A #RRF Thread in the Darkest Timeline
Added 2025-01-22 19:02:22 +0000 UTCWell it has been THE LONGEST WEEK EVER, but we're looking forward to answering questions you may have for Rapid Response Friday! Matt has some things up his sleeve, but we'd love to hear from our fine patrons as always.
Comment below with your suggestions on what we should cover, and be sure to heart the others in the thread that you'd like to hear on the show!
All of us here at OA are sending our love and support to each of you as we embark on this next administration and the nonsense and harm they seem keen on subjecting us to. But we're ready and unafraid to do the work, and so, so thankful for your support!
Comments
Does Trump really have the power to stop health and science reports from coming out? Shutting down meetings for scientific grants? Can the courts enjoin such actions?
Mike
2025-01-24 16:46:18 +0000 UTCNow that the first few days of the 🤡 administration are done, I ask again: What is the very first thing a U. S. citizen should do if swept up in his immigration raids?
Kathryn Koldehoff
2025-01-24 03:06:06 +0000 UTCThanks stephanie! I only saw this after we recorded today but we did cover some more along those lines in the first part of tomorrow"s show. We've got plenty more practical, grounded advice coming--including real ideas for direct action well beyond calls and donations.
Matt Cameron
2025-01-23 23:33:02 +0000 UTCThe podcast that inspired me to become a paid subscriber was the one about how we should prepare for the mass deportations. It was level-headed and offered practical advice and ways to help without freaking out. Anything that can help us help others is valuable and helpful. Matt’s cautioning of posting alarmist information that may or may not be relevant or timely was important eg “I saw ICE down the street” can create fear and panic and is not helpful. Ways we can support people that are not performative …
Stephanie Snyder
2025-01-23 21:54:17 +0000 UTCI hope they address this in Fridays episode, but in case they don’t get to it: the scope of federal injunctions is fairly broad, and if a judge finds that a law or executive action is either illegal or improperly implemented they generally have the power to stop it nationwide, not just for the parties in the case. That makes sense because they have found that the law or regulation does not have legal force, and cannot be applied to anyone. It would be a bit weird to say you can’t apply it to one person but you can to everyone else. The standards of review and the process of review is different for laws vs agency action or EOs, but the effect of an injunction is basically the same. If a court says that any of these EOs are either illegal or were improperly issued, they will be enjoined nationwide pending review by a circuit court, and ultimately the Supreme Court. I’m sure Matt can give a more thorough answer if he has time on tomorrow’s pod.
Bernese Mountain Dog
2025-01-23 20:16:41 +0000 UTCFeeling a lot of sympathy for you having to choose only one or a few RRF topics with the Arsonist in Chief starting the processes to kill more innocent people
Archer
2025-01-23 14:30:20 +0000 UTCIf you ever do go, take the Alaska Railroad! Stunning views
Archer
2025-01-23 14:25:05 +0000 UTCOn his way out Biden said that the executive should recognize that the ERA has been ratified as the 28th Amendment. Obviously this doesn’t have any legal force, and Trump won’t take any action to enforce it against the states, but what do you think are the chances someone like ACLU could successfully bring a test case under the 28th Amendment to get a court declaration that it has been ratified?
Bernese Mountain Dog
2025-01-23 13:47:04 +0000 UTCAccording to a friend who works at the WH : this is a very real thing (effectively, loyalty interrogations) that is happening to civil servants. Thoughts on this, and what actions like this have signaled historically? https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/01/13/trump-biden-nsc-loyalty-waltz/87f1d0ce-d1a1-11ef-9835-51843d9371d6_story.html
Katie Herrmann
2025-01-23 00:59:29 +0000 UTCMatt, can you provide a link to a fact sheet for Immigration Law in Massachusetts? I'm in your back yard (Somerville) and there are MAGATS in my NextDoor spreading misinformation about immigrants and immigration law in the state. I would love to be able to link them something authoritative to counteract all the lies. Has any Immigrant Advocacy organization made a list of relevant immigration law indexed by state available? I know damned well MA isn't the only state where Trump's baying mob is out for blood. Edited to add: After submitting this I had an idea and went on to my Nextdoor and plugged the podcast. Maybe you can get some new traffic out of it!
Maytree
2025-01-23 00:17:20 +0000 UTCIt’s probably going to get amended and then struck down anyway, but their complete incompetence is amazing
Bernese Mountain Dog
2025-01-22 23:23:44 +0000 UTCCan we get a deep dive on the implications of the anti-DEI EO https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/ It seems to use language such as "illegal practices". Is that too vague to be enforceable? What happens to federal contractors that do not remove DEI training? Can the training be re-named to a something different like "didn't be a dick training" to comply? Can the executive branch through the DOE change how PELL grants are given of colleges still promote LGBT values? Since of these questions are outside the scope of the EO and maybe we shouldn't speculate about potential issues. Edit: after seeing more discussion, is the order to have the executive branch not enforce the law? Is this similar to the president ordering federal LEOs to not arrest people for weed?
YakkoWarner
2025-01-22 23:20:07 +0000 UTCI really appreciated how you discussed it, Matt. It's not an easy thing to explain to outsiders why it matters. Alaskans are used to having their issues dismissed or derided (the bridge to nowhere fiasco was in my home town) and Native Alaskans even more so. Thank you for taking the time to address it with sincerity and compassion. I hope you do go! It's stunningly beautiful and the people are truly special. Like, Northern Exposure special.
Kat -- A liberal weed in conservative country
2025-01-22 22:16:36 +0000 UTCTakk! (that's about all the norwegian i've got)
Matt Cameron
2025-01-22 22:11:50 +0000 UTCI'm trying to be mindful about not overloading with immigration content, but we're going to be talking about sanctuary cities sometime soon for sure
Matt Cameron
2025-01-22 22:10:05 +0000 UTCYes, i hope i conveyed my own upset over that at least a bit. The "gulf of america" thing is funny, but this one really isn't. It was only at the beginning bc it doesn't actually threaten lives/livelihoods like many of the others, but i really do think it matters from what i know of the situation. (never been to alaska but very much want to go!)
Matt Cameron
2025-01-22 22:08:33 +0000 UTCThank you!
Katie Herrmann
2025-01-22 22:07:41 +0000 UTCDefinitely going to be doing some doge! But you're also right that it's a little premature, i'd like to see how it develops a bit
Matt Cameron
2025-01-22 22:06:34 +0000 UTCTrump never reads anything (not that I expect his edits would have made the EOs more intelligent). My hope is that his syncophants have become lazy bc their path is paved regardless of work quality.
Katie Herrmann
2025-01-22 22:06:19 +0000 UTCThat was one theme i really tried to hit in our episode on "mass deportation" but it really can't be said enough! One message i really want to keep getting out there is that ice just does not have anywhere near the resources or capacity (at least not yet) that they would like us to believe that they do
Matt Cameron
2025-01-22 22:04:10 +0000 UTCThis is, sadly, the point of a lot of these EO's. To hurt people without reason.
Katie Herrmann
2025-01-22 22:03:10 +0000 UTCMy husband/law partner is a plaintiff in a similar lawsuit filed on Monday (through National Security Counselors) looking to protect federal employees. Would of course be curious about additional thoughts on this.
Katie Herrmann
2025-01-22 22:02:02 +0000 UTCThe transgender EO was factually incorrect in a way that designates every human person in the US as biological females. This is because they tried to define biological sex in terms of large gametes/small gametes like we've seen a lot of GCs do, but because they're all (supposedly) devout Christians they used conception as the point where life begins. As anyone who took a secular public high school biology class can tell you, all humans are female at conception, because differentiation of the reproductive system happens later (or not at all, which is how you get non-binary intersex people). So that's probably worth noting as an addendum to the EO episode from Wednesday.
Congress- the opposite of Progress
2025-01-22 21:29:11 +0000 UTCThe Republicans in the Minnesota legislature attempting a coup is a juicy topic, just declaring they're in the majority and have elected a speaker after failing to get a quorum.
Christopher Bosch
2025-01-22 21:11:53 +0000 UTCI remember hearing somewhere that the people in DOGE actually don't want to join the government properly because if they did they'd be subject to such pesky things as oversight and ethics reviews. I don't remember where I heard that, though...
Merk
2025-01-22 21:05:18 +0000 UTCWhat is the breadth and depth of what individual Federal District Court Judges can do with regard to Administration actions? (I recognize that SCOTUS can moot any of them, but is there room for a lower court with a backbone?) I don't think they have real authority for nationwide injunctions (a la Kacsmaryk), but what are the actual, legally-defensible extent of their reaches? Also , how are legal challenges to EOs different from cases agains bad laws, if at all?
Steven NYC
2025-01-22 20:38:31 +0000 UTCTopic: Laws don't matter. The 'TikTok ban' (btw, why aren't we addressing more companies that would be affected by the law...or the service providers that actually provide services like cloud hosting providers etc) basically went through the 'how to make a bill' cartoon specifically. And now we're all "yeah, nah"??? Legislation is becoming like the Hatch Act...useless.
Tim H
2025-01-22 20:37:53 +0000 UTCMass Deportations is a theme and a fear drumbeat that MAGA uses. Looking back at data, Obama, Clinton, Biden deported a LOT of people (Obama obviously 2-terms did the most). So "what's different" specifically in the 'explain it to me like I'm 5' mode.
Tim H
2025-01-22 20:35:51 +0000 UTCI’m interested in implications for worker organizing and anticipated NLRB changes. If I’m working on an early-stage union campaign, should my tactics change?
Tessa Kohl
2025-01-22 20:30:26 +0000 UTCMatt, I hope you're holding up and I hope your clients are staying safe. 😕
Aminah
2025-01-22 20:13:44 +0000 UTCAs a concerned bystander who is not in the USA nor a citizen of it, is there anything useful that I can do?
Luci T
2025-01-22 20:09:30 +0000 UTCSuper important one. Actual attempt to steal an election for once. Shouldn’t succeed if anyone remotely sane gets involved, but jesus christ it is bad that it’s even being considered
Jenessa Lynn
2025-01-22 20:07:09 +0000 UTCFor a non-Trump palette cleanser suggestion, 4th Amendment ruling out of the Eastern District of NY that seems to have pretty significant implications: US v Hasbajrami https://www.aclu.org/documents/section-702-memorandum-and-order-u-s-v-hasbajrami-11-cr-00623-ldh
Jenessa Lynn
2025-01-22 20:05:24 +0000 UTCOn his way out, Biden pledged more aid to Ukraine using “Presidential Drawdown Authority”, which sounded to me like money only Biden had a right to allocate and the incoming president couldn’t stop. Biden also announced additional sanctions on Russia, which it seems the Trump administration would be tasked with enforcing, so I’d imagine that’s out the window, but at least they’ll have to say it out loud. Am I understanding that correctly? Is there any other Ukraine aid that’s on-going and harder to stop? I’m very worried for Ukraine, between Trump’s love of Putin, his past behavior withholding aid, and potential retaliation for everything that’s happened since. They seemed so close to surviving this onslaught, but I’ve heard US support was vital to that. Appeasing Putin also seems extremely dangerous, so “peace talks” where Putin gets new territory is concerning.
Jenessa Lynn
2025-01-22 19:59:23 +0000 UTCI just want to know if he can cancel secret service protection for others like he did for John Bolton.
Not that millionaire
2025-01-22 19:40:57 +0000 UTCFor people who do find themselves in Trump's crosshairs, what are the actual logistics of fighting back? (This may be a selfish question as a transgender person in the military)
Logan
2025-01-22 19:35:15 +0000 UTCMaybe we should just veer off track and now that laws don’t matter, cover the enforceability of laws against walking around with ice cream cones in our back pockets.
Junk Bonds and Junk Law
2025-01-22 19:32:10 +0000 UTCFirst, thank you, Thomas, and the entire crew for what you are doing. It is not only important, but deeply appreciated. So many of these topics are valuable and important, but I think you might have the ability to actually shape things by discussing Kash Patel's involvement with the J6 Choir, his refusal to name the choir members, and the profound evidence that several members either plead to or were convicted of attacking police. Please review the article linked below and, should you cover this, encourage your listeners to contact their senators (particularly those on the judiciary committee, even Republicans!!! judiciary.senate.gov) and ask them if they are okay with confirming Kash Patel given his whitewashing of J6 insurrectionists. https://open.substack.com/pub/thebulwark/p/what-trump-defense-nominee-kash-patel-doesnt-want-the-senate-to-know-about-j6-prison-choir-produced-song?r=3ix4u&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Jonathan Edman
2025-01-22 19:31:49 +0000 UTCI think it is a bigger question about if crypto is even regulatable. Are crypto coins concerned a security? Does the SEC even has jurisdiction to enforce any regulations? Did any previous administrations make any efforts to regulate crypto?
YakkoWarner
2025-01-22 19:27:08 +0000 UTCCan you cover the FACA lawsuit over DOGE? https://www.citizensforethics.org/legal-action/lawsuits/doge-sued-to-follow-the-law-or-cease-operations/ I don't think FACA is well known but I don't know it can be covered yet since I don't know if it was "formally" established yet.
YakkoWarner
2025-01-22 19:24:06 +0000 UTCI just want to say, I grew up in Alaska and the fight to officially call that mountain Denali was long and bitter... I don't expect anyone else outside the state to care but I'm so angry it brings tears to my eyes.
Kat -- A liberal weed in conservative country
2025-01-22 19:19:53 +0000 UTCI would like an deep dive OA episode on the impeachment of Judge Cannon, just as one was done for Justice Thomas.
Ryan
2025-01-22 19:19:30 +0000 UTCCalifornia's legislature just gave our AG 25mill to fight the WH in court. What will happen with sanctuary cities and immigration friendly states? What about red states that rely on immigrant labor? What are they doing now?
Kat -- A liberal weed in conservative country
2025-01-22 19:17:07 +0000 UTCNot precisely US law-related but at least tangential.... And for any Continental advocates/attorneys that lurk here: I know Germany has stringent anti-Nazi laws. Can they be used to give Elmo a taste of FAFO/oh no if it isn't the consequences of my own actions?
Vehicular Man's Laughter slipping on icy roads BUT as DADS listeners know, you just steer into the slide and grrr-rip into it
2025-01-22 19:14:55 +0000 UTCWhat are the legal implications of the apparent conflict among a) immigrants are safe in schools and churches, juxtaposed with b) WH declaring that ICE can in fact apprehend people “in and around schools and churches”, and c) WH directing DOJ to investigate and prosecute local officials who do not cooperate with ICE.
Drinking a beer and watching the end of the world ...
2025-01-22 19:07:15 +0000 UTCIf there was one thing that shocked me most about the first couple of days of Trump's presidency, it's that they were less prepared with well written EOs than I expected. Based on Matt's overview on today's, Wednesday, episode it sounds like Matt agrees. In these dark times, what are some things you are thankful for after seeing the first EOs come through? Just trying to look at the glass half full for a moment to keep our spirits up for the years to come.
Kevin Newbold
2025-01-22 19:06:57 +0000 UTCThe Trump meme coins maybe? It seems like naked corruption. And very stupid because all crypto is.
Wishing every Clarence Thomas a very God rest his soul
2025-01-22 19:06:30 +0000 UTCI've not been able to listen for a while, but have you covered WTF is happening with the Alabama Supreme Court?
127dot0dot0dot1
2025-01-22 19:06:26 +0000 UTCTo what extent can the president wish DOGE into existence? Obviously it's not a real agency and has no official power, but can he pay worker's salaries? Give them office space? I imagine the president can pay a special advisor to, well, advise, but a whole department?
Christopher Bosch
2025-01-22 19:06:09 +0000 UTCNo suggestions, just an offer of solidarity from over here in Norway ✊🏻 Keep your eyes on the prize. Get in the way!
Marcus
2025-01-22 19:04:24 +0000 UTC
