meanwhile

 

From Roger Fitch and our friends down under at Justinian.

 

It's Hitlerish

Roger Fitch Esq • Friday, November 8, 2024

Reelection of a charlatan ... Republicans take popular vote for the first time in 20 years ... Amnesia ... Trashing a democracy ... Trump and his team of troubled men ... Mainstream media wilts in the eye of the storm ... Depravity, greed and revenge are the new normal ... Roger Fitch files from Washington 

"Some Trump voters may believe his lies. But plenty more want Trump to be terrifying and stomach-turning so that re-electing him will be a fully realized act of social revenge. Harris cannot propose any policy, offer any benefit, or adopt any position that competes with that feeling" - Atlantic

"What luck for the rulers that men do not think" - Adolf Hitler

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Before the election, the NYRB and Atlantic warned that the 60th presidential election could mark the end of democracy in America. The Washington Monthly noted a Nazi analogy to the complicity of America's traditional conservatives in Trump's takeover of the Republican Party. The NYRB published reviews of new books on Hitler's 1933 ascent to power in Germany.

In one of the two dominant political parties there was no shame; no law, custom or standard of common decency that party operatives wouldn't transgress. Their presidential candidate, Donald Trump, was the worst, embracing racism and misogyny, or misogynoir, in the case of his opponent Kamala Harris.

Close to the election, the Republican candidate's behaviour became more erratic: at a charitable function, the white-tie Al Smith dinner, he descended into insults and obscenities in a room filled with Catholic priests, presided over by the Archbishop of New York. 

At campaign stops he called Harris a "shit vice-president" and extolled the genital endowments of a dead  golfer. His rallies became freak shows offering "extra buffoonery with a side of fascism", entertainment for his supporters and a continuation of the TV series that made him a household name, The Apprentice.

The ex-president himself saw it as a TV show. In explaining his loss in their "debate", he suggested Harris was given the answers in advance, like the 1950s quiz show scandals.

The Republican meanwhile hawked the same tat one might see in late-night TV ads: gold sneakers, trading cards (of himself), watches, the perfume "Trump" (Musk-scented?), even a "Trump bible" (printed in China) unsuccessfully foisted on Oklahoma school children.  

This was the classy candidate that the once-venerable Republican Party offered for president in 2024.

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READ THE REST HERE.

Military Plea Deal Upheld UPDATED

 You might remember that a few months ago a plea deal was struck (hit on the links for two earlier posts of mine on the subject) with the handful of men at Guantanamo who were actually charged with something. The deal was that the death penalty was taken off the table in return for their guilty pleas. A few days after the deal was accepted by the judge the secretary of defense (Austin) tried to renig on the deal. Yesterday a senior military judge said "no" you cannot pull out of a deal that was bargained for and accepted. Read more here. I will see if I can find an actual copy of the order but in essence the military Col. judge said that Austin vested authority in the judge to accept a plea deal and just because he didn't like the deal did not give him authority to overrule the deal. 

Not sure how much the rule of law will continue to be followed in this country but this was good news.

The secretary of defense has appealed the decision. sigh.

and I wonder what's gone wrong....

 

Musical interlude. The sequel

 

musical interlude

 

FROM OUR FRIENDS DOWN UNDER AT JUSTINIAN

 

Bring back Dwight Eisenhower

Roger Fitch Esq • Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Supreme Court's new term ... Judicial culture war ... Motions for Trump's immunity determinations ... Cognitive decline on the election trail ... Judges waiting to muddle the election results ... Election countdown ... Plans for a new Supreme Court ... Our US legal correspondent Roger Fitch reports from Washington 

"[Trump] was a particularly unattractive version of his titanically arrogant, spectacularly dishonest and shockingly ill-informed self, claiming that Democrats were slaughtering newborns, that Harris was a Marxist, that he'd championed the Affordable Care Act, that the Jan. 6 rioters were veritable peaceniks and that as soon as he turns his gilded hand to the war between Russia and Ukraine ... it will magically end" - NYT's Frank Bruni on the Harris-Trump debate

"[N]o one in the Republican party dare say the emperor is naked and demented" - Salon

"[T]he press ... is the weak slat under the bed of democracy" - AJ Liebling

The countdown to the presidential election has begun, and the media, clinging to the safer narrative, have given the candidates the full horse race spin. Although Trump's cognitive decline should be topic one, his rallies are often reported in facile headlines and articles that ignore, paper-over or polish the incoherent rants of the half-mad Republican candidate. 

The ex-president, now a convicted felon, has moved beyond personality disorder, egomania and malignant narcissism, into new realms of fantasy beliefs, yet his craziness is scrubbed up by the media.

At the 11th hour, in the midst of media "sane-washing", Trump's mental fitness is finally being addressed, even by the timid NY Times. 

As a Salon columnist remarked, the former president "was always hobbled with severe personality disorders and a lifelong aversion to learning, but this is different. He's losing words, forgetting basic details (like who he's running against) and droning on about stuff that only makes sense in his fractured brain".

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"[I]f the policy of the Government upon vital questions affecting the whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court ... the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having ... practically resigned their Government into the hands of that ... tribunal" - Abraham Lincoln

"Judicial activism is a great threat to the rule of law because unaccountable federal judges are usurping democracy, ignoring the constitution and separation of powers, and imposing their personal opinions on the public ... We oppose stealth nominations to the federal bench ..." - Republican Party platform (2008)

READ THE REST HERE.

Give to the Guantanamo's survivor fund....

 I know, if you are like me, you are giving a lot to help with this election but if you can spare a little please help the Guantanamo survivors. Click here to support these men.

LEST WE FORGET

 

September 11. 23 YEARS LATER...

 As per my usual posting on this day I turn to my friend the talking dog. The dog was actually in the midst of that chaos and shares his reflections most years.

Here is this years. 

From Roger Fitch and our friends down under at Justinian.

 

Election muddling

Roger Fitch Esq • Wednesday, September 4, 2024

Mounting frenzy ... Democrats produce a Black Swan moment ... Trump's own goals ... Australia's most toxic export ... Murdoch - the man who gave us Trump ... Plans for a new "steal" campaign ... Republican judges  meddling in the election ... Roger Fitch files from Washington 

"Trump should step aside as his criminal convictions and continued legal troubles have clearly taken a toll on the 78 year old conman" - Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota)

"Kamala Harris has a resumé. Donald Trump has a rap sheet" - Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas)

Americans seem to be awakening from the learned helplessness induced by the Trump Stolen Election Delusion. For nearly four years, a political subversive and supporter of violent insurrection has been running around the country, claiming he won an election he actually lost by seven million votes. Many believed him. 

The spell of this absurdist drama may finally be breaking. There's been a remarkable change since the Democrats chose an articulate career prosecutor to stand for president against the incoherent felon representing the Republicans. 

Only weeks ago, Democrats were dreading their upcoming August convention, with President Biden's campaign seemingly doomed, even when facing such a dreadful candidate as Trump. 

What no one expected was a Black Swan event. Jonathan Alter explains.

That came when Mr Biden, though a "transformative" president, stumbled, withdrew, and was replaced as candidate by his Vice-President, Kamala Harris who has recently led by 3+ points. Trump is now the weaker candidate, and the election is soon - November 5th.

On the eve of the Democrats' convention, House Republicans released the report of a sham "impeachment investigation" of President Biden. As there was no evidence of wrongdoing, and Mr Biden was no longer the candidate, it sank like a stone.

READ THE REST HERE.

more on the broken plea deal

 Shayana Kadidal is one of the Guantanamo attorneys from the Center for Constitutional Rights- the umbrella organization that organized all of the pro bono attorneys (including me). Shayana has been doing this at least as long as I have but he still has clients left at the base- including in the military commissions.

His opinion on all of this is worth a read.

(h/o to Walt!)

Another musical interlude.... because we need more music!

 

Military commission update UPDATED (again)

 It has taken more than 20 years of bullshit military commission proceedings to finally come to a conclusion for three of the men that have been held. The death sentence was sought for these three men. Problem was that the vast amount of evidence was procured through torture. The lawyers representing these three men have been relentless in pursuing evidence of their torture and demanding a plea deal with life sentences instead of the death penalty. The military has finally agreed.

read more here. 

Oops on that. Seems the secretary of defense says no! I feel certain that would not have been agreed to without the secretary signing on to begin with so we will wait for the full story to unravel. Meanwhile- plea deal is off and the death penalty is back on. 

[actually I am only seeing this in the New York Times. I canceled that subscription a month or two ago because of its constant pro trump anti Biden coverage. So let’s wait to see if a credible news source confirms!]

Just Security just did an analysis of the train wreck caused by Sec'y Austin's shenanigans. I guess my biggest take on this is that it opens the door to more litigation. 

From Roger Fitch and our friends down under at Justinian

Trump v US

Roger Fitch Esq • Tuesday, July 30, 2024

Judge Aileen Cannon ... No more special prosecutors ... Rogue judges at the highest level ... Presidential immunity decision worse than anticipated ... A dreadful partisan court ... Milwaukee convention ... Vance has no conviction - unlike his running mate ... Roger Fitch files from Washington 

"FBI searches for motive in Trump shooting" - mystifying Associated Press headline.

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"The parallels between [Trump v US] and Germany's Enabling Acts …similarly ratified by the German Supreme Court right after Hitler took power in early 1933 - are startling. That collection of laws ruled that whatever Hitler said in the context of an 'official act' instantly became the law of the land. For all practical purposes, as the nation's leader, he became immune from prosecution under the laws that applied to every other normal German or elected politician." - Thom Hartmann

Although everyone is reeling from the new presidential election dynamics in the US, all eyes should still be on the US Supreme Court and a decision being called the Dred Scott of our time. 

Hitler: immune from prosecution

In perhaps the most partisan power grab in its 235-year history, the supreme court on July 1 attempted to nullify all the outstanding federal criminal litigation against Donald Trump as well as litigation under appeal in New York State and Georgia. Rather than Justice Gorsuch's promised "rule for the ages", it's a rule tailor-made for Donald Trump.

As international law professor Oona Hathaway noted in Foreign Affairs, for the rest of the world the US president has always been above the law. Now Americans themselves will learn what that means.

In a decision that will live in infamy, the court ruled that a president is, in all essential matters, above the law. That's contrary to the Constitution; Article 1, Section 3, makes clear that even a president who has been impeached and convicted remains "liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law".

By a majority of 5-4 (Justice Barrett not joining), dicta was inserted in Trump v US that may affect multiple criminal prosecutions in several states, e.g, those involving fake electoral slates. 

The five justices opined that even the evidence of crimes that falls within the president's astonishingly-broad "official acts", e.g, contacts and phone calls between the president and others, perhaps bribery and corruption, attempted subversions of justice through corrupt contacts with department employees (e.g, Jeffrey Clark in the DoJ), intimidation of the Vice-President and the Justice Department's senior officers, pressuring Georgia officials to "find" votes, cannot be admitted in court, nor the president's motives and good faith queried.

More here on CJ Roberts' now-notorious footnote 3.

READ THE WHOLE FITCH HERE.