#Congress questions motive

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Chloe Cole

Published: July 28, 2023

On Thursday, her 19th birthday, Chloe Cole testified to Congress with a “final warning” that medical treatments to change the gender of confused children is horrific. Cole, who was given surgery as a teenager to become male and soon regretted it, said what she needed most was therapy, not a scalpel. Here is what she told lawmakers:

My name is Chloe Cole and I am a de-transitioner.

Another way to put that would be: I used to believe that I was born in the wrong body and the adults in my life, whom I trusted, affirmed my belief, and this caused me lifelong, irreversible harm. 

I speak to you today as a victim of one of the biggest medical scandals in the history of the United States of America. 

I speak to you in the hope that you will have the courage to bring the scandal to an end, and ensure that other vulnerable teenagers, children and young adults don’t go through what I went through. 

Deceit & coercion 

At the age of 12, I began to experience what my medical team would later diagnose as gender dysphoria.

I was well into an early puberty, and I was very uncomfortable with the changes that were happening to my body. I was intimidated by male attention. 

And when I told my parents that I felt like a boy, in retrospect, all I meant was that I hated puberty, that I wanted this newfound sexual tension to go away.

I looked up to my brothers a little bit more than I did to my sisters. 

I came out as transgender in a letter I sent on the dining room table.

My parents were immediately concerned.

They felt like they needed to get outside help from medical professionals. 

But this proved to be a mistake.

It immediately set our entire family down a path of ideologically motivated deceit and coercion.

The general specialist I was taken to see told my parents that I needed to be put on puberty-blocking drugs right away. 

They asked my parents a simple question: Would you rather have a dead daughter or a living transgender son? 

The choice was enough for my parents to let their guard down, and in retrospect, I can’t blame them.

This is the moment that we all became victims of so-called gender-affirming care.

I was fast-tracked onto puberty blockers and then testosterone. 

The resulting menopausal-like hot flashes made focusing on school impossible.

I still get joint pains and weird pops in my back.

But they were far worse when I was on the blockers. 

Forever changed 

A month later, when I was 13, I had my first testosterone injection.

It has caused permanent changes in my body: My voice will forever be deeper, my jawline sharper, my nose longer, my bone structure permanently masculinized, my Adam’s apple more prominent, my fertility unknown. 

I look in the mirror sometimes, and I feel like a monster.

I had a double mastectomy at 15.

They tested my amputated breasts for cancer.

That was cancer-free, of course; I was perfectly healthy.

There is nothing wrong with my still-developing body, or my breasts other than that, as an insecure teenage girl, I felt awkward about it.

After my breasts were taken away from me, the tissue was incinerated — before I was able to legally drive. 

I had a huge part of my future womanhood taken from me.

I will never be able to breastfeed.

I struggle to look at myself in the mirror at times.

I still struggle to this day with sexual dysfunction.

And I have massive scars across my chest and the skin grafts that they used, that they took of my nipples, are weeping fluid today, and they’re grafted into a more masculine positioning, they said. 

After surgery, my grades in school plummeted.

Everything that I went through did nothing to address the underlying mental health issues that I had.

And my doctors with their theories on gender that all my problems would go away as soon as I was surgically transformed into something that vaguely resembled a boy — their theories were wrong.

The drugs and surgeries changed my body, but they did not and could not change the basic reality that I am, and forever will be, a female. 

Depths of despair 

When my specialists first told my parents they could have a dead daughter or a live transgender son, I wasn’t suicidal.

I was a happy child who struggled because she was different. 

However at 16, after my surgery, I did become suicidal.

I’m doing better now, but my parents almost got the dead daughter promised to them by my doctors.

My doctor had almost created the very nightmare they said they were trying to avoid. 

So what message do I want to bring to American teenagers and their families?

I didn’t need to be lied to.

I needed compassion.

I needed to be loved. 

I needed to be given therapy that helped me work through my issues, not affirmed my delusion that by transforming into a boy, it would solve all my problems. 

We need to stop telling 12-year-olds that they were born wrong, that they are right to reject their own bodies and feel uncomfortable with their own skin. 

We need to stop telling children that puberty is an option, that they can choose what kind of puberty they will go through, just like they can choose what clothes to wear or what music to listen to. 

Pseudoscience 

Puberty is a rite of passage to adulthood, not a disease to be mitigated.

Today, I should be at home with my family celebrating my 19th birthday.

Instead, I’m making a desperate plea to my elected representatives.

Learn the lessons from other medical scandals, like the opioid crisis. 

Recognize that doctors are human, too, and sometimes they are wrong. 

My childhood was ruined along with thousands of de-transitioners that I know through our networks.

This needs to stop. You alone can stop it. 

Enough children have already been victimized by this barbaric pseudoscience.

Please let me be your final warning. 

Thank you.

Might as well call her a murtad and kufr.

"The medical industry mutilated me, maybe don't mutilate other kids," shouldn't require bravery or renouncing an ideology.

Reminder: A minor under the age of 18 is too young to agree to a cellphone contract. 🤦‍♀️

[shu-of-the-wind]

summary of the ruling on whether trump can be criminally prosecuted below:

1) presidents have some immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts during their tenure in office

2) an act of congress may not criminalize the president's actions within his exclusive constitutional power (i.e. executive power)

3) not all of a president's official acts fall within his executive powers and that immunity doesn't extend to conduct in areas "where his authority is shared with congress"

4) at minimum a president must be immune from prosecution for an *official* act unless the government can show that applying a criminal prohibition to that act would pose no "danger of intrusion" on the function of the executive branch

5) no immunity for *un*official acts

6) so to hold a president criminally liable you need to determine first a) whether it was an official or unofficial action and b) whether the president had the authority to take that action in the first place, but you CAN'T INQUIRE INTO HIS MOTIVES FOR TAKING THOSE ACTIONS during that analysis because it would put presidents on trial ~for everything~ apparently

7) trump's discussions with the attorney general are "readily categorized in the light of the nature of the president's official relationship to that individual" because as president he's allowed to fire the AG if the AG doesn't do what he wants

8) while it's true that the p and vp are engaging in official conduct while discussing their responsibilities, the question then becomes "whether the presumption of immunity is rebutted under the circumstances" i.e. it's the government's job to argue that applying a criminal law to this wouldn't "intrude on executive power"

9) trump's interactions with people outside the executive (state officials, the public) is a game of who can make the better argument of whether that was within his official or unofficial stance

11) same with public statements on twitter

12) good luck lower courts xoxo john roberts

i plan on reading the full opinion at lunch but i am gonna Throw Up Actually

[thatsnotmygunflash]

“Panic erupted at Central City Hall after unknown gunmen kidnapped Congressman Leonard Snart in broad daylight during his 'Metas are Human' rally. Eyewitnesses to the attack say three of Snart's security guards were killed in their efforts to protect the Congressman and four more were injured. Authorities say they are putting in every effort to recover the Congressman, working around the clock to bring him home safely. If anyone has any information regarding—”

“Hey man, are you watching the news?” Barry didn't bother with a hello when he heard the call connected, his eyes still glued to the footage of the kidnapping replaying on the TV screen. It was the first time since being back in Central that he'd felt the familiar course of adrenaline start to build in his blood. His feet were already vibrating just thinking about running head-first into a new mission. This was a problem he could solve as easily as making a run to the grocery store. He might not be in the military anymore and his whole team may be suspended from using their powers on US soil until the investigation is over, but there wasn't a chance in hell he was going to let that stop him from saving not only his personal hero but the Congressman leading the fight for metahuman rights. If Leonard Snart died, metahumans wouldn’t stand a chance against the discrimination and dehumanization they were up against in Congress. 

“Yeah, crazy right? Can't believe they got the drop on Captain Cold.” Cisco replied readily, the echoing broadcast accompanying his voice. “I mean, we've all heard the stories from General Lance.” 

Leonard Snart hadn’t always been a Congressman, of course. He was the beloved Mayor of Central City before that, and a decorated police officer briefly after being honorably discharged from the military due to an injury in the field. Leonard Snart was the only human to ever Captain the same covert metahuman team Barry had helped lead for the past five years. The original Rogues were legendary, especially their human leader. He may have only been human, but Snart had a genius-level intellect and was an expert tactician, not to mention an exceptional marksman and a bit of a kleptomaniac at the most convenient of times. Captain Cold was a decorated hero who helped turn the Rouges into the military's best secret weapon. The motivational stories that Sara had told them during training and the old missions she would drill them on had fueled Barry's endless quest to be the best operative he could be. Chasing Captain Cold's legacy like it was critical to his career, right up to the point of obsession. It had helped him rank up quickly, religiously studying Snart's tactical strategies, missions, and reports. Barry learned from his mistakes before he could even make them most of the time thanks to Snart’s detailed mission logs and his additional references to counter scenarios that would have been successful. Barry was the man he is today because of Leonard Snart–his hero, his teacher, and his inspiration. He couldn’t stand back on the sidelines and hope someone else was going to put a plan together and save Snart.

He had to do something. 

“Yeah, they would have just shot him in the street if they wanted him dead,” Barry theorized, finally giving in to the restlessness running through his body and taking off into a sprint, barely being able to enjoy the exhilarating feeling of running again before he was across town and right into the middle of Cisco’s underground workshop. “The kidnappers must want something else, but that doesn't mean they won't kill him when they get it.” 

“Is this you trying to ask me to look into where they’re keeping him?” Cisco questioned with a surprised eyebrow raised as he took the phone away from his ear and set it down near the gutted metal tube spilling over with wires sitting in front of the scientist, along with an array of tools and loose equipment. If Barry wasn’t mistaken it was one of Hartley’s sonic grenades he was tinkering with. The same sonic grenades the Miltary had confiscated. Barry knew he couldn't have been the only one going stir-crazy since being discharged, but Cisco had been smart enough not to inform the government about his ability to breach, allowing him easy access to anything he wanted, from this world or another. Cisco always had to be doing something with his hands, anything to keep him busy and his ideas flowing. It was a trait Barry had always admired about his best friend, especially right now.

“Maybe? I don't know. I feel like I should do something, he could die,” Barry replied warily, running a hand through his hair as he considered what would happen if he didn't get involved. “The guys who grabbed him have to be professionals, there's no way of knowing what they'll do if SWAT gets involved. I'm thinking if you can pin down his location I can be in and out with Snart before you finish telling me the address.” 

“I'll let Frosty and Cait know what's up while I track him down, have them set up the med room for him just in case.” Cisco was already abandoning his workbench and moving towards his computer as he spoke, typing out a message to the girls on his phone while he booted up his PC. “Want me to contact his team and let them in on the plan?”

“After. I don't want to take the chance if this is an inside job. I want Snart safe before we bring outsiders in on this.” Barry responded, knowing in his gut that the only thing they could afford to worry about right now was making sure Snart made it out of this alive. 

“Yeah good call, can't have the man spearheading the ‘Metas are Human' movement dying before he can get the bill passed.” Cisco agreed with an approving nod, fingers dancing over the keyboard as he pulled up the satellite footage of the kidnapping. 

“Exactly. He's our only chance at keeping our civil rights, Cisco, we gotta save him.” He didn't mention he was their only chance of getting the team back together and their dishonorable discharges dropped. Lance still kept in contact with them all even if it was dangerous for her own career to be mixed up with their disgraced team at such an uneasy time like this. She had risked it though to tell them she had talked to Snart about their situation and he had vowed to do what he could to get them all reinstated and the investigation handled by an unbiased party. 

“I know man, I'm tracking them through CCTV cameras right now, shouldn't be much longer. You should suit up.” Cisco suggested, pressing a button on a small remote while nodding towards the now moving back wall where he kept the team’s secret emergency gear stashed. It seemed like Cisco was keeping a lot of secrets from the government down here. 

“Red or black?” Barry asked the scientist, trying not to get caught up in the nostalgia of seeing his team's suits lined up and on display again. It had only been three months since the team was disbanded but it felt like years to him. This felt like coming home, much more than arriving at Central City airport after 12 years away had. 

“Black. Should probably keep this one stealthy.” Cisco replied, turning his head to the side to meet Barry's eye. “Are we playing this like Karmana or Kota Baharu?” 

“Moscow,” Barry said with a soft hum, trembling fingers reaching for the reinforced tripolymer fabric waiting for him. It really had been too long, the anticipation was almost too much for him to handle. He's missed the comfort of his super suit. Of his team. His life. God, everything had gone to such shit so quickly that he never even got to prepare himself for never suiting up and leading a mission again. It had been stripped from him just like his team, his rank, and his reputation had. 

“Oh really?” Cisco curved his surprise quickly, his worry pushing forward instead. “You think he'll remember the call sign?” 

“He'll remember,” Barry replied confidently, not wasting another second and flashing into his suit. It was even better than he remembered, like a missing limb growing back, or maybe he had missed his old life more than he cared to admit. Now, he felt safe and powerful and needed. Three things that had been severely lacking in his life since being discharged.

“Let's hope you're right,” Cisco muttered before glancing down at his phone and smirking in triumph. “I've got the location and Cait is almost ready. It's showtime, Lieutenant Flash.” 

“Don't call me that man. I'm not your lieutenant anymore.” Barry said with a shake of his head, brushing off Cisco's quick reply. 

“The government may have royally fucked us all over and disbanded the team, but that doesn't mean I lost respect for the rank you earned dude.”

“Whatever, can you just give me the address please? We have a Congressman to save.” Barry pulled his cowl up, letting it settle into place and feeling his shoulders drop down, all the tension he was carrying leaving him at once. There was no better feeling than using his powers to save someone, and now after months of moping around his shoebox apartment and his mind-numbing third-shift security gig, having to refrain from using his speed, he was going to get to use it to save Leonard Snart. He knew the ‘Oh shit, I’m going to meet Leonard Snart!’ freak out he would no doubt have later would be embarrassing and long, but it would mean Snart would be alive and that was more than enough for Barry to look forward to making a fool of himself in the future.  

“Uh, yeah, about that,” Cisco winced at the latest text that popped up, shooting Barry a constipated smile. “Hopefully he's like really grateful you’re risking it all right now to save his ass and can keep you from getting arrested for doing it. Frost says they know you're active. APB is about to go out. Waller is pissed.” 

“Better make this good then, I'm too pretty for prison.” Barry couldn't help the grin that stretched across his face as Cisco finally rattled off the address to him, offering him a lazy salute that a year ago would have gotten him kitchen duty for two weeks. Now it just earned him a good-natured laugh.  

“Good luck, Lieutenant,” Cisco said with an encouraging pat on the back, letting out a small laugh to himself when Barry took off just as quickly as he had appeared. “Something tells me you're going to need it.”

[enigma2meagain]

As you may have noticed already, Archive of Our Own is currently down, due to a DDOS attack by a group claiming to be “Anonymous Sudan”, which may or may not be a group affiliated with Russia using Anonymous to drive divides against Islamic People, and also target one of the largest sources of LGBT media online.

Something important to also note is that there are actually bills being passed through Congress (or at least on track) that are functionally identical in intention and rhetoric to this hacking attack called the Kids Online Safety Act. if it passes, it’ll censor/cripple the entire internet as we know it for the same political and religious motivations. AO3 will be negatively affected as well, either losing most of its LGBT content at best, or at worst being permanently shut down.

The big one at the moment is the Kids Online Safety Act, but there are also other bills like the EARN IT Act, the RESTRICT Act, and so forth. There’s more information provided in the Links below!

Bad Internet Bills (Website Created by Fight For the Future on Twitter) LinkTree for KOSA (made by volunteers, contains open letter for signing and more articles about the bill in question)

Please take the time to read up and call your Senators to stop this. If you can't do that, then email them and contact the people on this master list here. Especially call Maria Cantwell, since she’s hesitant about this bill!

Additionally, if you happen to have TikTok or some other social media presence, please help spread the word. These people linked below have done so and the more people talking about this, the better!

JuiceInABoxx OmarsBigSister

[odinsblog]

Elie Mystal covered the ridiculous, “Presidential Immunity” (aka, “Why Can’t Trump Be Treated Like A Dictator?”) case before SCOTUS

Dreeben: "BECAUSE THERE WEREN'T CRIMES!" (he didn't yell, I did, but he said "because there weren't crimes." )

Oh God, now Roberts wondering if they should send it back to the DC circuit because he's worried about presidents getting prosecuted in bad faith.

Roberts: "The court of appeals did not get into a focused consideration of what facts we're talking about or what documents we're talking about... they did not look at what courts usually look at when... taking away immunity."

Is this motherfucker serious? His argument is "Every president coups, why is mine getting charged?"

Thomas: Are you saying there's no immunity even for official acts?

And... that could be the ballgame

Roberts, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh are more worried about a prosecutor going after a president for *political* reasons than A PRESIDENT TRYING TO OVERTHROW THE GOVERNMENT.

This is just about over.

And by "this" I mean the rule of law and by "over" I mean delayed indefinitely to help Trump.

Gorsuch suggesting that under the government's standard a president could be prosecuted for leading a "civil rights protest" in front of Congress and sought to "influence an official proceeding."

Yes, because Jan 6 and a fucking sit in are the same thing, Neil.

This is goddamn disgusting.

I'm going to keep listening because it is my literal job, but this is pretty much in the bag for Trump at this point. Remand to DC Circuit for decision on "official acts" and whether organizing a coup is one.

After November, if Trump loses, SCOTUS will return to the issue.

Alito: Are you really saying the president is subject to criminal laws like everybody else?

YES YOU DICK. THE PRESIDENT SHOULD BE SUBJECT TO THE LAWS LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE!

Alito: "I'm not talking about the particular facts of this case."

WHY? WHY THE HELL ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT THIS FUCKING CASE RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU?

The question I'd have for the SCOTUS now is: If you do this, why would a Republican president every peacefully transfer power again?

Democratic presidents will because Democrats follow rules that don't apply to the other side. But why would Republicans just leave *ever again*?

Alito: Couldn't FDR's decision to inter Japanese Americans during WWII be charged [as a crime]?

He says that LIKE THAT'S A BAD THING?

And Dreeben is trying to say that he couldn't.

This country, and specifically this court, is a fucking joke.

Now onto self-pardons. Alito is just playing all the Fox News hits now.

I'm going to smoke. Biden should send Seal Team 6 to Mar-a-Lago because according to Alito there's no downside.

Alito just suggested that the last election was "questionably decided"

I have left my body and am texting things I can't say aloud to my friends.

Kagan is like the first person to be asking about the actual criminal acts Trump is charged with.

I assume Alito is not listening because Kagan is a woman while Gorsuch is probably sitting there emailing the New York Times because they got something wrong on the Spelling Bee.

I see the internet is unimpressed with Dreeben but that's being a little unfair. The Republican justices want to do this, there's nothing that Dreeben could say to stop them.

What he *could* be doing was making their hypocrisy more clear for the non-legal media following along.

But... SCOTUS advocates have to preserve their ability to argue another day, and blowing up the justices in one case

A: Doesn't help them actually win the case.

B: Actively hurts them in the next one.

Kavanaugh: "Like Justice Gorsuch, I'm not concerned with the here and now of this case, I'm concerned about the future."

I don't know why this is acceptable. I do know that the justices are sure they are right about ignoring the facts of THIS ACTUAL CASE.

Kavanaugh... who WORKED FOR KEN STARR... is basically saying that Jack Smith is politically motivated and his appoint in unconstitutional.

It's... maddening. And most of the media reports will not even point out this hypocrisy.

The "independent counsel" law was rewritten into our current "special counsel" law BECAUSE of the shit Kavanaugh helped Starr do! Everybody was like "that crap can't happen again."

Somebody get @neal_katyal and @MonicaLewinsky on the phone to blow up this asshole.

@neal_katyal @MonicaLewinsky Every time I try to no have a stroke listening to this bullshit, they say something even more risible and stupid.

@neal_katyal @MonicaLewinsky Kavanaugh: "President Ford's pardon. Hugely unpopular when he did it... now probably looked on as one of his better decisions."

What? WHAT? WHO THE FUCK THINKS FORD'S PARDON OF NIXON WAS A GOOD IDEA? WHEN DID I DIE AND GO TO HELL????

@neal_katyal @MonicaLewinsky This could be a men v. women 5-4 ruling.

Men: Let's kick this back to DC to further delay Trump's trial.

Soto, Kagan, Jackson: Why? That's fucking dumb.

Barrett: Ladies, I agree with you, but we shouldn't call the men fucking dumb. We should politely disagree.

@neal_katyal @MonicaLewinsky We're past the two and half hour mark for an argument where the Republican justices made their decision when they were appointed, some of them decades ago.

@neal_katyal @MonicaLewinsky KBJ is closing by trying to answer all of Gorsuch's questions, which would be effective if Gorsuch operated in good faith. But... he doesn't. So...

@neal_katyal @MonicaLewinsky I had hoped that *one* of the liberal justices would have made the point from the Common Cause brief, highlighting that the whole point of what Republican justices are doing is to give Trump delay.

Not a persuasive argument for the justices, but good for the media to hear.

@neal_katyal @MonicaLewinsky The case is submitted. Court doesn't come back till May 9th which will be a decision day.

But I think they won't decide *this* case until July 3rd for max delay. And that decision will be 5-4 to remand the case back to DC, for additional delay.

@neal_katyal @MonicaLewinsky I wish I had better news for you. Thanks anyway for following along with our national descent into madness.

[palestinegenocide]

Zionism will never be viewed the same after the Gaza genocide

How do you wrap your head around genocide? As one numb week follows another, our leaders blind themselves to massacre and famine.

Joe Biden can see no “compelling alternative to how Israel [wages] a war in these circumstances without doing grievous harm to civilians,” Aaron David Miller writes in the New York Times, excusing the president’s support for genocide. So, Israel isn’t being deliberately cruel and sadistic. The Times coverage would just have you believe they just have no choice– as Donald Johnson wrote in a letter to the paper. “There is no middle ground between what Israel is doing and Gandhian pacifism: They just had to use 2000 lb bombs in urban settings. They have to torture captives and cut off food.”

Miller and other liberal Zionists have adopted that stance, but they are having little influence on Democrats. Polls show that the American people favor giving humanitarian aid to Gaza in far greater numbers than they do giving military aid to Israel, and the progressive base of the Democratic Party has started a political “firestorm” over U.S. support for genocide. The Zionist group J Street postponed its 2024 conference, surely because its own rank and file are enraged by Israel.

James Carville said on MSNBC this week that if Biden loses, it’s Israel’s fault, because the catastrophe in Gaza is an issue “all across the country.”

“This Gaza stuff, this is not just a problem with some snot-nosed Ivy League people…This is a problem all across the country. And I hope the president and Blinken can get this thing calmed down because if it doesn’t get calmed down before the Democratic convention, it’s going to be a very ugly time in Chicago. I promise you that. No matter what happens, I know it’s a huge problem.”

Last week, Brad Sherman, the Israel-loving Congress member from Los Angeles, fought back, accusing “anti-Israel forces” of an “attempt to penetrate and muddy our national discourse.”

Protesters affiliated with the antiwar group Code Pink seek to ask Rep. Brad Sherman about his support for the massacres of Palestinians in Gaza, in a video posted March 20, 2024. The congressman from Los Angeles/Malibu ran away from the protesters and accused them of seeking the genocide of Jews. Screenshot.

Sherman accused them of antisemitism. “There’s blood on your hands for the genocide—you’re trying to kill every Jew.”

That is the chief refuge for Democrats who excuse Israel’s actions. To say that critics of genocide are motivated by antisemitism.

But even liberal media are giving a platform to progressive critics. “The United States is complicit in genocide,” Mehdi Hasan said this week on New York public radio, and when the host pushed back and said Hasan was not blaming Hamas, Hasan said of course he denounces Hamas, but his tax dollars are not going to support Hamas. He also pointed out the inevitable consequences of military occupation. “The oppressed will always rise against the oppressor.”

And in wonderful media news this week, Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg withdrew from a speaking engagement in Kentucky after students questioned his record in the Israeli military nearly 40 years ago.

Jeffrey Goldberg, Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantic, withdrew from a scheduled speaking event at the University of Kentucky (UK) Wednesday, citing a last-minute schedule change, amidst concerns from students about his past as a former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) prison guard and his views on Zionism…. “We were informed that students expressed concern as to why a former IDF prison guard would be speaking on democracy and journalism at an event celebrating the integration of UK. Students were told he withdrew to not cause harm on campus,” the representative [of a Palestinian solidarity group] stated.

The event was billed as “The Future of Journalism and the Health of Our Democracy.” That’s a little bit of accountability. The editor of the Atlantic is finally being called out for his service for Israel. The writer Yakov Hirsch repeatedly explained on our site that Netanyahu could not have maintained his faultless reputation in the U.S. mainstream without Goldberg fostering “hasbara culture.”

And bear in mind, that Goldberg used to brag about his military service. He wrote a whole memoir about it. Now, times are changing. And other editors who carried water for Israel will surely be called on to defend that work.

This process is just beginning. Zionists still have esteem in the U.S. discourse. The view that Israel supporters promote bigotry against Palestinians is still off-limits. Even as mainstream Jewish organizations assert that those who support Palestinian rights are bigoted against Jews.

“Israel supporters should be seen as on the same moral level as supporters of Bull Connor, but in the U.S. and Western mainstream you can only point to antisemitism— you can never point to anti-Palestinian racism on the Israel side,” Donald Johnson has written on our site.

“We cannot make progress on this issue if the extreme racism of the pro-genocide side is never discussed. People have to be able to say that any group, whether white southerners or South Africans or Nation of Islam members or Christian evangelical Zionists or Germans or, yes, Jewish supporters of Israel, can be racists. They can make racism central to their ideology. But Zionist racism is still a taboo subject, automatically branded as antisemitic, because fundamentally Palestinians are seen as lesser.”

[militantinremission]

Jamaal Bowman: The Cost of being 'Off Code'

Jamaal Bowman IS the Canary in the Coal Mine for the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). His Primary defeat to [Race Baiter] George Latimer sends a CLEAR MESSAGE to the rest of the CBC, that they need to pay more attention to Black Specific Issues. For decades, they rode into Office on Black Votes; only to ignore their Constituents & champion White Liberal Causes. The CBC's 'Mission Statement' is a slap in the face of Black America. While the Asian & Latinx Caucus single out their intent to represent their Ethnic Group, The CBC focuses on 'People of Color' & 'The Disadvantaged' (Marginalized). Black Americans are Socially Liberal, so We didn't clap back at this commitment to 'Coalitions'. The Problem, is The CBC's commitment to these Coalitions OVER Black Specific Issues.

Jamaal Bowman stands out. He's a Member of those Progressive Democrats, known as 'The Squad'. They collectively hold a Narrow Majority in Congress, but This group has been exposed as being toothless on hot button Progressive Issues like: 'Medicare for All', Raising the National Minimum Wage, Supporting Railroad Workers, & a 'Human Infrastructure Bill'. Bowman has been a strong voice in this Group. Like ALL Black Progressives, Bowman towed the Democratic Line over the legitimate needs of Black Americans. LGBTQ..., Asian, Ashkenazi, & Latinx American concerns take precedence over their Own Constituents. This has been The Case for decades. It's not just a Progressive issue, Many of these Black Members of Congress choose other groups over the Blackfolk that put them in Office.

It's ironic that The Congressional Black Caucus has collectively lent their Support to Israel FOR YEARS, but are now being 'Primaried' by AIPAC for demanding a Cease Fire in Gaza. Jamaal Bowman is not alone, Many CBC Members face an AIPAC Backed Challenger this Year. Like his Congressional Peers, Bowman ignored the Grassroots in his District throughout his Tenure, claiming that 'he's alone in Congress & doesn't have The Power'; but somehow expected them to rally behind him, in an effort to defeat the Big Bad AIPAC Boogeyman. His Bronx Rally w/ Bernie Sanders & Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (AOC), was an embarrassing Event that exposed the decline of the Progressive Party. The Writing was On the Wall for all 3 Politicians. Bernie was cliche & hypocritical, AOC was overactive & loud, Jamaal was plastic & ineffective. The Turnout was Unbelievably Low.

AIPAC is known for having Deep Pockets, so their investment of roughly $25 Million to defeat Jamaal Bowman is not surprising. It's clear that his critique of Israel's Actions in Gaza motivated AIPAC to 'Primary' him. Aside from AOC, I didn't see much support coming from the rest of The Squad. It's Nina Turner all over again. I question the solidarity of Black Progressives, but The CBC didn't back Bowman either. Jim Clyburn, Maxine Waters, Sheila Jackson Lee & Hakeem Jeffries were silent; then again, ALL are beholden to AIPAC for Campaign Funds. WHAT is The CBC's Agenda? Their lack of solidarity & support for each other, is as scary as their support of The Democratic Agenda. They have THE SAME 'Shark Tank Mentality' as their White Congressional Peers

Bowman's defeat can be attributed to AIPAC, but the lack of Black Voter Turnout stands out. Mainstream Media may downplay it, but The Democratic Party has to be concerned; Black Democrats in Office should be WORRIED! Before the Vote, Jamaal Bowman was given a Fighter's Chance, despite Redistricting- due to his 'Ethnic Demographic Advantage'. The Fact that he lost by Double Digits speaks volumes. I have said more than once, that Black Politicians need to Draft & Present a Black Agenda to their Constituents. Their disregard for Black Voters is Coming Home to Roost. Bowman, like many other Black Members of Congress have been curt & disrespectful towards their Constituents when critiqued. Blackfolk are talking about Reparations, & NOT taking No for an Answer... I think The CBC better get to work before it's too late.

-Just Sayin'

[aerial-jace]

Guatpol Update

I've been scrolling the news these past few hours or so unable to sleep and since I said I'd post more about my own country's politics I thought to share what I have gleaned about the current top stories.

OLYMPICS!

You may not know but Guatemala actually had its first ever Olympic gold medallist (Adriana Ruano, women's trap shooting) and its first ever Olympic bronze medallist (Jean Pierre Brol, men's trap shooting). Alongside Erick Barrondo's Olympic silver medal in men's 20km racewalk from London 2012, this makes a complete set.

This is a big political story for a couple reasons, first off Ruano and Brol are getting a cash payout from the Guatemalan Olympic Committee, 3 million quetzales for the former and 1 million 250 thousand quetzales for the latter. (One Guatemalan quetzal is worth about 1/8 of a US dollar, for reference.) Second off, our recently elected president Bernardo Arevalo used last Saturday's celebration of the athletes to announce plans to spend more on sporting facilities. Very much an easy to sell proposition given the results on display.

But perhaps most importantly this is very much a political win for Arevalo personally. Due to the events surrounding our last election his government has been fighting an uphill battle to do much of anything. But something Arevalo has been able to do very effectively on his own is diplomacy and it is his diplomacy that averted Guatemala being excluded from the Olympics due to conflicts with the International Olympics Committee.

This crowd-pleaser victory may just be what he needs to keep support for his party, Movimiento Semilla, strong in spite of attacks from all other established parties. Speaking of...

LEGAL FOUL PLAY!

The current director of FECI, the legal prosecution office against corruption established after the independent UN observer body CICIG was dismantled, recently brought charges against and tried to remove legal immunity from Arevalo for allegedly wrongly dismissing a cabinet member. The cabinet member in question ignored orders to go through with a telecommunications contract that was allegedly corrupt. However, pretty much everyone agrees this is a politically motivated move, in line with a pattern of legal challenges brought since last year's elections whose actual purpose is to prevent Arevalo from governing. We will see where this goes but so far this move is being widely condemned.

COURT APPOINTMENT DELAYS!

In other legal news, the Guatemalan Supreme Court of Justice (whose members serve for 5 year terms) is yet to be appointed! We have been at this since 2019. Hurry the fuck up, goddammit. This is what a highly corrupt state and partisan fractioning gets us. At least if no more delays pop up we will maybe get this over with by September. Maybe.

BUDGET EXPANSION!

Credit where credit's due, even with a minority in congress and having to work with their direct political enemies Arevalo was able to finally approve the 14 thousand 451 million GTQ budget expansion he has been trying to get for most of the year. However, like Arevalo and Semilla's every other move, this isn't without legal challenges. At least the US ambassador seems to have expressed approval so maybe he can twist the opposition's arm into letting this one go.

TAX EVASION!

IMO the biggest story of right now is the discovery and investigation into a tax fraud and money laundering scheme to the tune of 300 million GTQ related to contracts awarded by the government of our last president, Alejandro Giammattei. This is perhaps a golden opportunity that just fell in Arevalo's lap as pursuing this scandal, a tax scandal 10 times the size of the famous 2015 La Linea scandal which gave birth to Moviniento Semilla, is perfect for the party to show its commitment to its founding principles. Here's hoping success prosecuting it strikes fear in the Guatemalan establishment and can serve as a stepping stone to reform.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Mackenzie Mays at LA Times:

Wearing pigtails, a pleated skirt and a furry heart-shaped purse, Chloe Cole bounced up the steps of the California Capitol this spring, leaned into a microphone and insisted that transgender children don’t exist. For the dainty 19-year-old, to erase transgender children is to erase a part of her past. Cole has said publicly and in court documents that she first began questioning her gender identity when she was 12. She left a letter on the dining room table telling her family that she was a boy. She wanted a new name, like Ky or Chi, and a more comfortable life. With the blessing of her parents, who sought the advice of physicians and mental health experts, the self-described socially awkward kid from the Central Valley received routine injections to suppress her puberty and boost testosterone. She was glad when her voice got deeper and her jawline became more defined. In 2020, at age 15, she underwent a double mastectomy in pursuit of her most authentic self.

But now, Cole identifies as a woman and says she regrets those decisions. And she’s making a career out of that regret — traveling the country as a leader of the controversial “detransition” movement and emerging as a right-wing icon. [...] Research shows that youths receiving the kind of care that Cole did at her age is rare and that the likelihood of transgender people changing their mind is even rarer, with some studies showing as little as 2% seek to detransition.

But while Cole’s experience may be uncommon, her reach is wide. In the last year, she has testified before Congress about being “the victim of one of the biggest medical scandals in the history of the United States of America”; attended President Biden’s State of the Union address as the guest of Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson; and urged lawmakers across the nation to outlaw treatment such as hormone therapy for minors. Half of states now prohibit gender-affirming care for those under 18, including Wyoming, where Republicans christened their ban passed in April as “Chloe’s law.” Major medical organizations condemn the policies that Cole promotes, and LGBTQ+ activists warn that people like her are a danger to already vulnerable youths. They worry that the amplification of her story is part of an organized effort by conservatives to discriminate against LGBTQ+ young people whose access to care is crucial to their well-being, citing high suicide rates among transgender people.

Most of Cole’s critics don’t deny her personal story in the same way that she discredits the experiences of hundreds of thousands of transgender youths. But as her profile rises, they question her motives. Cole, who turns 20 this month, works as a patient advocate for the new nonprofit Do No Harm, a leader of anti-transgender legislation, and charges up to $5,000 to speak at public events about gender ideology, according to the Young America’s Foundation, which represents conservative personalities such as Ben Shapiro. She’s told her story on the podcast of hard-right Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and joined Charlie Kirk, a leader of the MAGA movement, on college campuses where students protest her presence.

[...] The details of Cole’s transition journey are playing out in court, as she sues her medical providers for giving her the treatment that a few years earlier she begged her parents to pursue. Cole — who said she does not use her real last name out of safety concerns — says now that she was never actually transgender, just confused and anxious about puberty. She alleges that her medical providers were too quick to diagnose her and ignored a list of other mental health problems that she believes, if properly treated, could have prevented the medical interventions she now regrets. She has turned her transition process — which she once viewed as the reflection of supportive parents, uncommon for LGBTQ+ youths — into a nightmarish cautionary tale. The mastectomy initially came to her as a relief after spending her days uncomfortably binding her breasts, walking home from school under the blaze of triple-digit San Joaquin Valley summers wearing extra layers to help her disguise. Now, she talks at public events and on conservative media about her surgery scars in grotesque detail, describing infections and mourning that she will never be able to breastfeed her future children.

[...] That question is predicated on recommendations from major medical organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics that say gender-affirming care is “medically necessary” and potentially “lifesaving” because of the trauma that transgender kids may face. One large study out of Denmark last year showed that transgender people are 7.7 times more likely to attempt suicide and 3.5 times as likely to die by suicide. But Cole’s case has tapped into concerns — on both sides of the political divide — about the right age for gender-related medical treatment. Last month, the Biden administration said it opposed gender-affirming surgery for minors amid debates about the minimum age for different types of care. England recently moved to limit the ability of people younger than 16 to medically transition, and some experts considered LGBTQ+ allies have expressed hesitation amid rising transgender youth rates.

[...] Cole doesn’t just blame her doctors and therapists for her transition. In her lawsuit, she names a long list of other people and factors that pushed her there. She blames the internet and LGBTQ+ influencers she followed on social media at a young age. She blames a boy who assaulted her in the eighth grade by groping her breasts in class — an incident she said traumatized her and made her no longer want to be a girl. She blames being on the autism spectrum, though she does not have an official diagnosis. She blames what she called the horrors of being a woman and the odds of being raped. The youngest of five siblings, she blames being a tomboy who simply looked up to her brothers and wanted to be like them.

[...]

Cole stops short, though, of blaming her parents. She said that she still lives with them and they have “managed to heal as a unit,” but it hasn’t been easy. “This is my decision that I took on. I don’t want to put that on them. I feel like they have gone through just as much grief as I have,” Cole said. “This is something that has brought them a lot of pain. They have a lot of guilt.” Records show her parents filed for divorce in 2019 in the throes of her transition. They did not respond to requests for comment. To chalk up being transgender to a symptom of some disease or as a flaw that needs to be fixed is offensive to the community but is not a new strategy for conservatives. The national GOP platform approved at the Republican convention last week pledges to “end left wing gender insanity” and calls to stop schools from “promoting” gender transition and to “keep men out of women’s sports.”

[...]

One of Cole’s therapists, an expert witness in the case, details the moment that she decided to detransition. She was 16 and had used her chore money to buy LSD. In a state of “bliss and happiness,” Cole heard a voice “telling her that she was lying to herself about being a boy,” according to a declaration submitted to the court. She then became a Christian, according to the declaration, and requested a Christian therapist. When she detransitioned, Cole said she lost all of her friends. She dropped out of high school and took a proficiency exam in lieu of graduating. “It felt like the whole world was turning its whole back on me,” she said. “I was basically a shut-in. I was spending my whole day playing video games in my room.” She also lost her online community of LGBTQ+ supporters. So she found a new one.

Some of the biggest names in the conservative movement have welcomed Cole with open arms, including psychologist and author Jordan B. Peterson, who called gender dysphoria a “sociological contagion,” and activist Billboard Chris, who called gender-affirming care “the biggest child abuse scandal in the history of modern medicine.” Cole’s schedule stays packed. When she speaks at events across the country, she receives standing ovations and the attention of sympathetic audiences. They cheer when she announces she’s suing, and gasp in disgust when she talks about her surgery. That acceptance keeps Cole going even as students have protested her events at college campuses in Iowa, Indiana, New Hampshire and Utah, where she tells her story again and again and holds signs outside classrooms that say things like “children are never born in the wrong body.”

She has more than 20,000 subscribers on YouTube and more than 200,000 followers on the social media platform X. Her supporters make donations to her website to help fund her travel for her advocacy work. Cole, a registered Republican who will soon vote in her first presidential election, has gotten bolder since she began public speaking. Four months ago, she was adamant that she didn’t care about politics.

But as November nears, Cole is using her platform to support Trump. Online, she’s posted a video of her shooting a gun at a shooting range in support of the Republican nominee’s endorsement from the NRA; praised Tesla founder Elon Musk for moving his companies out of California over the state’s new transgender youth protections and called transgender people part of a “self-harm cult.” In her lawsuit, attorneys allege that Cole wanted to transition in part because she “craved the social approval” that transgender kids received from the LGBTQ+ community “that she was not otherwise receiving from her peers.”

The Los Angeles Times delves into how Chloe Cole (whose real name is Chloe Brockman) became a leader in the right-wing political detransitioner movement that seeks to call for bans on gender-affirming care after her experiences with gender-affirming care.

The political detransitioner movement that is led by Cole and few others are a small portion of detransitioners.

[darkmaga-retard]

Robin Westenra

Aug 22, 2024

Thomas Matthew Crooks may not have been acting alone when he tried to assassinate Donald Trump, one of the members of Congress investigating the shooting told Dailymail.com.

Republican Rep. Mike Waltz said the gunman's motivation is still unknown and he is worried a foreign entity or other third-party could have been involved in the attack.

Waltz queried how federal law enforcement can confidently say Crooks was a lone wolf if they can't answer other questions like why he had multiple foreign encrypted messaging accounts. 

His comments came after it was revealed that Iran was also plotting an attempt on the former president's life around the same time that Crooks carried out his plan.

'The more we get into it, the more questions I have,' Waltz said. 'It's really what's coming out around it that is so disturbing.

'And for me, the thing that's most disturbing is that we have ongoing plots from Iran to take out a former president, leading candidate, and that a Pakistani national was just arrested after making a down payment for hitmen, and it's barely even being covered in the news.'

[lizardtheacorn]

NEW INTRO BECAUSE THE OLD ONE WAS BORING

HI IM LIZARD AND THIS IS MY (mostly) ART BLOG!

(I’m also a minor)

You can call me Acorn, Lizard, Liz, or come up with your own nickname idc

I’m bisexual and questioning gender, he/she/they pronouns

Birthday is October 27 :3

Platonically married to @bitchybubbles

Main fandoms I’m into ~ WTTT, Hamilton, Solarballs

Other fandoms ~ Helluva/Hazbin, OSC (II, BFDI/BFB, hfjONE, AIB)

This blog is mainly WTTT based, but I do post other fandoms from time to time

(Main) Ships ~ CaliYork, Floui, CaliAustin, FLouiGov, Coast Guard x AotJ, CDC x AotJ, JeffMads, Lams, StaticMoth

I’m a Floridian, take that as you will <3

Fun facts ~ I’m part Korean and Filipino, I’m a 4 year harpist, and my dream job is a musician or artist

I’ll do art requests and answer whatever fandom based questions (as long as they’re appropriate)

I’m also the runner of @ask-gov-wttt and @ask-wttt-continental-congress :D

Hope you like my blog!

(I try to post at least some art once everyday, but it’ll differ depending on motivation and such)

TYSM FOR THE LOVE AND SUPPORT FROM ALL MY FOLLOWERS/MUTUALS YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST <33

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

A group of House Democrats is pushing a legislative proposal that would establish an investigative body within the U.S. Supreme Court to probe potential ethical improprieties in the wake of another Court-related controversy.

On Tuesday, New York Democratic Reps. Dan Goldman and Jerry Nadler and other lawmakers introduced the “Supreme Court Ethics and Investigations Act,” which among other things would create an investigative body that reports to Congress and establish an ethics counsel to advise justices on ethics rules, including recusal and disclosure requirements.

Lawmakers say the goal is to provide transparency and accountability after recent incidents raised ethical concerns about some members of the Court.

The group cites the incident involving Justice Samuel Alito as an example. Alito faced calls to recuse himself from Jan. 6 and 2020 election-related cases after the New York Times reported in May that his household flew an upside-down flag — a symbol associated with the “Stop the Steal” movement — in January of 2021; and flew another right-wing flag last year.

The incidents prompted Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) to send a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts requesting that he take steps to ensure that Alito recuses himself in any cases related to the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol “including the question of former President Trump’s immunity from prosecution …” The immunity case is pending before the Court after oral argument was held in April.

In his own letter, Alito responded by blaming his wife for the flags. He also said he would not recuse himself, citing the Court’s code of conduct adopted last year:

“B. DISQUALIFICATION. (1) A Justice is presumed impartial and has an obligation to sit unless disqualified. (2) A Justice should disqualify himself or herself in a proceeding in which the Justice’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned, that is, where an unbiased and reasonable person who is aware of all relevant circumstances would doubt that the Justice could fairly discharge his or her duties.” A reasonable person who isn’t motivated by “political or ideological considerations” would conclude that the incidents don’t warrant a recusal, Alito says in the letter.

But a number of lawmakers and Court observers seem to disagree.

“Ethics policies at the Supreme Court should be robust and consistent,” said Gabe Roth, executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group Fix the Court, “and the current hodgepodge … is far from a best practice.”

Past attempts, however, to bring stronger accountability to the nation’s highest court have been unsuccessful. Last year, ProPublica published an investigation detailing the perks and lavish gifts Justice Clarence Thomas received from Harlan Crow, a real estate tycoon and prominent GOP donor, that Thomas did not disclose. Legislation introduced that year that would require the Court to adopt a code of conduct and create a mechanism to investigate alleged code violations failed to gain traction.

In November, the Court established a code of conduct. But the onus seems to be on the justices to abide by the standards. Alito cited this code — the “Disqualification” section — in his decision not to recuse himself.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Nick Anderson Editorial Cartoons Page

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

May 31, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

JUN 01, 2024

Today felt as if there was a collective inward breath as people tried to figure out what yesterday’s jury verdict means for the upcoming 2024 election. The jury decided that former president Trump created fraudulent business records in order to illegally influence the 2016 election. As of yesterday, the presumptive Republican nominee for president of the United States of America is a convicted felon. 

Since the verdict, Trump and his supporters have worked very hard to spin the conviction as a good thing for his campaign, but those arguments sound like a desperate attempt to shape a narrative that is spinning out of their control. Newspapers all over the country bore the word “GUILTY” in their headlines today.

At stake for Trump is the Republican presidential nomination. Getting it would pave his way to the presidency, which offers him financial gain and the ability to short-circuit the federal prosecutions that observers say are even tighter cases than the state case in which a jury quickly and unanimously found him guilty yesterday. Not getting it leaves Trump and the MAGA supporters who helped him try to steal the 2020 presidential election at the mercy of the American justice system.  

After last night’s verdict, Trump went to the cameras and tried to establish that the nomination remains his, asserting that voters would vindicate him on November 5. But this morning, as he followed up last night’s comments, he did himself no favors. He billed the event as a “press conference,” but delivered what Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times described as “a rambling and misleading speech,” so full of grievance and unhinged that the networks except the Fox News Channel cut away from it as he attacked trial witnesses, called Judge Merchan “the devil,” and falsely accused President Joe Biden of pushing his prosecution. He took no questions from the press.

Today the Trump campaign told reporters it raised $34.8 million from small-dollar donors in the hours after the guilty verdict, but observers pointed out there was no reason to believe those numbers based on statements from Trump’s campaign. Meanwhile, Trump advisor Stephen Miller shouted on the Fox News Channel that every Republican secretary of state, state attorney general, donor, member of Congress must use their power “RIGHT NOW” to “beat these Communists!” 

The attempt of MAGA lawmakers to shape events in their favor seemed just as panicked. Representative Jim Banks (R-IN) posted on social media that “New York is a liberal sh*t hole,” and Jim Jordan (R-OH) today asked Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the case against Trump, to testify before the House Judiciary’s Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government about “politically motivated prosecutions of…President Donald Trump.” Representative Dan Goldman (D-NY) noted that Trump is a private citizen and Congress has no jurisdiction over the case, but that Jordan is using his congressional authority illegally to defend Trump. 

MAGA senators were even more strident. Republican senator Mike Lee of Utah melted down on X last night over the verdict, and today he led nine other Republican senators in a revolt against the federal government. Lee, J. D. Vance of Ohio, Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Rick Scott of Florida, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Marco Rubio of Florida, Josh Hawley of Missouri, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin issued a public letter saying they would no longer pass legislation, fund the government, or vote to confirm the administration’s appointees because, they said, “[t]he White House has made a mockery of the rule of law and fundamentally altered our politics in un-American ways. As a Senate Republican conference,” they said, although there were only 10 of them, “we are unwilling to aid and abet this White House in its project to tear this country apart.” 

It was an odd statement seemingly designed to use disinformation to convince voters to stick with them. Ten senators said they would not do the federal jobs they were elected to do because private citizen Trump was convicted in a state court by a jury of 12 people in New York, a jury that Trump’s lawyers had agreed to. The senators attacked the rule of law and the operation of the federal government in a demonstration of support for Trump. A number of the senators involved were key players in the attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election. 

Awkwardly, considering the day’s news, a video from 2016 circulated today in which Trump insisted that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who he falsely insisted had committed crimes even as he was the one actually committing them, “shouldn’t be allowed to run.” If she were to win, Trump then said, “it would create an unprecedented constitutional crisis. In that situation, we could very well have a sitting president under felony indictment and, ultimately, a criminal trial. It would grind government to a halt.” 

Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo put it correctly: this is not an “outpouring of rage and anger,” so much as “an overwhelming effort to match and muffle the earthquake of what happened yesterday afternoon with enough noise and choreography to keep everyone in Trump’s campaign and on the margins of it in line and on side.”

Still, there is more behind the MAGA support for Trump than fearful political messaging. Trump has been hailed as a savior by his supporters because he promises to smash through the laws and norms of American democracy to put them into power. There, they can assert their will over the rest of us, achieving the social and religious control they cannot achieve through democratic means because they cannot win the popular vote in a free and fair election. With Trump’s conviction within the legal system, his supporters are more determined than ever to destroy the rules that block them from imposing their will on the rest of us. 

Today the Federalist Society, which is now aligned with Victor Orbán’s Hungary, flew an upside-down U.S. flag as a signal of national distress. Their actions were in keeping with Russian president Vladimir Putin’s statement that Trump is being persecuted “for political reasons” and that the cases show “the rottenness of the American political system, which cannot pretend to teach others about democracy.”

Ryan J. Reilly of NBC News reported today on a spike in violent rhetoric on social media targeting New York judge Juan Merchan, who oversaw Trump’s Manhattan election interference trial, and District Attorney Bragg. Users of a fringe internet message board also shared what they claimed were the addresses of jurors. “Dox the Jurors. Dox them now,” one user wrote. Another wrote, “1,000,000 men (armed) need to go to [W]ashington and hang everyone. That’s the only solution.”

This attack on our democracy was the central message of a crucially important story from yesterday that got buried under the news of Trump’s conviction. In The New Republic, Ken Silverstein reported on a private WhatsApp group started last December by military contractor Erik Prince—founder of Blackwater and brother of Trump’s secretary of education, Betsy DeVos—and including about 650 wealthy and well-connected “right-wing government officials, intelligence operatives, arms traffickers, and journalists,” including Representative Ryan Zinke (R-MT), who served as Trump’s secretary of the interior. 

Called “Off Leash,” the group discussed, as Silverstein wrote, “the shortcomings of democracy that invariably resulted from extending the franchise to ordinary citizens, who are easily manipulated by Marxists and populists,” collapsing Gaza into a “fiery hell pit,” wiping out Iran, how Africa was a “sh*thole of a continent,” and ways to dominate the globe. Mostly, though, they discussed the danger of letting everyone vote. “There is only one path forward,” Zinke wrote. “Elect Trump.” Another member answered, “It’s Trump or Revolution” “You mean Trump AND Revolution,” wrote another. 

And yet the frantic MAGA spin on the verdict reveals that there is another way to interpret it. Americans who had lost faith that the justice system could ever hold a powerful man accountable as Trump’s lawyers managed to put off his many indictments see the verdict as a welcome sign that the system still works. 

“The American principle that no one is above the law was reaffirmed,” Biden said today. “Donald Trump was given every opportunity to defend himself. It was a state case, not a federal case. And it was heard by a jury of 12 citizens, 12 Americans, 12 people like you. Like millions of Americans who served on juries, this jury is chosen the same way every jury in America is chosen. It was a process that Donald Trump's attorney was part of. The jury heard five weeks of evidence…. After careful deliberation, the jury reached a unanimous verdict. They found Donald Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts. Now he’ll be given the opportunity as he should to appeal that decision just like everyone else has that opportunity. That's how the American system of justice works. And it's reckless, it's dangerous, and it's irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don't like the verdict. Our justice system has endured for nearly 250 years and it literally is the cornerstone of America…. The justice system should be respected, and we should never allow anyone to tear it down. It’s as simple as that. That's America. That's who we are. And that's who we will always be, God willing.”

Today the publisher of Dinesh D’Souza’s book and film 2000 Mules, which alleged voter fraud in the 2020 election, said it was pulling both the book and film from distribution and issued an apology to a Georgia man who sued for defamation after 2000 Mules accused him of voting illegally.  

MAGA Republicans confidently predicted yesterday that the stock market would crash if the jury found Trump guilty. Today the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained almost 600 points.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[mariacallous]

Andrew Chakhoyan: TIFF falls into the Russian propaganda trap

“I didn’t see Russians committing war crimes,” said Russian-Canadian director Anastasia Trofimova, whose film about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russians at War, premiered at the Venice Film Festival in early September. Given her tenure at RT (formerly Russia Today) — a propaganda outlet linked to Russian security services — this statement was as predictable as it was revolting.

But it takes two to tango. While Trofimova spent years spreading Moscow’s lies with RT, the decision to feature her “documentary,” which falsely portrays invading Russian troops as victims, was ours. Even more troubling, the free world — represented by Canada in this instance — helped finance it with $340,000 from the Canada Media Fund and TVO, Ontario’s public broadcaster.

To top it all off, the Toronto International Film Festival thought it was righteous to insist that the screening must proceed as planned, despite outcry from the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who is of Ukrainian heritage, and others. Not only do TIFF organizers appear seduced by the Kremlin propaganda, they channel it — insinuating that peaceful protests are a threat to the “safety of all festival guests.”

How can we still be infatuated with the “great” Russian culture after the atrocities in Mariupol, the Bucha massacre, videos of beheadings, and the horrific images of returning Ukrainian POWs looking like they had escaped from Auschwitz?

Why did we miss the wake-up call of the Georgia invasion? Crimea annexation? The downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014? Have we learned nothing since Russian tanks crossed Ukraine’s sovereign border in scenes eerily reminiscent of Nazi Germany’s march across Europe? Can we not understand that by giving false narratives a platform and amplifying the voices of Russian propagandists, we risk complicity in their deceit?

Russian President Vladimir Putin isn’t personally committing atrocities in Ukraine — “Russians at War” are, with overwhelming public support back home. The film is a sleight of hand that strips Russian people of their agency — precisely what their government wants.

Trofimova may claim she “didn’t see” these crimes, but why are we still blind to what’s unfolding before our eyes?

Wilful ignorance is the answer. Our desire for balance turns into a dangerous trap when we start treating Russian aggression as just another “perspective” deserving a fair hearing — where the crimes of a malevolent, imperialist state are weighed against the suffering of its victims in a framework of false equivalence. The language of empathy and understanding, so vital in many global contexts, turns into a tool of subversion weaponized by FSB and GRU — Moscow’s omnipotent security agencies that run propaganda channels like RT.

Moreover, decades of underestimating Russia’s intentions and capabilities have left many western societies blind to the manipulation embedded in “cultural products” like Trofimova’s film. In the pursuit of diplomacy, the West has repeatedly offered Russia opportunities to reframe its image despite the overt threats of nuclear Armageddon pushed by anchors on state-run TV channels or senior officials alike.

Even the glorification of Russian “great power” status plays a role. We appear charmed by the farcical myth of Russian cultural and historical greatness, forgetting that Moscow spent billions gaslighting the West, infiltrating our academic, artistic and cultural institutions.

The idea of pacifism, like many other concepts, has been perverted by the Kremlin, suggesting that the victim who refuses to be murdered or subjugated holds the key to “conflict resolution.” Even if we set aside the idea of punishing the aggressor to prevent future violence, we must be honest: the power to “stop the killings” is not with the victim.

For a long time, I have subscribed to the noble idea of not questioning people’s motives, but now I am a committed consequentialist. If you parrot Kremlin talking points and call for peace while conveniently forgetting to name the aggressor, I presume you are carrying Moscow’s water, wittingly or not. In times of war, the burden of proof must shift; one’s motives deserve to be questioned if one’s words or actions serve an inherently evil cause.

Trofimova’s documentary isn’t just an isolated misstep, nor is it a case of artistic license gone astray. It symbolizes something deeper: the West’s enduring refusal to wake up to the realities of Ruscism (Russian fascism). But as history has shown, wilful blindness only emboldens the aggressor and makes future horrors inevitable.

Our moral obligation extends beyond thoughts and prayers. Russia will continue committing war crimes until we — societies that value dignity, freedom, and the rule of law — take decisive action to stop it. While we falter in doing what’s right, the least we owe to Ukraine and ourselves is the moral clarity of distinguishing the aggressor from the victim.

Trofimova’s film distorts the reality of Moscow’s genocidal actions, and our passive response to these machinations makes us complicit. Given that the collective West has committed to Ukraine’s fight but failed to commit to Ukraine’s victory, let us at least avoid aiding Moscow’s disinformation, and admit when we’ve fallen into a Kremlin trap.

[boreal-sea]

I'm listening to opening arguments for the Supreme Court opening arguments about whether or not Colorado has a right under section 3 of the 14th Amendment (insurrectionists can't hold office) to remove Trump from their ballot.

All of this is based on civil war policy, if you didn't know what the 14th Amendment was.

Trump's lawyer is arguing that section 3 is not "self executing", which means the state can't prevent Trump from being on the ballot themselves - he could run, but then when he got elected, Congress would have to pardon him by a 2/3rds vote for him to actually be president.

Trump's lawyer's first argument: Using Section 3 of the 14th Amendment is placing a new requirement on candidates before they are elected that is not stated in the Constitution.

One of the justices said that for her the issue are: in what sense does history say that states can enforce Section 3 of the 14th Amendment against their own office holders, can they enforce it against federal officers, and can they enforce it against the office of president?

Trump's lawyer is claiming a state cannot do those things because of an earlier ruling (Griffin's Case) (not a Supreme Court case).

One of the judges has said "so you're not making a constitutional argument" to Trump's lawyer - aka he's not relying on the Constitution, he's relying on a secondary case.

When asked how he'd argue this case without Griffin's case, Trump's lawyer admits it'd be much harder because every other part of the 14th amendment has been self executing.

They are discussing a bit what "self executing" means.

Sotomayor has noted that other qualifications can disqualify a candidate prior to running (e.g. age). She is questioning why section 3 is different. Trump's lawyer is claiming that because Griffin's case set precedent that section 3 is not self executing, that states cannot ban him from the ballot, because Congress may pardon him from that after he is elected.

According to Trump's lawyer, being an insurrectionist is allegedly not categorical because Congress could pardon him afterwards. He is arguing that if someone's category could change via a vote, it isn't fair to impose it as a limit on the candidate prior to the election, and should therefore not disqualify Trump from being on the ballot.

Trump's lawyer's second main argument: Trump and the office of president is exempt from section 3 due to its phrasing.

Trump's lawyer is also arguing that technically, "president" isn't on the list in section 3. A lot lays in the importance between "officers" and "office" - in this case, the difference means if you are an officer you cannot hold an office - you can't be both. The President isn't an officer, he holds the position of the office of the president. This means Trump specifically is excluded from the wording of this because he never actually was an officer, and has only held office.

Paraphrase of some of the justices: "Why would they have written that presidents who were never officers would be excluded from section 3? Why would they have done that at the time of the civil war, when there was a strong motivation to keep any inssurectionist out of office?"

Trump's lawyer is also claiming Trump has presidential immunity and can't be prosecuted for anything about Jan 6th anyway.

[tomorrowusa]

MAGA extremists often rant about the so-called "deep state" which apparently means national defense, security, public safety, and regulatory bodies. The wannabe dictators prefer not to have checks and balances which can prevent them from going full-blown fascist. It's easier to get away with shit when you don't have to worry about accountability.

It's useful to see how such an attitude has already played out in another country.

Israel has been weakened by its own rightwingers who have eroded its security agencies with politics. Prime Minister Binyamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the Israeli version of the so-called "Smart Trump" who many Republicans dream about. His rightwing governments have been running Israel for most of this century.

Bibi himself is still technically on trial on corruption charges. This year he and his coalition partners have attempted to strip the Israeli Supreme Court of many of its powers. And those partners, even more extremist than he is, had been dismissing security warnings from defense and intelligence agencies; of course those warnings abruptly turned out to be credible.

What’s happening in Israel now is a disturbing example of what can happen when elected officials use partisan and personal motivations to warp national security. For years, Republicans in Congress have attempted to sabotage what they call the “Deep State.” This includes placing holds on political nominees and castigating diplomats, officers and analysts employed in the government as captives to “Big Woke.” They might see it as political theater, necessary to boosting profiles and fundraising. But as this week shows, there can be a price. Reporting suggests that the hardline elements of Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition were openly hostile to warnings from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and security agency Shin Bet that settler violence would increase the security threat to Israel. One Likud member of parliament complained: “The ideology of the left has reached the top echelons of the Shin Bet. The deep state has infiltrated the leadership of the Shin Bet and the IDF.” Another Netanyahu coalition member stated, “We see there is confusion as to who is an enemy.”

Attacking Israel's armed forces (the IDF) and its version of the FBI (Shin Bet) for political reasons has not done a lot for public safety there. It's like being mean to your watch dog for barking a warning.

Hamas’ surprise attack has highlighted further national security dysfunction within the Netanyahu government. There are confirmed reports that Egyptian intelligence directly warned Netanyahu that “something fierce will happen from Gaza.” Allegedly, Netanyahu was indifferent to the warning, explaining that the IDF was “swamped” with terrorism threats in the West Bank. Israeli critics have stated that his coalition repeatedly ignored earlier warnings from Arab allies regarding rising levels of Palestinian frustration. Haaretz editorialized this week that, “a prime minister indicted in three corruption cases cannot look after state affairs, as national interests will necessarily be subordinate to extricating him from a possible conviction and jail time.”

Netanyahu's ignoring of the warnings about a potential Hamas attack reminds me of the infamous 06 August 2001 intelligence brief George W. Bush ignored with the title Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US.

Here’s my question: Is Israel a harbinger for the United States? Are we getting a sneak preview of what will happen if Republicans succeed in their effort to exercise more control over the national security bureaucracy?

I think we all know the answer to that. Americans should worry.

The problem comes when elected officials and political appointees decide that in order to achieve their desired ends, they need to reduce entire national security institutions to rubble. And let’s be very clear: In 2023, all of the U.S. partisans engaging in such behavior are Republicans. Former president and likely future presidential nominee Donald Trump has set the tone here. The number of instances that the former president sabotaged U.S. national security while in office and afterwards is too long to recount in detail. There’s the blabbing of secrets to Russian officials in the Oval Office, the tweeting of classified photos, the refusal to return national security secrets once he left office, and the fact that he shared extremely sensitive information about the capabilities of U.S. nuclear submarines to Mar-a-Lago members, who in turn blabbed it to everyone. His behavior was so egregious that multiple former cabinet members — most recently John Kelly, Trump’s former White House chief of staff — have gone on the record to discuss the danger he poses. Back in June his attorney general, William Barr, warned on Face the Nation, “He will always put his own interests, and gratifying his own ego, ahead of everything else, including the country’s interests.”

It's not just Trump but also his sycophants and the wannabe Trumps.

Trump is the loudest but hardly the only Republican willing to sabotage the U.S. national security architecture. Other GOP presidential contenders have expressed an equally strident desire. Vivek Ramaswamy promised to “use executive authority to shut down the deep state.” His plans included firing 75 percent of the federal workforce and dismantling the FBI and Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been even more violent in his rhetoric, promising one New Hampshire crowd that “all these deep state people … we’re going to start slitting throats on day one.”

Elon Musk fired 75% (or more) of Twitter staff the way that Vivek Ramaswamy wants to fire 75% of the federal government. We know how that's going.

Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville is currently using arcane Senate rules to damage the US armed forces.

The most obvious manifestation of this is Sen. Tommy Tuberville holding more than three hundred military promotions hostage unless the Pentagon stops funding travel for service women to receive abortions. This includes two selections for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as Middle East theater commanders for naval and ground forces. [ ... ] Marco Rubio has placed holds on multiple Biden nominees, as has Ted Cruz. The result is that, at present, the United States does not have confirmed ambassadors in Israel, Egypt, Lebanon and Kuwait. There has been no confirmed USAID official for the Middle East for close to three years, nor has there been a confirmed State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism for nearly two years.

Raise your hand if you think it's kinda important to have a State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism. 🙋🏽

Republicans would like to do to US national security what the far right Netanyahu government has done to Israel's.