I don't see it.  2022 was a pretty good year.  It was a good year for democracies around the world.  And a bad year for autocrats.  

2023 is going to be interesting I think.  In the Chinese proverb sense.  Charges for Trump.  And probably lots of others.  Possible recession.  The Republican Monkey House will be in high gear.

But here's a prediction. I think it's possible a saner segment may rise in the Republican party.  Even in the House.  The Biden administration learned from the Obama years not to expect people to be smart enough to see the truth.  Do they are making big plans to help them.

There is a massive democratic dark money group planning to go after house Republicans and respond to any nonsense.

Buckle up.  

On the home front, kids, grandkids doing well, and we started traveling again--Hawaii last winter, and Paris/Dordogne this fall.

Unfortunately, after so much care, for so long, and all the vaccines and boosters, all of us caught Covid late summer and fall, but everyone recovered quickly...so all good I guess.

Thanks Jeralyn for keeping up the site for so many years. It's kept hope alive through some very dark moments.

So dear, so refreshing, so fleeting.

-Zen Master Issa on the death of his daughter.

McCarthy Suggested Democrats Would Leave Chamber
January 3, 2023 at 4:28 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 265 Comments

In conversations with Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) on the House floor, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was told that Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) told members of his caucus that Democrats would walk away from the chamber to lower the threshold McCarthy would need to be elected speaker, ABC News reports.

But Ocasio-Cortez told them: "We would never do that."

That Kevin really thought that by just voting and voting and voting democrats would get bored and leave.
The goal being to win a majority of THOSE PRESENT

America's Coming Age of Instability
January 8, 2023 at 2:30 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 311 Comments

Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way, writing in Foreign Affairs:

"The United States appears headed toward endemic regime instability. Such a scenario would be marked by frequent constitutional crises, including contested or stolen elections and severe conflict between presidents and Congress (such as impeachments and executive efforts to bypass Congress), the judiciary (such as efforts to purge or pack the courts), and state governments (such as intense battles over voting rights and the administration of elections)."

"The United States would likely shift back and forth between periods of dysfunctional democracy and periods of competitive authoritarian rule during which incumbents abuse state power, tolerate or encourage violent extremism, and tilt the electoral playing field against their rivals."

"In this sense, American politics may come to resemble not Russia but its neighbor Ukraine, which has oscillated for decades between democracy and competitive authoritarianism, depending on which partisan forces controlled the executive. For the foreseeable future, U.S. presidential elections will involve not simply a choice between competing sets of policies but rather a more fundamental choice over whether the country will be democratic or authoritarian."

Dear Trump, please permit me to add my very favorite Republican woman, Ginni Thomas, to your splendid list. Or there is that female legislator in Missouri who introduced the successful resolution to require women legislators to cover their arms, by wearing jackets over dresses. Such a forward thinker would be welcomed by the fascist base.

In a 20 -page report, the court's marshal said investigators had conducted 126 formal interviews of 97.employees, all of whom had denied being the source of the leak. And, no forensic evidence was found by examining the court's "computer devices, networks, printers and available call and text logs."

 Evan Coren: "In the 2022 midterms a swing of only 6,647 votes combined across the closest House races would have resulted in a Democratic majority in the House."

Ken Buck Ready to Back Steve Scalise for Speaker
January 4, 2023 at 2:23 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 120 Comments

Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), who has voted for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for speaker, told CNN that Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) would be the next choice for speaker.

Buck said he will not vote for McCarthy in future rounds of voting.

Said Buck: "At some point this needs to break loose. He either needs to make a deal to bring them over or he needs to step aside and give somebody else a chance to do that."

Guzmán is one of ten children of "El Chapo," the infamous drug lord who turned the Sinaloa drug cartel into one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the world, and who is now serving a prison sentence in the U.S. for drug trafficking. His son's arrest comes days before President Biden is scheduled to arrive in Mexico City for a state visit with Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Earlier this week, Hussey and Whiting, now 71 and 72, sued Paramount, claiming that Zeffirelli -- who died in 2019 -- violated their consent by filming them nude without their knowledge; Hussey and Whiting were 15 and 16 years old at the time of shooting.

"What they were told and what went on were two different things," Tony Marinozzi, who serves as a business manager for both Hussey and Whiting, said in a statement. "They trusted Franco. At 16, as actors, they took his lead that he would not violate that trust they had. Franco was their friend, and frankly, at 16, what do they do? There are no options. There was no #MeToo."

Franco Zeffirelli's son Pippo, took offense...

It is embarrassing to hear that today, 55 years after filming, two elderly actors who owe their notoriety essentially to this film wake up to declare that they have suffered an abuse that has caused them years of anxiety and emotional discomfort,

From a judging the past from the rules of today, the state and federal laws of the time, may well apply for sexual harassment or child sexual abuse if the facts support the charges.

 The fraud  stems from the allegation that the Director, Franco Zeffirelli (now deceased) deceived the then teenagers by promising the use of flesh-colored.undergarments for the scene, but conned them into using just body make-up. It documents and other factual evidence backs the allegation, that may be  the strongest argument for their case and may suggest a settlement.

Biden Worries Secret Service Is Loyal to Trump
January 13, 2023 at 11:02 am EST By Taegan Goddard 46 Comments

"According to a new book offering an inside look at President Joe Biden's White House, Biden actively distrusts the Secret Service to the point that he does not speak freely in front of his agents and he believed that the agency lied about an incident where Biden's German shepherd Major bit an agent," Vox reports.

But Aaron Sorkin or Stephen King?

Biden Strategy to Manage Documents Fallout Takes Shape
January 18, 2023 at 9:10 am EST By Taegan Goddard 79 Comments

"The White House strategy to manage the special counsel investigation into President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents has taken shape," CNN reports.

"Pledge full cooperation. Attack House Republicans. Don't engage on the details of an ongoing matter."

"Most of all, maintain the meticulously planned strategic road map on which Biden planned to act this month long before all but a small handful of White House officials were even aware the handling of classified documents was a problem for anyone other than his predecessor."

It was all a brilliant plan.

Official Asked About Trump's Handling of Russia Papers

January 18, 2023 at 3:08 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 55 Comments

Murray Waas: "On the eve of Donald Trump's last day in office as President, Trump sent a memo to his attorney general, and also the directors of National Intelligence and the CIA, directing them to declassify thousands of pages of highly classified government papers pertaining to the FBI's investigation into the Russian Federation's covert intervention into the 2016 US presidential election to help elect Trump and defeat Hillary Clinton."

"But Trump was stymied in his efforts to make the records public, leading the outgoing president to rage to aides that the documents would never see the light of day."

"Now, sources close to Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation tell me that prosecutors have questioned at least three people about whether Trump's frustrations may have been a motive in Trump taking thousands of pages of classified papers from the White House to Mar-A-Largo, in potential violation of federal law. One of those people was compelled to testify before a federal grand jury."

"The sources say that prosecutors appear to believe the episode may be central to determining Trump's intent for his unauthorized removal from the White House of the papers."

Trump Warns Republicans Not to Touch Social Security
January 20, 2023 at 9:29 am EST By Taegan Goddard 68 Comments

"Donald Trump issued a warning to Republican lawmakers on Friday: Don't lay a finger on entitlement programs as part of the debt ceiling showdown with the White House," Politico reports.

Said Trump: "Under no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security."

"The two-minute video -- which goes on to lambaste President Joe Biden over the migration crisis at the southern border -- is part of a series of policy announcements put out by his campaign. And it comes amid growing brinkmanship between congressional Republicans and the White House over raising the nation's debt limit."

So he drops another frivolous lawsuit

Does that make me a bad person?

The memorial for Lynette 'Diamond' Hardaway, half of the pro-Trump vlogging duo 'Diamond and Silk,' took a dark turn on Saturday as her sister, Rochelle 'Silk' Richardson, detailed the late 51-year-old's final moments and alluded to a nefarious poisoning plot she claims caused her death.

The three-hour service held in North Carolina saw hundreds of Make America Great Again (MAGA) figures in attendance, including the former U.S. President himself, and featured musical performances and talks from conservative figureheads.

The right-wing tribute to Diamond took a turn however as prominent anti-vaxxer and Diamond's sister Silk took the stage - questioning whether Americans are being poisoned spurring Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to demand an investigation into the COVID vaccine.

Arkansas drag Queen law

If approved, the bill would classify a drag show as adult entertainment inside an adult-oriented business. This means anyone under 18 years old could not watch the show, and it could not happen on public property.

From the actual bill

Drag performance" means a performance: (A) In which one (1) or more performers:

(i) Exhibits a gender identity that is different from the performer's gender assigned at birth using clothing, makeup, or
other accessories that are traditionally worn by members of and are meant to exaggerate the gender identity of the performer's opposite sex; and
(ii) Sings, lip-synchs, dances, or otherwise performs before an audience of at least two (2) persons for entertainment,
whether performed for payment or not; and

As a final part of the investigation, CJ Roberts asked Michael Chertoff, former Homeland Secretary and federal appeals court judge, to review the "iterative" investigation of the Court's Marshal, Gail Curley.  

In a statement included in the 20-page report, Chertoff said that the Marshal "undertook a thorough investigation" and that he "cannot identify any additional useful informative measures".

A riddle that cannot be solved.   Now, how bad was this leak anyhow?  Must be very bad, since that is what the Supreme Court Justices said it was. Alito was even concerned about assassination. So bad an internal investigation was needed to get to the bottom of it.

Michael Chertoff, we remember was the Secretary of Homeland Security who was accused of botching the response to Hurricane Katrina. So bad, that the chronically "troubled" Senator Susan Collins (R.ME) charged him as being "consistently behind the curve."

 Chertoff is friends with some of the SC justices. He was (1987-1990) first assistant to Alito when Alito was US Attorney for New Jersey and he succeeded Alito in that job. Also, Chertoff and Alito served together as federal appeals court judges from 2003 to 2005.

After the hearing, Judge McBurney could rule that the report should be made public in its entirety, with redactions regarding specific people and specific laws they might have broken, or opt to keep the entire thing under wraps pending further review.

Any of those rulings could be appealed.

The district attorney's office has received the full report and can issue indictments through a regular grand jury process with or without the report being publicized. Willis might also push to keep the report from the public until her office makes decisions about charges.

Link

I've seen about half. I really like AQOTWF and Everything.

We all knew it was a partisan witch hunt

the main thrust of the Durham inquiry was marked by some of the very same flaws -- including a strained justification for opening it and its role in fueling partisan conspiracy theories that would never be charged in court -- that Trump allies claim characterized the Russia investigation.

Durham inquiry became roiled by internal dissent and ethical disputes as it went unsuccessfully down one path after another even as Mr. Trump and Mr. Barr promoted a misleading narrative of its progress.

This however is a very interesting

On one of Mr. Barr and Mr. Durham's trips to Europe, according to people familiar with the matter, Italian officials -- while denying any role in setting off the Russia investigation -- unexpectedly offered a potentially explosive tip linking Mr. Trump to certain suspected financial crimes.

Mr. Barr and Mr. Durham decided that the tip was too serious and credible to ignore.

But rather than assign it to another prosecutor, Mr. Barr had Mr. Durham investigate the matter himself -- giving him criminal prosecution powers for the first time -- even though the possible wrongdoing by Mr. Trump did not fall squarely within Mr. Durham's assignment