;)
The Conversation -- October 19, 2023
Luke Broadwater & Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Representative Jim Jordan, the hard-line Republican from Ohio, does not plan to force a third vote on Thursday on his bid to become speaker after running headlong into opposition from a bloc of mainstream G.O.P. holdouts, according to two people familiar with his decision. Instead, Mr. Jordan will endorse a plan to empower Representative Patrick T. McHenry of North Carolina -- the temporary speaker whose role is primarily to hold an election for a speaker -- to carry out the chambe's work through Jan. 3. In the meantime, Mr. Jordan will continue trying to build support to become speaker." ~~~
~~~ @ 11: 25 am ET: Lauren Fox is reporting on CNN that the GOP House Plan of the Moment is that Gym Jordan will not seek a third losing vote but will push instead for a deal where Speaker Pro Tem Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) will maintain his job until January 2024, with expanded powers to run the House, powers he does not have now. In the meantime, Jordan will continue his charm offensive behavior in hopes of garnering enough votes to grab the gavel at the beginning of next year. MB: Don't count on this being the last word. ~~~
~~~ @ 11:54 am ET: Fox says Democrats are meeting in private and have not yet announced how they would respond to Jordan's so-called plan. (MB: Not sure if Democrats even know just what the plan is.) Since some Republicans probably won't agree to the plan, to give McHenry more power, even temporarily, most likely would require at least some Democratic support.
~~~ @ 12:00 noon ET, Manu Raju of CNN reports on-air that the Bickersons are still bickering, & some Republicans are against the temporary speaker thang.
News Flash. No More Chese & KrackensTM Akhilleus! Maybe Ken Cheseboro just caught a break; he won't be tried with Sidney Powell; to wit:
** The Kracken Kracks. CNN: "Former Donald Trump attorney Sidney Powell has pleaded guilty in the Georgia election subversion case, one day before her trial was set to start. Fulton County prosecutors are recommending a sentence of six years probation. Powell will also be required to testify at future trials and write an apology letter to the citizens of Georgia. As part of her guilty plea, Powell is admitting her role in the January 2021 breach of election systems in rural Coffee County, Georgia." This is a breaking story and will be updated. ~~~
~~~ Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "Sidney K. Powell, a member of Donald J. Trump's legal team after he lost the 2020 election, pleaded guilty on Thursday morning to six misdemeanor counts.... Ms. Powell, 68, who appeared in a downtown Atlanta courtroom, was sentenced to six years of probation for conspiracy to commit intentional interference of election duties..... She was also fined $6,000 and agreed to pay $2,700 restitution to the state of Georgia, as well as write an apology letter to its citizens. Prosecutors said in court that Ms. Powell had given them a recorded statement on Wednesday as part of her plea deal. She has agreed to testify against any of the 17 remaining defendants. Ms. Powell has also agreed to turn over documents in her possession related to the case. The guilty plea was a blow to Mr. Trump.... It means that a member of the Trump legal team will cooperate with the prosecution as it pursues criminal convictions related to efforts to keep the former president in power after he lost the 2020 election." ~~~
~~~ Here's video of Powell's hearing. Thanks to unwashed for the link:
A New York Times story linked below says jury selection in the Chese & Kracken cases (now the Chese stands aloneTM Akhilleus) is to begin on Monday. This Washington Post story about Powell's plea deal says jury selection starts tomorrow, Friday.
A few additions below, marked "NEW."
~~~~~~~~~~
Chaos Is the Essence of the Scheme
Katherine Tully-McManus, et al., of Politico: "Opposition to Jim Jordan's speakership bid is increasing, as the Ohio Republican again failed to get the 217 votes he needs to win the gavel. After halting voting for nearly a day in hopes of securing more Republican votes, Jordan instead lost two more votes on the second ballot. The House then went into another recess, at Jordan's request, before a possible third vote. The GOP is expected to hold a conference meeting Wednesday afternoon as it keeps searching for a way out of its speaker mess." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story, by Catie Edmondson, is here.
~~~ Déjà Vu All Over Again. The New York Times liveblogged developments yesterday in the House of Representatives. "Representative Jim Jordan, the hard-line Republican from Ohio, was battling on Wednesday to pick up the votes to become speaker, a day after a bloc of 20 G.O.P. holdouts handed him a defeat that raised questions about his ability to win the gavel. Mr. Jordan called for a second vote around 11 a.m. on Wednesday, hoping that he would be able to show he has the momentum on the House floor to win the majority he needs to be elected. A few Republicans who opposed him on Tuesday said they would relent and back Mr. Jordan on the second ballot. But other mainstream Republicans vowed to continue opposing Mr. Jordan...." Details in yesterday's Conversation & of course in the NYT liveblog. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
Closed Until Further Notice. Edmondson: "The final tally: Jordan won 199 votes and Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic leader, won 212 votes. Four Republicans who backed Jordan on the first ballot rose to oppose him this time. Two Republicans who voted against Jordan yesterday changed their votes and supported him.... 'A speaker has not been elected,' the acting speaker, Patrick McHenry, says. He announces a recess."
Marie: Hakeem Jeffries "won" the day with 212 votes for him over 199 for Jordan. I'll bet Jeffries had received more votes for Speaker of the House than anyone who was never Speaker of the House. AND, as a number of teevee commentators have pointed out, Gym Jordan received the fewest number of votes of any nominee for speaker in modern history.
NEW. Alex Griffing of Mediaite: Brianna Keilar of CNN tried to explain to Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) why his claim that Democrats ousted Kevin McCarthy is false. Marie: Frankly, she didn't do a very good job. The real answer is the way speakers have been chosen in modern U.S. history is that each party picks a leader, then everyone (or almost everyone) in each party votes for his party's leader to be speaker. Naturally, the leader of the party with the most members -- the majority party -- wins the election. Often there are a few symbolic votes for others, but never enough to change the vote. A shorter explanation comes from NiskyGuy in today's Comments: "The next time any R starts blaming Democrats for my Kevin's ouster, the reporter needs to ask how many times that R voter for Nancy Pelosi when the Democrats had the same slim majority. Shut 'em down!"
Marie: I will not be able to timely cover whatever happens today in this continuing saga as I am having oral surgery. I'm not sure the surgery will be more painful than would be tuning into the Gym Jordan Show.
Miranda Nazzaro of the Hill: "Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) revealed she has received death threats after reversing her support for Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on the second Speaker ballot Wednesday. Miller-Meeks said she received 'credible death threats' and a 'barrage of threatening calls,' according to a statement posted to X-...Twitter.... Jordan commented on the reported threats later Wednesday, writing on X, 'No American should accost another for their beliefs. We condemn all threats against our colleagues and it is imperative that we come together. Stop. It's abhorrent.'" MB: The GOP has become an organization that condones and even encourages (see Trump, Donald) threats of violence and actual violence in response to political disagreements. It is not surprising then that even Republicans who defy the party's far-right agenda will themselves be subjected to such threats. At least Jordan, unlike Trump, has denounced the threats against his colleagues.
Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "U.S. immigration authorities Wednesday returned nearly 130 migrants to Venezuela, starting deportation flights Biden administration officials view as a crucial step toward reducing the record number of illegal crossings at the U.S. southern border. The deportations follow an agreement by the Venezuelan government to hold competitive elections next year, a deal that paves the way for the Biden administration to ease economic sanctions." ~~~
~~~ Karen DeYoung & Ana Herrero of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration on Wednesday eased oil, gas and gold sanctions against Venezuela a day after the government of President Nicolás Maduro and the U.S.-backed opposition agreed to terms for a competitive presidential election next year. The Treasury Department issued a general license authorizing U.S. companies to engage in long-barred transactions primarily in the state-controlled energy sector. It said the license is to be valid for six months, to be renewed only if the authoritarian socialist government 'meets its commitments' for elections and 'with respect to those who are wrongfully detained.'" Politico's story is here.
The Trials of Trump
Donald Goes to Court, Behaves Badly. Gets a Scolding. Jennifer Peltz & Michael Sisak of the AP: "A woman was arrested Wednesday after she stood up at Donald Trump's New York civil fraud trial and walked toward the front of the courtroom where the former president was sitting. The woman, later identified as a court employee, retreated after a court officer told her to return to her seat. A short time later, officers escorted the woman out of the Manhattan courtroom and arrested her. She was charged with contempt of court for disrupting a court proceeding, state court spokesperson Lucian Chalfen said....
"Judge Arthur Engoron warned Trump and others involved in the case to keep their voices down after the 2024 Republican frontrunner conferred animatedly with his lawyers at the defense table during real estate appraiser Doug Larson's second day of testimony. State lawyer Kevin Wallace asked Engoron to ask the defense to 'stop commenting during the witness' testimony,' adding that the 'exhortations' were audible on the witness' side of the room. The judge then asked everyone to keep their voices down, 'particularly if it's meant to influence the testimony.'... Trump grew irritated as Larson testified.... Trump threw up his hands during the exchange.... Trump railed about that exchange during a court break. 'See what's happened? The government lied. They just lie. They didn't reveal all of the information that they had,' Trump said. 'They didn't reveal all the evidence that made me totally innocent of anything that they say.'" (Also linked yesterday.)~~~
~~~ Marie: Trump doesn't seem to understand that it's up to his own lawyers, not the prosecution, to present any exculpatory information to the judge. AND, since Engoron has already found the Trump Org committed fraud, it's kinda hard to reckon that Trump himself is "totally innocent of anything they say."
NEW. Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: “... Donald Trump complained bitterly outside the courtroom where his fraud trial is being held because 'I have to be here' instead of campaigning -- but by the end of his rant, he had forgotten his falsehood and announced he'd be blowing off the trial for a golf tournament.... [Trump said,] '... this is what we go through because they want to keep me here instead of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and lots of other great places. They want me to be here. It's a disgrace what's happening! It's a rigged trial! The whole thing is rigged!' [A few minutes later, when a reporter asked if Trump would be at the trial the next day, Trump replied,] '... probably will have a very big tournament, professional golf tournament ... at Doral.'" MB: Hey, when everything you say is a lie, it's sometimes hard to remember the last one. Also, when you get Old Like Trump, you are likely to forget recent events.
Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "Donald Trump was interviewed under oath in New York on Tuesday for a lawsuit related to his time as president and the termination of a Russia investigation-era FBI official. The deposition was conducted by attorneys for the FBI official, Peter Strzok, and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page late in the day on Tuesday, sources familiar with Trump's schedule say." Thanks to RAS for the link. (Also linked yesterday.)
Maggie Haberman & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: In the Fulton County, Georgia, conspiracy case, attorney Kenneth "Chesebro's lawyers have argued that his work was shielded by the First Amendment and that he 'acted within his capacity as a lawyer.' They have called for his case to be dismissed, saying he was merely 'researching and finding precedents in order to form a legal opinion, which was then supplied to his client, the Trump campaign.'... But Mr. Chesebro's emails could undercut any effort to show that the lawyers were focused solely on legal strategies.... Mr. Chesebro made clear [in the emails] he was considering politics and was well aware of how the Trump campaign's legal filings could be used as ammunition for Republicans' efforts to overturn the results when Congress met to certify the Electoral College outcome.... Of the chances of success [in court], Mr. Chesebro estimated the 'odds the court would grant effective relief before Jan. 6, I'd say only 1 percent.' But he wrote the filing has 'possible political value.'...
"On Wednesday, the judge overseeing the case, Scott McAfee, ruled that a handful of emails that Mr. Chesebro sought to shield from evidence are admissible under the crime-fraud exception, the standard by which probable cause has been established that the correspondence or a lawyer&'s advice was used in furtherance of a crime.... Jury selection is scheduled to begin on Monday. (Also linked yesterday.)"
Presidential Race 2016
Marie: The other day I linked to a NYT story that revealed that Oprah Winfrey had called Mitt Romney and suggested they run as a "unity" team with Romney at the top of the ticket & Winfrey as veep. Romney rejected the idea. BUT here's what he did think was a good idea: ~~~
~~~ Anyone But Trump. Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Mitt Romney considered a desperate, third presidential bid in 2016, aiming to stop Donald Trump as part of an unlikely unity ticket with Ted Cruz -- a hard-right Texas senator who Romney privately considered 'scary' and 'a demagogue', a new book reports. 'Romney was willing to wage a quixotic and humiliating presidential bid if that's what it took,' McKay Coppins writes in Romney: A Reckoning, a biography of the 2012 Republican nominee written in close cooperation with its subject."
Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "An extreme right-wing social media influencer was sentenced to seven months in prison Wednesday for an election interference scheme against Black voters in 2016, the Department of Justice announced. Douglass Mackey who went by the online persona of 'Ricky Vaughn' on Twitter-... X, used his 58,000-follower social media account to push misinformation intended to trick Black people into into believing they could vote by text message, shortly after discussing with his supporters the importance of limiting 'Black turnout.'" The New York Times story is here.
~~~~~~~~~~
Nebraska. Livia Albeck-Ripka of the New York Times: "Gov. Jim Pillen of Nebraska is facing criticism after he dismissed a news article about environmental concerns at his hog farms, saying that the reporter who wrote it was from 'Communist China.' The reporter, Yanqi Xu, 27, revealed her findings in an article published Sep. 7 by The Flatwater Free Press that detailed nitrate levels 'far above' the legal drinking water limit at more than a dozen farms owned by Mr. Pillen, a Republican. While the farms had brought prosperity to Platte Center, a village about 60 miles northwest of Lincoln, Neb., they 'also may bring risk' to the region's drinking water, Ms. Xu wrote. During an interview on the Omaha radio station KFAB four days later, Mr. Pillen ... was asked to comment on the investigation. 'Number one, I didn't read it and I won't,' he responded. 'Number two, all you've got to do is look at the author, author's from Communist China -- what more do you need to know?'" ~~~
~~~ NEW. John Oliver features a related story. Thanks to RAS for the link:
~~~~~~~~~~
Israel/Palestine
President Biden will make an Oval Office address to the nation at 8:00 pm ET today.
The New York Times live updates of developments Thursday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain landed in Israel Thursday to meet with the country's top leaders and build on President Biden's progress in securing a deal for aid for the Gaza Strip.... The president is scheduled to give a prime time address from the Oval Office on Thursday about the war and is expected to request $100 billion for Israel, Ukraine and other crises from Congress by the end of the week. The decision to link aid for Ukraine to aid for Israel reflects the urgency of both wars -- and a calculation about Republican support. Mr. Biden said Egypt would allow 20 aid trucks into Gaza, though the timing of the delivery remained unclear. Israel agreed to it on the condition that the resources would not be intercepted by Hamas, which runs the enclave....
"Mr. Biden and senior congressional leaders from both parties backed Israel's contention that a Palestinian terrorist group had caused this week's explosion at a Gaza hospital, which the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry said had killed hundreds. Hamas has blamed an Israeli airstrike, without citing evidence. Neither side's claims could be independently verified.... The United States vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution on the war, with the American ambassador saying the draft needed to mention Israel's right to self-defense. The veto generated complaints of an American double standard."
From the New York Times liveblog of developments Wednesday in the Israel/Hamas war (also linked yesterday) :
Peter Baker: "President Biden said on Wednesday that he had urged Israel to allow some humanitarian aid into Gaza as long as it did not go to the Hamas group, and Israel said it would not block deliveries from Egypt, offering the first sign of relief to civilians in the blockaded enclave besieged by days of deadly Israeli airstrikes."
Michael Shear: "President Biden announced $100 million in aid to help civilians in Gaza and the West Bank and said he had secured a commitment from Israel's government to allow food, water and medicine to be delivered to Palestinians in Gaza from Egypt in a humanitarian effort overseen by the United Nations and others."
Julian Barnes, et al.: "American officials say they have multiple strands of intelligence -- including infrared satellite data -- indicating that the deadly blast at a Gaza hospital on Tuesday was caused by Palestinian fighters." ~~~
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "As Israel seeks to destroy Hamas, which killed more than 1,400 people and took nearly 200 hostages, [President Biden's] message was that it should not give in to excesses that cause unnecessary loss of innocent life -- and in the process, squander the world's sympathy the way the United States eventually did two decades ago.... '... You can't look at what has happened here to your mothers, your fathers, your grandparents, sons, daughters, children, even babies and not scream out for justice. Justice must be done. But I caution this -- while you feel that rage, don't be consumed by it. After 9/11, we were enraged in the United States. While we sought justice and got justice, we also made mistakes.... No American president has ever visited Israel during a war [before this], and Mr Biden came to its defense on Wednesday not just by offering his symbolically potent presence but by backing its denial of responsibility for the catastrophic explosion that struck a hospital in Gaza. The health ministry in Gaza said hundreds of people were killed." ~~~
~~~ Najib Jobain, et al., of the AP: "Israel said Wednesday that it will allow Egypt to deliver limited quantities of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, the first crack in a 10-day siege on the territory. Palestinians reeled from a massive blast at a Gaza City hospital that killed hundreds the day before and grew increasingly desperate as food and water supplies ran out. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the decision was approved after a request from visiting U.S. President Joe Biden. It said Israel 'will not thwart' deliveries of food, water or medicine, as long as they are limited to civilians in the south of the Gaza Strip and don't go to Hamas militants. The statement made no mention of badly needed fuel. It was not clear when the aid would start flowing." (Also linked yesterday.)
Vivian Yee of the New York Times: "Thousands of protesters marched in grief, fury and solidarity across the Middle East on Tuesday night and Wednesday, after hundreds of Palestinian civilians were killed in an explosion at a hospital in Gaza. Although Israel and the United States said the evidence pointed to a faulty rocket fired by Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant group, there was little doubt for those protesters that Israel was to blame -- and not just for the hospital deaths, but for the broader conflict as well."
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Max Boot of the Washington Post: "Hamas did not score a significant information-warfare victory until Tuesday's explosion at al-Ahli Hospital. The Hamas-controlled Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza immediately blamed the blast on an Israeli airstrike and claimed that 500 civilians had been killed. This 'breaking news' was immediately, and credulously, picked up by Western news media.... Yet, a few hours after the initial news, a competing version of events emerged: Israeli spokesmen claimed the casualties were caused ... by a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket that went astray. Israel even released a purported intercept of two terrorists discussing the terrible accident. Independent open-source intelligence analysts such as Eliot Higgins of Bellingcat and former U.N. war-crimes investigator Marc Garlasco joined in to say their examinations of photos and videos of the blast site did not reveal the kind of crater that an Israeli bomb would have left.... The 'battle of the narrative' is more important than ever. That makes it all the more imperative that the world -- journalists especially -- not echo the claims of either side without first checking them out." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Yesterday, during a joint MSNBC guest appearance with Helene Cooper of the New York Times, Jeremy Bash -- a usually mild-mannered former CIA & DOD top staffer -- laid into the New York Times for a headline that read something like, "Israel Strikes Hospital, Palestinians Say." MSNBC host Nicole Wallace was, uh, unprepared for Bash's critique. I should add that the Times story was better than the initial AP story I linked, which put the blame on Israel; the body of the Times report allowed that Israel said that it had not bombed the Gaza hospital. And the Times later altered its headline to reflect the disputed source of the attack.
Abigail Hauslohner & Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: "Jack Lew, President Biden's nominee to become the next U.S. ambassador to Israel, faced strident opposition from Republican senators during a Wednesday hearing to vet his nomination, as Democrats insisted that the urgent need to contain the deadly violence engulfing Israel and the Gaza Strip demands a speedy confirmation.... The proceedings ... centered on what lawmakers overwhelmingly agreed is Israel's need for a steadfast American ally in the wake of this month's devastating Hamas attack, though many Republicans signaled it would be difficult for them to support Lew given his past work to implement the now-defunct deal with Israel's sworn enemy." (This is an update of a story linked yesterday.) Politico's story is here.
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Reader Comments (18)
Don's priorities, golfing>campaigning.
The Jordan and Hannity threats worked out just like we knew they would. With threats of violence towards those that did not immediately fall in goosestep behind him. They have trained their army so well that today it takes little effort on their part to send their most rabid fanatics to harass and threaten even their fellow Republicans. But they have no control over the powers they unleash and no idea how far those people will go to see their enemies punished.
The next time any R starts blaming Democrats for my Kevin’s ouster, the reporter needs to ask how many times that R voter for Nancy Pelosi when the Democrats had the same slim majority. Shut ‘em down!
The substance of the Pillen story was talked about on John Oliver's latest show about food safety. There is a reason many experts say you are more likely to get sick from the tomato or lettuce of your hamburger than the party. The reporter did an excellent job of documenting the problems with the govenor's hog farms.
Marie,
Hope the surgery goes well. Anything involving the head, ears, eyes, nose, mouth…yikes.
And if you need a chuckle when you get home, here’s my favorite stupid story of the day not involving Gym Jordan. .
It appears that a landscape worker in a little place called China Grove, NC (no relation to the Doobie Brothers’ “China Grove”) was mowing the grass on a piece of property when he noticed a dead body. Hmmm…what to do? “I know!” sez the guy. “I’ll mow around him!”
Seriously. He apparently thought the body was a Halloween decoration. Geez they make those Halloween dummies very realistic these days, amirite?
A friend suggested that the dead guy might be able to get elected to Mark Meadows’ old seat. He’d do better in Congress, I’m thinking. And at least he wouldn’t be the subject of a grand jury investigation (unless it was for loitering).
Another instance in which a dead guy is better than a live Republican.
Oh, btw, Forrest, what’s your standard approach to dead bodies in a yard? Mow around ‘em or move ‘em?
Youse guys notice that Jumpin’ Gym has been showing up for these losing votes wearing a suit coat? I guess he must think it makes him look speakerly-like. Sorry, Gym. Lipstick on a pig does not preempt the porcine.
And here I was thinking that he might decide to show up in a wrestling singlet. After all, he’s manly man Gym, right? Oops, but that might remind everyone of how manly man Gym skeedaddled when it was time to stand up for student athletes being sexually abused. Helping students or helping myself? Hmmm…it’s a no brainer for ol’ Gym.
@Akhilleus: Any dead bodies in the landscape would go into the
compost pile. There's a worldwide shortage of fertilizer so we may
need lot's of compost next summer.
Rep. Tom Cole(R-OK) said the quiet part out loud when he nominated
Jim Jordan in round two of his bid to be speaker of the House.
"He's had the courage to talk about a long-term plan to get at the real
drivers of debt, social security, medicare and medicaid. No speaker
on either side has been willing to deal with this."
So now we know. It wasn't tax cuts for the rich. It was social security
causing the debt crisis all along.
https://crooksandliars.com/2023/10/jim-jordan-praised-courage-cut-
social
(*sigh*) Another Party of Traitors Tower of Personal Responsibility.
So there’s this guy in North Dakota, see? A legislatin’ type named Brandon Prichard, (R-natch), who has been bolstering his positions on various bills by claiming to be in law school at the University of Minnesota.
Not so fast, says U of M Law School administrators, “We never heard of this guy. He’s not a student here.”
So who’s at fault here? This far-right liar or the University of Minnesota Law School who set the record straight?
In the real world, there’s no contest. But in MAGA world?
“Prichard recently commented about being a law student at the University of Minnesota at the end of the most recent legislative session while speaking against a wind energy bill. But when the law school posted to X (formerly Twitter) that Rep. Prichard was not enrolled there, he took to the airwaves to attack the school for having an alleged bias against Christians, and suggested he may sue the law school for unspecified reasons.“
So there you have it. Like Trump, like George Santos, like Rudy Giuliani, like Cheese and Krakens, like pretty much everyone in the Party of Traitors, the liar is never at fault. The fault, dear Brutus, lies with those who tell the truth.
@RAS: Thanks for the Oliver link. I actually quit eating fresh fruit & vegies during the year-plus of the Covid crisis -- until after I'd gotten the vaccinations. If the beasties could not be roasted to death, the vegies were out.
However, I'm back to eating the dangerous stuff now; that's how I was able to accidentally conduct my dead lettuce experiment vis-a-vis the House speakership vacuum. The lettuce is completely pulverized now; it has turned into a brown liquid. Still no speaker.
Here's video of the Kraken's hearing courtesy of Medias Touch Network. Audio begins at ~5:30 min.
Initially thought the Powell plea deal excessively light, a mere slap on the wrist, nothing at all compared to all the harm she's done to our shaky democracy, but on second thought:
She must have solid goods on other major players in the election conspiracy and was therefore able to sell them to prosecutors at a very high price.
Or so I hope.
Ahh..so the Kraken has cracked. I’m with Ken. This is wrist slapping, unless she rats out other MAGA criminals. Just go back and listen to the out-fucking-rageous stuff this Trumpette had spewed, especially her tone of high and mighty outrage at the horrible way the Dear Leader was being treated. She better come through.
And so, the Cheese now stands alone. Fuck him too.
Powell got a bargain. She got the equivalent of "Probation Before Judgment" (PBJ here in the Old Line State), which in Georgia seems to be "First Offender" treatment. The key aspect is that she can honestly state without hazard that she has been convicted of nothing in Georgia, if she sticks to the terms. For a member of the bar, that's a big (yuge) deal.
If DiJiT was at all capable of ever admitting being wrong, he would be crazy not to seek the same deal. But, he can't (admit) and he is (crazy), so on we go.
This is funny, edited scene from "the Honeymooners", off of "Crooks and Liars".
https://crooksandliars.com/2023/10/judge-nicely-tells-trump-shut-fck-please
The inclusion of Unwashed’s linked video in todays RC conversation is a delicious reminder that the proceedings of this case against Fatty and his feculent funhouse of demented traitors and liars will be carried live, which puts me in mind of one of Gil Scott-Heron’s masterpieces, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”
In this case, the revolution was/is an authoritarian, racist, democracy hating attempt to overthrow the guv’mint and implant, like a deadly pathogen, a fat dictator to run roughshod over the American Experiment. And now, at least in the Georgia case, the counter revolution WILL be televised.
Open microwave, place popcorn bag on spinning wheel, tear open from corner (careful, HOT), turn on TV, enjoy.*
*Hey, I’ve got a 12 year old. Popcorn is a staple of our movie watching time, so sue me.
and now Gym Jordan decides he will run again in a third attempt after all.
Wonder what or who jerked his Johnny?
AOC on the GQP's blame game, "Democrats tried to save Republicans from themselves. There was this entire rule that allowed for one member of the House to kick out the Speaker... Every single Democrat voted against this rule... They didn't listen."
Bobby Lee,
Wellll, our gracious hostess, Madame Marie, posited earlier today that MAGA Gym’s decision not to lose a third time wouldn’t be the last word on Traitor shenanigans.
It’s worth recalling who really pulls the strings in the Party of Traitors. It’s not pols elected by the people. That would be democracy. Well, sort of. Gerrymandering and election theft don’t come under that heading. But Gym and his whiny baby insurrectionist mob answer to right-wing media mooks, like Hannity and Levin and Bannon.
I’m guessing Gym, after realizing that a Trumpy endorsement and death threats by his followers (he may have come out against death threats, but who amongst us believes that didn’t stiffen the Gymmy member?) weren’t going to allow him to slither into the speakership, decided (momentarily) against MyKevin-like multiple FU votes. These MAGA tough guys are the most delicate and weeny of snowflakes.
But then he probably got an email from Hannity saying “You can’t give up! My bank account, and my position as Traitor Whip depends on chaos and dumpster fires! Keep going until I tell you to stop!”
See, none of these assholes cares about good governance or ethics or morality or the United States. They care about making themselves look good to the morons, whipping up the droolers, and making money.
So MAGA Gym will give it another go and then attack, along with the usual media anal cysts, any who say no.
It’s all a show. That’s it.