#Joseph Ferguson

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

By Joseph Ferguson & Thomas A. Durkin, Loyola University Chicago

After three indictments of former President Donald Trump, the fourth one in Georgia came not as a surprise but as a powerful exposition of the scope of Trump’s efforts to remain in power despite losing the 2020 presidential election.

New conservative legal scholarship spells out how and why those actions – which were observed by the public over many months – disqualify Trump from serving in the presidency ever again. And our read of the Georgia indictment, as longtime lawyers ourselves, shows why and how that disqualification can be put into effect.

The key to all of this is the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which states that “No person shall … hold any office, under the United States … who, having previously taken an oath … to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.” Trump took that oath at his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017.

Both Trump’s Georgia indictment, and his federal indictment in Washington, D.C., cite largely public information – and some newly unearthed material – to spell out exactly how he engaged in efforts to rebel against the Constitution, and sought and gave aid and comfort to others who also did so.

Legal scholars William Baude and Michael Stokes Paulsen, conservatives themselves and members of the conservative Federalist Society, have recently published a paper declaring that under the 14th Amendment, Trump’s actions render him ineligible to hold office.

We believe the Georgia indictment provides even more detail than the earlier federal one about how Trump’s actions have already disqualified him from office, and shows a way to keep him off the ballot in 2024.

DISQUALIFICATION IS AUTOMATIC

Trump’s supporters might argue that disqualifying him would be unfair without a trial and conviction on the Jan. 6 indictment, and perhaps the Georgia charges.

But Baude and Paulsen, using originalist interpretation – the interpretive theory of choice of the powerful Federalist Society and Trump’s conservative court appointees, which gives full meaning to the actual, original text of the Constitution – demonstrate that no legal proceeding is required. They say disqualification is automatic, or what’s known in the legal world as “self-executing.”

Recent public comments from liberal constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe and conservative jurist and former federal Judge Michael Luttig – who has characterized the events before, during and since Jan. 6 as Trump’s “declared war on American democracy” – suggest an emerging bipartisan consensus supporting Baude and Paulsen.

BACKED BY HISTORY

This is not a theoretical bit of technical law. This provision of the 14th Amendment was, in fact, extensively used after the Civil War to keep former Confederate leaders from serving in the federal government, without being tried or convicted of any crime.

Few former Confederates were charged with crimes associated with secession, rebellion and open war against the United States. And most were pardoned by sweeping orders issued by President Andrew Johnson.

But even though they had no relevant convictions, former Confederates were in fact barred from office in the U.S.

In December 1865, several who had neither been convicted nor been pardoned tried to claim seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. But the House clerk refused to swear them in. It took an act of Congress – the 1872 Amnesty Act – to later restore their office-holding rights.

There is no requirement in the Constitution that the disqualification be imposed by any specific process – only that it applies to people who take certain actions against the Constitution.

A PATH THROUGH THE STATES

For the U.S. in 2023, we believe the most realistic avenue to enforce the 14th Amendment’s ban on a second Trump presidency is through state election authorities. That’s where the Georgia indictment comes in.

State election officials could themselves, or in response to a petition of a citizen of that state, refuse Trump a place on the 2024 ballot because of the automatic 14th Amendment disqualification.

Trump would certainly challenge the move in federal court. But the recent disqualification proceedings against former North Carolina Congressman Madison Cawthorn provides a road map and binding legal precedent affirming the 14th Amendment as a valid legal ground for disqualification of a candidate for federal office.

The Georgia indictment against Trump and allies exhaustively details extensive acts of lying, manipulation and threats against Georgia officials, as well as a fraudulent fake elector scheme to illegally subvert the legitimate 2020 Georgia presidential vote tally and resulting elector certification.

Trump’s failure to accomplish what is tantamount to a coup in Georgia and other swing states set the stage for the violent insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021, that sought to achieve the same result – Trump’s fraudulent installation to a second term.

In fact, the Georgia scheme is included in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s federal indictment as one of the methods and means in “aid” of the larger Jan. 6 federal conspiracy against the United States.

Baude and Paulsen acknowledge that “insurrection and rebellion” are traditionally associated with forced or violent opposition. But we see the broader set of actions by Trump and his allies to subvert the Constitution – the Georgia vote count and fake elector scheme included – as part of a political coup d'etat. It was a rebellion.

GEORGIA AS A BELLWETHER

So what makes the Georgia scheme and indictment compelling for purposes of disqualifying Trump from the 2024 Georgia ballot?

There are minimally six aspects revealed in the latest indictment that we believe justify Georgia – under Section 3 of the post-Civil War Fourteenth Amendment – keeping Trump off the ballot:

1. The racketeering scheme was a multifaceted attempt to subvert Georgia’s own part of the 2020 electoral process;

2. The officials on the receiving end of the unsuccessful racketeering scheme were elected and appointed Georgia officials. …

3. … whose actions to reject election subversion vindicated their own oaths to uphold the Constitution and laws of the United States as well as Georgia’s;

4. Most of these officials were and are Republicans – including Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger, Governor Brian Kemp and former Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan;

5. These officials will, in 2024 as in 2020, collectively determine who is qualified to be on Georgia’s presidential ballot; and

6. These officials’ testimony, and related evidence, is at the heart of the proof of the Georgia racketeering case against Trump.

In other words, the evidence to convict Trump in the Georgia racketeering case is the same evidence, coming from the same Georgia officials, who will be involved in determining whether, under the 14th Amendment, Trump is qualified to be on the 2024 presidential ballot – or not.

Little if any additional evidence or proceedings are needed. The Georgia officials already hold that evidence, because much of it comes from them. They don’t need a trial to establish what they already know.

How could Trump avoid this happening? A quick trial date in Atlanta with an acquittal on all counts might do it, but this runs counter to his strategy to delay all the pending criminal cases until after the 2024 election.

With no preelection trial, there will likely be no Trump on the 2024 Georgia ballot, and no chance for him to win Georgia’s 2024 electoral college votes.

Once Georgia bars him, other states may follow. That would leave Trump with no way to credibly appear on the ballot in all 50 states, giving him no chance to win the electoral votes required to claim the White House.

[outoftowninac]

WHY WOMEN WIN

1916

Why Women Win is a four act comedy-drama by Joseph Ferguson. It originally starred the author. Others in the original cast included Mabel Wilson, Anthony De Motto, Charles Rondeau, Juanita Bertram, Harry Wilson, and Harriet Stein. 

The play premiered in Atlantic City at Nixon’s Apollo Theatre on the Boardwalk on January 6, 1916. It was to play the second half of a split week (Thu / Fri / Sat) with The Cinderella Man by Edward Childs Carpenter. 

On New Year’s Day 1916, the Atlantic City Press reported that: 

“While an outline of the plot is not available at present, it is said that ‘Why Women Win’ is a clean, moral, interesting, up-to-date story told with gripping situations and that the comedy element predominates throughout, there being a character called ‘Biddy’ who interrupts many of the tense moments with laughs.” 

On January 4th, the same newspaper reported that the plot of the play dealt indirectly with the Suffragette movement. 

“Incidental to the play, Mr. Ferguson will sing several of his new songs, assisted on piano by Mrs. Stein.”  

On January 6th, in advance of a follow-up booking the following week, the Vineland Evening Journal revealed the plot: 

"’Why Women Win’ a new up-to-date comedy drama by Joseph Ferguson, will be the attraction at the Auditorium, Vineland Monday evening January 10. An unusual plot is embodied in this play which is based on the adoption of two orphans by different well-to do families. One of the orphans a boy turns out an ungrateful ne'er-do well and robs the bank in which his foster father places hm. He is not suspected and his foster brother later catches him robbing the safe at home a struggle ensues in which the adopted brother knocks his foster brother unconscious and arranges evidence that points toward him as the criminal. His foster mother detects the real criminal and orders him from the house forever.. Her son is engaged to be married and bis fiancé turns out to be the sister of the foster son whom she has just turned from the house. The girl induces her brother to return his loot to the bank and to the home and all ends well. 

An Irish servant injects many a laugh in the midst of the tense dramatic moments which character is very well done by Anthony de Motto. Mr. Ferguson himself plays the part of William Stanton the real son of the banker and Charles Rondeau enacts the role of John, the foster brother. Miss Mayo has the role of Avis Laird, the adopted girl, and Miss Bertram does the Mrs. Stanton part. The other characters are in the hands of a good supporting company. The company comes direct here from the Apollo Theater at Atlantic City.”

After a single performance, the management of Nixon’s Apollo cancelled the remaining performances. No explanation was provided for the abrupt cancelation. 

The company was scheduled to appear the following Monday in nearby Vineland NJ on Monday, January 10, 1916. Whether Ferguson and company performed the play in Vineland, or called it quits after being nixed by Nixon’s in Atlantic City, is a mystery. It may be that the play was one of the few to open and close out-of-town after just a single performance.   

Meanwhile, in 1916 Alice Paul and her colleagues rename the Congressional Union (CU) the National Woman's Party (NWP) and began demonstrations, parades, mass meetings, and picketing the White House over the refusal of President Woodrow Wilson and other Democrats to actively support the Suffrage Amendment. It would be four long years before women won the right to vote. 

The League of Women Voters of New Jersey was depicted in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, set in Atlantic City. 

[oceanofflavor]

Hear me out on this one, Eddie Munson is about to have his moment. Look at the way everyone is looking at him, intently listening to what he has to say, I don't know what's going on here, but I do know that this is most likely going to be a confidence-boosting moment for Eddie where he gets to shine.

[spookystarfishzombie]

[djo]

#when life imitates art

BONUS: 

[fyeaheddiemunson]

We needed more of this trio. We needed more of Erica sassing Eddie.

[calzonekestis]

In Loving Memory of Eddie Munson ft. the cast of Stranger Things

“You were the coolest nerd Erica ever met” ngl that one got to me 🥺

[sihayadunee]

🌘 THE ECLIPSE a UNION of OPPOSITES 🌒

an analysis of the mythic motifs in dune part two through the lens of mythologist joseph campbell, and some predictions for dune messiah

• Divine Couple

• Death and Rebirth

• Redemption Through Divine Union

• House of Atreus

• Lunar-Masculine / Solar-Feminine

• Goddesses

THE ECLIPSE

This motif has been connected to Dune since the first film’s promo, especially with the concluding track of Dark Side of the Moon accompanying the initial trailer. Some fans believed this theme had been dropped as it wasn’t very present in the first film. However the eclipse continued throughout the promo of the second film. This was because Part Two is where the real pay off is, already in the first 10 minutes.

This concept is intrinsic to Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation. Since the first film I have been saying that Dune embraces the Lunar-Masculine (Paul) and Solar-Feminine (Chani). However beyond just that, Dune: Part Two showcases multiple pairings of the lunar-solar dynamic.

But before we jump into that, let’s establish the meaning of an eclipses in general mythology. Typically they are a symbol of death and renewal. Common interpretations have a beast devouring the sun, or a celestial couple evading or pursuing one another. These interpretations are consistent over and again in Dune.

What we will see, is that the greater Imperium holds a Solar-Masculine identity, but when it comes to Arrakis there is a distinct shift to the Solar-Feminine archetype.

PAUL as the MOON

There are an innumerable amount of connections. Bull motifs are reoccurring throughout the first film, where he grew up on a water world. After all, the moon is associated with the tides. He takes the name Muad’Dib, and one of the moons of Arrakis has the icon of a Muad’Dib aka Desert Mouse visible on its surface. And ultimately, Paul experiences rebirth in Part Two.

The bull is a figure of sacrifice which aligns very well with the lineage of House Atreides which can be traced back to the House of Atreus and it’s curse of familial murder, betrayal and symbolic consumption. Sacrifice of the children in each new generation.

IRULAN and the GOLDEN LION THRONE

Starting here is a good place, because it shows the transition of the Solar-Masculine of the wider Imperium toward the Solar-Feminine of Arrakis. Irulan Corrino of House Corrino is the daughter of Emperor Shaddam who sits on the Golden Lion Throne. His reign is coming to a close as Paul rises on Arrakis, and with no male heirs Irulan his eldest is the successor destined for marriage. In this way Irulan becomes the embodiment of the Lion Throne, and her determination in Dune Messiah to produce Paul’s heir becomes clear. That function of the Queen Mother and how that feeds back into the Solar-Masculine as the King becomes tied to the lion and the throne once more.

In particular I would say her story is best reflected in the myth of the goddess Cybele who falls for Attis and when he falls for a mortal girl Cybele plots betrayal. Something for which she later feels guilt and tries to make amends for (Children of Dune).

PAUL and JESSICA

Their dynamic is incredibly complicated, but I think the opening of the film during the eclipse sums it up very well. You follow the path of the moon as it covers the sun, and as it meets its full coverage Paul is the one taking action in the fight against the Harkonnen. However as the moon passes by and the sun takes over again, Jessica emerges to save Paul’s life.

This was intentional by the filmmakers, as is revealed in the Art and Soul of Dune Part Two, DP Greig Fraser identified the exact time, date and location in order to shoot the sun as it appears directly behind Rebecca Ferguson.

Jessica represents the sun on Arrakis, and in this scene we see how the moon dies into the sun to be reborn in their dynamic. It also lines up with motifs of the sun goddess giving birth to the sacrificial bull. Sacrifice toward this death and rebirth.

What we see is the separation of mother and son that brings them back together in the same place. Paul takes the lead and rejects his mother’s influence, but she leads him toward the death and rebirth he must experience, and this brings them back to a common understanding.

This is also why having Jessica sit the Atreides “throne” in the finale instead of Paul (who did so in the book) makes mythic sense. Because again we return to the Solar-Feminine mother as the throne, and her son as king. But in a different context here then what Irulan aspires toward.

A SYMBOLIC UNION aka THE BULL SACRIFICE

The House Harkonnen family seal in the books is the griffin, which makes his introduction in a gladiator arena killing Atreides even more appropriate. Feyd’s birthday is also associated with a solar event. Because ultimately Feyd is the matador and Paul is the bull.

What works so fantastically about the dual, is how it is bathed in the sunlight. After all, the sun figure (day) is facing off against the moon (night) figure in this sequence. Plus the bull was the eventual demise of Paul’s grandfather who was a matador. This takes place at sunrise, and it’s a dual for the throne, where whoever is victorious inherits the Golden Lion Throne. The

Denis specially describes the dual as a symbolic union, and it works on multiple layers. This bull sacrifice, is in essence the quote from part one of “when you take a life you take your own” so Paul killing Feyd is penetration, intimacy, it is rebirth.

It is also reminiscent of how Campbell describes the sun-moon twins of Navajo myth:

The two, Sun-child and Water-child, antagonistic yet cooperative, represent a single cosmic force, polarized, split, and turned against itself in mutual portions. The life-supporting sap-power, mysterious in the lunar rhythm of its tides, growing and decaying at a time, counters and tempers the solar file of the zenith, life- desiccating it its brilliance, yet by whose heat all lives.

— Joseph Campbell's Commentary from "Where the Two Came to Their Father: A Navaho War Ceremonial" by Jeff King and Maud Oakes

DESERT SPRING TEARS and DIVINE UNION

There is a section in the Dune Encyclopedia that talks about the foundation of the Bene Gesserit beliefs. In particular the teachings of a certain ancestral memory personality, called Inanna (yes that is the name of the Sumerian goddess who was also in a divine union caught between life and death glad you asked) about the Kwisatz Haderach. It basically establishes that the entire premise of the Bene Gesserit and the Kwisatz Haderach is in essence the Divine Couple.

It specifies two mirrored dynamics the son saved/resurrected by the mother and the husband saved/resurrected by the wife. Inanna called them Au Set and Au Sar. The Kemet names for Isis and Osiris. The idea of the Bene Gesserit would have this as the mother of the KH, and the Corrino princess he would have married. But with things thrown off course, it represents outside their control.

In Dune, we see it between Paul and Chani. Like Isis who has the solar disc and Osiris who is tied to water and death, her lover has died and she is the one to revive him.

Furthermore the concept of mythical tears can be found in the goddess Freya (who arguably is compatible with sun-goddess motifs) who weeps when her husband Odin is lost to her.

But perhaps most compatible—the healing tears of a phoenix. A bird archetype similar to Isis as bird. This is where the yin-yang dynamic of Chani and Paul becomes most apparent, since the serpent is synonymous with the bull and therefore Paul who “makes peace with Shai-Hulud” encompasses the dragon (yang) as a complement to Chani’s phoenix (yin).

In the behind the scenes of Dune Part Two, the Maker Temple is said to be designed like the infinity symbol with the two circles (one of sand and one of water). Sand being death and water being life, but also the reverse. As the sandworm thrives in the sand but is drowned in the water. And Paul is stuck between life and death, literally laying between both pools, when Chani comes to resurrect him.

This film literally has three kisses. Their first kiss when Chani says she will show him the way of the Fremen, their second kiss on screen when she says he will never lose her before going South, and the third symbolic kiss of life.

This marriage/death is also foreshadowed in Paul’s visions in Part One when Chani kisses him and then stabs him. Which is where we return to Isis and Osiris because Paul’s death state (dying again as we established, after killing Feyd, similar in a way to Set and Osiris) is where we will eventually get the twins Leto II and Ghanima with Leto II being the Horus in this equation.

As the Pink Floyd lyrics say, the sun is eclipsed by the moon and this is captured in the heartbreak Chani feels over losing Paul and losing her people to the Lisan al Gaib. The Fremen way of life has been eclipsed and over taken by the Atreides and the Bene Gesserit. Here we see more of the concept of that beast devouring the sun from the beginning, verses the celestial couple dynamic.

Chani leaving the residency chamber is also reminiscent of certain myths like Amaterasu going into hiding, or the Inuit folktale about the sun goddess fleeing her moon god brother/lover who pursues her.

However the Dune Encyclopedia also talks about the concept of redemption (which is why in the film Mohiam asks Margot if Feyd is capable of redemption) of the “mate savior”. The Kwisatz Haderach. They would bring about a release from bondage through redemption and rebirth.

Which is relevant to the dynamic of Paul and Chani in Dune Messiah for Denis, because he has said Paul is going to be looking to save his soul in part three, and how Paul and Chani come back together won’t just be explained away off screen between films. It will be that continued cycle of rebirth, through redemptive love. Rebirth as a whole in Dune is worth its own discussion, since all the different Jungian descriptions of it can be found within this universe.

CONCLUSION

The eclipse, a lunar-solar dynamic representing the union of opposites, is very significant in Dune Part Two and sheds a lot of light onto what we can anticipate next in Dune Messiah, particularly in regards to the central romance between Paul and Chani and the changes Denis has made from book to screen.

[kwistowee]

SCHOOL OF HELLFIRE A SCHOOL OF ROCK/STRANGER THINGS AU insp.

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

After Vecna, Steve made sure that everyone was alright. . .completely forgetting to take care of himself, of course. Erica Sinclair did not forget, and she was determined to get him into a hospital bed even if she had to bully him to do it.

"Hey, Harrington! Didn't you also get used up like a chew toy?!" Erica exclaimed as he hovered over Eddie's bed.

"Yes, but I'm fine," Steve scoffed.

"Yeah, if you're so fine, then stand up, chump," Erica said, and Eddie snickered.

Steve scowled and stood up, his legs wobbling. He tried to hide the fact that he was wincing, but Erica wasn't an idiot. It hurt to stand up, and it hurt to continue to do so. Steve sighed as he collapsed back into his seat.

"Why do you care so much?" Steve asked, laughing it off, but underneath it all, he was curious.

"I do not want to hear Lucas or any other members of the party bitching and crying because you died looking out for everyone except yourself! You're our paladin, our protector, our brother in arms. You're just as important as everyone else in the group, even if you don't believe it. It'd be pretty fucked up if you died of an itty bitty infection after everything we've been through. So, suck it up and get yourself looked after. Got me? I do not want to lose a brother," Erica said as her chin wobbled.

She was a strong headed young girl with a loud mouth. Sometimes, they forgot just how young she was until this moment when her eyes filled with tears and her lip trembled. Erica tried to hold it in, but there was only so much trauma that she could take, and she started to cry. Her body shook with sobs, and she flinched when she felt arms wrap around her, holding her tightly.

"Okay, I'll go see a doctor. I will be fine," Steve said softly, sniffling.

"You better. Are you crying? Weak," Erica said with a scoff, and Steve laughed.

Steve placed a quick kiss to the top of her head before hurrying out of the room before she could hit him. Erica, wiping her eyes, turned to find Eddie sobbing quietly in bed.

"Seriously? You too, huh?"

"It would be pretty heartless of me not to cry at that. I can't believe that you managed to do what I couldn't," Eddie said with a pout.

"Yeah, well, I don't have your pretty dumbass bambi eyes for him to drool over," Erica replied.

"I am both offended and flattered."

[sneefsnorf]

shout out to the stranger things actors for the performance of a life time. the last episode’s writing was dogshit awful but i was still in tears because they acted so well. only reason it was bearable to watch.

[piliharrington]

Erica: Is there anyone here who's actually straight?

Steve: *Raises hand*

Steve: *Looks at Eddie*

Steve: *Puts his hand down*

[justafangirlcalledluisa]

I am scared for what will happen on friday

[djo]

Caleb McLaughlin, Priah Ferguson, Eduardo Franco, Joseph Quinn and Jamie Campbell Bower attend Netflix's Stranger Things SAG event at Netflix Tudum Theater on November 13, 2022 in Los Angeles, California

[constants--and--variables]

✨✨o(⁎˃ᴗ˂⁎)o✿❀⊃*•̀ω•́)⊃( •̀֊•́ ) ̖́-(*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ̑̑(｡◕ ∀ ◕｡)( •́ㅿ•̀ )(◡‿◡ฺ✿)(๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧😝😝 🪄Joseph Quinn in A Stranger Things Dungeons & Dragons Adventure: The Hellfire Club | Netflix Geeked Week🔮