March 3, 2023

DeSantis cannonballs into America's deep blue states for war on 'woke' ahead of 2024

Source: Washington Post

DeSantis will travel this weekend to California, where the Republican has already drawn the renewed ire of Gov. Gavin Newsom, a frequent critic taunting him ahead of his visit. “Welcome to the real freedom state,” Newsom, a Democrat, said in a statement to The Washington Post, predicting his GOP counterpart is “going to get smoked by Trump” in the Republican primary. DeSantis aides did not respond to a request for comment.

DeSantis has used his blue state trips to contrast them with Florida — using statistics that sometimes mask far more complicated debates — and present himself as a combatant against the “woke” left. The arguments he has advanced serve as a foundation for the presidential campaign many expect him to launch later this year, though DeSantis has not said publicly if he is running.

As he has sought to sharpen the contrast between Florida and blue states, DeSantis has been eager to highlight his state’s crime rate, to cast his economic policies as a magnet drawing people to Florida, and to highlight his state’s decision to keep children in school during the pandemic as a critical driver for student success. But those comparisons are often more nuanced than he would make them appear...

While Trump remains popular within the GOP base, DeSantis has become a familiar figure in Republican circles in California. DeSantis argues that his refusal to bow to the “oppressive biomedical security state” during the pandemic played a role in encouraging more Americans to move to Florida and he contends that his approach will ultimately produce better outcomes in student achievement than in states such as California, Illinois and New York, where schools were closed longer.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/03/03/desantis-blue-states-california-newsom/

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A Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll of CA Republicans last week -- reported in POLITICO -- put DeSantis ahead of Trump by 17 points. The Koch network is funding DeSantis to win against Trump in the Republican primaries, and California is where DeSantis intends to gain his momentum for future primary wins.

March 3, 2023

As 2024 race begins, special counsel advances with focus on Trump lawyers

Source: Washington Post

The probes are led by special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to insulate the work from political influence. Smith’s pace appears to be quickening as the 2024 presidential election starts to take shape, with Trump once again a candidate and President Biden — Garland’s boss — poised to seek a second term. Trump so far has two declared Republican opponents. Legal experts say that if Smith brings criminal charges against Trump, those charges would likely be pending when the GOP primary debates begin in August.

In recent weeks, the special counsel has issued a flurry of grand jury subpoenas to high-profile witnesses, including former vice president Mike Pence and former chief of staff Mark Meadows. Smith has also imposed strict deadlines for responses in what may be a push to reach internal charging decisions this spring, people familiar with the investigations said. Some of the requests for information, including of Corcoran, have triggered closed-door legal battles that could significantly complicate that time frame.

“Whenever prosecutors become fixated on the defense attorneys, that’s usually a good indication their underlying case is very weak,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. “Every American has the right to consult with counsel and have candid discussions — this promotes adherence to the law. We will fight the Special Counsel on this point and all others that jeopardize fundamental American rights and values.”

A spokesperson for Smith declined to comment.

In the documents case, prosecutors are examining whether Trump or his aides mishandled classified information, flouted a subpoena seeking the return of classified documents or attempted to obstruct government efforts to retrieve those materials. The investigation of events surrounding the 2020 election seems broader, with Smith and his team probing the funding and organizing of fake-elector slates and the events leading up to the riot at the U.S. Capitol. A state-level investigation of 2020 election-related activities in Georgia is also underway, with charging decisions expected this spring or summer.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/03/03/trump-documents-jan6-investigation-lawyers/

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March 3, 2023

The Ethics Free Zone that is the SCOTUS -- Senate MVP, Sheldon Whitehouse

No misconduct accountability, no ethics code, no process for ethics investigation and enforcement -- SCOTUS is the weakest of our three branches of government.

Americans only know when justices' conflict of interests and politics-adjacent misconduct is reported by investigative journalists.

March 3, 2023

MVP Senator Whitehouse: Time To Wake Up To The Looming Costs of Climate Upheaval

Economic collapse of spending and revenues begins with the negative inertia of climate deniers who take scientific and financial projections for unbelievable, dissmissable hyperbole.

Then when climate deniers face that reality, their inertia has already cost the rest of us in terms of inflation, shortages of goods and services due to damaged trade logistics and climate hit economies.

Then that suffering due to collapse gets made worse by media profiteers who exploit the climate deniers with misinformed local/national toxic politics that take the form of blaming presidents for "inflation" -- caused by events they denied, yet had been predicted in the 30-year projections of financial entities -- insurance cos, central bankers, asset managers, investment banks, economists, etc.

More proof (as if we need it) that stupidity is incurable.

More reasons why we must vote them out as if each election is our last election.

March 2, 2023

Lawrence O'Donnell March 1 -- Opinions of Andrew Weissman and Neal Katyal (video still up)

Start 11:58 re the mention of Stephen Dantuono's obstruction and resignation last December

March 2, 2023

MVP of the Senate, Whitehouse, Busts Out Koch's Anti-Woke Fossil Fuel Industry Scheme

Almost complete transcription...

"... what is happening out there and why this has happened.

The Republicans would like us to believe that some bizarre viral epidemic of "wokeism" has spread into America's great financial companies, into the investment advisers, into the banks, into all kinds of fiduciaries, and that that needs to somehow be excised.

That is not what has happened. That is preposterous magical thinking.

What has happened is that the long forecast dangers of climate change that scientists have been telling us about for years have now gotten so real and so immediate that they have hit the due diligence horizon ...When you owe somebody else a fiduciary duty... then you have to tell them the truth ... about risks and the risks associated with climate change, the risks caused by the fossil fuel industry's relentless emissions... now so real and immediate that they can't be denied by big institutions that have no real interest in climate change but are absolutely obliged to tell the truth as fiduciaries.
And so that fiduciary threshold has been crossed.

And the fossil fuel industry, which is used to bullying to get its way is now pushing this completely fake anti-ESG effort in order to try to undo what the free market and what real life and facts and fiduciary obligations are causing other industries to deal with.

One telltale clue here is that when they're done talking about "woke capitalism" and when they're done talking about anti-ESG stuff, when you actually look at what the objection is, what the specific thing is that they're pushing back against -- in the ESG, it's always the E.

It's never the S. It's never the G. It's not social stuff. It's not governance stuff. It's environmental stuff. And within that E for environmental stuff, it's E for emissions. That is always the 'graviman' of the complaint. So that tells you a lot about who's behind this, and who is pitching it tells you a lot about who is behind it because you have fossil fuel organizations like the Attorney Generals' association that is cranking up and turning out Republican attorney generals to push this theory. You've got the Republican state treasurers, often funded by the fossil fuel industry, and a group called the 'State Financial Officers Foundation, which has glommed the state treasurers together to try to push on this. You get state boards like the Texas Railroad Commission, again, heavily, heavily involved with the fossil fuel industry that are pushing all of this.

When you look at what it is, you can see that it's target is always fossil fuel emissions, and you can see that its proponents are always fossil fuel funded. That tells you why we are where we are.

The rule that the fossil fuel industry pushed through during the Trump administration, an administration that essentially did everything the fossil fuel industry wanted it to do, would have restricted the ability of investment professionals to deliver the products that customers actually want and prevent them from looking at environmental risk and social issues or governance. Again, this is really about the environmental piece.

The Biden rule just undoes that. Nobody has to do ESG stuff. That's dictated by customer demand. If you want to, and your customers are demanding that, and if you want to protect them from climate risk, well, there you go, you have to do it.

Another clue about the mischief here is who some of the propagators of this theory have been. One is the Heritage Foundation. The Heritage Foundation is a notorious climate denial group. It has received millions of dollars from the Koch brothers [actually, only Charles Koch himself] political enterprise, from Koch foundations and has plenty of fossil fuel ties. The Texas Public Policy Foundation, another group which is a front group for the oil and gas industry.

I've already mentioned RAGA [Republican Attorneys General Association], which is heavily fossil fuel funded, includes Scott Pruitt, who you may remember from EPA disgrace. They had such control over RAGA that they were able to get him, as the attorney general, to write a letter with the identical text from a fossil fuel company, send it in to the EPA under his own letterhead, under his own signature as attorney general, even though the entire text was written by a fossil fuel company.

So that's the kind of relationship with RAGA, which by the way also helped turn people out for the Jan 6 insurrection -- really, really high quality operation there.

The last group I'll mention is the Marble Freedom Trust. The Marble Freedom Trust is the 501 (c) (4) pop-up operation that magically appeared in Utah to be the recipient of a $1.6 BILLION slush fund gifted to it by a far right billionaire that put it into the hands of a guy named Leonard Leo, who I talked about here on the floor before who is the orchestrator of the scheme capture of the Supreme Court [puchased for $580 Million] and put it into special interest hands...

And the guy who delivered that money into the Marble Freedom Trust was also famous for his support for the Heartland Institute, which is really just an epic climate denial crowd, to the point where one of their more notorious acts was to put up a billboard equating climate scientists to the Unabomber. That is the quality of the debate about climate change that the Heartland Institute brought, and the billionaire who's teed up Marble Freedom Trust was the prime backer of all that, and indeed had his CFO go on the board of Heartland Institute and try to keep the thing afloat so that it could be moderately well managed....

So that's where we're at. These guys are deep into this anti-ESG push.

The dark money operation that I talk about on the floor all the time is behind this ESG thing, just the way it's behind the capture of the court, just the way it's behind the whole climate denial operation that's stymied progress on climate in this building...

So let us vote NO on H.J. Resolution 30. And let's do more than that, let's call this out as a phony op... a scheme run by the fossil fuel industry... that is not something we want to encourage in this country. We have enough of the public not being listened to ... let's put an end to it... "

March 1, 2023

Good morning. I'm a sucker for ish like this

February 27, 2023

How the U.S. Adopted a New Intelligence Playbook to Expose Russia's War Plans

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/23/us/politics/intelligence-russia-us-ukraine-china.html

Two reasons why this is important:

1. We're smarter about using our intelligence power to help not just Ukraine, but to strengthen the power of Western democracies by showing self proclaimed enemies that we read them and we're way ahead of them.

2. This is a badass president and an inspiring administration that brings about smart decisions by the State Dept, military, and intelligence agencies.

February 21, 2023

President Biden's Full Speech To Poland, NATO Allies, and The World February 21 2023

An almost full transcription (apologies for omitted text, it was long... )

"... Thank you for welcoming me back to Poland... It was nearly one year ago ... just weeks after Vladimir Putin unleashed his murderous assault on Ukraine -- the largest land war in Europe since WWII -- had begun. The principles that had been the cornerstone of peace and prosperity and stability on this planet for more than 75 years were at risk of being shattered.

One year ago the world was bracing for the fall of Kyiv. Well, I've just come from visiting Kyiv and I can report Kyiv stands strong.
Kyiv stands proud.
It stands tall.
And most important, it stands free.

When Russia invaded, it wasn't just Ukraine being tested. The whole world faced a test for the ages. Europe was being tested. America was being tested. NATO is being tested. All democracies are being tested.

The questions we faced were as simple as they were profound. Would we respond? Or would we look the other way. Would we be strong or would we be weak. Would all our allies be united or divided.

One year later we know the answer.
We did respond.
We would be strong.
We would be united.
And the world would not look the other way.

We also faced fundamental questions about the commitment to the most basic of principles. Would we stand for the sovereignty of nations. Stand up for the right of the people to live free from naked aggression. Would we stand up for democracy.

One year later we know the answers.
Yes we would stand up for sovereignty and did.
Yes we would stand up for the right of people to live free from aggression, and we did.
And yes, we would stand up for democracy.

Yesterday I had the honor to stand with President Zelenskyy and Ukraine to declare that we are standing for these same things no matter what.

When President Putin ordered his tanks to roll in to Ukraine, he thought we would roll over. He was wrong. Ukraine are too brave. America and a coalition of nations from the Atlantic to the Pacific we were too unified. Democracy was too strong. Instead of an easy victory he perceived and predicted, Putin left with burned out tanks, and Russia's forces in delay and just in disarray. He thought he'd get the Finlandization of NATO. Instead he got the NATOization of Finland and Sweden. He thought NATO would fracture and divide. Instead NATO is more united and unified than ever before. He thought he could weaponize energy, crack ours and Europe's resolve. Instead we're working together to end Europe's dependence on Russia. On Russian fossil fuel.

He thought autocrats like himself were tough and leaders of democracy were soft. And then he met the iron will of America and nations everywhere. They refused to accept the world governed by fear and force. He found himself at war with a nation led by a man whose courage would be forged in fire and steel. President Zelenskyy.

President Putin is confronted with something today he didn't think possible a year ago. The Democracies of the world have grown stronger, not weaker. But the autocrats of the world have grown weaker, not stronger. Because of the moments of great upheaval and uncertainty, that knowing what you stand for is most important.

And knowing who stands with you makes all the difference. People of Poland know know that. In fact you know it better than anyone here in Poland. Because that's what solidarity means. Partition and oppression. When the beautiful city was destroyed after the Warsaw uprising. During decades under the iron fist of communist rule, Poland endured because you stood together. That's how brave leaders of the opposition and the people of Belarus continue to fight for their democracy.

That's how the resolve of Moldavan people. To live in freedom... put them on the path to independence and put them on the path to EU membership. President Sandhu ... I'm proud to stand with you and the freedom loving people of Moldova. ..

One year into this war, Putin no longer doubts the strength of our coalition. But he still doubts our conviction. He doubts our staying power. He doubts our continued support of Ukraine. He doubts whether NATO can remain unified. But there should be no doubt -- our support for Ukraine will not waver. NATO will not be divided and we will not tire.

President Putin's craven lust for land and power will fail. And the Ukrainian people's love for their country will prevail.

Democracy in the world will stand guard over freedom today, tomorrow and forever.

That's what is at stake here. Freedom.
That's the message I carried yestereday directly to the people of Ukraine. When Pres Zelenskyy said he came directly to the United States in December, "This struggle will define the world. And what our children and grandchildren and how they live ... he wasn't always speaking of the children and grandchildren of Ukraine. He was speaking about all of our children and grandchildren, yours and mine.

What Ukraine and Europe saw for decades was that the appetites of the autocrat cannot be appeased. They most be opposed. Autocrats only understand One word: NO. NO. NO. NO.
NO you will not take my country.
NO you will not rake my freedom
NO you will not take my future.

I repeat tonight what I said last year in the same place:
A dictator better not be building an empire will nver be able to because of people's love of liberty.
Brutality will never grind down the will of the free in Ukraine.
Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia. Never.

Free people refuse to live in a world of hopelessness and darkness. This has been an extraordinary year... they have committed depravities, crimes against humanity without shame or compunction. Targeted civilians with death and destruction. Used rape as a weapon of war. Stolen Ukrainian children in an attempt to steal Ukraine's future. Bomb trains stations, maternity hospitals, schools and orphanages. No. No one can turn away from atrocities Russia is committing... it's abhorrent, it's abhorrent...

One year after Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, Ukraine is still independent and free... fighters have reclaimed their land.. the blue and yellow flag of Ukraine proudly waves once again... President Zelenskyy still leads the democratically elected government that represents the will of the Ukrainian people .

The world has already voted multiple times in the United Nations General Assembly to condemn Russians' aggression... in October... 143 nations... condemned Russia's illegal annexation... only four stood with Russia. So tonight I speak to the people of Russia, United States and the people of Europe. Do not seek to control or destroy Russia. The West was not plotting to attack Russia, as Putin said today. I only want to live in peace. Their neighbors are not the enemy.

This war was never a necessity. it is a tragedy. President Putin chose this war. Every day the war continues, it is his choice. He could end the war with the world. It's simple. If Russia stopped the invading of Ukraine, it would end the war. If Ukraine stops defending itself against Russia it would be the end of Ukraine. That's why together we're making sure Ukraine can defend itself... 50 nations get critical weapons and supplies to the brave Ukrainian fighters on the front lines... The world is also coming together to address the global fallout from President Putin's war… global food supplies…

...The United States and our partners stand with Ukraine’s eachers, its hospital staffs, its emergency responders, the workers in cities across Ukraine, or fighting to keep the power on. In the face of Russia’s cruel bombardment we stand.

But the millions of refugees of this war who found a welcome in Europe and the United States, particularly here in Poland, ordinary people all across Europe, did whatever they could to help and continue to do so. Polish businesses, civil society, cultural leaders including the First Lady of Poland who was here tonight have led with the heart and determination, showcasing all that’s good about the human spirit, Madame First Lady, and we love you. Thank you all. .. In that darkest moment of their lives, you the people of Poland offered them safety and light… you literally embraced them…

Meanwhile we’ve made sure that Russia’s paying the price for its abuses. We continue to maintain the largest sanction regime ever imposed on any country in history. And we’re going to continue to announce more sanctions this week together … to hold accountable those who’re responsible for the war. And we’ll seek justice for the war crimes and crimes against humanity continuing to be committed by the Russians...

We have to be honest and clear eyed as we look at the year ahead. The defense of freedom that is ahead… there will continue to be hard and very bitter days…

Let there be no doubt. The commitment of the United States to our NATO alliance and Article 5 is rock. solid. Every member of NATO knows it, and Russia knows it as well. An attack against one is an attack against all. It’s a sacred oath to defend every inch of NATO territory...

The work in front of us is not just about what we’re against. It’s about what we’re for. What kind of world do we want to build. We need to take the strength and capacity of this coalition and apply it to lifting up ... the lives of people everywhere, improving health, growing prosperity, preserving the planet, building peace, dignity and respect. That’s our responsibility. The democracies of the world have to deliver it for our people.

As we gather tonight, the world, in my view, is at an inflection point. The decisions we make over the next five years or so are going to determine the shape of our lives for decades to come. That’s true for Americans, and that’s true for the people of the world.

And while decisions are ours to make now, the principles and the stakes are eternal:
The choice between chaos and stability,
building and destroying,
between hope and fear,
between democracy that lifts up the human spirit, and the brutal hand of the dictator who crushes it.
Betweeen nothing less than limitation and possibilities. The kind of possibilities that come when people who live not in captivity but in freedom.

Freedom, freedom.
There is no sweeter word than freedom.
There is no nobler goal than freedom.
There's no higher aspiration than freedom.

Americans know that and you know it.
And all that we do now must be done so our children and grandchildren will know it as well. Freedom -- the enemy of the tyrant, and the hope of the brave and the truth of the ages. Freedom.

Stand with us. We will stand with you. Let us move forward with faith and conviction, with an abiding commitment to be allies,
not of darkness but of light,
not of oppression but of liberation,
not of captivity but yes, of freedom.

May God bless you all, may God protect our troops, and may God bless the heroes of Ukraine and all those who defend freedom around the world.

Thank you Poland.
Thank you thank you thank you for what you're doing.
God bless you all. "

February 21, 2023

Supreme Court hears a case that could transform the internet

Source: Washington Post

Oral arguments begin in Gonzalez v. Google, a landmark case tackling whether tech companies should be liable for harmful content their algorithms surface.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear oral arguments in Gonzalez v. Google, a lawsuit that argues tech companies should be legally liable for harmful content that their algorithms promote. The Gonzalez family contends that by recommending ISIS-related content, Google’s YouTube acted as a recruiting platform for the group in violation of U.S. laws against aiding and abetting terrorists.

At stake is Section 230, a provision written in 1996, years before the founding of Google and most modern tech giants, but one that courts have found shields platforms from culpability over the posts, photos and videos that people share on their services.

Google argues that Section 230 protects it from legal responsibility for the videos that its recommendation algorithms surface, and that such immunity is essential to tech companies’ ability to provide useful and safe content to their users.

The Gonzalez family’s lawyers say that applying Section 230 to algorithmic recommendations incentivizes promoting harmful content, and that it denies victims an opportunity to seek redress when they can show those recommendations caused injuries or even death.



Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/02/20/google-v-gonzalez-section-230/

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https://www.techdirt.com/2020/06/23/hello-youve-been-referred-here-because-youre-wrong-about-section-230-communications-decency-act/

If the algorithms can be proven to "incentivize" murder, the platform is responsible. Yet the party who murdered their child can't say "the algorithm made us in ISIS decide to act on the content!"

This SCOTUS decision will further define the limits of Section 230 protections to all the Internet's platforms.