Glenn Kirschner – The 3 most incriminating witnesses in new Trump indictment? Meadows, Pence and …. Trump himself!
The Lincoln Project – Unintelligent Life
MSNBC – ‘Fearless’: The judge Trump will face in Jan. 6 criminal coup trial
The Ring of Fire – Biden’s Biggest Election Threat Isn’t Trump It Is Voters Not Showing Up
Great Dane Finds a New Grandma On Hiking Trail
Beau – Let’s talk about Biden, complaints, and jobs….
Trying to get a little ahead in anticipation of next month’s recap
Talking Feds – Alabama Republicans OPENLY DEFY Supreme Court [I would agree that “that’s the legal term.”]
The Lincoln Project – VP Harris’ Speech on Revisionist History in FL
Michigan AG Dana Nessel Charges 16 ‘False Electors’ with Election Law and Forgery Felonies
Brent Terhune – Jason Aldean Stands Up For Small Towns (In case you haven’t heard about this controversy, click here or here for starters)
Cat Who Has To Wear Sunglasses Loves Getting Attention – BAGEL
Beau – Let’s talk about a NJ commutation and Trump….
Glenn Kirschner – Trump is a danger to the community. When indicted for Jan. 6, he should be detained pending trial
PoliticsGirl – For Those Who Think Their Vote
Farron Balanced – Trump Admits That Any Lawyer That Represents Him Is A Fool
Parody Projrct – Take It Easy
Adventure Cats Who Were Once Strays Have The Best Moms Now + Other Cat Rescues
Beau – Let’s talk about Biden’s new Dark Brandon ad…. [i had the MTG cli[ up here with “I approve this message” tacked on, but the one with the Biden/Harris visuals seems to be only on Twitter. Sorry.]
Yesterday, it became public that the Georgia Supreme Court has declined Trump**’s request to quash Fani Willis’s work and case. I’m not totally surprised at the decision, but I am at its speed – that was fast. Impressive. ALso yesterday, Judge Cannon advised the Trump** team that at today’s CIPA hearing, they need to be prepared to discuss trial datees seriously. It wasn’t exactly worded terribly forcibly, but it might be promising.
Cartoon – 18 0718Cartoon.jpg
Short Takes –
The Daily Beast – Can We Please Make Presidential Elections Shorter and Less Stupid?
Quote – All Congress needs to do is add three dates to our campaign law: one for the earliest launch of campaign exploratory committees, one for the launch of campaigns proper, and one for a universal primary vote and caucus day. The crucial question, of course, is what those dates should be. I’d suggest a pretty aggressive schedule of a month for exploration, a month for primaries, and a month to pick the winner. Working back from the election in early November, we wouldn’t be in election mode until—at the earliest—Aug. 1, 2024. I’m practically salivating at the thought.
Click through for full opinion. The length actually bothers me less than the stupidity. Keeping Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates under heavy scrutiny for two years prior to allowing them to take office would give the electorate time to find out what kind of people they really are – provided there was not so much stupidity. But I do realize that as things are now, revealing people’s identity is not likely to happen, let alone to break through voters’ rigid ideologies if it did happen.
Robert Reich – I knew Robert F. Kennedy, and you’re no Robert F. Kennedy
Quote – According to a poll last week by The Economist and YouGov, Kennedy Junior now has higher favorability numbers than either Biden or Trump…. Let me paraphrase Lloyd Bentsen’s remark to Dan Quayle during the vice-presidential debate in 1988: I knew Robert F. Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is no Robert F. Kennedy. I worked in Robert F. Kennedy’s Senate office in 1967. It was not a glamorous job…. But I did have a chance to get to see Bobby Kennedy close up.
Click through for full article (as always click popup to keep going). Its a combination of fact, argument, and memoir which makes me feel how Bobby and Ethel would weep. (Jr.’s sister, who runs the RFK Foundation, has some choice words for him also.)
Food For Thought
Yesterday was the first really hot day we have had this year. It reached 95°F in my area, and it’s often – usually, TBH – wormer in Pueblo than here, but that’s not predictable. However, I would not be surprised if it broke 100°F there. But the AC was working just fine, so I wasn’t uncomfortable.. Sometime in the last couple of weeks the facility had found some cards somewhere, so we played cribbage. The deck was not new, but it was complete, and it worked. Virgil returns all greetings. At home, I have finished the Nancy Pelosi Barbie but have no pictures yet. Doing an image search it appears I also have never posted any pics of the Kamala Harris Barbie. That at least I can do. RBG will take a lot longer because of the robe being satin, and the rayon thread being so fine it will take at least as many stitches as a sweater for a tall human, and I’ll have to be on constant guard against them sliding off and needing to be picked up – shiny rayon is slippery. And Michelle Obama will take longer yet because of the need for working in beads (I decided on the first inaugural.) Here’s hoping I live long enough!
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
New York Times (no paywall) – A Federal Judge Asks: Does the Supreme Court Realize How Bad It Smells?
Quote – Reasonable people may disagree on this. The more important, uncontroversial point is that if there will not be formal ethical constraints on our Supreme Court — or even if there will be — its justices must have functioning noses. They must keep themselves far from any conduct with a dubious aroma, even if it may not breach a formal rule. The fact is, when you become a judge, stuff happens. Many years ago, as a fairly new federal magistrate judge, I was chatting about our kids with a local attorney I knew only slightly. As our conversation unfolded, he mentioned that he’d been planning to take his 10-year-old to a Red Sox game that weekend but their plan had fallen through. Would I like to use his tickets?
Click through for full opinion. This article was gifted to me (and therefore to us) by one of the Substack authors I subscribe to. It’s not long, and it’s very well written. I hope it helps – but you can’t shame people who have no shame.
Crooks & Liars – Progress Action Fund: Ohio Republicans In Your Bedroom
Quote – As Ohio prepares to vote on August 8 on Ohio Issue 1 a Democratic super PAC put out this titillating ad. How it registers with voters remains to be seen. Generally speaking, voters giving away their rights for nothing isn’t that popular but Ohio Republicans have made a concerted effort to convince voters otherwise.
Click through for story and ad. Yes, I know I’ve posted about this election in Ohio before, in both threads. But this ad – well.
Food For Thought
Yesterday, I promised that if I found out anything more about what the heck is going on in Russia I would share. There is no consensus, but I’m going to refer you to two links – Heather Cox Richardson, who spends a few paragraphs on it from an historian’s viewpoint before changing the subject, and the other a video from Beau. Be aware you do NOT have to watch the video to get the content. If you click on the three dots to the right of the Share and Save buttons, you will be offered the opportunity to view a transcript. It won’t be perfect, but it will give you a solid idea. Bottom line is this isn’t over, and no one knows what is next. But we can’t rule out an opportunity to see “Swan Lake” (which is traditionally performed for a regime change.)
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
SPLC – Advocates Register Voters after Supreme Court Victory over Gerrymandering
Quote – “I’m gonna go out on a ledge and say over 90% of our students were not registered to vote,” [Monica] Clarke said. “It was this huge wakeup call for me and others who were working with me. We were kind of shocked, kind of scared, kind of surprised – all of the above – and not just that they weren’t registered, but they didn’t even want to register. They had such a negative view of voter registration, of voting, of the government and police.” That was when she became an activist for voting rights, growing the university’s voter registration service into a mission unto itself. And, as the nation notes the 10th anniversary of the Shelby decision this weekend, Clarke sees the same forces that created the need for the Voting Rights Act still threatening people of color.
Click through for article. My BFF, who is black, has worked for the election department (and believe me, she votes) but has troble getting her young adult sons to regiter, so I get it. I don’t like it, but i get it. Maybe the FFT would help?
The Warning – Steve Schmidt – What is No Labels doing?
Quote – No labels lacks basic transparency around its donors, motives and strategy. They are purposely opaque. For example, they decry the imminence of a Biden-Trump rematch as unacceptable without ever being clear whether they measure Biden as similarly unacceptable as Trump. Why the mystery? Would they abandon their plans if Gretchen Whitmer or Gavin Newsom were the Democratic nominee? What exactly is the basis of the emergency? Is it Trump running again? Is it Trump winning again? Is the effort built around the belief that Biden can’t beat Trump? Perhaps the premise is that Biden is fueling demand for Trump? Does No Labels view Biden and Trump as equivalent figures, men, leaders and threats? Shouldn’t they say, or perhaps more importantly, shouldn’t someone ask?
Click through for article. I have said it before, and I will keep saying it whenever I needto, for as long as I need to: NEVER TRUST ANYONE WHO WILL NOT TELL YOU WHERE THEY STAND. I get it that many people are tired of labels (mostly because crooks and liars have achieved that end by design.) I get it that left and right do not fully describe posotions (although if you add up and down to that mix, the result comes much, much closer.) But the very name “No Labels” screams “I will not tell you who I am.”
Washington Post (no paywall) – He wanted to pet dogs for his 100th birthday. Hundreds lined up.
Quote – “We live in a nice little community, and I thought I could get some of my neighbors and friends to come,” said Alison Moore, adding that she planned for her father to sit outside her home with a banner and assemble a small line of dogs for him to admire and cuddle. Human treats and dog treats would be served…. “I was shocked,” said Alison Moore, explaining that some people drove more than 10 miles to attend the celebration.
Click through. I had planned to stop at two, but my cousin sent me this link – and I felt I had to share
Food For Thought
Talking Feds (while Glenn is on vacation) – Fani Willis Reveals DETAILS of Plan for Sweeping MAGA Indictments
Farron Balanced – National Archives Has Evidence That Could Guarantee A Trump Conviction
Waldorf Nation – School BANS Parents For Not Being Hateful To LGBTQIA+ People
Puppet Regime – Surprise party for Putin
Cat Falls In Love With Stray Cat Who Shows Up Outside
Beau – Let’s talk about expanding confidence in SCOTUS….
Glenn Kirschner – One lawyer quits team Trump, while another says evidence “will lead to a conviction & prison time”
Thom Hartmann – The Election That Destroyed Democracy
MSNBC – GOP tries to prop up Durham report dud with attack on Adam Schiff
Armageddon Update – DEMOCRATS vs REPUBLICANS! Let’s Compare & Contrast
Tiny Rescue Chicken Follows Mom Everywhere
Beau – Let’s talk about polling on why people are leaving….