Rise of Fascism in the United States [SPLIT]

[KaraBulut]

My favorite part: the new maps weren't done for race-based reasons. LOL!

Supreme Court allows Texas to use redistricting map challenged as racially discriminatory

Updated on Dec. 5 at 8:58 a.m. The Supreme Court on Thursday gave the green light to Texas’ efforts to be able to use a new congressional map favorable to […]

www.scotusblog.com

On Nov. 18, a majority of the three-judge district court blocked the state from using the 2025 map in the upcoming elections and ordered Texas to instead use the existing map, which it enacted in 2021. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown, in a 160-page opinion joined by Senior U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama, wrote that although “politics played a role in drawing the 2025 Map,” “it was much more than just politics. Substantial evidence,” he concluded, “shows that Texas racially gerrymandered the 2025 Map.”

Texas countered that it had adopted the map for purely political and partisan reasons, and in particular, in response to Trump’s demands for five new House seats. Racial motivations, it said, were not in play.

"Assume that Texas Legislature acted in good faith":

Citing its decision in Alexander, the court agreed with the state that the challengers’ failure to “produce a viable alternative map that met the State’s avowedly partisan goals” should have led to a “dispositive or near-dispositive adverse inference” against them. And, it said, the lower court should have presumed that legislators were acting in good faith, but instead it “constru[ed] ambiguous direct and circumstantial evidence against the legislature.”

Kagan points to the elephant in the room:

In her dissent, Kagan chided her colleagues in the majority for their decision to override the lower court’s decision. She emphasized that the lower court’s “task … was a singularly factual one: It had to choose between the plaintiffs’ ‘race predominated’ account and the State’s ‘race never entered the picture’ story.” The district court, she said, had approached that task carefully. Among other things, it “conducted a nine-day hearing, involving the testimony of nearly two dozen witnesses and the introduction of thousands of exhibits,” and it “issued a 160-page opinion recounting in detail its factual findings.”

 

[cityboy-stl]

 

[KaraBulut]

Another thing to watch...

In Turkey, Hungary and Russia, when an autocrat came to power, the government nationalized some news outlets. Then adminstration-friendly oligarchs started buying up independent media outlets. This removed any editorial opposition to the autocrat.

Another thing that happened: respectable newspapers and TV channels started turning out slop: an endless barrage of celebrity gossip and scandal, a al TMZ.

Everyone is focusing on Netflix' merger with HBO. Here's the story to watch:

https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/06/media/netflix-warner-bros-antitrust

Netflix has a big unanswered question. That may kill its Warner Bros. deal

Netflix’s shocking $72 billion bid to buy Warner Bros. and HBO is the rare corporate mega-merger that can shift the tectonic plates of an entire industry and permanently change the way all of its participants do business.

In other words: It’s the kind of deal that could force antitrust regulators to put away their rubber stamps and take out their magnifying glasses...

Paramount CEO David Ellison made several overtures to President Donald Trump to win regulatory approval when his Skydance production company sought to buy the movie studio. That’s why Hollywood widely expected Paramount to be in the catbird seat for its proposed purchase of all of Warner Bros. Discovery – in contrast, Netflix plans to buy just Warner Bros. and HBO after the existing company spins off its cable assets, including CNN.

Trump ally Harvey Levin started TMZ. Levin sold TMZ to Murdoch-owned Fox but Levin has remained as managing editor and on-air presenter of the broadcast show. Levin has assumed the role previously played by David Packer, owner of The National Enquirer. In a recent court case, Packer admitted to running stories that he had been given by Trump and to killing stories that Trump didn't want published.

Larry Ellison, billionaire founder of software company Oracle, is a Trump ally. Ellison's son, David Ellison, used his father's money to start Skydance Media in 2006 when David was 23 years old. This year, Skydance merged with Paramount. Paramount owns multiple properties, including CBS, the BET network and MTV. As part of the merger, 46 year old David Ellison became CEO and chairman of the merged companies.

Trump ally Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post through his holding company Nash Holdings.

Trump ally South African billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong owns the Los Angeles Times. He paid $500 million to purchase the Times.

All of these very busy wealthy men have been interfering with the editorial independence of the media outlets that they own, including in the case of the LA Times, killing editorials endorsing Kamala Harris for President in 2024.

 

[rareboy]

I seem to remember that Netflix guy donated to Kamal Harris.

That will likely kill this deal.

 

[KaraBulut]

I seem to remember that Netflix guy donated to Kamal Harris.

That will likely kill this deal.

Don't be surprised if Larry Ellison makes a trip to Mar-A-Lago and a new more Trump-friendly deal appears on the horizon. A deal that gives David Ellison some parts of HBO and control of CNN.

Another insider observation: Back when the VA and DoD were looking to buy a shared electronic health record system, there were two big players bidding on the contract: Epic Systems (privately-owned and controlled by pseudo-liberal billionaire owner Judy Faulkner) and Cerner, which was a public company. Cerner got the deal.

The VA-DoD Cerner project has been the subject of multiple Congressional hearings because of cost overruns and general chaos on the project, which has run behind schedule and over budget. John McCain and Bernie Sanders were both in agreement that the project needed to be overhauled.

Since then, Larry Ellison bought Cerner and rebranded it as Oracle Health. Discussion about cost overruns and the prospect of cancelling the project have been quashed. If it ever does come to fruition, this means that Larry Ellison will own the company that maintains the health records of every soldier and every veteran in the United States.

 

[KaraBulut]

Don't be surprised if Larry Ellison makes a trip to Mar-A-Lago and a new more Trump-friendly deal appears on the horizon. A deal that gives David Ellison some parts of HBO and control of CNN.

Oh, look.

Paramount (aka the Ellison family) is going around the Warner board to try to get shareholders to kill the Netflix merger and give control of Warner to Skydance Paramount.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/08/business/paramount-hostile-takeover-bid-wbd

Paramount launches a hostile takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery

Paramount has gone straight to Warner Bros. Discovery’s shareholders with an all-cash offer in an extraordinary endeavor to gain control of Hollywood’s most sought-after prize – a bid that Netflix beat on Friday.

Paramount was widely expected to be the frontrunner for Warner Bros. But WBD opted instead for Netflix, which it said offered a more lucrative deal. The proposed marriage with Netflix caught Hollywood insiders by surprise — including Paramount CEO David Ellison, who still contends that his deal was the better offer.

“We’re sitting on Wall Street, where cash is still king,” Ellison told CNBC in an interview Monday. “We are offering shareholders $17.6 billion more cash than the deal they currently have signed up with Netflix. And we believe when they see what is currently in our offer, then that’s what they’ll vote for.”

And specifically called out... the Netflix deal doesn't include the media outlets like CNN. Paramount wants to include CNN and the media outlets.

Paramount, unlike Netflix, is seeking to buy WBD in its entirety. It notes its offer is worth $108.4 billion for all of WBD, compared to $82.7 billion for Netflix’s offer, which doesn’t include the value of the company’s cable channels.

 

[rareboy]

Ellisons will end up with Warner. TrumpCo. and the Project 2025 team will make sure of it.

 

[KaraBulut]

Ellisons will end up with Warner. TrumpCo. and the Project 2025 team will make sure of it.

New wrinkle. Remember that $2 billion that the Saudis gave Jared Kushner?

Guess who is rumored to be involved in the Ellison bid for Warner?

This is just like Hungary and Turkey where the families of Orbán and Erdoğan were involved in all sorts of deals arranged by the government.

 

[KaraBulut]

Ellison called Trump and promised to get CNN under control if Paramount can buy out Warner.

Behind Paramount’s Relentless Campaign to Woo Warner Discovery and Trump

The fight for Warner has become a battle between Paramount, the 113-year-old Hollywood institution, and Netflix

www.hindustantimes.com

Ellison’s father, billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, a Trump ally, called the president after the Netflix deal was announced and told him the transaction would hurt competition, according to a White House official and a person familiar with the matter...

“We’re really here to finish what we started,” Ellison said on CNBC Monday morning. Three Middle East sovereign-wealth funds and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are among the financial backers of Paramount’s bid.

Warner’s board said it planned to stay the course with Netflix...

Trump has so far avoided publicly backing a bidder. “None of them are particularly great friends of mine,” he said at a White House roundtable on Monday. A person close to Trump said the president will want Paramount and Netflix to compete for his approval of a deal.

Trump has told aides he wants to be kept regularly apprised of any potential antitrust probe into Netflix’s deal for Warner. A spokesman for Attorney General Pam Bondi said while it is still early days, she and the DOJ’s antitrust division will oversee this merger.

 

[rareboy]

​

Watch the Supreme Court rule for Trump.

 

[rareboy]

I think that Pavlovitz and others are too optimistic.

But there is always the chance that he is right and that Project 2025 could only happen with him at the helm.

I pray to the Gods that he is right.

The MAGA Nightmare is Almost Over, America.

This will all be over soon, America.

johnpavlovitz.substack.com

 

[KaraBulut]

One tradition of naturalized Americans: those who lived through authoritarians, dictators and autocrats in their country of birth have a clear sense of what it looks like when rights are being trampled upon:

 

[KaraBulut]

One difference between fascists versus autocrats is that autocrats often ride in on the backs of the clergy. In return, the autocrats loosen the restrictions on churches, start incorporating religious teaching into secular education and funnel public funds to churches. It's what Putin did, it's what Khomeini did, It's what Orbán did, it's what Erdoğan did and it's what Trump is going to try to do.

And here we go with the rewards phase of Trump's post-election where all those pastors lined up to support a felon who violated just about every commandment and most of the teachings of the persons who the faithful believe in...

Now that they won the battle on abortion rights, they are out to get rid of the Johnson Amendment so that they can openly advocate for their favorite political candidates, but remain as "non-profits" that are exempted from paying taxes.

First Baptist Dallas pastor says Johnson Amendment ‘unconstitutional’ in testimony

Pastors from First Baptist Dallas told the Religious Liberty Commission that the Johnson Amendment, which prevents nonprofit organizations from making...

www.dallasnews.com

First Baptist Dallas pastor says Johnson Amendment “unconstitutional” in testimony
Pastor Robert Jeffress told the Trump-formed Religious Liberty Commission that the amendment prevents churches from having truly free speech.

Pastors from First Baptist Dallas told the Religious Liberty Commission that the Johnson Amendment, which prevents nonprofit organizations from making political endorsements, is unconstitutional and prevents churches from having the true right to free speech.

Testimony from First Baptist Senior Pastor Robert Jeffress came Wednesday at a hearing at Old Parkland in Oak Lawn. The commission also heard testimony from members of the military and from chaplains who detailed over several hours the ways they see religious liberty as being under attack in America.

The Religious Liberty Commission was formed in May through an executive order from President Donald Trump. Among its members are Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, neurosurgeon and former Trump cabinet member Dr. Ben Carson, television personality Phil McGraw, better known as Dr. Phil and the Rev. Franklin Graham, an evangelist and author.

Robert Jeffress is singularly obsessed with the Johnson Amendment. He's obsequious in his support for Trump in 2016 and again in 2024. Jeffries has been giving interviews where he brags that his church- the ultrawealthy First Baptist Church in Dallas- has plenty of money to spend on legal costs. Um... you were supposed to be spending those Christian dollars on feeding the poor and helping the infirm?

 

[cityboy-stl]

I think that Pavlovitz and others are too optimistic.

But there is always the chance that he is right and that Project 2025 could only happen with him at the helm.

I pray to the Gods that he is right.

The MAGA Nightmare is Almost Over, America.

This will all be over soon, America.

johnpavlovitz.substack.com

I hope that he right as well. But if Trump kicks the bucket before his term ends, we have President JD Vance. Vance is younger, smarter, and maybe even more evil than Trump. MAGA could be diminished in some ways, but Project 2025 will be in full swing. The only glimmer of hope is that most people hate Vance, and he probably won't have much support. But he will still be President and will have the backing of all the fascist oligarchs.

The only way I can see ending this before the 2028 election is an incredibly unlikely long-shot. Democrats would have to take over a large majority of the House and Senate, then impeach and convict both the president and vice-president at the same time, so the Democratic Speaker could become president. I don't see any other means short of violence, which I do not want. Maybe there are others, but I can't think of one. You don't have to tell me that probably won't happen. I know.

 

[rareboy]

I don't beleive in any long shot scenarios. I thnk the dems could have all of Congress and still fuck this up. I can guarantee that they would never convict both the Prez and Veep and I doubt if they would even try for an impeachment of Trump because of how it would play that they are beating up some poor, sick, old man.

If they win the House, I think Trump's presidency is over and Project 2025 progress will be seriously impaired.

However a lot of the real damage that has been done is likely never to be rolled back and the final 2 years of the Trump era will likely be dark days indeed.

 

[rareboy]

It used to be called the G20. But trust the US to decide that it wants to cut a side deal...and join BRICS,,,just without Brazil and South Africa. And India. TrumpCo. doesn't want the unmitigated risk of being ejected from the G7 for unlawfully invading other sovereign neighbour countries.

 

[KaraBulut]

This is a pathetic embarrassment for the Department of Justice, the US Attorney's Office and all attorneys whose names are on these documents. The attorneys involved in this are a laughing stock in the legal community and will be unlikely to find a job outside the DOJ with a reputable firm . These attorneys should be brought before their State Bars for disciplinary action.

Recapping:

1. When charges were originally filed against Letitia James, a judge ruled that the attorney who filed the original charges and presented the case to a Grand Jury, Lindsey Halligan, was illegally appointed and all cases bearing her name were invalid.
2. The DOJ tried to take a the case back to Norfolk on December 4,. That second Grand Jury no billed the charges, saying that the government did not present enough evidence for the charges to be filed.
3. Today, the DOJ tried for a third time to present the charges to a Grand Jury, this time in Alexandria, Virginia. That Grand Jury again no billed the case.

I don't know that I have ever heard of a case being presented to THREE Grand Juries. I have also never heard of TWO Grand Juries no-billing a case.

It's a joke. It points out that Pam Bondi and the attorneys involved are both incompetent and are in violation of the law about malicious prosecutions.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/11/politics/justice-department-fails-reindict-letitia-james-second-time

A grand jury, for a second time, declined to bring a new indictment against Letitia James, the New York attorney general who defeated President Donald Trump and his company in court, according to multiple sources.

The Justice Department presented its case against James to grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, Thursday — a week after a different grand jury in Norfolk declined to bring charges.

The quick move by the Justice Department to present a case against James again to a grand jury again shows the intensity of its efforts to prosecute the New York attorney general, a frequent Trump political target who was one of several enemies he has said on social media should face legal jeopardy.

 

[rareboy]

^ See also Mass Deportation Plans go sideways.

And speaking of malicious prosecution...

Kilmar Ábrego García was released from immigration detention on Thursday hours after a federal judge ordered for him to be freed.

Kilmar Ábrego García released from ICE detention after federal judge’s order

Kilmar Ábrego García was released from immigration detention on Thursday hours after a federal judge ordered for him to be freed, his attorney said.

www.thebanner.com

He is nuts to remain in the US because honestly, at this point, unless he can get protection, I don't think the US Homeland Security would bat an eye at making him disappear.

At this point, most people don't care if he is guilty of anything...what the world has watched is a torrent of lies and a web of persistent and cynical deceit and bad faith moves by a regime determined to put itself not only above, but outside the protection of the laws of the land.

 

[rareboy]

Wow. Did not see this scale of rebuke coming...

Indiana republicans have done the right thing by recognizing that eliminating the rights of people to be represented by either party is sacrosanct in a healthy democracy.

The state is stil awash with some of the most horrible far right wing racists that I've ever had the experience of dealing with in my travels and work...but they sure have sent a message today.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/12/indiana-republican-redistricting-trump-bill-fails/

 

[KaraBulut]

WTF?