#gloria von thurn und taxis

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Kate Connolly at The Guardian:

A German aristocrat who hosted Samuel Alito at her castle in 2023 has revealed new details about her friendship with the rightwing supreme court justice, including that they share a mutual friend who played a key role in JD Vance’s conversion to Catholicism. Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, a onetime party girl turned traditionalist Catholic activist who has faced criticism for her defense of far-right politicians in Germany, told the Guardian that she first met Alito in Rome – she could not remember what year – and that both were friends of Dominic Legge, a priest and Yale Law graduate in Washington who Vance, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, has often cited in discussions about his adult conversion to Catholicism.

The relationship between the 64-year-old noblewoman and Alito sparked media interest after the supreme court justice revealed last week in a financial disclosure form that he had accepted concert tickets worth $900 from the billionaire, who refers to herself as a princess even though Germany’s aristocracy was officially disbanded after the first world war. She later told the German press that Alito had overestimated the cost of the tickets, but did not elaborate. The supreme court justice has previously faced scrutiny for failing to report free travel on a private jet from a wealthy conservative billionaire who had business before the court, a story first reported by ProPublica that is a part of a broader ethics scandal that has engulfed the high court in recent years. Alito faced a separate controversy earlier this year after it was discovered that his household had flown an upside-down flag, a symbol of Stop the Steal campaigners who falsely claim the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, as well as a second flag at a beach property that was associated with the Christian nationalist movement. Alito’s disclosure about the free tickets are significant for another reason: they reveal new insights into Alito and his wife Martha-Ann’s apparent personal ties to a European aristocrat who is deeply entrenched in an international rightwing movement that is seeking to advance conservative Catholic policies.

Allies in her fight include the rightwing nationalist Steve Bannon and the ultra conservative German cardinal Gerhard Müller, who she once called the “Donald Trump of the Catholic Church”. Her circle is known to be fiercely critical of Pope Francis – who is seen as too liberal by orthodox and traditionalist sects of the Catholic church. Legge, who leads the Thomistic Institute in Washington, is a prominent member of an elite circle of traditionalist Catholics in the US capital, and sits on the board of an organization – the Napa Legal Institute – alongside Leonard Leo, the powerbroker who is widely seen as having used his influence to install Republicans’ conservative supermajority on the supreme court and reportedly recently called for conservative activists to “crush liberal dominance at the choke points of influence and power in our society”.

[...] Von Thurn und Taxis compared herself to the late British Queen Elizabeth – whose family she noted was of German descent – and said the role of the aristocracy in Germany was to unite people and “keep politics out of the salon”. She also claimed in an email not to know that the decision that overturned abortion rights is called the “Dobbs decision”. But an examination of von Thurn und Taxis’s own activities shows that the woman who was known during a punk phase – before her turn to conservative Catholicism – as Princess TNT, for her explosive personality – has deep political ties that have given her access not only to supreme court justices, but inside the Trump White House.

[...] “This is not just about the arrogance of a powerful man already embroiled in controversial ties to billionaires. It is also about the company he keeps: choosing to accept very expensive concert tickets from a woman who embraces far-right politicians who are aligned with her outspoken hostility toward abortion access and marriage equality,” said Lisa Graves, the managing director of Court Accountability and a former deputy assistant attorney general at the US Department of Justice. Graves added: “Their alliance is unsurprising though very troubling since Alito has been using his position on the supreme court to advance a parallel regressive agenda into law.” In October 2019, at a speech in Washington in which she effusively praised the Trump administration, von Thurn und Taxis personally thanked Leonard Leo for setting up meetings for Cardinal Müller, who she was traveling with, to visit the White House and meet with people who were directly advising Trump on religious liberty and free speech.

She warned that, if Trump was not re-elected, “they will come after us” and that “nothing less” was at stake than the right to worship. Democrat Joe Biden, a devout Catholic, later won the 2020 election, but neither he nor Nancy Pelosi, another prominent Democratic Catholic politician, are seen as authentic Catholics by traditionalists. During that trip, von Thurn und Taxis also met and was photographed with Alito, Cardinal Müller, the supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh, and Brian Brown, who was then the head of the anti-LGBTQ+ group National Organization for Marriage (NOM). According to reporting by the New Yorker, NOM was actively lobbying the court on cases involving gay rights at the time of the meeting.

This year, in a speech at the National Conservatism Conference in Brussels in April called Threats to Faith and Family, von Thurn und Taxis served up a series of grievances about the state of the family in Europe, complained that “only homosexuals want to get married”, while unmarried heterosexual couples were opting for pets instead of children. She also criticized – in an apparent reference to the availability of reproductive rights in Europe – how leaders continued to “finance the killing of our offspring”, which she said would exacerbate future labor shortages on the continent. “Does this make any sense? Is there some kind of racism? Are we not supposed to reproduce?” she asked rhetorically, before launching into praise of Hungary, which she said was an outlier in supporting families with children. Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian autocratic leader, has been a guest at the noblewoman’s festival.

The Guardian has a explosive report that SCOTUS Justice Samuel Alito has ties to far-right German aristocrat Gloria von Thurn und Taxis.

[dozydawn]

[royal-confessions]

“Though Diana is remembered as progressive and anti-monarchy figure, I suspect that if she were still alive she would have met the same fate as Gloria von und Taxis: a rebel turned into a conservative and erratic old woman. When beauty and youth are gone, there is a lot of frustration left which leads to nothing positive.” - Submitted by Anonymous

[royalbloopers]

[ifreakingloveroyals]

13 September 2014 | Princess Elisabeth von Thurn und Taxis, Gloria von Thurn und Taxis and Prince Albert von Thurn und Taxis seen after the Wedding ceremony of Princess Maria Theresia von Thurn und Taxis and Hugo Wilson in Tutzing, Germany. (c) Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

[muddypolitics]

(via Conservative German Princess Says She Hosted Justice Alito at Her Castle - The New York Times)

An eccentric German princess who evolved from a 1980s punk style icon to a conservative Catholic known for hobnobbing with far-right figures said on Monday that she hosted Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. and his wife at her castle during a July 2023 music festival.

Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis also told The New York Times that she viewed the justice as “a hero.”

“He is pro-life in a time where the majority follows the culture of death,” she wrote in a text exchange with The Times. She then typed a skull emoji, adding, “Christians believe in life. The Zeitgeist is nihilistic and believes in destruction.”

The 64-year-old princess said that Justice Alito and his wife, Martha-Ann, are her “friends” and that after her castle festivities, the three attended the opening of the Bayreuth Festival, the world’s premier venue for the performance of Wagner’s operas.

The details of the princess’s gift and the justice’s travels emerged after Justice Alito listed a $900 gift of concert tickets on his annual financial disclosure form, which was released late last week. The disclosure has prompted a new round of scrutiny of the justices, who have been in the spotlight after a series of revelations that some of them — most notably Justice Clarence Thomas — failed to report lavish gifts and travel from wealthy benefactors.

[republicansaredomesticterrorists]

😡

[mariacallous]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/17/samuel-alito-leonard-leo-gloria-von-thurn-und-taxis-napa-institute

Well then.

The supreme court justice Samuel Alito and a German aristocrat and “networker of the far right” from whom Alito accepted expensive concert tickets, are both linked to an ultra-conservative Catholic US group whose board members include the dark money impresario Leonard Leo and the founder of a hardline anti-abortion Christian group, documentation reviewed by the Guardian shows.

In 2018, Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, told the New York Times about attending a dinner hosted in Rome by James Harvey, an American cardinal and hardliner, and sponsored by the Napa Institute, a group founded by Timothy R Busch, a conservative Catholic businessman and political activist.

Leo, 59, is an activist and fundraiser who worked on the confirmations of all six rightwing justices who now dominate the supreme court, Alito among them. Now controlling billions of dollars in funding for rightwing groups, Leo is a director of the Napa Institute Legal Foundation, also known as Napa Legal Institute, and the Napa Institute Support Foundation.

Also among Napa Legal Institute directors is Alan Sears, founder of the Alliance Defending Freedom. The ADF was the principal driver of Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the case in which the supreme court ended the federal right to abortion, with Alito writing the ruling handed down in June 2022.

In 2017, the Napa Institute hosted a two-day symposium at the Trump hotel in Washington, during which Alito attended a dinner.

Writing for the Washington Post, John Gehring, an author and reporter, said the symposium “mixed traditional Catholic religious practices with moments that felt uncomfortably nationalistic”, including a “reading in the rosary booklet from [the Confederate general] Robert E Lee that [seemed] … stunningly insensitive at best … at a time when the ‘alt-right’ and white nationalism are basking in the glow of renewed attention and proximity to power”.

Alito is not the only supreme court justice with links to the Napa Institute. In September 2021, as part of a series sponsored by the group, Justice Clarence Thomas spoke at the University of Notre Dame.

“The court was thought to be the least dangerous branch and we may have become the most dangerous,” Thomas said, attacking judges he deemed to be “venturing into areas we should not have entered into” – meaning politics.

Thomas and Alito, however, have been the subject of numerous reports about undeclared gifts from rightwing donors, fueling an ethics crisis now stoked by news of Alito’s acceptance of concert tickets valued at $900 from von Thurn und Taxis.

Von Thurn und Taxis, 64, is a former punk turned billionaire, also known as Princess TNT, with close links to the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party. News of her gift to Alito was accompanied by reporting of further links between the two, including a picture of Alito and another rightwing justice, Brett Kavanaugh, posing at the supreme court in 2019 with the German socialite; Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, a German hardliner; and Brian Brown, a prominent US anti-LGBTQ+ campaigner.

Von Thurn und Taxis told German media that Alito and his wife, Martha-Ann, attended a concert at her castle in Bavaria last year as “private friends”. In emails to the Guardian, the aristocrat clarified: “We never speak about politics nor religion at the table, because we believe it limits the possibility to make friends.”

The socialite, who rejects the label “networker of the far right”, also said it would “never occur” to her to speak about “touchy subjects” like abortion with someone she knew socially, and claimed not to know that “the Dobbs decision” referred to the supreme court abortion rights ruling written by Alito.

In a speech at the National Conservatism Conference in Brussels last April, von Thurn und Taxis said European leaders were “financ[ing] the killing of our offspring” in an apparent reference to the availability of reproductive rights in Europe. She added: “Does this make any sense? Is there some kind of racism? Are we not supposed to reproduce?”

Alito and his wife have also been outspoken about abortion and other hot-button cultural issues. In June, the progressive activist Lauren Windsor released recordings in which Justice Alito agreed that the US should “return … to a place of godliness” and said, “I don’t know that we can negotiate with the left”. Regarding her supposed persecution from those on the left, his wife said: “Look at me, look at me. I’m German. I’m from Germany. My heritage is German. You come after me, I’m gonna give it back to you.”

Caroline Ciccone, president of Accountable.US, which campaigns for court reform and which highlighted links between the German socialite, the Napa Institute and Alito, said: “When a supreme court justice like Samuel Alito pals around with influential rightwing figures like Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis and Leonard Leo, it raises concerns about fairness and impartiality.

“These relationships aren’t just about gifts. They reflect a deeper effort to manipulate our legal system in ways that could impact the rights of everyday people.”

Ciccone added, “What’s disturbing is that this happens behind closed doors – at parties at the Bavarian castle – away from public scrutiny. We’re talking about relationships that can affect everything, from reproductive rights to environmental protections” – both the subject of recent supreme court rulings widely seen as victories for the political right.

“The American people deserve a judiciary that serves justice impartially,” Ciccone said, “not one that can be bought.”

[anthythesis]

You know I was all aboard the sexy lady mowbray train but then this morning I read an interview with Gloria von Thurn und Taxis and actually I agree with jonny sims now. There's nothing as deeply unsexy as 21st century nobility

[ilredeiladri]

SE Staffel 1 Rewatch (Folgen 21-24)

Tom der PC Profi zeigt den Mädels aus seiner Klasse eine Internetseite mit Flirttipps. Es ist so putzig, wie er stolz dazwischen sitzt und sich nen Ast freut, dass er so toll helfen kann, obwohl ihn das Thema sichtlich null interessiert 🥹

Noooooin, Antje hat sich in den Sportlehrer verliebt! Aus, Antje, pfui! Das ist nie eine gute Idee, lass das bitte einfach 😭 und er tanzt auch noch mit ihr bei der Disko 🤢 war sowas früher OK? Es ist so falsch. Und Katharina hat mit Antje natürlich direkt ein neues Opfer gefunden. Ich seh bei ihr echt null Charakterentwicklung, es fängt immer wieder von vorne an, nur halt mit neuen Leuten 🙄

"denk an Gloria von Thurn und Taxis" nein. Please don't. Die Frau ist so eine rechte Schwurbeltante.

Weber hätte die Flirttipp-Seite von Tom aber auch gut gebrauchen können, seine Flirterei mit der Pätzold ist so unangenehm... Und ich bin mal wieder ein bisschen genervt davon, dass SE die Beziehung von zwei Figuren zum ersten Mal zeigt, wenn sie eine romantische Storyline mit ihnen erzählen wollen. Lasst die Leute doch wenigstens 1-2 mal vorher interagieren, please? Was interessiert es mich, wenn aus heiterem Himmel zwei Leute zusammenkommen? Bin ich null invested... (außerdem ist sie zu cool für ihn, just saying)

Guppy ❤️❤️❤️ (I said it before and I'll say it again) Man merkt ihm an, dass er von Marcs Aktion schwer getroffen ist, aber er versucht auch, ihn zu verstehen und ihn nicht zu bestrafen, sondern ihm deutlich zu machen, was seine Aktion für Konsequenzen hätte haben können. 40 Stunden ehrenamtliche Arbeit bei der Feuerwehr, um den Ernst der Lage zu begreifen. Ich mag es so gerne, wie er immer versucht, aus jeder Situation die bestmögliche Lehre für alle Beteiligten zu ziehen. Top Pädagoge ❤️

Arams Onkel ist gefunden und nimmt ihn mit nach... dreimal dürft ihr raten... Köln! Na klar^^ Schloss Einstein, deine drei Städte 🥲

Ok, Guppy Kritik incoming: die Lehrkräfte kriegen ihre Überstunden nicht vergütet, es wird aber erwartet, dass sie AGs leiten, wenn diese gewünscht sind und in ihren Kompetenzbereich fallen. Das ist nicht die feine englische Art Herr Dr Stollberg! 🤨

Alexandra, Oliver und Pasulke jagen den Fahrraddieb! Ich liebe diese Dreierkombi sehr ☺️ (und ich hab geahnt, wer der Dieb war - oder wusste es noch von früher? - das ist einfach eine kleine Spitzenstory!) Überhaupt, Alexandra und Pasulke sind immer wieder mein Highlight. Auch die Story mit dem Geist im Keller und dem Aquarium. Ganz viel Liebe für die beiden! ❤️

Folge 23 Shakespeare mentioned!!! Tatsächlich ist das erstaunlich spät, es gibt wenig Schulfilme oder -serien, in denen nicht ziemlich bald schon irgendwo im Unterricht Shakespeare behandelt wird. Und erstaunlicherweise hier nicht im Englisch- oder Deutsch- sondern im Musikunterricht, wo sie West Side Story durchnehmen, was auf Romeo und Julia basiert. Ist mal was anderes - I like and appreciate 😊

[dozydawn]

Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis “Princess TNT” attends a ball, 1987. Photographed by Ron Galella.

[royal-confessions]

“I think the veil and hairstyle worn by Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis at her wedding took the charm out of Empress Eugenie's pearl tiara.” - Submitted by cenacevedo15

[follow-up-news]

Justice Samuel Alito reported Friday that he accepted $900 worth of concert tickets from a German princess, but disclosed no trips paid for by other people, according to a new financial disclosure form. The required annual filing, for which Alito has often sought an extension, doesn’t include details of the event tickets gifted by socialite Gloria von Thurn und Taxis of Germany. Alito didn’t report any outside income from teaching or book contracts. The financial disclosures filed by Supreme Court justices come against the backdrop of a heightened focus on ethics at the high court amid criticism over undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some justices. The other eight justices filed their forms in June; Alito received an extension. Justice Clarence Thomas, for example, belatedly acknowledged more travel paid by Republican megadonor Harlan Crow from 2019 this year, including a hotel room in Bali, Indonesia and food and lodging at a private club in Sonoma County, California. Alito, meanwhile, took a private plane trip to a luxury Alaska fishing lodge from two wealthy Republican donors in in 2008, the nonprofit investigative news site ProPublica reported last year. Alito, for his part, said he was not obligated to disclose the travel under a previous exemption for personal hospitality.

[royalbloopers]

[unfug-bilder]

Wir wissen alle längst, dass die Gloria komplett durch ist. Aber es schadet nichts, zumindest alle 2 Wochen mal daran zu erinnern.