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WARNING: This article contains spoilers for "Through the Looking-Glass," the latest episode of Batwoman.

There is no denying Alice has had a terribly sad and truly horrific past. She was held hostage by a madman and was psychologically and physically tortured for years. All of that absolutely makes most of her actions if not excusable, but in their own mad way, explainable. Her tortured past especially explains her deeply held and red-hot hatred for Catherine. After all, it was Catherine who convinced the world, and Jacob, to stop looking for Beth, which led to the creation of Alice in the first place.

However, Batwoman's Alice does not deserve a redemption arc. The tragedy of her character is Kate provided many opportunities for redemption, but Alice rejected them all and doubled down on her villainous ways. Now, it is too late.

RELATED: Batwoman Videos Showcase the All-New Batbike's Weapons

Alice lost the privilege of redemption the moment she tortured Mary by murdering Catherine right in front of her. In "A Mad Tea-Party" Alice poisoned both Mary and Catherine and only provided one antidote. The cruelty of this moment is directed at Mary in a completely inexcusable way that proves Alice is beyond the point of no return.

Alice hates Mary because she feels Kate replaced Beth with Mary. This simply is not true. Several times throughout the season, Mary has expressed her frustration that Kate never truly accepted her as a sister. She also says she never wanted to replace Beth, but she wanted to build her own relationship with Kate yet never felt embraced by her. Alice being so cruel to Mary for essentially no reason shows she has crossed too far over the line to ever be redeemed.

There are parts ofAlice's character that are compelling and would be interesting to see play out in a redemption story. The problem is most of them were corrupted beyond forgiveness when Catherine died in Mary's arms. For example, her relationship with Mouse is quite endearing. They are two children who suffered their whole lives but found a sanctuary in their friendship. It is a genuinely sweet idea. But, this relationship is also tainted by the murder of Catherine. Mouse wore a mask and pretended to be Jacob in order to poison Mary and Catherine, therefore coloring their whole relationship with the same, non redeemable, brush.

RELATED: Batwoman Digs Deeper Into Alice's History in 'Off With Her Head' Synopsis

Alice is so desperate for Kate to accept and join her, but she is clearly more interested in her life of crime and chaos than in that relationship. She only wants Kate on her terms and will not accept anything less. Her love for her sister is a sympathetic component of her character and could have been the source of her redemption, just as Kate had wanted from the start. However, Alice threw that away in favor of killing Catherine. Not only did she torture Mary in that moment, but she also framed Jacob. Kate was deeply troubled by Jacob's imprisonment, and it only further alienated Alice from Kate.

In "How Queer Everything Is Today" at the tea party Mouse and Alice have at Catherine's grave, Mouse confronts Alice andlays out the factsthat Kate will never accept Alice after what she has done. While Alice continues to be a villain, Kate will never truly be her sister again. Alice's response to this is to further desecrate Catherine's grave and dig the knife in deeper. She continues to show how selfish, remorseless, and beyond redemption she really is when she will not even admit it is her own fault her relationship with Kate is rapidly deteriorating.

"Off With Her Head" explores some of the painful details about Beth's time with the Cartwright's on the farm. Alice left Cartwright for Kate with a note about "Mommy Dearest." She knew their mother would be a particularly sensitive emotional trigger to Kate because it was exactly that which turned Beth into Alice. She knew Kate would push for the truth about what the note meant, and she knew that it would push Kate to do something impulsive and driven by blind hatred rather than justice. She does not deliver Cartwright for justice; she delivers him as part of her sick game.

RELATED:Batwoman Reveals What Caused Alice to Snap

In "Through the Looking-Glass," Alice confirms she is past the point of redemption. She brags to Kate that she manipulated the situation with Cartwright and goaded Kate into killing him. She says she wants to prove Kate is just like her. After a majority of the season has consisted of Kate doing everything she can to bring out Beth and find the redeemable qualities in Alice, Alice has no interest in changing her ways. She further cementsthe fact that she is beyond the point of redemption whichhas been clear ever since she tortured Mary.

In the beginning, Alice had all the components for a compelling redemption arc. Now, it is too late, and she is well beyond deserving a redemption. She has caused too much pain and suffering and burned too many bridges. She is past the point of no return. Now that she is locked away in Arkham, maybe she will learn that error of her ways and receive the treatment she desperately needs, but even that will not be enough to atone for her sins.

Created by Caroline Dries and developed by Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television, Batwoman stars Ruby Rose, Rachel Skarsten, Meagan Tandy, Camrus Johnson, Dougray Scott, Elizabeth Anweis and Nicole Kang. The series airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.

KEEP READING: Batwoman Betrayal Leaves One Character Locked Up

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Margaret Lockyer was born in raised in Brampton, Ontario. She has a degree in English and History with honours in Apocalyptic literature from the University of Prince Edward Island where she also played varsity ice hockey. She also has a diploma in Writing for Film & Television from Vancouver Film School. She likes practicing yoga, talking about movies, and petting dogs.

Read more:
Batwoman's Alice Isn't Worthy of Redemption | CBR - CBR - Comic Book Resources

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is a fiery conservative who is no stranger to controversy.

Patrick, who has been lieutenant governor since 2015, has a history of polarizing rhetoric. A provocative conservative radio talk show host before he ran for office, Patrick has backed policies ranging from requiring people to use restrooms that match their assigned genders to the building of a wall along the US-Mexico border.

He was Tea Party before the Tea Party even really existed, said Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University in Houston.

Patricks latest stirring came Monday, when he made comments that people should head back to work, even as officials nationwide shut down businesses in an attempt to slow the spread of coronavirus.

My message is that lets get back to work, lets get back to living. Lets be smart about it, and those of us who are 70-plus, well take care of ourselves, but dont sacrifice the country, he told Fox News Tucker Carlson.

In comments that echoed a growing desire among some Republicans, including President Donald Trump, to ease emergency guidelines, he suggested that he was willing to take a chance to get the economy rolling.

What Im living in fear of is whats happening to this country, Patrick, who is about to turn 70, said. And you know, Tucker, no one reached out to me and said as a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren? And if thats the exchange, Im all in.

The comments on coronavirus and the economy, Jones said, were a little over the top, even for Dan Patrick.

Patricks career began in sports broadcast in the 1970s. He then became a restaurateur in the 1980s and went bankrupt, eventually leading to his time as a provocative conservative radio talk show host.

Patricks radio show was an early outlet for Rush Limbaugh before Limbaugh became one of the most prominent political radio hosts in the nation, Jones said.

I loved this little old station, and a guy named Rush Limbaugh called one day. I can detect a good, conservative voice when I hear it, so I put Rush on the radio in 88, Patrick told State Legislatures magazine in 2016.

Once, in August 1991, Patrick underwent a vasectomy live on his radio show, broadcasting from his urologists office to encourage other men to consider the procedure, according to United Press International. Patricks wife watched the procedure.

When he first ran for office in 2006, the Texas Observer called Patrick Houstons king of right-wing talk radio and reported that he was one to beat in a four-person Republican primary for a Texas Senate seat.

Patrick went on to handily win the primary and the seat itself in the general. He then served in the state Senate for eight years.

While in the state Senate, Patrick proposed a bill that would have restricted Transportation Security Administration pat-downs and made it illegal for anyone conducting searches to touch private parts under or through clothing, according to local television station KHOU. The bill failed in 2011 after federal officials warned they would have to cancel flights in and out of Texas airports due to security concerns, KHOU reported.

Patrick was asked about the bill by CNNs Don Lemon at the time.

Thomas Jefferson was very clear. He said resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions he wishes that it always be kept alive, he told Lemon. Well, its being kept alive on this occasion because this is important that we speak up and say to the federal government, You just cant pass any rule that you want and expect the American public to take it.'

Patrick spent much of time in the state Senate talking about ways to lower taxes. Before running for office, he was a founder of a group called Citizens Lowering Our Unfair Taxes that organized thousands of people in an effort to lower property taxes.

In 2002, Patrick published the book, The Second Most Important Book You Will Ever Read: a Personal Challenge to Read the Bible. He later authored a bill that got the words, In God We Trust displayed in the Senate chamber.

Later, when Patrick ran for lieutenant governor 2014, he framed his campaign around slowing immigration and controlling the border. Patrick has likened immigration into Texas to an invasion, and accused immigrants of bringing diseases.

Dan Patrick was Donald Trump before Donald Trump was, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a professor of political science at the University of Houston.

Patrick defeated the three-time incumbent in the GOP primary and won an easy general election victory.

As lieutenant governor, he has backed a series of controversial policies. He was a leading proponent of the 2017 Texas bathroom bill. The bill did not become law, but would have required people to use school restrooms and facilities that match the gender on their birth certificates. It was opposed by transgender advocates and major Texas companies.

Patrick has also backed Trumps wall on the US-Mexico border.

Rottinghaus said Patrick is by nature a political bomb thrower.

He compared Patrick to Trump: The stylistic similarities are pretty strong, and the political similarities in some ways are identical.

That parallel has been on display as Patrick campaigns for Trumps re-election.

We did not have an election in 2016. We had a revolt! Patrick said when introducing Trump at a rally last year in Dallas, according to Texas Monthly. And this is what the media doesnt understand, or the progressive left. The revolution is only getting louder and larger!

Read more from the original source:
'He was Tea Party before the Tea Party even really existed': Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has a history of stirring controversy - KEYT

And that may be only the first round of spending.

Everything about this is deeply concerning, said Jenny Beth Martin, a co-founder of one of the first Tea Party organizations, the Tea Party Patriots. There are going to be so many unintended consequences from the month of March 2020. It will be years before we sort out what just happened.

Yet, for Tea Party supporters like Ms. Martin, the situation is complicated. For years, they excoriated big government, helping to elect a new class of lawmakers determined to slash spending.

That is, until Mr. Trump took office.

Mr. Trumps incoming chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and his departing acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, both tied their congressional careers to the Tea Party movement. Now, Mr. Mulvaney, Mr. Meadows and other Tea Party politicians are top supporters of the administration and of the record-breaking level of spending pushed by the White House, even before the coronavirus crisis.

All have been cautious not to use the B-word (bailout) or even the S-word (stimulus) when it comes to describing the economic stabilization package.

Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity, a group that helped fund and organize Tea Party activists, drew a firm distinction between the 2008 bailout and todays package.

This is very different than in 2008-2009, which was an abject cronyistic bailout, said Mr. Phillips, who said he had discussed the package on town-hall-style events conducted via telephone with thousands of his groups supporters. The American public gets that this is a very different situation. It affects almost everyone.

That position may be hard to maintain if the money becomes, as critics fear, a slush fund for big corporations. Senate Democrats successfully maneuvered to include more oversight and transparency in the legislation, but how the Treasury Department handles the distribution of the funds will be closely watched, particularly as average Americans struggle to survive the crisis.

Read this article:
How Will the Spending Be Spun? - The New York Times

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Thomas Massie enraged President Donald Trump as he has leaders of Congress worried he will delay a planned Friday voice vote on a $2.2 trillion coronavirus economic rescue plan, drawing calls from the White House to throw him out of the Republican Party.

FILE PHOTO: Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) watches a live downlink with American astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 24, 2014. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo

Even before the 49-year-old drew Trumps ire on Twitter, he had been a thorn in the side of both parties so long that hes nicknamed Mr. No.

Throw Massie out of Republican Party! Trump tweeted on Friday.

Here are some facts about Massie:

- Massie was first elected in 2012 with an assist from the conservative tea party movement, from a solidly Republican district in northern Kentucky along the Ohio River. An engineer by training who had built his own company on inventions he made, he beat two establishment Republicans in a primary election along the way.

- In his first House vote in 2013, Massie opposed the re-election of John Boehner as speaker. Massie aligned with conservative and libertarian Republicans who formed the Freedom Caucus in 2015, but did not join the caucus.

- By 2014, Massie had voted no so many times on legislation that Politico dubbed him Mr. No. He opposed about a third of measures that came up in his first year, voting against large and small bills sponsored by both parties, from defense spending legislation to a bill to award a gold medal to golf star Jack Nicklaus.

- Massie opposed many bills on a cost basis. He joked once that the buttons lawmakers push to register their votes on the House floor which are labeled yea and nay should be relabeled spend and dont spend, USA Today reported.

But he voted in 2017 for hefty tax cuts promised by Trump, although they were projected to widen the deficit. It is irresponsible to increase spending and decrease taxes, which is why I consistently vote to decrease spending and decrease taxes, he said at the time.

- Massie voted twice against the election of former House Speaker Paul Ryan, a fellow Republican. Last year he was one of six Republicans to vote against his partys candidate, Kevin McCarthy for Speaker; Massie voted instead for Republican Jim Jordan, a founding member of the Freedom Caucus.

- Sometimes Massie has worked across party lines on civil liberties issues, such as by opposing bulk data collection by the government. Last year, Massie was the only Republican to vote against a measure rejecting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, or BDS, movement, which opposes the Israeli occupation and policies toward Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

He was one of three House Republicans to vote against relief for Hurricane Harvey in 2017, and one of three Republicans that year to vote against additional sanctions on North Korea. One of the three, Representative Justin Amash, later left the party to become an independent.

Reporting by Susan Cornwell and Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone and Nick Zieminski

The rest is here:
Factbox: 'Mr. No': Meet the U.S. congressman who requested a formal vote to delay the coronavirus bill - Reuters

Calling all tea drinkers This one is for you.

Being a huge Marie fan myself, I am gushing over this latest piece of BoxLunch merchandise. Disney fans can now sip on their afternoon tea or host their next tea party with this adorable Marie inspired teacup saucer set Fit for all you ladies out there.

Lets take a closer look at the new Marie teacup saucer set below.

The Marie teacup saucer set is perfect for the tea drinkers out there. The teacup itself is mostly pure white with what looks to be hand painted gold accents all around. Front and center is a picture of everyones favorite Aristocat Marie posing in her most sophisticated manner.

Surrounding Marie on the teacup, youll notice a beautiful gold colored wreath (which looks to be hand painted) as well as a variety of food items. On the inside of the teacup, the words The finest in Paris and written in gold font.

The teacup saucer that comes with the teacup is a light pink color, which also features gold accents throughout. The same gold wreaths appear scattered on the teacup saucer along with a variety of photos of Marie and food items.

The official BoxLunch description reads:

Live the high life with Marie from DisneysThe Aristocats! This classy teacup and saucer set features ornate details with portraits of Marie alongside some delectable French sweets.

A BoxLunch Exclusive!

Link:
Host Your Next Tea Party With This Adorable Marie Teacup Set - Inside the Magic