Woman, Life, Freedom

Maryam Namazie was a recent guest on the Freedom From Religion Foundation's television program (available both online and on television in many places). She is a British-Iranian human rights activist.

Namazie mentioned the death of Mahsa Amini in Iran. Amini was twenty-two when she was arrested for allegedly wearing her hijab incorrectly. She died in  Iranian custody under suspicious circumstances. 

Her death sparked many protests. It also inspired a graphic account.

Marjane Satrapi is best known for her autobiographical novel Persepolis, which was later made into a film. She later became a director. She oversaw this project which involved many contributors with different styles. It is well done. 

"Woman, Life, Freedom" became a protest slogan. The graphic account here discusses Amini's life and death, the protests, and the Iranian government.  It ends with a discussion between Satarapi and some others. 

One thing not discussed in the book is Iranian's role in international terrorism. Since the book does talk about the government overall, this seems to be something of a lack. It need not dwell on it. It is part of the story. 

The book is hopeful that some tipping point will arise and the nation will move on from its current government. If so, their role in international terrorism would need to be addressed.   

The situation in the United States should not be looked upon in a vacuum. The author of a book on authoritarianism regularly reminds us that Trump fits into a wider story. Each nation has its own individual stories. They also fit into a pattern. 

Sarah McBride 

It seems appropriate to reference the House of Representatives, narrowly Republican with a Christian Nationalist speaker, has targeted incoming trans representative Sarah McBride. 

She will not be able to use women's bathrooms. The election of the first openly trans representative (from Delaware) has wider significance. The new policy will apply to trans people in general. Trans visitors and staff previously did not have to deal with such blatant bigotry. We shall see how it works in practice.

McBride said she will follow the rules, even if (obviously) she opposes them. She says that she was not elected to talk about bathrooms but the needs of her state. Delaware has a single member of Congress.

She has received some pushback from trans people, who argue that the policy will not just affect her. Understandably, she wants to be careful, especially given the need for broad support. 

We can also understand the disappointment. It isn't just about her. 

Erin Reed discusses the case in the previous link, noting the House of Representatives can decide to do more to discriminate against her. It is shameful that she is being treated this way. This is what Republican control is about these days. Congrats, America. 

Line in the Sand 

As with the Iranians, I hope we will have a better future. I expected more in the year 2024. 

We should not accept the legitimacy of such behavior. Raw power does not make something correct. Some things are not just reasonable policy disputes. 

We might have to live in the short term with some things. But, like Jim Crow, we can still declare them not just wrong, but a basic violation of our values. 

One person online didn't like my comment that Trump was "illegitimate," even noting the word originally applied to illegitimate parents. 

Let's avoid narrow word parsing. Also, certain things are not just "bad" but violate core values. 

Trump is constitutionally unfit and promises to do various things that violate norms and even basic constitutional requirements such as equality, free speech, and separation of powers. 

Some people allege that Trump critics use labels that they use for any Republican. Trump is not just any Republican. Trump and Trumpism are particularly bad. Granted, anti-trans behavior is more median bad, if still violating core principles of equality and grace.

Is it 2029, yet? 

Some Books (+ One Film)

I read a collection of Jane Austen's three unpublished novels, which we covered earlier this week.

Free Speech In Its Forgotten Years (1870-1920) by David Rabban is from the 1990s and was read some time ago. The re-read was worthwhile if mixed. 

The last few chapters were about the standard WWI stuff and a quick summary of (then) recent events. One thing not covered much is sex-related cases, the focus on the dissenters, not the cases themselves. 

Letter to the World: Seven Women Who Shaped The American Century was a chance to have a quick read about Dorothy Thompson. She was flagged for her concern about the Nazis in a blog before the election. 

The book provides a chapter each about Eleanor Roosevelt, Dorothy Thompson, Margaret Mead, Katharine Hepburn, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Martha Graham, and Marion Anderson. Good read. 

Side Quest: A Visual History of Roleplaying Games was an interesting graphic account of the history of tabletop role-playing games (think Dungeons & Dragons). 

The book explains how historical role-playing developed from ancient times. The last chapters were not as interesting for me since it was focusing on present-day games. Overall, it was interesting. 

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I checked out Love & Friendship, a film based on Lady Susan, the Jane Austen novel. The first time I watched it, it was not a success. I saw more this time but again not enjoyable. 

It has some charms. It was generally loyal to the book. The actors were good. Good sets. I just found it too dry and shut it off eventually.  

SCOTUS Watch & Related Legal Developments

Trump News

More depressing news -- the idea that the Democrats would win the House of Representatives, which was assumed to be likely, turned out to be another pipe dream. The final numbers are not quite done but only a few seats switched hands. Net, the Republicans might win a few seats (220s).

Trump's appointments have generally been worse than expected though any "I'M SHOCKED" should be sneered at. We knew who he was. He was if anything more unhinged this time around. Any surprise at some point is playacting. It's getting old. 

His attorney general pick is Matt Gaetz. Yes, he is accused of being a sex offender. Trump has a civil judgment establishing he is one and he will have the duty to "faithfully execute the law." 

A major Supreme Court connection is that his solicitor general pick -- who will be in charge of cases argued to the Supreme Court -- argued Trump's immunity case. The agency for this is shared and is in large part the voters. The Supreme Court has its role.  

Robert Kennedy Jr., a conspiracy theorist, was chosen for Health and Human Services. Tulsi Gabbard, a friend of authoritarians, will be in charge of intelligence. Trump is a conspiracy theorist and a patsy for authoritarians. This is all not surprising.  

Ted Olson 

Ted Olson has died. He was the "Olson" in Morrison v. Olson, which upheld the independent counsel law. Many argue that Scalia's dissent turned out to be correct. I have my doubts about that constitutionally.

Olson supported various conservative and libertarian causes. He supported same-sex marriage and Dreamers. He opposed Donald Trump.  His third wife died on 9/11 (his birthday) on one of the planes. 

In these times, we should honor principled legal minds like Ted Olson.  RIP. 

The Courts 

Senator Dick Durbin, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and others assure us that as many nominees as possible will be confirmed by the end of the Senate term. It looks like that would be mid-December. Only so much can be done.

Durbin and the Democrats who went along supported blue slips for district court judges. Blue slips require the support of "home state senators" for the judicial nominees. This would explain why so many red-state slots are vacant. This current list says THIRTY.

We can honor the judicial confirmations during the Biden years of de facto life tenure (good behavior technically) judges without ignoring that Trump had comparable numbers PLUS three justices.  

It is negligence to give him thirty more judicial nominees, especially since district court nominees were the easiest way to influence justice in red states. It adds to my "I'm so damn pissed off" list. 

Lower court judges have been a means over the last fifty years to have some balance while the Supreme Court has never had a majority of Democratically appointed justices. The record on the Supreme Court would have been much worse if moderate Republicans like Stevens or Souter were not involved.  

How can you leave so many people on the table? 

Supreme Court News 

There was a conference today which will bring forth orders on Monday. No more oral arguments are scheduled until December. There will probably be one or more opinions handed down next Friday.  

An execution was delayed (why not? he has been on death row since the 1980s) but there still is one scheduled for next week.  We shall see if he has any final appeals. I will write more next week. 

D.C. News 

A Republican trifecta will mean a greater chance that Congress will interfere with D.C. home rule. 

My druthers would be that D.C. would have a voting member of the House of Representatives, they would have more complete home rule, and only a supermajority (to address true federal interests) could overrule a local law. 

I am okay with D.C. being a state in part since it would (1) be an easy way to address these given constitutional doubts about D.C. having a vote in the House and (2) help unrepresented urban areas. 

Next up, territories should be able to vote for president, and we can figure out a way to have a clear referendum to settle Puerto Rico's desires as to statehood.  And, a pony for all who want one.  

Supreme Court: Order List

The Supreme Court, now more Trumpy, continues its November sitting. There are two argument days (not too exciting), a conference, and more orders due next week.  The next set of arguments will be next month.

Today's Order List is not too notable. A case is granted, vacated, and remanded (GVR) based on the federal government's brief granting error and addressing a lower court's interest to cover other ground. The government put off the reply for an extended period. 

Justice Gorsuch would have taken two cases involving rent control and the Takings Clause. The Solicitor General was given argument time in a case next month, reminding people the current S.G.'s time is running out.  

Meanwhile, to remind people about the crimes of Donald Trump, which the Supreme Court has aided and abetted.  People are now shifting into "let's talk about the new administration" mode. 

I think we should also remember his crimes and unfitness are not going away.  To remind us a bit, the Supreme Court (as expected) rejected a case to transfer his chief of staff's case from Georgia to federal court. A bunch of Georgia defendants are still going to trial (in theory) in the next year or two.  

ETA: The former SCOTUSBlog lead reporter argued the result in the Meadows case was "surprising." 

I am not surprised they wanted to avoid the issue. 

Jane Austen's Unpublished Novels (and More)

I re-read these novels (two unfinished) which were unpublished in Jane Austen's lifetime. I am not a Janeite as such though have consumed much Austen content over the years. I talked about Austen in the past, including watching (and reading) The Jane Austen's Book Club, and reading multiple biographies. 

Jane Austen wrote from her teens to her death in her early 40s. She was from a family of eight (six brothers and one sister), notable for (except for her) generally for long life spans. Her teen writings are called "Juvenalia" and are basically parodies. 

There are then her adult works, three of which were written in an early form in the 1790s.  

Novels

• Sense and Sensibility (1811)
• Pride and Prejudice (1813)
• Mansfield Park (1814)
• Emma (1815)
• Northanger Abbey (1818) (posthumous)
• Persuasion (1818) (posthumous)

Short fiction

• Lady Susan (1794, 1805)

Unfinished fiction

• The Watsons (1804)
• Sanditon (1817)

Northanger Abbey was first written years earlier, sold but not published, and eventually bought back.  It is a satire of overheated Gothic novels with the teen heroine having an overactive imagination.  I think it is a flawed first novel, having somewhat of a feel of a first draft, a sort of bridge from her juvenalia.   

Sense and Sensibility was first written in the form of an epistolatory (letters) novel, which was common at that time. Lady Susan is an epistolatory novel concerning a wicked thirty-something widow. It is rather fun and I wish she wrote it later as a normal novel. But, she would never have such a character dominate in her adult years.   

The Watsons is a short fragment of an unfinished novel. The fragment consists of a few scenes related to a dance and the home life of the heroine. 

She wrote it while in Bath, an unpleasant portion of her life away from her preferred country life. Her father also died during the time she wrote it.  The characters remind me of others, including an invalid father (Emma). It's an easy reading few scenes though I'm unsure how substantial the whole book would be. 

Pride and Prejudice is a favorite novel of many. Fanny of Mansfield Park is somewhat insufferable though Jane Austen has a personal attachment. Ironically, Fanny is upset at other characters performing a play -- Jane Austen's family amused themselves by acting out plays when she was growing up (sometimes material of her own creation).

Emma is the second book in Jane Austen's prime that is quite popular. The teen comedy Clueless is a loose translation. Multiple Jane Austen films inspired modern-day take-offs ala Shakespeare in many cases.

Austen started Sanditon (now a t.v. series) shortly before her death. Nonetheless, I found Persuasion somewhat rough. It is shorter than her other adult novels, and I wonder if she was satisfied with the final result. It was published after her death.  

Sanditon has a somewhat strange feel for a Jane Austen novel. Reviewers note its novel components, including her use of satire of a health resort. The fragment largely consists of caricatures, including three hypochondriacs and an excessively enthusiastic business owner. It would have been interesting to see the complete novel. 

The three novels here are a good way to read Jane Austen in small doses. I read all of her published novels. I tried to re-read them but could not get into the flow of things. Many people re-read them multiple times. Maybe, I will try Persuasion, which is the shortest of her adult novels. 

To toss it in, Austentatious is worthwhile to try short-lived television series using multiple Jane Austen characters in a modern-day context. Not to be confused with a play based on the works of Jane Austen, which sounds good, but I never saw it.  

More Than Democrats Have Agency: Election 2024 Edition

The media now is shifting to their preferred "only Democrats have agency" mode. Since that is covered, let's talk about some other stuff.

Eugene Volokh is a prime example of a sane-sounding guy who will push come to shove and lean the expected way. He votes Libertarian (the Purity Pony Party is a coalition this election) but "likes" some poorly argued Bret Stephens op-ed (I had a long comment in reply as JoeFromthe Bronx).

He follows up with another reference to the Democrats supposedly acting like French people by loudly saying things only they understand. I again responded since it's crap. Not only do Trump voters repeatedly support Democratic policies but Democrats repeatedly make appeals to all voters. 

The truth is shown by what amounts to split-ticket voting. Democrats have won statewide races in North Carolina, Kansas, and the supposed "Blue Wall" states that they could win on the top of the ticket this time. 

People in Trump states voted for abortion rights and other liberal policies. Florida voters supported abortion rights (if not quite the supermajority necessary). They supported expanding voting rights a few years ago. Then, the legislature overrode them. 

Chris Geidner's piece about trans rights has some good analysis of the election. I would note that it is likely too soon to completely judge what happened. 

But, "Democrats are wrong" takes when it is as much about mid-term concerns about Biden, the poisonous appeal of Trump, economic concerns that there were no magic answers for, and so on is bullshit.  

We have to accept that a chunk of the population has very problematic views, even if some conservative op-ed columnists don't want to hear it. Trump is a horror show. Democrats can't do Trump-lite without selling their soul. Marginal voters going the other way again after another four years without Trump is quite likely. 

There are a lot of people to blame. The media, courts, and Republican Party all in their own fashion helped Trump win. The media soft-soaped him. The comparison after Biden had a bad debate and a slew of bad press kept on coming is quite telling.  

Other than a slim (and very appreciated) old-guard Republican dissent (and nearly all were not in power), the Republican Party was again in the pocket of Trump. Since Trump won, this will not be deemed problematic by the media and others. They won so selling your soul is fine. It's not f-ing fine. 

I just had a court entry so won't repeat myself but the Supreme Court helped too. I'm sorry. The idea is just to blame Merrick Garland, right? 

My argument continues to be even to the degree Garland is part of the problem, he is not some superhero. He had a lot of help. And, he worked in an environment much unlike the Watergate Era. 

It was self-perpetuating. People who are mad the Democrats didn't do more have a case. But, it isn't just one person. Blaming one person is part of the problem. President Biden was in "just doing my job like the world wasn't on fire" mode in part because that is what the nation as a whole elected him to do. Chicken/egg. Do you want someone else? The type of "all-in" person who did not win for a reason.  

We can assign some blame to the Democrats. Others will do that a lot. Again, so much of it will be badly assigned. Senator Sanders said the Democrats sold out workers. The President who walked on a picket line? The number of union people who endorsed Harris underlines the truth of the matter.  

Also, late in the game, people will say Biden should have stepped down early. The counterfactual of doing that -- a rather ahistorical approach -- makes one wonder what magic unicorn could have beat Trump. Not just make the race closer.  

Democrats did not just run a left-friendly race. They supported a conservative border bill. Multiple policies, including things like money for home health aides under Medicare, had bipartisan reach. 

Clearly, a prime message -- Trump is simply unfit and dangerous -- did not get through. 

Trump is constitutionally unfit under the Fourteenth Amendment. His presidency will also inherently obstruct justice by preventing his own trials. 

I am so horrified that the voting public doesn't care. It is something of a messaging problem akin to non-racists running in the segregationist South. 

But, what was the alternative there? Treat him as not unfit and dangerous? How would that help you win? 

People can debate what Democrats have to do. The media thrives on chatting about that. All the bad stuff about Republicans will be ignored since they won. 

I am going to stick to my values while you all do it and not ignore that bad things often happen because bad forces unfortunately have more power.  

We can apportion blame, and it can help for next time, but that bottom line still can be true. Let's keep our perspective about things while self-flagellating ourselves. 

ETA: BTW, WTF with those polls? It was a "toss-up," not one-sided Trump's way.  

The Abominable Dr. Phibes

This week's Svengoolie is a 1970s film starring Vincent Price. At various points, it appears to be an acid trip. 

The film involves Price gaining revenge on the people who could not save his wife. He decides to use the plagues of Egypt (somewhat altered; there were no rats or bats in the original version) with the help of a silent lovely young assistant. A lot of killing is done largely tongue-in-cheek.

The cast includes some familiar faces, particularly Joseph Cotton, who starred in many familiar films (including The Farmer's Daughter) back in the day. He looks tired here (he was in his mid-60s) though partially that is the nature of the character.  Cotton is basically the "final girl" here. 

Dr. Phibes did not get around to killing Cotton's character though put the scare in him by kidnapping his son. Nonetheless, he accomplished the rest of his revenge before returning to the grave. At least, the film ends with him lying next to his wife, replacing his blood with embalming fluid.

But, he will turn. For that, see the next episode.  This one was pretty fun, especially if you like the absurdity of it all. The Sven episode included an honorary video celebrating his 45th year in the role.  

SCOTUS Watch: Now More Trumpy

Supreme Court Helps

The Supreme Court conservatives helped and will be helped by Trump. The liberals partially went along in Trump v. Anderson (insurrection). The immunity case (Trump v. U.S.) is all on the conservatives. 

Trump is not constitutionally qualified to be president. The Fourteenth Amendment addresses his engagement in insurrection. Nonetheless, as with his violation of emoluments rules, the courts found ways to ignore explicit text while making shit up on immunity. 

The emoluments cases were slow-walked and after his term was over became moot. This was a choice. When the Supreme Court wants to do so, it speeds things along or finds procedural workarounds. 

We can debate all that went into the American public's nauseating failure in electing Trump. The Supreme Court blocking a trial for his election crimes did not help. The patently unfit-to-preside Trump pick blocking the national security trial didn't help.  

The conservatives got their likely wish. Trump won. The chance for any judicial reform is gone. Alito and Thomas can retire at their leisure. 

The Trump Administration will advance more conservative positions satisfactory to the majority. There will be a certain mournful quality to one or more cases argued by the federal government before mid-January, particularly next month's trans cases.

How far Trump and his team will go remains to be seen. It won't be as fully horrible as some fear but the overturning of Roe v. Wade underlines it will be horrible in multiple ways. 

Lower Courts 

Trump, a convicted felon with multiple other pending indictments,* which now will go away, will have the ability to stock the courts with judges that will remain for decades. Republican control of the Senate will ease the way.  

President Biden and Senate Democrats did pretty well. There is still some left on the table, however, and the simple reality is that there was only one Supreme Court seat. Trump might have five.

Also, there will now be more judges to select with an expansion of the number of district judges. This adds to the results of the voting, many of whom did not act with this sort of thing in mind. But, it all is part of the whole, no matter if the people don't think or care.  

In 2016, the British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica exploited the data of over 30 million Facebook users in connection with Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. After Facebook (now Meta) knew of the breach, but before Cambridge’s widespread use of the data was made public, Facebook issued a securities filing disclosing to investors the hypothetical risk that a security breach might cause harm to Facebook’s business and stock price. That disclosure did not reveal that, as Facebook was aware, a large breach of that sort already had occurred.

The Supreme Court chose an apt time -- the day after the election -- to hold an oral argument in this case. Lest you forget, and there is so much skullduggery that it is easy to lose track, Steve Bannon was a vice president of the company. 

Upcoming 

A Friday conference will lead to a Tuesday (Monday is a holiday) Order List. There are some more not very exciting oral arguments next week. 

Any celebratory (or girls' night of drinking the sorrows away) events are unofficial.  

“Do not despair,” Harris concluded. “This is not a time to throw up our hands. This is a time to roll up our sleeves.”

It is hard not to despair. I thought in 2016 that the death of Justice Scalia would bring balance to the Supreme Court. Garland was blocked and Trump was elected. Three tainted justices followed.  

Electing Trump after all that he did ... how can we not despair for our country? Chris Geidner citing a play about the AIDS epidemic (someone kept fighting even amidst the dying) does not make me feel much better.

Talk about "rolling up sleeves" after she congratulated a sexual predator for his victory (is this really necessary? "you killed my mom, but hey, you won the election ... congrats!") comes off as obscene on some level. And, President Biden is now helping a Putin puppet to take over the White House again. Charming.

But, as I said on Wednesday, what is the alternative? Endurance is a type of win. I am just tired thinking about how much people will have to struggle. Finding victories when you can, limiting damage, and fighting on. I thought of it as "triage" last time. Still do.  

We will see some of that in the courts too. 

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* There is also the footnote regarding his New York conviction for which final sentencing was delayed until after the election. Jack Smith is prepping to unwind the federal cases. [Expletive deleted.]

Michael Dorf has a blog post on the NY case. Without agreeing with him across the board, it has some good points. Overall, I think a fine and suspended sentence with token requirements would do the trick. 

I think the prosecution while in office thing is largely academic. I'm open to some extreme case -- yes, including murder -- but you know, we will worry about that when it happens.