Soph0571
Soph0571's JournalHow the Democrats' takeover of Virginia could end up preserving Ruth Bader Ginsburg's legacy
Yet, if Virginias new Democratic majority does ratify the ERA after the new lawmakers take their seats this January, there is a world of uncertainty about what happens next.
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The truth is that no one actually knows if the ERA will become part of the Constitution if Virginia becomes the 38th state to ratify it. But there are also very good reasons why Virginia Democrats may want to give it a shot despite this uncertainty.
Should the ERA become part of the Constitution, the immediate impact would be fairly minor. The ERA would marginally expand the Constitutions protections against gender discrimination, but those protections are already quite robust. Thats because of a pioneering legal strategy, spearheaded by future Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the 1970s, which convinced the Supreme Court that the Constitution already provides most of the benefits women would enjoy under the ERA. (More on that below.)
Yet, while the ERA would not have much of an immediate impact on American constitutional law, it is unclear whether Ginsburgs legacy is durable. There are five justices on the Supreme Court right now who believe that the constitutional cases protecting against gender discrimination may not have been correctly decided. If Trump gets to fill more seats on the Supreme Court, those decisions that expanded protections for women will grow even more endangered.
The strongest case for ratifying the ERA, in other words, is not that it will revolutionize American law now. Rather, its that it will insulate many existing protections against gender discrimination from an increasingly conservative Supreme Court in the coming years.
[link:https://www.vox.com/2019/11/8/20952728/democrats-virginia-ruth-bader-ginsburg-equal-rights-amendment|]
There would of course be challenges to this. But... This is why Democracy matters. This is why voting matters
Much more at the link...
'Whistleblower's Attorney Warns Trump to 'Cease and Desist' Attacks or Face...
...Legal and Ethical Peril
I am writing out of deep concern that your client, the President of the United States, is engaging in rhetoric and activity that places my client, the Intelligence Community Whistleblower, and their family in physical danger, the letter, published by CNN, reads. I am writing to respectfully request that you counsel your client on the legal and ethical peril in which he is placing himself should anyone be physically harmed as a result of his, or his surrogates, behavior.
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Respectfully, your clients rhetoric and behavior fall well beneath the dignity of the office, Bakaj added.
These are not words of an individual with a firm grasp of the significance of the office which he occupies, nor a fundamental understanding of the significance of each word he articulates by virtue of occupying that office, Bakaj also told Cipollone.
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In light of this, it is reasonable to submit that your clients activity constitutes a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512, Tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant. Furthermore, because my client is a lawful whistleblower and a prospective congressional witness, any threats to influence, obstruct, or impede my clients cooperation is a violation of 18 U.SC. § 1505, Obstruction of proceedings before departments, agencies, and committees. Finally, reprisal against my client for cooperating with a congressional inquiry would be a violation of 18 U.SC. § 1513, Retaliating against a witness, victim, or an informant.
[link:https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2019/11/whistleblowers-attorney-warns-trump-to-cease-and-desist-attacks-or-face-legal-and-ethical-peril/|]
AS Trump has only ever shown utter contempt for the rule of law I doubt this will do anything to stop his outrageous behaviour, but it is good to get it on record...
Trump may be relying on this... BUT!
I mean obviously Trump has never heard of Voltaire but if he had..it is his strategy after all
There is only one teeny tiny snag to his plans of riots in the streets and civil war....
EXACTLY THIS... Heh.
This man is playing fetch with a Beluga Whale...
https://twitter.com/_SJPeace_/status/1192547789332525063We honestly don't deserve these Majestic Creatures. 😭
Protect them at all costs.
PLEASE STOP USING PLASTIC
Just amazing!!!!
You know Trump's popularity is tanking when...
https://twitter.com/BettyBowers/status/1192163646799011846Just wait until conservatives hear about this attempt to limit political free speech and to create a safe space on a college campus! Theyll be outraged! Simply, outraged!
Hehe
Jewish Chronicle: 'The vast majority of British Jews consider Jeremy Corbyn an anti-Semite'
That is why we are seeking your attention. If this man is chosen as our next prime minister, the message will be stark: that our dismay that he could ever be elevated to a prominent role in British politics, and our fears of where that will lead, are irrelevant.
We will have to conclude that those fears and dismay count for nothing.
But we think you do care.
We believe that the overwhelming majority of British people abhor racism.We ask only that, when you cast your vote, you act on that.
[link:https://www.thejc.com/comment/leaders/to-all-our-fellow-british-citizens-1.491812|]
Ouch. That is going to burn. This will give some moderate voters for Labour pause for thought.
And they are not wrong, when any ethnic minority has 47 % thinking they will leave the country if he gets in, that must ring serious alarm bells for all of us who push for genuine equality in our country.
Humpty Trumpty likes a good bawl, Humpty Trumpty gonna have a big fall...
Trump has always used bully boy tactics to get his own way
bawling, suing and lying is the name of his game and has been since the he started in business. He thinks he can get away with anything because he has always been able to buy his way out of any shit he finds himself in. He thinks he is infallible because of this corrupt distortion of normal business practice and governance, and that is why he has fucked up so badly this time. In his arrogance and because he is a simpleton - he did not even try to keep his extortion a secret, sending Giuliani (Mr Subtle Genius!) to try and dig up dirt, and debating this where career diplomats could hear him, tells us that he really places himself above the law and the constitution, and that will never end well for him.
He cannot buy, bully or sue his way out of the impeachment enquiry, however much he is trying to, and there will be a tipping point when the GOP will desert him. They may hang in there for a while yet, however they can read polls and they are a very self-serving bunch. There will be a tipping point as public support for Impeachment grows that will have the kings men scampering away likes rats deserting a sinking shit, and Humpty Trumpty is gonna fall (off his 'build that wall' hehe). And if we are luckily Trumpism will shatter into pieces that cant be put back together again.
(For those who do not know the rhyme..
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.)
Of COURSE he didn't, he is a grown up...
I sometimes think comparisons between Trump and Obama are not useful because of course President Obama would never have behaved the way Trump behaves because... well everything really, where would you start...comparing them on anything is not just apples and oranges but rocket ships and a horse and buggy.
However as we all miss the President and sometimes to be reminded of the good old days when a grown up was in charge is a good thing...
This...
Agreeing with Bill Kristol is not good for my mental well being, but...
... he is not wrong...
https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/1192260136938672128
Exactly this.
Buckle said, in his dogmatic way: Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas.
Heh. Lowest class indeed...
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Gender: FemaleHometown: UK
Home country: UK
Current location: UK
Member since: Fri Oct 13, 2017, 06:59 PM
Number of posts: 9,685