There has been a growing chorus of articles arguing that the Biden administration is trying to confront Russia on its own ground of information warfare. The key example is moving rapidly to declassify military intelligence about Russian moves to eliminate their potential element of surprise. The administration is trying to upend Russian tactics by continually revealing what they’re about to do or what they are preparing to do in advance. But there is something else they are doing that is getting less direct attention, something I mentioned earlier this month.
Continue reading “Why Does The US Keep Highlighting The Imminence Of A Russian Invasion?”The Situation in Canada is Worse Than It Looks
I wanted to share with you this post about the situation in Ottawa, sent along TPM Reader JK. I recommend reading the whole thing. But this is the gist:
Continue reading “The Situation in Canada is Worse Than It Looks”What’s happening in Ottawa, they were clear, is two separate events happening in tandem: there is a broadly non-violent (to date) group of Canadians with assorted COVID-related gripes, ranging from the somewhat justified to totally frickin’ insane. But that larger group, which has knocked Ottawa and too many of our leaders into what my colleague Jen Gerson so perfectly described as “stun-fucked stasis,” is now providing a kind of (mostly) unwitting cover to a cadre of seasoned street brawlers whose primary goal is to further erode the legitimacy of the state — not just the city of Ottawa, or Ontario or Canada, but of democracies generally.
SCOTUS Ruling On Alabama Map Could Open The Door To A New Wild West Of Redistricting
This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It first appeared at The Conversation.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s order allowing Alabama to use a congressional map that critics say disadvantages Black voters has voting rights advocates worried – and understandably so.
On the surface, the stay issued Feb. 7, 2022, in Merrill v. Milligan was procedural. In a 5-4 decision, the justices halted a district court’s injunction that had barred Alabama from using a newly redistricted map in the upcoming 2022 elections. The Supreme Court will hear the full case in its next term starting in the fall, with the ruling due by the end of June 2023 – after this year’s midterm elections.
Had it stood, the district court’s injunction would have required Alabama to redraw congressional districts ahead of the election to give Black voters greater representation. Instead, Black voters – more than a quarter of Alabama’s electorate – will be the majority in just one of seven districts.
The Supreme Court’s order could have a significant, substantive effect on the 2022 midterm elections – and not just in Alabama. In allowing the state to use a voting map adopted in late 2021 that a court has ruled unlawful soon after passage, the Supreme Court is sending a signal to other states regarding the lack of review available regarding problematic maps they may draw.
Expanding Purcell
The justices’ decision rests on the Purcell principle – a rule the Supreme Court created in 2006 when vacating a Court of Appeals decision to block Arizona’s voter ID law a month before the upcoming general election.
In their ruling in the case Purcell v. Gonzalez, justices said federal courts should not interfere with state election processes close to a general election because doing so would confuse voters and burden election officials.
The latest ruling by the Supreme Court in Merrill appears to expand the scope of the Purcell rule significantly.
The Merrill ruling does not appear to track Purcell. The district court’s injunction in Merrill was the result of a full review of Alabama’s congressional redistricting plan. The district court heard seven days of testimony and read a substantial volume of briefings before reaching its decision.
At the conclusion of the case – handled at warp speed for a federal court – the district court wrote an opinion of more than 200 pages explaining in detail the law and facts underlying its decision.
Moreover, the injunction against Alabama’s redistricting plan was issued on Jan. 24, 2022 – more than nine months before voting in Alabama’s general election ends on Nov. 8, 2022.
In contrast, the Court of Appeals in Purcell had enjoined the use of the Arizona voter ID law without explanation mere weeks before that year’s general election.
Novel reading of the Voting Rights Act
This apparent expansion of the Purcell principle is more than just a technical change. It could have a tangible impact on the election results in Alabama.
At the heart of the case is a dispute over whether Alabama must redraw its congressional districts to provide a second seat in which Black voters form the majority. The current map contains one such district.
That issue reaches the heart of the 1965’s Voting Rights Act and could affect Black Alabamians’ ability to elect their representatives of choice.
In Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s concurrence with the court’s order, joined by Justice Samuel Alito, he suggested the stay of the injunction stopping Alabama from using its map is sensible, in part, because the plaintiffs are not clearly going to win the underlying case when it comes before the Court.
Justice John Roberts dissented from the stay, noting the district court appears to have applied the law correctly and left nothing for the Supreme Court to correct.
Meanwhile, Justice Elena Kagan’s dissent – which was joined by Justices Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor – argued the underlying merits in the challenge to Alabama appear so clear that the Court’s majority would need to employ a novel reading of the Voting Rights Act to make the case appear debatable.
Tilting elections
The court’s order in Merrill suggests that the window for deciding the legality of redistricting measures before the 2022 elections has now closed.
That likely sends a message to all states – those that have not finished redistricting and those that may wish to revise their redistricted maps – that they can pass whatever maps they want, possibly tilting the 2022 congressional election, without fear of being overruled in federal court.
Henry L. Chambers Jr. is a professor of law at the University of Richmond.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Listen to This: Legitimate Political Discourse
A new episode of The Josh Marshall Podcast is live! This week, Josh and Kate discuss the RNC’s latest missive and some glimmers of hope for the Biden administration in the economy and pandemic.
You can listen to the new episode of The Josh Marshall Podcast here.
Dem Sens. Flag CIA’s ‘Secret Bulk’ Surveillance Program In Eyebrow-Raising Statement
Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM), who both sit on the Senate Intelligence Committee, made a surprising announcement late Thursday, releasing a statement saying that they had discovered the CIA had been running a “secret bulk collection program.”
Continue reading “Dem Sens. Flag CIA’s ‘Secret Bulk’ Surveillance Program In Eyebrow-Raising Statement”The Insurrection Evangelist Pushing To Bring Anti-Vax Trucker Protests To The US
On Jan. 5, 2021, Orange County attorney Leigh Dundas was enraged — and she was in D.C.
Continue reading “The Insurrection Evangelist Pushing To Bring Anti-Vax Trucker Protests To The US”Meadows’ Iron-Clad Trump Defense: Pelosi Ripped A Paper Once Too!
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Thursday night tried to defend ex-President Donald Trump’s mishandling of White House documents by comparing it to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) ripping up Trump’s widely distributed 2020 State of the Union speech.
Continue reading “Meadows’ Iron-Clad Trump Defense: Pelosi Ripped A Paper Once Too!”Lots Of Corporations ‘Paused’ Political Donations After Jan. 6. And Then…
In the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, scores of companies put out statements on their plans to “reevaluate,” or outright stop, their donations to members of Congress who had voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Continue reading “Lots Of Corporations ‘Paused’ Political Donations After Jan. 6. And Then…”Virginia AG’s Ex-Top Deputy Cheered For Insurrectionists And Claimed Trump Won Election In Truly Unhinged FB Posts
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
This Is Fine
Virginia deputy attorney general Monique Miles resigned on Thursday after the Washington Post asked her about Facebook posts she’d made applauding the “peace loving” Jan. 6 Capitol insurrectionists and spreading MAGA conspiracy theories that China election frauded Trump.
- A spokesperson for Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) said that he didn’t know about Miles’ posts until the Washington Post found them.
- Miles insisted to the Washington Post that her posts were taken out of context, that they were made “at a time when the news was still developing” and that she now believes Biden is the president “as he was certified as such.”
- Miles’ job as deputy attorney general involved election-related matters, including handling litigation over elections and giving legal advice to Virginia’s Department of Elections.
Minnesota GOP AG Candidate Brags About Staffers Joining Jan. 6 Insurrection
Lynne Torgerson, one of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s (D) Republican challengers, was proud to inform everyone at a GOP primary candidate forum last month that at least two of her staffers stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, according to a video clip flagged by Heartland Signal on Thursday.
- Torgerson described the insurrectionists as “heroes” and argued Biden’s victory in the 2020 election seemed to be “actually somewhat of a coup.”
- Another Republican hopeful at the event, Doug Wardlow, similarly stood by the insurrectionists, parroting the MAGA narrative that they were being “improperly prosecuted.”
- Wardlow is the general counsel for MyPillow by the way, which tells you about everything you need to know about the guy.
Biden Doing ‘Deep Dive’ Into Four SCOTUS Candidates
The President told MSNBC in a pre-taped interview on Thursday that he’s currently doing thorough background checks on four potential replacements for outgoing Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
- Biden predicted that his eventual nominee would have GOP support because he’s “not looking to make an ideological choice.”
- The President met with Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee to hammer out a nomination strategy earlier on Thursday. He signaled to the senators that he would start interviewing candidates next week, people who were at the meeting told the Washington Post.
- The FBI has begun vetting U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger and South Carolina federal district judge Michelle Childs, according to the Washington Post.
Texas GOP Voter Suppression Efforts Are Paying Off
Hundreds of mail-in ballots in Texas have been rejected as a result of Texas Republicans’ new sweeping voting restrictions ahead of the state’s primaries.
- The news follows a wave of complaints last month about staggeringly high rejection rates for ballot applications.
- As TPM’s Matt Shuham explained then, the issue largely comes down to an ID number the new law requires Texans to have on their ballots. Many people have no idea what their ID number is.
Oklahoma GOPer Pushes For Database On People Seeking Abortions
Oklahoma state Sen. George Burns (R) introduced a bill that would create a database of every pregnant person looking for an abortion by giving them a “unique identifying number” when they call a “pre-abortion resource” hotline.
Trump Supporter Arrested For Election Fraud In Wisconsin
One of the five people who were charged with voter fraud by a GOP district attorney in Wisconsin on Thursday was allegedly a Trump voter who had told investigators to look into voter fraud.
Must Read
“The Hawks, Lobbyists And Dictator Who Are Pushing Joe Biden To Spark A Historic Famine In Yemen” – HuffPost
Kinzinger Warns Of Potential Civil War
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), one of the two Republicans on the House Jan. 6 committee and has been censured by the Republican National Committee for it, asserted during an appearance on “The View” on Thursday that “we have to recognize” the possibility of a civil war.
Canada Trucker Convoy Spillover
The anti-vax “Freedom Convoy of 2022″ protests by Canadian truckers in Ottawa have ballooned to the point of clogging up several U.S.-Canada border crossings, and they’ve galvanized not only the far-right in the U.S. but also similar potential protests in 27 European capitals and New Zealand.
- Paris and Brussels have already banned convoys ahead of plans for anti-COVID restriction protests in those cities.
- Though there are some very serious implications behind these Canadian protests and the anti-vaxxers they’re apparently inspiring around the globe, I’d still like to direct your attention to the absolute hilarity of the copycat attempt in my half-homeland of Finland (“Suomi,” just FYI) last week, “#ConvoyFinland2022,” that mostly featured alcohol, Santa, snowballs being hurled at police horses and an actual mobile sauna, a thing that truly couldn’t be more Finnish if it tried:
In fact, these two guys told Helsingin Sanomat, Finland’s biggest newspaper, that they weren’t there to protest anything. They just wanted to saunoo on the streets.
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Where Things Stand: New Report Shows Expansive Role Christian Nationalism Played In Jan 6
There’s a comprehensive new report out from religious scholars and prominent Christian faith groups in the U.S. that dissects the role Christian nationalism played in inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol attack and also previews ways in which Christian nationalism could be harnessed to embolden future acts of political violence.
Continue reading “Where Things Stand: New Report Shows Expansive Role Christian Nationalism Played In Jan 6”