Lessons of History and Trying To Avoid the Same Mistakes

[Sixties Fan]

 

[Sixties Fan]

[ Voting suppression, Voting suppression, Voting Suppression ]

Daily Docket — Monday, July 31

Here are key dates and case developments coming up. Aug. 4, 2023: Hearing in a state-level lawsuit challenging Florida’s congressional map for violating the Florida Constitution by diminishing the ability of Black Floridians to elect their candidates of choice and intentionally favoring the Republican Party. Aug. 7, 2023: Trial in a consolidated federal lawsuit challenging the districts for Galveston County, Texas’ Commissioners Court, the county’s legislative body. The plaintiffs allege that the redistricting plan violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) by denying Black and Latino voters the opportunity to elect their candidates of choice. Aug. 9, 2023: Hearing in a federal lawsuit challenging Idaho law House Bill 124, a newly enacted voter suppression law that eliminates the use of a student ID as an acceptable form of identification for in-person voting. Aug. 11, 2023: The pro-voting party’s brief is due in a case challenging South Carolina’s congressional map for being an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The case is currently pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. Aug. 14, 2023: Hearing in federal court over the new congressional map passed by the Republican-controlled Alabama Legislature. The enacted map only has one majority-Black district, but a federal court ordered that the map must have two. Aug. 18. 2023: Hearing in a lawsuit challenging Washington State’s use of signature matching for mail-in ballots. Aug. 21, 2023: In addition to the Aug. 4 hearing, there is a trial scheduled in the state-level lawsuit challenging Florida’s congressional map. Aug. 22, 2023: Hearing in a federal lawsuit challenging Florida’s congressional map for intentionally discriminating against Black voters in violation of the 14th and 15th Amendments. Aug. 24, 2023: Hearing in a lawsuit filed against right-wing activists and organizations — including Dinesh D’Souza, True the Vote and its leaders and others — alleging that the defendants falsely accused the plaintiff of “ballot fraud” in their film and accompanying book “2000 Mules.” Aug. 24, 2023: Hearing in lawsuit brought by a conservative group challenging a set of recently enacted Minnesota laws that restore voting rights to over 50,000 Minnesotans who were on parole, probation or community release due to a felony conviction. Aug. 28, 2023: Hearing in a lawsuit challenging guidance from the Wisconsin Elections Commission that allows voters to ask election officials to spoil their absentee ballots and permits voters to request a new absentee ballot if they make a mistake or opt to vote in person instead.

We are waiting for decisions in the following lawsuits. A lawsuit that will determine whether the white, conservative chief justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court can appoint unelected judges in Jackson (the state’s majority-Black capital) under a recently enacted, anti-democratic law, House Bill 1020. A lawsuit challenging Tennessee’s legislative maps. The lawsuit alleges that Republicans created the legislative districts “to ensure maximum partisan advantage for the incumbent Republican supermajority” and they should be blocked and replaced with legal maps A lawsuit that will determine whether parts of Georgia’s omnibus voter suppression law will be temporarily blocked. A lawsuit challenging Arkansas’ legislative maps that will dictate whether private plaintiffs — and not just the U.S. Department of Justice — have the right to bring lawsuits under Section 2 of the VRA. As always, keep an eye on our Cases page for real-time updates on any developments in these lawsuits and others.

Here are some courtroom updates you may have missed. A federal court blocked Miami, Florida's new city commission map, ruling that the districts are still racially gerrymandered. Miami was ordered to redraw the map in May after it was initially struck down for violating the 14th Amendment. Plaintiffs in Allen v. Milligan filed objections to Alabama's new congressional districts, arguing that the state is in "open defiance" of court orders and that the map "perpetuates the Voting Rights Act violation" that a lower court previously found and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld. Republicans filed a lawsuit asking the Ohio Supreme Court to block a pro-choice abortion amendment from appearing on the ballot in November. A trial has been set for Sept. 27 in a Republican lawsuit arguing that New Mexico's congressional map is gerrymandered to unfairly benefit Democrats. The trial in Fair Fight v. True the Vote has been moved to Oct. 26. Fair Fight has sued True the Vote, arguing that the right-wing Texas-based group illegally intimidated Georgia voters in the run-up to the 2021 U.S. Senate runoffs.

 

[Sixties Fan]

‘These are not canaries in the coal mine, the canaries died a long time ago.’

By now, I’m guessing everyone reading this has had their own life impacted somehow by global warming. Whether it be from this summer’s sizzling heat dome, or mega-droughts, wildfires and smoke, and monster storms, or even seeing fewer backyard birds or...

www.dailykos.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

 

[Sixties Fan]

 

[bigrebnc1775]

P R O J E C T I O N

Yep only the weak low information sheeple believe his shit.

 

[Sixties Fan]

The latest round of FEC disclosures showed that Save America PAC, the leadership PAC supporting former President Donald Trump’s campaign, continued to burn through tens of millions of dollars on his legal fees for his various indictments and other entanglements with the judicial system, but that wasn’t the only eye-popping number in the reports.

The PAC also paid over $108,000 for “strategy consulting” to Hervé Pierre Braillardfor the first six months of 2023.

That number might not seem all that odd for a presidential campaign — especially in comparison to Trump’s former campaign manager Brad Parscale, who was ousted from his perch after a series of revealing reports about how he was handsomely profiting from the campaign — but Braillard isn’t a political consultant.

He’s a French-American fashion designer, and has also been Melania Trump’s stylist for years, designing the gown she wore to her husband’s inaugural ball in Jan. 2017 (pictured above) under his eponymous label, Hervé Pierre. Braillard previously designed inaugural gowns for other First Ladies, including Hillary Clinton when he was with Oscar de la Renta, and Laura Bush and Michelle Obama when he was at Caroline Herrera.

The line item on Save America’s operating expenditures showing the payment to Braillard was flagged on Twitter by Rob Pyers, who noted that the large payment was made despite the Trump “cash crunch” due to the whopping amount of legal fees.




(full article online)

New Fundraising Report Reveals Trump PAC Paid Eye-Popping Amount to Melania’s Stylist for ‘Strategy Consulting’

The latest round of FEC disclosures showed that Save America PAC, the leadership PAC supporting former President Donald Trump's campaign, continued to burn through tens of millions of dollars on his legal fees for his various indictments and other entanglements with the judicial system, but that...

www.mediaite.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

 

[Sixties Fan]

Statement from Trump Campaign

This is nothing more than the latest corrupt chapter in the continued pathetic attempt by the Biden Crime Family and their weaponized Department of Justice to interfere with the 2024 Presidential Election, in which President Trump is the undisputed frontrunner, and leading by substantial margins.

After three years of “Sleepy Joe,” Trump is trying to make “Biden Crime Family” a thing. His campaign’s challenge, of course, is to find a crime—any crime. So far, that’s not going so hot, despite desperate attempts by MAGA House Republicans to build a case.

And yes, Trump is leading handily in the Republican primary. But no, he’s not “leading by substantial margins” in head-to-head matchups with President Joe Biden in any credible poll. But let’s say he was. How would that change anything? Either the crime happened, or it did not. It’s clear that Trump is running for president for two reasons:

1. He thinks it’s a get-out-of-jail-free card, and
2. He can use campaign funds to pay his legal bills—$40 million this year alone, and mounting.

But really, it takes a special kind of a-hole to cry about “weaponizing the Department of Justice” when he ran his entire first campaign amid chants of “Lock her up,” and has already promised to weaponize the Justice Department if he wins again to go after his enemies.

It goes back to that old mantra: Every Republican accusation is an admission. No one does projection better than a Republican.

But why did they wait two and a half years to bring these fake charges, right in the middle of President Trump's winning campaign for 2024?

The charges are real. Whether they are supported by the evidence? Well, that’s what the legal process is for. Who cares how long it took? It’s within the statute of limitations. And in any case, if you’re indicting a president, you’d better get it right. It takes time to make sure the case is airtight.

Meanwhile, he hasn’t won shit yet. Running for president doesn’t provide blanket criminal immunity.

Why was it announced the day after the big Crooked Joe Biden scandal broke out from the Halls of Congress?

Oh look, Donald is recycling “crooked” from back in 2020. Too bad he spent so much energy on “sleepy.” Rebrandings are tough. Just ask Coca-Cola. Or Elon Musk.

To be fair, it is scandalous that Biden took a phone call from his son and said hello to his dinner guests. Clearly, Trump can’t relate to anyone who loves their children.

Meanwhile, not even House Republicans are claiming they found anything of substance in that testimony. But the truth has never stopped Trump from trying to create his own reality.

The answer is, election interference!

Who was it that said, “Accuse your enemy of what you yourself are doing to sow confusion”? Saul Alinsky? Lenin? Goebbels? It’s attributed to everyone, but it’s a standard enough notion that Plato likely muttered it while sitting around.


(Full article online)

Wait a minute ... Trump said WHAT?

In the wake of yet another indictment for yet more criming, multiple indictee Donald Trump released one of his ridiculous statements. Let’s take a look, why don’t we?

www.dailykos.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

[GOP manages to do it again ]

Democratic lawmakers and economists placed the blame squarely on the Republican Party after Fitch downgraded the United States' long-term credit rating on Tuesday, citing repeated standoffs over the nation's debt ceiling in recent years.

The downgrade from AAA—the highest possible rating—to AA+ came months after President Joe Biden and House Republicans reached an agreement to lift the debt ceiling until January 2025, setting the stage for another potentially damaging fight just after the presidential election.

Earlier this year, Republicans—led by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)—used the need to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a catastrophic default as leverage to pursue sweeping federal spending cuts, more punitive work requirements for aid recipients, and other right-wing priorities.

Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said Tuesday that the credit downgrade "rests on the shoulders of Speaker McCarthy and the extreme MAGA Republicans who openly rooted for default."

"For years, Republicans were warned that their repeated brinksmanship and deficit-funded tax giveaways for the wealthy and big corporations would have consequences and now, for the second time in American history, Republican extremism and recklessness has undercut the American economy," said Boyle, referencing a 2011 downgrade by the ratings agency Standard & Poor's.

"We need to address the root cause of this downgrade: Congress must pass my Debt Ceiling Reform Act to put an end to Republican brinksmanship and hostage-taking once and for all," the congressman added.

Fitch said its decision to downgrade the United States' credit rating—a move that could increase borrowing costs for the federal government—stemmed from "a steady deterioration in standards of governance over the last 20 years, including on fiscal and debt matters."

"The repeated debt-limit political standoffs and last-minute resolutions have eroded confidence in fiscal management," the agency said.

Justin Wolfers, a professor of economics at the University of Michigan, wrote that the downgrade is "the direct result of a multi-decade campaign of fiscal vandalism and political sabotage by Republicans, and the rest of us are left footing the bill."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) expressed the same view, saying in a statement that "the downgrade by Fitch shows that House Republicans' reckless brinksmanship and flirtation with default has negative consequences for the country."

"Republicans need to learn from their mistakes and never push our country to the brink of default again," said Schumer.


(Full article online)

GOP's 'Fiscal Vandalism and Political Sabotage' Prompts Second-Ever US Credit Downgrade

"Republicans were warned that their repeated brinksmanship and deficit-funded tax giveaways for the wealthy and big corporations would have consequences," said one House Democrat.

www.commondreams.org

 

[Sixties Fan]

Leprosy now a big thing in Florida. Leave it to Republicans to bring disease and terror to America

I just don’t know what to think. We have some serious problems in this state and people actually back DeSantis? He is running all over the country saying he wants America to be Florida. His ratings have slipped but this man does not know how to even...

www.dailykos.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

 

[Sixties Fan]

 

[Sixties Fan]

As a Marine officer doing arms control negotiations, I saw how national security can be put at risk when politicians play games with filling leadership positions. Right now, Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville is blocking more than 200 military confirmations -- and just took five weeks off for Senate recess.

So this week, I put this op-ed in Fox News because I want Tommy Tuberville, my opponent Josh Hawley, and every other Senate Republican to see it.



This email is longer than usual, but I wanted to take a moment this morning to tell you what’s exactly going on and how it impacts service members, military families, and our national security. Will you please let me explain?

ADD A DONATION NOW TO HELP ME DEFEAT JOSH HAWLEY.

For the first time in over a century, the United States Marine Corps is without a Commandant -- the highest-ranking officer in the Corps. We're in this situation because Senator Tommy Tuberville has blocked hundreds of military promotions, including the Commandant's.

He claims he’s doing this because government funds have been made available to cover travel for some service members getting abortions. I spent 13 years as an active duty Marine (and am still a Lieutenant Colonel in the Reserves) and here is my personal take on the matter.

First, for a lot of us Marines, this just sucks. Going to the Commandant's house and meeting the Commandant during our initial six-month officer training called The Basic School is one of the highlights of that school.

The same can be said for Marines across the world and at every stage of their training or careers. The Commandant is a big deal for us -- someone we look up to, aspire to, and who gives us guidance. So not having a Commandant because some politician in D.C. wants to play games is a morale killer.

But the problem is much bigger than us not having a Commandant. Hundreds of other promotions are backed up with it. And that doesn't just suck -- that has a real impact on our troops and on national security.

Military life is hard. You move all the time, there's no certainty, there are lots of deployments, you work very long hours, but you do it because you believe in the mission and you believe in the country and taking care of the people who live here.

And now, because promotions aren't going through, people who've given decades of their lives to this country are being asked or forced to change their plans or not retire.The one thing they thought they had control over.

People are being frozen in place. They’re not getting the promotion they worked so hard for. Their kids don't know what school they're going to go to next year when the summer ends. Their spouses can't figure out their employment. The list goes on and on, and the impact of that is felt throughout the Corps.

This is wrong. Service members are being used for political leverage, the same way that these politicians recently used us veterans for political leverage by holding up the PACT Act -- which takes care of us for burn pit exposure we received in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's absolutely demoralizing to see them use us like this over and over and over again.

Senator Tuberville is quite literally punishing military families for things that other people have done that he doesn't like. It's shameful, it's selfish, and I'll be frank, it's stupid because it also damages our national security.

He goes out there and has the nerve to say that promotions and positions don't matter, an acting commander can do just as good a job, and be just as capable with or without the actual nomination going through.

Trust me though, rank and position do matter or they wouldn't exist.

I learned that myself when I was representing the US in arms control negotiations with NATO allies and Russia from 2016 to 2019. When you've got American officers with lower ranks going up against generals and admirals in critical meetings and negotiations, that matters.

Our allies, our partners, other countries, and our adversaries notice. Russia and China, they notice.

And now dozens, if not hundreds, of military officers are going to have to explain why the US is sending significantly lower ranks than their counterparts to critical meetings and negotiations around the globe.

When China sends a high-ranking general to meet with a third country and we send a one-star acting commander, that undermines our country, our position, and our national security. It's going to look like we don't care, it's going to look like we aren't serious, and people are going to question our country's resolve.

Weakening the position of our representatives overseas weakens our national security. Period. And that's exactly what Senator Tuberville is doing.

We need more folks right now in the media, in Congress, and especially in the Republican Party, to step up and say something -- and Senator Tuberville needs to stop putting his personal politics ahead of our troops and ahead of our national security.

These service members, veterans, and their families deserve to have someone looking out for them in the U.S. Senate -- and that’s just part of why I’m running to defeat Josh Hawley and flip this seat. But I can only win this race with help from groups like the PCCC.


Lucas Kunce

 

[Sixties Fan]

Alejandro Monteverde’s Sound of Freedom has generated two things in excess: cash (its domestic box office haul since its July 3 release has topped $155 million) and controversy. One month out, it persists. In the time since the movie was released, news broke that the fantastical movie’s real-life subject, Tim Ballard, left his anti-trafficking organization Operation Underground Railroad “after an internal investigation into claims made against him by multiple employees—something which OUR does not dispute,” according to a Vice report. Details of his departure have yet to leak.


The latest thing to make you go hmmmm involving this movie and the people who helped bring it to the public is the recent arrest of Fabian Marta, who bragged about helping fund the movie after Disney shelved it. According to the Missouri Courts website, Marta was charged July 21 with child kidnapping, a felony. According to Newsweek, which published his mugshot, Marta was arrested on July 23. “A person commits the offense of child kidnapping if he or she is not a relative of the child within the third degree and, knowing he or she has no right to do so, removes a child under the age of fourteen without consent of the child’s parents or guardian, or confines such child for a substantial period of time without such consent,” is how Marta’s charge is defined on the Missouri Revisor of Statutes.


(full article online )

'Sound of Freedom' Funder Fabian Marta Charged With Felony Child Kidnapping

A controversial movie about saving children from trafficking was helped off the ground by an Angel investor who's now accused of kidnapping one.

jezebel.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

 

[Sixties Fan]

Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down 'Jim Crow' Mississippi Felony Disenfranchisement Law

"Mississippi stands as an outlier among its sister states, bucking a clear national trend in our nation against permanent disenfranchisement."

www.commondreams.org

 

[Sixties Fan]

Habitat loss, pollution, climate change, and disease are putting an estimated one million species worldwide at risk, but that isn't stopping Republicans from trying to overrule government experts on protecting individual species. In news that should shock no one, conservative lawmakers have stepped up yearslong efforts to weaken the critical act, backed by — you guessed it — wealthy landowners and industry groups that contend it stifles precious property rights and almighty economic growth.


(full article online)

After helping prevent extinctions for 50 years, the Endangered Species Act itself may be in peril

Fifty years after the US Endangered Species Act took effect, officials say 99% of the animals and plants it protects have survived. But some scientists and activists fear the act itself is in trouble.

apnews.com

 

[Sixties Fan]

As feds look to cut red tape, more local governments are CURBING wind and solar

You read that right, folks. While federal lawmakers are looking for ways to make it easier to build wind turbines, solar panels, and transmission lines at a fast enough clip to meet growing demand and offer a serious enough alternative to fossil fuels to bend the curve on planet-heating emissions, local governments across the country — mostly Republican — have worked hand-in-hand with the fossil fuel industry to counter those efforts, with rapidly multiplying zoning restrictions on wind and solar that threaten to shrink how much land is actually available for generating zero-carbon electricity.


(full article online)

As Feds Look To Cut Red Tape, More Local Governments Are Curbing Wind And Solar

The number of counties with ordinances on wind turbines quadrupled from 2018 to 2022, a new federal study found.

news.yahoo.com

 

[DudleySmith]

https://twitter.com/MarkJacob16

With all the arguments over whether MAGA Republicans are fascists, I reread William Shirer’s “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” to see how much the rise of Hitler and the rise of MAGA smell similar. Conclusion: They do. This thread lists 10 ways. Please take a look.

1. A big lie about treachery is used to foment resentment. Nazis: We didn’t really lose World War I. It was a “stab in the back” by Jews and other "November criminals." MAGA: We didn’t really lose the 2020 election. It was a “steal” by politicians and Blacks in big cities.




2. There’s an obsession with purity of the culture. Nazis: “Racial mixture” was a threat to Aryan culture, Hitler wrote. MAGA: “Great replacement theory” says immigrants threaten white culture.



3. Chaos is something to be exploited, not addressed. Nazis: Economic distress is a great political opportunity. MAGA: Economic distress is a great political opportunity.



4. The super-rich bankroll the right-wing seizure of power. Nazis: Thanks to I.G. Farben, Deutsche Bank, Thyssen, Krupp, etc. MAGA: Thanks to the Mercers, Uihleins, DeVos, Thiel, etc.



5. Some people think the fascist threat is overblown. Nazis: While Hitler posed a major threat, some said he "ceased to be a political danger.” (2 weeks later, he was chancellor.) MAGA: While Trump poses a major threat, many people think it’s “just politics,” no worries.


6. There’s a cult of personality. Nazis: The German army made a pledge of loyalty to Hitler personally. MAGA: Trump’s supporters bill him as “the most moral president” in U.S. history.



7. Christianity is used to legitimize the movement. Nazis: “The party stands for positive Christianity.” MAGA: Trump is described as the “Chosen One” protecting American Christianity.





8. Books are the enemy. Nazis: Any book that “acts subversively on our future” must be burned. MAGA: “I think we should throw those books in a fire,” says a Virginia school board member.




9. An independent news media is the enemy. Nazis: Any newspaper that “offends the honor and dignity of Germany” must be banned. MAGA: The press is the “enemy of the people.”



10. Educators are pressured to be politically compliant. Nazis: Teachers took an oath to “be loyal and obedient to Adolf Hitler.” MAGA: Florida’s DeSantis accuses teachers of “indoctrination” and pressures them to avoid references to America’s racist history and LGBTQ people.



I'm not saying that MAGA will end up as horrifically as Nazism. I am saying that America 2022 feels too much like Germany 1932, and I don't want to take the risk of watching MAGA cultism play out. We have to stop it now.



Why did Twitter put a “sensitive” warning on this thread? Who knows? My only theory is that it has a “hateful symbol”—a swastika on the cover of Shirer’s book about Nazism.

lol Everything you posted is stuff Democrats do every day now in their banana republic coup. Too bad not even you fall for this weak attempt at projection.