Political Randomness

[Isgrimnur]

Reuters

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton must face an ethics lawsuit by state attorney regulators over a case he brought challenging results of the 2020 election, according to a court ruling posted on Monday.

Judge Casey Blair on Friday denied Paxton's bid to dismiss the case on jurisdictional grounds. Blair said he was not ruling on the merits of the case.
...
The ruling is a setback for Paxton, who had argued that his work as the top Texas state lawyer was beyond the reach of Texas attorney ethics regulators.
...
Paxton’s lawyers told the Texas court that the bar's allegations were tied to his "performance of his official duties" and that seeking to discipline him "is tantamount to a judicial veto over the exercise of executive discretion."

The state bar countered that Texas attorney conduct rules "apply to any attorney engaged in the practice of law regardless of their position."

[malchior]

Ethics lawsuit!? How about progress on his indictment?

[Isgrimnur]

Texas Tribune

Attorney General Ken Paxton will face lawyers for the men who accused him of securities fraud seven years ago in a one-hour deposition after the November elections.
...
The deposition is part of a lawsuit that is separate but related to the seven-year-old securities fraud indictment in which two men, Byron Cook and Joel Hochberg, accuse Paxton of encouraging them to invest in McKinney-based technology company Servergy Inc., without disclosing he would make a commission from those investments. Cook is a former state legislator who served in the Texas House with Paxton.

A year after Paxton was indicted on three felony charges alleging securities law violations, an associate of his, Charles “Chip” Loper III, sued Cook and Hochberg, accusing them of creating a scheme to profit off the investment funds of Unity Resources, a mineral assets company. Loper said the scheme hurt him and his father financially.

Cook and Hochberg’s lawyers said that lawsuit was retaliatory. Last year, they were able to add Paxton as a “responsible third party” to the case by arguing that he was also an investor and the company’s lawyer. As such, they said, Paxton should be held responsible for any alleged wrongdoing.

In a deposition in the Unity case, Cook and Hochberg’s lawyers can ask Paxton about his other securities fraud case.

[Smoove_B]

Once again I repeat, wtf is happening in OHIO:

The Department of Education in Ohio is investigating the openly antisemitic and racist Nazi homeschooling group with thousands of members being operated by a couple from Upper Sandusky, Ohio, an official at the department told VICE News.

On Sunday, VICE News and the Huffington Post reported that Logan and Katja Lawrence were the operators of the neo-Nazi Dissident Homeschool group which now boasts over 2,500 members on its Telegram channel, based on the research from anti-fascist researchers at the Anonymous Comrades Collective. The group openly advocates white supremacist ideologies with the aim to make sure the children they teach
“become wonderful Nazis.”

The Lawrences share their classroom schedules, homework assignments, and lesson plans with other parents in the group, the vast majority of which are infused with Nazi ideology or open praise for Adolf Hitler.

[Isgrimnur]

[stessier]

This happened in my neck of the woods and is making news.

Parents could be taking legal action after they say their students were kicked out of a Washington D.C. museum for wearing pro-life beanies.

An attorney from the American Center of Law and Justice says 12 Our Lady of the Rosary School students and chaperones were kicked out of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum for wearing pro-life hats.

The students had just attended the March for Life Rally on Jan. 20 when they say a security guard stopped them, calling the museum a "neutral zone," and telling them they'd need to remove their hats or leave.

"They should be allowed to wear the hats that they were wearing and to be able to express themselves," said parent Nora Luz Kriegel. "And I felt it was very wrong that this person harassed them."

The museum said that it wasn't their policy to do that and they are retraining people.

I'm curious, though, if they could actually sue. I'm assuming the aggrieved would be saying their first amendment rites were violated. The Smithsonian operates in a weird quasi-governmental position.

The Smithsonian Institution is a trust instrumentality of the United States, lawfully created by Congress in 1846 to exercise the authority of the United States in carrying out the responsibilities Congress undertook when it accepted the bequest of James Smithson "to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." Congress delegated the authority and responsibilities of the United States to the Smithsonian Board of Regents, initially comprised of fifteen members. The Board of Regents now has seventeen members: the Chief Justice, the Vice President, three members of the Senate, three members of the House of Representatives, and nine citizen members appointed by Joint Resolution of Congress.

The Smithsonian Institution is considered unique in the Federal establishment. The Smithsonian is not an executive branch agency and does not exercise regulatory powers, except over its own buildings and grounds. Thus, courts have held that the Smithsonian is not an agency or authority of the Government as those terms are used in certain laws applicable to executive branch agencies such as the Privacy Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, the Freedom of Information Act, and the Federal Advisory Committee Act. However, the U.S. Attorney General has concluded that the Smithsonian is so "closely connected" to the federal government that it shares the immunity of the United States from state and local regulation. In accordance with this doctrine, local zoning regulations, ABC licensing provisions, sales and use taxes, and real estate taxes are not applicable to the Smithsonian absent a specific federal statute. (There are several instances in which Congress has required federal entities to comply with state and local laws, so questions about the applicability of specific state and local laws to the Smithsonian should be directed to the Office of General Counsel.)

Courts have also held that the Smithsonian enjoys the immunity of the United States from lawsuits, unless such suits are authorized by Congress under specific statutes, such as the Federal Torts Claim Act (torts), the U.S. Copyright Act (copyright infringement), the Tucker Act (contracts), and Title VII the Civil Rights Act (discrimination).

Unlike most federal agencies, the Smithsonian is authorized to accept gifts and to generate revenue outside of the federal appropriations process. The Smithsonian is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt educational organization. Thus, the Smithsonian complies with IRS regulations and practices applicable to tax-exempt organizations, which it implements through policies and practices, including directives on Philanthropic Financial Support and Use of Facilities for Special Events. The Smithsonian files an IRS Form 990, the IRS information return for tax-exempt organizations.

The Smithsonian has two sources of funding - federal appropriations and income generated from gifts, revenue-generating activities, and investments (referred to as Smithsonian "trust funds"). The Smithsonian also has two different categories of employees, "federal" and "trust," as determined by the source of funds used to pay an employee's salary. However, the Smithsonian is one legal entity. The various museums and operating units within the Smithsonian have been created in different ways, some by Congress, some by the Board of Regents, but the museums and units (including Smithsonian Enterprises) have no separate, independent legal status: they are all part of the same legal "whole," the Smithsonian Institution.

I need to see if Popehat would address this on his podcast.

[Unagi]

But if it's not the museum's policy then it wasn't a 'law', and even if it was a museum policy - - I imagine that still falls short of "Congress shall make no law "

[Isgrimnur]

CNN

The Republican-led House of Representatives voted on Thursday to pass a resolution to remove Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar from the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee.

House Republicans have argued Omar should not serve on the committee in light of past statements she has made related to Israel that in some cases been criticized by members of both parties as antisemitic. Democrats have criticized the push to oust Omar, arguing it amounts to an act of political revenge and that the Minnesota Democrat has been held accountable for her past remarks. The party-line vote was 218 to 211. GOP Rep. David Joyce of Ohio voted “present.”

[LawBeefaroni]

Direct TV decided not to continue paying for NewsMax's product. RNC calls free markets "censorship."

[Isgrimnur]

Direct TV decided not to continue paying for NewsMax's product. RNC calls free markets "censorship."

Of course they do. DirecTV should pay Newsmin for the privilege of carrying their product!

[malchior]

Washington Post

President Biden and former president Donald Trump may have each drawn a record number of votes in 2020, but at this early stage in the 2024 election cycle, Americans show little enthusiasm for a rematch between the two well-known yet unpopular leaders, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Neither Biden nor Trump generates broad excitement within their own party, and most Americans overall say they would feel dissatisfied or angry if either wins the general election.

Biden, who has said he intends to seek reelection, has no current opposition for the Democratic nomination. Trump is likely to face at least several challengers in his bid to lead his party for a third consecutive election.

Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, the Post-ABC poll finds 58 percent say they would prefer someone other than Biden as their nominee in 2024 — almost double the 31 percent who support Biden. That is statistically unchanged since last September.

[Carpet_pissr]

Ok, it’s time for whoever previously stated categorically that Biden would be the nom in ‘24 to re-affirm your position.

When we started discussing that topic years ago, there were some very hardcore lines drawn that it was silly to even consider that Biden would not run.

[malchior]

I still think he runs and it'll put the system at serious risk that another bad actor will take the White House. But that is what the future likely holds - a series of slightly above average to average choices in one party versus bad to terrible choices in the other. With near even odds of one or the other winning.

[El Guapo]

Ok, it’s time for whoever previously stated categorically that Biden would be the nom in ‘24 to re-affirm your position.

When we started discussing that topic years ago, there were some very hardcore lines drawn that it was silly to even consider that Biden would not run.

I would still say that it's 95%+ likely that Biden is the nominee, assuming no dramatic health developments (e.g., a major stroke or something). Especially since Newsom has said that he won't challenge Biden, since Newsom was one of the more plausible challengers. What I recall being "silly" about the prior discussions was that it seemed like a lot of people were treating it as self-evident that Biden wouldn't run for reelecltion, including a lot of people who seem to think that Biden has said or indicated that he wouldn't run for reelction, which he hasn't.

FWIW there are nominees that I would pick over Biden, though I'm leery of trading in incumbency advantages for an intra-party fight whose outcome would be unclear.

[YellowKing]

I think someone other than Biden running vastly increases the chance of the GOP winning. Incumbency is extremely powerful, and assuming Biden is health enough to run again, I think it'd be foolish to throw that advantage away.

Would I like to see fresh blood other than a doddering 80+ year old? Absolutely. But I want *every* advantage in keeping DeSantis or Trump out of the presidency.

I know conventional wisdom states that Biden is unpopular, but the mid-terms proved otherwise.

[Isgrimnur]

It'll be DeSantis 2028.

[malchior]

I think someone other than Biden running vastly increases the chance of the GOP winning. Incumbency is extremely powerful, and assuming Biden is health enough to run again, I think it'd be foolish to throw that advantage away.

The rub here is that incumbency is especially powerful when they are popular but it can cut the other way when they are not. Especially now when nothing is certain it's not cut and dry if incumbency will be a benefit or is a risk.

I know conventional wisdom states that Biden is unpopular, but the mid-terms proved otherwise.

I don't think the midterm results proved that his unpopularity is false. We still see that in the results of poll after poll. Mid-term exit polls weren't favorable for Biden either. We could as easily give mid-term credit to Obama who went out far and wide on the campaign trail and is generally more popular. To be clear, I'm not arguing that for real. I think that there is too much complexity to lay this down to any individual's popularity or even policy positions. A lot is going on right now that makes handicapping any of this with precision especially challenging.

[Carpet_pissr]

“assuming Biden is health enough to run again”
Can’t we consider mental acuity and cognition to be a health issue? I definitely do.

My stance IIRC in our previous discussion was that he might run again, but shouldn’t.

[Carpet_pissr]

I know conventional wisdom states that Biden is unpopular, but the mid-terms proved otherwise.

I don’t have the data to support this, but anecdotally from reading articles, the fact that the mid-terms were not a D bloodbath was not bc people were enamored with Biden, but that they were pissed about Roe and other issues.

[malchior]

I know conventional wisdom states that Biden is unpopular, but the mid-terms proved otherwise.

I don’t have the data to support this, but anecdotally from reading articles, the fact that the mid-terms were not a D bloodbath was not bc people were enamored with Biden, but that they were pissed about Roe and other issues.

I'm digging them up but my recollection is that the aggregate mid-term exit polling showed something like 60-65% didn't want Biden to run again. So I guess you could argue the situation has gotten slightly better since the mid-terms. There are some (relatively persuasive) arguments that exit polling is going to be iffy due to the heavy mail-in component. But in the end it is still not something I'd call a win for him.

[Holman]

"The voice came from an oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror which formed part of the surface of the right-hand wall. . . The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely."

[LordMortis]

I know conventional wisdom states that Biden is unpopular, but the mid-terms proved otherwise.

I don’t have the data to support this, but anecdotally from reading articles, the fact that the mid-terms were not a D bloodbath was not bc people were enamored with Biden, but that they were pissed about Roe and other issues.

That was the case here. Roe + election denying but mostly Roe. We put protections in place on the ballot and the best the GOP could come up with "the protections are too confusing. Vote GOP across the board to stop the madness." I was honestly worried. Nationally, they talk about Whitmer's popularity here but she is not popular. I don't like her but I'm so thankful she was re-elected and honestly more importantly were Nessel (AG) and Benson (SoS), who have both done great jobs but take bad hits for being associated with Whitmer. Youth vote for the win!

[El Guapo]

The internet suggests that Biden is getting generally good reviews for his SoTU performance, FWIW. I'm sure it's different in Fox News land, of course, but otherwise.

[Isgrimnur]

[El Guapo]

Honestly that's about as positive as a Fox News article about the speech could be.

[malchior]

The internet suggests that Biden is getting generally good reviews for his SoTU performance, FWIW. I'm sure it's different in Fox News land, of course, but otherwise.

It was truly good. Once he correctly assessed the mood in there, he was able to successfully bait those morons into truly outrageous conduct. I don't know if it helps in the end but he is at least showing the American people their craziness. If we "choose" to embrace it well you can't say he didn't tell us what the stakes were.

[Smoove_B]

I know everyone is focused on the State of the Union, but I had to share a semi-local story because after 26+ years in the public sector, I've never seen anything like it:

East Hanover Mayor Joseph Pannullo and all four members of the township council will switch from Democratic to Republican, marking a complete party flip in the township of 11,105 people, the New Jersey Globe has confirmed.

...

“Municipal leaders have a responsibility to best represent their constituents, and it is our belief this change of party is in the best interest of the community,” said Pannullo. “As the nastiness, rhetoric, and social media vitriol of national politics continues to infiltrate local governance, we collectively determined this was the best course of action to keep the focus on local issues impacting our community – combating the overburdening and unrealistic fair-share housing mandates, keeping taxes stable, enhancing our parks and investing in public safety needs to be our local priorities. Every decision my administration makes is about putting East Hanover first; this is no different.”

[malchior]

I just quickly looked and the election is this year. This is something driven by self-interest and my guess is something shifted hard in their local demographics. I suspect the pandemic has a lot to do with this shift.

[stimpy]

It was truly good. Once he correctly assessed the mood in there, he was able to successfully bait those morons into truly outrageous conduct.

Yeah....the part where the Speaker ripped up the speech was insane!!!!

[GreenGoo]

Both sides are equally bad. Obviously.

The time to address Pelosi's actions have come and gone. Stop living in the past, man.

[stimpy]

Both sides are equally bad. Obviously.

The time to address Pelosi's actions have come and gone. Stop living in the past, man.

LOL!!!!

[LordMortis]

The internet suggests that Biden is getting generally good reviews for his SoTU performance, FWIW. I'm sure it's different in Fox News land, of course, but otherwise.

Joe Kernan was attacking it with so much stupidity on CNBC, trying to get everyone else to bash it and getting visibly angry when they wouldn't. It was so bad I had to turn off the TV this morning, bringing me back to "Why haven't I cut the cord yet?"

[stessier]

This seems like something someone thought of and then immediately put into a bill without any other critical thought.

Lawmakers propose letting Massachusetts prisoners donate organs for reduced sentences

[stimpy]

This seems like something someone thought of and then immediately put into a bill without any other critical thought.

Lawmakers propose letting Massachusetts prisoners donate organs for reduced sentences

Lets start with all the prisoners on Death Row.
You sign up, we'll get you done quicker.

[Skinypupy]

Donald Trump being called a "pussy ass bitch" is now forever enshrined in the Congressional record.

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1623374276786065418

This hearing is going great for Republicans.

[Daehawk]

Little hands!!!!Little hands!!!!!!! Sippy water!!!!! Sippy water!!!!!!!

[LawBeefaroni]

This seems like something someone thought of and then immediately put into a bill without any other critical thought.

Lawmakers propose letting Massachusetts prisoners donate organs for reduced sentences

We just had a state rep, who is also the mayor of Calumet City, introduce legislation that would require all gas stations and grocery stores/markets to have armed guards. But only in cities with population over 2M, which means only in Chicago.

State Rep. Thaddeus Jones introduced a bill requiring city pawn shops, grocery stores, and others to employ armed guards while open.

Jones, a Democrat who also serves as the mayor of suburban Calumet City, recently introduced House Bill 1231, which is also called the Armed Security Protection Act, which would force Chicago businesses to have full-time armed guards on duty on a round-the-clock basis

[stimpy]

Only the best and brightest.....
This government is a joke.

[LawBeefaroni]

It won't become law but not sure if that makes it any better. Intentionally wasting everyone's time is equally counterproductive.

[El Guapo]

Donald Trump being called a "pussy ass bitch" is now forever enshrined in the Congressional record.

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1623374276786065418

This hearing is going great for Republicans.

Is there any dispute that "pussy ass bitch" contains three or fewer insults? I think you could understand it as either one or three, but no more than three, right?