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LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN
April 13, 2023
HEATHER COX RICHARDSON
“Today the Justice Department arrested Jack Douglas Teixeira in connection with an investigation into alleged unauthorized removal, retention, and transmission of classified national defense information.”
In a press conference, Attorney General Merrick Garland made the announcement that the FBI had arrested Teixeira, a 21-year-old employee of the United States Air Force National Guard. Teixeira allegedly is the source of more than 100 classified U.S. documents that surfaced on social media gaming channels and then spread across the internet over the past several months.
Friends who spoke anonymously to reporters say Teixeira showed them the documents to impress them. They described him as a Christian libertarian who is worried about the direction the country is going. Materials from Teixeira online also reveal racist and antisemitic behavior.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) immediately took to Twitter to defend Teixeira. He is “white, male, christian [sic], and antiwar. That makes him an enemy to the Biden regime,” she wrote. She went on to attack U.S. support for Ukraine.
But there is likely more here than her usual attacks on the Biden administration and support for Russia. Removing, retaining, and transmitting classified national defense information sounds an awful lot like what it appears former president Trump did (recent reports suggest that federal investigators seem to be building a case that he showed at least one document to people, although removing and retaining documents are crimes by themselves). Now a young man has been arrested for that behavior, unceremoniously arrested by armed FBI agents with an armored vehicle as a news helicopter caught the arrest on film.
It makes sense that Trump supporters who are concerned about the former president’s similar behavior will do their best to downplay Teixeira’s case. As the media begins to talk about just how serious espionage is and makes people aware of its legal perils, they will want to disparage the charges against Teixeira in case the former president ends up with the same problem.
And speaking of problems, it turns out that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas neglected to disclose not only the “hospitality” he enjoyed at the hands of Republican megadonor Harlan Crow, but also a real estate deal. Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan, and Alex Mierjeski of ProPublica—which broke the initial story about Thomas’s involvement with Crow—revealed today that Crow paid Thomas more than $100,000 for a house in which his mother was living and for two vacant lots.
The reporters note that, by law, justices are required to disclose real estate sales of more than $1,000. Thomas did not report the sale, thus obscuring the flow of money—not just hospitality—to him from Crow. Further, Crow then made significant improvements to the home, where Thomas’s 94-year-old mother still lives, and bought and tore down the house next door.
Calls for at least an investigation of Thomas are growing louder. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), who is a leader of the effort to clean up the courts, said: “It would be best for the Chief Justice to commence a proper investigation, but after a week of silence from the Court and the latest disturbing reporting, I’m urging the Judicial Conference to step in and refer Justice Thomas to the Attorney General for investigation” for possibly breaking government ethics laws.
The Judicial Conference meets twice a year to examine policy and administration of the federal court system and to recommend new laws to make it function better. It is made up primarily of leading circuit judges and led by the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, in this case John Roberts.
The speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives, which recently expelled two young Black lawmakers who have since been returned to office, is also in trouble. Judd Legum of Popular Information first chased down that speaker Cameron Sexton is living in Nashville rather than the district he represents.
With more digging, Legum has turned up that Sexton apparently bought a $600,000 home in Nashville and hid that purchase, keeping his name off the documents and keeping his wife’s signature obscure. He has argued that he could legally continue to represent Crossville, his alleged place of residence, because so long as he has a “definite intention of returning,” Tennessee law okays lawmakers living elsewhere. But the purchase of a $600,000 home in Nashville seems like a pretty permanent abandonment of Crossville.
Legum also notes that Sexton has been drawing $313 a day to commute back to his district while he is not, in fact, commuting back to his district. Since 2021, he has claimed $92,071 in expenses, likely enough to cover his mortgage.
The Republican lawmakers in Tennessee may come to regret the attention they’ve drawn to themselves and their habits of governance.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis is also in trouble, although his trouble is political.
Today the Republican-dominated Florida legislature passed a bill that would ban abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, which is before many people even know they’re pregnant. The measure is popular with the Republican base, whose support DeSantis will need for a presidential bid, should he decide to make one. But abortion restrictions are hugely unpopular across the country, giving Democrats a big leg up in every election that has come since the Supreme Court last summer overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion.
DeSantis signed into law a bill banning abortion after 15 weeks last April, before the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision that overturned Roe. In that case, he held a midday press conference and made a speech. But Dobbs has created a powerful backlash. This time around, for this even stricter measure, DeSantis signed the bill late tonight and released a picture of the signing after 11:00 p.m., when few people would see it. He appears to be trying to appeal to the base while also keeping his actions quiet enough to slide them under the radar screens of non-MAGA voters.
DeSantis’s secret signing stands in marked contrast to the scene in Michigan, where Governor Gretchen Whitmer today signed into law two new gun safety measures, one requiring guns to be locked away rather than left loose in a home with a minor child, and one requiring background checks for gun show and private purchases. A mass shooting at Michigan State University two months ago killed three students and badly wounded five others.
Whitmer signed the bills during the day, before a crowd at Michigan State University’s Spartan Stadium. Although Republicans oppose the new laws and have already sued to stop them from going into effect as scheduled next year, Whitmer said, “All of these initiatives are supported by a majority of Michiganders…. I’ve gotten letters from all across our state asking for us to get this done.”
—
LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN
HEATHER COX RICHARDSON
#Letters From An American#Heather Cox Richardson#Rule of Law#reproductive rights#Human Rights#DeSantis#Whitmer#corrupt SCOTUS
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Michigan State University Shooting Leaves 2 Dead; 3 Injured
On Monday, February 13, just after 8 p.m., a shooter opened fire on the Michigan State University campus, killing three and wounding five. The shooter showed no remorse.
Anthony McRae, 43, was the sole perpetrator of this shooting. With two legally purchased but unregistered guns and additional ammo and magazines, the shooter traversed the campus, shooting with no explicit motive behind his…
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LGBTQ+ organizations and allies are celebrating Michigan for becoming the first state in three years to pass comprehensive anti-discrimination protections for sexual orientation and gender identity. The legislation, which now heads to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) to be signed into law, finally passed after decades of court battles and hold-ups from Republican legislators.
The bill passed in a 64-45 vote in the Democrat-led House on Wednesday. It amends the state’s 1976 Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (ELCRA) to include LGBTQ+ people among its protected groups. The law forbids discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodation within businesses, government buildings, and educational facilities on the basis of religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, familial status, marital status — and now, LGBTQ+ identity.
Democrats had tried introducing various LGBTQ+ non-discrimination measures over the last 40 years, according to the bill’s gay sponsor Sen. Jeremy Moss (D). However, the attempts were repeatedly voted down by Republican-led legislatures. Last January, Democrats took control of the full legislature for the first time in nearly 40 years, finally giving them the chance to pass the protections.
In July 2022, Michigan’s Supreme Court issued a landmark 5–2 ruling that ELCRA already forbade discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity as forms of discrimination based on sex and gender. This followed a 2020 Michigan Court of Claims ruling that said ELCRA didn’t ban anti-gay discrimination as well as a 2018 vote by Michigan’s Civil Rights Commission interpreting ELCRA as protecting LGBTQ+ people from religious-based discrimination...
When the House voted to pass the historic bill on Wednesday, a crowd in the House gallery broke into applause, Bridge Michigan reported. Republican House members had tried adding amendments that would’ve carved out exceptions for religious people to continue discriminating against LGBTQ+ people. None of these amendments passed into the final bill.
Gov. [Whitmer] has signaled that she will soon sign the bill into law. In a Wednesday tweet, she noted the observation of International Women’s Day and wrote, “I’m celebrating trans women who have continuously led the way, despite constant threats to their lives and liberty. I’m proud that we’re finally in a position to expand the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to protect LGBTQ+ Michiganders. Let’s get it done!”
-via LGBTQ Nation, 3/9/23
Note: If it's not clear from the language, this is basically a done deal--the bill signing IS ABSOLUTELY GOING TO HAPPEN.
As scary as things are right now, there are so many of us fighting to protect ourselves, our communities, and the queer and trans people around us.
This comes only a day after Minnesota's governor signed a landmark executive order that guarantees the right to gender-affirming care and prevents the state from complying with any other states' attempts to interfere. via them.us, 3/9/23
There is hope, and there are so many people fighting for us.
#transgender#trans#trans rights#trans healthcare#top surgery#gender affirming care#trans rights are human rights#michigan#united states#us politics#gretchen whitmer#democrats#voting matters#lgbtq#lgbtq rights#transphobia cw#good news#hope
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Whitmer to appoint first Black woman to Michigan’s top court
https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/michigan/2022/11/22/whitmer-to-appoint-first-black-woman-to-michigans-top-court/
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#black#female#Gretchen appoint#judge#thank you#whitmer#wwwYourKatNipperscom#yourkatnippers#YourKatNipperscom
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To Whom Gretchen Whitmer Married? Governor Of Michigan Husband Details & Everything To Know
To Whom Gretchen Whitmer Married? Governor Of Michigan Husband Details & Everything To Know
To Whom Gretchen Whitmer Married? Governor Of Michigan Husband Details & Everything To Know:- This article is dedicated to the 49th governor of Michigan and her husband. Do you know with whom the 49th Governor of Michigan? Gretchen Whitmer is the 49th Governor of Michigan. She is also a politician from America and a lawyer too. Now she has chaired the rank of governor of Michigan for the last…
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Could the G.O.P. Beat Whitmer in Michigan? Party Chaos Has Hurt Its Chances.
Could the G.O.P. Beat Whitmer in Michigan? Party Chaos Has Hurt Its Chances.
PONTIAC, Michigan — “Dear President,” the letter began.
Donald J. Trump’s estranged former education secretary, Betsy DeVos — was last seen using the 25th Amendment to try to remove him after the Capitol riot — recently penned and begged him to forsake unbanned Republicans in Michigan. She fell into infighting and she sided with the governor chosen by her powerful political family.
“I’ve heard…
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Could the G.O.P. Beat Whitmer in Michigan? Party Chaos Has Hurt Its Chances.
Could the G.O.P. Beat Whitmer in Michigan? Party Chaos Has Hurt Its Chances.
PONTIAC, Mich. — “Dear Mr. President,” the letter began.
Donald J. Trump’s estranged former education secretary, Betsy DeVos — last seen trying to remove him from office using the 25th Amendment after the Capitol riot — took pen in hand the other day to plead with him to look past Michigan’s no-holds-barred Republican infighting and side with her powerful political family’s choice for…
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Suspect who allegedly killed retired judge had hit list that included Mitch McConnell, Gov. Whitmer: Official
Suspect who allegedly killed retired judge had hit list that included Mitch McConnell, Gov. Whitmer: Official
A suspect who allegedly shot and killed a retired Wisconsin judge Friday in a targeted act had a hit list that included U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told ABC News.
Law enforcement responded to a home in New Lisbon, Wisconsin, Friday morning after a 911 caller reported there was an armed…
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#Transgender#politics#gop#twitter#michigan#trabs#lbgtqa#trump#ron desantis#gretchen whitmer#usa#news
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"For the first time in almost 60 years, a state has formally overturned a so-called “right to work” law, clearing the way for workers to organize new union locals, collectively bargain, and make their voices heard at election time.
This week, Michigan finalized the process of eliminating a decade-old “right to work” law, which began with the shift in control of the state legislature from anti-union Republicans to pro-union Democrats following the 2022 election. “This moment has been decades in the making,” declared Michigan AFL-CIO President Ron Bieber. “By standing up and taking their power back, at the ballot box and in the workplace, workers have made it clear Michigan is and always will be the beating heart of the modern American labor movement.”
[Note: The article doesn't actually explain it, so anyway, "right to work" laws are powerful and deceptively named pieces of anti-union legislation. What right to work laws do is ban "union shops," or companies where every worker that benefits from a union is required to pay dues to the union. Right-to-work laws really undermine the leverage and especially the funding of unions, by letting non-union members receive most of the benefits of a union without helping sustain them. Sources: x, x, x, x]
In addition to formally scrapping the anti-labor law on Tuesday [February 13, 2024], Michigan also restored prevailing-wage protections for construction workers, expanded collective bargaining rights for public school employees, and restored organizing rights for graduate student research assistants at the state’s public colleges and universities. But even amid all of these wins for labor, it was the overturning of the “right to work” law that caught the attention of unions nationwide...
Now, the tide has begun to turn—beginning in a state with a rich labor history. And that’s got the attention of union activists and working-class people nationwide...
At a time when the labor movement is showing renewed vigor—and notching a string of high-profile victories, including last year’s successful strike by the United Auto Workers union against the Big Three carmakers, the historic UPS contract victory by the Teamsters, the SAG-AFTRA strike win in a struggle over abuses of AI technology in particular and the future of work in general, and the explosion of grassroots union organizing at workplaces across the country—the overturning of Michigan’s “right to work” law and the implementation of a sweeping pro-union agenda provides tangible evidence of how much has changed in recent years for workers and their unions...
By the mid-2010s, 27 states had “right to work” laws on the books.
But then, as a new generation of workers embraced “Fight for 15” organizing to raise wages, and campaigns to sign up workers at Starbucks and Amazon began to take off, the corporate-sponsored crusade to enact “right to work” measures stalled. New Hampshire’s legislature blocked a proposed “right to work” law in 2017 (and again in 2021), despite the fact that the measure was promoted by Republican Governor Chris Sununu. And in 2018, Missouri voters rejected a “right to work” referendum by a 67-33 margin.
Preventing anti-union legislation from being enacted and implemented is one thing, however. Actually overturning an existing law is something else altogether.
But that’s what happened in Michigan after 2022 voting saw the reelection of Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a labor ally, and—thanks to the overturning of gerrymandered legislative district maps that had favored the GOP—the election of Democratic majorities in the state House and state Senate. For the first time in four decades, the Democrats controlled all the major levers of power in Michigan, and they used them to implement a sweeping pro-labor agenda. That was a significant shift for Michigan, to be sure. But it was also an indication of what could be done in other states across the Great Lakes region, and nationwide.
“Michigan Democrats took full control of the state government for the first time in 40 years. They used that power to repeal the state’s ‘right to work’ law,” explained a delighted former US secretary of labor Robert Reich, who added, “This is why we have to show up for our state and local elections.”"
-via The Nation, February 16, 2024
#michigan#united states#us politics#labor#labor rights#labor unions#capitalism#unions#unionize#gretchen whitmer#democrats#voting matters#right to work#pro union#workers#workers rights#good news#hope
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A collection of random snippets from Roderick Strong's LiveJournal, 2004-2005
So, unlike people like Punk or Joe, he never used his LJ extensively; there are still some fun/interesting posts from 20 to 21-year-old Roddy, though. Screenshots under the cut (with alt text and occasional commentary):
[the way he types always makes me laugh. So many exclamation points...]
[More exclamation points. Also, didn't know he worked CZW.]
[first time he worked IWA...wild.]
[first PWG match! Also him going out with Steen, Generico, and his "best buddy" Shelley, LMAO]
[Jamie Gibson becoming ROH champ, Punk leaving the indies, Roddy debuting the trunks, and them going to The Weiners Circle, which is thankfully not NSFW to read about.]
[Watching the Joe/Kobashi match backstage must've been wild. Also aww his mentor match!]
#roderick strong#roh#ring of honor#pwg#iwa ms#and in order of mention:#sonjay dutt#nick gage#chris hero#bj whitmer#arik cannon#petey williams#ricky reyes#kevin steen#el generico#alex shelley#matt sydal#cm punk#james gibson#samoa joe#kenta kobashi
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