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RuthMarie Monteith's avatar

Concise, wry and informative, a great way to start the day.

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elliott oberman's avatar

We Are Stuck In A Place That Doesn’t Make Sense.

TODAY'''' we turn to the legal matters; everything continues to happen with the omnipresent concern about what Trump has unleashed by bombing Iran. Those of us who were around when the Bush administration attacked Iraq understand the reality that some of the things reported as facts during the first hours and days after a strike like this turn out not to be true. ,,,,,,,,,,,Already, there are concerns that Iran’s nuclear capability has not been destroyed. The New York Times reported that Trump’s decision to engage was at least partially motivated by the desire to get credit for Israeli strikes, which were “playing” well on Fox News.

Monday, as Trump announced a ceasefire, Iran continued to aim at civilian targets in Israel, striking a building in Beersheba. Early reports indicated three people were dead and three more critically injured.

Whether intentional or not, the attack on Iran provides a diversion from events at home, including Trump’s supposedly big, beautiful budget bill, and other domestic disturbances that have awoken the public. The fog of war can be used to extend a smoke screen over events close to home, which makes it more important than ever for us to stay focused. There is a to pay attention to this week.

George Orwell, 1984: “Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book has been rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street and building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And that process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. HISTORY HAS STOPPED.”

Increasingly, one wonders whether the DOJ will have the manpower to do much more than immigration cases and defending the government in all of the cases where it is being sued. If you recall the buyout offer the administration made to federal employees in its first weeks, known as “Operation Fork in the Road,” 4,500 DOJ employees who accepted it will be off the books in September.

That includes more than two-thirds of the 380 career lawyers in the Civil Rights Division, which will shrink to a remnant of its former self. With new priorities that focus on issues like protecting Christians and white folks from discrimination, will DOJ, which has virtually sole authority to prosecute federal law enforcement officers who use excessive force, step in to investigate a situation in Los Angeles where officers are captured on video in what appears to be the use of excessive force on an immigrant who has already been detained and is on the ground?

The matter of federal agents, especially those working for ICE, covering their faces in public has come to the attention of the New York City Bar Association. After reviewing the law and discussing the potential problems that could develop when agents are masked, the Bar has concluded, “the administration cannot justify concealing its officers’ identity while they are rightfully subject to legal and public scrutiny. The New York City Bar Association urges ICE to terminate this practice immediately and ensure the transparency and accountability for its agents’ actions that our laws and our democracy require.” This is just one bar association. If you’re a lawyer, make sure you share this with others in your state; this should become a trend. The NYC Bar absolutely nailed this situation: “ICE agents’ use of masks not only screens potential abuses of power and shields officers from accountability, it is part of a pattern of government actions enabling the rise of repressive and authoritarian tactics.

THE IMAGES of people being GRABED off the street by masked, armed men, shoved into unmarked vehicles, and taken away to unknown locations bears a fearsome resemblance to the oppressive tactics of authoritarian regimes, methods of repression meant to eliminate opposition and instill terror. We must not tread this path"

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