Governmental Dysfunction

[Tigers!]

Worried over their mental health, Democrats in House soliciting professional psychiatric for all GOP members who indicated they have interest in becoming House Speaker.

Yet you need a Speaker for the (proper?) functioning of the House (of ill-repute)

 

[Swammerdami]

The GOP’s 'Red Caesar' new political order plan marches forward

“Thirty years ago,” Damon Linker told The Guardian, “if I told you that a bunch of billionaires and intellectuals on the right are waiting in the wings to impose a dictatorship on the United States, you would have said that I was insane.”Now, however, the senior lecturer at Penn State...

www.alternet.org

...
Wisconsinites elected a Democratic Chief Justice for their Supreme Court, Janet Protasiewicz, and Republicans are trying to impeach her before she’s heard a single case because they believe (probably correctly) that she will vote to declare their gerrymander map — which overwhelmingly favors Republicans all out of proportion to their strength in the state — unconstitutional.

North Carolina is so gerrymandered that the majority of the state’s residents vote for Democrats (which is why the governor is a Democrat) but, just like Wisconsin, Republicans hold a solid majority in the House, Senate, and their federal Congressional delegation. So, I guess it shouldn’t surprise us that a committee co-chaired by Republican Senate Leader Phil Berger and Republican House Speaker Tim Moore just gave itself gestapo-like powers.

The Republican-controlled Joint Legislative Committee on Government Operations — or, as Judd Legume notes at Popular.info, Gov Ops for short — now has the power to break into the home or office of anybody in the state who has worked for or with state government and go through their files and even personal phones and computers.

As Legum writes at his brilliant Popular.info Substack newsletter:

“The rule applies to contractors, subcontractors, and any other non-state entity ‘receiving, directly and indirectly, public funds,’ including charities and state universities.
“Moreover, Gov Ops staff will be authorized to enter ‘any building or facility’ owned or leased by a state or non-state entity without a judicial warrant. This includes the private residences of subcontractors and contractors who run businesses out of their homes, lawmakers say.
“Alarmingly, public employees under investigation will be required to keep all communication and requests ‘confidential.’ They cannot alert their supervisor of the investigation nor consult with legal counsel. Violating this rule ‘shall be grounds for disciplinary action, including dismissal,’ the law reads.
“Those who refuse to cooperate face jail time and fines of up to $1,000. In the event that Gov Ops searches a person’s home, these rules mean that the person 1) must keep the entry a secret, 2) cannot seek outside help (unless necessary for fulfilling the request, the law says), and 3) could face criminal charges if Gov Ops deems them uncooperative.”

Meanwhile, down in Florida, Ron DeSantis has created two new armed organizations answerable to himself: a new “state guard” militia and a police agency that is supposed to provide for “election integrity” (GOP code for preventing Black people in Blue cities from voting).

As former Republican Governor (now a Democrat) Charlie Christ said of DeSantis’ new armed officers:

“No governor should have his own handpicked secret police.”

Across the country, Republicans are threatening and intimidating teachers and librarians into stripping from their collections any books that positively portray Black or queer people.

Armed fascist militias supportive of those efforts show up at school board and other meetings with assault rifles strapped across their backs to heckle and threaten elected officials.

Dozens of white supremacist militia groups nationwide — modern versions of the old Ku Klux Klan — openly embrace Republican politicians while parading with Nazi and Confederate flags.

Donald Trump, the American fascist movement’s current standard-bearer, has said that if he again gains the White House he will immediately lock up and then prosecute high-profile Democrats and the judges and prosecutors who have tried to hold him to account for his decades of criminal activity.

When last in office he tried to stop and then to overturn an election; should he get re-elected it will almost certainly be the last free and fair election in the nation.

Trump uses racial slurs — calling the Black prosecutors who have gone after him “Riggers” and “racists” — to crank his white supremacist base into stochastic terror violence.

He has also said that — like Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orbán — he will investigate for “treason” and then presumably shut down network television news outlets that don’t echo his talking points and unquestioningly broadcast his lies.

Not a single Republican of national stature has stood up to condemn any of this rhetoric. ...

The future of American democracy — and freedom around the world — is at stake.

 

[EricH]

The GOP’s 'Red Caesar' new political order plan marches forward

“Thirty years ago,” Damon Linker told The Guardian, “if I told you that a bunch of billionaires and intellectuals on the right are waiting in the wings to impose a dictatorship on the United States, you would have said that I was insane.”Now, however, the senior lecturer at Penn State...

www.alternet.org

.

The Republican-controlled Joint Legislative Committee on Government Operations — or, as Judd Legume notes at Popular.info, Gov Ops for short — now has the power to break into the home or office of anybody in the state who has worked for or with state government and go through their files and even personal phones and computers.

As Legum writes at his brilliant Popular.info Substack newsletter:

“The rule applies to contractors, subcontractors, and any other non-state entity ‘receiving, directly and indirectly, public funds,’ including charities and state universities.
“Moreover, Gov Ops staff will be authorized to enter ‘any building or facility’ owned or leased by a state or non-state entity without a judicial warrant. This includes the private residences of subcontractors and contractors who run businesses out of their homes, lawmakers say.
“Alarmingly, public employees under investigation will be required to keep all communication and requests ‘confidential.’ They cannot alert their supervisor of the investigation nor consult with legal counsel. Violating this rule ‘shall be grounds for disciplinary action, including dismissal,’ the law reads.
“Those who refuse to cooperate face jail time and fines of up to $1,000. In the event that Gov Ops searches a person’s home, these rules mean that the person 1) must keep the entry a secret, 2) cannot seek outside help (unless necessary for fulfilling the request, the law says), and 3) could face criminal charges if Gov Ops deems them uncooperative.”

I suspect this is more show than substance. Something like this would never survive a challenge in federal court as it appears to violate multiple protections provided in the constitution.

 

[Elixir]

Something like this would never survive a challenge in federal court as it appears to violate multiple protections provided in the constitution.

Uh… don’t look now.
Protections supposedly provided by the Constitution are only “provided” with the assent of those in power. Which used to be assumed because hey - Constitution. But under Trump, especially if he gets a second term, violating such provisions merely means seeking the assent of the corrupt SCOTUS.

Not a single Republican of national stature has stood up to condemn any of this rhetoric. ...

They love their phony baloney jobs more than they love their Country, obviously. The ones that are not beholden to the Trump base are beholden to other monied interests, none of which are inclined to oppose dictatorship.

 

[Gospel]

Before jumping to conclusions about Elixer's focus on Trump, let's emphasize: THIS ISN'T ABOUT TRUMP. Anyone aligning with the far-right's agenda is merely a pawn in their larger game. So, when you see the name 'Trump' mentioned, visualize it as a wrench being wielded by extreme right-wing forces.

 

[Elixir]

Before jumping to conclusions about Elixer's focus on Trump, let's emphasize: THIS ISN'T ABOUT TRUMP. Anyone aligning with the far-right's agenda is merely a pawn in their larger game. So, when you see the name 'Trump' mentioned, visualize it as a wrench being wielded by extreme right-wing forces.

I only “mostly” agree. I.e. right now getting rid of Trump would delay, if not prevent, the billionaires backing the new fascist America vision from realizing their ambitions. It would probably just be kicking the can down the road, as our institutions have been badly undermined. But it might be the best we can do.