Sep 152023
 

Glenn Kirschner – Even Trump’s own appointee, Judge Cannon, is now ruling against him. Can it get much worse for Trump

The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party – September 12, 2023

PoliticsGirl – Georgia Indictment

Thom Hartmann – Can This Really Stop The Billionaires? w/ Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)

Little Old Man Dog Was Shaking Like A Leaf Until…

Beau – Let’s talk about a tale of 3 impeachments….

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Jun 142023
 

Yesterday, I was astonished to receive a “Tuesday Trivia” email from Ken Jennings. He stopped doing those years ago (after having done 800 of them.) But this one is because he has a new book. And I have to think that this is a terrific marketing strategy – emails to a list of people who followed you for 800 weeks (that’s more than 15 years.) If you are curious about the book, the trivia, or both, you can see the questions and answers here (I got two- Mahler and Marley – which is IIRC about average for me, and I don’t remember ever getting a Question 7.) The book is a compendium of everything anyone has ever believed about the afterlife, through history and across cultures, and down at the bottom of the page there is a left arrow (much like the ones under our comment sections) to the book’s main page.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The New Yorker – Will the Judge in Trump’s Case Recuse Herself—or Be Forced To?
Quote – Someone has to win the lottery, right? [On Saturday, just after we spoke, the Southern District confirmed to the Times that Cannon was randomly chosen, stating, “Normal procedures were followed.” Because the judge was chosen based, in part, on proximity to West Palm Beach, Cannon was one of seven active judges and three senior judges in the pool for the random draw.]
Click through for more speculation. I have used two videos, one in Sunday’s video thread and one in yesterday’s, made by Michael Popok for Meidas Touch. He lives and has worked in the Southern District of Florida, and is the only attorney I have found who points out that Cannon is in the Palm Beach Division, whereas the grand jury and the indictment and the arraignment (and presumably the trial itself) are in the Miami Division – not only a separate Division, but als a 200-mile round trip if it comes to that. He is also the only one to notice that the Magistrate Judge assigned is from the Miami Divison. This is going to have to be addressed. A 200 mile round trip is four hours – and that’s in Colorado, which is much less highly populated than southern Florida. It’s not reasonable to expect that of anyone. I am expecting less bickering than many experts are expecting.

HuffPost – Donald Trump Becomes First U.S. President To Be Formally Charged With Federal Crimes
Quote – Trump lawyer Todd Blanche entered the plea on Trump’s behalf shortly after 3 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman, according to reporters in the room. Trump spent much of the time stonefaced, arms crossed, as the proceeding unfolded over the course of an hour. The judge released both Trump and co-defendant Walt Nauta, a personal aide to Trump, without bail and travel restrictions. Trump was, however, ordered not to contact or speak with witnesses about the case, including Nauta, who continues to work for him.
Click through for story. As expected, the presiding judge was a Magiatrate Judge, not a District Judge, and specifically, one from the Miami Division (also specifically, not Judge Reinhart.) I’m going to avoid as much as possible even mentioning Judge Cannon, unless something comes up that is factual in nature and well-substantiated, because – to quote C. S. Lewis quoting an inagined afterlife spirit of George MacDonald, “all answers deceive.”

The Nib (Kay Sohini) – Breathless
Quote – I grew up in a sleepy little suburb parallel to the Ganges, and we were forever privy to a vast expanse of sky stretching from the shore. On the weekends after dinner, my grandfather woud take us stargazing. We only had to walk up to the roof. When I moved to Calcutta for college,… I could not see the stars. And I could not breathe.
Click through for graphic essay. This is the last one I have been sitting on, but I don’t rule out using another if one comes up.

Food For Thought

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Jun 032023
 

Yesterday, we resolved the car registration issue. Of course i don’t actually have the sticker yet. So when I go to see Virgil tomorrow, I will have in the car a copy of the entire email correspondence to explain the delay and prove i am actually in good standing in case I should be stopped. Of course I hope that won’t ne neessary – but but why take chances when one doesn’t have to? Also – not actually yesterday, but while I was preoccupied – I learned that what used to be “Elderhostel” is now named “Road Scholar.” If you weren’t familiiar with it, it’s a no-profit that books travel for older people. I would not call it exactly cheap (and some of it is downright pricey), but they do make it more affordable than if you were to try to book it yourself. So if anyone you know is considering leaving, not just a red state, but the whole country, it would be a resource to help check potential destinatins out. I did not register – I assume if one does, one would be able to see more than I was able to.  Also yesterday, though, I received a package I wasn’t expecting yet – the window for delivery they gave me when I ordered was June 3 – July 3.  It was 4 pairs of glasses for Barbie dolls (including one pair of sunglasses.)  Hopefully not having to try to make glasses out of jewelry wie will inspire me to get busy on the justice robe for my RBG doll, and then  will only need to make the collar.  (The doll doesn’t look a whole lot like RBG, though she looks very much like the actress who played her in the biopic which IIRC was called “On Account of Sex.”  And the sunglasses – well, I have pulled a bunch of red yarn out of my stash in anticipation of using them. 😉

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Short Takes –

Letters from an American – May 31, 2023
Quote – But, as Josh Marshall pointed out in Talking Points Memo today, the Republican base no longer seems to care much about fiscal issues. Instead, they are pushing the cultural issues at the heart of illiberal democracy: anti-LGBTQ laws, antiabortion laws, anti-immigration laws. Former president Trump is making those themes central to his reelection campaign. Yesterday he released a video promising that on “Day One” of a new presidential term, he would issue an executive order that would end birthright citizenship. Our current policy that anyone born in the United States is a citizen, he claims, is “based on a historical myth, and a willful misinterpretation of the law by the open borders advocates.” He promises to make “clear to federal agencies that under the correct interpretation of the law, going forward, the future children of illegal aliens will not receive automatic US citizenship.”
Click through for full column. Donald Trump** promised/threatened to do away with birthtight citizenship on his first day (if he wins.) Here’s why that is, at the very least, unconstitutional.

emptywheel – LORDY, THERE ARE TAPES [OF TRUMP ACKNOWLEDGING HE HAD STOLEN CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS]!
Quote – First, it’s certainly possible this is one of the documents pertaining to Iran that WaPo has reported were among the ones obtained in the search in August 2022. If it is, then it would be a document that Trump transported back and forth from Florida — something that would make it easier for DOJ to charge this in DC instead of SDFL.
Click through – I’m sure you know the basic part of this story. This may fill in some details.

Food For Thought

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Mar 112023
 

Glenn Kirschner – NY DA Bragg invites Donald Trump to testify in grand jury; next prosecutorial step? An indictment

Politics Girl – Fox News Viewer?

Thom Hartmann – How Does Fox News Get Away With Lying To America?

MSNBC – ‘Complete bull’: Franken demolishes McCarthy for Tucker’s Jan. 6 propaganda

Leukemia cat was languishing in shelter. This woman took him home. Hanky Alert

Beau – Let’s talk about new Trump document case developments….

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Feb 222023
 

Glenn Kirschner – Once Trump is indicted, he will throw EVERYONE on whom he has compromising information under the bus (My concern, and that of his niece, is that he will incite violence on a much larger scale than anything up till now.)

The Lincoln Project – Democracy Won

Ring of Fire – Why Trump’s Document Problem Makes Him Look So Stupid (Not to be a party pooper, but this assumes all the documents start out in the National Archives – and they don’t. But it’s still funny.)

Shirley Serban – Pets Sing The Prayer

This Ancient-Looking Dog Is Actually A Puppy

Beau – Let’s talk about a PSA for Ohio and a question from Europe….

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Feb 132023
 

Glenn Kirschner – More docs found at Pence’s place: Pence/Biden doc issues are VERY different than Trump’s doc issues

MSNBC – Trump lawyers turn over more classified material, including digital copies (Statehood for the USVI !!! – also Puerto Rico and DC, of course.)

Robert Reich – The Dark Side of Sports Stadiums

Armageddon Update – Balloon Terror!!

Woman Finds Spicy Kitten Under Trash Can

Beau – Let’s talk about Biden’s State of the Union fiddle playing….

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Jan 292023
 

Glenn Kirschner – The ugly truth EXPOSED about the Durham/Barr investigation of those who investigated Trump-Russia

The Lincoln Project – – RNC Chaos

MSNBC – Pence takes ‘full responsibility’ for classified documents found at his home

PUPPET REGIME – The Rat Explains Putin

Dog Stuck In Pipe Gets Dug Out

Beau – Let’s talk about the Pence documents case….

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Jan 192023
 

Yesterday, although also trying to catch up on some personal stuff, I did play the New Yorker’s “Name Drop” puzzle and actually got it on the third clue. While there, I looked at the Daily Cartoon. I’d love to peproduce it here, but it’s so good everyone is going to be all over it, so I’ll just link to it instead. Don’t miss it . and don’t miss Freya’s new Sound Off. Yes, it will be in the weekend email, but if you’re here, why not see it now?

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Short Takes –

PolitiZoom – Another Trump Ally, Michael Flynn, Now Suggests Biden Was Set Up
Quote – Saturday, I wrote abouttwo of Trump’s closest allies (Sean Hannityjob and Ronny Jackson, proposing, against all expectations, that Joe Biden, rather than being clumsy, negligent or incompetent in his handling of classified materials, that something more sinister is afloat… that Biden is being “set-up” – supposedly by his own people – to take a fall…. Well, now another traitor has been heard heard from, Gen. Michael Flynn, newly reinstated to Twitter by chaos agent Elon Musk on the 2nd anniversary of the Capitol riot, here weighing {and} pushing the same line as others close to Trump… that the President is being undermined by “others” in the White House.
Click through for details (and a lot of chatter.) There’s an old saying (which I am butchering, but it has multiple variations anyway): Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times looks like projection.

Crooks & Liars – Dad Arrested After Toddler Seen Playing With Loaded Gun On Live TV Show
Quote – All of this was captured on camera. A lot of people watched it Saturday night because Beech Grove police are featured on a show called “On Patrol: Live,” which airs on REELZ. A police report confirms officers recovered the weapon, a 9-millimeter handgun with 15 rounds in the magazine…. Osborne is due in court for his initial hearing Tuesday [rescheduled for Thursday] afternoon.
Click through for story. You know, back in the day, as recently as the 1970’s, the NRA stood for gun safety and responsibility. Today, they’ll probably file an amicus brief for this dad. Are there actually any responsible gun owners left?

Food For Thought

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