Rushed to read today’s letter. My husband and I are leaving for our second day to help as volunteer “election specialists” at our city hall. We live in a first ring, very blue Minnesota suburb where early voting began at the end of September. We certify and witness that the voter’s ID number on the outside envelope (which encloses their ballot) matches the number on their application form which had been given to an election judge to certify that they were eligible to vote. Then we put the envelopes into the locked ballot box. Voters want to see us do that. We had a steady trickle of voters all day yesterday, with an expected lunch time surge. Several people commented on what an important election this is (the significance of the comment was not lost on us) and thanked us for helping out.
Thought you’d enjoy a report from the trenches of early voting.
Thank you so much for the amazing zoom last night with Cheri Beasley who is the Democratic candidate for US Senate from North Carolina. It was fantastic and former Chief Justice Cheri Beasley showed how caring, informative and knowledgeble she is. She will represent all of NC as well as the U.S. She will vote for reduced drug prices, gun safety, women's reproductive rights, etc.
Robert - thank you so much for including the link for Women for Beasley in today's newsletter - I am Chair for Women for Beasley and heading up the postcard campaign. After the zoom ended my emails exploded with many wanting to write postcards from all over the country. Please continue to request addresses (let me know how many) and I will email you back the sample script and addresses asap. patlevitin@gmail.com
We must win this seat and canvassing is #1 but postcards are becoming #2 to get voters to the polls!
Oct 25, 2022·edited Oct 25, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Thank you Robert. I have reposted this on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Also, a truly powerful piece in support of President Biden is this from Politics Girl. Share is everywhere. I repost on the twitter feeds of McCarthy, Graham, Cruz, Paul et al things like this as well as news articles that debunk the lie of the second.
I agree 100% with your comments of perspective regarding the self appointed vigilante "poll watchers" in Arizona. Media outlets are completely irresponsible and are driven to destroy our democracy by chasing after ratings and sensational headlines. I firmly believe it is the media that are responsible for delivering TFG to the White House in the 2016 election, with the non stop coverage they gave him every single day starting with his birther movement in 2014. I'm not sure how we maintain a democratic state without some kind of oversight regarding media coverage of events.
The move by Thomas should be the number one headline and discussion. It is so blatantly partisan and his position so powerful that none of the other items in Today's Edition are worthy of more than a passing thought. The Supreme Court is now fully corrupt. Thomas should be arrested with his wife. The charge? Accessory to sedition.
Several observations. I live in NC and Cheri Beasley is a class act and I am glad some of you are supporting her candidacy. The ads for Ted Budd against Beasley are filled with underlying racism and using the legendary Willie Horton type ad approach focusing on letting sex offenders free with no cash bails. It’s a total distortion of the case and findings.
Secondly the Clarence Thomas decision regarding Lindsey Graham to me is Clarence Thomas giving the finger to the DOJ, Democrats and protecting his wife knowingly that he will not face any accountability or sanctions for his actions. With the addition of the three Trump appointed judges the Supreme Court is another institution that has been corrupted and requires corrective measures.
There are two major challenges facing our country that this election needs to address. Can the Democrats mount a majority to make the necessary changes to the filibuster to codify Wade and expand the court and will the Democratic Senators take the political risks associated with making these monumental decisions?
There is so much at stake in this election and never before in my lifetime has my vote had as much importance and significance as it does this year. I hope millions of voters feel the same way. Cheri Beasley is running an excellent campaign and messaging well. Voter turnout out is the way she can win. Early indications are that the early voting turnout is much greater than previous years. The key is people showing up at the polls.
Yesterday I walked over to my local grocery store and dropped my ballot in a ballot box. At 4 pm I received a text that my ballot had been received. That’s the voting experience in Colorado and assume in much of the country. No drama. Nothing to report on the news.
The amateur psychologist in me says that Clarence Thomas just doesn't care about how he is viewed by the majority of the country. In fact, I'd go even further. He went through a searing experience in his confirmation hearings 31 years ago and now he is gleefully getting his chance at payback.
Re: Justice Thomas. He and his religious GOP brethren sit on the packed court because of the machinations of Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) and the Federalist Society. Reforming the Senate to be once again more representative of the population has great appeal. In that vein, I thought the attached from NPR was very, very interesting:
Oct 25, 2022·edited Oct 25, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
As to the 30 embarrassments'
The House "progressives" made the mistake when they described their "support for Ukraine" of not defining it specifically as "Ukraine restored to its borders of February 2014, with all Russian forces removed from stolen territory."
The fact they had to go out and explain themselves afterwards left them looking like the standard issue clueless Chardonnay-swilling Volvo drivers (you know the kind I'm thinking of).
"When you're explaining yourself, you're losing."
When I looked at the list, I was only surprised to find the otherwise-competent Jaime Raskin on it. The others can be categorized as "the usual suspects." I hate being embarrassed by idiots.
Covid prevented my attending the training session to be an election officer in Santa Clara County, so instead of working at the polls for the weekend and election day, I am now deciding for which out of state candidate I can be the most helpful. GOTV is critical.
I have urged my grandchildren in college to make sure each of their friends is registered and votes. They assured me their friends are voting. That's encouraging.
I believe it is also correct that Chief Justice Roberts “lied” his way onto the Court. His claim to be an umpire, simply calling balls and strikes, was demonstrably inconsistent with much that he had written and acted upon in his career, prior to that testimony. It is noteworthy that the recent Court appointees by Biden, Omaha and Clinton artfully but accurately answered the same questions posed to the Republican appointees about Roe and other precedents.
Oct 25, 2022·edited Oct 25, 2022Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
The Screaming Goat Syndrome. Remember a few years back the Super Bowl ad with the first time startling, the second time totally obnoxious screaming goat ad. Other advertisers immediately copied it making the airways even more obnoxious and toxic. Today, the screaming goat is celebrity coverage. DT still gets orders of magnitude more coverage on his legal shenanigans while we never hear more than a passing comment on say the Inflation Reduction Act and very little coverage of President Biden. I turned off Morning Joe this morning because they were spending the A block on Kanye West and his antisemitism ad nauseum. What is the underlying cause of this? It's the fact that our media is largely owned by people like Rupert Murdoch and a handful of very conservative rich people who are using their money to control the "free press". It is caused by the sequence of covering hate which causes clicks which causes ad buys resulting in more money leading to higher profits leading to the conservative rich getting even richer while draining the rest of us of hope and well-being. Now let's move into the solution which is positive journalism. That doesn't mean a Pollyanna response to the world. While our brains are wired to react to the negative as a short term survival mechanism, overall our brains will choose the longer view of a path of hope and well-being. Positive journalism is a branch of Positive Psychology which instead of focusing on what is broken and deficit in a person looks at enhancing the potential of the whole person, the good person we have the potential to be. It focuses on the good things we can do to enhance the well-being of all. What would good journalism look like? It would be more balanced reporting. The inflation reduction law would get instead of the kind of coverage we get every day on DT's legal problems. Why do we need to have the daily analysis of DT's shenanigans at the almost complete absence of, for example, how the Inflation Reduction act will make us feel our government is doing some good things to assure the next few years will see even more improvements in our economy rather than the doomsday approach of particularly the right media. Civilization makes progress when people feel they individually can make a difference. We, the People, all of us this time with Hope and Expectation for a more Perfect Union and a future of well-being for all.
I include the full text of the statute. Clarence Thomas violated the statute. Read Section (b)(4) and (b)(5)(iii).
28 U.S. Code § 455 - Disqualification of justice, judge, or magistrate judge
U.S. Code
(a) Any justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.
(b) He shall also disqualify himself in the following circumstances:
(1)Where he has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party, or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding;
(2)Where in private practice he served as lawyer in the matter in controversy, or a lawyer with whom he previously practiced law served during such association as a lawyer concerning the matter, or the judge or such lawyer has been a material witness concerning it;
(3)Where he has served in governmental employment and in such capacity participated as counsel, adviser or material witness concerning the proceeding or expressed an opinion concerning the merits of the particular case in controversy;
(4)He knows that he, individually or as a fiduciary, or his spouse or minor child residing in his household, has a financial interest in the subject matter in controversy or in a party to the proceeding, or any other interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding;
(5)He or his spouse, or a person within the third degree of relationship to either of them, or the spouse of such a person:
(i)Is a party to the proceeding, or an officer, director, or trustee of a party;
(ii)Is acting as a lawyer in the proceeding;
(iii)Is known by the judge to have an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding;
(iv)Is to the judge’s knowledge likely to be a material witness in the proceeding.
(c)A judge should inform himself about his personal and fiduciary financial interests, and make a reasonable effort to inform himself about the personal financial interests of his spouse and minor children residing in his household.
(d)For the purposes of this section the following words or phrases shall have the meaning indicated:
(1)“proceeding” includes pretrial, trial, appellate review, or other stages of litigation;
(2)the degree of relationship is calculated according to the civil law system;
(3)“fiduciary” includes such relationships as executor, administrator, trustee, and guardian;
(4)“financial interest” means ownership of a legal or equitable interest, however small, or a relationship as director, adviser, or other active participant in the affairs of a party, except that:
(i)Ownership in a mutual or common investment fund that holds securities is not a “financial interest” in such securities unless the judge participates in the management of the fund;
(ii)An office in an educational, religious, charitable, fraternal, or civic organization is not a “financial interest” in securities held by the organization;
(iii)The proprietary interest of a policyholder in a mutual insurance company, of a depositor in a mutual savings association, or a similar proprietary interest, is a “financial interest” in the organization only if the outcome of the proceeding could substantially affect the value of the interest;
(iv)Ownership of government securities is a “financial interest” in the issuer only if the outcome of the proceeding could substantially affect the value of the securities.
(e)No justice, judge, or magistrate judge shall accept from the parties to the proceeding a waiver of any ground for disqualification enumerated in subsection (b). Where the ground for disqualification arises only under subsection (a), waiver may be accepted provided it is preceded by a full disclosure on the record of the basis for disqualification.
(f)Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this section, if any justice, judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge to whom a matter has been assigned would be disqualified, after substantial judicial time has been devoted to the matter, because of the appearance or discovery, after the matter was assigned to him or her, that he or she individually or as a fiduciary, or his or her spouse or minor child residing in his or her household, has a financial interest in a party (other than an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome), disqualification is not required if the justice, judge, magistrate judge, bankruptcy judge, spouse or minor child, as the case may be, divests himself or herself of the interest that provides the grounds for the disqualification.
Rushed to read today’s letter. My husband and I are leaving for our second day to help as volunteer “election specialists” at our city hall. We live in a first ring, very blue Minnesota suburb where early voting began at the end of September. We certify and witness that the voter’s ID number on the outside envelope (which encloses their ballot) matches the number on their application form which had been given to an election judge to certify that they were eligible to vote. Then we put the envelopes into the locked ballot box. Voters want to see us do that. We had a steady trickle of voters all day yesterday, with an expected lunch time surge. Several people commented on what an important election this is (the significance of the comment was not lost on us) and thanked us for helping out.
Thought you’d enjoy a report from the trenches of early voting.
Thank you so much for the amazing zoom last night with Cheri Beasley who is the Democratic candidate for US Senate from North Carolina. It was fantastic and former Chief Justice Cheri Beasley showed how caring, informative and knowledgeble she is. She will represent all of NC as well as the U.S. She will vote for reduced drug prices, gun safety, women's reproductive rights, etc.
Robert - thank you so much for including the link for Women for Beasley in today's newsletter - I am Chair for Women for Beasley and heading up the postcard campaign. After the zoom ended my emails exploded with many wanting to write postcards from all over the country. Please continue to request addresses (let me know how many) and I will email you back the sample script and addresses asap. patlevitin@gmail.com
We must win this seat and canvassing is #1 but postcards are becoming #2 to get voters to the polls!
Ultimately, what is most shocking is that we have a bunch of SUPREME COURT JUSTICES who are liars.
Thank you Robert. I have reposted this on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Also, a truly powerful piece in support of President Biden is this from Politics Girl. Share is everywhere. I repost on the twitter feeds of McCarthy, Graham, Cruz, Paul et al things like this as well as news articles that debunk the lie of the second.
https://twitter.com/IAmPoliticsGirl/status/1582175918411304961?s=20&t=eRk5Jj1xqf_gUA715pnItA
I agree 100% with your comments of perspective regarding the self appointed vigilante "poll watchers" in Arizona. Media outlets are completely irresponsible and are driven to destroy our democracy by chasing after ratings and sensational headlines. I firmly believe it is the media that are responsible for delivering TFG to the White House in the 2016 election, with the non stop coverage they gave him every single day starting with his birther movement in 2014. I'm not sure how we maintain a democratic state without some kind of oversight regarding media coverage of events.
The move by Thomas should be the number one headline and discussion. It is so blatantly partisan and his position so powerful that none of the other items in Today's Edition are worthy of more than a passing thought. The Supreme Court is now fully corrupt. Thomas should be arrested with his wife. The charge? Accessory to sedition.
Several observations. I live in NC and Cheri Beasley is a class act and I am glad some of you are supporting her candidacy. The ads for Ted Budd against Beasley are filled with underlying racism and using the legendary Willie Horton type ad approach focusing on letting sex offenders free with no cash bails. It’s a total distortion of the case and findings.
Secondly the Clarence Thomas decision regarding Lindsey Graham to me is Clarence Thomas giving the finger to the DOJ, Democrats and protecting his wife knowingly that he will not face any accountability or sanctions for his actions. With the addition of the three Trump appointed judges the Supreme Court is another institution that has been corrupted and requires corrective measures.
There are two major challenges facing our country that this election needs to address. Can the Democrats mount a majority to make the necessary changes to the filibuster to codify Wade and expand the court and will the Democratic Senators take the political risks associated with making these monumental decisions?
There is so much at stake in this election and never before in my lifetime has my vote had as much importance and significance as it does this year. I hope millions of voters feel the same way. Cheri Beasley is running an excellent campaign and messaging well. Voter turnout out is the way she can win. Early indications are that the early voting turnout is much greater than previous years. The key is people showing up at the polls.
Yesterday I walked over to my local grocery store and dropped my ballot in a ballot box. At 4 pm I received a text that my ballot had been received. That’s the voting experience in Colorado and assume in much of the country. No drama. Nothing to report on the news.
The amateur psychologist in me says that Clarence Thomas just doesn't care about how he is viewed by the majority of the country. In fact, I'd go even further. He went through a searing experience in his confirmation hearings 31 years ago and now he is gleefully getting his chance at payback.
Re: Justice Thomas. He and his religious GOP brethren sit on the packed court because of the machinations of Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) and the Federalist Society. Reforming the Senate to be once again more representative of the population has great appeal. In that vein, I thought the attached from NPR was very, very interesting:
http://www.wnyc.org/story/30-issues-house-unrepresentatives-how-fix-united-states-senate/
As to the 30 embarrassments'
The House "progressives" made the mistake when they described their "support for Ukraine" of not defining it specifically as "Ukraine restored to its borders of February 2014, with all Russian forces removed from stolen territory."
The fact they had to go out and explain themselves afterwards left them looking like the standard issue clueless Chardonnay-swilling Volvo drivers (you know the kind I'm thinking of).
"When you're explaining yourself, you're losing."
When I looked at the list, I was only surprised to find the otherwise-competent Jaime Raskin on it. The others can be categorized as "the usual suspects." I hate being embarrassed by idiots.
Another important Politics Girl post to get out there regarding the ReMags plan to ´sunset´ social security and medicare. https://twitter.com/philnurenberg/status/1584778272327356416?s=20&t=eRk5Jj1xqf_gUA715pnItA
Covid prevented my attending the training session to be an election officer in Santa Clara County, so instead of working at the polls for the weekend and election day, I am now deciding for which out of state candidate I can be the most helpful. GOTV is critical.
I have urged my grandchildren in college to make sure each of their friends is registered and votes. They assured me their friends are voting. That's encouraging.
I believe it is also correct that Chief Justice Roberts “lied” his way onto the Court. His claim to be an umpire, simply calling balls and strikes, was demonstrably inconsistent with much that he had written and acted upon in his career, prior to that testimony. It is noteworthy that the recent Court appointees by Biden, Omaha and Clinton artfully but accurately answered the same questions posed to the Republican appointees about Roe and other precedents.
The Screaming Goat Syndrome. Remember a few years back the Super Bowl ad with the first time startling, the second time totally obnoxious screaming goat ad. Other advertisers immediately copied it making the airways even more obnoxious and toxic. Today, the screaming goat is celebrity coverage. DT still gets orders of magnitude more coverage on his legal shenanigans while we never hear more than a passing comment on say the Inflation Reduction Act and very little coverage of President Biden. I turned off Morning Joe this morning because they were spending the A block on Kanye West and his antisemitism ad nauseum. What is the underlying cause of this? It's the fact that our media is largely owned by people like Rupert Murdoch and a handful of very conservative rich people who are using their money to control the "free press". It is caused by the sequence of covering hate which causes clicks which causes ad buys resulting in more money leading to higher profits leading to the conservative rich getting even richer while draining the rest of us of hope and well-being. Now let's move into the solution which is positive journalism. That doesn't mean a Pollyanna response to the world. While our brains are wired to react to the negative as a short term survival mechanism, overall our brains will choose the longer view of a path of hope and well-being. Positive journalism is a branch of Positive Psychology which instead of focusing on what is broken and deficit in a person looks at enhancing the potential of the whole person, the good person we have the potential to be. It focuses on the good things we can do to enhance the well-being of all. What would good journalism look like? It would be more balanced reporting. The inflation reduction law would get instead of the kind of coverage we get every day on DT's legal problems. Why do we need to have the daily analysis of DT's shenanigans at the almost complete absence of, for example, how the Inflation Reduction act will make us feel our government is doing some good things to assure the next few years will see even more improvements in our economy rather than the doomsday approach of particularly the right media. Civilization makes progress when people feel they individually can make a difference. We, the People, all of us this time with Hope and Expectation for a more Perfect Union and a future of well-being for all.
I include the full text of the statute. Clarence Thomas violated the statute. Read Section (b)(4) and (b)(5)(iii).
28 U.S. Code § 455 - Disqualification of justice, judge, or magistrate judge
U.S. Code
(a) Any justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.
(b) He shall also disqualify himself in the following circumstances:
(1)Where he has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party, or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding;
(2)Where in private practice he served as lawyer in the matter in controversy, or a lawyer with whom he previously practiced law served during such association as a lawyer concerning the matter, or the judge or such lawyer has been a material witness concerning it;
(3)Where he has served in governmental employment and in such capacity participated as counsel, adviser or material witness concerning the proceeding or expressed an opinion concerning the merits of the particular case in controversy;
(4)He knows that he, individually or as a fiduciary, or his spouse or minor child residing in his household, has a financial interest in the subject matter in controversy or in a party to the proceeding, or any other interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding;
(5)He or his spouse, or a person within the third degree of relationship to either of them, or the spouse of such a person:
(i)Is a party to the proceeding, or an officer, director, or trustee of a party;
(ii)Is acting as a lawyer in the proceeding;
(iii)Is known by the judge to have an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding;
(iv)Is to the judge’s knowledge likely to be a material witness in the proceeding.
(c)A judge should inform himself about his personal and fiduciary financial interests, and make a reasonable effort to inform himself about the personal financial interests of his spouse and minor children residing in his household.
(d)For the purposes of this section the following words or phrases shall have the meaning indicated:
(1)“proceeding” includes pretrial, trial, appellate review, or other stages of litigation;
(2)the degree of relationship is calculated according to the civil law system;
(3)“fiduciary” includes such relationships as executor, administrator, trustee, and guardian;
(4)“financial interest” means ownership of a legal or equitable interest, however small, or a relationship as director, adviser, or other active participant in the affairs of a party, except that:
(i)Ownership in a mutual or common investment fund that holds securities is not a “financial interest” in such securities unless the judge participates in the management of the fund;
(ii)An office in an educational, religious, charitable, fraternal, or civic organization is not a “financial interest” in securities held by the organization;
(iii)The proprietary interest of a policyholder in a mutual insurance company, of a depositor in a mutual savings association, or a similar proprietary interest, is a “financial interest” in the organization only if the outcome of the proceeding could substantially affect the value of the interest;
(iv)Ownership of government securities is a “financial interest” in the issuer only if the outcome of the proceeding could substantially affect the value of the securities.
(e)No justice, judge, or magistrate judge shall accept from the parties to the proceeding a waiver of any ground for disqualification enumerated in subsection (b). Where the ground for disqualification arises only under subsection (a), waiver may be accepted provided it is preceded by a full disclosure on the record of the basis for disqualification.
(f)Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this section, if any justice, judge, magistrate judge, or bankruptcy judge to whom a matter has been assigned would be disqualified, after substantial judicial time has been devoted to the matter, because of the appearance or discovery, after the matter was assigned to him or her, that he or she individually or as a fiduciary, or his or her spouse or minor child residing in his or her household, has a financial interest in a party (other than an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome), disqualification is not required if the justice, judge, magistrate judge, bankruptcy judge, spouse or minor child, as the case may be, divests himself or herself of the interest that provides the grounds for the disqualification.