Oh, Summer is in full swing and so are my allergies. The dangers of living right next door to a farm unfortunately, but we muddle on through, because the good news will not stop for social faux pas or horrible sneezing fits or anything in between, so lets get to it.
House Democrats have scheduled a series of hearings this coming week on the special counsel's report as they intensify their focus on the Russia probe and pick up the pace on an investigative "path" — in the words of Speaker Nancy Pelosi — that some of them hope leads to impeachment of the president.
In doing so, they are trying to draw the public's attention on the allegations that Trump sought to obstruct a federal investigation and they want to highlight his campaign's contacts with Russia in the 2016 election.
This is it, this is what we fought so hard for last year, the House Dems are sticking it to Trump but good, now who has some Popcorn?
Mitt Romney may not endorse Donald Trump for re-election in 2020, partly because the 2012 Republican nominee thinks political endorsements are not “worth a thimble of spit”.
Yeah, I’ll believe it when I see it, but I take any sign of the rats getting ready to flee the sinking ship that is the USS Trump as good news.
A dispute between Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones and the inspector general who investigated a deputy-involved shooting is shaping a statewide proposal to create powerful law enforcement oversight bodies.
Within months of the dispute, Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, wrote a bill that would be a new check on California’s 58 elected sheriffs, enabling counties to create oversight boards with authority to issue subpoenas.
“This timely measure ensures that those sheriffs who have refused oversight will no longer be able to operate in the shadows,” McCarty said in a written statement about his Assembly Bill 1185.
As many of you know, my social media platform of choice is Tumblr. And I get a lot of progressive news and such, as well as a ton of horror stories of cops shooting innocent people, so giving cops some much needed oversight is definitely good news in my book.
But liberal activists, hoping for a chance to offset the growing conservative presence in the courts, have identified a pool of potential judicial vacancies that could remain out of Mr. Trump’s reach — scores of seats held by veteran judges appointed by Democrats who may be biding their time, awaiting the outcome of the 2020 presidential race.
Nearly 100 federal judges nominated by Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton — and even Jimmy Carter — would be eligible to take semiretirement by the time the next president is inaugurated, a status that allows them to continue to preside over cases but creates an official vacancy that could be filled by a presumably younger full-time replacement.
One of the biggest source of angst and worry for a lot of people is “Well, even if we get rid of Trump, they’re installing a bunch of conservative judges that will let them keep control even after they’re gone.” And I will admit that is a source of some trepidation for me as well, but as it turns out it looks like we’ve figured out a game plan for how to deal with it once we get rid of Trump and McConnell.
Poll of the week: A new Glengariff Group poll from the state of Michigan shows that former Vice President Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump in a hypothetical 2020 matchup by 53% to 41%.
This follows
a January poll in which Biden was ahead of Trump by similar low-double-digit margins.
What's the point: The 2020 election is a long way off. We don't know what Trump will do over the next 17 months. We don't know who the Democrats will nominate.
But Trump likely needs something to change if he wants to win reelection.
I mean, we heard this a lot in 2016 as well, but I do think things have changed since then, and we wont get blindsided like we did last time. We will win this time, we just can’t take things for granted.
And that is the good news roundup for this week. Once again, check out the Good News Roundup Spotify playlist, curated by yours truly. And I have a query for all: I am considering adding some Rage against the machine to the GNR playlist, would that be fine with everyone? Or do you think it would be too angry for the vibe of GNR? I put a poll for people to vote on.
Have a good week in any case.