#ruleoflaw — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #ruleoflaw, aggregated by home.social.
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🌱 Every child deserves the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive. Head Start is an investment in children, families, communities, and America’s future. Keep Trump’s hands off Head Start.
open.substack.com/pub/peoplepo...
#ProtectDemocracy #RuleOfLaw -
🌱 Every child deserves the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive. Head Start is an investment in children, families, communities, and America’s future. Keep Trump’s hands off Head Start.
open.substack.com/pub/peoplepo...
#ProtectDemocracy #RuleOfLaw -
🌱 Every child deserves the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive. Head Start is an investment in children, families, communities, and America’s future. Keep Trump’s hands off Head Start.
open.substack.com/pub/peoplepo...
#ProtectDemocracy #RuleOfLaw -
https://www.europesays.com/uk/1196714/ German MEP Demands EU Funding Freeze if AfD Takes Power in Saxony-Anhalt #AFD #AlternativeFürDeutschland #DanielFreund #EU #EUFunding #Europe #European #EuropeanCommission #Germany #RuleOfLaw #SaxonyAnhalt #UlrichSiegmund
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https://www.europesays.com/africa/419031/ Ghana’s Chief Justice Saga Is Over. Judicial Fragility Is Not #AfricanCourt #Ghana #institutions #RuleOfLaw
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The Simplest Way for the Supreme Court to Rule in the USPS Mail Ballots Case
Two weeks ago, in Trump v. California, the Supreme Court held that a suit brought by several states to…
#NewsBeep #News #Headlines #Democracy #Elections #Federalism #litigation #RuleofLaw #UnitedStates #Us #us-postal-service #USA
https://www.newsbeep.com/724741/ -
#autisti Autisti/Inventati #trump #maga #ruleOfLaw #rechtsstaat #EU #DSbubble -
#autisti Autisti/Inventati #trump #maga #ruleOfLaw #rechtsstaat #EU #DSbubble -
#autisti Autisti/Inventati #trump #maga #ruleOfLaw #rechtsstaat #EU #DSbubble -
#autisti Autisti/Inventati #trump #maga #ruleOfLaw #rechtsstaat #EU #DSbubble -
The President and the Rule of Law: When the Defendant Returns to Power
By Cliff Potts, CSO, and Editor-in-Chief of WPS News
Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines — September 8, 2026
Donald J. Trump is the president of the United States.
Donald J. Trump is also a convicted felon.
Those statements are simultaneously true.
On May 30, 2024, a New York jury found Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. The prosecution alleged that business records were falsified as part of an effort to conceal a payment made shortly before the 2016 presidential election (New York State Unified Court System, 2024a, 2024b).
Trump has consistently denied wrongdoing, denounced the prosecution as politically motivated, and pursued appellate challenges to the conviction. His conviction therefore should not be described as beyond legal challenge. As of this writing, however, the jury verdict has not been overturned, and Trump remains convicted while pursuing his appeal (Reuters, 2026a).
That unprecedented situation raises an uncomfortable question for the United States.
The Constitution does not prohibit a convicted felon from serving as president.
But what happens to the rule of law when the person constitutionally charged with executing federal law has himself been criminally convicted—and when the presidency increasingly provides protections unavailable to ordinary citizens?
The answer is more complicated than simply declaring Trump’s conviction grounds for impeachment.
It is also considerably more important.
Thirty-Four Felony Convictions
Trump was indicted in New York in 2023 on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree under New York Penal Law § 175.10 (New York State Unified Court System, 2024c).
His trial began April 15, 2024.
After nearly seven weeks of proceedings, the jury began deliberations on May 29. On May 30, it returned guilty verdicts on all 34 counts (New York State Unified Court System, 2024b).
That wording matters.
Trump was not merely charged 34 times.
He was not simply accused by prosecutors.
A jury returned 34 guilty verdicts.
Those verdicts remain subject to appeal, as criminal convictions ordinarily are. Trump is entitled to challenge them through the appellate process, and an appellate court could ultimately reverse some or all of the convictions.
But unless and until that happens, describing Trump as a convicted felon is a statement of his current legal status, not political rhetoric (New York State Unified Court System, 2024b; Reuters, 2026a).
What Trump Was Actually Convicted Of
Precision is particularly important here because Trump’s New York case is routinely described inaccurately by both supporters and opponents.
Trump was convicted of falsifying business records in the first degree.
The charges arose from records associated with reimbursements to Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney, following Cohen’s $130,000 payment to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election. Prosecutors argued that the records concealed an unlawful scheme intended to influence the election by suppressing potentially damaging information (New York State Unified Court System, 2024a).
Trump denied Daniels’ account of a sexual encounter and denied criminal wrongdoing.
The criminal issue was not whether having an extramarital sexual encounter is illegal.
It is not.
Nor was Trump convicted merely for paying someone to remain silent. Such agreements are not inherently criminal.
The prosecution concerned the manner in which business records were allegedly falsified and the purpose prosecutors said that falsification served.
That distinction is essential if this series is going to assess Trump’s conduct rather than caricature it.
The Sentence Was an Unconditional Discharge
Trump was sentenced on January 10, 2025, shortly before returning to the presidency.
The court imposed an unconditional discharge.
Under New York law, an unconditional discharge releases the defendant without conditions imposed upon that release (New York State Unified Court System, n.d.).
Trump therefore received no jail sentence and no probation.
That did not erase the verdict.
Judge Juan Merchan had previously explained the unusual constitutional problem confronting the court. Trump had been convicted, but he was preparing to assume the presidency. Merchan concluded that an unconditional discharge provided a means of bringing the criminal proceeding to judgment while avoiding interference with Trump’s forthcoming presidential responsibilities and preserving Trump’s ability to pursue an appeal (New York State Supreme Court, 2025).
The result was extraordinary.
The criminal justice system produced a felony conviction against a former president.
The electorate subsequently returned that defendant to the presidency.
And the sentencing court deliberately fashioned a punishment that would not interfere with the operation of the presidency.
None of those actions was necessarily unlawful.
Together, however, they illustrate the collision between presidential power and ordinary legal accountability.
A Criminal Conviction Is Not Automatically an Impeachable Offense
This point cannot be avoided simply because it complicates the argument for impeachment.
Trump’s New York convictions do not automatically constitute grounds for removing him from his present office.
The underlying conduct largely predates his first presidency. The jury verdict occurred after that presidency. The Constitution does not expressly declare that a president who has been convicted of a felony becomes ineligible to serve.
Impeachment is principally concerned with serious abuses associated with public office and public trust, rather than functioning as an automatic additional punishment for every crime an officeholder might commit (Congressional Research Service [CRS], 2025).
That means Congress should be extremely cautious about constructing a third impeachment article that simply says:
Trump is a convicted felon; therefore Trump must be removed.
That argument is constitutionally weaker than many of Trump’s opponents may wish it were.
The New York conviction matters enormously.
But it matters primarily because it creates a larger constitutional problem concerning the relationship between the presidency and the law.
Then the Supreme Court Changed the Landscape
On July 1, 2024, the Supreme Court decided Trump v. United States, one of the most consequential presidential-power cases in American history.
The Court held that a former president possesses absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within the president’s “conclusive and preclusive” constitutional authority, at least presumptive immunity for official presidential acts, and no immunity for unofficial acts (Trump v. United States, 2024).
The decision did not declare presidents completely immune from criminal law.
That distinction is critical.
Unofficial conduct remains prosecutable.
But the decision established substantial criminal immunity surrounding official presidential actions and required courts to determine whether challenged conduct falls within protected presidential functions (Trump v. United States, 2024).
The majority reasoned that a president must be able to exercise constitutional authority without the threat that political opponents will later criminally prosecute legitimate presidential decisions. Without meaningful immunity, the Court reasoned, fear of prosecution could distort presidential decision-making (Trump v. United States, 2024).
That concern is not frivolous.
Imagine a system in which every departing president expects an incoming administration to prosecute controversial official decisions made by the previous administration.
Presidential government could quickly degenerate into cycles of political prosecution.
The majority attempted to prevent precisely that danger.
But the decision created another danger.
How Much Immunity Is Too Much?
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented.
The dissent warned that the majority had substantially altered the relationship between the presidency and criminal law and had created protection broad enough to place dangerous presidential misconduct beyond ordinary prosecution (Trump v. United States, 2024, Sotomayor, J., dissenting).
The disagreement between the majority and dissent exposes the central constitutional dilemma.
A president needs independence.
A president cannot function if every difficult decision carries a credible threat of personal prosecution from political enemies.
But a president also cannot become a monarch.
The American system was constructed around the proposition that governmental power is limited and that public officials remain subject to law.
The challenge is determining where necessary presidential independence ends and effective legal impunity begins.
That question is no longer academic.
Trump is serving a second term under an immunity doctrine created by litigation arising from his own previous presidency.
The Presidency Is Not Supposed to Be a Sanctuary From Law
The Constitution gives presidents extraordinary authority.
It does not explicitly create a general presidential exemption from law.
The president must “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed” (U.S. Const. art. II, § 3).
That language becomes particularly important when the president himself has a complicated relationship with the legal system.
A criminal conviction does not make every subsequent presidential decision illegitimate.
Nor does it establish that Trump is incapable of faithfully executing the laws.
But the combination of criminal conviction, presidential immunity, control over the executive branch, broad pardon authority, and authority over the Justice Department creates a structural problem unlike anything the United States has previously confronted.
The question becomes not simply whether Trump personally believes himself above the law.
The more important question is whether American institutions are constructing a presidency that functionally is.
The Justice Department Problem
The president appoints the attorney general and exercises enormous influence over the executive branch responsible for enforcing federal criminal law.
That authority is constitutionally legitimate.
But it becomes dangerous if law enforcement is transformed from an institution serving the United States into an institution serving the president personally.
Recent litigation illustrates why the distinction matters.
In August 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a ruling preventing Justice Department subpoenas directed at the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James because the prosecutor leading the investigation had been unlawfully installed in his position. James had previously brought the civil fraud case against Trump and his business and has argued that federal investigations involving her represent political retaliation. The Justice Department disputes that characterization and intends to seek Supreme Court review (Reuters, 2026b).
That ruling does not prove that Trump personally ordered an unlawful prosecution of James.
Nor does it prove that James committed no wrongdoing.
But it raises exactly the institutional question Congress must investigate:
Is federal prosecutorial authority being exercised according to neutral legal standards, or is governmental power being directed against people who previously investigated or prosecuted the president?
That distinction could become central to an impeachment inquiry.
The Rule of Law Requires More Than Courts
Americans often speak about the “rule of law” as though it simply means courts exist.
It means considerably more.
The rule of law requires that governmental power operate according to established legal rules rather than the personal wishes of whoever holds power.
It requires that political allies and political enemies be treated under the same legal standards.
It requires presidents to obey adverse judgments.
It requires prosecutors to exercise governmental authority for legitimate law-enforcement purposes.
And it requires that presidential power itself remain bounded by law.
Courts are one mechanism for maintaining those boundaries.
Congress is another.
That is where impeachment becomes relevant.
If presidential immunity makes certain official conduct difficult or impossible to prosecute criminally, impeachment becomes more important, not less important, as a constitutional accountability mechanism.
The Supreme Court itself recognized that its decision concerned criminal prosecution. It did not abolish impeachment (Trump v. United States, 2024).
The Constitution therefore still provides a political remedy for abuses of presidential authority even where criminal prosecution may be unavailable.
This Is Where a Third Impeachment Case Becomes Stronger
Trump’s 34 New York convictions alone provide a questionable foundation for a third impeachment because the underlying conduct predates his current presidency.
But suppose evidence establishes that, while president, Trump uses federal authority to punish prosecutors who previously investigated him.
Suppose executive agencies are directed toward personal retaliation.
Suppose presidential authority is used to obstruct lawful investigations.
Suppose officials are selected specifically to accomplish actions that other officials refuse to undertake because they believe those actions unlawful.
Suppose court orders are deliberately evaded.
Those would be different constitutional questions.
They would concern present presidential conduct.
And if sufficiently serious and sufficiently supported by evidence, they could fall squarely within the historical understanding of abuse of power and violation of public trust underlying “high Crimes and Misdemeanors” (CRS, 2025).
That is why Trump’s legal history belongs in this series.
Not because being convicted automatically makes him impeachable.
Because his second presidency is testing whether the enormous powers of the presidency can be used to insulate the president himself from meaningful accountability.
The Cost of No Accountability
There is an easy mistake to make when discussing the rule of law.
It is to ask whether Donald Trump will go to prison.
That is not the most important question.
The more important question is whether the United States is developing two systems of accountability—one for ordinary citizens and another for presidents.
Trump was tried by a jury and convicted on 34 felony counts (New York State Unified Court System, 2024b).
He was elected president afterward.
The sentencing court imposed an unconditional discharge partly because of the extraordinary constitutional circumstances surrounding his return to office (New York State Supreme Court, 2025).
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has established absolute immunity for a president’s exercise of core constitutional powers and presumptive immunity for other official acts (Trump v. United States, 2024).
Each individual development has a legal rationale.
The cumulative effect deserves considerably more attention.
Presidential immunity protects the office.
The pardon power protects executive discretion.
Prosecutorial discretion protects law enforcement.
Executive privilege protects presidential deliberation.
The separation of powers protects presidential independence.
Every one of those doctrines serves legitimate constitutional purposes.
But protections can accumulate.
At some point the question becomes whether the system has protected the presidency so thoroughly that it has become extraordinarily difficult to hold the president accountable when presidential power itself is abused.
That is where Congress enters the equation.
Impeachment was designed precisely because the Framers understood that ordinary criminal law would not always be sufficient to protect the republic from misconduct by powerful public officials (CRS, 2025).
If Congress refuses to use that power regardless of the evidence before it, the constitutional consequences extend far beyond Trump.
Every future president inherits the authority successfully claimed by previous presidents.
Every future president studies the boundaries previous presidents crossed without consequence.
And every future president learns something from what the other branches tolerated.
The ultimate danger is therefore not that Donald Trump possesses too much power.
It is that the office of the presidency itself may emerge from this era possessing power that no individual in a constitutional republic should possess without effective restraint.
Trump’s criminal conviction forces America to confront the question.
His presidency makes answering it unavoidable.
References
Congressional Research Service. (2025). Impeachment and the Constitution (R46013). U.S. Congress.
New York State Supreme Court. (2025). People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump, Ind. No. 71543-23. New York County.
New York State Unified Court System. (n.d.). Common sentences.
New York State Unified Court System. (2024a). People v. Trump, 2024 NY Slip Op 24148.
New York State Unified Court System. (2024b). People v. Trump, 2024 NY Slip Op 24328.
New York State Unified Court System. (2024c). People v. Trump, 2024 NY Slip Op 50464(U).
Reuters. (2026a, April 21). Trump defense lawyers depart law firm Sullivan & Cromwell for Gibson Dunn.
Reuters. (2026b, August 21). Appeals court upholds block on U.S. Justice Department subpoenas to New York attorney general’s office.
Trump v. United States, 603 U.S. 593 (2024).
U.S. Constitution, art. II, § 3.
#DonaldTrump #PresidentialAccountability #PresidentialImmunity #ruleOfLaw #TrumpConviction #TrumpImpeachment #WPSNews -
“Far from ensuring the separation of powers, the Court has used #standing to undermine the principle: According to the #Constitution, #Congress has the power to make laws, but the Court’s standing decisions have freed the executive branch (and other entities) from having to comply with them.”
It is maddening to realize that we have so many laws and rights that can’t be enforced or respected.
#civilrights #ballroom #vanityprojects #ruleoflaw #scotus #gift
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“Far from ensuring the separation of powers, the Court has used #standing to undermine the principle: According to the #Constitution, #Congress has the power to make laws, but the Court’s standing decisions have freed the executive branch (and other entities) from having to comply with them.”
It is maddening to realize that we have so many laws and rights that can’t be enforced or respected.
#civilrights #ballroom #vanityprojects #ruleoflaw #scotus #gift
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“Far from ensuring the separation of powers, the Court has used #standing to undermine the principle: According to the #Constitution, #Congress has the power to make laws, but the Court’s standing decisions have freed the executive branch (and other entities) from having to comply with them.”
It is maddening to realize that we have so many laws and rights that can’t be enforced or respected.
#civilrights #ballroom #vanityprojects #ruleoflaw #scotus #gift
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“Far from ensuring the separation of powers, the Court has used #standing to undermine the principle: According to the #Constitution, #Congress has the power to make laws, but the Court’s standing decisions have freed the executive branch (and other entities) from having to comply with them.”
It is maddening to realize that we have so many laws and rights that can’t be enforced or respected.
#civilrights #ballroom #vanityprojects #ruleoflaw #scotus #gift
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“Far from ensuring the separation of powers, the Court has used #standing to undermine the principle: According to the #Constitution, #Congress has the power to make laws, but the Court’s standing decisions have freed the executive branch (and other entities) from having to comply with them.”
It is maddening to realize that we have so many laws and rights that can’t be enforced or respected.
#civilrights #ballroom #vanityprojects #ruleoflaw #scotus #gift
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Tusk’s Political Gambit – Maciej Berek Constitutional Court Vote
On 28 August 2026 Poland’s Council of Ministers adopted a draft budget in which the Constitutional Tribunal appears…
#Poland #Polska #PL #Europe #Europa #EU #DonaldTusk #ElectionsinPoland #KarolNawrocki #LawandJustice #Nawrocki #RuleofLaw #SupremeCourt
https://www.europesays.com/poland/23725/ -
https://www.europesays.com/people/213007/ Tusk’s Political Gambit – Maciej Berek Constitutional Court Vote #DonaldTusk #ElectionsInPoland #KarolNawrocki #LawAndJustice #Nawrocki #Poland #RuleOfLaw #SupremeCourt
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Wednesday, August 26, 2026
Russian drone strikes border crossing between Ukraine and Moldova . . . . . "He's sort of like Hitler" — Trump's ex-Ukraine envoy Kellogg warns Putin won't stop at Donbas . . . . . US snubs joint UN rebuke of Russian strikes against Ukraine — again . . . . . and morehttps://activitypub.writeworks.uk/2026/08/wednesday-august-26-2026/
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The admin didn't hide it — they admitted in court they cut research grants based on which states voted Harris. Documented corruption is still corruption. By @bledewitz.bsky.social
#AmericanPolitics #ConstitutionalCrisis #RuleOfLaw #Science #Accountability
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EFCC and the Art of Freezing State Treasuries: When Federal Overreach Meets Federalism by Lawson Akhigbe
Nigeria is a federation. Federal agencies do not get to shut down state governments because they suspect something may have gone wrong with the books. Trail the money into private hands. Do not turn off the treasury. The courts, the governors’ forum and the plain language of the Constitution have already said as much. The only question left is how many more times the lesson must be repeated. -
Navigating the Void: Why Nigeria Needs a Corporate Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) Framework
In a standard DPA regime, a company that self-reports and cooperates can avoid the "corporate death penalty" of a criminal conviction. In Nigeria, we are currently forced to rely on the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015. While the ACJA provides for Plea Bargaining, it is a fundamentally different animal from a DPA: -
Your “ἄρiςτοi” [aristocrats] are the most difficult Animals to manage, of any thing in the whole Theory and practice of Government. They will not Suffer themselves to be governed. They not only exert all their own Subtilty Industry and courage, but they employ the Commonalty, to knock to pieces every Plan and Model that the most honest Architects in Legislation can invent to keep them within bounds.
John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
Letter (1813-07-09) to Thomas JeffersonMore about this quote: wist.info/adams-john/84725/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #johnadams #aristocracy #aristocrat #classwarfare #government #lobbying #politicalinfluence #politicaltheory #politics #power #propaganda #ruleoflaw #upperclass
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Newsom DOJ Investigation Shows Trump’s Revenge Machine Is Not Even Hiding Anymore
Newsom DOJ Investigation puts Trump’s Justice Department back at the center of claims that federal power is being used for political revenge.https://thedemocracyadvocate.com/news-to-know/trump-watch/newsom-doj-investigation/
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Well yeah. The agency could argue the policy is not "arbitrary or capricious" due to the "need" (and I use the word loosely here) for enforcement of #immigration laws (although as the change in these policies was never subject to public review, as required (AFAIK) by the APA, they shouldn't be in effect in the first place).
But under no circumstances can they avoid constitutionally required due process, warranted search, right of assembly, right of free speech, and equal protection constraints on their behavior. It's just a non-starter.
If hundreds of these guys don't go to jail when this regime is finally ousted, that will be a damned shame and a signal to the next tinpot dictator that they can get away with anything.
#justice #freeSpeech #assembly #warrants #search #equalRights #equalProtection #constitution #Amerika #impeach47 #resist #Ω #donotcomply #immigration #ruleOfLaw #crushICE
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When the Clouds Begin to Part: Reading the Signs of Democracy’s Renewal – January 13, 2026 – A DWD Editorial
Silhouetted Americans standing together as storm clouds part and sunlight rays form signposts over the U.S. Capitol dome.The clouds may not be gone yet — but the signposts are visible.
When the Clouds Begin to Part: Reading the Signs of Democracy’s Renewal
Opinion • DrWeb’s Domain
For many Americans — and for millions around the world who have watched the United States as a democratic north star — the period since January 2025 has felt like standing inside a gathering storm. Institutions strained. Norms bent and some broken. Constitutional guardrails tested. Who truly expected the Supreme Court of the United States to roll over for Trump as it has? That is not right-wing. That is simply crazy. The noise has been relentless, the rhetoric exhausting, and the stakes unmistakably historic.
Yet history teaches something equally important: democratic collapse does not arrive all at once — and neither does democratic recovery.
Recovery begins with signs. Subtle at first. Then unmistakable.
If one listens closely beneath the thunder of daily crisis, it becomes clear: the clouds may be parting.
The First Signs: Institutions Remember Who They Are
One of the earliest and most hopeful indicators of democratic renewal is institutional memory reasserting itself.
Courts have continued to issue rulings that quietly but firmly reinforce constitutional boundaries. Career civil servants have refused unlawful directives. Inspectors General, auditors, election officials, and local administrators — the so-called “invisible infrastructure” of democracy — have held their posts. Many have done so under extraordinary pressure.
Democracy does not survive because of speeches. It survives because ordinary people inside extraordinary systems decide, again and again, to do their jobs.
That is happening.
Public Resistance Has Shifted from Outrage to Organization
Another critical sign: the public response has matured.
In 2017–2021, resistance was loud, emotional, and often reactive. In 2025–2026, it has become something more durable: structured, patient, legally grounded, and strategically national.
Voter registration is surging. Grassroots legal funds are multiplying. Journalists are collaborating across outlets and borders. State governments are coordinating constitutional defenses. Universities, bar associations, unions, faith groups, and veterans’ organizations are issuing joint statements rooted not in ideology but in constitutional principle.
This is what civic adulthood looks like.
Authoritarian Power Always Overreaches — and the Overreach Is Now Visible
History is unambiguous on this point: authoritarian atttempts collapse under the weight of their own ambition.
The more power attempts to centralize, the more resistance it creates — not just among citizens, but within the machinery of the state itself. Fractures are now visible inside political coalitions that once appeared unified. Economic confidence wavers when rule of law is threatened. International alliances grow cautious. Investors, courts, businesses, universities, and professional associations begin to hedge against instability.
Power that depends on fear is always fragile.
The World Is No Longer Standing on the Sidelines
Another hopeful signal: the global democratic community is no longer silent.
Foreign courts, human-rights bodies, election monitors, international media, and allied governments are actively documenting events inside the United States. This matters. It constrains excess. It preserves record. It establishes future accountability.
Democracy is no longer merely an American inheritance. It is now a shared global responsibility.
What Comes Next: The Great Recovery of Democracy, 2026
If the past year was about resistance, the coming year will be about reconstruction.
The Great Recovery of Democracy will not arrive through one election alone. It will unfold through a sequence:
- Legal clarification of constitutional limits
- Electoral realignment driven by turnout
- Institutional reforms reinforcing checks and balances
- A generational renewal of civic participation
- A recommitment to shared factual reality
This is how democracies heal — not by erasing conflict, but by re-anchoring legitimacy.
How We Will Know We Are Winning
We the People are winning when:
- The rule of law reasserts itself over political convenience
- Elections regain their authority as final arbiters
- Extremism begins to fracture from the inside
- Public trust inches upward
- Young Americans choose engagement over despair
Most of all, we will know we are winning when fear no longer drives the national conversation.
Looking Up Through the Clouds
Looking Up Through the CloudsThe clouds have not yet vanished. But the sky is changing. Keep watching the skies!
And history shows: once democratic momentum returns, it moves with extraordinary force.
After 250 years, the American experiment has learned its hardest lesson once again — and it is remembering its purpose.
The road ahead is long.
Tags: Authoritarian Rule, democracy, DrWeb, DWD Editorial, Hope, Institutions, Road Ahead, Rule of Law, SCOTUS, Signposts, Trump, U.S. Constitution
But the signposts are now visible.
And they are pointing forward…
With Hope, DrWeb
#AuthoritarianRule #democracy #DrWeb #DWDEditorial #Hope #Institutions #RoadAhead #RuleOfLaw #SCOTUS #Signposts #Trump #USConstitution -
@Strakolo @benroyce @nomdeb @georgetakei https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qnfg7mSLe4g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hybL-GJov7M&pp=0gcJCU0KAYcqIYzv
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LL35ZORbDk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pEGCG5IQsI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjlmYQhwlp4
#trump #nokings #democracy #america #politics #eu #us #ruleoflaw #war #republicans #DOGE #warcrime #Corruption #immunity #equalprotection #musk #bondi #epstein #murder #tarrifs #DOJ #congress #constitution -
Jack Smith Speaks – Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance
Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance
Jack Smith Speaks
By Joyce Vance, Oct 14, 2025
You have choices about where you get your news and analysis. I’m grateful you’ve chosen to read Civil Discourse. If you value clear, independent insight into the law and our democracy, I hope you’ll consider a paid subscription. Your support makes the newsletter possible. Thank you for being here with me.
ABC reported today that the House Judiciary Committee wants to have former special counsel Jack Smith testify—behind closed doors—about investigating the Mar-a-Lago, January 6, and Donald Trump. Jim Jordan, the Ohio Republican who chairs the Committee, wants an interview by October 28. He is calling for Smith to turn over documents and communications too.
Why now? Last week, there was reporting (very unsurprising to anyone who has ever investigated a federal case) that Smith’s probe obtained phone records regarding a number of Republican lawmakers as part of the January 6 case investigation. Jordan wrote to Smith, “As the Committee continues its oversight, your testimony is necessary to understand the full extent to which the Biden-Harris Justice Department weaponized federal law enforcement.”
Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri complained that “The F.B.I. tapped my phone.” He said he’d been wiretapped.
Not so fast, though. Obtaining phone records means getting call information—that can mean which phone number called which other phone number, when, and possibly, how long the call lasted. It’s easy to understand why prosecutors would want that information in virtually any case they’re investigating.
Here, given reports that Trump had numerous calls leading up to and on January 6 (for instance, one with brand new Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville), it would be surprising if they hadn’t done so. The New York Times reported that “The calls were scrutinized because at the time, prosecutors were trying to identify relevant communications between the president and his inner circle with members of Congress on the key days surrounding the violence.”
Call information, which frequently produces investigative leads, is acquired routinely by investigators. But it is not the same thing as a wiretap, which lets law enforcement listen in on a target’s phone calls. To get a wiretap, prosecutors and agents have to get an order from a federal judge in compliance with the strict requirements of Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. They have to establish probable cause and show that less intrusive investigative methods were tried and failed. A wiretap only lasts for 30 days, and prosecutors must go back to the judge, with fresh proof, in order to reup the wiretap for an additional 30 days.
Jordan’s allegation that this is the weaponization of the DOJ should fall on deaf ears. Jack Smith was investigating one of the most serious situations our country has ever faced—an effort to interfere with the smooth transfer of power between two American administrations, with involvement by the outgoing president who had lost the election—using routine investigative techniques. Jordan and other Republicans should be able to differentiate between that and wiretaps, since these are statutory creatures and Congress sets the requirements for when they can be used.
Continue/Read Original Article Here: Jack Smith Speaks – Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance
#2025 #America #CivilDiscourse #DonaldTrump #Education #GOP #Health #History #JackSmith #January6AttackOnUSCapitol #JoyceVance #Libraries #Library #LibraryOfCongress #Opinion #Politics #Resistance #RuleOfLaw #Science #Substack #Trump #TrumpAdministration #TrumpPoliticalEnemy #UnitedStates
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Heads up to Brookline Rally for Democracy participants! We're making special plans for #NoKings Day on October 18th. Stay tuned for updates! #Massachusetts #Brookline #CoolidgeCorner #prodemocracy #resistance #constitutionalrights #humanrights #ruleoflaw #democracy #equalprotection
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Monday, July 28, 2025
Russia depletes Soviet arms, heavily relies on foreign supplies for Ukraine war — Ukraine to receive 33,000 AI drone kits under US defense deal — Moscow warns of ongoing war unless Ukraine complies with its maximalist demands — Russian drone strike on bus kills 3, injures 19 in Sumy Oblast … and more
https://activitypub.writeworks.uk/2025/07/monday-july-28-2025/
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Thursday, July 3, 2025
Russia increasingly targets Ukraine’s cities with cluster munitions, raising civilian toll — [vlog,video] Failed US peace effort left Ukraine worse off, expert argues — Military aid delays will ‘encourage Russia to continue war — Russia cannot launch 500 drones every day … and more
https://activitypub.writeworks.uk/2025/07/thursday-july-3-2025/
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CW: Unarmada for Gaza: Long bars, extreme content
who’s gonna tell the #Martians
why #Gazan lost kids weren’t on #cartons ?
slippery #WalkOns #grift for #argent
every time our #eyebrows arching
don’t let it touch the heartstrings
to get us to #SwipeAway as it hardens
#violent ardent khaki #sergeants
while we quake at #AlmondStalin
#GaryLineker ’s #PostPartum
pen over parchment starts to sharpen
I won’t make that bargain
I won’t beg that pardon
I be like “na man” gotta be barking
#PreciousIsEachFallenStarling
I’ll be the aveunt’s pesky #varmint
I’ll be #TestCase for their #retirement
I’ll be car-pooling up in the #parklands
opening the gates on #arkham
I’ll wipe out your margin
shave your #merkin
spice your #parkin
I’ll rehouse the martens
#TrainTheUrchins
spike your #garmin
I’ll be a #token doing a #slalom
round this #empire led by #Cartman
judged by duds like #MerrickGarland
none can thrive in this #environment
#censor tears of #Salah
lala to #Novara
if the bleeding party’s darker
#apathy #cicadas
while we eke they #parking
grasping for our farthing
all the #smartcards for the #outcasts marking
in this #awks #SharedDream hearken!
someone’s growing a fold: #Darkling
I don’t think we’ve time for #aksing
it’s got a bit beyond a #Marx ting
#DontSweat who’s inna room just barge in
tell them we need the #boats , we're not larking
#AllOfTheChildrenAreOurs when hurting
it’s part of our #dharma and we’re departing7/7
#Bars
#Poetry
#Lyrics
#Songs
#writing
#rhymescheme
#geopol
#MiddleEast
#IsraeliWarCrimes
#FreedomFlotilla
#Sumud
#ConvoyOfSteadfastness
#FreePalestine
#Madleen
#AntiFascist
#Genocide
#UKpol
#Labour
#RuleOfLaw
#Atrocity
#Imperalism
#Collapse
#Ethics
#Society
#Praxis
#CallToAction
#WorldOrder
#SocialMovements
#Surveillance #State #SurveillanceState -
CW: Unarmada for Gaza: Long bars, extreme content
who’s gonna tell the #Martians
why #Gazan lost kids weren’t on #cartons ?
slippery #WalkOns #grift for #argent
every time our #eyebrows arching
don’t let it touch the heartstrings
to get us to #SwipeAway as it hardens
#violent ardent khaki #sergeants
while we quake at #AlmondStalin
#GaryLineker ’s #PostPartum
pen over parchment starts to sharpen
I won’t make that bargain
I won’t beg that pardon
I be like “na man” gotta be barking
#PreciousIsEachFallenStarling
I’ll be the aveunt’s pesky #varmint
I’ll be #TestCase for their #retirement
I’ll be car-pooling up in the #parklands
opening the gates on #arkham
I’ll wipe out your margin
shave your #merkin
spice your #parkin
I’ll rehouse the martens
#TrainTheUrchins
spike your #garmin
I’ll be a #token doing a #slalom
round this #empire led by #Cartman
judged by duds like #MerrickGarland
none can thrive in this #environment
#censor tears of #Salah
lala to #Novara
if the bleeding party’s darker
#apathy #cicadas
while we eke they #parking
grasping for our farthing
all the #smartcards for the #outcasts marking
in this #awks #SharedDream hearken!
someone’s growing a fold: #Darkling
I don’t think we’ve time for #aksing
it’s got a bit beyond a #Marx ting
#DontSweat who’s inna room just barge in
tell them we need the #boats , we're not larking
#AllOfTheChildrenAreOurs when hurting
it’s part of our #dharma and we’re departing7/7
#Bars
#Poetry
#Lyrics
#Songs
#writing
#rhymescheme
#geopol
#MiddleEast
#IsraeliWarCrimes
#FreedomFlotilla
#Sumud
#ConvoyOfSteadfastness
#FreePalestine
#Madleen
#AntiFascist
#Genocide
#UKpol
#Labour
#RuleOfLaw
#Atrocity
#Imperalism
#Collapse
#Ethics
#Society
#Praxis
#CallToAction
#WorldOrder
#SocialMovements
#Surveillance #State #SurveillanceState -
CW: Unarmada for Gaza: Long bars, extreme content
who’s gonna tell the #Martians
why #Gazan lost kids weren’t on #cartons ?
slippery #WalkOns #grift for #argent
every time our #eyebrows arching
don’t let it touch the heartstrings
to get us to #SwipeAway as it hardens
#violent ardent khaki #sergeants
while we quake at #AlmondStalin
#GaryLineker ’s #PostPartum
pen over parchment starts to sharpen
I won’t make that bargain
I won’t beg that pardon
I be like “na man” gotta be barking
#PreciousIsEachFallenStarling
I’ll be the aveunt’s pesky #varmint
I’ll be #TestCase for their #retirement
I’ll be car-pooling up in the #parklands
opening the gates on #arkham
I’ll wipe out your margin
shave your #merkin
spice your #parkin
I’ll rehouse the martens
#TrainTheUrchins
spike your #garmin
I’ll be a #token doing a #slalom
round this #empire led by #Cartman
judged by duds like #MerrickGarland
none can thrive in this #environment
#censor tears of #Salah
lala to #Novara
if the bleeding party’s darker
#apathy #cicadas
while we eke they #parking
grasping for our farthing
all the #smartcards for the #outcasts marking
in this #awks #SharedDream hearken!
someone’s growing a fold: #Darkling
I don’t think we’ve time for #aksing
it’s got a bit beyond a #Marx ting
#DontSweat who’s inna room just barge in
tell them we need the #boats , we're not larking
#AllOfTheChildrenAreOurs when hurting
it’s part of our #dharma and we’re departing7/7
#Bars
#Poetry
#Lyrics
#Songs
#writing
#rhymescheme
#geopol
#MiddleEast
#IsraeliWarCrimes
#FreedomFlotilla
#Sumud
#ConvoyOfSteadfastness
#FreePalestine
#Madleen
#AntiFascist
#Genocide
#UKpol
#Labour
#RuleOfLaw
#Atrocity
#Imperalism
#Collapse
#Ethics
#Society
#Praxis
#CallToAction
#WorldOrder
#SocialMovements
#Surveillance #State #SurveillanceState -
CW: Unarmada for Gaza: Long bars, extreme content
who’s gonna tell the #Martians
why #Gazan lost kids weren’t on #cartons ?
slippery #WalkOns #grift for #argent
every time our #eyebrows arching
don’t let it touch the heartstrings
to get us to #SwipeAway as it hardens
#violent ardent khaki #sergeants
while we quake at #AlmondStalin
#GaryLineker ’s #PostPartum
pen over parchment starts to sharpen
I won’t make that bargain
I won’t beg that pardon
I be like “na man” gotta be barking
#PreciousIsEachFallenStarling
I’ll be the aveunt’s pesky #varmint
I’ll be #TestCase for their #retirement
I’ll be car-pooling up in the #parklands
opening the gates on #arkham
I’ll wipe out your margin
shave your #merkin
spice your #parkin
I’ll rehouse the martens
#TrainTheUrchins
spike your #garmin
I’ll be a #token doing a #slalom
round this #empire led by #Cartman
judged by duds like #MerrickGarland
none can thrive in this #environment
#censor tears of #Salah
lala to #Novara
if the bleeding party’s darker
#apathy #cicadas
while we eke they #parking
grasping for our farthing
all the #smartcards for the #outcasts marking
in this #awks #SharedDream hearken!
someone’s growing a fold: #Darkling
I don’t think we’ve time for #aksing
it’s got a bit beyond a #Marx ting
#DontSweat who’s inna room just barge in
tell them we need the #boats , we're not larking
#AllOfTheChildrenAreOurs when hurting
it’s part of our #dharma and we’re departing7/7
#Bars
#Poetry
#Lyrics
#Songs
#writing
#rhymescheme
#geopol
#MiddleEast
#IsraeliWarCrimes
#FreedomFlotilla
#Sumud
#ConvoyOfSteadfastness
#FreePalestine
#Madleen
#AntiFascist
#Genocide
#UKpol
#Labour
#RuleOfLaw
#Atrocity
#Imperalism
#Collapse
#Ethics
#Society
#Praxis
#CallToAction
#WorldOrder
#SocialMovements
#Surveillance #State #SurveillanceState -
CW: Unarmada for Gaza: Long bars, extreme content
#systemic #LossOfTrust and marbles
too far gone to term #debacle
what price our #rules ? who are the #adults ?
#SomethingSlouches up larval
justified by underhand fools
underlined by all the parcels
the #UK flies like guns were power tools
what’s inna box – “divulge, arseholes!”
#pundits hardly #MissMarple
with neither insight, wits nor jewels
all of this was out in the open
the #animus was right before you
#FirehoseOfShite and sparkle
keep that boy inna hole: rascal
all you claiming glass is half-full
why they always hate on #MeganMarkle?
import upside down and garbled
they terrorised and you but startled
they amputated, your #metatarsal
got abrased when your sparkly tiara fall
#Germany a #goosestep from “ja, wohl”
#Italy riding dirty; #JaRule
#NullPoints #France #antifa #PasDeTout
#PerfidiousIsle all #viddy and #yarble
#varken inna trough – snouts snarfle
#parsimony for us: #YAML
#zionist ’s speech; they like the #Nazgul
ours weak inna sauce too impartial
full tunnel vision must be carpal
bears no relation to our #truth at all – fuck all
crash the #Starlink, sack the #Starbucks
sow it in the barren field we growing our fucks
I know what a fucking #carbine does
to the heart of a child who is #NotLikeUs
tell mama; it works like a charm my love
no drama; it’s under the car my love
bizarro; I know that I bar quite rough
is it really worse than what the far right does?
you #Can'tLieToUs, you #CantBuyTrust
#MurderIsMurder and #halflife ’s worse
and worse still is bombed and starved while #trucks
full of food aren’t far behind and you’re tied up4/7
#Bars
#Poetry
#Lyrics
#Songs
#writing
#rhymescheme
#geopol
#MiddleEast
#IsraeliWarCrimes
#FreedomFlotilla
#Sumud
#ConvoyOfSteadfastness
#FreePalestine
#Madleen
#AntiFascist
#Genocide
#UKpol
#Labour
#RuleOfLaw
#Atrocity
#Imperalism
#Collapse
#Ethics
#Society
#Praxis
#CallToAction
#WorldOrder
#SocialMovements
#Surveillance #State #SurveillanceState -
I am driven by my emotions.
"Our opinions generally have emotional rather than intellectual roots, and indeed rationality largely functions as a post hoc justification. Our political opinions, ultimately, are what we feel about the world, not what we think about it. And in turn, our opinions about particular events have a lot to do with how we feel about the world in general. It’s not an exaggeration to say that most people’s views about the kind of things that happen today are extensions of concerns of their own ego. And consequently, invitations to change their minds because new facts emerge, or because old ideas are discredited by new evidence, are in fact a threat to the strength and even survival of that ego."
"But few people, especially those who have received a decent education, want to acknowledge that their views are based on emotion and not reason. They therefore try to argue".
https://aurelien2022.substack.com/p/another-country
@histodons @psychology @socialpsych @ukraine @israel
#disillusionment #disgust #power #leadership #traitors #personalSafety #feelings #emotions #indignation #moralBeauty #beauty #values #principles #morals #debate #rationality #faith #beliefs #USWars #lawAndOrder #ruleOfLaw #internationalLaw #CambridgeSpies #Cambridge #spies #ColdWar #psychology #Stalin #cult #personalityCult #hagiography #history #ruthlessness #proZionism #WeStandWithIsrael #StandWithIsrael #masculinity #longRead #geopolitics #Zelensky #Ukraine
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" That is a choice of law clause for a potential civil lawsuit between the consumer and Proton. "
Which you would only need to include for the countries of rule laws you are subject to. Period.
200 or so, sovereignty jurisdictions, and you do not include all 200 or so, but only the ones that apply to you (that you're subject).
It is not rocket science. This isn't a hard concept to understand. But it is one that the corporate simps what you to ignore.
#RuleOfLaw #Justice #Businesss -
#politics #trump #ruleoflaw #impeacment #justiceroberts #freespeech #alt
Heather Cox Richardson Trump Wants to Impeach Judges
3/18/2025 -
@JamesGleick Suggestion for another poll:
Why should we not trust an ex-official constantly inciting crimes?
https://time.com/5913960/trump-endangering-national-security/
#RuleOfLaw #AccountabilityMatters #JusticeMatters #DisqualifyTrump #IncitementToViolence #IncitementToInsurrection #Treason #DefraudingAmerica #LootingAmerica #SellingOutAmerica #ServingPutin -
Joe Biden & his extraordinarily active team have initiated their leading support for ***40,000 infrastructure projects***!
Remember, they did this within less than 3 years!
While other former presidential seatholders may have merely achieved close to 20,000 bribe transfers, spitting out thousands of lies, freeing thousands of Taliban terrorists & countless domestic terrorists & criminals for dollars within about the same timeframe.
P.S.: We need to talk more about how much Joe Biden is giving to us instead of taking only!
It's time to be grateful for a compassionate American President caring for & benefitting everyone!Thank you President Biden for being there & helping, where you're needed!
P.S. #2: Within 3 years of a 4-year term Donald Trump actually managed to not loaf around on one of his (?) golf courses wasting taxpayers' hard-earned dollars by the millions
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/bidens-infrastructure-law-has-begun-40000-projects-will-it-help-him-2024-2023-11-10/
#AmericaWon #PresidentBiden #RuleOfLaw #AccountabilityMatters #JusticeMatters -
Should today's "Republicans" be anyhow interested in recovering a remainder of lost legitimacy based on the values & norms of the Republican Party co-founded by Abraham Lincoln, they better cut all compromising ties to a lifelong career criminal & fraudster running for White House while being charged with another 91 counts before courts in the U.S.!
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-plans-sweeping-undocumented-immigrant-roundups-detention-camps-report-2023-11-11/
#RuleOfLaw #AccountabilityMatters #JusticeMatters #GOPEndorsesCriminals #GOP #DeprivationOfRights #AbortionRights #WomensRights #HumanRights #VoterSuppression #Gerrymandering #Disenfranchisement #VotingRights -
@realTuckFrumper Trump's illegal & anti-constitutional incitement crimes attacking the authority of the United States must not be given a public platform any longer!
#RuleOfLaw #AccountabilityMatters #JusticeMatters #ActNow #Trump #NationalSecurityThreat #DefraudingAmerica #ServingPutin
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@StephenRamirez "Nervous breakdowns"? You kidding me????
From Jan 20, 2017 to Jan 20, 2021 the United States had its first very own Caligula in Oval Office.
Do everything legal to make a sh*tty sequel impossible!
#RuleOfLaw #DefendTheConstitution #DefendDemocracy #DefendTheUnion #UnitedInDiversity #StrongerTogether #AccountabilityMatters #JusticeMatters #DisqualifyTrump #NationalSecurityThreat #EnemyOfLaw #DefraudingAmerica #LootingAmerica #SellingOutAmerica #ServingPutin #AidingAndAbetting #Treason
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@wendinoakland We may remember, that Trump is a defendant in four lawsuits so far, charged with 91 counts so far.
He is the incorporation of what the Founders understood by unacceptable extreme misdemeanor, unworthy to hold any government or other public office & disqualifyingly refusing to take care, that the laws be faithfully executed.#RuleOfLaw #AccountabilityMatters #JusticeMatters #DefendTheConstitution #DefendDemocracy #DefendTheUnion #TakeCareClause #DisqualifyTrump #NationalSecurityThreat #EnemiesOfTheLaw #CareerCriminals #CareerFraudsters #Espionage #Treason
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@marcelias The maps are in fact pursuing racist advantage.
Which means: The racist rebels, disguised as "Republicans", formally ratified the Reconstruction Amendments to regain U.S. congressional representation, but don't accept any loyalty to the Constitution & the Union.
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@RollingStone The party, that refuses to accept majority rule demands to be disqualified from holding public office.
#RuleOfLaw #AccountabilityMatters #JusticeMatters #DefendDemocracy #DefendTheConstitution #DefendTheUnion #TakeGOPOffTheBallots #Insurrection #Rebellion #14thAmendmentSection2 #14thAmendmentSection3 #YourVoiceMatters #YouMatter #RaiseYourVoice #UnitedInDiversity #StrongerTogether #AbortionRights #WomensRights #CivilRights #HumanRights
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@squig @kentborg @violetmadder @edgeoforever @bruce @GottaLaff The flow of money around Trump's pardon spree definitely deserves a special anti-corruption task force's whole attention & thorough investigation.
#RuleOfLaw #AccountabilityMatters #JusticeMatters #TrumpPardons #QuidProQuo #Corruption #Bribery #InvestigateTrumpPardons #ObstructionOfJustice #DerelictionOfDuties #TakeCareClause
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@dougiec3 A disgusting master example of neo-feudalistic, insurrectionary "Republican" minority caste unconstitutionally disenfranchising voters.
Things that shouldn't happen in the 21st century without resulting legal punishment!
#RuleOfLaw #AccountabilityMatters #JusticeMatters #GOP #ElectoralFraud #VoterSuppression #Disenfranchisement #Gerrymandering #CriminalFraud #DefendTheConstitution #ReconstructionAmendments #ConspiracyAgainstRights #DefendDemocracy #DefendTheUnion
