<Former Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal hit back at Republican criticisms of the indictment of Donald Trump that seek to downplay the charges.

Trump was indicted Thursday on 34 counts by a grand jury in Manhattan. While none of the counts have been revealed publicly, reporting in recent weeks indicates at least some of them could relate to the alleged falsification of business records to conceal a $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, who said she had an affair with Trump. The payment was made the month before the 2016 election.

However, the sheer number of counts potentially indicates Trump is also being charged with crimes unrelated to the payment.

On Thursday’s edition of The 11th Hour on MSNBC, host Stephanie Ruhle noted that despite not knowing what the charges are, conservatives are up in arms about them.

“Neal, isn’t it also an important reminder that while Republicans are claiming x, y, and z about the charges, we do not know what the charges are for? It is still sealed.”

“A hundred percent,” he replied, before turning to the matter of the payment to Daniels by Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney who said he paid her and was reimbursed by Trump. “And the one thing that we do know is that it does stem from these payments.”

Katyal noted that Cohen went to prison after pleading guilty to federal crimes in 2018 – during the Trump administration – to tax evasion and campaign violations stemming from the payment to Daniels and another woman:

Now, the important thing about that – because Trump and all these people are accusing the indictment tonight of being political. The U.S. Justice Department looked at precisely this set of circumstances: the payoffs to this person, the hush money, the like. And it concluded it was a federal crime, such a severe crime that it sent a person to jail, Michael Cohen, who was Trump’s lawyer.

And when the U.S. Justice Department sent Michael Cohen to jail, it said Cohen acted not on his own. It’s not like he came up with his plot on his own. It said that Cohen acted at the direction of Donald Trump, that Trump ordered him to do it.

Now, that was what they called a crime. The U.S. Justice Department then – and Cohen went to jail for – that was not the Merrick Garland Justice Department. It was not the Barack Obama Justice Department. It was the Donald Trump Justice Department that made that filing. So, every time you hear this thing about, “Oh, this hush money thing is political” and the like, remember it was Trump’s own Justice Department that called this crime back in 2018.>

<The battle over the Magic Kingdom has entered a new chapter.

It appears Walt Disney World won't be losing power over its land after all — at least not yet — following a high-profile battle with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida.

More than a month after DeSantis appointed a board to control the resort and theme park's decision making, a report by the Orlando Sentinel revealed that Disney lawyers wrote in an arrangement that keeps the company in power of its land virtually in perpetuity.

Despite Disney's formidable lobbying track record, the quiet arrangement to keep its power astonished and amused many political insiders.

"This must have really been ticklish for those attorneys to wonder when it was going to be discovered," Richard Foglesong, author of the book "Married to the Mouse: Walt Disney World and Orlando," told Insider. "I bet there were a lot of tee hee hee moments among them."

DeSantis made an example of Disney after the company said it would work to repeal the Parental Rights in Education Act, the legislation LGBTQ rights groups and Democrats have derided as "Don't Say Gay," because it limits classroom instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation.

The governor tried to unravel Disney's special privileges that many other businesses don't have, including rival theme parks such as Sea World and Universal Studios. While those parks must run their plans by zoning commissions or building inspection departments, Disney does not. This makes their operations run more efficiently, saving them time and money, Foglesong explained.

But DeSantis' highly publicized plan seems to have collapsed.

"It was a pretty brilliant move by the outgoing board to basically take all the power away," one Florida-based lobbyist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Insider. "Everybody that I talked to about it kind of chuckled about it. They thought it was funny."

Dozens of lobbyists didn't respond to Insider's requests for an interview or declined to comment, and a couple expressed concerns about discussing the DeSantis-Disney feud at all, out of fear of retaliation over a subject that has become highly charged.

Besides having an in-house government relations team, Disney also contracts with several lobbying firms — including the Southern Group, GrayRobinson, and the Vogel Group. Such firms have contracts with numerous other clients that have business before the governor, according to the state's lobbying disclosure database.

It's not yet clear how DeSantis might try to punish Disney for bypassing what has become a central talking point for the governor to show that he's unafraid to go up against powerful corporations who publicly disagree with his policies.

The resort and theme park has long been a powerhouse in the Sunshine State, bringing tax dollars, tourists, and jobs to central Florida. Foglesong described Disney's fight with DeSantis as the biggest hurdle the company has ever faced in Florida, saying, "If 10 is the highest, this is a 10."

Untangling the legalities of the dispute could take years and become an expensive endeavor, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Senate president Kathleen Passidomo told reporters Thursday evening that she didn't expect the legislature to make any changes to the law in the near term.

"We're going to take a look at it," she said. "I'm sure to see what they actually did."

The governor's appointees to the board overseeing Disney have said they're consulting with four different law firms, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Taryn Fenske, spokeswoman for the governor, said the agreement Disney brokered "may have significant legal infirmities that would render the contracts void as a matter of law."

But the matter appears far from settled, and it's not clear how DeSantis will retaliate a third time. The governor is known for using the arm of the state to achieve his goals in ways that other conservatives have criticized. Among those critics is former Vice President Mike Pence, who, like DeSantis, is a potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate.

While doing a book tour in Georgia on Thursday, DeSantis vowed "there's more to come" regarding the Disney feud. Shortly after, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody demanded texts and emails about the February 8 meeting that sealed the deal for Disney to retain control over much of its land.

"Who knows what they might come up with creatively to make Disney's life miserable?" Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida who co-authored the book "Politics in Florida," told Insider.

"If I have seen anything from this governor and the Republican legislature, it's that they go after perceived enemies, and they go after them in a big way," he continued. "I won't be surprised if other things happen."....>

<.....DeSantis has often invoked his battle with Disney when doing appearances across the US to promote his new book, "The Courage to Be Free: Florida's Blueprint for America's Revival." It's a story that has thrilled supporters, who boo at the mention of Disney's name and laugh as DeSantis scoffs over the irony that, almost 14 years ago, he married his wife, Casey DeSantis, at Disney World.

The promotional book tour is widely viewed as a soft campaign to lay the groundwork for an official 2024 presidential run, one that would pit DeSantis against former President Donald Trump.

In recent weeks the governor has taken a plunge in national polling about a hypothetical 2024 matchup while Trump has expanded his lead. The former president has benefited from the rally-around GOP support related to his indictment by the Manhattan district attorney, and has also relentlessly criticized DeSantis.

To many observers, DeSantis had appeared unstoppable, notching numerous political wins in Florida and getting the type of donor treatment enjoyed by political frontrunners.

"It shows that maybe he's not invincible," Jewett said of DeSantis' recent struggles. "He has and is going to make political mistakes. It weakens him, in the short run."

DeSantis has worked with the legislature twice to retaliate against Disney. First he signed a bill into law in April 2022 to dissolve the Reedy Creek district. But when it was revealed the measure could have resulted in residents taking on a sizeable amount of debt through higher taxes, the legislature sent DeSantis a new bill in February 2023 during a special session that would allow the governor to appoint a board to control the district.

But before that happened, Disney quietly brokered the agreement to maintain control. The company told Insider in a statement that it was "discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums." In what also appeared to be a slight, Disney World announced it would host the Out & Equal Workplace Summit in September, billing it as the "largest LGBTQ+ conference in the world."

Before this week, Democratic state lawmakers predicted Disney would sue and then ride out DeSantis' time in Tallahassee. Jewett expected Disney to let the matter go and to try to repair the relationship.

"In retrospect," he told Insider, "I feel like I should have expected that Disney was going to do something and that they wouldn't just let 50 years of control go."

Not only did it not let go of control, but the company tapped into its flair for the dramatic. To win this round, it invoked an obscure property law about King Charles III.

Using a royal clause was all very Disney, Foglesong said.

"They can't go to the mat in a mean kind of way," he said. "They have to be entertaining, and I think they will be. Because this is not just a legal fight, it's about public relations, too.">

<Earlier this week, reports indicated an elementary school in St. Petersburg, Florida banned a Disney documentary about civil rights hero Ruby Bridges, the first Black girl in New Orleans to attend an integrated public school, after a parent complained that the scenes of angry mobs shouting at her as she entered the building would teach kids about racism.

Now, according to the Tampa Bay Times, the school is changing course and denying that is what happened.

"[District officials] struggled to explain their initial action — an apparent ban of the film at one school — which would go against long-standing school district policy. Now they are blaming a miscommunication, and some school board members say they are upset at the way district administrators allowed the controversy to play out," reported Jeffrey S. Solochek.

"The policy, reauthorized this year by the school board, states that any challenged materials 'will remain in use' until a review committee issues its recommendation on what to do with the items. That’s not how the district first described what happened at North Shore Elementary in St. Petersburg, where a parent, Emily Conklin, claimed the movie about a girl who integrated a New Orleans school teaches students that white people hate Black people."

Prior emails support the original reporting. An area official, Michael Vigue, emailed Conklin to say that North Shore Elementary “will no longer be using this video to support the K-5 curriculum.” Superintendent Kevin Hendrick now says this email was "incorrect." According to the report, members of the Pinellas school board are frustrated, with one, Caprice Edmond, saying, “One parent shouldn’t have the say-so over what other parents can see for their kids.”

This comes as schools around Florida deal with tough new policies being pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the legislature that make it easier for local activists to order books be censored, ostensibly over issues like "pornography" — though the laws are so vaguely written that some schools are emptying entire library shelves.

Soon things could go even further; GOP lawmakers in Florida have reportedly slipped a provision into a bill expanding the state's infamous "Don't Say Gay" law that could let a person get any material in their county removed from a school for investigation.>

<Following former President Donald Trump's indictment by a Manhattan grand jury over hush payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels, his attorney Joe Tacopina made the rounds on TV news and compared the situation to one you would see in fascist regimes — a comment echoing Donald Trump Jr., who last night compared Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin and Pol Pot.

"We shouldn't pick the person and try to find the crime," said Tacopina on CBS Mornings. "If you read the prosecutor's book, what he said was, they had Donald Trump, they despised and loathed him. He was looking for a crime to fit the person. That's Nazi Germany, that's Communist China. We don't do that in this country."

But if anything, argued former federal prosecutor John Flannery on MSNBC's "The Beat" Friday, it's Tacopina and fellow Trump defenders who are behaving like fascists.

"We don't assume anyone's guilt, but it's not exactly a thunderbolt out of the blue that the Manhattan D.A., after going through this, when the lawyer was convicted, when the CFO was convicted, suddenly it got here," said anchor Ari Melber. "I want to err with a warning, a comparison that is in many ways controversial. The Trump lawyers are out and they are comparing this indictment to what the Nazis did." He played the clip of Tacopina.

"You know, I think we should flip places on who the fascists are," said Flannery. "The language of that attorney fits more the accusation he is making than that it should stick to anyone else."

Flannery's comments are similar to those of Timothy Snyder, an expert on authoritarian regimes at Yale University, who has sounded the alarm about the current direction of the Republican Party under Trump, particularly Trump's invocations for his supporters to take to the streets in response to the charges against him.

"The charge here involves three components, I think," said Flannery. "One is, I can grab, so this is the sexual part of it. Two, fraud, natural for Trump. And I say that because usually when we have a public figure like this, they spend all their time telling us what they didn't do and why they didn't do it. Instead, he accuses the government of making things up, when we see so much of it publically we know it wasn't made up and that it's true. And the third part, of course, is that he combines the sex and the combines the fraud at a time in an election when it's very close with Hillary Clinton, and he's 'anybody can grab the whatever', and he's doing this. No one can tell me this was a light element in his strategy to win that election using the electoral votes.">

<Republican lawmakers in Texas proposed a bill that would enable the secretary of state to overturn election results in counties that have one million residents or more.

Senate Bill 1993 was introduced on Thursday by state senators. It would allow the secretary of state – currently a Republican – to order a new election and gain district court-level authority.

The text of the bill states that “the secretary of state shall order a new election if the secretary has good cause to believe that at least two percent of the total number of polling places in the county did not receive supplemental ballots under Section 51.008 for one or more hours after making a request for supplemental ballots to the authority responsible for distributing election supplies.”

The legislation further says that “the secretary of state shall have the same authority granted to a district court.”

The passage of the bill would affect six Texas counties: Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Bexar, Travis, and Collin.

Harris County experienced an onslaught of conspiracy theory attacks during the 2020 and 2022 elections due to having technical difficulties ranging from the polling sites opening late to having a shortage of paper ballots.

GOP officials conducted audits and Republican candidates challenged their losses. Current Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) even conducted an investigation over allegations of improprieties. All of these efforts resulted with a conclusion that the county did not suffer from widespread voter fraud.

The expenses that would result in calling a new election by the secretary of state would be paid for by the same authorities that funded the original election.

The bill was introduced without a 48-hour notice in the State Affairs Committee. If passed, it would take effect starting Sep. 1, 2023.>

If so, which 'puppet master'? You? <dubya wallass, heart attack giver>?

Do tell.

<....Why do you allow paying members to be continually harassed by this troll?>

<Flagship CBS news program 60 Minutes on Friday tweeted a promo of the upcoming Lesley Stahl interview with polarizing Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and prompted a tidal wave of outrage in the process.

The extremely controversial Republican‘s sit-down with Stahl airs on Sunday, but the pushback and anger over the announcement from critics was immediate, accusing the show of platforming an extremist, of “both sides coverage”, and even being “complicit.”

The show tweeted several still photos along with the message: “Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, nicknamed MTG, isn’t afraid to share her opinions, no matter how intense and in-your-face they are. She sits down with this Sunday on 60 Minutes.”

Actor Bradley Whitford was among the most retweeted of the respondents with his oblique reference to Adolf Hitler.

“Reminds me of a guy we defeated in the 1940’s who wasn’t afraid to share his opinions, no matter how intense and in-your-face they were. Too bad you couldn’t interview him, @LesleyRStahl, you could have asked him about his vegetarianism and his love of dogs,” he wrote.

NBC News senior reporter Ben Collins on the other hand, who covers “disinformation”, criticized Greene for her Hitler references.

Also from the NBC world, pundit and frequent MSNBC guest Elie Mystal attacked the use of “MTG” for the congresswoman, writing, “The way you guys say her ‘nickname’ is MTG… as if it’s a cute moniker bestowed by her besties… when her initials are just MTG and her ‘nicknames’ are ‘Marjorie Three Names’ and ‘Unfrozen Caveman Congresswoman’ just shows that you’re here to launder her rep and complicit.”

Many of the criticisms centered on the tweet’s “framing” of the interview, while others simply attacked the very concept of putting the Republican on air at all. Former Republican Adam Kinzinger called the interview ‘insane,” and anti-gun activist David Hogg said he looks forward to Stahl asking Greene about “why she thinks school shootings are fake,” a reference to her embrace of conspiracy theories about Sandy Hook and other shootings.

Greene promoted her appearance by praising a MSM journalist for maybe the first time ever, though spelled the name wrong when writing that she “greatly” respects “Leslie” Stahl.

“It was an honor to spend a few days with the legendary icon Leslie Stahl and talented crew @60Minutes. Leslie is a trailblazer for women in journalism. And while we may disagree on some issues, I respect her greatly,” the congresswoman tweeted.>

<Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has been criticized for requesting federal aid in the wake of the tornadoes that ripped through the state despite previously speaking out against the "meddling hand of big government."

Sanders' plea for help has led to accusations of hypocrisy. During her gubernatorial campaign, she said she was running to defend the "right to be free of socialism and tyranny."

A spokesperson for the governor hit back at her critics, telling Newsweek they were using "a time of tragedy to score political points."

On Saturday, Sanders' office said the governor had spoken with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell to discuss the state and federal response to the tornadoes. FEMA has since confirmed that Criswell will be traveling to Arkansas on Sunday to survey the tornado damage.

Sanders has also spoken with Joe Biden, with the president telling the governor that the federal government "stands ready to assist" the people of Arkansas following the severe weather which has left at least five people dead and dozens more injured.

Social media users have also pointed to a tweet Sanders sent in January after entering office stating that as governor of Arkansas, the "meddling hand of big government creeping down from Washington D.C. will be stopped cold at the Mississippi River."

While sharing a screengrab of Sanders' January post, Mark Jacob, author and former editor of The Chicago Tribune, tweeted: "The federal government will help Arkansas recover from today's devastating tornadoes, as well it should. But I couldn't help recalling Sarah Huckabee Sanders' divisive tweet from January in which she refused to see Americans as one people."

Comedian and actor Gabe Sachez wrote: "So, does this mean that Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be accepting help from 'the meddling hand of big government'?"

Lindy Li, a political commentator, and Democratic National Committee member tweeted: "Sarah Huckabee Sanders blasted socialism. Now she's begging for aid.

"Bankers blasted socialism. Now they're begging for bailouts. Marjorie Taylor Greene blasted socialism. She got $183,504 in PPP money. Republicans are ALWAYS about privatizing the profits & socializing the losses."

In a viral tweet alongside a picture of Sanders, the Turn Texas Blue campaign group wrote: "Thursday: I will end Socialism in Arkansas. Friday: Tornado. Saturday: I need Federal Assistance."

When reached for comment on the criticism, Sanders' spokeswoman Alexa Henning told Newsweek: "The Governor spent all day yesterday with Arkansans who have been affected by this tornado and who have lost nearly everything. She promised she would do whatever they needed to aid with recovery and rebuilding.

"I won't respond to petty internet trolls who are using a time of tragedy to score political points."

Others also suggested the criticism is unjustified and that Sanders is right to request help for the people of Arkansas in the wake of a natural disaster.

"Do citizens of Arkansas pay federal income taxes that fund FEMA?" Twitter user Rich Newton wrote in reply to Turn Texas Blue's post.

"Federal Assistance for Natural Disasters is NOT socialism," added another social media user. "It is our duty as citizens to care for each other in hard times and Government is the apparatus to deliver that promise."

Sanders, former White House press secretary in the Donald Trump administration, has declared a state of emergency in Arkansas after the devastating tornadoes swept through the state and she has also activated the Arkansas National Guard to assist the police.

"Arkansans are tough. Arkansans are resilient," Sanders tweeted on Saturday. "I spoke with those who embody the strong, determined spirit of Arkansas today.

"Together, we will recover and we will rebuild even stronger than before."

Elsewhere, former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, who preceded Sanders in office, has confirmed that he will be running for president in 2024,

Hutchinson has now joined Trump, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy as the confirmed candidates in the GOP presidential primary, with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also expected to announce his 2024 bid in the coming weeks.>

<CBS News correspondent Lesley Stahl was almost speechless after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene compared President Joe Biden and Democrats with pedophiles during the controversial 60 Minutes interview that aired on Sunday.

One example of the commentary described by such critics was when, almost exactly a year ago, Greene called Democrats “the party of pedophiles” in a Real America’s Voice interview.

Stahl brought that up in Sunday’s interview.

“The Democrats are ‘a party of pedophiles,'” she prompted.

“I would definitely say so,” Greene replied. “They support grooming children.”

Stahl objected, saying “They are not pedophiles. Why would you say that?”

“Democrats support– even Joe Biden, the President himself, supports children being sexualized and having transgender surgeries,” said Greene. “Sexualizing children is what pedophiles do to children.”

Stahl was quiet a moment before whispering, “wow.” After another extended pause, she added, “okay.”

Stahl then asked if such attacks and “name-calling” are necessary to “fight for what you believe in.”

Greene said she’d ask the same question of “the other side.”

“All they’ve done is call me names and insult me non-stop since I’ve been here,” said Greene.

The first moment from the interview shown on Sunday’s show was Stahl reading some of those insults and names aloud to Greene.

LESLEY STAHL: The Democrats are a party of pedophiles.

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE: I would definitely say so. They support grooming children.

STAHL: They are not pedophiles. Why would you say that?

GREENE: Democrats, Democrats support– even Joe Biden, the President himself, supports children being sexualized and having transgender surgeries. Sexualizing children is what pedophiles do to children.

STAHL: Wow. Okay. But my question really is can’t you fight for what you believe in without all that name-calling and without the personal attacks?

GREENE: Well, I would ask the same question to the other side, because all they’ve done is call me names and insult me non-stop since I’ve been here, Lesley. They call me racist. They call me– sen– anti-Semitic, which is not true. I’m not calling anyone names. I’m calling out the truth basically-

STAHL: Pedophile?

GREENE: Pedophi– call it what it is.>

Wonder how she felt about Epstein....

<(Reuters) - U.S. Justice Department and FBI investigators have amassed new evidence indicating possible obstruction by former President Donald Trump in the probe into classified documents found at his Florida estate, the Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing sources.

FBI agents seized thousands of government records, some marked as highly classified, from Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in August. The investigation is one of two criminal inquiries into the former president being led by Special Counsel Jack Smith.

Trump, who was indicted on Thursday in a separate inquiry in New York, has denied any wrongdoing in the cases and describes them as politically motivated.

After his advisers received a subpoena in May demanding the return of the classified records, Trump looked through some of the boxes of government documents in his home out of an apparent desire to keep certain things in his possession, the Post reported, citing people familiar with the investigation.

Investigators also have evidence indicating Trump told others to mislead government officials in early 2022, before the subpoena, when the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration was working to recover documents from Trump's time as president, the Post reported. . The FBI referred questions to the Justice Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement to the Post, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said that the "witch-hunts against President Trump have no basis in facts or law," and accused Special Counsel Smith and the Justice Department of leaking information to manipulate public opinion.

Smith's investigations are among a growing number of legal worries for Trump, who in November launched a campaign seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

In addition to the New York probe, Trump faces a Georgia inquiry over whether he tried to overturn his 2020 election defeat in the state.>

<Voters in Wisconsin go to the polls on Tuesday to elect a member of the state's supreme court in an election that could have wide-ranging consequences for the whole country.

The race is technically nonpartisan, but Democrats are supporting liberal candidate Janet Protasiewicz over the conservative former state Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly.

If Protasiewicz defeats Kelly, the state's highest court will have an effective 4-3 liberal majority that could open the door to challenging district maps for the U.S. House of Representatives that currently favor Republicans.

Battle Over Maps

Wisconsin's current congressional maps were decided following a legal battle that arose when Democratic Governor Tony Evers and the GOP-led state legislature couldn't agree on the maps following the results of the 2020 census.

That fight involved both the state supreme court and the U.S. Supreme Court, while the current maps were proposed by Evers but still favor Republicans. That's because of a previous ruling that said the maps must be based on the last decade's district lines.

Tuesday's election could re-open the issue if the Democrat-backed candidate triumphs.

Six of Wisconsin's eight members of Congress are Republicans but a new liberal majority on the state supreme court could see a renewed legal challenge to current maps.

Republicans at Risk from Redistricting

GOP Representatives Bryan Steil and Derrick Van Orden, who represent GOP-leaning districts, could see those districts redrawn in a way that could endanger their chances of re-election, Politico reported on March 28, citing operatives on both sides.

Representative Mike Gallagher, whose district is more solidly Republican, could also find himself facing a more competitive map.

Given that tight margins in the House are now common, any new congressional maps in Wisconsin could prove to be of national importance.

"I don't think anybody thinks those maps are fair. Anybody," Protasiewicz said during the one and only debate with Kelly.

"The question is am I able to fairly make a decision on a case? Of course, I would," she said.

Ben Wikler, chair of the state Democratic Party, told The Economist on March 26 that he was concerned about the way a conservative majority court might rule on a potential 2024 presidential election challenge.

"To live in Wisconsin is to disabuse oneself of the fantasy that the threat to democracy is gone," Wikler said. "It is very much alive."

However, concerns about unfair maps are not confined to Democrats. Former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, a Republican, told The Economist that the court could adopt "a purely partisan gerrymandering map, as opposed to some sense of compromise" if Protasiewicz wins....>

<....'Rigging Electoral Rules'

Thomas Gift, founding director of University College London's Centre on U.S. Politics, told Newsweek that Wisconsin pointed to wider problems.

"The potentially sweeping consequences of reshaping electoral districts in Wisconsin shows just how much gerrymandering has become a dominant factor in who controls the levers of power in America," Gift said.

"We don't get far-left and far-right representatives simply because America's electorate is becoming more polarized," he said. "We also get it as a functional byproduct of rigging electoral rules to create 'safe seats,' which in turn, dis-incentivizes politicians from moderating.

"In that sense, Wisconsin is only a microcosm of what's become one of the biggest scourges in U.S. politics," he went on.

Gift said that both Democrats and Republicans "are guilty of the practice, and each side gets on its moral high horse about solving the problem only when it's politically expedient."

"Much of the Republican advantage in legislative contests exists merely because Democratic voters are packed together in urban areas, especially Milwaukee and Madison, while Republican voters are distributed more efficiently across suburban and small-town districts," Paul Quirk, a political scientist at the University of British Columbia, in Canada, told Newsweek.

"But the Republicans also have major advantages from state legislative and congressional district lines that were drawn for their benefit," Quirk said.

"Before the 2022 elections, the state supreme court's 4-3 conservative majority resolved a redistricting impasse between the Republican legislature and the Democratic governor by ordering the adoption of the severely gerrymandered Republican map," he added.

Quirk said that Protasiewicz "has signaled an inclination to support a Democratic suit calling for revision of the current districts. If the suit succeeds, the Democrats could credibly compete for majority status in legislative elections through 2030."

A 2024 Election Challenge?

The Wisconsin Supreme Court may also be asked once again to rule on a challenge to a presidential election. In 2020, the court threw out a challenge brought by former President Donald Trump with conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn joining the liberal members of the court.

While a majority of the justices refused to hear Trump's challenge to the election, three justices on the seven-member court wanted to take up the case.

President Joe Biden won the state of Wisconsin, which had previously been won by Trump in 2016 and the state is likely to be crucial in securing a 2024 electoral college victory....>

<....If margins in Wisconsin are tight and a presidential candidate brings a challenge, the makeup of the court would be all-important.

If Dan Kelly wins the seat, the court will have an effective conservative majority, though Justice Hagedorn, who joined the liberals in rejecting a challenge to the 2020 election, remains in office.

Paul Quirk told Newsweek that if Kelly wins "not only will the Republican districting remain in place, but Wisconsin may be vulnerable in 2024 and thereafter to a reprise of the 2020 Republican efforts to overturn the state's election results."

He pointed to the fact that three current conservative supreme court judges "all wanted the court to consider the Trump team's appeal from lower court losses in the 2020 'stop-the-steal' cases."

"We don't know if they - alone among state and federal judges in more than 60 cases -would have made significant rulings in Trump's favor," he said, adding that Kelly, "a Trump ally then working for a conservative advocacy group, consulted with leading Republicans on plans for the fake-elector scheme.

"With Kelly and the other three conservatives forming the majority, the Wisconsin Supreme Court could be a friendly venue for possible Republican efforts to overturn legitimate election results in 2024," Quirk said.

A Functioning Democratic Country

It is too early to tell if Trump will be the Republican candidate or who will win Wisconsin next year but there are already real concerns about the role the state's supreme court might play.

Nonetheless, the outcome of Tuesday's race could have far-reaching consequences beyond Wisconsin.

"It's deeply indicative of the problems with contemporary U.S. elections that the distribution of state - and possibly even national - power could be significantly affected by a single state supreme court election, rather than by the aggregate pattern of voter preferences," David A. Bateman, an associate professor of government at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, told Newsweek.

"This is not a way a functioning democratic country operates, where institutions of independent districting or proportional representation, plus neutral election rules designed not primarily for partisan advantage, are insulated from small changes in partisan control," he added.>

<At Donald Trump’s rally in Waco, Texas, one supporter wearing an “Ultra MAGA” t-shirt said he didn’t know how many people per year drag shows killed but that it was definitely more than guns.

The Trumper claimed that the “long-term effects” of drag shows on kids are more dangerous to their lives than guns. And when the interviewer shared the statistic that 48,000 people die every year from gun violence, the Trump supporter responded that “there’s probably 100,000 that die from drag shows.”

“You guys are worried about banning books? Dead kids can’t read.”

Republicans continue to demonize LGBTQ+ people and focus their legislative efforts on banning books, drag shows, and gender-affirming care, as well as restricting other rights of marginalized groups.

In the meantime, they refuse to pass commonsense gun control legislation, and shootings continue to ravage the nation.>

<RE: 'disrespectful'
<got himself in difficulties grabbing a hot pawn>

6...cxd4 is the most common move in the database, typical of an Open Sicilian. Black outperforms White from this position.

9...Bxe4 leaves Black better.

There are no other captures of White pawns. The bellicose Black king does capture a BISHOP and a KNIGHT.

Once again, we are fed a lame post by the lazy <perfidious> who does not bother to analyze the game he is commenting on. Wasn't it yesterday that the self-promoting perfidious flaunted a "Morphy 4" status on the Stewart Reuben page? In fact, editor perfidious has previously stated to his pal that he does not bother to REPLAY some games that he comments on. Our ever-present cyberbully simply enjoys being disagreeable, harassing other members with negative commentary.

15...Kg6? is the astonishing move ("completely insane" -- GM Nakamura) leading to Black's demise, as correctly pointed out by longtime member <rwbean>. Instead, centralizing 15...Re8 would have maintained equality.

<....It is well known that FTB does not communicate with Big Pawn. Rdb completely imagines who he thinks FTB is, not what FTB actually posts over the years. The left wingers love their <false image projection> tactics to smear others.

Rdb is a sock puppet that should be removed. Has no care of chess, no worthwhile use on this website.>

<fredthecuck>, when did he ever engage in non-consensual sexual conduct? Got proof for this latest windy assertion?

How do you get to be bully and victim simultaneously. Quite a feat 😊😊>

<There were unconfirmed reports from CNN last week that there would be 34 charges against Donald Trump, but Yahoo's Michael Isikoff has been able to confirm the felony counts.

One that was expected is a falsification of business records because Trump created a fake pathway where he funneled money to his attorney claiming a legal retainer when the funds were actually for the hush money payment.

"The charge of falsification of business records is normally prosecuted in New York state as a misdemeanor," the report said. "But Bragg’s office bumped up all the charges to Class E felonies — the lowest level of felonies in the New York State penal code on the grounds that the conduct was intended to conceal another underlying crime, according to the source."

That charge could result in prison time of up to four years, but that's unlikely.

A New York City Police “arrest report” detailed many of the pieces of information about Trump's felonies.

Isikoff also said that Trump would not be subjected to a mug shot, which hasn't previously been known. Previous reports by Rolling Stone confirmed that Trump wouldn't be handcuffed, which the Secret Service shot down immediately amid the security negotiations with the courthouse.>

<JPMorgan executives obstructed an investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and joked about the convicted sex trafficker’s interest in young girls, the government of the U.S. Virgin Islands alleges in a lawsuit against the bank, The Daily Beast reports.

The complaint says JPMorgan knew more about the disgraced financier than it has previously acknowledged, and that its actions caused “serious harm” to women and girls in the Virgin Islands.

The Caribbean territory’s attorney general on Monday amended its lawsuit against the bank to include one count of obstruction of enforcement of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.

The complaint alleges that executive Mary Erdoes, who last month was deposed in the lawsuit, was aware of Epstein's behavior.

Jes Staley, an Epstein friend, and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon were also scheduled to be deposed.

The amended complaint states that the bank's employees and senior executives knew Epstein was under investigation or was sued in connection with sex trafficking or sexual abuse, citing internal emails.

Epstein’s relationship with the bank extended from 1998 to 2013 and included the period in which he pleaded guilty to solicitation of an underaged girl.

The complaint alleges that “Epstein’s behavior was so widely known at JPMorgan that senior executives joked about Epstein’s interest in young girls.”

Additionally, the complaint said, “JP Morgan had information that it knew was directly relevant to the federal investigation of Epstein’s suspected trafficking.”

The territory’s attorney general filed the lawsuit against JP Morgan late last year after two Epstein victims sued Deutsche Bank.

The lawsuits alleged that the banks profited from Epstein’s actions.

The bank had denied wrongdoing.

A federal judge denied the bank’s request to dismiss the cases.>

The favourite perv of <heart attack giver> and <fredthebanal> has gone, taking the coward's way out: good riddance to bad rubbish.

<Hours before former President Donald Trump plans to surrender to the Manhattan District Attorney Tuesday, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene will join a rally in New York City's Collect Pond Park to protest the former president's indictment.

But the park — just steps outside of the DA's office in downtown Manhattan — wasn't always the patch of greenery inside New York's concrete jungle. The small area was once a pond filled with drinking water that later became a disgusting, stinky open sewer and the center of a gang-filled slum where mobsters like Lucky Luciano and Al Capone got their start.

Collect Pond used to supply NYC with drinking water

In the 18th century, the land on Leonard Street between Centre and Lafayette Streets used to be a "sixty-foot deep pool fed by an underground spring," according to New York City's Department of Parks & Recreation.

The water at the time was clean and pure enough that it supplied drinking water to the area through the end of the 1700s.

At the time, the locals used the area a common space for activities like picnics or ice skating when the pond froze over in the winter.

In 1796, John Fitch tested one of the first-ever experimental steamboats on the pond, New York's parks department said.

The pond got its name from Dutch settlers in the seventeenth century who dubbed it "kolch," or "small body of water." Over time, the name was changed to "collect" as native English speakers took control the land, according to the parks department website.

By the 19th century, the clean pond became a sewer — then a neighborhood

At the turn of the century, the once-pure pond had been transformed into a communal open sewer by nearby businesses. Slaughterhouses, tanneries, and breweries dumped refuse into the pond during the start of the industrial revolution, according to the Tenement Museum.

By 1805, out of disgust for the trash-filled water (and accompanying smells), city officials devised a plan to drain the sewer water and fill the hole with land from a nearby hill.

In 1805, the city ordered the pond to be drained. But the drainage caused the surrounding land to become marshy, so 1807, the city built a canal that would bring the water all the way to the Hudson River, according to the Tenement Museum.

It was all drained by 1811, but the smells wafting from the canal were still pretty foul. To fix the problem, city workers started construction to cover the canal; that's now NYC's Canal Street.

It took six years for the city to fill the hole that was once Collect Pond, according to the parks department. In 1811, construction began on a new neighborhood — Paradise Square — that was poised to sit atop the new land and boasted new apartment buildings.

But because of the land's roots, and the area's high water table, the neighborhood began to sink — and stink —in the 1820s, prompting many of the affluent businessmen who had just moved there to flock to other areas of the city, according to the Tenement Museum.

The failed neighborhood became known for the "Five Points" in the 1830s

Once Paradise Square failed as a new city neighborhood, the area became known as "Five Points," or the convergence of five streets: Mulberry Street, Anthony Street, Cross Street, Orange Street, and Little Water Street, according to the parks department.

The neighborhood quickly shifted to be poor and dangerous in the 1830s, most well-known for its "crime and filth," according to the parks department, the new apartment buildings suddenly opened for poorer city residents and newly arriving immigrants who could live there for cheap, according to the Tenement Museum.

According to the Tenement Museum, "Five Points" became one of the most well-known immigrant slums in the city at the time.

The streets were rife with criminals and gangs in the 1830s, and, according to the parks department, some early 20th-century criminals — such as Lucky Luciano and Al Capone — got their start in "Five Points" gangs....

...."Five Points" finally started turning around after journalist Jacob Riis published "How The Other Half Lives" in 1890. The book revealed the squalid conditions of many living throughout NYC, specifically on the Lower East Side, and sparked concern with city officials.

Four years after its publication, NYC officials condemned nearly all of the tenement buildings in the area, "ridding the community of crime and filth," according to the parks department....

....The park now boasts open, green areas, and plenty of benches and trees. Soon, the park will add "site of a pro-Trump rally" to its long and winding history.>

<The Texas state Senate Education Committee this week will take up a bill requiring the Ten Commandments to be installed in every public school classroom, and another that would allow schools to hire pastors or chaplains instead of counselors.

“A public elementary or secondary school shall display in a conspicuous place in each classroom of the school a durable poster or framed copy of the Ten Commandments,” reads SB 1515.

The bill is extremely specific, mandating the size of the poster (at least 16 x 20), and that it be readable from anywhere in the classroom: “in a size and typeface that is legible to a person with average vision from anywhere in the classroom in which the poster or framed copy is displayed.”

The bill also includes the complete text of the Ten Commandments, in the version ordained by its author, state Senator Phil King, a Republican.

Senator King’s bill goes as far as to mandate that if a school classroom does not have the Ten Commandments posted, it “must” accept a copy if anyone donates one, and any extras “must” be offered for donation to any other school. It can also use taxpayer funds to purchase a copy.

NBC News senior investigative reporter Mike Hixenbaugh, who posted news of the bill on Monday, points out language in the Ten Commandments might be confusing to a first grader.

The Education Committee will also take up a bill “allowing school districts to employ chaplains to perform the duties of school counselors.”

The bill, SB 763, specifies that the chaplains do not need to be certified by the state education board.

Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott, believed to be gauging a run for the White House, as the state Attorney General won a U.S. Supreme Court case allowing the Ten Commandments to be displayed on the state capitol grounds.

A constitutional attorney for the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) in 2019 wrote allowing the Ten Commandments in classrooms would “impose biblical law on the state’s public schools,” and added: “Such displays are illegal.”>

really sick and tired of you ruining chess games with all matters anti-chess.>

The blinkered hypocrite <lyin' king> sez after presuming to dictate to the admins what must be done.....