The Ledes

Friday, September 27, 2024

New York Times: “Maggie Smith, one of the finest British stage and screen actors of her generation, whose award-winning roles ranged from a freethinking Scottish schoolteacher in 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie' to the acid-tongued dowager countess on 'Downton Abbey,' died on Friday in London. She was 89.”

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 5, 2023

Evening Update:

A Little Good News. Jacqueline Alemany, et al., of the Washington Post: "Attorneys for Donald Trump went to the Justice Department on Monday morning to make their case that the government should not charge the former president in connection with his possession of classified documents after leaving office, according to people familiar with the matter. Trump lawyers Lindsey Halligan, John Rowley and James Trusty spent about two hours at the Justice Department and left without speaking to reporters. They met with Justice Department personnel including special counsel Jack Smith and a senior career official, but not Attorney General Merrick Garland or Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, said people familiar with the matter.... While it is not uncommon in high-profile cases for defense lawyers to get such a meeting with Justice Department officials toward the end of an investigation, current and former officials say such presentations rarely change prosecutors' minds. Two Trump advisers ... said they are preparing for a potential indictment of the former president, and the meeting did not change their expectations." The CBS News report, which broke the story, is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Devlin Barrett, one of the reporters on the above-linked story, said on MSNBC Monday night that it was his understanding that "the meeting did not go particularly well" for Trump's lawyers. Meanwhile, Andrew Weissmann, also appearing on MSNBC, said he expects an indictment in the documents case this week. Since it's likely that Weissmann, a former top federal prosecutor, has sources inside DOJ, so his opinion could be more than an educated guess.

Plan C: Let's Drain the Pool & Flood the Servers! Katelyn Polantz, et al., of CNN: "An employee at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence drained the resort's swimming pool last October and ended up flooding a room where computer servers containing surveillance video logs were kept, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. While it's unclear if the room was intentionally flooded or if it happened by mistake, the incident occurred amid a series of events that federal prosecutors found suspicious. At least one witness has been asked by prosecutors about the flooded server room as part of the federal investigation into Trump's handling of classified documents, according to one of the sources.... Prosecutors have heard testimony that the IT equipment in the room was not damaged in the flood, according to one source.Yet the flooded room as well as conversations and actions by Trump's employees while the criminal investigation bore down on the club has caught the attention of prosecutors. The circumstances may factor into a possible obstruction conspiracy case, multiple sources tell CNN...." MB: These are not Ocean's 11.

Presidential Race 2024. In a Washington Post op-ed, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) explains why he is not running for president: "I believe I can have more influence on the future of the Republican Party and the 2024 nominating process not as a candidate but as the governor of the first-in-the-nation primary state.... If [Donald Trump] is the nominee, Republicans will lose again.... The microphone afforded to the governor of New Hampshire plays a critical role in an early nominating state. I plan to endorse, campaign and support the candidate I believe has the best chance of winning in November 2024." A CNN story is here.

Twitter Was Always Stupid. Lauren Sforza of the Hill: "Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey appeared to endorse anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the Democratic presidential nomination over the weekend. Dorsey retweeted a video of Kennedy saying he could beat former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who announced his bid for the White House on Twitter last month. Dorsey captioned the video with, 'He can and will.'" MB: It is not surprising that there's no transfer from technical acumen to political or philosophical intelligence, but many of these Silicon Valley guys seem to demonstrate that technical competence and critical thinking are mutually incompatible.

Caitlin Yilek, et al., of CBS News: "Robert Hanssen, a former FBI agent who was one of the most damaging spies in American history, was found dead in his prison cell Monday morning, according to the Bureau of Prisons. Hanssen, 79, was arrested in 2001 and pleaded guilty to selling highly classified material to the Soviet Union and later Russia. He was serving a life sentence at the federal penitentiary in Florence, Colorado.... Hanssen appears to have died of natural causes, according to two sources briefed on the matter."

Sarah Brumfield & Michael Balsamo of the AP: "The pilot of a business jet that flew over Washington and crashed in a remote part of Virginia appeared to be slumped over and unresponsive, three U.S. officials said Monday, recounting observations by fighter pilots who intercepted the wayward flight. The revelations came as federal investigators trudged through rugged terrain to reach the site where the plane slammed into a mountain Sunday, killing four people."

~~~~~~~~~~

Justin Moyer, et al., of the Washington Post: "Fighter jets from Joint Base Andrews were scrambled to intercept a private plane over Virginia on Sunday afternoon, causing a sonic boom that reverberated across the area, North American Aerospace Defense Command officials said. The jets were responding to a Cessna that crashed later in Southwest Virginia, NORAD said in a statement issued Sunday night. F-16 jets from Andrews were scrambled, and the Cessna was unresponsive when hailed by authorities. It is unclear why the Cessna did not respond or why it crashed later. Three people with knowledge of the event ... said the military did not shoot the plane down and there is no indication that the military caused the crash. The jets used flares to try to get the Cessna pilot's attention, NORAD said." ~~~

     ~~~ Natasha Bertrand & Haley Britzky of CNN: "No survivors were found at the crash site of a plane whose pilot was unresponsive as it flew near the Washington, DC, area Sunday, prompting military fighter jets to attempt to intercept the aircraft before it ultimately crashed, authorities say. First responders reached the site Sunday evening, about four hours after state and local authorities launched a ground and air search for the crashed aircraft, Virginia State Police said. State police said they have suspended their search and will identify the plane's passengers when the information becomes available."

Josh Dawsey & Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "The decision by ... Donald Trump's campaign to spend more than $1 million for two firms to study whether electoral fraud occurred in the 2020 election has become an increasing focus of federal and state investigators in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. In recent days, the district attorney in Georgia's Fulton County has asked both firms to provide research and data as investigators intensify their probe into Trump's attempt to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.... On the federal level, Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith is questioning witnesses about the companies' work and has obtained hundreds of pages of emails and research, two people familiar with the matter said.Both firms, Berkeley Research Group and Simpatico Software Systems, are said to be cooperating with the inquiries."

Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post: "When CNN reported on Wednesday night that special counsel Jack Smith has a recording of ... Donald Trump boasting at his Bedminster, N.J., club in 2021 that he had a highly classified multipage document relating to war plans against Iran, months of punditry that Trump would never be indicted went out the window.... This evidence effectively destroys whatever defense Trump was trying to concoct (he didn't know there were classified documents, he declassified them, he thought they were not classified).... News reports now indicate the federal grand jury hearing the documents case will meet this week. An indictment, if there is one, could come within days.... To make matters worse, reporting suggests there are other recordings of Trump that could further implicate him." MB: The more often I read and hear that an indictment is just around the corner, the less confident I am that the DOJ will ever charge Trump.

Julia Shapero of the Hill: "Several Republican presidential hopefuls slammed former President Trump for his comments praising North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Saturday, after the country received a seat on the World Health Organization's (WHO) executive board. Former Vice President Mike Pence, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis all criticized the former president, who offered his congratulations to Kim in a Truth Social post on Friday." Asa Hutchinson also criticized Trump for the birthday greetings. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Presidential Race 2024. Marie: Okay, time to pick on the Missus. Digby republishes a big block of a wicked Daily Beast profile of Mrs. Rhonda Santis by Katie Baker. Blind ambition is never attractive, is it?

Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "On Sunday night, [Nikki Haley] had a fresh opportunity to make the case for her candidacy during a 90-minute CNN town hall in prime time, in an effort to emerge from the low single digits in polls where she has been mired. Ms. Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and United Nations ambassador under Mr. Trump, was well versed on policy issues, consistently upbeat and evenly tempered. Although she drew contrasts with Mr. Trump, she dodged opportunities to make him -- or even President Biden -- into a political punching bag. At the end of the night, an audience member praised her demeanor as 'a breath of fresh air,' earning applause from the house full of Iowa Republicans. But that also meant that there were few shoot-out-the-lights moments...."

Michelle Cottle of the New York Times: "Last week, in a video posted on Truth Social, [Donald Trump] rolled out his latest Big Idea: a yearlong, nationwide celebration marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.... As campaign gimmicks go, Mr. Trump's proposed Salute to America 250, as he plans to name the related task force, is exquisitely on brand: an intoxicating blend of nostalgia, spectacle and performative patriotism -- with lots of sharp edges, of course. Even as Mr. Trump hawks the project as an opportunity for national uplift, he has woven in themes and language seemingly designed to provoke discord.... It is a sad commentary on our political climate that something as potentially unifying as a national birthday party comes loaded with divisive cultural baggage.... With Mr. Trump as the guiding spirit, any 1776 tribute seems destined to descend into a culture-war cage match."

Beyond the Beltway

California. Michael Sainato of the Guardian & Agencies: "A rights group has said 16 migrants had been 'lied to' and deceived after being transported from Texas to California and dropped off outside a church in Sacramento. The migrants from Venezuela and Columbia entered the US through Texas reported the Associated Press. They were flown to California from New Mexico via a private chartered plane, but it's unclear who paid for the travel. The California department of justice and California governor's office is currently investigating who paid for the travel and 'whether the individuals orchestrating this trip misled anyone with false promises or have violated any criminal laws, including kidnapping.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Shawn Hubler, et al., of the New York Times: State officials have accused "a contractor for a state-funded Florid program of transporting the group from outside a Texas migrant center under a false promise of jobs if the migrants agreed to be taken to California. 'We're confident it was Florida,' California's attorney general, Rob Bonta, said in an interview on Sunday, citing documents the migrants showed authorities upon their arrival that indicated their travel had been 'administered by the Florida Division of Emergency Management' and its contractor, Vertol Systems Company.... Vertol Systems was the company used for transport in the fall when Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida directed two planeloads of South American migrants from San Antonio to Martha's Vineyard.... On Sunday, Mr. Bonta ... vowed to aggressively pursue the possibility of criminal or civil charges for those involved in the transport, calling the action 'morally bankrupt.'... Mr. Bonta and [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom, both Democrats, met with the migrants on Saturday, pledging to take care of them while they remained in the state." Meanwhile, on the campaign trail, Rhonda Santis "frequently highlights his decision to send migrants to Martha's Vineyard."

California. Ryan Mac of the New York Times: "California property owners hoping to open new insurance policies are no longer able to do so with one of the nation's largest homeowner insurance companies. Allstate, the state's fourth-largest property and casualty insurance provider, has stopped selling new home, condominium or commercial insurance policies in California, the company said in an emailed statement. It is the latest insurance giant to say it will no longer offer coverage, citing worsening climate and higher building costs that have made it harder to do business in the nation's most-populous state. California's largest homeowner insurance provider, State Farm, made a similar decision last week, pointing to 'rapidly growing catastrophe exposure.' Allstate stopped accepting new policies in the state last year, according to the statement."

Florida. Thalia Beaty, et al., of the AP: "Debate surrounding Florida's new restrictions on gender-affirming care focused largely on transgender children. But a new law that Republican presidential candidate and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed last month also made it difficult -- even impossible -- for many transgender adults to get treatment.... The new law that bans gender-affirming care for minors also mandates that adult patients seeking trans health care sign an informed consent form. It also requires a physician to oversee any health care related to transitioning, and for people to see that doctor in person. Those rules have proven particularly onerous because many people received care from nurse practitioners and used telehealth. Another new law that allows doctors and pharmacists to refuse to treat transgender people further limits their options."

Way Beyond

India. Sameer Yasir, et al., of the New York Times: "Officials intensified the investigation into the cause of the crash [of trains], saying that while they were looking into the malfunction of an electronic signaling system, they did not rule out human error -- or even sabotage.... What is known so far: A high-speed passenger train collided with a parked freight train around 7 p.m. Friday and derailed. Some of its cars slammed into another passenger train, leaving a sprawling tableau of twisted metal, crushed limbs and splattered blood.... The disaster cast a pall over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to modernize the country's infrastructure, which he has made central to his campaign for a third term. Mr. Modi's government has frequently publicized its investments in expanding infrastructure, but a recent official audit noted a glaring imbalance in the budgets. While India was drastically increasing overall spending, including for a fleet of new semi-high-speed trains, the amount it has invested in safety for the rest of the fleet of more than 13,000 trains was decreasing, the audit said." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Most "populists"/authoritarians are fake and flashy. So Modi plays out of the same, tired playbook. Fancy new trains rolling on dangerous old tracks might be more substantial than Donald Trump's fake year-long party, but both projects come from the same chapter of "The Dictator's Handbook," (which apparently someone read aloud to Trump).

Poland. Andrew Higgins of the New York Times: "Hundreds of thousands of people marched through Warsaw on Sunday in a huge display of opposition to the governing party before an October general election, summoning memories of Poland's rejection of Communist Party rule decades before. The event, organized by the government's political rivals, sought to deprive Poland's deeply conservative Law and Justice party of its claims to the legacy of Solidarity, the trade union movement that led the struggle against a Communist system imposed by Moscow after World War II. Large protests also took place in Krakow, Szczecin and other big cities controlled by the opposition, which is strong in urban areas but struggles in the countryside."

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Monday is here: "Russia thwarted a Ukrainian attack in the eastern Donetsk region, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said in a video published Monday by the state-owned RIA Novosti news agency.... Ukraine reported 29 clashes in Donetsk and neighboring Luhansk on Monday and denied Russia's claim to have deterred an attack. Tensions remain high in Russia's western Belgorod region, where anti-Kremlin militias have carried out drone attacks and shelling in recent days, with the governor reporting a fresh attack overnight.... In Belgorod, a power facility caught fire after a drone attack, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said Monday on Telegram. Earlier, opposition militias who had captured Russian troops had invited Gladkov for talks in exchange for the prisoners, but no meeting took place, they claimed.... A peace envoy from the Vatican [-- Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, the archbishop of Bologna --] traveled to Kyiv on Monday, tasked by Pope strong> Francis with listening to Ukrainian officials on how to formulate a lasting peace plan."

Natasha Bertrand, et al., of CNN: "Ukraine has cultivated a network of agents and sympathizers inside Russia working to carry out acts of sabotage against Russian targets and has begun providing them with drones to stage attacks, multiple people familiar with US intelligence on the matter told CNN. US officials believe these pro-Ukrainian agents inside Russia carried out a drone attack that targeted the Kremlin in early May by launching drones from within Russia rather than flying them from Ukraine into Moscow. It is not clear whether other drone attacks carried out in recent days -- including one targeting a residential neighborhood near Moscow and another strike on oil refineries in southern Russia == were also launched from inside Russia or conducted by this network of pro-Ukrainian operatives."


New Zealand. Natasha Frost of the New York Times: "Jacinda Ardern was awarded the title of dame on Monday for service to New Zealand, barely four months after ending her term as prime minister, during which she became the global face of a compassionate brand of liberal politics. The accolade -- Dame Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit -- is the country's second highest and was granted as part of an annual tradition of awarding honors for the King's Birthday holiday. The honorees are usually chosen by the prime minister and approved by the British monarch, King Charles III, who is New Zealand's head of state."

Comments Off

Reader Comments (13)

A jingoistic, white-Christian nationalist celebration of America’s 250th birthday (the 200th doesn’t seem that long ago…sheesh) complete with an unhealthy helping of fascist folderol, racial animosity, xenophobic zippedy-do-dah, and that ever present stench of Trumpian narcissism is just what your billionaire autocrat needs to bolster an ego battered about by criminal investigations and convictions.

Hey, all dictators have some dark days. Nothing a few public hangings and shithole nation bashing couldn’t cure. Of course there’ll be plenty of military hoo-hah, with the kind of parades that small boys and Trump love, giant statues of the Dear Leader standing astride major highways. Special hydro attachments on the statues erected in Democratic strongholds and minority neighborhoods will allow the Big Don to look like he’s pissing on passing motorists. Fox will do a three hour special on that joyous addition to the celebration.

A special super PAC will keep Junior supplied with mountains of Peruvian marching powder, and Melanie will dig out the ol’ I
Don’t Care jacket.

The whole thing will culminate with a Salute to Gun Violence during which gun knobbers will open fire on anyone that looks crosswise at them. Finally, on the last night, Fatty will announce the shrinking of the Constitution down to just “his” Article II, and the country will be renamed Taj Mahalia after a certain failed casino. Very appropriate.

Testicle tanning and patriotic pussy grabbing will be on display everywhere.

Something to look forward to.

Hopefully someone still has that Baby Trump balloon.

June 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Marie expresses skepticism in the matter of a potential indictment of the fat traitor.

I agree. I understand that prosecutors need to turn over all the rocks and look into all the closets, but at this point they must be turning over pebbles and checking the closets in doll houses.

What’s the holdup?

We were assured that Jack Smith was Speedy Gonzales as a prosecutor. Wasting no time, kicking fat asses, taking traitor names, and no dilly-dallying. Of course, no one expected indictments right away, but we’re into Smith’s sixth month investigating this criminal POS. What’s the hold up?

I think I know what it is. They’re deciding that they may not charge him at all. If they do, it’ll be for something a little less spectacular than Jay walking. The longer this drags out, the more concerned I am that the Orange Monster will skate. AGAIN!!

And don’t forget, Smith is only empowered to make a recommendation. Whatever he decides still has go to Merrick Garland for approval, Creampuff Casper Milquetoast in the flesh. If Smith doesn’t send him a confession signed by Trump, with pictures of him waving top secret documents around in front of strippers and Chinese spies, we can forget it.

But at some point they have to pull the pin. They either have him, or they believe he can snake his way out of everything.

I’m starting to believe it’s not gonna happen.

A goddam shame.

All I can say now is “So long, Jackie, we hardly knew ye.” …and “Let’s go, Fani Willis!”

June 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Short history course:

The contest between individual freedom and autocracy, which began in earnest with the emergence of an uppity middle class in the 1700's, wages on.

On the one side is the belief that all people matter and they all (all God's children?) matter to the same degree. On the other is the assumed certainty that some are more important than others.

Democracy? Autocracy? The one hard, the other easy. The one the belief that truth resides in collective wisdom. The other in father knows best.

Expanded to the extent that geography and the given social orders allow, autocracy confuses the leader with the state, whether that be the family or an entire country. It's a top down social arrangement that brooks no argument, discussion or alternate points of view. It is given to the edict of ego, narcissism written large, and because its view is limited to self, it is often wrong and proves itself so time and again.

Iraq. Just a simple operation. No problem. They will welcome us with open arms.

Ukraine? A quick strike and it will be ours again.

Gay and transgender issues? We'll outlaw them.

Climate change? No such thing.

We'll just declare the election stolen....

I am the state.

Autocracy is easy. See?

June 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

OH, Ak, you paint such a delicious picture I am longing to participate in the celebrations. I will wear my bomber jacket with the "Jesus is my Savior" label across my bosoms and carry one of those nifty assault rifles by my side. I might even try and lead a chorus of bystanders in a rendition of "Happy Shiny People" but substitute shiny for shitty and see what happens. We could have a chorus line of "Pussies on Parade" to get them grabbers of same a little bit of what sets them off. All in all it sounds like a fun time. As far as the balloon, rumor has it that if one does appear it will be shot down immediately by Fatty who is mighty sensitive about his face being plastered on a flying object.

June 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterP.D.Pepe

Ken,

Unfortunately, there have always been those keen to live under the boot of a dictator, a strongman (so called) whose word is law and who will protect them and punish their enemies, real, perceived, or invented. Probably been going on since we lived in caves. As you say, democracy is hard. It’s messy, it can be unpredictable, but it’s the most obvious choice given the philosophical positions staked out by the founders. Strongman dictators need not apply. Yes democracy is hard.

But the traitors don’t do hard. That’s why they’re traitors. We lost an election? No we didn’t. It was stolen from us. And now we’re going to kill some people to get it back.

Legislation. You mean writing bills that make sense and have a purpose beyond helping me and my rich donors? And other people get to vote on it? No thanks. We’ll just force our positions on everyone,

My Kevin and the extortionists who raged long and hard about the invented Debt Ceiling Crisis (™ Republican Party) demanded work requirements of the poor. How about work requirements for them? They’re not poor, we pay their salaries, they get the best health insurance, plenty to eat, big cushy offices, free travel anywhere they want to go…and they do nothing. NOTHING. They whine and lie amd cheat and steal, but that’s it. Was that a job description hidden in the Federalist Papers? Did Publius write it up? Wanted: lazy ass, do nothing whiners who have never read the Constitution, believe Jesus wants them to steal elections and who will foment treason if they don’t get their way. Oh, and did I say lazy?

I missed that bit in the founding documents.

So how about work requirements for these people. If they had to work a single day at what some minimum wage single mom holding down three jobs has to do her whole life, they’d have to check into a rest home for a month. At taxpayer expense.

Like democracy, work is hard.

That’s why they don’t do either.

June 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

PD,

Hey, while you’re at it, maybe you can convince the MAGA partygoers that it would be fun to form a giant firing squad so’s they can shoot them some pesky lib’ruls. Then…tell them it would be even better if they all formed a big circle before the shooting starts…

June 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

One more thing about the purloined documents…

The more I hear about the absolute, rock solid ticket to orange jumpsuit land that recording represents, the less I’m inclined to see it as such. And even if there is a tape, and I’ve no reason to suspect otherwise, Republicans lie about stuff like that, Democrats don’t, two things bother me. First, and this is something Marie suggested last week. Trump could simply say “I lied. There was no secret War Against Iran document. I made it up.” Eminently believable. He lies with every breath.

But over and above that…a plan to go to war with Iran?! Who dreamed that up? I get that CIA-NSA-alphabet soup groups have to consider a number of contingencies, but war? With Iran? Unless maybe the paper was written as an outline of what might happen in such an instance. Otherwise, do these people just follow up whatever cockamamie ideas they spitball around top secret rooms then write a report and send it up the ladder?

Although now that I think of it, that would be just the sort of thing Fatty might order up. “Get me General Bullmoose. Bully, I want to invade Iran. Draw up a plan and get it to me before my next Big Mac Meal”.

Finally, the longer this drags out, the closer we get to an election, it provides Hamlet Garland with cover for not doing a thing.

Crap.

June 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

FL is going to make school vouchers available to all K-12 students. The stated purpose is so that parents can send their children to schools that respect the parents' values.

A quote from the WashPo article near the end:

"About 2,300 private schools in Florida accept vouchers; 69 percent of them are unaccredited, 58 percent are religious and 30 percent are for-profit, according to the Hechinger Report."

"Unaccredited" and "values" rhyme in FL.

June 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterPatrick

Re: uncredited in Florida…

So..to sum up, in a two birds with one round from the Ar-15 plan, as the traitors are wont to concoct, hand over taxpayer money to sketchy Christian “schools”, thereby throwing a (very expensive) sop to the Christian nationalists and theocrats (what’s more theocratic than forcing the public of all, or no religions, to foot the bill for Christian indoctrination?) all the while ensuring that whatever students get as a dodgy edumacation, will in no way include things like actual history, science that does not comport with the Bible, an ability to explore subjects and ideas through reading not given the Jesus Seal of Approval, and zero exposure in critical thinking, unless you count new schemes to own the libs as a critical thought process.

And guns for everyone!

DeSantolini Land in all it’s uncredited, ignorance inducing gory.

June 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Eye of beholder government:

Guess accrediting or discrediting (as does the rule of law) requires a creditable standard to measure against.

And when the standard has no credibility because its limited to what I want, accreditation of any sort is impossible, isn't it...?

June 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

I am with Marie and AK, unfortunately. I was never convinced that Dear Leader would ever pay for his crimes...and, like you, I become more and more afraid that the timing is suspect. If anyone else had done a quarter of the things OrangeCheater has done, both before, during and after the presidency, that person would have been airmailed to Gitmo or shipped to Oklahoma for the firing squad. It's been too long, I fear, for Jack to have decided his fate of prosecution. Maybe he meets with Merrick every afternoon at four for tea...
"Well, whaddya think, Merrick? Here's a truck loaded with paperwork and documents and tapes and witness reports...There's really no room for any more in there, so maybe we just jettison the load?"
"Sure, Jack, because I have some other pressing biz to take care of and this is all mickey mouse. Notify the family and wish them a happy life...we're done here..."

It is so depressing.

June 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterJeanne

@Jeanne, et al. I sure hope we're all wrong about Jack & Hamlet. If not, I guess we can sit back and say, "We toljaso," to the "expert" pundits who predicted a sudden demand for huge orange jumpsuits at a federal pen convenient to Mar-a-Lardo. Mighty small consolation. Mighty small.

As to Akhilleus' speculation about a jaywalking-type misdemeanor charge, it won't be jaywalking, since Trump doesn't walk anywhere further than the buffet table. Maybe they can get him for driving a golf cart on a public street: $35 fine.

June 5, 2023 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

“Maybe they can get him for driving a golf cart on a public street: $35 fine.”

Paid for by one his stupor PACs, no doubt. That is, unless he declares that the streets, like every other fucking thing, belong to him. In which case….WITCH HUNT!! VICTIM! UNFAAAAAAIIR!!

June 5, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus
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