Lancelot Links Looks for Some Good News

This isn't a bad start. Forrest Hill Academy, a public school in Atlanta named for Confederate general and early KKK leader Nathan Bedford Forrest, has been renamed the Hank Aaron New Beginnings Academy, per The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It was a unanimous vote by the Atlanta Board of Education and the fourth such name change in recent months. “Names do matter,” said�board chair Jason Esteves.
A New York appellate court has�suspended Rudy Giuliani's license to practice law because of “uncontroverted evidence that respondent communicated demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the public at large in his capacity as lawyer for former President Donald J. Trump and the Trump campaign in connection with Trump's failed effort at reelection in 2020.” Encore. Many encores.�
Conservative columnist and anti-Trumper Max Boot writes about how Pres. Biden wiped the smirk off of Putin's face at the G7 Summit. Boot talks up how Biden got fellow G7 leaders to agree on: a 15% global corporate minimum tax; China challenges; sending 1 billion vaccine doses to poorer countries; and settling an aircraft subsidies trade dispute. Three years ago, Trump took Putin's side against his own intelligence community�a low point in American political history. Here, Putin emerged saying, “President Biden is an experienced statesman. He is very different from President Trump.” To which Boot adds: “Ouch. That's got to sting for Putin's biggest fanboy in the United States.”
Speaking of China challenges: Nice�New York Times piece on China expert Doug Guthrie's repeated warnings about doing business in China�and how, “instead of empowering the Chinese people, American investment in the country has empowered the Chinese Communist Party.” No doubt. I like this line from Guthrie circa 2014: “I was going around to business leaders, and I'm like: 'Do you guys understand who Xi Jinping is?'” Yeah, this isn't exactly good news but best to be aware of what's happening.�
Speaking of being aware of what's happening: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Mark Milley, was asked about this year's GOP bugaboo, Critical Race Theory, during congressional hearings, and he gave an answer that was bold in its honesty, empathy and toughness. “I do think it's important, actually, for those of us in uniform to be open-minded and be widely read. ... What is it that caused thousands of people to assault this building and try to overturn the Constitution of the United States of America�what causes that? I want to find that out.” See video here. I like how he just ran over the GOP's idiot talking points to get at what matters. Always nice to have an adult in the room.�
Finally, The Washington Post excerpts from a book on the Trump administration's disastrous response to the COVID pandemic�here, about what happened behind the scenes when Trump himself fell ill in early October 2020. “By that time, the virus was surging again, but Trump's contempt for face coverings had turned into unofficial White House policy. He actually asked aides who wore them in his presence to take them off. If someone was going to do a news conference with him, he made clear that he or she was not to wear a mask by his side.” My, what a charmer. Article makes it seem he would've died with access to every drug available. No further comment from me.��