News bits: What's up with John Roberts?; The potential for violence ratchets up; Etc.

A Supreme Court decision last week, Allen v. Milligan, was about voting rights. It surprised a lot of people who expected the six authoritarian Republican Supreme Court justices to continue attacking voting rights. In an unexpected turn of events, chief justice John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh voted to protect black voters from further gerrymandered disenfranchisement in Alabama. Some partisans immediately seized on this as evidence the Republicans on the Supreme Court were not just predictable authoritarian Republican partisans. 

For what it's worth, I instantly dismissed the pro-voting rights decision as an aberration in view of the decades of blatant hostility that Republican Party elites, specifically including John Roberts, have shown toward voting rights. The Milligan decision was a misdirection to keep criticism of the court down. 

And don't forget that in Milligan, four of the six radical Republicans voted to blow another massive hole in voting rights. Only God knows what Kavanaugh got in return for his vote with Roberts.

40 second video clip

Classic clip from 1980: Paul Weyrich, "father" of the right-wing movement and co-founder of the Heritage Foundation, Moral Majority and various other groups tells his flock that he doesn't want people to vote. He complains that fellow Christians have "Goo-Goo Syndrome": Good Government.  As of 2007, Weyrich continued to gave weekly strategy sessions to Republicans.

Weyrich: "As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down." 

The Guardian writes about the Allen v. Milligan decision:

The US supreme court ruling delivered on Thursday by John Roberts marks a departure for the chief justice from his 40-year battle to whittle down racial equality protections enshrined in the crowning glory of the civil rights movement.

Roberts wrote the Allen v. Milligan opinion himself, forging an unconventional 5-4 majority with the support of the three liberal-leaning justices plus the partial backing of the conservative Brett Kavanaugh. The chief justice’s decision to cling closely to precedent and avoid a sweeping reframing of voting rights law took supreme court observers by surprise.

In his Milligan opinion, the chief justice pledged himself to providing “a faithful application of our precedents and a fair reading of the record”. He upheld a lower court ruling that had objected to the electoral maps drawn up by Alabama’s Republican-dominated legislature.

A key to understanding Roberts’s intentions is that he plays the long game. He likes to present himself as a bridge-builder who represents the moderate center of American jurisprudence. He is also highly sensitive to the slump in public trust in the supreme court that has followed embarrassing revelations about Clarence Thomas’s luxury holidays paid for by a Texan billionaire.

In that context, Roberts has shown himself willing to bide his time before making some of his more extreme interventions.

The pattern is seen perhaps most clearly with voting rights, where Roberts has since the early 1980s expressed profound doubts about the role of federal law in forwarding equal representation for Black citizens. Exactly 10 years ago, he delivered Shelby County v. Holder, which punched a gaping hole in the Voting Rights Act, Lyndon Johnson’s landmark legislation that was perhaps the pinnacle of the civil rights movement.

Roberts pretends he is a bridge-builder representing the moderate center of American law. That he presents himself that way is true. But that presentation is a bald faced lie. It is a sham. Roberts is playing the long game here. In due course, he will continue limiting voting rights. In time if he lives long enough, he will cement into American law unrestrained power of (i) the radicalized, authoritarian Republican Party, (ii) Christian nationalist theocracy, and (iii) radical brass knuckles capitalism.  

That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it unless Roberts shows a lot more evidence that he is actually serious about (i) “a faithful application of our precedents and a fair reading of the record”, and (ii) defense of democracy, the public interest and civil liberties, especially voting rights.   

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From the Treasonous Coup Plotters Files: The NYT writes about signs that violence is increasingly possible in response to Trump's indictment: 

Kari Lake publicly inciting violent 

insurrection and a coup

(lock her up)

The former president’s allies have portrayed the indictment as an act of war and called for retribution, which political violence experts say increases the risk of action 

“If you want to get to President Trump, you are going to have go through me, and you are going to have to go through 75 million Americans just like me,” said Kari Lake, the Republican former candidate for governor of Arizona. “And I’m going to tell you, most of us are card-carrying members of the N.R.A.” [Is that a threat of violence??]

The federal indictment of former President Donald J. Trump has unleashed a wave of calls by his supporters for violence and an uprising to defend him, disturbing observers and raising concerns of a dangerous atmosphere ahead of his court appearance in Miami on Tuesday.

In social media posts and public remarks, close allies of Mr. Trump — including a member of Congress — have portrayed the indictment as an act of war, called for retribution and highlighted the fact that much of his base carries weapons. The allies have painted Mr. Trump as a victim of a weaponized Justice Department controlled by President Biden, his potential opponent in the 2024 election.

The calls to action and threats have been amplified on right-wing media sites and have been met by supportive responses from social media users and cheers from crowds, who have become conditioned over several years by Mr. Trump and his allies to see any efforts to hold him accountable as assaults against him.

One can only wonder. Is the delightful authoritarian insurrectionist Ms. Lake auditioning for Trump's pick for Vice President? Hm . . . . sure sounds like it. 

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On the campaign trail: The NYT writes:

Former President Donald J. Trump on Saturday cast both his indictments by prosecutors and his bid for the White House as part of a “final battle” with “corrupt” forces that he maintained are destroying the country.

The apocalyptic language came in Mr. Trump’s first public appearance since the 38-count federal indictment against him and a personal aide was unsealed — and in a state where he may soon face additional charges for his efforts to pressure Georgia election officials to overturn his 2020 election loss there. It was Mr. Trump’s second indictment in less than three months.

“This is the final battle,” Mr. Trump said in the speech to several thousand activists, delegates and members of the media who gathered in Columbus, Ga.  

“Either the Communists win and destroy America, or we destroy the Communists,” the former president said in Georgia, seeming to refer to Democrats. He made similar remarks about the “Deep State,” using the pejorative term he uses for U.S. intelligence agencies and more broadly for any federal government bureaucrat he perceives as a political opponent. He railed against “globalists,” “warmongers” in government and “the sick political class that hates our country.”

Mr. Trump also described the Justice Department as “a sick nest of people that needs to be cleaned out immediately,” calling the special counsel, Jack Smith, “deranged” and “openly a Trump hater.”  

And he attacked by name Fani Willis, the district attorney of Fulton County, Ga., who is weighing criminal charges against Mr. Trump, calling her “a lunatic Marxist” and accusing her of ignoring violent crime and instead spending all of her time “working on getting Trump.”  

The crowd cheered and laughed throughout, and when he mentioned Democrats, the hall was filled with boos and jeers. At one mention of Hillary Clinton, a woman started chanting, “Lock her up!”  

Mr. Trump and his advisers are keenly aware that the Republican base overwhelmingly supports him in his legal battles and reflexively dismisses whatever facts prosecutors produce. The Trump campaign team has exploited that dynamic and put their opponents in the presidential primary in a lose-lose situation: Either they begrudgingly defend and praise the front-runner or they suffer the wrath of millions of voters.

That speaks for itself. 

Q: I can feel the power of the dark speech rising, can you? 

Yeah, but will my destiny be good or bad?

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From the Job-Creating Entrepreneur Files: The Huffpost writes:

Elise Stefanik Is Already Raising Money (For Herself) Off Of Trump's Indictment

The House GOP conference chair is urging people to donate to the “Official Trump Defense Fund,” but virtually all of that money would go to her campaign

“President Trump has been indicted on federal charges,” reads the subject line of a Thursday-night email from Team Elise, Stefanik’s joint fundraising committee.

“Biden’s weaponized federal government has handed President Trump BOGUS CHARGES over the ‘Boxes Hoax,’” says the email. “They are just trying to keep him out of the White House in 2024. President Trump needs ALL of his loyal supporters to stand with him at this crucial time.”

“RUSH A DONATION TO OUR OFFICIAL TRUMP DEFENSE FUND TO STAND WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP,” the email shouts.

It’s the Boxes Hoax. It’s Boxgate!!

What went right this week: Positive News

 

This week’s good news roundup

Global emissions appeared to be flattening

The planet appears to have taken a step back from a CO2 precipice, according to analysis by Climate Brink, which shows emissions are no longer following the worst case scenario of runaway, year-on-year growth.  

After increasing around three per cent a year in the early 2000s, emissions have flattened out since 2010. Climate Brink credits the shift to the plummeting costs of clean energy driving demand away from coal – but cautions we’re still a long way off climate targets. 

Meanwhile, more number crunching by Carbon Brief suggests that China is on track to hit peak emissions imminently amid explosive renewables growth.

The country recorded an all-time emissions high for the first quarter of 2023 as it came out of lockdown (and incredibly plans to add more coal capacity), but experts believe the rapid expansion of low-carbon energy could stave off another CO2 spike. Solar and EVS are booming, and could tip China’s emissions into decline as early as next year. 

Glacial mud could be a glorious new climate ally

Mud, glorious mud – there’s nothing quite like it for cooling the blood, or so the song goes. Now scientists from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, say it could help cool the planet, too.

Researchers studying the CO2 capture potential of rock ‘flour’ ground by Greenland’s glaciers say spreading it on farmland could trap billions of tonnes of planet-warming carbon dioxide, while increasing crop yields. The flour flows as mud beneath Greenland’s ice sheets, which produce 1bn tonnes of the stuff a year – essentially an unlimited supply.

The emissions capture process, called Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW), is a turbo-charged version of a natural phenomenon: atmospheric CO2 dissolves in rainwater to produce carbonic acid. This breaks rock down into stable minerals which lock in CO2. Powdered rock has a greater surface area which catalyses the process. 

Prof David Beerling from England’s Sheffield University, who has worked on similar ERW studies, told Positive News: “ERW mimics the natural carbon cycle reactions that have been stabilising Earth’s climate for millions of years. It is one of the few options that can scale to a billion tonnes of CO2 removal within decades.”

A vertical forest took shape in Utrecht

At 110m it’s just over five metres short of the tallest tree in the world, however the greenery-clad walls of the Wonderwoods Vertical Forest – a new office and residential tower block in Utrecht, Netherlands – will equate to an impressive one hectare (2.5 acres) of woodland.

The building (main picture) is the brainchild of Italian architect Stefano Boeri, who has nurtured a reputation for covering his creations with vegetation. Besides housing 200 apartments, a gym and workspaces, Wonderwoods’ facades will feature almost 10,000 shrubs and 360 trees. 

The plants will not only dampen city noise, provide summer shade, and absorb an annual five tonnes of CO2, but they’re expected to draw 30 animal species to the city, including blackbirds, robins and swallows. Work is underway and should be complete by mid-2024.

https://www.positive.news/society/good-news-stories-from-week-22-of-2023/

AND there is so much more:

A new star was born in the fight against Alzheimer’s

A simple blood test for Alzheimer’s could be a step closer after scientists identified a brain cell which appears to have a lead role in the development of the disease.

The US was set for a green jobs bonanza 

A green jobs bonanza in US fossil fuel regions will outweigh losses from transitioning to net zero, according to a study by researchers at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, US.  

Help us break the bad news bias

While doom and gloom dominates other news outlets, our solutions journalism exists to support your wellbeing and empower you to make a difference towards a better future.

News bits: GOP hypocrisy on voting; Regarding the indictment

In a major reversal of past claims that voting by mail-in ballots was a major source of vote fraud and the stolen 2020 election, some extremist GOP elites now support expanding access to voting by mail. Why would they change their minds? Because the data they see suggests that curtailing voting by mail hurts Republicans more than it hurts Democrats. For radical GOP elites, this is not about defending democracy, it is about winning power until they can kill democracy. The AP writes about the change that the data analysis led the radicals to:

Republicans set to push mail ballots, voting methods they 

previously blasted as recipes for fraud

After years of criticizing mail voting and so-called ballot harvesting as ripe for fraud, Republicans at the top of the party want to change course.

They are poised to launch aggressive get-out-the-vote campaigns for 2024 that employ just those strategies, attempting to match the emphasis on early voting Democrats have used for years to lock in many of their supporters well ahead of Election Day. The goal is to persuade voters who support GOP candidates that early voting techniques are secure and to make sure they are able to return their ballots in time to be counted, thus putting less pressure on Election Day turnout efforts.

It marks a notable shift from the party’s rhetoric since 2020, when then-President Donald Trump was routinely sowing doubt about mail voting and encouraging his voters to wait and vote in-person on Election Day. As recently as last year, Republican activists peddling the stolen election narrative were telling GOP voters who received mail ballots to hold onto them and turn them in at their polling place on Election Day rather than use mail or drop boxes.

Now Trump is asking donors to chip in for his “ballot harvesting fund” – saying in a fundraising email, “Either we ballot harvest where we can, or you can say goodbye to America!”

Republicans say the shift is needed to ensure GOP victories up and down the 2024 ballot, arguing they cannot afford to give Democrats any advantage. At the same time, they acknowledge skepticism from many of their own voters conditioned by false claims of widespread voter fraud from Trump and others.  

Across the country, Republican-controlled legislatures have acted against early voting — shortening windows for returning mail ballots, banning or limiting the use of drop boxes and criminalizing third-party ballot collection.

In announcing a “Bank Your Vote” initiative for 2024, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the party “has never said ‘don’t vote early,’” but acknowledged the GOP will have to work to shift voters’ perceptions.

Yup, GOP will have to work to shift voters’ perceptions. That is because the GOP told voters don’t vote early. Republicans even passed laws to limit early voting. Democracy Docket points out the shameless hypocrisy:

RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, who defeated Dhillon, agrees. In December 2022, the chair selected by former President Donald Trump in 2017 unironically complained that “[t]here were many in 2020 saying, don’t vote by mail, don’t vote early, and we have to stop that.” She failed to mention that the “many” who bad-mouthed mail-in voting included both her and Trump.

This is shameless hypocrisy practiced by shameless hypocrites. Hypocrisy doesn't faze these spin dictator zealots. The extremist's only concern is winning elections, not protecting democracy. It is ironic that to kill democracy, the Republican Party is forced to resort to relying on democracy. 

The pro-democracy/anti-democracy tactic

This pro-democracy/anti-democracy tactic is not new. In Hungary, Viktor Orban got democratically elected and then immediately turned around and destroyed Hungarian democracy. And if I recall right, that's like American communists who used to demand free and fair elections so that once they gained power, they promised they would destroy democracy and free and fair elections. 

A really interesting issue here is how the extremist elites can expand mail-in voting by people who will vote for Republicans while suppressing votes Democratic Party candidates. Sooner or later, authoritarian Republicans will probably need to pass laws that favor Republican candidates while disfavoring Democratic Party candidates. What the radical GOP sells is rejected by most American voters, so something needs to be done to fix that tyranny of the minority problem. Once that line is crossed and sanctified by the Supreme Court, American democracy will be at or near its death.

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The indictment

From the Relevant Evidence Files: The WaPo reports about a 2021 tape made after Trump left office about declassifying documents:

The evidence leading to the historic indictment of former president Donald Trump includes an audio recording from 2021 in which he talks about an apparently secret document and says, “As president, I could have declassified it, but now I can’t,” a person familiar with a transcript of the remarks said Friday.

In recent days, it has become clear that Trump’s own words are some of the most powerful evidence against him, leading to the filing of a seven-count indictment accusing him of willful retention of national defense secrets, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and false statements, according to people familiar with the case.  

While there is a host of paper, video and witness evidence against Trump for alleged mishandling of classified information and obstruction of justice, the recording is significant because it undercuts a central claim that Trump has put forward since the investigation was opened last year — that he had somehow, at some time, declassified the hundreds of classified documents later found at his Mar-a-Lago home and private club.

If this is real, it seems to be an important piece of evidence. It shows that Trump knew his false claims of declassifying documents before he left office was a lie.   

Observations from the punditocracy: 

Fox News: The first ~33 minutes of the Hannity show last night focused on the indictment. Hannity started with a ferocious blast at special counsel Jack Smith's comment that the law applies equally to everyone. That blast was grounded mostly in whataboutism regarding (i) Hillary's emailgate mishandling of national security secrets, and (ii) Joe and Hunter's alleged acceptance of large bribes in relation to Ukraine. Hannity's guests were legal experts. Hannity equated what Hillary did with classified secrets on her private server as the same as what Trump did at Mar-a-Lago. The thrust of Hannity's arguments is that the rule of law applies to Republicans but not Democrats. There was no mention of how serious the possible security breaches were in Hillarygate compared to Trumpgate.

Legal scholar Alan Dershowitz asserted that there probably was no criminality involved in what Trump did except maybe in what was described in paragraphs 34 and 35 of the indictment. In those two paragraphs, Trump is discussing secret documents with other people.[1] Dershowitz said that the remainder of the indictment was not illegal under the Presidential Records Act (PRA), basically saying there is nothing significant in the indictment maybe except for those two paragraphs. The deceptive sleight of hand there is that The DoJ is not indicting Trump for violating the PRA. That law doesn't even seem to be relevant. Trump is being charged with violating other laws, e.g., laws in the Espionage Act. The PRA specifies that presidential records belong to the government, not a president or former president. I do not understand why Dershowitz was talking about it. Maybe I missed something. 

After the first segment, Hannity interviewed House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan. Jordan ripped the two Bidens for being corrupt, outrageous bribe-taking sleaze bag criminals in relation to the so far non-existent Ukrainegate scandal. Since there is no special prosecutor hunting the Bidens down for their crimes, Hannity again argued that the rule of  law applies to Republicans but not Democrats. The radical right argument that the law is two-tiered and is a weapon only against Republicans appears to be the main argument that most radical right elites and their propaganda outlets are using to neutralize the Trump indictment as much as possible. Jordan wants the House to publicly release the evidence the FBI has about the Biden's alleged corruption. Jordan says it shows how corrupt the Bidens were. I hope the House does release the document, but it is irrelevant to the Trump indictment other than being a flawed whatabout argument to deflect attention.

Hannity's last guest was Trump's former government doctor Ronny Jackson. As we all recall, Jackson lied to the public about Trump's status when he had COVID. The Jackson segment was a vicious attack on Joe Biden's mental unfitness for office. Jackson was blunt in arguing that Joe has advanced dementia. Hannity argued that only radical left, deep state power keeps him "propped up" and "in the basement" as much as possible. 

MSNBC: The Lawrence O'Donnell program right after Hannity also had legal experts. That program was nothing like the Faux program. It was as if the outlets were talking about two different things. The MSNBC program made it clear that the evidence that Smith has is abundant and shockingly serious. Now I can see why Garland reluctantly appointed special council Jack Smith to investigate the mess at Mar-a-Lago. What Trump did was far worse than what I thought would probably be the case. It was so bad that even Garland the Extremely Reluctant Policeman was forced by circumstances to pursue an investigation he very likely did not want to pursue.

PBS: One of the two legal experts on an PBS broadcast suggested that Smith might have chosen to file the indictment in Florida instead of filing in D.C. to try to speed the proceedings up. If he had filed in D.C., Trump would have contested that venue and argued to have the lawsuit moved to Florida where he lives and the alleged crimes were committed. By filing in Florida, Smith could have been trying to avoid months of fighting over where to try the case. But, since radical right Trump supporter Aileen Cannon appears to be the judge on the case, she can find other ways to slow the proceedings down.  

Footnote: 

1. Paragraph 34:

34.     Upon greeting the writer, publisher, and his two staff members, TRUMP stated, "Look what I found, this was [the Senior Military Official's] plan of attack, read it and just show ...  it's interesting."  Later in the interview, TRUMP engaged in the following exchange:

 

TRUMP: Well, with [the Senior Military Official]-uh, let me see that, I'll show you an example. He said that I wanted to attack [Country A]. Isn't it amazing? I have a big pile of papers, this thing just came up. Look. This was him. They presented me this-this is off the record, but-they presented me this. This was him. This was the Defense Department and him.

 

WRITER:        Wow.

TRUMP: We looked at some. This was him. This wasn't done by me, this was him. All sorts of stuff-pages long, look.

 

STAFFER:       Mm.

TRUMP: Wait a minute, let's see here. STAFFER: [Laughter] Yeah.

TRUMP: I just found, isn't that amazing? This totally wins my case, you know.

 

STAFFER: Mm-hm.

TRUMP: Except it is like, highly confidential.

STAFFER: Yeah. [Laughter]

 

TRUMP:  Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this.

You attack, and-

 

***

TRUMP:   By the way.  Isn't that incredible? 

STAFFER:  Yeah.

TRUMP: I was just thinking, because we were talking about it. And you know, he said, "he wanted to attack [Country A], and what ... "

 

STAFFER:       You did.

TRUMP:         This was done by the military and given to me.  Uh, I think we can probably, right?

STAFFER:       I don't know, we'll,  we'll  have to see.    Yeah, we'll have to try to-

 

TRUMP: Declassify it. STAFFER: figure out  a-yeah.

TRUMP: See as president I could have declassified it. 

STAFFER:  Yeah. [Laughter]

TRUMP:  Now I can't, you know, but this is still a secret. 

STAFFER: Yeah.  [Laughter] Now we have a problem.

TRUMP: Isn't that interesting?

At the time of this exchange, the writer, the publisher, and TRUMP's two staff members did not have security clearances or any need-to-know any classified information about a plan of attack on Country A.

News chunks: Radical right irrationality; Radical right pro-corruption policy; The indictment

Mike Pence is one of the hoard of extremist radical Republicans now running for president in 2024. It is useful to know that the insulting irrationality, hypocrisy and arrogance that characterizes the apparent nominee Trump has poisoned the minds of the rest of the herd. LGBQT Nation reports about the irrational cluelessness and hypocrisy of Pence when he was faced with deep contradictions in his own extremist dogma:

GOP presidential candidate Mike Pence could hardly respond when a CNN reporter pointed out his hypocrisy on LGBTQ+ issues. Pence argued that parental rights are paramount in one instance and then argued against parental rights when it comes to gender-affirming care.

“We’re gonna protect kids from the radical gender ideology and say no chemical or surgical gender transition before you’re 18, period,” he said, getting applause from the conservative audience.

Host Dana Bash pushed back: “I just want to be clear on this because you are so adamant about parents’ rights.”

“Right, I am,” Pence responded.

“But in this particular case, parents who say, along with the doctors, that what is best for their kids, what their kids feel most comfortable with doing, is gender transition,” Bash said. “The parents should not be allowed to do that?”

Pence did not appear to have a response ready for this fairly obvious question.

“Right, look, I, I, look… The, the s- state has the obligation to see to the safety and health and well-being of the people in the state,” he said, even though Pence adamantly opposes safety measures like vaccine mandates, which do a lot more to keep people safe than focusing on transgender youth. “And I accept that. Look, yet… I, I take your point, I take your point….”

Bash insisted that she wasn’t making a point, “It’s a question,” as Pence continued to stammer.

“Well, I, I, look, this… Well we have afoot in America that is a radical gender ideology that has taken hold in our schools, that has taken hold in our universities, it is afoot across the nation….” Pence responded, trying to talk about anything other than the inconvenient fact that many parents of transgender kids support their children.

Obviously, Pence, like most other radical Republican elites has no idea of what he stands for or the pain his dogma will impose on innocents. He cannot understand his own beliefs because he is incapable of rational thought in the face of his own infallible reason-killing Christian fundamentalist dogma.

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From the Corruption Files: An important but grossly under-reported trait that's prominent among radical right Republican elites is their support for legalized opacity. Opacity shields corruption, conflicts of interest, theocracy and plutocracy. For example, Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas has been explicit for years that he wants all major transparency in government and campaign funding laws nullified. In Thomas' opinion, unlimited money should be able to influence government in secrecy. The Jacobin wrote:

Clarence Thomas Has Long Fought to Kill Laws 

Requiring Transparency in Political Spending

 

While refusing to disclose lavish gifts from a billionaire, Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas pushed to invalidate all political spending disclosure laws in America, insisting that donors have a constitutional right to anonymously influence politics with unlimited amounts of cash.

In 2010, the Supreme Court issued its notorious Citizens United ruling, declaring that “independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption” — and therefore could be made limitlessly.

But that ruling, which unleashed billions of dollars in dark money election spending, did not go far enough for Thomas, who had previously insisted that there exists an “established right to anonymous speech.” He supported the Citizens United majority ruling, but issued a concurring opinion insisting that judges should overturn all rules that require transparency in political spending.

An “established right to anonymous speech” is the legal argument that right wing extremists are using to kill transparency. This is a key component on the path to kleptocracy.

A Des Moines Register opinion piece reports another example of the radical right's pro-corruption dogma in action:

Iowa’s new pro-corruption law is shocking and indefensible — and as Iowa’s former chief public corruption prosecutor, I know a thing or two about corruption.

That was my work from 2010 to 2017. Since 2019, I have been Iowa’s state auditor, working as Iowans’ watchdog, where my office uncovered a record amount of misspent public money in my first term.

Given Iowa’s longstanding reputation for honesty, integrity, and trust in our state’s checks and balances, it is hard to imagine our elected officials creating a system that would encourage waste, fraud, and abuse — except that’s exactly what Senate File 478 (the pro-corruption law) is about. It literally makes it legal for government officials to hide documents that show waste, fraud, or abuse from the state auditor. I can’t believe I’m not making this up.

Before the Legislature passed and the Governor signed the pro-corruption bill into law, the auditor’s office could require government entities to hand over documents during the course of our work, and Iowa’s courts could independently review any dispute about it. 

  

This new law ends all that. It allows any state agency to simply deny the auditor’s office access to information it doesn’t want to share. In those instances, a three-person panel made up of a representative from the entity being audited, a representative from the auditor’s office, and one appointed by the governor would decide whether the information is turned over. Keep in mind, representatives of almost all state agencies already serve at the pleasure of the governor. So that’s two to one. Simple as that.

There is no other plausible way to interpret this other than to conclude that support for secrecy and corruption is an important policy goal of the radical right extremists who now control the Republican Party.

Q: Is there another plausible interpretation of this other than to conclude that radical Republican elites support secrecy because they are corrupt, e.g., (i) is this merely an aberration from a tiny minority of radical elites, or (ii) does most of the rank and file support secrecy in government and believe that corruption will not happen, or they do not care if corruption happens? 

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From the Spin Dictator Files: Everyone is reporting that Trump has been indicted for several crimes.  The WaPo comments about what he is likely to be charged with:

A seven-count indictment has been filed in federal court naming the former president as a criminal defendant, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a case that has yet to be unsealed. The charges include willful retention of national defense secrets, obstruction of justice and conspiracy, which carry the potential of years in prison if Trump is found guilty.

It's possible, maybe likely, that Trump's support will increase and the GOP will nominate him as the Republican candidate for president. The ongoing criminal trial would then probably be the dominant issue in the 2024 election. Trump definitely will continue to claim innocent victimhood and play the martyrdom card as hard as he can, even after he is convicted, assuming he ever is convicted. If he is convicted of any crimes or if he loses the 2024 election, Trump will very likely try to foment another armed coup attempt, while viciously demagoguing the prosecution as an evil, socialist witch hunt of a poor innocent patriot. 

A plausible or maybe likely sequence of events: Indictment → Trump dithers, delays and demagogues as as much  as possible → the public further divides and the emotional temperature goes up while rationality goes down → the 2024 elections are held → the court convicts or acquits → ??? at this point there's multiple plausible paths

Regardless of the path ahead, it is reasonable to predict that the political and social situation in the US will probably further deteriorate and democracy and the rule of law will continue to erode until at least some time after the 2024 elections. 

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From the Demagoguery Files: Elite GOP demagogues have fired up an enraged attack on the Doj and Merrick Garland for indicting Trump. The Hill reports about the blatant lies, slanders and hypocrisy the GOP is deploying:

Republican senators, including members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, are warning the indictment brought by the Department of Justice against former President Donald Trump raises serious conflict-of-interest issues for Attorney General Merrick Garland.

The senators, who mostly spoke to The Hill in the hours before Trump himself broke the news of his indictment, cited Trump’s status as the leading Republican candidate for president and the fact that federal investigators have also seized classified documents that President Biden kept in his personal possession after leaving the Obama administration.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, warned Thursday evening the prosecution of Trump “will do enormous damage to the rule of law.”

“Indicting Donald Trump is the culmination of what Merrick Garland has been pushing for since he became Attorney General. The weaponization of our Department of Justice against enemies of the Biden admin. will do enormous damage to the rule or law & have a lasting impact,” he tweeted after Trump himself announced he would be indicted.

Accusing Garland of conflicts of interest and political motivation to get Trump is pure lie, slander and hypocrisy. Extremist Republicans operate without concern for conflicts. Garland never wanted to prosecute Trump for anything -- circumstances, including Trump's own arrogance and stupidity, forced the prosecution on Garland and what little is left of the rule of law for elites like Trump. 

News bits: Christian nationalism invades rental property management; House chaos; Etc.

This letter from a property manager, Link Llewellyn, requests tenants at Llewellyn Properties in Columbus Ohio to refrain from any overt signage or any other communication anywhere in or on the rental properties in opposition to or support of Pride Month. Why does he request this? Because (i) he is a Catholic, (ii) June is the month that Catholics reflect on the love of Christ "for all human beings without exception", (iii) the bible says that pride is the root of the human sin that rejects His love, and (iv) promoting Pride Month conflicts with Link's religious beliefs and allegedly with Apostolic Magisterium (AM) teachings.

This attack on the LGBQT community feels like it very likely was written by a Catholic lawyer, not by Link. This kind of Christian attack reflects the increasing intrusion of aggressive fundamentalist Christian theocratic dogma in all aspects of life, not just government. 

Here, Link asserts that his personal and AM's version of Catholic religious beliefs stand above the beliefs of others. Not only can people not speak to support Pride Month, they cannot speak to oppose it either. Link's personal religious beliefs trump free speech in commerce. This reflects the Supreme Court's decisions in recent years that are elevating religious belief and practice above all other rights and liberties as it keeps pushing the US toward an anti-democratic theocracy-dictatorship.

There is subtle insidiousness in this letter's Christian aggression. Link quotes the bible three times in support of his arguments (see the footnotes). Link does not care what non-Christians and non-religious people believe or would like to say. That is irrelevant. Here all that counts is what Link says his Christian God approve and disapproves of by way of the Apostolic Magisterium** and Link's religious beliefs. This is Christian Sharia theocracy speaking loud, clear and undeniable. 

** Wikipedia: "The magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church is the church's authority or office to give authentic interpretation of the word of God, "whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition". According to the 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church, the task of interpretation is vested uniquely in the Pope and the bishops." 

What is the interpretation of the word of God? That's clear as mud. The bible is often rationally incomprehensible and loaded with self-contradiction. Therefore, interpretation and tradition are whatever the pope or bishops say it is. 

Remember the Dobbs Supreme Court decision that killed Roe v. Wade and abortion rights? Its reasoning was based on (i) abortion not being explicitly allowed in the Constitution, and (ii) a new test the radical Christian theocrats on the court dreamed up. The new test looked to see if abortion was "deeply rooted" in the history and traditions of the American people. The justices did not define what "deeply rooted", "traditions" or "history" meant, e.g., a "tradition" can be practiced among a small group or family, and "history" includes biblical and more ancient times. The Christian theocrats on the court just told us what their cherry-picked version history and traditions were and abortion was not "deeply rooted". From that, they concluded there is no right to an abortion in the Constitution. It was just like the Apostolic Magisterium interpreting the bible. It is fun, easy and always leads to comfortable conclusions that accord with the controlling dogma. THAT IS THEOCRACY. IT IS NOT DEMOCRACY.

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From the House of Representatives Chaos Files: Now that extremist Republicans have settled in, chaos and slop have descended on the House. The NYT writes about some chaos:

House Is Paralyzed as Far-Right Rebels 

Continue Mutiny Against McCarthy

Members of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus refused to surrender control of the floor, forcing G.O.P. leaders to scrap votes for the week and leaving the speaker facing what he conceded was “chaos”

Mr. McCarthy, who enraged ultraconservative Republicans by striking a compromise with President Biden to suspend the debt limit, has yet to face a bid to depose him, as some hard-right members have threatened. But the rebellion has left him, at least for now, as speaker in name only, deprived of a governing majority.

“House Leadership couldn’t Hold the Line,” Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida and a leader of the rebellion, tweeted on Wednesday. “Now we Hold the Floor.”

Great! Jackass Republican extremists like Gaetz hold the floor. The House is broken. MAGA!!

The WaPo comments on the chaos:

A two-day stalemate between hard-right Republicans and GOP leaders has effectively frozen the House from considering any legislation for the foreseeable future, as both groups failed to find a resolution to the standoff that would allow the majority to vote on bills.

Just past 6 p.m. Wednesday, after GOP leaders gave up on resolving the impasse this week and canceled the remaining votes for the week, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) addressed reporters and explained that part of the ongoing frustration is the hard-line faction’s inability to articulate their demands.

“This is the difficult thing,” he said. “Some of these members, they don’t know what to ask for.”

Great! Jackass Republican extremists like Gaetz don't know what they want. The House is broken. MAGA!!

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From the cruel kleptocracy files: The innate human urge to be corrupt and a kleptocrat is a major aspect of the human condition. The urge is always there. Kleptocrats are almost always authoritarian, brutal and shockingly heartless. While in power, they do not care if their people live or die a miserable death, e.g., by starvation. Kleptocrats always go after two things, wealth and power. The WaPo writes about the human misery that kleptocratic Ethiopian central and regional government has caused:

USAID cuts food aid supporting millions of Ethiopians 

amid charges of massive government theft

The U.S. government is suspending food aid to Ethiopia after an investigation uncovered a widespread scheme to steal donated food, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) said Thursday, a move that will affect millions of the world’s poorest people. Leaked documents given to donors and shared with The Washington Post indicate that the scheme was coordinated by elements within both the federal and regional governments.

“Extensive monitoring indicates this diversion of donor-funded food assistance is a coordinated and criminal scheme, which has prevented life-saving assistance from reaching the most vulnerable,” said a report by the Humanitarian Resilience Development Donor Group, an organization of donors briefed by USAID. “The scheme appears to be orchestrated by federal and regional Government of Ethiopia (GoE) entities, with military units across the country benefiting from humanitarian assistance.”  

An aid worker with knowledge of the program said it appeared that local officials responsible for creating lists of beneficiaries had inflated the number of households in need and prevented food from reaching hungry families.

In my opinion, the most important reason the US never had a ghost of a chance of making any meaningful difference in Afghanistan was due to the fact that it was an entrenched kleptocracy. Corruption among Afghan elites sabotaged literally everything the US tried to do. Sometimes, the US government itself knowingly fed cash and arms to known local kleptocrats. In view of its staggering governmental arrogance and incompetence, the US was doomed to failure from the moment the first aircraft hit the first building in the 9/11 attacks. 

What did we get? Just look at the Dark Ages thugs and thieves who run Afghanistan now. They look very much like the Dark Ages thugs and thieves who run Ethiopia now. Iraq looks to be about the same.

Bummer.