Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills): It's really not the House's job to interfere with ongoing legal cases

Thursday, August 24, 2023

It's really not the House's job to interfere with ongoing legal cases

Okay. I've lived long enough to know that sometimes no Congressional action is better than Congressional action. I say that because of a story in the news. Jordain Carney (POLITICO) reports:

House Republicans are replaying a familiar script: playing political defense in former President Donald Trump’s legal battles.

The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday launched an investigation into Georgia’s Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, hours before Trump is expected to turn himself in following his indictment on racketeering charges related to his push to overturn the 2020 presidential election in that state.

Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), in a letter to Willis, said that the “indictment and prosecution implicate substantial federal interests, and the circumstances surrounding your actions raise serious concerns about whether they are politically motivated.” A spokesperson for Willis didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.

Jordan is asking Willis to hand over details on any federal funds the office receives by Sept. 7, as well as communications with the Justice Department — including Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading a federal probe into Trump’s challenges to the 2020 election that’s left the former president facing four separate criminal counts.

Okay, we have serious problems in the country to address. Congress sticking its nose into every Trump case is not one of them. Jim Jordan's a joke. And he was as soon as we learned he was involved in that grooming scandal -- yeah, that's a groomer, the coach he worked under (and looked the other way for allegedly) -- with college athletes. But do we all get that the House Republicans have already tried an 'investigation' (effort to intimidate) with regards to Trump's New York indictment and one with regards to the indictment Jack Smith delivered in Florida?

I'm sorry but I'm sick of it. The House needs to stop interfering in ongoing investigations. If they have something that needs investigating they can do so after a verdict is delivered. This is intimidation and it is shameful.

Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Thursday, August 24, 2023. The GOP goes wild on the debate stage while Robert F. Kennedy Jr. remains silent after one of his supporters murders a woman.

And he says, "What do you love to do?Outside your worldWho spends time with you?From whom do you learn when you're not working, sweet girl?

"Where would you go if you had the time?"Crossing some crazy state line somewhere?To whom do you cryWhen people are unkind, sweet girl?"

But I chose to dance across the stages of the worldEveryone said I'd never learnAnd I still hear your wordsI waited all my life for you, sweet girl

-- "Sweet Girl," written by Stevie Nicks, first appears on Fleetwood Mac's THE DANCE

Watching the GOP presidential contenders debate last night, I kept thinking of Stevie's song. "Sweet Girl." Who was the sweetest? To me the sweetest girl was Ronald DeSantis.

A pledge had been signed, a moderator noted, by all on stage to support the eventual GOP presidential nominee yet Donald Trump was supposed to be turning himself in to be booked at a jail today (he also wasn't on the debate stage and, though the moderators failed to note it, had refused to sign the pledge they were invoking) so would they support Donald if -- convicted felon or not -- he was the eventual nominee? Ronnie looked right, Ronnie looked left. When four out of eight hands went up, Ron Ron put his paw up. Such a sweet girl. Eventually seven of the eight put their hands up in the air, to prove that when it comes to democracy, they just don't care.

But then it turned out Chris Christie didn't understand the process. He was raising his hand for something else. Maybe he thought the question was: Does anyone want to split an order of fries?

He raised his hand -- during this vote -- because he wanted to speak. And he did.

So that dropped it down to six: Ronald DeSanits, conspiracy freak Vivek Ramaswamy, forgettable Mike Pence (was he on stage?, he makes no impression at all), former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Senator Sen. Tim Scott and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.

Christie stated, "Here is the bottom line. Someone’s got to stop normalizing this conduct. Whether or not you believe the criminal charges are right or wrong, the conduct is beneath the office of president of the United States."

Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson understood the voting process and didn't raise his hand in error. When he spoke he stated the issue was important and that Donald was "morally disqualified from being president again" -- and not just morally but potentially legally as a result of his interpretation of the 14th Amendment.

He's referring to section three of the Fourteenth Amendment:

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

Scholars are split on whether or not this would apply to Donald Trump.

So we can argue that presently. (I would argue that the 14th Amendment does apply.)

But what we do know is that DeSantis isn't much of a leader and will only make a decision when half the people in any group have already stated their own opinion.

Sweet girl. He chose to dance across the stages of the world.

Tim Scott didn't invoke the Constitution -- I'm not sure he understands it or much of anything that's not a lie spat out by FOX "NEWS." Naming California, among other states, he whined that "we cannot let states have abortion on demand up until the day of birth. That is immoral. It is unethical. It is wrong."

What you're saying is 100% wrong because it's a damn lie. There is no state in this country, even when ROE was law of the land that was performing abortions at the nine month mark. Find me the state, pop-eyed man, that did it because, outside of the junk fed brains of FOX "NEWS" viewers, it just doesn't exist.

I really want to meet that mythical woman who exists only in the minds of idiotic morons -- that woman who is sitting at the dinner table thinking, "Do I give birth tomorrow or do I abort? I know I've had forty weeks to make a decision but I wanted to put off deciding until the night before."

She doesn't exist. She never has.

Again, Tim Scott didn't invoke the Constitution. He did invoke . . . something. The Declaration of Independence. But I've never heard "declaration" pronounced that way before. Tim Scott proving you don't have to come from another country or have parents from another country to need ESL. DECCA-UH-LUH-RAY-SHUN. I think that's how he said it.

He then repeatedly gripped his bosom while dramatically insisting, "We can't leave it to Illinois. We can't leave it to Minnesota. We can't leave it to Illinois. We must --" Huh? Since he'd said Illinois once already, I fear he discovered something -- maybe a lump in his breast -- when he was palming himself. Hopefully, he'll have it checked out. Remember, early detection is key and self breast exams are important. Even apparently when onstage during a debate.

Nikki jumped into the fray to ask about Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

Well I guess that's one way to waste your time on stage. And she already wastes all her time on the campaign trail so why not waste her time on stage as well.

There's a reason she's got a national name but no traction at all in the race.

That should become even clearer as we note Daniel Villarreal (LGBTQ NATION):

At the first Republican presidential debate tonight, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum said the claim that “every teacher is somehow indoctrinating people is just false” when responding to a question about transgender girls playing on girls’ sports teams.

In the debate’s second half, the Fox News debate moderator Martha MacCallum said, “[Former South Carolina] governor [Nikki] Haley has said that biological boys playing in girls sports is the women’s issue of our time. You said that, even though you signed a ban on this in North Dakota, there hadn’t been one instance where it was actually needed. Are you saying that you think that too much is made of this issue?”

No, Nikki, it's not a woman's issue. Women don't play girls sports. It's a girls issue. It could be a parents issue, if you wanted to argue that. But girls aren't women. An if you don't understand that basic fact, I don't know why you think you can lecture the world on 'biological' or what have you. Simple truth, women do not play girls' sports. They may play women's sports but not girls' sports. Girls' sports is not and cannot be a woman's issue.

I guess when you're so eager to attack women's reproductive rights, you'll desperately try to pass anything else off as a woman's issue so you don't appear as hollow and callous as you really are.

Such as when she was yelling at the conspiracy nut onstage.

GLAAD put out the following ahead of the debate:

The first GOP presidential primary debate will be held Wednesday night, August 23, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Frontrunner Donald Trump has said he’ll be skipping the debate, but eight other candidates are expected to participate, including North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former Vice President Mike Pence, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.

LGBTQ rights, freedoms, and lives are under attack across the country, in legislatures, and in the world, as are allies of the LGBTQ community, so these candidates have a responsibility to tell the American people how they will protect LGBTQ Americans.

Some 7% of Americans are lesbian, gay, or bisexual, according to Gallup, including 20% of GenZ, the youngest population cohort studied and most out generation in history. Polling and turnout analysis from the 2020 election indicate that LGBTQ voters played a deciding role in the victory of Joe Biden for President and in key battleground states, including in Wisconsin, flipping the state Donald Trump had won in 2016.

The results of the 2024 general election will have profound implications for LGBTQ people in Wisconsin and across the country. The Fox News primary debate will provide an important opportunity to discuss what’s at stake and the LGBTQ records of the candidates. Media covering the debate should note the candidates’ LGBTQ records.

Below are partial records on LGBTQ issues from the candidates appearing on tomorrow night’s debate stage. For more complete records, visit the GLAAD Accountability Project.

Ron DeSantis

Signed the “don’t say gay” law which prohibits public schools from having “classroom discussion” or giving “classroom instruction” about sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten through third grade.
Requested and was granted a ban on classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in all grades, expanding the “Don’t Say Gay” law.
Signed into law HB 1521 that would make it difficult or impossible for transgender Floridians to access appropriate restrooms, domestic violence shelters, correctional institutions, or other spaces that match their gender
Signed into law bans on transgender healthcare for youth which also enacts obstacles for adults to access treatment
Signed into law bans trans students from being able to use their correct pronouns, an anti-trans sports ban
Signed a drag restriction law
Issued a survey to Florida’s 12 universities and 28 state and community colleges asking which of these institutions provide services to transgender students.
Falsely compared puberty blockers to “chemical castration”
Backed the Florida Department of Education’s advice to schools to disregard proposed federal guidelines that protect transgender youth
Directed state agencies to issue guidance to begin to strip Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care, despite the fact that it is supported by every major medical association
Targeted small business owner hosting drag brunch
Condemned the Walt Disney Company following Disney chief executive Bob Chapek’s acknowledgement of error in staying silent on Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” legislation and subsequent public opposition to the legislation which DeSantis signed into law.
Signed a restrictive transgender youth sports ban into law, banning transgender girls and women in public secondary schools and colleges in Florida from participating on girls’ and women’s sports teams.
Vetoed all funding for LGBTQ programs from the $101 billion state budget, including funds for mental health programming to support survivors of the Pulse Massacre, funs to house homeless LGBTQ children, and funds for Orlando’s LGBTQ Community Center
Signed an anti-discrimination order for state employees that excludes protections for LGBTQ people

Vivek Ramaswamy

Says Target “spit in the face of conservatives” in an anti-transgender attack on the retailer for selling swimwear designed to accommodate a variety of body types
Said he would sign into law a ban on health care for transgender minors if it reaches his desk in the White House. Every major medical association in the U.S. supports such care for trans youth
Expressed harmful and baseless indoctrination rhetoric calling acceptance of transgender people a “cult” and claiming that LGBTQ people are interfering with “our kids.” “In the name of rights, what they’ve actually done is created a new culture of oppression in the opposite direction, imposing that on kids,” he said. There is zero basis for his claims, and he offered no backup.
Presidential campaign website features a section called TRUTHS including a list. #2 reads, “There are two genders.”
Has signaled support for a 6-week abortion ban
Opposes the study of critical race theory

Mike Pence

Extensive anti-LGBTQ record can be found at Mike Pence’s GLAAD Accountability Project record. Select statements and actions are below:

Said he would again prohibit transgender Americans from serving in the military, as was the policy when he was vice president under Donald Trump, and falsely cited “unit cohesion” as an area of military readiness affected by transgender personnel. Unit cohesion suffered because of the anti-trans ban.
Falsely characterized essential health care for transgender youth in CNN Town Hall as having “profound negative effects”; and refused to explain how his support of parents’ rights did not include supporting parents of transgender people and their private health care decisions.
Tweeted the false claim that the charity group Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence is a “hateful group,” and criticized the L.A. Dodgers for including them in Pride Night.
Neither President Trump nor VP Pence recognized the third anniversary of the horrific shooting at Orlando’s Pulse Nightclub, which killed 49 LGBTQ people.
As governor of Indiana, Pence earned national notoriety for signing a so-called “religious freedom” bill that religious conservatives in his state (many of whom Pence invited to attend the private bill signing) championed for the purposes of allowing business owners the right to refuse service to LGBTQ customers. After outcry and boycotts, Pence was forced to sign an amended version that made it clear the law cannot be used to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Supported anti-LGBTQ Federal Marriage Amendment with claims that being gay is a “chosen lifestyle,” and a warning that “societal collapse was always brought about following an advent of the deterioration of marriage and family.”
Claimed repealing the military’s discriminatory “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy would turn the Armed Forces into a “backdrop for social experimentation.” Sought to end “don’t ask, don’t tell” and restore a full ban on openly gay soldiers.
Claimed federal hate crimes legislation was really designed “to advance a radical social agenda.”
Stated that LGBTQ-inclusive hate crime legislation would “silence” groups that promote so-called conversion therapy.
Behind closed doors advocated for the removal of healthcare benefits for transgender service members within the U.S. military.
In a closed-door and unannounced opportunity, President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence posed for a photograph with notorious anti-LGBTQ activists who wish to promote so-called “religious exemptions” that would harm LGBTQ Americans across the nation.

Nikki Haley

Falsely claimed that transgender girls playing sports contribute to teenage suicide ideation. The claim is baseless. The Advocate reports, “It wasn’t the first time Haley made the unsupported claim that teen girls are being negatively affected by transgender teen girls’ participation in sports. She made the same assertion in New Hampshire” one month prior.
Misgendered and disparaged transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney
Said President Joe Biden’s support of transgender rights will destroy women’s sports
Opposed marriage equality as both South Carolina state representative and governor.
Rejected matching funds for a program offering HIV medication to lower-income patients.
Signed a voter ID law, which critics contend is racist and/or meant to suppress the Democratic vote.

Tim Scott

The “Issues” section on his campaign site reads, “The radical Left wants to indoctrinate our children, not educate them. Tim Scott will fight to ensure that America’s kids are learning how to read and write, not about gender transition and sexual identity before it’s appropriate.”
Introduced a bill in the Senate that has many similarities to Florida’s “don’t say gay” law
Voted against the Respect for Marriage Act
Considers homosexuality a morally wrong choice, like adultery.
Supported the “don’t ask, don’t tell” ban on LGB people in the military
Supported The First Amendment Defense Act, which would’ve prevented “the federal government from taking adverse action against individuals or institutions based on their definition of marriage or beliefs about premarital sex.”
Voted against the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, which would have granted basic job protections to LGBTQ people

Chris Christie

**Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Foter.com / CC BY-SA**

Vice Chair of the Trump Transition Team
In 2017 “signed two bills instituting broad new protections for transgender New Jersey residents: one directing schools to let students use bathrooms and locker rooms based on their gender identity or provide ‘reasonable alternative arrangements,’ and another prohibiting health insurers from discriminating against transgender residents.”
In 2015 vetoed “a bill that would have eased access to accurate birth certificates for transgender people.”
Abandoned his long fight against same-sex marriage in 2013, “concluding that signals from the court and the march of history were against him.”
Signed a bill barring licensed therapists from trying to turn gay teenagers straight, making New Jersey the second state to ban so-called “conversion therapy,” after California.
Vetoed legislation in 2012 that would have brought marriage equality to New Jersey.
Vetoed legislation that would have more easily allowed transgender citizens to change their birth markers, calling the idea “beyond the pale.” New Jersey legalized allowing changes to birth certificates without a court order, doctor letter or other medical evidence in 2019, after Christie left office.

Doug Burgum

Signed a bill into law that allows public school teachers and state government employees to ignore the pronouns their transgender students and colleagues use.
Signed two transgender athlete bans into law, prohibiting transgender girls and women from joining female sports teams in K–12 and college. Two years ago Burgum vetoed a nearly identical bill that would have banned transgender girls from playing on girls’ teams in public schools.
Signed a bill into law that restricts transgender health care in the state, immediately making it a crime to give gender-affirming care to people younger than 18.
Signed a total of eight discriminatory bills into law in 2023 including those above; restrictions on drag performances; a “religious refusal” bill permitting discrimination; and bills adding additional rules for gender markers on birth certificates that discriminates against transgender people.
Defied his party in a rebuke against an anti-LGBTQ resolution that was passed by hundreds of Republican legislators in the North Dakota legislature. Burgum said the resolution, which states that “LGBT practices are unhealthy and dangerous, sometimes endangering or shortening life and sometimes infecting society at large,” is homophobic and divisive.

Asa Hutchinson

Signed Senate Bill 354, an anti-transgender bill that bans transgender women and girls from participating in sports
Said the state legislature has gone a “step way too far,” when it voted to override his veto on a bill banning treatments for transgender minors
Signed into law legislation allowing doctors to refuse to treat LGBTQ patients based on religious or moral objections
Signed into law a revised religious freedom bill that could allow discrimination against LGBT people
Refused to veto and allowed to become law a discriminatory bill that prevents cities and counties from enacting civil rights protections of LGBTQ people

For more complete records, visit the GLAAD Accountability Project at GLAAD.org/GAP.

Let's move on to a different topic, we can revisit tomorrow if we have to.

Travis Ikeguchi killed Lauri. Bevan Hurley (INDEPENDENT) notes:

In social media posts, Travis Ikeguchi claimed to be a Christian, posted anti-semitic statements, followed and boosted rightwing personalities Jordan Peterson and Matt Walsh, and expressed support for anti-vaxx presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr.

Travis Ikeguchi had a burning Pride flag pinned to the top of his account on X, and retweeted a post comparing Nazi children with swastika flags to schoolchildren with Pride flags.

Robert F. Kennedy Junior wants desperately to be the Democratic Party's presidential nomination and no humiliation is apparently too great. Well, if you missed it, he lost a supporter last week. 27-year-old Travis Ikequchi will no longer be able to support Junior in the primary due to the fact that he is dead.

Ikequchi was a hateful troll who murdered Lauri Carleton. He hated people who were LGBTQ+ and Lauri, who was straight, displayed Pride flags which was just too much for the tiny dicked loser so he killed her. Then he was killed by the police. He will not be present to vote for Junior.

That may be why Junior again went on FOX "NEWS" recently as he tries to gather more right-wing nut jobs to support him.

Let's put a pin in Junior's media because we'll come back to that topic.

But for right now let's turn to Junior. You know Junior has so little to stand on that he's constantly invoking his father and his uncle and noting they were both shot dead. He wants your sympathy -- and you're sympathy vote -- but, please understand, he's not going to do anything to reduce access to guns to anyone. Kind of a contradiction. He also ridiculously insisted in July that he needed Secret Service protection. From people squirting water guns at him? He needs protection, he believes, from people with guns.

Since Junior can't stop talking about people in his family who have been shot he needs to find time to talk about his followers after one of them shot dead a woman.

Lauri is gone. She leaves behind a great ache in the hearts of those who knew and loved her such as her husband, their nine kids and her friends.

What is it, Junior, that attracts those people to you?

You won't address LGBTQ+ issues. You hang around with Moms For Bigotry that might be one reason. You refuse to speak out against the repeated violence against LGBTQ+ people and against women -- yet, again, you can't get through an interview without invoking your father and your uncle. Does violence only matter when it's a Kennedy?

Are there no victims of violence not named Kennedy?

Or Shriver?

You want to be president some day -- a goal that seems very unlikely. Yet you can't stand up and say, "What happened was wrong. We need to stop persecuting the allies of LGBTQ+ people and we need to stop persecuting LGBTQ+ people." That's too much for you.

You can support Roger Waters and praise him. Until a week or so later when you don't praise him and you don't support him. You can waffle on every issue in the world, in fact. You have actively courted the right-wing media.

And let's go back to you and the media. You insist you'll never, ever run as a Republican because your wife wouldn't allow it. You say that, as you damage Cheryl's own reputation and image daily. And then you go on another right-wing media show.

THE VANGUARD thinks you'll run as a Republican. I would say, "Never!" because who would want to be seen as that much of a liar and a hypocrite but, as I reflect back on your very brief campaign thus far, clearly being called out for lies and hypocrisy doesn't really bother you.

But who do you think you're reaching on FOX NEWS or any of the right wing YOUTUBE programs?

Right now, you're supposedly running for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. Do you really think you're reaching a significant number of Democrats by doing these programs? If not, it would appear that either you are considering running as a Republican or your hungry ego can never be fed.

Either way, it doesn't look good for you.

You've created a very repugnant image in the last three or so months and it has attracted crackpots and hate merchants. And you know to keep those crazies that you can't take any real stands.

One of your loons murdered a woman. It's time for you to have a public dialogue and make clear to everyone -- including other crazies supporting you -- that you do not condone murder, that you do not condone hatred of the LGBTQ+ community.

Now I know that would be a big lift for you -- someone who's spent most of his life letting everyone else lift for him. But, guess what, being president requires a lot of big lifts and if you can't even call out your supporter who murdered a woman, then how are we supposed to see you as strong enough -- let alone brave enough -- to be President of the United States?

Truth is, you're losing support and not all due to crazy supporters committing murder and then being killed by the police. Your unfavorability ratings continue to increase -- in one recent poll, you've dropped 21% in favorability.

Li Zhou (VOX) reports:

Laura Ann Carleton, 66, a California business owner, was shot and killed last weekend after a gunman tore down an LBGTQ Pride flag hanging outside her store and shouted homophobic slurs. Since then, law enforcement has revealed that the gunman — who was killed in an encounter with police — also posted numerous anti-LGBTQ posts on social media accounts they believe are affiliated with him.

These statements included a post that described LGBTQ inclusion as a “cancer” and one that contained a photo of a burning Pride flag. Although police have not tied the killing to any specific posts featuring politicians, the attack also comes as Republicans have ramped up their anti-LGBTQ commentary and legislation, including measures like Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which prohibits the discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in schools, and legislation in at least 22 states targeting gender-affirming care for trans youth.

In May, the Department of Homeland Security issued a report noting that the threat of violence toward LGBTQ people was intensifying as more policies were being directed at members of the community. Now, the California shooting has only highlighted concerns about violence toward members of the LBGTQ community in the wake of conservatives’ heightened rhetorical and legal attacks on queer people and trans people.

“Threats against the LGBTQ+ community and our allies have evolved from violent rhetoric on social media and from anti-equality political leaders to, now, real-world violence — and let’s be honest, no city, state or person is immune from this brutality,” Kelley Robinson, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, a group that advocates for LGBTQ rights, told Vox in a statement.

Carleton did not identify as LGBTQ herself, but she was a supporter, according to a local LGBTQ organization in her town of Lake Arrowhead, California. In addition to hanging a Pride flag, she included a section of rainbow-colored merchandise in her Cedar Glen store. Her children have called for police to investigate the shooting as a “hate crime,” though law enforcement has not yet indicated how it will proceed.

Seems like that could be a sketch in a book entitled PROFILES OF COURAGE. So maybe Junior could find the courage to speak to the topic?

The following sites updated: