Congress of the United States
2024 election
If our Republic manages to escape a second Trump presidency (a big "if" at this point), the lessons of the last fifty years should not be squandered by a return to the kind of "politics as usual" bullshit being offered in the latest edition of POLITICO Playbook.
2024 election
In the hands of an authoritarian president, the PATRIOT Act could be wielded as an instrument of domestic terror and political repression at scale.
2024 election
Earlier this month, the Department of Justice's Inspector General released two reports that, in the pre-Trump era, would've sparked outrage and at least public Congressional hearings.
2024 election
What makes the prospect of a Trump victory even more chilling is the kind of law enforcement and data collection tools that would be at Trump's disposal if he wins - tools he would be eager to use against his political opponents.
2024 election
Earlier this month, the House passed a bill in the spirit of the McCarran Act that would revive the odious and discredited Trump-era "China Initiative.
2024 election
The current political climate makes amending the Constitution impractical, dangerous, or both. Even so, legal and structural changes to our existing, vulnerable governing institutions are possible. All that's required is the will to make it happen.
2024 election
Our failure to roll back 9/11-driven executive power grabs and "coup proof" our government against internal authoritarian political threats may come back to haunt us, and soon.
TSA
The institutional threats to our constitutional rights left unaddressed by the federal legislature are major, long standing, and perfectly exploitable by a would-be authoritarian like Trump.
FBI
It was a secret, and unconstitutional, assault on the First Amendment protected activities of the persons and entities involved, a state-sponsored form of "divide and conquer" aimed not at the Soviet Union, but a segment of the far left public in America.
2024 election
The DNC party platform reflects a pre-Trump era mindset, ignoring the need to eliminate legal and institutional vulnerabilities that leave us at risk of another "MAGA movement" coup attempt. Kamala Harris must act to "coup proof" the institutions of the Republic.
Al Qaeda
The most recent revelations in the 9/11 families' court action against the Saudi government provide the most powerful public evidence yet that at least some Saudi government officials in D.C. and Los Angeles played a direct role in facilitating the 9/11 attacks.
Border Patrol
Marshall and Brennan were certain that the majority's ruling in the case would ultimately lead to Fourth Amendment rights violations at scale at these internal checkpoints. History has proven them right.