Fascism watch thread/news and discussions

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[caltrek]

'Unhinged': Spy Chief Alerted as Trump Seen 'Threatening Supreme Court Justices'
by David McAfee
May 17, 2025

Introduction:

(Raw Story) "Trump is now threatening Supreme Court justices who ruled against him," Democratic influencer Harry Sisson said on Saturday.

That is just one of the notable people who over the weekend accused the president of lobbing indirect threats at the members of the mostly conservative Supreme Court, many of whom Trump himself appointed.

The allegations stem from a Trump Truth Social post on Saturday, when the president shared a comment made by a MAGA attorney.

Former GOP staffer Mike Davis has made headlines for his social media comments in the past, and was rumored to be on Trump's list for attorney general. Recently, he posted a plan to get back at the Supreme Court justices for not ruling in line with MAGA.

Read more here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politic ... d9&ei=29


caltrek’s comment: Nobody is saying Trump should not move against terrorists and gang members that have infiltrated the United States. What is of concern to “liberals,” including a majority of the Supreme Court, is the deprivation of due process. Meaning Trump wants to do anything his evil heart desires to anybody that displease him without allowing said individuals their day in court. After he had more than his day in court that allowed him to be above the law. The obvious hypocrisy is bad enough. What is worse are the MAGA extremists who have absolutely no problem with Trump’s dangerous policies. It is they who helped vote Trump back in office. (Others were simply not paying attention).

There is also the threating tone of Trump's actions. Perhaps now some of the justices are waking up to the threat posed by Trump to democracy and the rule of law. Something that should have happened when prosecutors were appealing to the court to try Trump on an expedited basis. As always, Trump is willing to throw the justices under the bus despite the favor they showed him. An outcome they should have known was coming. One that often follows letting anybody operate above the law

[weatheriscool]

GOP Tax Bill Would Curtail Power of Courts


https://politicalwire.com/2025/05/18/go ... of-courts/

“Tucked deep in the thousand-plus pages of the multitrillion-dollar budget bill making its way through the Republican-controlled U.S. House is a paragraph curtailing a court’s greatest tool for forcing the government to obey its rulings: the power to enforce contempt findings,” the AP reports.

“It’s unclear whether the bill can pass the House in its current form — it failed in a committee vote Friday — whether the U.S. Senate would preserve the contempt provision or whether courts would uphold it. But the fact that GOP lawmakers are including it shows how much those in power in the nation’s capital are thinking about the consequences of defying judges as the battle between the Trump administration and the courts escalates.”

[caltrek]

What Are Erik Prince’s Plans for the Second Trump Administration?
by John P. Ruehl
May 13, 2025

Introduction:

(Z) The deportation case of Maryland resident and Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia has drawn major attention to the practice of sending migrants to El Salvador for detention. One man looking to capitalize on this trend is Erik Prince, the former CEO of the private military company (PMC) Blackwater.

In a plan that has caught the interest of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele and President Donald Trump, Prince has proposed deporting undocumented migrants through his new venture, 2USV, on a fleet of private aircraft. A “Treaty of Cession” would designate part of El Salvador’s Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT) prison as U.S. territory, and the transfer of “a prisoner to such a facility would not be an Extradition nor a Deportation,” according to a Politico article. The prison complex, which Prince previously toured in August 2024, would then be leased back to El Salvador to run, and the U.S. prison standards would not apply to it, similar to Guantanamo Bay.

If the U.S. had a counterpart to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the late architect of Russia’s modern PMC network, it is Erik Prince. Relentlessly entrepreneurial, Prince became a prominent player in Washington during the Bush and first Trump administrations, though he was mostly sidelined during the Obama and Biden years. He now returns to Washington’s inner circle seeking to increase his role again, having visited the White House shortly after Trump’s inauguration in January 2025 and serving as a character witness during the confirmation hearing for Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

As a hugely influential figure across the American PMC ecosystem, Prince’s Salvadoran pitch is one of many ambitious and controversial ventures he’s pursued. But his track record is uneven, with many proposals never materializing, and those that do often bring intense scrutiny.

Read more here: https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what- ... ration/

[firestar464]

Far-right leaders attempting to hijack success of Reform

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clygr52dn1ro

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*sighs*

https://www.project2025.observer/

[caltrek]

Ummm...maybe it is because she realized that Biden with health problems would make a better president than a "healthy" Trump. (I put "healthy" in quotations because I am genuinely not sure that he is psychologically healthy.)

Elder abuse?

I don't think Biden was that far out of it to not understand what was coming down. He (and Jill) did underestimate the effects advanced age was having on his qualification for office and desirability as a candidate. Hardly a criminal offense. Certainly not "elder abuse."

[caltrek]

...

More on that:

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem Struggles to Define Habeas Corpus at Senate Hearing

by Dareh Gregorian and Didi Martinez
May 20, 2025

Extract:

(NBC) Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., later asked Noem if she knew what article of the Constitution the clause is in.

"No, I do not, sir," she said. Kim said it was in Article One, which outlines the powers of Congress, not the president.

"Can you confirm to us that you understand that any suspension of habeas corpus requires an act of Congress?" Kim asked.

Noem then noted correctly that President Abraham Lincoln had used the power during the Civil War.

"President Lincoln executed habeas corpus in the past with retroactive action by Congress. I believe that any president that was able to do that in the past, it should be afforded to our current day president," she said.

Read more here: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immig ... a207986

caltrek's comment: I'm sorry...are we in the middle of a civil war?

Perhaps having Trump appointees who do not understand the Constitution as it applies to their particular individual responsiblities are leading to a Civil War. Kind of a circular dynamic, isn't it?

Or should I say like a spiral, as in going down the tubes.

[firestar464]

Ummm...maybe it is because she realized that Biden with health problems would make a better president than a "healthy" Trump. (I put "healthy" in quotations because I am genuinely not sure that he is psychologically healthy.)

Elder abuse?

I don't think Biden was that far out of it to not understand what was coming down. He (and Jill) did underestimate the effects advanced age was having on his qualification for office and desirability as a candidate. Hardly a criminal offense. Certainly not "elder abuse."

He struggled to speak, but that's about it from what I know. The duties were otherwise being carried out as normal

[firestar464]

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Judge says Trump administration 'unquestionably' violated court order with deportations to South Sudan

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigr ... rcna208318

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ICE agents take people into custody at downtown Phoenix courthouse

https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/ice-a ... courthouse

[firestar464]

Supreme Court deadlocks 4-4 on nation’s first religious charter school

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/suprem ... rcna204111

[firestar464]

Mace files resolution to expel McIver over ICE assault charges

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5312 ... -lamonica/

[firestar464]

House passes Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ in marathon overnight session

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5313 ... iful-bill/