The Conversation -- September 9, 2023
New Mexico. Morgan Lee of the AP: "New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday issued an emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public across Albuquerque and the surrounding county for at least 30 days in response to a spate of gun violence. The Democratic governor said she expects legal challenges but was compelled to act because of recent shootings, including the death of an 11-year-old boy outside a minor league baseball stadium this week. Lujan Grisham said state police would be responsible for enforcing what amount to civil violations. Albuquerque police Chief Harold Medina said he won't enforce it, and Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen said he's uneasy about it because it raises too many questions about constitutional rights."
Texas. Chuck Lindell of the Texas Tribune summarizes what-all happened this week at the state senate trial of suspended Texas attorney general Ken Paxton.
Maureen Dowd of the New York Times writes about her friendship with Jimmy Buffett.
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The New York Times is liveblogging developments at the G-20 summit: "Leaders of the world's largest economies gathered on Saturday to discuss ways to eas burdens on poorer nations, opening a Group of 20 summit whose Indian hosts hope will advance a global economic agenda even as it is overshadowed by Russia's war in Ukraine and the absence of the Russian and Chinese leaders. India, a growing diplomatic and economic power that has stuck to neutrality over the Ukraine conflict, has painstakingly tried to limit discussions about the war to the economic distress it has caused, with energy and food prices rising around the world. Atop the G20 economic agenda in New Delhi is the issue of global debt and reforming institutions such as the World Bank to address the growing strains on poorer countries; a push for more financing to help vulnerable nations deal with the costs of mitigating threats from climate change; and the potential of digital technologies to increase inclusion in global economies."
Fifth Circuit: The First Amendment Protects Dangerous Lies. Steven Myers of the New York Times: "A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that the Biden administration most likely overstepped the First Amendment by urging the major social media platforms to remove misleading or false content about the Covid-19 pandemic, partly upholding a lower court's preliminary injunction in a victory for conservatives. The ruling, by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans, was another twist in a First Amendment case that has challenged the government's ability to combat false and misleading narratives about the pandemic, voting rights and other issues that spread on social media." ~~~
~~~ Tierney Sneed of CNN: "A federal appeals court on Friday said the Biden administration likely violated the First Amendment in some of its communications with social media companies, but also narrowed a lower court judge's order on the matter. The US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that certain administration officials -- namely in the White House, the surgeon general, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation -- likely 'coerced or significantly encouraged social media platforms to moderate content' in violation of the First Amendment in its efforts to combat Covid-19 disinformation. But the three-judge panel said the preliminary injunction issued by US District Judge Terry Doughty in July, which ordered some Biden administration agencies and top officials not to communicate with social media companies about certain content, was 'both vague and broader than necessary to remedy the Plaintiffs' injuries, as shown at this preliminary juncture.'" Donald Trump appointed Doughty.
Trump Family Crime Blotter
** Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "... a judge rejected an effort by Mark Meadows, [Donald] Trump's former White House chief of staff, to move his case from state court to federal court.... The ruling, by Judge Steve C. Jones of the Northern District of Georgia, does not bode well for [other Georgia defendants who are expected to attempt to have their cases moved to federal court]." Meadows appealed the ruling Friday night. (An earlier version of this report was linked yesterday.) CNN's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: So despite what we all may have assumed, even in a Trump administration, criminal activity is not a part of the written job description for chief-of-staff. (Okay, Judge Jones' actual rationale was more along the lines of -- working for a presidential campaign is not a part of the job description for chief-of-staff.)
** Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "A special grand jury that investigated election interference allegations in Georgia recommended indicting a number of Trump allies who were not charged, including Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the former senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, and Michael Flynn, a former national security adviser. In its final report, which a judge unsealed on Friday, the panel also recommended charges against Boris Epshteyn, one of ... Donald J. Trump's main lawyers, as well as a number of other Trump-aligned lawyers, including Cleta Mitchell and Lin Wood." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ CNN: "A Georgia judge has released the full final report from the special grand jury that investigated Donald Trump and his allies' attempts to overturn the 2020 election in the state. The panel recommended charges against GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and former GOP Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler of Georgia. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis did not charge them in the indictment last month against Trump and 18 other co-defendants." The linked page is a CNN liveblog that covers this & other matters related to the Georgia RICO case. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
"The Georgia special grand jury had recommended charges against 39 people as part of their 2020 election interference probe. Ultimately, 21 people on the list were not charged. One other person -- Michael Roman, whose name did not appear in the report -- was also charged by the Fulton County district attorney." This entry lists all the people the special grand jury recommended for indictment. ~~~
~~~ Politico's story is here. You can read the full special grand jury report here, via Politico. (CNN also has republished the report on its liveblog, but you'll have to scroll down to find it. (Also linked yesterday.)
The Family that Rebels Together Gets Jail Time Together. Eduardo Medina of the New York Times: "A Tennessee man and his mother were sentenced to prison on Friday for seeking to intimidate lawmakers by marching with matching tactical vests and carrying zip tie-style handcuffs during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, federal prosecutors said. The man, Eric Munchel, 32, of Nashville, who became known on social media as 'Zip Tie Guy,' was sentenced to nearly five years in prison, the Justice Department said. His mother, Lisa Marie Eisenhart, 59, of Woodstock, Ga., was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, the department said. They were fined $2,000 each, and their prison terms will be followed by two and a half years of supervised release." The NBC News story is here. MB: Such a sweet family-values kinda story. I mean, how can you jail a mom-and-son couple who wore matching outfits to the revolution?
Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Last October, a few months before he went to trial on sedition charges linked to the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, got an invitation: [to meet with his lawyers and federal prosecutors].... During that meeting, Mr. Tarrio recounted on Friday in a phone interview from jail, the prosecutors told him that they believed he had communicated in the run-up to the riot with ... Donald J. Trump through at least three intermediaries. The prosecutors, Mr. Tarrio said, offered him leniency if he could corroborate their theory. Mr. Tarrio said he told them they were wrong. And the discussion with prosecutors -- which took place in Miami, Mr. Tarrio's hometown -- apparently went nowhere. Mr. Tarrio was later convicted of seditious conspiracy in federal court in Washington and was sentenced on Tuesday to 22 years in prison.... 'There is absolutely no connection between me and President Trump,' Mr. Tarrio said.... During the sedition trial, prosecutors introduced a text message ... suggesting that he had coordinated some rallies the Proud Boys were involved in with Mr. Trump's campaign."
Presidential Race 2024
Dareh Gregorian, et al., of NBC News: "... Donald Trump is seeking to have a Colorado lawsuit aimed at kicking him off the 2024 ballot in the state moved to federal court. In a court filing on Thursday, lawyers for Trump argued the suit brought earlier this week by a group of six voters should be moved from state court to federal court because it centers on the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which holds that no person shall hold any office if they 'engaged in insurrection or rebellion' after having taken an oath to support the Constitution." (Also linked yesterday.)
Nicholas Nehamas & Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times: "During his 2018 run for governor, Ron DeSantis not only pledged to protect Florida's Everglades and waterways, he also acknowledged that humans played a role in exacerbating the climate change that threatened them.... Now running for president..., the Florida governor no longer repeats his previous view that humans affect the climate, even as scientists say that the hurricanes battering his state are being intensified by man-made global warming.... Instead, Mr. DeSantis has seemingly reverted to an old Republican Party line that climate change is happening naturally, without being accelerated by human behavior like the burning of fossil fuels. Decades of scientific research contradict that position. And it is also out of step with what polling shows many Americans believe. On the 2024 campaign trail, Mr. DeSantis has promised to ramp up domestic oil and gas production and fight against mandates on the introduction of electric vehicles -- the kinds of steps that could worsen the sea-level rise that is flooding coastal cities in Florida and around the world." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Ron DeSantolini is the best living American specimen of how blind ambition corrupts. What a pathetic little clown.
Justice Alito's decision to dress up some misguided views of his ethical obligations as a formal Court opinion doesn't make the missive any more correct or any less imperious. -- Gabe Roth of Fix the Courts ~~~
~~~ Tierney Sneed of CNN: "Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito sharply rejected calls from Democratic senators that he not participate in an upcoming tax case where one of the lawyers involved also participated in recent Wall Street Journal interviews of the conservative jurist. Alito, in a court filing Friday, said the argument for him to recuse was 'unsound' and that there was 'no valid reason' for him not to participate in the case. 'When Mr. Rivkin participated in the interviews and co-authored the articles, he did so as a journalist, not an advocate,' Alito wrote, referring to David B. Rivkin, the opinion journalist in question who is representing one of the parties in the tax case.... Alito on Friday contended that Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate Judiciary Chairman who led the calls for Alito to sit out in the case, was apparently pushing a theory for recusal that 'fundamentally misunderstands the circumstances under which Supreme Court Justices must work.'" MB: I don't know why all you little people can't see that Sam is the reincarnation of Caesar's wife. (Also linked yesterday.)
Marie: Excellent commentary in yesterday's thread, particularly in regard to the Supreme's ruling on the poor, mistreated praying football coach (well, one-time football coach). Also see Patrick's commentary on Donald the Sun King; it turns out Trump & Louis have more in common than their affinity for the rococo.
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California. Paul Kane & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Friday that she will run for reelection in 2024 for her San Francisco-area House seat, ending speculation about her political future after she decided last year she would step down as the leader of the House Democratic caucus." (Also linked yesterday.)
Texas. So Much for Minimally Humane Treatment. Zoe Richards of NBC News: "A federal appeals court Thursday put on hold a judge's order from earlier this week requiring Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to remove a floating barrier from the middle of the Rio Grande. The 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals allowed Abbott, a Republican, to leave in place for now the 1,000-foot barrier the state installed to deter illegal migrant crossings. The order was issued by a three-judge panel of two Democratic appointees and a Republican appointee." (Also linked yesterday.)
My name is Yon Yonson,
I come from Wisconsin,
We have no democracy there. ~~~
~~~ ** Wisconsin. Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "No matter how much Wisconsin voters might want to elect a Democratic Legislature, the Republican gerrymander won't allow them to. The gerrymandering alone undermines Wisconsin's status as a democracy. If a majority of the people cannot, under any realistic circumstances, elect a legislative majority of their choosing, then it's hard to say whether they actually govern themselves.... In 2018, for example, Wisconsin voters put Tony Evers, a Democrat, in the governor's mansion, sweeping the incumbent, Scott Walker [R], out of office. Almost immediately, Wisconsin Republicans introduced legislation to weaken the state's executive branch....
"Earlier this year, Wisconsin voters ... elect[ed] Janet Protasiewicz, a liberal Milwaukee county judge, to the State Supreme Court.... Wisconsin Republicans can't strip a judicial officer of her power. But they can remove her, which is what they intend to do. [Further, they plan to make it impossible for Evers to appoint a replacement.]... It's that breathtaking contempt for the people of Wisconsin -- who have voted, since 2018, for a more liberal State Legislature and a more liberal State Supreme Court and a more liberal governor, with the full powers of his office available to him -- that makes the Wisconsin Republican Party the most openly authoritarian in the country.... In the absence of national regulation -- and against the backdrop of a federal Supreme Court that is, at best, apathetic on issues of voting rights -- states are as liable to become laboratories of autocracy as they are to serve as laboratories of democracy."
News Lede
The New York Times is liveblogging developments in Morocco following a deadly earthquake: "As dawn broke over Morocco on Saturday, a frantic effort was taking shape over mountainous terrain to rescue survivors of a powerful earthquake that had struck about 50 miles from the city of Marrakesh late Friday, killing at least 632 people. Morocco's Interior Ministry said early Saturday that the victims had died after the quake struck in the High Atlas Mountains shortly after 11 p.m. and that at least 329 others had been transported to hospitals with injuries."
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Reader Comments (2)
Douthat has another in the seemingly endless lines of opinion pieces about why Biden is so unpopular...I didn't read it.
Didn't stop me from commenting, tho'.
"The situation the country is in calls to mind the old and obvious rejoinder to someone complaining about the aches and pains of growing old...
Think of the alternative.
I have, do and will."
Most polls that I have read blame inflation on Pres. Biden.
I blame it on corporate greed, like that old saying "whatever the
market will bear."
And some of these same people blaming Biden for inflation are
themselves to blame. Personal greed. I see it in my own neighborhood.
Houses that sold for 3 or 4 hundred thousand dollars a couple of years
ago are put on the market for over a million, and they sell. A lot of
them are selling to investors who buy up anything that comes on
the market and turn them into rentals.
Could that be the reason for housing shortages? Could that be the
reason we have so many homeless people now?