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Created
Thu, 13/04/2023 - 09:30
Thomas Edsall has a long piece on the radicalization of the GOP. This is the point most people don;t want to admit:  Theda Skocpol, a professor of political science and sociology at Harvard, contended that many of the developments in states controlled by Republicans are a result of careful, long-term planning by conservative strategists, particularly those in the Federalist Society, who are developing tools to build what she called “minority authoritarianism” within the context of a nominally democratic system of government. Skocpol outlined her thinking in an email: These organized, richly resourced actors, she wrote, Skocpol did not pull her punches: There are a number of factors that confirm Skocpol’s analysis. First and foremost, the Republican Party’s commitment to democratic values and procedures has been steadily eroding over the past two decades — and the momentum has accelerated. The brakes on extremism are failing, with Donald Trump gaining strength in his bid for renomination and the continuing shift to the right in states like Tennessee and Ohio.
Created
Thu, 13/04/2023 - 08:23
Prosecutor forced to accept her blue badge claim was wrong – but accuses pro-Palestinian activist of making mobile call while he was locked up with no phone and causes fury after bypassing proper cross-examination An apparently key plank in the prosecution’s case against Jewish activist Tony Greenstein – one of five people on trial for […]
Created
Thu, 13/04/2023 - 08:00
This is the most exciting time in the history of vaccines. It took many, momentous, sequential discoveries over at least 3-4 decades to get here. That we were able to get Covid vaccines in 10 months from sequencing the virus with over 70,000 participants in randomized trials and 95% efficacy vs symptomatic infections (and hospitalizations and deaths) is all too often taken for granted. I had never thought that would have been possible, but now I understand how it was achieved. It has been exhilarating to see all the work from many labs around the world culminate in such a rapid succession of success stories, with many more to come. That’s fantastic news. Unfortunately, there is a large movement gaining steam in America to ban vaccines. The proponents are ignorant and delusional but they have powerful friends. Imagine what could happen if the new rule that the federal judge in Texas just pulled out of his hat in the abortion pill case stands. It would mean that courts could decide that vaccines are dangerous and … ban them. Don’t think it couldn’t happen.
Created
Thu, 13/04/2023 - 06:30
They’re gearing up: A growing number of prominent Republicans are rallying around the idea that to solve the fentanyl crisis, America must bomb it away. In recent weeks, Donald Trump has discussed sending “special forces” and using “cyber warfare” to target cartel leaders if he’s reelected president and, per Rolling Stone, asked for “battle plans” to strike Mexico. Reps. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) and Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) introduced a bill seeking authorization for the use of military force to “put us at war with the cartels.” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said he is open to sending U.S. troops into Mexico to target drug lords even without that nation’s permission. And lawmakers in both chambers have filed legislation to label some cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, a move supported by GOP presidential aspirants. “We need to start thinking about these groups more like ISIS than we do the mafia,” Waltz, a former Green Beret, said in a short interview. Not all Republican leaders are behind this approach.