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"I was the one who sent Roe v. Wade," former President Donald Trump boasted to Newsmax on Tuesday, citing the appointment of three Supreme Court justices who, along with three other conservatives, overturned the 50-year-old ruling. guaranteeing the right to abortion last June.
The problem: Two-thirds of AmericansdisapproveMany independent voters and even some Republicans have repeatedly indicated they will side with the Democrats on this issue.
In a general election, a strong anti-abortion stance can be a real disadvantage. Trump, who has dodged questions about whether he would support a nationwide abortion ban, conceded as much, saying his closest Republican rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who signed a bill that would limit most abortions after six weeks of the ban, "voters are losing". How crazy".
But within the Republican base, strong opposition to abortion is an asset. DeSantis challenged the former president, citing his state ban: “I signed the bill. I was proud of it. Whether he signs it or not, he will not respond."
Trump's refusal to say whether he would support a nationwide ban has drawn criticism from conservatives.alicia stewartwrote, "Trump's past record of protecting the sanctity of life is strong, but his future commitment will be tested in the 2024 Republican primary." Other Republican primary candidates have pledged to sign a federal abortion ban with exceptions for rape, incest and the mother's life. This political difference will not go unnoticed. ...Trump may need to find a better answer to keep the pro-life community on his side.”
While the ambiguity on the abortion issue may help Trump politically, he is also vulnerable to backlash against other unpopular Supreme Court decisions he helped create. That has weakened states' ability to restrict gun ownership, another unpopular stance in a country plagued by mass shootings. And before the court's term ends at the end of June, it could block Biden's plan to cancel some of millions of people's student debt.
Democrats in Congress have stepped up their criticism of the court. Not only do they reject the increasingly conservative stance, they also argue that it makes no sense to keep protecting the nine justices from the same code of ethics that applies to other federal judges.
Congress has the power to control the court, wrote CNN's legal analyst and law professor.steve vadeck, whose new book The Shadow Docket focuses on the Supreme Court. “Congress repeatedly used a series of unchallenged constitutional powers to control the court during the first century under the Constitution. In 1802, the Democrat-Republicans effectively abolished the entire annual session of the Supreme Court for that year, changing the date of the court's regular session, a not-so-subtle threat to federal judges of misbehaving..."
"Even the most justice-friendly interpretations of the Constitution still leave Congress with extensive control over the court's records, its budget, and virtually everything except the tenure and salaries of judges," Vladeck argued. “The problem is not that the Constitution prevents Congress from using these levers to influence the court;It's just that Congress decided not to draw them anymore.”
For more:
Mary Ziegler and Elizabeth Joh:How this animal rights victory could compromise the right to abortion
The Disney of Everything
DeSantis, who is expected to announce his candidacy for the 2024 Republican nomination in a matter of days, has something to brag about.
According to the New York Times, he isthesespender on Thursday: "At this point, you basically have three people who have credibility in all of this." They are "Biden, Trump and me". And I'm thinking of these three, two have a chance of being elected president: Biden and I based on all the data from the swing states, which is not good for the former president and probably insurmountable because people are not going to change. your mind will look to it."
How will the Florida governor's war against Disney, his state's biggest employer, affect these swing states? Last week, a fifth-grade teacher in Florida announced that she is being investigated by the state Department of Education for showing students Disney's animated movie Strange World.
"She says she chose the film because it improved her understanding of earth science and ecosystems," she wrote.Jodi Eichler Levine, professor of religion. "But then he said a parent [a local school board member], upset over the film's depiction of a gay teenager flirting with his crush, reported it to the state."
“As a pro-business Republican, why would DeSantis,” Eichler-Levine asked, “bother the largest single-site employer in his state, a company that draws tens of millions of tourists each year?” Does he, as a social conservative, aim to be the nation's number one provider of wholesome, family-friendly American movies?
“Because Cinderella Castle is home to a century of cultural capital. Disney remains an enduring symbol of youth, and childhood is the symbolic crucible in which we forge our visions of the future and the values it embodies.Disney is a powerful cultural force that is now promoting a vision of diversity and inclusion that regressive groups rightly fear.”
When Disney announced on Thursday that it was scrapping its plans for a billion-dollar office campus in Florida, citing "changing business conditions," the Trump campaign said the real cause was "DeSantis's failed war against Disney". The governor's office blamed Disney's business challenges.
There is concern on the Democratic side that Biden's re-election chances could be in jeopardy. Moderate group No Labels is considering running for a third-party presidential nomination, and Senator Joe Manchin, the moderate West Virginia Democrat, has been tipped as a possible candidate for the group's leadership.
A Manchin race could deprive Biden of vital votes and help elect Trump if the former president wins the Republican nomination, the historian wrote.julian zelizer. “Given that we live in a time of tight elections, when breaks like those of 1936, 1972 or 1984 are extremely rare, Manchin would only have to do the followinggetting enough votes from a handful of voters in a handful of states to have a dramatic impact.“
Meanwhile, Trump demanded justification for the release of Special Counsel John Durham's report on the FBI's Russia investigation. The report noted that the FBI should not have launched a full investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign during the 2016 election.
Respectivelythe report"There was significant reliance on investigative leads provided or funded (directly or indirectly) by Trump's political opponents." The Department failed to adequately investigate or dispute these materials and the motivations of those who provided them, even as the FBI Director and others learned of significant and possibly conflicting intelligence."
But theWashington Post Editorial Boardnoted: "Despite the efforts of some commentators to portray the actual outcome of the four-year investigation as damning,The reality is that the Justice Department's special counsel uncovered almost nothing.”
Aprevious investigationJustice Department Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz's investigation of the Russia probe found "deficiencies in the FBI's handling of the matter...but were due to confirmation bias rather than political misconduct." .
For more:
Kellie CarterJackson:I'm a historian. This is why I take on Ron DeSantis
Reitor Obaidullah:DeSantis' comments about Jordan Neely's death are part of a dangerous pattern
Message from Fat Joe
Fat Joe speaks before the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on health care pricing transparency in April.
In 2019, then-President Trump issued an executive order requiring hospitals to disclose prices for general medical services and procedures. It took effect as soon as Trump's term ended, but the goal of ending surprise bills and allowing patients to make purchases has yet to be achieved. According to CNN's opinionKirsi douradowrote, "According to a February review by the non-profit Patient Advocate, hospitals have largely ignored the rule and fines for non-compliance are extremely rare."
But now the rappersjoe shackle "he has a message for the authorities: enforce the law"Goldynia wrote.
The New York native told CNN Opinion: "In the Bronx, women work two, three jobs, men work two, three jobs, and unfortunately the hospital bills are so high that people are afraid to go to the hospital. hospital..." .
“I want to know how much a hospital is going to charge me for an MRI because I would like to go to the hospital that would charge me $2,000 less for the same MRI. All other companies — Burger King, McDonald's, Baskin-Robbins, Carvel.” — have competition. The only place where it's not like that and where you don't see the prices is in the hospital”.
"Ultimately, I come from a community of people who have championed me, supported me and helped me get to where I am today. And that's why I always have to think about them and look out for those who don't have a voice. It's about my community. It's about helping people.”
The safety net debate
Mia Ives-Rubleehe was born with a condition called osteogenesis imperfecta, "which makes my bones brittle." He had the first of a series of surgeries when he fell during college and broke his femur.
“Medicaid covered hundreds of thousands of dollars for surgeries, hospital stays, therapy and pain management. … Medicaid allowed me to continue my education full-time, which led to a career as a social worker, advocate and researcher at a leading think tank.”
If the debt ceiling law passed by House Republicans last month goes into effect, Ives-Rublee warned that hundreds of thousands of people would lose Medicaid coverage because they couldn't meet the law's job requirements. “People who depend on the program for basic tests, complicated medical procedures and community life can be disadvantaged.As politicians fight over the rules, they ignore the real impact these funding cuts would have.”
conservative writerPatrick T. marromhe agreed that the work requirements for Medicaid would be a "bad fit". However, he argued that it made sense to require employment as a condition of other benefit programs. “Research shows that work plays an essential role in fragile communities and strong families. Particularly for healthy adults without dependents, the idea of demanding a concrete connection to the world of work in return for public assistance has reasonable appeal. ...Taking advantage of these opportunities can lead to better safety net policies and, more importantly, prevent a catastrophic breach.”
Republicans should agree to banish the specter of a default in June by focusing on the Oct. 1 deadline for a federal spending plan, he wrote.Lanhee J. Chen. If there is no agreement by then, the government would close.
„A shutdown would hurt both the economy and the political fortunes of politicians, but unlike a hypothetical debt ceiling default, we know what to expect.Government officials would not be paid. The Washington Monument would be closed. But Social Security checks would still be mailed. Medicare providers would continue to be paid. And most importantly, the country's creditors would be protected."
Ukraine's landscape
Sasha Dovzhykhe is part of a team of journalists, writers and academics who are helping newly liberated peoples in Ukraine. It bears witness not only to the human cost of war, but also to its devastating environmental impact.
Sviatohirsk, a former resort town, "with a pine forest and an Orthodox monastery clinging to the chalk cliffs above the river... was under Russian occupation for three months last summer."
“Today it still smells like pine, but also burnt metal. In the backyards of the residents, the burnt military equipment, from which the occupiers bombed the Ukrainian positions, rots.”
“The Russians also tried to subdue the townspeople: one school looks at us with two black holes from a direct hit by a Russian tank. Apartment blocks are being dismembered by aerial bombs: the remnants of residents' belongings are mixed with bricks and cement. The street.
Care must be taken to avoid internationally banned land mines in Russia, known as "petals".
"Dispersed by aircraft or fired by mortars, the 'petals' spin in the air, bury themselves in the ground and explode on contact, weighing just five kilograms," noted Dovzhyk."The Russians planted these seeds in the Liberated Territories and on the Ukrainian front."
For more:
David A. Andelman:How will the Russian war end? Zelenskyy's US representative represents an unshakable opinion.
Status do Twitter e IA
When Elon Musk bought Twitter, he announced his commitment to free speech.
ButFrida Ghitiswrote that a week ago, Twitter "accepted demands from Turkey's increasingly authoritarian government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and suspended some accounts and more than 400 tweets in the country" in the final days of a disputed election.
Musk allowed conspiracy theories to thrive on the platform. “While spreading the messages of dark conspiracy theorists and adding fuel to an already raging fire, Musk is making the fragile and brittle environment of social media even more explosive and making the world even more dangerous,” said Ghitis.
"He expressed great admiration for the status of an aspiring cult hero among some on the far right."
Sam Altman, CEO of the company that founded ChatGPT, attended a congressional hearing on artificial intelligence on Tuesday.kara alaimonoted Altman's concerns that AI could "do significant harm to the world".
He said: "If this technology goes wrong, it could go very wrong."
Alaimo wrote: "Imagine the possibilities of AI-controlled weapons. Some even fear they could strike humanity..."
“At Tuesday's hearing, it was frequently pointed out that lawmakers have failed to regulate social media companies and should not give up on regulating AI.When it comes to AI, Congress can't wait.“
Martha Stewart, Badeanzugmodell
Martha Stewart leaves the 'Today' show on May 15 in New York City.
At 81, Martha Stewart has a new achievement to add to her long resume: a cover model for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.
"Stewart looks great on the cover of Sports Illustrated," he wrote.Jill Filipovic."She is the longest running cover model in the history of the Swimsuit Issue, an annual festival of the hottest beauties: beautiful, tanned women who (with rare exceptions) are impossibly thin and busty, and also young." With beauty, the women that the magazine ranks among the most beautiful in the world are often many decades younger than Stewart. This year, the magazine shakes things up, basically saying, "Even older people can be super hot."
"Any expansion of a narrow and often punitive beauty ideal is probably a good thing," added Filipovic.
"For women, the ideal expands a bit, but it's still much narrower, and it's still much more important that women are seen as attractive and sexy than men." are perceived as unattractive financial costs: women earn less than men anyway, and heavier women see an even greater wage gap. Women also experience age discrimination in the workplace at a younger age than men.
"So let's not confuse an eccentric swimsuit model on the cover of a sexy swimsuit magazine with feminist liberation."
don't get lost
David Axelrod:
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Kellyann Niotis and Richard Isaacson:There are measures to prevent dementia. Here are some things you can do
Aaron David Miller:Answers to four burning questions about violence between Israel and Gaza
Carolina Shanley:Right-wing pressure against no-fault divorce is an attack on women
Karl Kusserow: What a 19th-century painting of environmental justice reveals
S…
queen charlotte
Corey Mylchreest as King George, India Amarteifio as Queen Charlotte in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.
Queen Charlotte was a real person. She was born in 1744marriedBritish King George III. She was the mother of King George IV, but a popular Netflix series reinvents herShaun Armsteadcommented, "A black noblewoman finds love and happiness as the wife of the King of England: that is the moving, if unlikely, plot of Shonda Rhimes' latest historical miniseries, 'Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story'".
the real queen charlotte he was "a descendant of the Portuguese royal family and some even debate whether or not he was of African descent", wrote Armstead.
“It should be clear that an interracial love story between royals in late 18th century Britain, in which people of all races interact with each other almost as equals, is a fantasy. And for those who don't know, a warning at the beginning of the first episode of "Queen Charlotte" is a reminder."
But moving away from the story has not diminished its appeal: The series has enthralled millions of viewers since it debuted this month.For some, the homage to a multiracial but purely fictional British aristocracy might even be a big part of its appeal.”
As escapism, "Queen Charlotte" is a success. But Armstead noted that the series ignores the reality that "imperial rule, expropriation and slavery enriched the coffers of British and European nations and monarchies".
"'Queen Charlotte' shows that we cannot fantasize or ignore the injustices of the past; they still haunt us."