Temperature today:  75C  Signs of the gathering storm

There’s several kinds of bad news today, with a bit of good and perhaps some silly.

Journalist Thom Hartmann reports on a small section of the House’s “Big Beautiful” reconciliation bill (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/5/20/2323374/-The-Final-Checkmate-Republicans-Move-to-Destroy-the-Balance-of-Powers?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web):

“No court of the United States may use appropriated funds to enforce a contempt citation for failure to comply with an injunction or temporary restraining order if no security was given when the injunction or order was issued….”

In plain language, what this says is that no court can enforce a contempt charge against Trump or his people unless the person or group who brought the charges against the president or his administration had first posted a cash bond.

And the consequence of that will be that Trump’s power is unchecked.  Hartmann notes that Trump has effectively neutered the Republican-controlled Congress:  few if any are standing up to him and then only briefly.  This move would neuter the courts.  Trump is already in contempt of the courts and not following their orders in some cases; it would only be worse.

Of course, this could be reviewed by the courts and struck down, but it is a threatening move and the outcome is not certain.

The NY Times reports on a Heritage Foundation plan to “crush the Pro-Palestinian movement.” (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/18/us/project-esther-heritage-foundation-palestine.html?unlocked_article_code=1.IE8.qEfO.wSaPWP1D8684&smid=url-share)  It starts with claims of anti-semitism but actually targets progressive institutions.  If you criticize Israel you could be labeled “a terrorist”.

Judge Beryl Howell found that the actions of Trump and DOGE in seizing and breaking up the US Institute of Peace (in March) were completely illegal, but one writer notes that the damage has been done and Trump et al. have not been too swift in following court orders. (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/5/20/2323264/-Federal-judge-bashes-DOGE-and-sides-with-Peace-but-is-it-too-late?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_11&pm_medium=web )

Rachel Maddow gives us some more cheerful news highlighting the power of protests, which are more numerous and frequent here than I had realized, but which have grown very large and very persistent in Serbia, where the president is “kind of their version of Donald Trump.”  This is uplifting, both the footage and the punch line.

And this is just silly, but apparently Trump lied (surprise!) about the plane.  According to Belle of the Ranch (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIfvYEECLeU), new reporting says Qatar is open to and is considering a government to government sale of the plane.  The idea that it is a gift to Trump personally is made up.