I’ve been listening to all these discussions about whether POTUS should invoke the 14th Amendment to keep paying on the debt rather than accept a terrible deal from the House Freedom Caucus.

It seems to me that these discussions ignore one thing: defaulting on the debt would be a national emergency and would definitely be a threat to national security. Thus, President Biden already has within his executive powers the ability to declare an emergency and to keep paying the debt on that basis. I believe this would buy at least 90 days before he has to report this to Congress.

Further, the courts have been extremely reluctant to second guess the President, any president, on national security matters, as they should.

So what am I missing?

It’s the Express, so take with a pinch of salt but this seems like a bombshell:

https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1696415/king-charles-iii-barbra-streisand-spt

Charles had 'secret' meet-ups with teenage crush Barbra Streisand, biographer claims
The King first met actress and singer Barbra Streisand in the Seventies, long before his relationship with Diana, Princess of Wales.

Back in 1974, while he was serving in the Royal Navy, King Charles III met Barbra Streisand at a recording studio in San Diego. From their initial meeting, the then-Prince and singer forged a close relationship and, according to the royal’s biographer, the pair met up “secretly” at a Los Angeles hotel. Christopher Anderson, author of the upcoming biography The King: The Life of Charles III, was a guest on last week’s episode of the To Di For Daily podcast with host Kinsey Schofield.

During the episode, referencing the biography, Ms Schofield said: “I have read that there was flirtation, there was sincere interest and at a specific party — that you discuss in your book — he invites Barbra Streisand over and leaves not only the trophy wife at home, but also the mistress. So there's no Camilla no Diana, but here's Barbra Streisand.”

More at link

Were they comparing notes?


They share an affinity for golf and an aversion to cooperating witnesses who “flip” to help federal investigators.

But former president Donald Trump and former Philly mob boss Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino don’t have much to say about how they wound up in a photo together at a South Florida golf course.

Trump posed for the photo with Merlino earlier this month at Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach. The two, along with an unidentified third man, flash Trump’s customary “thumbs-up” hand signs and smiles while wearing golfing attire.

https://www.inquirer.com/politics/pennsylvania/donald-trump-joey-merlino-philadelphia-mob-photo-golf-club-20230123.html

Yeah! Good luck with that, Vlad!

https://twitter.com/therickydavila/status/1497279285173702661?s=21

Coming to a red state near you …


The Polish government are planning to introduce a centralised register of pregnancies which would oblige doctors to report all pregnancies and miscarriages to the government.

The proposed register would come into effect in January 2022, a year after Poland introduced a near-total ban on abortion.

This has raised serious concerns for women’s rights activists, who believe that in light of Poland’s near-total abortion ban, the register could be used to cause legal difficulties for women who have self-administered abortions.

The draft legislation is part of a wide ranging project to update the medical information system in Poland.

“It’s about control, it’s about making sure that pregnancies end with birth,” Natalia Broniarczyk, an activist from Aborcyjny Dream Team told the Polish weekly, Gazeta Wyborcza.


https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/dec/03/poland-plans-to-set-up-register-of-pregnancies-to-report-miscarriages

The law says that anybody living in Texas can sue abortion providers or people who assist women in getting abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat. If the suit is successful in stopping an abortion, the plaintiff receives $10,000 from the defendant. There are no criminal penalties. Here’s where my confusion lies: there is no such thing as double jeopardy in civil court, that’s part of the reason you need to show standing and a tangible injury to file a lawsuit. But the Texas law lets anyone sue so after someone is successfully sued, everyone else in Texas could theoretically file the exact same suit, and why wouldn’t they with the promise of $10k sitting out there and all the difficult work of proving the case already done and written down in black and white in the court transcript? Coincidentally, the surge of suits would promptly shut down the civil side of the Texas legal system.

Also, what’s the standard of evidence for proving you prevented an “illegal” abortion? Civil cases are usually decided on a preponderance of the evidence, but how do you prove somebody was going to have an abortion. How do you prove it occurred after a fetal heartbeat was detected? This would only be possible if the plaintiff had access to the patient’s medical records, which are prevented from disclosure without patient authorisation by HIPAA; HIPAA is a federal law. Providers cannot be forced to break Federal law by state judges.

P.S. Maybe I’m not so confused after all. I wrote a Twitter thread on this noting that the method used to enforce the Texas ban could be used against, for example, gun manufacturers and gun stores to ban access to certain types of firearms. Then I read a WaPo article that made the exact same point:
“ Qui tam lawsuits, Jenkins said, are meant to ferret out wrongdoing. By contrast, he added, the abortion law allows any citizen to become a potential enforcer of a policy that will probably face serious constitutional challenges.
Jenkins said that principle could be applied by lawmakers in other states who want to take aim at aspects of the Constitution they don’t like, such as freedom of the press or the right to bear arms.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/texas-abortion-ban-jonathan-mitchell/2021/09/02/ecbd1124-0c17-11ec-aea1-42a8138f132a_story.html

I’m guessing that’s the closest he will come to a concession, notwithstanding that “The Office of the Former President” isn’t an actual thing and if it was Jimmy Carter would have seniority.

https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1353846711001735168?s=21

Trump’s official biography says Donald J. Trump's term ended on 2021-01-11 19:39:28.

https://www.state.gov/biographies/donald-j-trump/