Wednesday, June 26, 2024
Tuesday, June 25, 2024
Support For Same-Sex Marriage Remains High In U.S.
The charts above are from the Gallup Poll -- done between May 1st and 23rd of a nationwide sample of 1,024 adults, with a 4 point margin of error.
Abortion Is Still A Powerful Force In This Election
These charts are from the CBS News / YouGov Poll -- done between June 17th and 21st of a nationwide sample of 2,460 adults, with a 2.8 point margin of error.
Monday, June 24, 2024
Courts Have Already Made It Clear That Trump Is Unfit
The media seems bent on determining whether voters will change their minds about trump if he is convicted of the crimes in three remaining locations - federal crimes in Florida and Washington, D.C. and state crimes in Georgia. I say we should already know the answer - it will not really make a difference.
I say that because courts have already, numerous times, determined that Trump has committed an assortment of crimes. If that hasn't already convinced voters that Trump should not be elected, why would a couple more convictions make a difference.
Consider what courts have already determined that Trump has done:
RACISM: In the 1970's, Trump was determined to be in violation of laws preventing discrimination in housing. He was refusing to rent any of his apartments to Blacks. The Department of Justice filed suit against him. A settlement was reached where Trump agreed to stop the illegal discrimination, and was court-ordered to run ads in the Black community.
FRAUD: One of the best examples of this was "Trump University". It was supposed to educate students on how to make money in real estate, but it turned out to be just a front for taking their money. A court ordered it be shut down and student money refunded.
THEFT: Trump, and his sons, created a charity that was supposed to help the needy. But the charity turned out to be just another way to enrich himself. Trump used the charity's funds to buy things for himself (including for a portrait of himself). A court ordered the charity to be dissolved and for Trump to disseminate the funds to several real charities.
DEFAMATION: Trump lied and slandered E. Jean Carroll. He was found guilty (twice) and ordered to pay her millions of dollars.
SEXUAL ABUSE: In the defamation trial, it was judged that Trump was actually guilty of sexual abuse (rape) of Ms. Carroll.
ELECTION INTERFERENCE: In the most recent case, Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts of trying to interfere with an election by paying a porn star to remain silent about their sexual liaison.
If Trump committed the remaining crimes of which he is accused, he should be tried and convicted. But that should not make anyone change their mind. There is already plenty of evidence that Trump is guilty of continuing criminal activity. There is already enough to show that he is unfit to serve in the presidency - or any other government position!
Sunday, June 23, 2024
Louisiana GOP Violates The Constitution With New Mandate
From Dan Rather:
Just when you think the audacity meter has reached its zenith, along comes the Republican-dominated Louisiana state legislature. This week it passed — and the state’s far-right governor signed — a law requiring all public classrooms to display the Ten Commandments.
Governor Jeff Landry argued that the Commandments are not simply religious treatise but “foundational documents of our state and national government,” perhaps trying to circumvent the inevitable hue and cry from just about everyone.
I’ll get to the hue and cry in a moment. First, if one wants to talk about foundational documents of our government, I think the Constitution is a better place to start. The First Amendment guarantees the separation of church and state. Full stop. Requiring the displaying of the Ten Commandments violates the constitutional principle of religious neutrality.
Honoring Supreme Court precedent is another foundational tenet of our democracy. Yes, this has happened before. In 1980’s Stone v. Graham, the Supreme Court struck down a Kentucky law that also required the display of the Ten Commandments in schools. The court found that the law violated the First Amendment’s establishment clause. In its opinion, the court wrote that the Ten Commandments are “undeniably a sacred text in the Jewish and Christian faiths” and displaying them “serves no ... educational function.”
One could argue that Louisiana should be more concerned with the quality of the education in those classrooms than what is on their walls. The state ranks near the bottom nationally for education and 50th for overall quality of life. Perhaps instead of this political stunt, Louisiana lawmakers should think about raising teacher pay, among the lowest in the nation. Or maybe try to keep kids in school? The state ranks 48th in graduation rate.
Putting an 11-by-14-inch poster “in a large easy to read font” in every classroom from kindergarten through graduate school will cost money. Don’t worry — it will be paid for by private donations. But who will pay for the inevitable and orchestrated legal fight to come? Louisiana taxpayers.
After eight years of a Democratic governor, the Republican- controlled state legislature is making up for what it sees as lost time. It recently turned down federal aid for summer food assistance, claiming it wants Louisiana families to be self-sufficient. Those same families suffer from a higher rate of food insecurity than most of the country. And Louisiana is the first state to advance a measure designating abortion pills as dangerous controlled substances.
Now to the hue and cry. It was loud and it was immediate, coming from, among others, the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Southern Poverty Law Center, which jointly stated that the law “violates students’ and families’ fundamental right to religious freedom.”
So why would Louisiana bother with what seems to be a cut-and-dried case of unconstitutionality?
“I can’t wait to be sued,” Governor Landry said at a Republican fundraiser in Nashville, according to The Tennessean. Good thing, because the ACLU has already filed suit.
All this is part of a larger national plan by a minority of Christians to inject expressions of their faith into everyday life, whether we like it or not. With a highly politicized and far-right majority on the Supreme Court at the ready, these groups believe they will get a friendlier reception from the court and could ultimately be successful.
They have reason to be hopeful. In 2022, the court sided with a high school football coach who argued he had the right to pray on the 50-yard line after games. The increasingly porous boundary between church and state seems to be eroding faster than a snowball in July. Even so, legal experts think this one is a real stretch.
Charles C. Haynes, an expert in religious liberty and civil discourse, told The New York Times that he believes the state is “overreaching,” adding that “even this court will have a hard time justifying” what Louisiana lawmakers came up with.
But perhaps most interesting is how do parents and lawmakers square the behavior of their revered MAGA leader with the Ten Commandments?
Democratic strategist David Axelrod on X had this recommendation: “Here’s a suggested quiz for the schoolchildren of Louisiana: ‘Look at the poster on the wall of the Ten Commandments and write down the total number Donald Trump has broken.’”
We could quibble about the total number, but let no one be mistaken: This new Louisiana law is a dangerous development for our country. Donald Trump champions a national movement to eliminate the separation between church and state.
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