That Was the Week That Was: Sunday Evening Open Thread

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Greetings and welcome to our Sunday evening open thread.

There were a few news items that captured my attention this week:

On the serious side, this piece from NBC News was just another example of the mainstream media either A) not understanding, and therefore misunderestimating, OWS and the rising discontent and anger the OWS movement represents; or B) deliberately attempting to make it irrelevant by plugging their collective ears and chanting "Lalalalala, I can't hear you..."

On another serious side, this article made smoke come out of my ears. The top-ranked junior tennis player in the freakin' world, Taylor Townsend, has been benched by the US Tennis Association because they think she needs to lose some weight. I'm betting this young woman could wipe the courts with every single member of the USTA who participated in that decision - and I would love for them to explain just exactly how it is that she could be good enough to be the top-ranking junior player, and not already be in peak physical condition. Clearly, to the USTA, it's all about their definition of what's an acceptable appearance, and I personally think that every single one of them owes Ms. Taylor a public apology. Nice message you've sent to young female athletes everywhere, you arrogant morons.

Finally: Apparently, one of our two Presidential candidates thinks reality-freakshow-icon Snooki is pretty cool. Guess which one.

How was your week?

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Hi Mehitabel

LaEscapee's picture

I read this very interesting article and wanted to share. Keeping with the theme of stuff that just makes mad and sad all at once.

Essay: The One Percent Court

Why a special issue of The Nation devoted to the Supreme Court? Because with partisan gridlock paralyzing both the president and Congress, the Court has more than ever become “the decider” — the most powerful branch of government, and one at the center of a controversy whose outcome may shape the course of democracy for generations to come.

By a paradox both historical and constitutional, the political appointees on the Roberts Court will never have to answer for their decisions to voters like you and me. Nor to the president or Congress: once they are confirmed, the Supreme Court’s justices, like all federal judges, serve for life or “good behaviour.”

The Constitution’s framers meant to secure the Court against political pressure from the electorate and arbitrary dismissal of its members from on high by presidents dissatisfied with their decisions. As the third branch of the new national government — one whose powers were to be divided to block overreach by any one of them — the Court would be equal to the executive and legislative arms, even though the president appointed its members with the concurrence of the Senate.

That changed dramatically when John Marshall became the fourth chief justice in 1801, shortly before Thomas Jefferson took office. The two brilliant men were bitter rivals, members of opposing parties. Marshall was a Federalist, Jefferson a Republican (no kin to the present GOP). So the supposedly neutral Court has been thrown since its infancy onto the partisan battleground, where it remains to this day.

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Taylor Townsend and racism in tennis

sartoris's picture

There are some conflicting stories out there on what really happened with Taylor Townsend. First of all, she has now been reimbursed for her expenses at the Junior US Open. Initially, she was not 'banned' from participating, she was told that the USTA would not finance her participation. Her mother footed the bill and she lost in the semi finals. The first news was that once she was diagnosed with low iron the USTA said she needed to stop playing until she was healthy. She was not banned from playing, just strongly advised to stop playing until her iron was at a normal level. Ok, I can accept those explanations. However, since she is a young black woman I'm much more inclined to believe that she has been singled out simply because of her race. I truly believe that if she were a young white woman this would never have happened.

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