Gov. Gavin Newsom said he and the Legislature are drafting a new bill that would make it a felony to seize ballots before state or local election officials have certified them.
“In California, we have a message for anyone considering helping Trump interfere with our election or our count. If you violate California’s laws, if you interfere with our voters, tamper with our ballots, or meddle in our election, you will be prosecuted. It does not matter who gave the order,” Newsom said in remarks given to reporters. “In this state, our vote is sacred.”
A move that won’t stop anyone because no one as of yet has been held accountable for breaking the law. Case in point, 34 felony convictions and you get to he president.
That’s it guys, wrap it up. Time to stop trying cause previous attempts didn’t work.
State laws are enforced VERY differently than other crimes. And presidents (and expresidents) are (and should be) treated differently than other people.
If someone is charged with a crime, but the people vote them into office, the election should be more important than a conviction.
There are a lot of politicians that are currently being targeted by this administration, and if you claim that their charges (and possible convictions) disqualify them from office, then that’s just more reason to keep targeting political opponents.
Only if by that you mean held to a higher standard, not a lower one.
Ideal world, we’d just be talking about how presidents and other high ranking government officials get a privilege to generally force the other party to waive their right to a speedy trial. Not “well they’ve got 34 convictions but it would be a crime to punish them”
That’s the wrong takeaway. Trying the same thing repeatedly and facing failure every time doesn’t mean quit, it means try something different.
In this context, we have a presumed baseline of legal justice. The legal part isn’t working becuase the offender is above the law. So we can, as you suggested, wrap it up and do nothing; add more laws in the hopes that these people suddenly start being held legally accountable (which rhymes a lot with wrap it up and do nothing); or turn to vigilante justice.
So far we haven’t had the spine for the latter. I certainly don’t, and I’m assuming you’re in the same boat seeing as you’re doing the same thing (bitching fruitlessly into the void of the internet… what can I say, it’s therapeutic!).
As a glimmer of hope though, we did just see an active duty officer give a speech identifying Trump as a domestic enemy of the constitution, which they are oath-bound to engage the same way they do any other enemy of the US. That individual is probably in prison by now - that little maneuver broke a handful of laws under the UCMJ, but this is the first such act of defiance I’m aware of coming from an officer, so here’s hoping it prods other troops into actually taking their oath seriously instead of idly following the domestic enemy’s orders.
Probably still no, but, fingers crossed.
But laws? we’ve seen repeatedly that those don’t mean shit. We don’t need new laws. Actually enforcing the ones we already have would be plenty, but we’ve got years of precedent showing loud and clear that shit ain’t gonna happen.
Anywho, wishing anyone out there with the means and the spine the best of luck!
Sure. I have no faith personally in Newsom. He’s not the one to do it. However, if we can get better representatives elected (DSA) these types of things are what can draw lines between states and the federal government. If there is a resistance to Fascism in any meaningful way it will be done at this point of existing law. Or moreso the destruction of this existing law.
New York state, currently being the ground in which this fight is most likely going to our best form of resistance. Though New York will not be the first state they look to take full federal control. Unfortunately, the weak neoliberalism and lack of much motion for DSA makes California a good first target.
It starts in States resisting the fascist government in the political process, but will be fought if the state representatives are well liked and powerful enough to rally the people of their state behind them to physically stop the fascist federal government. Whether stopping them from stealing ballots; or stopping them from abducting its people.
The electoral system is still currently the best way to organize this resistance and legal points of contention give us more time. The fascist are not popular or powerful enough to not at least go through the motions and illusion of a democratic process. As they lose more popularity they will stop going through this motion all together and will become more dependent on violence.
When it is clear (even to the out of touch American) that they have no intentions of even pretend to follow the processes; that is when political delays will no longer matter. But, if we haven’t built popular support before then; we will be run over with the general population still completely unaware or seeing resistance as just “antifa”. We need to gain popular support and legitimacy in the minds of the average American. That’s why the “sewer socialism” in New York is so important right now.