Back in February, when the idea of a bipartisan commission to study the events of January 6 first arose, it was the opinion around this shebeen that the whole idea was as doomed as Caesar in the Senate, because the Republicans’ complicity in those events would make the “bipartisan” element of any proposed bipartisan commission at best a burlesque, and at worst a tragedy. The shebeen takes no joy in the fact that it was exactly correct in this regard. The idea is in fact as dead as Kelsey’s nuts. From the :Initial negotiations aimed at establishing an independent commission in the style of...…Back in February, when the idea of a bipartisan commission to study the events of January 6 first arose, it was the opinion around this shebeen that the whole idea was as doomed as Caesar in the Senate, because the Republicans’ complicity in those events would make the “bipartisan” element of any proposed bipartisan commission at best a burlesque, and at worst a tragedy. The shebeen takes no joy in the fact that it was exactly correct in this regard. The idea is in fact as dead as Kelsey’s nuts. From the :Initial negotiations aimed at establishing an independent commission in the style of...WW…

Expanding the Supreme Court is not packing the Court. Packing the Court works like this, at least in the current political moment. From :But it represents an undercurrent of progressive fury at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for denying a vote in 2016 to President Barack Obama's pick to fill a vacancy, citing the approaching election, before confirming Trump nominee Amy Coney Barrett the week before the election last year.Senator Ed Markey (D-The Commonwealth, God save it!) and Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York have raised the stakes on the president’s commission to study the...…Expanding the Supreme Court is not packing the Court. Packing the Court works like this, at least in the current political moment. From :But it represents an undercurrent of progressive fury at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for denying a vote in 2016 to President Barack Obama's pick to fill a vacancy, citing the approaching election, before confirming Trump nominee Amy Coney Barrett the week before the election last year.Senator Ed Markey (D-The Commonwealth, God save it!) and Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York have raised the stakes on the president’s commission to study the...WW…

One of my good high school friends buried both my parents. His father buried three of my four grandparents and his grandfather buried mine. They are the third and fourth generations of their family burying other members of other families. (The Irish way of death is nothing if not a family business at both ends.) A good undertaker is someone who can be there without getting in the way. The undertaker is omnipresent and yet nearly invisible, never present until needed. Then, their presence is nearly spectral. Their only job is to make sure things run in as efficient a manner as possible, and...…One of my good high school friends buried both my parents. His father buried three of my four grandparents and his grandfather buried mine. They are the third and fourth generations of their family burying other members of other families. (The Irish way of death is nothing if not a family business at both ends.) A good undertaker is someone who can be there without getting in the way. The undertaker is omnipresent and yet nearly invisible, never present until needed. Then, their presence is nearly spectral. Their only job is to make sure things run in as efficient a manner as possible, and...WW…

The Senate Judiciary Committee, Richard Durbin (D-Illinois) presiding, heard from two administration nominees for critical positions in the Department of Justice. Todd Kim was nominated to be Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources. But he wasn’t the main event. That was Kristen Clarke, whom the administration wants to be the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. Done correctly, this position is where all the hottest issues of the day come together, from police violence to voting rights to systemic racism. Over the past two decades, it’s been one of the...…The Senate Judiciary Committee, Richard Durbin (D-Illinois) presiding, heard from two administration nominees for critical positions in the Department of Justice. Todd Kim was nominated to be Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources. But he wasn’t the main event. That was Kristen Clarke, whom the administration wants to be the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. Done correctly, this position is where all the hottest issues of the day come together, from police violence to voting rights to systemic racism. Over the past two decades, it’s been one of the...WW…

Where are we screwing with the franchise today, class? Yes, you in the back. Michigan? Very good, Bueller. While Michigan has a Republican legislature, it also has a Democratic governor named Gretchen Whitman, who is so dedicated to doing her job that a bunch of armed rubes planned to kidnap her and put her on trial. She has a veto and is not afraid to use it. However, the Republicans in the legislature are right there with the workaround. From the :Last month, the state’s Republican chairman told activists that he aimed to do just that — usher new voting restrictions into law using a...…Where are we screwing with the franchise today, class? Yes, you in the back. Michigan? Very good, Bueller. While Michigan has a Republican legislature, it also has a Democratic governor named Gretchen Whitman, who is so dedicated to doing her job that a bunch of armed rubes planned to kidnap her and put her on trial. She has a veto and is not afraid to use it. However, the Republicans in the legislature are right there with the workaround. From the :Last month, the state’s Republican chairman told activists that he aimed to do just that — usher new voting restrictions into law using a...WW…

Credit where it’s due. Last Thursday, of what’s goin’ down in the several states, we took note of Arkansas’ HB 1570, a horrific piece of legislation that would prohibit healthcare providers from administering gender transition treatments, which can include surgery and hormone therapy, to people under 18. Well, in this week of famous buzzer-beaters, like in 1981. In a news conference after vetoing the bill, Hutchinson spoke with an uncommon humanity for a Republican governor, at least for one who’s already signed an anti-trans bill involving women’s sports, and also a bill allowing...…Credit where it’s due. Last Thursday, of what’s goin’ down in the several states, we took note of Arkansas’ HB 1570, a horrific piece of legislation that would prohibit healthcare providers from administering gender transition treatments, which can include surgery and hormone therapy, to people under 18. Well, in this week of famous buzzer-beaters, like in 1981. In a news conference after vetoing the bill, Hutchinson spoke with an uncommon humanity for a Republican governor, at least for one who’s already signed an anti-trans bill involving women’s sports, and also a bill allowing...WW…

I hope to live long enough to watch an important Republican make an argument that does not depend on poor-widdle-me performative victimhood, in which the Sad Unfortunate is beset on all sides by powerful legions of women, gay people, and poor people. I’m fully vaxxed now, so there’s hope on my end, but I’m not sure the Republicans can give up the rhetorical crack pipe anytime soon. Leaping to drive the nails into his own palms on Monday was Senate Minority Leader—that’s Senate Minority Leader—Mitch McConnell, because major American corporations are picking on him, and on the state of...…I hope to live long enough to watch an important Republican make an argument that does not depend on poor-widdle-me performative victimhood, in which the Sad Unfortunate is beset on all sides by powerful legions of women, gay people, and poor people. I’m fully vaxxed now, so there’s hope on my end, but I’m not sure the Republicans can give up the rhetorical crack pipe anytime soon. Leaping to drive the nails into his own palms on Monday was Senate Minority Leader—that’s Senate Minority Leader—Mitch McConnell, because major American corporations are picking on him, and on the state of...WW…

The invaluable Jane Mayer—whose Dark Money is the definitive text on how post-Citizens United politics works—has managed to squirrel out the details of a conference call between an appendage of the Kochtopus named Kyle McKenzie and a passel of congressional aides, including an adviser to Senate Minority Leader—that’s Senate Minority Leader—Mitch McConnell, about how to derail the enormously popular election-reform bills that the House of Representatives have sent over to the Senate. As a case study in plutocratic contempt for popular democracy, it’s hard to top this one. From :The speakers...…The invaluable Jane Mayer—whose Dark Money is the definitive text on how post-Citizens United politics works—has managed to squirrel out the details of a conference call between an appendage of the Kochtopus named Kyle McKenzie and a passel of congressional aides, including an adviser to Senate Minority Leader—that’s Senate Minority Leader—Mitch McConnell, about how to derail the enormously popular election-reform bills that the House of Representatives have sent over to the Senate. As a case study in plutocratic contempt for popular democracy, it’s hard to top this one. From :The speakers...WW…

(Permanent Musical Accompaniment To The Last Post Of The Week From The Blog’s Favourite Living Canadian)The Commonwealth (God save it!) can’t get out of its own way when it comes to cleaning up a massive breakdown in the state’s crime labs. By the end of this week, the district attorneys in both Suffolk and Middlesex Counties were deciding whether or not to vacate thousands of drug convictions because of a state drug laboratory in which thumbs, elbows, and both feet were allegedly put on the scale while evaluating evidence. From the :The latest developments by two leading district attorneys...…(Permanent Musical Accompaniment To The Last Post Of The Week From The Blog’s Favourite Living Canadian)The Commonwealth (God save it!) can’t get out of its own way when it comes to cleaning up a massive breakdown in the state’s crime labs. By the end of this week, the district attorneys in both Suffolk and Middlesex Counties were deciding whether or not to vacate thousands of drug convictions because of a state drug laboratory in which thumbs, elbows, and both feet were allegedly put on the scale while evaluating evidence. From the :The latest developments by two leading district attorneys...WW…

Even if the former president*’s coronary arteries finally turn to cement tomorrow, it will not matter. He will live on in the forces he unleashed. One of the more promising developments I’ve noticed in the elite political press is that it is increasingly referring to “Trumpism” rather than to the person after whom it is named. (If it were to take the next step, which is to change Trumpism to “Republicanism,” that would be an admirable concession to political reality, but I don’t expect miracles.) Referring to “Trumpism” is, at least, an acknowledgement of the fact that the past four years...…Even if the former president*’s coronary arteries finally turn to cement tomorrow, it will not matter. He will live on in the forces he unleashed. One of the more promising developments I’ve noticed in the elite political press is that it is increasingly referring to “Trumpism” rather than to the person after whom it is named. (If it were to take the next step, which is to change Trumpism to “Republicanism,” that would be an admirable concession to political reality, but I don’t expect miracles.) Referring to “Trumpism” is, at least, an acknowledgement of the fact that the past four years...WW…