Lawful Assembly

We spend much of this week's show talking about and playing clips from the Madison Square Garden Rally. We also cover some news stories about Elon Musk and a new defamation lawsuit filed against Donald Trump

 

Trump at the Garden: A Closing Carnival of Grievances, Misogyny and Racism

There’s a Big New Defamation Lawsuit Against Trump. It’s a Slam Dunk.

Elon Musk, enemy of ‘open borders,’ launched his career working illegally

Philadelphia DA sues Elon Musk over $1 million giveaway to registered voters : NPR

 For one example of biblical humor, see Elton Trueblood, The Humor of  Christ (San Francisco, Harper & Row, 1964).

Our guest Today is Dr. Jennifer McCoy, Ph.D. She is  a Professor of Political Science at Georgia State University. We discussed Pernicious Polarization, what causes it, and how to combat it.

Overcoming Polarization Journal of Democracy, Volume 32, Number 1, January 2021, Johns Hopkins University Press

Peter Marty's quote is from “Playing to the Crowds” in The Christian Century that  can be found at:  https://www.christiancentury.org/first-words/playing-crowds  Craig has discussed the Abraham Lincoln statement in his op-ed,  "Rescinding DACA: More than Just the Dreamers,"   Update, Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (Fall 2017): file:///Users/cmousin/Downloads/Rescinding%20Daca--Update-Fall2017_stamped-3.pdf .    Immigrants' List Civic Action has produced a video, "We Are America" which corroborates some of the economic information regarding how immigrants have contributed to the United States which can be found at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90Gman2TwHE   Lincoln's speech can be found  in his “July 10, 1858, speech at Chicago.” The Speeches of Abraham Lincoln, Including Inaugurals and Proclamations (Lincoln Centenary Association, NY: 1908).

Jennifer McCoy is professor of political science at Georgia State University and nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She was a senior core fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Budapest, Hungary in spring 2019.  McCoy was chosen for the inaugural class of Distinguished University Professorships at Georgia State University in 2013. Specializing in international and comparative politics, Dr. McCoy's areas of expertise include democratic resilience, democratic erosion, and partisan polarization; crisis prevention and conflict resolution; democracy promotion and collective defense of democracy; election processes and international election observation; and Latin American Politics. McCoy’s research program on polarized politics aims to identify the causes, consequences for democracy, and solutions to polarized societies around the world, including the United States. She coined the term “pernicious polarization” to refer to the political polarization that divides societies into mutually distrustful “Us vs. Them” camps, and undermines the capacity of democracies to address critical policy problems.  

This week we talk about several news stories. All the stories are linked below.

Megachurch pastor tells congregation to "vote like Jesus" by supporting Trump

'Trump Bible' one of few that meet Walters' criteria for Oklahoma classrooms

FBI Kavanaugh probe tightly controlled by Trump White House, congressional report finds - The Washington Post

DeSantis Threatening Jail Time for Running Abortion Rights Ads in Florida - TPM – Talking Points Memo

 Trump wages campaign against real-time fact checks - The Washington Post

Dr. Bourbaine's quote can be found in Donald W. Shriver, Jr.'s book, Honest Patriots, Loving A Country Enough to Remember Its Misdeeds, (NY, Oxford Press, 2005), p. 284.   Walter Brueggeman's quotes are from, The Land: Place as Gift, Promise and Challenge in Biblical Faith, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002), pp. 10 and 61.  Further discussion of his ideas can be found in Craig's chapter on "Constantine’s Legacy: Preserving Empire While Undermining International Law" which can be found at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3960335    Our theme song, "Don't Fade Away" was co-written by Matt Yaney Tillar and Chris Inserra.  We apologize to Chris Inserra for leaving her name out of the recording.  "Don't Fade Away" can be found on the CD recorded by Voices, Dare the Untried.  If you would like more information on this song or other Voices music, email us at lawfulpod.com.   It appears the Oklahoma Superintendent is being sued for the Bibles: https://www.friendlyatheist.com/p/oklahomas-ryan-walters-sued-over?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=95153&post_id=150357512&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=3en6fu&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

This week we talk about the newest legal filing by Jack Smith in the DC Trump Case. We talk about what is in it and some commentary on the filing itself and the timing of the filing. 

https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/73357920e3c8d739/8fc8bfd0-full.pdf

How Jack Smith Outsmarted the Supreme Court

Opinion | Jack Smith Owes Us an Explanation

Sweeping bill to overhaul Supreme Court would add six justices   Rudy Giuliani disbarred in D.C. over 2020 election scheme   Trump turns to darker rhetoric as voting begins : NPR   How Trump distorts immigration and crime data in new attacks on Harris - The Washington Post   Biden Administration Cements Harmful Asylum Restrictions   Two NIJC reports on the new Biden Asylum Rule   "NIJC Condemns Decision to Finalize Anti-Asylum Rule Amid Rampant Rights Violations" which can be found at:   https://immigrantjustice.org/press-releases/nijc-condemns-decision-finalize-anti-asylum-rule-amid-rampant-rights-violations?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=7edf6b09-2975-49d7-a000-832758604c04   NIJC's report: "Six-Week Report: Implementation of the Biden Administration’s June 2024 “Securing the Border” Asylum Ban" which can be found at:  https://immigrantjustice.org/research-items/Biden-June-2024-asylum-ban-six-week-report

We talk about several stories on this week's show and field a voicemail from a listener.

 

Judge Aileen Cannon Failed to Disclose a Right-Wing Junket — ProPublica

Marcellus Williams is executed despite prosecutors and the victim’s family asking that he be spared | CNN

Haitian group in Springfield, Ohio, files citizen criminal charges against Trump and Vance - ABC7 Chicago

Opinion | GOP lies about illegal immigrant voting will be the basis for election denial - The Washington Post

Don Kerwin’s article,  “The Trials and Consolations of Migrant-Serving Faith-Based Organizations,”  August 27, 2024,  can be found at:   https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-law-and-religion/article/trials-and-consolations-of-migrantserving-faithbased-organizations/8AA0BC304F1CCFCF94BDDA9A332284F7#metrics 

 

Jennifer Rubin’s article, “The big lie of 2024: illegal immigrant voting,” September 24, 2024 can be found at: https://css.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/09/24/illegal-immigrants-voting/ 

We talk about several news stories this last week. We start by discussing the debates and then move on to talking about Ginni Thomas and the recent story in ProPublica enlisting help opposing SCOTUS reform. 

 

Judge Sets Deadlines in Trump Election Case, Saying Campaign Is 'Not Relevant'

Ginni Thomas Email Praised Group Opposing SCOTUS Reform — ProPublica

Justice Amy Coney Barrett describes coming home with bulletproof vest

Steve Vladek's comments on the interaction between all three branches of government, "Bonus 98: The "Least Dangerous" Branch—Court Reform and Federalist 78," can be found at:  https://www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-98-the-least-dangerous-branchcourt?utm_campaign=email-post&r=lv15c&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

TRAC at Syracuse University's report on legal representation, "Too Few Immigration Attorneys: Average representation Rates Fall from 65% to 30%,  can be found at: https://trac.syr.edu/reports/736/

 

Dorothee Soelle's quote can be found in The Window of Vulnerability, A Political Spirituality, (Minneapolis, Fortress Press, 1990),  p.7.

 

2025: https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf

We cover several stories in the news this week:

 

The information regarding Georgia Governor Eugene Talmadge removing more that one million voters from his state's voter registration came from political scientist Rober Mickey in "American Needs Georgia Republicans to Defend Democracy Again," Mary Gay, The New York Times, August 29, 2024:  https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/29/opinion/georgia-election-board-certification.html

"Top Military officer says he was wrong to accompany Trump on church walk through Lafayette Square," June 11, 2020:  https://m.abc3340.com/news/nation-world/milley-says-he-was-wrong-to-accompany-trump-on-church-walk

The photo with the words "All Are Welcome" at St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, DC, can be found at:  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/opinion/trump-st-johns-church-protests.html

Stephen Carter was quoted from "Trump Isn't Going to Like the Supreme Couirt's Immunity Decision," (Bloomberg News, July 1, 2024:  https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-07-01/supreme-court-immunity-ruling-is-not-a-gift-to-trump

Eric Foner's quote is from Reconstruction, America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1870, (N.Y., Harper & Row, 1988) at p. 423.

Trump special counsel files new election interference indictment

A new rule in Georgia could allow local election boards to refuse to certify results

Conservative Republican Luttig endorses Harris, calls Trump a threat to democracy | CNN Politics

Others Have Politicized Arlington, but Trump’s Approach Has No Precedent - The New York Times

 

Today we read the section of Project 2025 on the restructuring of the Department of Homeland Security and what that has to do with the future of immigration in possible Trump presidency. 

 

Show notes:

Current USCIS Mission Statement:  https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/mission-and-core-values 

Project 2025: https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf  (Mission Statement is on page 134).

Hannah Arendt  discusses Germany's enhanced power of police (p. 287) and the impact of denaturalization (p. 296)  in,  The Origins of Totalitarianism (New York: Harcourt, 1976).     I compare her discussion with the contemporary impunity of the Border Patrol and ICE in "Constantine’s Legacy: Preserving Empire While Undermining International Law," in Slotte, P., & Haskell, J. (Eds.). (2021). Christianity and International Law: An Introduction (Law and Christianity). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3960335  

Information on Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ: https://www.pilgrimoakpark.org/

Democracy Now podcast for August 28, 2024 regarding the Central Park 5 and Yusef Salaam:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/democracy-now-2024-08-29-thursday/id73802554?i=1000667140197     Here is the original podcast on Haiti: https://works.bepress.com/craig_mousin/107/