This Spoon is Making Me Nervous

Show Notes for Episode 34, 10/2/19 Brenda Wineapple’s The Impeachers was published just in time for the current impeachment. How timely.  Basically, it’s difficult to enforce congressional subpoenas because it requires fast cooperation from many sections of the federal government and that seems to never happen these days…. Just for funsies, check out the Wikipedia lists of Obama Administration Controversies (including the tan suit!) and Trump Administration Controversies.  Michelle seriously cannot recommend Hasan Minaj’s Patriot Act on Netflix enough. Here’s the YouTube link for the episode that features the other Koch bros.  As of Oct. 19, 2019, a judge blocked part of Florida's poll tax on former felons. The informal verb, “to bork” has two definitions, both in “honor” of Judge Robert Heron Bork (1927-2012). The first is found in the Cardozo Law Review in 1987 and described as common slang among attorneys who argued in Bork’s courtroom. A lawyer got “borked” when they “receive[d] a conservative judicial decision with no justification in the law” because of “Bork's tendency to decide cases solely according to his ideology.” The second and much more common definition (which Noel and Michelle discuss) comes from Bork’s failed nomination to the Supreme Court, also in 1987, and the very negative press received in reaction to his aforementioned judicial record of ruling ideologically and, more specifically, racistly. The storm of bad press was deemed “borking,” meaning to “defame or vilify” someone and prevent them from being appointed to public office. This definition was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2002. In 2018, California’s economy was ranked 5th in the world, behind 1 - the US as a whole, 2 - China, 3 - Japan, and 4 - Germany.  Catch Timothy Snyder’s visit to Rachel Maddow’s show here.  The protests in Kyiv mentioned were in response to the so-called “Steinmeier Formula” which is an attempt to end aggression in eastern Ukraine. Protestors dislike the agreement, because it would end fighting with the withdrawal of Ukraine troops from Donbas, essentially surrendering more territory to Russia (who invaded and started the conflict in 2014 following the illegal annexation of Crimea). All of this has been put on the backburner with the impeachment inquiry unfolding when the US and Ukraine are deeply intertwined. Noel and Michelle hope to discuss this further in future episodes. In the meantime, for Ukraine-focused resources check out KyivPost or Hromadske. (Thank you, John, for the recommendations.)