May 2, 2024

Thursday, May 2, 2024. Annette’s News Roundup.

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Joe is always busy.

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Kamala is always busy.

Kamala was in Florida yesterday, the first day that the DeSantis Abortion Ban went into effect.

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Arizona Republicans claim they are a 21st Century Party.

Don’t be fooled. Only 2 Arizona Republican State Senators voted with the Democrats to overthrow the 1864 Bill.

Arizona Senate repeals 1864 abortion ban.

The Arizona Senate voted on Wednesday to repeal the state's pre-Roe ban on nearly all abortions, the final step before it goes to Gov. Katie Hobbs, who has said she'll sign it.

Why it matters: Repealing the ban, which dates to early territorial days in 1864, will allow a 2022 law permitting abortions through 15 weeks of pregnancy to go into effect.

Catch up quick: The Arizona Supreme Court last month reinstated the ban, ruling that it wasn't superseded by the 15-week law.

• Two Senate Republicans voted with Democrats a week later to pave the way for a vote on the repeal, but the House was one GOP vote short of the majority needed to overrule Speaker Ben Toma.

• Last week, the House mustered the votes to pass the repeal, setting the stage for a final vote in the Senate.

Driving the news: Republicans Shawnna Bolick (R-Phoenix) and T.J. Shope (R-Coolidge) voted with the Senate's 14 Democrats Wednesday to pass the House repeal bill, a move opposed by Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Gilbert).

• To avoid procedural delays, the Senate swapped out its bill with the identical House version, which allowed senators to take a final vote Wednesday so the bill could be sent to Hobbs quickly.

Yes, but: The repeal won't go into effect until 90 days after the legislative session ends.

• Sessions have no set time limits and the only deadline lawmakers face is they must pass a budget before July 1.

Between the lines: The ban won't go into effect until at least 45 days after the Arizona Supreme Court issues its final mandate, a date that won't come until June 27 at the earliest, the Attorney General's Office said.

• Attorney General Kris Mayes on Tuesday asked the court to withhold its final mandate for an additional 90 days while she decides whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

• Hobbs last year issued an executive order purporting to strip county attorneys of authority to prosecute abortion-related crimes and consolidate it under Mayes, a fellow Democrat who has vowed not to enforce the ban.

• But providers say they won't perform illegal abortions, regardless of whether the Attorney General's Office plans to prosecute.

What's next: House Republicans may refer several measures to the November ballot that would compete with a citizen initiative to enshrine abortion rights in the Arizona Constitution.

• No proposals have been introduced in the Legislature yet.(Axios)

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Current fallout from the Hamas-Israel War.

Our universities are filled with Police arresting Free Palestine Protesters who can’t win either divestiture or a cease-fire.

Secretary of State Blinken is in Israel trying to land a deal to release hostages and create a cease-fire.

House passes GOP antisemitism bill amid college unrest.

Many who voted against the bill said it infringes on free speech.

The House passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act on Wednesday amid unrest on college campuses.

The bill, which was introduced by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, passed 320-91.

The measure was led by Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and had 15 Democratic co-sponsors. Many Republicans and Democrats who voted against the bill said it infringes on free speech.

It requires the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitismwhen enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws. The working definition says antisemitism is in-part "a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews." The definition includes denying Jewish people their right to self-determination by claiming that the State of Israel is a racist state and drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.

Several Democrats took issue with the alliance's definition of antisemitism and some of the contemporary examples on antisemitism listed by the group. Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler, who is Jewish, said he took issue with the bill because it would put the "thumb on the scale" in favor of one definition of antisemitism and could "chill" constitutionally-protected free speech. Nadler voted against the bill.

The definition of antisemitism has been fraught, especially amid the ongoing protests at colleges and universities across the country in connection with the war in Gaza. Student protesters critical of the Israeli government's military actions in Gaza have continued to face accusations of antisemitism, as politicians from across the ideological spectrum react to the widening demonstrations on college campuses.

The House's vote came as those college protests rage on. Many pro-Palestinian protesters are calling for their colleges to divest of funds from Israeli military operations, while some Jewish students on the campuses as well as elected officials have called the protests antisemitic and said they are scared for their safety.

Some Jewish students have long warned against conflating antisemitism with views critical of Israel's government and blanket portrayals of all protesters as antisemitic.

The college protests have been largely peaceful, officials say, though hundreds of students and faculty have been arrested at campuses across the country, primarily for trespassing. School administrators across the country have also said that some instances of violence have largely been connected to unaffiliated non-students. (ABC News).

Biden to Address Holocaust Remembrance While Still Quiet on Campus Unrest.

The president has largely left it to aides to respond to anti-Israel protests at colleges across the country, but he is planning a speech next week at an event sponsored by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

President Biden, who has personally stayed relatively quiet during college campus protests in recent days, plans to speak out against antisemitism next week at a ceremony hosted by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s annual “days of remembrance” commemoration, the White House announced on Wednesday.

While his spokesmen have denounced violence and antisemitism on campus, Mr. Biden has made little effort to personally address the anti-Israel protests that have roiled colleges across the country, drawing criticism from Republicans and frustrating some Democrats who want him to show more public leadership.

Mr. Biden will travel to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to deliver the keynote address of the Holocaust museum’s yearly event and remember the Nazi effort to exterminate the Jewish people in Europe. “The president will also discuss our moral duty to combat the rising scourge of antisemitism,” Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, told reporters.

Ms. Jean-Pierre noted that the Biden-Harris administration had developed a national strategy to counter antisemitism even before the Oct. 7 Hamas-led terrorist attack killed 1,200 people in Israel and touched off a war in Gaza that has killed an estimated 34,000 people. The goal of the effort, she said, is “to make real the promise of never, never again.” (New York Times)

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Trump will pick a Vice President running mate.

Imagine being this woman.👇

Or this man? Watch him.👇

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