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Posts published in “Day: July 8, 2018”

Idaho Weekly Briefing – July 9

July 8, 2018

This is a summary of a few items in the Idaho Weekly Briefing for July 9. Interested in subscribing? Send us a note at stapilus@ridenbaugh.com.

Following a weekend highlighted by biennual political party conventions at far ends of southern Idaho, Idaho politics – and much else – quieted considerably in the week following. A good deal of attention was paid, however, to a a Boise tragedy in which a man stabbed a number of refugees from Africa at a child’s birthday party. Six children and three adults were injured.

After working for months to put healthcare on the ballot, volunteers on July 6 caravaned into Boise from the far corners of the state, converging on the State Capitol to rally and deliver boxes of signatures to state officials from all 44 counties. The signatures come from more than 70,000 Idaho voters.

The City of Twin Falls and Twin Falls Urban Renewal Agency will open the new Downtown Commons with a ribbon cutting and art unveiling at 4 p.m. on Friday, July 6. The community event will celebrate the opening of Twin Falls’ newest public area and the completion of the Downtown Redesign Project.

Micron Technology on July 5 announced that the Fuzhou Intermediate People's Court, Fujian Province, China today notified two Chinese subsidiaries of Micron that it has granted a preliminary injunction against those entities in patent infringement cases filed by United Microelectronics Corporation and Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co.

Members of the 428th Fighter Squadron came together and said their goodbyes to their former commander, Lt. Col. Donald Sandberg, and welcomed their new commander, Lt. Col. Andrew Gilbert, during a change of command ceremony June 29, at Mountain Home Air Force Base.

The Idaho Panhandle National Forests is closing campsites #30 - 34 of the Three Pines Campground located on Kalispell Island within the Priest Lake Ranger District to protect an active bald eagle nest located within the site. The nest was recently discovered during a bald eagle survey. This is the first year an active nest site has been confirmed since 2014.

IMAGE Democratic gubernatorial candidate Paulette Jordan campaigning in Idaho Falls last week. (photo/Jordan for Governor, Facebook)

The right questions

July 8, 2018

richardson

No one should be impressed that the president has vowed not to ask prospective Supreme Court nominees their positions on Roe v. Wade.

First, his vows -- marital and otherwise -- are worthless.

Second, he doesn't need to ask the question because the Federalist Society has vetted the candidates. Only those who received the Federalist Society's stamp of approval made Trump's short list, and a candidate wouldn't be on the short list if they hadn't answered the question in the "right" -- make that the "far-right" -- way.

We can also be sure that the Federalist Society knows where their approved candidates stand on issues pertaining to voting rights, dark money in politics, environmental regulation, consumer protection, workers' rights, and every other topic important to the Koch Brothers. No one on the president's short list is about to vote to overrule Citizens United.

Undoubtedly, the folks Trump is interviewing are cut from the same ideological cloth as Thomas and Alito and, most recently, Gorsuch. They are predictable votes for repeal of the 20th Century, at least everything from the New Deal forward.

That being the case, journalists might want to focus on whether the president is asking some questions which the Federalist Society may have overlooked in its pre-election vetting. Such questions would include:

"Must a president respond to a subpoena?"

"Can a president be indicted?""

"Can a president pardon himself?"

"If a president pardons his alleged co-conspirators is that obstruction of justice?"

"If I appoint you to the Court and a case raising any one of these issues comes before you, will you recuse yourself -- or will you have my back?" This one is likely to be asked in a less direct manner – perhaps with a subtle nod and a knowing wink. But however the question is asked, it comes down to the president’s insistence on loyalty, not to the United States Constitution, but to Donald J. Trump.

I'm betting the president, as always focused on his own welfare, is especially eager to know where the finalists stand on these questions. I want to know if asking these questions is part of his interview process, either formally or informally. And if it is, we — the American people — need to know the candidates’ answers.