Reliably Deliberate

            There you go. You’ve gone and done it again. While no one is looking. Or is it while no one is paying attention? Part of what makes for a democracy is the voting and decision of the majority, and all that messy due process stuff. Part of all that messy due process stuff is the due diligent deliberation, (which is where having a local press, an informed citizenry, counter dis/misinformation, etc. comes in). The 4-12-24 Newark Advocate headlined “Licking County bans large solar farms from Etna Township; other townships could be next” by Maria Devito. “This is the second solar exclusionary zone the commissioners have approved in recent months. Last year Liberty Township asked for a ban, and the commissioners approved its request in November. St. Albans and Licking townships have also requested to become exclusionary zones. [County Commissioner Tim] Bubb said Thursday the commissioners sent letters to the remaining Licking County townships to gauge their interest on solar exclusionary zones for their townships as well as explain the process. With 25 township’s in the county, Bubb said the commissioners don’t want to handle these requests one by one. “If there’s several other areas that are interested, we’re willing to consider that and do the public hearings and have that deliberation,” Bubb said.” The request for exclusion was made by the Etna (and Liberty) township trustees. One hearing was made prior the deliberative decision. That deliberative reasoning was various. “[County Commissioner Duane] Flowers said to him, the matter is similar to zoning. Townships have a right to to zone areas to allow or prohibit certain uses, and the Etna Township Trustees are doing that through the request to prohibit solar farms.” Commissioner Bubb’s deliberation was a little more convoluted, and nuanced. “”It’s going to look a lot like a Columbus suburb, I think.”” “Bubb also said he’s concerned that the U.S. is becoming too reliant on intermittent power sources, like solar and wind energy. He said there are too many variables when it comes to solar, such as cloudy days and damage from hail storms or tornadoes, for solar to be considered a reliable energy source. “Our need for electricity — just here in Licking County, if you look at the development here — is 24/7/365,” Bubb said. “We need reliable power, whether it’s a combination of natural gas, coal, nuclear, whatever the sources are. I think as a country, we can’t sell ourselves short in terms of too much over reliance on intermittent power.”” Analysis reveals this to be disingenuous deliberations; more fiat than due process democracy. Controversial zoning requests have avenues of appeal; ultimately decided on a ballot measure. Looking a lot like a Cbus suburb is an aesthetic preference, a personal one at that (giant warehouses OK, solar and sheep baaad). But the one about “reliable power” is straight out of the Koch Bros GOP national policy agenda. Shades of HB6, Bubbman! “We need reliable power”  (especially with projected Intel and data center demand) so we’ll just get rid of one of the sources so we only have a certain kind of power source! (and pay to subsidize unavailable redundancy in inefficient power plants in Ohio and Indiana) Oh the webs we weave, and weave again. For those of you keeping score at home the dynamic LC trio did this once before, surprising everyone with their deeply deliberated decision to award exclusive water and sewer service to the Southwest Licking Community Water and Sewer District in the geographic area around the Intel site. Something about “we need reliable water and sewer service” entered into their deliberation.

Ohio’s Protest Vote

            The likely GOP and Dem candidates for President in 2024 have been determined after Super Tuesday, 3-5-24. But there have been several primary elections since then, Ohio’s included. National media attention has been focused on what is likened to the “protest vote” with the various Democratic primaries. Many states have a ballot choice listed as “uncommitted,” “uninstructed,” etc. In those states, where it is possible to point at this specific primary choice (regarding the Democratic Presidential candidacy preference), a somewhat accurate count can be made of this “protest vote”; Democrats who came out for the primary but opted out of voting for the pre-ordained presidential candidate (Joe Biden). Taken separately, these “protest votes” amounted to 8-12% of total votes cast for presidential candidate in these various state primaries. Adding in votes cast for Dean Phillips, who suspended his campaign for president on 3-6-24, the count could be as high as 20%. Ohio has no designated “uncommitted” ballot choice. Indeed, perusing the Ohio Secretary of State’s website gives all the individual ballot choice number of votes cast, but no overall accounting of ballot preference numbers are given (there are three: GOP, Democrat, issues only). So what was the Democrat protest vote in Ohio? In number of votes cast for president (524,412), 67,889 were for Phillips; just shy of 13%. Remember, he was no longer a declared candidate 2 weeks before Ohio’s primary, 3-19-24. That’s a minimum protest vote, the verifiable ground. But what of people who chose not to vote for presidential candidate in protest? Given Ohio’s way of counting only specific ballot choices and not overall voters making the choices, Analysis is left to guess. Who else was on the ballot? The contested Lisa Forbes/Terri Jamison Supreme Court Justice race had a total of 481,285 votes cast, far fewer than for president. No help there. Sherrod Brown, however, received 529,497 ballot choices checked off for his candidacy. So we know that at least that many people requested a Dem ballot in the 3-19-24 Ohio primary. That’s 5,085 voters who chose not to bother with selecting a Dem presidential candidate BUT bothered to go and request a Dem primary ballot. So we know that at least 529,497 folks voted Dem in the Ohio 3-19-24 primary. With Phillips not being viable as a choice (67,889 votes) and the 5,085 voters “uninterested” in bothering to check the presidential choice (sole candidate Joe Biden), we have 72,974 “protest” votes in the 2024 Ohio primary, or nearly 14% of verifiable Dem primary voters. That matches up with Dem voter “protest” response in other state primaries post Super Tuesday, but Ohio’s was never framed that way by the national news media.

The State Of Dave Yost

            Democracy wrestles with more than elections. Capital punishment is another. The central reasoning that many democracies world wide struggle with is that if the state can outlaw taking the life of another, can that state, in return, take a life. If the state outlaws taking a life, can the state violate its own laws and take a life? Many countries feel there is no exceptionality clause placing the state above its people when it comes to the law and justice. In a news release (3-28-23) Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost distinguished himself and the state: “I support the death penalty, especially for the most heinous offenders and as a way to protect our corrections officers.” The reasoning of the state being exceptional to the people who make it up doesn’t stop there. “Trump, GOP-led states argue ‘absolute presidential immunity’ claim to Supreme Court Meanwhile, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost led a separate brief arguing not for absolute presidential immunity, but a two-part test that would still allow for broad immunity.” (Jacob Fischler and Ashley Murray, 3-20-24, Ohio Capital Journal) Yost and the AG’s of Alaska and Wyoming filed an amicus brief with the Supremes regarding Trump’s absolute immunity defense. ““Very broad, but not limitless, presidential immunity is dictated by our constitutional structure,” they wrote. The three attorney generals proposed a two-part test to settle a claim of presidential immunity. First, the courts should determine how closely the alleged acts are tied to the president’s core constitutional duty, they said. As an example, they said presidents should be given more latitude in conducting foreign affairs than in investigating a political rival because conducting foreign affairs is a central constitutional duty. Courts should also determine the “urgency of the situation surrounding” alleged crimes by a president, they said. For example, a president seizing property of political opponents should be considered differently than a president seizing property during a war.” Butt weight, there’s more! AG Yost has been a busy boy. Concurrent with the amicus brief is the near continuous rejection of citizen (of his state) initiated amendments on the basis of his, Dave Yost, interpretation of Ohio Revised Code. “Group behind qualified immunity amendment sues Ohio Attorney General over latest rejection” (The Statehouse News Bureau, Karen Kasler, 3-22-24) “The Ohio Coalition to End Qualified Immunity wants voters to approve an amendment called “Protecting Ohioans Constitutional Rights”, to allow lawsuits for money damages when constitutional rights are violated, including suits against law enforcement. The group has filed a lawsuit in the Ohio Supreme Court claiming Yost is illegally blocking their amendment from getting to the ballot.” They’ve tried 7 times before! And they’re not alone. “A coalition that’s trying to put forward a constitutional amendment changing and repealing some voting and elections laws has also sued Yost for rejecting their petition language based on its title, the “Ohio Voter Bill of Rights.”” Aside from the facetious two part test hoops, there isn’t much separation between the State and Dave Yost. Dave Yost is the state. But a lot of daylight floods the gap between Yost’s state and the people who make it up.

Not Your Grandpa’s Dog Whistle

            The 1988 presidential election between then Vice President George H. W. Bush and Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis was notorious for the Willie Horton ad campaign. William Horton, a black Massachusetts resident convicted of murder and serving a life sentence, committed further heinous crimes in Maryland while participating in a furlough program in Massachusetts. The Bush campaign, then run by Lee Atwater, ran an extensive ad campaign linking Horton (who they nicknamed “Willie”) with Massachusetts Governor Dukakis. This disparagement campaign by the Bush candidacy came to embody “dog whistle” political promotion – the use of coded messaging focused mainly on fear and insecurity, usually racial and/or sexual. In the last year of his life Atwater is said to have regretted and recanted this political ploy. During the current presidential contest, the killing of a University of Georgia nursing student, Laken Riley, by a Venezuelan migrant suspect, Jose Antonio Ibarra, appears to be analogous. Analysis chooses the word “analogous” carefully as context and situations differ markedly between the two time periods of American history. For one thing, television is no longer king. An ad campaign built on this platform would not be as effective today. Any disparagement campaign attempting to link an opponent to a crime would require the use of multiple platforms while maintaining a centralized message. The dog whistle is still there, only not generated by a Madison Avenue instrument. Analysis finds a quote by William Horton gives insight: “The fact is, my name is not ‘Willie.’ It’s part of the myth of the case. The name irks me.” Today’s disparagement program is about facts used to reinforce myth, not myth created from facts. Yes, Horton’s life is historical fact while the link to Dukakis was manufactured myth, created by an ad agency agenda. Today’s myth is reinforced by facts – images (on all platforms) of razor wired walls, battle fatigued soldiers (often adjacent the concertina wire), and hoards of desperate migrants; all historically factual. The myth is one of invasion by lawless individuals bent on destruction. The disparagement “link” was historically, factually established when one of the presidential candidates ordered his party not to address a solution in order that the issue could be associated with his opponent during the presidential campaign (in the Willie Horton ad manner). The (GOP) party’s response is more razor wire, more troops sent to the border by GOP governors, more coverage of the “lawlessness” of migrants with the added conflation of drug smuggling to boot. The Willie Horton myth was created by an ad campaign not much different from ads for cola or new cars. The current myth of migrant invasion is a campaign of shaping reality, of making the facts fit the myth. All those troops, their logistics, and razor wire on top of razor wire are funded by state and federal tax dollars, not some party PAC’s campaign treasure trove. The 1988 Willie Horton ad and the 2024 “migrant/border crisis” are analogous only on their intended disparagement ends, and their specific dog whistle means. They differ greatly in how the sound is made. This is not your grandpa’s dog whistle.

All Politics Is Local Yet All News Is National

            A funny thing happened on the way to this blog post. To stay informed of local community interactions Analysis subscribes to the online Newark Advocate. The Advocate is a great source of information on restaurant openings or high school sports coverage, not so much for restaurant closings or community interactions (the 2-12-24 MORPC community meeting at the Newark library was never announced or covered. Just one of many such community interactions). For local articles with even a whiff of political implications one must click on the headline listed under “for subscribers.” One could assume this as one of the perks of being an Advocate subscriber. One would be wrong. Recently Analysis clicked just such headlines covering stories involving this area’s concern only to be hit by a firewall of “for subscribers” of the Columbus Dispatch (Please subscribe). It is common knowledge that USA Today, the Cols Dispatch, local papers in central Ohio (like Newark’s Advocate, Lancaster’s Eagle Gazette, Zanesville’s Times Recorder, etc.) are all owned by Gannett. It is also common knowledge that the editorship of the Advocate is not in Newark but in Columbus, with the Dispatch. Analysis guesstimates that the Dispatch subscribers firewall appearance (Please subscribe) marks a transition phase to eventually erasing the Newark Advocate and replacing it with the Dispatch coverage of area news (eventually the ultimate replacement being USA Today coverage of regional news – Columbus and surrounds). 2-28-24 found Marketplace’s David Brancaccio and Alex Schroeder running an article entitled “Democracy in the Desert: How a lack of local news coverage may have played a role in a 2018 election scandal.” The scandal involved the Republican election of North Carolina’s 9^th Congressional District, eventually resulting in a court ordered do over. Serendipity finds political scientists analyzing the case uncovering a correlation of voter turnout (or lack thereof) and local news availability – the “news desert.” Gannett’s corporate profit machinations can’t be readily identified as creating a news desert per se, more a hybrid of sorts. Consolidating operations (for economic reasons, of course) means eliminating boots on the ground. Sure, Denison’s The Reporting Project can, upon occasion, fill in the slack but the bulk of news will be nationally oriented, or, at best, state driven. This works for Gannett (Please subscribe). How about for Newark? In North Carolina’s 9^th Congressional District “You’d think evidence of election fraud would be the talk of the district and drive voters in the special election to the polls to make sure their vote got counted. Instead, turnout was down by a third from the first election.” ““What we’ve seen over the last 20 years, as the quality and quantity of our local news has dropped precipitously, so has participation in local elections,” she [media scholar Penny Muse Abernathy] said.” Newark has some local elections coming up in 2024. Remember the record low turnout for the last one for local offices? So many offices, so few competitive races!

Democracy Kill Switch

            Part of the news in the past week was the SCOTUS hearing on Colorado’s disqualification of Donald Trump from their presidential ballot. The 14^th amendment was cited as the basis for this given the ex president’s role in the failed insurrection of January 6, 2021 (if you don’t succeed the first time, try, try again!). The 14^th amendment spells out a lot of rights deemed necessary to be articulated in the aftermath of the Civil War. Amendments to the Constitution of the US are done so for precisely that reason – to articulate rights assumed or glossed over but not necessarily individually spelled out by the original Constitution. The 14^th has been used for a whole slew of cases before the court – Roe v. Wade to Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. One case from the latter half of the 19^th century, Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, used the 14^th to justify the “personhood” of corporations. This in turn was used to justify the Citizens United ruling in the first part of the 21^st century. SCOTUS pundits and scholars all seem to agree that the line of questioning by today’s Supremes generally followed the track of the potential disruption to national election homogeneity if Colorado would have its way. Analysis assumes this must be some kind of interpretation of voting rights and its infringement by individual states. But what of the right to be free of government rule by individuals who have subverted, or intend to subvert, their oath to uphold the constitution through their actions and administration? SCOTUS showed remarkable disinterest in this right, spelled out specifically in Section 3 of the 14^th. Unlike the right to bear arms (2^nd amendment) which has been stretched to include just about ever interpretation of ownership at the cost of having a readily available self defense force (analogous to volunteer fire departments), the 14^th’s right to not include a democracy “kill switch” on the ballot seems to go unrecognized with the contemporary SCOTUS deliberation. The current emphasis on election homogeneity misses the very real possibility that what appears on the ballot might be the end of elections per se, and the right to be free of government rule by individuals elected to subverting elections, period. Analysis can only conclude that, given the Southern Pacific precedent of corporate personhood, the legalism of today’s Supremes recognizes that the existence of a kill switch on an election ballot is no different than a board of directors’ option of voting to dissolve the corporation.

The Norm Under Which The City Is Administered

		“But we must never forget that the chief target of fascist politics is its intended audience, those it seeks to ensnare in its illusory grip, to enroll in a state where everyone deemed “worthy” of human status is increasingly subjugated by mass delusion.” The quote is from the epilogue of Jason Stanley’s primer – How Fascism Works: the politics of us and them (2018) – pg. 193. Analysis finds Americans are well versed in the subjugation by mass delusion with the Big Lie, groundwork for which was laid well before the presidential election of 2020 (The GOP incumbent presidential contender’s vehement assertions that the election was rigged well before it even took place). Forming reality to “fit” myth is part of the intended goal of the fascist politic (historical facts are such an inconvenience). OK, so we find that occurring nationally, but what about in Newark Ohio? Another Ohio winter has gripped Newark – severe cold spells surrounded by rain and dampness. Not exactly camping conditions but some people find themselves living in tents. Another winter without a 24/7 low barrier shelter in Newark though the downtown Arcade is almost complete (NDP was “gifted” a building for shelter purposes around the same time it embraced the Arcade project). The Arcade fits the myth while the discarded shelter was too inconvenient. Indeed, recent headlined stories in The Newark Advocate underscore the mega myth (delusion) of homelessness in Newark. “Potential Newark tiny home village could provide affordable housing” (1-24-24) and “The Flats multifamily housing planned for North 21st near Walmart” (1-25-24) inform the scope and contradiction of the lack of homeless, in Newark, delusion. Through reading the articles Analysis finds the tiny home village is meant to fill a need – people who can’t find housing/can’t afford current rents. 45% of residential housing in Newark is non-owner occupant, so the potential source is apparent. 4 years ago the “Flats” were projected to become affordable housing (‘bout the time the NPD’s low barrier shelter and Arcade projects were on the horizon). The current projected “Flats” housing is higher density (almost double) the original proposal. From the article we find that’s OK, at least it is not “affordable housing.” The future of the tiny home village is in doubt precisely because it caters to the need for affordable housing (might bring down the neighboring property values). From these readings and prior history (inconvenient facts) the delusion becomes clear – there are no homeless in Newark, at least not anyone ““worthy” of human status.” Indeed, the Mayor himself (Jeff Hall) is on record as saying he’s all for a shelter, as long as it’s not located in Newark. Jason Stanley continues with the following line: “Those not included in that audience and status wait in the camps of the world, straw men and women ready to be cast into the roles of rapists, murderers, terrorists.” In Newark the descriptions of the roles may not be as dreadful, but are derogatory and dehumanizing just the same. And that’s the whole point – in Newark the subjugation “by mass delusion” has become the norm under which the city is administered. 

Not Enough Entertainment Value

            Each election year finds some of the candidates for office on the ballot in Newark and Licking County running unopposed. Many find this to be an outrage. Lovers of democracy who view politics as a horse race or sports bet are disappointed by the lack of competition. Most voters just shrug it off and chalk it up to indifference. There is a lot of indifference. From the vital practitioners of democracy point of view, it is a failing. After all, if no one votes the unopposed office seeker can just crown themselves by voting for themselves. From the fascism point of view running unopposed is a legitimation of the power structure that vanquished the unqualified, the unworthy, the weak. It asserts the fascist outlook of the fulfillment of the promised destiny, unopposed. The media, of course, prefers the practice of democracy outlook, at least the horse race scenario, in their coverage of office seekers and elections. Currently they place odds on the hotly contested race for second place in the GOP bid for the White House. Side bets are placed on “paths” to victory and long shots. Brilliant scholarship on what demographics are in play, how many electoral votes are needed, which states are red, blue and purple, and when we’ll see results appear daily with the various election news coverage. And of course, the novelty of the presumed GOP candidate for president, the “front runner,” being on trial in multiple states, both criminal as well as civil, is not missed by a single one of these eagle eyed reporters. And, again, of course, through the lens of practicing democracy, the trial situation must be a new strategy meant to win votes (by professing loyalty. I’m on trial for you because it is really you who are on trial, etc.). From the fascist point of view (never given by the media savants) that is a bunch of BS, but incredibly useful for the election kabuki required to preserve the democratic choice segment of the destiny myth. Like Newark’s perennial unopposed office seekers, Donald Trump finds himself unopposed in the kabuki theater of “the primaries.” Those running against him have not opposed him, so in the de facto theater of kabuki, he is de facto unopposed. From the fascist point of view, this “competitive” primary race is very useful. It contributes to the myth of inevitable destiny. Evidence of this appeared, again, with the legal proceeding Donald Trump is embroiled in. From the fascist viewpoint the many trials are NOT a novel strategy for winning votes. Rather, they are overt proof of the inevitable destiny promise of fascism (manifested in the contempt of the law and legal proceedings). The recent episode in the Kaplan courtroom (the E. Jean Carroll defamation restitution award trial) plainly displays the utter contempt for matters of law or principle; the ideological superiority of the fascist will to power over any mundane democratic principles of law. Analogous to Newark’s unopposed candidates for office, Donald Trump will be the GOP presidential candidate even if no one votes. With the fascist outlook, he has already voted for himself  when he declared his candidacy (in spite of voicing opposition to early voting). After what the US witnessed on January 6, 2021, analysis doesn’t find it hard to fill in the blanks of the fascist outlook regarding November 5^th, and beyond. With the fascist viewpoint Donald Trump is already president, whether anyone votes or not. He has said this himself (that he won the 2020 contest and is president). He has claimed the Biden presidency to be illegitimate so any “re election” possibilities will be met by an equal, if not greater, show of power than occurred in 2021. That is the fascist view of the practice of American democracy in 2024, something the news outlets refuse to entertain. Not enough entertainment value would be the analysis guess.

Get Down In That Hole And Dig

            Tonight 60 Minutes ran a segment on NYC commercial real estate. There is a lot of empty office space; whole buildings are empty. As evidenced by the recent Trump fraud trial, commercial real estate is a game of inside baseball with regards the symbiotic relationship of the commercial lenders, the landlords, developers, tenants, etc. The bank certainly doesn’t want to own an old empty office building. Residential property rents are high in NYC, as in most of the US. Some commercial NYC real estate is being snatched up on the cheap and developed into residential housing where zoning permits it. That is not a money maker. Various reasons are given for the dearth of business office occupancy: high interest rates, the loss of the attraction of having the office be in the city itself, the post pandemic hybridity of work from home efficiency, etc. Work from home looms disproportionately large in the business equation as it saves companies in terms of real estate cost requirements. Many in the know say it is here to stay. In a tight job market, workers can securely say they like and prefer it. As mentioned with the inside baseball analogy, the actual commercial real estate situation of any given area is not readily made known. Here in Licking County Ohio, commercial real estate is usually associated with the big box warehouses, distribution centers and manufacturing facilities located on previously farmed land. It has been decades since anyone built an office tower in Newark. Intel is the current dominant commercial real estate development in Licking County. Its financing is an even more convoluted and obscure case of inside baseball. We are told that it projects employment of around 10,000 workers. The job market has been historically tight during the Biden Presidency resulting in workers having some leverage on wages, working conditions, working from home, etc. Given that, where are these future Intel chip manufacturers going to come from? Even if, ideally, minimum wage employees (fast food, health care, education, etc.) filled any potential existing employment disparity, who would fill the void left by this upward mobility? The three GOP candidates for Ohio’s next senator are deadly serious about it certainly not being people of color migrating from the southern hemisphere. No, the same Ohio GOP leaders who played the inside baseball of creating the commercial real estate known as Intel also are creating the propaganda that this manufacturing process will create high paying “Jobs!” for Ohioans. Now these Ohioans, who fill these technical manufacturing positions, must be fundamentally different from their fellow American co workers who, when possible, would prefer to work from home. After all, working at Intel is not at all like working for OSU Hospitals (or any other central Ohio medical industrial health complex). Unlike health care, chip makers must perform their tasks while donning a bunny suit and staying in one place all day, everyday (no moving around or social interaction). No work from home option here. Analysis finds what’s needed for the success of this commercial real estate venture called Intel to be reminiscent of what took place in the eastern half of the US during the late 1800’s. The coal, ore, manufacturing barons of the time didn’t care much about the welfare of the whites, blacks and immigrant workers they projected as essential for their prosperity. Just get down in that hole and dig!

Wall Of Sound (And Fury)

            60’s Motown music was often characterized by its Wall of Sound (a Phil Spector thing). The Wall of Legality seems to be an appropriate description of contemporary American news. Some news sources have even designated a separate category, rivaling sports and weather, covering the Wall of Legality that is the Trump run for presidential re election. The latest iteration is his disqualification from the ballot by being an insurrectionist in Maine and Colorado. In analogous cases of disqualification Ohio news likewise comes at you with a Wall of Legality. Openly trans Vanessa Joy followed the Ohio Secretary of State’s 2024 official candidate’s guide in submitting all the required forms and petition signatures (correctly) for a run at representing House District 50 (Canton area). She was disqualified on the basis of a Clinton era state provision that mandates any of the aspiring candidate’s former names, used during the past 5 years, be included on any and every signature petition. The proviso doesn’t appear in the official candidate’s guide, nor is space provided on the available, official, signature petition forms. Adding to Ohio’s Wall of Legality Dave Yost, Ohio’s (official) Attorney General, just pitched overboard an election amendment proposal that has been submitted and refined since 2020. Yost cited several instances where, in his interpretation, the “plain English” version of the Amendment proposal doesn’t correspond to the proposed legislative changes. This is another setback for the amendments proponents, Ohioans for Secure and Fair Elections. Analysis finds the comparisons of Ohio’s Wall of Legality with Trump’s (and Spector’s) to be worth considering. Immediately springing to mind is the orchestrated chorus of MAGA backlash, violent as well as non violent. Would Joy be entitled to the same intimated intimidation? Soloing with the 14^th Amendment disqualification is the plea for due process determination of whether, exactly, the former president was tried and found guilty of insurrection. Analysis assumes being an insurrectionist is defined by acts contrary to upholding the US Constitution and meant to usurp or overthrow said legal document. Did the framers of the 14^th amendment intend for every member of the Confederate Army and cause to be tried before being determined to be insurrectionist, and thereby disqualified? Given the absence of the 5 year provision on official candidate documentation, will Vanessa Joy appeal to being innocent by merit of the self same lack of an official trial? Will “plain English” receive a trial determining just how “plain” it really is? Analysis finds comparing today’s Walls of Legality to be very instructive in learning just how much of the sound and fury of this year’s election Wall of Legality is genuine, propaganda, or just “plain” authoritarian politicking.