Fifth Amendment Limitation with Returns to Riverdale and Legion

Today marks the end of my Graduate PLUS loan. Over the course of the last 9 years, I have paid off $23,000 at 8% interest. The highest interest rate and $325 per month loan disappears. Biggest pay raise I will receive this year.

My Country – Fifth Amendment Limitation

Most people understand that the bill of rights are not absolute. Today, Justice Douglas focuses on a fifth amendment limitation on how others or employers react to a refusal to testify. “The Fifth Amendment, it should be remembered, was written for the protection of the innocent and guilty alike.”

Douglas discusses a Kentucky election fraud case where police officers were being interrogated about crimes they were paid to prevent. Each one of them had refused to answer under the advice of counsel. The Kentucky court wrote in regards to this Fifth Amendment limitation,

Suppose a secret murder had been committed, and the police on that beat, when asked about it, should say, ‘I decline to answer for fear of incriminating myself.’ This, under the rule invoked, would protect the witness from answering; but how long would it justify his retention on the foll of the police?

However, Justice Douglas discussed why Patricia Blau was different. He stated that “some who claim the privilege may have had remote relationships to communism in bygone days, but relationships that never involved espionage nor any overt act against this nation. Yet even innocent and unguarded associations may involve a person in the web of the law.” In other words, we cannot expect that every person who invokes the Fifth Amendment is a Russian spy.

If only we needed to worry about Fifth Amendment Communists today. But I would not be surprised if current administration officials invoke the Fifth Amendment. Maybe a Fifth Amendment limitation will help them out.

Tomorrow looks to be the end of the Fifth Amendment discussion. Maybe a discussion of Miranda should follow, since this book preceded the decision.

Daily Briefing

• 6.2 million white working class Americans receive public aid. Get a bachelor’s degree. If you have a child, make them get a bachelor’s degree. Otherwise, you are setting your child up for a much harder life.
• At least he will always have the Alt-Right. I do not understand YouTube celebrities, but I hate the “just kidding” lines. I have never and never would watch PewDiePie. But I’m glad after reading these statement that he lost his money sources. I bet Disney pays better than Breitbart.
• Refugees find jobs in Kentucky within 120 days. Let more refugees into Kentucky.
• Health insurance lifetime limits may return. Yes, you heard that right. At some point in your life, you may run out of health insurance money. In the examples in this article, premature babies blew their their limits before leaving the hospitals. That’s Donald Trump’s America. You leave NICU and you cannot get health insurance.
• People believe conspiracy theories when they don’t want to face reality. Democrats do not want to believe that 63 million people elected a racist troll. They did. They are proud of it. There are enough bad things about the administration. You do not need to believe lies.
• As Alec MacGillis tweeted, “Pay at unionized Boeing plant in WA is about $31/hr, vs about $23/hr in SC. But even numbers like that couldn’t overcome SC anti-union push.” So of course, the SC plant voted not to unionize. Who needs over $16,000 more in yearly salary?

2018 Midterm Election and Election Talk

• As the South and the West grow, the “Rust Belt” loses power. I still believe that the House should not have a 435 member cap.
• If Democrats want to rebound, they need to motivate people to vote in low turnout elections. The 6th District race in Georgia is winnable. But Democrats need to mobilize the vote.
• I wrote a paper on midterm election forecasting. Yes, Presidential approval numbers are a leading indicator. But the economic number will matter more.
• Focus on winning races – not primary-ing candidates. If they will support Speaker Pelosi or Senate Majority Leader Schumer, we need them at this point. The fate of the Republic rests on that.
• Voter ID laws suppress minority voting. Welcome to the new Jim Crow. Led by Jeff Sessions.

Russian Manchurian Candidate

• Email servers cause problems. Potential conversations with Russian spies – meh. Partisanship is a powerful drug.

Law and Order

• Make the legal argument. Sounds like a decent strategy for state AGs to take on the administration in regards to the Emoluments Clause.
• May need to read this book. Baltimore continues to bring the heat in non-fiction crime work.
• Justice Kennedy believes a lot in dignity. Dignity shows up in most of his opinions. Of course, he wants civic civility.

Fun Links

• I’ll go to Mars. How can I join, United Arab Emirates?
• I love this interview with George Saunders. I need to finish Tenth of December.

Daily Distraction

This week, I watched the second episodes of Riverdale and Legion, which I mentioned in this blog before. Both continued off of pretty good pilots.

With Riverdale, the mystery of who killed Jason Blossom continued with glimpses into the relationships. Jughead’s character profile grew and was expanded. Betty had some decisions to make. And ironically, it still is better than any show about the cast of Archie comics deserves to be. I see why people call it Twin Peaks meets Archie, but honestly, outside of the murder, it does not have any of the flavor of Twin Peaks. It’s way too straight forward.

Legion, on the other hand, continues to follow no path at all. The characters make a little more sense and the plot exists, until in the pilot. I can see where the story is moving towards but instead of moving in a straight line, like inside of David’s head, it’s going to be a bit frantic.

I still recommend both of these shows. But if you watch them, start with the first episodes. Otherwise, it won’t make much sense.

One Sentence Story

The whisker felt like fishing line.