The Ledes

Friday, September 27, 2024

The Washington Post's live updates of developments related to Hurricane Helene are here: “Hurricane Helene left one person dead in Florida and two in Georgia as it sped north. One of the biggest storms on record to hit the Gulf Coast, Helene slammed into Florida’s Big Bend area on Thursday night as a Category 4 colossus with winds of up to 140 mph before weakening to Category 1. Catastrophic winds and torrential rain from the storm — which the National Hurricane Center forecast would eventually slow over the Tennessee Valley — were expected to continue Friday across the Southeast and southern Appalachians.” ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates are here.

Mediaite: “Fox Weather’s Bob Van Dillen was reporting live on Fox & Friends about flooding in Atlanta from Hurricane Helene when he was interrupted by the screams of a woman trapped in her car. During the 7 a.m. hour, Van Dillen was filing a live report on the massive flooding in the area. Fox News viewers could clearly hear the urgent screams for help emerging from a car stuck on a flooded road in the background of the live shot. Van Dillen ... told Fox & Friends that 911 had been called and that the local Fire Department was on its way. But as he continued to file the report, the screams did not stop, so Van Dillen cut the live shot short.... Some 10 minutes later, Fox & Friends aired live footage of Van Dillen carrying the woman to safety, waking through chest-deep water while the flooding engulfed her car in the background[.]”

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The Ledes

Thursday, September 26, 2024

The New York Times:' live updates of Hurricane Helene developments today are here. “Hurricane Helene was barreling through the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday en route to Florida, where residents were bracing for extreme rain, destructive winds and deadly storm surge ahead of the storm’s expected landfall. The storm could intensify to a Category 4, if not higher, before making landfall late Thursday, and forecasters warned Helene’s anticipated large size could make its impacts felt across an extensive area. Areas as distant as Atlanta and the Appalachians are at risk for heavy rains.... Many forecast models show the storm making landfall late Thursday near Florida’s Big Bend Coast, a sparsely populated stretch....” ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post has forecasts for some cites in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina & Tennessee that are in or near the probable path of Helene. ~~~

     ~~~ This morning, an MSNBC weatherperson said Tallahassee (which is inland) would experience wind gusts of up to 120 m.p.h. and that the National Weather Service said expected 20-foot storm surges near the coast would be “unsurvivable.”

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The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”

New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”

Washington Post: “An early Titian masterpiece — once looted by Napolean’s troops and a part of royal collections for centuries — caused a stir when it was stolen from the home of a British marquess in 1995. Seven years later, it was found inside an unassuming white and blue plastic bag at a bus stop in southwest London by an art detective, and returned. This week, the oil painting 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt' sold for more than $22 million at Christie’s. It was a record for the Renaissance artist, whom museums describe as the greatest painter of 16th-century Venice. Ahead of the sale in April, the auction house billed it as 'the most important work by Titian to come to the auction market in more than a generation.'”

Washington Post: The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., which houses the world's largest collection of Shakespeare material, has undergone a major renovation. "The change to the building is pervasive, both subtle and transformational."

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June 17, 2023

Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Michael Corkery of the New York Times: "President Biden made a forceful case on Friday for stronger gun laws, saying American children caught up in school shootings are suffering from the same trauma as soldiers in war. Speaking at a firearms safety summit in Hartford, Conn., attended by victims of gun violence, Mr. Biden marked one year since the passage of a bipartisan bill intended to prevent dangerous people from accessing guns. But he said there was more to be done. 'What's the difference between the post-traumatic stress that a soldier meets in the hills of Afghanistan,' Mr. Biden asked, and the kind of trauma a 'fourth-grade kid meets in a classroom when they have to duck and cover?' Mr. Biden's call for action comes at a time of deep pessimism about the prospects for significant legislative action on gun control, despite one mass shooting after another in the United States." An AP report is here.

Karoun Demirjian of the New York Times: "Leading congressional Republicans excoriated Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken on Friday for traveling to China this weekend, accusing him of undermining national security by attempting to normalize diplomatic relations with Beijing as they press for a more hard-line approach. Representative Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas and the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, threatened to subpoena Mr. Blinken if he failed to produce documents by Friday evening detailing the list of retaliatory actions the U.S. government has considered against China, and when they were applied. 'The Biden administration's weak actions on the global stage continue to embolden the C.C.P.,' Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, the No. 4 Republican in the House, said in a statement. The secretary of state's trip, she added, will 'legitimize' the Chinese Communist Party's 'continued subversion of our sovereignty.'" MB: If it undermines U.S. security, but also undermines the Biden administration, Republicans will do it. They are not legislators; they are performing monkeys. And like Melanie, they really don't care, do u?

The Insurrection, Ctd. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump could not have asked for a nicer arraignment-day celebration. During the very same hour in which the former president surrendered to federal authorities in Miami, his Republican allies in the House were, in their most visible and official way yet, embracing as heroes and martyrs the people who sacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in hopes of overturning Trump's election defeat. In the Capitol complex, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), with sidekick Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and four other far-right lawmakers, held a 'hearing' that honored participants in the riot, family members of Jan. 6 rioters and organizers of the attempted overthrow of the 2020 vote. Technically, Gaetz couldn't call such a hearing, because he isn't a committee chairman. But ... Gaetz did his all to make the proceedings look official." Read on. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Here's Alex Wagner of MSNBC on the fake hearing:

Philip Bump of the Washington Post on allegations that Fox "News" and other right-wing outlets constantly cover: that Joe Biden took a bribe from a Ukrainian when Biden was vice president. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) characterized the charge like so: "a three-year-old, secondhand, hearsay, uncorroborated rehashing of Rudy Giuliani's bogus allegations that he got from corrupt Ukrainian officials." After reviewing walk-backs by some of Biden's accusers like Sen. Chuck Grassley (R) & Rep. Jim Comer (R), Bump writes, "Even a number of Republicans aren't willing to vouch for it much more than that." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Discovery Materials, along with any information derived therefrom, shall not be disclosed to the public or the news media, or disseminated on any news or social media platform, without prior notice to and consent of the United States or approval of the Court. -- From text of proposed protective order in U.S. v. Trump & Nauta ~~~

~~~ DOJ Tries to Control Trump. Good Luck with That. Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: "The Justice Department on Friday filed a motion seeking to block former President Trump from releasing any classified materials that will be shared with his legal team during his prosecution for the mishandling of records at Mar-a-Lago, noting that some are still being used in the course of their investigation. The documents 'include information pertaining to ongoing investigations' which could be used to further cases against uncharged individuals, the Department of Justice (DOJ) wrote. The suggested protective order, which will be reviewed by Judge Bruce Reinhart, would allow Trump to review the 31 documents the DOJ is using in the case only while in the presence of his attorneys.... Judge Aileen Cannon, who oversaw Trump's previous challenge to the investigation, referred the motion to Reinhart, who approved the initial search of Mar-a-Lago." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update: While Beitsch describes the protective order as one that proscribes release of classified information, CNN's reporting is different:

     ~~~ Tierney Sneed of CNN: "... [Special Counsel Jack] Smith's team said in the filing that the 'government is ready to provide unclassified discovery to the defense.'... [The team] said that among the unclassified materials that prosecutors are set to turn over to the defense is 'information pertaining to ongoing investigations, the disclosure of which could compromise those investigations and identify uncharged individuals.'... 'The discovery materials include sensitive and confidential information,' including personal and financial data, information that reveals 'sensitive' investigative techniques and information about potential witnesses, according to the filing. Some of that information could be in grand jury transcripts or recordings of witness interviews.... Lawyers for Trump and his co-defendant Walt Nauta do not oppose the requested protective order, according to the filing." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Dave Aronberg, the Palm Beach County D.A., said on CNN that the most interesting part of the proposed order is the indication that there are "ongoing investigations." Jack Smith, Aronberg says, is putting the Trump team on notice that he ain't done yet. ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times took up Aronberg's argument: ~~~

     ~~~ Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "The court papers -- a standard request to place a protective order on the discovery material -- contained no explanation about what those other inquiries might be or whether they were related to the indictment.... Still, the reference to continuing investigations was the first overt suggestion -- however vague -- that other criminal cases could emerge from the work that the special counsel Jack Smith has done...."

     ~~~ AND Feuer writes this: "Shortly after the government requested the protective order, Judge [Aileen] Cannon asked the federal magistrate judge assigned to help her with the case, Bruce E. Reinhart, to handle the question of whether to impose it. It is common in the Southern District of Florida for magistrate judges, not district judges like Judge Cannon, to handle pretrial motions.... Last summer, [Judge Reinhart] issued a warrant used by the F.B.I. to search Mar-a-Lago.... It could be a significant development moving forward if Judge Reinhart handles the more substantial legal motions that will be filed by Mr. Trump's lawyers in the months to come, given that Judge Cannon was widely criticized for making rulings favorable to Mr. Trump in an early stage of the investigation." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Damned significant, IMO. By employing Reinhart to handle pretrial motions, Cannon avoids tipping her hand about how biased toward Trump her own rulings will be in the case-in-chief. One of the theories I hear pundits on the teevee put forth is that if Cannon sets out making stupid or biased rulings, the prosecution could use those rulings to ask her to recuse, or if she refuses, to go to the 11th Circuit and ask them to force her to recuse. Well, gosh, if she doesn't make any rulings, that option is out. Once she empanels a jury, however, jeopardy attaches, so it's too late to ask for a forced recusal. That is, the prosecution is stuck with her or Trump gets off scot-free. I suspect somebody smarter than Judge Cannon gave her the bright idea of hiding behind Judge Reinhart. If the prosecution wants her to recuse, they'll have to ask her right now, when they have less of a case against her than they might later on. ~~~

~~~ Kyle Cheney of Politico cites a health-fraud case Judge Aileen Cannon is currently overseeing that has presented a few of the same complications the Trump case does. In some disputes in this case, Cannon has ruled for the prosecution.

"Irreconcilable Differences." Tierney Sneed of CNN: "A lawyer who was representing ... Donald Trump in his defamation lawsuit against CNN said Friday that he was withdrawing from the case, in the latest sign of the break-up of the Trump legal team since the lawyer, Jim Trusty, and another Trump attorney stopped representing the former president in the criminal documents case against him. 'Mr. Trusty's withdrawal is based upon irreconcilable differences between Counsel and Plaintiff and Counsel can no longer effectively and properly represent Plaintiff,' Trusty said in a filing requesting the court's permission to withdraw." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Steve Benen of MSNBC has more on Donald Trump's invocation of "The Clinton Socks Case": In an all-caps social media post, Trump said "he should now be in the clear thanks to 'the Clinton Socks case.' He made the same point during his weird speech on Tuesday night in New Jersey[.]... Bill Clinton, during his White House tenure, spoke at some length with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Taylor Branch, and as part of the project, there were many recordings of their conversations. According to one 2007 account, tapes were at one point stored in a sock drawer. A conservative group called Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit, demanding that Clinton be forced to turn over the recordings. In 2012, a federal court rejected the organization's claims, concluding that the tapes were personal records, not official presidential materials.... The 2012 court ruling 'explicitly states that the Presidential Records Act distinguishes presidential records from "personal records," defined as documents that are "purely private or nonpublic character."' In contrast, Trump took highly sensitive national security secrets to his glorified country club. To see the two as comparable is to overlook every relevant detail.... Trump will need to think of something else the next time he wants to pretend he's been 'exonerated.'" ~~~

    ~~~ Marie: Trump's sock-drawer defense is more evidence that Trump has no real defense. Sorta like if you got fired and left the office with your own framed photo of your mom and a proposed company patent application you'd been reviewing. You stole the patent draft, but the photo belongs to you.

** Robert Reich in the Guardian on how Donald Trump & the Republican party exemplify these five elements of fascism: "1. The rejection of democracy, the rule of law and equal rights under the law in favor of a strongman who interprets the popular will.... 2. The galvanizing of popular rage against cultural elites.... 3. Nationalism based on a dominant 'superior' race and historic bloodlines.... 4. Extolling brute strength and heroic warriors.... 5. Disdain of women and fear of non-standard gender identities or sexual orientation." Reich distinguishes between fascism & authoritarianism.

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A federal judge on Friday found Kellye SoRelle -- an attorney for the Oath Keepers and girlfriend of the right-wing group's leader, Stewart Rhodes -- mentally incompetent to stand trial as scheduled next month on charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta of D.C. postponed SoRelle's trial indefinitely, finding -- based on reports by defense and government medical experts -- that she was suffering from a mental disease or defect rendering her unable to understand the proceedings against her or to assist properly in her defense.... The reports and the nature of SoRelle's condition were not made public."

Robert McFadden of the New York Times: "Daniel Ellsberg, a military analyst who after experiencing a sobbing antiwar epiphany on a bathroom floor made the momentous decision in 1971 to disclose a secret history of American lies and deceit in Vietnam, what came to be known as the Pentagon Papers, died on Friday at his home in Kensington, Calif., in the Bay Area. He was 92." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Alex Kingsbury of the New York Times: "Months before his death, Mr. Ellsberg agreed to speak with Times Opinion at his California home about the lessons he's learned." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Presidential Race 2024

Seung Min Kim & Will Weissert of the AP: "President Joe Biden will tout his pro-labor bona fides on Saturday at his first major political rally since he formalized his reelection campaign, appearing alongside union members to make his case that his economic agenda is boosting the middle class. His campaign says Biden, who will appear at the Philadelphia Convention Center, will 'lay out the core principles of his economic message' in his remarks. Biden also plans to talk about how a sweeping climate, tax and health care package he signed into law last year has cut the cost of prescription drugs and lowered insurance premiums, as his administration focuses on his achievements his first two years the centerpiece argument for his reelection. Ahead of the event, several of the nation's most powerful unions -- including the AFL-CIO, American Federation of Teachers and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees -- officially endorsed Biden's campaign. The first-of-its-kind joint endorsement among the unions and the backdrop of hundreds of workers are all part of a meticulously choreographed effort to show the support of labor behind what Biden himself calls the most pro-union president in history." ~~~

~~~ Arlette Saenz & Betsy Klein of CNN: "First lady Dr. Jill Biden is emerging as a prominent voice taking on Republicans and ... Donald Trump since his indictment -- even as the White House has maintained a stay-silent strategy on the legal case. In her first solo events of the campaign, the first lady has not shied away from critiquing the former president and offered a rare comment related to his legal woes as she reflected on Republican support for Trump despite his indictment. 'My heart feels so broken by a lot of the headlines that we see on the news,' she said during an off-camera fundraiser in New York City Monday.... 'Like I just saw, when I was on my plane, it said 61% of Republicans are going to vote, they would vote for Trump.... They don't care about the indictment. So that's a little shocking, I think.'... In a pair of Democratic fundraisers in California Tuesday evening, she warned of the impact 'MAGA Republicans' would have on the country and framed the presidential election as a choice between the 'corruption and chaos' of the Trump administration and stability offered by her husband. 'We cannot go back to those dark days,' the first lady said at a fundraiser in Marin County, California." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Indiana. Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "A federal judge in Indiana largely blocked that state's ban on transition medical care for youth from taking effect on July 1, the latest in a series of courtroom wins for transgender-rights advocates.... The preliminary injunction, issued on Friday by Judge James Patrick Hanlon, allows transgender children in Indiana to continue receiving hormone treatments and puberty blockers while a lawsuit opposing the state's ban progresses. Gender-transition surgeries for minors, which are rare, remain banned in the state."

Minnesota. David Nakamura, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Minneapolis Police Department engaged in the systemic use of excessive force and discriminated against racial minorities in the years leading up to the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in 2020, federal authorities said Friday. In a scathing 89-page report released following a more than two-year federal civil rights investigation, the Justice Department excoriated the Minneapolis police force as an agency that put officers and local residents at unnecessary risk and failed to act upon repeated warnings about biased behavior. Specifically, the report criticizes the Minneapolis police for: using 'dangerous tactics and weapons' -- including neck restraints and Tasers -- against people for petty offense or no crimes; punishing residents who criticized the police; patrolling neighborhoods differently based on their racial makeup; and discriminating against those with behavioral health disabilities." (Also linked yesterday.)

New Hampshire. David Enrich of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors in Boston unveiled criminal charges on Friday against three men accused of vandalizing the homes of journalists in New Hampshire and Massachusetts in retaliation for an investigation into a local businessman. The charges stem from a string of incidents last spring after New Hampshire Public Radio aired an exposé about sexual misconduct allegations against Eric Spofford, who until recently had owned the state's largest network of drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers. Mr. Spofford later sued the news organization for libel. Mr. Spofford was not named in the criminal complaint. But a person repeatedly named by prosecutors as 'Subject 1' is Mr. Spofford, according to a person familiar with the investigation. The complaint said that a 'close personal associate' of Subject 1 'solicited' the three men to attack the homes."

Pennsylvania. David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "A Pennsylvania man was found guilty Friday on federal charges of fatally shooting 11 people and wounding seven others at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018, a verdict that makes him eligible for the death penalty for what authorities say was the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. A 12-member jury in federal court in Pittsburgh convicted Robert G. Bowers, 50, of Baldwin, Pa., on multiple counts after two weeks of searing testimony from dozens of prosecution witnesses, according to the Associated Press. Among those who testified were survivors, including police officers, who had been shot during the attack." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Way Beyond

Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "An African delegation led by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is traveling to Russia, where they will try to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to seek peace with Ukraine. The peace mission -- which also includes officials from Senegal, Egypt, Zambia, the Comoros, Egypt, Uganda and the Republic of Congo -- met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Friday as the capital was hit by a Russian attack that combined ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones.... Ukraine has advanced up to two kilometers, or about 1.25 miles, in the south, Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said late Friday.... Russia has already transferred some tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus and will complete its deployment of the weapons by the end of the year, [Putin] said. ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Saturday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.

Comments Off

Reader Comments (3)

https://economic-times.c0.uk/news/ukraine-huge-lithium-deposits-
found-just-before-invasion/

This info was published in April, 2022. I don't recall ever reading
about or hearing about this, but lately I can't recall lots of stuff.

Anyway, discovered in the Donbas region of Ukraine is 500,000
tonnes of the stuff that lithium is derived from. It sells for 77,000USD
per metric tonne. That's billions of dollars, or euros or whatever.

Looks like Putin is smarter than given credit for. It wasn't the grain
he was after or the claim of denazification. It was money.

No wonder he came out recently with the nuclear threats.

June 17, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterForrestMorris

Call it a Sabbath Sermon.

It appeared in the weekend edition--another way to shorten the publishing week-- of the local paper today. They even used my title for a change: "The Era of Hurt Feelings."


Few remember what historians called The Era of Good Feelings.

It was long ago, when James Monroe was our fifth President (1817-1825), the Federalist Party collapsed, and inter-party rancor abated for a time.

That snippet from our distant past came to mind when I heard that my third-grade grandson had his feelings hurt when a little league teammate told him he made the wrong play. I hope he got over his hurt feelings quickly and learned from his mistake.

Not everyone does. It seems, in fact, that we’re living in an Era of Hurt Feelings, with an entire political party feeling picked on and aggrieved.

Not just the former president but many of his party’s leaders have met his recent indictment for possession of classified documents, lying to investigators, and obstruction with cries of outrage. It’s unfair. It’s a witch-hunt. The Justice Department has been “weaponized” to attack Republicans, a charge reeking of irony, coming as it does from a party whose recent president brazenly did just that for four years (americanprogress.org).

What possible basis in fact or law do Republicans have for their complaints? The former president did it, said he did, and bragged about it. In the face of such overwhelming evidence, Republicans’ only recourse is to blame the people who took notice of what he did.

It’s the Republican Way. Instead of dealing with observable reality, they spread alarm about spurious conspiracies, like some mysterious Deep State that is out to get us.

But the real Deep States that should worry us are the deep-seated and uncontrolled feelings of paranoia, anger, and resentment—a perpetual Era of Hurt Feelings--that serve as the engine of Republican power.

If you can’t govern your feelings, you can’t become a better baseball player—and you sure can’t govern a country.

June 17, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

Extremism and ignorance are no vices in the defense of a fat traitor…

On a podcast called Prosecuting Donald Trump, Andrew Weissmann and Mary McCord discussed the horrors that Cannon can, and likely will, visit upon a prosecution team trying her Dear Leader. She is first and foremost a MAGA apparatchik, secondly a Federalist Society plant, and somewhere down the list, a woefully inexperienced and demonstrably incompetent Trumpy judge.

Weismann and McCord talked about recusal. They agreed that in no possibke universe could Cannon be considered a judge who didn’t have an obvious problem with both partiality towards the defendant, coupled with stunning ignorance of the many and largely recondite national security laws and regulations that a judge overseeing what will be a very difficult and multi-layered trial would need to be thoroughly versed in.

Their suggestion, however, was for Smith not to demand recusal right out of the box. This trial will be topic number one before the public and it will be important to proceed as cleanly and impartially as possible (of course the traitors never have to worry about this sort of thing, only Democrats). Therefore, the trick would be to wait for Cannon’s first misstep or two, and then hit her with the recusal demand. This would also provide backing evidence for the 11th Circuit to get involved.

The real problem here is that Trump is not on trial here; neither is Cannon. Together, and with the aid of right-wing and both-sides media, they will put Jack Smith, the DoJ, and Joe Biden on trial.

It appears the Trump-Cannon-Federalist team has thought of the same possibility regarding a recusal strategy, ergo the scheme now in place, as Marie suggests, to protect Cannon until it’s too late.

Then she can really go to work. Fatty’s mouthpieces will file motion after motion to delay the trial and Cannon will have “consider” them “very carefully” (of course this takes longer when your lips are moving while you read). They also suggest that Cannon could present the government with an impossible choice: in the interest of “fairness”
To the poor defendant, Traitor Donald, she may require that each of the documents listed in the indictment, along with every piece of paper vaguely connected with each, be publicly scrutinized in court, in the hope that the government will throw in the towel.

And this is not even getting into all the mischief she can cause during voir dire, jury selection, etc.

I’m not considering this a lost cause yet, but what appeared to be a lock on a guilty verdict is starting to look like a loooong hard slog.

June 17, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus
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