Claims And Issues

From an American Author to Martin Niemoeller in 2024.

 

First they came for books of fiction, and I did not speak out because I was not a fiction writer.

 

Then they came for memoirs, and I did not speak out because I was not a writer of memoirs.

 

Then they came for children’s books, and I did not speak out because I did not write children’s books.

 

Then they came for my books, and there was no one left to read them.

 

 

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2024 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.  Interested in more Claims and Issues?  Interested in many things including Claims and Issues?  Check out my Substack newsletter. 

 

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NEXT TIME.

It will happen again.

Four people were shot to death in a school in Georgia.  Two are reportedly students; two are reportedly teachers.  None of them returned home.

          Other people were injured because they were also shot in the school in Georgia.  They are in the hospital.  They are not in school today.

          Next time a person with a rifle and ammunition may murder people from a hotel window in Las Vegas, Nevada.

          Next time a person with an assault rifle and ammunition may murder scores of children and their teachers in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

          Or in Newtown, Massachusetts.

          Next time, a person with an automatic rifle and ammunition may murder lots of people at the Mall of the Americas.

          Or at a mall near you.

          Or in a movie theater.

          Or in your church or in your synagogue.

          But no-one should pretend to be surprised when it happens again.  It will happen again.

          Something else may not happen, though.  It may be that nothing will be done to stop it from happening the next time, nothing by those who alone have the power to stop it.

          There may be marches and protests after the next time.  Perhaps even after this time.  The marches and protests may even draw the attention of a nation, as they did in the wake of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

          There may be overwhelming support among the people for something to be done, for the next time not to happen next time or ever.  There is overwhelming popular support for that now.

          But it is not enough.  We know that it is not enough because it keeps happening.

          I have no doubt that Almighty God hears the prayers of the people.  But God works through people and the people have not yet stopped this.

          It will happen again.

          Unless.

          Unless justice rolls down the mountainside like a mighty river, to borrow an image from the Prophet Amos.  Unless the people refuse any longer to accept their representatives’ excuses or, heaven forbid, the emptiness of ‘thoughts and prayers.’

          Unless the people demand that gun dealers and manufacturers stop selling their automatic rifles and ammunition to children, or to psychopaths, or to cartels in this country or in foreign places.

          Unless the Second Amendment is respected as something more than a shroud for the bodies of infants mutilated by gunfire.

          Unless these shadows are altered, it will happen again.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2024 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.  Check out my Substack newsletter.

SLAPP THEM SILLY! FELLOW TRAVELERS, WELCOME TO THE 2024 ELECTION.

A center at Stanford University for the study of misinformation and disinformation – let's just call it all propaganda so that we actually know what

(Image by Gridview-imagefull, FDACS)  we are talking about – has had to shut down because of the legal fees it has incurred.

 

          Stanford has issued a statement that the center will continue, but the center will not investigate propaganda any longer.

          Legal fees have been an instrument of propaganda for some time now.  The idea at work is that propaganda enthusiasts file lawsuits against their targets and force the targets to incur attorney's fees, whether the lawsuits have merit or not.  They usually don't have merit, according to the American Bar Association (may be behind a paywall)  which examined these Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation or SLAPP lawsuits.

          31 States and the District of Columbia reportedly have passed legislation, called Anti-SLAPP laws, which are designed to counter these lawsuits.  State Courts do not seem to encounter any problems applying Anti-SLAPP laws, but Federal Judges argue whether or not they should apply the laws in Federal Court; some judges do, some don't.  That stands to reason, what with so many people appointed to the Federal bench during the American Apocalypse between January 20, 2017 and January 19, 2021.

          SLAPP lawsuits, Federal judges refusing to enforce State Anti-SLAPP laws, and fees charged by lawyers are turned into weapons of destruction.  Not even Vladimir Putin and the KGB could have planned that better.

          Hmmm.  There's a thought worth thinking about.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2024 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

PLENTY TO DO ABOUT JUSTICE ALITO'S BEHAVIOR. JUSTICE THOMAS'S TOO.

Now that Chief Justice Roberts has blown off the fearsome letter that Dick Durbin wrote to him asking the Chief Justice to do something about Associate Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas and their alleged ethical improprieties, I am reprinting my article, WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT JUSTICE ALITO'S BEHAVIOR?  PLENTY,  ACTUALLY.

          Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch offers this suggestion, which I will gladly add to the suggestions I wrote in my article.  I am always glad to quote Mr. Bunch:  "There should be nationally televised Senate hearings and aggressive use by the Senate Judiciary Committee of its subpoena power."

          Let's do it, Senator Durbin, let it be so.  And if Senator Durbin is not up to the task, let individual Senators and Members of Congress such as Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Representative Jamie Raskin, who have expressed themselves so well on the topic of Justice Alito's and Justice Thomas's continuing refusals to recuse themselves, hold televised regular press conferences and appearances to highlight the things that they are willing to say.

          To act until the work is done.  Let it be done.  Not just by Senators and Members of Congress, but by the rest of us Americans.  See the many suggestions for action in WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT JUSTICE ALITO'S BEHAVIOR?  PLENTY, ACTUALLY.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2024 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT JUSTICE ALITO'S BEHAVIOR? PLENTY, ACTUALLY.

Justice Alito has unmistakably told us that he is partial to Their Furor.  Take a leaf from the famous Maya Angelou quote, and when somebody tells you who they are, believe them.  Going a step further, we can respond to his behavior in many ways, and all of the responses suggested here are not only legal but pro-American.

Televise, advertise, and recognize.  This first suggestion involves one thing with may permutations:  Demand that Justice Alito recuse himself from the Furor-related cases such as the immunity case pending in the Supreme Court.

          Officials already have the means to summon newspapers and cable media to their press conferences.  They should hold at least one press conference every day and demand recusal until Justice Alito recuses or refuses.

          Groups can and should hold recusal events and advertise them.  One location might be the steps of the Supreme Court or if armed guards make standing on the steps impossible, stand on the sidewalk.

          Press releases for press conferences and coverage of all these events are open to all.

          Follow Their Furor's lead in getting coverage for your events.  Getting coverage is perhaps the one thing they do well.  Follow their lead.  There is something to learn from them in this way.

Freedom of Information Act.  Send FOIA requests for information to the Supreme Court as to Justice Alito's refusal to recuse specifically, and why and when recusal is indicated generally.

Letters to the Editor, Texts, Email  campaigns.  The Sierra Club and Indivisible and Third Act encourage their members to participate in LTE, Texting, and EMail campaigns for purposes like protecting the environment.  I know because I receive their Email invitations.  Add this cause to your campaigns.

Occupy the Internet.  Let Substack newsletters, websites and blogs carry the message of recusal.  Let them add to the overwhelming sound of recusal.

          In the end, you will feel better about yourself.  So will I.  Where do we sign up?

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2024 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

THEY KNOW HOW STRONG WE ACTUALLY ARE. THAT'S THE TRUTH.

If Their Furor was confident about being on trial in NYC, we wouldn't be seeing surrogates pop up outside of the courthouse to mouth the things he tells them to say, but cannot say himself thanks to the Order of the Court not to put people in danger by saying such things.

          The surrogates constantly show up, although their parts are played by different actors in a rotating repertory, let's call them the Scum Pistols.

          If Their Furor was confident about being on trial in NYC, Their Furor would not put in an order for the Scum Pistols to show up.

          That's how we know how strong we really are.  It's the fact that Their Furor and his gang know that they will not be heard unless they show up all the time (sometimes wearing the same costumes such as matching blue suits and red ties).

          There are more of us than there are of them.

          And they know it.  That's why they travel to NYC to stand outside of a courthouse, then go away again whence they came.

          Do we know our own strength? 

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2024 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

THREE THINGS I AM THINKING ABOUT ON THE FIRST OF MAY.

I plan to expand on these thoughts, but for now I want to throw them out to you and to me for us to think about.

1. The reaction of people in power to the campus protests over Gaza and Israel has revealed that universities and colleges have shifted their focus.  Universities are now for money not for students.  School presidents are calling the cops because their rich donors want the students to get off their lawns, literally.  In the vast majority of cases, there is no violence until the police arrive on campus.  Students who paid tuition are arrested as trespassers but once arrested, most of them are released because there are no charges against most of them.  Even the New York Police Department says that the protestors they have encountered have been nonviolent and peaceful. 
2. People in charge are willing to use violence if they can get away with it.  It once was unthinkable that people in charge would call the cops on other people who are not injuring anyone or destroying property, just because the people in charge are afraid.   The people in charge who do this will not do it themselves, however; they are only willing to use violence on you if they can use others to commit violence for them.
3. The Washington, D.C. Police stand tall.  They know how to deal with protestors; they are experienced in handling protests.  When the people in charge at George Washington University called the cops to arrest student protestors, the Police said "no."  The police in Washington, D.C. said that they would not arrest people who had done nothing wrong.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2024 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

OUTSIDE AGITATORS.

"Outside agitators."  That's who George Corley Wallace blamed for all the civil rights troubles in the 1960's.

          It wasn't true then.  (Not unless you count the students from Northern universities who travelled to Mississippi for Freedom Summer in 1964 to help register Black people to vote.)

          I was never accustomed to taking guidance from George Corley Wallace, and I am not accustomed to taking guidance from his ghost now.

          I was surprised that university presidents do, until I realized they are not really university presidents, not in the academic sense.  For the most part, they are  not academics.  Today, university presidents are fund raisers.  That is how they get to become university presidents:  They can raise money.

          University fund raisers are afraid of their billionaire funding donors.  That makes the billionaires the real outside agitators today.  It is they who are responsible for the police riots that are reportedly taking place on university campuses with hundreds of students arrested across the nation from New York to California, tear gas and rubber bullets at Emory in Atlanta, and everywhere tents and personal property being destroyed or confiscated by men and women wearing uniforms.

          However many "outside agitators" successfully elude detection at the entrances to universities today, the real violence-causing outside agitators are the ones who write the checks and the ones who cash them.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2024 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

THE THIRD DAY, AND HEREIN OF THE FEDERAL ELECTIONS COMMISSION.

It was all over on Monday as it turns out.  They came, they parked here, they tore up the road one street over.  Then they left and haven't been back. 

          No notice that they were coming.  No idea when they will come back.  The invasion is on hold.  But it is a good bet that they will be back.  This is America in 2024.

          That brings me to the Federal Elections Commission.  It is one example of how our federal government does not function, and it presents a real opportunity to go big or go home.

          The FEC declined to investigate – not declined to prosecute, mind you, but declined to investigate – a complaint that campaign funds in at least two elections were illegally used to fund various activities and people with respect to running a so-called "ghost" candidate in Florida.  A "ghost" candidate is a person who has say the same last name as a real candidate of the opposing party, in these cases, the opposing party's candidates are Democrats and the funders are Republicans.   In one of these cases, the ghost candidate not only did not campaign but fled to Sweden.

          The FEC declined to investigate the funding concerning these ghost candidates because the Republican members of the FEC voted to reject the recommendation of their general counsel to investigate this stuff, presumably because these shenanigans involved Republicans running for office who ended up being elected.  Well, what is to be done?

          It is up to Congress to abolish the FEC, but the Republicans in Congress don't give out much confidence that they will actually act.  The President, on the other hand, presumably could remove Commissioners.  Here in Florida, Ron DeSantis has removed State Attorneys who will not enforce his laws, one of whom was just critical of DeSantis's abortion laws but did not say he would not enforce them.  Since when does Ron DeSantis have more power than the President of the United States?

          So, Joe, consider removing Federal Election Commissioners who voted in favor of illegally funding federal elections by voting against their own lawyer's recommendation to investigate the allegedly illegal funding.  If they sue, let them.  Ron DeSantis has come up with his own defense funds after the State Attorneys he removed have sued him.  Surely you can raise defense funds as well.

          In the end, the ideal solution will be to eliminate every commission, agency, and appointed group that does not function because of so-called "politics," although it's hard to believe that saying "it's politics" is just another way of saying "it's illegal."  Since politics keeps good things from seeing the light of day in Congress, however, at the present time perhaps the best remaining alternative is to consider removing the people who perpetrate these wrongs.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2024 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

"IT'S THE DICTA, STUPID."*

*With apologies again to Mr. James Carville, who famously said during one of the successful Clinton campaigns, "It's the economy, stupid."

Dicta is a word that lawyers use to describe the opinions of judges that go beyond what they need to say to decide the case that confronts them.  To paraphrase Black's Law Dictionary, a standard text for many lawyers, dicta are opinions of judges concerning matters which are not necessarily involved in nor essential to determine the case presently before the court.

          In the course of enticing all justices to agree that a candidate of a certain persuasion should remain on all ballots, 5 judges went beyond that case to declare how and why candidates in future cases should not remain on the ballot (which most legal scholars say is self-evident from the Fourteenth Amendment and which did not need to be rewritten).

          When the U.S. Supreme Court took this case, they limited their review to whether they should affirm or reverse the Supreme Court of Colorado.  The Colorado Supreme Court, you will recall, had held that the Fourteenth Amendment barred this particular candidate in this particular case from the Republican primary ballot in Colorado.

          That is what the U.S. Supreme Court said that they would review.  That narrow question.  Of course, as lawyers know, the question of affirmance or reversal on the facts of the particular case is everything that a reviewing court can ever determine without issuing an advisory opinion.

          Here is what the 9 said they ruled on together.  You may or may not agree with it, but you can certainly read it for yourself.  They don't want you to read it for yourself, you know.  Every good trial lawyer, and any lawyer or person for that matter, knows that when they don't want you to look at something, you should look at it.  Read this for yourself:

          A group of Colorado voters contends that Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution prohibits former President Donald J. Trump, who seeks the Presidential nomination of the Republican Party in this year's election, from becoming President again. The Colorado Supreme Court agreed with that contention. It ordered the Colorado secretary of state to exclude the former President from the Republican primary ballot in the State and to disregard any write-in votes that Colorado voters might cast for him.

* * *

Because the Constitution makes Congress, rather than the States, responsible for enforcing Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates, we reverse.

Trump v. Anderson, ___ U.S. ___, ___ S. Ct. ___, 2024 WL 899207, at *1 (U.S. March 4, 2024).

          The U.S. Supreme Court was previously pretty consistent in stating the view that it is or was limited under Article III of the Constitution to the existence of a controversy, and that, unlike State Supreme Courts, the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal courts lacked the power to issue advisory opinions.

          Based on preexisting precedent, the U.S. Supreme Court is accordingly prohibited by the Constitution from issuing an advisory opinion on what action Congress should take to enforce Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates.  So there were very strong grounds before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in this case that it would be limited to deciding whether the Supreme Court of Colorado was right or wrong in this particular case.  Period.  End of report.

          Instead, the joint opinion of the 5 rewrote the Fourteenth Amendment to the satisfaction of the 5.  But this is not how all 9 think about the issue they decided, and it is certainly not the view of the other 4 who decided the narrow question of whether this particular candidate in this particular case would remain on the ballot.

          So the command of the 5 to Congress on how to implement Section 3 against federal officeholders and candidates is dicta.

          That is what it is.  Meaning no offense but stating it clearly:  "It's the dicta, stupid."

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2024 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

CRUELTY IS THE POINT: ESPECIALLY CHILDREN AND THE POOR IN FLORIDA.

They can't fight back.

The State of Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration reportedly has filed a federal case so that it can kick children off a federally subsidized children's health insurance program when their parents do not pay premiums.

The Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid issued Guidance in 2023 that said the opposite.  (As I understand it, Guidance is not binding, but it is a statement by a Federal agency of how it intends to enforce a law.)  Well the Agency for Health Care – Health Care, seriously? – Administration was having none of that, so they filed their lawsuit to be able to stop children from receiving benefits under the program, called KidCare, because the children's parents did not pay the premiums.  This in the context of a program where the parents and children are already poor, which is why the children were signed up for the benefits in the first place.

These reports may not be accurate, but on the other hand, this is Florida under a regime.  So there should be no surprise if the reports are true.

BTW:  In the meantime, Florida is reportedly one of 10 States that have rejected the expansion of Medicaid benefits to poor people.  Call it all Florida Exceptionalism.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2024 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

OPINION BILLIONAIRES

"Opinion billionaires."  Filthy rich people who send automobiles into outer space and oligarchs that give presents to judges who do not report them as the gifts they are.  I like that phrase, "opinion billionaires."  It describes them.

These are people who are so out of touch with the way we live that they might as well come from a different country.  Effectively, they do come from a different country.  Why in the world should we pay attention to them when they tell us what we should think, how we should live, or what we should vote for?  They know so little about us.

Rebecca Solnit put it this way recently:  "Being a billionaire tends to isolate you from the rest of humanity, and too often places you in an echo chamber of your own making; it's arguably a disqualification for participating in the affairs of ordinary people."

I hadn't quite thought of these people in those terms.  They know so little about us and everything about themselves.  There may not be much to "argue" about this as a disqualification for participating in the affairs of ordinary people.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2023 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.   

U.S. SENATE RULES ARE UNDEMOCRATIC. AND THEY ARE UNSAFE.

The rules of the United States Senate are anti-democratic.  And unsafe.

    One senator can stop military officers from being promoted, even to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  Even when that one senator has never served in the military, like Tommy Tuberville.

    One senator can also endanger the national security by putting a block on the appointment of diplomats from the United States to any other country.  That senator -- Rand Paul -- was never a diplomat, any more than Tuberville was ever a soldier, sailor, marine, or airman but he too is allowed to endanger the security of the United States because of the rules of the United States Senate.

    If the current Majority Leader of the United States Senate does not have the votes to change this rule, he should at least denounce this rule and call a vote to make it public even if he loses.

    If the current Leader cannot even call a vote, he should step aside and let someone else do the work.  Senator Chuck Schumer, leave the job to someone else if you can't do it.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2023 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

STAND BY OUR FBI AGENTS (AND OUR JUDGES) TODAY.

Here's a blowback to the noise attacking the FBI and Federal Judges after the search warrant was executed at Mar-A-Lago:   Senators and Representatives go and have your picture taken with FBI Agents to show your support.  To show that you have their backs.

You probably will have a tougher time doing this with judges, so as for judges, say supportive things.  Things like it is madness and evil to threaten federal judges, any judges.  Any time, for anything, anywhere.

You say there are no Members of Congress in Washington, D.C., they are all on August Recess right now?  They can still get the media attention they so clearly crave.  Then have them go to their local FBI Office and stand in the doorway and have their picture taken with FBI Agents to show that they have the back of FBI Agents.

You say that very few Republicans who hold office in Washington, D.C. will stand with FBI Agents right now?  Liz Cheney might; Adam Kinzinger might, others might as well.  Then tell Democrats to stand with FBI Agents and have their pictures taken showing that they support our FBI Agents right now.

Do something positive.  Make a contribution to our country.  Do good.  Now that's what I call pushback against the madness and the evil.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

"SPEAK NO EVIL" MEANS RECONCILIATION vs. MURDER ON FIFTH AVENUE.

Chuck Schumer told me something last night.  Actually, it's what he did not say that educated me.  Speaking of one of America's most vocal politicians, that is saying something about Chuck Schumer, that he did not speak.

Last night on cable TV Schumer declined to answer about the search warrant on The Grievance Boy's Florida residence while TGB was back in New York City.  That was understandable, under the circumstances.

But then Schumer was asked a different question right after that one.  He was asked about threats made by Kevin McCarthy against the Attorney General of the United States, and the Senator declined to answer.

That was his instinct, Speak No Evil.  (I have no doubt that when instinct has passed, Senator Schumer will have something to say, but that will not change his instinctive reaction, the reaction he has when he is caught without time to reflect, so to speak.)

Compromise led to reconciliation only a couple of days ago.  A bill passed the Senate this weekend because Senator Schumer and President Biden lined up all 50 senators who call themselves "Democrats" to vote for it.   Compromise meant not saying anything bad about anyone whose vote you wanted.

They won't vote for your bill if they are  offended by what you say.  Even if what you say is the truth.  Perhaps especially if what you say is the truth.  So Speak No Evil is the order of the day or there will be no compromise, no reconciliation.

This was Chuck Schumer's instinct.  Speak No Evil.  I do not mean to single out Senator Schumer.  Speak No Evil is also President Biden's default, and it was President Obama's instinct too.  Speak No Evil.  You can't compromise if you Speak The Truth. 

Speak No Evil led to reconciliation.  Speak No Evil also leads to insurrection.  As we have seen, an instinct that Speaks No Evil encourages Evil to Speak and to take action.  There are limits on speaking no evil, you know.  If you don't see the limits, it's Murder on Fifth Avenue if your instinct is to watch and say nothing.

Just watch.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

IT IS DIFFICULT TO REASON WITH AN AGENDA.

It has been rightly said, including here, that Justice Samuel Alito of the United States Supreme Court actually says that he doesn't care about what State Constitutions, Governors, and Courts have to say about federal elections.  As we shall no doubt see this Fall when the current majority on the Supreme Court takes up the case of Moore v. Harper, in their view and his there are only two deciding views on electing U.S. representatives and senators:  State "legislatures" and of course the federal Supreme Court on which they all sit right now.

This may not be the entire picture, singling out Justice Alito, that is.  He is prominent because Justice Clarence Thomas, who assigns the "major questions" opinions, assigns them more often than not  to Justice Alito.  The opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, for example, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.  Removing a Constitutional right from Americans was short work not only for Alito, but for his followers too.

And that's the point.  So much has been made of the agenda pursued by the previous administration in so many attention-getting areas – making money, overthrowing the Constitution, putting children in cages are examples – that it is often overlooked that the previous administration appointed three Justices to join the Alito-Thomas majority.  I do not mean that this development has not been noticed.  Heaven only knows that the words that have been written about this development probably rival the word count of War And Peace.

No, what I mean to focus on, is the development that the newly empowered majority on the U.S. Supreme Court have an agenda and they will not be moved from it.  Only now, since Dobbs and the stripping of a Constitutional right for the first time in U.S. history, is attention being paid:  They do not listen, and neither do they hear.  They do exactly what they want to do, nothing less.  I would encourage listening to what they say about what they are going to do, except that these same people all said something different in their confirmation hearings when they were asked if they would uphold Roe v. Wade as the law of the land, remember?

"Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me."

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

"THE ENEMY WITHIN," by ROBERT F. KENNEDY.

In 1960, Robert F. Kennedy published The Enemy Within, a book about corruption.

In July 2022, reports came out that the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security knew for months that Secret Service agents had deleted text messages from the day the insurrection tried to overturn the U.S. Government, and from the day before that, namely, from January 5 and 6, 2021.  That was roughly 18 months.  To say again, the IG of Homeland Security reportedly knew that for months but did not tell Congress until recently.

Also in July 2022, it was reported publicly for the first time that the IG of Homeland Security knew for months that the Acting Director of Homeland Security and the Acting Deputy Director of Homeland Security on January 6, 2021 deleted their texts too.  That was a year-and-a-half.  To say again, the IG of Homeland Security knew that for months as well, but he just told Congress now.

There's more.  In July 2022 it was reported that the IG of Homeland Security stopped his tech experts from trying to retrieve the text messages that were deleted by the Secret Service, and maybe by the high officials at Homeland Security, too.

The Acting Director of Homeland Security on January 6, 2021 – which oversees the Secret Service – was appointed by the previous administration, the one that was trying to stay in power that day.

The Acting Deputy Director of Homeland Security on January 6, 2021 was also appointed by the previous administration, the one that was trying to stay in power that day.

The head of the Secret Service on January 6, 2021 was another person appointed by the previous administration, the one that was trying to overthrow the U.S. Government that day.  He is still in that job.

The Inspector General of Homeland Security on January 6, 2021 (and today) was appointed by, well, you guessed right if you guessed the previous administration.  He is still in office too.

That makes at least 4 appointees of the previous administration that reportedly had a hand in deleting their text messages from the day when an insurrection tried to keep these people and everyone else in the  previous administration in power:

1. The Acting Director of Homeland Security.
2. The Acting Deputy Director of Homeland Security.
3. The Head of the Secret Service, and
4. The Inspector General of Homeland Security.

So far as we know right now, only the Inspector General of Homeland Security reportedly further instructed his tech experts not to try to retrieve the supposedly lost text messages.  His tech experts had offered to retrieve the texts but were apparently told not to.

The Enemy Within.  What do you think Robert F. Kennedy would write about today?

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

"STAYED AROUND, LAYED AROUND, THIS OLD TOWN TOO LONG. SUMMER'S …

ALMOST GONE" BUT A YEAR AND A HALF LATER, THE HOLDOVERS FROM THE PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATION ARE STILL HERE.  WHY IS THAT?

There seems to be some question whether the Secret Service  deleted texts.   

Of course they did.

This episode highlights more than that the SS deleted potentially key texts about their actions and the actions of others, on 1/6 and before.  It highlights who apparently just resigned as their head.  He was appointed by  the Grievance Boy in 2019, I believe it was,  to head the Secret Service.

Why was he still there into July 2022?  18 or 19 months he stayed in power, depending on how you count the months since January 2021.

This incident also highlights the fact that the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security is also an appointee of the Grievance Boy.  He is still there in July 2022.

Why is he still there into July 2022?

That brings to mind the U.S. Postmaster General, Mr. DeJoy.  He became U.S. Postmaster General by giving lots of money to the Grievance Boy, and he tried to dismantle the postal system in a pandemic and during a Presidential Election when many voters depended on mail-in ballots to avoid the plague.

 I understand that President Biden needed a Postal Board majority to vote to get rid of Mr. DeJoy.  Now he's got the majority.  President Biden has had a majority on the Postal Board  for months.  DeJoy is still there in July 2022.

Why into July 2022?

This is not they way I thought it would be when I voted for you, Joe Biden.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

#UVALDE #BUFFALO THE McCONNELL GANG VOTES AGAINST MAKING DOMESTIC TERRORISM ILLEGAL.

Less than 2 weeks after a White terrorist murdered 10 people in Buffalo, and within 2 days after another White supremacist gunned down 19 children and 2 of their teachers in Uvalde, Texas, the Republican organization in Washington, D.C. (can't call them a party, can we?) voted in the U.S. Senate against making domestic terrorism illegal.

The only think I can figure is that voting against domestic terrorism might have cut into a big part of the McConnell Gang's base.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

DIRECT ACTION #DEMOCRATS, LIKE @BetoORourke CHALLENGING ABBOTT AT HIS PRESS PARTY.

Direct action is a legacy concept, perhaps, and may require explanation.  It comes from the days when the Vietnam War was on and people opposed it.  Some of those people took direct action to register their opposition to the War, such as burning draft cards, pouring fake blood on draft records,  and even things like Country Joe and the Fish singing certain songs.

Yesterday Greg Abbott, current Governor of Texas, held a party for the press.  He invited the most prominent Republicans of Texas to be on the stage with him.  There for example was Rafael "Ted" Cruz, late of Cancun.

Beto O'Rourke, who is running for the Democratic nomination to oppose Mr. Abbott, interrupted Abbott's choreographed party for the press.  That was after Abbott intoned in essence that nothing could be done about the massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.  Nothing except talk about the mental health issues of people like the apparent shooter.

Beto O'Rourke interposed reality to say that "Yes, there is something to be done:  Stop selling AR-15's!"  That didn't fit into the choreography of the event, needless to say.  For that, Mr. O'Rourke was escorted out of Mr. Abbott's press party.

Direct action seems to be making something of a comeback.  And it should.  Direct action helped to stop Americans dying in Vietnam.  Direct action can help to stop Americans dying in America too.

Democrats and all people who are fed up with choreographed events that are pre-programmed for friendly venues and obedient audiences, be advised:  Choreography and pre-programming are not normal.  They are not American. 

Direct action!  From now through November and beyond.  Direct action!  Be alive and active.  Like Americans are born to be.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2022 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved. 

OR, JOE TO PROGRESSIVES: NO BBB, SO BIF.

The members of the House Progressive Caucus did not vote for the Infrastructure Act because they thought Build Back Better (BBB) would pass.

          They voted for it because President Joe Biden told the Progressives that the Build Back Better Act would not pass.

          Let me explain.  After being told for months that the two bills, the BBB and the BIF would pass together if at all, I believe that last week the House Progressive Caucus was told that the BBB would never pass the Senate because of Manuchin and Synema who for their part have never  committed to much of anything.

          If this is what happened, then Joe told the Progressives, begged them, to vote for the so-called Bipartisan Infrastructure Act a/k/ Corporate Infrastructure Act to replace the prevailing negative propaganda with a new narrative, one that says that the Democratic Party is in charge, can get things done, and so on.

          Joe told them that, or something very much like it.  Nancy told them that.  Pramila told them that.

          So the Progressive Democrats voted for the Infrastructure Act even though they do not like it.  They voted for it because their President asked them to, begged them to.

          With their votes, Joe has a win.  But he does not have the BBB.  And it bears repeating:  It is not likely now that he ever will.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2021 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

HOUSE PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS VOTED TO GIVE THEIR PRESIDENT A WIN.

 

The members of the House Progressive Caucus did not vote for the Infrastructure Act because they thought Build Back Better (BBB) will pass.

          They voted for it because President Joe Biden told the Progressives that he needed a win, any win.

          During all of the months leading up to last week's vote, the House Progressive Caucus was told that the two bills would pass together if at all.

          Joe told them that.  Nancy told them that.  Pramila told them that.

          Then last week Joe told them that the BBB would never pass the Senate because of Manuchin and Synema. And he told them then that he needed a win, any win.

          So the Progressives voted for the Infrastructure Act even though they do not like it.  They voted for it because their President asked them to, begged them to.

          Joe and Nancy and Pramila still say that the BBB will pass.  They don't really believe it.

          The House Progressive Caucus is still told that the BBB will pass.  They don't really believe it, either.

          But the House Progressive Caucus alone made Joe's Infrastructure Act law.  Without their votes, Joe would not have had a win, any win.

          With their votes, Joe has a win.  But he does not have the BBB.  And it is not likely now that he ever will.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2021 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

THEY DON'T HAVE CONTROL OF THE U.S. SENATE.

(Black Hole.  Image by NASA)

           The Democrats really don't have 50 Senators.  They have 48.

          The Democrats really don't have control of the U.S. Senate.  That does not mean the Republicans do.

          (Blue Moon Over D.C.  Image by NASA)

         

          But the reality is that the Democrats don't have control of the U.S. Senate.

          (Senator Joe Manchin.  UPI)

No-one can seriously contend at this point that the Democrats control Joe Manchin or Kyrsten Sinema.  Chuck Schumer is the only one seriously contending that he is the Majority Leader 'cause he wants the perks including the office.

          The Democrats have 48 Senators in their Party.  They do not have any realistic influence with any of the remaining 52 Senators.

          (Supermoon Eclipse Over Washington, D.C.  Image by NASA)

         And that's the reality.  To borrow a phrase that fits, "And that's the rest of the story."

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2021 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

MORE TALES FROM THE CRYPT: ORDER PROVIDES ICE DETAINEES VACCINE, ....

.... BUT DEPARTMENT CLAIMING TO BE "JUSTICE" APPEALS TO REVERSE THE ORDER.

On June 23, 2021 a respected federal judge ruled that United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had to make COVID vaccinations available within 30 days detained immigrants in ICE custody who have chronic medical conditions, or disabilities, or are age 55 or older.  Download Fraihat v. U.S. ICE Doc. 318 Order Accepting Special Master's First Report and Recco June 23 2021 (C.D. Cal. No. 5.19.cv.01546.JGB.(SHKx))

          In this order, the federal judge only accepted the Special Master's First Report and Recommendations.  The Special Master is a retired judge.  Download Fraihat v. U.S. ICE Doc. 304 Special Master's First Report and Recco May 21 2021 (C.D. Cal. No. 5.19.cv.01546.JGB.(SHKx)).

          Here is what the Special Master recommended and what the federal judge accepted in his order to require ICE to:

1. Continue its efforts to work with the Special Master and Plaintiffs’ counsel to confirm that all subclass members have had a individualized and meaningful review to determine if release is warranted and to conduct redeterminations where necessary;
   2. Track the reasons for transfers of subclass members and provide that information to the Special Master and Plaintiffs’ counsel biweekly; and
   3. Make vaccinations available to all subclass members within 30 days of the order accepting and adopting this Report and Recommendation.

          This is not exactly the stuff of an appeal that is likely to be successful.  Particularly orders entered after a Special Master's Report by a retired judge.  There is nothing onerous about this order at all.

         Think of this.  Would you appeal it?  Would you recommend that anyone appeal it?  Why would anyone appeal this order to make vaccines available during a pandemic to people who are in U.S. ICE custody?  This is a notice of appeal that simply did not have any reason behind it and every reason against it.  The decision to file a notice of appeal never needed to be made here.

          Except that the Special Master's Report and Recommendations may have been embarrassing to ICE.  It detailed ICE's behavior, which people still at ICE may not want to be made public.  One way to quash these findings is to appeal them and have the order accepting them reversed on appeal.

          Avoiding embarrassment however has never been a reason for taking an appeal.  Not a good reason anyway.  And certainly not a good reason for the federal government to take an appeal.

          Sixty-one (61) calendar days after the judge's order was entered accepting the Special Master's detailed report and recommendations, on August 23, 2021 the department of justice decided to file a notice of appeal.  Download Fraihat v. U.S. ICE Doc. 329 Notice of Appeal by U.S. ICE August 23 2021 (C.D. Cal. No. 5.19.cv.01546.JGB.(SHKx))

          That looks suspiciously like the last day of what would otherwise be a 60-day deadline to appeal.  August 23rd was a Monday, the first available working or business day that an appeal likely could have been filed.  Smells like the last minute to any lawyer who ever filed a notice of appeal in a situation like this or, for that matter, ever faced any unpleasant deadline.

          In any case, the United States appealed an order to make COVID vaccine available to immigrants in the custody of ICE during a pandemic.  And not to all immigrants during a pandemic, either, but to immigrants in the custody of ICE who are most at risk of catching and spreading COVID, immigrants in the custody of ICE who have chronic medical conditions, disabilities, or are age 55 and older.

          The Acting Assistant Attorney General, BRIAN M. BOYNTON of the doj Civil Division, has already been profiled in this space.  For example, MR. BOYNTON participated in earlier decisions to try to quash a subpoena for testimony on the former Education Secretary BETSY DeVOS.  See DOJ UNFATHOMABLE SECRECY:  WHY TRY TO SHIELD HER FROM TESTIFYING?

          This time the notice of appeal from an order to provide vaccine to immigrants at risk to COVID in ICE custody was also signed by no less than six (6) other doj attorneys.  All of the six are apparently employed in the doj Office of Immigration Litigation.

          Unlike other doj employees previously profiled here, none of the Six went to Harvard Law.  However, all of the Six shared a resume line with every other doj lawyer profiled here for past actions, such as attempting to derail the E. Jean Carroll litigation against The Former Guy:  Every one of them worked in Bill Barr's department of justice and every one of them worked during the regime of The Former Guy.

          This is clearly a pattern under MERRICK GARLAND, who holds the current title of attorney general.  See IN MERRICK GARLAND'S DEPARTMENT, PROTECTING "CAREER YOUNG ATTORNEYS" MEANS "CYA."

         

To be continued ....

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2021 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

THEY'RE NOT JUDGES, THEY'RE "REPUBLICANS." (That's One Name For Them.)

(New York Public Library Collection)

The U.S. supreme court ruled 5 to 4 that a Texas law overturning Federal law could go into effect without a fight.  The 5 did not give their names.  But we know who they are.  Three were appointed by the former regime.  They all call themselves Republicans.

(New York Public Library Collection)         
Three federal judges in Texas cancelled a hearing scheduled by another judge to hear all sides in a case.  The three federal judges did not want to hear from all sides, apparently.  They did not sign their names.  But we know who they are.  Two were appointed by the former regime.    All three call themselves Republicans. 

 (Pacific Standard)          A judge in Michigan gave some people access to Dominion Voting software.   (In a break from the apparent practice, he signed his name to the opinion he wrote.)  It is not clear how, but somehow, the Dominion Voting software ended up on the internet ready to hack. The judge in Michigan calls himself a Republican.

          There is a pattern here.  Present-day media have not written much about it, but there is a pattern here. 

          They're not judges, they're "Republicans."  (That's one name for them.)

          They're not like any Republicans I have ever known.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2021 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.

IT'S NOT THE LAWYERS SO MUCH AS RELIEF THEY REQUEST.

This article was first published yesterday, June 16, 2021, on the Claims and Bad Faith Law Blog.  It is reprinted and update here with the permission and input of the author.

Voting Booths, Flag Banners.  (Common Ground Project)

I was wondering how the plaintiffs got rulings so promptly in two cases recently, one in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and the other in the Northern District of Texas.  In both cases, the people who brought the lawsuits -- the plaintiffs -- were challenging federal laws that benefitted other groups of people to which they did not belong; the plaintiffs wanted federal money to go to them.

          They got quick rulings on their requests.  I was wondering about that, as I say.  I do not think it was because they had better lawyers, as much as it was about the kind of relief they requested.

          The plaintiffs requested preliminary injunctions.  Requesting that kind of relief ordinarily galvanizes a judge into action.  This is in contrast to, say, trying to get a court to enforce a Congressional subpoena, which as we have seen can take years, and it is in contrast to attempting to have a judge apply either of the emoluments clauses of the United States Constitution, which as we have seen may never happen at all.

          These two cases are not the end of plaintiffs challenging federal laws and policies in Courts; they are the beginning.  If the current administration including the current justice department is going to stop losing, they are going to have to be strategic.

          First, they must consider going on the offensive and file suit, whenever the opportunity arises, to enforce the laws instead of waiting for laws to be challenged.

          They should also consider the relief they request, and how long it will take to achieve their purpose in filing suit.  Let the plaintiffs in these cases be guides if not mentors, exactly; is there an opening to file suits to request preliminary injunctive relief?

          Say requesting a preliminary injunction to stop a fraudit from using actual ballots cast in federal elections, which as I understand it is against the law during this short timeframe since the November 2020 election?

          If someone wants to be more successful in litigation, be more strategic.  Your probable adversaries will be more strategic in filing lawsuits.  To that end, expect more lawsuits to be filed in the Northern District of Texas.  Be ready, by filing first in a forum which you, not they, select.

Please read the disclaimer.  ©2021 Dennis J. Wall.  All rights reserved.