#new pro-legalization governor

[reasonandempathy]

Walz has served as Minnesota’s governor since 2019 after 12 years in the House of Representatives and now chairs the Democratic Governors Association. He has built a reputation as a folksy politician who can get things done, as Minnesota has adopted a number of progressive laws during his tenure. According to a poll conducted earlier this year, Walz enjoys an approval rating of 55% among Minnesotans. Since Minnesota Democrats achieved a legislative trifecta in the 2022 elections, Walz and his allies have used their power to push a slate of progressive policies. The governor has signed bills protecting abortion access, expanding background checks for prospective gun owners and legalizing recreational marijuana. “Right now, Minnesota is showing the country you don’t win elections to bank political capital,” Walz said last year. “You win elections to burn political capital and improve lives.” That philosophy has endeared him to progressives, who threw their support behind him as the veepstakes kicked into high gear over the past two weeks. They reshared clips of Walz lovingly mocking his daughter’s vegetarianism and tinkering with his car to paint him as the dad that America needs right now.

This is fucking awesome! Honestly, sincerely good news and a very promising pick for the potential Harris Administration. An aggressive, unabashed, popular, populist left-winger with a track record of enacting real, substantive help for people is capital-G Great.

What has he done, specifically?

Abortion rights

In a 1995 ruling, the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld abortion rights in Minnesota. In January 2023, Walz signed the PRO Act (Protect Reproductive Options Act) into law, making abortion a "fundamental right," as well as access to contraception, fertility treatments, sterilization and other reproductive health care.

The law made Minnesota the first state to codify abortion rights in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 ruling in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which nullified Roe. v. Wade after nearly 50 years of precedent. In April 2023, Walz signed the Reproductive Freedom Defense Act into law, shielding women and providers from any legal action originating from the patient's state.

Pro-LGBTQIA+ legislation

In March 2023, Walz signed an executive order to protect the right of residents to have access to gender-affirming health care. Weeks later, he signed the "Trans Refuge" bill, banning the enforcement of arrest warrants, extradition requests and out-of-state subpoenas for those who traveled to Minnesota for care.

"When someone else is given basic rights, others don't lose theirs," Walz said. "We aren't cutting a pie here. We're giving basic rights to every single Minnesotan."

Paid family, medical and sick leave

In May 2023, Walz signed a law creating a state-run program to provide paid family and medical leave for Minnesota workers, funded by a 0.7% payroll tax on employers, by 2026.

Legalization of recreational marijuana

In May 2023, Minnesota became the 23rd state in the nation to legalize recreational cannabis use. Three months later, people 21 and older could start to possess certain amounts of marijuana at home and on their person, in addition to legally growing up to eight plants at a time.

Restoration of voting rights for former felons

In March 2023, Walz signed a bill that restored the right to vote to more than 50,000 convicted felons who had already served their time.

Universal school meals

Amid the increase in food insecurity for many Minnesotans during the pandemic, and the subsequent strain on the state's food shelves that remains to this day, Walz signed a bill in March 2023 that ensures all K-12 students in the state have access to free breakfast and lunch on school days.

Do you know what makes this even better?

Fuck 'Em. I know negative partisanship is important and can help motivate right-wingers to vote, but they're going to vote anyway. And him being afraid of Walz is just a sign that he's a good pick, in policy and politics.

[afloweroutofstone]

Would love to hear more about your personal take on Walz, if you feel like it.

He's the most progressive of the Boring White Guys who were on Harris' shortlist for VP. To be fair, he's not actually that progressive himself— his record in congress was quite moderate, and he's generally seen as being more moderate than the Democrats in the Minnesota state legislature. But this image as a Normie Democrat can actually pair quite well with his record of progressive accomplishments in office. The stuff he's signed into law while governor has been absolutely incredible, arguably enough to make him the best governor in the country right now (even if the hard work behind most of these reforms came from state legislators to his left).

This is the gubernatorial record that Walz can run on: protecting abortion rights, universal school meals, guaranteed paid leave, legalizing weed, a plan for 100% renewable energy, banning LGBTQ conversion therapy, free college for families earning less than $80,000, automatic voter registration, increasing spending for public schools, universal gun background checks, expanding public transit, strengthening workers' rights, improving infrastructure, new public housing, (underwhelming) police reform, banning non-compete agreements, a strong child tax credit, and more. To compare, Harris' other top choice was a guy who compared pro-Palestine protesters to the KKK, likes charter schools, and wants to cut his state's corporate tax rates. You can see why progressives are happy with Walz as the outcome.

Also Walz does seem to have an electable personality IMO, what little I've seen of him makes him look like a good messenger. VP picks don't really matter that much, but he seems like a good choice if they're looking for someone to wipe the floor with Vance in the debate.

[mariacallous]

Driven by hardline prosecutors and tough-on-crime governors, the number of executions jumped 64 percent in 2022 and increased again in 2023 to a total of 24, the highest in five years.

Perhaps the most crucial player in the death penalty’s resurrection, though, is the U.S. Supreme Court, whose historic role of maintaining guardrails has given way to removing roadblocks. Under the conservative supermajority put in place by President Donald Trump, the justices are far more likely to propel an execution forward than intercede to stop it, including in cases where guilt is in doubt or where the means of carrying it out could result in a grotesque spectacle of pain and suffering.

...

In 1976, the Supreme Court famously declared that “death is different,” and demanded an extra level of scrutiny because a mistake is irreversible. Historically, in particularly troubling instances involving state misconduct or abysmal defense lawyering, the Court sometimes intervened at the eleventh hour — from 2013 to 2023, it stayed an execution just 11 times and vacated stays of execution 18 times, according to Bloomberg Law.

Since the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her replacement with Amy Coney Barrett in 2020, the Court has stopped an execution only twice and reversed a lower court to permit an execution nine times. In 2023, 26 condemned prisoners asked the Court to hear their cases; 25 were rejected. The message is clear: Prosecutors eager to seek and swiftly impose death sentences can reliably do so without judicial interference.

...

In Bucklew v. Precythe, a majority of the court opined that the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment “does not guarantee a prisoner a painless death — something that, of course, isn’t guaranteed to many people, including most victims of capital crimes.” In the court’s reasoning, the excruciating pain the defendant might suffer during execution paled in comparison with the terror and mayhem he inflicted during his crimes.

In that same opinion, the Court indicated an impatience with pausing executions while it considered whether to hear the underlying claims from appellate attorneys. Justice Neil Gorsuch warned his colleagues to be skeptical when reading eleventh hour death row appeals: “Last minute stays should be the extreme exception, not the norm.”

It has been. Consider the 13 federal prisoners who were sent to the death chamber in the final months of Trump’s presidency. In a series of terse orders, issued without briefing, argument or public airing of the legal issues, the court blessed the rushed, furious pace. Using this opaque process, which legal scholars call the “shadow docket,” the justices erased lower-court injunctions against executions in seven cases and turned away last-minute requests for stays in the other six. During the 16 years in which Barack Obama and George W. Bush occupied the White House, the Court had invoked the shadow docket to rule for the government a total of four times and “never in a death penalty case,” according to Stephen Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law. In Trump’s single term in office, the number jumped to 28, including non-capital cases.

More recently, the Court has rejected cases that advocates say are riddled with error or rest on shaky evidence.

...

Death penalty cases are notoriously rife with racism, questions of innocence, mental health of the accused and whether they received competent legal counsel. Sometimes the facts are too dire for courts to ignore, and even some pro-death penalty politicians are unwilling to take actions in flagrant violation of established norms. The total number of executions over the past decade is still a fraction of its peak in the 1990s.

And yet, the death penalty machine continues to crank on. These days, the battles over who lives and who dies are increasingly local — waged courtroom by courtroom because the Supreme Court has largely abdicated its decades long role as the final arbiter.

“It is becoming more and more clear that the Court is reluctant to interfere in state court cases even to enforce its own precedent,” said Robin Maher, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. “They are saying, ‘This is not our problem to deal with.’”

An ‘Execute-Them-At-Any-Cost Mentality’: The Supreme Court’s New, Bloodthirsty Era

[justinssportscorner]

Brian Tyler Cohen:

In late February, Maine Governor Janet Mills made national headlines for standing up to Trump during a verbal altercation in the White House, during which the president threatened to withhold federal funding from the state if Mills didn’t comply with his February 5 executive order barring trans athletes from competing in sports that don’t comport with their gender at birth. But Mills wasn’t interested in bending to Trump’s will because she was following state law, which bars discrimination based on gender identity, and as she said, she’d be happy to let a judge decide in court. But after the dust had settled on Trump’s chest beating and grandstanding, on Friday, the Trump administration opted to quietly settle with the state of Maine, dropping its funding freeze and asking Maine to drop its lawsuit against the federal government. This was a vindicated Janet Mills. It’s worth highlighting this development because Trump wielded the full force of his position against Mills. He verbally accosted her from the White House, singling her out and threatening her among her colleagues. He tried to illegally freeze federal funding to her state as political retribution. Whatever he could do to Mills, he did. But still she fought back. And she won. This is the issue of our time. At some point or another, every company, institution, CEO, media outlet, law firm, and university is going to have to choose: when threatened by Donald Trump, will you capitulate or will you fight? I understand the desire to capitulate. No one wants to sign up for a fight against the most powerful person in the world. But keep in mind, first of all, the immense damage inherent in capitulating. Think about the damage wrought by ABC News when the network settled a frivolous lawsuit with Trump for $15 million and by Paramount for meddling in 60 Minutes’ editorial independence. Think about the damage wrought by law firm Paul, Weiss agreeing to pro bono legal work. Think about the damage wrought by Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post pulling punches against Trump and Zuckerberg’s Meta making Facebook more Republican-friendly. Think about the damage wrought by Columbia University changing its policies to shore up federal funding. These might seem like small steps intended to protect their own positions, but in effect, by rolling over, each one of these players broadcast to Trump how easy it is to win. Meaning he feels that much more emboldened to go after the next law firm, the next media outlet, the next university. Those who capitulate are not simply protecting themselves, they’re making the environment that much easier for Trump to thrive and ultimately weaponize the federal government against them. Their cowardice puts everyone else in danger.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) stood her ground on the Maine trans athletes issue, and she won. This is why caving in to 47 is a losing game.

See Also:

Reuters, via HuffPost: Trump Administration Won't Freeze Federal Funding To Maine Over Trans Athlete Fight

[notwiselybuttoowell]

Puerto Rico has voluntarily dismissed its 2024 climate lawsuit against big oil, a Friday legal filing shows, just two days after the US justice department sued two states over planned litigation against oil companies for their role in the climate crisis.

Puerto Rico’s lawsuit, filed in July, alleged that the oil and gas giants had misled the public about the climate dangers associated with their products. It came as part of a wave of litigation filed by dozens of US states, cities and municipalities in recent years.

Donald Trump’s administration has pledged to put an end to these cases, which he has called “frivolous” and claimed are unconstitutional. In court filings on Wednesday, his justice department claimed the Clean Air Act “displaces” states’ ability to regulate greenhouse gas outside their borders.

The agency specifically targeted Michigan, whose Democratic attorney general last year tapped private law firms to work on such a case, and Hawaii, whose Democratic governor filed its suit on Thursday. Officials from both states condemned the justice department’s filings.

Friday’s filing from Puerto Rico did not list a reason for the lawsuit’s dismissal. The Guardian has contacted the territory’s attorney general’s office for comment and asked whether it was related to the Trump administration’s moves on Wednesday.

Reached for comment, John Lamson, a spokesperson for the San Francisco-based law firm Sher Edling, which filed the 2024 suit on behalf of Puerto Rico��said: “We serve under the direction and control, and at the pleasure, of our clients in all of our representations.”

Puerto Rico in November elected as governor the Republican Jenniffer González-Colón, a Trump ally. In February, González-Colón tapped Janet Parra-Mercado as the territory’s new attorney general.

Climate-accountability litigation has also faced recent attacks in the media. Last month, an oilfield services executive published an op-ed in Forbes saying the Puerto Rico lawsuit “may derail” efforts to improve grid reliability.

Groups tied to the far-right legal architect Leonard Leo have also campaigned against the lawsuits. And just days before the voluntary dismissal, the rightwing, pro-fossil fuel advocacy group American Energy Institute (AEI) sent a letter to González-Colón, Fox News reported, calling for an end to climate-focused “coordinated lawfare”.

“Their goal is to bankrupt energy companies or to leverage the threat of tort damages to force outcomes that would be disastrous for Puerto Rico and the rest of the nation,” AEI’s CEO, Jason Isaac, wrote of the plaintiffs.

AEI has attacked climate-focused legal efforts and has been linked to Leo, the Guardian has reported.

In December, a California-based trade association of commercial fishers voluntarily dismissed a lawsuit accusing big oil of climate deception.

In two earlier lawsuits, 37 Puerto Rico municipalities and the capital city of San Juan accused fossil fuel companies of conspiring to deceive the public about the climate crisis, seeking to hold them accountable for the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Daily Kos:

Democratic governors are spearheading a new pro-democracy organization, “Governors Safeguarding Democracy,” to fight President-elect Donald Trump’s second administration, according to The New York Times.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, and Julia Spiegel, a former top legal adviser to Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, will serve as the organization's top staff members.

It’s unclear how many additional governors will join and what precisely the organization will do, as it’s still being fleshed out. But it is clear that although the GOP controls each branch of the federal government, Democratic governors are not ready to go quietly into the night. 

The organization will be made up of think tanks, legal experts, and democracy advocates. Through “governor-led efforts and the support of a network of senior staff,” the group will “foster cross-state collaboration, including the sharing of essential tools, knowledge, and resources,” the Times said.

In addition to coordinating resources and knowledge across state lines, GSD plans to work together on “elections and laws against encroachment from what they expect to be a hostile federal government, ” the Times reported.

Interestingly, governors from blue states aren't the only ones interested in joining the resistance against Trump. Pritzker told The New York Times that he also had conversations with Republican governors about joining the organization, but did not identify specific individuals. 

Trump has vowed in his campaign for president to enact mass deportation, dismantle the Affordable Care Act, curb environmental laws, and continue his attack on reproductive rights.

[marta-bee]

So. Much. Newsing.

Immigration

Birthright citizenship: Next steps in the legal fight over birth-right citizenship. Trump explains why he thinks SCOTUS will side with him (12ft.io). US Senators introduce legislation to codify Trump's executive order into law. Federal judge issues nationwide injunction against the EO.

Deportations: Trump releases some immigrants arrested in ICE crackdown, due to lack of beds. (12ft.io) US military personnel are preparing a massive immigrant detention center at Guantanamo. (RP) And, private US citizens impersonated ICE agents and terrorized Hispanic people. (12ft.io) This was just vile.

Specifically with El Salvador: El Salvador agreed to accept violent criminal deportees from the US, including from other countries and even American citizen criminals. (12ft.io) Most experts consider the American citizen piece illegal. Trump himself likes the idea of letting them jail US citizens. Details about conditions at El Salvador's mega-prison.

Race, Gender and DEI

DEI: The NY Times looks at the racist undercurrent of Trump's pushback against DEI. (RP) NPR discusses how corporate America rushed into DEI after the George Floyd murders, the mistakes they made, and how their retreat from DEI is similarly rushed and flawed. For a blind worker, diversity programs and a focus on merit aren't at odds. (RP) Federal employees caught up in Trump's push to fire people working on DEI discuss its impact.

Anti-trans shenanigans: TIME discusses how the anti-trans EO's are affecting trans people trying to get government ID cards. (12ft.io) US hospitals suspend health care for trans minors after Trump EO. New York AG warns that denying care based on the order would violate state law. Federal judge blocks Trump's attempt to move trans women inmates to male prisons. (RP) They're also being forced to hand over female-identifying clothes and HBA products.

Anti-Muslim & Anti-Arab shenanigans: Trump admin opens investigation into anti-semitism on college campuses. Foreign students who join pro-Palestinian protesters can have their student visas cancelled and be deported. (RP)

Science and Energy

Sec. Health Hearings: Senators considering RFK Jr. for Sec. Health are concerned about his getting paid for his role in anti-vax lawsuits (RP) Republicans questioned his abortion positions. (RP) Kennedy discussed possible deep cuts to Medicaid funding. (12ft.io) He's now been approved by the committees and is expected to be confirmed by the full Senate.

Sec. Energy Confirmed: Doug Burnum was confirmed as Sec. Energy. He immediately announced orders to decrease regulation and increase drilling/mining of fossil fuels. Burnum was formerly governor of North Dakota. Not news, but John Oliver did an episode on North Dakota's energy industry years back that's still an important warning (VIDEO) Trump admin is also considering redrawing national park boundaries to allow for more drill baby drill.

Science communications blackouts: Federal websites touching on HIV, transgender issues, climate change etc. were removed. (RP) CDC guidelines on vaccinations, STD prevention were also removed. (12ft.io) CDC researchers were also ordered to retract papers containing "forbidden terms" from journals. (12ft.io)

Foreign Affairs

Tariffs (what a beautiful word!) : Trump enacts then pauses tariffs against Mexico, tariffs against China and Canada still in place. (12ft.io) Canada and Mexico tariffs were both paused for thirty days by end of day on Monday. Economist Lawrence Summers explains why tariffs are bad for the US. (RP) Wall Street falls in response to tariff news, though improves somewhat after Mexico tariff pause. China pushes back. Trump gains very little in Mexico, Canada deals over tariffs. (12ft.io) The BBC talks about Canada's reaction (interesting stuff!).

Gaza: Trump withdraws from UN Human Rights Council and forbids future humanitarian aid for Gaza. He's also studying withdrawing from the UN full stop. (RP) He wants the US to take ownership of Gaza and the Palestinians to be "permanently resettled" in Jordan and Egypt. Because such a brazen plan would almost certainly upset the ceasefire, here are the Americans still held hostage by Hamas.

Ukraine: Trump discusses extending Ukraine funding in exchange for mineral resources. (12ft.io)

Iran: Trump reimposes "maximum pressure" on Iran, aims to cut off all oil exports. (RP) He also wants to hold talks on a nuclear deal with the country. He also tells his advisers to "obliterate" Iran if they assassinate him. This casts new light on his recent cancelling the security details of Pompeo, Bolton,  and other past security advisers from his first term (RP), who were considered insufficiently loyal to Trump but still faced active assassination threats from Iran.

Oligarchy & Autocracy

USAID: Funding is still not being distributed. Programs affected include girls' schooling in Afghanistan and treatment and prevention programs for tuberculosis, HIV and malaria. (RP) Trump has alleged fraud and put Sec. State Rubio in charge of the agency. Nearly 400 USAID employees and contractors have been laid off. The building is literally shuttered. Foreign USAID employees are being pulled back from the field and will return to the US by this weekend. For context: USAID is an independent program created by Congress. Doing all this by executive order and just Elon being Elon is almost certainly illegal.

Domestic funding freeze: Some nonprofits say they still can't access their funding (12ft.io), despite a judge ordering Trump admin to release the funds temporarily. A new judge extended the block against holding back funds approved by Congress permanently. Dem. Senate leader Hakeem Jeffries plans to use upcoming funding bill to prevent Trump from doing something similar in the future. (RP) Head Start programs serving 20,000+ children still cannot access payments. (RP) Elon Musk has gained access to the federal government's payment-processing system, personnel files and other sensitive systems. (RP) NY Times discusses why he is so focused on controlling the payment system. (RP)

DOJ & FBI Firings: Trump personally ordered the firings of DOJ attorneys who worked on Jack Smith's investigations of him. FBI turned over list of over 5,000 agents who worked on January 6th investigations. (RP)

Other Stories

Russell Vought: Mr. Project 2025 clears committee and moves on to the full Senate confirmation vote. Wall Street Journal has a good overview of him. (RP) Several Democrats boycotted his committee vote in protest (RP), and are planning a marathon of speeches in opposition tonight. (RP)

[beardedmrbean]

Enraged Bronx Rep. Ritchie Torres slammed the administrations of Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul as “complicit” in the murders of three innocent people by serial stabber Ramon Rivera.

Torres said Rivera should never have been on the streets, but authorities failed and let him fall through the cracks. Those directly responsible should be fired, he demanded.

“I am writing to express alarm at the complicity of the State and the City in the murder of three New Yorkers, who were savagely stabbed to death in a homicidal rampage that took hold in broad daylight,” the Bronx Democrat said in a scathing letter to both the mayor and governor obtained by The Post.

Torres, a moderate, has often gone against the liberal wing of his party with pro-public safety stances and by his full-throated support of Israel and Jewish residents in New York City amid criticisms of the Gaza war among left-leaning party members and rising antisemitism in the five boroughs.

Rivera, a 51-year-old homeless man, has a lengthy rap sheet but remained free last week as he left a bloody trail across Manhattan in a stabbing spree that killed three people from Chelsea to the East River — chillingly telling police later that he chose his victims because they were “alone” and “distracted,” sources said.

The madman allegedly stabbed to death construction worker Angel Gustavo Lata-Landi, 36, in Chelsea early Nov. 18, before killing fisherman Chang Wang, 67, near the East River, then stabbing Wilma Augustin, 36, near the United Nations, according to cops.

Torres called the city Department of Correction “the worst offender” for having made the “inexplicable and inexcusable decision” to release Rivera from a prison stint early — after serving just nine months of a 12-month sentence. 

Rivera was released early for “good behavior” after assaulting a corrections officer, Torres said as he fumed against revolving-door justice in the state.

“The bureaucrats in DOC who authorized the early release of Ramon should be fired. Those who cannot be entrusted with public safety should no longer be employed by the people of New York,” said Torres, who is eyeing a primary run for governor.

He said if Rivera had been sentenced to consecutive terms rather than concurrently for assaulting a law enforcement officer or made to serve his full sentence, “the three New Yorkers he murdered would still be alive.

“These tragedies are preventable but neither the City nor the State seem to possess the political will to prevent them, despite having the tools to do so,” the congressman said.

He said Hochul and fellow Democrats who run the state Senate and Assembly are a big part of the problem.

“The State refuses to grant the Mayor the legal authority he needs to prevent dangerous people from roaming the streets,” Torres said. “The City refuses to hold DOC accountable for the early release of a demonstrably dangerous criminal who went on a stabbing spree.

“The end result is incompetence that is not only destructive but deadly for New Yorkers,” he went on. “There are mothers and fathers; daughters and sons; wives and husbands who will no longer have loved ones because their government fundamentally failed them.”

He said city and state officials must learn from this injustice and adopt policies that would ban early release of individuals who are a danger not only to themselves but to the general public, as well as those who assault a law enforcement officer and those who commit crimes while in custody.

“Common sense demands no less. … We live in a State and City where the only people who seem to suffer consequences are the victims of crime and their loved ones. Enough is enough,'” Torres said in the letter.

Torres has ramped up his attacks on Hochul recently, calling her unpopular and the “new Joe Biden” who is vulnerable to losing to a Republican if she seeks re-election and is the Democratic nominee in 2026.

City Hall did not dispute Torres’ criticism and said it is investigating the circumstances surrounding Rivera’s release.

“Ramon Rivera’s ability to roam our streets freely is disturbing, which is why Mayor Adams was one of the first to question it publicly. The mayor has also been sounding the alarm about the revolving door of criminals being let back out onto the streets — after our police officers arrest them — for years now,” an Adams spokesperson said.

“We are in the process of reviewing this case internally, and appreciate the congressmember’s partnership as we work to keep New York City safe for all,” the rep added.

Hochul’s office referred The Post to comments she made last week about the Rivera stabbing rampage.

“Will we do more? Yes, we need to do more. No doubt about it,” Hochul said.

“And I want people to know that I will go back to the Legislature, I’ll go back with every tool in my kit to find ways to address this because this is not acceptable.”

Meanwhile, 11 federal, state and city legislators representing Manhattan delivered their own Nov. 21 letter of outrage to Department of Correction Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie, Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Molly Wasow Park and Health+Hospitals president and CEO Mitchell Katz.

They called for an investigation into the lapses that allowed Rivera back on the street to kill.

“He was released into the public without sufficient care or oversight,” said the letter signed by, among others, Councilman Keith Powers, Borough President Mark Levine and US Rep. Jerrold Nadler.

“All accounts indicate that Mr. Rivera’s case is a damning indictment of the failures of the criminal justice and mental health systems in New York City,” the letter stated. “The murders he committed may have been prevented.”

They requested answers as to what information was communicated between agencies and who made the call to release him early. The officials asked whether the assault that Rivera committed at Bellevue was considered in that decision.

“Did Rivera receive adequate mental health services, including an assisted outpatient treatment plan … and discharge planning services upon his release from Rikers Island?” they asked.

The fuming officials also asked about Rivera’s history while he stayed at the 30th Street Men’s Shelter and whether he experienced a mental health crisis.

Other signatories include state Sens. Liz Krueger, Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Kristen Gonzalez; Assembly members Harvey Epstein, Tony Simone and Alex Bores; and Council members Erik Bottcher and Carlina Rivera.

[we-are-not-a-number]

Tldr; Abortions will now be public record in Indiana, in a state where abortion is already banned except in cases of rape, incest, or the life's mother being at risk. This was ordered into law by gov. Mike Bruan and the Indiana Health Department has stated it will comply.

An executive order issued by Gov. Mike Braun makes terminated pregnancy reports subject to the state’s open records law.

A flurry of executive orders issued Wednesday by Gov. Mike Braun includes one which overrides a court order and requires the Indiana Department of Health to publicly release the reports filed after an abortion is performed in the state.

Executive Order 25-20, which effectively mandates the health department to open the terminated pregnancy reports to public review, comes as the state is fighting a legal battle in court to keep the documents private. In September 2024, Marion County Superior Court dismissed the complaint against the IDOH, finding Indiana’s open records statute, as written, does not make the TPRs available to members of the public.

The plaintiff, Voices for Life, turned to the Court of Appeals of Indiana in its battle to gain access to the TPRs. Last week, the appellate court granted Voices for Life a second extension, giving the pro-life nonprofit until Feb. 5 to file its brief.

Voices for Life did not respond to a request for comment about the executive order and whether the South Bend-based organization would be continuing its appeal.

In an email to The Indiana Citizen, the Indiana Department of Health said it is complying with Gov. Braun’s executive order.

Reaction to Braun’s order was swift. Democrats in the Indiana General Assembly, in particular, condemned the executive order.

“We should all be outraged and deeply concerned,” Indiana Sen. Andrea Hunley, D-Indianapolis, said in a statement. “The government has no business digging into private medical files, and with this Executive Order, Governor Braun is creating a surveillance state. In no uncertain terms, Hoosiers do not want big government in their exam rooms and Hoosiers do not want their freedoms compromised.”

However, Indiana Right to Life was thankful that Gov. Braun was taking “swift and decisive” steps to support the state’s near-total abortion ban.

“Governor Braun’s action today ensures Indiana’s abortion law will be enforced under his administration,” Mike Fichter, Indiana Right to Life president and CEO, said in a statement. “In directing the Indiana Department of Health to ensure compliance with pro-life laws, including reporting laws, abortion providers are on notice that there is no tolerance in Indiana for illegal abortions.”

The executive order, itself, does not explicitly state the TPRs are public records. Instead it mandates all state agencies “fully and faithfully” execute Indiana’s abortion laws including “the submission of TPRs.” Also, it directs state agencies to “fully cooperate” with the Indiana attorney general in the “investigation and enforcement” of the state’s abortion laws.

Renée Landers, a visiting law professor at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis who is an expert in health privacy law, is not surprised by the executive order’s obscurity. She sees Braun’s order as a political statement, rather than an attempt to establish a policy or procedure and said its use of oblique language is part of a national trend by governors and presidents to impose requirements without being direct.

The obscure phrasing, Landers said, can make people complacent because they are not sure what the executive order means and how it impacts TPRs.

“Gov. Braun doesn’t have to say that he wants to out women who’ve had these procedures and their doctors,” Landers said. “He doesn’t run the risk of being accused of that. He’s trying to have it both ways.”

Landers is a professor and director of the health and biomedical law program at Suffolk University Law School. Also she is a board member of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts.

Indiana House minority leader, Rep. Phil GiaQuinta, D-Fort Wayne, issued a statement removing any doubt about the executive order’s intent by saying the directive was requiring the health department to release the terminated pregnancy reports.

GiaQuinta noted under Indiana’s near-total abortion ban, enacted in 2022, a pregnancy can be terminated only in cases of rape, incest, a serious threat to the life of the mother or when the fetus has a fatal anomaly.

“Can you imagine how painful that must be for affected women, girls, their spouses and their children?” GiaQuinta queried in his statement. “I am disappointed that Gov. Braun wants to put their suffering on display for anyone to see by ordering the IDOH to release their records in the form of terminated pregnancy reports.”

Landers said whether the executive order can actually be enforced is uncertain because of the trial court’s ruling, which said TPRs are not public documents. The health department, she said, is now in the position of having to decide whether to obey the governor’s directive or the court’s ruling.

“My personal view is that the agency is perhaps better off following a court order and not running afoul of that, but that would just be how I would make that calculation,” Lander said. “Other people may decide differently.”

Asked whether the attorney general would seek get the TPRs released to the public and to end the lawsuit filed by Voices for Life, a spokesperson for the office replied, “IDOH is the one that releases the TPR and pursuant to the EO, not our office.”

Indiana law requires that physicians submit a TPR to the health department for every abortion they provide. The report contains 31 questions asking the patient’s age, marital status, education level, race and ethnicity, and county and state of residence. In addition, the report seeks information on medical condition of the mother and the fetus and the reason for the abortion.

The Department of Health had released the TPRs at the public’s request prior to the enactment of the state’s restrictive abortion law in the summer of 2022. However, when the number of terminated pregnancies dropped significantly once the near-total abortion ban took effect in 2023, the health department stopped releasing TPRs to the public out of fear the reports provided enough information to identify the women.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita issued his own written opinion on TPRs in April 2024. The state’s top lawyer said the reports were public records and, in a news conference broadcast on social media, asserted private individuals and groups could sue the health department if they were denied access.

Rokita is now being investigated by the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission for a possible violation of the rules of professional conduct for his statement that the public could take legal action against his client, the Department of Health.

Landers is skeptical that releasing the TPRS to the public would help enforce the state’s abortion restrictions. She noted the reports are filed with the state and if officials from the health department or the attorney general’s office have any concerns, they can contact the health care provider, but, she said, making the reports publicly available would not enhance enforcement activity.

Indiana Rep. Carey Hamilton, D-Indianapolis, said, in a statement, that the executive order is a “continuation of the Republican attack on women and health care providers.” She claimed the GOP has worked to strip women of their rights to health care access and the state’s abortion restrictions put women’s lives at risk.

“A woman undergoing an abortion – for whatever reason – ought to have the dignity and privacy to not have her health care information shared with a state government hell bent on persecuting her,” Hamilton said.

Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai‘i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky noted Braun’s action came on the 52nd anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade, which held that women have a constitutional right to abortion. That precedent was overturned in 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court issued Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

About a month later, the Indiana General Assembly passed the near-total abortion ban.

“These efforts serve one purpose: to intimidate and harass health care providers who are delivering lawful, essential care,” Rebecca Gibron, CEO of PPGNHAIK, said in a statement. “This manipulative tactic of issuing an executive order essentially does nothing to change how current law is applied. It simply emboldens a hostile Attorney General who has weaponized TPRs to single out providers—creating a chilling effect that could deter patients from seeking the care they need.”

Landers agreed physicians are the real targets of the effort to get the TPRs released to the public. The doctors have more to lose, she said, because they have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into their educations and they could face a prosecution and possibly lose their medical license and go to prison if they perform an abortion that is later deemed illegal. Even if the prosecution is not successful, the physicians would still pay a heavy reputational cost.

The curtailment of abortion care and actions like releasing the TPRs, which put doctors under more scrutiny, are having a broad impact on the entire health care industry, Landers said. She pointed to the fallout from Idaho’s six-week abortion ban. Every week, medical providers in that state are having to airlift women with pregnancy complications out of state for treatment, while hospitals are having trouble recruiting not just OB/GYNs but physicians in other disciplines. Rural parts of the state are also seeing their hospitals’ obstetrics departments close.

“This is not good for health care,” Landers said of abortion restrictions. “Whatever you think about abortion, it is not good for health care. It’s having a lot of other effects beyond the abortion conversation.”

[readingsquotes]

A bedrock of investing is the Greater Fool Theory, which essentially says that even if you paid a foolish price for something, it can still work out, as long as you can find a greater fool to sell it to. The arc of these things—from rational analysis, to foolish speculation, to the faster scramble for greater fools to con—always ends in disaster for someone. The idea is just that the someone is not you. This is the ethic of con men: They valorize those who can successfully rip off others without being ripped off themselves..... what we are facing now is an entire nation in which this ethic is turned against the public. You, me, all of us, the people, are the marks. The hustlers, the heroes of their own stories, are the ones in charge. Piracy makes for good movies, but it is a very destructive way to run a government.

Until they political opposition in America grasps all of this, they will continue to wake up and find that they themselves are the Greater Fools. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, mysterious about Donald Trump, his allies, or what they are going to do. They are going to try to loot this country for as much as they can grab. Those who are with them will get a pass and those who are against them will be their enemies. After they leave, we will find that our institutions are weaker, our government is half broken, our crises have compounded, our most vulnerable citizens have suffered the greatest harms. Even now, I see many people who should know better falling into the trap of telling themselves that they will be able to get on Trump’s good side, to gently cajole him into the right place on their particular issue of concern. They believe that they can take advantage of his aggressive disinterest in most things by flattering him and then steering him the right way. So the Democratic governor of New Jersey gently proclaims that he wants to work with Trump to defeat congestion pricing and the Teamsters proclaim that they want to work with Trump on a pro-worker agenda and the UAW proclaims that they want to work with Trump on good trade policy and liberal columnists proclaim that Trump has a chance to do good things in the Middle East. And on, and on, and on. The con man maintains just enough unpredictability to fill his marks with hope that this time, they will be the ones to find the ball lurking under the shell.

...

An opposition that can’t dedicate itself to being the opposition is a weak opposition, indeed. And Trump has always enjoyed a weak opposition.

If you think that you are a savvy politician because you got Trump on your side regarding congestion pricing and meanwhile he is stripping thousands of your citizens of their birthright citizenship, you are wrong. If you think that you are a savvy union leader because you got Trump to a little better place on trade and meanwhile he is stripping every woman in your union of her right to abortion, you are wrong. If you think that you are a savvy liberal writer because you cajoled Trump into a little better place on foreign policy and meanwhile he is telling your trans friends that the government will no longer legally recognize their identity, you are wrong. You have made a miscalculation. You have not taken in the full picture of what you are dealing with here. You have been sold a worthless little bauble in exchange for something real. You have not done the math. You are the Greater Fool.

[jangillman]

Posted by Wisconsin Right Now on FB...

I'm not sure who is going to win this, but I’d rather be #Trump right now than #HarrisWalz because he’s peaking at the right time, and the issues people rank highest (economy, border) favor him. He’s surging and it feels like she’s cratering.

But the Democrats have made so many mistakes this election season. James Carville can rant and rave all he wants, but that’s just a fact. The key mistakes include:

-Not reaching out to #Elon Musk, and instead unfairly villainizing a guy with $240B and making it clear that this election will be existential for him personally;

-Charging Trump criminally with a series of novel legal theories that pushed the envelope of the law. If you’re going to go after the king, you better not miss or he gets stronger and, in this case, they turned him into a martyr and the well-worn Hollywood archetype of the underdog fighting the system and elites. People don’t like it when people don’t play fair and criminally charging your political opponent over 94 (or whatever) half-baked accusations (at best) was not playing fair;

-Not admitting Biden’s severe cognitive issues earlier so there could be a competitive primary on the Democratic side rather than foisting an untested and clearly unserious VP on voters. They would have been better off choosing a nominee who could run against the Biden-Harris administration’s worst policies and promise a new course (probably a governor). Harris has had the unenviably impossible task of promising a new future when she’s part of the current administration. Minimally when the Hur report came out, they should have bailed on Biden. She can’t plausibly separate herself from Biden enough no matter how hard she tries.

-Choosing Walz as VP because Josh Shapiro wasn’t acceptable to the pro Gaza wing.

-Not ensuring Trump had adequate and effective secret service protection. The near misses of the 2 assassins (especially the first one) turned him into the aforementioned archetype all the more. And it was just wrong.

-Not reaching out to black and Hispanic male voters until the last minute, at which point it seems pandering and desperate. Having no plan to reach out to men, period, until the last minute and instead emphasizing the gender gap (ie turning Kamala into Hillary 2.0, pantsuit and all, talking about “reimagining masculinity,” the girls’ sports issue etc);

-Not giving even the slightest nod to parental rights. They’re underestimating the power of that issue.

-Not reaching out to RFK Jr and bringing him back into the fold (all they had to do was care about children’s health) and instead trying to destroy him through undemocratic lawfare and insults;

-Putting Harris on the media circuit after the debate. She’s clearly not up to it. As pathetic as it is, they would have been better off keeping her in bubble wrap.

All that being said, it’s amazing they’re still in it. And really the biggest challenge for them - all of the above aside - is the core fact that people believe they were better off four years ago. That’s “event memory” so to speak. No matter what you tell people in ads about their own lives, they know what they pay for groceries.

I miss anything? #trump #breaking #ElectionDay #Wisconsin

[darkmaga-returns]

By Jonathan Turley JonathanTurley.org

November 13, 2024

Below is my column in The Hill on the growing calls for an organized resistance to the Trump Administration by Democratic governors and prosecutors. They may find, however, that the resistance movement this time around will be facing significant legal and political headwinds.

Here is the column:

The single most common principle of recovery programs is that the first step is to admit that you have a problem.

That first step continues to elude the politicians and pundits who unsuccessfully pushed lawfare and panic politics for years. That includes prosecutors like New York Attorney General Letitia James and politicians like Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who affirmed this week that they will be redoubling, not reconsidering, their past positions.

For its part, The Washington Post quickly posted an editorial titled “The second resistance to Trump must start now.” They may, however, find the resistance more challenging both politically and legally this time around.

It is important to note at the outset that there is no reason Democratic activists should abandon their values just because they lost this election. Our system is strengthened by passionate and active advocacy.

Rather, it is the collective fury and delirium of the post-election protests that was so disconcerting. Pundits lashed out at the majority of voters, insisting that the election established that half of the nation is composed of racists, misogynists or domination addicts who long to submit to tyranny.

Others blamed free speech and the fact that social media allows “disinformation” to be read by ignorant voters. In other words, the problem could not possibly be themselves. It was, rather, the public, which refused to listen.

[mariacallous]

Gov. Kathy Hochul has decided against removing embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams from office, Gothamist has learned.

Hochul, a Democrat, is set to announce Thursday that she will not invoke her authority under state and city law to force Adams out at this time, according to a source familiar with the governor’s decision who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Instead, the governor will unveil new state and city bills that would increase oversight of the mayor’s office. That includes creation of a new state deputy inspector general with broad authority to watch over the city’s dealings, the source told Gothamist.

Hochul will ask lawmakers to approve the legislation when they return to the Capitol in Albany next week.

The governor’s planned announcement marks the latest in what has been a tumultuous period at City Hall and the state Capitol, where the U.S. Department of Justice’s push to drop criminal charges against Adams has spurred a growing chorus of city and state officials calling for his resignation.

NY1 first reported Hochul is considering new legal limits on the mayor’s power.

Adams has refused to resign since he was indicted on federal corruption charges in September, when prosecutors accused him of trading lavish travel perks and illicit campaign contributions from Turkish nationals in exchange for favors within city government.

That pressure increased earlier this month when President Donald Trump’s administration ordered prosecutors to drop the case, arguing that it interfered with Adams’ ability to carry out the president’s immigration crackdown. Four of Adams’ deputies and a handful of federal prosecutors announced their resignations, including acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon.

Sassoon and Assistant U.S. Attorney Hagan Scotten, the lead prosecutor on Adams’ case, accused the mayor’s attorneys of engaging in a quid pro quo with Trump officials. Adams and federal officials have denied the allegations, despite the mayor’s TV appearance with Trump "border czar" Tom Homan last week, during which Homan publicly reminded Adams to support the administration’s immigration with an allusion to their “agreement.”

The series of events startled Democratic politicians in New York, spurring mounting calls for Adams to resign or for Hochul to remove him from office. The governor has the legal power to remove many local officials, including the mayor of New York City. But Hochul has resisted using that authority, calling it antidemocratic as recently as earlier this month.

The governor appeared to reconsider her stance after Sassoon’s allegation became public last week and again when Adams’ key deputies announced their resignation on Monday. On Tuesday, she held a series of one-on-one meetings to discuss the mayor’s fate with New York City officials and leaders, including City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards. Some, like the Rev. Al Sharpton and U.S. Rep. Greg Meeks of Queens, urged her to hold off on acting until a federal judge decided whether to formally dismiss the case.

By Thursday, the governor had made up her mind and declined to remove Adams for now, while instead pushing for greater state oversight.

The criminal bribery and fraud charges against Adams remain pending. U.S. District Judge Dale Ho reserved judgment on the matter after he held a hearing on the matter on Wednesday, promising that he would render his decision soon.

[soon-palestine]

In late October, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Brandeis Center published an open letter urging universities to investigate Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a student activist group with both national and local chapters, under the material support statute. According to this letter, SJP chapters merit investigation under the material support statute for “endors[ing] the actions of Hamas” and “voicing an increasingly radical call for confronting and ‘dismantling’ Zionism on U.S. college campuses.” As the ACLU and others have observed, the ADL offers no evidence that SJP students have done anything more than exercise their constitutionally protected speech rights. Still, the state of Florida has already obliged the ADL’s request, invoking the material support statute and its state analog to ban Florida’s SJP chapters. (The ACLU of Florida and Palestine Legal have filed a lawsuit against the ban, and fears of personal liability may have led the chancellor of Florida’s state university system to walk it back.)

Indeed, it is possible that the ADL itself may coordinate with groups connected to Israeli intelligence to conduct its own campus spying operations and report the information to law enforcement. There is historical precedent animating this concern: the ADL was implicated in a large-scale operation spying on Arab-American activists on the West Coast in the early 1990s.

Given these expansive definitions of anti-Semitism, it is also concerning that the White House is promising over $38 million in DOJ grants to “civil rights groups, including awards to organizations serving Jewish and Arab American communities,” to “support the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes.” The ADL, which has close and long-standing connections to the FBI, would presumably be a prime contender for this outsourcing of investigative responsibility. Thus, in the name of combating anti-Semitism, the White House may wind up relying on an organization that has plausibly been alleged to spy on college campuses, and has expressly avowed a desire to wield the material support statute as an investigative weapon.

Both congressional leaders and the leading GOP presidential candidates have expressed their desire to punish student protesters of Israel, including with proposed travel bans and visa cancelations for Palestinian students. (The Florida chancellor’s ban of state university SJP chapters was at the behest of Governor Ron DeSantis.) Such calls suggest forthcoming moves—if not by this White House, then by the next—to discard the lessons of the Church Commission and use the material support statute against student protesters. University leaders should not ignore the possibility that today’s call to shut down SJP chapters will be followed by a government request to assist in the criminal prosecution of SJP members.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds on Wednesday called a special session for Iowa lawmakers to enact legal protections for the unborn against abortion. That effort comes after a three-to-three vote by the Iowa Supreme Court last month ended any...

[yourtoradorasextendedwarranty]

It always baffles me how daft and stupid people that vote democrat are. Me personally? I live in Texas and I vote Independent. Unless I'm faced with a choice of a literal psychopath or an asshole I don't really like all that much. Which in the last Governor race, it was one such case. Similarly, when it comes to voting for president I feel the same. I'd sooner vote Independent or write in something then vote either side unless it was like the last 2 races. Which was literal tyrant wanna be warhawks (Clinton & Biden) or Orange man.

What's more, the ability of people that vote democrat to turn a blind eye to actual facts. Take this tweet, which for the most part is pretty tame, and then the replies, which I will address.

Now, First and foremost, I will not make the claim that Trump paid back all his loans. However, I find it suspect all of a sudden, after his run at president where he became the most villainized man in history second only HITLER (because Auth Leftists are morons that can't condemn genocidal communist dictators) that "We are investigating every grain of sand in his life to destroy this person who supposedly wronged us". Ok.....so why now all of a sudden? Oh right because now we need him out of a presidential race. Got it.

Ok so now to the replies.

Most of these can be summed up with one reply. "Banks and Lenders assess property values, and will send someone or several someone's in order to make a value judgement of an asset or property before giving out a loan.

However to answer Kit, No he has not been found Guilty. He has been pressed by a judge (Unilaterally) that RAN on burying Trump. That was what she RAN ON. No investigations. No facts to go off of. Just "Elect me and I will destroy this man and everything he has". And again only after he got into office. Prior to that he was the golden child of NY.

We call that a conflict of interest and she should be disbarred for it.

To Proud-Democrat I repeat. HE DID NOT PERSONALLY ASSESS THE PROPERTY VALUE YOU MORON! The banks and lenders 100% did.

To Rae & American Woman Same thing as above. Literally exact same thing as above.

And this is why I hate Democrat voters. And before someone goes on some tirade about "Republican Voters". Bruh. Conservatives typically HATE Republicans. They just hate Democrats more. And honestly aside from people that still get all of their news wholesale from Fox and nothing but Fox, Most Conservatives would probably sooner vote Independent with a viable candidate. And other people might go, "WELL WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER LAWS TRUMP BROKE!". Idk. Let's look at them shall we?

Accused of trying to steal the election. Except everything he did in that process was legal. He asked if there was anything that he could do. Up to and including asking his VP which electors to pick. Funny fact it is legal for a state to have different sets of electors. It happened during the Nixon years. Of which helped him win. Those rules have never been changed even now. And what's more, there WAS fraud. How much? We don't know. And we likely won't know until 10-20 years from now when the people that claim there is none will go, "OH well it's good there was fraud so Orange man stayed out of office....causing us to go to war with Russia, China, Iran, etc, etc, etc."

Accused of assaulting a woman over 20 years ago. Possibly over 40 years ago. Now let me be clear. Could this have happened? Sure. Did it? We have no idea. And 20-40 years is too long ago to have a decisive verdict on it. (Which brings me to another point which is the legality of the charges. So aside from statute of limitations, american citizens are allowed a right to a trial, by a jury of their peers. However, those peers must be impartial. NY is ANYTHING but impartial. They could bring charges of assassination through ninja skills on a foreign leader and NY would STILL CHARGE HIM just to do it.)

Quid Pro Quo. So the only evidence they had that this supposedly even happened was more or less ONE GUY. This man state that TRUMP expressly stated that he did not want a quid pro quo. HOWEVER, that man also believed Trump DID IN FACT want one, despite saying exactly to the contrary. What's more, let me remind all of you, Joe Biden, did that EXACT THING as VP to protect his financial asset of a son at a Ukrainian Energy company he had no business working at the board of. (1:30 Is the start of the segment.)

So all in all. MOST of the things Trump was accused of doing were outright false, or falsely placed on him. And it's because he was a human molotov cocktail. He didn't want any new wars. He wanted to bring more soldiers back from the Middle East. The Economy was GREAT. We were bringing jobs back to the US, and we had Remain in Mexico. Which was GREAT legislation. And it said, "If you are coming to the US for "Asylum" and you pass through another county on the way here you have to stay in THAT country until you can legally get processed.

Whereas now, DEM VOTING residents of NY are being told they are going to pay Billions to house, feed, and process illegals. When their own state is crumbling under the weight of its own corruption.

Which brings me to this point. Both sides need to talk about when there side is doing wrong. And most of the people I know that vote Rep very much DO talk about when their guys do wrong. The issue is that people that vote Dem seldom actually do. It's always, "Your side did X" and then when anyone else says, "OK but you side did Y and that's worse", We all get greeted with, "I don't care because at least he's not right wing. He could kill kids for all I care. I don't actually care what he does so long as it furthers my sides ideals".

And therein lies the issue. Democrats and their primary voters DO NOT GIVE A F*CK about morals. Because they have none. It's a very much "At all cost" mentality. And often based on LIES. Because if there is one thing Dems are great at, it's manipulation of information. The "Silver Tongued Devil" as it were. That's pretty much them. The founders of the KKK. The opposition to Civil Rights. And the Party of Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton who said they were mentored by a clansman. The parties never flipped. They just became better liars.

(This post is in no shape or form endorsement of the Republicans. Because frankly speaking that party and it's primary voter faction has its own issues. But this post isn't about them)