Keeping issues tied up in courts

I was listening to the Canadian classical music station for the usual early afternoon show when at about 1:30 the music abruptly stopped. The stations I listen to sometimes do that. But a moment later a voice said that Queen Elizabeth II of Britain had died at the age of 96. She had been the Queen for 70 years, the longest serving British monarch. Since her son Charles was 3 when she took the throne he has been the crown prince for 70 years, the longest in that role in British history. Since the Canadian station was going to discuss her reign for the rest of the afternoon I switched back to the Detroit classical station at 2:00. So we now have Charles III. I think he is 74 or will be soon. Since his mother and grandmother were so long lived – the Queen Mum lived to 101 – Charles may manage to be king for 20-30 years. Allison Donahue of Michigan Advance reported that the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the proposal to put reproductive rights into the state constitution must appear on the November ballot. Last week the Board of State Canvassers latched onto a technicality to block the proposal. The Canvassers had already scheduled to meet tomorrow – the deadline to finalize the state part of the November ballot – to handle the expected court decision. The Court ruled 5-2 with two of the three Republicans on the Court dissenting. One of them, Justice Brian Zahra goes before voters this fall. Laina Stebbins of Michigan Advance reported the Supremes also ruled a voter protection proposal must also appear on the ballot. It was also blocked by the Board of State Canvassers. Again, the vote was 5-2 and again Zahra was one of the dissenters. Rebekah Sager of Daily Kos reported on another strange chapter in the 2020 election. A voting machine appeared on the Goodwill website. A person in Ohio bought it and then listed it on eBay, saying it was a chance to own a piece of history. Harri Hursti of Connecticut, an election security specialist, recognized what it was and bought it. When it arrived he contacted Jocelyn Benson, Michigan Secretary of State. She told him to keep the box sealed and someone would come for it. A few days later Benson thanked him and said it did originate in Michigan and that jurisdiction has now reported it to law enforcement as stolen. Mark Sumner of Kos reported that Ukraine is making advances in several places along the long front. They’re covering ground in a couple days what Russia took weeks to months to capture. All the work Ukraine did to blow up Russian supply depots is working. Kos of Kos reported the war map is changing rapidly. He also discusses the Kherson trap I’ve mentioned before. Ukraine talked a lot about a big advance against Kherson. Russia moved a lot of troops to protect the city. Then Ukraine damaged bridges so these Russian troops could not be resupplied. Everyone could see it was a trap and Russia walked into it anyway. In a sense Russia had to or face a public relations catastrophe (which they’ll face anyway when Kherson is liberated). Kos reports we now see why Ukraine was so noisy about their plans for Kherson. Their troops are now moving rapidly through Russian-held territory towards Kupiansk. This city is the railway hub for northern Donbas. Russian supplies come here by rail to be distributed to various areas of the front by rail. If Ukraine takes Kupiansk Russian supplies to Donbas are cut off. Sumner reported that within the documents recovered from Mar-a-Lago was one that detailed the military defenses of a foreign nation and included its nuclear capabilities. This is the type of document that cannot be declassified and those that may see it are quite limited. Imagine if this document was about India and given to Pakistan. Or about Iraq and given to Israel. This could lead to war and threaten the stability of the planet. Sumner then discussed what might happen next. The Department of Justice could file with the 11th Circuit Court to overturn the egregious ruling that halted investigations into the whole set of seized documents. I’ve since heard that filing has happened. A problem here – the 11th Circuit has 11 judges and 7 of them were appointed by the nasty guy. The DOJ can also proceed on indicting the nasty guy based on previous batches of documents that had been at Mar-a-Lago and on the testimony of witnesses. Sumner then discussed the nasty guy’s real purpose: delay. He has filed 3,000 lawsuits (over his lifetime?) to keep issues tied up in courts. Resolutions can take years. He has filed lawsuits over every request from Congress. For example, Congress subpoenaed his tax records back in 2019. He filed yet another appeal last month. This is how he operates. Which means that egregious ruling could also work through the courts for years. Dartagnan of Kos wrote:

It wasn’t what Republicans wanted. And it wasn’t inevitable. But it was certainly predictable. Against the backdrop of two Donald Trump-approved, ready-made candidates proudly standing next to him this week on a Pennsylvania stage, the loser of the 2020 election took extraordinary pains to remind everyone that the countdown to the 2022 midterms would be all about him, and him alone.

It doesn’t matter that Republicans are trying to make the election about inflation, crime, immigrants, sex education, or anything else. He’s making sure the Republican message is about him.