Kavanaugh Asserts Constitutional Right to Steak

US Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett “I Like Beer” Kavanaugh was eating at Morton’s steakhouse in DC on July 6th when womens’ rights activists found out, and protested in front of the pricey eatery. Mr. Kavanaugh had to sneak out the back without dessert. Sad, but there’s always Grubhub.

Morton’s angrily responded that “Politics … should not trample the freedom … of the right to … eat dinner.” Protesters reponded by flooding Morton’s with fake reservations by phone and on Open Table.

There were other reactions. “Sounds like he just wanted some privacy to make his own dining decisions,” Chasten Buttigieg tweeted, alluding to Kavanaugh’s vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, the decision that guaranteed abortion access on the basis of Americans’ right to privacy. And after Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked if “These justices … have no right to privacy?”, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted “Pretty sure they overturned that right 2 weeks ago Doocy.”

More:

“Brett Kavanaugh is the latest target of protests at D.C. restaurants,” Emily Heil and Tim Carman, Washington Post

“‘Let him eat cake’: AOC reacts to Kavanaugh being forced out of restaurant by abortion rights protesters,” Axios

“Sorry, but the Constitution contains no right to eat dinner,” Washington Post

“Group offers up to $250 for SCOTUS justices sightings after Kavanaugh protest,” Axios

“Protests of Public Officials in Restaurants Aren’t Going Away,” Jessica Sidman, Washingtonian

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Semis Without a Cause: Truckers May Choke DC

Inspired by a trucker protest that choked Ottawa for three weeks and caused millions in economic damage, US haulers are hellbent on blocking arteries in and around Washington, DC, targeting March 1st, when President Biden delivers the State of the Union address. It’s a “People’s Convoy” or “Freedom Convoy,” depending who you ask.

What the truckers are protesting: What’ve you got? It’s a protest against COVID rules, high fuel costs, lack of truck parking areas, excessive regulation, insuffucient freedom. Oh yeah, and the 2020 presidential election. So there you have it, another loosely-linked libertarian clusterfuck of chaos.

Self-proclaimed convoy leaders claim the trucks won’t clog local DC streets, but will strangle the surrounding Beltway displaying protest signs and banners. An anti-Obama trucker protest tried to strangle the Beltway back in 2013 but couldn’t, since it would take about 10,000 eighteen-wheelers to do that, and they got 30.

But this isn’t 2013, so it’s likely a few extemist truckers will park in choke points, if not on DC streets then at key Beltway exits, bridges, and overpasses. That was the Canadian truckers’ tactic in Windsor-Detroit, and in truck protests in Brazil (2018) and Chile (2020). Police in the DC-MD-VA area are on alert, as are Capitol Hill Police and the National Guard.

More:

“Here’s What We Know So Far About Possible Trucker Convoy Protests Coming To D.C. Soon,” Margaret Barthel, DCist

“A Truck Caravan With Far-Right Links Heads to Washington, D.C.,” Shawn Hubler and Alan Feuer, New York Times

“Many Of The Groups Behind Jan. 6 Are Now Organizing U.S. Trucker Convoys,” Jesselyn Cook, HuffPost

“‘Be as Disruptive as They Can’: What to Know About the Trucker Convoys’ Plans for DC,” Andrew Beaujon, Washingtonian

“Trucker Protest Convoy’s Grievances Include Streets Named for Biden,” Margaret Hartmann, New York Magazine

Updates:

“Republicans who opposed racial justice protests hope truckers ‘clog up’ US cities,” Sergio Olmos, The Guardian

“‘Don Quixote-like quest’: Ukraine attack and easing Covid mandates leave US trucker protest on the fringe,” Sergio Olmos, The Guardian

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Pro-Virus Protesters Infested DC Last Weekend

Thousands of disgruntled and unvaccinated citizens descended on Washington DC last Sunday to defend their right to infect fellow Amercans with the COVID-19 virus. Anti-vaccine protesters and other members of the pro-death movement included the usual quacks and wingnuts, but also their strange bedfellow Robert Kennedy Jr., who compared vaccine mandates to Dr. Mengeles’ experiments at Auschwitz.

The District of Columbia has vaccine and mask mandates for indoor dining, so naturally the wrathful anti-vax throngs took their anger out on DC’s restaurant waitstaff.

Update:

“RFK Jr. apologizes after condemnation for Anne Frank comment,” Michelle R. Smith, Associated Press

More:

“Thousands march on Washington, D.C., in rally against vaccine mandates,” Daniel Uria, UPI

“Anti-vaccine activists march in D.C. — a city that mandates coronavirus vaccination — to protest mandates,” Katie Mettler, Lizzie Johnson, Justin Wm. Moyer, et al., Washington Post

“Anti-Vaccine Mandate Rally Draws Misinformation, RFK Jr., and Comparisons to Nazi Germany,” Eli Weiner, Washington City Paper

“‘Defeat The Mandates’ Rally Against Covid-19 Precautions Held During Omicron Surge,” Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes

Related:

“5 Republican Politicians Freaking Out About DC’s Vaccine Mandates,” Jessica Sidman, Washingtonian

“Omicron Cases Appear to Peak in U.S., but Deaths Continue to Rise,” Mitch Smith, Julie Bosman and Tracey Tully, New York Times

“The Anti-vaccine Right Brought Human Sacrifice to America,” Kurt Andersen, The Atlantic

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Right to Meddle in Women’s Lives Demo in DC

The annual Right to Meddle in Women’s Lives demonstration was held in Washington DC last Friday, sponsored by the Zygote Liberation Front and the Committee to Restrict Women’s Health Care, or something like that. Theme of this year’s pep rally was “Equality Begins in the Womb,” a bid to promote fetal personhood and negate the human rights of the, um, womb-owners. This biology-denying sect is said to have infiltrated the federal judicial branch recently.

More:

“Anti-Abortion Marchers Gather With an Eye on the Supreme Court,” Kate Zernike and Madeleine Ngo, New York Times

“As March for Life returns to D.C., antiabortion activists wonder: Is this the last march under Roe?” Casey Parks, Washington Post

Related:

“Catholic pro-choice activists project messages onto DC basilica in protest,” by Jack Jenkins, RNS, via National Catholic Reporter

“White nationalists are flocking to the US anti-abortion movement,” Moira Donegan, The Guardian

“‘You never forget it’: These are the stories of life before Roe v. Wade transformed America,” Shefali Luthra, The 19th

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Sports: US national anthem protest, 1968

Colin Kaepernick was not the first sports figure to protest America’s failure to live up to its founding principles. Tommie Smith and John Carlos did so at the Olympics in 1968, and were expelled from the Games by U.S. officials. A Vox video.

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Huge Protests in Poland

Poland’s women are furious at their country’s government, and they’ve been protesting in the streets since October. Christina Thornell of Vox explains why.

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Seen the protests on TV? No, you haven’t.

Journalism professor Jason Johnson and Kainaz Amaria of Vox explain that news media can show you what a protest’s dramatic incidents look like, but not why it’s happening.

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Protesters Outside Mitch McConnell’s House: ‘I Like Beer!’

Beer-swilling protesters … oh wait, it’s a beer festival near DC’s Navy Yard. Great timing.

Demonstrators protesting the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh gathered outside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s house in DC this morning, chanting “I Like Beer!” and singing “What do you do with a drunken justice, what do you do with a drunken justice, what do you do with a confirmation early in the morning? Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!” In case you were blacked-out or in a drunken stupor last week, this refers to Judge Kavanaugh’s spirited “I like beer” defense during his Judicial Committee testimony.

There are people drinking PBR from red Solo cups outside Mitch McConnell’s house at this early hour. They are chanting “I like beer.”

— Kasie Hunt (@kasie) October 5, 2018

MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt followed-up, sounding a bit disappointed:  “The promised keg did not materialize.”

In a related development last week, the conservative Federalist Society hosted an “I Still Like Beer” party.

More:

“PBR-Drinking Kavanaugh Protesters Chant Outside McConnell’s Home ‘I Like Beer,'” David Rutz, Washington Free Beacon

“Brett Kavanaugh Protesters Bring Beer, Chant ‘Chug’ Outside Mitch McConnell’s House,” Jenna Amatulli, Huffington Post

“Kavanaugh protesters bring beer, chant ‘chug’ outside McConnell’s home,” Aris Folley, The Hill

Update:

“Kavanaugh supporters drink beer to celebrate his confirmation,” Aris Folley, The Hill

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More Than a Single March

Gun violence marches this weekend span the entire country, and over 800 places around the world.

What can be done? The Parkland students have some ideas.

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School Shootings

What students think about school shootings. A Vox video.

More:

“Parkland Students: Our manifesto to fix America’s gun laws,” The Guardian

Follow the March for Our Lives with the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High Eagle Eye

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