(Guardian UK) Joe Biden worries that the “extreme” US supreme court, dominated by rightwing justices, cannot be relied upon to uphold the rule of law.

“I worry,” the president told ProPublica in interview published on Sunday. “Because I know that if the other team, the Maga Republicans, win, they don’t want to uphold the rule of law.”

“Maga” is shorthand for “Make America great again”, Donald Trump’s campaign slogan. Trump faces 91 criminal charges and assorted civil threats but nonetheless dominates Republican polling for the nomination to face Biden in a presidential rematch next year.

In four years in the White House, Trump nominated and saw installed three conservative justices, tilting the court 6-3 to the right. That court has delivered significant victories for conservatives, including the removal of the right to abortion and major rulings on gun control, affirmative action and other issues. ................(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2023/oct/01/biden-supreme-court-maga

(Detroit Free Press) An old tradition returned in grand new style on a joyful Saturday night at Orchestra Hall.

For the first time in two decades, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra threw a season-opening gala, this time accompanied by the virtuoso playing and winsome charms of cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

Ma, as playful onstage as he was engrossed with the music, treated the Orchestra Hall audience to an expressive performance of Antonin Dvorak's Cello Concerto with the DSO — and was duly rewarded with five rousing ovations.

....(snip)....

The night was a bona fide hit, and not just musically: The event raised more than $1.1 million for the DSO, said organization president and CEO Erik Ronmärk. The orchestra’s musicians donated their services for the evening. ..........(more)

https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/brian-mccollum/2023/10/01/detroit-symphony-orchestra-dso-yo-yo-ma-opening-gala/71023760007/

There are more of us than there are of them
The people dying from COVID were voters

By LUCIAN K. TRUSCOTT IV
Columnist
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 30, 2023 8:01AM (EDT)


(Salon) The 14th Amendment isn't going to save us from Donald Trump. Nor is a ruling in New York state that he defrauded multiple banks and insurance companies over a ten-year period. Nor are the 91 charges against him in his four criminal indictments. Nor is another ruling by a New York judge that he raped E. Jean Carroll and is liable for $5 million in civil damages. His base loves him for every scam he pulled, every norm he trashed, every law he broke.

There may be red state after red state across the South and Midwest voting for Trump every time he says "jump," but there aren't enough of them, and they don't have enough electoral votes. What will save us are our numbers. Republican presidential candidates have won the popular vote only once in the last 35 years, when George W. Bush beat John Kerry in 2004. In every other election, Democrats won the popular vote, even when they lost the election overall because of the electoral vote count. Put simply, there are more of us than there are of them.

What we're going through today, right at this moment, are the beginning rumblings of the ground beneath the feet of Republicans that will become an earthquake in 20 years, when demographers predict that White people in this country will reach minority status. For a long time, they said it was going to happen in 2050, now they say it will be 2045, but check this out: non-Hispanic White Americans under 18 are already a minority.

And it's happening from both directions.

There are more non-White babies being born at the same time that there are more White people dying. They're dying for all the reasons people do – heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's, liver disease, diabetes, emphysema – and now they are also dying because of the political party they belong to. Nate Silver reported on his Silver Bulletin Substack on Friday that the death rate from COVID in red states is 35 percent higher than in blue states. A study from Yale University published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in July found that Republican-leaning counties in Ohio and Florida had excess death rates from COVID that were 43 percent higher than Democratic-leaning counties. Silver pointed out that the methodology behind the study was simple math: Researchers cross-checked voter registrations against death records, county by county, and added them up. After COVID vaccines became widely available early in 2021, "Republicans began having considerably higher excess death rates," as compared to Democrats, Silver reported. Note that the study was done by comparing people by party registration. The people dying from COVID were voters, and more Republican voters than Democratic voters died by a large margin. .............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2023/09/30/there-are-more-of-us-than-there-are-of-them/

(Guardian UK) Conservative activist Christopher Rufo, who is a close ally of Florida governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, hosted a social media debate in which one participant argued that conservatives should cooperate with a hypothetical white nationalist dictator “in order to destroy the power of the left”.

Rufo, a Manhattan Institute fellow who has been a hugely influential figure in DeSantis’ culture war policies in Florida, did not disagree with the sentiments. Instead he commended speakers for their “thoughtful points” and presenting the discussion as a model for engagement with “the dissident right”.

Rufo is a high-profile conservative activist who in books, columns, media appearances and a Substack newsletter has encouraged conservatives to oppose “wokeness”. He has been credited with mobilizing conservatives against communities of color, first with a distorted version of critical race theory; then by linking LGBTQ-inclusive education practices to pedophilic “grooming”.

Rufo has exercised a particular influence on DeSantis. Rufo reportedly consulted on the drafting of DeSantis’s “Stop Woke Act”, which bans schools and workplaces from teaching that anyone is inherently privileged due to race or sex, and was invited by DeSantis to witness the bill’s signing in April 2022. ............(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/30/conservative-christopher-rufo-florida-twitter-debate

(Salon) In his final speech as Joint Chiefs chairman Friday, Gen. Mark Milley reminded the gathered troops that they take an oath to the Constitution, not a "wannabe dictator."

Milley's remarks came during his retirement ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Va., and come just a week after former President Donald Trump suggested he should be put to death.

The nation's top officer lauded the continued bravery of American soldiers during his speech and described how the oath they take to protect the Constitution encompasses "all enemies, foreign and domestic," placing emphasis on "all" and "and," Politico reports.

"We don't take an oath to a king, or a queen, or to a tyrant or dictator, and we don't take an oath to a wannabe dictator," Milley said. "We don't take an oath to an individual. We take an oath to the Constitution, and we take an oath to the idea that is America, and we're willing to die to protect it." He continued, "Every soldier, sailor, airman, Marine, guardian and Coast Guardsman, each of us commits our very life to protect and defend that document, regardless of personal price. And we are not easily intimidated." .............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2023/09/29/gen-milley-strikes-back-at-in-farewell-speech-we-dont-take-an-oath-to-a-wannabe-dictator/?in_brief=true

JUPITER, Fla. (CBS12) — Two 911 calls were placed Tuesday night regarding a hit-and-run, a car doing donuts in a parking lot and a man whose bike was run over by a reckless driver.

The driver, 31-year-old Jesse Ray Martinez, was found by authorities on the side of South Coastal Highway in his SUV with a "strong odor of alcohol" emanating from the vehicle, the arrest report said. Before Jupiter Police Department (JPD) officers could book him into jail, they dealt with kicking, headbutting, violent threat making and a peculiar witness statement.

Prior to a DUI investigation, an officer contacted the 34-year-old bicyclist, Blaise Aaron Steinbach, who claimed he was nearly run over.

He continued in his statement, explaining he was simply sitting on his bike underneath the U.S. 1 bridge in the Harbourside Place parking lot when Martinez drove by him, making accusations of Steinbach working with the CIA. .................(more)

https://cbs12.com/news/local/jesse-ray-martinez-arrested-dui-charged-battery-law-enforcement-assault-hit-bicyclist-threatened-officer-investigation-florida-september-27-2023

(Guardian UK) Ever since the far-right movement in California’s Shasta county gained control of local government, they have sought to throw out voting machines in favor of hand counting and pledged to defend the second amendment using all “lawful means”.

This week they focused their efforts on a new target: mosquitoes.

The Shasta county board of supervisors appointed Jon Knight, a hydroponics store owner and prominent figure in the local far-right movement, to serve on the board of the public health agency responsible for managing the insects, instead of the county’s former public health director, an epidemiologist.

The move showcased the ultra-conservative movement’s growing foothold in local government. An appointment to a local government board typically attracts little attention, but in Shasta county, which became a hotbed for far-right politics and fringe-thinking in the pandemic years, it was the subject of extensive discussion at a recent meeting of the county’s governing board. ......................(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/28/california-shasta-county-far-right-mosquito-vaccine

House Republicans' biggest plan just blew up in their faces
Sadly, this will not be the end of Republicans' reckless escapades

By HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
Columnist
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 29, 2023 9:13AM (EDT)


(Salon) The House Republicans have been promising that the impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden was going to be filled with fireworks from the word go. We would see evidence of bribery and extortion and payoffs from foreign companies in the tens of millions of dollars, the "Biden Crime Family" would finally be exposed as the international gangsters they are Donald Trump would be exonerated. Or something. They held their first hearing yesterday and all those fireworks blew up in their faces.

Keep in mind that they decided to hold this preposterous hearing two days before the government is set to shut down because a tiny rump faction of extremists in their party is demanding that they get everything they ever wanted or they'll hold their breath until they turn blue. Nobody knows exactly what that is other than to torture Speaker Kevin McCarthy and make America miserable again. It's been reported that they have no plans to table their "inquiry" when the government is shut down even though their staff won't be paid and all regular business is usually curtailed until an agreement is reached. Not this time. It's full speed ahead.

....(snip)....

The fabricated text message implied that back in 2018 Joe Biden's brother James told Hunter Biden that he would "work with" his father alone for some nefarious purpose to give Hunter a "safe harbor." Even though, once again, Joe Biden wasn't in office at the time which these Republicans don't seem to realize means that he wasn't in a position to commit treason or whatever they think he's done, they sure made it sound suspicious.

....(snip)....

That was pretty much how it went all day long with Republicans stepping in it over and over again. The Democrats, led by the extremely competent Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin and aided by excellent committee members, Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Dan Goldman of New York, Jasmine Crockett, D-Tx., Maxwell Frost, D-Fl., and more all of whom obviously did much more homework than any of the Republicans who babbled their way through the hearing, casting aspersions and throwing out innuendo with no evidence that the president had done anything wrong. .................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2023/09/29/republicans-biggest-plan-just-blew-up-in-their-faces/

Donald Trump's thrill ride is nearly over — but the media refuses to let go
What if we told America the truth about Donald Trump? He's a fraud, a cheat and a rapist, facing 91 felony counts

By BRIAN KAREM
Columnist
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 28, 2023 9:19AM (EDT)


(Salon) I take no joy in saying this, but we in the press are moral cowards.

Last Friday, former President Donald Trump called for the execution of U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley, the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, branding him a traitor. This was because Milley told his Chinese counterparts, toward the end of the Trump administration, that the U.S. was not planning to invade China and start World War III. In other words, Milley reiterated official U.S. policy since the end of World War II, which Trump is apparently unaware that we won. But forgive him: He also seems to think Jeb Bush was president.

A few days later, our actual president, Joe Biden, made history by standing on a picket line with striking UAW members in Michigan.

We in the press didn't tell you much about that, but we wasted airtime, pixels and ink reporting that Trump calls himself "pro-worker" — though there is no evidence of that to be found anywhere. We also told you that Biden wears tennis shoes. We pretty much ignored Trump's threat against the chairman of the Joint Chiefs — who Trump himself appointed, by the way. We have also done minimal reporting on the New York judge who imposed the "corporate death penalty" on Trump's business enterprises this week and may end up confiscating Trump's property, after issuing a summary judgment that Trump's companies actively engaged in fraud over many years.

....(snip)....

So busy are we trying to pretend we're even-handed that we present propaganda as fact just to look fair. That's not our job. The moronic desire to be "objective" blinds us from our true mission: providing vetted facts. ............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2023/09/28/donald-thrill-ride-is-nearly-over--but-the-media-wont-let-him-go/

A study in contrasts: Biden stands with auto workers, while Trump looks down upon them
Not just a different look — Biden supports workers in policy, while Trump reveals his true views a non-union plant

By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 28, 2023 6:00AM (EDT)


(Salon) This week, President Joe Biden did what no president has done before: He walked a picket line in solidarity with striking workers. He joined a group of red shirt-clad members of United Auto Workers (UAW) outside a General Motors facility in Michigan, and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with them as Shawn Fain, the president of UAW, spoke to the crowd for about ten minutes. Then Biden took the bullhorn and spoke briefly.

"You've heard me say it many times. Wall Street didn't build the country. The middle class built the country, and unions built the middle class. And that's a fact. So, let's keep going," he told the group of striking workers. "You deserve what you've earned, and you've earned a hell of a lot more than you're getting paid now."

....(snip)....

Contrast that with Donald Trump's much-hyped speech Wednesday night at Drake Enterprises. Even though much of the press portrayed it as "reaching out" to the members of the UAW, the car parts factory is not a union shop. Craig Mauer of the Detroit News reported that one woman holding a "union members for Trump" sign acknowledged she wasn't a union member. A man with a sign that said "auto workers for Trump" admitted he wasn't even an autoworker.

Before he even said a word, the choice suggested Trump's pitch to workers would sidestep the issues central to the labor movement, such as their right to organize and collectively bargain. Trump's speech was the usual rambling brags, lies about Biden, and barstool-style rants about the supposed evils of windmills and electric vehicles. He praised himself for having associated in the past with "people like you," and claimed, as usual, to be a victim supposedly targeted for "risking it all." At one point, he complained, "now I get indicted like every three days." ................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2023/09/28/a-study-in-contrasts-biden-stands-with-auto-workers-while-looks-down-upon-them/