Glenn Kirschner – Trump files nonsensical brief attacking DOJ/Mar-a-Lago search warrant; Judge tells him to try again
Meidas Touch – WTF: Texas Paul REACTS to Republican Candidate who supports STONING LGBTQ people
Lincoln Project – Poser
Ring of Fire – Trump Has Epic Meltdown As Scandals Get Worse
Armageddon Update – The Troops
Beau – Let’s talk about talking points that are destroying families….
Yesterday, the redacted affidavit from the Mar-a-Lago search warrant was released. So much was NOT redacted that I suspect all that was redacted was any information which might tend to identify the witnesses, or otherwise compromise DOJ sources (and also, just maybe, other Federal laws they are investigating him for). Yes, there are some all-black pages – but by my count they make up just under half of the complete document. Like all legal documents, the phrasing and vocabulary are as unsensational as possible, but the facts are there and are made clear. Of course MAGAts would not be convinced FPOTUS did anything wrong even if Jesus came back to earth and denounced him. But anyone with an open mind who can manage to get through the legalese should get it.
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Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance – Tomorrow Before Noon
Quote – Here’s the bottom line. Kemp delayed testifying, despite the DA’s persistent efforts—first voluntary and then by subpoena, to bring him in. Now, months into the process, he says she shouldn’t be able to make him testify before his election in November, even though he’s responsible for the delay. But Kemp is a fact witness. If he’d observed a car wreck and was called to testify, would he argue he shouldn’t have to before the election? Of course not. It’s a bad argument, tantamount to asking for special treatment because he’s on the ballot and doesn’t want to have to testify against the former president before the voting starts. And I’m sure that if the court permits him to delay past November, Kemp will find fresh reasons to claim he can’t testify after the election. Kemp also argues that he has sovereign immunity as the state’s governor, which should prevent his grand jury testimony. But again, Kemp isn’t a target of the investigation, he’s just a fact witness, so that doctrine shouldn’t apply.
Click through for details. Like Richardson, Vance sends her newsletter late at night, so “Tomorrow” in her title is now “Yesterday.”
Robert Reich – My father and Senator Joe McCarthy
Quote – During the Army-McCarthy hearings, McCarthy’s chief counsel was Roy Cohn. Cohn had gained prominence as the Department of Justice attorney who successfully prosecuted Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for espionage, leading to their execution in 1953. The Rosenberg trial had brought the 24-year-old Cohn to the attention of J. Edgar Hoover, who convinced McCarthy to hire Cohn as chief counsel for McCarthy’s Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, where Cohn became known for his aggressive questioning of suspected communists. My father thought Roy Cohn almost as despicable as Joe McCarthy. After McCarthy’s downfall, Cohn proved useful to a young New York real estate developer named Donald Trump who was then undertaking several large construction projects in Manhattan and needed a fixer and mentor. Cohn filled both roles.
Click through for story. Although I’m almost a year older than Robert, I didn’t even know there was such a thing as television until the nid-fifties, and we didn’t have one for a lot of years after that. I’m glad he did, and was old enough to remember that occasion. But … we are still (not again, still) fighting the same ogre today.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Donald Trump’s personal handling of stolen classified documents increases odds he will be prosecuted
Meidas Touch – Former Navy Pilot HUMILIATES Ron DeSantis for Cringey ‘Top Gun’ Ad
The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party, August 23, 2022
MSNBC – Lawrence O-Donnell – Trump Love Letters (continues with Uvalde school Board, but mostly about documents)
“Mrs F” – everyone has big feelings sometimes (Nameless – the entire soundtrack is a toddler having a meltdown I’m sure you have heard enough of those to imagine it.)
Beau – Let’s talk about Trump begging McConnell for help….
Yesterday, the pickup got picked u – Yay! My body was still complaining, however, so I had to do some self czre. The right shoulder was probably not the worst, but it was definitely the most annoying. But – have traffic lanes again – and more room to start on the next one. Assoon as I feel up to it. Meanwhile, I’ll be seeing Virgil again Sunday
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Daily Beast – Conservatives Milk Story of Amish Farm Tied to Fatal Listeria Outbreak
Quote – Viewers of Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show were greeted Monday with dire news. The Biden administration, Carlson said, had launched a war on small farmers, starting with a U.S. Marshals “raid” on an Amish farmer in Pennsylvania named Amos Miller…. “Maybe if he promises to put more chemicals in the milk to turn kids trans, they’ll lay off,” Carlson said.
Click through for story. I’m actually in favor of natural foods in general – but that’s different from zero hygiene. Here’s more information on listeria if anyone’s interested.
Letters from an American – August 24, 2022
Quote – Republicans have warned that the massive investment the Democrats have made in the country during Biden’s term would rack up enormous deficits. But, in fact, today the Office of Management and Budget forecast that this year’s budget deficit will decline by $1.7 trillion, the single largest drop in the deficit in U.S. history. (The record deficit was $3.13 trillion in 2020, during the worst of the coronavirus pandemic.) This number is simply a benchmark, and the deficit remains at $1.03 trillion, but it suggests that numbers are currently moving downward.
Click through for the full letter. The midterms, the deficit, and student loan forgiveness are tied together here.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Lindsey Graham is running out of rope & likely will soon find himself in the GA grand jury hot seat (BTW, I guessed right.)
Meidas Touch – Texas Paul REACTS to Fox host who SHOCKED colleagues by calling out their LIES
Lincoln Project – Fire the Feds
Really American – GOP Secretary of State Candidate: “I Don’t Know” Who I Voted For
The Riccardis – The Ballad of Marjorie Taylor Greene-O
Beau – Let’s talk about Dems, Trump, and the boy who cried wolf….
Yesterday, I managed to getnine 30-gallon plastic bags out to the porch, all labeled with the initials of the charity they are getting picked up by. After that, I moved the car out of the driveway and took the recyclables to the edge of the driveway by the street – two actions which between tehm pretty much cleared the drive way. I did this because the charity is “Vietnam Veterans of America,” nd although I don’t remember seeing much, one occupation which puts people int higher jeopardy of becoming an amputee is “combat vet.” And the instruction included the request that everything be capable of bing lifted with one hand (not all at once, of course; that would be silly.) So I just wanted to make it as easy as possible and I figured shortening the distance couldn’t hurt. After all that, my shoulders, back, and knee were still in comparatively good shape.
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Letters from an American – August 22, 2022
Quote – Today’s big news is an eye-popping $1.6 billion donation to a right-wing nonprofit organized in May 2020. This is the largest known single donation made to a political influence organization. The money came from Barre Seid, a 90-year-old electronics company executive, and the new organization, Marble Freedom Trust, is controlled by Leonard A. Leo, the co-chair of the Federalist Society, who has been behind the right-wing takeover of the Supreme Court. Leo has also been prominent in challenges to abortion rights, voting rights, climate change action, and so on. He announced in early 2020 that he was stepping back from the Federalist Society to remake politics at every level, but information about the massive grant and the new organization was broken today by Kenneth P. Vogel and Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times.
Click through for details. Everyone has this story – but I saw it first here – and Heather always has receipts (and insights.)
Daily Beast – Cops Love Immunity—Until They’re the Ones Abused by Police
Quote – Six months after the incident, Burk filed a civil rights lawsuit against the acting officers from the Columbus Division of Police. Predictably, Burk now finds himself on the wrong end of a judge-made doctrine called “qualified immunity.” The doctrine, which the U.S. Supreme Court invented in 1982, shields government employees from accountability for unreasonable actions—unless victims can point to a prior case in the same jurisdiction that clearly establishes the behavior as unconstitutional. The irony of this case is that law enforcement officers like Burk normally love qualified immunity.
Click through for this opinion piece with backup facts. I would hate to think that the only, or even just the fastest, way to get rid of “qualified immunity” is for cops to beat up enough cops.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Glenn’s regular video in sequence is a report n a Team Justice get-together. Glenn’s first grandchild was there (cute as a button), but Glenn didn’t make the keynote speech, and it;s long. So I’m substituting this, which includes information not yet covered on “Justice Matters.”
Political Voices Network – No Sweetheart Deals! There Are a Whole Host of Crimes that Apply to Rudy & Trump.
Meidas Touch – Texas Paul REACTS to Adam Kinzinger MOCKING Trump as whiny ‘victim’
Lincoln Project – Receipts
Really American – Republican endorsement of extreme behavior is proof that they are #GOPTerrorists
Parody Project – THE CRIMES THEY ARE ARRANGING
Beau – Let’s talk about WHO changing names and changing as a person….
Yesterday, as I try to do every weekday, I played The New Yorker’s “Name Drop” game. The idea is to figure out (or guess) whom the puzzle is describing in six clues or less. And they are mostly hard. Very hard. If I get them at all, it’s usually on the last or at best second-to-last clue. I consider it to be a very god day if I get the right person by the third-to-last clue. But twice now, I have gotten the answer on the very first clue. Both times that success was made possible because the clue referenced an opera (surprise, surprise.) The first one was Gandhi, several months ago. Today it was Handel. Aside from that, I mostly worked at getting bags secured and labelled (fortunately not the contents, just that they are for pickup.) Tomorrow is pickup day so I’ll have to schlep them out today. And then do one last rearrangement of what’s not going to make sure it is separate from what is going, and also that the path is clear. And I was late responding to comments yesterday doing all that – and I will be again today.
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Politico – POLITICO Playbook: Ron Klain says ‘season of substance’ could save Dems
Quote – “We now have a presidency where the president has delivered the largest economic recovery plan since ROOSEVELT, the largest infrastructure plan since EISENHOWER, the most judges confirmed since KENNEDY, the second largest health care bill since JOHNSON and the largest climate change bill in history. … The first time we’ve done gun control since President CLINTON was here, the first time ever an African American woman has been put on the U.S. Supreme Court. … I think it’s a record to take to the American people.”
Click through for interview. I realize Politico leans right, but this appears to be a straight interview with a strong messenger in a position to message. As a bonus, I’m linking to a DU article with a comprehensive overview of things individual Democrats can do to help.
Crooks and Liars – Navy Vet Faced Death Sentence From Religious Zealot
Quote – In July [20]17, he was assigned to Dr. Fred Cheron, the first VA doctor who did anything for him. “I had no choice.” Rinsem said in a followup email. “I had to tolerate him pushing his God and Jesus on me or give up on all healthcare.” But finally, after a particularly bad appointment on July 25[, 2022], he’d had enough…. [O]n August 13, Rinsem filed a formal complaint…. “They severed all of my provider relationships. That’s punishment for having filed the complaint,”
Click through. This is outrageous. I realize that makes me Captain Obvious, but what else is there to say?
Food For Thought
