#Department of State

[justinspoliticalcorner]

David Badash at NCRM:

In a 6-3 decision along partisan lines the right-wing justices on the U.S. Supreme Court once again targeted the landmark 2015 Obergefell same-sex marriage decision, leading liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor to sound “alarm bells” on marriage equality in her dissent a legal expert says, warning that they may try to “roll it back.”

The case involves Sandra Muñoz, a U.S. citizen who argued that the federal government’s denial of a visa for her husband, who lives in El Salvador, deprives her of her constitutionally protected right to liberty. The right-wing majority in a decision written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett ruled: “A citizen does not have a fundamental liberty interest in her noncitizen spouse being admitted to the country.” Friday’s ruling “undermines same-sex marriage,” Bloomberg Law reports Justice Sotomayor’s dissent warns. Slate senior writer Mark Joseph Stern has covered the courts since 2013, and is the author of a 2019 book on the Roberts Supreme Court. “Justice Sotomayor, in dissent, accuses the conservative supermajority of cutting back the rights guaranteed in Obergefell—the same-sex marriage decision—and of repeating ‘the same fatal error’ it made in Dobbs,” Stern writes. “A very ominous opinion.”

[...] “A traveler to the United States two centuries ago reported that ‘‘[t]here is certainly no country in the world where the tie of marriage is so much respected as in America.’ ‘ ” “Today,” Sotomayor continued, “the majority fails to live up to that centuries-old promise. Muñoz may be able to live with her husband in El Salvador, but it will mean raising her U. S.-citizen child outside the United States. Others will be less fortunate. The burden will fall most heavily on same-sex couples and others who lack the ability, for legal or financial reasons, to make a home in the noncitizen spouse’s country of origin.” Again quoting Obergefell, she adds, “For those couples, this Court’s vision of marriage as the ‘assurance that while both still live there will be someone to care for the other’ rings hollow.” Stern warns: “I think Justice Sotomayor is clearly correct that the Supreme Court’s gratuitous attack on the constitutional rights of married couples in Muñoz—especially same-sex couples—suggests that the conservative justices hate Obergefell and may roll it back.” Sotomayor began her dissent also with a quote from Obergefell: “The right to marry is fundamental as a matter of history and tradition.”

SCOTUS Justice Sonia Sotomayor's dissent in the Department of State v. Muñoz case gave an alarming warning that the 6-3 radical right-wing majority's decision in Muñoz could imperil Obergefell v. Hodges and marriage equality.

See Also:

The Advocate: Justice Sotomayor: Supreme Court ruling in immigration case threatens marriage equality

[minilibrarian]

This week I had the privilege of visiting the oldest federal library in the country! I got to see some really cool historical documents up close (a chronicle signed by Thomas Jefferson, a pamphlet written by Alexander Hamilton, & George Washington’s personal dictionary) and learn more about the library’s unique, global work. Who says field trips should end after K-12?!

[thepastisalreadywritten]

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

The disorder in the House is leaving lawmakers fuming over their inability to stay apprised on national security matters, as it is blocking them from entering classified briefings or meeting with top officials.

Lawmakers say they can’t even go into a special room known as the sensitive compartmented information facility or SCIF where they discuss top-secret information with national security officials.

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) said he was blocked from entering the SCIF by security as he arrived for a meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff on “matters in the Indo-Pacific.”

“I’m informed by House security that technically, I don’t have a clearance. I’m a member of the Intel Committee. I’m on the Armed Services Committee, and I can’t meet in the SCIF to conduct essential business. My point is we have work to do that we can’t do right now,” he said at a press conference alongside other Republicans pleading for a quick resolution to Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) quest for the gavel.

McCarthy supporters are largely sounding the alarm on the national security issue as they try to pressure opponents to reach a deal on the Speaker fight. McCarthy lost an eighth straight ballot to become Speaker on Thursday afternoon.

Incoming chairs for the House intelligence, Armed Services, and Foreign Affairs committees complained the delay is hindering their oversight of the Biden administration — a top priority for the GOP majority.

“There is no oversight of the White House, State Department, Department of Defense, or the intelligence community. We cannot let personal politics place the safety and security of the United States at risk,” Reps. Michael Turner (Ohio), Mike Rogers (Ala.), and Michael McCaul (Texas) said in a statement.

Lawmakers don’t directly hold security clearances but are deemed trustworthy for receiving such information simply by the office they hold.

Other briefings are restricted by committee membership — and the committees cannot be formally comprised until a Speaker is elected.

“No members have clearances. Our election is supposed to be our vetting process. But the rules only let Intel Committee members view certain materials, the vast majority of the classified materials, and until we���re constituted, members really aren’t able to get those kinds of briefings or accesses,” said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who lead the intelligence committee during the prior session.

Talks to reach a deal among Republicans to make McCarthy the Speaker have not been successful so far.

Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), who is among those opposing McCarthy, suggested in comments Thursday that it could take much more work to reach a deal. One of the concessions that has been discussed is a proposal that would allow a single member of Congress to force a vote to oust the Speaker.

“There is a trust issue with the gentleman who wants to be Speaker,” Perry said. “It is hard to restore trust in just a month or two and it’s really hard to betray confidences in a meeting where the details are then leaked out to the press.”

The group has also floated having members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus be appointed as subcommittee chairs, subverting the normal process. The idea has drawn pushback from Rogers, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, who characterized it as “insane.”

“As if Kevin McCarthy or any Speaker magically gets to tell members, ‘Oh, by the way, I’m giving your seat to somebody else who’s an aggravation to the conference,’” Rogers told The Hill. “It just shows how insane they are.”

The total freeze has also led to an interesting dynamic.

A GOP staffer told The Hill that staff who receive security clearances due to the nature of their work are still able to access the SCIF and receive briefings, even as lawmakers cannot.

“Nobody on our committee can go down and get briefed on things,” Schiff said.

“The committee will need to be reconstituted. And most of the materials are only accessible to members of the committee and until reconstituted there are no members of the committee,” he told The Hill. “So Intel is more impacted really than probably just about any other committee.”

The Intelligence Committee’s formation is more complicated than some other House panels, with members typically seeking waivers to bypass limitations on how many terms a member can sit on the panel — a nod to the importance of institutional knowledge in the constant churn of Congress.

“Every delay here has a compounding impact. Because the first thing that happens, there has to be a Speaker. Then committees are constituted, but Intel is a select committee. So the leader on the minority side and the Speaker have to agree to ratios. Then they have to work out other waivers that have to take place. Who’s the rank[ing member] or who’s the chairman, all these things take time,” said Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), who will need a wavier to continue to serve on the panel.

Some see the shutdown of the House over the Speaker fight as embarrassing and worry it could have negative real-world consequences.

McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told The Hill on Thursday that he was worried about missing classified hearings on matters like Syria and the war in Ukraine.

“Classified briefings about things like that Iran bombed our base in Syria,” he said. “You know, what’s going on in China and Taiwan? What’s going on in Ukraine? We don’t have time to get our classified briefings.”

Quigley said it doesn’t take more than just a few days for lawmakers to fall behind on world affairs.

“The world doesn’t stop because one caucus can’t agree. And a couple of days is one thing. Beyond that, it gets complicated and eventually dangerous. You’re flying blind. You don’t know what’s happening,” he said.

Gallagher said the standoff risks hurting the nation’s global standing.

“We’ve seen what happens over the last two years. When deterrence fails, when weakness invites aggression. It’s up to this Congress to restore deterrence, to restore peace through strength, but we aren’t able to do that vital work until we actually get past the Speaker vote, populate our committees and start getting to work,” he said.

In some corners, the ire is only growing at the 20 lawmakers objecting to McCarthy’s leadership.

“We have business, serious business, to do. This is not the place to be frivolous,” Rogers said. “And we’ve got some people who are being very frivolous right now.”

[tomorrowusa]

The Kremlin often claimed it had the second-strongest military in the world, and many believed it. Today, many see Russia’s military as the second-strongest in Ukraine.

— US Seretary of State Antony Blinken speaking about Russia's strategic failure in Ukraine in a speech at Helsinki City Hall in Finland – the newest member of NATO. Department of State Transcript.

The entire speech can be seen here.

Blinken has turned out to be an excellent Secretary of State. That's what you get when you appoint competent and experienced people to office.

He was part of the Obama national security team. We see him in the most famous photograph from the Obama administration during the operation to get Osama bin Laden.

[im-a-fan-of-things]

Hey so I’m mega pissed about this, so I sent a message to the Department of State through their website’s contact form.

Wouldn’t it be awesome if we all flooded their inbox with angry letters directly after they made a huge mistake, telling them to reverse the decision?

Here’s what I wrote, if it helps you get started. I was. Very very mad while writing. So if folks have suggestions on more effective language, please share. And pls reblog with tags as always.

“I am writing to express my outrage at the Department of State’s decision to pause funding to the UNRWA.

The choice to withhold lifesaving funds at a time when tens of thousands of civilian lives have been lost and millions more face disease and famine in Gaza over allegations against seven individuals is heinous. Especially considering that so many countries have already pulled out that aid may be shut off entirely. With no hospitals or stable food sources left in Gaza, this act shows that United States government’s stance against terror is just a shield for its contempt for Palestinians as a whole.

We no longer live in a world where acts such as these will go tacitly accepted by the American people. Legal action is already in motion against the president and other deciding parties. The Department of State has betrayed those it deigns to serve, as well as humanity as a whole. The individuals within it, too, will be held accountable if they do not reverse this decision.”

Oh my gosh

This is pure evil. They say 12 employees participated in Oct 7th so they have to stop feeding the entire population????

[whatstheusgovernmentdoing]

11/11/24 - White House

President Biden will be celebrating Veterans' Day Today, having veterans and active military members over at the White House, as well as visiting Arlington National Cemetery

Department of State: Secretary Blinken met with French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot to discuss the troops from the DPRK arriving at Ukraine and bringing an end to the war in Gaza

Department of Health and Human Services: Secretary Becerra releases data showing Uninsurance rate is lowest ever under Biden Administration

Department of Housing and Urban Development: Veteran Homelessness is now lowest on record (record started in 2009)

Department of Veterans' Affairs: New "ATLAS" program to eliminate copays for their telehealth services

[nationallawreview]

Are You Eligible for Passport Renewal Online?

In good news, the State Department has announced the roll-out of its new online passport renewal system. Eligible individuals can renew their 10-year passports online without having to mail in any documentation. Be sure to plan ahead if you are using the online service because only routine service is available – no expedited processing. Although applicants will not be required to turn in their…

[reasonsforhope]

Article | Paywall Free

"A bid to break up Alphabet Inc.’s Google is one of the options being considered by the Justice Department after a landmark court ruling found that the company monopolized the online search market, according to people with knowledge of the deliberations.

The move would be Washington’s first push to dismantle a company for illegal monopolization since unsuccessful efforts to break up Microsoft Corp. two decades ago. Less severe options include forcing Google to share more data with competitors and measures to prevent it from gaining an unfair advantage in AI products, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private conversations.

Regardless, the government will likely seek a ban on the type of exclusive contracts that were at the center of its case against Google. If the Justice Department pushes ahead with a breakup plan, the most likely units for divestment are the Android operating system and Google’s web browser Chrome, said the people. Officials are also looking at trying to force a possible sale of AdWords, the platform the company uses to sell text advertising, one of the people said.

The Justice Department discussions have intensified in the wake of Judge Amit Mehta’s Aug. 5 ruling that Google illegally monopolized the markets of online search and search text ads. Google has said it will appeal that decision, but Mehta has ordered both sides to begin plans for the second phase of the case, which will involve the government’s proposals for restoring competition, including a possible breakup request.

The US plan will need to be accepted by Mehta, who would direct the company to comply. A forced breakup of Google would be the biggest of a US company since AT&T was dismantled in the 1980s."

-via Bloomberg, August 13, 2024

[mostly-funnytwittertweets]

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Nick Visser at HuffPost:

President-elect Donald Trump reportedly plans to name Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) as his secretary of state, The New York Times and Reuters reported Monday night. The Times, citing people familiar with Trump’s plans, said his decision could still change but appears to have firmed up after he considered naming Rubio his running mate before settling on Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio). Rubio was a fierce and loyal backer of Trump during the 2024 campaign. If confirmed, he will be the first Latino to serve in the role. Rubio would enter the Trump administration with a full plate as the U.S. continues to deal with crises in Ukraine and Israel. The senator told NBC in September that the only way Russia’s war with Ukraine will end would be a “negotiated settlement.” And he voted against military aid package to help the besieged nation in April, Reuters noted.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) is set to tapped as the Secretary of State for Don The Con’s 2nd term.

This will result in Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) making an appointment to fill the seat until a 2026 midterm special election to serve the remainder of Rubio’s term.

[aaronjhill]

Now, what about everyone else?

[whatisonthemoon]

U.S. Department of State Transcribing the Soviet News Program on Moon’s Ties to the Military-Industrial Complex

SOVIET TELEVISION PROGRAMMING;  CONTEXT AND CONTENT This paper was prepared for the Department of State as part of its external research program.  Views or conclusions contained therein should not be interpreted as representing the official opinion or policy of the Department of State

The rest of the program shifts the scene to the sources of the practices that have infiltrated the Soviet Union to such ill effect. Called "Love Moves the World," this part is an examination of the activities of Sun Myung Moon and the Unification Church. "The philosophy of ancient India is very interesting and deep," begins the narrator, but its manipulation had a very strong impact on a particular generation, "the so-called 'lost generation'" in the United States. Moon formed his empire with former citizens (refugees is the term used) of South Korea. His mission, he says is to free the world of communism to create heaven on earth. He is a businessman with an interest in military conflicts. There is footage of Vietnam, children suffering, planes overhead. Moon's ties with the CIA are described, and he is shown in a photograph.with Bo Hi Pak, identified as a former colonel in the South Korean army, an intelligence official. The seal of the CIA is shown next, and it is said that Moon supports cruelty in many forms. The Moon empire, as it is called, is involved with the military-industrial complex.  Specifically, "a factory belongs to him that produces the famous rifle, M-16."  There is footage of military conflicts, dead bodies, and the rifle.  The narrator informs the viewer that the Soviet military found a sample of this rifle.  "This is the infamous M-16."  It was sent to Indochina and later to the contras.  The narrator shows how it works:  "It can kill a woman or child in Indochina."  But the main point, he argues, is that the plants belonged to religious organizations "preaching about eternal happiness of man and spiritual bliss." There are angled shots of New York skyscrapers, and the viewer learns about Moon's ideas.  He is quoted in Newsweek as saying that the task of America is to fight communism on all fronts.  These words are blended with scenes of a foxhunt, with obvious wealth--be-ringed fingers, (chauffeur pouring punch from a silver punchbowl.  The "right wing" of the United States, the narrator continues, embraced Moon.  Typically, in the manner of politically motivated religious frauds,, Moon lives in luxury and preaches asceticism. Moon is shown to be extremely aware of and skilled in the use of the mass media.  He publishes magazines, newspapers, and video cassettes.  Moon's notion of the enemy in Central and South America does not accord with that of the program.  He terms enemy, "those who, on the Latin American continent, started the struggle against the anti-popular, dictatorship of fascist juntas."  However, Moon assists the Nicaraguan contras with his arms, as well as the "fascists in Paraguay."  The camera roams over areas of poverty in Latin America.  Nonetheless, in spite of these well-financed oppressors, according to the narrator, "adherents of the idea of peace have penetrated many branches of financial, economic, and ideological research in Latin American countries."  This remark is left undeveloped, but suggests a changing balance of forces, though at a very slow pace. As this section on Moon continues it focuses on what it calls Moon's political organ, CAUSA.  The president of CAUSA International is Bo Hi Pak, that same one, the narrator announces, shown earlier and connected to the CIA.  A film produced by CAUSA is excerpted, with voice-over by the Soviet narrator.  Pak says that "our task is to put an end to communism." Anti-communism is not enough; it is too defensive, too passive.  CAUSA uses the latest information technology (shots of computer terminals).  The Moon organization owns the Washington Times, a newspaper, the program states, that was created to oppose the Washington Post. American conservatives, the Soviet narrator says, "support the Times, because they cannot forgive the Post for Watergate." The CAUSA film displays graphically the threat posed by communism.  It shows speakers in front of maps.  Then the narrator says that CAUSA propagates falsehoods.  There follows black-and-white footage of Lenin, firing squads, famine, dead bodies ("killed by leftists" the CAUSA spokesman announces, according to the narrator), and Stalin.  "Of the whole history of the USSR, they chose the most bitter pages," the Soviet narrator observes, and there is film of Stalin in uniform reviewing troops.  The Soviet narrator goes on to identify these bitter pages:  "the famine on the Volga, the destruction after the Civil War" (footage of destroyed buildings).  The footage, however, continues, with more pictures of Stalin (older now), waving to a parade.  The narrator continues:  "and all these are called inalienable features of socialism (shots of groups of corpses). Naturally, there isn't a word about perestroika or that we ourselves have frankly denounced the mistakes of the past."  What is particularly interesting about this segment is that the footage comes from the CAUSA film program; the narration paraphrases the CAUSA spokesman, in part, and adds the Soviet perspective, in part.  Stalin is not named, though his face is seen repeatedly in footage of various stages of his rule.  He is part, indeed the exemplar, of the bitter pages for the Soviet narrator, but not named.

The CAUSA film shows a map of the world, with the red blot spreading over the continents, and the theme is communist expansionism.  "It turns out," the Soviet narrator says, "that fascism was not to blame for the annihilation of tens of millions of people, but rather communist expansion." A shot of Le Figaro is shown, with such a feature story. The Soviet narrator argues that although CAUSA talks about people escaping from communist countries it does not mention that most who do so are "under threat of criminal punishment." In Cuba they call such people "worms."  The narrator concludes that CAUSA confesses that it is unable to defeat communism, as the experience in El Salvador and Nicaragua shows. . . .  The final part of the Moon section is a particularly militant one:  Moon is shown performing the mass marriages his organization has arranged by pairing activists from the worldwide church organization.  They will produce a race; they will rid the world of communism.  The film of Moon is shown; he is saying, "I want the congregation to obey me, not their parents or the President." Then they will be ready to go out into the world as anti-communists

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a Monday interview that he believes Randi Weingarten, the head of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) union, is the “most dangerous person in the world.”

In an interview with Semafor, Pompeo, who is thought to be eyeing a potential 2024 White House bid, said that education is one of the central issues that Republicans should focus on, noting his criticism of Weingarten and the current teaching curriculum in U.S. school systems.

“I tell the story often — I get asked ‘Who’s the most dangerous person in the world? Is it Chairman Kim, is it Xi Jinping?’ The most dangerous person in the world is Randi Weingarten,” Pompeo said.

“It’s not a close call. If you ask, ‘Who’s the most likely to take this republic down?’ It would be the teacher’s unions, and the filth that they’re teaching our kids, and the fact that they don’t know math and reading or writing,” the former top U.S. diplomat added.

“These are the things that candidates should speak to in a way that says, ‘Here’s the problem. Here’s a proposal for how to solve it. And if given the opportunity, these are the things I will go work on to try and deliver that outcome that fixes that problem,'” Pompeo concluded. “Pretty straightforward stuff.”

In a thread on Twitter, Weingarten said she didn’t know if the remarks should be considered “ridiculous or dangerous.”

“At the state department, Pompeo defended Middle East’s tyrants & undermined Ukraine. He was more focused on pleasing Trump than fighting 4 freedom, national security & democracy. To compare us to China means he must not know what his own department says,” she wrote.

“Maybe spend a minute in one of the classrooms with my members and their students and you will get a real lesson in the promise and potential of America.”

Education was one of the issues Americans cited as the most important during the 2022 midterm election cycle, as many GOP-led states implemented laws that prohibited the teaching of critical race theory — a college-level theory that posits racism underlies American institutions and public policies — or LGBTQ perspectives in classrooms.

Florida’s state legislature earlier this year passed its Parental Rights in Education bill, commonly known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. The law prohibits educators in the state from talking about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary schools, and parents are able to take legal action against school districts they believe have violated it.

Weingarten, who has been AFT’s president since 2008, told USA Today in August that “extremists on the right wing” despise teachers unions and their commitment to creating a safe and welcoming environment for every student.

“Our job is about what kids need, what communities need,” she said at the time. “Because when you’re doing that, you’re also doing what your members need.”

“But it’s never been as bad as right now — where it’s not just political, it’s cultural,” Weingarten said. “People had a different view of how to do education, but there was not this attack on people’s basic humanity. This is really new.”

The Hill has reached out to AFT for comment.