GOP Crimes – Page 5 – Politics Plus

Open Thread September 5, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:48 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 052023

Yesterday, The New Yorker’s “Name Drop” was most appropriate for Labor Day. The first two clues were news to me, but I did get it on the third one. Also, Steve Schmidt quoted a big chunk of Theodore Roosevelt’s Labor Day speech given in 1903. I’ll spare you the need to look for “continue reading” and just link to the speech in the Educational Video inc.’s Speech Vault. It contains the quote “The welfare of each of us is dependent fundamentally upon the welfare of all of us,” which was worked into a rug placed in the oval office in 2010 (yes, during the Obama Administration.) I don’t know whether it is still there (or possibly there again.) The speech is remarkable – and should be trotted out more often by Democrats, if only to emphasize that we are the ones who have preserved this orignally Republican platform.

Cartoon – 05 great fire of london

Short Takes –

Wonkette – Matt Schlapp’s CPAC Team-Building Exercises Sound Fun, If You’re Into Exorcisms
Quote – Oh. My. Lord. They have been on Twitter posting pictures of their favorite saints and begging those saints to rain down hell on the Daily Beast. It’s so deranged. “Our Lady of Guadalupe, strike down the BEAST,” tweeted Schlmatt. “St Michael the Archangel take down the beast,” tweeted Schlmercy, with a bit less flair and punctuation. We guess all this has put people in the mood to spill more Schlapp Schlecrets to (natch) the Beast. Now Roger Sollenberger is bringing us the story of that time last year when Matt Schlapp got a priest to come in and do exorcisms to get all the demons out of the CPAC offices.
Click through for details. Remember it is Substack now. If Matt Schlapp could exorcise himself, he would disappear in a puff of smoke.

Liberals Are Cool (on tumblr)
Quote – To remind everyone, January 6th wasn’t Trump’s Plan A. It wasn’t even Plan B. Plan A was to steal the 2020 election with Putin’s help, just as he’d done in 2016. Blackmailing Ukraine for dirt on Biden was part of that effort. But it didn’t work twice.
Click through. This is a Twitter thread, rolled on a thread reader, reposted on Tumblr, which was shared on Democratic Underground. It’s not long and it’s all important.

Food For Thought

Open Thread August 30, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:07 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 302023

Yesterday, John Eastman became the third conspirator demanding a speedy trial. There are two more days (today and tomorrow) in the window for October 23rd (they get 30 days but on account of Georgia’s definition of a speedy trial anyone demanding on September 1 or after might have to settle for December.) There was news that DA Willis wants a speedy trial for all, bit there is the little problem that there are 19 of them, and courtrooms are only so big. I recall reading womewhere that the most defendants who can be tried in one room is six. But I suppose that could all happen at the same time – Fulton County must have more than 3 judges and the DA’s staff must have more than 3 prosecutors. Also, there was a delightful story about Joe and Jill —

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Short Takes –

Daily Beast – Here Are 11 Wild Things That Could Happen in the 2024 Election
Quote – These 11 examples are, of course, merely illustrative. We also know the Supreme Court is capable of making decisions that inflame electorates (see Dobbs) and that pollsters regularly misgauge the national mood resulting in seeming surprises (that really are just evidence that the pollsters got it wrong). And then there are the real unknown unknowns, the wild developments that even speculative columns like this one are unwilling to address. Take for example the recent revelations about aliens. After all, if they are true and they have seen the mess we are making of things here on this Earth, surely they must have considered and could be planning to act on the notion that we are long overdue for a planetary makeover.
Click through for complete list. Obviously sone are more likely than others, and some are imaginable only with extreme mental effort. But it’s a good reminder of how much less we know than we think we do.

Wonkette – Mark Meadows Had The Right To Remain Silent. But Now He Doesn’t.
Quote – [U]nder Georgia law, Meadows seems to have waived the right to plead the Fifth about anything discussed on the witness stand. Here’s a quote from the relevant case: :A defendant in a criminal case who voluntarily testifies in his own behalf, waives completely his privilege under the Fifth Amendment. [Cit.] Furthermore, when a defendant voluntarily takes the stand in his own behalf and testifies as to his guilt or innocence as to a particular offense, `his waiver is not partial; having once cast aside the cloak of immunity, he may not resume it at will, whenever cross-examination may be inconvenient or embarrassing”
Click through for more detail, such as even if the case is moved to a Federal Court, it will be tried under Georgia law and with Georgia prosecutors. The only differences will be the judge and the jury pool. And whatever small advantage he might have gotten from the jury pool, he may have just incinerated.

Food For Thought

Open Thread August 29, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:52 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 292023

Yesterday, I read the newsletter Joyce Vance sent Sunday night, which she titled “The Week Ahead.” Although it’s not long, it covers way too much ground for a short take (not to mention that it covers matters I did not want to discuss on a sacred anniversary – or even the day after.) So I’m linking to the text on Substack here instead. Vance tries to do a “Week Ahead” column weekly, but it doesn’t always happen, This week looks like a “Fasten your seat belt” week. Robert Hubbell, also a lawyer, did one too, also on Substack. Between the two of them, you should be prepared for almost anything. I did make a point of looking for the date set for the trial in the DC Federal Trump** case, and it’s March 4, 2024 (a day before “Super Tuesday”). You probably saw that also. (It’s also the birthday of Lois W, wife of Bill W who founded AA, and founder herself of AlAnon.) At Mark Meadows hearing, he took the stand, which opened him to be cross-examined – and I don’t even know whether they were finished with him or whether the hearing continues today (or even longer.)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – The Real Story Behind Ron DeSantis’ Newest Fired Prosecutor
Quote – What American viewers weren’t told is that, behind the scenes, the governor’s office had quietly conspired with local sheriffs to tarnish the reputations of these democratically elected prosecutors—turning local cops against the state attorneys they’re supposed to partner with and trust…. “They thought that I was overly critical of law enforcement and didn’t do anything against ‘real criminals,’” Worrell told The Daily Beast in an interview last week. “Apparently there’s a difference between citizens who commit crimes and cops who commit crimes.”
Click through for story. It should surprise no one. This is who DeSaster is. (And this kind of thing is exactly why we need police reform before we authorize more police training. Why spend money to train them to be corrupt?)

Robert Reich – The March on Washington, 60 years ago today [yesterday now]
Quote – I was a high school junior, watching the event from afar on TV. I was mesmerized by the power of King’s oratory, overcome by his grace and hope. One of my mother’s friends, visiting at the time, called Dr. King a “troublemaker.” That was the last I ever saw of her. He was a troublemaker, in the sense that the late civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis used the term: He was a maker of “good trouble.” Dr. King’s speech, as well as the March on Washington, focused on economic discrimination and the lack of decent jobs for Black Americans. The civil rights leaders who organized the events made sure to include white labor organizer Walter Reuther, the head of the United Auto Workers. Today, 60 years later, I can’t resist asking: How much progress has been made since then?
Click through for article. The obvious and unquestionable answer is “Not enough.” But that’s quite a range. The Reich on the left, of curse, has the knowledge and smarts to give a more nuanced answer.

Food For Thought

Open Thread August 28, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:09 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 282023

Yesterday, I was able to see Virgil. We weren’t able to play cribbage because another family had the only card deck (there is a pinochle deck, but imagine trying to play cribbage with a pinochle deck! That’s ROTFL level. I played a lot of pinochle as a child and teen ad was pretty good at it, but haven’t really played it since I learned bridge. I am considering boning up.) Anyway, we played Scrabble, so we had plenty of fun. As always, Virgil returns all greeting, whether or not I knew about them in advance. I got home safely and timely but also pretty tired so went to bed almost as soon as I had today’s posts scheduled and the newsletter out, and was planning to sleep in. I might add I don’t often to manage posting an historical flashback article on the anniversary date that it’s flashing back to – this time I just barely managed. I hope you enjoy – it’s a bit of a “catalog of ships” article (that’s the book of the Iliad which lists the home ports and captains and crews of the Greek ships which came to Troy, and had then a disproportionately strong emotional effect on Greek listeners just to hear the names of places and people they knew so well. And it still works.)

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Short Takes –

The New Yorker (flashback) – The Hours Before “I Have a Dream”
Quote – Quote – Most of [the buses] had red-white-and-blue signs saying “Erie, Pa., Branch, N.A.A.C.P.,” or “Inter-Church Delegation, Sponsored by National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Commission on Religion and Race,” or “District 26, United Steelworkers of America, Greater Youngstown A.F.L.-C.I.O. Council, Youngstown, Ohio.”… At exactly nine-thirty, Ossie Davis, serving as master of ceremonies, tried to begin the pre-march program, but it had to be postponed, because Rustin and Thomas were the only two dignitaries on the stage and many more were expected. “Oh, freedom,” said a voice over a loudspeaker a little later. The program had started, and Joan Baez began to sing in a wonderfully clear voice. “Oh, freedom,” she sang. “Oh, freedom over me. Before I’ll be a slave, I’ll be buried in my grave . . .”
Click through for article. It’s not all that long, and it’s not compregensive – it roughly ends where the march really starts – But it’s about memories, and it’s memorable.

Wonkette (Stephen Robinson) – Well-Regulated Racist Shooter Kills Three At Jacksonville, FL Dollar General
Quote – True to a sadly consistent form, the shooter was decked out in a tactical vest and mask. Along with the AR-15, he was also carrying a Glock. He even went to the sick effort of plastering swastikas on his guns, according to [Jacksonville Sheriff T.K.]Waters…. He first attempted to target students at the historically black college, Edward Waters University, but campus security turned him away. That’s when he went to the Dollar General…. Waters added that the gunman apparently “acted completely alone” and was not believed to be part of “any large group.” That is perhaps technically true, but we should realize that white supremacy doesn’t require a membership card and monthly dues. These racists are linked through hateful rhetoric easily found online and on cable television. It doesn’t take much to turn them to violence.
Click through for more detail. Stephen could probably have written this story in his sleep (and we could probably have read it out loud in ours.) Sigh. I tried leaving the URL long to see if it would think you were a subscribe and not make you click on “keep reading,” but it didn’t work even for me.)

Food For Thought

Video Thread 8/22/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:09 pm Open Thread, Politics

Aug 222023

Glenn Kirschner – Donald Trump posts that he’s fighting “7” cases? Are more state indictments on the way?
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Thom Hartmann – Trump’s Most Dangerous Crimes You Don’t Know About…!

Joe Biden – Fought Back

Farron Balanced – Trump Lawyer Yells At Fox Host For Not Loving Trump Enough

Tiny Dogs Who Were Chained Up Insist On Getting Adopted Together

Beau – Let’s talk about government shutdowns, continuing resolutions, and more….

Video Thread 8/21/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:08 pm Open Thread, Politics

Aug 212023

[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.