While TOTUS lies and struts, Botch McConnell subverts the Judicial system. MA.

Andrew Solender Forbes Staff May 5, 2020,12:39pm EDT

Business

Judge Sri Srinivasan, in an order dated May 1, asked Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to prompt an investigation into a complaint alleging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pressured a federal judge to retire in order to elevate his protégé to the seat.

KEY FACTS

The New York Times reported in March that Mcconnell had been quietly urging Republican-nominated judges eligible for retirement to step down in order to be replaced by younger conservatives to help maintain ideological control of the court.

Later that month, progressive group Demand Justice requested an investigation into whether McConnell pressured DC Circuit Court of Appeals judge Thomas B. Griffith to make room for 37-year-old Justin Walker.

Now, the Times reported Monday, Srinivasan, the chief justice of the DC Circuit Court appointed by Obama, is requesting that Roberts assign the case to a different circuit to investigate the complaint, stating that an investigation by the DC Circuit Court would pose a conflict of interest.

“Nothing is known about whether or how Majority Leader McConnell might be attempting to further incentivize these judges,” the complaint stated. “A prompt inquiry into the majority leader’s potential efforts to influence Judge Griffith, perhaps through improper means, is essential, particularly because it appears that he has attempted to influence many other federal judges, as well.”

The complaint cites rules governing judicial conduct, which prohibit judges from accepting gifts in exchange for favors related to a judicial office.

“If Judge Griffith accepted anything of value in exchange for his retirement from the bench, including the promise of future employment, such as a prestigious professorship, or future income or any bonuses that could have come with an agreement for future employment, he may be violating these Rules.” they argue.

The Times reported that Srinivasan said he made the order public to signal that the accusations of judicial misconduct are being taken seriously by the courts, since they have been “reported in various major news outlets.”

McConnell spokesman Doug Andres told Forbes ”Leader McConnell looks forward to watching Judge Walker’s confirmation hearing this week.”

KEY BACKGROUND

Mcconnell has racked up an impressive record of confirming conservative judges, especially during the Trump administration. Like Walker, Mcconnell’s 37-year-old protégé who was confirmed to a lower federal courtship last October with no prior judicial experience, many of Trump’s judicial nominees have been young and some have received “not qualified” ratings from the American Bar Association

This spate of young appointments is part of a comprehensive push by Republicans to reshape the court in a conservative ideological image. Oftentimes, the Senate GOP’s methods have defied convention, such as refusing to give a hearing to Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland in 2016. More recently, Senate Republicans pushed to gavel the upper chamber back into session to confirm a new slate of judicial nominees despite risks posed by the coronavirus pandemic.

BIG NUMBER

192. 192. The Senate has confirmed192 mostly conservative judicial nominees since Trump took office, already far outpacing the 134 confirmationsin President Obama’s first term with many months still to go.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

Walker is already a controversial nominee, having received a “not qualified” rating from the ABA, vocally backed Justice Brett Kavanaugh in the face of sexual assault allegations and openly advocated for coordination between judges and conservative political groups. This development may threaten to further complicate what was already shaping up to be a tense confirmation battle.

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In spite of several representatives wanting to parse out their areas for reopening away from the guidelines, the basic plan is as fair as you can get. There appears to be some leeway for easements but the overall plan makes sense whether it is universally liked or not. MA

By MARY HANSEN • MAY 8, 2020

RESTORE ILLINOIS PLAN, OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

Editor’s Note: As of May 29, Illinois is in Phase 3 of the plan, modified to include restaurants offering outdoor seating; and some offices, salons, barbershops and gyms can open with capacity restrictions and public health precautions. Read more here. 

Illinois is in Phase 2 of Restore Illinois – the five-step plan Gov. J.B. Pritzker unveiled this week to reopen schools, colleges, parks and businesses, while addressing the coronavirus pandemic.

Some state parks are open. More shops can operate to fill online and pick up orders, and in some places, residents can go to a drive-in movie theater. While the stay-at-home order still applies to the whole state, Pritzker said going forward, that will change as it’s a regional plan.

“Reality on the ground looks different in different areas of the state,” Pritzker said at a recent press briefing.

Some Republicans and business groups have criticized the regions for being too vast and the timeline too slow, wreaking further havoc on the economy.

Pritzker defends the plan, saying he’s basing it on guidance from public health and medical experts, and that he consulted with business leaders, mayors and officials from around the state.

Dr. Mark Dworkin – a professor of epidemiology at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health – said Pritzker’s approach is ‘thoughtful,’ but alternatives are possible.

“Especially with no major science behind what we’re doing, but just trying to use expert opinion and good judgment,” he said. “But we should beware of a situation where we’re talking about our politicians because… they are preset to disagree with whatever the other group is.”

An explanation of the phases is below and in the governor’s plan. Movement between the next two phases depends on a region keeping the share of new positive tests low for two weeks, hospital admissions have to be stable for nearly a month, and the region has to have enough hospital beds and equipment to respond to a surge in new COVID-19 patients. Testing must also be expanded and contact tracing robust.

But there’s a catch to moving on from Phase 4, the one before mostly returning to normal: the state could be here for months.

“Until we have a vaccine or an effective treatment or enough widespread immunity that new cases fail to materialize – the option to return to normal doesn’t exist,” Pritzker said.

Debate Over Regions

The plan combines the 11 regions the Illinois Department of Public Health established for Emergency Medical Services into four: Northeast with Chicago and its suburbs; North-Central Illinois from the border with Wisconsin down to Peoria and Bloomington; Central Illinois from Danville to Quincy, including Springfield and Champaign-Urbana, and finally Southern Illinois, including the Metro-East and Carbondale.

Illinois House Minority Leader Jim Durkin and his fellow Republicans took to Zoom this week to criticize it, saying that there is not enough local control over moving from phase to phase.

“I’m here to raise a warning flag that Watseka, Illinois is very different than Quincy, not only just four hours away,” he said. “The plan is set up in an unworkable way.”

The cities he references are both in the Central Illinois region. Durkin went on to say that the plan would destroy many small businesses and manufacturers.

State Rep. Ryan Spain, who was at the virtual press conference, is a Republican from Peoria, where he says hospitalization rates, new cases and intensive care unit capacity have all been meeting the governor’s benchmarks to start loosening more restrictions.

“We have been meeting them now for the last four weeks,” he said. “So that takes me to the third problem, which is the arbitrary establishment of some of the time periods included in the governor’s plan.”

Spain took issue with May 1 as the start date for IDPH to track metrics. That means no region can open up more until the end of the month.

Pritzker defended the designation, saying that is when some regulations loosened, such as allowing more retail stores to open.

On the region size, public health experts NPR Illinois interviewed said the larger population size in the regions could ensure that smaller or single outbreaks don’t cause big swings in the metrics the public health department is tracking.

“When you get that number of people to assess, you’ve got a good denominator on which to make decisions,” said Dr. Jerry Kruse, CEO of SIU Medicine in Springfield and dean of the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.

Timeline

Pritzker has faced criticism for using a 28-day timeframe between phases, while other states, including New York, are using 14 days. Two weeks is thought to be the incubation period for the coronavirus.

Dworkin, the UIC epidemiologist, said four weeks – or two incubation periods – is more cautious.

“It’s giving you more comfort that when you make that change, you’re that much more sure what’s going on,” he said.

That could mean there is less of a chance for moving backward and having to institute more restrictions.

Dworkin said he understands living with restrictions until a vaccine or treatment is available is uncomfortable.

But the alternative is worse – more infections and deaths until herd immunity is reached.

“Why would we take the hose off of the fire?” Dworkin asked. “What would we expect to happen if we did that, because we’re tired of holding the hose? We can expect the fire to burn faster and harder than it was with the water on it.”

According to the metric tracker on IDPH’s website, all the regions except Chicago are on track to meet criteria to move on to Phase 3 at the end of May.

Phases

The state is divided into four regions, and each can move forward – or backward – through the five phases of the plan as they meet certain medical benchmarks:

Phase 1 (Illinois began in March) : Broad stay-at-home order, with only grocery stores, pharmacies and other essential businesses open. Bars and restaurants are only open for pick-up and delivery orders. Only essential manufacturers can operate.

To move to the next phase: The growth of new cases must slow, and surge capacity of hospital beds and ventilators must be available. Testing must be available for any healthcare worker or first responder with symptoms, and 10,000 tests done daily statewide.

Phase 2 (Began May 1) : Stay-at-home order continues, but more retail stores can open to fill online and pick-up orders, similar to restaurants. Face coverings are required where social distancing isn’t possible, and some outdoor activities, such as boating, fishing and golfing, are allowed.

To move to the next phase: A region must keep the share of new positive tests at 20% or below for two weeks, with no major spikes. Hospital admissions for COVID-19 have to be stable for 28 days, and the region has to have 14% of hospital beds and equipment available to respond to a surge in new COVID-19 patients. Testing availability must expand to anyone with underlying conditions, as well as residents and staff as nursing homes, jails and other congregate settings. Contact tracing begins within 24 hours of diagnosis.

Phase 3: Offices, salons and barber shops can open, with capacity limits and other safety precautions. Face coverings are still required. Any gatherings of 10 or fewer are allowed.

To move to the next phase: The positivity rate and hospital admission criteria are the same as moving from Phase 2 to Phase 3. Testing must be available for anyone, regardless of symptoms. Contact tracing must begin within 24 hours for more than 90% of the cases in the region.

Phase 4: Childcare centers and schools, as well as bars and restaurants can reopen, all with safety guidelines from the Illinois Department of Public Health. Any gatherings of 50 people or fewer are allowed. Travel resumes.

To move to the next phase: A vaccine or effective treatment must be widely available. Alternatively, a region has reached herd immunity and there are no new cases over a sustained period of time.

Phase 5: Conventions, large events and festivals are permitted. All businesses, schools and recreation can resume with safety guidance.

Apparently many of us are caught up in the minutiae of how to protect oneself and others from COVID-19. The one fact that seems to escape us is the lack of testing. Testing will not prevent COVID but it will identify people who may have it or perhaps have come in contact with the disease. The key to getting back to relative normal is: TESTING, TESTING, TESTING, TESTING. The second part is contact tracing if someone is positive for the virus-Contact tracing is the process of contacting the person(s) who the infected person has come in contact with.

“And the beatdowns and deaths continue”.MA

After the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014 and the unrest that followed, a new commission was formed to study a problem strikingly similar to the one examined nearly 50 years earlier.

Chaired by former Presidents Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush, the group was tasked with identifying the underlying causes of the unrest. Its final report, while much narrower in scope, bears some resemblance to the Kerner Commission’s findings. Its recommendations included:

• Reducing the use of force by police officers
• Reforming sentencing laws
• Improving the health and education of children and young people
• Increasing access to affordable housing and public transit
• Expanding Medicaid

Like the Kerner report, the Ferguson analysis identified racial and economic inequality as the primary source of the problems that led to the protests. But the language and tone are strikingly different:

“We are not pointing fingers and calling individual people racist,” the report diplomatically states. “We are not even suggesting that institutions or existing systems intend to be racist.”

In 2018, a study co-edited by Kerner Commission member Fred Harris followed up on the status of communities examined in the 1968 report. The findings were grim. The new study found that poverty in many of those places had actually increased, as had school segregation, while the inequality gap between white Americans and black, brown and Native Americans had widened.

The original Kerner Commission may have foreseen this outcome. The report’s conclusion quoted the testimony of psychologist Kenneth Clark. Clark – whose famous doll tests were cited in Brown v. Board of Education – reminded the panel of the many previous commissions assembled to study incidents of racial unrest: Chicago in 1919, Harlem in 1935 and 1943, Los Angeles in 1965.

Testifying before the Kerner Commission, Clark said, was a kind of “Alice in Wonderland” experience: He watched the same images flickering past, sat listening to the same analysis and the same recommendations – and it all culminated, finally, in the same inaction. The commissioners quoted his words:

“It is time now to end the destruction and the violence.”

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The Resident of the United States again moves ahead as if he is correct. Any reasonable and rational person should observe his ineptitude. If you think his policies and actions are OK, fine and or acceptable, just wait until the effects hit you and your family. TOTUS has no objectives beyond his personal needs and gains. If you believe a second term is good for TOTUS then perhaps you have avoided all news media. The top job in America is not like the starring role in TV show. With the background of unscrupulous elected officials we need a leader that actually leads. It is well to remember a  con artist cons, a liar lies and will continue to do so in the face of facts to the contrary. The goal of elections is to put people in place to serve the public, that has proven to be difficult since too many currently serving electeds are corrupt and have been for years. There is no good reason to keep a representative in place until retirement without close scrutiny of their actions on our behalf (the everyday people, not just the wealthy). Read the following tweet from TOTUS and think-do you want another term with this inept conman?

President Trump on Tuesday suggested without evidence that a 75-year-old man who was knocked to the ground by police in Buffalo, N.Y., last week during a protest over George Floyd’s death was a member of antifa and that the incident was “a set up.”

Video taken Thursday shows two officers pushing the man, Martin Gugino, who then falls and hits the back of his head on the pavement, causing him to bleed. Police initially claimed Gugino tripped. He remained hospitalized in serious but stable condition on Monday.

In his tweet, the president tagged the far-right One America News Network.

“Buffalo protester shoved by Police could be an ANTIFA provocateur,” Trump tweeted to his 81.9 million Twitter followers. “75 year old Martin Gugino was pushed away after appearing to scan police communications in order to black out the equipment. @OANN I watched, he fell harder than was pushed. Was aiming scanner. Could be a set up?”

There are so many “dog pilers” that is sometimes difficult to see who is on the bottom but consider that we are usually the one’s on the bottom whether you believe it or not.  We as a country are victims of the biggest scam in history and the lead huckster is aided and abetted by our neer do well Congress.

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Apparently Pete Carroll is not as much a leader as a follower. MA

Frank Schwab

Yahoo Sports•June 3, 2020

On the surface, Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll’s words about Colin Kaepernick were complimentary and important.

Carroll talked about how much Kaepernick did during his peaceful protest over social inequality. He said “we owe a tremendous amount” to Kaepernick.

But apparently part of owing Kaepernick a tremendous amount didn’t include Carroll’s Seahawks giving Kaepernick a job — one he deserved in the NFL — when they had a chance.

Carroll’s words are a lot more empty when you consider how he and the Seahawks shunned Kaepernick, and due to those same actions Carroll praised this week, when he would have been a great fit for their football team.

Pete Carroll praises Colin Kaepernick

Carroll made a long, seemingly passionate comment about Kaepernick on The Ringer’s “Flying Coach” podcast.

“I think that there was a moment in time that a young man captured. He took a stand on something, figuratively took a knee, but he stood up for something he believed in — and what an extraordinary moment it was that he was willing to take,” Carroll said, via Nick Friedell of ESPN.com. “… But what happened from the process is it elevated awareness from people that just took everything away from what the statement was all about, and it just got tugged and pulled and ripped apart.

“And the whole mission of what the statement was, such a beautiful … it’s still the statement that we’re making right today. We’re not protecting our people. We’re not looking after one another. We’re not making the right choices. We’re not following the right process to bring people to justice when actions are taken. So I think it was a big sacrifice in the sense that a young man makes, but those are the courageous moments that some guys take.

“And we owe a tremendous amount to him for sure.”

Great, right? Well, in 2017 the Seahawks could have been the team to sign Kaepernick. They brought him in for a visit. They called him again in 2018. Maybe that would have avoided the NFL’s collusion fight against Kaepernick. But they passed and signed someone who had nowhere near the resume of Kaepernick.

It’s hard to take Carroll seriously after remembering that history.

Seahawks helped keep Kaepernick out of NFL

In 2017, the Seahawks had Kaepernick in for a visit. Knowing the amount of publicity that would come along with that, it’s not just a “kick the tires” visit. Seattle had interest. But it didn’t sign him. The Seahawks signed Austin Davis, who has 13 career touchdowns, 12 interceptions and hasn’t played in the NFL since some meaningless snaps for Seattle in 2017. It’s impossible to argue he was better than Kaepernick or even a better fit in the offense behind starter Russell Wilson. Something changed the Seahawks’ mind between Kaepernick’s visit and signing Davis, and perhaps we’ll never know the full story. Carroll used the excuse that Kaepernick “is a starter in this league, you know. And we have a starter,” which makes no sense because teams are theoretically better with starting-caliber players — not Austin Davis — backing up their clear starter.

Then in 2018, ESPN reported the Seahawks contacted Kaepernick about another visit, but that was called off when Kaepernick would not promise the team he wouldn’t kneel during the anthem.

So when Carroll says Kaepernick’s demonstration was “beautiful” and a “big sacrifice” and “courageous moments,” remember that in 2018 the Seahawks called off a free-agent visit when Kaepernick wouldn’t promise to not kneel again. Beautiful, just not on the Seahawks’ field apparently.

There will be a lot of statements made by athletes and coaches as protests continue over the fight for social justice following the death of George Floyd. Just remember that some of them aren’t backed up by actions and in some cases, completely contradict what they’ve done.

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