Tag: Oregon

Barred From Re-Election

We have states attempting to bar Trump from the November ballot and then there is the state of Oregon….in an attempt to bar dissenters from re-election….

The Oregon Supreme Court said Thursday that 10 Republican state senators who staged a record-long walkout last year to stall bills on abortion, transgender health care, and gun rights cannot run for reelection. The decision upholds the secretary of state’s decision to disqualify the senators from the ballot under a voter-approved measure aimed at stopping such boycotts. Measure 113, passed by voters in 2022, amended the state constitution to bar lawmakers from reelection if they have more than 10 unexcused absences, the AP reports.

Last year’s boycott lasted six weeks—the longest in state history—and paralyzed the legislative session, stalling hundreds of bills. Five of the 10 GOP senators who racked up more than 10 absences sued over the secretary of state’s decision. “We obviously disagree with the Supreme Court’s ruling,” said one of them, Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp. “But more importantly, we are deeply disturbed by the chilling impact this decision will have to crush dissent.” Democratic Senate President Rob Wagner welcomed the decision. “Today’s ruling by the Oregon Supreme Court means that legislators and the public now know how Measure 113 will be applied, and that is good for our state,” he said in a statement.

Political advocacy groups that backed Measure 113 had similar reactions, per the AP. “Walkouts allow a relatively small number of lawmakers to nullify the will of the majority, and that is to the detriment of our democracy,” said Alejandro Queral of the Oregon Center for Public Policy. All parties in the suit had sought clarity on when the ineligibility takes effect before the March filing deadline for candidates who want to run in this year’s election. Oregon voters approved the measure by a wide margin following Republican walkouts in the legislature in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

While I enjoy any time a GOPer gets in hot water I just do not see this as an answer…..but if the people decided then I guess we must go along with their decision, after all it is their state and their elections.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergpo scribo”

Closing Thought–19Apr21

A Greater Idaho……

These days there is a wealth of rhetoric abut secession…..Texas and even in the Northwest….Oregon to be more succinct…..I wrote about a proposal not long ago……https://lobotero.com/2021/04/02/closing-thought-02apr21/

More has developed since my original post……

Millions of Americans now living in Oregon, California, and Washington state could end up in their own Greater Idaho if a proposal submitted to Idaho lawmakers Monday becomes reality. Mike McCarter, president of Move Oregon’s Borders for a Greater Idaho, told a joint committee of lawmakers that the plan, which would involve Idaho expanding its border to the Pacific Ocean, could grow Idaho’s population by 50% and make it the nation’s third-largest state in terms of area, KTVB reports. The plan calls for around three-quarters of Oregon becoming part of Idaho. Supporters say residents of parts of southeast Washington and northern California would also welcome the chance to become part of a red state.

McCarter, an Oregon resident, said four rural Oregon counties have already approved the plan and votes are coming up in five more. “There’s a longtime cultural divide as big as the Grand Canyon between northwest Oregon and rural Oregon, and it’s getting larger,” he said, per the AP. For parts of Oregon to join Idaho, the plan would have to be approved by Congress and the legislatures of both states. McCarter’s group argues that the move would be likely to win approval since it won’t affect the balance of power in the Senate. The AP reports “Idaho lawmakers appeared intrigued but skeptical.” Mark Simmons, a former speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives, told Idaho lawmakers that “a lot of details” would need to be worked out, including the minimum wage, which is $11.25 in Oregon and $7.25 in Idaho.

I say if the people of the region want this then let them go…..

Now this makes me think of my region…..the three Coastal counties are nothing like the state of Mississippi….then why not become a state or join with a more like Louisiana?

This is another example of why I oppose the whole lame excuse of state’s rights.

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Enter The Police State

That is a term that is batted around anytime the police are involved….but what the Hell does it really mean?

A state in which the government exercises rigid and repressive controls over the social, economic, and political life of the people, especially by means of a secret police force.

When protestors are kidnapped into unmarked cars and bystanders are told they will be shot if they are followed, you can be sure that the warnings of impending fascism are not exaggerated.

Does that sum it up nicely for you?

If not then this infographic may be of some small help as well…..

police_state

What makes me want to post on this situation now is the things happening in Portland Oregon……

Video footage and first-hand accounts of unidentified federal law enforcement officials snatching up Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland, Oregon and throwing them into unmarked vehicles drew nationwide attention and outrage Friday, with members of Congress, human rights groups, and journalists accusing the Trump administration of deploying “secret police” to crush dissent.

“Unmarked federal agents in combat gear are pulling protesters off the street and jailing them without charge,” tweeted Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). “That is what a police state is all about. Now is the time to defend our Constitution. Now is the time to come together and defeat Trump’s authoritarian policies.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/17/after-trump-deploys-secret-police-portland-imagine-what-happens-if-he-gets-four-more

The Mayor of Portland has finally come out with a demand that the president withdraw these thugs from the streets of Portland…..

Portland’s mayor threw down the gauntlet Friday after federal agents—some wearing camouflage in unmarked minivans—were seen grabbing people off the streets, the AP reports. “Keep your troops in your own buildings, or have them leave our city,” Mayor Ted Wheeler said at a press conference in a message to President Trump. “This is part of the core media strategy out of Trump’s White House: to use federal troops to bolster his sagging polling data. And it is an absolute abuse of federal law enforcement officials.” The agents have charged 13 protesters so far but also arrested people far from federal property the agents were assigned to protect. The ACLU calls it “extraordinarily concerning.” For more:

  • The defense: “We’re going to do our job,” acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told KPTV of the federal officers. “We’re going to do it professionally. But we’re not going to have these violent anarchists who show up about the same time every night for a series of hours, having that federal destruction to property.”
  • The accusation: Customs and Border Protection said Friday one arrest caught on video showed a suspect who had allegedly damaged property or assaulted federal agents, per the New York Times. CBP said agents identified themselves but didn’t show their names due to “recent doxxing incidents against law enforcement personnel.”
  • A lawsuit: The ACLU filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and US Marshals Service on Friday, accusing agents of acting “over the widespread objections of local leaders” and “indiscriminately using tear gas, rubber bullets, and acoustic weapons against protesters, journalists, and legal observers.”
  • An investigation: US Attorney for Oregon Billy Williams called for an investigation Friday into the camouflaged agents’ behavior, per KHSU. He said the officers defended the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse against “an onslaught of commercial fireworks, laser strikes, glass, mortars, paint and anything else near at hand,” but in finding those responsible, may have acted questionably in “limited instances.”
  • Was it legal? Washington officials cited 40 US Code 1315, which allows DHS to deputize other federal agents in guarding federal property and make arrests “on and off the property in question.” But a historian tells the New York Times that this interpretation undermines other “checks and balances on DHS’ power because the officers’ power is effectively limitless and all encompassing.”
  • A secret memo: The Nation has obtained an “internal talking points memo” for the CBP that tells officials not to say where CBP agents are deployed and for how long. It also says there’s a special DHS task force—created in response to Trump’s order to protect US monuments and memorials—tasked with assessing civil unrest and using extra resources to stop it.
  • No more ribs: City and county police shut down a makeshift kitchen in downtown Portland—aptly called Riot Ribs—that served free sausages, ribs, and chorizo tacos to protesters for 12 days, Eater reports. It was used by people in a park where protests have been buzzing despite police use of tear gas and rubber bullets.
  • Shot in the head: Portland protester Donavan LaBella was shot in the head by a “non-lethal” round and apparently suffered skull and facial fractures, KATU reports. The 26-year-old has undergone surgery and is responding to doctors. Wheeler called the shooting “unacceptable.” The US Marshals Service is investigating.

Regardless whether you agree with the protesters or not….this situation is a violation of everything this country stands for and needs to be put in its place and made so that it will NEVER happen again.

The US does not need a Gestapo….we have the FBI for such chores.

Makes me ask….if this would have happened under the Obama presidency what would the Uber Right have said?

I mean they had a cow when some weapons from a sting op hit the streets…..they would have lost their minds if Obama had ordered the federal troops onto the streets of this country.

This is a pathetic use of the powers of leadership…..the world has seen all this authoritarianism before…..and it was defeated then and will be so today.

Now I wait for the defenders of these policies to show up and take me to task……

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Only In The Land Of The Tree Hugger

First it was the masked owl that is attacking passer bys……..the first victim was a surgeon that lost a cap and was mistaken for a wholly beast because of his hair……and then there was an escalation to include 3 other victims……as humorous as this all is….it is not what the best part is about……

Nope…it is the governor and his wife that is the big story……does not get any better than this situation………

First, Oregon’s first lady admitted to an “illegal” previous marriage, then to planning a marijuana grow operation and running a consulting business out of the governor’s mansion. Now, Gov. John Kitzhaber’s fiancee Cylvia Hayes faces claims that she was paid consulting fees to influence her future husband. The Oregonian finds two Kitzhaber associates, who later joined his administration, connected Hayes with jobs that landed her $143,000, including $118,000 from a clean-energy group from 2011 to 2012, while she served as an unpaid energy adviser to Kitzhaber. She allegedly failed to report the income on tax forms, nor did Kitzhaber account for the money on his ethics filings, the Los Angeles Times reports. While Kitzhaber has said Hayes “will have no policy role and no political role in the administration” for the rest of his term, “Kitzhaber is already enacting policies Hayes was paid to promote,” the Oregonian reports.

Dan Carol, the man who got Hayes the gig with group Clean Economy Development Center, was soon after hired by Kitzhaber. He now makes $165,720 a year, almost twice as much as Kitzhaber himself and significantly more than anyone else on his staff, the Willamette Week reports. “No one in the governor’s office or the governor ever asked me to do anything for Cylvia,” Carol says. “When it fits and the work makes sense, I connect good people, groups and projects together.” He adds he was hired because he had previously worked with Kitzhaber and “had the right skills and national connections.” The Oregon Government Ethics Commission will vote March 13 on whether to launch an investigation, but the Oregonian has already called on Kitzhaber to resign, noting his “credibility has evaporated.” Last week, Kitzhaber said he wouldn’t even consider resigning from his post. He added he had “no regrets” about his relationship with Hayes and “the marriage is still on.”

Has there been another state with as much drama as Oregon?  Not even Virginia can top this ….

GOD I love this stuff!

Thoughts?