Republicans keep appointing judges

Republicans take judicial appointments much more seriously than Democrats do. As far as I know, no Democrat has raised it as a campaign issue. Republicans blocked Obama appointments and have loaded up with Trump appointed judges. The conservative judges will overturn progressive laws in the future.

Mitch McConnell pushed through nine more lifetime federal judges TODAY (13 this week), bringing Trump's total to 144.

There’s more than the presidency on the ballot in 2020. We need pro-civil rights senators who recognize the importance of the courts in the fight for our rights. https://t.co/a9VNpKeRXE
— Vanita Gupta (@vanitaguptaCR) August 1, 2019

It may be the most consequential thing Trump ever does yet there's little talk of it in the 2020 primary. Democrats haven't figured out how to talk about judges come election time; Republicans know how to message it effectively. https://t.co/TE3AYf78ZO
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) August 13, 2019

NPR this morning has an alarming report on how Trump has now appointed nearly 1 in every 4 federal appeals court judges.https://t.co/KV018xoV9p
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) August 2, 2019

Here's what we do know about the judicial nominees that McConnell is trying to fast track: 11 of the 19 refused to say that Brown v. Board was correctly decided. Call your Senators. 202-224-3121 https://t.co/KizS77JPiL
— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sifill_LDF) July 31, 2019

Meantime, the Senate tonight is advancing 11 of Trump’s judicial nominees for lifetime seats on the federal bench
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) July 31, 2019

👉🏾18 states have never seated a Black justice.
👉🏾Right now, 24 states do not have a single justice of color on their state high court bench
👉🏾Women hold only 36% of state supreme court seats

Read more in our latest report: https://t.co/zQBTczv0XX pic.twitter.com/6Fj4LDWk1P
— Brennan Center (@BrennanCenter) July 27, 2019

Addressing the substantial racial and gender disparities on today’s state supreme courts is one of many necessary steps toward building a judiciary – and democracy – accessible to and reflective of the diverse communities in the United States. https://t.co/0EhqZQsWQs
— Brennan Center (@BrennanCenter) July 26, 2019

McConnell moves to confirm 19 judges next week and not 1 politician that wants Election Security should vote for them. #MoscowMitch #CriminalTrump https://t.co/84wfumD5Jd
— Not Exonerated 🆘 (@equalandallied1) July 26, 2019

Liberals are weighing whether to gut the few bipartisan norms still standing by expanding the size of the Supreme Court and completely eliminating the ability of senators to have a say on judges from their home states https://t.co/uJg6Mnoq2T
— POLITICO (@politico) July 22, 2019

I agree with both ideas.

Trump promotes conspiracy theories

Trump-pushed conspiracy theories:

-Clintons involved in Epstein
-Vince Foster
-Scalia foul play
-Birtherism (x3)
-3-5 mil illegal votes
-Wind farms cause cancer
-Global warming=Chinese hoax
-Asbestos=Mafia hoax
-Mass killing of white farmers in S. Africahttps://t.co/rnb5BBh1uU
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) August 12, 2019

"…There is no bottom to this President's willingness to destroy democratic norms…He will lie reflexively and promote conspiracy theories until it starts to seem normal. It isn't. This isn't a reality show. This is our country." | @JohnAvlon, @CNNOpinion https://t.co/fi7HakxBYp
— CNN (@CNN) August 13, 2019

“Trump has a long history of spreading falsehoods drawn from the fringes.

“His rise to the White House was fueled in part by spreading the lie that President Obama was not born in the U.S., and he has trafficked in numerous others to malign his opponents” https://t.co/z8y8GuHWzq
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) August 13, 2019

“It’s another example of something where he should stop and think about the fact that he’s the president of the United States, and stop his thumbs, but he never does,” said Rich Lowry. https://t.co/hj9HGxsSKd
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) August 13, 2019

“I started realizing that a lot of people were united in a belief in conspiracy theories because something bad had happened to them, and they were sort of looking for answers that mainstream explanations for things didn’t provide.” —@annamerlan https://t.co/zW90YV5Ncu
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) August 14, 2019

Farmers suffer from the double whammy of Trump’s tariffs and weather

Trump’s tariffs have been disastrous for US farmers. China is shopping elsewhere and will never buy as much from the US again. Meanwhile climate change, which Trump has called a Chinese hoax, is making it harder to grow crops. Trump’s lack of acknowledgement will make it harder to combat the climate problems. The majority of Trump’s farm subsidies went to richer farms.

“Net farm income across the country right now is half of what it was six years ago. Every year it ratchets down. This trade uncertainty makes things far, far worse for farmers,” says Roger Johnson, president of the National Farmers Union, about the ongoing US-China trade war. pic.twitter.com/2MuvatkkvQ
— CNN (@CNN) August 13, 2019

Farm income is way down, bankruptcies are way up, and farmers are relying on government payments to make ends meet.

So, of course, it’s the perfect time for Sonny Perdue to joke about “whining” farmers. #CantMakeThisUp https://t.co/Mj26XbKmPv
— Chris Lu (@ChrisLu44) August 13, 2019

”Farmers’ discontent over President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war with China erupted into the open Wednesday as his agriculture secretary was confronted at a fair in rural Minnesota.” https://t.co/3uSFxhaoyd
— Tim O'Brien (@TimOBrien) August 7, 2019

'Trump is ruining our markets': Farmers lose a huge customer to trade war — China https://t.co/OPRWeX4IGQ
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) August 12, 2019

Due to bad weather conditions, slumping prices and a big trade war, farmers are resorting to side jobs including hosting pizza nights for tourists, to make ends meet. https://t.co/gyAVleyn6K
— Axios (@axios) August 9, 2019

‘Crops aren’t moving. There’s no market’: Why so many family farms are facing bankruptcy – The Washington Post https://t.co/dMEhnDzHqZ
— Le Chat Proud Democrat (@LeChatNoire4) August 7, 2019

BREAKING: Trump trade aid paid the top 1% of farmers an average $188,000 while the bottom 80% averaged less than $5,000, @ewg analysis finds. https://t.co/bWJbuoh0UZ via @markets
— Mike Dorning (@MikeDorning) July 30, 2019

Socializing Big Ag https://t.co/SvooQuGZOG
— Claude Taylor (@TrueFactsStated) July 31, 2019

Trump’s dumb trade war is hurting farmers so now taxpayers get stuck with the tab as he tries to buy back their votes https://t.co/w6VuRCR4WJ
— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) July 26, 2019

Trump was asked what he got in return. He said China agreed to purchase ‘tens of billions’ in US farm products, but he has said this before & farmers have complained that no orders ever materialized.

Chinese officials confirmed nothing. https://t.co/7B2kuPHjnQ
— Andrew deGrandpre (@adegrandpre) June 29, 2019

Trump’s trade wars are pushing America’s rural economy toward a full-blown meltdown after years of financial hardship, and it's causing more farmers to default on loans while putting the squeeze on agricultural lenders https://t.co/wGpwQTkAkD
— POLITICO (@politico) June 24, 2019

“When he was on the campaign trail, Donald Trump promised to stop the ‘war on the American farmer.’ He has broken that promise, and Ohio's farm community is paying the price.” – @DavidPepper https://t.co/kIOYR8IAmS
— David C. DeWitt (@DC_DeWitt) August 14, 2019

"I'm scared for my future. I'm scared for my family's future." Farmers are the front lines of America’s climate crisis. So long as we allow special interests to control the narrative, agricultural communities will suffer – along with everyone else.https://t.co/eixZR1HubY
— Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) August 13, 2019

Farmers are turning to drones and other technology to conserve water from a crucial river in the US West that's under pressure from climate change and booming cities. https://t.co/iwWsVZrlbk
— AP West Region (@APWestRegion) August 14, 2019

Buster Keaton films on TCM on 8/19/19

TCM will be showing a big selection of both his silent and sound films:

Silent films: Battling Butler, The Cameraman, The General, Sherlock, Jr., Seven Chances, Steamboat, Bill, Jr., The Navigator

They’re all great. The General is considered the best. I am partial to Steamboat Bill, Jr. which has the amazing stunt of the house front falling down around him (see below). The Cameraman was his first film for MGM and is as good as his earlier films which were made without studio restrictions. I have seen rumors that it will be released by Criterion.

The rest are sound films. I haven’t seen the ones from the 1930s that were made for MGM but they are not nearly as well thought of as his silent features.

TCM is also showing the excellent recent documentary, The Great Buster.

His pre-MGM films have been released on Blu-ray and DVD by Kino Lorber. Cohen has begun issuing Blu-rays with new transfers. The MGM films from the 1930s have been released on DVD by Warner Brothers.

We’re counting down every day this week until #BusterKeaton Day on #TCM’s #SummerUnderTheStars on August 19th; a whole day crammed full of Keaton movies! Here’s the line up, for those who like to plan ahead #TCMParty pic.twitter.com/F33gJDCfx2
— Buster Keaton (@BusterKeatonSoc) August 12, 2019

7 Days to Go til #BusterKeaton Day on #TCM’s #SummerUnderTheStars! #BattlingButler kicks off proceedings at 6am. An adaptation of a stage play, it featured a very well-built Keaton who trained hard to look the part. Given even the dummy fought back, he needed to! #TCMParty pic.twitter.com/0QtDczRNaF
— Buster Keaton (@BusterKeatonSoc) August 12, 2019

6 Days to Go til #BusterKeaton Day on #TCM’s #SummerUnderTheStars! At 7:30am it’s #TheCameraman; Buster falls for the girl, literally, in this picture. His first film for #MGM, he still had creative control & another box-office hit on his hands. #TCMParty pic.twitter.com/q3t9sTmxNV
— Buster Keaton (@BusterKeatonSoc) August 13, 2019

Keaton at Yankee Stadium in The Cameraman

from Steamboat Bill, Jr.

Trump’s lies in PA

great thread by CNN’s Daniel Dale:

Trump won the Pennsylvania county where he's speaking now by 18 points. He tells the crowd that he thinks it was "28 points."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 13, 2019

Thousands of union workers at a plant being built outside Pittsburgh were given the choice of attending a speech by President Trump on Tuesday or staying away — and losing some of their pay for the week https://t.co/sN53HuhUF2
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 17, 2019

Trump, at official WH event in PA: "We'll have to hit Pocahontas very hard again if she does win… What a group: Pocahontas and Sleepy Joe."
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) August 13, 2019

Disgusting attack on potential rivals. You can see how evil his campaign will be. He will do name calling instead of a discussion of issues.

Trump is joking about calling off the 2020 election and serving a 3rd term during a speech to energy workers in PA that is not supposed to be a campaign event pic.twitter.com/EI9jZA1HaO
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 13, 2019

His campaign should pay for this political speech.

President Trump remarks on U.S. Energy and Manufacturing at @Shell Pennsylvania Petrochemicals Complex in Monaca, PA – LIVE online here: https://t.co/o193g7Uysz pic.twitter.com/7ixuImlwC6
— CSPAN (@cspan) August 13, 2019

What always strikes me about Trump speeches like that is that they're covered by most media as if they're remotely normal. At most explicit, they'll be described as "freewheeling." The headline will be like "Trump talks up energy policies at Pennsylvania plant."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 13, 2019

TRUMP falsely says he won Beaver County, Pa. by 28 points in 2016.

Trump won Beaver County by 18.5 points.

(H/t @ToluseO) pic.twitter.com/SmaBLLxZDD
— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) August 13, 2019

why lie about this?
Isn’t 18.5% a be enough win?

And do I have a deal for you, if you believe this…a very good deal, a red hat! https://t.co/mSgsS9Yjr5
— Muckmaker™ (@RealMuckmaker) August 13, 2019

Donald Trump headed to a Shell plant being built outside of Pittsburgh to give what was billed by the White House as a speech on “America’s Energy Dominance and Manufacturing Revival” https://t.co/VbsNtgBAfm
— POLITICO (@politico) August 13, 2019

At an energy policy event in Pennsylvania, Trump is going on about how no one watches the Academy Awards anymore
— Sam Stein (@samstein) August 13, 2019

"That's a lot of people back there for an 11 o'clock speech," Trump says in Pittsburgh at 2:41 pm.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) August 13, 2019

The Subject Was Supposed to Be Energy, but Trump’s Visit to a Chemical Plant Seemed More Like a Rally via ⁦@lfadulu⁩ and me https://t.co/z6nhk5jB6u
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) August 14, 2019

Trump claims credit for Shell plant announced under Obama (from @AP) https://t.co/hiCVxtW3XW
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) August 13, 2019

Trump began yesterday's speech by saying, "This is my 13th visit to Pennsylvania during my administration, which is more than any other president to this point in the term."@markknoller, esteemed tracker of president data, says George W. Bush had made 21 visits to this point.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 14, 2019

"Don't worry about the rain, umbrellas work very well, especially when they're made in America."https://t.co/eg07kNNwQb
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) August 14, 2019

The president suggested in an official speech today that all the US exports to Japan is “wheat.” (Which he said Japan only buys out of pity, but anyway.) From the Japan page on the website of his Office of the US Trade Representative: pic.twitter.com/4XjSnoTAQO
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 14, 2019

Trump today “was cheered on by fluorescent-vest-clad workers who were paid to attend by Shell, their employer, which is building the facility.” https://t.co/26ch1uAMTX
— Jill Colvin (@colvinj) August 13, 2019

Narrator: "It was in fact the only thing keeping him out of bankruptcy court and prison." https://t.co/QmwIVEFaXB
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) August 14, 2019

President Trump claims that being president is costing him billions of dollars, "This thing is costing me a fortune, being president” https://t.co/yCIEu5ZggY
— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 13, 2019

lie

Shell spent shareholder money to finance a Trump campaign event pic.twitter.com/FGotH78EZr
— David Frum (@davidfrum) August 16, 2019

Trump's large union crowd at Shell was given the option of not showing up — and not getting paid | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette https://t.co/qTOnfBHwwd
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) August 16, 2019

ICYMI: Shell workers who attended Trump's event on Tuesday were told to stand for hours, no lunch was provided, nothing "viewed as resistance will be tolerated," no overtime pay for those who skipped event. #CaptiveAudience https://t.co/oT60aU78i2
— Chris Lu (@ChrisLu44) August 15, 2019

The Great McGinty on TCM 8/13/19 at 8 pm

The Great McGinty (1940) was the first film directed by Preston Sturges and it’s one of his best.

Tonight on TCM #TCM

THE GREAT McGINTY (1940) pic.twitter.com/W8ArVDvubQ
— Film Freaks Forever! (@filmfreaks4ever) August 13, 2019

Tonight on TCM #TCM

THE GREAT McGINTY (1940) pic.twitter.com/NmrMiCk1YT
— Phoef Sutton (@phoefsutton) August 13, 2019

PRESTON STURGES born 29 August, 1898, he had 3 Oscar nominations & won one for Best Writing on The Great McGinty (40) pic.twitter.com/POg7jXYt0S
— On This Day In Film (@onthisdayinfilm) August 30, 2015

Contra the president, the best movie about politics ever made is "The Great McGinty."
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) November 22, 2016

It was released on Blu-ray on 1/14/20.

Trump weakens protections for endangered species

Breaking News: The Trump administration announced plans to significantly weaken the Endangered Species Act, the nation’s bedrock conservation law https://t.co/jZYwFeVdxP
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 12, 2019

The Endangered Species Act saved the bald eagle and was signed into law by a Republican president. This has nothing to do with conservative politics, and everything to do with giving handouts to special interests and rich pals.https://t.co/WapOIQz1NR
— Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) August 12, 2019

"Everything about this rollback of protections is intended to make it more difficult to save wildlife and the habitat it needs to survive," writes @bruneski of the @SierraClub. https://t.co/jXS1leGeJ5
— CNN Opinion (@CNNOpinion) August 17, 2019

Climate update 8/12/19

We will never be able to undo the permanent damage caused by Trump’s unwillingness to deal with climate change.

Al Gore tells @jonkarl "I thought it was worth trying," meeting with Donald Trump on climate change: "I did think at the time that there was a chance he might change on climate when presented with the facts. I was clearly wrong about that." https://t.co/PDM6tjcB5y pic.twitter.com/pIT20Ld6KJ
— ABC News (@ABC) August 12, 2019

Food will become scarcer, grocery prices will spike and crops will lose their nutritional value due to the climate crisis, UN report says https://t.co/5z0tlMyXxq
— CNN (@CNN) August 12, 2019

The window for averting a climate-driven food crisis is closing rapidly, a major UN report warnshttps://t.co/5cQiMQkJtv
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 10, 2019

There will undoubtedly be more pleas for forgiveness from Republicans and others who once denied the climate crisis unfolding before their eyes. https://t.co/OobfuzJ3Kl
— The New Republic (@newrepublic) August 9, 2019

Climate change is taking a bigger toll on our food, water, and land than we realized https://t.co/yvnqTXeYFN
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) August 8, 2019

Climate change made the stifling heat that enveloped parts of Europe last week much more likely and hotter, researchers said https://t.co/UOfeUytgmW
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 3, 2019

A Republican polling firm found that for younger Republicans, “climate change is their most important issue” and called the numbers “concerning” for the party’s future. @lffriedman https://t.co/UMHeYVjcoH
— John Schwartz (@jswatz) August 2, 2019

Greenland's ice sheet just lost 11 billion tons of ice — equivalent to 4.4 million Olympic swimming pools — in one day https://t.co/h5kRrtLhMU
— CNN (@CNN) August 2, 2019

If you didn't see this when it posted yesterday, you might want to watch it now https://t.co/27D8PP1FMV
— David Frum (@davidfrum) August 2, 2019

Our new UN Ambassador is lying to the world about climate change while we run out of time to do something about it.

Our children and grandchildren will pay the price for these lies. https://t.co/FLI3JpTfUz
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) August 2, 2019

In the past, climate change seemed like a problem for the future — bad things would happen, maybe, but not until like 2070.
That was wrong.
Today, Greenland is melting at the rate once projected for 2070. https://t.co/ZtK2gq6uoQ
— David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) August 1, 2019

The White House may have blocked Dr. Schoonover from submitting his testimony on climate change when I invited him to @HouseIntel,

But Trump's dangerous climate denialism won't change the facts:

Climate change poses a serious danger to national security that we can’t ignore. https://t.co/rz2WhijQOC
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) July 30, 2019

This week, 40 billion tons of ice will melt in Greenland as the European heat wave moves north — enough to measurably raise global sea levels.

This single heat wave will create a permanent change in our oceans that will linger for millennia.

We are in a climate emergency. https://t.co/ypkH6093aU
— Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) July 29, 2019

It's your weekly NYT Climate FWD: newsletter, with items on Greta Thunberg's ocean adventure and making your philanthropic dollars do the most for the planet. Why not subscribe? https://t.co/qAA4o8zE5J
— NYT Climate (@nytclimate) August 14, 2019

Trump’s racist comments at the Ross fundraiser

Just typical Trump – praising our enemies and mocking our allies. I’m sure Putin is happy. These tweets concern his comments at the Ross fundraiser for him.

Trump on Kim: “People say he only smiles when he sees me.” https://t.co/ixIzzPyhsT
— Eliana Johnson (@elianayjohnson) August 11, 2019

"Talking about South Korea, Trump said it makes great TVs & has a thriving economy, 'So why are we paying for their defense…' He then mimicked the accent of the leader Moon Jae-in while describing how he caved in to Trump’s tough negotiations."https://t.co/ZKb2eJA8Tu
— Elise Hu (@elisewho) August 11, 2019

Amazing that this has to be said in 2019 but mimicking Asian accents is, indeed, racist. https://t.co/fvDQipEGAn
— Nicole Perlroth (@nicoleperlroth) August 10, 2019

At the fundraiser at Steve Ross's house, the president talked about trying for a deal on background checks and China, per an attendee. He said, per attendee, there will be a deal and the senate doesn't have to return because the leadership will mutually agree on a deal … 1/
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) August 9, 2019

He should be nervous. Related is not a normal real estate development company. Its strategy is built around lifestyle brands that rely on an emotional relationship to the customer. It's dangerous for them to become politicized, especially in Trump's direction. https://t.co/lSn4kxxD85
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) August 9, 2019

He had the fundraiser anyway.

"The controversy makes Steve Ross hotter." Trump
— Jonathan Capehart (@CapehartJ) August 9, 2019

Trump administration killing off science units at Agriculture Department

It’s part of their war on government, facts, and science.

Read this about the Trump Admin killing off the science units at the Agriculture Dept. Termination notices are apparently going out now — most of these units will lose almost all their staff. Decades of priceless high-level scientific expertise, all off-loaded indiscriminately: https://t.co/piE1PjLH7e
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) August 8, 2019

How did “drain the swamp” come to mean pardon Blagojevich and fire all the scientists https://t.co/Sv5284yBPQ
— Catherine Rampell (@crampell) August 9, 2019

At the same time that Trump has destroyed the Agriculture Department's science research division. https://t.co/uAgbSz0qa7
— Diana Butler Bass (@dianabutlerbass) August 8, 2019

https://t.co/UvjwghrbTu
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) May 30, 2019

U.S. Department of Agriculture officials made a behind-the scenes-effort last year to cast doubt on a study co-authored by two University of Washington researchers about how climate change would affect the nutrients in rice. https://t.co/64NMYAskqN
— The Seattle Times (@seattletimes) August 11, 2019

Net farm income has fallen 45% since a high of $123.4 billion in 2013 to about $63 billion last year, according to the US Department of Agriculture. https://t.co/2GyLUE4bgc
— EssenViews (@essenviews) August 11, 2019

While Trump's aid to farmers will help the sector in the short term, the level of subsidies threatens to prompt further and future trade actions against U.S. agriculture

By Joe Glauber, former USDA chief economisthttps://t.co/POu0F1jshl
— Chad P. Bown (@ChadBown) August 6, 2019

USDA shrinks buyout packages for employees who won't relocate to Kansas City https://t.co/FuMR6MrhrF pic.twitter.com/QMij7SJsVo
— Janet Shan (@hinterlandg) August 20, 2019

Return the @USDA science & research division to D.C. and hire back the experts that were fired or forced to resign.#EndtheGOPWarOnScience https://t.co/juCvExx2C8
— Nicolas Falacci (@NickFalacci) February 2, 2021