onfocus

The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment isn’t just about individual rights—it’s a fundamental guarantee that the government will treat all persons and entities equally under the law. When someone with Musk’s level of government access and influence starts making threats against competitors, we have to ask: Are we still operating in a system where all companies have equal protection and opportunity under the law?

This is a lot. But a lot is happening—worth the read.

“Regulations, basically, should be default gone,” Musk said during an X spaces conversation last week. “Not default there, default gone. And if it turns out that we missed the mark on a regulation, we can always add it back in.”

Everything seems so easy when you don’t know how anything works. Pair that with having never had consequences for your actions due to extreme wealth and you have historic levels of reactionary stupidity destroying the US government now.

In his letter, Wyden said he was concerned that Musk’s extensive business operations in China “endangers U.S. cybersecurity” and creates conflicts of interest that “make his access to these systems a national security risk.”

Oh no, a strongly worded letter! Wyden does great work, but we need something stronger than a letter to protect our country. Not sure anything can stop the destruction so maybe documenting it is our best option right now, I don't know.

We need to reject these culture wars and recognize that billionaire oligarchs will undermine the humanity in all of us, left or right, if it makes them a few extra bucks. We need unity in this time of crisis.

The destruction of the American government continues apace. This is a good summary.

The Oregon city of Bend has spent $1,500 (£1,188) on removing googly eyes from seven of the eight sculptures impacted.

Keep Bend googly!

If 2020 is our guide, it's likely that the 2024 presidential election won't be decided on Election Day.

A good reminder that it could be a while before we know who won the election That’s always expected.

The subpoenas were approved following a contentious meeting in which Republicans accused their Democratic colleagues of attempting to undermine the Supreme Court by targeting private citizens.

Undermining how corrupt Supreme Court justices are beholden to billionaires is exactly the point.

The code, which does not include any enforcement mechanism, comes after ProPublica and other outlets disclosed that justices had repeatedly failed to disclose gifts and travel from wealthy donors.

LOL, just a perfect non-binding 'code' for a corrupt court. Like a petulant child, "There, we have a code of ethics. Happy?"

The law says that if there is “reasonable cause” to believe a judge “willfully” failed to disclose information they were required to, the conference should refer the matter to the U.S. attorney general, who can pursue penalties. But that would be unprecedented.

You know what else is unprecedented? A Supreme Court that is this corrupt and this dishonorable. It’s time for some unprecedented remedies like holding people accountable to existing rules.

This accounting of Thomas’ travel, revealed for the first time here from an array of previously unavailable information, is the fullest to date of the generosity that has regularly afforded Thomas a lifestyle far beyond what his income could provide. And it is almost certainly an undercount.

The corrupt court story gets worse and worse and worse. We need accountability.

[Trump] and the six unnamed co-conspirators told these GOP officials in seven states what illegal acts they should do and how they should do them. Those communications are not protected speech. They are instructions on how to commit fraud.

You can’t extend plausible deniability infinitely. We all saw this crime happen in real time despite the constant gaslighting posing as legal nuance.

The two men’s silence serves to obscure whether Justice Thomas had an obligation to report the arrangement under a federal ethics law that requires justices to disclose certain gifts, liabilities and other financial dealings that could pose conflicts of interest.

Yes, "friend" did some "financing" though I can think of other more accurate words. Corrupt court.