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Mark Kelly Blasts Hegseth As A Twelve-Year-Old Playing Army While Trump Panics Over His Cratering Polls and The Federal Courts Humiliate Him By Disqualifying Alina HabbaAdults have entered the roomWhile Trump is busy “closing” airspace he has no control over, I’m glad to have more great news for you today. I hope it gives you some relief from this unhinged regime’s chaos—even if just for a moment. Today at 6:15pm ET on Substack Live I’ll be interviewing Dem Rep. Eric Swalwell, who recently entered the race for California governor. I’ll send a link for all subscribers to join when we launch. We’re taking a sledgehammer to maga propaganda and fighting back against Trump every single day. And it’s all thanks to the support of our readers, because we’ve never run a single ad and we’ll never bow to any corporate influence. So if you haven’t yet, help fuel our independent journalism and unmatched organizing by becoming a paid subscriber today: BIG ELECTION TODAY
The special election for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District is being held today, where State Rep. Aftyn Behn aims to pull off a major upset in the deep-red district. Last night, Behn hosted a virtual rally with Dem Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former Vice President Al Gore. AOC said the fact “that the race is so tight is a testament to how the American people are feeling in this moment ... Tennessee is ready to elect Aftyn.” And Al Gore stated: “We already have way too many subservient cowards in Congress ... you can make [this] the turning point for our country by getting out and voting for Rep. Aftyn Behn.” HABBA LOSES AGAIN
Yesterday, a federal appeals court ruled that Alina Habba was illegally appointed as the DOJ’s top prosecutor in New Jersey. Habba is now disqualified from the position, pending another appeal. Trump resorts to these unlawful workarounds for one simple reason: even maga sycophants in the Senate won’t confirm such incompetence. That fact alone shows how unfit Habba truly is. INDIANA LAWMAKER WON’T BEND
Jean Leising, a Republican state senator from Indiana, refuses to back down in her opposition to gerrymandering the state’s congressional map. And as a result, she has received a number of threats—one of which was a pipe bomb hoax. Despite being one of eight state senators receiving threats over the issue, Leising made it clear: “I will not cave.” Great to hear. HORRIBLE POLLS
A new Politico poll reveals that 38% of Republicans do not view themselves as maga. That’s absolutely terrible news for Trump, who—according to the latest Gallup numbers—has a net approval of -24 points. Meanwhile, at least ten different pollsters show his approval rating is at its lowest so far this term, and closing in on his worst numbers ever. I still think these approval ratings are way too high, but at least they are heading in the right direction. TRUMP BOAT-STRIKE COVERUP UNRAVELS
Speaking of Mr. Unpopular—on his way back from another Florida vacation this weekend, Trump tried to pretend there wasn’t a follow-up strike on an alleged drug boat off the coast of Venezuela. Trump said that Hegseth told him he didn’t do it. Then, just yesterday, Trump’s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed there was indeed a second strike on survivors of the initial attack. And the regime is now blaming Admiral Frank Bradley for giving the order. Their entire coverup is already falling to pieces. KELLY STRIKES BACK AGAIN
At a press conference yesterday, Dem Sen. Mark Kelly tore into Trump and the regime’s constant insults and threats. “He thinks he can shut me up,” Kelly stated. “He ain’t gonna shut me up ... I’m not intimidated by Donald Trump or Pete Hegseth or anybody else.” Kelly, who has received the ire of the regime for telling troops not to obey illegal orders, said: “This isn’t about me. It’s about who he will go after next … which service member? Which government employee? Which citizen who decides to say something that [Trump] doesn’t like?” Then Kelly slammed Hegseth, saying he “runs around on a stage like he’s a twelve-year-old playing army. And it is ridiculous. It is embarrassing. And I can’t imagine what our allies think.” Kelly added: “Nothing. Nothing is going to stop me from doing my job.” Nothing is going to stop us either, no matter how hard it gets or how long it takes. Every day, The Dworkin Report proves that you don’t need corporate support to shake the pillars of the corrupt and powerful. You just need the absolute truth and the courage to use it. While corporate media cowers, we are on the offensive. Our strategy is working. By combining our fearless reporting with the massive reach of our Watchdog Coalition, we deliver results that cannot be ignored. We’ve generated billions of impressions monthly on social media in our fight against maga propaganda, we’ve made over 500,000 direct contacts with lawmakers in Congress, and our daily news brief pummels the Trump regime’s lies into submission. What we do is effective, but our independence means we’ll never take on any advertisers, or accept the big corporate checks that silence other outlets. And our survival depends entirely on the support of this community. So if you believe in our mission, please help power this movement by becoming a paid subscriber today: Onward! Scott Like this post and re-stack using the ♻️ button below, to help this news break through the noise! I have three questions for you today. Do you think Aftyn Behn will win the special election in Tennessee today? What do you think about the Trump regime’s flip-flopping on the boat strike scandal? Are you glad to see Trump and Alina Habba lose in court? For all contact Congress links, or to volunteer, you can go here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/sign-up-for-the-watchdog-coalition Today we are focused on these six actions: Tell them to call for Hegseth's resignation: https://tinyurl.com/5b65awxk Demand answers about Trump’s visibly deteriorating health: https://tinyurl.com/sk9xm38v Stand with Ukraine over Russia: https://tinyurl.com/2khn59cr Support discharge petition to force vote on ACA tax credits: https://tinyurl.com/w23tnvxm Help us push for an investigation into the Epstein scandal HERE: https://tinyurl.com/4pfh2p4f Pass bill on unmasking ICE and displaying clear ID here: https://tinyurl.com/bp8cau82 JUST A FEW COMMENTS: Hegseth was never on the front lines like Mark Kelly was. He never commanded more than a platoon (about 30 people) in his time in the National Guard. He doesn’t have personal experience in actually having to be in life and death situations. He is no more qualified to be Secretary of WAR than I am! Being an alcoholic woman abuser doesn't help. Trump picked him only because he liked him on Fox News. Pete Hegseth is an incompetent, immoral, and unfit punk. Mark is significantly more qualified to be a traditional U.S. President than is Pete to be viewed as a relevant U.S. Secretary of Defense. I would ABSOLUTELY vote for Mark Kelly for President. He’s got balls ! Not afraid to stand up to the felon tyrant. A lot of politicians on both sides could take a lesson from him. Never obey in advance. Never comply with an unconstitutional order. Always resist tyranny! Tee I wear regularly: "We the People will NOT comply with tyranny". This one 👇 https://libtees.dashery.com/products/78688428-we-the-people-will-not-comply-with-tyranny-t-shirt Those eyes say it all. Keep it up, Senator Kelly! We’re now playing duck duck goose. Who ever is left standing is the one who’s responsible. 1. Aftyn I’ve seen a few interviews and campaign spots. She’s got ZING! 🤞🏽🤞🏽🤞🏽. 2. Boat double tap Immoral Illegal Criminal Do I have the correct order on those? Slimy slime creatures to claim “don’t know about it, but I believe chummy secdef…. “. Sure. That rings with clarion truth Oh and shove the admiral down the garbage chute. Cute move there! NOT 3. HABBA-dabba -do! Nah. She doesn’t even get the booby prize. Nothing for her. Well maybe disbarment. She deserves it ADAM KLASFELD maintains a SUBSTACK: ALL RISE NEWS that detailed not only ALINA HABBA's disqualification, but others as well: A federal appeals court unanimously upheld an order disqualifying Donald Trump’s former personal attorney Alina Habba from the position of U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. “The United States Attorneys’ offices are some of the most critical agencies in the Federal Government,” U.S. Circuit Judge D. Michael Fisher, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote for the three-judge panel. “They play an important role in the criminal and civil justice systems and are vital in keeping our communities safe. The U.S. Attorney leading each office is an officer whose appointment requires Senate confirmation.” Senior U.S. Circuit Judge David Smith, another W. Bush appointee, and U.S. Circuit Judge L. Felipe Restrepo, a Joe Biden appointee, joined the 32-page opinion. The ruling represents the fifth consecutive defeat for Trump’s Justice Department in its effort to install loyalists for U.S. Attorney roles who were not confirmed by the Senate or approved by the judges of their respective districts. “Where a vacancy exists, Congress has shown a strong preference that an acting officer be someone with a breadth of experience to properly lead the office,” the ruling continues. “It is apparent that the current administration has been frustrated by some of the legal and political barriers to getting its appointees in place. Its efforts to elevate its preferred candidate for U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, Alina Habba, to the role of Acting U.S. Attorney demonstrate the difficulties it has faced—yet the citizens of New Jersey and the loyal employees in the U.S. Attorney’s Office deserve some clarity and stability.” Even before Habba’s disqualification by a lower court in August, at least 12 district judges adjourned criminal proceedings because of the uncertainty surrounding the legitimacy of the purported prosecutor’s actions. Trials, sentencing proceedings, and other hearings have continued to be delayed. In the interim, other Trump-installed U.S. Attorneys were disqualified by other judges, including the District of Nevada’s Sigal Chattah, the Central District of California’s Bill Essayli, and the Eastern District of Virginia’s Lindsey Halligan. Every challenge against the legitimacy of a Trump-installed U.S. Attorney so far has succeeded. A hearing on Thursday will challenge the legality of the appointment of another purported U.S. Attorney: the Northern District of New York’s John Sarcone. The Justice Department argued that Habba could be delegated the powers of a U.S. Attorney, even if she didn’t meet the qualifications for one, but the panel disagreed. “This delegation theory would create a means for the Department of Justice to circumvent the [Federal Vacancies Reform Act]’s exclusivity provision, effectively permitting anyone to fill the U.S. Attorney role indefinitely,” the ruling states. This should raise a red flag, given the careful time limitations included in both the FVRA and the U.S. Attorney-specific statute.” The case is widely expected to lead to a Supreme Court showdown on this issue. Read the opinion in full here: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ca3.125818/gov.uscourts.ca3.125818.81.0.pdf?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email Remember when PARKING LOT ATTORNEY ALINA HABBA represented TRUMP in the E. JEAN CARROLL DEFAMATION & said she was TOO BUSY TO LOOK UP NEW YORK STATE STATUTES? Trump Golf Club Settlement Hangs Alina Habba Out to Dry https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-new-jersey-golf-club-settlement-hangs-lawyer-alina-habba-out-to-dry/ If you don't subscribe to DAILY BEAST, read this: Trump lawyer Alina Habba settles with ex-golf club waitress who accused her of betrayal in sexual harassment case https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/alina-habba-bedminster-lawsuit-settles-b2611971.html 'I can fake being smart': Trump lawyer Alina Habba says she'd rather be pretty https://www.rawstory.com/alina-habba-trump-2666873681/ ARE TRUMP’S BOAT ATTACKS AND MURDERS ON THE HIGH SEAS A PRELUDE TO DARKER DAYS AHEAD? WHERE IS ALL THIS TAKING US IF CONGRESS AND THE COURTS FAIL TO ACT? Prior postings have included summaries [with a detailed Appendix on my Substack page] of why Trump’s unilateral missile attacks on boats on the high seas and the murders of all their occupants violate International Law, the Geneva Convention, U.S. laws and judicial decisions, the U.S. Department of Defense Rules and the U.S.Military Codes. Thus far, all 80 occupants on all of the boats he ordered destroyed have been murdered, with not a single survivor to take captive. Between yesterday and today, the White House, the War Department and the U.S. Navy have been engaged in verbal gymnastics and double-talk to try to explain away how our government on September 2, after an initial missile attack on a boat that killed 8 and left 2 survivors clinging to the boat wreckage in the water, launched a second attack which they knew would kill the survivors. While Admiral Frank Bradley was offered up as the fall guy claiming to have issued the actual order for the second missile strike that killed these survivors, it was well understood by the Navy Seals present at the scene that the message to leave no survivors had originally come down from former Fox News celebrity and now Trump warlord, Pete Hegseth. Yesterday, the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed that the strikes were conducted in “self defense” in international waters and “in accordance with the law of armed conflict.” She further declared that Admiral Bradley “directed the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and THE THREAT FROM NARCO TERRORISTS WAS ELIMINATED”. Not only is Leavitt’s claim that all of these missile strikes on boats on the high seas were committed in “self-defence” patently ludicrous, but their second claim that they were “in accordance with the law of armed conflict” is so absurd that they must think that the American people are morons to buy it. Below is an Appendix setting forth most, if not all, of the laws, conventions, decisions, and rules defining “armed conflicts”, which, in essence, state that there must be two parties engaged in an armed conflict, rather than one party unilaterally attacking another. [That’s why they call it a “conflict”, rather than a unilateral attack like the ones Trump ordered on boats on the high seas]. While all this may appear to be flailings in the night to try to cover-up their outrageous conduct and sophomoric legal claims justifying it, I believe that there is a pattern that is starting to appear and which foretells very dark, serious threats to our democracy ahead. And I believe that all of these unilateral attacks on boats on the high seas are only the beginning of a carefully designed strategy hatched by the ultra-right wing Heritage Foundation, which drafted Project 2025 for Trump to promote once they helped him return to the WhiteHouse. Where is this all going? Let’s start with Trump’s Veterans Day campaign event at Stevens High School in Claremont, New Hampshire, on November 11, 2023, where Trump declared: “…[W]e pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country..... “They’ll do anything, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America and to destroy the American Dream... THE THREAT FROM OUTSIDE FORCES IS FAR LESS SINISTER, DANGEROUS AND GRAVE THAN THE THREAT FROM WITHIN” (emphasis added). Trump makes no bones about who is behind the threat from within. They are our migrants. Trump is obsessed with migrants and has repeatedly said that they are “poisoning the blood of our country,” and called them “animals,” “not people,” while repeatedly dehumanizing them. This is exactly how Hitler denounced the Jews. So putting this all together, Trump is making it clear that he has the absolute right to decide who to murder and how to murder people attempting come to the United States to sell narcotics, whom he classifies as “narco-terrorists”. And given his declaration that “The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous and grave than the threat from within”, we can expect that he intends to dispense with the same legal restrictions and safeguards domestically as he has done internationally by branding “communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country” as “terrorists”. .... “They’ll do anything, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America and to destroy the American Dream....” Perhaps he also intends to invoke what he may claim to be his inherent emergency power to suspend the Constitution and invoke marshal law to deal with these and other domestic “terrorists” and call up the National Guard and U.S. military to enforce his orders. We are already well on the road to an authoritarian government, led by a very unstable, unpredictable but determined huckster, who, like Hitler, forged a bond with his devoted followers, who are beginning to see him for what he really is. Absent the courage of Congress and the Supreme Court to deal with him, there may still be time for the American people to resist these encroachments on our rights and liberties and to make our voices and ballots known next November. APPENDIX THE LAW OF “ARMED CONFLICT” 1. Geneva Conventions (1949) – The Baseline Definition The Geneva Conventions do not supply a single sentence definition, but Article 2 and Article 3 set the functional standard. A. International Armed Conflict (IAC) Common Article 2: An international armed conflict exists in any case of declared war or any other armed conflict between two or more States, even if one of them does not recognize the state of war. Meaning: Any use of armed force between states triggers an IAC. No threshold of intensity, duration, or number of casualties is required. Even a single exchange of fire between state armed forces qualifies. B. Non-International Armed Conflict (NIAC) Common Article 3: A NIAC exists in situations of protracted armed violence between governmental armed forces and organized armed groups, or such groups fighting each other. The Geneva text uses “armed conflict not of an international character,” but modern law (ICRC, tribunals, DoD) interprets this to require: Protracted (sustained) violence – more than sporadic riots or unrest; and Organization of the armed group – identifiable command structure, ability to conduct military operations. 2. Additional Protocols of 1977 (reflecting customary international law) Additional Protocol II (NIAC) Reiterates that armed conflict requires organized armed groups operating under responsible command and exercising control over territory sufficient to carry out sustained operations. Although the U.S. is not a party, the Department of Defense recognizes that many AP II rules reflect customary international law, especially the distinction between mere internal disturbances and NIACs. 3. U.S. Department of Defense Law of War Manual The DoD Law of War Manual (2015, updated) gives a clear modern operational definition. DoD Definition of Armed Conflict “Armed conflict exists when there is a resort to armed force between States or protracted armed violence between governmental authorities and organized armed groups.” (Paraphrasing DoD Manual §§3.4–3.5) Key DoD Elements: IAC: any use of armed force between states. No intensity threshold. NIAC: requires (1) intensity and (2) organization. Internal disturbances (riots, isolated violence, criminality) do not rise to NIAC. DoD adds: The U.S. may be in an NIAC with non-state armed groups even if hostilities occur outside a single theater(e.g., operations against al-Qaeda or ISIS). Recognition of “armed conflict” does not require both sides to acknowledge hostilities. 4. U.S. Military Law (UCMJ) & Federal Statutory Framework The UCMJ does not define “armed conflict” directly, but uses the term in relation to: war crimes jurisdiction (10 U.S.C. § 950t and following); application of the Law of War; and offenses “in the context of and associated with hostilities.” U.S. federal courts (e.g., in Guantánamo cases) and military commissions rely on the international law definitionabove: U.S. Acceptance: An armed conflict exists when hostilities reach the threshold recognized under Common Article 2(between states) or Common Article 3 (non-international). 5. International Criminal Tribunals’ Clarifying Definitions (Customary Law) Tribunals such as the ICTY provided influential, widely adopted definitions: “Tadić Test” (ICTY 1995) – Widely Used by DoD and U.S. Courts An armed conflict exists when: Intensity of violence rises above internal disturbance; and Organization of the parties allows sustained military operations. This test is incorporated into U.S. practice via the DoD Manual and U.S. court opinions. Unified, Legally Accurate Working Definition Putting all authorities together, the accepted legal definition is: An “armed conflict” exists when— (1) there is armed force between two or more States (IAC), OR (2) there is sustained, protracted armed violence between governmental forces and one or more organized armed groups, or between such groups (NIAC). Riots, internal tensions, sporadic violence, or criminal acts do not constitute armed conflict. 6. Why the Definition Matters Recognizing an armed conflict triggers: applicability of the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol rules, the Law of War (LOAC) obligations, war crimes jurisdiction, POW status determinations in IAC, protections for civilians and detainees, and limitations on targeting, detention, and use of force under DoD directives. But Scott KKKaroline says we are doing nothing illegal. The war crimes/murder issue may cause a crack among Republican Senators who have cowardly supported Trump. Shirking the blame for an illegal order may, I hope, be a stretch too far for some who have been stalwart supporters of the military. Bradley has accountability for at least passing on an order that he should have known was illegal, but he must not be the scapegoat for Trump and Hegseth who show total disregard for law of any kind. The barbarism and corruption of the Roman emperors is looking tame compared to that of the Trump regime. |
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