Underthrow Podcast, 11/05/26
Source: Underthrow
“Think Outside the Ballot Box.” (11/05/26)
Author: Thomas L. Knapp
CA: Newsom commutes all of state’s death sentences
Source: NBC News
“Gov. Gavin Newsom commuted all California death sentences on Thursday, declaring that ‘state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with’ values in America’s most populous state. In an open letter to constituents, Newsom said taking this step is ‘among the most difficult of my career.’ ‘I take this action because I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values,’ he said. California has not put a prisoner to death since Jan. 17, 2006 when Clarence Ray Allen was put to death via lethal injection.” (11/05/26)
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/california-gov-gavin-newsom-commutes-death-sentences-rcna607727
We Don’t Need Politicians to Make it So
Source: Garrison Center
by Joel Schlosberg
“The ultimate testament to [Patrick] Stewart’s acting skill is that he made it hard not to suspend disbelief, one hour at a time, in what [Ryan] Zickgraf calls ‘authority with authoritarianism apparently filtered out.’ In the real world, we have what we need to exclude authoritarians from getting in the way of getting things done.” (11/05/26)
The Rule of Law Will Sometimes Be Unjust. Defend It Anyway.
Source: Liberalism.org
by Michael Burger
“Rules of law can never always produce justice. That’s because life really is complicated. The facts that pertain to doing true justice are unpredictable. Inevitably, even the best-designed rules of law will sometimes get it wrong, with unjust results. When that happens, the law will be an ass. So in a perfectly just world we need sometimes to ignore rules of law. We need a government, or at least agents of government (in other words, judges) who will take into account all of the truly pertinent facts, not just the facts that rules of law say are pertinent. We need a government, in other words, that is not bound by the law, to really deliver justice in a way that the law cannot. Now medieval intellectuals had a term for a ruler unbound by law: a tyrant.” (11/05/26)
https://liberalism.org/essays/the-rule-of-law-will-sometimes-be-unjust-defend-it-anyway
Nigeria: Court nullifies presidential contender’s candidacy two months before election
Source: Associated Press
“A Nigerian court disqualified a leading presidential candidate Thursday, complicating the electoral process two months before the election. A Federal High Court judge in Abuja, the country’s capital, ruled that the leadership of the African Democratic Congress, one of the three major parties contesting the January 2027 election, was illegally constituted and therefore voided the candidacy of Atiku Abubakar. Earlier in the year, a court ordered the party deregistered for failing to meet constitutional requirements, but an appeals court overturned the ruling. The party and government critics say the case was orchestrated by the ruling party.” (11/05/26)
https://apnews.com/article/nigeria-election-atiku-abubakar-court-e37403f0930a889b9e48b4e93eca2fd3
Hungary’s Lesson: Beware the Dangers of Socialism
Source: The American Conservative
by Doug Bandow
“With ever more Americans bizarrely rating ‘socialism’ favorably today, we should remember the high price paid by Hungarians to escape real socialism. Hungary’s tortured history reminds us of the fragility of liberty. Tragically, the Hungarian people lost their battle for freedom 70 years ago. However, their loss planted seeds for the ultimate destruction of Moscow’s satellite system and Europe’s liberation from communism.” (11/05/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/hungarys-lesson-beware-the-dangers-of-socialism/
Melania Trump calls for peace at meeting with Russian, Ukrainian officials
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“United States First Lady Melania Trump has urged Russia and Ukraine to build on a recent localised ceasefire and seek a more ‘enduring’ peace, as she hosted officials from both countries at the White House. Melania Trump spoke on Thursday at an event that the White House said is believed to be ‘the first time in American history that a First Lady has personally brought representatives of two nations at war to the White House for diplomacy’. Those attending included Kirill Dmitriev, a special envoy of Russian President Vladimir Putin; Yana Lantratova, Russia’s human rights commissioner; David Arakhamia, leader of the Servant of the People party in Ukraine’s parliament; and Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s parliamentary human rights commissioner.” (11/05/26)
Could a rogue clerk bollix House control on Jan. 3? It’s not quite that simple.
Source: The Hill
by Don Wolfensberger
“In a recent op-ed, President Bill Clinton’s former Treasury Secretary, Robert E. Rubin, startled me with bizarre twist on potential electoral manipulation. Like others before him, Rubin boldly suggests that President Trump and his allies could also exploit ‘a procedural loophole involving the Clerk of the House that could enable them to refuse to seat duly elected Democratic members when the new Congress convenes on Jan. 3.’ … In the 19th century, the office of clerk was highly partisan, and there were several instances in which clerks simply refused to call the names of certain members thereby blocking their being sworn and seated.” (11/05/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/6198772-clerk-loophole-house-election/
Israel: Joint List says it will back Eisenkot to form next regime
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“The Joint List alliance of Arab-led parties says it will back Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot to form a new government after last week’s election. ‘The Joint List announced today, Thursday, that it will inform the President of the State, Isaac Herzog, this evening of its decision to recommend that Gadi Eisenkot be tasked with forming the government,’ the alliance said in a statement. Arab-led parties won a record 19 seats in Israel’s 120-seat parliament in last week’s general election, a result that could give them significant influence over the formation of the next government. Once the Joint List’s 11 lawmakers formally submit their recommendation, Eisenkot is expected to have the backing of 67 lawmakers, exceeding the 61-seat majority threshold in the Knesset.” (11/05/26)
Rising, 11/05/26
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave gives his radar looking at how some Democrat proposals, like the billionaires tax in California, were rejected by voters despite the party making massive gains in the midterms.” (11/05/26)