Ostensibly exploring the practice of law before the internet. Heck, before good highways for that matter.
Sunday, March 17, 2024
Monday, March 17, 1924 Telephones and grim news.
Saturday, March 16, 2024
The Agrarian's Lament: A sort of Agrarian Manifesto. What's wrong with the world (and how to fix it). Part 6. Politics
A sort of Agrarian Manifesto. What's wrong with the world (and how to fix it). Part 6. Politics
And, yes, we're still not on to the Agrarian finale in this series. That's because we have one more important topic to consider first.
Politics.
If you read distributists' social media, and you probably don't, you'll see that some people have the namby pamby idea that if we all just act locally everything will fall in line. While people should act locally, that's a bunch of crap.
What these people don't realize is that politically, we're a corporate capitalist society, and we are where we are right now, in large part due to that. Corporations are a creature of the state, not of nature, and exists as a legal fiction because the state says they do. This is deemed, in our imaginations, to be necessarily because, . . . well it is.
Or rather, it's deemed to be necessary as we believe we need every more consolidation and economies of scale.
We really don't, and in the end, it serves just itself. We do need some large entities, particularly in manufacturing, which would actually bring us back to the original allowance for corporate structure, which was quite limited. Early in US history, most corporations were banned from being created.
Legally, they would not need to be banned now, but simply not allowed to form except for actual needs. And when very large, the Theodore Roosevelt proposal that they be treated like public utilities, or alternatively some percentage of their stock or membership would vest in their employees, would result in remedying much of the ills that they've created.
Likewise, eliminating the absurd idea that they can use their money for influence in politics could and should be addressed.
Which would require changes in the law.
And that takes us back to politics.
Nearly every living American, and Canadian for that matter, would agree that a major portion of the problems their nations face today are ones manufactured by politics. The current economic order, as noted, is politically vested.
The United States has slid into a political decline of epic proportions, and its noteworthy that this came about after Ronald Reagan attacked and destroyed the post 1932 economic order which provided for an amplified type of American System in which there was, in fact, a great deal of involvement in the economy and the affairs of corporations, as well as a hefty income tax on the wealth following the country's entry into World War Two. It's never been the case, of course, that there was a trouble free political era although interestingly, there was a political era which is recalled as The Era of Good Feelings due to its lack of political strife.
That era lasted a mere decade, from 1815 to 1825, but it's instructive.
The Era of Good Feelings came about after the War of 1812, which was a war that not only caused internal strife, but which risked the dissolution of the nation. Following the war the Federalist Party collapsed thereby ending the bitter disputes that had characterized its fights with the more dominant Democratic-Republican Party.. . . . huh. . .
Anyhow, President James Monroe downplayed partisan affiliation in his nominations, with the ultimate goal of affecting national unity and eliminating political parties altogether.
Borrowing a line from the Those Were the Days theme song of All In the Family, "Mister we could use a man like James Monroe again".
Political parties have had a long and honorable history in politics. They've also had a long and destructive one. Much of their role depends upon the era. In our era, for a variety of reasons, they are now at the hyper destructive level.
They are, we would note, uniquely subject to the influence of money, and the fringe, which itself is savvy to the influence of money. And money, now matter where it originates from, tends to concentrate uphill if allowed to, and it ultimately tends to disregard the local.
"All politics is local" is the phrase that's famously attached to U.S. politics, but as early as 1968, according to Andrew Gelman, that's declined, and I agree with his observation. Nowhere is that more evident than Wyoming.
In Wyoming both the Republican and the Democratic Party used to be focused on matters that were very local, which is why both parties embraced in varying degrees, The Land Ethic, and both parties, in varying degrees, embraced agriculture. It explains why in the politics of the 70s and 80s the major economic driver of the state, the oil and gas industry, actually had much less influence than it does now.
Things were definitely changing by the 1980s, with money, the love of which is the root of all evil, being a primary driver. Beyond that, however, technology played a role. The consolidation of industry meant that employers once headquartered in Casper, for instance, moved first to Denver, then to Houston, or were even located in Norway. As the love of money is the root of all evil, and the fear of being poor a major personal motivator, concern for much that was local was increasingly lost.
The increasing broad scope of the economy, moreover, meant that there were economic relocations of people who had very little connection with the land and their state. Today's local Freedom Caucus in the legislature, heavily represented by those whose formative years were out of state, is a primary example in the state. Malevolent politics out of the south and the Rust Belt entered the state and are battled out in our legislature even though they have little to do with local culture, lands or ethics.
Moreover, since 1968 the Democratic Party has gone increasingly leftward, driven at first by the impacts of the 1960s and then by its left leaning elements. It in turn became anti-democratic, relying on the Supreme Court to force upon the nation unwanted social change, until it suddenly couldn't rely on the Court anymore, at which time it rediscovered democracy. At the same time Southern and Rust Belt Populists, brought into the Republican Party by Ronald Reagan, eventually took it over and are now fanatically devoted to anti-democratic mogul, Donald Trump, whose real values, other than the love of money and a certain sort of female appearance, is unknown, none of which maters to his fanatic base as they apply the Führerprinzip to his imagined wishes and he responds.
Distributism by design, and Agrarianism by social reference, both apply Catholic Social Teaching, one intentionally and one essentially as it was already doing that before Catholic Social Teaching was defined. As we've discussed elsewhere, Catholic Social Teaching applies the doctrines of Human Dignity, Solidarity and Subsidiarity. Solidarity, as Pope John Paul II describe it In Sollicitudo rei socialis, is not “a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of others. It is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good”. Subsidiarity provides that that matters ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority.
We are a long ways from all of that, right now.
Politically, we're in a national political era that is violently opposed to solidarity and subsidiarity. Supposed national issues and imagined remote conspiracies, dreamt up by political parties, swamp real local issues. Global issues, in contract, which require a competent national authority, or even international authority, to deal with, cannot get attention as the masses are distracted by buffoons acting like Howler Monkeys.
Destroying the parties would serve all of this. And that's a lot easier to do than might be supposed.
And more difficult.
Money makes it quite difficult, in fact. But it can be done.
The easiest way to attack this problem is to remove political parties as quasi official state agencies, which right now the GOP and Democratic Party are. Both parties have secured, in many states, state funded elections which masquerade as "primary elections" but which are actually party elections. There's utterly no reason whatsoever that the State of Wyoming, for example, should fund an internal Republican election, or a Democratic one.
Primary elections are quite useful, but not in the fashion that most state's have them. A useful example is Alaska's, whose system was recently proposed for Wyoming, but which was not accepted (no surprise). Interestingly, given as the state's two actual political parties right now are the Trumpites and the Republican remnants, this a particularly good, and perhaps uniquely opportune, time to go to this system. And that system disregard party affiliations.
Basically, in that type of election, the top two vote getters in the primary go on to the general election irrespective of party. There doesn't need to be any voter party affiliation. The public just weeds the number of candidates down.
That is in fact how the system works here already, and in many places for local elections. But it should be adopted for all elections. If it was, the system would be much different.
For example, in the last House Race, Harriet Hageman defeated Lynette Grey Bull, taking 132,206 votes to Gray Bull's 47,250. Given the nature of the race, FWIW, Gray Bull did much better than people like to imagine, taking 25% of the vote in an overwhelmingly Republican state. Incumbent Lynn Cheney was knocked out of the race in the primary, being punished for telling the truth about Дональд "The Insurrectionist" Trump. But an interesting thing happens if you look at the GOP primary.
In that race, Harriet Hageman took 113,079 votes, for 66% of the vote, and Cheney took 49,339, for 29%. Some hard right candidates took the minor balance. Grey Bull won in the primary with just 4,500 votes, however.
I'd also note here that Distributism in and of itself would have an impact on elections, as it would have a levelling effect on the money aspect of politics. Consider this article by former Speaker of the House Tom Lubnau:
Tom Lubnau: Analyzing The Anonymous Mailers Attacking Chuck Gray
The 2024 Wyoming Legislative Session. Part 6. After the Party
The legislators are home, but the Governor is still acting on bills.
And the session can now start to be assessed.
March 12, 2024
The Governor vetoed the charter school grant authorization bill.
None of the election bills survived the session.
Joan Barron, in a Trib op ed run today, has noted how the Senate is now being influenced by the far right and becoming less congenial.
The Wyoming Educational Association, in the same issue, ran a full page age against Casper's Jeanette Ward, a member of the Freedom Caucus, which read:
Ward is from Illinois and relocated from there to Wyoming under the far right's persistent mythical belief that Wyoming's conservatism is the same as the Rust Belt's, although their influence in the state is making the latter true.The same group voted against increasing funding for police retirement, and did it the day of a Sheridan policeman's funeral.
And it wanted to send unallocated ARPA funding back to the Federal government.
FOR RELEASE Immediately
DATE March 11, 2024
CONTACT Ryan Frost, Legislative Information Officer
TO REACH 307.777.7881
2024 Budget Session Concludes
CHEYENNE - With the sound of
the gavel, the Wyoming Legislature wrapped up the 2024 Budget Session on Friday
at the State Capitol in Cheyenne.
At the start of session, a total of 366 bills and
resolutions were numbered for introduction. The Wyoming Legislature passed a
total of 126 bills. Of the 107 pieces of legislation that were introduced in
the Senate, 71 of those bills passed both the House and Senate. The House
introduced 84 bills and 55 of those garnered the approval of both bodies.
Sixty-one percent of committee bills passed both chambers, while 20 percent of
the individually sponsored bills passed both bodies. Legislation that passed both
houses has either been acted on or is waiting to be acted on by Gov. Mark
Gordon.
The Legislature also adopted the State's biennial
budget on Friday, and the bill has been sent to the Governor for his
consideration. He will have 15 days to consider line-item vetoes and sign the
bill. The appropriations and transfers in the bill for the 2025-2026 fiscal
biennium total $11 billion. Of this, $3.4 billion is from the General
Fund, net of de-appropriations and including $170 million of discretionary
transfers to savings.
Both the House and Senate have addressed a broad
range of issues affecting Wyoming residents and while some of these laws will
take effect immediately, many will not go into effect until July 1 of this
year. Lawmakers will begin their interim committee work in the coming weeks.
The Legislature’s Management Council plans to meet and assign interim committee
topics April 1. Wyoming’s Sixty-Eighth Legislature will convene next year on
Jan. 14 for the 2025 General Session.
The Wyoming Legislature encourages the public to
participate in interim activities. The public can use the Legislature's website
at www.wyoleg.gov to find information about interim
legislative committees, including live video streams of committee meetings,
committee rosters, dates and locations of interim meetings, and minutes from
those meetings. The website also provides a free email subscription service for all interim committee
information. -END-
March 13, 2024
Ward was the subject of a second major ad in the Trib.
Ward also drew a lengthy letter to the Editor in the Trib. Usually I don't post those, but I will here as this is interesting.
Ward wasting time with culture wars
Representative Jeanette Ward,
House District 57, has been doing a poor job of representing her constituents and listening to their needs. She has voted against numerous bills that would have helped Wyoming citizens and instead wasted valuable time during the legislative session touting culture war issues. House Bill 50, the “What is a Woman” act, is a prime example of this. During a budget session the legislature has 20 days to pass a budget. That is literally the only job that legislators have during the budget session. It takes a 2/3 majority to get a non-budget bill to the floor for debate. Knowing this, Representative Ward introduced a bill that wasted time and resources and was completely unnecessary. That bill rightly died because it failed introduction.
This session, she also voted against bills that committees had spent many hours considering during the interim period, which was disrespectful to their work and slowed down the legislative process. She voted against funding the 988 suicide hotline even though Wyoming has one of the highest suicide rates in the nation, literally voting against saving lives. Last session she voted against most of the bills that would have helped families and disadvantaged Wyoming citizens, including Medicare for Moms, which helps low-income women provide for their babies. Fortunately, other legislators understood the issue and the bill passed. Representative Ward is not interested in helping Wyoming’s most vulnerable citizens, she would rather propose bills that are solutions looking for problems.
This is not acceptable. House District 57 deserves a legislator who listens to constituents, focuses her time on the budget during a budget session, and understands what genuine issues matter to Wyoming. She is not it. We need someone who has solutions to Wyoming problems, not someone who fans the flames of culture wars. Voters need to remember this on election day.
Judy Trohkimoinen,
Casper
This would suggest that perhaps there's a rising effort against Ward, who was endorsed by her predecessor, now Secretary of State Gray, because of her far right views, even though she had next to no connection with the state when she arrived, or people are getting tired of her.
In some ways, this reflects a rising feature of Wyoming's politics in which the old Party is beginning to react more strongly to the Trump Party.
March 15, 2024
Governor
Gordon Signs Bills That Help Reduce Housing Costs, Protect Critical
Infrastructure
CHEYENNE,
Wyo. – Governor Mark Gordon signed two bills today, one that helps protect key
infrastructure in Wyoming from foreign adversaries, and the other that lowers
the cost of constructing housing
SF0077 - Homeland
defense-infrastructure reporting and investigating requires the state
to annually identify “critical infrastructure zones”. Any property
transactions within those zones will be shared among the county clerks, the
Wyoming Office of Homeland Security and the Wyoming Division of Criminal
Investigation. Those agencies will then determine if the transaction
involves a foreign adversary or a state sponsor of terrorism that could pose a
threat to national or state security or to critical infrastructure.
“Our nation
has never faced graver threats from adversaries both foreign and domestic,”
Governor Gordon said. “Protection of Wyoming infrastructure and identifying
potential threats to our state or national security must be among our highest
priorities. I want to thank sponsor Senator Tara Nethercott, whose experience
and insight were invaluable in the drafting and passage of this bill. It is
imperative that we protect our precious property rights, while we also ensure
we are aware of any potential threats within our state’s borders.”
Senate File 114 -
Contractor licenses-reciprocal recognition requirements require local
governments in Wyoming to recognize contractor licenses issued by a Wyoming
county, city or town. This ensures that qualified contractors don’t have to go
through additional, time-consuming and expensive licensing requirements when
working in Wyoming communities. The bill emerged from the interim work of the
Regulatory Reduction Task Force, which explored a range of ideas that could
help expand housing opportunities for Wyoming’s essential workforce. The Task
Force identified a patchwork of state and local licensing requirements that
contributed to additional construction costs, which were then passed along to
Wyoming home buyers.
“My
administration has been passionate in reducing red tape, and while there is
certainly more work to be done in addressing Wyoming’s housing shortage, this
new law is a small step towards streamlining unnecessarily redundant and costly
requirements,” Governor Gordon said.
Both bills
are effective July 1, 2024.
March 15, cont:
Governor
Gordon Vetoes Bills to Prevent Legislature From Overstepping its Authority and
Creating Confusion for the Public
CHEYENNE,
Wyo. – Governor Mark Gordon took action on 18 bills today, vetoing one bill
that encroaches on the separation of powers between the executive and
legislative branches, and one that could create confusion for consumers, meat
processors and producers.
SF0013 - Federal land
use plans - legal actions authorized would have duplicated funding for legal actions by the State
and have been unconstitutional. The bill authorized the Legislature to take
legal action against the federal government, and provided a whopping $75
million in borrowing authority for it to do so. In his veto letter, the
Governor lambasted the bill as a “clear attempt to cross, blur and trample the
line of separation between our equal, but separate, branches of
government.”
Governor
Gordon criticized the bill as not being fiscally conservative, pointing out
that $75 million represents 67 percent of the Attorney General’s office
biennial budget. He said that the bill would only “enable duplicative
Legislative litigation safaris that would be counterproductive and contrary to
Wyoming’s well established practice of cooperation between branches.”
The Governor
also expressed concern about the confusion that would be created in the courts
over who represents Wyoming. It is the Executive branch that “is uniquely
designed to provide one voice when it is necessary,” he wrote.
“At best, competing
litigation efforts would only serve to confuse courts as to who represents the
State of Wyoming, and at worst it would enable frivolous and political
pursuits,” the Governor wrote.
The Governor
also vetoed SF0103 - Wyoming
PRIME Act, which as a “trigger” bill, would only become effective if the
federal PRIME Act is passed by Congress. The Governor noted that while he is
supportive of food freedom legislation, the Wyoming PRIME Act could create
confusion among consumers, meat processors and livestock producers. Early media
reports demonstrate the potential confusion created by the bill. Currently, an
attempt to use the provisions of SF0103 by Wyoming producers before the federal
PRIME Act is passed by Congress would put them at risk of fines and license
revocation, and imperil Wyoming’s primacy for its meat and poultry inspection
program. Finally, if the federal PRIME Act is passed by Congress, but is
amended during that process, Wyoming statute would likely need to be changed to
conform, which could unnecessarily delay state implementation.
The
Governor’s veto letters are attached and may be found on the Bills page of the Governor’s
website.
Governor
Gordon signed the following bills today:
SEA0034
SF0014 State fair board-powers and responsibilities.
SEA0035
SF0113 Light and high profile vehicle closures-2.
SEA0039
SF0096 Trusts and bank assets in bankruptcy-clarification.
SEA0040
SF0080 Solid waste management-definition amendments.
SEA0043
SF0053 Sixth judicial district-number of judges
SEA0046
SF0026 Special district vacancies
SEA0047
SF0035 Public records-DOC investigations.
SEA0053
SF0023 Public utilities-energy resource procurement.
SEA0059
SF0100 Prompt payment of insurance claims.
SEA0063
SF0083 Revisor's bill.
SEA0064
SF0090 State-managed local government equity investment pool.
SEA0069
SF0042 Low-carbon reliable energy standards-amendments.
HEA0043
HB0126 Child care is a residential use of property.
HEA0046
HB0058 Forensic genetic genealogy pilot program.
HEA0047
HB0029 Cold case database and investigations.
HEA0051
HB0138 State funds-pool A participation and fund limits.
-END-
March 16, 2024
After a break of one day, the WEA resumbed its advertisements on Jeanette Ward.
Last Prior Edition:
The 2024 Wyoming Legislative Session. Part 5. Divisive and Mean.
Saturday, March 9, 2024
The 2024 Wyoming Legislative Session. Part 5. Divisive and Mean.
We probably can effectively put the state in a tailspin, and we can probably do it in a very short period of time. It’s disheartening to sit here and see us potentially cripple ourselves over a policy that federally just makes us look silly.
For us to come out and say we are not going to in any way deal with any of the CO2 sequestration projects means that we lose our oil and gas and coal, which means we lose 50% of our tax base. It is insanity, absolute craziness.
Governor Gordon to Hold Public Bill Signing on Monday, March 4CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Governor Mark Gordon will hold a formal bill signing ceremony today, Monday, March 4 at 1:30 pm in the Governor's Ceremonial Conference Room in the State Capitol Building. The ceremony is open to the public.The Governor will sign the following bills:SEA0004 SF0003 State employee leave for volunteer emergency services.HEA0014 HB0014 Prior authorization regulations.HEA0008 HB0023 Vehicle registration e-certificate and grace period.HEA0013 HB0008 Commercial driver license-hazardous materials endorsement.HEA0023 HB0066 Firefighter-cancer screening benefits.
Governor Gordon Vetoes Bill that Could Hurt Charter Schools and Public Education SystemCHEYENNE, Wyo. – Governor Gordon issued his first veto of the 2024 Legislative Session today, calling a bill addressing charter schools a “bailing wire fix” that could threaten the sustainability of charter schools in the years to come. The Governor is an ardent supporter of school choice, and he points out that the legislation does not treat all charter schools equally.Senate File 61 - Education-charter school amendments authorizes charter schools as “local education agencies” (LEAs) to apply for, receive and administer federal and state grants. However, the bill repeals the ability of the state’s Charter Authorizing Board to serve this function before that board has even had an opportunity to demonstrate its effectiveness, the Governor said. In addition, the proposed legislation could impose significant costs and administrative burdens unequally across charter schools, potentially posing constitutional issues.“Without a thorough examination of the consequences and impacts on our state, students, parents, and taxpayers, I fear we may risk exacerbating existing impediments to charter growth and innovation while simultaneously raising the overall cost of education to unsustainable levels over the long term,” the Governor wrote in his veto letter. “Such a scenario is neither fiscally responsible nor supportive of students and parents who choose charter schools for their education.”District-authorized charters could continue to receive LEA services from their Authorizer, but State-Authorized charter schools would be expected to provide these services without any new resources provided. The Governor concluded by urging the Legislature to undertake a comprehensive review of Wyoming’s charter school statutes as an interim topic. This would ensure that Wyoming’s education policies are fair, equitable, transparent, and accountable, he wrote.The Governor’s veto letter is attached and may be found here.Governor Gordon Expresses Concern That Legislature has Only Passed Budget for Itself While the Rest of Wyoming WaitsCHEYENNE, Wyo. – Governor Mark Gordon’s message at the start of this legislative session was clear: The only constitutionally-required duty the Legislature has is to pass a balanced budget for the coming two years. That still has not happened. While the rest of Wyoming waits for its budget, the Legislature has passed a budget only for lawmakers and their staff.The Governor’s decision on the Legislature’s budget is due today (Thursday), while the budget for the rest of Wyoming remains in limbo until Friday. Noting that he is forced to consider funding the separate Legislative budget while awaiting that vote, the Governor issued several line-item vetoes. These vetoes would not imperil the ability of the legislative branch to function.“I am optimistic even at this late hour that a budget for the other two branches of government could arrive as soon as tomorrow,” the Governor wrote. “Accordingly, as I understand the importance of funding the Legislature in the coming two years, I am not vetoing this entire piece of legislation, but am exercising my constitutional ability to disapprove of items in this spending bill.”Governor Gordon struck the word “Energy” from a $76,800 appropriation for membership dues to the Energy Council, a legislative organization dedicated to energy policy. The Governor said “the Senate persists in sending confusing messages” about its support for the state’s energy industry and the thousands of people it employs. He invited the Legislature to override his veto “to send a clear message to the people of Wyoming and me about whether or not each chamber supports our energy industry, and follow up those words with action...”The Governor also had requested an inflation adjustment of $48 million to address increased operational costs the state has experienced over the past two years. The Legislature reduced that request to $28 million in the version of the budget bill currently being considered. Accordingly, the Governor reduced the Legislative budget request by $50,000 for new Legislative furniture and accessories so that all branches of government can contribute to the cost savings imposed by the Legislature on the rest of Wyoming.The Governor’s letter is attached and may be viewed here.
Thursday, March 7, 2024
Lex Anteinternet: Bloody 287
Lex Anteinternet: Bloody 287: I've traveled it countless times myself, that stretch of highway between Laramie and Ft. Collins. It's not a great road. Yesterday, ...
A petition for guardrails.
Implement Guard Rails on Highway 287 for Safer Travel
Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist, 60th Edition. Catching some z's.
And, according to a study by Exhale Wellness, Wyoming is the eighth best-slept state in the country. They analyzed data from the United Health Foundation’s American Health Rankings to see which states had the lowest percentage of adults who reported sleeping, on average, fewer than seven hours a night.
Last prior edition:
Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist, 59th. Babble and Horse Theives.
Monday, March 4, 2024
The Post Insurrection. Part VIII. The tangled web edition.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.
Sir Walter Scott, Marmion.
January 3, 2024.
Donald Trump's is appealing the ruling of the Secretary of State that Trump cannot stand for election under the 14th Amendment.
January 4, 2024
Trump is now appealing the ruling of the Colorado Supreme Court that he cannot be on Colorado's ballot as he's an insurrectionist. The state's GOP had already filed an appeal.
More properly, this is a petition. The U.S. Supreme Court does not have to take the matter up.
January 6, 2024
The current docket at the Supreme Court on the Trump v. Colorado case:
Jan 03 2024 | Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due February 5, 2024) |
PetitionCertificate of Word CountProof of Service | |
Jan 03 2024 | Brief amici curiae of Senator Steve Daines & National Republican Senatorial Committee filed. VIDED. |
Main DocumentProof of ServiceCertificate of Word Count | |
Jan 04 2024 | Letter from counsel for respondent Colorado Republican State Central Committee filed. |
Main Document | |
Jan 04 2024 | Brief in response to the petition for a writ of certiorari of respondent Norma Anderson, et al. filed. |
Main DocumentOtherCertificate of Word CountProof of Service | |
Jan 05 2024 | Petition GRANTED. The case is set for oral argument on Thursday, February 8, 2024. Petitioner’s brief on the merits, and any amicus curiae briefs in support or in support of neither party, are to be filed on or before Thursday, January 18, 2024. Respondents’ briefs on the merits, and any amicus curiae briefs in support, are to be filed on or before Wednesday, January 31, 2024. The reply brief, if any, is to be filed on or before 5 p.m., Monday, February 5 2024. |
Jan 05 2024 | Amicus brief of Republican National Committee and National Republican Congressional Committee submitted. |
Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service | |
Jan 05 2024 | Amicus brief of States of Indiana, West Virginia, 25 Other States, and the Arizona Legislature submitted. |
Main DocumentCertificate of Word CountProof of Service |
January 9, 2024
An actual exchange in a Federal Appellate Court where Trump's claims for immunity were heard today.
Judge: "I asked you a yes or no question. Could a president who ordered S.E.A.L. Team 6 to assassinate a political rival (and is) not impeached, would he be subject to criminal prosecution?"
Trump attorney says "qualified yes -- if he is impeached and convicted first."
The entire qualified immunity argument is legally infirm in the first place and needs to go. This will probably help make it go. Apparently, the judges weren't impressed with Trump's lawyer's arguments at all.
January 19, 2024
A court in Oregon determined Trump can remain on the ballot there.
Trump's lawyers filed their briefs in the Supreme Court case on the 14th Amendment yesterday.
January 27, 2024
E. Jean Carroll was awarded $83.3M in her defamation case against Donald Trump.
This will be appealed and it's likely that it'll actually not be paid in that amount.
February 6, 2024
No immunity.
Of course, who really thought there was?
Unfortunately, the delay in issuing the opinion has resulted in the postponement of the trial originally scheduled for March.
Cont:
Matt Gaetz and Elise Stephanik have co-sponsored a resolution that Donald Trump did not engage in insurrection or rebellion against the United States on January 6, something that clear is an attempt to address the 14th Amendment in that insurrection may be excused under it.
Having said that, a resolution that it didn't occur will not excuse it, and this will not get through the Senate.
February 8, 2024
Based on today's oral arguments, it appears likely that the Supreme Court is not going to disqualify Donald Trump under the 14th Amendment.
February 13, 2024
Defendant Trump is seeking a delay in his election interference trial, hoping to push it past the election, when he'll next hope that he can avoid it while President.
February 16, 2024
Nor really related to the other post insurrection legal woes that Donald Trump faces, his trial related to Stormy Daniel's hush money is set to commence on March 25.
In a more decent era, his payment to Daniels for sex would have ended his political career, but we obviously no longer live in a decent era.
In Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis testified regarding her relationship with the prosecutor assigned in the Georgia RICO action.
In another matter which is tangentially related to Trump's legal woes, House Republican effort to impeach Biden, which are monumentally improper, took a blow when Alexander Smirnov, an FBI informant was charged with fabricating a bribery scheme involving President Biden, his son Hunter and a Ukrainian company, which is what the attempt to impeach him is based on, other than on a desire for revenge.
Cont:
Trump has been found liable in New York in the civil fraud trial in the amount of $364,000,000 and is barred from doing business in New York for three years.
February 29, 2024
A Court in Illinois has ruled that Trump is banned from the Illinois ballot under the 14th Amendment, but stayed her decision until Friday in order to give him time to appeal.
The United States Supreme Court will take up Trump's immunity appeal, which will further delay his January 6 trial.
At this point, I think it highly unlikely that the January 6 trial will be heard this year, which means that it likely won't be heard until 2028, which is s true injustice.
March 4, 2024
And now the Supreme Court has ruled. Trump stays on the ballot, insurrection notwithstanding.
The basis is that Congress hasn't enacted a law to enforce the 14th Amendment and the Court finds it not be a self enacting statute
Secretary of State Gray chimed in:
Secretary Gray Applauds Supreme Court Decision Keeping Trump on Ballot in 2024
CHEYENNE, WY – On March 4, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a unanimous decision reversing the Colorado Supreme Court’s December ruling to remove Donald Trump from the ballot in 2024. Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray previously filed an Amicus Curiae brief with the Supreme Court of the United States, arguing that the Supreme Court should reverse the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision to bar Donald Trump from the ballot under Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment. Secretary Gray’s brief argued that Trump did not engage in an insurrection or rebellion, nor give aid or comfort to the enemies of the United States.
“I am extremely pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision reversing the Colorado Supreme Court’s repugnant ruling,” Secretary Gray said in a statement. “As Wyoming’s chief election officer, I filed an Amicus brief in January asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse Colorado’s outrageously wrong and unprecedented decision. For this, I have been repeatedly attacked by the radical left-wing media, and even members of the Legislature, for my efforts to ensure that Trump will be on the ballot. Today’s unanimous decision keeping Trump on the ballot marks vindication for the truth and for liberty. As Secretary of State, I will continue to fight to ensure the People of Wyoming can choose who to elect for themselves.”
Last Prior Edition:
The Post Insurrection. Part VII. The Insurrectionist.
Thursday, February 29, 2024
Leap Day
Which is notable mostly because it simply is. We only get them, and don't notice them much, every four years. Other than teasing people born on the day and miscalculating their actual age, not much will occur.
The added day, of course, come about due to the calendar adjustment that went into effect with the introduction of the Gregorian Calendar in October 1582. The added day was to keep the calendar from getting increasingly inaccurate. The entire Christian world didn't adopt the new calendar all at once, in part due to the Great Schism and the start of the Protestant Reformation, but over time, it's taken over nearly completely for the entire globe. About the only remaining use of the prior Julian Calendar is in some parts of the Eastern Orthodox world for their liturgical calendar, and even that is no longer universally true.
Pope Gregory actually met with a lot of opposition to the new calendar, FWIW. Members of the general public were really upset at first. Spain, Portugal, Poland-Lithuania and the Italian states nonetheless adopted it nearly immediately. France, some of the Dutch Republic, and the Catholic states of the Holy Roman Empire and Swiss Confederation did in 1587.
Denmark and Norway, then one state, and the rest of the Dutch Republic didn't fall into line until 1700-1701, by which time the Julian Calendar was seriously out of whack. The UK didn't adopt it until 1752. Sweden came around in 1753.
You would think a day as odd as Leap Day would be associated with some interesting customs, and it actually is, or more accurately was. In Wyoming, there once was a custom of appointing a teenager to be Governor for the day, honorific of course. I don't think that occurs anymore, but I guess we'll see today. If this does occur, I have not taken note of it recently. Wyoming Public Media reported it has having occured as recently as 1940, FWIW.
One political thing that does happen is the U.S. Presidential Election. It's always in a Leap Year. . . so we get to enjoy one more extra day of campaigning.
A tradition in the English-speaking world is that women can propose to men on this day, which, in some versions of the custom, extends to the whole year. This tradition was surprisingly wide spread in societies speaking English, and is attributed by some to the Irish Saint, St. Brigid, who predates the Gregorian Calendar by quite some measure. She died in 525.
Anyhow, supposedly she licensed women to propose to men every four years, which is likely just a story.
Even when I was a kid, however, there remained the odd custom, apparently limited to English-speaking countries as noted, that in Leap Years girls could "ask out" a boy, it being implicit that otherwise that was a right/burden that fell to males. It still, in fact, largely does. This appears to have been the remnant of a custom in English-speaking countries, no doubt only lightly observed, that on Leap Day, this day, women could propose marriage to men, that also being a prerogative which then, and largely now, was reserved to men by custom.
How much of a deal this really was, I don't know, but it was enough of one that late in the 19th Century and early in the 20th Century it generated cartoons, not all of which were kind, and it generated cards, most of which were, although more than a few of them were somewhat aggressive. The cards suggest that women were using them, so in fact some women did avail themselves of the licensed role reversal and propose.
In France, for St. Catherine's saint's day, the Catherinettes were out on the streets:
From John Blackwell's Twitter feed on the topic.
The day is also St. Catherine's Day,, the feast day for that saint, which at the time was still celebrated in France as a day for unmarried women who had obtained twenty-five years of age. Such women were known as Catherinettes. Women in general were committed since the Middle Ages to the protection of St. Catherine and on this day large crowds of unmarried 25 year old women wearing hats to mark their 25th year would gather for a celebration of sorts, where well wishers would wish them a speedy end to their single status. The custom remained strong at least until the 1930s but has since died out.
Before we leave this topic, it's interesting to note that in Medieval Times, after the introduction of the Gregorian Calendar, in some European countries this was Bachelor's Day for the same reason. I.e., Bachelors were subject to proposals. It actually was a matter of law in some countries. In some places it became the custom for men of means to be required to buy any suitor whose proposal he turned down twelve pairs of gloves so that she could hide her embarrassment at not having an engagement ring.
While on this, FWIW, as we've noted before, while spinster status was regarded as a disaster earl in the 20th Century, what exactly constituted it is misunderstood. As we have noted in another thread:
That deals with the averages, of course. Looking at my own grandparents, I think one set was married in their late 20s or early 30s, while another in their early 20s. My parents were in their 30s.
Related Threads:
Of interest, I note that some other blogs we link into this site also noted Leap Day or Leap Year, with some noting the same items we noted above.