But at this crucial moment, clients need to find their courage, too. And partners at big firms — who often earn millions a year — must be willing to take financial risks when the fate of our nation, the future of our profession and the rule of law itself is at stake.
Now Gertner is observing Trump’s belligerence towards the courts unfold with mounting concern. “There’s been nothing like this in American history. There have been people who threatened not to obey the law, especially post the civil war, but this is a sustained attack on the courts we haven’t seen before.”
It’s no coincidence that the same tactics used to restrict abortion access are used to restrict gender-affirming care, nor that they’re lobbied for by the same conservative groups, who litigate loudly against trans, gay and abortion rights. It is bewildering, though, to see feminists who engage in anti-trans rhetoric offering up their own reproductive rights as a sweetener. Authoritarian movements require solidarity to resist, otherwise we’re all toast.
All the joy.
Musk’s fans love his narration of power as a vicarious gamelike experience of dominance. These fans don’t find the DOGE escapades chaotic or confusing. If anything, the bombastic flouting of norms and laws makes the world more sensible to them. It is government and civic life they don’t understand. Musk clarifies a scary world for them, putting it in terms they understand. Bad guy. Good guy. Evil. Villain. Kill. Win.
I am a lawyer and so I believe in the power of law as a tool to fight against injustice. But as a civil rights lawyer, I also know that law alone is insufficient.
In standing by and allowing Trump & Musk to seize power that is not constitutionally theirs, the Republican-controlled Congress is fully participating in the coup. Most of the power being grabbed here is that of Congress…and they are just letting it happen.
It remains unclear who is going to run the [National Archives], which is in charge of record keeping for the entire federal government. This is a particularly important role considering that large parts of the federal government are currently being purged or shut down, and there is uncertainty about what will happen to their records.
Here’s why this matters: imprecise and euphemistic language is the language of fascists, authoritarians, and oppressors — power-craving leaders who either don’t want people to know what they are doing or don’t want them to think too hard about the illegality or immorality of their actions.
“It is ironic that the executive order makes provision for refugee status in the US for a group in South Africa that remains amongst the most economically privileged, while vulnerable people in the US from other parts of the world are being deported and denied asylum despite real hardship,” it said. “We reiterate that South Africa remains committed to finding diplomatic solutions to any misunderstandings or disputes.”
“Transgender people, like everyone else, must be able to realize their human rights so they can fully participate in sports with safety and dignity,” said Karla Gonzales Garcia, the director of gender, sexuality and identity programs at Amnesty International. “The policing of who can and cannot play sports could lead to problematic invasive testing of all athletes.”
While the pink triangle originated as a symbol of sexual deviancy, it has since been reclaimed as a powerful symbol by LGBTQ+ people across the world. In the 1970s, with the dawn of the modern gay liberation movement, activists took the upside-down pink triangle and turned it the right way around to use it as a sign of their own difference – and the need for that difference to be accepted, embraced and understood.
I feel very targeted at the current time. Now we are removing as many of the resources that help me be effective and feel welcome as we can.
We should strive to have inclusive and equitable workplaces because it is the right thing to do. Not because the law requires us to do so.
Want to read: Kingdom of No Tomorrow by Fabienne Josaphat 📚 just added on the strength of the NYT book review.
For most of us, it’s hard to imagine life without an internet browser. But as AI disaggregates information from text, video, and music into unique remixable AI chatbot answer streams, it’s clear to me that over the next decade the browser will need to adapt or die.
Happy holidays.
