#President Joe Biden personally ordered

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

On the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, my Administration stands in support and solidarity with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) people around the world as they seek to live full lives, free from violence and discrimination. This is a matter of human rights, plain and simple. The United States applauds those individuals and groups worldwide working to defend the rights of LGBTQI+ people wherever they are under threat. And we are grateful for the contributions that LGBTQI+ people make every day across our nation.

From Day One of my presidency, my Administration has made advancing the human rights of LGBTQI+ people a priority. In my first month in office, I signed a Presidential Memorandum on Advancing the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons Around the World, directing that our diplomacy and development work around the world be conducted in a manner that reflects our commitment to the equal human rights of this population. We have stood up against laws that target LGBTQI+ people for criminal prosecution; worked to protect LGBTQI+ refugees, who are especially vulnerable to exploitation and abuse; and launched a Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally, to ensure that our efforts to confront the scourge of gender-based violence address the unique risks and barriers that LGBTQI+ people face. I also signed an Executive Order directing my Administration to work to prevent the use of so-called “conversion therapy” – an abusive and discredited practice that often targets children. And my Administration continues to engage with governments, faith leaders, families, and communities worldwide to protect and promote respect for human rights, including LGBTQI+ rights.

Efforts like these have yielded tangible results. During the past year, the United States has responded to abuses of LGBTQI+ people abroad. We’ve developed an approach to foreign assistance that ensures LGBTQI+ people aren’t overlooked in our work. We’ve expanded access for LGBTQI+ people through our refugee programs. And the Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons, whom I appointed, is driving rapid response to proposed anti-LGBTQI+ legislation around the world. We’ve seen how American leadership makes a difference; over the past decade, a growing number of nations have decriminalized same-sex conduct, often with the encouragement of the United States.

Yet we know there is much more to do. LGBTQI+ communities around the world still face hate-fueled violence and discrimination. They still struggle to attain equal access to healthcare, housing, employment, education, and justice. Like all human beings, LGBTQI+ people deserve equality – equal rights, equal citizenship, equal dignity. It is our shared moral responsibility to fight back against homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia, just as we must fight back against all hate-fueled violence, at home and abroad.

Today marks the 34th anniversary of when the World Health Organization made the wise and overdue decision to declassify ‘homosexuality’ as a mental disorder. That was a victory for LGBTQI+ people and human rights defenders everywhere. 30 years later, the work of equality continues. The Biden-Harris Administration is proud to be a part of it.

[batboyblog]

What Joe Biden has Done for LGBTQ+ People

I wanted to list out everything The Biden Administration has done for Queer people in the last 3 and a half years, but according to GLAAD it'd been 337 moves (and I noticed they missed a few things...) there was just no way to list every ground breaking first Queer person ever nominated to fill this or that job, every ally with a historic LGBT rights record nominated for a top job, every beautiful statement of support, every time he tried to get Congress to pass the Equality Act (support it!) So I've gone through and done my best to pick the ones I think were the most important, but everyone should check out the full list!

Day 1: Signs executive orders banning discrimination and ordering a full review of all federal agencies policies to better include and support LGBT people

Pete Buttigieg becomes the first openly gay person nominated and confirmed for a cabinet level post as Secretary of Transportation

Revokes Trump’s 2018 ban on transgender military personnel

Department of Housing and Urban Development implements LGBTQ protections in housing, becoming first federal agency to implement Pres. Biden’s executive order

First President to recognize and proclaim Trans Day of Visibility

Department of Justice Civil Rights Division issues an official memo that the Supreme Court's Bostock decision against LGBT workplace discrimination also applies to education through Title IX

HUD withdraws a Trump Administration proposed rule change, and reaffirms trans people's rights to seek shelters matching their gender identity

HHS announces the withdrawal of Trump Administration rules that allowed discrimination by healthcare organizations against LGBT people.

The State Department and later Homeland Security announce babies born to Queer couples overseas will be American citizens if one parent is American, in the past the child only qualified if they were genetically related to the American citizen parent.

The Justice Department files against a West Virginia law banning trans students from school athletics

Department of Veterans Affairs announces it will offer gender confirming surgery for transgender veterans. There are an estimated 134,000 transgender veterans in the U.S. and another 15,000 transgender people serving in the armed forces.

President Biden Signs a law making the Pulse Night Club a national memorial

The State Department creates an X gender marker for passports and other documents, allowing gender affirming identification for non-binary and intersex people for the first time.

The Census Bureau for the first time issues a Survey with questions about sexual orientation and gender identity

On the 10th anniversary of the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, Veterans Administration announces that soldiers discharged for homosexual conduct, gender identity or HIV status qualify for veterans' benefits

Dr. Rachel Levine becomes the first trans person confirmed by the US Senate when she was nominated to be Assistant Secretary for Health, she also became the first trans flag rank officer when she was sworn in as a 4 star Admiral for her job as head of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, his makes her the highest ranked trans person in government

Holds the first ever vigil in the White House for Transgender Day of Remembrance

HHS announces rule change to reinstate and expand protections against discrimination in the Affordable Care Act, including denying coverage for gender-affirming care.

Social Security Administration reverses a Trump Administration policy and allows benefits claims by surviving partners in same-sex relationships, whose partner died before marriage equality was legal

President Biden signs the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (a bill he helped originally craft in the Senate) which for the first time has grant programs dedicated to expanding and developing initiatives specifically for LGBTQ survivors of domestic violence

The TSA announces new technology and policy shifts to improve the customer experience of transgender travelers who have previously been required to undergo additional screening due to alarms in sensitive areas.

The Social Security Administration allows people to edit their gender and name on records for the first time without legal and medical documentation

The US Air Force announces it'll offer medical and legal aid to any personnel families affected by state level anti-trans youth bills.

Karine Jean-Pierre becomes the first Lesbian to serve as White House Press Secretary

on 50th anniversary of Title IX The Department of Ed strengthens protections for Students against sexual harassment and discrimination

Veterans Affairs announces survivor benefits now extended to partners from relationships before marriage equality was legalized in 2015

President Biden signs the Respect for Marriage Act into law enshrining protections for marriage equality for same-sex and interracial couples

The Department of Ed announces new rules around athletic eligibility under Title IX, declaring blanket bans on trans students violate the law and setting up strike standards for schools

The White House announced a suit of new protections for LGBTQ people, including a new job at the Department of Ed to combat book bans, a joint DoJ Homeland Security effort to combat violence and threats and HHS evidence-based guidance to mental health providers for care of transgender kids

President Biden signs an Executive Order directing HHS to protect LGBTQI+ youth in the foster care system, a rule they later passed requiring Queer foster children to be placed in affirming homes

The Biden administration joins families of transgender youth in Tennessee and Kentucky in petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to review and reverse a circuit court ruling allowing a ban on mainstream health care to be enforced

President Biden Signs a EO expanding on past EO on equality and helping underserved communities

The Department of Education's Civil Rights office opens an investigation into the death of Nex Benedict. President Biden in his statement said: "Every young person deserves to have the fundamental right and freedom to be who they are, and feel safe and supported at school and in their communities. Nex Benedict, a kid who just wanted to be accepted, should still be here with us today. Nonbinary and transgender people are some of the bravest Americans I know. But nobody should have to be brave just to be themselves. In memory of Nex, we must all recommit to our work to end discrimination and address the suicide crisis impacting too many nonbinary and transgender children.”

[genderqueerpositivity]

I absolutely cannot wait for this election cycle to be over because genuinely what the fuck. I keep drawing parallels to the 2016 election because there are just so many similarities, but what I haven't said much about yet are the ways in which things are worse.

Having the majority of people I know or randomly encounter be Trump supporting Republicans is absolutely wild now, because sometimes they will just drop the most unhinged comments you could possibly imagine into casual conversation as if they're simply commenting that the grass is green or the weather is nice today, and every time it gives me this bizarre sensation like I am somehow the one living in a different plane of reality.

The Democrats are intentionally bringing undocumented people into the country and giving them drivers licenses so they can vote in the upcoming November election, and unless Donald Trump wins and is allowed to carry out his mass deportation plan the United States will never again have a Republican Christian president.

Joe Biden has been using the US military to release chemicals into the atmosphere for the past four years which have the ability to affect the weather in order to trick the American public into believing that climate change is real.

The attack on Donald Trump at his rally was rally a plot enacted by The Deep State, a secret group of powerful liberals who are running the country behind the scenes, and they don't want Trump to win in November because he is too powerful for them to control.

Joe Biden was replaced by a secret identical body double when he allegedly had Covid several weeks ago, and the double is the one who really dropped out of the election, gives all of his speeches, and does all of his interviews now for him.

Those are just the ones I heard last week.

And the reactions I get when contradicting these wild takes range from rage to mocking to a bizarre persecution complex. In 2016 and even in 2020 I was able to have a lot of productive conversations with many people who disagreed with me greatly on major issues, and that is largely not happening this time. If I dare to disagree, they turn to anger, attack me personally, or cry immediately that I'm denying their right to free speech. When bringing up my actual lived experiences with certain issues, I've been dismissed immediately as emotional and brainwashed. There is no room for discourse or discussion anymore, it has broken down.

I know that we've been going out of our way to call them weird, but we're not really talking about fringe weirdo conspiracy theorists anymore, we're talking about your neighbors and my coworkers and your aunt and the guy behind me in line at Aldi. These people are everywhere, they're 100% serious about believing in this shit, and they're voting Republican in November come hell or high water, truth be goddamed.

You know, the lives of millions and millions of women, LGBTQ+ people, undocumented people, and other marginalized peoples are at stake in this election but it feels increasingly like reality is at stake too.

"Alternative facts" sounded outrageous seven years ago...now they've made it a way of life. Unless we can correct course, and rapidly, it isn't going to get better.

[kerink]

the thing i think a lot of people don't realize is that the usa will always support isreal because it is an allied nation with strategic geography relevance to both the military and the oil industry. <- this is a gross over simplification and a tldr but it's the gist of the matter

the president of the usa has three roles: the person, the party affiliate, and the figurehead. with regard to isreal we have to consider what joe biden believes, what the democratic party believes, and what the the figurehead believes, because all contribute to the policies joe biden makes. and when he speaks or passes a policy we have to ask ourselves which of these three faces are doing it. the figurehead will always support isreal because isreal is an ally that furthers usa interests

in order to change what the president as a figurehead believes (regardless of who is in the role) means changing the zeitgeist of the usa to be either more moderate or more pro-palestine, whatever your personal value is

changing the zeitgeist means enacting grass-root efforts (eg, protests and educating your local community) as well as voting for elected officials who share your values on the matter (in order to influence congress)

additionally, it means supporting the ICC's request for arrest warrants and holding those accused of war crimes accountable. if you live in romania, mexico, or benin you should also see what you can do to sway the opinions of judges iulia motoc, maria del socorro flores liera, and reine alapini-gansou, if anything, as they are reviewing the request

additionally, if you live in usa you should see what if anything you can do to protest sanctions placed against ICC officials

simply pinning the relationship between usa and isreal on biden and using that as a reason not to vote denies the complexity of the situation, shows a surface-level understanding of international relations and domestic policy making, and seeks to reduce your perceived personal agency

[lady-raziel]

I'm angry. I'm really, really furious right now. I am absolutely livid that when the stakes are so high-- not just for Americans at risk from project 2025, not just for people in Europe being threatened by Russia, not just for people in Palestine, but for pretty much widespread global stability-- that the elites of the Democratic party would dare, would have the fucking gall to let Joe Biden run for a second term in the first place, and then when the magnitude of their own hubris is revealed, would not correct the mistake. And even worse, now, after what we've seen over the past two weeks-- that many of them, including some of the most progressive, would look out upon the people who they claim to be champions of, the diverse and varied America who will suffer at the hands of the conservatives' agenda--and they would EVER dare to say that YOU are wrong to point out the truth before your own eyes.

After the NATO press conference, where Biden absolutely had to prove he was not on the decline, and resoundingly failed to do so, I was appalled to go on Twitter (I'm still not calling it X, sorry) and see favored Democratic insiders claiming that the performance I had just seen was GOOD. That I should be PROUD of this. That I should WANT to vote for this.

How dare you. How dare you say that I should be proud, should wholeheartedly endorse the candidate at the head of a party who, time and time again over the past 30+ years, has only ever chosen to raise up its own aging elites, and occasionally younger people if they met the right demographics to portray the image of the "diverse party of the people."

No. It became evident a long time ago that you only ever cared about yourselves and consolidating your own power. Time and time again you have destroyed the chances of any candidate that strays beyond what you consider the bounds of acceptability for yourselves. There were good candidates in 2004-- and instead, the Democrats gave us John Kerry and handed the Republicans another four years of Bush. Hillary Clinton first ran for president in 2008-- had Barack Obama not been so compelling, had the idea of having the first African American president been so appealing, would you have allowed him to stand a chance? In 2016 you again and again ignored what the average person had to say, ignored concerns that had been brewing for decades that your commitment to "diversity" only mattered if it could be wielded against conservatives and used to prop yourselves up, and destroyed Bernie Sanders' campaign in service of an elite no one wanted.

The seeds of Donald Trump had been brewing for a long time, and instead of doing something about it then, you rested on your laurels and held on to your power instead of raising new people up to move the mission forward. And now, when the situation is MORE CRITICAL than it has EVER been-- still you refuse to listen. Still you refuse to change. Biden literally said in that press conference they aren't listening to polls anymore--is there ANYTHING that will get you to see that you are fucking this up???

So no, Biden campaign surrogates on my Twitter feed, DNC donation-prompt texts, endless barrage of emails one after another-- I see no reason to my proud of this. For many of us, this election as well as the last one was ALWAYS a strategic calculation to prevent worse things, empower local-level candidates, and allow a party structure to exist in some form in hopes of change. This was ALWAYS a dispassionate choice made with the full knowledge of complex situations in order to play the long game.

How dare you say I too should wholeheartedly believe the emperor is dressed in robes of splendor when he and the rest of you have lain bare for the longest time, while those of us trying to keep things from getting worse have to convince the rightfully angry people who still care to ignore the nakedness of who you are--to prevent people cloaked in blood from taking the reins. Shame on all of you, honestly. I wish I could say that this might be a learning moment for the Democratic elite, but I have little hope, and I expect to hear you pontificate on end regarding how "young people just don't understand the political process and that's why we lost" as we all go down together.

Fuck you.

[simply-ivanka]

Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means Committees Release Report on Impeachment Inquiry Finding Joe Biden Has Committed Impeachable Conduct

Below are key findings from the impeachment inquiry report. The 291 page report can be found below.

From 2014 to the present, as part of a conspiracy to monetize Joe Biden’s office of public trust to enrich the Biden family, Biden family members and their associates received over $27 million from foreign individuals or entities. In order to obscure the source of these funds, the Biden family and their associates set up shell companies to conceal these payments from scrutiny. The Biden family used proceeds from these business activities to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars to Joe Biden—including thousands of dollars that are directly traceable to China. While Jim Biden claimed he gave this money to Joe Biden to repay personal loans, Jim Biden did not provide any evidence to support this claim. The Biden family’s receipt of millions of dollars required Joe Biden’s knowing participation in this conspiracy, including while he served as Vice President.

Joe Biden used his status as Vice President to garner favorable outcomes for his son’s and his business partners’ foreign business dealings. Witnesses acknowledged that Hunter Biden involved Vice President Biden in many of his business dealings with Russian, Romanian, Chinese, Kazakhstani, and Ukrainian individuals and companies. Then-Vice President Biden met or spoke with nearly every one of the Biden family’s foreign business associates, including those from Ukraine, China, Russia, and Kazakhstan. As a result, the Biden family has received millions of dollars from these foreign entities. 

The Biden family leveraged Joe Biden’s positions of public trust to obtain over $8 million in loans from Democratic benefactors. Millions of dollars in loans have not been repaid and the paperwork supporting many of the loans does not exist and has not been produced to the Committees. This raises serious questions about whether these funds were provided as gifts disguised as loans.

Under the Biden Administration, the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) afforded special treatment to President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.Several witnesses acknowledged the delicate approach used during the Hunter Biden case, describing the investigation as “sensitive” or “significant.” Evidence shows that Department officials slow-walked the investigation, informed defense counsel of future investigative actions, prevented line investigators from taking otherwise ordinary investigative steps, and allowed the statute of limitations to expire on the most serious felony charges. These unusual—and oftentimes in the view of witnesses, unprecedented—tactics conflicted with standard operating procedures and ultimately had the effect of benefiting Hunter Biden.

The Biden Justice Department misled Congress about the independence of law enforcement entities in the criminal investigation of Hunter Biden. Biden Administration political appointees exercised significant oversight and control over the investigation of the President’s son. Witnesses described how U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware and now-Special Counsel David Weiss, who oversaw the investigation and prosecution of Hunter Biden, had to seek (1) agreement from other U.S. Attorneys to bring cases in a district geographically distinct from his own and (2) approval from the Biden Justice Department’s Tax Division to bring specific charges or take investigative actions against Hunter Biden. Despite the clear conflict of interest, Weiss was only afforded special counsel status after the investigation came under congressional scrutiny.

The White House has obstructed the Committees’ impeachment inquiry by withholding key documents and witnesses. The White House has impeded the Committees’ investigation of President Biden’s unlawful retention of classified documents, by refusing to make relevant witnesses available for interviews and by erroneously asserting executive privilege over audio recordings from Special Counsel Hur’s interviews with President Biden. In addition, the White House is preventing the National Archives from turning over documents that are material to the Committees’ inquiry.

See report at the below link

[roguekhajiit]

Magats are so deep in the kool-aid bowl it's surprising they haven't drowned in it yet.

Trump has been recorded live, promising that Christians will never have to vote again so long as they get out and vote for him. Once they do that it will be the last time they ever need to vote.

"In four years, you don't have to vote again, we'll have it fixed so good you're not going to have to vote."

- Donald Trump at Turning Point Action's Believers Summit in West Palm Beach July 26, 2024

Everyone else sees his words for what they are; a threat to our very democracy. But his cultists simply grab themselves another cup of kool-aid and scoff. "Oh, you're just taking him out of context. That's not what he meant at all!"

So let's look at his other claim then, his promise to erase an important part of the 14th amendment.

Amendment 14, Section 1 :

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.

"As part of my plan to secure the border on Day 1 of my new term in office, I will sign an executive order making clear to federal agencies that under the correct interpretation of the law, going forward the future children of illegal aliens will not receive automatic U.S. citizenship."

- Donald Trump, May 2023

So he's gonna what, white out any part of the Constitution or its amendments that he doesn't agree with?

But of course, this plan to do away with birthright citizenship doesn't apply to him or his friends and family. No, because if he made it retroactive, that would mean his sons, his Dad, and even he himself would be stripped of all citizenship. Along with every other fucking white, non-native, racist fucktards who yell "Go back to where you came from" at any person of color they see at their local Wal-Mart. I guarantee they also have a "If this flag offends you, I'll help you pack" bumper sticker on their obnoxiously lifted, compensation prize, Ram 3500.

But his policy, of course, would never apply to himself and his precious white Christian cultists. No, it only applies to people of color. People who look like Kamala Harris and Barack Obama. People with naturally occurring melanin who, as a result, don't need to have a recurring appointment with a spray tan booth.

Of course, it only applies to people who look like his political opponents and their supporters. Why else would he and his cult continue to mail out political smear campaigns naming politicians WHO AREN'T EVEN RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT ANYMORE as the biggest threat to our country?!

Honestly, I think it's time to take a break from the Kool-Aid, folks. Barack Obama isn't living in the basement of the White House telling Joe Biden and Kamala Harris how to run the country. He doesn't have a back stock of Biden clones that he awakens anytime the current one expires. He's in his personal home office writing books.

The current threat to this country isn't Biden or Obama, or Harris. It flocks around a rotten peach and wears a red hat.

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

New Hampshire Parents punished for silently expressing that they don't want their daughters XX getting killed playing sports against boys XY

"Male access to sports teams and spaces previously reserved for biological women and girls is opposed by GOP presidential candidate Donald J. Trump. However, President Joe Biden and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris are pushing hard to make “gender identity” rather than biological sex a protected class."

"...the pink armbands were deemed a violation of the school’s policy against threatening, harassing, or intimidating any person.”

"In August, a federal judge also ruled a Virginia school district could not prevent a male from playing against girls’ middle school tennis teams."

"Several parents have been issued “No Trespass” after protesting a male student being allowed to play in a girls’ soccer game. The parents attended the game wearing pink armbands marked “XX” in protest against the inclusion of a transgender player on the opposing team, aiming to support their daughters from Bow High School, New Hampshire.The parents had previously expressed concerns to the school’s athletic director regarding their daughters playing against a male in a physical sport like soccer. However, they were told that the school could not take action due to a federal judge ruling that the term “girl” includes males who identify as female.In response, several parents donned pink armbands to show their objection. This led to their receiving “No Trespassing” orders enforced by the police. “My daughter’s playing in the homecoming game this weekend, and I’m banned until the 23rd,” parent Anthony Foote told local media. I can’t watch her play in homecoming—which is ridiculous.”

According to the order signed by the district’s superintendent, Marcy Kelley, the pink armbands were deemed a violation of the school’s policy against “threatening, harassing, or intimidating any person.” However, videos from the match reportedly show that people upset by the armbands caused the only disruptions.

[girlactionfigure]

🚨 ISRAELI PM NETANYAHU AND CABINET TO REMAIN IN BUNKER; ISRAELI AND US LEADERSHIP TAKE EMERGENCY MEASURES AMID HEIGHTENED TENSIONS 🚨

‼️Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will stay at the Kirya tonight, accompanied by his cabinet. The Kirya houses a bunker system built to withstand a nuclear attack, equipped with satellite communication systems and sufficient food storage for at least a month. It can accommodate senior Israeli leaders and military leadership.

‼️In response to recent developments, Israeli Minister of Energy Eli Cohen convened an emergency meeting, deciding to increase coal and diesel stocks.

‼️The Israeli General Staff has ordered reinforcements for forces affiliated with the Northern Front Command and has raised the alert level.

‼️The Israeli top brass is preparing for a response that could last at least three days

‼️US President Joe Biden has been briefed on the Iranian response. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Blinken is currently holding a phone call with the Iraqi Prime Minister.

‼️In a related move, the UK has evacuated the families of staff members and non-essential staff from its embassy in Lebanon with other Countries expected to follow suit.

🟢 SUNDAY night - ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

▪️CROSS BORDER SMUGGLING TUNNELS.. Gaza to Egypt, orders to NOT blow up, because doing so is doing damage to Egyptian border wall defenses.

▪️US CENTCOM COMMANDER.. will arrive in Israel tomorrow to complete the coordination with the IDF in preparation for a possible Iranian attack.

▪️AIR TRAVEL - MIN OF TRANSPORT SAYS.. Those who want to fly should fly - keep in mind that the return flights will be delayed due to the cancellations and because there is no room on the Israeli airlines.

❗️HOME FRONT COMMAND SAYS.. activating EMERGENCY CELL BROADCAST system, which will send an emergency pop-up SMS-like message to EVERYONE, with an alert sound.  This is a standard government emergency capability, and I personally saw this while in California earlier this year with an earthquake warning.  It is NOT a substitute for a Red Alert app - but a quick way to get an emergency message out to everyone.  

.. HOWEVER, Home Front says it ONLY works for Cellcom and Pelephone customers, and only 4th generation on Cellcom and 3rd generation on Pelephone phones at this time.  It DOES NOT include kosher phones. (We asked Home Front.)

💩IRANIAN FEAR CAMPAIGN - propaganda from all social media channels

.. Wall Street Journal: Iran has refused many requests from Western diplomats to moderate its response against Israel.

.. Report: Iran will respond in a way that crosses Israel's red lines.

.. The US asked European governments to warn Iran that a major attack against Israel would trigger a response.  Iran, for its part, told Arab diplomats that it did not care if the reaction against Israel led to an outbreak of war.

▪️ISRAEL OUR HOME MK LIBERMAN.. wrote on X: "In the jungle of the Middle East, we must conduct ourselves differently. A situation in which an entire country panics and waits for a multi-arena attack must not be allowed. The initiative must always be in our hands"

⭕ ROCKET ATTACK from HEZBOLLAH at Snir, northern border town.

⭕ ROCKET BARRAGE from HAMAS at Bitzaron, Gan Yavne, Hatzor, Azrikam, Sdeh Uziahu, Shtulim.

[misfitwashere]

September 9, 2024 

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

SEP 10

Last night, Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign launched a new section of its website detailing her policy positions. Titling her plans “A New Way Forward,” Harris vows to build the American middle class through an “opportunity economy.” Her vision for the future, she says, “protects our fundamental freedoms, strengthens our democracy, and ensures every person has the opportunity to not just get by, but to get ahead.” 

Harris’s economic plan builds on that of the Biden-Harris administration. This makes sense, since their focus on investing in the middle class has created the strongest economy in the world. Harris is emphasizing the need to bring down household costs of food, medicine, housing, healthcare, and childcare, all issues important to Americans.  

The website provides concrete economic actions she plans to take with a willing Congress. They include expanding the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit, investing in more housing, and supporting the PRO Act, which protects the rights of workers to unionize, while continuing the crackdown on business consolidation that kills competition and rolling back the Trump tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations.

The biggest economic shift from the current administration is pegging a new capital gains tax for those earning more than a million dollars a year at 28%, significantly lower than the 39.6% President Joe Biden proposed in his 2025 budget. The plans also call for the first-ever national ban on corporate price gouging on food and groceries (37 states already have such laws). 

Aside from strictly economic plans, the policy pages say Harris backs passing the bipartisan immigration bill that Republicans killed on Trump’s orders, protecting reproductive healthcare and restoring Roe v. Wade, and protecting the right to vote and ending partisan gerrymandering through the John Lewis Voting Rights and the Freedom to Vote Acts.

Republicans have charged that Harris has not offered specifics for her policies, but much of what is now clearly laid out is already in the public record. By the standards of American history, it is a strikingly moderate agenda that reflects the belief that the best way for the government to protect opportunity and nurture the economy is to make sure that the system is fair and that ordinary people have access to opportunity.

The “New Way Forward” in Harris’s plan seems to be less a new set of policies than a rejection of the politics of the past several decades. She and her running mate Minnesota governor Tim Walz appear to be attempting to reshape the political landscape to bring Americans of all parties together to stand against Trump’s MAGA Republicans. The campaign has actively reached out to Republicans, several of whom spoke at the Democratic National Convention. On Saturday, Harris said she was “honored” to have the endorsement of former representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) and former vice president Dick Cheney, both staunch Republicans. “People are exhausted about the division and the attempt to divide us as Americans,” she said. “We love our country and we have more in common than what separates us.” 

Trump’s website offers slogans rather than policies, so Harris’s website compares her policies to the comparable sections of Project 2025, the playbook for a second Trump term laid out by a number of right-wing institutions led by the Heritage Foundation. Trump and his campaign have tried to distance themselves from Project 2025, but at his rallies, he has offered the policies in it—like firing nonpartisan civil servants and replacing them with loyalists, and abolishing the Department of Education—as his top priorities. 

While Harris focused on policy, as critics have demanded, MAGA Republicans today spread slurs about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, claiming they are eating other people’s pets and local wildlife. Right-wing media figure Benny Johnson, who was one of the six commenters whose paychecks at now-disbanded Tenet Media were paid by Russia, was one of those pushing the false stories. So was X owner Elon Musk. 

The story was debunked almost immediately by the Springfield police, but Republican politicians ran with it. The X account for Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee ran it; so did Texas senator Ted Cruz, who shared an image with two kittens saying: “PLEASE VOTE FOR TRUMP SO IMMIGRANTS DON’T EAT US.” And the Republican vice presidential nominee, Ohio senator J.D. Vance, posted: “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country.” (The Haitians in Springfield are in the U.S. legally.)

Perhaps most significantly, Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, who is challenging Democratic Ohio senator Sherrod Brown, pushed the story. That Senate seat is crucial to the Republican attempt to take control of the Senate, and Moreno has just launched a $25 million ad campaign against Brown, accusing him of giving undocumented immigrants taxpayer-funded benefits. Today’s disinformation was well timed for that ad campaign. 

The Justice Department today announced  charges against two leaders of the white supremacist Terrorgram Collective, an international terrorist group that operates on the platform Telegram. Dallas Humber of California and Matthew Allison of Idaho have been charged with “soliciting hate crimes, soliciting the murder of federal officials, and conspiring to provide material support to terrorists.” They “solicited murders and hate crimes based on the race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, and gender identity of others,” U.S. Attorney Phillip Talbert said. They had a hit list of federal, state, and local officials, as well as corporate leaders, and they encouraged attacks on government infrastructure, including energy facilities. Their plan was to create a race war. 

“Hate crimes fueled by bigotry and white supremacy, and amplified by the weaponization of digital messaging platforms, are on the rise and have no place in our society,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said.

Congress is back in session today and must fund the government before October 1 or face a government shutdown. Although Congress negotiated spending levels for 2024 and 2025 back in June 2023, the House has been unable to pass appropriations bills because MAGA extremists either refuse to accept those levels or insist on inserting culture war poison pills into the bills. 

Now, Trump has demanded that a continuing resolution to fund the government must include a measure requiring proof of citizenship to vote. Since it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in elections for president or members of Congress and there is no evidence it is anything but vanishingly rare, the measure actually seems designed to suppress voting. House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) went along and put the measure in the bill. He also designed for the measure to last until next March, making the budget so late a new president could write it, but also blowing through a January 1 deadline set in the June 2023 bill to require automatic cuts to spending.

House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) wrote to his colleagues: “House Democrats have made it clear that we will find bipartisan common ground on any issue with our Republican colleagues wherever possible, while pushing back against MAGA extremism.” Jeffries called the Republican bill “unserious and unacceptable.”

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told House and Senate leaders that the cuts required by law if Congress pushes the budget into March would drastically affect the military. “The repercussions of Congress failing to pass regular appropriations legislation for the first half of [fiscal] 2025 would be devastating to our readiness and ability to execute the National Defense Strategy,” Austin wrote.

Meanwhile, Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) is back to his old trick of blocking a military promotion, this time of Lieutenant General Ronald Clark, one of Austin’s top aides. Tuberville says he placed the hold because he has concerns that Clark did not alert Biden when Austin had surgery. Biden has nominated Clark to become the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Pacific, a position currently held by General Charles A. Flynn, younger brother of Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, Trump’s first National Security Advisor who resigned after news broke that he had hidden conversations with Russian operatives. 

Today, ten retired senior military officials endorsed Harris, saying she “is the best—and only—presidential candidate in this race who is fit to serve as our commander-in-chief…. Frankly stated, Donald Trump is a danger to our national security and our democracy. His own former National Security Advisors, Defense Secretaries, and Chiefs of Staff have said so.”

—

[tieflingkisser]

“I Have Lost Everything”: In Federal Court, Palestinians Accuse Biden of Complicity in Genocide

Bolstered by a momentous ICJ ruling, Palestinians, including Americans, gave three hours of testimony against the Biden administration.

In a momentous day for the quest to keep Israel and its allies accountable for its brutal war on Gaza, members of leading Palestinian human rights groups, residents of Gaza, and Palestinian Americans argued in a U.S. District Court on Friday that the Biden administration should halt its financial and military support for Israel and uphold its obligations to prevent genocide. The arguments came in a lawsuitOpens in a new tab that the Center for Constitutional Rights, or CCR, filed in November against President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, charging them with complicity and failure to prevent the “unfolding genocide” in the occupied strip. Testifying either in person at the Oakland, California, courthouse or remotely from Palestine, the plaintiffs spoke for nearly three hours about the deliberate devastation wrought by Israel in the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas attacks.  The hearing commenced hours after the International Court of Justice in The Hague found that it’s plausible that Israel has committed acts of genocide in Gaza, in a case brought by South Africa. While the United Nations court fell short of ordering an immediate ceasefire, a panel of judges delivered a historic set of rulings and denied Israel’s request to dismiss the case. A final resolution in that case is expected to take years. Lawyers involved with the lawsuit playing out in federal court said that the ICJ ruling bolsters their case. Their lawsuit argues that Biden, Blinken, and Austin are liable under U.S. lawOpens in a new tab for failing to uphold their obligation to prevent genocide in Gaza. In Oakland, dozens of people lined up outside the courthouse hours before the hearing on Friday, according to organizers on the ground, while the Zoom stream reached its capacity of 1,000 people tuning in.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

don't piss off cat people

* * * *

Biden-Harris promote Supreme Court reform!

July 30, 2024

Robert B. Hubbell

At long last! President Biden announced proposals for significant reforms to the Supreme Court, and presumptive nominee Kamala Harris immediately endorsed those reforms! President Biden has also proposed a constitutional amendment to reverse the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. US that granted extra-constitutional immunity to presidents after they leave office.

Although passing these reforms depends on the outcome of the 2024 election and the successful defense of the proposed laws in the courts, President Biden and V.P. Harris have changed the framework for discussing the Supreme Court. The question is now, “When?,” not “If?”

It has been a long and uncertain road to this point, but the Supreme Court’s stream of lawless decisions issued by a conflicted and hyper-partisan bench has proved too much for the American people. In proposing the reforms and constitutional amendment now, President Biden has ensured that the Supreme Court is on the ballot in 2024.

President Biden authored an op-ed in the Washington Post that explains his proposals. See Opinion  Joe Biden: My plan to reform the Supreme Court and ensure no president is above the law. (This article is accessible to all.) I hope you will take the time to read the entire op-ed.

President Biden places the ethics scandals at the Court front-and-center in his proposal:

[T] he court is mired in a crisis of ethics. Scandals involving several justices have caused the public to question the court’s fairness and independence, which are essential to faithfully carrying out its mission of equal justice under the law. [¶] What is happening now is not normal, and it undermines the public’s confidence in the court’s decisions, including those impacting personal freedoms. We now stand in a breach.

President Biden has proposed three reforms:

1.    A constitutional amendment that would provide that there is no immunity for crimes a former president committed while in office 2.    A binding code of ethics 3.    Eighteen-year term limits (A president would appoint a new justice every two years, who would serve for 18 years).

Some commentators welcomed the proposals as a “practical way forward” that could garner support for passage after the 2024 election. See Politico, Democrats May Have a Real Chance to Reform the Supreme Court. President Biden’s proposal omitted enlarging the Court, a proposal that the Politico article described as an unpopular outlier not likely to gain legislative support.

Each proposal faces difficulties in gaining passage.

As to the constitutional amendment abolishing presidential immunity, Ian Millhiser in Vox reviewed the historical challenges faced by earlier proposed amendments, including the ERA and a proposal to ban child labor. (To date, neither has passed.) An amendment requires approval by a 2/3 supermajority in both chambers of Congress and ratification by 3/4 of the states (38 states). That is a tall order, indeed. But it won’t happen if we don’t try. And Republican states may be more supportive of such an amendment if they perceive that a Democratic president—like Kamala Harris—is too powerful.

The binding ethics code is plainly constitutional because the Constitution grants Congress the authority to create “exceptions” and impose “regulations” on the Court’s exercise of appellate jurisdiction. But the plain words of the Constitution haven’t prevented Justice Alito from taking the position that Congress is constitutionally prohibited from imposing regulations on the Court. Alito should lose, but it will be a fight.

As to the term limits, there will be a fight over whether the Constitution’s grant of life tenure to judges—subject to good behavior—permits term limits. Some constitutional scholars (including Professor Laurence Tribe) believe that term limits are permissible in the absence of a constitutional amendment, while others disagree. The Supreme Court would likely decide this issue.

One reform not suggested by President Biden is enlarging the Court. That path would not be subject to constitutional challenge and would require only a majority vote in both chambers of Congress (and a carve-out to the filibuster, which requires only 51 votes in the Senate). But for reasons that escape me, many politicians and observers view the least legally objectionable pathway as the most radical. Nonetheless, Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts has proposed legislation to enlarge the Supreme Court to thirteen justices. See  Democracy Docket, ‘We Must Expand the Court:’ Sen. Markey, Advocates Call for Adding 4 SCOTUS Seats.

Oddly, in an interview with Laura Ingraham on Monday, Trump criticized President Biden’s proposal, claiming that Biden “wants to pack the Court.” Laura Ingraham responded, “That’s not in Biden’s proposal.”

Regardless of the way forward, reforming the Supreme Court is now on the table with the support of President Biden, Vice President Harris, and leading Democrats in Congress. It will happen—if only because the current reactionary majority will continue to curtail the rights and liberties of all Americans. It is only a matter of time—and it is up to us. We must all vote as if Supreme Court reform is on the ballot in 2024—because it is!

Kamala Harris continues to challenge Trump / Vance directly and vigorously

On Monday, an Iowa six-week abortion ban went into effect. At a campaign rally, V.P. Kamala Harris repeatedly referred to legislation restricting reproductive liberty in the states as “Trump abortion bans.” See WSJ, Harris Puts Abortion, a Weakness for Trump, at Center of Campaign. As noted in the WSJ article, President Biden was reluctant to say the word “abortion,” while Kamala Harris is a “fighter” on the issue who is willing to urge voters to “stop Donald Trump’s extreme abortion bans.”

V.P. Harris also posted a video on YouTube condemning the Iowa abortion ban and promising to sign legislation to protect the right to abortion nationally. See YouTube, Vice President Harris on Trump's Abortion Ban in Iowa | Harris 2024.

Some (most?) women sensed President Biden’s discomfort on the issue and are responding positively to Kamala Harris’s strong support for access to abortions and reproductive healthcare for all women in the US. Harris’s approach resonates with many women in America who felt that President Biden was a reluctant advocate for abortion rights, even though President Biden and Kamala Harris support the same policies.

The Harris Campaign continues to go after Trump and Vance with lightning speed and full force. Within hours of JD Vance removing his absolutist abortion stance from his website, the Harris HQ Twitter feed posted Vance’s now-deleted position with the comment, “Weird that Vance just deleted this from his website.”

The Harris campaign also posted a quick reply to Trump's claim on Monday that the Biden-Harris record on crime was “terrible.” The Harris campaign posted the following:

Our opponent Donald Trump is a criminal.

• Migrants were more likely to be released after a border arrest under President Trump than under the Biden-Harris administration. • As president, Donald Trump oversaw the largest single-year spike in the murder rate in more than a century. • As president, Trump proposed a $400 million cut to local law enforcement funding. • Trump has demanded the defunding of federal law enforcement, while proposing using the FBI and Justice Department to go after his political enemies. • JD Vance said, "I hate the police."

The Harris Campaign is also amplifying a clip from Trump's interview with Laura Ingraham that included this exchange:

Ingraham: Why not debate Kamala Harris? Trump: Because everyone already knows everything Ingraham: They’re saying you’re afraid of debating her Trump: I’m leading in the polls

Can you smell the fear? It is not true that Trump is leading in the polls. The race has tightened considerably, with Kamala Harris making up persistent deficits posted by President Biden. The race remains close, within the margin of error in many polls, but the trends all favor Kamala Harris. She has the momentum, and Trump and Vance are on the defensive.

So, if you are feeling good about Kamala Harris’s candidacy, you should be. After a whole week as the presumptive nominee, she continues to have the Trump campaign on its back foot. And the first three days of this week will feature massive online fundraisers and strategy meetings with hundreds of thousands of volunteers!

I invite readers who attend(ed) any of the online meetings to post your observations in the Comment section.

While we have reason to be hopeful, we have no reason to be complacent. We must beat Trump by a wide margin to remove all doubt and opportunity for election interference by Trump or the Supreme Court. (See Concluding Thoughts.)

Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter

[mariacallous]

US President Joe Biden confirmed on Thursday evening that a 24-person prisoner swap had taken place with Russia, in what would be the largest such exchange since the end of the Cold War.

Among the most notable of the 16 returnees to the West – four Americans, five Germans and seven Russian political prisoners – are Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former US Marine Paul Whelan, opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, a dual Russian-British citizen, and RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, a dual US-Russian citizen.

Going in the other direction were eight prisoners, excluding two minors, most notably Russian assassin Vadim Krasikov, who has been held in a German prison since 2019 for the murder of a Chechen exile in Berlin, and Pablo Rubtsov, also known as “Pablo Gonzalez”, who is believed to have been a GRU military intelligence agent posing as a Spanish journalist working in Poland, Ukraine and other former Soviet countries.

The prisoner exchange, which took place at Ankara airport, had been in the works for many months, according to multiple analysts. Indications that the swap was in the final stages came with reports that some of those released had been moved from where they were being incarcerated, as well as the speeding up of trials in Russia and Slovenia.

In Slovenia on Wednesday, two Russian deep-cover spies arrested in 2022, whose real names are thought to be Artem Dultsev and Anna Dultseva, pleaded guilty to charges of spying and falsifying documents in a court case held in private. The Ljubljana court sentenced them to time served in prison and ordered their immediate expulsion. The two minors in the exchange are thought to be their children.

Key to the swap was Germany’s reluctant agreement to release the hitman Krasikov, who was serving life for the killing of Georgian citizen Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin, a crime the judge called an act of “state terrorism”. The western prisoners, on the other hand, were widely seen as being sentenced in show trials on trumped-up charges.

On February 27, 2022, Polish authorities detained Rubtsov on the Polish-Ukrainian border and later charged him with spying for Russia. He had been detained in Poland ever since, reportedly spending time in solitary confinement.

ABW, the Polish internal security agency, claimed the man was carrying out operations to benefit Russia while posing as a journalist and was on his way to Ukraine when detained.

The man was a dual Russian-Spanish citizen, and, under the name of Pablo Gonzalez, he was working as a reporter for several Spanish media, including online newspaper Publico and TV station La Sexta. The fact he was arrested by the ultra-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government lent some weight to arguments by his lawyer and wife back in Spain that he was arrested because of his “inconvenient” reporting. A campaign demanding his release was organised by international media groups such as Reporters without Borders, to no effect.

Christo Grozev, former lead Russia investigator for Bellingcat, had reported for The Insider in 2023 how Rubtsov allegedly gathered intelligence for Russia and tried to gain the trust of Russian opposition activists so he could report back on them. Grozev’s reporting was based on investigative work by a Russian independent outlet, The Agency. Among others, he had allegedly gotten close to and reported on Zhanna Nemtsova, Boris Nemtsov’s daughter, and people from her circle.

Donald Tusk, the ABW or any other Polish authorities had not made any public statement by the time of publication.

Until today, the largest prisoner swap since the Cold War was in 2010 and involved a total of 14 people, including Anna Chapman and Sergei Skripal, a Russian military intelligence officer convicted of spying for Britain, who was later poisoned by Russian agents in Salisbury.

[deadpresidents]

My inbox is filled with a ton of messages asking some form of this question, so here's what I would do it I was appointed the Pope of the Democratic Party and had the absolute power to shape what happens next.

First of all, I'd wait a few days until the news cycle is less of a hurricane. But once things calmed down a bit, I'd get a number of the past and present leaders of the party together to go visit President Biden and discuss the way forward. The best-case scenario would need the President to be on board with stepping aside, and I think that would require some serious conversations between Biden and his family and the party elders/leaders. The heavy-hitters would need to go see the President. I'd send President Obama and President Clinton and the other surviving past Democratic Presidential nominees: Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, and John Kerry. (Obviously, President Carter is still alive but he's 99 years old and in hospice care, so he wouldn't be involved.) They'd be joined by other Democratic heavyweights like Nancy Pelosi, Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer, Dick Durbin, Bernie Sanders, Jim Clyburn, etc.

It will be a difficult conversation because Joe Biden has spent his life wanting to be President of the United States, and he finally reached the pinnacle and nobody wants to give up that position if they don't have to. But I'd make sure they appeal to his sense of duty and patriotism -- the same things that led him to challenge Trump in 2020 when it seemed like Biden was finished with electoral politics in the wake of his son Beau's death. President Biden knows how dangerous Trump is and what this election truly means, and the Democratic leaders would need to hammer home the idea that while he was the person best able to defeat Trump in 2020, things have changed in the past four years and he's not that guy anymore.

In order for it to work, Biden would need to release his delegates and allow the Democratic National Convention to be an open convention. There are going to be many people and many reasonable arguments that Biden should endorse Kamala Harris since she is his Vice President. But the nominee would be chosen by the delegates to the Democratic Convention, so Biden couldn't just crown Harris as his heir. If he feels that she's the best choice to be the nominee and he feels a sense of loyalty to her, then I think Biden has to go further than stepping aside as the candidate. I think he would have to resign as President and allow Kamala Harris to assume the Presidency and go into the open convention as the incumbent President. That would give her a significant advantage and probably swing the nomination her way. But that's an even bigger thing to ask of President Biden, so I can't imagine being able to talk him into that. Even if he steps aside as the candidate, I think he's going to want to finish his term and he deserves that. I'm a longtime fan of Kamala Harris -- I campaigned with her for Barack Obama while she was still the DA in San Francisco. But I'm not sure she's the best candidate, either. Still, she will be in the mix and one of the favorites in an open convention.

I think an open convention would be really fascinating for people to see in 2024 since it hasn't really happened in 70+ years. It might be good for the Democratic Party and allow fresh candidates to come to the surface. I don't think there's any doubt Vice President Harris would be a candidate and it seems likely that California Governor Gavin Newsom and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer would be major possibilities. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Maryland Governor Wes Moore are rising stars, but I don't think they have the name recognition to be the nominee this year. I really like Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and think he has all of the tools necessary to be a good President, but I'm not sure where he would stand nationally. I don't think Michelle Obama is a possibility. I know she's the dream candidate for a lot of people, but I don't think she likes politics and I don't think she has any interest in running. I think a real dark horse would be Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. The only Democratic Presidential candidate to win Kentucky since 1980 was Bill Clinton. Beshear has won three statewide races in that very red state, and he won the most recent election in Kentucky by running as a pro-choice candidate defending a women's right to choose. I've seen Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia mentioned, but I feel like his Senate seat is so important that he's needed there more than as President.

There are also two wild card candidates with such strong national name recognition that they would totally shake up the race. However, they'd also be controversial in many ways, but particularly because Biden would be stepping aside because of his age and these two candidates are roughly the same age as Trump. It would eliminate the argument of a fresh Democratic candidate taking Biden's place, but no one would question their experience or star power. The first one is a pretty obvious one: Hillary Clinton. I think she'd energize women voters even more than she did in 2016 because it would be a chance to get back at what happened that year. Plus, she did win the popular vote against Trump. I mean, it's a simple fact that more people voted for her in 2016 than the person that she lost to the election to. The other person also won the election that they "lost": Al Gore. I don't know if he'd do it, but you couldn't find a better advocate for fighting climate change as President than Al Gore. He's also been out of politics long enough that he might seem fresh, even if he's only two years younger than Trump. And it would be a great story -- redemption for the election that he lost at the Supreme Court rather than the ballot box.

I don't know who I would choose if I could pick the nominee, but I think an open convention would be healthy for democracy and for the Democrats. Either way, I think Biden would deserve the opportunity to save face by having him speak to the nation and explain that he is stepping aside as the nominee as an act of political courage and duty to a country facing an existential threat named Donald Trump. Let him talk about how proud he is of the things his Administration has accomplished and that he was able to stop Donald Trump once and by doing this, he is making sure America stops Donald Trump one last time. And guess what? Then he can do what I'm sure it is breaking his heart to not be able to do right now -- he can pardon his only surviving son because he'll be a lame-duck and won't have to worry about the political blowback.

[darkmaga-retard]

Candidate questionnaires have long been a part of American politics, locking in politicians to certain policies, pledges and positions. But it has been decades since one has threatened to roil a presidential race, or undercut a major party nominee’s carefully crafted image.

The last time was in 1992 when President George H.W. Bush was stung by his decision to renege on the no-new-taxes pledge he signed as he tried to fashion himself as a Reagan conservative. Bush had earlier staked out that position at the 1988 Republican National Convention with his famous "read my lips" speech.

But Kamala Harris is facing the real possibility that the candidate questionnaire she filled out for the American Civil Liberties Union in 2019 may undercut her efforts to rebrand herself as a moderate and distance herself from the insecurity, immigration crisis, and inflation unleashed by her boss Joe Biden’s liberal agenda the last four years.

The reasons for the threat are simple. Five years ago Harris tried desperately to run to the left of Joe Biden during the 2020 Democratic primary, planting her flag on positions far from the American mainstream, particularly on immigration, law and order and social policy. She also suggested her earlier actions as California attorney general and a U.S. senator were proof of her commitment to far-left policies.

Writing to woo the ACLU, she committed to:

Taxpayer funding of gender reassignment surgeries and treatments for illegal aliens;

A pathway to citizenship for those who broke the law by crossing the U.S. border without permission;

The decriminalization of all illegal drugs under federal law including cocaine, heroin and fentanyl if a defendant claimed they were for personal use; and 

The knee-capping of the nation’s main deportation agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE, as it is colloquially known in Washington circles, by banning its use of deportation .

You can read the full questionnaire here.

[thecurioustale]

A Supreme Court Ruling that Should Not Be Enforced

I think the Chevron Defense ruling last week is the most dangerous decision by the Supreme Court this year, as it will immediately begin to disrupt the the entire federal executive's ability to function and will directly lead in the coming years to the dismantling of environmental protections, worker protections, regulatory oversight, and much more.

But today's ruling on presidential immunity is, by far, the most unconstitutional ruling of this term, and one of the most breathtakingly unconstitutional rulings I have ever seen or learned about by the US Supreme Court. It is up there with Citizens United (corporations are people), Plessy vs. Ferguson (segregation in schools), and Dobbs (stripping people of acknowledged constitutional rights).

I understand the need for individual officeholders to have blanket immunity from civil litigation (so you sue the organization, not the person) and even some qualified criminal immunity for that officeholder's official activities. But what the Supreme Court did today, in its 6–3 ruling, is declare that the US president need only declare or construe or even simply believe that they are acting in an official capacity, and, therein, they are immune from all criminal liability unconditionally.

The President of the United States is now above the law. Full stop.

For years I have wondered where we should draw the line on lawless behavior and extremism from our courts, especially the US Supreme Court. The thing about our rule of law is that you have to accept the outcome of court cases; if you don't you are basically calling for violent revolution whether you realize it or not, and at an absolute minimum you are calling for chaos and unrest.

I have always asserted that Neil Gorsuch's votes on the Court should not be recognized, as his appointment to the Supreme Court was the result of a power grab by Mitch McConnell. But of course as more time passes this becomes more and more unlikely. And Kavanaugh and Barrett's appointments I have no choice but to accept as legitimate, so even if Gorsuch were not counted this ruling would still have been a significant 5–3 majority.

Citizens United was real close for me to delegitimizing the ruling majority on the bench at the time, and the more recent Dobbs ruling actually crossed my personal line and made all of the justices who signed it unfit to hold their offices, but I figured that it would still be better to resolve the problem by passing a federal abortion rights law when Democrats next have the opportunity and continuing to try to flush the fascist judge problem out of the judiciary through maintaining control of the White House and Senate and appointing new judges over time.

But this ruling, now, raises the possibility by at least an order of magnitude that our constitutional system of democracy and rule of law in America will be dismantled by the next sufficiently extreme or unscrupulous Republican president, be that Trump himself or whomever else.

Just to give you an idea of the landscape that we now live in, Joe Biden could, at this moment, order military special ops teams to assassinate Donald Trump. Hell, he could do it himself: He could walk up to Trump and pull the trigger. And he would be completely immune from criminal prosecution for it now or ever. And that's just the beginning.

If not corrected, this will be used someday to overthrow our democracy. And by then it will be too late for us to do anything about it through peaceful means.

In 2020 I worried that, even if Biden won the presidency, it would just be four years of calm before the real storm began. At the time I wasn't thinking about another Trump presidency but rather the committed fascists high in his party who want to succeed him. Cruz, DeSantis, the usuals. Trump is a buffoon with very little self-control, but a lot of these other people are smart cookies. In 2024 my worry remains relevant: We are one step closer today to handing the fascists our country.

If I were the president at this moment, I would declare this ruling invalid. Because it is. Not only does it have no basis in the Constitution, but it upends some of the most fundamental assumptions of our Constitution and our whole legal regime. I would go before the public and say "This ruling is illegal. This ruling gives me the power to assassinate anyone I want; to run criminal enterprises from the Oval Office; to commit fraud and extortion and embezzlement of your money as taxpayers; to imprison my political opponents, shut down the free press, and forcibly remove from office any judge or police officer with the gall to rule against my actions or try hold me accountable. This ruling makes me a king. That is what makes it illegal. As the leader of the executive branch of our government, I have a duty not to enforce an illegal and unconstitutional ruling, and I am directing all federal agencies to similarly disregard it. Neither I nor any other US president should be placed above the law."

And believe you me, I would be tempted to go a lot further, including appointing six new justices on the Court and no longer recognizing the old six. But for the sake of the country and the way we do things in this country I would limit myself to the above action of refusing to recognize this one ruling.

I understand that this opens a Pandora's box. That's how the fascist resurgence in this country has worked: Republicans will do something completely unreasonable (like gumming up judicial nominations), forcing Democrats to break norms just to get the people's business done (like eliminating the judicial filibuster), which Republicans then turn around and exploit to their advantage (as by using their time in power to appoint whomever they want to the courts). But I think this is the way it has to be. We can't let this ruling stand. The other problems—Citizens United, Dobbs—can be fixed through legislation. This one can't, except maybe by a law that specifically declares that a president is not above the law, which I'm not sure would itself be constitutional. In any case, another problem with that is that fascists are selective in their application of the law. They have no problem ruling in favor of conservatives, but will never permit that exact same legal reasoning to then benefit their ideological enemies.

But yeah, this is bad. The Chevron ruling will begin to erode our federal executive in horrible ways, and this immunity ruling sets the stage for nightmarish conduct by a future president.

I didn't watch the debate the other day, or any of the analysis after the fact. I know who I am voting for, and, on some level, I didn't want to have to watch Biden's inevitably uncharismatic performance. And then everyone started melting down and crying that the sky was falling, so I went and watched a short clip of Biden's worst moments, and I get it. That performance goes beyond the stutter that often wrongly gets conflated with dementia. But in this case he clearly lost his train of thought and he did it on-stage in front of millions of people. That's a rough day.

I still don't think the mate is senile. I have seen plenty of people have the meltdown that he had, and I have had that meltdown myself. It doesn't necessarily mean anything. But even if Joe Biden were hunched over in a wheelchair drooling out the side of his mouth, I would still vote for him, and gladly. Because not voting for him is a vote for Trump, and I would not vote for a candidate who spent the whole debate lying and who himself is a traitor, an egomaniac, a convicted felon, a con artist, a failed coup plotter, and an ethically bankrupt, intellectually stunted manchild. And because, moreover, he has run a good administration. He has good people around him, and can be ably succeeded by Vice President Harris if needed. When you vote for a president you are voting not just for an individual but for a team, and that team's ethos, and I have no doubt which team, which ethos, I support. We are asking the wrong person to drop out of this race.

Anyway! President Biden is going to speak to the public tonight about this court ruling. I don't know what he will say. I don't expect anything meaningful a la refusing to enforce the Court's ruling, but it sure would be nice. President Trump should be prosecuted for his alleged crimes on January 6 (which is the trial most directly impacted by this ruling), crimes of which Trump is unambiguously guilty and which are "alleged" only in the blindfolded eyes of Justice for the sake of due process. America needs this accountability, or we will suffer terribly for want of it in the future.