Glenn Kirschner – FBI found 43 EMPTY classified documents folders in Donald Trump’s office at Mar-a-Lago
Meidas Touch – Navy Vet who held Top Secret clearance SICKENED by Trump’s stolen documents
Lincoln Project – Cry More
Robert Reich – The Republican War On Teachers
Turtle Lake Wisconsin Does Something Government Almost Never Does
Beau – Let’s talk about Ted Cruz, education, slackers, and risk….
Yesterday was pretty quiet. I tried to catch up on some personal things around the house. I also receifed a few packages (nothing heavy.)
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
CPR – Elijah McClain’s autopsy report changed ahead of arraignments of the officers, paramedics involved in his violent arrest
Quote – It’s extremely rare for autopsies to be changed after a death and it only happens if the pathologist or medical examiner discovers new information they didn’t have at the time of the examination, lawyers said. In McClain’s case, the potential change in his death determination comes after a grand jury met behind closed doors for eight months in 2021. Information from that investigation — tens of thousands of investigatory documents, interviews and forensic and physical evidence — is sealed from the public, but that information is what apparently led Broncucia-Jordan to change the death certificate.
Click through for story. In many states, counties, and municipalities, there is no requirement for a coroner to have any kind of medical expertise. This one apparently also has no legal expertise. And accountability, though desirable, won’t bring Elijah bach.
Robert Reich – The most important battle of our lifetimes
Quote – If Trump has broken the law – by attempting a coup, by instigating an assault on the U.S. Capitol, by making off with troves of top-secret documents — he must be prosecuted, and if found guilty he must be imprisoned. Yes, such prosecutions might increase tensions and divisions in the short term. They might provoke additional violence. But a failure to uphold the laws of the United States would be far more damaging in the longer term. It would undermine our system of government and the credibility of that system — more directly and irreparably than Trump has done. Not holding a former president accountable for gross acts of criminality will invite ever more criminality from future presidents and lawmakers.
Click through for full opinion – one we probably all agree with (and probably can’t state quite as forcefully on our own – I know I couldn’t.)
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Newly unredacted DOJ memo reinforces Bill Barr’s coverup of Trump’s obstruction of justice crimes
Meidas Touch – Texas Law BACKFIRES and accidentally labels Republicans COMMUNISTS (Too funy. Beto accurately knows that “communist” is an economic term [and he isn’t one] – the Texas law isn’t a bad one, but it should have used the term “authotitarian,” or “insurrectionist” – overthrowing the governmetn has nothing to do with communism.)
Ring of Fire – Trump Has Epic Meltdown As Scandals Get Worse
Ojeda Live – The West is drying up!
Armageddon Update – “Stay In Your Lane!”
Beau – Let’s talk about Trump, Special Masters, and a new subpoena….
Glenn Kirschner – Former US AG Eric Holder says Trump “likely WILL be indicted by the DOJ.” Here’s why he’s right
Meidas Touch – Intelligence Expert REACTS to far-right Prime Minister of Hungry’s keynote speech at CPAC in Texa
The Lincoln Project – Ron Johnson on Social Security
Ring of Fire – Dr. Oz’s Failing Campaign Is Freaking Out The Republican Party
Ojeda Live – NATO is a NECESSITY Against Russia
Beau – Let’s talk about Pat Cipollone’s subpoena…
Glenn Kirschner – In interview, AG Garland reaffirms DOJ will charge EVERYONE for their crimes, regardless of status
Meidas Touch – Texas Paul REACTS to Marjorie Taylor Greene Blaming Jan 6 on Nancy Pelosi
The Lincoln Project – The Many Sounds of Junior
Thom Hartmann – The Billionaires Buying The Midterm Elections
Farron Balanced – Trump Allies Have Terrifying Plan To Reshape America If He Becomes President Again
Beau – Let’s talk about the Constitution, marriage, and a talking point….
Yesterday, the news was filled with testimony from Tuesday’s hearing. And rightly so – I guess a lot of people did not realize, and still don’t, who Trump** so obviously is. Of course he throws dishes against the wall. Of course he tries to do bodily harm to anyone who pisses him off. Of course he’s the last person in the world who shold have the nuclear codes. How did so may people miss that? And I don’t even mean his cultists. I mean how did so may sane people still manage not to see that? It’s not as if Hillary didn’t warn us. At least more people are realizing it now. The other thing that was in the news (at least my news feed) was our primaries. I already reported that Tina Peters, the County Clerk who stole the voting equipment, lost her primary to run for Secretary of State (the bad news is that the winner is almost as bad.) Other bad news is that Boebert won her primary. I had no part in that, but I still apologize on behalf of my state to the entire nation. We can only hope that Democrats and Unaffiliateds combine to oust her. Sadly, that’s merely a hope.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
The New Yorker – The “Gap” in the Constitution That Led to January 6th
Quote – Yes, it’s absolutely true that our Presidential-election system in particular has significant vulnerabilities. Some of those vulnerabilities are in the Constitution itself. As long as we retain the constitutional provision for the Electoral College, we won’t be completely out of the woods. State legislatures have the authority to replace a popular vote, to directly appoint the electors for their state. But they can’t do it retroactively. And that gets to what Giuliani and Trump were trying to do.
Click through for full discussion. All communication requires those communicating to share at least some assumptions (there’s a group exercise invilving peanut butter and jelly which brings this point home vividly), and one of those assumptions that we make without realizing it is that we expect our elected officials to act in good faith. For much of my life, though that wasn’t 100% true, there were enough who were that it was safe to assume it. Then came Reagan, Gingrich, and a host of others, and now it is no longer safe to make that assumption.
Robert Reich – The rogue court and the fight ahead
Quote – I keep telling the young people I work with and in the classes I teach that I grew up in an America that expanded constitutional rights, battled racism and protected voting rights, and enlarged the middle class. I tell them that if we did it then, we can do so again. They hear me but I’m not sure they believe me. Their young lives have been marked mostly by public failure. Many were motivated to vote for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2016, and against Trump in 2020, but their patience is wearing thin.
Clivk through for full argument (there’s also a video). I know, voting is not enough, but it has to start with voting. We have to give good leaders some authority – something to work with. If we don’t, their leaders get authority.
Food For Thought – I think this is the first time I have seen a New Yorker cartoon depict a real person, though it’s probably happened.
Yesterday, I watched the hearing, and this time I admit I did get a surprise. It had never occurred to me that coward Trump** might have actually meant it when he said he would be with the protesters. Temper tantrums, yes. Throwing china, yes. Ripping the tablecloth, yes. But actually walking? In his physical condition? That’s a surprise. I can’t say their evidence of witness tampering is surprising – that, after all, is typical Mafia stuff. And anyone who has the guts to truly testify about events will also have the guts to report attempted tampering. But that was a powerful call to witnesses inviting them to “suddenly recall” events they might have forgotten. To be truthful, there was a lot of content from Ms. Hutchinson that I was not able to make out – she is soft spoken – so I’ll be looking at the after-the-fact YouTube and see if there is CC there (in which case there will be a transcript.) While the hearing was going on, I also receuved email confirmation that I may visit Virgil Sunday – half a day only, so I chose the second half. That will give me a chance to get enough sleep. (Later – there’s no CC on the YouTube vodeo, but Wonkette and Robert Reich filled in some of the gaps for me, and I have no doubt Heather Cox Richardson will fill in any gaps that remain.) Breaking news end of day – Tina Peters lost the GOP Primary for Secretary of State! Yay!
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
The New Yorker – Does Hungary Offer a Glimpse of Our Authoritarian Future?
Quote – The Republican Party hasn’t adopted a new platform since 2016, so if you want to know what its most influential figures are trying to achieve … you’ll need to look elsewhere for clues…. A more efficient way to gauge the current mood of the Party is to spend a weekend at the Conservative Political Action Conference, better known as cpac.
Click through for article. Perhaps the scariest thing is that it’s a bit less obvious than brownshirts. It’s already hard to convince people who aren’t paying attention to either history or current events that we are almost a fascist nation now.
Robert Reich – The roots of Trumpism
Quote – When I interviewed these people, the overall economy was doing well in terms of the standard economic indicators of employment and growth. But the standard economic indicators don’t reflect the economic insecurity most Americans felt then — and continue to feel. Nor do they reflect the seeming arbitrariness and unfairness most people experience. The indicators don’t show the linkages many Americans still see — between wealth and power, crony capitalism, stagnant real wages, soaring CEO pay, their own loss of status, and a billionaire class that has turned our democracy into an oligarchy. The standard measures also don’t show that for four decades, Americans without a four-year college degree have worked harder than ever, but gone nowhere. If they’re white and non-college, they’ve been on a downward economic escalator. Finally, the standard measures don’t show what most Americans have caught on to — how wealth has translated into political power to rig the system with bank bailouts, corporate subsidies, special tax loopholes, shrunken unions, and increasing monopoly power, all of which have pushed down wages and pulled up profits.
Click through for analysis. Someone could shoot Trump** on Fifth Avenue (or anywhere else) and Trump**ism would not disappear – far from it. To get rid of it, we need to dig deeper – a lot deeeper.
Food For Thought
Yesterday, Sunday, I hadn’t slept well.I scheduled today’s posts early so I could spend some time going throug my closets (and everywhere else I have clothing) in order to se aside clothing to give to thrift stores. It’s going to take quite a while. In the roughly 11 years that Virgil has been incarcerated, I have lost six sizes, and I have never systematicall attempted to eliminate what no longer fits – living alone and with mobility issues I just haven;’t had the impulse to tackle such a huge task which arose so gradually. But now I have a motivating factor. If I can get this done (along with some other clutter) I eventually (and I do mean eventually) may be able to coordinate with a reputable group tp offer my home to women coming here to Colorado for abortions (assuming I live long enough to get there – but I am in decent health for my age – my issues are either non-life-threatening or medically controlled. So far.) AT any rate, I’m going to try.
Cartoon (not a live link, sorry) –
Short Takes –
Letters from an American – June 24, 2022
Quote – At [Thursday’s] hearing of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, we heard overwhelming proof that former president Trump and his congressional supporters tried to overturn the will of the voters in the 2020 presidential election and steal control of our country to keep a minority in power. [Friday], thanks to three justices nominated by Trump, the Supreme Court stripped a constitutional right from the American people, … a right they indicated they would protect because it was settled law…. For the first time in our history, rather than conveying rights, the court has explicitly taken a constitutional right away from the American people. These two extraordinary events are related.
Click through for full analysis. Richardson is a historian. The period in history she sees us as losing (or having lost) is not the last fifty years, but the period from 1933 to a981. I concur. This is so much bigger than abortion (and guns).
Crooks & Liars – Hey Gang There’s A (Grifty) Credit Card For Conservatives!
Quote – “Coign is America’s first credit card built by Conservatives for Conservatives. Coign was created to advance conservative values and embrace the American spirit. We align your dollars with your values. Unlike other leading credit cards, that give millions to the Left each year, Coign is helping Conservatives to align their dollars with their values. We’re proud that the dollars you spend are invested in Conservative causes.”
Click through for comic relief – although it’s also scary. If their base is dumbe enough to fall for this, they’ll fall for anything. (I assume a married woman needs her hisband’s signature to get this card.)
Food For Thought
