Musings from Jay (blog site permanently frozen 11/05/2024 morning)

A number of factual sections are from Chat GPT.   I will share the legal foundation in my view (first amendment and campaign finance laws) to which we can trace some of the dislocations in our politics and campaign systems.  Campaign and political speech are protected under the First Amendment in the U.S., but there are several constraints and regulations that apply: Defamation: False statements that harm a person's reputation can lead to civil lawsuits. Incitement to Violence: Speech that incites imminent lawless action is not protected. Obscenity: Speech that is deemed obscene (lacking serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value) can be regulated. Electioneering Communications: Certain regulations govern the timing and funding of campaign advertisements, especially those that directly advocate for a candidate. Campaign Finance Laws: Restrictions on contributions to campaigns and the disclosure of funding sources aim to prevent corruption and ensure tr...

People think and vote as they will. We are free. But when you have an undemocratic force advancing the challenge for democracy is to figure where, when and how to apply a counterbalancing force, so the overall outcome is good for democracy!! Not easy though. Letting the forces proponents in the house sink in the quicksand of their own making for all the world to see is one such counterforce. Example is the craziness currently going on in the GOP house. They can't even do a short-term funding bill easily because of these elements.  Holding criminal acts accountable is another such counterforce. Example is Trump trials and Jan 6 trials.  Holding defamation propagated by media accountable in a court of law is a third counter force. Example is the voting machine trials.  Offering an alternative model of governance and politics and promoting it is another counterbalancing force. Exam...

    I am a brown person of Indian origin. I lived in Hawaii and the California bay area and did not encounter any real discrimination. I know of stories of discrimination told in other states, especially the deep south, but I don't have personal experience of such. My focus is laws for social justice and not really changing people's beliefs or opinions or prejudices which is always a wide spectrum. Institutions have rules that can be focused on by law, but ultimately institutions are made up of people with their prejudices or beliefs.  My focus in social justice is to get a more perfect union and realize the founding fathers promissory note of equality under the law for citizens that was never fully delivered to a number of groups. This includes in today's context, equality by race, national origin, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age, and economic class. Supreme court decisions on these areas in specific boundary cases are a work in progr...

Bidens attorneys found classified documents and other government records at his residence and office recently that he used after he transitioned out of the white house where he served as the VP. This raises a law compliance issue.  F rom what I see, Biden's attorney and counsel did the right thing to immediately notify the archives every time documents were found. The archives did the right thing to notify the justice department promptly. The justice department did the right thing to do an initial investigation and based on that then name a special counsel. Bidens team fully cooperated with the justice department and the archives and will continue to cooperate with the special council.  On Jan 21, the FBI, on the invitation and approval of Biden's attorneys, conducted a thorough search of Biden's home and found some more documents.  Biden and his team did the right thing to hold back making a full public disclosure throughout since there was an active justice department i...