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A Deeply Fractured US

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Certainly any part of this could be / would be argued by part of the skin in the game, but it’s generally recognized that courts don’t act in such a way as to create absurdities or to defeat the way law is generally supposed to work.

As far as "skin in the game", I wonder how many readers, other than Kevin, are eligible to vote in their elections.

My wife receives an absentee ballot in the mail.
 
As far as "skin in the game", I wonder how many readers, other than Kevin, are eligible to vote in their elections.

My wife receives an absentee ballot in the mail.

PET’s aphorism about sharing a bed with an elephant comes to mind. But yes, I meant more directly those who could have legal standing in court cases around America’s electoral politics.
 
Thanks, that's the bit I was missing, I don't think I actually read that original text itself before which actually bars people from running for office (which I'm sure some lawyer would quibble over the definition and if it applied to POTUS and others).



The 2nd bit was my reply to @Brad Sallows point above, and I agree that once the states send it on they count it. I guess what I was missing was without the charge how any of that actually works or if this created some catch 22.
"But he’s missing the fact that there are three main kinds of federal officeholders, and all of them have to go through Congress to get seated. The president and vice president are elected through the Electoral College, and Congress could decline to count their electoral votes if they were actually ineligible for office. Members of the House and Senate are elected, but Congress can still refuse to seat people not qualified (as the Court previously noted in Powell v. McCormack). And appointed officers require Senate confirmation. Those powers of Congress are unaffected by this decision" (from here)

The author states that the power exists. Using it if the candidate is manifestly "ineligible for office" is a lot different than simply refusing to acknowledge an election result. There has to be some point in the post-election process where Congress can step in if somehow states and voters don't prevent the election of someone who is, for example, too young (or the fact is revealed/discovered after election day).
 
PET’s aphorism about sharing a bed with an elephant comes to mind. But yes, I meant more directly those who could have legal standing in court cases around America’s electoral politics.

Right. Just wondered how many are eligible to vote in the U.S. election - which is still eight months away.

I was reminded of an aphorism ( I've got to buy a dictionary :) ) a wise man on here once said,

Do you live in Alberta? No? Diiiiiiiiissss......Missed!

Considering only about 60% of eligible Canadian voters were "fired up" enough to bother vote in our own last federal election, I wondered if there might be more interest in U.S. politics.
 
Right. Just wondered how many are eligible to vote in the U.S. election - which is still eight months away.

I was reminded of an aphorism ( I've got to buy a dictionary :) ) a wise man on here once said,



Considering only about 60% of eligible Canadian voters were "fired up" enough to bother vote in our own last federal election.

Then you have the issue of Americanisms entering our public discourse. Some of it is justified on the basis of Common Law, shared history and similarly developed philosophies.

Bottom Up vs Top Down.
 
Fanni Willis is facing charges on 22 articles of impeachment.

Apparently, the impeachment charges have also triggered some more investigations from different departments. That creates the potential for more charges. Some of the original 22 articles carry jail time. Don't know if it's mandatory.

 
Fanni Willis is facing charges on 22 articles of impeachment.

Apparently, the impeachment charges have also triggered some more investigations from different departments. That creates the potential for more charges. Some of the original 22 articles carry jail time. Don't know if it's mandatory.


Not really. A resolution was introduced in the Georgia state house (HR872) in late Jan. It reached second reading on Jan 29th and seems to have done nothing since then. It’s essentially a private member’s bill that appears dead in the water. I just read the impeachment resolution; 19 of those counts are duplicates covering each of the 19 rico defendants and the remaining ones are assorted “see what sticks to the wall”. I see no threat to her here.

This isn’t representative Byrd’s first theatrical stunt. She was part of the crew back in December who said they would legislate Biden off the 2024 ballot.
 
Then you have the issue of Americanisms entering our public discourse.

Right.

Reminds me of something written on here seven years ago,

My predictability does become apparent when the Trump toxin spreads to Canadian topics.
I regret (more than you can imagine) that my preference for facts and thinking is at odds with the majority of group-think in this thread. Yes, I've done a reality-check, wondering if I'm 'the only one in step,' and while I can understand some of the emotions behind this 'movement' I just can't understand the suspension of thought that embracing it requires (unless that sort of thing was never one's strong suit anyway). Oh well.
As I've stated before, I'm more than happy to avoid this mess altogether..... if people would stop trying to drag Canada into the alt-garbage world -- in this, and other, threads.
 

It’s Past Time to Quit Hoping the Courts Are Going to Stop Trump​

Story by Richard L. Hasen and Dahlia Lithwick


USA Today generally follows the market. When people are buying Left news, they swing left. They are publishing more Right news these days. That says something.

Slate and MSN cannot be described as followers of the Right. Their position says something.

....

The issue debated in this thread is the deep fracture in US politics which, in my opinion, has bled into politics across the English speaking world. That has resulted in a fracture that can be exploited by Xi, Putin whoever the non-entity running Iran today is.

Nobody, in my view, is more responsible for developing that fracture than Marc Elias. He is a Democrat activist and long time associate of Clinton and the Podestas. And, through the Podestas tied to Kerry, Ardern and Trudeau.


Most recently Elias was involved as a witness in a John Durham trial in Washington. Durham was prosecuting a pro-Trump case in a DC courthouse. Elias appeared for the defense. Durham lost the case on a jury verdict.

Today Elias tweeted about the DC primaries.



This was picked up in this article


The relevant quotation is this:

Marc E. Elias

@marceelias

In a city of 700,000, Donald Trump got 676 votes in the GOP primary. A tough jury pool....

That, in my opinion, speaks loudly and broadly to the fracture.

DC is not America, however much it wants to be. Equally London is not the UK and Ottawa is not Canada. I would argue the same for every self-proclaimed Capital on the planet.

Elias knows that DC is enemy territory as far as Trump is concerned. And Trump is the enemy as far as DC is concerned. But it is not just Trump that is DC's problem. DC has a problem with Republicans generally. Elias gloats about Trump only getting the support of 1 in 1000 DC residents. But even Niki Haley, the Democrat candidate for the Republicans, only got the support of 2 in 1000 DC residents. All told, Haley, Trump, DeSantis and the rest of the Republicans voters accounted for about 3 of 1000 DC residents. And a good chunk of those would likely vote for the Democrats come the election.

Not only does that make it difficult for Trump to get elected in DC, it makes it difficult for Trump, or any Republican to work in DC. It makes it difficult to find a jury or a judge in DC that are not Democratically inclined which makes it difficult for any Republican to accept the result of any DC trial if it pertains to a Republican cause.

We can talk about the rule of law until the cows come home but ultimately everything relies on trust. Trust is the only legitimacy available to anything. If people do not trust the people making the decisions that influence their lives then the institutions that those decision makers inhabit are untrustworthy and lack legitimacy.

...

If people see you winning all the time, at their expense, then it makes it a whole lot harder for them to shake hands and wait for the next game.
They are more inclined to take their ball and go home and leave you to revel in how smart you are.
If you are lucky they will ignore you.
 
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I am reminded of my school days in Canada in the 70s where everyone was adamant they would not wear a uniform to school.

Right.

All feelings matter.

If nostalgic for the 1970's, and beyond,

20 Feb., 2024

Survey of 154 scholars places 45th president behind even ‘historically calamitous chief executives’ linked to civil war

 




USA Today generally follows the market. When people are buying Left news, they swing left. They are publishing more Right news these days. That says something.

Slate and MSN cannot be described as followers of the Right. Their position says something.

....

The issue debated in this thread is the deep fracture in US politics which, in my opinion, has bled into politics across the English speaking world. That has resulted in a fracture that can be exploited by Xi, Putin whoever the non-entity running Iran today is.

Nobody, in my view, is more responsible for developing that fracture than Marc Elias. He is a Democrat activist and long time associate of Clinton and the Podestas. And, through the Podestas tied to Kerry, Ardern and Trudeau.


Most recently Elias was involved as a witness in a John Durham trial in Washington. Durham was prosecuting a pro-Trump case in a DC courthouse. Elias appeared for the defense. Durham lost the case on a jury verdict.

Today Elias tweeted about the DC primaries.



This was picked up in this article


The relevant quotation is this:



That, in my opinion, speaks loudly and broadly to the fracture.

DC is not America, however much it wants to be. Equally London is not the UK and Ottawa is not Canada. I would argue the same for every self-proclaimed Capital on the planet.

Elias knows that DC is enemy territory as far as Trump is concerned. And Trump is the enemy as far as DC is concerned. But it is not just Trump that is DC's problem. DC has a problem with Republicans generally. Elias gloats about Trump only getting the support of 1 in 1000 DC residents. But even Niki Haley, the Democrat candidate for the Republicans, only got the support of 2 in 1000 DC residents. All told, Haley, Trump, DeSantis and the rest of the Republicans voters accounted for about 3 of 1000 DC residents. And a good chunk of those would likely vote for the Democrats come the election.

Not only does that make it difficult for Trump to get elected in DC, it makes it difficult for Trump, or any Republican to work in DC. It makes it difficult to find a jury or a judge in DC that are not Democratically inclined which makes it difficult for any Republican to accept the result of any DC trial if it pertains to a Republican cause.

We can talk about the rule of law until the cows come home but ultimately everything relies on trust. Trust is the only legitimacy available to anything. If people do not trust the people making the decisions that influence their lives then the institutions that those decision makers inhabit are untrustworthy and lack legitimacy.

...

If people see you winning all the time, at their expense, then it makes it a whole lot harder for them to shake hands and wait for the next game.
They are more inclined to take their ball and go home and leave you to revel in how smart you are.
If you are lucky they will ignore you.
The thing with Marc Elias is that he’s consistently proven right through winning court case after court case. This doesn’t exactly endear him to the Republicans of course, but he’s using the proper mechanism of the courts to seek redress. Winning court cases isn’t something someone should be blamed for.
 
The thing with Marc Elias is that he’s consistently proven right through winning court case after court case. This doesn’t exactly endear him to the Republicans of course, but he’s using the proper mechanism of the courts to seek redress. Winning court cases isn’t something someone should be blamed for.

My problem is with the concept of friendly judges and friendly juries.

Winning cases is not something he should be blamed for. That is what he gets paid for. Like any good mercenary. This one happens to like his work.

A bigger problem are the tactics with which it is claimed he is associated.

He and I would be unlikely to be sharing beers any time soon. Even if we operated in the same society. ;)
 
But even Niki Haley, the Democrat candidate for the Republicans, only got the support of 2 in 1000 DC residents.

I've seen this viewpoint on many other places than this site, but IMs ad to see it here, because it makes those who say it look like Trump sycophants.

Haley is NOT the Femocratic candidate for the Republicans. Haley is a Republican candidate for the Republicans. The only thing "not republican" about her is that she's not Donald Trump. Democratics do NOT want her to be president, they would just rather her than Trump, but at this point most democrats would be happy with any Republic other than Trump. That doesn't makes them the "Democratic candidate for the GOP".

Calling honest to goodness Republicans "Democrats" just because they aren't Trump does a deservice to "Republicanism" in general and quite frankly just further entrenches MAGA insanity.
 
I've seen this viewpoint on many other places than this site, but IMs ad to see it here, because it makes those who say it look like Trump sycophants.

Haley is NOT the Femocratic candidate for the Republicans. Haley is a Republican candidate for the Republicans. The only thing "not republican" about her is that she's not Donald Trump. Democratics do NOT want her to be president, they would just rather her than Trump, but at this point most democrats would be happy with any Republic other than Trump. That doesn't makes them the "Democratic candidate for the GOP".

Calling honest to goodness Republicans "Democrats" just because they aren't Trump does a deservice to "Republicanism" in general and quite frankly just further entrenches MAGA insanity.

Opinions indeed.

I agree that a lot of Republicans find Haley a worthy candidate. Me too.

On the other hand the US primary system permits, depending on the state, people to vote in primaries for people they that they don't vote for in the general election. This can be played.

And it stretches a point to say that everybody that doesn't support the Democratic position is a Trump sycophant. There is a habitable middle ground.
 
Haley is NOT the Femocratic candidate for the Republicans. Haley is a Republican candidate for the Republicans. The only thing "not republican" about her is that she's not Donald Trump. Democratics do NOT want her to be president, they would just rather her than Trump, but at this point most democrats would be happy with any Republic other than Trump. That doesn't makes them the "Democratic candidate for the GOP".
Both Haley AND Trump are "Democratic candidates for the GOP", if the behaviour of Democrats is an indicator.

When it suits Democrats to run against Trump, they make contributions in money, or in kind (media coverage), and make strategic decisions to interfere in open primaries by choosing to vote in a Republican primary for Trump. When it doesn't, they cast a vote for Haley.

On the whole, Democrats have provided a lot more support for Trump than for any other Republican. They got badly burned in 2016. Since they won 2020 they figured they could run the same plays. Lately, though, Biden's numbers haven't been looking good and that strategy of interference must be deeply regretted by some. If Trump wins, it will be a well-deserved comeuppance for their hypocritical behaviour.
 
Haley is seen as part of the "establishment".

Trump/his supporters are against any further "establishment" run administrations.
Or they simply want to become the replacement ‘establishment’ and enjoy those advantages for themselves. There’s no democratic benevolence in Trump’s desire to replace other people with his people.
 




USA Today generally follows the market. When people are buying Left news, they swing left. They are publishing more Right news these days. That says something.

Slate and MSN cannot be described as followers of the Right. Their position says something.

....

The issue debated in this thread is the deep fracture in US politics which, in my opinion, has bled into politics across the English speaking world. That has resulted in a fracture that can be exploited by Xi, Putin whoever the non-entity running Iran today is.

Nobody, in my view, is more responsible for developing that fracture than Marc Elias. He is a Democrat activist and long time associate of Clinton and the Podestas. And, through the Podestas tied to Kerry, Ardern and Trudeau.


Most recently Elias was involved as a witness in a John Durham trial in Washington. Durham was prosecuting a pro-Trump case in a DC courthouse. Elias appeared for the defense. Durham lost the case on a jury verdict.

Today Elias tweeted about the DC primaries.



This was picked up in this article


The relevant quotation is this:



That, in my opinion, speaks loudly and broadly to the fracture.

DC is not America, however much it wants to be. Equally London is not the UK and Ottawa is not Canada. I would argue the same for every self-proclaimed Capital on the planet.

Elias knows that DC is enemy territory as far as Trump is concerned. And Trump is the enemy as far as DC is concerned. But it is not just Trump that is DC's problem. DC has a problem with Republicans generally. Elias gloats about Trump only getting the support of 1 in 1000 DC residents. But even Niki Haley, the Democrat candidate for the Republicans, only got the support of 2 in 1000 DC residents. All told, Haley, Trump, DeSantis and the rest of the Republicans voters accounted for about 3 of 1000 DC residents. And a good chunk of those would likely vote for the Democrats come the election.

Not only does that make it difficult for Trump to get elected in DC, it makes it difficult for Trump, or any Republican to work in DC. It makes it difficult to find a jury or a judge in DC that are not Democratically inclined which makes it difficult for any Republican to accept the result of any DC trial if it pertains to a Republican cause.

We can talk about the rule of law until the cows come home but ultimately everything relies on trust. Trust is the only legitimacy available to anything. If people do not trust the people making the decisions that influence their lives then the institutions that those decision makers inhabit are untrustworthy and lack legitimacy.

...

If people see you winning all the time, at their expense, then it makes it a whole lot harder for them to shake hands and wait for the next game.
They are more inclined to take their ball and go home and leave you to revel in how smart you are.
If you are lucky they will ignore you.
Not just DC. New York is also outside the wire.
 
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