”DRUMPFJUGEND” 🏴‍☠️☠️🤮⚰️🆘— The Whitewashing Of US History By Trump & The Radical Right — “1776 commission sure sounds better than ‘Trump Youth,’ but it’s functionally no different than what Hitler did to brainwash a generation into accepting the Holocaust.” — Bess Levin Reports!

Hitlerjugend
Hitlerjugend
Public Realm

Scenes from “The Beautiful Vision” of U.S. racial history:

Colfax Massacre
Gathering the dead after the Colfax massacre, published in Harper’s Weekly, May 10, 1873, Public Realm

Colfax

Public Realm

Slavery
“At least they weren’t asked to wear masks or socially distance; now that would have been a real crime against humanity,” says Billy the Bigot.
Public realm

 

From The Levin Report by Bess Levin:

. . . .
At this point, there are thousands of examples underscoring the need to remove the president from society, but the most recent is his unhinged response to the New York Times’ 1619 Project, which he wants abolished in schools and replaced with a revisionist history of America that teaches children how white people have only ever had their Black peers’ best interest at heart, including when said white people literally owned slaves.

Speaking at the National Archives Museum on Thursday, Trump announced that he would be signing an executive order establishing the “1776 Commission” to promote a “patriotic education.” Apparently attempting to reach his white nationalist supporters, Trump said that the left is “attempting to destroy [the] beautiful vision” that the founding fathers had for America, and that things like the 1619 Project, which teach children about systemic racism and reframe the country’s history by examining the consequences of slavery, are “toxic propaganda” and “ideological poison” that “if not removed, will dissolve the civic bonds that tie us together” and “will destroy our country.” Then he claimed liberals want to tear down Mount Rushmore . . . .

 

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Read the rest of the article and the full Levin Report here:

http://www.vanityfair.com/contributor/bess-levin

Trump’s view of America is unrelentingly bogus. racist, unethical, and unpatriotic! This is “Dred Scottification” in action. And, we must never forget the disgraceful failure of Chief Justice John Roberts and the Supremes’ majority to take a strong stand against the very overt White Nationalist racism of Trump, Miller, and the GOP. They are indeed promoters of “Dred Scottification,” racial divisiveness, inequality, and the breakdown of the rule of law and ethical and moral norms that should guide 21st Century  governance.

American democracy is indeed “on the ropes.” But, we still have a chance to save our republic this Fall. Don’t blow it!

This Fall, vote like your life and the future existence of our nation depend on it.  Because they do!

PWS

09-18-20

INSIDE EOIR: RESIGNING EMPLOYEE GIVES INSIGHTS INTO WHY EOIR IS FAILING UNDER SESSIONS AND HOW TO FIX IT: “I haven’t heard one single Civil Servant who thinks that the imposition of quotas on the Immigration Judges is a good idea. On the other hand, many Civil Servants—if only they had a meaningful chance to be heard—have excellent ideas that, if implemented, would improve efficiency without violating due process. It’s not too late to prevent being on the wrong side of history.”

Good evening,

As some of you may know, today is my last day at EOIR. I just want to thank everyone at the court for your friendship and a very rewarding and fruitful time, I will certainly miss you.

I’d like to share a few thoughts before bidding farewell.

To the Civil Servants (IJs, AAs, Legal Assistants, Interpreters, Administrators, etc.): I commend you for choosing to serve your country.I have only the greatest respect for each and everyone of you, and there is not a doubt in my mind that your heart is in the right place. I just want to remind you that before being government employees, you are Citizens of the United States of America: the most extraordinary country in world’s history. That as Civil Servants, you don’t work only for the administration in power—as administrations change, but most of you remain, having chosen to dedicate your lives to serve your country.Instead, you work for “the People.” That you have a voice and your opinion matters, this is your country too.So when an administration plans to do something you suspect is wrong or unconstitutional you can, and should, ask questions.You are the backbone of our government, and for some people you are the only face of the government they’ll ever see. Finally, you’re not alone in this. Talk to each other, you’d be surprised to discover how many others share your same concerns. So organize, share thoughts and ideas, because with unity comes strength.

If Civil Servants are so great why are you leaving then, you may ask? Like you, I take pride in the work I do, and I consider serving my country as the highest form of secular calling, and a way to give back to this country that has been so generous to me.At the same time, we are the results of our experiences.I was born and raised in XXXX, a great country in many respects, but also the country that bears an indelible and shameful scar—the birth and spreading of fascism.An ideology that, through its different permutations, almost brought the world as we know it to an end. Sadly, history has taught me that good countries do bad things—sometimes indescribably atrocious things.So I have very little tolerance for authoritarianism, extremism, and unilateral and undemocratic usurpations of Constitutional rights. I believe that DOJ-EOIR’s plan to implement individual annual numerical performance measures—i.e., quotas—on Immigration Judges violates the Due Process clause of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution, and the DOJ’s own mission to “ensure the fair and impartial administration of justice.”This is not the job I signed up for. I strongly believe in the positive value of government, and that the legitimacy of our agency—and any other governmental institution for that matter—is given by “the People’s” belief in its integrity, fairness, and commitment to serve “the People.” But when the government, with its unparalleled might and coercive force, infringes on constitutionally enshrined rights, I only have two choices: (1) to become complicitous in what I believe is a flagrant constitutional violation, or (2) to resign and to hold the government accountable as a private citizen. I choose to resign because I cannot in good conscience continue serving my country within EOIR.[1]

To the Political Appointees: Civil Servants are not part of the problem, they are part of the solution.They are not mercenaries or hired guns paid to merely execute orders, they are United States Citizens and they care about their country as much as you do. So talk to them, engage with them and come up with synergetic plans and solutions. Civil Servants have invaluable insight on what kind of processes and improvements can be implemented because they experience the problems in these processes on a daily basis. And it is also no secret that cooperation and dialogue lead to improved morale. So engaging with Civil Servants is clearly a win-win. Finally, for what it’s worth, I haven’t heard one single Civil Servant who thinks that the imposition of quotas on the Immigration Judges is a good idea. On the other hand, many Civil Servants—if only they had a meaningful chance to be heard—have excellent ideas that, if implemented, would improve efficiency without violating due process.It’s not too late to prevent being on the wrong side of history.[2]

Thank you for your time. I wish you all the best.

[1] Omitted.

[2] Before becoming the United States of America, this land served as refuge for the social outcast, who fled the persecution and the rejection of their native countries in search for survival and a fresh start in life. Their descendants declared independence and founded the United States of America. They too had experienced what an oppressive government does to “the People,” so they created a system of government that included checks and balances—with “separation of powers” paramount among them—to prevent tyranny. A renowned application of separation of powers provides that “prejudice against discrete and insular minorities may be a special condition, which tends seriously to curtail the operation of those political processes ordinarily to be relied upon to protect minorities, and which may call for a correspondingly more searching judicial inquiry.” United States v. Carolene Prod. Co., 304 U.S. 144, 153 n. 4 (1938) (emphases added). So while it is probably true that no other country offers trials and judges to immigrants, this is in fact an unmitigated positive, as the greatness of a civilization is measured by how it treats its weakest.This is also what makes America special: the Rule of Law is sovereign upon everyone.

[“REDACTED” VERSION PUBLISHED WITH PERMISSION]

 

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Pretty easy to see why Due Process is failing in our Immigration Courts. Short answer: It’s not a priority for the politicos in the DOJ who pull the strings. Actually, Due Process has become an anathema for Sessions and his White Nationalist cabal.

What kind of “court system” would impose arbitrary “performance quotas,” developed by non-judicial officials responding to political pressure over the objections of and without even consulting the Immigration Judges who actually are doing the work? Loss of control over dockets, scheduling, and policies affecting court procedures is a major problem in this system. In the past, it has led to the travesty of “Aimless Docket Reshuffling” (“ADR”).

Now, a blatantly biased, anti-asylum, anti-immigrant, anti Due Process agenda has been added to the totally out of control ADR.

That’s why the key to restoring a functioning Immigration Court System is 1) an independent, Article I Court outside of Executive control; and 2) professional court administration controlled by and responsible to the JUDGES who actually decide the cases, rather than to politicos in Washington.

Like the writer of the above message, I believe that there are lots of good ideas on how to improve the system and restore Due Process within the judiciary that are being suppressed. Additionally, the judges should be working with respondents’ counsel, NGOs, the Article III Courts, Court Administrators, and the DHS Chief Counsel to develop systems that serve everyone’s needs and capabilities.

That would be an essential improvement over the present system which is being run by Sessions and his cronies solely for the benefit of one party: DHS Enforcement. How would YOU like to appear before a judge who essentially is working for the opposing party? Not fair, right? But, that’s exactly what today’s Immigraton Court system is! And, that’s why it’s failing our country.

We need an independent Article I U.S. Immigration Court that operates with Due Process as its one and only mission. Until that happens, all of our Constitutional rights will be in jeopardy. Because, as the writer above perceptively states, “the greatness of a civilization is measured by how it treats its weakest.” Harm to one is harm to all!

Thanks again to the writer of he above message for agreeing to share!

PWS

08-03-18

 

HISTORY: Lest We Forget, The U.S. Justice System & The Supreme Court Have Sometimes Been On The Wrong Side Of History & Justice! — Remembering The Easter Sunday Massacre In Colfax, LA & The Racist Supremes’ Intentional Perversion Of The Constitution!

http://m.dailykos.com/stories/2017/4/16/1650660/-The-Easter-Sunday-massacre-in-Colfax-Louisiana-and-the-awful-Supreme-Court-decision-that-followed?detail=facebook

Denise Oliver Velez writes in the Daily Kos:

“When Christians think of the meaning of Easter Sunday, it symbolizes resurrection and hope. When I think of Easter Sunday in the black community, I think of all the ladies in their wonderful hats heading off to church. However, I don’t ever forget that Easter Sunday also marked one of the most horrible massacres of black citizens in U.S. history. It’s hard to erase the images in my mind of black bodies riddled with bullets, blown apart by cannon fire. They died at the hands of white supremacists who lost the Civil War but who won the years ahead, because they were able to destroy Reconstruction. I take a moment of silence and say a prayer for the dead, many of whose names we will never know.

This story from The Root on the Colfax Massacre, written by Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., gives the details. It’s worth reading in its entirety.

In Colfax, La., on Easter Sunday 1873, a mob of white insurgents, including ex-Confederate and Union soldiers, led an assault on the Grant Parish Courthouse, the center of civic life in the community, which was occupied and surrounded — and defended — by black citizens determined to safeguard the results of the state’s most recent election. They, too, were armed, but they did not have the ammunition to outlast their foes, who, outflanking them, proceeded to mow down dozens of the courthouse’s black defenders, even when they surrendered their weapons. The legal ramifications were as horrifying as the violence — and certainly more enduring; in an altogether different kind of massacre, United States v. Cruikshank (1876), the U.S. Supreme Court tossed prosecutors’ charges against the killers in favor of severely limiting the federal government’s role in protecting the emancipated from racial targeting, especially at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan.

Historians know this tragedy as the Colfax Massacre, though in the aftermath, even today, some whites refer to it as the Colfax Riot in order to lay blame at the feet of those who, lifeless, could not tell their tale. In his canonical history of the period, Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877, Eric Foner has called the Colfax Massacre “[t]he bloodiest single instance of racial carnage in the Reconstruction era.”

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What kind of folks would still have a racist historical marker like this in their community? What kind of state would permit it?

Interesting questions, because we now have an Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, who wants to turn civil rights enforcement and local police monitoring back over to the very states and localities with appalling records of racism, exclusion, and brutality directed at African Americans and other minority communities. In other words, Sessions actively seeks a return to U.S. Government inaction in the face of white supremacy, discrimination, and violation of minority rights.

While planning to turn his back on the legitimate responsibilities of the Federal Government to protect its citizens rights from overreaching by states and localities, Sessions disingenuously plans to force those states and localities which are trying to protect the rights of those in their communities to assist in Federal immigration enforcement.

PWS

04-16-17