On Whether Republicans Will Vote to Support Trump’s Emergency Declaration to Build the Wall

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https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/02/trump-national-security-threat/582934/

I posted yesterday (?) quoting Thom Tillis and wondering whether he’d even SEE a vote on the emergency declaration or whether Mitch McConnell would bury it for him, but, according this, he will definitely have to vote.  (As will every other Republican Senator and Representative.) (Yesterday’s post.)

«Once invoked, 50 U.S. Code § 1622 on national emergencies sets into motion a series of events, including an almost immediate vote by the House of Representatives ratifying the president’s decision. The House will certainly reject Trump’s national emergency declaration, sending that motion to the Senate where it cannot be tabled. And that GOP-controlled chamber will be compelled to support Trump’s transparently political debasing of constitutional norms, not because of their support for Trump, but because of pressure from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.»

White Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Shooting Black Men After Hurricane Katrina – The New York Times

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/14/us/hurricane-katrina-roland-bourgeois.html

Tempted to say “[squints] Not sure if evil or just a moron”, but, really, “just a moron” isn’t an option in a just (and merciful?) society.

«Federal prosecutors said the court proceedings took a particularly long time — nearly nine years since the initial indictment — because Mr. Bourgeois was repeatedly found incompetent to stand trial. His competency has been evaluated six times since 2010, and he was eventually declared competent in 2018.»

Trump shocks GOP with emergency declaration – POLITICO

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https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/14/gop-national-emergency-declaration-trump-1170697

Looking forward to Thom’s vote on the upcoming (non-binding) resolution of disapproval (assuming Mitch brings it to a vote, after cloakroom conversations with other Republican Senators).

Also: I take it we’re done with complaints about Obama’s imperial presidency and any future Democrat’s.

«“I always kind of take pause to the assertion of executive power,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). “The main reason is it could detract attention away from the long-term solution that can only occur through an act of Congress.”»

On social media blocking innocent posts

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https://twitter.com/IlIOcherokeelIl/status/1095994782873116672?s=17

Tempted to say that social media is garbage, but, really, everything is an approximation. I had my Twitter acct suspended over a tweet on the racial breakdown of gun death stats, but I’m GUESSING they mostly get it right. There’s a ton of awfulness Out There. Some of it leaks through to social media and some innocent stuff gets blocked. AI is not the solution. There is no solution. Human language is our most complex construct. We make poetry with it.

Even blogging, my preferred approach, is problematic. I could get “de-platformed”. WordPress.com could suppress or remove my blog. I could move to my own AWS instance and run my own WordPress instance, but even AWS could shut me down. Then I’d move to my own hardware somewhere, but I’d be reliant on network services supplied by private companies which could refuse to carry my bits. (Or I go offshore to some place that wouldn’t bow to pressure from the U.S. (market or political… who would that be? Mauritania? Iceland? Russia?))

Eventually, we get down to paper and First Amendment rights and a discussion of what that means in an electronic age.

Or we just live with the imperfections of social media until we’re sick of it.

💗Ill_Kalon Kakon_lll ™💗 (@IlIOcherokeelIl) Tweeted:

@hughes_45 @C_Stroop Just don’t post that publicly on FB.

They’ll suspend you. https://t.co/zYYo9HeLHO