Claims And Issues

'"SO IT'S ON TO CHICAGO, AND LET'S WIN THERE!"

Senator Robert F. Kennedy said that on June 5, 1968.  Right after he said that, he left the stage in a hotel in Los Angeles and walked through the kitchen.  He was murdered there.

          President Joe Biden is not Senator Robert F. Kennedy.  Judging by the frenzy surrounding Joe Biden's candidacy for re-election, that is his great sin in the eyes of many people, that he is not Senator Robert F. Kennedy.

          Full disclosure:  I am not now and never have been a big fan of Joe Biden as a candidate.  He is not my first choice to run for President.

          But he is an adequate candidate.  And he is a very good President.

          If as appears likely he stays in the race, consider the likely results.

          If he wins and dies in office, Vice President Kamala Harris would replace him automatically.  She is capable and we as a country can certainly make it  through four years with her as President.

          Or President Biden might win and become incapacitated while he is in office over the next four years.  That is why we have a 25th Amendment, and if he were removed because of incapacitation at any point during that time, once again Kamala Harris would become President Harris.

          Or President Biden might win and become too sick to serve for some of the next four years.  Everyone even his current critics concedes that Joe Biden loves this country, so if the 25th Amendment was not invoked then we can expect that he would step aside and once again, we would have President Harris.  (This scenario keeps repeating because that is why the Constitution requires a Vice President, someone to step into the office when the President no longer can.)

          If the other guy wins the Presidential election in 2024 (although if he won the popular vote this would be the first time in his career that he won the popular vote for anything), then the game is over.

          Likely, it will be over for many years if not forever.

          Given the likely outcomes of Joe Biden remaining in the 2024 Presidential election, my choice is Joe Biden.

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

"IT'S HARD FOR ME TO IMAGINE HOW THAT WAS ACCIDENTAL ...."

John Lewis had it right when he said that Their Furor was an illegitimate president.  That was John Lewis's reason for not going to the 2017 Inauguration.  He was so right.

          They should not have let Their Furor anywhere near the Oval Office, but they did, and here we are.  Now we are hearing that he was so busy being president that he did not have time to commit crimes, no matter what the evidence shows.

          "He was President of the United States."  "He was running the country."  These are supposed to be reasons that he should not be convicted of his crimes.

          His lawyers argue to a jury that he should not be convicted of a crime, but they do not emphasize his innocence.  Instead, they emphasize that he was the "leader of the free world" at the time and so should not go to prison.

          What the Judge said when he heard the lawyer's improper argument to the jury (so improper that the lawyer did not try to defend it), applies to the entire situation we are in:  "It's hard for me to imagine how that was accidental in any way."

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.

FOR A SPECIAL MEMORIAL DAY MONDAY HOLIDAY, REMEMBER YOU CARE.

In response to Justice Samuel Alito's taunts at freedom, our current officials have done little more than issue statements.  They are not in favor of Alito flying the flag upside down to support Their Furor, and then blaming it on his wife.  They are outraged by other reports of Justice Alito flying his biased positions on his flagpoles at his houses before he rules on actual cases involving crimes and immunities.  And so on and so on.   But other than issuing their statements and perhaps stamping their feet, they have not actually done anything about it so far as I know.

          This has been true, again so far as I know, of Dick Durbin, the current Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee; of Chuck Schumer, the current Senate Majority Leader; and Merrick Garland, the current Attorney General.  It seems that it is also true of the current President, Joe Biden.  At first I thought this might be due to their ages, but they are not so old:  President Biden is the oldest in this group, at 81; Durbin clocks in next, at 79; Schumer is 73, and Merrick Garland is a relatively spry 71.

          I compared the ages of this group to Representative Nancy Pelosi (84) and Senator Bernie Sanders (82) and age alone does not explain their level of energy, or in the case of the group, their lack of energy.

          What can we do to reply to Justice Alito's behavior?  It turns out that there is a lot that can be done, actually.  On Memorial Day of all days, it is good to remember that.  Check in here tomorrow for a bunch of positive suggestions, all of them legal and each  of them an appropriate way to honor the people who actually built this country.

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

"FAKE NEWS," DAVID PECKER, AND THE GREAT PROJECTION.

"Fake news."  We've heard about that for some 9 years now.  Yesterday we all learned – if we did not know already – where it came from.

          It's totally projection.  

          David Pecker testified yesterday that his publication, The National Enquirer, would make up good stories about one candidate and would make up bad stories about the candidate's opponents.  They would publish "fake news" (Mr. Pecker called it "embellish" the news) to help The Guy, and to hurt anyone else that The Guy fingered.  Sometimes they wouldn't even wait for the finger, they would make up the negative stories themselves, like they did about Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, and Hillary Clinton.

          "Fake news."  David Pecker.  And Projection.  When you live in a world where everything you publish is fake news, calling everything else "fake news" even though you know it isn't, comes naturally.

          "Fake news."   When you write it yourself, you may delude yourself that's what  everyone does for a living, not just David Pecker and you.

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

JOURNALISTS: DON'T YOU GET TIRED OF BEING USED?

The Hur report said that President Biden lost his memory.  It said that he couldn't even remember what day his son died.  Now we have the transcript.  Mr. Hur actually congratulated the President on having a photographic memory.    As for the date that the President's son died, the President not only remembered, he prefaced saying the date with, "Oh, God ...."  That lends credibility with a jury, which any honest trial lawyer knows.

          It turns out that the report was false and the transcript was true.  The news media says that it is shocked!  Shocked!

          Just a few years ago the same people, or at least the same kind of people, said that the Mueller report exonerated the Occupant of the Oval Office at the time.  Then we got the report.  Mr. Mueller actually wrote that the Occupant had participated in criminal activity but that Mueller would not charge a sitting president, following Department of Justice policy.

          It turns out that the press conference was false and the report was true.  The news media said that it was shocked!  Shocked!

          Journalists, don't you get tired of being used?

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

HEARSAY.

Katie Britt is infamously a U.S. Senator, among other things.  In her own words, she describes herself as a housewife.  She has been the subject of much reporting for her performance in trying to rebut President Joe Biden's State of the Union message last week. 

          I want to look at just one part of her performance, when she told a story of a person who, as she told the story, she herself had spoken with.  Ms. Britt said that the victim told her that she, the victim, had been put into sex trafficking by cartels when she was 12 years old.  Ms. Britt at least implied that the victim was an undocumented immigrant.

          Contacted by CNN, the victim herself corrected the story in an appearance of her own on television:  While it was true that she was involved in sex trafficking, it was not at the border and immigration policies had nothing to do with it;  she was repeatedly raped in the brothel where she worked.  The attacks upon her did not happen in the United States; they happened in Mexico.  They did not happen during President Biden's administration; they happened during George W. Bush's administration.

          I have not seen my question addressed in all the reporting since:  Did Katie Britt contact the victim of her story before she told her story?  Ms. Britt says that the victim herself told her this story.  If she did, I wonder why the victim herself would say, as she does,  that using her story for politics was "unfair" if she had been contacted in advance about using her story for politics.  So the likelihood seems to me to be that, at the least,  Katie Britt did not confirm any of this with the victim but that CNN contacted the victim to confirm any of this.

          There seems to be a moral here, and it is this:  It is always a best practice to engage your brain before you engage your mouth.  Here, that would have meant verifying the story before telling it – such as by contacting the purported victim, unless you intend to lie,  and asking her if all the details they told you to say are accurate.

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.

GEORGE WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY ...

... is no longer celebrated by itself.  It is a part of Presidents' Day of course, and it has been that way for a long time.  But to borrow a phrase from Edna St. Vincent Millay, I am not resigned.

          Nor am I resigned to lumping Abraham Lincoln's Birthday into the self-same Presidents' Day where we unload George Washington's Birthday as well – and for that matter, where we unload every single president including the ones that don't deserve to be celebrated.

          So here's to Old Abe and to the Father of His Country.  Long may their memories and examples live with us – both of them separate and identifiable for their honor, their integrity, and their character.

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

CNN: NOW OFFERING "THE MAGGOTS" BY THE GRIEVANCE BOY.

Remember watching "The Muppets" by Jim Henson?

    CNN's choice to replace that show is its new offering, "The Maggots" by the Grievance Boy.

    Early returns show "The Maggots" is doing well in what used to be called Kaliningrad.  That is a small city on the Baltic Sea where there is nothing else to do.  Although it is landlocked by surrounding democracies, it is ruled by the Russians.

    Back here in America, it's not going so well.   So many people are now literally turned off CNN.  Won't you join us?

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

IT'S NOT JAMES EARL JONES'S CNN ANY MORE.

Free air time for The Grievance Boy, the one the jury found is a Sex Harasser?  Why?

    The next question is can't he afford it?  (Maybe not?  Lots of people ask whether he has ever been anywhere near as rich as he claims.)

    Bigger Questions come after that:  What has he done to deserve it?  Start a violent insurrection, attempt to overthrow the U.S. government, ignore the U.S. Constitution?  And so much more of like kind and nature that it makes your head spin.

    So we come back to the biggest question of all for CNN:  Why?

    It's not James Earl Jones's CNN any more.  Nor is it mine.  I'm one of the many viewers who are boycotting CNN starting today.  We will end the boycott when CNN returns to America, if it ever does.

    Until then, alternative networks like MSNBC or PBS should make a home for people like Anderson Cooper and Jim Acosta.  Anderson Cooper in particular would make a good host for The Rachel Maddow hour from Tuesday through Friday when Rachel is not in front of the MSNBC camera.  That way, we can still watch Anderson Cooper.  But not until then.

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

KEVIN McCARTHY ON WALL STREET.

Kevin McCarthy has reportedly travelled to Wall Street to say that even though rejecting the "deadbeat ceiling" and defaulting on debts will hurt the bottom line, it is actually a good thing.

"Who are you here to see, George Santos?"—New York City.  "Never heard of him."—Anonymous.

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

MUCH MORE THAN TAKING FREE STUFF. IT'S THE NONDISCLOSURE, STUPID.

The reporting about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has until now been focused on Justice Thomas.  The focus should stay there.

Recent calls for a new "code of conduct" for Supreme Court Justices are a deflection from the focus on Justice Clarence Thomas.  A code of conduct for the Supreme Court may be necessary going forward, sadly.  That is largely but not entirely a result of the revelations about Justice Thomas, whether they are true or not.

And we have no denial from Justice Clarence Thomas or anyone else that while on our Supreme Court he has for decades accepted all sorts of lodging for free in all sorts of resorts all over the world from Indonesia to the Adirondacks, and all from one billionaire.

It is also largely a result of Justice Clarence Thomas taking free rides on yachts and on private airplanes, seemingly whenever he wants, all made possible by the same billionaire, and none of it reported for at least the past 19 years.

Some of it has never been reported by Justice Thomas.  It is only now being reported.  And the reporting is coming from ProPublica, not Justice Clarence Thomas.  To say again, no-one including Justice Thomas has denied a single thing that ProPublica has reported in this story.

The calls for a code of conduct are certainly the result as well of Justice Thomas's choice of companions who, so far as we know, are each wealthy, White, and usually male.  And each invited by the same billionaire on every trip, every vacation, everywhere.

But calling for a code of conduct for the Supreme Court does not answer a single one of these questionable things that Justice Clarence Thomas reportedly did without disclosing a single one of them.

It does not take a current code of conduct to know that taking free room and board on yachts and trips on airplanes and vacationing at resorts in the Pacific give off a bad smell.

Keep the focus on where that smell originates.  Let's see what can be done about that, if anything.  We' can let the future take care of itself, secure in the knowledge then of what it is that we are addressing now.  What we are addressing now smells badly enough that we should address it now, not just in the distant future.

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

KEEP THEM ALIVE.

Right now many working-class Americans are struggling with inflation and rising costs of living. Any cuts to Medicare and Social Security would only threaten the livelihoods of millions, and pull the rug out from underneath all of us who have paid into the programs. Not to mention the risks of a recession and job losses if the House forces the government to default on its debt.

Members of Congress of all parties must keep the people who depend on these vital programs alive, by refusing to "defund" them through the back door by not raising the debt ceiling for these programs which have already been budgeted but cannot be funded without raising the current debt ceiling.

It's really as simple as that.

I urge Representative Cory Mills not only to join the sign-on letter from Representatives Boyle, Kuster, and Jayapal calling for a clean vote to avoid the US defaulting on our debts, and to oppose negotiating any cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and other programs my community relies on. I urge him to vote for the people who cannot live without these programs, including the people who live in the 7th Congressional District of Florida which elected him in the first place.

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

FASCISM AND THE EVIL ONE AT WORK TODAY IN NASHVILLE.

The Evil One does his dirtiest work at this time of year, and he is certainly at work in the Tennessee House of Representatives in Nashville today.  The maggot supermajority is right now in the process of expelling three members who dared to speak up when they were deliberately not recognized to speak.  They spoke up anyway.

They spoke up for the children, three of whom died from gunshots this week in their school along with three adults who also died from gunshots at that school.  The children were at the Tennessee Capitol protesting nonexistent gun laws.

Today the children are reportedly protesting fascism at the Tennessee Capitol as three Members are expelled for the crime of speaking for them.

The maggots would like you to think that they have the supermajority and there isn't anything you can do about it.  They are wrong.

There are lots of things that can be done.  One is for the current Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate to strip the two U.S.  Senators from Tennessee of their Committee assignments.  I do not advocate that the Tennessee Senators be expelled; the Majority doesn't have the votes.  But they can certainly try to remove the two from their Committee assignments.  BTW, the two U.S. Senators from Tennessee are the famous MAGA supporter Marsha Blackburn, and an unknown man named Bill Hagerty.  (I had to look them up.)

Another thing that can be done is for aid to Tennessee to suddenly dry up, at least temporarily, in whole or in part.  I cannot support my tax dollars going to bail Tennessee out, not under these circumstances when Tennessee is apparently run by fascists who listen to The Evil One.

Those first two things are up to the U.S. Senate Majority Leader and the President of the United States, respectively.  I would not be surprised if both of those two old men (they are barely older than I am) were not up to the job.

If that turns out to be the case, you and I can act even if they don't.  We can boycott whatever it is that Tennessee provides the rest of the nation.  The only thing I can think of is country music, the famous Nashville Sound.  Today the Nashville Sound sounds an awful lot like a rally at Nuremberg in the 1930's.

Still, if that is all we have got to boycott, then I for one will not buy any more Dolly Parton records.  Sorry, Dolly, but if you don't get with the program of freedom here, you're out with the rest.  I don't have to spend my hard-earned money on this stuff.

That is what America is all about, friends.

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

TUESDAYS WITH MORE SUNSHINE WEEK! AND ASHLEY MOODY!

Fox News has reportedly requested the Court in the Dominion Voting Services case to seal materials Fox already produced, that Fox already redacted (blacked out), and that have already been made public.  Fox is reportedly concerned that someone will steal its "journalistic processes."  It should be concerned that it does not have any journalistic processes, but that's too much to ask of them.

On Tuesday of this Sunshine Week, the news about Fox is spot on.   So that leads me to ask Ashley Moody what she gets for appearing so much on Fox programs like Fox And Friends, which she did  most recently within the past week.  Is she a friend of Fox?  Are her appearances simply an act of devotion on her part, or on theirs?  What if anything is she getting for being a Friend of Fox?  Warning:  Be careful not to broadcast their "journalistic processes," if you find any, Ms. Moody.

Or take the Fox program Fox Business.  What business is it of the Florida Attorney General to appear on that program especially when she chooses not to appear as much (or at all) on TV programs in Florida?  Is she the Fox attorney general or is she the Attorney General of Florida?  She regularly issues a press release at this time of year that she "vows" to "safeguard" Sunshine Laws in Florida.

So let's actually be transparent, Ms. Moody.  What do you get from Fox, and what does Fox get from you? 

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

IT'S THE FIRST DAY OF SUNSHINE WEEK IN FLORIDA!

This is the opening day of Sunshine Week in Florida!  (No, not the Opening Day of Baseball.  Alas, that is a little while off yet.)

This is a celebration of what should be Government in the Sunshine!  So let's begin with a story from Orlando's Channel 6, just click this link or copy it and paste it into your browser:

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/politics/2023/03/12/as-sunshine-week-begins-floridas-attorney-general-silent-about-desantis-public-record-delays/?breaking_news=5517&utm_content=30812683&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Breaking%20News%20Alert&utm_term=wkmg_breaking

If you have any trouble reading the Channel 6 story, the headline from Channel 6 is As ‘Sunshine Week’ begins, Florida’s attorney general silent about DeSantis public record delays.  Florida's current attorney general is named Ashley Moody.  She said something that she did not have to say.  The Channel 6 story is all about what Ms. Moody did not have to say, but she did say, and she has not done what she said.

According to the Channel 6 news report, Ms. Moody has said that she will safeguard Florida's pioneering Open Record Laws.  However, she hasn't done that, if you read the report.

Ms. Moody, why not?  Unburden yourself and follow the law.  A good place to do that is with the Open Records Act statutes a/k/a the Sunshine Laws.  A good time to start is now.

Thank you.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HERE'S EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW, AMERICA. YOU TOO, OHIO.

John F. Kennedy, President of the United States, receiving Notre Dame's Laetare Medal from Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, President of the University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame Archives)

On stage at a rally in Ohio, with J.D. Vance standing near him, here's what he had to say, as quoted by The Los Angeles Times:

 

J.D. is kissing my ass.  Of course, he wants my support.

 

What kind of character does a person have?  I am speaking here about J.D. Vance, of course.

And there is a message here for America too:  Is this something that the greatest president in history would say and do, is that what you think, America?

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

HERE'S EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW, OHIO. YOU TOO, AMERICA.

President Reagan presents Mother Teresa with the Medal of Freedom (Wikipedia)

On stage at a rally in Ohio, with J.D. Vance standing near him, here's what he had to say, as quoted by The Los Angeles Times:

 

J.D. is kissing my ass.  Of course, he wants my support.

 

What kind of character does a person have?  I am speaking here about J.D. Vance, of course.

And there is a message here for America too:  Is this something that the greatest president in history would say and do, is that what you think, America?

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

By What Right Challenges Their Right to Hold Office. Ever.

(The famous photograph of Abraham Lincoln where the glass broke along the line a bullet would soon travel)

New Mexico and its citizens and its State Courts have all shown the way to challenge the right of insurrectionists to hold -- and run for -- office:  Ask courts to declare by what right those people hold -- or seek -- office under the Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3 of the United States Constitution.  (In courts, to ask "by what right" usually means quo warranto or something similar.)

As you may already know, Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment was written to bar people engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States to ever hold office.  Then, it meant former Confederates.

Now, it means office holders (and office seekers) even though they did not engage in violence so long as the proof in court shows that they did engage in insurrection, as in the case of Download State of New Mexico ex rel. White v. Griffin Findings of Fact Conclusions of Law and Judgment filed Sept. 6 2022 (N.M. Dist. Ct. 1st Dist. Santa Fe County No. D-101-CV-2022-00473).

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

'The Constitution represents popular opinion.'

(Sun Sentinel Handout)

In Download State of New Mexico ex rel. White v. Griffin Findings of Fact Conclusions of Law and Judgment filed Sept. 6 2022 (N.M. Dist. Ct. 1st Dist. Santa Fe County No. D-101-CV-2022-00473), New Mexico District Judge Francis Mathew ruled that because the defendant violated the Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3,  "effective January 6, 2021" the defendant is no longer entitled to hold public office and shall not hold state or federal office in the future.

"Mr. Griffin disregards that the Constitution itself  reflects the will of the people and is 'the supreme Law of the Land.'"  Id., ¶ 67, p. 44.

The Judge who wrote this opinion graduated from Notre Dame the year after I did.  He went on to the University of Notre Dame Law School.  Back in the day, he would have been called "a Double Domer."

Today, he is rightfully called Your Honor.

 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. 

ANDREW CLYDE IS NOT THE PROBLEM. IT'S MUCH WORSE.

Andrew Clyde moved to North Georgia and was elected to the U.S. Congress in 2020.  Born in Canada, he moved to Indiana and New York before he moved to Georgia.  Mr. Clyde took office in the U.S. House last year.  His district is 79% White and less than 7% Black.  These things are important to our story's background.

    Since he took office, Andrew Clyde first declared the 1/6 insurrectionists a "mob" such that he had to help blockade the House, before he declared that the mob was on a "normal tourist visit" to the Capitol.  A gun dealer by trade, he voted against giving the police a medal,  and refused to shake the hand of a police officer who had protected him on 1/6.  There are many more things that show the quality of his character, but that is enough for now.

    Andrew Clyde, it should be clearly understood or nothing wonderful can come of our story, is currently from Georgia.  He opposed naming a federal courthouse in Florida after a deceased federal judge.   

    It turns out that 2/3 of the House was required to vote in favor of naming the federal courthouse.  Both of Florida's two Republican Senators supported it; all 27 of Florida's Representatives supported it too.  In fact, it seems that at first everyone supported it.  Then a member of Andrew Clyde's staff showed him a newspaper clipping from 1999.

    The newspaper clipping was about a decision authored by the judge, who was Black, when he was on a federal appellate court.  The decision obeyed a previous decision of the U.S. Supreme Court and struck down a measure that would have allowed prayer to be a mandatory part of the official state graduation ceremonies at a school in Jacksonville, Florida.  It seems that Mr. Clyde's real problem, in this situation anyway, was with the Supreme Court's decision interpreting the U.S. Constitution.

    To say again, that was in 1999.   It was a newspaper clipping.

    Now the rest of the story, as they say.  Mr. Clyde showed his Republican colleagues in the U.S. House the newspaper clipping about the Black judge from Florida.  His Republican colleagues dropped their support for the bill to name the federal courthouse.  That left the House short of a 2/3 majority.  The bill failed.

    The Black judge wrote many opinions in his professional career, starting from the time he became the first Black Justice on the Florida Supreme Court, which was before he became the first Black judge on the federal appellate court.  The decision that the newspaper wrote about in 1999 was only one decision from a judge's lifetime on the bench in which the judge made too many decisions to count.

    But this story is not about defending that one opinion.  This story isn't even about Andrew Clyde, not really.  It is about how it came to be that a person in office a little over 1 year, from Georgia, went to Washington and ended up blocking more than a mob on January 6, 2021.   This is the story of how an elected federal official from Georgia blocked a federal courthouse in Florida from being named after a federal judge from Florida.

    We start with the perspective that a person in Mr. Clyde's position had on the task facing him.  Clyde wanted to stop a federal courthouse in Florida from being named after a Black judge from Florida.  To be sure, Mr. Clyde denies that his opposition was born from the judge being Black.

    Still, it is reasonable to ask how many other federal courthouses from anywhere let alone Florida, did Mr. Clyde block from being named after any other federal judges?

    Back to Mr. Clyde's perspective, if we ever really left it.  The pending bill to name the federal courthouse required a 2/3 vote.  The objective was to reduce the vote enough so that it would not get a 2/3 vote.  (As it happened, a majority voted for the bill, 238 to 187, but not 2/3.)  That was the system.

    How the system was gamed also deserves our attention, because it shows how things are run in today's national Capitol.  In this case, a press clipping was enough.  It is very doubtful that many if any of the people who were for the bill before they were against it, actually read the 23-year-old decision.  It is probably even doubtful that many of them actually read the newspaper clipping before they changed their position.

    They moved on the word of what someone told them a newspaper clipping from 23 years ago said about a judicial decision in one federal case.  Even many children need better evidence than that.

    To sum up the story here, the U.S. House of Representatives failed to pass a bill which started with virtually unanimous support, then got majority support, but a majority did not win because of House rules.  Mr. Clyde took advantage of the House rules; he did not write them.  But he or someone else knew them.  To get majority rule, the House rules need to be changed.  Blame the Clydes all you want, but the system needs to be changed.

    It is also a part of the story that some Republican Representatives were persuaded strictly by fear.  They did not even know why they were suddenly against something after they were for it.

    And all because of a 23-year-old press clipping.

    Blame the system all you want, blame all of the Representatives if you want, but here our focus at the moment is instead on the people who are so afraid that they do not know why they are doing what they are doing.  They are not the people we need in positions of authority in this country.  It is no consolation that they are in the minority; as our story shows, they still run things. 

    But maybe, in the end, they did know why they were doing what they were doing, when they suddenly refused to name a federal courthouse after a federal judge who happened to be Black.

The saga of U.S. Representative Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) using a newspaper clipping from 1999 to successfully block the naming of a federal courthouse in Florida after a Black judge from Florida was published deep in the New York Times, reported by Annie Karni, House Republicans Abruptly Kill Bipartisan Bill to Honor a Pioneering Black Judge, NEW YORK TIMES, Wednesday, April 13, 2022, at A24, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/12/us/politics/gop-joseph-hatchett-florida.html?searchResultPosition=2.

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

WATCH FOR IT AT TONIGHT'S STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS.

The Republican members of Congress will be seated on the President's left, which will be to our right on the television screen.

The Democratic members of Congress will be seated on the President's right, which will be to our left on the television screen.

Look to the right side of your television screen where the Republican members of Congress will be arranged.  Watch them.  See how they behave.  Remember how they behave.

Look to see if they are sitting on their hands and not applauding when American values are mentioned.  Look to see if they are folding their arms and not making any movement when the needs of the United States are listed in the address.

Most important of all, perhaps, look to see what if any reaction Republican members of Congress have to any mention of the 1/6 Committee.

Above all, if anyone shouts out tonight the President this time should land on him or her like a ton of bricks.  Ignoring and appeasing bullies only makes louder bullies.

Or, as we see in Ukraine right now, bullies behaving badly in many other ways besides talk.

Watch them.  Remember what they do, and what they do not do.

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

JOE, DON'T STOP THINKIN' ABOUT BUILD BACK A BETTER TOMORROW!

President Biden   -- the #BuildBackBetterAct needs to honor your goal to cut climate pollution in half by 2030. Keep fighting for a bold #BuildBackBetterAct that includes a CEPP, eliminates fossil fuel subsidies and passes the Climate Test #NoClimateNoDeal.

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

SAY IT AIN'T SO, JOE MANUCHIN! YOU GOTTA BELIEVE!

President Biden: Keep fighting for a bold #BuildBackBetterAct to address the interlocking crises of mass unemployment, public health, racial injustice & climate crisis. It should honor your goal of cutting climate pollution in half by 2030. #NoClimateNoDeal #HoldTheLine.  Tell Joe Manuchin to Build Back Better for ALL OF US!

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

BUILD BACK BETTER AND THEY WILL COME, JOE.

THEY WILL MOST CERTAINLY COME.

President Biden: The #BuildBackBetterAct must be bold enough to meet the economic, climate, and inequality crises we face. We're counting on you @POTUS to hold strong for historic climate action, good jobs, and racial justice.

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

YOU STILL GOTTA BELIEVE, JOE: BUILD BACK BETTER!

President Biden -- the #BuildBackBetterAct needs to honor your goal to cut climate pollution in half by 2030. Keep fighting for a bold #BuildBackBetterAct that includes a CEPP, eliminates fossil fuel subsidies and passes the Climate Test #NoClimateNoDeal.

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

MERRICK GARLAND, ICE LITIGATION, COVID VACCINES: TALES FROM THE CRYPT ... Continued.

This post continues an article that began here on Wednesday, September 22, 2021.

When Messrs. Barr and TFG ran things, lawyers working at the doj had a clear choice whether to stay or go.  Some lawyers resigned rather than stay while the Messrs. were in charge of things.  To say again, every one of the Six stayed.  They clearly made their choice.  See AT DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, EVERYTHING IS CHANGING, NOTHING IS NEW.

          Appealing a federal judge's order to provide vaccine to people in U.S. custody was one of their choices.  This is nothing new for the current department which is really making the same decisions, behaving in many of the same legal ways as before.  See MORE CYA FROM INCREDIBLE, "DISINGENUOUS" DOJ:  APPEALING JUDGE JACKSON'S ORDER.

          Here are the Six who participated in the choice to file a losing appeal arising out of ICE, prisoners in U.S. custody, and injustices.  They should be known for these decisions they did not need to make, and that good lawyers would have resisted:

          WILLIAM C. PEACHEY is listed on the Notice of Appeal in this case as Director, Office of Immigration Litigation, District Court Section.  He got his J.D. from University of Arkansas Law School at Fayetteville.

          JEFFREY S. ROBINS is the next lawyer listed on the notice.  His title is Deputy Director.  By the end of this year, he will be at the doj for 15 years.  A person well-familiar with Washington, he got his J.D. at the American University Washington College of Law in 2004.

          JAMES WALKER is next up.  Senior Litigation Counsel in the Office of Immigration Litigation (OIL), MR. WALKER (to his credit) spent a lot of useful time in the Orlando, Florida area.  He got his B.A. from Rollins College.  Like MR. ROBINS, the Deputy Director of the OIL, he graduated from the American University Washington College of Law.  MR. WALKER graduated in 2013.

          LINDSAY M. VICK is a Trial Attorney with the OIL.  She got a B.A. from George Mason and a law degree from Roger Williams University Law.

          MICHELLE RAMUS is also a Trial Attorney with the OIL.  She too is a person who is very familiar with Washington, having gotten her law degree from George Washington Law.  She received her J.D. recently, in 2018.

          ANNA L. DICHTER is last but not the least of the Six.  MS. DICHTER signed the Notice of Appeal attempting to reverse the judge's order to provide vaccine to people in ICE custody.  She got her law degree from Rutgers two years ago, in September 2019.  She joined the doj that same month.  She appears to be the lowest person on the totem pole of the Six, which may explain why she was the one picked to sign the notice of appeal in this case.

          In the end, what we are left with is a tale glaringly told of attorneys who stake much of their career advancement on their additions to their social media listings.  They also stake much of their career advancement on going along to get along, so to speak; for example, none of them was moved to leave the so-called justice department while Messrs. Barr and The Former Guy were in power.  To the contrary, it seems that something on the order of four of the Six joined the department while the Messrs. were operating it.

          To say again, BARR'S department 'ISN'T OVER, IT ISN'T EVEN PAST.'

          Impressions to the contrary are ill-informed.  In fact, it is plainly wrong to think that there is a new sheriff in town.  Beyond any reasonable doubt, the available evidence shows that MR. BARR's practices and competence are still on display.  There is nothing new here, just SOSOBS.

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

LET THEM KNOW THEY ARE PLAYING HARDBALL. THIS ISN'T SLOW-PITCH.

(John Amis / Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Let the objectors know that they have chosen to play hardball.  This is not slow-pitch softball.

Since they choose to make objections and challenges, fine.  Challenge them back.

The best defense is an offense whether in war, in football, or in politics.

Challenge Tommy Tuberville of Alabama who also stood for election in 2020.  Oh, you say, that was an election to the U.S. Senate and January 6th is only about the presidential electors?  Okay, then Democrats challenge the certification of presidential electors from Alabama.

Then after starting with the letter "A," challenge the certification of electors from every other State which voted for anyone other than Biden-Harris.  Object to certifying electors from each and every one of those States.

If the objectors in the Senate and House are going to make their challenges, let them know that they have opened up everything to objections and challenges including the elections that elected or re-elected them.

There is no reason to let them have the inevitable microphones to themselves.  There is no good reason to let them hog the TV coverage that is coming, either.  Share the air time.  Give the corporate media their sound bites and videos.

And for good measure, remind the people of this country every chance you get that these federal challengers, these federal objectors in the Senate and the House, are attacking democracy itself.  They are trying to have the federal government tell the States what to do.  They want the federal government to overturn the will of the voters in America.

There is no such thing as a free lunch.  Make them pay a price for what they themselves have chosen.

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