Before we get to visitor logs, two things: For those of you looking for a little distraction this week, I stumbled upon this thought-provoking but lighthearted piece from New York Times reporter Dennis Overbye, who explores the theory that our universe may be a big simulation. I couldn’t put it down. The implications are fun, if slightly scary. It was just what I needed to read this week.
You look at that group of R reps that are on the visitor log & then look at the power they still have & the committees they’ve been assigned to and it’s nauseating! When will any of them be held accountable for their actions leading up to & including J6? Will anyone politically involved in the coup ever be held to account?
Ari Melber's 2nd segment yesterday highlighting the successful prosecution of the Perpetrator inside the 70th Precinct Police Station in New York years ago back when Rudy G was the chief gaslighter where inside the 70th Precinct an innocent, skinny, impoverished, Haitian, immigrant was tortured & sodomized with a broomstick. Remember that one? The case ended in the 30 year conviction of the Perpetrator that no other Prosecutor would touch. That same Prosecutor, years later, went on to convict a Head of State at The Hague for War Crimes. That same Prosecutor that will indict tfg. His name is JACK SMITH.
At this point, they all smugly believe that they have gotten away with it, and that has only served to embolden them and make them even more power hungry. That is why it is so very important to hold them to account. I sincerely hope that justice will soon catch up to them.
This is a question I wonder about every day since they won their elections. Gerrymandering and voter suppression allowed this nightmare to unfold. Joyce is right when she speaks about voting. In my state (MD), it is easy to become a Voter Registration Volunteer. Call or visit your local election board where you live to see what to do. I had to read a pamphlet regarding the rules, and sign stating I would follow MD state law. This allows me to hand out voter registration cards and instruct each person on how to fill them out properly. At the same time, I encourage people to be sure to express their own choices by voting. This usually turns into a conversation that covers the issues, and I find it sparks people's interest when I tell them if they don't use their voice, someone else will do it for them. They make not like the outcome.
So until these traitors are held accountable for their criminal behavior, the only way to sideline them is by voting them out. That is how we save our democracy.
Celeste, I believe it will take overcoming gerrymandering and suppression to vote these seditious horrors away from our constitution. I wake up every morning trying to believe they’ll be held accountable. But, alas, nothing. It will be up to voters to straighten this out requiring massive voter awareness. I’m so grateful for your hard work. Now the rest of us must get up and moving. Call your county Democratic HQ and volunteer. Write Congresswoman Chrissy Houlihan D-PA for voting WITH Republicans against women’s health and reproductive rights. Start paying attention to who’s voting for what and write to them. There’s lots you can do from home.
I re-read your comment, and you are so right when you say to pay attention to how our representatives vote. People say one thing to get elected, and then put their personal beliefs into action, instead of actually REPRESENTING those who "hired' them to speak for them. Paying attention an getting involved are key.
I agree it's nauseating. Heather Cox Richardson has a tidbit in today's letter that a R who expected to lead the Ways and Means is pissed that he doesn't have the assignment. There are probably quite a few R's who are unhappy with their committee assignments. And wait until they actually have to conduct hearings! The infighting is going eat them up. And I do fantasize about all of them being indicted.
I look for some of those R's to resign in frustration, or for whatever reason, and the Democrats take over the majority. There are probably other R's who may muster up some courage to vote on behalf of the country, and not follow little kevin on the road of destruction. (a long shot, for sure)
Having reached cognitive saturation last week, there is no bandwidth in my mind to contain the histrionics of the GQP now they have some power. That they can not exit Santos is all that needs to be said.
I have noticed that about myself as well. I glance at headlines now - just once in the morning and that’s it. It’s self preservation. If I die from a stroke or heart attack caused by constant frustration and anger at the mess our government is, well, that won’t affect a single republican, just me.
Sabrina, take care. Whatever you do today do not, repeat do not, read the Patch story on the 2016 "Devolder" $3K scam on a destitute Vet and his cancer stricken Dog. Preserve all available Bandwidth. 🕯
About the theory that our universe may be a big simulation, Isaac Asimov once remarked that he thought the universe consisted of the glowing embers falling from God's cigar!
I used to belong in the inherent goodness of people. I no longer do. I now believe that every day I am looking at the face of evil. It makes me feel incredibly sad, and angry at the same time.
It is scary. We used to assume that the morally undead, the zombies of the moral underworld, would bear a distinguishing mark of their degradation. But as CS Lewis offered,” the greatest evil is not now done in those sordid dens of crime that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices." And covered by C-SPAN.
So very true. My father, a Pearl Harbor survivor, became a Fox news devotee many, many years ago as were most of his friends. When I visited I would try to sit with him while he watched but it was too alarming to listen to the easily provable lies. I would have to leave the room. Any attempts to encourage my father to check out other "sources" were met with hostility. It was all very sad. When TFG came on the scene he couldn't say enough great things about him. Ugh! Going to dinner with him and his friends was always a test to see how long I could go without yelling "you are being lied to by Fox". I once went to dinner with him at his friend's home. There was literally a TV on in every room and all were tuned to Fox. Unnerving to say the least. Brainwashing was the main course for that evening. That same man wore a MAGA hat and an "Elect Trump 2020" mask to my dad's funeral. Such an insult to all the veterans that had been laid to rest in that cemetery.
It’s so sad. I quit my “tune up”therapist because the owner of the practice had FOX playing in the waiting room and refused to turn it off after many client’s complaints. She understood why I had to leave. That was in 2017. This just happened, I was having dinner out with friends who are right wingers, We NEVER said a word about politics which was how we were able to maintain our long friendship. Until 2 days ago. Two other couples, both the women began discussing how Ukraine was really to blame, not Russian aggression. Putin is only protecting Russia from Ukraine’s aggression.
One women talked about her son the retired undercover policeman now working security in Las Vegas told her “it’s all true”. We’ll, that’s disturbing. I just kept putting salad in my mouth and lost all respect for all of them. We finished dinner politely, and that’s the end of that.
It's all so mind boggling. My friend and I went to visit my daughter and grandkids in FL. We stayed at a nice hotel in St Pete. We went to the dining area for breakfast and lo and behold Fox was on the TVs. I went to the front desk and suggested the TVs be turned to something pleasant such as travel or music videos. Manager said they did not have control of the TV. I let them know that when we returned to FL we would not be staying at their hotel.
That's because we are looking at the "faces of evil." And, some of the most evil faces are those of the 11 members of the Freedom Caucus, who allegedly participated in planning the Insurrection and Coup, and attended the December 21, 2021 White House meeting with Trump, Pence, Meadows and Giuliani (that Joyce mentions) to discuss overturning the 2020 election, and possibly still haven't been investigated by the DOJ. The congressional attendees were: Jordan, Gaetz, Biggs, Perry, MTG, Gosar, Hice, Harris, and Babin, Brooks and Gohmert. Brooks and Gohmert are no longer in Congress.
Three of them--Jordan, Biggs, and Perry, in addition to McCarthy--received subpoenas on May 25, 2022 from the January 6 Select Committee, which they all ignored. The committee didn't have the power to issue criminal referrals on them, but the DOJ could have started investigating them, and as far as we know, they did nothing.
And, nine of the eleven Congressional Republicans at the meeting, also played important roles in the Majority Speaker Debacle, and have been rewarded for their loyalty to Trump with leadership positions or are members of the most important House committees. (I wonder and worry if their security clearances are reflective of their positions.) What is particularly disturbing is that as Adam Kinzinger said months ago, "Innocent people don't ask for pardons." Yet, after the December 21, 2021 meeting, Brooks "at Gaetz' direction" asked Trump for a blanket pardon for himself and Gaetz, everyone else who attended the December 21, 2021 meeting, and a number of people who didn't (but ostensibly were given tasks to complete). And, some of the individuals noted above sought individual pardons. Evidently, Meadows, Giuliani, and Eastman also asked for pardons. A brief overview of the meeting and pardon requests can be found in provided link. https://www.businessinsider.com/house-republicans-white-house-meeting-december-21-2020-election-2022-7
My point in writing this comment, is that there is a lot of damning information from the hearings that is yet to be widely read or even known. And, if we wait for anyone in Democratic leadership to act on it, it will be like "Waiting for Godot." They had two tremendous opportunities in which to publicize it: Before the midterms, and before the Majority Speakership Debacle, and said nothing.
While others who have commented have remarked that the terrible behavior of House Republicans will be dealt with in the 2024 elections as voters vote them out of office. I'm not sure that is true, and moreover, that's not the way our democracy was set up. It's based on laws, and when there are no consequences for breaking them, people are emboldened. My own opinion is that if Trump, Congressional Republicans, and the rest of the seditious mob who participated in the Insurrection, and coup, and who tried to overthrow the 2020 election aren't investigated, tried, and jailed, there will be no democracy left to protect.
Thank you Joyce, we are at war no doubt. I have a feeling that Jack smith is going to drop a sledge hammer of indictments soon. That will be the big “Red Wave”
I think Jack Smith will be the beginning of the real fight against this maga nightmare. AG Garland would have made a brilliant Justice on the high court. I do not think, although he is a fair-minded man, that he is tough enough to really go after these traitors with the urgency required. He is too worried about looking politically biased. We can all thank Mitch McConnell for opening the can of worms that is the R party now. Things were going downhill prior to Obama, but the obsession to block his every move started the destructive mess which is now rolling downhill. McConnell and his fellow R's are responsible for allowing trump to shit all over our Democracy and not convict him during his first impeachment. It is my hope that Special Prosecutor Smith will put the orange bastard in prison where he belongs, and I mean for the rest of his miserable life. That will be the start of the "Red Wave" you speak of.
What was the first presidential election after the Extreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act? Yes, 2016. The many violations of One Person, One Vote are well-documented by, among others, Ari Berman (Mother Jones), and The Brennan Center for Justice. That guy would never have won the presidency without rampant voter suppression.
With all the stats on voter suppression (numbers of fewer black voter), can’t some legal recourse be taken? Obviously there is still voter suppression. Can’t Justice Roberts be challenged? And yes, the people in congress who participated in Jan 6 need to be held accountable! If not they will do it again. They are all so smug.
One of the 'sins' I often think about, (sin being that which stops one from living a full happy life) is lying. And lying to oneself being the most destructive. Do you think these people suppressing people's ability to vote really believe it is for some greater good, do they not think about good, or are they lying to themselves? What miserable creatures. Santos is just a tiny lost soul, YUK, voter suppression kills our form of governance.
In Buddhist thought, the 3 great impediments (sins) to enlightenment are anger, (aggression) greed, (grasping) and ignorance (egocentrism). I'd say they are full of it. Too bad for them. In their next lives they will be slugs and worse. Possibly they are already demons.
A tough yet important read. (Thank you...I think.) I'm glad the author ends with:
"To flourish as individuals and as societies, we need ideals. We need to work to arrive at a stronger and more refined sense of what we mean by courage, compassion, and wisdom. We should do what we can to introduce these ideals into our lives and into the lives of our children... Thousands of years of history and culture show us what humans at their best value: high ideals, energetically pursued. Truth has been on vacation long enough—it’s time to put it back to work."
Joyce, you are helping do just that. And I take comfort in the ten words Michael Moore recomends each Progressive or Dem (or at least non-authoritararian pro-democracy person) say to themselves: "There are more of us than there are of them."
While it is important to stay somewhat "connected" to the ongoing saga and "never forget", at this point the only important thing that matters--and what we are all waiting for--is to see accountability for these repulsive, corrupt, scum of humanity. Yes I said it. trump & all of these people who enabled him directly in this whole scheme--must pay the consequences, yet many of them are still roaming the halls of Congress and now on Congressional Committees. It is sickening and it is basically one big giant flipping of the bird to the American people--even though we know they will not accomplish anything other than their pathetic antics. And the press will buy into all of it, for "clicks", aiding and abetting this nonsense. The way they are spinning the Biden documents, 24/7, attempting to fire everyone up over a damn nothing-burger--I'm so done with the MSM. I read your letter and The Morning Dispatch--to keep me sane (and balanced) and I only scan WAPO & NYT these days. Back to reading books. I'm over this drama and want it to end, yet I know it will only be replaced by another. Thank you Joyce. We need and appreciate you!
With all the deliberate steps taken in Wisconsin and Georgia, among others to limit voter participation, primarily oriented to Black vote suppression but others as well, depending on demographics, where is the Justice Dept? They do virtually nothing. No attempts to seek injunctions with evidence. Just more of AG Merrick Garland asleep on the switch on voter suppression just like on non-indictment of Trump for fomenting and instigating January 6 and his attempted coup. Wake up Garland and wake up Biden. Garland should resign and retire, and Jack Smith, a younger and dynamic prosecutor should be appointed as AG, then he won't need to be Special Counsel under Garland's thumb and veto. He will be the decider.
It seems, without evidence, that the Justice Dept has been reduced to 10 lawyers ,and they are just too busy to deal with intentional and deliberate voter suppression. They are also too busy to indict Trump.
Perhaps they spend most of their time going to Executive luncheons to get free food.
This reminds me of a case in which I was lead counsel when only a baby lawyer. In 1969 Black prisoners at the Indiana Reformatory at Pendleton, staged a sit down demonstration on a fence enclosed volley ball court, and Indiana prison guards came out with 10 or 12 gauge shotguns loaded with OO shot. (the biggest). Guards standing outside the fence pointed their guns, about 10 of them, at the prisoners sitting down in protest. When the prisoners would not disperse, Commander Jason Huckaby directed the guards to open fire directly at the prisoners or in the cement court just in front of them so the shot would ricochet The result: 49 prisoners were shot and two died immediately. Eastern newspapers did not give it much coverage, after all this was not like Attica in New York, it was worse.
The Justice Dept brought a criminal civil rights case against the guards, and they lost. We filed a Section 1983 civil rights case, and we had a trial in 1974 before an all white southern Indiana jury, but the jurors ruled in our favor unanimously and found the guards and Huckaby liable for civil rights violations. As a group of young Legal Services trial lawyers, it does not get much better than that. Yes there is a different standard of proof between criminal and civil, but we won in front of an all white jury in southern Indiana, and the Justice Department lost.
Working hard on a case can result in a win, and so-so preparation and staffing will give you what you deserve. So Garland and President Biden, why is the Justice Dept so inactive on current criminal and civil issues of high importance? Time for a new AG.
This is not a time for fighting within. We must support Garland. He just cares about justice period. I’m tired of all the complaining. Let him do his job. The right wants us to give up within our government. Can’t you see that? It’s part of the autocrat’s playbook. Read Timothy Snyder’s book “On Tyranny.” I first learned about it on the Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC.
Thanks Joyce. I was listening to a podcast a while ago and I can’t remember who was saying it, but the point was that DOJ will prosecute the former guy only if Garland deems it in the nations best interest to do so. I fear Garland may be of the post-Watergate mindset that it was correct to pardon Nixon. That way of thinking has led to the slippery slope that gave us Jan 6. We should have prosecuted then, we must prosecute now or the next bad actor will be successful.
Nobody is stopping Garland from doing his job, but he is not doing his job. He is not a hard edge prosecutor, he thinks he is still a moderate appellate judge on the DC Circuit. He is afraid to do nearly anything. Too many executive luncheons and speeches about how everyone is subject to enforcement of the law except Trump who has a Lifelong Get Out of Jail Free Pass, according to non-prosecuting Garland.
Thank you for this AND the chickens update! Question- what kind of harm can the republicans in the coup caucus do on the oversight committee and is it mandatory that they have security clearance to be on that committee? Thanks.
You look at that group of R reps that are on the visitor log & then look at the power they still have & the committees they’ve been assigned to and it’s nauseating! When will any of them be held accountable for their actions leading up to & including J6? Will anyone politically involved in the coup ever be held to account?
Ari Melber's 2nd segment yesterday highlighting the successful prosecution of the Perpetrator inside the 70th Precinct Police Station in New York years ago back when Rudy G was the chief gaslighter where inside the 70th Precinct an innocent, skinny, impoverished, Haitian, immigrant was tortured & sodomized with a broomstick. Remember that one? The case ended in the 30 year conviction of the Perpetrator that no other Prosecutor would touch. That same Prosecutor, years later, went on to convict a Head of State at The Hague for War Crimes. That same Prosecutor that will indict tfg. His name is JACK SMITH.
Wow
Music to my ears. May justice at long last prevail🏛️
At this point, they all smugly believe that they have gotten away with it, and that has only served to embolden them and make them even more power hungry. That is why it is so very important to hold them to account. I sincerely hope that justice will soon catch up to them.
It has to. I imagine most Americans are pretty mad. Calculate that in 2024.
Sooner the better. Less damage can be done
This is a question I wonder about every day since they won their elections. Gerrymandering and voter suppression allowed this nightmare to unfold. Joyce is right when she speaks about voting. In my state (MD), it is easy to become a Voter Registration Volunteer. Call or visit your local election board where you live to see what to do. I had to read a pamphlet regarding the rules, and sign stating I would follow MD state law. This allows me to hand out voter registration cards and instruct each person on how to fill them out properly. At the same time, I encourage people to be sure to express their own choices by voting. This usually turns into a conversation that covers the issues, and I find it sparks people's interest when I tell them if they don't use their voice, someone else will do it for them. They make not like the outcome.
So until these traitors are held accountable for their criminal behavior, the only way to sideline them is by voting them out. That is how we save our democracy.
Celeste, I believe it will take overcoming gerrymandering and suppression to vote these seditious horrors away from our constitution. I wake up every morning trying to believe they’ll be held accountable. But, alas, nothing. It will be up to voters to straighten this out requiring massive voter awareness. I’m so grateful for your hard work. Now the rest of us must get up and moving. Call your county Democratic HQ and volunteer. Write Congresswoman Chrissy Houlihan D-PA for voting WITH Republicans against women’s health and reproductive rights. Start paying attention to who’s voting for what and write to them. There’s lots you can do from home.
Excellent, Karen. Many hands make it happen.
I re-read your comment, and you are so right when you say to pay attention to how our representatives vote. People say one thing to get elected, and then put their personal beliefs into action, instead of actually REPRESENTING those who "hired' them to speak for them. Paying attention an getting involved are key.
I agree it's nauseating. Heather Cox Richardson has a tidbit in today's letter that a R who expected to lead the Ways and Means is pissed that he doesn't have the assignment. There are probably quite a few R's who are unhappy with their committee assignments. And wait until they actually have to conduct hearings! The infighting is going eat them up. And I do fantasize about all of them being indicted.
The day they are all indicted will be a day for celebration and long overdue.
I look for some of those R's to resign in frustration, or for whatever reason, and the Democrats take over the majority. There are probably other R's who may muster up some courage to vote on behalf of the country, and not follow little kevin on the road of destruction. (a long shot, for sure)
Can’t wait to see.
Having reached cognitive saturation last week, there is no bandwidth in my mind to contain the histrionics of the GQP now they have some power. That they can not exit Santos is all that needs to be said.
And he's been assigned 2 committees. One is Small Business as in Ponzi Schemes.
He's gonna hear from the small business peeps - chamber of commerce is very GOP oriented but they are also pissy when people don't step up.
It’s not over until it’s over no matter how many committee assignments Santos has.
I have noticed that about myself as well. I glance at headlines now - just once in the morning and that’s it. It’s self preservation. If I die from a stroke or heart attack caused by constant frustration and anger at the mess our government is, well, that won’t affect a single republican, just me.
Disabled Veteran: George Santos Took $3K From Dying Dog's GoFundMe
https://patch.com/new-york/oysterbay/disabled-veteran-george-santos-took-3k-dying-dogs-gofundme?utm_source=share-mobile&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=share
House R's will not exit GADS; 1 of 4 Prosecutors will unless his Queens' "naturalization" falls apart or his ponzi game goes the way of Bernie Madoff.
A new meme! Ye GADS!
Ye, GADS , Q'evin.
Here’s hoping 🤞
Sabrina, take care. Whatever you do today do not, repeat do not, read the Patch story on the 2016 "Devolder" $3K scam on a destitute Vet and his cancer stricken Dog. Preserve all available Bandwidth. 🕯
Oh dear god. Someone stop this guy.
About the theory that our universe may be a big simulation, Isaac Asimov once remarked that he thought the universe consisted of the glowing embers falling from God's cigar!
Love it!
I wouldn’t be surprised.
I used to belong in the inherent goodness of people. I no longer do. I now believe that every day I am looking at the face of evil. It makes me feel incredibly sad, and angry at the same time.
It is scary. We used to assume that the morally undead, the zombies of the moral underworld, would bear a distinguishing mark of their degradation. But as CS Lewis offered,” the greatest evil is not now done in those sordid dens of crime that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices." And covered by C-SPAN.
Or as Stephen King put it in his excellent book on writing, "the best monsters have their fur on the inside."
I was thinking The Stand. When Mother Abigail dreamed the rats were in the corn at Hemingford Home, Nebraska.
The face of evil is the fraud behind the curtain in The Wizard of Oz. All anyone had to do was to look behind the freakin’ curtain.
Fox news propaganda is the cancer. I believe that we are inherently good and that is is easy, way too easy to be manipulated into hate and anger.
So very true. My father, a Pearl Harbor survivor, became a Fox news devotee many, many years ago as were most of his friends. When I visited I would try to sit with him while he watched but it was too alarming to listen to the easily provable lies. I would have to leave the room. Any attempts to encourage my father to check out other "sources" were met with hostility. It was all very sad. When TFG came on the scene he couldn't say enough great things about him. Ugh! Going to dinner with him and his friends was always a test to see how long I could go without yelling "you are being lied to by Fox". I once went to dinner with him at his friend's home. There was literally a TV on in every room and all were tuned to Fox. Unnerving to say the least. Brainwashing was the main course for that evening. That same man wore a MAGA hat and an "Elect Trump 2020" mask to my dad's funeral. Such an insult to all the veterans that had been laid to rest in that cemetery.
I’m so very sorry.
It’s so sad. I quit my “tune up”therapist because the owner of the practice had FOX playing in the waiting room and refused to turn it off after many client’s complaints. She understood why I had to leave. That was in 2017. This just happened, I was having dinner out with friends who are right wingers, We NEVER said a word about politics which was how we were able to maintain our long friendship. Until 2 days ago. Two other couples, both the women began discussing how Ukraine was really to blame, not Russian aggression. Putin is only protecting Russia from Ukraine’s aggression.
One women talked about her son the retired undercover policeman now working security in Las Vegas told her “it’s all true”. We’ll, that’s disturbing. I just kept putting salad in my mouth and lost all respect for all of them. We finished dinner politely, and that’s the end of that.
It's all so mind boggling. My friend and I went to visit my daughter and grandkids in FL. We stayed at a nice hotel in St Pete. We went to the dining area for breakfast and lo and behold Fox was on the TVs. I went to the front desk and suggested the TVs be turned to something pleasant such as travel or music videos. Manager said they did not have control of the TV. I let them know that when we returned to FL we would not be staying at their hotel.
That's because we are looking at the "faces of evil." And, some of the most evil faces are those of the 11 members of the Freedom Caucus, who allegedly participated in planning the Insurrection and Coup, and attended the December 21, 2021 White House meeting with Trump, Pence, Meadows and Giuliani (that Joyce mentions) to discuss overturning the 2020 election, and possibly still haven't been investigated by the DOJ. The congressional attendees were: Jordan, Gaetz, Biggs, Perry, MTG, Gosar, Hice, Harris, and Babin, Brooks and Gohmert. Brooks and Gohmert are no longer in Congress.
Three of them--Jordan, Biggs, and Perry, in addition to McCarthy--received subpoenas on May 25, 2022 from the January 6 Select Committee, which they all ignored. The committee didn't have the power to issue criminal referrals on them, but the DOJ could have started investigating them, and as far as we know, they did nothing.
And, nine of the eleven Congressional Republicans at the meeting, also played important roles in the Majority Speaker Debacle, and have been rewarded for their loyalty to Trump with leadership positions or are members of the most important House committees. (I wonder and worry if their security clearances are reflective of their positions.) What is particularly disturbing is that as Adam Kinzinger said months ago, "Innocent people don't ask for pardons." Yet, after the December 21, 2021 meeting, Brooks "at Gaetz' direction" asked Trump for a blanket pardon for himself and Gaetz, everyone else who attended the December 21, 2021 meeting, and a number of people who didn't (but ostensibly were given tasks to complete). And, some of the individuals noted above sought individual pardons. Evidently, Meadows, Giuliani, and Eastman also asked for pardons. A brief overview of the meeting and pardon requests can be found in provided link. https://www.businessinsider.com/house-republicans-white-house-meeting-december-21-2020-election-2022-7
My point in writing this comment, is that there is a lot of damning information from the hearings that is yet to be widely read or even known. And, if we wait for anyone in Democratic leadership to act on it, it will be like "Waiting for Godot." They had two tremendous opportunities in which to publicize it: Before the midterms, and before the Majority Speakership Debacle, and said nothing.
While others who have commented have remarked that the terrible behavior of House Republicans will be dealt with in the 2024 elections as voters vote them out of office. I'm not sure that is true, and moreover, that's not the way our democracy was set up. It's based on laws, and when there are no consequences for breaking them, people are emboldened. My own opinion is that if Trump, Congressional Republicans, and the rest of the seditious mob who participated in the Insurrection, and coup, and who tried to overthrow the 2020 election aren't investigated, tried, and jailed, there will be no democracy left to protect.
Thank you Joyce, we are at war no doubt. I have a feeling that Jack smith is going to drop a sledge hammer of indictments soon. That will be the big “Red Wave”
Yes, Jack prosecutes war crimes.
I think Jack Smith will be the beginning of the real fight against this maga nightmare. AG Garland would have made a brilliant Justice on the high court. I do not think, although he is a fair-minded man, that he is tough enough to really go after these traitors with the urgency required. He is too worried about looking politically biased. We can all thank Mitch McConnell for opening the can of worms that is the R party now. Things were going downhill prior to Obama, but the obsession to block his every move started the destructive mess which is now rolling downhill. McConnell and his fellow R's are responsible for allowing trump to shit all over our Democracy and not convict him during his first impeachment. It is my hope that Special Prosecutor Smith will put the orange bastard in prison where he belongs, and I mean for the rest of his miserable life. That will be the start of the "Red Wave" you speak of.
Jack has the chops. Been there done that.
What was the first presidential election after the Extreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act? Yes, 2016. The many violations of One Person, One Vote are well-documented by, among others, Ari Berman (Mother Jones), and The Brennan Center for Justice. That guy would never have won the presidency without rampant voter suppression.
I'm pretty sure someone must have stepped on a butterfly to have that happen in my universe.
Attendees of the Dec 21 meeting are well represented on the oversight committee. They need to be investigated, not investigate.
Any recourse - not providing sensitive info, info on investigations, ... they are all security risks.
And Marge on Homeland Security -- domestic terrorism/white supremacists are key and she participates with those groups/individuals on a regular basis.
This is an ongoing coup.
Absolutely. But we’re paying attention.
Get your orders in now for that case of the Extra Large Buckets of popcorn - you're going to need them with those goons running the circus.
🍿😀
With all the stats on voter suppression (numbers of fewer black voter), can’t some legal recourse be taken? Obviously there is still voter suppression. Can’t Justice Roberts be challenged? And yes, the people in congress who participated in Jan 6 need to be held accountable! If not they will do it again. They are all so smug.
Do you think any argument will get through the Seditious Six at the formerly-supreme court?
One of the 'sins' I often think about, (sin being that which stops one from living a full happy life) is lying. And lying to oneself being the most destructive. Do you think these people suppressing people's ability to vote really believe it is for some greater good, do they not think about good, or are they lying to themselves? What miserable creatures. Santos is just a tiny lost soul, YUK, voter suppression kills our form of governance.
In Buddhist thought, the 3 great impediments (sins) to enlightenment are anger, (aggression) greed, (grasping) and ignorance (egocentrism). I'd say they are full of it. Too bad for them. In their next lives they will be slugs and worse. Possibly they are already demons.
For a stimulating alternative perspective on "fake news" and DJT I suggest everyone read "Truth Takes A Holiday," https://harpers.org/archive/2023/01/trumpism-and-the-american-philosophical-tradition/
A tough yet important read. (Thank you...I think.) I'm glad the author ends with:
"To flourish as individuals and as societies, we need ideals. We need to work to arrive at a stronger and more refined sense of what we mean by courage, compassion, and wisdom. We should do what we can to introduce these ideals into our lives and into the lives of our children... Thousands of years of history and culture show us what humans at their best value: high ideals, energetically pursued. Truth has been on vacation long enough—it’s time to put it back to work."
Joyce, you are helping do just that. And I take comfort in the ten words Michael Moore recomends each Progressive or Dem (or at least non-authoritararian pro-democracy person) say to themselves: "There are more of us than there are of them."
While it is important to stay somewhat "connected" to the ongoing saga and "never forget", at this point the only important thing that matters--and what we are all waiting for--is to see accountability for these repulsive, corrupt, scum of humanity. Yes I said it. trump & all of these people who enabled him directly in this whole scheme--must pay the consequences, yet many of them are still roaming the halls of Congress and now on Congressional Committees. It is sickening and it is basically one big giant flipping of the bird to the American people--even though we know they will not accomplish anything other than their pathetic antics. And the press will buy into all of it, for "clicks", aiding and abetting this nonsense. The way they are spinning the Biden documents, 24/7, attempting to fire everyone up over a damn nothing-burger--I'm so done with the MSM. I read your letter and The Morning Dispatch--to keep me sane (and balanced) and I only scan WAPO & NYT these days. Back to reading books. I'm over this drama and want it to end, yet I know it will only be replaced by another. Thank you Joyce. We need and appreciate you!
With all the deliberate steps taken in Wisconsin and Georgia, among others to limit voter participation, primarily oriented to Black vote suppression but others as well, depending on demographics, where is the Justice Dept? They do virtually nothing. No attempts to seek injunctions with evidence. Just more of AG Merrick Garland asleep on the switch on voter suppression just like on non-indictment of Trump for fomenting and instigating January 6 and his attempted coup. Wake up Garland and wake up Biden. Garland should resign and retire, and Jack Smith, a younger and dynamic prosecutor should be appointed as AG, then he won't need to be Special Counsel under Garland's thumb and veto. He will be the decider.
It seems, without evidence, that the Justice Dept has been reduced to 10 lawyers ,and they are just too busy to deal with intentional and deliberate voter suppression. They are also too busy to indict Trump.
Perhaps they spend most of their time going to Executive luncheons to get free food.
This reminds me of a case in which I was lead counsel when only a baby lawyer. In 1969 Black prisoners at the Indiana Reformatory at Pendleton, staged a sit down demonstration on a fence enclosed volley ball court, and Indiana prison guards came out with 10 or 12 gauge shotguns loaded with OO shot. (the biggest). Guards standing outside the fence pointed their guns, about 10 of them, at the prisoners sitting down in protest. When the prisoners would not disperse, Commander Jason Huckaby directed the guards to open fire directly at the prisoners or in the cement court just in front of them so the shot would ricochet The result: 49 prisoners were shot and two died immediately. Eastern newspapers did not give it much coverage, after all this was not like Attica in New York, it was worse.
The Justice Dept brought a criminal civil rights case against the guards, and they lost. We filed a Section 1983 civil rights case, and we had a trial in 1974 before an all white southern Indiana jury, but the jurors ruled in our favor unanimously and found the guards and Huckaby liable for civil rights violations. As a group of young Legal Services trial lawyers, it does not get much better than that. Yes there is a different standard of proof between criminal and civil, but we won in front of an all white jury in southern Indiana, and the Justice Department lost.
Working hard on a case can result in a win, and so-so preparation and staffing will give you what you deserve. So Garland and President Biden, why is the Justice Dept so inactive on current criminal and civil issues of high importance? Time for a new AG.
This is not a time for fighting within. We must support Garland. He just cares about justice period. I’m tired of all the complaining. Let him do his job. The right wants us to give up within our government. Can’t you see that? It’s part of the autocrat’s playbook. Read Timothy Snyder’s book “On Tyranny.” I first learned about it on the Rachel Maddow show on MSNBC.
Thanks Joyce. I was listening to a podcast a while ago and I can’t remember who was saying it, but the point was that DOJ will prosecute the former guy only if Garland deems it in the nations best interest to do so. I fear Garland may be of the post-Watergate mindset that it was correct to pardon Nixon. That way of thinking has led to the slippery slope that gave us Jan 6. We should have prosecuted then, we must prosecute now or the next bad actor will be successful.
Nobody is stopping Garland from doing his job, but he is not doing his job. He is not a hard edge prosecutor, he thinks he is still a moderate appellate judge on the DC Circuit. He is afraid to do nearly anything. Too many executive luncheons and speeches about how everyone is subject to enforcement of the law except Trump who has a Lifelong Get Out of Jail Free Pass, according to non-prosecuting Garland.
Thank you for this AND the chickens update! Question- what kind of harm can the republicans in the coup caucus do on the oversight committee and is it mandatory that they have security clearance to be on that committee? Thanks.
Here is a fun and interesting conversation with Neil deGrasse Tyson about the simulation hypothesis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmcrG7ZZKUc
Spoiler alert: he concludes we are not. 😀