J.K. Rowling, Putin & Clarence Thomas Walk Into a Bar

In this episode, Alex talks about Ukraine/Russia, Putin’s strange grievance-laced comparison to J.K. Rowling, and Ginni Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas. 

• First, President Biden was in Poland meeting with NATO allies over the weekend and has been more aggressive in his rhetoric. Alex worries about what is next as the Russian government has said that the first stage of their invasion has been “completed.” 

 

• Then he talks about Putin’s strange speech over the weekend. Putin claims that J.K. Rowling, like himself, was canceled in the west because of her views on gender, masculinity, and other issues. Alex thinks these grievance-driven speeches are Putin’s way of trying to use right-wing talking points in order to get some in America’s right-wing to sympathize with Russia. In a sense, many on America’s far-right, have similar stances on the culture war to Putin, and the Kremlin may be trying to utilize this moment.  

 

• Finally, Alex gets into Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas’ wife, Ginny Thomas. She is an “activist” that was involved in the January 6th riots and has touted QAnon and election conspiracies. Alex discusses how this may be a conflict of interest for Justice Thomas. Thomas was the only judge to vote against releasing documents on January 6th and also was the only justice to support investigating voter fraud in several states. Alex debates whether this is just part of Thomas’ consistently originalist take on the constitution, or if he is protecting something. In these divisive times, Alex worries that the court needs to look neutral more than ever, and this issue will add even more distrust. While there may be a conflict of interest, impeachment would be nearly impossible.