Law, Power, and Justice

THURSDAY 16 JANUARY 2025

Well, here we are folks, another day.  It’s glorious outside in coastal Georgia, a little cold, but a bright sunny day.  I have two cats curled up in balls, sleeping on the bed with me, supervising work.  They each weigh over 21 pounds.  I know, they both need to go on a diet.  Feral genes with a steady died is a recipe for disaster. 

I am bummed out because I remembered at 12:52 that I wanted very much to participate in a zoom lecture about drafting the ultra-orthodox into the Israeli military.  I remembered in time to get set up, so I did just that, got set up.  Then, I couldn’t remember where the link to the zoom lecture was.  I had a note on my calendar.  It said “Israel.”  Very helpful.  One of the really difficult things about losing your memory is that you forget that you are losing your memory.  You can no longer make notes like “Israel” and remember what that means.  I have no idea how to find that zoom lecture.  No idea. 

Short Change, one of our cats, is trying to console me.  He says that if I just give him one of the Beachside Party cat treats, I’ll feel better.

Oh Jesus.  There is an icon on the computer screen just to the left of the margin that I’ve never seen before.  When I tried to figure it out by clicking on it, something called “Accessibility: Investigate” came up on the screen.  O.K. , I’m game.  I click on Accessibility Investigate.  Then, another screen appears to the right on my text that says, in large blue letters: “Keep going! Fix the remaining issues in the document to make it accessible to everyone.”  Then, it says “Missing alt text.”  I have no idea what that means.  Is this where we are folks, really?  I just want to type a message about the Republicans from…hell…the middle of hell.

Dorothy Parker said that every time the doorbell rang, she said to herself: What fresh hell is this?”  That’s how I start every day now, since Trump.  Really, since 2015, ten fucking years.  Every time I turn on the television or the computer: What fresh hell is this?

News Notes

According to Robert Reich, Trump’s inaugural fund is on target to rake in $200 million in donations by January 20.  “some of the biggest donors (Amazon, Meta, Goldman Sachs) are facing federal investigations.”  “This is what legalized corruption looks like.”

In 2016 Jimmy Carter talked about the “erroneous ruling” of the Supreme Court.  He said the decision “gives legal bribery a chance to prevail.”