USA News and Discussions

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Time_Traveller
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Re: USA News and Discussions

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The US norms the supreme court targeted this term all came from the same era
Sun 3 Jul 2022

The supreme court, thank heaven, finally adjourned on Thursday, after a week of decisions that blew up much of the framework of American policy and politics. And a key thing to notice about that assault on American norms was how many of their targets were adopted in a few short years in the 1960s and 1970s.

Roe v Wade, of course, dates to 1973, the fruit of many year’s work by committed feminists. Thursday’s attack on the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate greenhouse gases guts the Clean Air Act, which in its strong form dates from 1970 – indeed, both that law and the EPA itself were the result of the first Earth Day protests in April of that year, which drew 20 million Americans (10% of the country’s population in those days) into the streets demanding action. Even firearms sanity, badly weakened once more in last week’s decision on concealed carry permits, reached its zenith in 1968 with the passage of the Gun Control Act in response to the assassinations of that turbulent year.

It’s pretty clear that some on the high court have other gains from that era in their sights: Justice Clarence Thomas singled out the 1960s protections for contraception, and the drive for equal rights for LGBTQ+ people that broke into the open at the Stonewall protests in 1969. And the court and conservative legislatures have worked steadily to undermine the protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, restricting the franchise that the civil rights movement had once worked so powerfully to extend.

This is an attack, in other words, on the epic social, political and cultural transformations of that remarkable period (a stretch of years that should remind us that with committed effort change really can come fast). We pay particular attention to those dates because, at Third Act, we organize the people who helped create that era. Our colleagues include heroes like Heather Booth, who went south in 1964’s Freedom Summer and then went on to form Citizen Action for local organizing across America, or Sam Brown, who coordinated 1969’s massive anti-war moratorium before a career in public service that included working with John Lewis to run Vista and the Peace Corps. Many others of our supporters – who are in their 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s – played less prominent roles, but all of them bore witness to these transformations. And now they watch with some combination of sorrow, anger and incredulity as they are washed away.

The incredulity stems from the fact that they are universally popular. Big majorities favor much more government action to protect the environment; by margins of 2-1 Americans want Roe’s abortion protections left intact, and even more lopsided margins want more gun control, not less. We won the hearts and minds of public opinion, but we’re now decisively losing in the arena of public policy.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... roe-v-wade

Could the US Supreme Court now undermind bills before 1972 such as above.
"We all have our time machines, don't we. Those that take us back are memories...And those that carry us forward, are dreams."

-H.G Wells.
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Time_Traveller
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Re: USA News and Discussions

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As Trump’s star wanes, another rises: could Ron DeSantis be the new Maga bearer?
Sun 3 Jul 2022

With the January 6 hearings chipping away at the former president’s image, the Republican Florida governor is quietly working to turn the tide in his favor

He was the most powerful man in the world, the possessor of the nuclear codes. Yet he behaved like a deranged manchild who threw temper tantrums and food against the wall.

That was the tragicomic story told to America last Tuesday at a congressional hearing that had even seasoned Donald Trump watchers lifting their jaws off the floor and speculating that his political career might finally be over.

In two seismic hours in Washington, Cassidy Hutchinson, a 25-year-old former White House aide, told the panel investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol that the former president had effectively gone haywire.

She described how Trump knew a mob of his supporters had armed itself with rifles, yet he asked for metal detectors to be removed. She also recounted how his desire to lead them to the Capitol caused a physical altercation with the Secret Service, and how in a fit of rage he threw his lunch against a White House wall, staining it with tomato ketchup.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... -candidate
"We all have our time machines, don't we. Those that take us back are memories...And those that carry us forward, are dreams."

-H.G Wells.
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caltrek
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Re: USA News and Discussions

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The Supreme Court’s Shock-and-Awe Judicial Coup
by Naomi Klein
June 30, 2022

Introduction:
(Intercept) THIS IS IT. The moment for President Joe Biden and Congress to challenge the underlying legitimacy of the U.S. Supreme Court and advance an aggressive climate action agenda. There will be no better moment to take this stand for a transformed court, nor a more fateful one. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is right: “We need to reform or do away with the whole thing, for the sake of the planet.”

Over the last few days, we have witnessed a shock-and-awe judicial coup, from stripping people of the right to terminate pregnancies (Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization), to weakening the sovereign right of Indigenous tribes to enforce the law on their lands (Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta), to interfering with the rights of states to regulate the carrying of firearms (New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen), to enabling a return to Christian prayer in public schools (Kennedy v. Bremerton School District).

And now this: a decision that eviscerates the Environmental Protection Agency’s power to regulate a major source of the carbon emissions destabilizing our planet. The EPA can still regulate CO2, but its capacity to regulate under the Clear Air Act is significantly reduced. It represents the culmination, as my colleague Sharon Lerner reports, of decades of “plotting against environmental regulations” by Koch Industries, and as The Lever has reported, this entire court has been shaped by the dark-money-bankrolled Judicial Crisis Network, which is is surely gearing up to toast the bountiful return on their patient investments this July 4 weekend.

History contains crossroads when a single set of decisions can alter the trajectory of a people — or even a planet. The Biden administration’s response to the Supreme Court’s 6-3 EPA ruling, hot on the heels of the other outrageous power grabs, is a moment like that. No juncture offers greater opportunity for courageous, transformational leadership, should such a thing be on offer anywhere in Washington, D.C.
Read more here: https://theintercept.com/2022/06/30/su ... epa-coup/

Edit: Writing on more or less this same theme with important detail added is Bill McKibben: https://www.commondreams.org/views/202 ... -backlash
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caltrek
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Re: USA News and Discussions

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Time_Traveller wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 8:39 pm As Trump’s star wanes, another rises: could Ron DeSantis be the new Maga bearer?
Sun 3 Jul 2022

With the January 6 hearings chipping away at the former president’s image...
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... -candidate
Her is a legal analysis from an anti-Trump conservative commentator on Trump's legal vulnerabilities:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archi ... ds/661434/
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
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caltrek
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Re: USA News and Discussions

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Time_Traveller wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 8:39 pm As Trump’s star wanes, another rises: could Ron DeSantis be the new Maga bearer?
...
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... -candidate
Incredibly, De Santis may very well be worse than Trump:

I’m Suing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for Attacks on Free Speech, Press
by Thomas Kennedy
June 29, 2022

Introduction:
(Latino Rebels) MIAMI — The First Amendment has protected advocacy journalism in America since the founding of this country. Unfortunately for press freedom, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has stomped on that tradition by declaring his administration to be government regulators of journalism, similar to authoritarians in places like Venezuela or Cuba.

As a critic of the governor, I have personally gotten a taste of DeSantis’ tinpot authoritarianism.

In July 2020, my activism made national news when I confronted Florida’s governor on what I consider to be his disastrous handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with his misleading the public about the impact of the virus. The Sunshine State has a staggering death toll of over 75,000 people.

Due to my political views and activities, the state’s largest law enforcement agency, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), opened a criminal intelligence case against me without a criminal predicate. That’s when they started surveilling my social media while sharing my name, photo, and vehicle information with other police agencies in the state, in addition to other personal information.

The surveillance document from FDLE states that “the below individual has no history of violence” when referring to me.
Read more here: https://www.latinorebels.com/2022/06/2 ... slawsuit/
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
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caltrek
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Re: USA News and Discussions

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Why Do We Coddle Conservatives?
by Daniel Cubas
June 28, 2022

Introduction:
(Mano) Here’s how sensitive those liberal snowflakes are…

Some guy in California got offended over a definition in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary. How absurd. They’re just words, you wimpy, tree-hugging…

Oh, wait. It wasn’t a liberal. It was a right-wing white man. And he wasn’t so much “offended” as “screaming death threats.”

The guy was furious over Merriam-Webster’s entry on gender, and in his transphobic zeal, he sent multiple intimidating messages to the publisher and said the dictionary’s creators “should be hunted down and shot.”

Now, if a progressive had complained about a dictionary definition, we would hear diatribes about cancel culture and hypersensitivity. Instead, an easily riled conservative promises violence, and it’s all whatevs.
Read more here: https://manomagazine.com/coddleconservatives/
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
weatheriscool
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Re: USA News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

caltrek wrote: Mon Jul 04, 2022 8:03 pm Why Do We Coddle Conservatives?
by Daniel Cubas
June 28, 2022

Introduction:
(Mano) Here’s how sensitive those liberal snowflakes are…

Some guy in California got offended over a definition in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary. How absurd. They’re just words, you wimpy, tree-hugging…

Oh, wait. It wasn’t a liberal. It was a right-wing white man. And he wasn’t so much “offended” as “screaming death threats.”

The guy was furious over Merriam-Webster’s entry on gender, and in his transphobic zeal, he sent multiple intimidating messages to the publisher and said the dictionary’s creators “should be hunted down and shot.”

Now, if a progressive had complained about a dictionary definition, we would hear diatribes about cancel culture and hypersensitivity. Instead, an easily riled conservative promises violence, and it’s all whatevs.
Read more here: https://manomagazine.com/coddleconservatives/
Why do we cuddle liberals? You know the fuckers that burn down city blocks, loot stores and shut down economies for years at a time only to cause historic inflation?. I can be partisan too. There's only man and women. Anyone that thinks otherwise is mentally insane and to point that out is just a fact. Science isn't a snowflake thing. It is basic biology. I am going to balance this board out and if wjfox doesn't like it and wants only one value point then he can do what he thinks is right.
weatheriscool
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Re: USA News and Discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

weatheriscool wrote: Mon Jul 04, 2022 8:07 pm
caltrek wrote: Mon Jul 04, 2022 8:03 pm Why Do We Coddle Conservatives?
by Daniel Cubas
June 28, 2022

Introduction:
(Mano) Here’s how sensitive those liberal snowflakes are…

Some guy in California got offended over a definition in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary. How absurd. They’re just words, you wimpy, tree-hugging…

Oh, wait. It wasn’t a liberal. It was a right-wing white man. And he wasn’t so much “offended” as “screaming death threats.”

The guy was furious over Merriam-Webster’s entry on gender, and in his transphobic zeal, he sent multiple intimidating messages to the publisher and said the dictionary’s creators “should be hunted down and shot.”

Now, if a progressive had complained about a dictionary definition, we would hear diatribes about cancel culture and hypersensitivity. Instead, an easily riled conservative promises violence, and it’s all whatevs.
Read more here: https://manomagazine.com/coddleconservatives/
Why do we cuddle liberals? You know the fuckers that burn down city blocks, loot stores and shut down economies for years at a time only to cause historic inflation?. I can be partisan too. There's only man and women. Anyone that thinks otherwise is mentally insane and to point that out is just a fact. Science isn't a snowflake thing. It is basic biology. I am going to balance this board out and if wjfox doesn't like it and wants only one value point then he can do what he thinks is right.
Honestly, I think it would be a good thing to get more republicans and conservatives into science and education. It would allow for healing and real debate of ideas. The left is stuck in its narrow lane bs that it is destroying this country and making life hell on good people. We need to force society more towards logical and thought out concepts instead of idiocy.
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caltrek
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Re: USA News and Discussions

Post by caltrek »

weatheriscool wrote: Mon Jul 04, 2022 8:07 pm
caltrek wrote: Mon Jul 04, 2022 8:03 pm Why Do We Coddle Conservatives?
by Daniel Cubas
June 28, 2022

Introduction:
(...
Read more here: https://manomagazine.com/coddleconservatives/
Why do we cuddle liberals? You know the fuckers that burn down city blocks, loot stores and shut down economies for years at a time only to cause historic inflation?. I can be partisan too. There's only man and women. Anyone that thinks otherwise is mentally insane and to point that out is just a fact. Science isn't a snowflake thing. It is basic biology. I am going to balance this board out and if wjfox doesn't like it and wants only one value point then he can do what he thinks is right.
Liberals don't "burn down city blocks" and "loot stores." Criminals do that. Liberals may explain the greivances that fuel such anger, but that is far different than encouraging that anger.

As to "shutting down the economies" this completely ignores the problem being faced - a pandemic that would have done even more to "shut down" the economy.

The boundaries between gender are not as clear cut as you would like to believe. Accusing those who understand that biological reality as being "mentally insane" is hardly being open minded and "balanced."
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
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caltrek
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Re: USA News and Discussions

Post by caltrek »

weatheriscool wrote: Mon Jul 04, 2022 8:16 pm
weatheriscool wrote: Mon Jul 04, 2022 8:07 pm
caltrek wrote: Mon Jul 04, 2022 8:03 pm ...
Read more here: https://manomagazine.com/coddleconservatives/
...
Honestly, I think it would be a good thing to get more republicans and conservatives into science and education. It would allow for healing and real debate of ideas. The left is stuck in its narrow lane bs that it is destroying this country and making life hell on good people. We need to force society more towards logical and thought out concepts instead of idiocy.
Oh, I know plenty of Republicans and conservatives who are well versed in science and education. Problem is their emotional biases and libertarian ideologies foul up their critical thinking mechanisms. They can apply science as in the way that technicians apply science, yet they seem incapable of carrying that over into the social sciences. Economics being a partial exception, where the more technical use for the making of profit is preferred to an honest and just understanding of society.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
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