Native Rights: SCOTUS and Native Adoptions
Gabrielle Glaser of The New York Times did a solid piece on what’s at stake in the upcoming SCOTUS decision regarding the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. It’s expected the court will rule on a case that would allow non-Native families to adopt children on Native territories, breaking prior rulings. There’s a lot at stake here, not the least of which is the entire notion of sovereignty.
NYT: The Brutal Past and Uncertain Future of Native Adoptions
Barbara Lee: Fundraising Obstacle for best candidate
The Annenberg School for Journalism runs an online news site that recently covered the fundraising angle for the California senate seat to someday, maybe, hopefully, god willing be vacated by Dianne Feinstein. The article shows how steep Lee’s climb is against popular dems Katie Porter and Adam Schiff. As a 25-year incumbent in a safe district, Lee hasn’t had to raise money to the extent that the others have so she’s starting far behind. But if there’s anyone that deserves this seat...
Annenberg Media: Rep. Barbara Lee faces fundraising titans in the race for CA Senate seat
How it happens: Newsom monarch-maker once again?
The Los Angeles Times opinion section urged California Governor Gavin Newsom to hold a special election in the event that Feinstein does vacate her seat. Rather than appoint and wait for a general election, The Times is pushing for transparency and democracy. From the article:
“Even when states formally comply with the election requirement, we found that many dragged their feet, needlessly delaying the opportunity for voters to weigh in. Since 1913, more than 60 Senate vacancies have lasted longer than a year before an election was held. Indeed, California’s Padilla, whom Newsom appointed when Kamala Harris left her seat to become vice president, served almost two years as an unelected appointee before winning a vacancy-filling election last fall. That was when the state held a special election to fill the last couple of months of Harris’ term concurrently with the general election for the next six-year term.”
That’s all well and good. But I’m still down for a Barbara Lee appointment followed by a special election to give her a running start and to help clear the fundraising disadvantage she currently faces.
LA Times: Opinion: How to fill Dianne Feinstein’s seat if she resigns? The Constitution offers a clear answer
Tucker Deep Dive
Abby Martin and sibling Robbie have been hosting the Media Roots Radio podcast since 2010. They get together periodically to do deep dives into conspiracy theories, bad actors, foreign affairs and more. Abby is still producing the Empire Files and has focused on Venezuela and Palestine for the last few years among other projects. I’m linking to their Apple Podcast feed to send you to their most recent series about Tucker Carlson.
For all I thought I knew, there’s some astonishing stuff in there from Tucker’s father’s ties to the intelligence community, his family fortune, some really dark shit that’s he has said in the past and a lot more. The website appears a bit out of date so best to follow the Apple link or just search for Media Roots Radio with Abby and Robbie Martin on your podcast apps.
By the way, excerpts include Tucker saying “he wants to build an empire on the skulls of dead Chinese people,” and “the U.S. has the moral authority to invade any country and that if you’re Islamic he hates you.” Full stop.
Media Roots Radio: The Real Tucker Carlson Part 1 of 2: Who Are The Elites?
Unf*cker Comment of the Week
Dan H:
“First, I'm assuming that 99 wrote her portion of the [Williamson and Kennedy] episode she gave, and if so, more of this please! Something that's great about the show is the interaction you two have in PSM and Show Notes because it stretches Max's writing and thinking into a different background which is very informative as a listener. 99 and I are of a similar generation with a similar understanding of language, politics, and power. I think including this voice more regularly in the episode proper, not just as a reflection after the fact, could lend to new ways of approaching the problems and issues you all discuss. In any event, 99’s monologue was the best part of this week, hands down.”