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The rescission, confirmed by the Education Department on Tuesday, is one of several moves by the administration to scale back support for approximately 5 million schoolchildren not fluent in English, many of them born in the United States. …
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On Tuesday, Education Department spokeswoman Madi Biedermann said that the guidance for teaching English learners, which was originally set forth in 2015, was rescinded because it “is not in line with Administration policy.” A Justice Department spokesman responded to questions by sending a link to the July memorandum and said he had no comment when asked whether the guidance would be replaced.
For decades, the federal government has held that failing to provide resources for people not proficient in English constitutes discrimination based on national origin under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
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I was reading the post Trump made about making changes in the Smithsonian Museums when this line jumped out at me: “I have instructed my attorneys to go through the Museums”. Not historians, not even politicians. My lawyers. And I realized that this is the one weird trick that no other dictator has ever used - compliance by threats of lawsuits. Of course, using lawsuits is how Trump has always operated but now he is using that devious method in his makeover of the country to align with his “vision”. We’ve seen it play out with law firms, corporations, universities. Do it the easy way or the hard way. Comply, “admit” wrongdoing and pay millions to Trump (“the government”) or spend untold time fighting lawsuits that will eat up all the money anyway. And we’ve seen how that goes.
It’s clear now that he is going to use that against every institution, agency, company and also his political enemies. He will investigate and indict them with whatever bullshit excuse he can come up with but he won’t imprison anyone. There’s no money in that for him. He will just demand they settle the issue and pay the exorbitant fines (and then claim they “apologized”) or spend the rest of their lives and money fighting an endless battle in court. Against a DOJ that he now owns. A new authoritarian playbook. He doesn’t need violence for this makeover, though I’m sure there will be a place for that in other areas. “Legal” extortion is the way he will force his sick, twisted vision on the country.
Nothing will better characterize and memorialize the Trump administration than … a dramatic reduction in intelligence:
I have no idea whatsoever how much redundancy there really is/was in the US intel community, and how benign and wise these specific cuts might be, but … I’m skeptical.
In its most concise version, Chesterton’s Fence states the following:
“Do not remove a fence until you know why it was put up in the first place.”
The lesson of Chesterton’s Fence is what already exists likely serves purposes that are not immediately obvious. Fences don’t appear by accident. They are built by people who planned them and had a reason to believe they would benefit someone. Before we take an ax to a fence, we must first understand the reason behind its existence. The original reason might not have been a good one, and even if it was, things might have changed, but we need to be aware of it. Otherwise, we risk unleashing unintended consequences that spread like ripples on a pond, causing damage for years.
The case involves a man, Roberto Moncada, born in the U.S. in 1950, who has lived as if he was a citizen. By all indications, he did this in good faith.
In 2018, the Trump 45 state department revoked his U.S. passport on grounds that the lower level Nicaraguan diplomatic position, held by Mr. Moncada’s father, meant that Roberto Moncada was born outside the jurisdiction of the United States.
Mr. Moncada then sued on grounds that his father did not really have diplomatic immunity.
As far as I can tell, the action to make Moncada undocumented was classic Trumpian cruelty, started in Trump 45 and continued to this day. What I do not understand is why the Biden administration failed to follow the advice the lower court gave it in 2023:
This outrageous interference with state criminal justice is, by itself, enough to justify presidential impeachment and removal (although I am against impeachment without thr votes for removal):
Sorry for so many compendium of horrors posts today, but it’s because there are so many new Trump horrors.
Progressives who cannot forgive Liz Cheney may find it hard to say something nice about John Bolton. But the FBI raids this morning, on his house and workplace, arguably were first-they-came-for-the-neocons moments:
With 45/47’s penchant for issuing EOs on the classification/declassification of documents as best suits his circumstances & narrative, Bolton might not be on as solid a ground as you might think.
IMHO it’s a sort of warning to anyone who might even consider crossing Trump. Basically a “if we can come for John Bolton we can come for anybody” message.
The Pentagon has for weeks been planning a military deployment to Chicago as President Donald Trump seeks to crack down on crime, homelessness and undocumented immigration, in a model that could later be used in other major cities, officials familiar with the matter said.
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The mission, if approved, would have parallels to the polarizing operation that Trump ordered in Los Angeles in June, when he deployed 4,000 members of the California National Guard and 700 active-duty Marines despite the protests of state and local leaders. The use of thousands of active-duty troops in Chicago also has been discussed but is considered less likely at this time, said two officials who, like others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
… A president also can invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty troops to perform law enforcement duties in the U.S., but such an act would be politically polarizing and trigger alarm in the Pentagon.
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Trump 37% Harris 60% #1 in violent crime
The MAGAs have been screaming for a police state for some time now.
Elon’s environment-damaging AI facility was foist upon us.
The city is kind of a mess. I have no idea what’s going to happen.
