Trumper candidates for state secretaries of state.
1. Get them on the record. Ask whether the Biden administration is legitimate.
2. Establish that they were part of the Trump post election "stop the steal" campaign.
3. A criminal conspiracy exists when two or more people agree to commit almost any unlawful act, then take some action toward its completion. The action taken need not itself be a crime, but it must indicate that those involved in the conspiracy knew of the plan and intended to break the law.
18 U.S. Code § 2385 - Advocating overthrow of Government
Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State, Territory, District or Possession thereof, or the government of any political subdivision therein, by force or violence, or by the assassination of any officer of any such government; or
Whoever, with intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of any such government, prints, publishes, edits, issues, circulates, sells, distributes, or publicly displays any written or printed matter advocating, advising, or teaching the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government in the United States by force or violence, or attempts to do so; or
Whoever organizes or helps or attempts to organize any society, group, or assembly of persons who teach, advocate, or encourage the overthrow or destruction of any such government by force or violence; or becomes or is a member of, or affiliates with, any such society, group, or assembly of persons, knowing the purposes thereof—
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction.
If two or more persons conspire to commit any offense named in this section, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction.
As used in this section, the terms “organizes” and “organize”, with respect to any society, group, or assembly of persons, include the recruiting of new members, the forming of new units, and the regrouping or expansion of existing clubs, classes, and other units of such society, group, or assembly of persons.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 808; July 24, 1956, ch. 678, § 2, 70 Stat. 623; Pub. L. 87–486, June 19, 1962, 76 Stat. 103; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(N), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2148.)
The Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab constructed a timeline of key events, both online and offline, centered on the coordination of “Stop the Steal” efforts that escalated to violence and threatened the transition of power core to American democracy. Most of the material found in this report was posted in plain sight on social media platforms and online forums, designed to convince more Americans of falsehoods about the 2020 elections. The Stop the Steal movement was far from monolithic, though, and included groups across a spectrum of radicalization: hyperpartisan pro-Trump activists and media outlets; the neo-fascist Proud Boys, a group with chapters committed to racism and the promotion of street violence; unlawful militias from around the country with a high degree of command and control, including the so-called Three Percenters movement; adherents to the collective delusion of QAnon; individuals identifying with the Boogaloo Boys, a loosely organized anti-government group that has called for a second civil war; and ideological fellow travelers of the far-right, who wanted to witness something they believed would be spectacular. https://www.justsecurity.org/74622/stopthesteal-timeline-of-social-media-and-extremist-activities-leading-to-1-6-insurrection/
If the Justice Department is asleep at the switch, does the Democratic Party have standing to bring a civil action? As a predicate, establish that each candidate denies that Biden is the legitimate president and that the candidates were part of his "stop the steal" campaign..
Other applicable statutes.
Governed by 18 USC Ch. 73, Obstruction of justice: The Omnibus Clause,18 U.S.C. §1503, or Omnibus Provision, provides that anyone who corruptly... obstructs or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct or impede, the due administration of justice", is guilty of the crime of obstruction of justice.
See also: 18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
This section shall not prohibit or make unlawful any act by any officer or employee of any educational or research institution, establishment, agency, or system which is supported in whole or in part by any state or political subdivision thereof, or by the District of Columbia or by any Territory or Possession of the United States; or by any recognized religious, philanthropic or cultural organization.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 720; Pub. L. 91–405, title II, § 204(d)(6), Sept. 22, 1970, 84 Stat. 853; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(H), (L), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.)
See also: 18 U.S. Code § 610 - Coercion of political activity
It shall be unlawful for any person to intimidate, threaten, command, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, command, or coerce, any employee of the Federal Government as defined in section 7322(1) of title 5, United States Code, to engage in, or not to engage in, any political activity, including, but not limited to, voting or refusing to vote for any candidate or measure in any election, making or refusing to make any political contribution, or working or refusing to work on behalf of any candidate. Any person who violates this section shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
(Added Pub. L. 103–94, § 4(c)(1), Oct. 6, 1993, 107 Stat. 1005; amended Pub. L. 104–294, title VI, § 601(a)(1), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3497.)
You preach the BIG PICTURE! You might well live in an intellectual bubble with other intellectuals that mostly agree with you. I live in Texas, and I am surrounded by intelligent people who support Trump. They are 70+ years old and can tell you the combination to their school locker from the first grade. They can fix something that is broken and leave my head spinning with amazement. They can describe thing that happened 60 yrs ago in intimate detail. They ain't dumb!!! But they are victims of RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA!! Smart people can be duped! Our fast-thinking brain likes to think of conservatives as either dumb or crooked. There are dumb and crooked conservatives, but the majority are neither dumb nor crooked. 44% of Americans get their news from Facebook! That leaves them subjected to millions of transmissions from Russian bots that shape how they think. The public needs to know specifics about how they have been influenced and manipulated by propaganda on social media. Good and intelligent people have been manipulated by Russian propaganda and don't know it. Trump setting us up for this was no accident!!! To them it is like having coffee with you on Saturday morning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZWqhrR5tPc
Re: Starbucks workers "partners" unionizing, I used to go to Starbucks nearly every day. But since the workers started trying to form unions, and Starbucks did everything to stop them, I've quit going. I'll only go to a union store now. I think it's important to back up our convictions with our actions.
Another great "coffee klatch!" touching on several issues on all of our minds. With everything happening around the world, including the U.S., I too have forced myself to take a break from all of it now and then. Yesterday I painted my kitchen, a task that gave me immediate gratification :) and did some volunteer work.
Regarding "Trumpers," I have stopped trying to talk facts and truth to them, they don't care and won't listen so it's a waste of time. What we can do is talk to everyone else and implore them to get involved, spread facts and pledge to vote in November. Thanks for letting us listen in today!
Yes happy put put! Put put reminds me of trump. Easy course with garish cartoon scenery. The democrats are now holding training camps to help organize wins! I think the party needs to intensify its efforts about ten fold. The same for our arming efforts in Ukraine.
I believe a significant cause of the steady rise in the stock market has been that people have no other place to put their money. As you may know, banks used to pay interest, and corporations and municipalities used to issue bonds at interest. And there were such things as bond funds. Conventional wisdom was that as we grow older, we should direct more of our savings into fixed income instruments and less into equities and equity funds.
The media's only reference to interest concerns large businesses' apparent need for capital, and occasionally the cost of a home mortgage or car loan. My point is that no one in the public sphere seems concerned about fixed income investment. But now with Mr. Powell's indication that interest rates will be raised from near zero, we who have savings from a lifetime of work become hopeful that our money can receive interest at a semi-decent rate.
I know that increased interest rates for borrowing will likely lead
to at least a temporary decline in the stock market, but how did that market survive when we actually had interest rates of 6,7,8,9 percent. The media indicates no concern about interest rates for those of us with savings.
Here's a thought that connects to David Richardson's description of people led by propaganda and out-and-out lies, intelligent individuals who are led astray by the constant flow of lies given them by politicized, media, self-seeing malevolent forces, and the very elected officials of the government: In the series on netflix.com (The Servant of the People, starring Volodyrmyr Zelenskyy as a tenth-grade history teacher elected to the presidency of Ukraine). Vasya (the teacher) is asked how he plans to govern his people. I guess the press representative expected either a confused, bewildered answer, a pleasant list of promises and lies, or some sort of cover-up for the usual corruption and wheeling/dealing. Instead, Vasya came up with something much simpler, more elegant, more matter-of-fact: By Hard Work and Honesty. Would that our own "servants of the people" could come up with such a simple and honest plan and carry it through. At least, the Ukrainian people have an idea of what real democracy looks like and what it takes to create that democracy (Hard Work and Honesty). They have also paid a heavy price--in many cases, the ultimate price--to restore what we and our representatives in government (top to bottom) so casually throw away in order to achieve our own personal gain.
David Richardson raises a good point, one I have tried to make in a variety of ways, one of which touches on the intersection of my private life and what is going on in the world and how these international/national/local events affect me personally. Those in the Ivory Tower tend to forget that there are real people experiencing real problems that are interconnected in various ways with what others are experiencing--and I like to believe I am one of them. I may very well have been educated to assume a role in Academe (and for a very short while at the University of Wisconsin--Madison, I played that role well) but most of my working life has played out in such public spaces as Macy*s and Nordstrom. I do not believe that it is to anyone's benefit for me to hide and not share what I know about the Real World and I am entirely open to do so. I do my part in informing people how public and private policies have affected me, what gains I have made (however few) and what obstacles I have met in trying to navigate the world. (Of course these are private situations but as the poet John Dunne (I think) put it: "No man is an island; each man is a part of the main." Right now, I am trying to find out about SSI (Supplemental Security Income) since inflation has devoured any sort of COLA increase I received; of course, this is a private situation but it is also one shared by many others. I put a face on it and that is what David has done by suggesting that his friends have been manipulated and controlled by propaganda. And as soon as I succeed (I hope) in straightening out my finances, I will try to figure out how I can increase my help to President Zelenskyy and Ukraine. You see, all of us live in both a private and a public world and these two worlds are NOT distinct, they intertwine. (I would say that most academic people come close to living in a private world (the bubble David describes) as they do not experience the world of many of the invisible people who work for them. They do not experience the panic of running out of money or trying to finagle the money they do have to go further. It would be better for all of us if their incessant and relatively safe "book-larnin'" shared something in common with their own reality-based "life-larnin'". But now I turn to my really fun project which deals with music performance during the pandemic...and my clarinet and, then, work with all sorts of music-making groups, pro and amateur alike. That's my Saturday dominated by a piece by the Swedish clarinetist Crusell, checking out videos with the SFSymphony's Currents! program, and wondering how I can squeeze out some financial help for Unicef Ukraine...you see, the private and public worlds I experience are not distinct but part of the entirety of the life I'm leading....and I believe this is true for all of us except those academic types who prefer a rather more distant and discrete view from their tower.
Your emotion-filled comments about ending your teaching brought tears to my eyes. I taught my last class a short time ago. Not teaching leaves a great void in my life, I loved teaching and can't imagine not doing that, even though that's what my life is supposed to be now. I greatly miss the interaction with students and other profs. Teaching has been the best way I could address the problems of life. Thank you for letting we who aren't UC Berkeley students take your class. It's a great help for adjusting to the absence of my own teaching, and so far it's been pure fun!
The "they ain't dumb" are quite capable of seeing the Big Picture. They choose not to because emotion trumps reason (no pun intended). They reflectively employ what Dr Kahneman refers to as "fast thinking."
Trumper candidates for state secretaries of state.
1. Get them on the record. Ask whether the Biden administration is legitimate.
2. Establish that they were part of the Trump post election "stop the steal" campaign.
3. A criminal conspiracy exists when two or more people agree to commit almost any unlawful act, then take some action toward its completion. The action taken need not itself be a crime, but it must indicate that those involved in the conspiracy knew of the plan and intended to break the law.
18 U.S. Code § 2385 - Advocating overthrow of Government
Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State, Territory, District or Possession thereof, or the government of any political subdivision therein, by force or violence, or by the assassination of any officer of any such government; or
Whoever, with intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of any such government, prints, publishes, edits, issues, circulates, sells, distributes, or publicly displays any written or printed matter advocating, advising, or teaching the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government in the United States by force or violence, or attempts to do so; or
Whoever organizes or helps or attempts to organize any society, group, or assembly of persons who teach, advocate, or encourage the overthrow or destruction of any such government by force or violence; or becomes or is a member of, or affiliates with, any such society, group, or assembly of persons, knowing the purposes thereof—
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction.
If two or more persons conspire to commit any offense named in this section, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction.
As used in this section, the terms “organizes” and “organize”, with respect to any society, group, or assembly of persons, include the recruiting of new members, the forming of new units, and the regrouping or expansion of existing clubs, classes, and other units of such society, group, or assembly of persons.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 808; July 24, 1956, ch. 678, § 2, 70 Stat. 623; Pub. L. 87–486, June 19, 1962, 76 Stat. 103; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(N), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2148.)
The Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab constructed a timeline of key events, both online and offline, centered on the coordination of “Stop the Steal” efforts that escalated to violence and threatened the transition of power core to American democracy. Most of the material found in this report was posted in plain sight on social media platforms and online forums, designed to convince more Americans of falsehoods about the 2020 elections. The Stop the Steal movement was far from monolithic, though, and included groups across a spectrum of radicalization: hyperpartisan pro-Trump activists and media outlets; the neo-fascist Proud Boys, a group with chapters committed to racism and the promotion of street violence; unlawful militias from around the country with a high degree of command and control, including the so-called Three Percenters movement; adherents to the collective delusion of QAnon; individuals identifying with the Boogaloo Boys, a loosely organized anti-government group that has called for a second civil war; and ideological fellow travelers of the far-right, who wanted to witness something they believed would be spectacular. https://www.justsecurity.org/74622/stopthesteal-timeline-of-social-media-and-extremist-activities-leading-to-1-6-insurrection/
If the Justice Department is asleep at the switch, does the Democratic Party have standing to bring a civil action? As a predicate, establish that each candidate denies that Biden is the legitimate president and that the candidates were part of his "stop the steal" campaign..
Other applicable statutes.
Governed by 18 USC Ch. 73, Obstruction of justice: The Omnibus Clause,18 U.S.C. §1503, or Omnibus Provision, provides that anyone who corruptly... obstructs or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct or impede, the due administration of justice", is guilty of the crime of obstruction of justice.
See also: 18 U.S. Code § 595 - Interference by administrative employees of Federal, State, or Territorial Governments
Whoever, being a person employed in any administrative position by the United States, or by any department or agency thereof, or by the District of Columbia or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States, or any political subdivision, municipality, or agency thereof, or agency of such political subdivision or municipality (including any corporation owned or controlled by any State, Territory, or Possession of the United States or by any such political subdivision, municipality, or agency), in connection with any activity which is financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States, or any department or agency thereof, uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
This section shall not prohibit or make unlawful any act by any officer or employee of any educational or research institution, establishment, agency, or system which is supported in whole or in part by any state or political subdivision thereof, or by the District of Columbia or by any Territory or Possession of the United States; or by any recognized religious, philanthropic or cultural organization.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 720; Pub. L. 91–405, title II, § 204(d)(6), Sept. 22, 1970, 84 Stat. 853; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(H), (L), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.)
See also: 18 U.S. Code § 610 - Coercion of political activity
It shall be unlawful for any person to intimidate, threaten, command, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, command, or coerce, any employee of the Federal Government as defined in section 7322(1) of title 5, United States Code, to engage in, or not to engage in, any political activity, including, but not limited to, voting or refusing to vote for any candidate or measure in any election, making or refusing to make any political contribution, or working or refusing to work on behalf of any candidate. Any person who violates this section shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
(Added Pub. L. 103–94, § 4(c)(1), Oct. 6, 1993, 107 Stat. 1005; amended Pub. L. 104–294, title VI, § 601(a)(1), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3497.)
You preach the BIG PICTURE! You might well live in an intellectual bubble with other intellectuals that mostly agree with you. I live in Texas, and I am surrounded by intelligent people who support Trump. They are 70+ years old and can tell you the combination to their school locker from the first grade. They can fix something that is broken and leave my head spinning with amazement. They can describe thing that happened 60 yrs ago in intimate detail. They ain't dumb!!! But they are victims of RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA!! Smart people can be duped! Our fast-thinking brain likes to think of conservatives as either dumb or crooked. There are dumb and crooked conservatives, but the majority are neither dumb nor crooked. 44% of Americans get their news from Facebook! That leaves them subjected to millions of transmissions from Russian bots that shape how they think. The public needs to know specifics about how they have been influenced and manipulated by propaganda on social media. Good and intelligent people have been manipulated by Russian propaganda and don't know it. Trump setting us up for this was no accident!!! To them it is like having coffee with you on Saturday morning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZWqhrR5tPc
Re: Starbucks workers "partners" unionizing, I used to go to Starbucks nearly every day. But since the workers started trying to form unions, and Starbucks did everything to stop them, I've quit going. I'll only go to a union store now. I think it's important to back up our convictions with our actions.
Another great "coffee klatch!" touching on several issues on all of our minds. With everything happening around the world, including the U.S., I too have forced myself to take a break from all of it now and then. Yesterday I painted my kitchen, a task that gave me immediate gratification :) and did some volunteer work.
Regarding "Trumpers," I have stopped trying to talk facts and truth to them, they don't care and won't listen so it's a waste of time. What we can do is talk to everyone else and implore them to get involved, spread facts and pledge to vote in November. Thanks for letting us listen in today!
Yes happy put put! Put put reminds me of trump. Easy course with garish cartoon scenery. The democrats are now holding training camps to help organize wins! I think the party needs to intensify its efforts about ten fold. The same for our arming efforts in Ukraine.
I believe a significant cause of the steady rise in the stock market has been that people have no other place to put their money. As you may know, banks used to pay interest, and corporations and municipalities used to issue bonds at interest. And there were such things as bond funds. Conventional wisdom was that as we grow older, we should direct more of our savings into fixed income instruments and less into equities and equity funds.
The media's only reference to interest concerns large businesses' apparent need for capital, and occasionally the cost of a home mortgage or car loan. My point is that no one in the public sphere seems concerned about fixed income investment. But now with Mr. Powell's indication that interest rates will be raised from near zero, we who have savings from a lifetime of work become hopeful that our money can receive interest at a semi-decent rate.
I know that increased interest rates for borrowing will likely lead
to at least a temporary decline in the stock market, but how did that market survive when we actually had interest rates of 6,7,8,9 percent. The media indicates no concern about interest rates for those of us with savings.
Here's a thought that connects to David Richardson's description of people led by propaganda and out-and-out lies, intelligent individuals who are led astray by the constant flow of lies given them by politicized, media, self-seeing malevolent forces, and the very elected officials of the government: In the series on netflix.com (The Servant of the People, starring Volodyrmyr Zelenskyy as a tenth-grade history teacher elected to the presidency of Ukraine). Vasya (the teacher) is asked how he plans to govern his people. I guess the press representative expected either a confused, bewildered answer, a pleasant list of promises and lies, or some sort of cover-up for the usual corruption and wheeling/dealing. Instead, Vasya came up with something much simpler, more elegant, more matter-of-fact: By Hard Work and Honesty. Would that our own "servants of the people" could come up with such a simple and honest plan and carry it through. At least, the Ukrainian people have an idea of what real democracy looks like and what it takes to create that democracy (Hard Work and Honesty). They have also paid a heavy price--in many cases, the ultimate price--to restore what we and our representatives in government (top to bottom) so casually throw away in order to achieve our own personal gain.
David Richardson raises a good point, one I have tried to make in a variety of ways, one of which touches on the intersection of my private life and what is going on in the world and how these international/national/local events affect me personally. Those in the Ivory Tower tend to forget that there are real people experiencing real problems that are interconnected in various ways with what others are experiencing--and I like to believe I am one of them. I may very well have been educated to assume a role in Academe (and for a very short while at the University of Wisconsin--Madison, I played that role well) but most of my working life has played out in such public spaces as Macy*s and Nordstrom. I do not believe that it is to anyone's benefit for me to hide and not share what I know about the Real World and I am entirely open to do so. I do my part in informing people how public and private policies have affected me, what gains I have made (however few) and what obstacles I have met in trying to navigate the world. (Of course these are private situations but as the poet John Dunne (I think) put it: "No man is an island; each man is a part of the main." Right now, I am trying to find out about SSI (Supplemental Security Income) since inflation has devoured any sort of COLA increase I received; of course, this is a private situation but it is also one shared by many others. I put a face on it and that is what David has done by suggesting that his friends have been manipulated and controlled by propaganda. And as soon as I succeed (I hope) in straightening out my finances, I will try to figure out how I can increase my help to President Zelenskyy and Ukraine. You see, all of us live in both a private and a public world and these two worlds are NOT distinct, they intertwine. (I would say that most academic people come close to living in a private world (the bubble David describes) as they do not experience the world of many of the invisible people who work for them. They do not experience the panic of running out of money or trying to finagle the money they do have to go further. It would be better for all of us if their incessant and relatively safe "book-larnin'" shared something in common with their own reality-based "life-larnin'". But now I turn to my really fun project which deals with music performance during the pandemic...and my clarinet and, then, work with all sorts of music-making groups, pro and amateur alike. That's my Saturday dominated by a piece by the Swedish clarinetist Crusell, checking out videos with the SFSymphony's Currents! program, and wondering how I can squeeze out some financial help for Unicef Ukraine...you see, the private and public worlds I experience are not distinct but part of the entirety of the life I'm leading....and I believe this is true for all of us except those academic types who prefer a rather more distant and discrete view from their tower.
Your emotion-filled comments about ending your teaching brought tears to my eyes. I taught my last class a short time ago. Not teaching leaves a great void in my life, I loved teaching and can't imagine not doing that, even though that's what my life is supposed to be now. I greatly miss the interaction with students and other profs. Teaching has been the best way I could address the problems of life. Thank you for letting we who aren't UC Berkeley students take your class. It's a great help for adjusting to the absence of my own teaching, and so far it's been pure fun!
The "they ain't dumb" are quite capable of seeing the Big Picture. They choose not to because emotion trumps reason (no pun intended). They reflectively employ what Dr Kahneman refers to as "fast thinking."
It is all part of the same tapestry! THEY are strategic. We are philosophical and reactive. Very frustrating.
And Ohio says Putt Putt, FYI. We aren’t south, but we are crazy red…it’s rubbed off. You guys were great today. Thanks!