Justice – Page 30 – Politics Plus

Open Thread June 10, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:58 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 102023

Yesterday, the first Federal Trump** indictment was unsealed. I posted a “breaking news” update on the Open Thread as soon as i saw it, but in case you missied it, the news was 37 counts. (I presume 7 charges is still correct. It’s 49 pages and I didn’t go through it in full. But “conspiracy” was one, “obstruction of justice” was one, and “willful retention under the Espionage Act” was one. The Espionage Act, combined with the Federal rules for venue, explains why Florida. We now know that for certain.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

NPR “Shots” – For many, a ‘natural death’ may be preferable to enduring CPR
Quote – So why the controversy? It comes down to a widespread misconception of what CPR can, and can’t, do. CPR can sometimes save lives, but it also has a dark side…. The allure of CPR is that “death, instead of a final and irrevocable passage, becomes a process manipulable by humans,” writes Stefan Timmermans, a sociologist who has studied CPR…. “It seems too good to be true,” he said, and it is.
Click through for details. I won’t try to address every possible complication here – but this highlights the importance of Living Wills/DNR orders – and maybe even more the importance of respecting them.

Robert Reich – Should we be worried about RFK Jr.?
Quote – Were it not for his illustrious name, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would be just another crackpot in the growing number of bottom-feeding right-wing fringe politicians seeking high office. But the Robert F. Kennedy brand is political gold. RFK Jr. is now polling in the double digits against Biden. The latest CNN poll, taken less than three weeks ago, has him at 20 percent.
Click through for article. As always, click “keep reading” or whatever on the popup. His father would be APPALLED.

The New Yorker – The Legal Dynamics of Trump’s Second Indictment
Quote – Q – What are the considerations when the government approaches cases involving classified documents? A – There are a slew of them. From the government’s perspective, the crux of the matter is how much classified information they are willing to reveal, because the defendant has a constitutional right to confront the evidence against him. This means that the government cannot split the difference; it can’t convict someone based on evidence they are not allowed to see. So oftentimes how the government charges a case like this and how they try a case like this reflect decisions about what they are and aren’t willing to disclose.
Click through for full interview. The writer is not a lawyer, but the interviewee is, and is an expert on national-security law. I’ve already used the New Yorker once this month, so if you are paywalled out, email me and I’ll send it by return.

Food For Thought

Video Thread 6/9/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:54 am Open Thread, Politics

Jun 092023

Glenn Kirschner – Trump federally indicted! Here’s what we can expect in the coming days

The Lincoln Project – Our Flag

MSNBC – Jack Smith’s coup probe hits MAGA convict Steve Bannon

Thom Hartmann – You Won’t Believe The Power Behind The Most Corrupt SCOTUS Justice…?

Cat goes WILD for Trader Joe’s ciabatta!

Beau – Let’s talk about Ukraine, Kuwait, and supplies….

Open Thread June 9, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:59 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 092023

Yesterday, Pat Robertson died. He was 93. “I was always taught never to say anything about the dead unless it’s good. He’s dead. Good.” – Moms Mabley. You can read about it in lots of places (AP is one) but this Wonkette remembrance may be the most – satisfying. Also yesterday, it was dry enough to put the sticker om my car (and of course put a copy of the registration into the glove box). So I did. We’re expecting more rain, so I carped the diem. And one more thing: Trump** stated publicly that he has been indicted (in the documents case).

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Crooks & Liars – FL GOPers Panicking As Immigrants Flee Ahead Of New Law
Quote – Florida Republicans concerned about the state’s new anti-immigration law and its potential impacts on Florida’s economy… admit the bill is “100% meant to scare” immigrants and beg the crowd to “urgently” convince “your people” to not leave Florida since folks in the agriculture industry are mad workers are leaving.
Click through for story. Now that the debt ceiling is off the table for a while, the news stream is so fast and furious that I think I’ll have to do three a day for a while to catch up. Just for a while. I won’t be able to keep it up.

HuffPost – DHS Launches Major Effort To Stem Human Trafficking In Indigenous Communities
Quote – One of the “brutal realities” is that Native women command more money from sex traffickers, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who has been a leader in combating violence against Indigenous women, previously told HuffPost. “Native women, because of their looks, can be viewed as more exotic, more Asian, and apparently there is a higher market for women that are of Asian descent,” Murkowski said. “When I heard that, it just … It just sickens me.”
Click through for details. It’s no surprise that people who would profit from, or pay into, human trafficking objectify women. But this certainly brings that fact home.

Civil Discourse . Today in Trump
Quote – Venue, as a legal proposition, is the place or location where conduct that prosecutors want to charge took place—the judicial district where the crime was committed. Sometimes that’s obvious, like in a bank robbery. Other times, it can be more difficult to determine, and there may be more than one possible venue. Imagine a drug-dealing network that operates across a region of the country. There can be more than one proper venue for a case. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 18 provides that “Unless a statute or these rules permit otherwise, the government must prosecute an offense in a district where the offense was committed.[“]
Click through for more explanation and the news which prompted it. As usual, click “no” or “continue” on the popup(s). Venue decisions may be the most important ones that DOJ must make in these cases. I don’t want anyone here to be crying “foul!” if Jack Smith ends up trying the documents cse in Florida. If that happens, it will be because it was legally necessary.

Food For Thought

Video Thread 6/8/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:14 pm Open Thread, Politics

Jun 082023

Glenn Kirschner – Mark Meadows testifies in grand jury about BOTH the insurrection & Trump’s classified docs crimes

The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party – June 6, 2023

MSNBC – Lawrence: Mark Meadows could be second White House Chief of Staff convicted of crimes

Thom Hartmann – Are You Scared Of Woke?! Fox News Propaganda Exposed

Tiniest Abandoned Puppy Is Found In A Box On The Curb

Beau – Let’s talk about Trump, wokeness, and branding….

Video Thread 6/7/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:13 pm Open Thread, Politics

Jun 072023

Glenn Kirschner – Trump’s lawyers meet with Jack Smith. Next stop – indictment!

Thom Hartmann – Is This The MOST Terrifying GOP Law For Women YET?

Rebel HQ – Newsom May End DeSantis’s 2024 Run With This

Parody Project – This Fits Him to a T – Parody of I’ll Never Find Another You

Cat Loves Jumping In And Stealing His Mom’s Baths

Beau – Let’s talk about Utah, libraries, and finding out….

Video Thread 6/6/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:13 pm Open Thread, Politics

Jun 062023

Glenn Kirschner – Tape made by Trump’s attorney, Evan Corcoran, now in hands of prosecutors. Is any of this normal?

MSNBC – Trump’s ‘panic’ on display when asked about docs case audio tape

Farron Balanced – Roger Stone Caught On Tape Explaining How He Manipulates Donald Trump

Robert Reich – What a Vietnam War Riot Says about Today’s Culture Wars

Watch This Sassy Cleft Palate Puppy Argue With His Mom

Beau – Let’s talk about the debt deal and what’s in it…. (Since filming, it has sailed through the Senate and been signed, but the points made are still valid)

Video Thread 6/5/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:52 am Open Thread, Politics

Jun 052023

Glenn Kirschner – ANOTHER damaging tape in Trump case, but this one was made by his lawyer!

The Lincoln Project – You think Biden Could do That?

MSNBC – Biden has once again defied expectations from haters and his own party

Parody Project – The MAGA Song – Make Attorneys Get Attorneys

Cat Chronicles His Journey With Unrequited Love

Beau – Let’s talk about Paxton and turning Texas blue….

Open Thread June 5, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:45 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jun 052023

Yesterday, My drive was pretty uneventful except for some pretty heavy rain on the way down. It didn’t last long, but it gave the wipers a challenge on their highest setting while it lasted, and affected visibility. We played four games of Scrabble, not competetively, but with the aim of using allt he letters legitimately – and succeeded on all but thelast one. We were left with 8 vowels between us and the poard so tight that there was really no place to put any of them. He returnes all greetings. Today, both short takes are from substack – I apologize for that, but both of them include Tulsa (the Greenwood massacre) in their contents, and that anniversary is already a few days old.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Good in Us – Black Wall Street
Quote – Since the end of the Civil War, the thing most likely to incite white violence against emancipated Black citizens was their success. Giving Black Americans full rights, beyond the freedom that had so grudgingly been granted to them after the Union prevailed, proved to be a bridge too far for many whites—even Northern Republicans…. In retrospect, it seems self-evident that the driver behind the essential re-enslavement of Black people after Reconstruction was Black prosperity.
Click through for full column. Even before I realized how horribly many massacres there have been in the US, I had begun to realize that, although the impulse for anyone in a marginalized group is to demonstrate their own worth, that is often unsuccessful at best and dangerous at worst. But she says it better than I can.

Letters from an American – June 1, 2023
Quote – In other economic news, the Biden administration today announced actions designed to address racial bias in the valuation of homes. This sounds sort of in the weeds for administration action, I know, but it is actually an important move for addressing the nation’s wealth inequality…. Homeownership is the most important factor in creating generational wealth—that is, wealth that passes from one generation to the next—both because homeownership essentially forces savings as people pay mortgages, and because homes tend to appreciate in value…. There is a reason that the administration has centered its housing policies on June 1. This is the anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre,
Click through for full article. I’m very glad the Biden administration is doing this. I hope they stay on it when it comes to actually making it happen. For more than 150 years we have trusted people to do the right thing and, frankly, that doesn’t work.

Food For Thought

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