BC LAW
Saved by @Mollyycolllinss

I'm slightly obsessed with this "#PenceCard" nonsense which is like the Platonic ideal of the current level of Trump election stealing conspiracy theory nonsense.

 Here's a thing about the United States: the vice president famously *does nothing*. By design. The job is not like the vice president of marketing or whatever where the guy has a job. Mike Pence is the spare president. He's there in case anything happens to the first one.
In the original formulation under the constitution, the vice president was the runner-up of the presidential race. Nobody ran for it. There was no assumption that it would be an ally of the president; more likely they would be rivals.
They're officially "president of the senate" just to give them something to do to keep them around the capital but they're not a senator and only get to vote if there's a tie, so most of the time that ceremonial role is fobbed off an actual senator.
But this senate presidency that we give the vice president currently has attached to it some purely ceremonial duties in the very perfunctory part of the election process where votes are counted and reported to Congress.
That's the reality of the vice presidency: it's a nothing job. Vice presidents have no power. Frequently presidents delegate things to them because the presidency is a hard job and the president can't be everywhere, but the vice president is an office with no actual power.
But the conspiracy theories among Trump True Believers need there to be a miracle genius turnaround play *somewhere*, and each time one of their miracles falls through (as they all do, because they're made up), that ups the pressure to find the next one.
So somebody wanks out a "legal opinion" that Pence could and in fact *must* use his "plenary power" (this is a phrase they all love because it sounds official and important) to refuse the "fraudulent" votes, because it's illegal for him to accept them.
And because things sound more legal and official when you attach arbitrary things to them and because doomsday cults need deadlines, they attached to this the idea that he must reject the votes "by the third Wednesday in December".

Which was a week ago, incidentally.
But conspiracy theories don't care about any calendars except their own, so in their world, TODAY is the third Wednesday in December, which means that they expect and demand Pence plays "the Pence card" in the next twenty minutes or so.
When Mike Pence fails to play "the Pence card" because it's not a thing and he has no actual power and "the Pence card" isn't even a saying like "the Trump card" is... this will only convince the faithful that Trump has an even bigger, better card to play later.
Anyway, I'm waiting until midnight to turn in because I want to see some of the reactions.

I expect there will be some meltdowns, but probably even more people seamlessly pivoting to "Well obviously he wouldn't do it in public." or "It's actually January 6th."
Or even trying to figure out a way to make next Wednesday "the third Wednesday in December".
I should also mention that some of the flock have decided the Pence Card *has already been played*; since Mike Pence's name showed up in a lawsuit to throw electors out, they think that's him doing it.

Small problem is: he's a defendant in that case, not a plaintiff.
This is a thread on the lawsuit that has been mistaken for the "Pence Card", with a note on how it's actually suing Mike Pence could obligate the government to defend him. If it makes it to trial, which seems dubious.

https://t.co/kmPoiQ3KYa
Here's another thread on that suit listing many, many, many ways in which it is ripe for dismissal.

https://t.co/Agqr6NmrbG
My understanding of the suit's current status is that the judge has ordered for a hearing schedule to be set after the plaintiffs prove that they have properly served all defendants (there are many), which may not even actually be possible.

https://t.co/4i8Qzz3yLJ
And it's midnight. Time to survey the reactions.
Merry Pencemas, everybody.
Looks like the predominant response so far is to blame Pence for not playing the non-existent #PenceCard; some people are shifting expectations to January 6th and some are assuming it's more Secret Governance We Can't Know About Yet.
These people are very big fans of the idea of Secret Governance. Which is the opposite of what the stuff they get mad about would lead you to believe. But they love the idea of secret arrests, secret trials, secret executions, etc.
And of course the theory that the lawsuit that, I repeat, is *suing Pence* must be Pence playing the #PenceCard because it's a legal document and Mike Pence's name is on it and nothing actually means anything to these people, it's all just free association.
Anyway, I have to go to bed. I just...

I'm not sure I've successfully conveyed how *bizarre* the idea that an election would hinge on some unique power we gave to the vice president only, which only affects the election of the president and vice president.

It's bananas.

More from Alexandra Erin the Meadow We Can Build a Snowman

Alexandra Erin
Alexandra Erin
@AlexandraErin
On the subject of the apparent Trump family strategy of keeping Trump in a protective bubble for the next 12 days... Hicks is one of his deftest handlers.
POLITICS
Alexandraah! Erin
Alexandraah! Erin
@alexandraerin
So let me tell you another reason we need to not back down, not sit down, not be quiet: coward that he is, Donald Trump is at his most dangerous when he feels like he's on top of the world.

The horse race headlines are saying that Donald Trump had his best day as president, and I'm sure he felt it. He just came through a knock-down, drag-out fight and won a battle that people had been telling him to drop for weeks, so right now no one can tell him anything.

If he gets it in his head that maybe he should fire Rosenstein? No one's going to be able to talk him out of it. He might even do it just to extend the high, or see how far he can take it.

When he's afraid and uncertain he'll lash out and that can be dangerous, but his insecurity causes him to both seek approval and fear traps in that state. But when he's invincible, he will indulge his worst impulses freely.

The same people who have been telling him not to mess with the investigation until after the midterms were among those telling him it would be so much easier to just replace Kavanaugh with someone less contentious. And what did they know? Nothing, he thinks. So why listen?
ALL
Advertisement
Alexandra Erin
Alexandra Erin
@AlexandraErin
The lesson here is not "OMG big tech is more powerful than the president, this isn't how it's supposed to be!" but "Even the president is not exempt from the rules we all agreed to follow, that is exactly how it's supposed to be."
TECH
Alexandra Erin
Alexandra Erin
@AlexandraErin
I think about the reports that Trump was excited by the invasion of the capitol because he thought it would derail the count, and it makes me think of a quote from the movie Boondock Saints: "Television. Television is the explanation for this. You see this in bad television."

In reality, there was zero chance that a violent assault on the capitol would have changed the outcome of the election, unless it was our own military doing it. An actual *physical* coup without military support? No.

And in fact, in reality, the more "successful" the assault was, the less likely it would be to affect the outcome. Had they succeeded in executing a congressperson on TikTok or whatever? They'd have killed their movement.

I believe that if they hadn't interrupted the process, the objections and debate would have been more successful in prolonging the process. But because of them, half the senators got cold feet and the remaining ones didn't even use their debate time.

Because they were attacked in their own chambers, because they were interrupted, it became a point of patriotic pride for Congress to finish the vote last night. Without that push, the objectors could have stretched it out, potentially for days.
POLITICS
Alexandra Erin
Alexandra Erin
@AlexandraErin
"Attacking him how? Yelling at him? Yes. Okay, I apologize. Can we move on?"

She's on video running and tackling him. She physically attacked him.
NEWS

More from Law

Truth
Truth
@1foreverseeking
@littlecarrotq I've been tracking these since December. Michigan


Wisconsin


Georgia


Arizona


Another Pennsylvania case. This is the most important one in my opinion. It shows the Republican Legislature broke the law when they created a mail-in ballot law in October, 2019, which they knew was against the state
LAW
Live Law
Live Law
@LiveLawIndia
Delhi court starts hearing MJ Akbar's defamation case against Priya Ramani.

Sr. Adv. Rebecca John begins submissions for Ramani.

John refers to case documents: The whole of Priya Ramani's case was put up before the witness.

#MeToo #metooindia @mjakbar

John: I was under an obligation to tell the witness what my defence was, have fulfilled that obligation.

Continues showing case documents.

John refers to an article by Ramani in 2017 where noone was named, however, in 2018 when she tweeted, this article was referred to/attached in the tweet.

John: Only the first four paras of the article referred to Akbar, rest of the article was about male bosses in general.

John refers to the article in @voguemagazine
LAW
Advertisement
Akiva Cohen
Akiva Cohen
@AkivaMCohen
Dear Texas: When your argument is that election procedures were adopted in violation of the Electors clause, the only evidence you need to "marshal" is "what election procedures were adopted and how"

You don't need weeks, a magnifying glass, and Melissa Carone


Also, why is there no other forum? You couldn't have sued in Federal court in Georgia or PA in advance of the election because ...?

Oh, right. No standing. That's still a problem


Also, Texas? I feel like you should take that up with ... Texas


I kind of feel like "look, what you meant by Purcell was let's just wait until after the election and then invalidate ALL the votes" isn't necessarily the *strongest* argument


Also, you don't just get to make up a new principle of constitutional and election law and just call it "a variant of" Purcell (or anything else).

You can tell it's made up by the total absence of any citation to ANY case, ANYWHERE, saying that
LAW
Louisette Lanteigne \U0001f30e\u270c\ufe0f\u2696\ufe0f\u2665\ufe0f
Louisette Lanteigne 🌎✌...
@lulex
Back in 2014, Dentons & Imperial Oil partner on Internationally Trained Lawyer Articling Program in Calgary

Fraser Milner Casgrain (FMC) law firm was aquirred by Dentons. Their report shows how Harper tried to bypass First Nations consent. Josh Jantzi who wrote it became a solicitor for Enbridge for the Supreme Court case vs Chippewas of the Thames re: Line 9.

Report dated May 28-29 2012 titled: Aboriginal Consultation and Project Development prepared by Bernard J. Roth and Joshua A. Jantzi of Fraser Milner Casgrain. Mr. Jantzi now works for Dentons. Hired by Enbridge for Line 9 Supreme Court vs. Chippwas of the Thames.


Dentons endorsed the Isle of Man tax evasion system.

Dentons created from merger of SNR Denton, Fraser Milner Casgrain and Salans and later merged with Chinese law firm Dacheng in 2015.
LAW
National Security Counselors
National Security Coun...
@NatlSecCnslrs
There is a now-relevant parallel here to the difference here between matters before a judge & matters before a jury. Judges are far more reluctant to strike testimony or evidence if they are the only recipients of it, with the theory being that they are really smart about ...


law stuff & will know what they can & can't consider. For instance, there is a long-held rule that a fact witness can't make legal arguments, only a lawyer. So what will happen in a motion for summary judgment, where the entire proceeding is on paper, will play out like this:

1) Defendant makes a motion for summary judgment. It includes a sworn declaration from some fact witness.

2) The declaration includes all sorts of legal arguments about why the defendant should win. Often the declaration includes arguments the brief didn't even make.

Defendants (especially DOJ-represented ones) often do this to get around the word or page-limits placed on briefs.

3) Plaintiff moves to strike the declaration for its inclusion of inadmissible legal arguments.

4) Judge denies the motion to strike, on the grounds that a ...

judge is a sophisticated consumer of evidence & can choose what to consider & what to ignore, unlike a jury.

The legal fiction behind this impeachment exception is that Senators are also smart enough to know what to listen to & what to ignore. Now, that may not be ACCURATE, ...
LAW

You May Also Like

The Astro Sapien\u2728
The Astro Sapien✨
@TheAstroSapienn
Here is my Thread on 'Ketu (South Node) Through Nakshatras' The 27 Constellations 🙏❣.

Do check your “Past life Mastery” which KETU Represents🤞🏻.


1. Ketu in Ashwini Nakshatra:

Here native is Great at Financial Planning, Face reading, understanding other’s mind and intention, Driving Fast they don’t like but they are wayyy smooth over driving Fast. This is also great position which can make native Great Surgeon,

Neurologist, Psychologist.
These natives are Selfless and Sacrifice self for others. They gets Fame and Success but they just don’t care.

2. Ketu in Bharani Nakshatra:

They are good at Flirting, Attracting opposite sex, studing ancient subjects. They are also Great at Creativity and Artistic activities. The are lazy but they are really open minded who handles situations really well.

In Past life they have handles many things which is now helping them to make things easier in this life. They are great Leaders too.

They are really good at Hard work and Smart work both. And yes just as Ashwini they don’t much care about Fame and Success!
ALL
Sanjeev Upadhyay\U0001f1ee\U0001f1f3
Sanjeev Upadhyay🇮🇳...
@SanjeevUpadhy13
What Happened To Bhakt Prahlad after Hiranyakashipu Vadh
#Thread
Prahlada became the mighty king of the Asuras after Shri Narsimha killed Hiranyakashipu. Prahlada was even more powerful than his father, Hiranyakashipu ever was. He enjoyed the love and respect of his subjects.


By virtue of his good behaviour, Prahlada conquered the three worlds easily and Indra ran away from the Heavens. Indra then deceived Prahlada into giving him the power of his behaviour and Prahlada lost control of the three worlds.


Asuras grew angry at the Devas for taking advantage of their King's virtuous behaviour and invaded the heavens. The Devas, afraid of the Asuras, enlisted the help of human Kings such as Yayati, Raji and Kakutstha and defeated them.

Prahlada attacked the gods and defeated Indra in battle, forcing the King of the Gods to run for his life. Indra sought help of Lord Vishnu. Infused with his power, Indra defeated Prahlada. The latter understood that Vishnu was helping Indra in battle and he withdrew his forces.


Prahlada first gave his kingdom to Andhaka, but the latter was defeated by Shiva. So Prahlada gave it to his son Virochana and undertook a Tirtha Yatra.
ALL
Advertisement
Simon DeDeo
Simon DeDeo
@SimonDeDeo
This is a pretty valiant attempt to defend the "Feminist Glaciology" article, which says conventional wisdom is wrong, and this is a solid piece of scholarship. I'll beg to differ, because I think Jeffery, here, is confusing scholarship with "saying things that seem right".


The article is, at heart, deeply weird, even essentialist. Here, for example, is the claim that proposing climate engineering is a "man" thing. Also a "man" thing: attempting to get distance from a topic, approaching it in a disinterested fashion.


Also a "man" thing—physical courage. (I guess, not quite: physical courage "co-constitutes" masculinist glaciology along with nationalism and colonialism.)


There's criticism of a New York Times article that talks about glaciology adventures, which makes a similar point.


At the heart of this chunk is the claim that glaciology excludes women because of a narrative of scientific objectivity and physical adventure. This is a strong claim! It's not enough to say, hey, sure, sounds good. Is it true?
ALL
Jaya_Upadhyaya
Jaya_Upadhyaya
@Jayalko1
SRI KALAHASTI KSHETRAM, CHITTOOR (AP)
#bharatmandir

Panchbhootasthalam representing vayu element, also called Dakshin Kailasha.
As per Shiva’s boon, Vayu is incarnated here as Shiva and worshipped as Kalahasteeswara.
The kshetram is also associated with Rahu and Ketu.


The Kshetram is named after 3 devotees of Shiva- a snake, spider and elephant who worshipped a lingam in the forest. Elephant did jal abhishek with water from its trunk, spider protected it from dust by weaving a web on it and snake adorned it with his jewel.
@GunduHuDuGa


Once, the web and jewel got washed away when elephant sprayed water on the lingam. Angered snake entered elephant’s trunk and bit him but died in the process. The agitated elephant trampled the spider accidentally. Shiva gave moksha to all three.


Hence the name-Sri for Spider, kaal for snake n hasti for elephant.

Shiv bhakt Kanappa is said to have plucked his own eye to put it on the lingam here when he saw blood oozing from the eye on the lingam
This place is the ultimate location for Rahu Kethu Sarpa Dosha Nivarana.
ALL
Anu Satheesh \U0001f1ee\U0001f1f3
Anu Satheesh 🇮🇳...
@AnuSatheesh5
Yoga Ramar Temple
#Nedungunam
#TamilNaduTemples 🚩

Yoga Ramar Temple is located near Thiruvannamalai. Shri Rama is seated with eyes closed, without any weapons. Mata Sita  pointing to the feet of Rama telling that  everyone is safe at his feet. Lakshmana standing near Shri Rama


Hanuman is seen chanting Vedas obediently sitting before Shri Rama.

Sthala Puranam says that, Sukabrahma Maharishi had been doing Tapasya here, for the darshan of Sri Rama. Prabhu Shri Ram, pleased with his tapasya, came here after Rama Ravana yudham. Since Rama was returning


after the war, he did not have any weapons with him.

Another gopuram called Kili Gopuram is there for Sukabrahma Maharishi. There is a hill nearby called Dheergachala. According to Sthala puranam, Sri Padham of Prabhu Rama are found on the top of the hill


It is said that this is the place where Shri Rama gave darshan to Suka Maharishi. Nedumgunam means which shows all qualities of Shri Rama who is Maryadha purushottam. Shri Ramanavami is very famous here.

Jai Sri Ram
🙏🕉🙏
ALL