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Jeff Sessions Seems to Think Hawaii Is Not a State, Calls It ‘An Island in the Pacific’

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  • Comments About Hawaii Spark Outrage

  • ‘We Won’t Succumb to Your Dog Whistle Politics’

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is still hopping mad that a federal judge in Hawaii blocked President Donald Trump’s Muslim travel ban executive order last month, but his comments are sparking outrage. Sessions, in an interview with a far right wing radio host, referred to the 50th state as merely “an island in the Pacific.” That has many folks, including the state’s U.S. Senators, outraged.

“I really am amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the President of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and Constitutional power,” Sessions told host Mark Levin, as CNN and Talking Points Memo report. The Attorney General was referring to 9th Circuit U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson, of Hawaii.

Sessions called Judge Watson’s ruling a “really weird interpretation” of Trump’s executive order, and, in what some see as a further inappropriate remark, said, “we need judges who follow the law, not make law.” 

He went on to say that “judges don’t get to psychoanalyze the President to see if the order he issues is lawful. It’s either lawful or it’s not.” That’s actually false, and as Attorney General, Sessions should know better. There are many cases where courts have looked at the intent of lawmakers in deciding if a law is constitutional or not. 

But many now are outraged at Sessions’ earlier remarks, denigrating the State of Hawaii, home to over 1.4 million Americans, including 75,000 U.S. military personnel.

U.S. Senator Brian Schatz took to Twitter to lambast Sessions, also reminding him that he voted to confirm Judge Watson:

And U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono also slammed Sessions:

Others expressed anger and outrage:

UPDATE:

California Congressman and Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee:

 

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Image by US DHS via Flickr and a CC license 

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politics

MAGA World Ignores Christmas Season on Social Media

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44 mins ago

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December 24, 2024

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christmas tree

This Christmas season, while President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have celebrated the holiday, MAGA World has stuck to business as usual so far.

Tuesday is Christmas Eve, and on that day, incoming President Donald Trump has posted to Truth Social about Herschel Walker being named ambassador to the Bahamas and raged at Biden for commuting the sentences of death row prisoners. JD Vance hasn’t posted since Monday when he tweeted a screenshot of one of Trump’s Truth Social posts, this one showing an AI-generated American Flag in the middle of the Panama Canal.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) did tweet early Tuesday afternoon, wishing her followers a merry Christmas, but got in a dig at Biden all the same.

“Merry Christmas Eve everyone!! It’s the last Christmas under Democrat Communist control. Freedom is coming!” she wrote, along with an American flag emoji.

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) did tweet this Christmas Eve, but it just a retweet of Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) sharing a print out of a Federalist article slamming the House Ethics Committee, signed by Trump as “Very Unfair!”

Gaetz also hasn’t posted any Christmas material, though that’s understandable as he’s got other things going on right now.

In contrast, Biden and Harris have had the Christmas spirit all week. On Monday, she retweeted her husband Doug Emhoff sharing their holiday card, and Tuesday, a brief video about the card’s designer.

“It was an honor to meet Tania, a young artist and student at Calvin Coolidge Senior High School, who designed our 2024 holiday card. Thank you for sharing your incredible talent with us,” Harris tweeted.

Biden on the other hand, has been Christmas posting since the 20th, sharing a photo op taken at the Children’s National Hospital and a video of the White House Christmas tree. On Monday, he posted a Christmassy photo of Willow, the Bidens’ cat, captioned “One of my favorite Christmas tails,” and on the morning of Christmas Eve, he shared a diorama of the White House decked out for the holidays, writing “The People’s House is ready for St. Nick.”

On his personal account, he also shared a special Christmas Eve greeting with a photo of him with his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, thanking veterans for their service.

“Jill and I hold a special place in our hearts for the brave men and women in uniform who defend our nation, many of whom are away from their families this holiday season. Wishing you and your loved ones a safe Christmas Eve,” he wrote.

Obviously, whether or not a world leader goes all out during the Santa season is of little importance. It’s merely interesting that the party that prides itself on its deep Christian faith and on fighting against the “war on Christmas” is mostly ignoring the holiday.

But too, the Trump administration has had its own prickly relationship with Christmas, cancelling the annual White House party in 2018, his son sharing a meme featuring Trump on the top of the tree instead of an angel or star, and Melania Trump complaining about how poorly received her choice of decorations was.

Update: This article has been updated to include a Christmas Eve tweet from Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Image by JD Hancock via Flickr, used under Creative Commons license.

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BAD PRESIDENT

Donald Trump Says He’ll ‘Vigorously Pursue the Death Penalty’ Following Biden’s Commutations

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2 hours ago

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December 24, 2024

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The day after President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 inmates on death row, incoming President Donald Trump doubled down on his commitment to the death penalty.

Trump took to his Truth Social account to condemn Biden and promote the death penalty on Tuesday morning.

“Joe Biden just commuted the Death Sentence on 37 of the worst killers in our Country. When you hear the acts of each, you won’t believe that he did this. Makes no sense. Relatives and friends are further devastated. They can’t believe this is happening!” Trump wrote.

READ MORE: Biden Ignores Military Death Row In Commutation Spree

Not quite three hours later, he had more to say:

“As soon as I am inaugurated, I will direct the Justice Department to vigorously pursue the death penalty to protect American families and children from violent rapists, murderers, and monsters. We will be a Nation of Law and Order again!” Trump added, alongside a screenshot of a tweet by the New York Post promoting their article about the commutations, with the headline “Biden commutes death sentences of child killers and mass murderers 2 days before Christmas.”

Though Biden initially promised to pass a law banning federal executions, once elected, he backtracked on that promise, according to NBC News. His administration did, however, halt all federal executions during his term. Monday, he gave all but three inmates on death row life sentences without parole instead. The three exceptions were Dylann Roof, the man who killed nine at the Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina; Robert Bowers, the Tree of Life Synagogue shooter; and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bomber. In his statement announcing the move to commute the sentences, he said the only exception were those convicted of “terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.”

Biden’s move comes after Trump campaigned on increasing the number of crimes punishable by the death penalty. The ACLU warned that Trump would “kill everyone on death row,” if given the chance. During his first term, Trump executed 13 federal inmates, with the last execution happening five days before Biden’s inauguration, according to the Associated Press.

Though Grover Cleveland is best known as the first president to serve two non-consecutive terms as president, he has another thing in common with Trump. Trump’s 13 federal executions is the highest number in the modern era, while Cleveland is the president who executed the most federal prisoners. In Cleveland’s first term, 23 prisoners were executed, and another 24 were killed in his second, for a total of 47.  Only Ulysses S. Grant and James Monroe have more executions than Trump, at 23 and 20 respectively.

Image via Reuters

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BAD PRESIDENT

Biden ‘Strongly Opposes’ Measure of Bill Stripping Rights from Trans Kids, Signs It Anyway

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4 hours ago

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December 24, 2024

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President Joe Biden said he “strongly opposes” a section of a bill that would strip funding for gender care for trans kids in military families, but signed it anyway.

The National Defense Authorization Act gives $895 billion to the Department of Defense, State Department, Department of Homeland Security and intelligence agencies, as well as national security programs at the Department of Energy. The bill was passed with bipartisan support in the House and Senate.

Normally, this would be a straightforward funding bill, but earlier this month, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) added a provision blocking TRICARE, which funds health care for service members, from paying for gender-affirming care for children. This will affect approximately 2,500 trans kids, according to Newsweek.

READ MORE: Lone Dissenter Calls Texas Supreme Court Transgender Ruling ‘Cruel, Unconstitutional’

Biden signed the bill on Monday, although called out that section in a statement.

“My Administration strongly opposes Division A, title VII, subtitle A, section 708 of the Act, which inhibits the Department of Defense’s ability to treat all persons equally under the law, no matter their gender identity.  By prohibiting the use of appropriated funds, the Department of Defense will be compelled to contravene clinical practice guidelines and clinical recommendations,” Biden wrote.

“The provision targets a group based on that group’s gender identity and interferes with parents’ roles to determine the best care for their children.  This section undermines our all-volunteer military’s ability to recruit and retain the finest fighting force the world has ever known by denying health care coverage to thousands of our service members’ children.  No service member should have to decide between their family’s health care access and their call to serve our Nation,” he continued.

The news created quick backlash, with people calling out what they see as hypocrisy and a failure to protect trans kids.

“And just like that, the first anti LGBTQ bill in nearly 3 decades was signed by Biden and passed by a Democratic senate. It included a ban on gender affirming care for trans children of military families. So much for having our back, you god damn liar,” journalist Alejandra Caraballo wrote on the social media platform Bluesky.

And just like that, the first anti LGBTQ bill in nearly 3 decades was signed by Biden and passed by a Democratic senate. It included a ban on gender affirming care for trans children of military families. So much for having our back, you god damn liar. www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-roo…

— Alejandra Caraballo (@esqueer.net) 2024-12-24T13:11:07.737Z

Caraballo is referring to the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy signed by President Bill Clinton in 1993. While allowing LGBTQ people to serve in the military, it prohibited them from talking about or expressing their queerness, even while off duty. Military officials were, however, also prohibited from asking if a service member was gay. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was repealed by President Barack Obama in 2010.

In the wake of anti-trans ads from Republican candidates in the 2024 election, Democrats have been accused of moving to dump transgender rights from their platform. Some elected Democrats have even called out the party’s prior embrace of LGBTQ rights.

“The Democrats have to stop pandering to the far left,” Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) told the New York Times. “I don’t want to discriminate against anybody, but I don’t think biological boys should be playing in girls’ sports.” He then offered some advice to his party: “Democrats aren’t saying that, and they should be.”

“Democrats spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone rather than being brutally honest about the challenges many Americans face,” Rep. Seth Moulton, (D-Mass.) said. “I have two little girls, I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat I’m supposed to be afraid to say that.”

The minimal pushback on the National Defense Authorization Act is just another signal that Democrats are backing down on defending one of the most vulnerable populations in American society.

Image via Shutterstock

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