Legalectric

This week was full of precedent setting/uprooting and life altering decisions of the Supreme Court, including 303 Creative LLC v Elenis, which needs to be tossed out, attorneys need to be disbarred, etc. LYING is NOT OK, specifically prohibited in Court Rules. Good grief…

And only after the fact to we learn that this is a fraud, based on misrepresentations and made-up-claims-emitting-from-what-orifice?

Comments from Plaintiff and the Colorado Attorney General:

Listen to Colorado’s Attorney General Phil Weiser complain that the case allowing businesses to discriminate against gay couples was a made-up case with no real victim or any real business. The court should have refused to hear it, he says. pic.twitter.com/F9yMQLoXFM

— David Heath (@davidhth) June 30, 2023

From The Guardian:

Key document may be fake in LGBTQ+ rights case before US supreme court

Seems there was no request, the Colorado court was dismissing her claim because there was no basis for it, and suddenly there was a “request.” That alone should have raised suspicion:

The man named in the Supreme Court’s gay rights ruling says he didn’t request a wedding website

Watch as Motions for Sanctions, courts 86ing the decision, and complaints to the bar roll in…

Required reading for early September — there’s not much time until November 8th, and we have so much to do!

When folks around you are mired in QAnon, conspiracies, lies, what to do? I’ve come around to thinking that what’s needed is intervention, and treatment and/or deprogramming, as with cults, or in 12 Step chemical dependency models.

After this last week, each of us should be asking this question and grappling with action.

From Psychology Today:

Part 1 – The Psychological Needs That QAnon Feeds – What to do when someone you love becomes obsessed with QAnon

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Part 2 – How Far Down the QAnon Rabbit Hole Did Your Loved One Fall? What to do when someone you love becomes obsessed with QAnon

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Part 3 – 4 Keys to Help Someone Climb Out of the QAnon Rabbit Hole – What to do when someone you love becomes obsessed with QAnon

This is a little too “psych lite” for me, but in talking about intervention, there is this, which makes sense:

Another form of psychotherapy that could be applied to conspiracy theory beliefs is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which is designed to challenge “cognitive distortions” and false beliefs by looking at evidence to disconfirm them.

From the article, a reading list:

• How to talk to conspiracy theorists—and still be kind” by the moderators of the Reddit r/ChangeMyView subforum.

• My father, the QAnon conspiracy theorist” by Reed Ryley Grable.

• Escaping the Rabbit Hole: How to Debunk Conspiracy Theories Using Facts, Logic, and Respect by Mick West.

• Freedom of Mind: Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults and Beliefs and The Cult of Trump by ex-cult member turned cult expert and counselor Steven Hassan.

David Neiwert’s forthcoming book Red Pill, Blue Pill: How to Counteract the Conspiracy Theories That Are Killing Us also looks to be a worthwhile read.