Here’s the Deal On Sanctuary Cities

April 26, 2017 By: Juanita Jean Herownself Category: Uncategorized

The the 9th circuit court overturned Trump’s harebrained decision to withdraw federal money for law enforcement from cities that he considers sanctuary cities.

The judge ruled that wasn’t constitutional because …

The Constitution vests the spending powers in Congress, not the President, so the Order cannot constitutionally place new conditions on federal funds. Further, the Tenth Amendment requires that conditions on federal funds be unambiguous and timely made; that they bear some relation to the funds at issue; and that the total financial incentive not be coercive.

I imagine the average fifth grader could understand that.

I want to stop right here and say one damn thing: Republicans do not, no matter what they repeatedly say, support the Constitution.  They try to make laws against it and now they want to hold constitutional conventions to re-write the whole damn thing.  (I suspect the role of Thomas Jefferson will be played by Donald Trump.)

Trump’s lawyers, who understood it perfectly well, tried to say that they agree with the judge completely because they, you know, went to law school.  So they argued that, “the January order was intended to be largely symbolic.” Oh dear, Judges aren’t real big on symbolic stuff and this judge called it an “ominous, misleading, and ultimately toothless threat.”

Holy damn cow. I, for one, am pleased as punch that we finally have a court ruling saying Presidents can’t go around threatening people with his tiny little hands.

Then Trump tells the judge, “See you in court!” which is also the favored weapon of tiny little hands.

The Sean Hannity goes on the electric teevee and says that the 9th circuit is the most overturned court in America, probably because it’s in San Francisco.  Hmmmmm, wildly incorrect, of course.  The most overturned is the 6th Circuit in Tennessee, Ohio, and Kentucky – Trump’s base.  A very close second is 11th Circuit, which is parts of Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.

The whole thing was a bustermuck.

Thanks to everybody for the heads up.

The Only Wall We Need –

April 15, 2017 By: El Jefe Category: Trump

Federal judges all over the country block Trump’s racist immigration orders.  A federal judge rules Texas racist voter ID law unconstitutional.  A federal judge confirms marriage equality rights.  This morning, a federal judge blocks Arkansas’ rush to kill 7 death row inmates before the expiration date of the sedative used in executions.  That’s right, some idiot in Arkansas thought it was a good idea to rush up 7 executions because the company that provides the sedative has discontinued selling them to states that use it to kill people.

Trump and his cronies have rapidly pulled the veil down over the WH.  His press secretary lies daily from the briefing room podium, the Secretary of State banned reporters from his trips.  The State Department has halted the daily briefing.  Yesterday, the WH announced that visitor logs are now secret.  And, of course, Cheeto Jesus will never release his tax returns.  Oh, and he’s making millions from those who seek to curry favor from him by their stays in his hotels and resorts.

To add insult to injury, the Congress, cowed by Trump’s twitter account, sit and do nothing, fearful that his drooling knuckle dragger base will unseat them.  They have virtually abdicated their duties of oversight and are just sitting there holding their collective breath hoping all this will go away.

The only thing standing between the American people and an incompetent fascist regime?  The federal courts.  If I’ve learned nothing else from this first several months of the most terrifying presidency in US history, I’ve learned the critical importance of the third branch of government, the judiciary.  Even with the stolen Supreme Court seat, the judiciary continues to fulfill its key role of being the referee, protecting the Constitution and our society which is governed by it.  Conservatives love to rant about the Constitution, touting Scalia’s false “originalist” approach, but ignore the other critical part of Constitutional law – over 200 years of legal precedence.  Those thousands of interpretations of the Constitution form the entire body of law that guards against the radical and illegal activities of a corrupt administration, Congress, and state legislatures.

Trump likes to talk about his “wall”, but the real wall we need is the system of courts throughout the country that is critical to protect Us from Him.