Matt Lavine
@mattplavine.bsky.social
Civil Rights atty. Const'l historian. "The Ten American Commandments"
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtf38p1X73N0gO4Q1_6keNQ/videos
Social media NOVICE - please be nice.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtf38p1X73N0gO4Q1_6keNQ/videos
Social media NOVICE - please be nice.
Some people have more compassion for animals than for humans. Your researching the legislation is commendable.
November 3, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Some people have more compassion for animals than for humans. Your researching the legislation is commendable.
I share your concern and appreciate your willingness to accept support from Kennedy. Based on his 180 over 1/6, I am skeptical of his posturing.
November 3, 2025 at 1:57 PM
I share your concern and appreciate your willingness to accept support from Kennedy. Based on his 180 over 1/6, I am skeptical of his posturing.
I do not doubt, nor did I intend to diminish, the ethical concerns of you and others. But I have never seen La. Kennedy support our natural environment or accept climate change or demand enviro justice. Hence my suspicion of his advocacy for owls. "DEI for owls" does not alter my view of him.
November 3, 2025 at 1:53 PM
I do not doubt, nor did I intend to diminish, the ethical concerns of you and others. But I have never seen La. Kennedy support our natural environment or accept climate change or demand enviro justice. Hence my suspicion of his advocacy for owls. "DEI for owls" does not alter my view of him.
The plan saves the spotted owl species from destruction by the barred owl. The plan does not destroy the barred owl species. The problem was not a natural event but the result of human activity. The Sen seems more concerned for owls than for humans and democracy.
November 2, 2025 at 8:07 PM
The plan saves the spotted owl species from destruction by the barred owl. The plan does not destroy the barred owl species. The problem was not a natural event but the result of human activity. The Sen seems more concerned for owls than for humans and democracy.
Yes, I know. Your post seemed to suggest that Kennedy's position was clearly superior. Because I doubt his integrity, I researched a bit and discovered that 3/4 of the Senate had a valid reason to reject Kennedy.
November 2, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Yes, I know. Your post seemed to suggest that Kennedy's position was clearly superior. Because I doubt his integrity, I researched a bit and discovered that 3/4 of the Senate had a valid reason to reject Kennedy.
I tend not to take the Louisiana Senator seriously, and no serious person would reduce the issue, as he did, to DEI for owls.
November 2, 2025 at 4:44 PM
I tend not to take the Louisiana Senator seriously, and no serious person would reduce the issue, as he did, to DEI for owls.
You called me weird and then off putting. I never responded in kind. I challenged the substance of your posts but neither their style nor their author.
November 2, 2025 at 4:41 PM
You called me weird and then off putting. I never responded in kind. I challenged the substance of your posts but neither their style nor their author.
To defend the Constn requires knowing its provisions and the principles that informed them. Neither fashionable platitudes nor impassioned outrage advances our proclaimed National mission.
October 31, 2025 at 1:14 AM
To defend the Constn requires knowing its provisions and the principles that informed them. Neither fashionable platitudes nor impassioned outrage advances our proclaimed National mission.
I appreciate your demand for citations, but my statements merely referenced Article I of the Constn and the 5th Amendment's Due Process Clause. Elsewhere I cited the statute that shuffled INS enforcement to the newly created ICE. The law did not change the employees' mission.
October 30, 2025 at 10:43 AM
I appreciate your demand for citations, but my statements merely referenced Article I of the Constn and the 5th Amendment's Due Process Clause. Elsewhere I cited the statute that shuffled INS enforcement to the newly created ICE. The law did not change the employees' mission.
Also, GW Bush did not create DHS in 2003. The US Congress voted to create this new US agency. The current Prez understands this part of the Const'n. It's the reason he wants certain States to create new Cong'l districts.
October 30, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Also, GW Bush did not create DHS in 2003. The US Congress voted to create this new US agency. The current Prez understands this part of the Const'n. It's the reason he wants certain States to create new Cong'l districts.
I agree with the point that, when ICE agents violate the Const'n, we can't wait for the next election. Various non-profits are appropriately seeking legal remedies due those whose rights are violated by US officers.
October 30, 2025 at 12:33 AM
I agree with the point that, when ICE agents violate the Const'n, we can't wait for the next election. Various non-profits are appropriately seeking legal remedies due those whose rights are violated by US officers.
If I recall correctly, several months ago, I responded to a post that posited that, without ICE, our immigration laws and policies would become consistent with our proclaimed American values. I replied that the focus must be to elect people who will pass new US immigration laws. Also -->
October 30, 2025 at 12:30 AM
If I recall correctly, several months ago, I responded to a post that posited that, without ICE, our immigration laws and policies would become consistent with our proclaimed American values. I replied that the focus must be to elect people who will pass new US immigration laws. Also -->
No US Congress granted a limitless budget to a US agency. Also, ICE did not begin the enforcement of US immigration laws. The remedy is electing a president and Congress to fix the law and insure that enforcement meets Constl standards.
October 29, 2025 at 10:35 AM
No US Congress granted a limitless budget to a US agency. Also, ICE did not begin the enforcement of US immigration laws. The remedy is electing a president and Congress to fix the law and insure that enforcement meets Constl standards.
Yeah, right game, wrong date. Long overdue. Great to have great leadership now. Finally.
October 14, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Yeah, right game, wrong date. Long overdue. Great to have great leadership now. Finally.
Art Monk's jersey will be retired next week, right?
October 14, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Art Monk's jersey will be retired next week, right?
What is the significance of affirming American democracy by lauding the support of folks whose government operates by permission of the King of England?
October 13, 2025 at 5:29 PM
What is the significance of affirming American democracy by lauding the support of folks whose government operates by permission of the King of England?
Was this prayer meeting before or after they did "solemnly swear [to] support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic [and] bear true faith and allegiance to the same [and] faithfully discharge the duties of the office?"
October 9, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Was this prayer meeting before or after they did "solemnly swear [to] support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic [and] bear true faith and allegiance to the same [and] faithfully discharge the duties of the office?"
I've quoted in these parts one or two speeches made in Congress circa 1865 about the freedmen's faith in the US and the reparations they earned for fighting with the US Army. Historian Donald Miller's book, Vicksburg, includes some inspiring accounts of freedmen's heroism fighting with Grant.
September 18, 2025 at 11:51 PM
I've quoted in these parts one or two speeches made in Congress circa 1865 about the freedmen's faith in the US and the reparations they earned for fighting with the US Army. Historian Donald Miller's book, Vicksburg, includes some inspiring accounts of freedmen's heroism fighting with Grant.
Every time I think Mandami is more than a handsome young fellow with all the depth of a vacuous preppie, with a hint of Jew hatred, he opens his mouth and utters more adolescent nonsense.
September 17, 2025 at 2:44 AM
Every time I think Mandami is more than a handsome young fellow with all the depth of a vacuous preppie, with a hint of Jew hatred, he opens his mouth and utters more adolescent nonsense.
I have no idea what your words mean, but they made laugh. Thank you. By the way, only the US Government has the legal authority to engage in foreign affairs.
September 17, 2025 at 2:41 AM
I have no idea what your words mean, but they made laugh. Thank you. By the way, only the US Government has the legal authority to engage in foreign affairs.
Your posts are always insightful, which is why I add my thoughts. Religious groups rarely seem to sustain their organizing principles over time.
September 17, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Your posts are always insightful, which is why I add my thoughts. Religious groups rarely seem to sustain their organizing principles over time.
This divide is neither new among Americans nor uniquely American nor distinctively Christian. The novelty may be in the erasure of the past. Unlike Anglo-Va aristocracy, Baptists called slaves their brothers and sisters, included them in their churches and in ritual baptisms. Anglicans enslaved.
September 16, 2025 at 11:08 PM
This divide is neither new among Americans nor uniquely American nor distinctively Christian. The novelty may be in the erasure of the past. Unlike Anglo-Va aristocracy, Baptists called slaves their brothers and sisters, included them in their churches and in ritual baptisms. Anglicans enslaved.