Glenn Kirschner – Georgia judge sets October 2023 trial date for Trump’s RICO co-defendant, Kenneth Chesebro (groaner alert)
The Lincoln Project – It’s His Party
Robert Reich – Unsung Heroes of Trump’s Georgia Indictment
Brent Terhune – Kid Rock Drank a Bud Light???
Starving Husky Nearly Gives Up Until A Miracle Happens
Beau – Let’s talk about Russia and who they don’t want to face….
Yesterday, Colorado Public Radio announced that we on the Front Range may get some rain this weekend leftover fron a tropical storm – not from Hilary, but from Harold. The mountains are still a good barrier – the eastern plains, not so much. I did manage to do a bit of laundry and food prep. Also, earlier this week we spoke about clothing being speech. Today’s FFT shows that this can be true even if no one is wearing it. The quote is from a knitting newsletter I receive several times a year (hence the allusion to classes).I made the picture a live link to the exhibit – if you look around that site you can see more details larger. I’m reminded of the AIDS quilt, though the product and the cause are different.
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Robert Hubbell – A MAGA mugshot
Quote – In addition to impeachment, the Georgia legislature enacted a law this year (which will go into effect in October) that creates a commission empowered to hear complaints against district attorneys who allegedly refuse to enforce categories of crimes like low-level drug offenses, juvenile offenses, and abortion laws. Seventeen other states have enacted similar legislation to target progressive prosecutors who—in their view—refuse to enforce the law…. Four Georgia prosecutors have sued to invalidate the law…. If the Georgia Commission orders Fani Willis removed after a hearing, she can appeal to the Fulton County Superior Court and (ultimately) to the Georgia Supreme Court. That will take a while, to say the least. Even if Willis is removed, her assistants will continue to prosecute the case.
Click through (it’s Substack, so be prepared to click to keep reading, and to scroll down to reach that click if the page appears to freeze.) I’ve seen a lot of people (most of them at Democratic Underground, but also other places) expressing worry for Fani Willis concerning the new Georgia law allowing a Commission to remove DAs, which goes into effect in October. I’ve been saying it can’t be done just by thinking about it – there will be process – but IANAL. Robert Hubbell is a lawyer and he not only explains it better thn I , he also knows more twists and turns. There are a lot of contingencies addressed in this article also.
HuffPost – Ohio Republicans Twist Ballot Language For Pro-Choice Provision In Likely Attempt To Confuse Voters
Quote – In November, voters will consider a ballot initiative that seeks to enshrine abortion rights and other reproductive freedoms into Ohio’s Constitution. But the five-member Ohio Ballot Board, led by anti-choice advocate and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, on Thursday approved anti-choice language to be used in the initiative, which may confuse voters. The approved summary language uses “unborn child” instead of “fetus.” It does not include any language about the right to make decisions about miscarriages, fertility treatments or contraception — even though that’s a significant part of the proposed amendment.
Click through for details. Ohio has a bigger problem than abortion – a problem elephant-sized and elephant-shaped. I wish them luck. They’re going to need it.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Trump’s Mar-a-Lago IT director gets out from under a MAGA lawyer, gets a new lawyer & flips on Trump
The Lincoln Project – JV
Farron Balanced – Mental Health Expert Warns That Trump’s Mental State Poses Grave Threat To Country
Rocky Mountain Mike – Midday Jail In Georgia – featuring Mary in Ann Arbor
Kitten Brothers Knock Over Every Water Glass In Their House
Beau – Let’s talk about Trump’s internet problems…..
[I think Glenn means “in to” rather than “into” – and hope that gives you a chuckle. It did me.]
Glenn Kirschner – Trump to turn himself into GA authorities. Here’s how DA Fani Willis CAN give Trump a speedy trial.
PoliticsGirl – This Must Stop
VoteVets – AWOL
Armageddon Update – Year Of The Weasel!
Tiny Stray Kitten Follows Guy Home And Never Leaves
Beau – Let’s talk about Santos, fundraising, and another indictment….
Glenn Kirschner – Rudy Giuliani, now both an indicted AND un-indicted Trump co-conspirator, would make a POOR witness
The Lincoln Project – Uh Oh, Donald (Georgia Remix)
Farron Balanced – Tommy Tuberville May Be Serving In The Senate ILLEGALLY
Scared Ketchup – AI MAGA’s NEW Health Supplement: “Trump’s Tiny White Balls”
Matted Dog Who Lived On The Street For Years Gets Her First Haircut
Beau – Let’s talk about Fulton County, Trump, and warming up….
Talking Feds – Team Trump’s SINISTER MOVE in Georgia has Backfired Massively
The Lincoln Project – Back To School With The GOP
[Long and rambling – but they had just got the indictment ab=nd were thinking aloud a lot
MSNBC – BREAKING: Donald Trump indicted in Georgia election case
[Scared Ketchup’s motto is “Harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to combat genuine stupidity.”]
Scared Ketchup – AI Republicans Make Laxative Ad {NSFW}
Rescue Dog Loves Riding On Mopeds
[And this is why SoSes are very quiet about taking him off of any ballots. And he has a point.]
Beau – Let’s talk about Trump vs Federalist Society members….
Yesterday, Talking Points Memo’s Morning Memo, naturally, was all about Monday’s late night Georgia indictment. It was handed down at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, and released to the reporters “a few minutes before 11:00.” The Axios alert reached me at 9:17 p.m. Mountain, which was about 20 minutes after its public release. Not bad – but bare bones. But the Talking Points Memo morning memo is filled with information, pictures, quotes, tweets, plans, and names. It’s also very compact – it reads fast. Well worth clicking “Continue reading” for.
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The Daily Beast – Trump’s Bid to Sink the Manhattan DA’s Case Has Already Made It Stronger
Quote – For months, critics of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr.’s case have called it weak because the case criminally charges Trump with faking business records—a lowly misdemeanor only bumped up to a felony on a technicality. Except that Trump’s ploy to move the case to federal court gave a judge there the opportunity to take the first swing. And he used that opportunity to make it clear that the case against Trump is far more serious than it otherwise seems—and that the burden for proving that Trump’s alleged falsification of business records are felonies is low.
Click through for story. It appears Karma is on the case.
NBC News – Parents can’t challenge Maryland school’s gender identity policy, court rules
Quote – The policy, which the Montgomery County Board of Education adopted for the 2020-2021 school year, permitted schools to develop gender support plans for students to ensure they “feel comfortable expressing their gender identity.” The policy directs school personnel to help transgender and gender-nonconforming students create a plan that addresses their preferred pronouns, names and bathrooms, and bars staff from informing parents of those plans without a student’s consent. Lawsuits are pending challenging similar policies in other states. The Maryland case was the first to be argued before a federal appeals court.
Click through for details… This is a good thing because the school’s policy is the right one and the parents in the case are Christofascist. I can see how the headline could be read the other way, though. And I could wish it had been decided on privacy rights rather than on standing to sue.
Food For Thought
Yesterday, it was still cool – a high of 73F. It’s supposed to be warmer today, but still only in the high 80s. Also yesterday, Andrew Weissman said this on MSNBC: “The exact words because this is the provision that the court has to find to release someone on bail in Georgia, is that the defendant poses no risk of intimidating witnesses.” The reference is to the specific lehal language used in the Georgia criminal code. Federally and in most states, the burden of proof is on the government, but Georgia is different. I can tell you this caused a virtual party at Democratic Underground, with a plethora of jokes of various degreess of taste. And also yesterday – last night, really – after 9 p.m. my time – an alert came in that Trump** and 18 others had been indicted by a grand jury in Georgia. (I had heard earlier that they didn’t keep a 5:00 quitting time, but sent everyone to dinner and then re-convened into the night.) The alert didn’t name the 18 others, nor were they listed in the linked story at the time, but Axios usually develops these stories, so they may (or may not) be there now.
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CNN – Exclusive: Georgia prosecutors have messages showing Trump’s team is behind voting system breach
Quote – Investigators in the Georgia criminal probe have long suspected the breach was not an organic effort sprung from sympathetic Trump supporters in rural and heavily Republican Coffee County – a county Trump won by nearly 70% of the vote. They have gathered evidence indicating it was a top-down push by Trump’s team to access sensitive voting software, according to people familiar with the situation. Trump allies attempted to access voting systems after the 2020 election as part of the broader push to produce evidence that could back up the former president’s baseless claims of widespread fraud.
Click through for details. The nitty-gritty details of evidence are almost never anywhere near as much fun as the sweeping descriptions of the crime. But in order to prove stuff- prosecutors must dig through them.
Daily Kos (MargaretPOA) – Of Course Republicans are Angry. They Have Been Out Gamed… AGAIN.
Quote – As usual, Republicans acted on the assumption that Democrats would behave as dishonestly and unethically as they, themselves and so would never in a million years appoint a Special Counsel, even though the Democrats are as aware as anybody else that there is no evidence of wrongdoing because there was no wrongdoing. Republicans thought that they were safe to loudly and publicly demand a Special Counsel because they would never get one because they, themselves would never grant that if their positions were flipped. The fact that Republicans have long used a partisan DOJ to do their dirty work means that they can’t imagine an independent DOJ.
Click through for all the reasons – the quote is the first one. I like it because we all know it’s so, but it’s said so concisely and still in enough detail to be satisfying.
Food For Thought
