Tuesday, July 2, 2024

July 2, 2024

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Welcome to the news for independent thinkers

Leading the News . . .

Supreme Court delivers massive blow to Trump special prosecutor with immunity decision . . . The high court ruled 6-3 along ideological lines that certain official acts by presidents are not prosecutable at all, while other official acts require the government to meet high criteria before it can criminally charge a president for them. The ruling was a massive blow to Jack Smith's case, which could look like a shell of its former self once the lower courts have sifted through it to align it with the Supreme Court's guidance. The high court's majority divided presidential acts into three categories: official acts that are absolutely immune from prosecution, official acts that are presumptively immune from prosecution until the government can prove the prosecution would not threaten the authority of the executive branch, and unofficial acts, which can always be prosecuted. Washington Examiner

Immunity ruling could delay or undermine prosecution of Trump's other cases

Biden slams ruling . . . President Joe Biden on Monday responded to the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity, claiming the ruling meant that not even a president is "above the law."

The Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 majority on Monday that presidents have presidential immunity for some "official acts," but not unofficial ones. However, the high court did not specifically state what constitutes official versus unofficial acts. Biden warned that the new ruling sets a "dangerous precedent," because it set up the presidency to no longer be constrained by the law. Just the News

Justice Thomas wants to know if Jack Smith is constitutionally appointed

Ocasio-Cortez vows to file impeachment articles against Supreme Court justices . . . Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) announced Monday that she will soon file impeachment articles against at least one justice on the Supreme Court in the wake of their decision to grant partial immunity to former President Trump as he faces felony charges for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. The Hill

AOC can always be counted on to drop a little crazy into the mix.

Trump seeks to set aside his New York guilty verdict after Supreme Court ruling . . . Former President Donald Trump's lawyers have asked the New York judge who presided over his hush money trial to set aside his conviction and delay his sentencing, scheduled for next week. The letter to Judge Juan M. Merchan cited the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling earlier Monday on presidential immunity and asked the judge to delay Trump's sentencing while he weighs the high court's decision and how it could influence the New York case. Associated Press

Politics

Biden had '15-20' episodes of cognitive decline in last year, Carl Bernstein says . . . President Biden has allegedly been observed experiencing mental decline on as many as 20 occasions over the past year — suggesting his disastrous debate performance last week was "not a one-off," sources close to the president told legendary journalist Carl Bernstein. The 81-year-old commander-in-chief's close circle were not strangers to the "horror show that we witnessed" during his disastrous debate with former President Donald Trump, Bernstein said. New York Post

Psaki defends debate prep team: 'Biden was bad' . . . MSNBC anchor Jen Psaki, who once served as President Biden's press secretary, defended his campaign. "It was a bad debate. I have no doubt they were tough, strategic and direct. (Believe me I have seen them in action) but prep does not always determine the outcome," she said on social platform X. "Biden was bad. Important convos about what happens next. But if you are directing your ire at 'prep' you are not talking about the right things." Ron Klain, a senior Biden adviser who helped prepare the president, responded to Psaki with a "thank you." The Hill

No spin, change of advisers, or sequestering Biden will change the facts of this geratric medical case.

Harris allies seethe as Dems leave her off the Biden replacement list . . . Chatter about replacing President Joe Biden at the top of the Democrat ticket with several different Democrat governors is reportedly irking those in Vice President Kamala Harris's orbit, with one source saying the discussions send an underlying message the party desires a "white" candidate, according to a report. The sour feelings within Harris's camp as Govs. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) have been at the forefront of media speculation as to who could potentially replace Biden at the top of the ticket if Biden were actually to step aside. Breitbart

Seven Democrats being floated as Biden replacements

Democrat senator is "horrified" by Biden debate performance . . . Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse says he was "pretty horrified" by President Joe Biden's performance in the debate with Donald Trump, offering a sharper critique than other leading Democrats have been willing to make — at least in public. Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat who served two years in the Senate with Biden, told a local TV station Monday that he could barely recognize him as he struggled to respond to Trump's torrent of attacks on the debate stage. Politico

Dems mull nominating Biden a month before convention to squash replacement talk . . . The Democratic National Committee is considering naming President Biden the party's 2024 nominee nearly a month before the DNC convention, according to a report Monday — a move that could curb talk of replacing the 81-year-old commander in chief on the ticket. The DNC is eyeing July 21 as the potential date to formally nominate Biden, according to Bloomberg, which cited people familiar with the matter. The date coincides with a meeting of the Democratic convention's credentials committee, which will be held after the rules and procedures formalizing Biden's virtual nomination are finalized on July 19. New York Post

Steve Bannon reports to prison for 4-month sentence: "I am a political prisoner"

Biden administration proposes rule for workplaces to address excessive heat . . . Those affected by excessive heat in the workplace include farmworkers, delivery and construction workers, landscapers and indoor workers in warehouses, factories, and kitchens. Under the proposed rule, employers would be required to identify heat hazards, develop emergency response plans related to heat illness, and provide training to employees and supervisors on the signs and symptoms of such illnesses. They would also have to establish rest breaks, provide shade and water, and heat acclimatization — or the building of tolerance to higher temperatures — for new workers. Associated Press

Get ready for the prices in all restaurants and fast food joints to go up, because each of 'em has a kitchen, and each kitchen is hot. Because it's a kitchen.

Biden rule targets for-profit colleges . . . Harvard students can expect to fork over $240,000 for a bachelor's degree in women's studies, while it costs about $20,000 to finish beauty school. But only one of these programs is subject to the Biden administration's crackdown on unaffordable education debt. The Department of Education is being accused of a political double-standard for its gainful-employment rule, a mandate aimed at improving financial accountability and transparency that targets for-profit colleges and career-training programs, not the pricey Ivy League or other nonprofit universities. Washington Times

Culture

The dark relationship between US universities and an anti-US school run by terrorists . . . Birzeit University, located just outside of Ramallah in the West Bank, is home to an overwhelmingly Hamas-affiliated student government that holds on-campus terrorist parades. The chairwoman of Birzeit's Board of Trustees denied Hamas's brutality and rape on October 7, and the school's official account called for "glory to the martyrs" days after the attack. Yet its relationships in the United States remain largely intact — it has active relationships with Harvard University, Rutgers University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and others across the country. Daily Wire

Major pediatric org plotted ways to circumvent child sex change bans . . . The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the country's largest professional association of pediatricians, quietly partnered with transgender activist groups, such as the Human Rights Campaign and the World Professional Association of Transgender Health, to push child sex changes nationwide. Internal AAP communications from July 2023 show members strategizing ways to provide sex change interventions to children living in states that have banned the procedures, including using telehealth to access hormones from out of state providers. Currently, 25 states have passed legislation banning or restricting pediatric sex change. Daily Caller

National Security

Satellite images show the expansion of Chinese spy bases in Cuba . . . Images captured from space show the growth of Cuba's electronic eavesdropping stations that are believed to be linked to China, including new construction at a previously unreported site about 70 miles from the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, according to a new report. The study from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, follows reporting last year by The Wall Street Journal that China and Cuba were negotiating closer defense and intelligence ties, including establishing a new joint military training facility on the island and an eavesdropping facility. Wall Street Journal

NATO to establish a post in Ukraine . . . NATO will station a senior civilian official in Kyiv, among a raft of new measures designed to shore up long-term support for Ukraine that are expected to be announced at a summit in Washington next week, U.S. and alliance officials say. The steps seek to buttress Ukraine's prospects to eventually join the alliance without offering it membership. They come amid a right-wing political surge across Europe and the growing possibility that former President Donald Trump could return to the White House and reduce American support for Ukraine. Wall Street Journal

International

Mother of rescued Israeli hostage Noa Argamani dies . . . The mother of rescued Israeli hostage Noa Argamani has died, three weeks after her daughter was freed in a dramatic raid after being held for eight months by Hamas in Gaza. Liora Argamani, who was born in China, had suffered from brain cancer. She was 61. Liora released a video in December, pleading with Hamas to release her daughter, saying: "I don't know how long I have left. I wish for the chance to see my Noa at home."

Money

McDonald's quietly confirms it is killing off one of its most divisive menu items ever . . . McDonald's has given up on its bid to sell meat-free beef burger in America. US president Joe Erlinger has said the McPlant has been ditched because customers did not want fake meat. The chain had been testing the McPlant at several hundred restaurants in California and Texas since trials began in late 2021.

Developed with Beyond Meat, it was made from pea and rice proteins. While it has flopped in the US, it has been a hit in the UK, Germany, Holland and Portugal. Daily Mail

Of course, the Europeans like it. There's probably a direct relationship between willingness to eat meatless hamburgers and refusing to spend 2% of your GDP on defense.

You should also know

Hurricane Beryl rips through open waters after devastating the southeast Caribbean . . . Hurricane Beryl roared through open waters on Tuesday as a monstrous Category 5 storm on a path that would take it near Jamaica and the Cayman Islands after earlier making landfall in the southeast Caribbean, killing at least four people. Beryl was forecast to start losing intensity on Tuesday but still to be near major hurricane strength when it passes near Jamaica on Wednesday, the Cayman Islands on Thursday and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Friday, according to the National Hurricane Center. Associated Press

The Covid infection you had years ago could be making you sick today . . . Scientists suspect that one culprit behind your new illness might be the infection you got a couple of years ago. The link between new health problems and your past health history appears to be particularly prevalent with Covid. A new Nature Medicine study found that health problems stemming from even mild Covid infections can emerge as many as three years afterward. The study found a greater risk three years later of problems in the gut, brain and lungs, including irritable bowel syndrome, mini-strokes and pulmonary scarring. Wall Street Journal

Guilty Pleasures

Biden becomes second orange candidate in the race . . . Mockery erupted online Monday night after President Joe Biden delivered a primetime address in which his skin appeared orange from a possible spray tan. The tan likely would have been applied in response to criticism of his poor performance at Thursday's debate, which sparked concerns about his age and cognitive ability. Breitbart

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