Twitter filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Customs and Border Protection today. Twitter seeks an injunction barring them from asking for the identity of the person behind @alt_uscis. It’s not clear what legal reason the Trump administration is seeking to identify @alt_uscis. The @alt_uscis bio states: “Immigration resistance . Team 2.0 1/2 Not … Read More
Gorsuch’s Plagiarism
Uh-oh:
Yeah, I Admit That I Just Emailed Rachel Maddow
I know you get a lot of email, which means I only have a few seconds to grab your interest. Here I go… WHY AREN’T YOU DOING A COMPLETE SHOW ON EZRA COHEN-WATKINS? Let me bullet-point it for you: Reminder: ECW is the 30-year-old White House aide — the NSC’s senior director of intelligence who started his own ‘review’ of surveillance intercepts of … Read More
7th Circuit: LGBTQ Discrimination IS Sex Discrimination
It’s not definitive, but this is a huge step. The Seventh Circuit ruled 8-3 that a woman who was denied a job because she was a lesbian had a cause of action under Title VII. Title VII is the civil rights law which prevents workplace discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, and religion. It generally applies to … Read More
Wow! Fox News And The White House Are Going Full Bore On This Susan Rice Thing!
It is amazing how the goalposts have moved from Trump’s initial tweets on March 10. Let’s look at them again: Okay. So Obama has now become Susan Rice, Obama’s National Security Adviser. “Wiretap” has become “names unmasked”. “Trump” and “Trump Tower”, the object(s) of the supposed “wiretap(p)”, is not Trump associates. But other than those things — Trump was 100% … Read More
The HB2 Repeal: Is It As Bad As Everyone Says?
Well, I find myself in the awkward position of disagreeing with friends, colleagues, and organizations that I respect (like the ACLU, of which I have been an active member for 24 years). That’s not fun. The issue? House Bill 142. For those living under a rock, HB142 is the bill passed by the North Carolina General Assembly and signed into … Read More
Disdain For Democracy
Worse than lying, says Greg Sargeant: Trump is enraged at being subjected to a system of democratic and institutional constraints, for which he has signaled nothing but absolute, unbridled contempt. The system is pushing back, and he can’t bear it. On Monday morning, the latest chapter in this tale — Trump’s unsupported accusation that Obama wiretapped his phones — took … Read More
Another Doc Dump – Indictment Against Dude Threatening JCCs
The rash of threats against Jewish Community Centers appears to be partly solved [UPDATE: Very partly. We’re only talking about 10% of the threats and vandalism seen nationwide lately]. Federal G-men arrested Juan Michael for making threats against many JCCs in an attempt to stalk/frame his ex-girlfriend. He appears to be a copycat though. Still, scary dude.
Who’s Sorry Now?
On July 25, 2015, Joe Torres and Kayla Norton, joined about a dozen other people in a convoy of pickup trucks waving large Confederate flags as they drove around Douglas County, a suburban Atlanta community. Most of them belonged to a group called “Respect the Flag.” This was only a few weeks after Dylann Roof attended a prayer service at … Read More
Lot Of Hypocrisy About Leaks
The Pentagon Papers was a leak from Daniel Ellsberg. It helped de-legitimize the Vietnam War. Deep Throat was Mark Felt, a top FBI official. He gave Woodward and Bernstein the deep background on the Watergate scandal. Edward Snowden leaked information about US government surveillance programs. Chelsea Manning leaked documents and video relating to Iraqi air strikes, diplomatic cables, and Gitmo, … Read More
Redstate’s Patterico’s Analysis of the 9th Circuit Decision Against Trump
Don’t normally quote from the conservative Redstate blog, and I rarely agree with Patterico (the author) on anything. But this analysis is so good — so spot on — that I am reprinting it in full: As you have no doubt heard, the Ninth Circuit today issued an opinion upholding the District Court’s TRO halting much of Trump’s order on … Read More
Former NC Governor Pat McCrory Needs Protection From Words
News & Observer: Does former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory need protection? Do all current and former public officials? At least one state senator thinks so. After a video was posted on Facebook Friday showing a group of people following McCrory during a trip to Washington, D.C., for inaugural weekend, chanting “Shame!” and calling him a bigot, Sen. Dan Bishop … Read More
Obama (Belatedly) Takes Action Against Russian Hackers
Moments ago, the Obama administration struck back at Russia, imposing sanctions against its intelligence apparatus and expelling 35 diplomats in retaliation for the alleged orchestration of hacking attacks designed to interfere in the presidential election. The sweeping actions outlined by the White House three weeks before the new administration takes office include: Shutting down two compounds, one in in Maryland … Read More
NC Legislature Still At It
Despite protests, widespread criticism and a threat by the governor-elect to challenge in court any moves that he believes would unconstitutionally limit his power, the Republican-controlled North Carolina legislature is pushing through reforms that would severely limit the incoming Democratic governor’s power. It’s insane. One such measure, which passed the House, was that the GOP and the Democratic Party would alternate the … Read More
More Fake News Believers Getting Violent
This is getting out of hand: A Tampa woman is accused of making death threats to the parent of a first grader who died in the Sandy Hook massacre. Investigators say 57-year-old Lucy Richards is among those who believe the 2012 shooting, that killed 20 children and 6 adults, was all a hoax. Her disbelief is so strong, investigators say … Read More