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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 7 months

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M.Wuerker

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Meanwhile, Joe Biden continues to deliver!

October 5, 2023

ROBERT B. HUBBELL

As the House spirals into chaos, President Joe Biden announced the cancellation of $9 billion of student debt for public service workers. Per the NYTimes (accessible to all),

President Biden canceled an additional $9 billion in student debt on Wednesday as repayments started up again this month after a three-year pause. The move affects 125,000 people who qualify under existing programs, including for public-service workers such as teachers and firefighters and for people on permanent disability, according to a White House statement. “This kind of relief is life changing for individuals and their families,” Mr. Biden said on Wednesday.

The $9 billion in forgiveness for public service workers is a small portion of Biden’s plan to forgive $400 billion in student debt for about 43 million Americans, a plan that was invalidated by the Supreme Court under the so-called “Major Questions Doctrine.” That doctrine is a judicially invented artifice that allows the Supreme Court to invalidate any congressional legislation it objects to on policy grounds.

Of course, Congress could overrule the Supreme Court’s opinion blocking the forgiveness of student debt—but that would require Democrats to gain a majority in the House, retain control of the Senate, and re-elect President Biden. Each of those outcomes is achievable. If we can achieve those goals in 2024, Democrats can also pass national legislation to protect reproductive liberty, regulate the sale of firearms, protect voting rights, ensure the equality of LGBTQ people, and expand the Supreme Court.

Biden’s act of forgiving student loan debt for 125,000 Americans provides a glimpse of the promise of 2024 if Democrats regain control of Congress and re-elect Joe Biden. I know we are all working at full speed and do not need additional motivation. But it is helpful to recall how much better things can be if we are successful.

The race to replace Kevin McCarthy.

Let’s get this out of the way: No, Donald Trump won’t be the next Speaker of the House, despite suggestions to that effect from Marjorie Taylor Greene. The one thing Republicans love more than Trump is holding onto their jobs. They know that electing Trump as Speaker would ensure the loss of control of the House and the defeat of Trump as a presidential candidate. Republicans will figure out that fact after they have milked their fifteen minutes of fame for nominating Trump as Speaker.

Trump doesn’t want to be Speaker, which is a real job that requires hard work in exchange for the enmity of the Republican caucus. And if Republicans lose their collective minds and elect Trump as Speaker, he will trigger government shutdowns, legislative gridlock, and physical altercations on the House floor (among Republicans). He would quit in weeks, forcing Republicans to go through a humiliating third election for Speaker in a year.

Trump had plenty of opportunity to step up to the Speaker’s job when McCarthy went through fifteen rounds of votes. He didn’t then, and he isn’t going to do so now.

Finally, Trump is ineligible to be Speaker under rules passed by the Republican caucus. See MSNBC, Why Trump, despite the chatter, won’t become House speaker. Per MSNBC,

House Republican Conference rules for the 118th Congress clearly states, “A member of the Republican Leadership shall step aside if indicted for a felony for which a sentence of two or more years imprisonment may be imposed.”

Could Republicans amend their own rule? Sure! But they won’t.

I could be proven wrong, but I don’t think I will be. Why? I believe House Republicans will put their self-interest in re-election over their faux fealty to Trump. As we saw yesterday, it takes only five Republicans to break from the party to stop the GOP caucus in its tracks.

Okay, with that elephant in the courtroom out of the way, let’s talk about the two announced candidates. But before we do, I want to answer a question a reader posed: Did Democrats make a mistake by not backing McCarthy? Will we end up with someone worse?

No. Democrats did not make a mistake. McCarthy said in his farewell pity party that he did not want to work with Democrats. He said,

he would not have wanted to be speaker at the cost of relying on Democrats to provide votes or making concessions to win their votes. “No. I’m a Republican. I win by Republicans, and I lose by Republicans.”

If Democrats had begun voting for McCarthy on the motion to vacate, other Republicans would have started voting against him or he would have resigned before the vote concluded. McCarthy wouldn’t allow Democrats to choose the Speaker of the House while Republicans hold the majority.

This brings us to Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise, both miserable candidates for the job of Speaker. Are they worse than McCarthy? That’s a high bar—or is it a low bar? (You get the point.) Both are unfit for the office, but the GOP caucus is apparently not ready to acknowledge that it cannot govern unless it nominates a candidate capable of building a coalition.

See Slate op-ed by Norman L. Eisen, Siven Watt, and Fred Wertheimer, Jim Jordan shows he's unfit to lead the Judiciary Committee.

See The Guardian, House speaker contender Steve Scalise reportedly called himself ‘David Duke without the baggage.”

But here is the most disqualifying fact about Jordan and Scalise: Both objected to the count of the electoral ballots on January 6 after the assault on the Capitol! See Vox, 147 Republican lawmakers still objected to the election results after the Capitol attack. For the record, Kevin McCarthy also objected to the electoral count after the attack on the Capitol. That fact should be a red flag for every Republican thinking of supporting Jordan or Scalise.

Trump continues to attack prosecutors and judges.

On the third day of his trial in New York state court for fraudulent business practices, Trump continued his attack on Attorney General Letitia James and Judge Engoron. He posted on his vanity social media platform:

The Trial in NYC brought by the Racist A.G., Letitia James . . . should be dismissed in that [DELETED] and the Judge fraudulently reduced the value of Mar-a-Lago, and other assets, in order to make their FAKE case more viable. This is yet another Witch Hunt for purposes of Election Interference. Letitia is a Dirty Cop . . . .

(Note that I deleted a racist term used by Trump to refer to Attorney General Letitia James.)

Trump accuses Judge Engoron of “fraudulently” reducing the value of Trump's assets, and says that A.G. James was a “Dirty Cop.” I cannot understand why such language has not resulted in severe sanctions against Trump.

Dennis Aftergut reviews Judge Engoron’s existing gag order against Trump in The Messenger, Trump’s Consequences for Crossing the Line: A Gag Order That Opens the Door for More. Aftergut explains that Engoron’s order opens the door for Judge Chutkan to issue more expansive relief:

Trump is facing an October 16 hearing on a motion by special counsel Jack Smith for a gag order in D.C.; that's where Trump's federal indictment for criminally conspiring to overturn the 2020 election is set to be tried in March. While what just happened in the New York case is very different from the situation in the federal case, Trump just handed D.C. federal district court Judge Tanya Chutkan a first-ever precedent for limiting Trump's speech. No judge wants to act in the absence of a prior ruling in the same direction, particularly as to a gag order motion that presents highly sensitive First Amendment issues. [¶] It’s a safe bet that as the D.C. trial date approaches, Trump will continue, even escalate, his vile attacks on the administration of justice. [¶] A stalwart federal judge like Tanya Chutkan will not be intimidated; indeed, her judicial spine likely will only be stiffened by [such] threats . . . .

Trump is pushing the envelope, whether he intends to or not. I noted a few weeks ago that Trump seems to be losing control of his emotions and thoughts in a way that suggests a mental breakdown or a progressive cognitive decline. Or he could be seeking a confrontation, betting that no judge would jail him. While jailing Trump would be traumatic for the nation, it will be far worse to do so after violence occurs.

A story by Lucian Truscott in his Substack blog lends great weight to the notion that Trump is looking for confrontation. You will recall that Trump visited a gun store in South Carolina and made a show of buying a gun. When the media noted that it was illegal for him to buy a gun while on pretrial release for 91 felony counts, his spokesperson claimed that Trump did not actually complete the purchase transaction.

But as Lucian Truscott explains, the real story is that Trump selected the gun store in South Carolina as a signal to white supremacists that he stands with them. See Lucian Truscott, The mainstream media completely missed the story when reporting on Trump's visit to the South Carolina gun store.

Truscott writes:

Candidate Trump’s stop at a gun store in South Carolina on Monday wasn’t just an offhand visit: His eight SUV convoy doesn’t do anything without advance planning days or even weeks ahead of any event Trump attends or location he visits. He made a decision to stop at Palmetto State Armory in Summerville, South Carolina, because he knew that that specific gun store was where the racist shooter in Jacksonville, Florida bought the guns he used to kill three Black people at a Dollar General store in late August. On the receiver of one gun, the [Jacksonville] killer had painted a swastika right next to the engraved name of the store where he bought it, Palmetto State Armory. It’s just one month after the killings occurred. Memories are strong, and emotions in the Black community are still raw.

As Truscott notes, the choice of the Palmetto State Armory store was no accident. The store is well-known “among gun people for its connections to the racist Boogaloo Boys,” whose members were involved in the kidnap attempt of Michigan Governor Whitmer and were present at the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville (about which Trump said there were “good people on both sides.”).

There is more detail in Truscott’s deeply researched article. Check it out.

Here’s the point: The evidence suggests that Trump is intentional in his provocations. He knows exactly what buttons he is pushing. Federal and state judges should assume so when evaluating whether Trump should be jailed pending his criminal trials.

#Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter #Speaker of the House #House Republicans #student loan debt #TFG #gag order #Robert B. Hubbell #Lucian Truscott #M.Wuerker

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x-ceirios-x · 2 months

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City of Glass, Chapter 15: Things Fall Apart

please see the masterlist for notes about this series/collection of works

Luke had spent most of the night watching the moon’s progress across the translucent roof of the Hall of Accords, like a silver coin rolling across the clear surface of a glass table. When the moon was close to full, as it was right now, he felt a corresponding sharpening in his vision and sense of smell, even when he was in human form. Now, for instance, he could smell the sweat of doubt in the room, and the underlying sharp tang of fear. He could sense the restless worry of his pack of wolves out in Brocelind Forest as they paced the darkness beneath the trees and waited for news from him.

“Lucian.” Amatis’s voice in his ear was low but piercing. “Lucian!”

Snapped out of his reverie, Luke fought to focus his exhausted eyes on the scene in front of him. It was a ragged little group, those who had agreed to stay to listen to his plan. Fewer than he had hoped for. Many he knew from his old life in Idris—the Penhallows, the Lightwoods, the Ravenscars—and just as many as he’d just met, like the Monteverdes, who ran the Lisbon Institute and spoke in a mixture of Portuguese and English, or Nasreen Chardhury, the stern-featured head of the Mumbai Institute. Her dark green sari was patterned in such elaborate runes of such a bright silver that Luke instinctively flinched when she passed too close.

Across from him, next to Maryse, was Aric Ashfair—he wouldn’t have called him a friend by any means, but he’d known of him in his time at the Academy. Word had it that he was in Malachi’s back pocket, which made him curious as to why he stayed. He’d heard things—he showed up to Institutes and people ended up on trial, usually for breaking the Accords. He was a ruthless investigator, not to mention fighter, and right-hand of the Consul and Inquisitor. Back in the day, he had a good group of friends, from what he saw—his girlfriend and eventual wife, Mollie Penhallow, Patrick’s older sister, Jeremy Lovelace, and Céline Montclaire. The last he heard, they’d cut ties with Céline because of her ties to the Circle. Sixteen years later, he met his child in New York without a sign of any of the three. He didn’t know what happened in the interim.

“Really, Lucian,” said Maryse. Her small, white face was pinched by exhaustion and grief. Luke hadn’t really expected either her or her husband to come, but they had agreed almost as soon as he’d mentioned it to them. He supposed he ought to be grateful they were here at all, even if grief did tend to make Maryse more sharp-tempered than usual. “You’re the one who wanted us all here; the least you could do is pay attention.”

“He has been.” Amatis sat with her legs drawn under her like a young girl, but her expression was firm. “It’s not Lucian’s fault that we’ve been going around in circles for the past hour.”

“And we’ll keep going around and around until we figure out a solution,” said Patrick Penhallow, an edge to his voice.

“With all due respect, Patrick,” said Nasreen in her clipped accent, “there may be no solution to this problem. The best we can hope for is a plan.”

“A plan that doesn’t involve either mass slavery, or—“ started Jia, Patrick’s wife, and then she broke off, biting her lip. She was a pretty, slender woman who looked very much like her daughter, Aline. Luke remembered when Patrick had run off to the Beijing Institute and married her. It had been something of a scandal, as he’d been supposed to marry a girl his parents had already picked out for him in Idris. But Patrick never liked to do what he was told, a quality for which Luke was now grateful.

“Or allying ourselves with Downworlders?” said Luke. “I’m afraid there’s no way around that.”

“That’s not the problem and you know it,” said Maryse. “It’s the whole business about seats on the Council. The Clave will never agree to it. You know that. Four whole seats—”

“Not four,” Luke said. “One peach for the Fair Folk, the Moon’s Children, and the children of Lilith.”

“The warlocks, the fey, and the lycanthropes,” said soft-spoken Senhor Monteverde, his eyebrows arched. “And what of the vampires?”

“They haven’t promised me anything,” Luke admitted. “And I havent promised them anything in return. They may not be eager to join the Council; they’re none too fond of my kind, and none too fond of meetings and rules. But the door is open to them should they change their mind.”

“Malachi and his lot will never agree to it, and we may not have enough Council votes without them,” muttered Patrick.

Aric Ashfair spoke for the first time in nearly an hour. He wasn’t truly sure if he’d spoken since he agreed to stay for the meeting. “I will take care of Malachi. He has to be reasonable.”

“Oh yes, the Consul’s dog is going to beg for a treat,” Senhor Monteverde said, a bitter yet smug look on his face.

He pretended as if he didn’t hear it, averting his eyes from Monteverde and looking directly at Luke. He could tell the comment bothered him based on the tenseness in his hands as he folded them in front of him on the table. “I will do my best. If he’s going to listen to anyone, it will be me.”

Luke didn’t understand what Senhor Monteverde said to his wife, though he caught a few key words like Consul, Malachi, and something that sounded like some particularly derogatory insults. Aric, on the other hand, clearly did—he vaguely remembered something about him speaking Spanish, which probably gave him enough to piece together his comments. “Cláudio, you’re just angry that you couldn’t pay me off to save your son from trial on the Sword because he was killing Downworlders for kicks,” he said, a clipped anger behind his surprisingly calm tone.

The room went silent. Monteverde held Aric’s challenging stare, only to break first. Aric didn’t look impressed or smug like he thought, he simply moved on. “Lucian. Without the vampires, how do we fight Valentine? What chance do we really have?”

“A very good one,” snapped Amatis, who seemed to believe in Luke’s plan more than he did. “There are many Downworlders who will fight with us, and they are powerful indeed. The warlocks alone—”

With a shake of her head Senhora Monteverde turned to her husband. “This plan is mad. It will never work. Downworlders cannot be trusted.”

“It worked during the Uprising,” said Luke.

The woman’s lips curled back. “Only because Valentine was fighting with fools for an army,” she said. “Not demons. And how are we to know his old Circle members will not go back the moment he calls them to his side?”

“Be careful what you say, Senhora,” rumbled Robert Lightwood. It was the first time he’d spoken in a while, too; he’d spent most of the evening motionless, immobilized by sorrow. There were lines in his face Luke could have sword hadn’t been there three days ago. His torment was plain in his tatu shoulders and clenched fists; Luke could hardly blame him. He had never much liked Robert, but there was something about the sight of such a big man made helpless by grief that was painful to witness. “If you think I would join with Valentine after Max’s death—he had my boy murdered—”

“Robert,” Maryse murmured. She put her arm on his shoulder.

“The reason you don’t trust Downworlders is you refuse to believe they are also part human, not just the demons you vilify them as,” Aric said. Luke didn’t miss the look he gave him—an apology for saying the quiet part out loud, he assumed, not that he believed it. From what he knew about Aric, he’d always been a friend of Downworlders, at least in their Academy years. That might have changed once he became more involved with the Clave, but that was no fault of his. Even though he was once one, Luke was careful around the Shadowhunter government. “There are good people in this world and there are bad ones. There are Downworlders I would trust with my children over some Shadowhunters.”

Monteverde sneered. “You mean the children you dumped in New York after your wife died?”

For the second time, it was silent. Luke glanced at his sister next to him, whose mouth had fallen open. He felt a pang of sympathy for Aric, though it quickly faded. It looked like Monteverde had lit a fuse on him and he was any second from exploding.

Maryse was the only person to speak, a single word. “Aric,” she said, her voice warning.

Luke was half-ready to break up a fight between the two because of the way Aric was staring him down. Monteverde didn’t back down, though—he stood there, challenging him the same way he had just a moment earlier. If there wasn’t a table between them, he might have had to. Aric slammed his fist on the table, a rage that Luke had never seen in the man flaring up. He started on a trail of curses and insults, said directly to Monteverde rather than muttered in a half-attempt to talk behind his back like he had.

He didn’t get very far, though. Maryse stood too. “Aric!” she said, pushing her chair out as she stood, hands on the table in front of her.

He paused and took a deep breath. “I’m leaving,” he said, deathly calm. He turned towards Luke, to his surprise. “I will do what I can with Malachi. Keep me updated if the vampires change their minds.”

Before anyone had the chance to respond, he stormed out, leaving a cloud of tension and anger at the table. Luke felt bad for him, though Monteverde's comment answered most of the questions he wanted to ask but knew he shouldn’t.

“If we do not join Valentine,” said Senhor Monteverde, “all our children may die.”

“If you think that, why are you here?” Amatis rose to her feet. “I thought we had agreed—“

So did I. Luke’s head ached. It was always like this with them—two steps forward and a step back. They were as bad as warring Downworlders themselves, if only they could see it. Maybe they’d all be better off if they solved their problems with combat, the way the pack did—

A flash of movement at the doors of the Hall caught his eye. It was momentary, and if it had not been so close to the full moon, he might not have seen it, or recognized the figure who passed quickly before the doors. He wondered for a moment if he was imagining things. Sometimes, when he was very tired, he thought he saw Jocelyn–in the flicker of a shadow, in the play of light on the wall.

But it wasn’t Jocelyn. Luke rose to his feet. “I’m taking five minutes for some air. I’ll be back.” He felt them watching him as he made his way to the front doors—all of them, even Amatis. Senhor Monteverde whispered something to his wife in Portuguese; Luke caught “lobo”, the word for “wolf,” in the stream of words. They probably think I’m going outside to run in circles and bark at the moon.

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