people forgot their support for the occupation. 

Here's some clips:

PM @JustinTrudeau: CONservatives are hoping Canadians forgot they stood with the illegal blockaders

"Police services needed more tools to deal with these blockades & that's why we stepped up to protect Canadians, we invoked the Emergencies act & it worked to end these blockades" pic.twitter.com/64QkzcCgiB

— Jaro Giesbrecht 🇨🇦🇸🇰 (@JaroGiesbrecht) June 14, 2022

Throughout the (#FreedomConvoy) events of Jan & Feb, CSIS remained engaged with RCMP & law enforcement.

"Indeed CSIS is but one among the various federal departments & agencies, who's collective advice ultimately informed the decision by the GIC to invoke the Emergencies act". pic.twitter.com/JQW4hf3vk6

— Jaro Giesbrecht 🇨🇦🇸🇰 (@JaroGiesbrecht) June 15, 2022

MSM is running interference for the cons again by memory-holing Doug's inaction and MAGA Bergen's wanting to "make it the PM's problem." They're so desperate for the cons to "like" them that they do just that. Scrimshaw today is once more on target:https://t.co/p8rqt5xe8h

— Jackie Blue 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇺🇦 🌻 (@MsFuddleDuddle) June 14, 2022

BOOM! #ResignCandiceBergen #EmergenciesAct #NeverVoteConservative #IStandWithTrudeau #KlondikePapers #PlymouthBrethren #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/K7oYWfWmGQ

— Indigenous Voices Matter🪶🇨🇦🧡🇺🇸💙🇺🇦💛 (@Voic6Indigenous) June 14, 2022

It wouldn’t be June if the opposition didn’t demand ministerial resignations. #QP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) June 14, 2022

Funny stuff

Just a random collection of funny stuff tonight 

So who knew there could be TWO ranked bulldogs in North American Diving Dogs? But here is one of them, Chewy!

This is Chewy. He competed in his first dock diving event last month. Proud to be one of only two ranked bulldogs with North American Diving Dogs. 13/10 obviously a natural pic.twitter.com/E4MtzL0RSk

— WeRateDogs® (@dog_rates) June 13, 2022

When you open the tweet, make sure you also click on the Alt text to read it too. 

 And speaking of "diving"...

Someone does NOT like their kitty tent 😂 pic.twitter.com/3nk8I9T7XQ

— Sandy 🌸🏵️ (@OGPieGirl) June 12, 2022

I want to cry! Dogs are the best friends! ❤️ #doggy #dogsoftwitter #NationalBestFriendDay pic.twitter.com/a09zZ1Xsqp

— Update (@mypaygains) June 13, 2022

Twitter is weird sometimes!

offering a new service where if you pay me in advance and give me your password i’ll live tweet your funeral from your account. pay a bit more and the tweets will be delightfully unhinged. pay the premium and i’ll tell your mourner of choice that you never liked them

— nash flynn (@itsnashflynn) June 13, 2022

additional idea: for an extra fee, i’ll dig you back up after a few months and stand you up in your boss’s office with a sign that says ‘heard you were short staffed’

— nash flynn (@itsnashflynn) June 13, 2022

friend: you said you were going to therapy

me: [buttering a fourth slice of white bread] i found something better

— Roy🌾 (@Roy_oh_Roy) June 13, 2022

you ARE a good driver. that curb DOESN’T belong there.

— Ordinary (@OrdinaryAlso) June 13, 2022

My friendship goals are hoping I check in with my friends and they check in with me as often and as consistently as Toyota has been trying to get me to bring my mini-van in for service the last two weeks.

— deconstruction mixologist (@thepursuinglife) June 13, 2022

The right is so desperate to have a battle of good versus evil that they’ve decided to play for Team Evil just to speed things along.

— Abraxsys (@Abraxsys) June 13, 2022

Please enjoy my #PierrePoilievre cartoon for Tuesday's @TorontoStar pic.twitter.com/gkpGTZjtsK

— Theo Moudakis (@TheoMoudakis) June 13, 2022

pic.twitter.com/LGb06maSRD

— Doug Feldman (@Badbeat29) June 13, 2022

This one! pic.twitter.com/ewuVYboRQQ

— Lisa (@MeowSiamese) June 11, 2022

Wholesome content for the day 🥹🥹 #CalvinandHobbes pic.twitter.com/zCUhoq0YCC

— Calvin and Hobbes (@Calvinn_Hobbes) June 13, 2022

Here is some excellent news!

Hi, Cowessess First Nation and Ochapowace First Nation lead the 2022 Regina Pride Parade. We must model inclusion, be a ally who is proactive, and empower our listening skills. Was a honour to walk beside many. 🥰 pic.twitter.com/RjEXpSZYbe

— Cadmus (@cadmusd) June 13, 2022