;)
The Conversation -- January 10, 2024
** Gregory Krieg , et al., of CNN: "Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced Wednesday that he is ending his campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, marking the exit of the most outspoken critic of ... Donald Trump in the GOP primary. 'It is clear to me tonight that there isn't a path for me to win the nomination, which is why I'm suspending my campaign tonight for President of the United States,' he said at a town hall in Windham, New Hampshire, just 10 days before the first-in-the-nation primary. He called it the 'right thing for me to do' and promised that he would never 'enable Donald Trump to become, to ever be president of the United States again.'"
Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "The House Judiciary Committee voted on Wednesday along party lines to hold Hunter Biden, the president's son, in contempt of Congress, hours after he surprised Republicans by appearing unannounced on Capitol Hill, prompting a partisan free-for-all. The 23-to-14 vote sends the matter to the full House, which is controlled by Republicans. The measure accuses the younger Mr. Biden of failing to sit for a private deposition in the impeachment inquiry against President Biden. It came as the House Oversight Committee continued a lengthy and at times vitriolic meeting on an identical resolution, which also was expected to be approved along party lines." Related stories linked below.
So Unfa-a-a-air! Jennifer Peltz & Jake Offenhartz of the AP: "Donald Trump won't make his own closing argument after all in his New York civil business fraud trial after his lawyers objected to the judge's insistence that the former president stick to 'relevant' matters. Judge Arthur Engoron rescinded permission for the unusual plan on Wednesday, a day ahead of closing arguments in the trial.... [Judge Engoron] said Trump would have to limit his remarks to the boundaries that cover attorneys' closing arguments: 'commentary on the relevant, material facts that are in evidence, and application of the relevant law to those facts.' He would not be allowed to introduce new evidence, 'comment on irrelevant matters' or 'deliver a campaign speech' -- or impugn the judge, his staff, the attorney general, her lawyers or the court system, the judge wrote.... Trump attorney Christopher Kise ... termed the restrictions 'very unfair.'" And more. MB: IOW, Engoron shot down Trump's entire soliloquy. And here Akhilleus was looking forward to a remarkable unraveling (see today's Comments).
Tatyana Tandanpolie of Salon: "A federal judge on Tuesday delivered a scathing order effectively blocking ... Donald Trump from employing the go-to moves of his litigation playbook ahead of his second, E. Jean Carroll defamation trial in New York, which is set to begin next week. Trump's lawyers had initially prepped for the upcoming trial as if the first case brought by the ex-columnist hadn't happened, according to The Daily Beast's Jose Pagliery, viewing it as a redo and a chance at vindication for the former president after a jury concluded last year that he sexually abused Carroll in the mid-1990s. But U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan intercepted that plan Tuesday, establishing that this proceeding would not be rehashing whether he assaulted Carroll. 'In other words, the material facts concerning the alleged sexual assault already have been determined, and this trial will not be a "do over" of the previous trial,' Kaplan said in the 27-page order. The federal judge outlined that the jury in the upcoming trial will only be deciding on how much in damages Trump will fork over for defaming Carroll while serving as president in 2019...."
Eddy Wax of Politico: "One of Europe's most senior politicians recounted how ... Donald Trump privately warned that America would not come to the EU's aid if it was attacked militarily.'You need to understand that if Europe is under attack we will never come to help you and to support you,' Trump told European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in 2020, according to French European Commissioner Thierry Breton, who was also present at a meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos. 'By the way, NATO is dead, and we will leave, we will quit NATO,' Trump also said, according to Breton. And he added, "and by the way, you owe me $400 billion, because you didn't pay, you Germans, what you had to pay for defense,"' Breton said about the tense meeting, where the EU's then-trade chief Phil Hogan was also present.... Brussels is rife with fear about the possibility Trump will return to the U.S. presidency."
Former Racist-in-Chief Returns to His Birther Roots. Vaughn Hillyard & Amanda Terkel of NBC News: "Donald Trump, the chief propagator of false 'birther' claims first against then-President Barack Obama and later against Sen. Ted Cruz, has a new target: Nikki Haley. As Haley surges in New Hampshire polling, Trump posted an article on his Truth Social account from a right-wing outlet that claimed Haley, his GOP rival, is ineligible to be president because her parents were not U.S. citizens when she was born. Haley was born in South Carolina and has lived in the U.S. her entire life. Her parents were immigrants, who became citizens after her birth in 1972. 'The birther claims against Nikki Haley are totally baseless as a legal and constitutional matter,' Harvard Law School professor emeritus Laurence Tribe wrote in an email. 'I can't imagine what Trump hopes to gain by those claims unless it's to play the race card against the former governor and UN ambassador as a woman of color -- and to draw on the wellsprings of anti-immigrant prejudice by reminding everyone that Haley's parents weren't citizens when she was born in the USA.'"
Noah Weiland of the New York Times: "More than 20 million people have signed up for plans on the Affordable Care Act's marketplaces during the annual open enrollment period, far surpassing last year's record of more than 16 million enrollments, the Biden administration announced on Wednesday. The figures were a landmark moment for the 2010 health law, underscoring the significance of enhanced subsidies for Americans and the continuing reach of the marketplaces after years of Republican efforts to whittle them down."
Annie Gowen of the Washington Post: "Republican governors in 15 states are rejecting a new federally funded program to give food assistance to hungry children during the summer months, denying benefits to 8 million children across the country. The program is expected to serve 21 million youngsters starting around June, providing $2.5 billion in relief across the country. The governors have given varying reasons for refusing to take part, from the price tag to the fact that the final details of the plan have yet to be worked out. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) said she saw no need to add money to a program that helps food-insecure youths 'when childhood obesity has become an epidemic.' Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R) said bluntly, 'I don't believe in welfare.'... Those who work with families in states where the food money has been turned down said the impact will be devastating and add pressure to private food banks." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I still find it jarring when Republicans show off their stupidity. For instance, Gov. Reynolds' claiming she won't support a childhood food program because childhood obesity. A main reason some children from poor families are obese is that their parents use their meager financial resources to fill the kids up on unhealthy starches instead of providing them with healthful, balanced meals including unprocessed fruits & vegetables. If my goal were to make kids go hungry, as is Reynolds', I'd guess I'd try to conjure up more highminded excuses for my cruelty.
Marie: So I turn on the teevee Wednesday morning, and what do I hear to my wondering ears but Rep. Jim Comer (R-Ky.) pounding the gavel to no end while members of his Get-Hunter committee shouting over each other: ~~~
~~~ Mychael Schnell of the Hill: "Hunter Biden made a surprise appearance at a markup of the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday as the panel considers a resolution to hold the president's son in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena last month." ~~~
~~~ Annie Grayer of CNN: "House Republicans will begin the process of holding Hunter Biden in criminal contempt of Congress on Wednesday for not complying with a congressional subpoena to sit for a closed-door deposition last month, and the president's son showed up unexpectedly on Capitol Hill.... Hunter Biden was spotted in the halls of Congress with his lawyers outside the Oversight Committee hearing, creating a tumultuous scene inside and outside the committee room as lawmakers debated what to do. Hunter Biden entered the committee room and sat down for around 10 minutes before departing. His lawyers made a brief statement to reporters." The New York Times report is here. ~~~
~~~ John Berman of CNN said on-air that what went on at the hearing was "complete mayhem." MB: Is telling a potential witness he has "no balls," as Rep. Nancy Mays (R-S.C.) did, follow House rules of decorum? Maybe so, when you consider that another member of the committee, Marjorie Taylor Greene, used an earlier hearing to display large placards featuring all of Hunter Biden's junk. Biden walked out of the hearing Wednesday when Miss Margie got her turn to speak.
~~~~~~~~~~
Helene Cooper & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III has been hospitalized for the past week because of complications after he had prostate cancer surgery, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center said in a statement on Tuesday. A hospital official said Mr. Austin was admitted on Jan. 1 with severe abdominal, hip and leg pain after he underwent what the hospital characterized as a 'minimally invasive surgical procedure' known as a prostatectomy, the week before. The defense secretary, who had developed an infection, was put in intensive care, where excess abdominal fluid was drained. Since then, 'his infection has cleared,' according to the statement, from Dr. John Maddox and Dr. Gregory Chesnut at Walter Reed. Mr. Austin's prostate cancer was detected early and his prognosis was 'excellent,' they said. John F. Kirby, a White House spokesman, said Tuesday that the White House had only learned that day about the diagnosis of prostate cancer." An NBC News report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: "The White House ordered cabinet secretaries on Tuesday to keep President Biden's staff informed when they may not be able to perform their duties after Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III was hospitalized for several days last week without telling the president or his staff. In a memo, Jeffrey D. Zients, the White House chief of staff, directed cabinet officers to evaluate their current policies for delegating authority when a secretary is incapacitated and to forward those procedures to the White House for review. In the meantime, Mr. Zients made clear that White House officials expected to be kept up to date about developments like major medical issues." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ This story has been updated. New Lede: "The White House was caught off guard once again on Tuesday when it learned that Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III had been diagnosed with prostate cancer a month ago and had surgery to treat the disease under general anesthesia on Dec. 22 without notifying either President Biden or his staff. The new revelations exacerbated the frustration in the West Wing, where officials were still dealing with the discovery that Mr. Austin, 70, had been secretly hospitalized last week for complications resulting from a condition that the Pentagon did not disclose even to the White House until Tuesday morning. While aides to the president said he would not fire Mr. Austin, they acknowledged the breakdown in communications and moved to assert new discipline over the administration."
Today's Police Blotter -- Congressional Edition. Update. CBS News: "Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert's ex-husband has been arrested and is facing charges.... Jayson Boebert was arrested on Tuesday, according to court records, apparently in connection with an altercation that happened Saturday with Lauren Boebert who is currently the Republican representative for Colorado's 3rd Congressional District. The two were at a restaurant in Silt. Police had previously said the incident was under investigation. Court records show that Jayson Boebert was arrested Tuesday for charges including misdemeanor assault and criminal mischief. Garfield County Jail records confirm he was arrested and then released. The total bond was set at $2,500. In previous reporting, Jayson Boebert was the one who called police...." MB: According to a Daily Beast headline & subhead (firewalled), jail records reflected that Jayson faced weapons charges as well as harassment ('strikes shoves, kicks'), disorderly conduct, and trespassing. Other stories would indicate that's not how he was formally charged.
The Trials of Trump
Zinger of the Day: I think it's paradoxical to say that his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed allows him to violate criminal law. -- Appeals Court Judge Karen Henderson, a George H.W. Busha appointee, during oral arguments Tuesday ~~~
~~~ Eric Tucker, et al., of the AP: "With Donald Trump present for the first time in months, federal appeals court judges in Washington expressed deep skepticism Tuesday that the former president was immune from prosecution on charges that he plotted to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The panel of three judges, two of whom were appointed by President Joe Biden, also questioned whether they had jurisdiction to consider the appeal at this point in the case, raising the prospect that Trump's effort could be dismissed. During lengthy arguments, the judges repeatedly pressed Trump's lawyer to defend claims that Trump was shielded from criminal charges for acts that he says fell within his official duties as president....
"Judges [Karen] Henderson and Florence Pan noted the lawyer representing Trump during his impeachment trial suggested that he could later face criminal prosecution, telling senators at the time: 'We have a judicial process in this country. We have an investigative process in this country to which no former officer holder is immune.' 'It seems that many senators relied on that in voting to acquit' Trump, Pan told [Trump's lawyer John] Sauer. J. Michelle Childs also questioned why former President Richard Nixon would need to be granted a pardon in 1974 ... if former presidents enjoy immunity from prosecution.... After the arguments, Trump spoke to reporters at The Waldorf-Astoria hotel, which used to be the Trump International Hotel, calling it 'a very momentous day.' He insisted he did nothing wrong and claimed he was being prosecuted for political reasons. 'A president has to have immunity,' he said." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ The New York Times report is here. For more of the nitty-gritty, the Times liveblogged the hearing yesterday. MB: Yesterday, I posted a number of the entries to the liveblog. ~~~
~~~ Eric Tucker & Alanna Richer of the AP have a highlights report here. The New York Times' "takeaways" analysis, by Charlie Savage & Alan Feuer, is here. ~~~
~~~ Over at the Hill, the headline is "Trump team argues assassination of rivals is covered by presidential immunity." MB: So I guess President Biden can assemble the commandos now. Seems reasonable. ~~~
~~~ Inae Oh of Mother Jones: "It's hard to overstate the terrifying absurdity of the argument. Then again, this is the man who used his executive power to pardon service members who had been accused of war crimes. Though today's question was an extreme hypothetical -- a device often used by judges to test the logic of a legal argument -- the response by Trump's team was entirely consistent with what the former president has been openly running on. Trump has long teased plans to lock up his political enemies. He did it again just yesterday, floating the idea of having Joe Biden indicted if he returns to the White House."
~~~ Chris Hayes of MSNBC noted on-air that Trump isn't just promising to be a dictator during over-the-top comments at rallies or in crazy 2:00 am tweets, but via his lawyer's arguments has now formally announced his plans to be a dictator.
~~~ Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened unrest if the criminal charges against him cause him to lose the 2024 election. Speaking to reporters after an appeals court hearing in which Trump's lawyers said he should be immune from prosecution for trying to overturn the 2020 election, Trump claimed without evidence that he was being prosecuted because of polls showing him leading President Biden. He warned that if the charges succeed in damaging his candidacy, the result would be 'bedlam.'... The former president did not take questions and walked away as a Washington Post reporter asked him to rule out violence by his supporters.... Biden on Friday condemned Trump for refusing to reject violence. 'Trump won't do what an American president must do; he refuses to denounce political violence,' Biden said. 'So hear me clearly, I will say what Donald Trump won't: Political violence is never acceptable in the United States -- never, never, never. It has no place in the democracy. None.'... Trump also repeated false claims about the 2020 election, and afterward an aide passed out copies of a report that he published online last week and his lawyers cited in a court filing. The report contained allegations that were not new and had already been disproved." ~~~
~~~ On the post-hearing press availability: Maggie Haberman of the New York Times in an entry in the Times' liveblog, linked above: "Trump appeared briefly at the Waldorf Astoria hotel, formerly the Trump hotel. By his side was one of his lawyers, John F. Lauro, who said, 'We can't have a country where every four years there's a cycle of political recrimination.'" MB: So no to "recrimination," but "retribution" is A-OK.
Trump Can Do Anything You Can Do Better. Peter Charalambous & Aaron Katersky of ABC News: "Former President Trump intends to personally deliver part of the defense's closing argument at the conclusion of his civil fraud trial in New York on Thursday, sources familiar with the former president's strategy tell ABC News. The defendants in the case -- Trump, his two eldest sons and two former Trump Organization executives -- are represented by three primary attorneys, Christopher Kise, Clifford Robert and Alina Habba. But sources say Trump himself is determined to deliver a portion of the closing statement. The sources cautioned that plans for the defense's closing argument remain fluid."
Trust in elected officials and Fox News led to my gullibility in believing the election was stolen. What I witnessed [on January 6] was rage and vulgarity on a level I've never seen before, and it was generated by people like me, not the F.B.I. or antifa. -- Ray Epps, at his sentencing hearing ~~~
~~~ Zach Montague & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Ray Epps, the former Trump supporter who became a target of a conspiracy theory that he was an undercover government agent who helped to instigate the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, was sentenced on Tuesday to a year of probation for his own small role in the riot instead of the six months in prison that prosecutors had requested. The probation sentence ... was unlikely to end the persistent false narrative that he was a provocateur out to entrap his fellow conservatives on Jan. 6 even though he, his lawyer, the prosecutor and even the judge overseeing the case all asserted in open court that the tale was preposterous."
Sarah Ellison, et al., of the Washington Post: "Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday called the wave of threats against government workers and public servants a 'deeply disturbing spike.' While some on the right have been affected, many targets share a common attribute: They have done or said something that has earned Trump's ire. Experts ... caution that the possibility of harm being inflicted on public servants is already undermining the health of U.S. democracy because the intimidation risks influencing their decision-making."
The George Santos of Tennessee. Phil Williams of WTVF-TV Nashville: "A nonpartisan watchdog group has asked a federal ethics agency to investigate Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles [R] over $1 million of discrepancies in financial disclosures he was required to file with the U.S. House. The Campaign Legal Center (CLC) repeatedly cites NewsChannel 5's reporting in the complaint that was filed Tuesday with the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), comparing Ogles' conduct to disgraced New York Congressman George Santos. NewsChannel 5 Investigates discovered that, like Santos, Ogles has misrepresented his educational and business credentials.... Specifically, in its complaint, the CLC notes the Maury County Republican's claim to have personally loaned $320,0000 to his 2022 campaign for Congress, 'but Rep. Ogles' financial disclosure reports do not disclose assets that would allow him to make this loan.' As NewsChannel 5 previously reported, on financial disclosures filed with the U.S. House..., Ogles did not disclose any checking or savings accounts." (Also linked yesterday.)
Presidential Race 2024
Alex Gangitano of the Hill: "President Biden's reelection campaign bashed former President Trump on Tuesday after he& said he hoped the U.S. economy would crash in the next 12 months, arguing he doesn't care about people. 'Donald Trump should just say he doesn't give a damn about people, because that's exactly what he's telling the American people when he says he hopes the economy crashes. In his relentless pursuit of power and retribution, Donald Trump is rooting for a reality where millions of Americans lose their jobs and live with the crushing anxiety of figuring out how to afford basic needs,' campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez said. Trump, in an interview with former Fox Business Network host Lou Dobbs on a network launched by MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, called the economy 'fragile' and said he is hoping for a crash within the year. 'And when there's a crash -- I hope it's going to be during this next 12 months because I don't want to be Herbert Hoover,' Trump said in the interview that aired Monday night. "The one president I just don't want to be, Herbert Hoover.' Former President Hoover had been in office for just a few months when the stock market crashed in 1929, triggering the Great Depression." (Also linked yesterday.)
Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times examines some "what-ifs," then concludes "... it is still worth the effort to say ... that our constitutional system, however flawed, is worth defending; that Trump is a clear and present threat to that system; and that we should use every legitimate tool at our disposal to keep him away from -- and out of -- power."
Marie: As nearly as I can parse it, Trump is threatening bedlam if he doesn't regain the White House, a crime spree if he wins the election. Heads we lose, tails we lose.
~~~~~~~~~~
Israel/Palestine
The Washington Post's live updates of developments Wednesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Wednesday, after encountering resistance in earlier meetings with Israeli officials over the treatment of Palestinians and a plan for Gaza's future. In the southern Red Sea, U.S. and British forces shot down a barrage of drones and missiles launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels, in the latest attack on international shipping, U.S. Central Command said.... The International Court of Justice at The Hague will hold hearings this week on South Africa's case accusing Israel of actions that amount to genocide in its war in Gaza. South Africa will present its case Thursday, and Israel will do so Friday." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Wednesday are here. CNN's live updates are here.
** Matthew Lee, et al., of the AP: "U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday called on Israel to work with moderate Palestinians and neighboring countries on plans for postwar Gaza, saying they were willing to help rebuild and govern the territory but only if there is a 'pathway to a Palestinian state.'... Speaking at a news conference after meeting with top Israeli leaders, Blinken said Israel 'must stop taking steps that undercut the Palestinians' ability to govern themselves effectively.' Israel, he added 'must be a partner of the Palestinian leaders who are willing to lead their people' and live 'side by side in peace with Israel.' Settler violence, settlement expansion, home demolitions and evictions 'all make it harder, not easier, for Israel to achieve lasting peace and security.'"
News Ledes
New York Times: "At least four people died as severe thunderstorms, powerful winds and apparent tornadoes ripped across swaths of the southeastern United States on Tuesday, downing power lines and trees, and damaging buildings." ~~~
~~~ Here's a New York Times liveblog of weather developments across the U.S.
New York Times: "Amalija Knavs, a former Slovenian factory worker who became a United States citizen with help from one of her daughters, Melania Trump, has died. She was 78."
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Reader Comments (19)
Can’t wait for Trump do get up in court and do his F. Lee Fat Fuck turn. You just know he won’t be able to contain himself. He’ll start ranting and his lawyers won’t know what to do. The judge will grab the gavel and order him to shut up.
Hey, he believes he knows more than generals, than nuclear physicists, than seasoned diplomats, why not attorneys? He probably thinks he knows more than the judge.
Every day there is yet more evidence of what a delusional asshole this guy is.
Now that I think of it, as delusional as Fatty is, maybe he does know more than his lawyers, because they seem like idiots. So here we go, into a hearing to determine whether your client has absolute immunity. You decide to come up with a hypothetical. So you pick…assassination? Of a political rival?!? Not only do you guarantee you’ll be the butt of jokes around the country and fodder for late night TV comedians, but you present the one judge who might be amenable to a reasonable argument with a case virtually impossible to defend.
And then there’s the idea that total immunity allows your guy to commit murder with zero consequences if he hasn’t been impeached first. But what if half the Congress is corrupt (as it is) and refuses (as they did) to impeach him?
Jaw dropping stupidity. But then again, it’s Trump. He’s not going to pick lawyers who aren’t incompetent assholes, like he is.
Hard to tease apart all the factors that move some people to think they should be in charge of everything and others to accept that fundamentally undemocratic arrangement.
I know I've never understood that aspect of leadership. Why do some people even like to tell other people what to do?, It's a question that always generated its own uneasy feelings when I've have been the boss.
Maybe that uneasiness stems from my own discomfort at being told what to do. I've never liked it, and that sense of dislike that sometimes verged on rebellion was never far away.
So the two questions that always come up when I think about dictatorship. What set of circumstances leads someone to think he is qualified to tell everyone what to do?
And what is wrong with the people who don't laugh in his face and tell him he's full of it?
Bobo Family Values
From the Watch What I Do, not What I Say Department comes the Bobos of Colorado. They drink, they kick, they fight, they punch, they vape, they give out hand jobs in public (one of them, anyway), they bully, they brawl, they get put in handcuffs and arrested (the other one).
Family values, like you read about. I guess the Bobos were looking to that other famous Family Values bunch, the Palins of Alaska. Settin’ on the back porch, watchin’ the Rooskies, fightin’, brawlin’, leching, and reading just…everything!
Ahhh…those right-wingers, models of decency and probity.
Right.
Hey, so I was thinking of Palin the other day. While walking the dog, I was listening to a podcast about the how philosophers have looked at the concept of hope over the centuries.
Hesiod reminds us that Zeus put hope into that jar that ended up in Pandora’s hands, the one with all the evils in it. When she opened it, all those nasty evils flew out (what was Zeus’s plan in the first place? Shouldn’t he have put like a warning label or something on that jar?), but she covered the jar in time to keep hope inside. I’m not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing…
Anyway, hope has had its ups and downs with the philosophy crowd. Aristotle was cool towards it. Kant liked it, Nietzsche, not so much. But the Christian philosophers were big on hope as a virtue. Very big in fact. Then I recalled how snarky grizzly mom Palin used to shit on it. “How’s that hopey-changey thing workin’ out for ya, huh?” Because, I thought, Christian philosophy, in fact pretty much the entirety of Christianity as a system, had become, and mostly still is, just another cudgel for wingers to beat people with. You’re all goin’ ta hell cuz we hate you.
Hope? Nope. Hate. Yup.
They got nothin’. When you’re making fun of hope to people who are desperate for some way to believe things can change, can get better, well, you really are quite depraved.
The GQP, in a word.
Trump's plans on rounding up all the immigrants.
"As he campaigns on a pledge to lead an unprecedented crackdown on legal and illegal immigration, former President Donald Trump has vowed to invoke an 18th-century wartime law to help fuel his massive deportation operations. According to three people familiar with the policy deliberations, Trump, his advisers, and allies have been developing legally dubious justifications and theories to give Trump what he would ostensibly need to wield the archaic law as a weapon against the undocumented if he’s elected president again."
Paul Krugman argues that most of the doomsday economy polling is just whiney partisan MAGA losers hating a Democrat in the White House.
An oldie but goodie. John Stewart on drag queens versus guns.
Guess which one kills more school kids. Republicans don't have a clue.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CzWjvwUgDP1/
Super Patriot
Here's a plan:
Biden walks into the courtroom and shoots The Donald dead. Since it's Federal property, it's a Federal crime, and Biden can't be charged since he's President. Nonetheless, he immediately resigns, President Harris pardons him, and appoints him Vice President. Then she resigns, Joe is President again, and appoints Kamala VP. Joe is now free and innocent and can run for reelection. Then VP Kamala presiding over the Senate refuses to certify the election for anyone but Joe.
It gets stupider
"The Escambia County School District, located in the Florida panhandle, has removed several dictionaries from its library shelves over concerns that making the dictionaries available to students would violate Florida law. The American Heritage Children's Dictionary, Webster's Dictionary for Students, and Merriam-Webster's Elementary Dictionary are among more than 2800 books that have been pulled from Escambia County school libraries and placed into storage. The Escambia County School District says these texts may violate HB 1069, a bill signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis (R) in May 2023. "
@RAS: Amazing how well that description holds up after more than half a century. I do think you'd have to eliminate hates "the super rich" and maybe add "people from shithole countries."
RAS,
And it isn't just sentiment about the economy.
Yesterday's related Krugman column linking Republican attitudes toward the Fed's action on interest rates prompted me to comment.
I wonder when gaining or maintaining power became Republicans' sole interest? Certainly that aim has long been near the top of their list, even back in the "better dead than red" days, when they cranked up the fear of communism meter at every opportunity.
And who could forget its close cousin, the manipulation of the terrorist threat index during the second Bush II election?
For a while, tho' not for a long time, Republican interests were occasionally wider than themselves. No longer.
Can't date the change precisely but would say that beginning with the Gingrich House and his Contract on America, we've seen little else from the increasingly corrupt Right.
At this point all policy is grist for Republicans' self-interest mill. Immigration and its close companion, race. Science and economics. Everything. And when reality anywhere doesn't comply, they just lie about it.
The Republican attitude toward the Fed's interest rate decisions are no exception, because there aren't any.
MAGA über alles!
@RAS: Rhonda DeSantis must be assuming that no one in Escambia
County has a dictionary in their home, or if they do happen to have
one, will he be sending the Dictionary Police to every home to
confiscate their dictionaries?
Low IQs will go even lower.
@Marie: We just have to add the qualifier Democrats and it still fits perfectly. Hates super rich Democrats or just George Soros.
Turned on MSNBC for a minute this morning and was assaulted by a woman screaming like a banshee at the surprise guest at the "party:" Hunter. I thought it was ol' Stefanik but no; it was Nancy Mace (sp?) of South Carolina, I thought I read. So there are more than ONE witch on the right with dark hair (screaming that Hunter has no balls and he is not above the law--) instead of bleached trailer trash Perjury Traitor Greed. Witches with capital B, I should say. The teevee was immediately turned to Hallmark and remains there...even banal suits us better than the GQP Rage Machine. It's my late mom's birthday. How she would have been sad at today's horrible politics...
Rep. Jasmine Crocket 'splains to nancy mace about "white privlege"
and their hypocrisy.
https://democraticunderground.com/100218586783
Please someone ‘splain to me how agreeing to testify in public translates to “no balls”.
No balls is demanding to go into your secret hidey hole to ask questions so you can slither out and scream “Guilty! But we can’t reveal what was said because SECRET! But take our word for it. GUILTY!! Aieee!”
The usual cowards and traitors at work in the Trumpsidedown Cloud Cuckoo Land of the GQP.
What's this about TFG complaining that he's not able, under current situations, to enjoy his golden shower years. I didn't realize that they were supposed to last years...
I wonder how quickly will Merrick Garland will move to appease the Republicans after they order Hunter shackled and thrown in a dungeon? Most of the January 6th committee contempt recommendations were slow walked by the DOJ, if they were taken up at all. The Hunter contempt should be tossed in the trash based on the facts of the case. Comer's pick your venue invitation and Hunter showing up to give public testimony that day undercut the GQP's argument. Unfortunately they win even if Hunter is not charged because they will spend all their time crying about special treatment for the President's son.