The Tennessee Three:  With demonstrators demanding that the Tennessee legislature act on guns in the after the most recent school shooting in which three 9-year-olds and three staff members were killed, the immediate action the legislature took was to expel two members who took the floor to demand gun reform.  

  As legislators considered the punishment, protesters outside chanted “Gun control now!” and “Not one more!” 

  Two out of three Democrat Tennessee legislators accused of disrupting house procedures were ejected from their positions yesterday by legislative vote. The legislature unseated two black men, and by a single vote retained a white woman accused of the same behavior. Asked why she survived, Rep. Gloria Johnson said, “It might have to do with the color of our skin.”

  The two representatives ejected, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, have been described by admirers as passionate representatives of their communities, and great speakers. The three lawmakers said they had had stepped up to the House well with a bullhorn in frustration after the Republicans dodged the  question of gun reform and turned off their opponents’ microphones during debate.

  Accused yesterday of bringing dishonor to the legislature, Jones responded, “How can you bring dishonor to an already dishonorable House?” 

Judgement: For more than 20 years Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has accepted millions of dollars’ worth of travel and vacations from billionaire Republican political donor Harlan Crow without reporting it, according to the nonprofit news organization ProPublica.

  Evidently nothing is more fun than hanging out with Clarence Thomas.

  ProPublica reporters estimated that one trip to Indonesia in June 2019 for Thomas and his wife involved a chartered flight and island hopping on a 162 foot yacht that would have cost half a million dollars if he had paid for it himself.

  The report says that Thomas accompanied Crow to Bohemian Grove in California, to Crow’s sprawling ranch in East Texas, and  to Topridge, the luxurious Great Camp in the Adirondacks.

  ProPublica says, “The extent and frequency of Crow’s apparent gifts to Thomas have no known precedent in the modern history of the U.S. Supreme Court.” 

  Crow is among a group of rich right wing idealogues who have fought legal access to abortion and pushed for Christian values in the administration of government. Thomas voted to overturn the right to abortion.

  Crow also gave $500,000 to a conservative consulting firm founded by Ginni Thomas, the justice’s wife. He issued a statement saying he has never discussed court cases with Justice Thomas.

In God’s Name: A long-awaited report from the Maryland attorney general’s office details child sexual abuse committed by 156 priests, brothers, deacons, and nuns  against more than 600 children over a period of 60 years.

  The report says the archdiocese covered up and transferred offenders whenever possible, protecting the church rather than the children.

  The non-profit Maryland Matters reports graphically that the history of child sexual abuse involved “Threats with guns, rapes over and again, torture with ropes, chains, handcuffs, paddles and hot wax. Touching, grabbing, groping. God’s name was invoked, victims were blamed, complaints were ignored, childhoods were stolen, all trust was shattered.”

  Investigators have described years of harrowing interviews with victims. “The duration and scope of the abuse perpetrated by Catholic clergy was only possible because of the complicity of those charged with leading the church and protecting its faithful,” the report says. “Leaders of the archdiocese repeatedly dismissed reports of abuse and exhibited little to no concern for victims.” 

  Baltimore Archbishop William Lori issued a statement apologizing to victims, saying, “The report details a reprehensible time in the history of this Archdiocese, a time that will not be covered up, ignored or forgotten.” 

  The Maryland legislature yesterday voted to remove the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits over sexual abuse.

In Transition: The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a transgender girl may continue to compete on the girls’ cross country and track teams at her middle school in West Virginia while she fights state law that would ban her based on her birth sex.

  On that issue, the Biden administration proposed a rule that would eliminate blanket bans but under some circumstances limit the participation of transgender students if allowing them to compete would undermine competitive fairness or lead to more injuries. That would likely affect athletes who transition from male to female. 

Last Tango in Paris: Protesters throwing rocks, bottles, flares, and paint bombs filled the streets of Paris again yesterday in continuing protests over the raising of French retirement age from 62 to 64. The Plexiglas shields of riot police were splashed with multiple colors of paint, making them look like modern art.

  The protesters created a din of noise with shouts, whistles, and horns in the 11^th day of demonstrations.

  French President Emanuel Macron unilaterally raised the retirement age to save the system in which a shrinking proportion of young people is supporting the retirement of retirees. So far, Macron is not backing down.

The War Room: A NY Times analysis sums up Russia’s winter offensive in Ukraine as follows: “After months of pouring soldiers into eastern Ukraine, Russia’s progress essentially adds up to this: three small settlements and part of the city of Bakhmut, a high-profile battlefield with limited strategic value.”

  Russia had planned to take the entire Donbas region in the east, but they do hold about two-thirds of it. Russia, however, has demonstrated that its military is poorly led while lacking well-trained soldiers, ammunition, and up-to-date armor.

  Both sides have taken horrific casualties and Ukraine also is short on ammunition. But they are smart, well led, dedicated and having been kicking Russian butt.

The Spin Rack:  Israel struck targets in Lebanon yesterday after being showered by rockets fired by Hamas militants.

Below the Fold: The pilot of a private plane in South African quickly turned around and landed after finding a venomous cobra snake under his seat. What’s worse is that the snake hasn’t been seen since.

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