Short Comments, Multiple Issues
Supreme Court Leak:
Even the President of the United States has failed to address the leak, which undermines an independent judiciary and, most importantly, the trust necessary for Justices of all persuasions to engage openly in reasoned dialog and thereby mold a consensus. Instead, he and other Democrats are focused on the subject of the ruling, Roe v Wade, which – if the draft ruling becomes the final ruling – would change nothing about abortions but return the issue to the states in accordance with the Tenth Amendment.
Mischaracterizing the effect of the ruling as outlawing abortions nationwide is deliberate obfuscation, otherwise known as lying.
Doxxing Justice’s home address as a means of drawing crowds to protest in front of the Justices’ residences is a federal crime. According to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki the President takes no position on protesting in front of their residences to influence a judge’s decision, which is a violation of federal law. If Psaki is correct, then the President has violated Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution, the so-called “Take Care Clause.”
There is a hero in all this. Senator Coons of Delaware defied party leadership to cross the aisle and co-sponsor, with Republican Senator Cornyn of Texas, legislation to authorize FBI protection for Supreme Court Justices.
Elon Musk/Twitter
Either a visionary or an idiot, Elon Musk bought Twitter, the epitome of social media sites. He has vowed to make it a free speech platform. The authoritarian establishment went uniformly out of its collective hive mind.
The Washington Post, owned by Jeff Bezos, a multi-billionaire, opined that it was dangerous to give a billionaire control of a social media platform. This is the same Washington Post that has never endorsed a Republican for President, and which trumpeted that Donald Trump was a Russian stooge, based solely on a political dirty trick played by Hillary Clinton.
No one is bothered that Amazon, owned by Jeff Bezos as well, retains and uses the power to determine whose views may or may not be heard through the near-monopoly power of Amazon Web Services.
No one has condemned Mark Zuckerberg, largest stockholder in Facebook, for privately paying for additional ballot drop boxes only in precincts that historically vote for Democrats.
Predictions are for massive losses at Twitter. I’m taking a wait-and-see attitude.
Disinformation Management Board
The Department of Homeland Security established this organization to fight what it called disinformation.
The head of the new agency is on record calling Republicans spreaders of disinformation for profit. I have difficulty believing that the organization will be independent or reporting in a fair and/or balanced manner.
Elon Musk doesn't care if he's in their club--that makes him free to innovate.
The leaked draft seems intended to cause an uprising among Democrats who have accepted killing children as women's heath. The moment of choice was to engage in sex. I've always thought the government has no business in regulating personal decisions and the killing of the unborn certainly is a personal decision. But Roe established the government was in that business of removing the responsibility of the decision. Roe was one of many decisions that the courts have made to relieve the needs for contentious legislation. If accepted the issue returns to the states. At least it might stop the litmus tests needed for the court justices.
The uprising will die down only to return when the decision arrives ~ July just in time for election firestorms. Whether the public actually cares about the abortion issue is quite complex. We might not want Roe to be eliminated as part of our signalling, but I suspect we share the awful moral decisions a women must make and prefer it not be necessary. Whether it swamps our anger over the price of fuel remains to be seen. One is real the other simply a cause.
Twitter is such a small thing. The majority of the public never use the service. Those that do know that anti-conservatives arrive to trash posters no matter what was posted. That reaffirmation feeds their ego. Even under Musk that won't change. But we might want to question opinions and not get kicked for the wrong question post Musk. It will be good to know you aren't alone in thinking certain thoughts in public. Substack has been good about allowing we uneducated peons to comment and share our thoughts.