Morning Reads for National Llama Day (December 9)
Good morning, and a very happy National Llama Day to you! Oh, yeah, there’s totally a day for this. Here are 9 interesting facts about llamas, and here are ways to celebrate. I am thrilled that “dress like a llama” made the list, so if any of your go for it, please post proof in the comments.
It’s also Christmas Card Day! On December 9, 1843, the first Christmas card was sent. So much of the commercialization of Christmas started with the Victorians, and cards are no exception.
Let’s get on to the news.
Pat Conroy
- Texas’ attorney general, Ken Paxton, sued Georgia and a couple of other states demanding the state legislatures pick our electors due to the voters voting the wrong way. It’s not a serious lawsuit, just as Paxton is not a serious public servant.
- To wit, he was indicted on federal securities fraud charges last month.
- Both of our U.S. Senators support this “lawsuit”.
- Congressman Jody Hice was the only Georgian not to vote in support of the National Defense reauthorization yesterday because he doesn’t want Confederate generals’ names removed from Army bases.
- Austin Scott and Doug Collins missed the vote. Scott is recovering from COVID, but Collins is in state for a “personal commitment,” i.e., this farcicality on behalf of a lame duck president that he thinks is more important than what his constituents elected him to do. (Alternate link.)
- Speaking of that farcicality, last night, Jim Galloway dismantled the claim that Stacey Abrams did in 2018 after her loss in the race for governor what President Trump is doing now. (Alternate link.)
- If you feel as though you’re lacking on analysis of the Senate runoffs – how?! – here are just a few articles that came out in the last 24 hours:
- The Washington Post rehashes the “Six Georgias.”
- Side note: Quit putting Baldwin County in the Piedmont. I live here; it’s the Black Belt. (Alternate link.)
- The New York Times delves into numbers of voters and where they’re at in the state. (Alternate link.)
- FiveThirtyEight examines where all the money is coming from.
- NBC News looks into how many early voting sites are being cut back from the general election (which is normal).
- The Washington Post rehashes the “Six Georgias.”
- Some of our state senators now want to end no-excuse absentee voting during the upcoming legislative session.
- Reality Winner’s request for compassionate release from federal prison was denied. (Alternate link.)
Alice Walker
- The Supreme Court rejected President Trump’s case asking to throw out Pennsylvania’s election results yesterday. The order was one sentence.
- Nevada’s Supreme Court also denied the suit to overturn its state’s results. (Alternate link.)
- CNN’s Lauren Fox is trying to keep up with all things stimulus, and more power to her. It sounds like a total mess of a negotiation.
- Speaking of CNN, their viewership is double what it was this time last year. Fox News continues to dominate nighttime viewership among the cable news networks.
- The student loan payment freeze has been extended through January.
- The U.N. Emissions Gap survey suggests we could see the planet warm 3 degrees this century.
- Venice has flooded again after a newly-installed system of mobile artificial dams failed to activate.
- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has gone to Brussels to try to stave off a no-deal Brexit. (Yeah, that’s still ongoing…)
- After reactions among National Health Service workers who took Pfizer’s COVID vaccine, the United Kingdom is advising that those with severe allergies not take it.
- NPR has a tool so you can see how much of your area hospital’s beds are filled by COVID patients.
- TIME has suggestions for having a safe COVID Christmas.
Flannery O’Connor
- This man bought Delta Airlines seats for his house because he misses flying so much. That’s totally normal. Totally.
About Author
Holly Croft
Holly is an archivist at one of Georgia's institutions of higher learning. In a past life, she was a legislative assistant on Capitol Hill. She cares a lot about records management, open records laws, and privacy laws. Political persuasion? It's complicated. What's not complicated is that she's proudly equal parts Bulldog and Tar Heel.
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Biden’s designated SecDef grew up in Thomasville. He and my brother played drums in the THS marching band.
https://www.wctv.tv/2020/12/08/thomasville-high-alumnus-named-first-african-american-to-lead-defense-department/
RE: Buying Delta Air Lines Seats
Delta not only sells old seats, but also beverage carts, glassware, china, and silverware. Much of it is done by their Museum. The Museum is well worth a visit. If you’re so inclined, you can also buy an hour in their 737 flight simulator. (NB: It is an earlier version of the 737 which was made obsolete when those planes left their flight line, not the 737 Max plane, which includes an autocrash feature). Please see:
https://www.deltamuseum.org/
Bless their hearts. https://wdef.com/2020/12/08/georgia-senators-endorse-texas-legal-challenge/
I’m not sure which metaphor works best here-
A snake eating its own tail?
Eating your own foot?
Biting the hand that feeds you?
Not sure, but there’s surely some gnawing and gnashing of teeth involved.
Also, where everyone says there is now a full right to pursue legal remedies, sure. Except if shoe was on other foot, I would wager on calls of treason and calls to arms.
Also, there may be a right to a legal remedy, but this case is seeking an extreme remedy, and I don’t know if it’s also seeking a more palatable remedy. The suit at least asks to essentially overturn all votes in four states, but does it do anything to ask for carefully investigated and appropriate remedies that may actually be helpful? In other words, if they can’t stop the certified votes from being counted, do they even care if the states receive further guidance on what the Constitution allows? Because if the S.Ct. denies the big ask, it could take a good long while before completion of any nuanced investigation of election law as applied within federalist system. But those recommendations would be the only possible helpful thing coming from this suit. That is how it differs from recent suit brought by Republican party- which asks states to get the protocols right. Getting it right seems fairly good while stopping all procedures is obvious partisan ploy.
My guess- based upon the fact that S.Ct. asked for responses from Georgia et al. by tomorrow- is that the S.Ct. will dismiss the requested remedy prior to Dec. 14th meeting of Electoral College so as to avoid any confusion. They probably have that one-line Order already printed. They can just cut and paste from the last case. But it will be telling if the case is then dropped, or if anyone really cares about actually improving any election law glitches.
Trump tweet, I wish he would look at a history book. Nixon won Florida and Ohio and lost to Kennedy in 1960:
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Marjorie Greene is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier:
Via Twitter, congresswoman-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene declared herself outraged by an absentee ballot application mailed to the Habersham County jail, demanding that Gov. Brian Kemp and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan stop such things.
Greene has embarked on a steep learning curve. Ultimately, she will learn that the ballot application (a photo of which she helpfully included) is from a private firm over which Georgia officialdom has no control. And that a jail is often populated by people charged with crimes, but not convicted. Which means they retain their right to cast a ballot.”
https://www.ajc.com/politics/politics-blog/the-jolt-texas-claims-sovereignty-over-us-and-many-georgia-republicans-like-the-idea/VDHJDBXIJ5CHXHLMFOFNTSCSSY/