Doing an End Run Around the DNC Lawsuit?
Well, hello, mighty C99!! If anyone is interested, there's a note on "where the hell has Luna been?" below--but trust me, this is way more important than moi. For now, I absolutely had to (reset my password, it's been that long) come out here and share some DNC-lawsuit-related thoughts amongst the fine denizens of the only blog I really trust at this point....
I saw the following a short time ago at The Hill, and immediately thought two things:
1) It's The Hill, so it's a trial balloon
and
2) Those sneaky fuckers are up. to. SOMETHING....
A Republican donor in Virginia has filed a lawsuit against the national and Virginia Republican parties, accusing them of fraud and racketeering for raising millions of dollars in donations knowing they wouldn’t be able to repeal ObamaCare.
AYFKM??
Sounds familiar, don't it?
Class action against the Democratic National Committee & Debbie Wasserman Schultz for collusion and fraud (for raising millions of dollars in donations knowing they were partial to one candidate at the expense of others, in defiance of its own charter)
It's simple, really--you know what I think the GOP case is about? I think it's about "establishing precedent" with a bullshit court filing that's reeeal similar to the DNC lawsuit so precedence can be established when the case is dismissed. Because near as I can tell, the DNC case is unprecedented. So if a precedent were to come about somehow (cough), the judge in the DNC case would have a precedent to throw that case out too.
I happily acknowledge that I Am Not A Lawyer--but if you are, or if you want to weigh in, tell me if I'm nuts or not to be connecting such a set of dots over to the DNC fraud case. I say the plaintiffs there have an excellent case--particularly in light of the since-uncovered Awan Brothers connection to Wasserman-Shultz. In fact, it's so excellent that the Deep State jokers need to make it go away and they're getting downright desperate to the point of literal manipulation of American jurisprudence. What say you?
Comments
PS
I haven't been here for awhile participating, or really doing much political blogging/reading anywhere lately. I've been too broke and too angry to dig too deep, and I finally decided I needed a sanity break (save for my social media, which only somewhat kept me sane) and threw myself into what remains of my job. I'll still be lurking, maybe commenting from time to time, including on this. Regardless, I have missed gabbing with you guys. No matter where we go or where we end up, though, I believe we'll always be bound by a common cause--keeping readers aware of the things that a gaggle of highly-placed, treasonous usurpers of democracy are doing, to destroy our country and everything it ever stood for--and maybe even stopping them somehow. I'm trying to hang in there, and hope you are too
important
This is important. luna!
To paraphrase the words of one J. Christ, we will always have corrupt politicians with us. Always. And, as you point out, communication about their maldeeds is the first step to putting an end to the same.
But I, for one, have missed you badly, and rejoice to see you back with us. You are important, lunachickie, and you need to know that. And I've now told you as much.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
<3
and hugs to you,
... thank you@lunachickie
What thanatokephaloides said, times 99. (At least.) And I hope your situation improves soon!
That said, I personally don't feel that the lawsuits are all that close.
There's a difference between
a political party cheating financially contributing voters out of what was claimed to be a fair electoral contest
and a political party running on a platform thought to be unachievable by those organizing it.
The latter actually would be expected...
Electoral cheating maybe should be expected of both wings of the Two-Faced Corporate Party - although the Republicans have been, up until now, (at least in modern times,) far more blatant about it - but perhaps not so much of a Dem nomination. Even with the Clintons involved, the cheating was mindboggling, with every one of those myriad cheat-schemes required to give Hillary Her Turn at losing the General again. And there's loads of evidence and indication of that cheating. But who knows what a corrupt judge may decide...
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
Extremely dangerous precedent, too...
It will establish for all time that politicians are not only allowed to lie brazenly and shamelessly.
Also, if the Rethugs are granted even a penny of "punitive damages" it means that you can't sue them for lying without potentially being ruined.
While it would be great to see the Rethugs taken down a peg for lying, same as the Dems, I have no faith in the judiciary, installed by the subjects of the lawsuits.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Could be?
Give how much Her was courting Republican donors and that their strategy was literally picking up two Republicans for every Democrat they lost, who knows? The whole DNC lawsuit is based on some jaw dropping skullduggery, so it's hard to dismiss this theory outright. Nothing surprises me anymore.
Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.
Wow!
I think you might be onto something.
I was wondering why the DNC suit was taking so long, and why the judge seems to need months to review the case and issue a ruling and we haven't even gotten near a trial yet.
And, now that you bring the subject up, it occurs to me that the elites of both parties DO NOT want a public out in the open trial on these matters.
Mary Bennett
It likely won't see
the light of day. By itself, though, the simple filing of the suit at least gives us ammunition to make our own case that the "system" is fucked.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
That's the whole point
The reason for throwing the suit out would in and of itself also establish a precedent.
I agree that this is a bullshit case and that the DNC case has actual merit. And what better way to squash any further movement on a case with merit, than by establishing an excuse to dismiss it?
All that being said, just remember that I truly hope I'm wrong about all this
I was actually talking
about the D case, but should have been more specific. Deep State won't allow the D case to proceed. I mean, they can't jail the entire Village, and this case would practically implicate the entire Village.
But just the fact that somebody had the balls to file it - the trail of dead is long - is enough for us to make the case that the "System" is fucked.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
Yup....
Exactly. My only remaining question is "can a judge cite a precedent for a case decision that came AFTER his current case was filed?" Does it matter when the case is decided, for it to be used as precedence in another decision?
@lunachickie Precedence is a prior
Precedents are after appellate review. No matter what happens in the DNC case, it will be appealed. I figure we are years away from a precedent.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
That's kind of what I thought,
Which lends a bit of weight to the big picture, which I find rather frightening. We could definitely be years away from precedence for the DNC case. Hell, it could take years to let other things run their course. Like on this GOP case--for all we know, the Mighty Wurlitzer could be cranking up to elevate this Frivolous Lawsuit as we speak! And of course President Trumpski could have himself a Tweet-fest over it and boy, wouldn't all that eat up a whole shit-ton of news cycle time?
What? Diversionary you say? How crass. How cynical
Good to see you back (and/or front). Some idioms don't make sense. If you can only some else's back, they are going away from you, whereas you are approaching, thankfully.
lunachickie, good to see you...
happy you are posting. Haven't been following the lawsuit so i've nothing to add, just wanted to say welcome back!
:)
I see two differences
in these lawsuits. First, the Democratic party lawsuit cites that what DWS etal were doing was in direct violation of the party's charter. This would establish a basis for fraud as party members and donors were giving money to various candidates with the expressed written expectation (in the DNC's own charter) that the DNC was to remain neutral among primary party candidates. The second thing in the DNC lawsuit is that money was being given in election campaigns, therefore the DNC's violation of its own charter was not only violated, but also could have affected the outcomes of the primaries in some cases.
I am not a lawyer, but I do see a distinct difference between the two lawsuits with the DNC case being much stronger due to the first reason I cited above. However, the lawsuit against the RNC may have been filed as a diversionary tactic and could have been an attempt to establish precedent even though I personally see the two lawsuits as being very different.
BTW, it is good to see you, Luna.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Also the (R) lawsuit claims that they knew
that they couldn't repeal Obamacare. That's a steep hurdle to overcome. And patently ridiculous seeing that they came so close. Two more (R) Senators and they would have had it.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
Is it?
Sure! They're claiming the fraud was such that they knew they couldn't repeal it--but they'd have to know what the makeup of the House and Senate were ultimately going to be to do that, wouldn't they?
All of this is rather akin to predicting the future, and that's where propaganda could be used to blur the lines between the real differences between these two cases, so that The People decide they're exactly similar. A similar prediction can be made in the (D) suit, can't it? Yes, voters were defrauded of a choice of Bernie Sanders in the long run--absolutely. Did that fraud caused Bernie Sanders to ultimately lose the nomination? Of course it did! But isn't that also predicting the future?
What they can't get right in details, they'll use their dutiful media to fuck with, so that there's no peasant revolt. Cuz the whole DNC thing is really grown up, with the addition of the Awan Bros connection...
DNC fraud was only one aspect of Bernie's loss
Regardless of the DNC fraudsuit outcome, the election fraud beyond that determining the existing lawsuit was directly and materially affecting the outcome of an already pre-determined primary winner. It is to Bernie's discredit that he did not call out the clear violations of primary voting procedures DURING his campaign before the DNC convention. It is this lack plus DNC sheep-dogging which has sown significant doubts about a second presidential run by Bernie. But, in a converse of voting for the-lesser-of two-evils conundrum, we may have the fortunate choice of choosing the greater of several goods--e.g., Tulsi and Nina.
PS
I'm not even getting excited over Tulsi. I think she'd be awesome, but if these usurpers aren't stopped, they'll get to her just like they got to Bernie.
Indeed there are
differences in the details, for sure...but is the general thrust of both cases such that one could be a "precedent" to another? Not being a lawyer, I'm not sure how similar or how different in detail they have to be--I always thought the end game in establishing legal precedent was the "final outcome". Here, the final outcome is "the people were defrauded" because "a political party misrepresented something" and cost the people money.
I should probably note, too, that the GOP article in part describes the lawsuit using the word "racketeering". That's a word a lot of people discussing the DNC lawsuit have been using for months now. RICO, anybody?
What do I think?
I think you are Perspicacious! (Autocorrect kept changing the word to efficacious or perspiration until I capitalized the p )
Have missed you and your insights and your righteous anger.
I keep reminding myself that back in the day I thought they couldn't go any lower. Then, the news that we were fully engaged in torture broke.
I guess in addition to competition for money and power, they can vie for lowest skullduggery.
@gustogirl
I love new words! And thank you, gustogirl, that's a lovely complement to my utter word geekiness!
perspicacious
And you should be quite orgulous that you used that word!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Darn it TE, this is the second time in two days
edited
replaced comment to the chat above where it was supposed to go
That's an interesting angle.
Glad you brought it, and it's nice to see you. You kept things lively and engaging.
I'm a keen observer of strategic lying and propaganda in the public sphere. It's been creating political dramas for thousands of years. It falls in and out of fashion, but with the arrival of media on the planet, deception evolved rapidly. At first, when radio came around, Americans were very high minded about it and penalized media companies if they deliberately misinformed the public. But that regulation was revoked in the 1980s, and the media was permitted to lie to viewers about news and current events. Then, just last year a law was passed permitting the government and its agencies and Congress and the President — to lie to the people without repercussion and deceive them with propaganda.
I don't think Parties are held to a higher standard than that. Parties are not even part of government. They are operated as private clubs and they can follow any rules that they wish to. Members can move on if they don't like it. They are seen as helpful boosters of "Democracy."
On the other hand, people do feel they were defrauded. And based on their expectations, they were. But the Parties are free to throw away primary results if they want to, and pick their own candidates, as they historically have done. And Party platforms and promises are routinely ignored or abandoned. Why should Party members expect different behavior this time?
True, money did change hands. But elected officials are perfectly free to prioritize the interests of corporations over the interests of smaller donors. The Supreme Court says as much. And, small donors are perfectly free to vote them out of office. The Parties are always grooming new candidates to take their places.
As you cleverly suggest, the courts may be getting their ducks in a row for rulings they intend to make and defend. But the law does seem settled. I'm not a lawyer, either. I could be way off on this. I would love it if they found for the People, particularly because it would finally establish, legally, that legislation may be bought and sold. Then, the People could pool their money, instead, and buy the legislation they want directly from whomever manages to get elected. They could compete with the corporations and beat them at their own game. Pretending we live in a Democracy is working against us. We live in a marketplace.
Don't be a stranger, okay?
Heh....so am I, these days,
It's nice to be writing again. One of the things that's kept me so broke is pursuing of further education on propaganda and rhetoric. Long story short, I'm trying to learn more, such that it helps me communicate stuff like this a lot more appropriately, and in an easier-to-understand way, to others who actively seek to understand it.
Oh they've been doing it for years, haven't they? To me, though, the DNC case is completely removed from that. This is an active case that does not yet seem to have a precedent--that's the key. The others (McCutcheon, Citizens United, etc.) were done to establish precedents for the future cases which might arise.
Which law settles the DNC suit already? Do you know of an existing precedent?
I'm not exactly sure.
The outcome of the DNC case seems implied, to me, from the settled laws about issues that forcefully impact Democratic outcomes with undo influence. Citizens United, yes. The Party Bosses, definitely. I'm following the logic that I built in the argument I made above.
My instincts may be just so-so, however. I borrowed heavily from Einstein who wrote about this exact issue that emerges at the Federal level and across society. I'm certain he got it right. He said:
My conclusions about how to deal with the situation are more direct than than Einstein's prescient musings. I was quite serious about directy buying our desired legislation. It's expedient and possible. I'm not at all sentimental or nostalgic about democracy. Einstein would probably be surprised to learn that so little has changed since 1949. But that's actually the point when our current problems began. He speculated about the obstacles ahead:
I can't decide whether the DNC case is really important or not, in the larger scheme of things.
::
You mention:
That's exactly what I have been doing. I am thoroughly immersed. Now, I need to figure out how to turn a profit on it.
Yeah,
it sure would be nice to make an actual living at it,
- I'm guessing I'll have to settle for a lifetime of "internship", unless something drastic happensSo I'd say Al got it right here:
Then again, he wrote this long before 1968 in Chicago, which is, if memory serves, where the "modern US Political Party primary system" as we know it today evolved from. There's got to be something more than an implied contract with that, doesn't there?
I'm with you, though, I would like to see this "democracy" of which this current lot today speaks of. They're either delusional or criminal to think that still actually exists. We've already devolved back to the Gilded Age in everything but actual documented jurisprudence. Those damned Roosevelts, they screwed up everything!!! All that extra work they made for Our Betters....
I'm a poor historian
…but I think there were Party shenanigans in the late 40s and the 1950's during the conventions, which set the cavalier attitude of the supremacy of the Party bosses and their cronies. They just have different names, today. Television was just beginning to peek at the process, before it moved into the backrooms and shadows. I'm sure it was just as treacherous as the antics of the DNC, on display in their leaked emails. Something monstrous revealed itself during the Democratic convention. It changed everything. A door slammed shut. Hillary was finished.
I think of the 1960s as the first confrontation. That spirit is still very much alive. It's been pretending to cooperate for all this time, waiting for people to wake the fuck up. i bumped into it last summer.
Pluto, I sorta doubt your enlightenment only occurred in 2016
Party shenanigans, aka smoke-filled rooms long predate FDR, Woodrow Wilson or any other sonofabitch POTUS we've had since Lincoln (and he only got in because the Whigs were inadvertently holding the door open for him)
My quibble is with the term "strategic lying". Pluto that would condemn most politicians to enforced silence. "How do you know when a lawyer is lying?" (excluding OTC). "His lips are moving." These bastards lie for a living--and are well-compensated for it too.
Look at how long this political destruction has been going on
Thomas Jefferson and many others have warned us about this, and instead of it being addressed and changed, it has gotten worse each year. It got much worse during the Obama administration when income inequality was as bad as it was just before the Great Depression.
People blame the Bush administration for the global economic crisis, but they don't remember that Clinton set the crisis up for Bush.
Yes Greenspan did nothing to stop it because this had been planned since the days of FDR. And he only created the New Deal because the people were willing to do their own thing about it. Someone here stated that FDR saved our country's capitalistic ways when he created the New Deal when he had the chance to do something different.
Another member stated that the goal of our government isn't to bring other countries up to our standard of living, but to bring ours down to the other countries where people work for less than $2 a day.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
This wasn't the only thing that happened during the primary
I don't know if the DNC took part in the massive voting fraud, but the other things that happened during this primary was that so many people had their party affiliation changed and were kicked off the voting rolls, as well as the other shenanigans such as the Nevada caucus when the person in charge of it started the voting 30 minutes before it was scheduled to start and again when she took a voice vote and she said that the Yay votes were more than the No votes.
This was the caucus that the Herbots continued to spout that a Bernie supporter threw a chair. Barbara Boxer was there and plainly dismissed people's actions after they felt that the whole experience was unfair to Bernie.
I don't recall if Bernie's campaign addressed this or not, but this type of activity was seen through the whole primary process. People could plainly see that the rules for a fair election were broken in many ways. Remember that Bill Clinton went to 4 voting places in Massachusetts and he even went inside one. His being there interfered with people being able to vote because his secret service detail obstructed people being able to find parking spaces and basically making it more difficult for them to vote, especially if they were voting during their lunch hour or without having to wait in lines all day. This has been a problem for decades in many democratic voting places. I finally knew why this hadn't been addressed by getting more than 2 voting machines at voting places. The democrats just didn't want it to happen.
On the issue of this essay, I agree with gulfgal that the DNC did willfully defraud Bernie's supporters by making sure that Herheinous won the primary. This went against their charter which they had to abide by. The lawsuit against the republicans would be very difficult to prove, IMO.
There was nothing written that said that the outcome of repealing the ACA would definitely happen.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
Well, that's a compelling argument.
I can see the distinction between the two lawsuits. But I get snagged on the "performance contract" that the People think they had with the Party. Is the Party really bound by their charter in practice? For the past four decades, the Party has managed to advance corporate interests, which is often in conflict with activist's interests and the people's wellbeing. Yet the People continued to give them money. Democratic Primary voting, controlled by the Party, was blatantly irregular in a number of states, with switched registrations and ballots thrown in the garbage. The Party stonewalled those who complained, and the People continued to donate.
It was always on the table that the Super Delegates can throw the election once voting is done, if they wish to choose a different candidate. The People know the final choice was never theirs in the first place. This was what the Super-delegate system was designed for — to force out certain winners and substitute Establishment picks. This is a known risk, regardless of how the unwanted candidate is dispensed with. Many walked away at that point, never to return. Those who remained sent more money. These actions could be interpreted as consent.
Still, I hope they prevail and get their money back — and further clarify for Democrats how their Party is designed to function.
This is a good question
I think it was established that the DNC did have to run a fair and open primary., but they didn't do it this election. This is what the lawsuit against them is about. As I stated in one of my comments in this essay, one of the DNC lawyers told the judge that Bernie's supporters shouldn't have continued giving money to his campaign because they knew that it was being rigged against him.
I agree with you that the DNC may have been defrauding us for decades, but what is different this time around is that people were finally aware of how the election was being manipulated so that Hillary would be the candidate that won the primary.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
In response to your point that,
... isn't it also what the Electoral College is more or less about? I don't see either Party trying to end the Electoral College. It's something the Party powerful can manipulate to get around the will of the voters.
If the DNC lawyer can make the case that whatever works is acceptable, no matter how fraudulent or dishonest, then the case will be made that our election system is a fraud and that our democracy is non-existent.
Didn't someone sue Jill Stein
for her "recount" fundraiser, too?
Whatever happened there? Anyone?
It's just my opinion. It can't hurt you
How similar is it
to these two cases,
? I remember something about a case against Stein and/or the Green Party, but I thought it was about "counting ballots", which would seem to be not very similar at all? I could be wrong about that, of course....DNC Case Solid; GOP Case Stunt
I am a lawyer, but like most lawyers I have never litgated cases like these. That said, the DNC lawsuit is based on blatant violations of the DNC charter that promises fairness and impartiality in the operation of the Dem Party's primaries. Those who contributed funds with the reasonable expectation that the DNC would follow its charter are real financial victims. One potential problem for the plaintiffs that I see is that they may be required to prove that they were aware of the charter before they donated, thus reasonably relied on the charter when they donated.
The GOP lawsuit is more of a publicity stunt to call attention to the broken campaign promises of future legislative action (i.e., repealing the ACA). The problem is, Congressmen are not required to vote along party lines, anything can happen in the legislative process, and a donor cannot reasonably rely on the GOP's campaign promises and aspirational platform items being fulfilled in the future. Proving that the GOP intentionally lied and had no intention of even trying to repeal the ACA is tough sledding to say the least.
In my view, if the law is at all followed, the cases are so dissimilar that one cannot be a precedent for the other; they are "distinguishable."
Thank you for your comment
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Financial fraud, gg
That's what I thought too. I am so thoroughly pissed off about that hideous hag getting one cent of my money, I could spit venom. The conspiracy and collusion between Sea Hag's team and the DNC is so obvious in hindsight; and I did presume (for decades) the DNC to be neutral, which is so laughable now, again, in hindsight.
What does the charter say about giving funds sent to one candidate to that candidate's opponent? And the thought of it possibly winding up in Sea Hag's criminal money laundering foundation makes my stomach churn.
That one can do
little more than "hope" for this is kind of where I keep getting stuck:
I'm not saying that to be contrary, I'm really not--I say it only because I'm pretty sure that concept has faltered in a big way by SCOTUS a couple of times in the last decade or so. And that terrifies me IRT to the DNC case, exactly because that case does have merit.
One wonders if TPTB in Washington has the stones to be that brazenly manipulative. We should hope like hell they don't, though desperation can make people do dumb things sometimes...
@lunachickie I agree with you and
Didn't the DNC lawyers admit that they broke their rules?
IIRC, one lawyer said that the case should be thrown out because people knew what the DNC was doing and yet they continued to send Bernie money.
This statement should be clear that the DNC knowingly broke their rules. This is now on the public record in the lawsuit.
I would think that after the lawyer for the DNC admitted that the DNC willfully broke their rules, there isn't any way they can roll the words back.
Great discussion. Every one should take a bow
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
Yes, they sure did,
I wonder which slimy Party counselor lost their job over having gone down that road for the record? I don't remember the exact wording (though it's available on the Jampac site), but it was tantamount to "Yeah, we have bylaws, so what?"
So what? They want it both ways--they want to be a Private Company with Private Company laws to protect them, except they want to oversee a Public Election.
Precisely why they need that lawsuit to go away. That and the even-stickier sticking Awan Brothers escapades has really complicated things. They're not above creating diversion. And holy freaking crap, TPTB need a diversion right....now...
My inverterately cynical genie is telling me
Mary Bennett
DNC has not admitted anything
What he said was that even if they had chosen the candidate behind closed doors, they would have had every right to do so.
"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi
"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone
I swear there was an essay about it here FOUND IT
But it was a long while back.
Sure thought someone with the DNC said it, but it could have been phrased like you say it was phrased.
Someone posted it here, though. I'll try searching for it . . . because I have to know now; but, please, others are encouraged to also search, because I generally suck at finding things using online search functions.
Edit: I found it, I think.
emphasis mine.
https://caucus99percent.com/content/some-damn-fine-reporting-local-flori... by LoneStarMike
That's a quote from an article that LSM quoted, but I have not found the actual quote from an actual person and researching on a phone is tough. I'll leave that for someone else.
From the hearing transcript
Here's what the DNC lawyer, Bruce Spiva, said, according to the official court transcript of the hearing on the Motion to Dismiss:
The quote also shows that the DNC is relying on existing case law precedent precluding judicial intervention in internal political party affairs.
http://jampac.us/dnclawsuit/
"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi
"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone
The question really is about "fraud", though
They took money from outside their little internal bubble and then turned around and said "too bad for you, Sucker".
Internal politics? Really? To me, it seems clear that this private company is fraudulently administering the process by which a candidate is placed on a public voting ballot for a public election. If that's the case, it would appear they can't do that and be a private company at the same time. This is germane to the case, whether they want to admit it or not. A private company should not be able to financially defraud any part of the process by which a public civic duty like the People's voting is going to result. That doesn't seem to square with the People's existing voting rights and could very well be found to be un-Constitutional.
Hence the lack of precedent in law. And you can just imagine how desperate these people have to be, to get rid of this lawsuit, if that is a question or concept which came up during the testimony at any point.
Sometimes I tune in here, and it feels like old home week.
Good to see you here lunachickie. Yesterday ek and now you. Hope you both come by more often.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
(waves)
Hiyya dk!
(sends hugs)
Speaking of the Hill
Dems can't be trusted. Don't you love the way they are all centrists? Can't have those crappy Berniebros.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
See?
That right there is the kind of shit I had to take a break from. Florida Dems raising money for their "opposition". WTH???
@lunachickie
Sorta like, if I recall correctly, DWS not supporting Dems running against Republican Cuban friends in... was it Florida? Too tired to look it up, so somebody please correct me where I'm wrong?
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
Colorado is the shiz did a diary on that
and I'm sure that no one would find it shocking that some of the members there were defending their actions.
The idiocy of that site continues to astonish me.
I have posted an diary that markos wrote in 2006 when he called Hillary "too much of a Clinton democrat" and listed all the reasons for why Hillary shouldn't become president and then he turned around 8 years later and forgot his reasons for being against her.
We saw this when Obama continued Bush's wars in Afghanistan and Iraq after he promised us that he would end the Iraq war as soon as he could. And instead he tried to keep the troops in Iraq until the status of forces agreement made him withdraw them.
And most of the site stayed quiet when he started his drone program, his Libyan war on false pretenses, and putting troops in over 134 countries in Africa.
There were people defending his use of drones because they saved our troop's lives, when they should have been questioning the legality of using them at all.
There were articles everywhere yesterday about his birthday and most comments said that they wish he was still president.
After his "empty suited" presidency, he should be tied with Bush for worst president ever. Instead, people say that he was the best president since FDR. But then these were the same people who said that Hillary was the most qualified candidate. Ever! And that she ran on the most progressive platform. Ever!
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
The Daily Orange Pukebucket
I have only been there once to lurk since the Great Declaration by Little Napoleon, and his obnoxious countenance. And that was cuz I read somewhere (probably here, heh) that there was a bit of another purge.
Amazingly, my account still has a buncha mojo. One of these days, Alice....
scrolls of amnesia
Scrolls of amnesia. (Read: government issued papers bearing portraits of dead Presidents and Founding Fathers....)
And just who the fuck was Maud, anyway? (Inside joke for any NetHack players who may be reading this)
Those folks need a new drug. The old drug's rotting their brains.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
I do pop in from time to time
I do pop in from time to time, just dont comment much
hi everybody!!
pop in
Hey Lady Libertine!
Good to hear from you!!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Hello another comfortable and sane voice
from the snake pit. So glad to have you here too.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
LL!
Hi Lady! Thanks for stopping by--hope you are doing well (hugs)
Ha! Seriously...
What really gets to me, though, is the idea that if I can even think it up enough to talk about it, some slimeball in Washington is way the fuck ahead of me in actually executing it. And you know these goons are not above such skullduggery. There is entirely too much for them to protect.
Cynic
You may well be a Cynic, but not a craven one. And it's because we've all fallen miles down this rabbit hole. (You'll please notice that Mr. Bugs Bunny wanted nothing to do with this particular hole, except maybe to send one Wile E. Coyote plummeting down it!)
Like the most famous Cynic in history -- Diogenes of Sinope -- you are seeking "The Honest Man", and failing to find any such creature in American public life. That doesn't make you craven; it places you securely among the Honest yourself.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
good hearing ya lc
question everything
There is already a precedent
There's no need to invent a new precedent. If Judge Zloch wants to dismiss the lawsuit, there is an existing precedent, which has already been used by the DNC (notably, when the Sanders campaign filed suit right before the Nevada state convention in an attempt to ward off the DNC shenanigans).
The existing precedent, which has been well-established nationwide for many years, holds that the judicial system will not intervene in internal political party affairs.
"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi
"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone
But
We're still awaiting the judge's decision
The judge hasn't yet rendered his decision on the DNC's Motion to Dismiss. This precedent was one of many subjects discussed at the court hearing on the Motion. The hearing was held in late April, and Judge Zloch said it was going to take some time for him to consider all of the arguments and decide whether the case should proceed to the next stage. We're still waiting for him to issue his ruling.
(To note, assuming the case is not dismissed, the next stage is likely to be more procedural motions. This is complex litigation in federal court, and it will be a lengthy process to reach trial.)
Edited to add: I'm hopeful that the fact the judge is taking his time is a good sign (for us). In his remarks during the hearing and his questions to the lawyers, he seemed to indicate an understanding of the potential significance of the case. Jared Beck (plaintiffs' lawyer) argued that the existing precedent does not apply because fraud is involved. So we shall see what the judge does with it.
"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi
"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone
That seems a most compelling
argument,
Fraud and probably even worse than that....
So glad to see you here, lunachickie
Your forthright directness at ToP always helped me see more clearly. So cheered by your arrival!
Been missing you lunachickie.
Good to read you again!
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
No idea if the lawsuit is a shady plan
It sounds plausible. And if I've learned anything in the last decade, it's that betting against pols being crooked and corrupt is usually a losing bet.
Good to see you again lunachickie. I too got worn out by the election and don't do a lot of political blogging since. Been spending more time on my hobby website which has been refreshing for the mind.
Trump has delivered on all of my expectations of him. Cudos to him for exposing his true personality to the american public. Sadly he has the personality of a Flaming Asshole. Hahaha.
Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.
Worn out!
That's part of it too, right? Get us so wound up we can't think straight or else wear us down until we shut up, already? I completely understand why people "drop out" of the whole process of "politics".
And that, obviously, applies to myself, too. I think my breaking point was (and continues to be) my ability to use the words "President" and "Donald Trump" back to back, in everyday conversation. In my wildest dreams, I would have never seen it coming, that I'd be able to say such a thing in my lifetime. Holy JC on a cracker, that shit took my breath away, the day after Election Day, when Her Heinous LOST. Still does, especially since anyone even half-paying attention called it back then that she was gonna lose...
@lunachickie
And thank FSM she did lose! As bad as Trump is, his very lunacy is at least less effective than the Mad Bomber's at getting Mutual Assured Destruction done, doubtless on Her first day; perhaps in that shipboard fireworks display Her had planned, in celebration of Her Royal Coronation.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.