Vigilant News

Eternal Vigilance is the price of liberty.

Ryan Delarme

Vote to Remove Trump From Ballot in Maine Raises Stakes for U.S. Supreme Court

By ,

The decision by Maine to join other states in disqualifying Donald Trump from the ballot increases the urgency for the U.S. Supreme Court to promptly intervene. According to experts, this case may also determine whether states have the authority to enforce a power that Congress expressly granted to itself.

As Colorado’s all-Democrat Supreme Court ruled last week and Maine’s Democrat Secretary of State Shenna Bellows declared Thursday, much of the debate over whether Trump can be disqualified under the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution has centered on whether the former president’s conduct and speech on January 6, 2021, met the amendment’s definition of “engaging in insurrection or rebellion.”

However, due to the language in the final clause of the post-Civil War amendment, legal analysts assert that the high court might have a rather straightforward endeavor.

“The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article,” The amendment specifies, for further clarity, that a candidate convicted of insurrection could also be permitted to appear on a ballot by a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate.

“I think the Supreme Court will focus on the fact that there is no authority in the 14th Amendment for application by state courts. There is no application by courts at all,” Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz said in a video he posted on the X social media platform.

Dershowitz told John Solomon’s Just the News separately that he expects Maine’s declaration and Colorado’s decision to both be overturned.

Mike Davis, a former attorney for the Senate Judiciary Committee and the originator of the Article III Project think tank, asserts that the 14th Amendment is not subject to state enforcement. “It must be done by Congress.”

He noted that after the 14th amendment, Congress enacted a law for criminal prosecution of insurrection, and he believes a candidate would have to be convicted under that law for the disqualification clause to apply.

The Colorado State Republican Party’s appeal of the state Supreme Court’s decision on Wednesday evening also relies on this interpretation of the amendment. It partially requested the nine justices to ascertain “whether Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment is self-executing to the extent of allowing states to remove candidates from the ballot in the absence of any Congressional action authorizing such process.”

Although legal ramifications continue to accumulate, the response to Maine’s ruling was prompt.

Republican Senate candidate in Arizona Kari Lake defended Trump, claiming that she believed voter suppression had occurred.

“Democrats fear they can’t beat President Donald J. Trump at the ballot box, so they’re trying to take him off the ballot altogether and deprive American citizens of their sacred right to choose their next President,” Lake wrote in a statement. “A politician unilaterally booting a presidential candidate off the ballot is voter suppression of the highest level.”

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy characterized the current situation as a “threat to democracy.”

“The system is hellbent on taking this man out, the Constitution be damned,” Ramaswamy wrote. “I stand by my prior pledge to *withdraw* from any state’s ballot that ultimately removes Trump from its ballot. I call on DeSantis, Christie, and Haley to do the same – or else they are tacitly endorsing this illegal and brazen election interference in the GOP primary. This cancer in American politics isn’t limited to the Democrats.”

For her part, and despite being viewed with suspicion by the greater MAGA contingent, Chairwoman of the Republican National Committee Ronna McDaniel stated that the organization is eager to assist in the courtroom challenge to the ruling.

“Democrat election interference, just like we saw in Colorado,” McDaniel wrote. “State officials do not get to decide who the American people cast their vote for. We look forward to helping fight this legal battle in the US Supreme Court.”

 

 

Netanyahu Declines to Engage in Discussions of Post-War Strategies for Gaza with Security Chiefs
The Israeli leader has expressed his goal of a continuous Israeli military presence in Gaza without a predetermined expiration date.

By ,

Israeli media sources indicate that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declined pleas from his senior military and intelligence officers to engage in discussions over potential strategies for the Gaza Strip at the conclusion of a conflict.

According to a report from Israel’s Channel 12, Netanyahu declined three distinct appeals made by the leaders of Mossad, Shin Bet, and the Israeli Defense Forces. “Time is running out and decisions need to be made already about how to act with regard to all the relevant actors inside and outside the Gaza Strip. The Americans want explanations,” an anonymously Israeli security source said.

Netanyahu’s office stated that he had directed his senior aides to make preparations for initial discussions regarding the matter. Netanyahu’s rejection to engage in conversation about the subject coincides with Ron Dermer, Netanyahu’s minister for strategic affairs, being in Washington and scheduled to meet with senior US officials to discuss the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

The United States and Israel hold divergent perspectives on the future of Gaza after the conflict. The Biden administration advocates for a rejuvenated Palestinian Authority to assume control, whilst Netanyahu has openly dismissed this proposition. The Israeli leader has often expressed his aim for an indefinite Israeli military presence in Gaza.

There is also a significant divergence between the United States and Israel about Israel’s ongoing military activities in Gaza. US authorities have recommended that Israel conclude the ongoing phase of the war, characterized by frequent airstrikes and ground operations, and instead adopt a more focused strategy targeting the leadership of Hamas.

Netanyahu and other Israeli authorities have declared that military activities in Gaza are intensifying and have committed to a prolonged duration of the offensive. According to data from Gaza’s Health Ministry, the ongoing Israeli operation, supported by the United States, has resulted in the death of more than 21,000 Palestinians, including over 8,000 children. It is important to note that these figures are considered to be a conservative estimate.

Netanyahu is motivated to persist with the offensive because his political future is at risk as a result of intelligence shortcomings that allowed the October 7 Hamas assault on southern Israel to occur. The Israeli leader has faced significant backlash for his approach of supporting Hamas in order to hinder the establishment of a Palestinian state. According to polling data, a significant proportion of Israelis are in favor of Netanyahu stepping down following the conclusion of the conflict.

Microsoft Buys 1,000+ Acres of Wisconsin Farmland

By ,

Microsoft Corporation’s acquisition of more than one thousand acres of farmland in Racine County, Wisconsin, has just been finalized. The 1,000 acres were acquired through three transactions with a combined value of around $176 million.

Microsoft’s last acquisition consisted of 407 acres of land, encompassing a pumpkin farm and a 9-acre corn maze located in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin.

Microsoft plans to put almost $1 billion into a data center in Mount Pleasant property.

Per Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Microsoft Corp. has completed its purchase of just over 1,000 acres of Racine County farm land that will be developed for data center facilities.

The three transactions totaled nearly $176 million.

The company paid the Village of Mount Pleasant $63.2 million for 400 acres on Braun Road and Durand Avenue, according to newly filed deeds.

Also, Microsoft paid the village $36.5 million for 241 acres on County Highway H.

Finally, the company bought 407 acres on Braun Road and Durand Avenue from Creuziger Farms Inc. for $76 million, according to the deeds posted online Wednesday by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.

Michigan Supreme Court Maintains Trump’s Presence on the 2024 Primary Ballot

By ,

Former President Donald Trump was reinstated to the Republican presidential primary ballot in Michigan on Wednesday, as the state’s highest court declined to hear an appeal to disqualify him.

The court denied the appeal in a concise order, stating that it was “not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by this Court.”

Trump expressed his approval of the ruling in a Wednesday post on Truth Social, stating, “The Michigan Supreme Court has strongly and rightfully denied the Desperate Democrat attempt to take the leading Candidate in the 2024 Presidential Election, me, off the ballot in the Great State of Michigan.”

Last week, the Colorado Supreme Court excluded Trump from the state’s primary ballot on the grounds that his participation in an uprising against the country (despite never being charged let alone convicted) restricts him from holding federal office under the insurrection clause of the United States Constitution. The ruling was pledged to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court by Trump.

A dissenter from the majority was Justice Elizabeth Welch, one of the four justices nominated by the Democratic Party to comprise the seven-member Michigan Supreme Court.

She contended that although she would affirm the Court of Appeals’ decision that Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is not obligated to ascertain the eligibility of a presidential primary candidate, such a high court ruling would enable “appellants to renew their legal efforts as to the Michigan general election later in 2024 should Trump become the Republican nominee for president of the United States or seek such office as an independent candidate.”

France Finalizes Withdrawal of Troops from Niger, Complies with Demands
France completed the withdrawal of its troops after they were asked to leave Niger by the country’s new junta, ending years of on-the-ground military support

By ,

The junta that severed ties with Paris following the July coup in Niger demanded that all French military aircraft and personnel withdraw from the country by December 22, according to an email from the French Army General Staff to The Associated Press. This week, France made the preliminary declaration that its diplomatic mission in Niger would be suspended indefinitely.

Despite this, the nation would maintain its involvement in the Sahel – the extensive region south of the Sahara Desert that has been a breeding ground for violent extremism – President Emmanuel Macron stated Thursday while visiting a Jordanian base.

“I decided on some important reconfigurations,” Macron said. “We will continue to protect our interests over there but our armies won´t be as present permanently, will be less stationary and also less exposed,” he said.

The termination of military collaboration with France was hailed by the Niger junta as the commencement of “a new era” for the Nigeriens.

“Niger stands tall, and the security of our homeland will no longer depend on a foreign presence,” the Junta proclaimed on X, formerly Twitter. “We are determined to meet the challenges before us, by consolidating our national military and strategic capabilities.”

However, western analysts naturally assert that the withdrawal of the forces will result in a void, as is the case whenever western hegemony is booted from a region. As Niger was the final Western ally in the ten-year war against jihadi groups in the region, it will “leave Niger and the entire Sahel worse off” in terms of overall counterterrorism efforts, according to Ryan Cummings, director of Africa-focused security consulting firm Signal Risk.

A base for counterterrorism operations in the region was envisioned in Niger, where approximately 1,500 French forces were providing training and support to the local military. This decision was made in response to the rise of anti-French sentiment in Burkina Faso and Mali, both of which are ruled by juntas that have also expelled French troops.

It would seem that Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger see the French, and by extension the West, as more of an existential threat than the jihadis in the region, though you will likely not hear such analysis in establishment media.

Upon deposing Mohamed Bazoum, largely seen as an installed puppet president beholden to Western interests, the nation’s junta severed military ties with France and other European nations. Conversely, they pursued defense collaboration with Russia.

All of these coups taking place throughout the third world inevitably play into the larger silent war between BRICS and the West.

Together with the military administrations of Mali and Burkina Faso, the Niger junta has established a security alliance in order to coordinate counterterrorism efforts throughout the Sahel.