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NO on Save (America) Acts

Posted on March 12, 2026 | Leave a comment

Here’s the gist of what I just sent my Texas Senators, a follow-up to a letter sent the other day with information on disenfranchising especially married women who’ve taken their husband’s name:

I’m ** years old and have been voting for nearly fifty years in several states, no never at the same time. Each time we move, on my immediate To Do list once boxes are unpacked is Register to Vote.

Since returning to Texas 18 months ago I’ve been appointed an advisory committee member of RSVP (AmeriCorps Seniors). One of the biggest complaints from fellow seniors getting Real ID for the first time is the hassle and unavailability of necessary paperwork to register for it, and to register to vote.

In 2024, 77.8% of the County’s voters chose Donald Trump. Some were born here many decades ago and have known each other their entire lives. When people ask where I’m living, I’ve learned to just say “the [Smith] house.” And they inevitably reply, “Oh, that family was there for decades, bought it from the [Jones] family, I wondered who has it now.”

These folks are tied to the land. They are citizens, true Texans. Some are home bound. They don’t need hassle and cost and time (read poll tax) to prove who they are to their neighbors at the voting precinct or even to the election commissioner, who actually showed up at the house after work one night to return a driver’s license left at our polling place!

Personally, I have a valid Passport, TSA Pre-Check, Global Entry, and my marriage certificate with me but I’m transitory. While in the County, I plan to do everything I can to better the lives of longtime residents here. It would be nice if you, as our Senator, would do the same and vote no on the SAVE bills.

Seniors here vote for you. We should not be disenfranchised. As DJT would say, thank you for your attention to this matter. 

Respectfully,

+ + + + +

It looks like Sen. Cornyn will do just about anything to try to get Trump’s endorsement, including changing his mind on the filibuster. Let’s stop these unconstitutional laws federalizing elections and handing them to Trump’s goons to cheat and threaten voters. I’m hoping fellow Texans will join me in voting for James Talarico! His youth, earnest nature and commitment to separation of church and state will help us all. Register to VOTE! Get out there and tell your neighbors, and let’s also make sure the upcoming No Kings events are a rousing success. Cheers, Dee

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Another Justice Jackson

Posted on February 23, 2026 | Leave a comment

Reader’s Note: Please see Post immediately prior for background. As I’m just an old, retired lady and not a legal professional, I will not be providing citations, merely an overview and comments. Sorry, kiddos, you’ll have to go to AI to write your history paper!

He was Justice Robert Jackson, and in his concurrence that President Truman over-reached his presidential purview (Youngstown, 1952) he concluded with the following:


“With all its defects, delays and inconveniences, men have discovered no technique for long preserving free government except that the Executive be under the law, and that the law be made by parliamentary deliberations.“

I’m fascinated to learn of congressional and court deliberations and the reasoning behind decisions made and rebutted. There’s so much more available now than in the days when I was doing everything longhand and “Shepherdizing” cases via law books. We had no internet access back then, and when Lexis/Nexis came along we had to make an appointment for our librarian with a perfect query and if she agreed, she’d send the request. I actually scoured newspapers and professional journals for articles of interest to soon-to-be-fellow analysts during the half-year I was paid by our staff librarian. I sent them along as actual “clippings” hand-delivered by our own excellent messenger, Nadine, a very kind young lady with Down Syndrome who had a juge crush on Rick Springfield. Yes, I remember her well.

But I digress. Some of my favorite legal minds that I look to for insights and further reading are now online or even on television. They include the following, in no particular order: Neal Katyal; Andrew Weissman; Mary McCord; Rep. Jamie Raskin; Joyce Vance; Laurence Tribe and Judge Luttig.

Iin terms of the tariffs case decided by SCOTUS last Friday, I was particularly interested in the opinions of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Gorsuch. Over the weekend I got to see (on TV) Neal Katyal, who successfully argued the case, and an analysis by Andrew Weissman. It appears that there may be some “deciders remorse” (my definition) regarding the Court’s presidential immunity ruling.

At the time, SCOTUS had witnessed the multiple indictments and impeachments of Donald Trump for various crimes and thought the president needed immunity from lawsuits based on actions within the scope of presidential duties. There was also, as I recall, particular attention given to private conversations with the Department of Justice. Now, with Trump fully weaponizing the DOJ and going after his real and perceived political enemies, it appears to me that the balance has gone totally the other way. Not to mention that I strongly believe in the rule of law and that Donald Trump doesn’t give a whit about it. Only power.

Of course SCOTUS didn’t define the scope of presidential duties. Anyway, Mr. Weissman opined that the language of Roberts and Gorsuch may provide a hint as to future issues of presidential overreach and perhaps deciding to limit or curtail them. I certainly hope so. Even though there is currently a banner of Donald Trump’s face (à la Ayatollah, Mao) gracing an entire side of Main Justice’s building downtown D.C.

I believe in We, The People and not a tyranny of one, or a theocracy. Ditto a tech bro-ligarchy. Free and fair voting (no SAVE Act) and counting of ballots. No masked goons at polling sites. If we can’t save our democracy beginning in 2026, I believe that as a nation, we’re toast.

So, write your Senators against the SAVE Act. Say it’ll hutt Republicans at least as much, if not more, than Demovrats. Get out with the people and be counted at No Kings and other protests, such as ICE Out. And if you’re not registered to vote, do so right away and vote in the primaries and in November. Write about your experience with voter suppression or whatever you want.

I’m just a legal nerd, and for a reason. My answers still come to me about 3 a.m. and I’m working on an organization that will change things, more on that in another post. Be informed! And vote like our country depends on you, because it does. Yours in respect for the rule of law, Dee

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Real ID?

Posted on February 16, 2026 | Leave a comment

It took Congress 20 years to finally implement Real ID throughout the USA. Now, they don’t want to use it. Wonder why We The People mistrust Congress?

Now that everyone in the government, including TSA, knows who we really are, voters in 44 states can’t use Real ID as identification at their polling place. Why? If Donald Trump has his way, they’ll need a birth certificate or Passport in order to prove that they’re citizens. Fewer than 50% of Americans have a Passport. Heaven knows how many of us can provide a certified birth certificate. Mainly up to 70 million female voters will be unable to cast a ballot if the CARE Act passes the Senate.

Why won’t the majority of female voters be unable to cast a ballot? Because they’re married and took their husband’s name when they exchanged vows. In Texas most counties kept birth records at the county seat, in the Courthouse. Any idea how many of these magnificent old courthouses have burned over the past century since they were built? A lot. Goodbye, permanent records, goodbye voting privileges.

Every polling place I’ve ever been to, in a number of states as I moved around alone, then with my husband, I’ve always encountered a similar situation. Either the polling folks knew me as a neighbor, or if they didn’t they both checked me out to see that I am who I say I am and verified me to vote. If they didn’t know me by name, most knew my dog. I’ve had several really cool dogs over the decades, just lucky I guess.

Behind every desk was a duo: a Republican and a Democrat. They were ostensibly neighbors as polling places are local in nature, so perhaps they only saw one another at the polling place when there was an election, or they could have even played bridge on Thursdays as they had for the past forty years. They always worked together and agreed on voters. Now they do the same with my Real ID.

Most times, except at rush hour, the polls have light turnout. Last time was a special election and there were two clerks and only two of us voting at that particular moment. Every time, since I was 18 (nearly five decades for those who are counting) it has been a respectable and well-run organization. Every time I thank them for their service. Never has there been a police presence at the polls and I’ve voted in New York, California, Utah, Texas and Wisconsin. Different machines, different people, very orderly and professional everywhere.

The SAVE Act is nothing more than voter suppression. Our founders kept the federal government mainly out of federal elections for a reason. And they kept politicians, especially POTUS, out of it. No federal agency needs our state voting records. Ditto other state records including DMV et al. They just don’t. It’s only a way to re-gerrymander and do other nefarious things to remain in power forever.

There is no real issue of undocumented migrants voting illegally, and yes, it is already illegal for an undocumented migrant to vote in federal elections. Think about it. Is it worth losing your job, family and risk deportation to cast one vote? No. Republicans just want to accuse Democrats of encouraging “illegals” to vote, which they can’t, and don’t. That might explain why the minority tend to win elections when the party in power has crummy policies that are executed horribly.

Please vote. Primaries count. Off-presidential elections count. Our nation’s democracy counts. Under no circumstance think that your vote doesn’t matter, because it does. More than you know. Yours in citizenship, (US today, maybe Canadian tomorrow), Dee

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Save the Vote!

Posted on February 7, 2026 | Leave a comment

NOT by voting yes on the “SAVE Act.” This act might do exactly what MAGA wants this year. Prohibit up to 69 million (yes, million) women from voting.

The first thing we have to do at all costs is make sure that voting is controlled by the states, not the federal government. The Constitution determines that the States have control of elections. The courts have indicated strongly that POTUS, by design, has absolutely no role in federal elections. Now, Trump has other ideas. He’s demanding voter rolls from Democratically-controlled states, and is expected to use masked ICE agents at polling sites and demand access to voting machines. He also controls the US Postal Service so could do something to block ballots. He also had a judge from Missouri allow the FBI, under the aegis of the Director of National Intelligence, NOT in her actual job description, to break into the secure area where Fulton County AL has all the 2020 presidential election records and remove them. A lawsuit has been filed to get them back. This federal interference in our most cherished democratic right is not in America’s best interests.

As to the SAVE Act, only half of Americans have a passport. Any woman who took her husband’s name after marriage may no longer be able to vote. When I married I took my husband’s name and it was a real pain to do so (banking, everything) but I was assured that I didn’t have to go to court to legally change my name. I was advised that my marriage certificate would be enough, but it may not be. Many married women do not have their marriage certificate or their birth certificate. One without the other doesn’t work because if her name has changed, the birth certificate will be different than on her current “real ID” drivers license.

Along with trying to send America’s working women back to the kitchen, many extreme MAGA folks believe that the husband should have the vote and the wife should depend on him to make the decision as to who will lead our country. Excuse me? I love my husband dearly but I have a brain and we don’t agree on everything. I make my voting decisions. Always have, always will.

Contact your Congressman(woman) and Senators, please! Read up on the SAVE Act and find out how it will disenfranchise American voters. Yours in solidarity, Citizen Dee

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Where is Sesame Street

Posted on January 28, 2026 | Leave a comment

when we need it? I’m specifically talking about The Count. As you may recall, Sesame Street always featured a number and at the end of the show certain letters and numbers were credited as “sponsors.”

It appears that the Republican Party has a dire need and should bring on The Count as a consultant for an exorbitant sum.

They’re learning the number 1. Except they still think the First Amendment means MAGA gets to say and do whatever it wants (see Jan. 6) and no-one else does. That needs a lot of work. When one thinks that half the country are heathens and domestic terrorists, they’ve got another numbers problem, as in convincing more voters to elect them.

Of late they’ve been having issues with the number 4. As in the Fourth Amendment, illegal search and seizure. ICE and Border Patrol activities have been brutally killing Americans while running amok in the greater (and great) Twin Cities area.

Now, after Saturday’s violent murder of protester Alex Pretti, a firestorm has erupted over the number 2. Now, Republicans have been flogging ability to bear arms anywhere, at any time, for any purpose. Now MAGA Chief Trump says protesters aren’t allowed to legally carry a weapon on the streets. Wait, wasn’t that hailed on Jan. 6’s insurrection? If I, who’s never had or wanted a firearm, am confused, imagine the MAGA gun devotees who’ve done everything to be able to bring their guns to stores and to church. The NRA is flexing its weakening muscle, but a lot of MAGA voters will dump Trump in a heartbeat if he disappoints them on his newest take on the Number 2.

Aside from numeric advice, I’ve some political advice for MAGA faithfuls. NEVER elect a politician who says his/her national platform is “whatever I say it is.” All you get is guns one day, no guns the next; tariffs one day; triple the next and none the following day. And Tylenol causes autism, y’know. Don’t even talk to me about mifepristone.

Look at the Constitution, MAGA. What hill are you willing to die on for Trump? Think about it. Yours in peace and justice, Dee

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White House Walk of Shame

Posted on December 19, 2025 | Leave a comment

President #48 Walk of Fame to Oval Office, redesignation of TRUMP PLAQUE

Framed Photo: Trump condoms “I’m Huuuuuge!

Donald J Trump was elected twice. A convicted sexual predator, he sullied the nation by being the first White House occupant convicted of multiple (34) felonies, who encouraged his children to follow his example by shaking down world leaders and rich folks with business before the U.S. government for money to vastly enrich his family personally; thus contravening our Constitution, laws and presidential norms.

He proudly brought overt hatred of everyone not a rich, white, heterosexual, Republican, Christian male into the White House and therefore, American revisionist history. His abject loathing of all (but subservient) women, Blacks, minorities, the disabled, veterans and all Democrats was foisted on the American people as acceptable and desired behavior.

Notoriously thin-skinned as  late-in-life politician, he spent most of his second term exacting retribution against anyone who might have once crossed his path and irked him in any way. Military heroes, astronauts, comedians, no-one was safe from his IRS, DOJ, Pentagon, mortgage lending arms or FCC. Entire states were denied federal funds because they had a Democrat as a governor, and he took great pride in his efforts to divide our country against itself

He brought his real estate expertise to bear, changing Washington, D.C. regardless of zoning laws, historical considerations, funds needed or how his changes affected the American people who own all these structures. His particular style blends rococo and tyrant chic and while he would never admit to having been inspired by anyone, his muses include worldwide wrestling, Liberace and in his “Je ne sais quoi” attitude, Marie Antoinette.

Early influences were mob lawyer Roy Cohn and the most notorious pedophile the world has ever known, Jeffrey Epstein, he knew in his “gut” to only learn from the best. Known for rewarding loyalty over competence, both his terms courted disaster for the nation’s democracy and rule of law.

To experience Trump’s Washington, visit the newly-gilded Trump-Washington monument, the Trumponian Institution (formerly the Smithsonian) and the Arc de Trump. The Trump Ballroom, his signature work, was nearing completion when a giant sinkhole suddenly ate it, all 875,000 sf of it. The current administration has invited all Americans who have lost their Medicare, Medicaid and SNAP benefits to pan for gold in the sinkhole (all the gilded Oval Office decorations were tossed in for good measure). When every last shred of gold is gone, the former East Wing will be rebuilt under the guidance of historic preservationists and a Blue Ribbon panel of former First Ladies.

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Peace At Any Price

Posted on October 11, 2025 | Leave a comment

I commend the choice of Ms. Machado for the Nobel Peace Prize. There is a vast difference in wanting peace and solely wanting a peace prize.

Ms. Machado is a champion of her people, trying to bring democracy to a dictatorship while hiding in fear for her life. No doubt the prize money will be used to help in her herculean efforts.

Donald Trump wants the Nobel Peace Prize for any number of reasons, the ones I can think of offhand are that: Obama has one; he wants another picture on his wall and if the prize is not solid gold, to gild it so it’s a matching set with all his other Oval Office tchotchkes; and he wants to be able to say that the Nobel Committee supports with its “sponsorship” his tacky ginormous ballroom that 99.9% of Americans will never see, and that has no place on the White House grounds.

Lasting peace is something world leaders (many not elected) work tirelessly to attain, then to keep. Trump sees it as a five minute effort with perhaps a handshake and details to be ironed out later, that includes a big personal pot of gold for him and his equally greedy family.

“Winning” a Nobel Peace Prize while bombing countries, also boats in international waters, unconstitutionally tossing out the U.S. Constitution when it’s nettlesome (habeas corpus, free speech) and instilling fear in Americans everywhere apparently doesn’t fly with the Nobel powers that be. Bullying and outright lobbying for the honor is tacky and beneath the office of the presidency. So does alienating our neighbors and other allies, and leaving sick and hungry people in poor countries to die of disease and starvation after years of consistent support. Our president demeans our great nation and all Americans when he acts this way.

He’s not in it for the peace, he’s only in it for a prize. What a shame. Namaste, Dee

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Another School Shooting

Posted on September 15, 2025 | 1 comment

with a couple of twists. First, the target, a speaker instead of random students. Second, the Keystone Kops response.

Yes, a non-elected political personage was shot and killed. It should not have happened in such an “enlightened” society as ours, except that our gun laws are incredibly lax and allow those with criminal or crazy impulses to easily acquire firearms.

Second, the response was a lesson in how NOT to conduct an investigation. Instead we got an audition for a painfully inept cop show with the FBI director submitting a demo tape for the role of local police chief. And, not to be left out, POTUS himself submitting a demo for police department spokesperson. One writer said that Kash Patel swooped in to impress his “audience of one.” Said author did not say that this is exactly what Dear Leader wants! As a matter of fact, POTUS wanted to get to the mic first.

Then, back in his seat as POTUS Donald Trump maligned the entire half of the country’s active voters who didn’t vote for him, threatened all our first amendment rights (and the right to work and live in our communities) in favor of the second amendment to hunt us down, fire us and kick us off social media for life.

Everyone knows when there’s a disaster, the locals come first and investigate the crime or get on top of the severe weather situation and take care of the survivors of both human-caused and other situations. Similarly, it is also common knowledge that doctors are cautioned, even prohibited, from treating family and friends in order to keep strong emotions at bay.

Now when on a deserted isle and a loved one is bitten by a poisonous snake, the doctor has to act. And when the family returns home safe and sound, no medical board is going to take the doc’s license. Here, in an assassination situation that to this point is a local and state issue, not a federal one, it’s time for POTUS and FBI to step back and let the professionals do what they do best.

What I want from my president in, say, a global pandemic, is to assure the people that he is going to find the problem, get his best people on it and fix it. In the meantime he wants us to stay safe by doing A, B and C. Not to say, if you get the plague and your neighbor is a Democrat, go visit him right away and get his whole family sick. Then I’ll give you the antidote but not them. That way we’ll win the next election and anoint my family as royalty and no longer have elections. And that pesky Constitution can go the way of the dodo.

But what does POTUS do? Ask for millions to beef up his security and, presumably, that of the few federal judges he still likes. Not call for putting down arms or the need for peaceful dialogue, instead let’s kill the bastids and make sure all Democratic donors are shut down so the money is turned off for my opponents and everything will always and forever be about me me me me me.

And Congress? They now want millions for personal security as well, because people don’t like that the Republican trifecta just stole their bank accounts and made sure their children could never afford college or a home of their own. “We can’t hold town halls because people yell at us! They must be paid by George Soros to be here!” We need 24/7 security teams.”

What has changed since last Wednesday? A man was killed, and his killer will go on trial and he’ll probably be jailed for the rest of his long life, setting an appropriate example for others who might be contemplating their own 15 minutes of fame. Law enforcement did their job. The criminal justice system will do the rest. It’s time to turn down the heat, people. Fewer guns, not more. Talk, not violence. To ALL our elected representatives: take stock; be rational; be calm; call for unity and understanding; and, breathe…..

We are the people of the United States of America. We can, and must, do better. All of us. My thoughts go out to yet another grieving family. Dee

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Letter to Congress Rep. on House Budget Bill

Posted on June 5, 2025 | Leave a comment

By now I’m certain you’ve read the Big Beautiful Bill you voted to pass last week. Perhaps you missed a few things that I, as a new resident of your district, have looked into. First of all, this bill does too much, but it certainly succeeds in taking from the poor and giving to the rich.

I’ve read that your district has a higher poverty rate than Texas as a whole. And that 16.4% of your constituents are on Medicaid now, and 16.2% have no health insurance at all. This bill, H.R.1, also trips the PAYGO wire, automatically triggering $500 billion in cuts to Medicare, which I’ve been on for the past year since I turned 65. That is a serious concern to me and a lot of people I’ve met here in X County.

Here, the poverty rate in 2023 was 20,9%, yes, abysmal. At an orientation to help kindergarten and first grade students read at X Elementary next school year, I also learned that 97% of the children there are eligible for free lunches. Having suffered two bouts of bacterial pneumonia this past March and April, I found out that the patient:clinician rate in the County is 5,998:1.

That said, going with the flow and voting to lower the tax rates of the rich while placing the burden on your constituents may not be the best recipe for your congressional career. I know the “party line” is that no-one will be kicked off Medicaid (but there’s still a “savings” of $900 billion) and that Medicare will not be touched (but it will, it’s not in the bill but PAYGO kicks in and decimates Medicare). Our rural healthcare will leave here, nursing homes will close due to lack of Medicaid funding, and additional work requirements for both Medicaid and SNAP will render your people hungry as well.

The bill also cuts the legs off the federal judiciary, rendering them unable to secure judgements. The Republican Party is also moving along a bill to cede Congressional power to the Executive to single-handedly “reorganize” the entire federal government, close departments and ignore your carefully worded laws willy-nilly.  Watch, at the last minute, it’ll be folded into this omnibus bill and we’ll no longer have separation of powers, and you won’t have a job either. 

At 22, I became a legislative analyst for the NY State Assembly Speaker, writing laws that affected over thirty million people. Having grown wiser with age, I use both my age and experience to help people (and animals) in need. I don’t know how long I’ll be here but you’ll find me helping young students read in the Fall, and doing whatever else I can to help the folks here mitigate the negative effects about to be imposed on them by the officials they elected to represent them.

Please reconsider your vote on the bill as written. Thank you.

Note to Dear Readers: Write now! I’m coming up with a pilot program for rural areas but need local buy-in and being a Northerner, and female, down here isn’t exactly an asset. It’s worth a try if it means doing my part to save our country. Let’s do the work, folks. If our government reps were able to talk to each other and compromise we wouldn’t have to suffer idiocy and subject our kids and grandkids to huge budget deficits. Dee

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Just Plane Grift

Posted on May 12, 2025 | Leave a comment

I think we’re overloading our courts these days with much unconstitutional stream of consciousness from the White House disguised as executive “laws.” Normally there is an office of ethics attached to the Oval Office and an inspector general in most departments, if not all. They try to keep things on an even keel, but no, in this administration they’ve all been conveniently fired.

Accepting a $400 million plane from a foreign country for the president’s exclusive use, then GIVING it to him as a “golden parachute” to use for the rest of his life, with probably another couple hundred million upgrades tacked on for DOD/Secret Service must-haves, is just ludicrous. Illegal as hell, and criminally stupid.

Is this why Trump campaigned on “no tax on tips?” Four hundred million is a heck of a tip, Mr. President.

There are other reasons not to accept this bribe from Qatar, mainly involving national security. I’m sure Mr. Trump has never been a devotee of ancient myth or even Aesop’s fables, lest he take the morals of the stories to heart. You see, there was something called a Trojan horse. It was given as a beautiful gift, only to have the enemy’s army spill out from it’s insides and seize the day surreptitiously.

America decides how its president will get from place to place and with what security precautions, because safe leaders make for a safer country. I don’t know what security measures are on Air Force One, because I’m not supposed to know. ‘Nuff said. We don’t allow foreign nationals, royal families, to provide us with secure transportation for our president. That’s our job.

Acceptance of this gift would pose a severe ethical problem. I disagree with SCOTUS in its decision to allow and encourage dark money in elections as I believe all donors should be open and above board in public elections for publicly held office. That’s the reason we have FOIA and Open Meetings laws. What’s necessary now is for Congress to beef up transparency of money in politics, adding to the law provisions for self-funded presidential transition operations, inaugural committees and presidential libraries.

Why is the cabinet stuffed with billionaires who know nothing about the subject matter of their agencies? Grift, access to power and rolling back regulations on their individual industries. Look what Elon Musk’s several months slashing and burning government agencies has gotten him in terms of preferential treatment, his businesses are taking government contracts and easing regulations. His initial Trumpian investment of $200 million for the 2024 general election will be repaid in spades.

Forget about draining the swamp. The White House and this particular administration is the swampiest ever, with “mistakes” of having ethical people on board for Trump I conspicuously absent for the constant grift present in Trump II.

As to Qatar, thanks for the offer, but should be just a plane “no” from the White House. Oh, and Congressional leadership, you’d better wake up and start doing your job soon, or you won’t have one to come back to. Just a thought. Register to vote, and sign up everyone you know. Sanity and ethics must prevail. Dee

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