With a friend like that, who needs an enemy?

Share

Author: patd

“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked. "Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad." "How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice. "You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

41 thoughts on “With a friend like that, who needs an enemy?”

  1. Tis the privilege of friendship to talk nonsense, and to have her nonsense respected.

    – Charles Lamb

     

    well, just so she doesn’t email it.

  2. another day another court

    Bill recaps the top stories of the week, including Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson’s grueling confirmation hearing.

  3. more bill et al on the BFF

    Sen. Jon Tester and John Heilemann join Bill to discuss Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the conspiracy-loving wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarance Thom

  4. how the world heard about it/her yesterday: 

    Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward joins Morning Joe to discuss his latest reporting on wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Virginia Thomas, urging then-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in the weeks after Election Day to pursue efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

  5. the hill:

    “Justice Thomas is a great American and an outstanding Justice. I have total confidence in his brilliance and impartiality in every aspect of the work of the Court,” McConnell said in a statement. 

    McCarthy, during a press conference at a House GOP retreat, said that he didn’t think Thomas should recuse himself from future Jan. 6-related cases.  

    “No, I think Justice Thomas could make his decisions like he’s made them every other time. It’s his decision based upon law,” McCarthy said.  

     

    this? from a guy who’s quoted in Mitch McConnell: “I Cannot And Will Not Support” Judge Jackson For Supreme Court | Video | RealClearPolitics

    “Judge Jackson refuses to reject the fringe position….”

  7. MOSCOW Mitch McConnell was an oligarchs bestie back in the day. I wonder if he had been for sanctions during the last administration, if things might be different now.

  8. https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/25/politics/donald-trump-children-deposition-lawsuit/index.html

    “The former President agreed to be deposed on June 16 while Eric Trump will sit for questioning on May 12 and Donald Trump Jr. on May 10, according to a letter filed with the court. The letter said a date for Ivanka Trump’s deposition had not been proposed.”

    “The Trumps are accused of pocketing millions in payments between 2005 and 2015 to promote what they described as promising business opportunities: ACN Opportunity, as well as the Trump Network, a vitamin and health product marketing company, and The Trump Institute…”

  9. Thoughts about someone in a position he should never have been put in.  A Justice who was getting so healthy he stayed in the hospital an extra four days is probably who I am thinking of.  The very first question is why was he nominated and then after the attacks on a woman became known allowed to continue.  After all these years we know that republicans, euphemistically called conservative, consider sexual assault to be a plus in a dirty old man’s resume. They have no shame.
    If you ever want a laugh about legal writings take a look at his.  For years on the bench he followed the maxim of keeping mouth shut because once open it will show how dumb you are.  I think he knew what he was and by sitting there not asking questions the best course of action.
    Now we know more about his family life.  Actually, more than we knew before.  I wonder if he kept his mouth shut at home too.

  10. BB, with a wife like that, wouldn’t you have kept quiet or better yet quietly left and, to be safe, ducking while shutting the door?

  11. KLAS (8newsnow.com)

    DOHA, Qatar — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made a surprise video appearance at Qatar’s Doha Forum.
    Zelenskyy in his video address Saturday criticized Russia’s ongoing war on his nation. He called on the United Nations and world powers to come to his aid. He compared Russia’s destruction of the port city of Mariupol to the Syrian and Russian destruction wrought on the city of Aleppo in the Syrian war.
    “They are destroying our ports,” Zelenskyy said. “The absence of exports from Ukraine will deal a blow to countries worldwide.”
    He added: “The future of Europe rests with your efforts.” He called on countries to increase their exports of energy — something particularly important as Qatar is a world leader in the export of natural gas.
    He criticized Russia for what he described as threatening the world with its nuclear weapons.
    “Russia is deliberating bragging they can destroy with nuclear weapons, not only a certain country but the entire planet,” Zelenskyy said.
    He also noted Muslims in Ukraine would have to fight during the upcoming holy fasting month of Ramadan.
    “We have to ensure this sacred month of Ramadan is not overshadowed by the misery of people in Ukraine,” he said.

     

    also at doha:

    U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina on hand for the forum, praised the event for having the top diplomats of Saudi Arabia and Qatar sharing a stage as a sign that “the embargo is over.”
    However, he noted what he described as a Saudi and Emirati reluctance to condemn Russia over its war on Ukraine. He said he hoped the Russian people would rise up against Vladimir Putin and have “a change in the regime” as “they have a very dead future” with the way things stood now.
    “What you’ve seen on your televisions, like all of us, is war crimes on an industrial scale,” Graham said. “The question for the world is: Can that be forgiven? Can we be the world we want to be and let Putin get away with this? The answer for me is no.”

  12. appearance of more than one conflict?

    Who has more influence on supreme court: Clarence Thomas or his activist wife? | US supreme court | The Guardian

    Clarence Thomas, the hardline conservative supreme court justice, is facing calls for his recusal in the case over race-based affirmative action in college admissions that the court agreed to hear this week.
    The case, which is being brought against Harvard and the University of North Carolina, is the latest potential conflict of interest involving Thomas and his wife Virginia Thomas. Ginni, as she is known, is a prominent rightwing activist who speaks out on a raft of issues that frequently come before the nation’s highest court.
    A one-person conservative powerhouse, she set up her own lobbying company Liberty Consulting in 2010. By her own description, she has “battled for conservative principles in Washington” for over 35 years.
    The challenge to the two universities’ race-conscious admissions policies is being brought by Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA). Its leader Edward Blum has been a relentless opponent of affirmative action and voting rights laws.
    His argument that race-based affirmative action is a quota system that discriminates against Asian students is framed with the supreme court’s newly emboldened rightwing majority in mind. A central player in that new six-justice conservative supermajority is Clarence Thomas, who is the longest-serving of the justices and at 73 will be the oldest once Stephen Breyer retires.
    Justice Thomas’s influence has soared in recent months with the rightward shift of the court following Donald Trump’s three nominations, to the extent that some pundits now dub him the unofficial chief justice of the court.
    SFFA’s lawsuit seeking to strike down affirmative action has received the enthusiastic backing of the conservative National Association of Scholars. It filed an amicus brief in support of the suit, accusing Harvard admissions officials of being prejudiced against Asian students and stereotyping them as “uninteresting, uncreative and one-dimensional”.
    Ginni Thomas sits on the advisory board of the National Association of Scholars. Observers are concerned that her position with a group that has intervened in the affirmative action case could present appearances of conflict of interest.
    […]
    The potential appearance of a conflict of interest over the Harvard case was noted in a recent investigation by the New Yorker reporter Jane Mayer that takes a deep dive into the overlapping interests of the couple. The article chronicles in devastating detail the many instances where Ginni’s political activism appears to present problems for the image and integrity of the court.
    “Ginni Thomas has held so many leadership or advisory positions at conservative pressure groups that it’s hard to keep track of them,” Mayer concluded. “Many, if not all, of these groups have been involved in cases that have come before her husband.”
    […]
    Mayer points out in the New Yorker that an amicus brief was filed in the supreme court case challenging Roe by Robert George who also sits on the advisory board of the National Association of Scholars alongside Ginni Thomas.
    [continues]

  13. Given McConnell’s refusal to vote for Jackson and the whole lack of real action on the Thomas scandal, I would bet the GOP is trying to stall until after November.

    If the Republicans take the Senate, they can prevent Biden from having a second appointment to the Supremes.

     

  14. …appears to present problems for the image and integrity of the court.

    lol, i think that horse left the barn, already

  15. This Ginni Thomas controversy seems like one of those instances where liberals try to “gin-up” outrage, only to be disappointed when, inevitably, nothing comes of it

    Pardon me, i was too busy watching World War III, trying to figure out why i need to be pissed-off about someone’s wife

  16. gqp decision tree – “sigh” “if only she was white” “oh wait a minute” “she is a Democrat” “no way in the path to Hades” “no vote, that was easy”

  17. Russian (Kremlin) TV now “reporting” Hunter Biden is leading Ukraine operation to develop chemical weapons. Not even FOX has come up with that yet.

  18. bink, according to you and pogo lately my participation on the trail these last 2 threads have been a colossal waste of y’all’s time. 

    several solutions to that problem but the one that promises things could be better on the trail, as the song goes, is a little help from friends.   

     

  20. Uncle Joe in kickass Warsaw speech: “For God’s sake this man cannot stay in power.” First time he’s put regime change on the table.

    Interesting Kremlin response: “This is not to be decided by Mr. Biden”. In other words, it is to be decided by someone?

  21. Sorry folks you can’t un-ring that bell.. White House official after Biden’s speech: “The President’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region. He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change.”

    Utterly ridiculous WH anonymously walks back and incorrectly restates what he plainly said. So stupid, undermines his masterfully delivered speech.

  22. Patd…  even though I don’t comment as much as I used to… I very much appreciate your efforts.  I read everything written here and was glad to see posts about something other than the war for a few days… thank you!

  27. Pat………no waste of time by any stretch of any imagination. 
    Those two guys don’t know nothin’  !
    lol

  28. Patd, can’t imagine what I’ve said that suggests that.  I can’t even recall a significant disagreement.  I appreciate you doing the heavy lifting in fact.  And the cartoons?  Love them. 

  29. Not sure how “American liberals” became synonymous with “patd”, can’t a guy criticize contemporary American media editorial discretion without upsetting someone?  Geez

  30. For a good three weeks, there, while Americans cared about Ukraine, guess what no one was talking about?  Dumb Republican bullshit.  It was inspiring!
     
    Oh, well, back to dumb shit Republicans said as news

  31. Stop the presses- a Republican wanted to overturn the election!  News at 11, exposé on mixed-metaphors you can’t afford to miss, after the weather
     
    ✌️🇺🇦

  35. Ukraine captures one of Russia’s most advanced electronic warfare systems, which could reveal military secrets, reports say
     
    The Krasukha-4 command module was found abandoned on the outskirts of Kyiv partly damaged but otherwise intact, The Times of London reported.
    Photos of the unit posted on social media appear to show the container containing the module covered in tree branches, possibly in a hasty camouflage attempt by retreating Russian forces.
     
    The system is designed to jam low-orbit satellites, drones, and missiles, but it is also believed to be able to track NATO aircraft, The Times said.
     
    https://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-captures-one-russias-most-124539212.html
     

  36. Putin will have to bring his invasion of Ukraine to a halt, says ex-US general: ‘He has no choice’
    Nato officials have estimated that 40,000 Russian troops have so far been killed, captured or injured in conflict

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/putin-russia-ukraine-invasion-halt-b2044369.html
     
    “Putin will have to halt his war in Ukraine sooner or later and probably in a matter of weeks,” Gen Ryan, who served as US Defence Attaché to Russia, told Insider.
    “The reason is not because he wants to halt his military operation, but because he has no choice. He has basically reached the capacity of what his military can do for him in Ukraine.”

  38. Poobah, you’ll excuse me if I watch Houston/Villanova, or Yellowstone reruns…or a Shark infomercial instead?

Comments are closed.