Post AtOA9ZjlnwTIHoDSvg by zemsgram@mstdn.social
(DIR) More posts by zemsgram@mstdn.social
(DIR) Post #AtO4NofwSgqawgphy4 by Nonilex@masto.ai
2025-04-23T15:50:29Z
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#Illinois #Democrat Senator #DickDurbin, No.2 #Senate Dem & a leading #liberal voice, to retire after 44 years in #Congress#Durbin retiring will fundamentally reshape how #immigration is debated in the Senate. For decades, he's played a leading role in shaping immigration policy (he was behind the first push for the Dream Act over 20 years ago).#law #legislation #LegislativeBranch #USpol https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/23/us/dick-durbin-retires-senate.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=p&pvid=6F0C39E6-2591-4197-B6F2-1F78E333F509
(DIR) Post #AtO4aiA1zifSVO3WIS by Nonilex@masto.ai
2025-04-23T15:52:49Z
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…Sen #DickDurbin, who is in his fifth #Senate term, said it was not an easy choice to step away from his prime perch doing battle with #Trump, whom he considers a dire #threat to #democracy. He described moments in recent days “where I thought, ‘Man, I don’t want to miss this fight.’”“But you know,” he continued, “I have to be honest about this. There are good people in the wings, good people on the bench ready to serve, & they can fight this fight just as effectively as I can.…”#law #USpol
(DIR) Post #AtO4k0EYAYX1ACbGJE by Nonilex@masto.ai
2025-04-23T15:54:29Z
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#Durbin’s departure will reverberate in the #Senate, where he played a prominent role on a host of big issues & was considered a forceful advocate of party positions. He was among the first to push for a path to #citizenship for some #undocumented immigrants brought to the #UnitedStates illegally as children, a group that came to be known as #Dreamers that became the focal point of successive failed efforts to overhaul #immigration laws.#law #legislation #LegislativeBranch #democracy #USpol
(DIR) Post #AtO4xKuGcShD2mTF0i by Nonilex@masto.ai
2025-04-23T15:56:53Z
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…A longtime force on the #Judiciary Cmte, Mr. #Durbin became its chair in 2021, resisting calls from progressives that he make room for a younger member given his leadership role & other #legislative responsibilities.He subsequently oversaw the confirmation of 235 federal #judges during the Biden admin—including one #SCOTUS justice—surpassing by one the number of judges confirmed by #Republicans during an aggressive push in #Trump’s first term.#law #legislation #LegislativeBranch #democracy
(DIR) Post #AtO55UciNNJPUs9Mu0 by nonproductive@mastodon.social
2025-04-23T15:58:20Z
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@Nonilex Paging Chuck Schumer... Please follow Durbin's lead, he is the wiser man.
(DIR) Post #AtO5L0Wc362CmWh4wy by Nonilex@masto.ai
2025-04-23T16:01:10Z
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#Durbin …has also forged close relationships w/some #Republicans, including Sen #ChuckGrassley of Iowa, who has been chairman of the #Judiciary Cmte in periods when Durbin was the top #Democrat.The two pushed a #criminal #justice overhaul that overcame Republican resistance to be signed into #law by #Trump during his first term, leading to the early release of thousands of prisoners who had their sentences recalculated.#law #legislation #LegislativeBranch #democracy #USpol
(DIR) Post #AtO5RCst0i18qo4Hyq by Nonilex@masto.ai
2025-04-23T16:02:19Z
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In celebrating the sixth anniversary of that #law, the #FirstStepAct, in December, #Durbin noted that less than 10% of the 40k prisoners released under the law, many of them drug offenders, had been rearrested or jailed, far less than the typical #recidivism rate.#legislation #LegislativeBranch #democracy #USpol
(DIR) Post #AtO5XoA3KRlmCUFH1M by Nonilex@masto.ai
2025-04-23T16:03:30Z
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#Durbin was an early critic of the #war in #Iraq, voting against the 2002 authorization for military force. He criticized the mistreatment of detainees at the US military prison in #GuantánamoBay, Cuba, as comparable to the acts of “Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime — Pol Pot or others — that had no concern for human beings” & later apologized for a “poor choice of words.”#law #HumanRights #legislation #LegislativeBranch #democracy #USpol
(DIR) Post #AtO5dZG5eJipiaodUm by paul_ipv6@infosec.exchange
2025-04-23T16:04:32Z
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@Nonilex i am sorry to see such a loss of experience and competence. more and more, congress is being filled with zealots and idealogues with no idea of what congress actually does; just their pushing of twisted and inhumane agendas.on the other hand, this vast experience is also partly why democrats keep acting as if there is a bipartisan, functional system and keeping playing the dance band on the democracy ship titanic.
(DIR) Post #AtO5jkZ8WRWsWZfkrA by Nonilex@masto.ai
2025-04-23T16:05:40Z
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In 2001, #Durbin introduced the #DreamAct w/Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), in an effort to create a path to #citizenship for younger #undocumented #immigrants who had been brought to the US as children. It never became #law, but it laid the foundation for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals [#DACA] program, which was announced by President #Obama in 2012 & protected hundreds of thousands of immigrants from #deportation. #Trump has tried to end the program, & it remains under legal threat.
(DIR) Post #AtO69lIwOjzULRV63M by paul_ipv6@infosec.exchange
2025-04-23T16:10:19Z
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@Nonilex glad to see him encouraging new folks in. when seniority in committee assignments and extensive experience with crafting competent bipartisan legislation is no longer the main focus, that vast experience isn't nearly as useful as a willingness to push back on the fascist takeover.
(DIR) Post #AtOA9ZjlnwTIHoDSvg by zemsgram@mstdn.social
2025-04-23T16:55:02Z
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@Nonilex Great respect for Dick Durbin but also great respect for his decision to step aside. We need to bring younger people up and I say this as a senior myself. There are other people who can come in with a fresh perspective and a great deal of energy that is so urgently needed. Times have changed. One of the great things about George Washington was that he knew when to step aside.
(DIR) Post #AtOLJC4ziVzjIxvtFQ by Simplicator@federate.social
2025-04-23T19:00:06Z
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@Nonilex In that apology, he surrendered his soul.