IN THE NEWS TODAY
Texas’ Unsuccessful Lawsuit Raises Voting Issues States Should Heed
By Zack Smith / @tzsmith /
The Daily Signal
December 11, 2020
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a short order Friday night declining to hear Texas’ recently filed lawsuit against Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Texas sought to invalidate the results of the 2020 presidential election in those states.
Texas raised a number of substantive issues in its request, including: one, that those states violated the Constitution’s Electors Clause, which entrusts state legislatures with the responsibility to determine the appointment of presidential electors; two, that those states violated the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause by treating voters in different parts of those states unequally in terms of how ballots were cast and counted; and three, that those states violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause because the elections in those states were so fundamentally unfair.
But the Supreme Court never addressed those issues.
Instead, the high court denied Texas’ request to file the case, or “bill of complaint,” for “lack of standing under Article III of the Constitution.” The court went on to explain that this means, “Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its election.” Basically, Texas isn’t the right party to bring this suit.
Justice Samuel Alito filed a statement, which Justice Clarence Thomas joined, in which he said that “in my view, we do not have discretion to deny the filing of a bill of complaint in a case that falls within our original jurisdiction.”
But Alito went on to say that while he would have granted Texas’s motion to file the case, he “would not grant other relief”—meaning there would be no difference in the outcome.
This case caused interest across the country because of the extraordinary relief it sought, and because Texas filed it directly with the Supreme Court, seeking to invoke something called its “original jurisdiction.”
Very few cases are filed directly with the Supreme Court; most make their way to the court after having first been heard in either the lower federal courts or state courts. Original jurisdiction cases frequently involve disputes between two or more states, as this one did.
As my colleague Hans von Spakovsky wrote shortly after Texas filed its case, “this is the legal equivalent of a Hail Mary pass. While the questions raised are serious ones, it is unlikely the Supreme Court will address them at this time . . . [, and] these issues will likely be repeated in future elections.”
Since that’s true, it’s important for states to begin taking steps now to fix the problems that arose this past election cycle. Michigan, for example, could do things like require photo ID to vote, ensure accurate and up-to-date voter rolls, encourage in-person voting, and make the vote tabulation process transparent and accessible for review.
These are just beginning steps, but they’re a good start.
As for this election, one challenge about the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s order requiring election officials to count late-arriving absentee ballots remains pending. But the U.S. Supreme Court likely won’t decide whether to hear it before the Electoral College casts its votes Monday, and the number of absentee ballots explicitly at issue wouldn’t alter the outcome of the presidential election.
Still, while Texas’ lawsuit wasn’t successful, it raises serious issues regarding election integrity and constitutional law that ought to be addressed going forward.
Zack Smith is a legal fellow in the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2020/12/11/texas-unsuccessful-lawsuit-raises-voting-issues-states-should-heed/
SECRET MILITARY DOCUMENTS:
Trudeau invited Chinese troops to train at Canadian military bases
December 09, 2020
I recommend this Rebel News article:
https://www.rebelnews.com/the_china_files?utm_campaign=rb_12_10_20&utm_medium=email&utm_source=therebel
How Trump Can Remain in Office No Matter What
By Cliff Kincaid
America’s Survival, Inc.
December 10, 2020
Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed suit to overturn the election results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, and hand the presidential election over to Donald Trump. But what if that doesn’t work? What if the corrupt Chief Justice John Roberts figures out a way to kill the legal action or avoid what the facts require? What does Trump do then?
Trump and his family and various Republicans have raised tens of millions of dollars to overturn the election fraud. Will all of that money be wasted because Republicans were incapable of guarding against election theft? Trump’s supporters don’t want to be saddled with a “presidential occupant” by the name of Joe Biden whose days are numbered in the oval office because of his rapidly progressing onset of dementia.
Vic Biorseth has the answer, articulated in his “Open Letter to President Trump Recommending Election Nullification,” and published on his Catholic American Thinker web site. Trump must stay in office and nullify the fraudulent results through executive power.
Vic is an ordinary American who served his country in the military and is not happy about the prospect of the backers of China Joe Biden staging a coup and taking control of the executive branch. Appealing to Trump, he writes, “If state governments, the US Congress and the US Supreme Court fail to act to overrule the corrupted and defrauded election results in several if not all American states, then it falls on you to act in your capacity as the chief law enforcement officer in the American government to do so.”
It sounds radical to some, but what would the Courts and the legislative branch do about it? They would, of course, scream and yell. The RINOs like Mitt Romney would act horrified. Former CIA man and Attorney General Bill Barr might resign. Who cares?
In the same way that Lincoln used executive power to hold the country together during the Civil War, Trump can do the same. Let Joe Biden take a trip to California to declare himself president. Let him be president of California, Oregon, and Washington State.
I am on many email lists, including those of Trump, and I have just received another appeal for funds, declaring, “This may be the most important email I ever send you.” Trump goes on to say, “I want to provide an update on our ongoing efforts to expose the tremendous voting irregularities that took place during the ridiculously long November 3rd Election. As President, I have no higher duty than to defend the laws of the Constitution of the United States. That is why I am determined to protect our Election system - which is under attack - but I cannot do it alone. I need YOUR HELP.”
The key phrase is that, “As President, I have no higher duty than to defend the laws of the Constitution of the United States.”
If the Court guts the Paxton lawsuit, does the president’s oath to defend the Constitution suddenly evaporate? No way. That’s when Trump must step up to the plate and declare that his authority is on an equal par with that of the Supreme Court. On that basis, he stays in office and prevents the phony “President-elect” Joe Biden from assuming power.
As Vic Biorseth puts it, “In adjudicating the Marbury v Madison case the Supreme Court established the principle of Judiciary Review, quite properly declaring a legislated law to be unconstitutional, null and no law. The Presidency and the Congress have precisely the same power to nullify anything that is unconstitutional. The fact that they have never done it yet does not mean that they cannot do it.”
Vic Biorseth is not a lawyer but he has common sense and the ability to understand what is at stake. He also knows that the presidency is not to be given away because of massive fraud. He explains, “The Constitution nowhere grants any of the three coequal branches of government any interpretive authority over itself that is in any way superior to the interpretive authority of the other two branches.”
That means Trump’s interpretation of his powers is as valid as any other. And based on the Lincoln precedent, a beloved leader, it is the right one in this case.
Biorseth concludes: “Any time before a fraudulently elected candidate is inaugurated, while you are still President, if the state governments, the Congress and the Supreme Court have failed to overturn this fraudulent election, then, you must overturn it, and let the fur begin to fly. You can nullify it by simply declaring it to be unconstitutional, null and void, thereby establishing a new Constitutional Principle of Presidential Review.”
In his open letter to Trump, he then adds, “You can and should demand that Congress set a new date for a new election, requiring only paper and pencil ballots, only absentee ballots allowed, and with a one-day voting restriction.”
If the Paxton lawsuit fails, because of political considerations, secret pressures, or other factors raised by John Roberts and the liberal judges, this is the only way forward, except for an actual declaration of martial law.
People are not contributing tens of millions of dollars to Trump’s Election Defense Fund just to see him walk away from the oval office if the “High Court” rules against him on spurious grounds. That’s when Trump must exercise his constitutional authority to stay in office until a fair and honest election is held. Anything less would be a dereliction of duty.
Trump must not in the end bow down to the lawyers. He must save the nation no matter what. Otherwise, his legacy will forever be tainted and his voters totally disillusioned.
*Please go to Cliff Kincaid’s YouTube channel and watch his videos on election fraud before more of them are censored.
Email: Kincaid@comcast.net
http://www.usasurvival.org/blog/how-trump-can-remain-in-office-no-matter-what
BREAKING: FTC, 46 states, Guam and D.C. launch antitrust lawsuit against Facebook
December 09, 2020
I recommend this Rebel News article:
FTC, 46 States Guam and DC Launch Antitrust Lawsuit Against Facebook
Mastercard Terminates Use of Pornhub After Discovering ‘Illegal Material’ on Platform
By Mary Margaret Olohan / @MaryMargOlohan /
The Daily Signal
December 11, 2020
Mastercard has terminated the use of its cards on Pornhub, Mastercard told The Daily Caller News Foundation Thursday.
“Today, the use of our cards at Pornhub is being terminated,” Mastercard said in a statement to The Daily Caller News Foundation. “Our investigation over the past several days has confirmed violations of our standards prohibiting unlawful content on their site.”
“As a result, and in accordance with our policies, we instructed the financial institutions that connect the site to our network to terminate acceptance,” the credit card company continued. “In addition, we continue to investigate potential illegal content on other websites to take the appropriate action.”
Pulitzer Prize-winning opinion columnist Nicholas Kristof accused Pornhub in a Dec. 4 New York Times op-ed of monetizing “child rapes, revenge pornography, spycam videos of women showering, racist and misogynist content, and footage of women being asphyxiated in plastic bags.”
Pornhub did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Caller News Foundation.
Kristof tweeted Thursday that Mastercard “confirmed the presence of illegal material on Pornhub, so it is immediately ending Mastercard use on Pornhub.”
“It will also address the issue on other websites,” Kristof tweeted. “This wouldn’t have happened without survivors bravely speaking up.”
Visa, which also said this week that it is investigating its relationship with Pornhub, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Caller News Foundation.
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, email licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
Mary Margaret Olohan is a reporter covering social issues for The Daily Caller News Foundation.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2020/12/11/mastercard-terminates-use-of-pornhub-after-discovering-illegal-material-on-platform/
Premier Jason Kenney Caves to Pressure, Throws Alberta into Strict Lockdown
December 10, 2020
I recommend this Rebel News article:
Premier Jason Kenney Caves to Pressure Throws Alberta Into Strict Lockdown
Time Running Out on Britain-EU Trade, Security Deal
By Jamie Dettmer
VOA News
December 11, 2020
European Union leaders say the most likely outcome after months of fractious haggling with London is that Britain will leave the bloc at the end of the year without a trade and security deal — an upshot that will have serious economic repercussions on both sides of the English Channel and could poison relations between the EU and the British for years to come.
During a short briefing at the end of an all-night summit in Brussels, Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission president, told the EU’s 27 national leaders that there was a “higher probability for no deal than a deal,” according to officials.
With a firm Sunday deadline for talks looming, Britain’s Boris Johnson echoed the EU president’s pessimism, saying a no-deal outcome from Brexit trade talks was “looking very, very likely.”
The prime minister suggested a breakthrough in the deadlocked talks would need a “big offer, a big change” from the EU, but that he had “yet to see it.”
But unlike the Europeans, Johnson sounded an upbeat note, adding: “It is looking very, very likely that we will have to go for a solution that I think would be wonderful for the UK, and we'd be able to do exactly what we want from January 1.”……
For more, read: https://www.voanews.com/europe/time-running-out-britain-eu-trade-security-deal
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