19: US Supreme Court

Donald Trump Breaks Polling Record for Second Straight Day 52 percent of registered voters said they would choose Trump if the election were held today. Biden was supported by 47 percent

The Smartest Way for Democrats to Choose Another Nominee

How Elon Musk Chose Trump The world’s richest man, once deeply skeptical of Donald J. Trump, has now endorsed him and has emerged as a central character in the presidential race............ Mr. Musk was once allergic to Washington. He maintained a decent relationship with Mr. Obama and made several White House visits to build support for Tesla and SpaceX, his rocket manufacturer. But he generally disliked meeting with other politicians and saw political donations as a necessary evil .......... Days before the 2016 election, he told CNBC that Mr. Trump did not “seem to have the sort of character that reflects well on the United States.” After Mr. Trump won, Mr. Musk told some associates that the outcome was proof that they were living in a simulation, according to one person close to him. In 2020, Mr. Musk, in a private conversation with another associate, called Mr. Trump a “stone-cold loser.” .......... In 2022, the former president, for his part, used an expletive to describe the Tesla chief executive at a rally......... He had gotten to know Mr. McCarthy over the last decade thanks to the former speaker’s advocacy for SpaceX. They now text frequently, and Mr. Musk has often relied on Mr. McCarthy over the years for advice on politics and lobbying. .......... Within an hour of the shooting, Mr. Musk went on X and endorsed Mr. Trump. ......... In recent weeks, Mr. Musk privately lobbied Mr. Trump to choose Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio as his running mate. He celebrated vociferously on Monday after Mr. Vance was announced as the pick.

The Supreme Court Is Gaslighting Us All In his majority opinion in the case about presidential immunity, Chief Justice John Roberts mocked the three liberal dissenters for striking “a tone of chilling doom that is wholly disproportionate to what the court actually does today.” (Reality check: The immunity ruling — which gave presidents carte blanche to break most criminal laws when carrying out their official duties — is not grounded in any clause of the Constitution. It went far beyond what even the most pessimistic court observers expected; the dissenters, if anything, responded with restraint.) ........... Behavior like this has a name: gaslighting, a form of psychological manipulation that involves making people doubt their own, accurate perception of reality. If the term has gotten a workout in recent years, that’s because a lot of people are engaging in it. The right-wing justices have become masters of the form, telling the American people again and again not to believe what they see with their own eyes. ........ The court’s power derives from its perceived legitimacy, which in turn depends on its public approval. The more it issues unpopular, unhinged decisions, the more that approval rating, already at record lows, continues to plummet. ....... But that would betray the long effort by right-wing activists and lawmakers to transform this court into the sword and the shield in their culture war. ............ this subterfuge is understandable: Who wants to be seen as allowing violent people to walk around armed, or forcing pregnant women to wait until they are on the verge of death before they can receive standard medical care? And yet that is the real-world dystopia the right-wing justices are creating right now................ “victim-claiming” — when privileged, powerful people take on the mantle of victimhood, displacing genuine victims, whether pregnant women without treatment or homeless people without a bed. The effect, she said, is to “replace actual victimhood with a fantasy of victimhood.” .......... Mr. Musk has transformed himself from an idealistic supporter of Democrats like Barack Obama into a fierce ally of Mr. Trump, whom he flirted with for months and endorsed last weekend roughly 30 minutes after the former president survived an assassination attempt.

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Bollywood Stars, Prime Ministers and the Kardashians Attend the Ambani Wedding After months of lavish prewedding festivities that have captured the attention of onlookers worldwide, Anant Ambani, the youngest son of India’s richest man, married Radhika Merchant in Mumbai.

Kamala Harris For The Supreme Court

It is amazing how many diversity criteria she fulfills.

• Young
• Woman
• Indian
• African 
• California
• Non practicing attorney
• Not Ivy

Supreme Court speculation about Kamala Harris shadows Senate bid

Speculation that California Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris could be on President Obama’s short list of possible nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court has reached a fever pitch ...... Harris, 51, the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica. ...... a graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C., and earned her law degree at UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. ..... Harris has brushed aside the speculation ..... Most describe Harris as a veteran prosecutor and astute, ambitious political leader. Harris also has been a strong Obama supporter since he was a U.S. Senate candidate from Illinois. ..... Harris' national profile got a boost when Obama gave her a speaking role at the Democratic National Convention in 2012. The headlines continued in 2013 when Obama apologized publicly for having described her as "the best-looking" attorney general in the country. ..... Throughout her political career, Harris has articulated clear positions on many controversial, divisive issues that could come before the nation’s high court. ......

Harris favors the protection of abortion rights, an end to the federal ban on medical marijuana and a path to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally. She backs major changes in the criminal justice system, in part to address racial disparities, including shorter sentences for low-level drug crimes and a shift in government funding from prisons to crime prevention.

Sotamayor's Nomination As Historic As Barack's Election, Maybe More So

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And why Newt Gingrich is a racist and a sexist.

Sotamayor is a Minority Female. That is like being Dalit in India.

Old white men like Newt Gingrich have always occupied the White House until now. They have always been the only people on the Supreme Court until recently. The Supreme Court has never had a Minority Female. The old white men still overwhelmingly dominate the Congress. What's wrong in the picture? Until recently there was no bathroom for women on Capitol Hill.

There have been times when I have admired Newt Gingrich. He comes up with ideas. I am a big fan of market solutions to long standing problems. Where I differ is when he thinks market solutions are the only solutions.

But on social issues Newt is a dinosaur.

As late as 2005, late into 2006, the Dems looked so irrelevant. So I am one of those to think the Republicans are going to have a comeback down the line. That is how democracy works. But such pendulum swings are not automatic. The Republicans are going to have to stop being the party of old white men if they are to have any shot at reoccupying the vital center of American politics.

In The News

The Typecast Party Newsweek The Republicans are a party in search of an identity, and the incendiary language surrounding the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court has shown just how far off track they've gone. Sotomayor is better qualified in terms of her legal credentials than anybody currently on the court. .......... the over-the-top remarks from Newt Gingrich and Tom Tancredo created a backlash that Senate Republicans are still trying to dig their way out of with Hispanic voters and women without offending the party's Southern-white-male base. ......... A USA Today/Gallup poll this week found a third of Republicans have an unfavorable opinion of their own party. ........ "She's boring," says a liberal activist. ......... She hasn't had to address guns, gay rights, abortion. ..... Sotomayor can't be stopped, and that could embolden Obama to be even more aggressive with his next appointment. ..... The expectation is that if Ginsburg steps down, her replacement would almost certainly be a woman ....... "Free this nation from this Obama oppression," Voight intoned at the GOP dinner. ...... If only Obama could hand down affordable access for all to health care on a stone tablet.
GOP risks loss of respect if it goes after Sotomayor, poll finds MiamiHerald.com

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Bush Sr: Stop the name-calling on Sotomayor Seattle Post Intelligencer
Bush defends Sotomayor nomination United Press International
George HW Bush condemns right-wing attacks on Sotomayor: Those ... Think Progress
Bush defends Sotomayor nomination Legal News Line
Candace Gingrich speaks out on brother Newt Sovo.com, GA
The Case for Getting off Base Wall Street Journal
Newt Takes Palin in Smackdown on Party Night: Margaret Carlson Bloomberg
Political Expert Newt Gingrich: Obama officially a Failure. Daily Kos
Am I a Moderate Republican, Rush? RushLimbaugh.com
Obama on healthcare bill: Flexibility on details, not results Boston Globe, United States
Of White Men And “Wise” Latinas 411mania.com, TX

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Newt Gingrich on Twitter: Sonia Sotomayor 'Racist', Should Withdraw ABC News
Newt Gingrich is Wrong--Sotomayor's No Racist, She's Sam Alito of ... U.S. News & World Report
Newt Gingrich: Sonia Sotomayor a 'racist' Politico
Sotomayor a racist? Newt Gingrich takes it back Los Angeles Times, CA
Gingrich Walks Back Calling Sotomayor A Racist -- Not TPMDC
Newt Gingrich Backs Away From Calling Sotomayor a Racist ChattahBox
Could Sotomayor Be Right About White Men? TPMCafé, NY"I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion [as a judge] than a white male who hasn't lived that life." ....... everybody from Newt Gingrich to Joe Lieberman to Lindsey Graham seems to be hell bent on proving her right. These guys, believe it or not, are just like the folks who run BET - both groups seem to be committed to pimping a distorted view of dysfunctional male misogyny......... Has Gingrich just totally lost it? ....... That metaphorical "wise Latina" is looking smarter already.......... Lindsay Graham and Joe Lieberman are as angry as two spoiled little three year old toddlers who have been forced to share the toys their daycare provides with all the other kids. These two clowns have decided that they are just going to take their ball and go home...no, wait, they are going to SHUT DOWN THE SENATE. Brilliant. Just brilliant. ...... At the rate these guys are going, the "wise Latina" doesn't even have to be wise - just experienced. ..... What gets me hot under the collar about these buffoons is the same thing that gets my blood pressure up when I see some of the ridiculous images of black people BET keeps showing over and over - their total disregard for reality. ....... What I'm really trying to say here is that when you take the preening and the posturing and the politicking away, white men are just like any other men. Its the charlatans and fakers who insist on acting out, the way kids do when they aren't getting enough attention, who are currently giving the rest of America's white men a bad name.

US expresses concerns over Nepal's peace process Xinhua
Nitish opens 140 bridges in Bihar on a single day Times of India
Obama battles campaign against Canadian-style health care Canada.com
Nepal's first woman deputy PM Shailaja dies Hindu
Washington. Hillary Clinton to make official visit to Canada Canada.com
McAuliffe defeat is another blow to Clinton legacy The Associated Press
Obama on healthcare reform: Mr. Flexible Christian Science Monitor
Congress looks to step up revival plan in Bihar Times of India
BJP core group wants to cash in on Bihar 'model' Times of India
India to pull back Kashmir troops Financial Times
India issues guidelines for Indian students in Australia Economic Times
Schwarzenegger: A bad time to sell state assets San Jose Mercury News
Google Gets Going on Enterprise Apps Reuters
Globe, Smart in race for Wimax roll-out Manila Bulletin
Google reaches toward the enterprise FierceCIO
Google says it loves competition ZDNet
As US gov't circles the wagons, Google's brass stays cool Christian Science Monitor
Is it going to be an 'All Bachchan' show at IIFA! Times of India
Dell tweets $3m in revenues Register
Baxter: Swine flu vaccine due in July Chicago Tribune
Dell reported to be thinking acquisition Bizjournals.com
GOP should favor health overhaul Atlanta Journal Constitution
Why Dell Can't Buy Palm New York Times
Palin Continues Her Feud With Letterman FOXNews

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