After reading some of the GOP post mortem’s from this week’s election, we are wondering what advice you would give to the WISGOP if they want to start winning statewide more regularly.
Then we discuss Clarence Thomas’ sticky situation.
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Yesterday, ProPublica published a report that found Thomas accepted luxury trips from Dallas real estate mogul and Republican megadonor Harlan Crow for more than 20 years. According to the report, Thomas and his wife, Ginni, jet-setted around the world to places like New Zealand and Indonesia using Crow’s private jet and his superyacht. Crow reportedly helped fund a museum about Thomas in his hometown and donated $500,000 to Ginni’s now-defunct conservative group.
ProPublica said Thomas has not reported any of these trips on his financial disclosures — the thing justices and all senior federal personnel are supposed to do to ensure they’re not swayed by outside influences. While there aren’t many restrictions on the types of gifts justices can receive, they’re required to report anything worth more than $415. Trips on private jets cost a bit more than that.
The report is reigniting calls from Democratic lawmakers for the highest court in the land to adopt ethics rules. Some are calling for Thomas to be impeached, which we all know, in this political environment, will never happen.
It’s not the first time the court’s senior-most justice has raised ethics concerns. Just last year, it was revealed that Ginni played a role in trying to overturn the 2020 election results — which led to calls for Thomas to recuse himself from election-related cases.
If you were in the GOP war room this week – to do a post-mortem on the election, what would you suggest to say, maybe we try this instead? For many of us, we might say, “Pass a law that gives the same protections to abortion access that we had prior to the overturn of Roe”. But according to many GOP operatives and politicians, “it’s more than abortion”
We spend a great deal of time talking through the multiple post-mortems that are starting to be published from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to Dan O’Donnel.
One thing worth pointing out is that there are more guys named “Mark” quoted in the MJS article than there are women. So, maybe start there GOP considering women continue to be the linchpin in elections.
And then there is Scott Walker who is convinced it’s because the kids are getting indoctrinated.
Yesterday, the Education Dept announced a proposal that would restrict schools from banning transgender athletes from sports teams. Under Title IX, sex discrimination is prohibited in federally funded schools. Now, the Biden admin wants to make sure trans athletes are covered under that law. It comes as 20 states have measures banning trans students from playing on teams that match their gender identity. The Education Dept said the plans to help create “equal opportunity in athletics.”
BUT some trans rights advocates worry the change could lead to more discrimination. That’s because the proposal would give high schools and colleges the flexibility to ban some trans athletes if fairness is a concern.
What’s next? The proposal will undergo a public comment period and is expected to face challenges.
Also yesterday, The Supreme Court rejected West Virginia’s emergency attempt to remove 12-year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson from her middle school’s girls’ track team. It was the first time the high court ruled on state-level restrictions on transgender athletes, but more decisions are expected as 19 states have limited transgender students’ participation in athletics in the last three years, according to the ACLU.
There’s also been a right-wing backlash over – Oh and speaking of members of the LGBTQIA+ community being targeted, Bud Light’s partnership with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney has prompted a right-wing backlash.
With all these attacks on trans people, please enjoy this wonderful Roy Wood Jr. clip:
