US Politics, May 2023: May 1 never happened

here is Jenna Barbee's statement

https://www.tiktok.com/@becomingabetterbarbee/video/7232767113914617131

For folks who don't know Jacksonville, the city and county are the same government. Wrong to think this is another "big" Dem city. It has outlying rural areas and a significant number of military retirees. It's a slightly red-leaning bellweather for the state. Why this is a bfd

— Michael McDonald (@ElectProject) May 17, 2023

Good evening!

Completely agree with you about the cruelty Dan S. Heinous shit indeed, and it is happening in a place where there are loads of good people (including many of my favorite people) trying to intervene on the side of compassion and justice but perniciously getting blocked by bullshit political structures.

There is also a generous dash of absurdity. Monorail? Really? Are we seriously arguing about monorail? Did we learn nothing from the Simpsons?

More bad news for FL dum dum

Stellar night for DeSantis https://t.co/2GR2GD6S4q

— Michael McDonald (@ElectProject) May 17, 2023

Loathe as I am to predict the future, but I said in November that DeSantis' formidable victory looked like an outlier. I'm sure Florida will still go red in '24 but neither is it as deep red as it looked in 2022.

Lord Alfred, I write to you in the spirit of empathy, from an allegedly purple state where our totally horrid governor might actually have shot himself in the taint by continually reminding people that for him, everything has to be a piece of ongoing culture-war bullshit.

My one fervent hope remains as follows: drumming up paranoia in service of an imagined war on "wokeness" will get stale as normal humans realize that maybe it's okay to just be nice to people

So long as my Muriel spark novels, Campari and gin, and ILX exist I'm immune to despair.

(Hoisting an imaginary Negroni in your general direction)

Possible apostle here, fear my family will object xp

For a non-Floridian, it's almost a relief that DeSantis has tacked so hard reactionary... had he stuck to some kind of benevolent/pragmatic populism, he might be actually have risen up a bit nationwide, but now he's almost a crank Lydon LaRouche character; not sure who his advisors are but they have their heads up their asses

That said, reading over that litany that Dan S. just posted, I feel deep sympathy for all the innocent collateral damage in his mindless 'war on monorails woke'

The important thing to remember is that SCOTUS as Liberal Protector of Constitutional Rights didn't begin until the Warren Court and not even until the brief period between 1962-1969.

Very much so! There’s a great book on this called Cold War Civil Rights that goes into how the Warren Court rulings were deliberately part of the propaganda effort to court favor amongst the rapidly de-colonizing Global South nations.

Here it is: Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy by Mary L. Dudziak

https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691152431/cold-war-civil-rights

Progressive angst about the debt talks is growing:

Sen. Warren described herself as “very concerned” about the direction of the talks, including mentions of a long-term cap on spending and additional work requirements.@adamcancryn, @JonLemire and I https://t.co/nRXAw2c0Lv

— Jennifer Haberkorn (@jenhab) May 16, 2023

In 10 years, we'll have welfare recipients forced into the fields as a replacement for migrant workers. I've been expecting that for some time, and I'm sure of that now.

Thanks, kingfish. Looks like the uni library's got it.

More and more it looks like we must thank the Cold War for every intellectual, judicial, and political advancement.

The corrupt former city councilwoman who wants more cops, “constitutional” stop and frisk, and implicitly wants to ruin Philly’s Chinatown by allowing the 76ers to build an enormous stadium in the heart of the city won her primary last night, basically setting the scene for her winning the election because she will be the only Dem running.

Frankly, another disaster for Philadelphia that will be given a soft touch by media here and elsewhere , but I digress.

This is a professional question as much as a personal one: People who live in the Southern US or just read about it, where do you go for progressive perspectives on the South? In terms of news, I mean.

The Chinatown thing is absolutely infuriating tho— the racial politics of it are ugly, with many Black politicians in favor because the stadium will add (low-paying, not full time, seasonal) service jobs, ignoring the fact that they’ll be actively destroying a vibrant neighborhood some suburban motherfuckers can watch a basketball game in a slightly more convenient location. Fuck.

I used to spend so much time in Philly's Chinatown. Many a string of little firecrackers were purchased there, and it was right by the Troc, iirc.

The corrupt former city councilwoman who wants more cops, “constitutional” stop and frisk, and implicitly wants to ruin Philly’s Chinatown by allowing the 76ers to build an enormous stadium in the heart of the city won her primary last night, basically setting the scene for her winning the election because she will be the only Dem running.

She won a huge majority of the black vote.

The racial breakdown in tonight's results is... pretty stark.

Majority-Black (and majority-Latino) precincts pretty united; whiter precincts really splitting their vote. pic.twitter.com/x7IXA0oDdr

— Aseem Shukla (@ashukla89) May 17, 2023

I don’t care whether she won a huge majority of the Black vote, her policies are regressive and won’t keep Black communities safer, and her implicit endorsement of the destruction of another minority community is abhorrent.

Like forgive me for saying that anyone who endorses stop and frisk laws shouldn’t be taken seriously

As with Eric Adams, it's interesting to see how racial politics aren't at all the same as "progressive" politics — something I think people on both the left and right in this country misunderstand a lot.

otm

Strange that you think me pointing that out is an attack on you tabe

But I forgive you

My apologies, Keyes— it’s just the rhetoric around her nomination and presumed mayoral tenure is already really ugly here, with a lot of racialised language being thrown around needlessly.

yeah tipsy otm

yeah, I really didn't know much about her--just that she's not the candidate Bernie and AOC came to Philly to support

That poll of voter breakdown gave me deja vu on how the votes on reforming the Minneapolis Police Dept. went in the aftermath of George Floyd, with much of the anti-"defund the police" energy being laser-focused on majority Black neighborhoods, with Don Samuels serving as the primary messenger of said message

Having worked in a cit govt I can tell you that older (voting) constituencies in majority Black neighborhoods tend to want more cops rather than fewer. You can argue that they shouldn't want that for any number of reasons, but it's still true. Now they are also skeptical of cops in general and will support things like civilian review etc to hold them accountable. But they don't perceive that fewer police will be better for them.

CITY govt that should say.

Oh I know this, it remains disappointing.

Skeptical of cops, but far more fearful of neighbor youths, seems to be the general rule of thumb

As with Eric Adams, it's interesting to see how racial politics aren't at all the same as "progressive" politics — something I think people on both the left and right in this country misunderstand a lot

Likewise, there’s a reason a lot of Dem establishment figures want the first presidential primary to be held in South Carolina, but not, say, Michigan or Illinois.

Yet another 1st Amendment lawsuit in Florida. This is the district where the School Board is basically letting one super right-wing English teacher bombard them with banned book requests and has upheld every one that they have heard so far.

https://pen.org/press-release/pen-america-files-lawsuit-against-florida-school-district-over-unconstitutional-book-bans/

Anyone ever read any books by historian/politics writer Kevin Kruse? any good?

No but I like him on Twitter.

just bought White Flight

https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/17/politics/rachael-rollins-doj-report-leak

Rollins, according to the IG report, secretly spoke to reporters about interim Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden – Rollins’ successor from her previous job. At the time, Hayden was campaigning in the Democratic primary to earn the position permanently. Rollins supported Hayden’s opponent in the race, Ricardo Arroyo.

Rollins, during her tenure as the US attorney, “provided information to (The Boston) Globe, before it published three articles … critical of Hayden’s handling of a police misconduct case that began under Rollins’s tenure as DA and the understaffing of a special unit in the Suffolk DA’s office responsible for handling police misconduct cases,” the report says.

In text messages cited in the report, Rollins told a Globe reporter that her office “does not know we have been speaking,” and told the reporter that they could use the information she provided “if you can say sources close to the Rollins Administration.”

The report offers a damning picture of how Rollins handled her appearance at a Democratic fundraiser in July 2022 that featured the first lady. It says Rollins was “driven in a government vehicle by a subordinate employee” of her office to a private home in Andover, Massachusetts, where the event was taking place.

After media reports raised questions about the appearance, Rollins suggested on Twitter that she had “approval” to be there, according to the report, which said she in fact did not receive the necessary approval to attend the event.

“(H)er attendance was contrary to the ethics advice she received before the event that gave permission for Rollins to meet and greet with Dr. Biden separately from the fundraiser but did not include approval from the Office of the Deputy Attorney General (ODAG) to attend the fundraiser itself,” the report says.

This is just artless and dumb

“I got a trailblazing appointment and all eyes are on me, I’m going to respond by absolutely shitting the bed in the dumbest, most public way possible. #yolo”

xp re Kruse: I read Fault Lines, a political history of the U.S. since Watergate, which he wrote with Julian Zelizer. IIRC, they wrote it in part to be read in a class at Princeton that they taught together. It's very readable and useful as a broad overview, but also kind of textbook-y, as you might expect. Would be interested in checking out some of his more focused work.

This is painful... except for:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, another New York progressive, told Bowman: “She ain’t worth it, bro.”

If Twitter isn’t real life then explain this pic.twitter.com/9IoEEsTmfc

— Keith Edwards (@keithedwards) May 17, 2023

With brilliant leadership like this, Ron's a shoo-in for the Republican nomination!

Disney Pulls Plug on https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/18/business/disney-ron-desantis-florida.html Billion Development in Florida

A new office complex, and relocation of a division from California, would have created more than 2,000 jobs but was scuttled as the company and Gov. Ron DeSantis continue to feud.

In March, Disney called Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida “anti-business” for his scorched-earth attempt to tighten oversight of the company’s theme park resort near Orlando. Last month, when Disney sued the governor and his allies for what it called “a targeted campaign of government retaliation,” the company made clear that $17 billion in planned investment in Walt Disney World was on the line.

“Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people, and pay more taxes, or not?” Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, said on an earnings-related conference call with analysts last week.

On Thursday, Mr. Iger and Josh D’Amaro, Disney’s theme park and consumer products chairman, showed that they were not bluffing, pulling the plug on a nearly $1 billion office complex that was scheduled for construction in Orlando. It would have brought more than 2,000 jobs to the region, with $120,000 as the average salary, according to an estimate from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

The project, known as the Lake Nona Town Center, was supposed to involve the relocation of more than 1,000 employees from Southern California, including most of a department known as Imagineering, which works with Disney’s movie studios to develop theme park attractions. Most of the affected employees complained bitterly about having to move — some quit — but Disney largely held firm, partly because of a Florida tax credit that would have allowed the company to recoup as much as $570 million over 20 years for building and occupying the complex.

When he announced the project in 2021, Mr. D’Amaro cited “Florida’s business-friendly climate” as justification.

Mr. D’Amaro’s tone in an email to employees on Thursday was notably different. He cited “changing business conditions” as a reason for canceling the Lake Nona project. “I remain optimistic about the direction of our Walt Disney World business,” Mr. D’Amaro said in the memo. He noted that $17 billion was still earmarked for construction at Disney World over the next decade — growth that would create an estimated 13,000 jobs. “I hope we’re able to,” he said.

But the company’s battle with Mr. DeSantis and his allies in the Florida Legislature figured prominently into Disney’s decision to cancel the Lake Nona project, according to two people briefed on the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. A spokeswoman for Mr. Iger said he was not available for an interview.

politicians come and go.. and Mickey Mouse has outlasted them all

yeah ever since he lead that violent insurrection in 1970 he's been the face of this state

“I got a trailblazing appointment and all eyes are on me, I’m going to respond by absolutely shitting the bed in the dumbest, most public way possible. #yolo”

― Marvel Puzzle Quest is my favorite gasm (DJP), Thursday, May 18, 2023 8:29 AM bookmarkflaglink

This is super disappointing. Gutted.

Despite her comments to CNN earlier in the day that she just had "really bad flu," a Feinstein spokesperson says that she had encephalitis and continues to suffer from Ramsay Hunt syndrome

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 18, 2023

Some syndromes are good, right?

The encephalitis will make her a more razor-sharp senator.