Thanks for the beauty and humor along with your expertise to help us be informed citizens and do what must be done to fend off fascism.
"Donald Trump is not the victim of a witch hunt or of any political persecution. He is a four-times indicted, twice impeached, lifetime fraudster who bamboozled far too many Americans in order to win the presidency. It’s our job to make sure he doesn’t return to it." Great summary!
I spoke with my 38 yo nephew today and he won’t discuss politics, says he’s not voting. I’m hitting walls with attempts to discuss with people. I am being shut down before any discussions. Is anyone else experiencing this?
Ask what's important to them, what they care about. Start with their concerns.
With practice, you will learn to connect their concerns to the policies and values of Democrats, and that can be accompanied by the many ways the things they care about being destroyed by Republicans.
Various activist groups use this empathy-driven approach in what is called Deep Canvassing (search for that phrase). I learned about this phone banking.
Also, read, watch and listen to lots of Simon Rosenberg, Hopium Chronicles, to both give you talking points and keep your spirits up!
Eric Lin Doub, Simon Rosenberg gives very straightforward and simple examples the most can relate to. The name Hopium chronicles (handle for his writings) can be a huge energizer for those that can feel worn down and worn out by the constant drum of bad news. Hopium - we all need it
Great points Eric. I have signed up for weekly Zoom Training by State and National Democrats but I am getting increasingly concerned by lack of messaging by the Biden campaign on addressing inflation.
I have seen multiple posts on my Facebook this week on people in complete despair over the price of groceries. One women was in tears. This worries me greatly. Any thoughts?
In my opinion, it's not lack of messaging on inflation and other topics, the people that most need to know only watch fox and the others like it. They don't read much and they still believe the lies of the repubs and the criminal. There are a lot of them. One guy that interviews people at rallies for the criminal asked a couple about who they will vote for. They admitted to voting for the criminal in 2016 and 2020, they admitted he is UNFIT to be president. They both said they will vote for him in 2024.........how do we deal with that level of idiocy?
Damn good question Amber. Holy sh#t. Maybe the trial(s) will help I don't know. At this point I am praying for Trump's imminent demise as I have been for the last 9 years.
I learned from the political scientist and activist George Lakoff long ago to think of this in terms of thirds:. 1/3 of people share your values. 1/3 are the polar opposite, and in the age of Trump and digitally fueled delusions, people are essentially cult members and not reachable. Then the other third are persuadable. Focus on them.
It’s real and getting worse not better. If one is on a fixed income or lower brackets, it is difficult to make ends meet with the price of food and household items soaring. I hope Biden does not run on the economy and acknowledges how difficult it is for many, even though the “numbers” look good. It’s serious.
Thank you for replying Terri. Yes it is very serious. I am on a fixed income although I have family support and am able to work part-time. I know how difficult it is for young working families. And of course we know Trump has no plans to address any of this. It just scares me. Wish I could get a message to the campaign. I will try to get a message to Simon at Hopium and see what he suggests.
It's interesting that the only agenda Trump has is revenge against the people who have defeated him and are working hard to do so again. As for his court cases, he put himself there by pure hubris. As Mary Trump said, we're seeing a 78 year old man facing consequences for the first time in his life, and he's not handling it well. In fact, he's hurting himself, which is fine by me.
Income inequality is an issue that absolutely must be addressed seriously, and the first step is putting Democrats back in the House and Senate.
It’s real and getting worse not better. If one is on a fixed income or lower brackets, it is difficult to make ends meet with the price of food and household items soaring. I hope Biden does not run on the economy and acknowledges how difficult it is for many, even though the “numbers” look good. It’s serious.
Please take a few minutes write, call or email big corporations that make products you buy. Everyone complains about the cost of groceries, insurance, gas even fast food. All of these corporations HAVE ENJOYED RECORD profits as they shrink their products, raise prices AND NO ONE IS PUSHING BACK. They must suffer for their greed by consumers walking away from them, look for a less expensive source (they are out there), refuse to buy their "brand", tell them in writing or calls that you won't take it anymore. If you are still on the app formerly known as twitter, tweet them THEY HATE THAT and will contact you asking for you to private message them. Refuse to take it private, call them out publicly, they will respond and it works. This is a country that supports capitalism companies can take profit. The President can't fix it, he does call it out. PUSH BACK refuse them their greed.
You are so right. I understand about people on a fixed income not being able to make ends meet. I am one of the few lucky ones who was able to have a good pension. Nonetheless we see the family businesses try hard to keep customers but they too are hurting.
With corporate greed and the whoring of the supreme corruptors, reg people don't stand a chance. Perhaps a march on the SCOTUS would help.
It’s true! I’ve never really gotten onto social media, gen X. But it’s a good idea and I hope others will be encouraged by this to call them out in a public forum. Yes, Joe Biden has called them out but I’m concerned for how he is going to address this (i hope continually and fervently) while on the campaign trail.
Also: Check out “Chop Wood, Carry Water” for precise ideas on who to contact, where to go to make a difference. Each post has lots of ways to be active.
A young woman 40, married, 3 kids really very nice, cuts my hair. Said to me last week "but aren't all politicians liars" can you really believe any of them will do any of the things they promise? I moved on because I do enjoy the time I spend (never have enjoyed the salon experience before) and didn't want to argue. Since then I've had time to think about it, when I see her in a few weeks I'm going to say 3 things and then promise not to talk politics. I'm going to say that NO I don't believe all politicians are the same, some have 88 felonies against them and more. Some admit to supporting putin and fascism. I'm going to ask if she is ready for her almost young adult children to fight WWIII? I'm going to tell her I believe in democracy and it's never been in such serious danger. Then I'm going to zip my lip, she is intelligent and thoughtful, I believe if there is any reaching her that might do it. If not I can't do more.
Yes. Spoke with friends who just moved to Portugal when we visited them. They said they are not voting nor thinking about the election or the problems of the USA now that they have moved away. His parents are in India, but the entire rest of her family is in the USA, so even if what happens in the USA did not have world wide effects, just thinking about one's family in the states should make one care. She is very pregnant right now, and they probably do not want the negativity of these times to affect the baby, so I will wait until they have had the child to discuss it again. I also ran into a young dual citizen in the market the other day. She said she is not political, but I told her that is a political stance. Then she told me she did not want either candidate, and I told her a vote for anyone else is a vote for Trump. She did not feel comfortable arguing, but I told her I am very comfortable talking politics with people who do not agree with me, so she gave me her number. I am preparing for this before I call her. I also have a former colleague who does not read and does not vote. He is a millennial. His wife votes. I have been working on him to do this, but he says, his vote doesn't count so why bother. I have not been able to sway him in ten years of trying, but I am keeping on.
Votes count, this is for all the marbles, no time to be complacent. Not sure how to get through but WWIII is a real concern, climate is also a concern and killing social security and medicare (which trump plans to do) is certainly a concern. If anyone thinks homeless situation is out of control, wait until repubs get their hands on the majority again and millions more will be on the streets. The US won't be a good place even for those that vote for the criminal, he DOES NOT CARE.
From the get-go this appeared a lesson . Near every statistic has found this to be true. The sad percentage of regular voters depicts the complacency while the downward slide happening happened right before their very eyes. Slow,methodical, and calculated. Some dub this desensitization, some subliminal persuasion, browbeating,normalizing, conditioning….Joyce said it right off the bat ‘in a normal world…’ Regan dubbed it ‘trickle down tactics ‘ and slowly the trendy term spelled the widening ..more correctly the gaping difference ..and call it wasn’t working! Equality is NOT desired by the rich. Never.Has.Been. There are a few who DO spread their fortune with leveling the playing field/fields. Give them their due.
To level the playing field the white collars have got to be held far more accountable (even thievery takes more toll by white collar crime than those caught and jailed). Laws/safeguards/ethics upheld is #1. Fair Tax Codes is #2 and time has more than proven this.
It’s a continuous effort to bring about. Worthy. Can happen.
Thom Hartmann has been regularly sharing parts of his book where he explains how we became a modern day oligarchy. You can read the excerpts from His Hidden History of Monopolies in his Substack. https://substack.com/@thomhartmann
I watched Ronald Reagan turn things around and now Joe Biden, like the Super hero he is for standing up to the Oligarchs for the first time since then, is trying to turn things around. Here is a copy of the Democrats Abroad video from their webinar on Social Security. It starts off with a lot of people introductions that you can skip, but the substance is about how Social Security works, particularly for American Abroad in terms of the questions from the audience, but it was also a discussion of the history of the institution and how the Republicans treat it versus what Biden wants to do.
My Egyptian Economics professor told us that Reaganomics was "S--T! and explained why. Now, apparently Peter Coy of the NYT is admitting that economists have been getting it wrong about Bidenomics, which is really about getting it wrong about Reaganomics and trickle down. The press is still doing a terrible job of reporting on the economy and the issues, like democracy versus a totalitarian state. I was just watching 2 videos that encompass 3000 years of German history, and it really reminded me of how war weary Europe is for good reason, and that after a period of no war, a war mongering dictator always has to go start a war, because that is the only way they know how to engage with the world, and assure their continued control of their people. Expansion. Otherwise, since they don't know how to govern, the people might start thinking about that. Also, Putin learned from Hitler. He is making sure to avoid having a war with Ukraine and with the USA. He knows he cannot win on 2 fronts. With him taking over the biggest democracy in Europe he is expecting to go onto the next biggest one after that. Unfortunately the Left party in Germany thinks Putin is justified and is there friend. They cannot get past the Red Army Faction and thinking that socialism is the cool people friendly thing. Especially those who live in the west and are well off. It is kind of annoying. The poor seem to know better in the west. In the East, they are really more heavily inundated with Russian bots, but those seem really targeted to support the AfD, a party that I call the New German Nazi Party, and I am increasingly seeing it being called that here in Germany. If you are interested in what one can learn from several thousand years of European history focused on the development of Germany, then here are the videos. They are in English.
Yes but my issues are different. I wrote a book about TFG and no one wants it, lol. It’s a really really really good and nasty/funny book. So I can relate. Oh, your welcome to by my book.
Yes! It is maddening because the people who won’t discuss these issues, including my brother, are like children covering their ears and closing their eyes… I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you! They drank the kool aid and have made themselves immune to reason.
Or they start raising their voice during the conversation until they are yelling. That says the same thing to me as covering their ears. Once they volunteer their unconvincing responses they won't consider, let alone concede, your point. It's frustrating and disturbing when the people are otherwise reasonable. A portion of their brain has been hijacked.
Just had a talk with 1 man in a group of 5 young American musicians, who are contract musicians playing backup to an Australian singer who are here in Germany right now. Hearing American English I engaged in conversation about the election. The guy I was talking with said he is from Atlanta and not for Trump, but does not belong to any party. I said a vote for anyone but Biden is a vote for Trump just as not voting is a vote for Trump. He said he feels like the youth do not want Trump because he is so awful, and that Biden is okay. I went into why I thought Biden was more than okay, and still accepted that for some he might be not an enthusiastic support, but one just the same to avoid having Trump. We talked for about 45 minutes. Hope it had an impact not just on him but on his friends. I was thinking I was recruiting someone for Democrats Abroad. Will keep trying. I ask everyone here in Germany that I hear speaking American English whether they live here and whether they are voting for Biden. Will continue to do so.
Terry - one less vote is one for X-POTUS one way or the other. I say that to people and they might walk away with their heads low. They might feel ashamed but overwhelmed with too much noise so that they can’t focus. That is what Hamas has done to America and its allies relating to Israel by creating distraction so profound that any attempts to reason is failed.
Part of the answer might be educating these non-voters about the consequences. Where did right to abortion go?
For those who think the two parties aren't good enough, point them to the year 2000 debacle, when voting for the supposed progressive Green Party candidate Ralph Nader gave Bush the victory. And with Bush, two right-wing justices, Roberts and Alito -- who were still around and made the difference between Roe v Wade being upheld or overturned. See this article of mine on that: https://www.progressive-charlestown.com/2023/11/repeating-year-2000-disaster.html
Many People don't realize that but that's a big one!! We are a pet-loving country!! 😻 I need to remind my youngest daughter of that. How can you vote for someone who hates dogs?! She has two. Hope springs eternal. I have one very Liberal daughter and the other one is pretty apolitical but she will vote with her Husband and Vote for Trump again. Ugh. Breaks my heart.
I don't think anyone who voted for our former President was bamboozled. His electorate knew what they were getting when they went to the polls and are still willing to get him reelected. They are neither ignorant nor stupid, but they are surely racist.
@ Ian. Here's my posting today. I think it's relevant.
Bare knuckles.
16 million veterans. They are influential. Multiply that number by friends, family, patriotic supporters. A huge percentage supported Trump X 2. They can be flipped. Last night in Pennsyltucky were I was born and raised as the song goes, Biden invoked "not suckers and losers" for the first time and MSM picked it up. IMHO this is the visceral attack that hits 'em where it hurts.
IMHO we can flip MOST Trump veteran supporters. When you meet them at the bar at the Legion, VFW, AmVets, ets, and say those magic words, "not suckers or losers," watch them choke on their beer.
8.81 million self-identified Polish Americans.
Today Trump met with the Polish President at Trump Tower. Trump ally Putin has said in essence, Ukraine first, Poland next. Most Polish Americans supported Trump (as did Ukrainian Americans). IMHO Trump's "government in exile" is a violation of the Logan Act. which criminalizes negotiation by unauthorized American citizens with foreign governments having a dispute with the United States. The intent behind the Act is to prevent unauthorized negotiations from undermining the government's position. This is another group, that to support Trump are like chickens supporting Colonel Sanders.
The magic words "Trump hates dogs" and "Trump stole from kids with cancer" work, too.
Otherwise, I still think we can sweep if we expand the base. Potentially 13 million non registered people trend heavily Democratic. Register Democrats - save democracy.
Daniel, I have been asking for weeks (ever since I learned of the Logan Act) why these traitorous MAGAts have not been indicted. So far, I have not received a single answer.
I am the author of Breaking Up with Cuba. In 1953, Carlos Prío Socarrás, Cuba's President until Batista performed a "golpe" aa military coup, was prosecuted in violation of the 1939 Neutrality Act for shipping arms to Cuba. They tried the Logan Act, but only two people have ever been indicted on charges of violating the Act, one in 1802 and the other in 1852 and neither were convicted, so they didn't use it.
IMHO it's worth an attempt.
I think Trump and his son in law could be charged as agents for Saudi Arabia and maybe other countries in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which provides the public with an opportunity to be informed of the "identity of persons engaging in political activities on behalf of foreign governments, foreign political parties and other foreign principals, so that their activities can be evaluated in light of their associations.”
Thank you Daniel for answering my question. I find it sad and disheartening that there has been no pushback on these people who are obviously aiding and abetting the enemy.
My guess in the 1512 case before SCOTUS is: 7/2 to set aside the convictions on that statute. Disgraceful and absurd, but SCOTUS is now a joke comprised of corrupt justices (Thomas and Alito), or liars (Beer Boy, Gorsuch and the Hand Maiden). Former Chief Justice is as much in charge of the court as Mr Magoo was in control of his Model T.
Justice Thomas should recuse himself from any case regarding the J6 Insurrection, but it will be a cold day in hell before that would happen. I do not understand how any of those traitors can rest easy.
Jean I picked up from CBS News Melissa Quinn, & posted the fact of Justice Thomas unexplained absence at Monday's Oral Argument & Roberts' cover statement that Justice Thomas would "participate fully".
CNN did follow-up & noted that SCOTUS did NOT respond to CNN's formal "request for additional information". So the Professor's Comment that Justice Thomas' unexplained absence development is "mysterious" caught my research eye.
I do not believe the public, citizens nor voters have the full forensic accounting of Thomas' gratuities, exotic yacht trips from donors or other "in kind" pre or post favorable rulings for interested parties.. Paging Senator Whitehouse. 🔍
West Coast Update: 10:15 PM - I just wrote a message to Senator Whitehouse asking about Thomas's unexplained absence & the "gratuity" to a public official case.
Agree Bryan. I posted the same earlier only I suggested that politico do a more in-depth investigation of Clarence. They did a good job, but skimmed the surface. He was incompetent when Bush Senior appointed him. But Senior could check off the boxes. The one he could not check off was that he “replaced Thurgood Marshall.” He couldn’t carry Thurgood Marshall’s water across the street.
I agree but, yesterday I received diligent work product from KYLE CHENEY at Politico about 2 "new witnesses" on the "DC National Guard response to J6" or lack thereof. So I have Kyle's I have contact Info handy.: @kyledcheney. I will ping Kyle.
Speaking of diligent work, I read all your postings. 🎯
Bryan, I’m continuing from below: Regarding Joe Biden’s response to the US press on Taiwan: when he was attacked by the press for the third time for making the statement that we would protect Taiwan, as China’s worships continued encroaching in the sea around Taiwan and flying up and down the beach with their fighter planes, he whipped around and responded “We. Will. Protect. Taiwan. Against. Oh. Threats.” Within two days, China was pulling out of the ocean and the warships left, and the fighter plane stopped flying up and down the beach. The person never got it. I doubt a single one has pulled the Taiwan agreement and read it. But I can tell you who has read it do in China has read it and he has no doubt in his mind that we will protect Taiwan because Biden said it in the only language that Xi could understand. Then Biden proceeded to reach out to China to re-initiate trade agreements with them. Biden is clicking on all cylinders.
After the Camp David meeting with the US, Japan, and South Korea, Biden took off for G20 in India. He already had a plan because he knew Putin and Xi would not be there. Putin had been declared a war criminal and was not welcome. But he still had the right to be there and with Joe’s wonderful sense of humor. He said “Gee, I wish they could’ve made it.” Joe next move was to meet with Brazil and Indonesia both of whom Russia and China had been courting. Already in place was an agreement for infrastructure for those two countries. Of course, none of this could’ve happened without blinking and his fabulous under secretaries and team who had been planning and negotiating these agreements during the prior months to G20. But since neither Russia nor China were around to throw a wrench in things, Joe Biden got that agreement signed. But for me, the most significant result of that G20 in India was to watch Modi fall all over himself to get an Ukraine agreement for Biden. I’m no fan of Modi as he has been positively despicable to farmers in India. But he just couldn’t outdo himself in getting everyone there to sign on to support Ukraine (making it clear that he was doing so in support of the US as well). Modi almost created an umbrella ceremony above and beyond the G20 ceremony for the sudden signing of support for Ukraine. By the way, what I’ve outlined occurred in about 45 days or less. Then Biden returned to the United States and took a weekend at the Shores of Delaware. The press complained about that and made a big deal about showing him relaxing on the beach while the world was in turmoil. Shortly, Hamas invaded Israel. Neither the press, Gen Z, Millennials, and even some people on this Substack, besides my constant rant, realize that we have agreements which result in treaties with Israel to support them as a major non-NATO ally. We have 16 in total; and they were all approved by Congress. Significantly are those from 1952, 1982, 1991 and 1994, which require us to support Israel unequivocally on invasion of Israel. So having hands tied Joe Biden responded by having Blinken meet with Israel’s foreign minister at APEC in San Francisco in October 2023, two weeks after Hamas had invaded Israel. Blinken laid down the law to the foreign minister of Israel that we would not stand for their attack of Gaza, killing citizens. And he informed the foreign minister from Israel that the United States would not accept anything except a two state settlement, for Palestine to have its own country and Israel would have no part of that country and neither would Hamas. That’s what Biden told Israel the US would accept, and he did this, knowing full well he had to abide by signed treaties with Israel, many of which were signed during Republican administrations and can only be withdrawn with full votes by Congress. On October 19, Biden traveled to Israel to relay the message to Bibi himself. Netanyahu did what dictators do: he ignored Biden. Blinken has made 12 trips to Israel and the Middle East since October 2023 and he has visited 82 countries in an effort to resolve the Israel Hamas situation. Israel on the other hand has increased their own aggression and refused to discuss a two state settlement.
Even while abiding with the four agreements, we have that constitute protection treaties with Israel, Biden has stayed firm in his statements that Palestine must have its own country, and Israel will not have any part of that new country - Nor will Hamas. So I’d like to also point out while I’m on the subject that the reason we have Hamas in Palestine in the first place is because when they had the first (and only)elections the George W. Bush (Junior) administration failed to vet Hamas because armed terrorists ( Hamas was known to be armed and terrorist) were not to be on the ballot. That Republican administration allowed Hamas to run as a political party. And once they were elected, there was no turning back, and there was no chance of a future election for the people of Palestine, the majority of whom did not support Hamas, but Hamas showed up at election points to intimidate. Does that sound familiar? Biden understands 100% how it would look for him to bring up on the campaign trail the fact that we have signed treaties with his real requiring our support because it would make it look like he won’t support Israel unless he has something forcing him to do so. His option has been to negotiate a peace agreement with Palestine and to build the wharf that will deliver humanitarian supplies (while Israel continues to bomb convoy of international aid workers). This is genocide, and it has been genocide from the get-go from the time Israel brought in bulldozers and bulldoze down the olive trees that were the sustenance of Palestinians - just as they are for Israel. And that’s how that is done: just as we killed off millions of bison to destroy the soul of native Americans. It was genocide done and it’s genocide now and there’s no other way to think about it and that’s exactly why Joe Biden has told Netanyahu that they will have no part of a new Palestine state. Nobody gets it like Joe Biden, he will be known as the greatest of all time, the greatest US president. So our work is to defeat Trump. I hope it helps to understand just a bit more and I’m not writing this for you as much as anyone who might read it but a bit more about Joe Biden and that he is not speaking about Taiwan one single minute (ask China why they move their warships out of Taiwan water because they understood it was not a misspeak) and he is also working with one arm tied behind his back in the Middle East because of Netanyahu‘s determination to remain dictator of Israel. For life. Again, we would not have the Hamas mess at all if George W. Bush Junior had vetted Hamas in the first place. He didn’t do his job and the fallout has been on Biden. Why isn’t Bush Junior speaking up? Where was Condelezza Rice in this ball-dropping Hamas mess? She’s still trotting around Stanford. Why doesn’t she weigh in with the truth? The fact is, even when Bush Junior and Connie Rice know the truth they will do nothing to help Joe Biden despite the raging maniac we are facing with Trump. They are both hiding. I have no respect for either of them.
Thank you. Much better informed now and still despise Netanyahu. He’s as bad as trump running from justice there as trump will do(is doing)here. Dick of all the BS that is currently happening in NY courtroom and sick of the lazy assed press that has forgotten how to do actual journalism.
Amen!! Where the hell is Bush btw?! Hiding like a coward. I have 0 respect for him or anyone from his administration. Even though he was a huge architect of the ghastly Iraq War at least Dick Cheney had the courage to speak out and warn of the dangers of Trump. More than anyone else has done.
TY. I’m only diligent about knowing and semi-posting on what Joe Biden and team are doing. His entire first year spent cleaning up the devastation Trump left (his first on January 22, 2021 anfter his inauguration was to sign the application to reinstate us in the Paris accord - his first day in office and the first thing he did for example). And there was/is the. Strategic planning and nurturing to bring South Korea and Japan together at Camp David in August 2023- Japan and South Korea had had very little diplomacy going on since WWII, resulting in the signing of a three party defense accord to shore up the region against China, resulting in Kishisida’s recent address to the bilateral Congress regarding Japan as a non-NATO member raising their defense budget to 2% to match that of NATO members in response to Russia and China’s combined threat - displayed in Russia’s brazen invasion of Ukraine and Kishida’s schooling our Republican Congress members on that threat. In gratitude to and respect for Joe Biden prior to the Camp David meeting, S. Korea’s delegation stopped in Maui on their way to the U.S. with $1.5 million for Lahaina. That’s how diplomacy is done the year prior on his way to G7 in Hiroshima, Joe Biden laid the tracks for this meeting when he’s stopped in Seoul to meet President Yoon. On the steps of Air Force One, leaving Seoul, he made a very pointed statement regarding Taiwan, which was: ‘we will protect Taiwan.’ China had been swooping up and down the beaches of Taiwan with their fighter planes and filling the ocean with aircraft carriers and battleships playing wargames and getting closer and closer into incursion of Taiwan territory, frightening it citizens. Joe ‘s message was directed at China.
The American press in their vast unawareness leapt on this statement claiming Joe was deficient in knowing that “we can’t protect Taiwan.” Joe had made another statement in this regard about protecting Taiwan several months earlier and the know it all press who know nothing jumped on that as well as an implication that Joe didn’t know what he was talking about so far as our ability to protect Taiwan. He full well does know About our ability to protect Taiwan. He was a young senator at the time that Victor Li wrote the Taiwan Agreement. Dr. Li wrote the Taiwan agreement to be ambiguous and it definitely states we can protect Taiwan in any way that we need and specifically we can deliver arms and airplanes. There is nothing in the Taiwan agreement that says we cannot fully protect Taiwan. And that’s exactly, and precisely why the Taiwan agreement was written in the way it was. It was re-signed by Congress about 10 years ago I believe. It helps to know the players: Victor was a close friend of mine. I knew Victor from Stanford and socially (and I did some business with him regarding climate and reducing CO2 ) and we had many conversations at dinners, including discussing why he wrote the Taiwan agreement and that because of that event, he became the youngest full professor ever at Stanford. Joe Biden also knew Victor Li and Joe cut his teeth on international diplomacy, and is an expert like none you’ve ever seen in intelligence: if it’s happening anywhere in the world, he knows it. During the G7 conference in Hiroshima during he met with Japanese parents who had lost their daughters to North Korea in the 1980s and promised them he would work to bring them home. After the Hiroshima G7, and on returning back to the United States, he met more silly press about his ‘faulty’ statement that we would protect Taiwan. he went to Indonesia to G20, when he scooped a major triumph
The need for Thomas to recuse himself was particularly obvious in the obstruction case, since a decision on the scope of liability for obstruction could affect Ginni Thomas’s personal potential liability. Shame on you, Justice Thomas! (See my own commentary on this case, from a somewhat different angle. https://mitchellzimmerman.substack.com/p/right-wing-justices-join-trump-in .)
Either they lack conscience, or truly feel they are above the rest of us to interpret the law as they see fit. To paraphrase Leona Helmsley, laws are for "the little people."
Both I think. Yes, definitely think they are above others. Abuse of power, arrogance, self centeredness, lack a sense of loyalty to those they are supposed to serve, (us), and greed.
That brings up a question I have -- if the jury votes "guilty" and Donald and his lawyers appeal to SCOTUS, where do we go to appeal a SCOTUS "not guilty" verdict ?
History will not treat this Court well which is not a consolation because it is overtly corrupt from a political perspective! That undermines our entire system of alleged “justice.”
Think about what you just said: scotus is corrupt. Not right-leaning, or ideologic, or biased, or contused, or misguided, but corrupt…. That you said it, and are correct, should terrify us all…………..
I’m frankly struggling to understand Justices Jackson. Sotomayor and Kagan. It seems like they’re drinking the Kool-Aid served up by the conservatives. There are the plain words. There is a legislative record. Whether it’s Snyder, Fisher of Sec.3 of the 14th Amendment I’m left scratching my head wondering how any of them can agree with the conservatives who are neither follow the text and meaning when it suits their needs.
Us, yes. But the liberal justices? I was absolutely dumbfounded what Justice Jackson raised the question about historical precedence in the Art.14, Sec.3 case.
I am not one to keep my mouth shut or soften my language. Once worked for an AMAZON TV series that was spending $10 mil per episode, more or less. Avg tv series cost might be $3-4 mil, depending on seniority of cast, etc. Anyway, I told the Amazon execs that they were astoundingly lazy for not having read the book they bought to turn into the TV show. That did not go over well.
The grant of cert in Fischer was ridiculous, pre-saging the argument. There is no ambiguity in the text of the statute. Normally that ends an inquiry about statutory construction. All of a sudden Sam Alito and Clarence Thomas are gravely worried about the rights of criminal defendants. It reminds me of how, after January 6th arrests, people like Marjorie Taylor Green and Matt Gaetz were suddenly concerned about the horrendous conditions at the DC jail. The Court is a shadow of its former self.
What really disturbs me is that what we are hearing from the justices may well be prelude to the upcoming “immunity” case for TFG. I have felt from the minute they took it and pushed it out on the calendar that Alito and Thomas would twist themselves in knots linguistically to find Trump immune. Moreover, it is my understanding that they may not reveal their decision until late June prior to running off to a lovely vacation paid for by Harlan Crow or a similar party who helped put them on the court.
We’ve got real trouble here in the U.S. Supreme Court. Stay tuned.
John -- I am SO tuned in ! If we Democrats end up with the Presidency and both houses of Congress, I hope one of the first things done is the House of Representatives. backed by the Senate, will produce a workable plan to clean up the mess that is our Supreme Court.
Today I watched Mitch McConnell praising "his" Senate for being honest and trustworthy -- and then I thought "Wait a minute Mitch ! You were responsible for cheating the Democrats out of a Supreme Court Justice when there were 11 months left in the year for them to nominate a new Justice." I'm still furious about that one.
Me too Barbara!! That was so damn wrong. They cheated him. Then had the unmitigated GALL to ram through Amy Coney Barrett. It sickens me to this day. Grrrrrrrrrr.
I'll go out on a limb -- I don't see them accepting the "immunity" claim. I'm guessing they only took that ridiculous case to save Trump from going to trial before the election. Our politics-in-command supreme court. (See my own commentary on this case, from a somewhat different angle. https://mitchellzimmerman.substack.com/p/right-wing-justices-join-trump-in .)
I hope you are right Mitchell. I believe Trump is losing on November 5. Even if the case is pushed back and not heard prior to the election, it will be heard. And he will be found guilty.
Valere, I’ll try to adopt your “glass half full” point of view. I just can’t see state or even federal prosecutors shutting down their cases close to the election, or maybe even afterwards, dare I say it, even if the worst happens and Trump is elected. Granted, he would try to shut down the DOJ but since there is a special counsel in place that might be difficult and maybe the ACLU would ride to the rescue. Talk about a constitutional crisis! Makes Nixon’s Midnight Massacre look like child’s play.
Hi Laura and I know it’s extremely difficult for you being a former state prosecutor, seeing the worst of the worst. At least you have a basis for your world view. Trump is a sociopath of the worst degree. What we didn’t expect was the corruption from Judge Cannon and SCOTUS.
Yes sometimes I just have to grit my teeth. And why wouldn’t you expect Judge Cannon to act in Trump’s behalf, since she is totally incompetent. It’s not just that she is a Trump appointee — remember she passed Senate muster and many of the federal district court judges appointed by several presidents are hard working and competent. But somehow she slipped through the net and obviously has no idea how to preside over a complex federal case. And I have my own ideas about SCOTUS, better left unexpressed at this time.
IMO, what would be worse in the scheme of things, is the majority deciding that no, a president isn't absolutely immune, but also send the case back to Judge Chutkan's district court for further fact-finding on the limits of immunity --- thereby extending the delay of the actual DC election interference trial. Doesn't mean the trial couldn't take place in early fall, just increases the odds it won't. So, as Eric Holder pointed out, looks like we, the majority of the American voting public, will have to serve as the calvary. The courts don't appear at this point to be able to come "riding up" to the rescue.
They never would have anyway. WE the PEOPLE are going to have salvage this mess ourselves. Which, it must be admitted, is only fair since we all must take some responsibility for how matter got this way in the first place. We've been too complacent for too many years. Democracy needs constant care and attention of informed people. The movement conservatives have used stealth thievery and outright skulduggery to slowly erode the regulations and guardrails that kept runaway capitalism in check. We are looking at the corruption and oligarchy of late-stage capitalism and it isn't pretty and it will be a very difficult slog to correct.
I see SCOTUS straddling the fence: a President can be convicted of criminal conduct while in office, but the conviction cannot occur until he/she is out of office. And it will not occur unless they've been impeached AND convicted by the Senate. In which case, reconvene the Senate as it existed on 6 January 2021, weed out any senator who had any role in 6 Jan, then vote again. I know, not going to happen. So VOTE. And talk in neutral "What do you want your government to do for you?" terms.
I agree. Complete and utter nonsense. Another example of conditional "textualism" by the majority. And the sheer gall of Thomas not only to participate in the orals but to ask what had to be one of his more inane questions (and that's saying something...) about whether the government had applied the provision in question to other protests in the past. No doubt biting her tongue, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar repeated what she pointed out several times was (surprise !) the unprecedented and unique purpose of the attack on the nation's Capitol “I’m not aware,” she said, “of that circumstance ever happening prior to January 6.”
Yes, the solicitude for the danger criminal defendants might face serious criminal penalties for lesser conduct would be touching -- if we didn't know their sympathies were all for Trump and his insurrectionists. What hypocrisy!
They refuse to get their priorities right. Why should they care what happens concerning ANY of the cases they handle, when their biggest concern is how much their paychecks will increase each year? Adding insult to injury is the fact that they get paid for LIFE, no matter how outrageous they become.
The late Justices O'Connor and Ginsburg, along with lots of others whose names I cannot recall this time at night wouldn't recognize this SCOTUS. They'd be extremely disappointed.
O’Connor was the swing vote in Bush v. Gore. She would recognize herself on this court. In fact, years after she resigned, she tried to make amends for how she voted in favor of Bush. That for me was the moment our democracy was lost because the Supreme Court of the United States was politicized, thank you to Sandra Day O’Connor. Feel free to disagree with me. Just because she was the first woman justice and she did many Correct votes as the swing vote. She got it wrong that time. In fact, she got it so horribly wrong that we’re still seeing the shockwaves in education, and an unjust war. . Just because she was the first woman justice and she made many correct votes as the swing vote, she got it wrong in Bush v. Gore, 2000. In fact, she got it so horribly wrong that we’re still seeing the shockwaves: in public school education, and an unjust war in Iraq, climate change for which conservative policies have resulted in our having only 60 years before implosion because dirt has been plowed to have no nutrients are just two Bush policy issues that have impacted us for decades and will for generations to come. Sandra Day O’Connor above anyone else would recognize herself on this court. W’s father, Bush Senior nominated Clarence Thomas, a clearly incompetent individual who filled all the boxes (except the most important, which was the reason for the nomination: to replace Thurgood Marshall. Thomas couldn’t carry his water across the street. And Senior knew this: But he voted the right way for Senior when Junior came up for election, didn’t he?).. The justice who wouldn’t recognize himself was the justice Thomas ‘replaced’: Thurgood Marshall. But Sandra Day O’Connor. She more than anyone politicized the Supreme Court.
I agree 100%. I just found out the other day that it was the Reagan administration that began the horrific cuts in our college education system. I'm a former Republican who switched Party's in 2008, became an Activist and have never looked back. So yes I believe you.. The Reagan administration was not what people thought it was. It was totally corrupt, morally bankrupt and led us to where we are today.
Yep. And even worse (as a social justice activist) was Reagan‘s devolution of our medical care facilities for homeless, with 70% of them self- identifying with having at least one mental health condition. So that has left untold numbers of veterans without housing. He took federal government funding from these programs and thus the states were responsible. So you find these states with very little wealth per capita, and the burden of taking care of homeless and mentally ill individuals has damaged these states. New Mexico is a case in point because it’s a drop off for homeless and a poor state. I think the Southwest generally has been hit by the Reagan policies because of the high immigrant numbers coming across the border. And that expects states to care for individuals Also, don’t wait for the trickle down.
I have a miniature dachshund running the show and a Shiba Inu keeping things from becoming a total three ring circus. He provides a note of sanity, perhaps because he’s the oldest dog breed known?
They are phenomenal. Chibi and his brother Ryu came from a temple drop in Sapporo, Japan 15 years ago. They are the oldest breed and the most loyal. I love him to pieces. He had shorter hind legs by justice smidgen, and that was probably why a breeder dropped him and Ryu knowing someone kind of would pick them up at the temple. They flew first class in their own seats (Prior to the days when Delta allow dogs up top and insisted that they be put beneath in cargo. Delta lost that battle. Chibi has Accupuncture every month for his stifle, and he has lots of homeopathic and ayurvedic, herbals for his arthritis. If you do get a Shiva, make sure it’s from a first class breeder. Those are the breeders who do home visits. Shibas want to ‘do life on their terms’ but my philosophy is, if they can be the oldest breed, save our lives by keeping us warm during freezing weather as we lived in caves and ice shelters, he doesn’t need much direction from me. And I feel the same way about the miniature dachshund because if he can go down a badger hole and kill a badger which he still thinks he can do in his mind, I don’t need to teach him silly things such as sit, stay, etc. He has too much dignity to even approach the kitchen when I am dishing up his food. He sits with his butt to the space that enters the living room, not looking at me, but he sure barks at 6 o’clock to get me in gear when supper isn’t on the table. Chibi has had manners from the get-go. Shibas adore humans. No matter the size of another dog approaching, he doesn’t flicker or look left or right. He has had zero training. I’ve had always large bit breeds like Bouvier des Flandres and German Shepherd - who need a bit of training. Bouviers have stronger jaw power than a pitbull. But they will never harm a human, they will instead grab them and hold them no matter how many hours it takes for you to come home. That’s not the kind of thing you want at a dinner party. So they are taught to never do that unless they have a command. So they make a lovely kind of guard dog because they can haul a sheep back up a cliff and not injure it and if a human intrudes into a house, they will put them down on the floor, and the human will never move until the police arrive, but they won’t kill them.
Shiba do not need this kind of training. But they are extraordinarily protective. I don’t think anyone would ever have gotten inside our house. They don’t bark. So there’s no warning to an intruder. They are 1000% perfect around small children. And smart as a whip. that’s why he didn’t need trained. I like to let dogs be dogs and do what their natural abilities are. He never ever tried to jump on people. He will push with his nose a bit and that’s sort of how he has always let us know. He wants anything. Easy easy, easy to take care of. The Dachshund on the other hand.….
I adore both. Chibi is a hunting dog though. I’m not sure about his herding, but he does have the instincts. As our oldest dog breed, he has probably done it all:) I’ve had a lot of dogs, including a dingo blue heeler mix. I adored her. Adored them all. Chibi is hands-down, the easiest dog I’ve ever had and I’ve decided I needed him as a reward:))
I page through my phone pictures and am embarrassed by how many of my cats and dog I have.
I'm going to be very happy I have them, my dog was just diagnosed with cancer and will likely slip away within a week or so. She's 14 and deserves a rest after being a total sweetheart all these years.
I am so sorry for what you and you're going through. It never gets easy. I've lost several cats and one dog to cancer, so when the time comes, I try to convince myself that they won't be suffering any longer. Maybe she can find Penny and Windy, the two Golden Retrievers who shared their lives with me, so they can play together. I'd like to think that there's a Dog Heaven.
When my time comes, I hope I get to drop by and give Spot (the dog we grew up with), Penny and Windy big hugs. There's a reason dogs are called "man's best friend," because they know when we're sad or something's wrong, even when humans don't always pick up on it. I must stop with this post now. Need to find my Kleenex box.
I lost my beautiful Egyptian cat, Mr Bean, two years ago to cancer. I'm still grieving. And no, you should never be embarrassed about loving your animals enough to keep lots of photos of them. Love is love.
Actually her full name given by the rescue group is Talula Belle. She was rescued many years ago along with her eight 3-day-old puppies! She has been a wonderful dog.
Thanks. In a world of turmoil, dysfunction, and senseless violence created by the so called apogee of evolution—us!, we need to see and experience the simplicity, honesty, and majesty of our fellow animals on a daily basis. You are an American treasure. John
Dear Joyce… you cannot post too many pics! Here up North are so envious of you beautiful Roses and Fun Chicks, beloved cats and doggies too. I love that about you. You share things you love and help us with this God-awful mess. Thank you will never be enough. 🥰
Joyce - the tougher the news day the more animal photos we need. I imagine next week, with the Manhattan case as well as the Supremes, will be all chickens on deck, as well as the watchful eyes of Bella and Tofu.
Your pics bring us all back to reality. Why are we doing studying, reading all of this, anyway? The answer is we are moving forward toward a better way and also attempting to preserve what’s good about the past. You’re doing great!
Definitely can’t have too many animal or grandkid pix. Our blue heeler Sylvie is not allowed on the bed, right! Unable to post pic of smiling granddaughter and smiling dog on the bed!
Love the pictures. Snyder: "...concerns that this and related laws like the bribery statute and fraud provisions don’t put public servant-defendants sufficiently on notice of what constitutes criminal conduct so they can avoid committing it." It's appalling that receiving cash (or something else of value), before or after an action taken by a public servant to "help" a constituent, can ever be seen as not criminal. Obviously, all public servants need to be schooled on ethical behavior.
I remember when I worked in court and after furnishing a half page transcript to a defense attorney within an hour without charge (and also to the prosecutor without charge) the defense attorney gave me a thank you card and a $10 Starbucks card. I gave it back to him because my understanding of the federal rules is accepting ANY gift is a no-no. He argued with me but I stood firm. It was common sense to me. Why is it so hard for others to understand that no gifts means NO gifts?
Right. It’s best to err on the side of caution. You are committed to honoring yourself and those you serve. To remain free and clear with high moral and ethical standards.
They understand very, very, very well. What they don’t understand is they think we are so stupid that we will fall for their gaslighting attempt. We will not, and I hope the summer is full of protests on the Supreme Court steps. Fear of our protest is exactly why they are hearing this case
When I worked as GC for a state parole board we received a gift of food from a grateful mother whose son had been paroled. We donated the food to a food bank.
Apparently American citizens all could use a small detailed test on what is obviously a huge test of one’s moral fiber. A simpleton already knows. Right is right and wrong is vaguely accepted by too many . We seem to love the cacophony . We can pretend shock when the obvious is being touted as confusion. We love bull shit.
One might want to watch “The Roosevelts, an intimate portrait” a Ken Burns film on PBS.
Patricia, SCOTUS has placed their own bar even lower than they ever have before. It’s at ground zero! They have resorted to gaslighting us, thinking we will buy their transparent blatherskite.
Love the pictures ! The chicken looks very Happy, your adorable kitty looks sleepy and hot. The flowers are beautiful. Our trees are just showing signs of life.
That Justice Jackson can reason that § 1512(c)(2) doesn't apply to physical interference in an official proceeding is all the proof we need that the law too easily takes as serious the discussion of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. And with that we are lost.
In "Worse Than Nothing" Dean Chemerinsky notes that the originalists (now textualists) believe in that doctrine except where it gives a result they don't like. As an old (80 years) attorney (now inactive) who did legislative interpretation, legislative advocacy, and legislative drafting for over 35 years for the California Judicial Branch the attempts to twist language until it is devoid of all meaning just to get a desired result is distressing. But this has been true for a while, going back to (and before) SCOTUS choosing to ignore a whole phrase in the 2nd Amendment to reach a clearly wrong interpretation of the right to bear arms.
Thing is, the founders were not against individual firearms ownership --- they simply didn't believe that this obvious need back then should be memorialized as an amendment. In fact, there was no jurisprudence, no significant decisions at any court level for more than 200 years from the ratification of 2A that indicated it applied to anything but the military or, "A well regulated militia..." Then in 2008, the NRA and gun manufacturers decided it did and Scalia was only too happy to accomodate them with his tortured parsing of the single sentence amendment.
Of course the basic dishonesty of originalism is that it is a blatant attempt to limit the Constitution with no showing that this was part of the original intent of the founders. Indeed there is just as much evidence that a living Constitution was intended. So there is nothing sacred about "original intent." If you goal is simply to limit guaranteed rights, as is the goal of the orignalists/textualist, then why not simply say no right exists unless it can be expressed as.a haiku.
Stay tuned Charles. There may be protests and in that case, even that much is going to be called an obstruction and the Supremes will call for arrest of the protesters.
"Will be wild." Haha, funny, Joyce! But I'm aghast we could lose Fischer. Does that leave no law that would apply to hold accountable Trump's mob that physically broke into the nation's Capitol and halted the final certification of the electoral college votes and thus the transfer of presidential power?
In Snyder v US, the law states "anything of value from any person, intending to be influenced or rewarded in connection with any ‘government business’ involving any thing of value of $5,000 or more." How is the gratuity not considered a reward? INAL but that seems pretty straightforward to me
Heidi, indeed - hold the thought. It is about as straight up, straight-forward as any statute can be. What you are witnessing is called ‘gaslighting’ and it is being conducted by our very own SCOTUS.
Hi Valere. Legitimate point for sure. I’ve always viewed gaslighting as more of a psychological technique to make the other person feel like they’re at fault when the fault lies with the Gaslighter. Sophistry to me is more of an intellectual exercise employed to disguise pure bullshit with a complex web of words designed to deflect away from addressing the real problem in a pathetic attempt to steer people to the wrong conclusion. No question that gaslighting and sophistry come from the same inbred toolbox of the disingenuous among us.
I make a huge amount of money thanks to a city council vote. I decide to give gratuities to the council members who voted my way as thanks. However, none of them had any reason to suspect ahead of time that I would do so. The council members did nothing wrong when they voted and did nothing wrong by accepting my gratuity because the weren't expected to do anything else.
In real life that scenario is unlikely to be on the up and up. It allows a work around that defeats the purpose of the law. But, it might be technically legal by a strict reading of the law. (INAL either, but I do watch a lot of Law & Order.)
To your point, SCOTUS taking this case and giving the appearance of favoring the defense supports the notion that this court has a deep aversion to ethics.
Ah, Joyce, will it ever end? Oddly, I am optimistic about the election, but deeply concerned that the branch of government that is supposed to oversee the law is instead re-interpreting it to fit some arcane set of philosophical assumptions that are at odds with the real intent of the law and of our Constitution.
There are times, as with Dred Scott, that later courts reverse decisions that keep us from moving toward the goals we set ourselves as a fledgling nation. I can only see us surviving as the nation we set out to be if we can get to a place where a good many of the decisions made by this court are reversed by a future court. I often feel as if whatever I do this election cycle is in the hopes of maintaining a government that will be able to get to that point soon enough.
But perhaps, perhaps, the court will surprise us with a decision that will at least keep intact our expectation that corruption will not be tolerated.
You have the roses now. I have a large Charles de Milles on one side of my yard, that in about 8 weeks will fill my space with delightful scent and deep rich blooms. It is my favorite rose, I think. The Charles de Milles needs some hard pruning after this winter, but will still bloom on the old wood. My Great Maiden's blush is lost in the hedge on the other side, but once I release it and feed it, it will be entrancing, arching over the hostas, which are just beginning to emerge (I have a collection of many sizes- they are fascinating in their variety).
In the meantime there are the daffs and narcissus, whole beds that needed resetting two years ago, but are blooming anyway. I am imagining next year after I dig the beds, dig in compost and reset the bulbs. No chicks, but the world's most glamorous tan-spotted lady dalmation whose mission in life is to get as many ear rubs as possible.
So some things are still good. And I have simplified my life by letting go of town politics, which is not in a healthy place right now. Instead, I am joining so many folks to focus on those close races that need a little lift to help recreate a functional Congress. With a responsible Presidency and a Congress with its focus on the real issues, maybe we can stare down SCOTUS.
I hope I am not whistling into the wind (I know, mixed metaphor, but I like this version better). But every day, I think of my grandchildren and my as-yet-unborn greats, and all the children who will inherit what we leave. Even if just a little, I have to do what I can.
Annie, your response is beautifully written and I’m glad you are in nature. Kisses to your Dalmatian. My miniature dachshund (He Who Runs the Show) Max, and Shiba Inu, Chibi remind me every day, whether rain, sleet, snow or sunshine that we need to take our daily walk to the river. They sniff every blade of grass and every flower because they are hunters and they know who’s been there before them. Those walks bring me back to ‘center.’ I cook for them as well and that kind of care reinforces to me what is really important in my world and diminishes the trivia of corruption from those who are ‘privileged.’ Actually, we who have dalmatian ears to rub and Dachshunds to obey (he wants dinner on the table at 6 o’clock sharp) and a Shiba Inu who appreciates me for every small thing I do for him are the privileged. Imagine having to ask whether it’s appropriate to take a pay off before doing the political ‘favor’or whether it’s a crime to accept a payoff after doing a political favor? How do you explain that to the children? But no need: they already know.
In other Orange 1 alleged criminal activity, he may have finally poked the bear one too many times. He was already facing a hearing next week on violating Judge Merchan's gag order in the records falsification/election interference case ("hush money"). Then this evening, his three remaining brain synapses fired and he re-posted a false claim about the seven jurors selected so far by Head Liar Jesse Watters of Fox that is in direct contravention of the gag order stipulation not to even mention jurors in his public statements. That hearing may well be expedited and, in turn, Orange 1 facing for the first time, more than just another financial slap on the wrist for repeated violations.
What’s a thousand here, a thousand there? But I think Judge Merchant may ratchet up the penalties. What gets my goat more than the tweets is Trump muttering at a prospective juror from 12 feet away.
Yeah, my guess is this time he'll get a severe dressing down, a hefty fine and be told he will get some kind of confinement for the next violation --- probably at home.
Thanks for the beauty and humor along with your expertise to help us be informed citizens and do what must be done to fend off fascism.
"Donald Trump is not the victim of a witch hunt or of any political persecution. He is a four-times indicted, twice impeached, lifetime fraudster who bamboozled far too many Americans in order to win the presidency. It’s our job to make sure he doesn’t return to it." Great summary!
I spoke with my 38 yo nephew today and he won’t discuss politics, says he’s not voting. I’m hitting walls with attempts to discuss with people. I am being shut down before any discussions. Is anyone else experiencing this?
Ask what's important to them, what they care about. Start with their concerns.
With practice, you will learn to connect their concerns to the policies and values of Democrats, and that can be accompanied by the many ways the things they care about being destroyed by Republicans.
Various activist groups use this empathy-driven approach in what is called Deep Canvassing (search for that phrase). I learned about this phone banking.
Also, read, watch and listen to lots of Simon Rosenberg, Hopium Chronicles, to both give you talking points and keep your spirits up!
Eric Lin Doub, Simon Rosenberg gives very straightforward and simple examples the most can relate to. The name Hopium chronicles (handle for his writings) can be a huge energizer for those that can feel worn down and worn out by the constant drum of bad news. Hopium - we all need it
Plus Trump hates dogs and stole from kids with cancer.
Trump Kicks baby puppies before he stomps them to death.
Can we stomp tRump?😊
Great points Eric. I have signed up for weekly Zoom Training by State and National Democrats but I am getting increasingly concerned by lack of messaging by the Biden campaign on addressing inflation.
I have seen multiple posts on my Facebook this week on people in complete despair over the price of groceries. One women was in tears. This worries me greatly. Any thoughts?
In my opinion, it's not lack of messaging on inflation and other topics, the people that most need to know only watch fox and the others like it. They don't read much and they still believe the lies of the repubs and the criminal. There are a lot of them. One guy that interviews people at rallies for the criminal asked a couple about who they will vote for. They admitted to voting for the criminal in 2016 and 2020, they admitted he is UNFIT to be president. They both said they will vote for him in 2024.........how do we deal with that level of idiocy?
Damn good question Amber. Holy sh#t. Maybe the trial(s) will help I don't know. At this point I am praying for Trump's imminent demise as I have been for the last 9 years.
😰🫨😡
I learned from the political scientist and activist George Lakoff long ago to think of this in terms of thirds:. 1/3 of people share your values. 1/3 are the polar opposite, and in the age of Trump and digitally fueled delusions, people are essentially cult members and not reachable. Then the other third are persuadable. Focus on them.
It’s real and getting worse not better. If one is on a fixed income or lower brackets, it is difficult to make ends meet with the price of food and household items soaring. I hope Biden does not run on the economy and acknowledges how difficult it is for many, even though the “numbers” look good. It’s serious.
Hi, Terri. This article talks about corporate greed as the reason prices are so high.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/11/economy/inflation-corporate-greed-biden/index.html
Biden on inflation. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/04/10/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-the-march-consumer-price-index-2/
Thank you for replying Terri. Yes it is very serious. I am on a fixed income although I have family support and am able to work part-time. I know how difficult it is for young working families. And of course we know Trump has no plans to address any of this. It just scares me. Wish I could get a message to the campaign. I will try to get a message to Simon at Hopium and see what he suggests.
It's interesting that the only agenda Trump has is revenge against the people who have defeated him and are working hard to do so again. As for his court cases, he put himself there by pure hubris. As Mary Trump said, we're seeing a 78 year old man facing consequences for the first time in his life, and he's not handling it well. In fact, he's hurting himself, which is fine by me.
Income inequality is an issue that absolutely must be addressed seriously, and the first step is putting Democrats back in the House and Senate.
It scares me too. Thank you Lisa, for having a plan to take action.
P.S. I subscribe to Hopium too.
It’s real and getting worse not better. If one is on a fixed income or lower brackets, it is difficult to make ends meet with the price of food and household items soaring. I hope Biden does not run on the economy and acknowledges how difficult it is for many, even though the “numbers” look good. It’s serious.
Please take a few minutes write, call or email big corporations that make products you buy. Everyone complains about the cost of groceries, insurance, gas even fast food. All of these corporations HAVE ENJOYED RECORD profits as they shrink their products, raise prices AND NO ONE IS PUSHING BACK. They must suffer for their greed by consumers walking away from them, look for a less expensive source (they are out there), refuse to buy their "brand", tell them in writing or calls that you won't take it anymore. If you are still on the app formerly known as twitter, tweet them THEY HATE THAT and will contact you asking for you to private message them. Refuse to take it private, call them out publicly, they will respond and it works. This is a country that supports capitalism companies can take profit. The President can't fix it, he does call it out. PUSH BACK refuse them their greed.
You are so right. I understand about people on a fixed income not being able to make ends meet. I am one of the few lucky ones who was able to have a good pension. Nonetheless we see the family businesses try hard to keep customers but they too are hurting.
With corporate greed and the whoring of the supreme corruptors, reg people don't stand a chance. Perhaps a march on the SCOTUS would help.
I will contact them via email. It is a great idea. Thank you Amber!
It’s true! I’ve never really gotten onto social media, gen X. But it’s a good idea and I hope others will be encouraged by this to call them out in a public forum. Yes, Joe Biden has called them out but I’m concerned for how he is going to address this (i hope continually and fervently) while on the campaign trail.
Also: Check out “Chop Wood, Carry Water” for precise ideas on who to contact, where to go to make a difference. Each post has lots of ways to be active.
Cool, thank you!
Thank you!
Glad you asked that question! We got some great ideas from Eric.
Thanks, Eric!
Simon Rosenberg's calm pieces have certainly helped me weather the dystopia!!
A young woman 40, married, 3 kids really very nice, cuts my hair. Said to me last week "but aren't all politicians liars" can you really believe any of them will do any of the things they promise? I moved on because I do enjoy the time I spend (never have enjoyed the salon experience before) and didn't want to argue. Since then I've had time to think about it, when I see her in a few weeks I'm going to say 3 things and then promise not to talk politics. I'm going to say that NO I don't believe all politicians are the same, some have 88 felonies against them and more. Some admit to supporting putin and fascism. I'm going to ask if she is ready for her almost young adult children to fight WWIII? I'm going to tell her I believe in democracy and it's never been in such serious danger. Then I'm going to zip my lip, she is intelligent and thoughtful, I believe if there is any reaching her that might do it. If not I can't do more.
In a democracy, people are only powerless by consent. Citizens may feel like scorned children and sulk, if that is their wish for the Republic.
Yes. Spoke with friends who just moved to Portugal when we visited them. They said they are not voting nor thinking about the election or the problems of the USA now that they have moved away. His parents are in India, but the entire rest of her family is in the USA, so even if what happens in the USA did not have world wide effects, just thinking about one's family in the states should make one care. She is very pregnant right now, and they probably do not want the negativity of these times to affect the baby, so I will wait until they have had the child to discuss it again. I also ran into a young dual citizen in the market the other day. She said she is not political, but I told her that is a political stance. Then she told me she did not want either candidate, and I told her a vote for anyone else is a vote for Trump. She did not feel comfortable arguing, but I told her I am very comfortable talking politics with people who do not agree with me, so she gave me her number. I am preparing for this before I call her. I also have a former colleague who does not read and does not vote. He is a millennial. His wife votes. I have been working on him to do this, but he says, his vote doesn't count so why bother. I have not been able to sway him in ten years of trying, but I am keeping on.
Al Franken won by I think 180 votes.
I have run into a lot of apathy or “don’t go there”. It’s precarious.
Votes count, this is for all the marbles, no time to be complacent. Not sure how to get through but WWIII is a real concern, climate is also a concern and killing social security and medicare (which trump plans to do) is certainly a concern. If anyone thinks homeless situation is out of control, wait until repubs get their hands on the majority again and millions more will be on the streets. The US won't be a good place even for those that vote for the criminal, he DOES NOT CARE.
From the get-go this appeared a lesson . Near every statistic has found this to be true. The sad percentage of regular voters depicts the complacency while the downward slide happening happened right before their very eyes. Slow,methodical, and calculated. Some dub this desensitization, some subliminal persuasion, browbeating,normalizing, conditioning….Joyce said it right off the bat ‘in a normal world…’ Regan dubbed it ‘trickle down tactics ‘ and slowly the trendy term spelled the widening ..more correctly the gaping difference ..and call it wasn’t working! Equality is NOT desired by the rich. Never.Has.Been. There are a few who DO spread their fortune with leveling the playing field/fields. Give them their due.
To level the playing field the white collars have got to be held far more accountable (even thievery takes more toll by white collar crime than those caught and jailed). Laws/safeguards/ethics upheld is #1. Fair Tax Codes is #2 and time has more than proven this.
It’s a continuous effort to bring about. Worthy. Can happen.
💙💙VOTE💙💙
Thom Hartmann has been regularly sharing parts of his book where he explains how we became a modern day oligarchy. You can read the excerpts from His Hidden History of Monopolies in his Substack. https://substack.com/@thomhartmann
I watched Ronald Reagan turn things around and now Joe Biden, like the Super hero he is for standing up to the Oligarchs for the first time since then, is trying to turn things around. Here is a copy of the Democrats Abroad video from their webinar on Social Security. It starts off with a lot of people introductions that you can skip, but the substance is about how Social Security works, particularly for American Abroad in terms of the questions from the audience, but it was also a discussion of the history of the institution and how the Republicans treat it versus what Biden wants to do.
https://youtu.be/Eo58N6Ln268?si=N97xCtL1vjrF4Hjv
My Egyptian Economics professor told us that Reaganomics was "S--T! and explained why. Now, apparently Peter Coy of the NYT is admitting that economists have been getting it wrong about Bidenomics, which is really about getting it wrong about Reaganomics and trickle down. The press is still doing a terrible job of reporting on the economy and the issues, like democracy versus a totalitarian state. I was just watching 2 videos that encompass 3000 years of German history, and it really reminded me of how war weary Europe is for good reason, and that after a period of no war, a war mongering dictator always has to go start a war, because that is the only way they know how to engage with the world, and assure their continued control of their people. Expansion. Otherwise, since they don't know how to govern, the people might start thinking about that. Also, Putin learned from Hitler. He is making sure to avoid having a war with Ukraine and with the USA. He knows he cannot win on 2 fronts. With him taking over the biggest democracy in Europe he is expecting to go onto the next biggest one after that. Unfortunately the Left party in Germany thinks Putin is justified and is there friend. They cannot get past the Red Army Faction and thinking that socialism is the cool people friendly thing. Especially those who live in the west and are well off. It is kind of annoying. The poor seem to know better in the west. In the East, they are really more heavily inundated with Russian bots, but those seem really targeted to support the AfD, a party that I call the New German Nazi Party, and I am increasingly seeing it being called that here in Germany. If you are interested in what one can learn from several thousand years of European history focused on the development of Germany, then here are the videos. They are in English.
Part 1 https://youtu.be/0ZR9B2KIJBI?si=WB53ibBV0plJ73mg
Part 2 https://youtu.be/rF_V41lyqsY?si=UlDgll8TU4L2qMJw
Yes but my issues are different. I wrote a book about TFG and no one wants it, lol. It’s a really really really good and nasty/funny book. So I can relate. Oh, your welcome to by my book.
Buy
Bill, I love nasty/funny (and sarcastic) things when it involves Trump. Where can we get this book?
I found it on Amazon...
https://www.amazon.com/Donalds-Vanity-Tantrums-Bill-Katz-ebook/dp/B08G676FMG/ref=kwrp_li_stb_nodl?nodl_android=1
Wait about a week I just added more stories.
Wait about a week I just added more stories.
Will do! I've gone this long, so a week's wait won't make me crazy.
Do realize the market is kind of saturated...
Yes! It is maddening because the people who won’t discuss these issues, including my brother, are like children covering their ears and closing their eyes… I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you, I can’t hear you! They drank the kool aid and have made themselves immune to reason.
Or they start raising their voice during the conversation until they are yelling. That says the same thing to me as covering their ears. Once they volunteer their unconvincing responses they won't consider, let alone concede, your point. It's frustrating and disturbing when the people are otherwise reasonable. A portion of their brain has been hijacked.
Yes!
Yes!
Congratulations for trying,
Just had a talk with 1 man in a group of 5 young American musicians, who are contract musicians playing backup to an Australian singer who are here in Germany right now. Hearing American English I engaged in conversation about the election. The guy I was talking with said he is from Atlanta and not for Trump, but does not belong to any party. I said a vote for anyone but Biden is a vote for Trump just as not voting is a vote for Trump. He said he feels like the youth do not want Trump because he is so awful, and that Biden is okay. I went into why I thought Biden was more than okay, and still accepted that for some he might be not an enthusiastic support, but one just the same to avoid having Trump. We talked for about 45 minutes. Hope it had an impact not just on him but on his friends. I was thinking I was recruiting someone for Democrats Abroad. Will keep trying. I ask everyone here in Germany that I hear speaking American English whether they live here and whether they are voting for Biden. Will continue to do so.
Thank you…
Would give you a hug if I could, but I hope a random heart will help!
Terry - one less vote is one for X-POTUS one way or the other. I say that to people and they might walk away with their heads low. They might feel ashamed but overwhelmed with too much noise so that they can’t focus. That is what Hamas has done to America and its allies relating to Israel by creating distraction so profound that any attempts to reason is failed.
That’s true. I’m not sure why I think not voting is a vote for TFG.
Part of the answer might be educating these non-voters about the consequences. Where did right to abortion go?
For those who think the two parties aren't good enough, point them to the year 2000 debacle, when voting for the supposed progressive Green Party candidate Ralph Nader gave Bush the victory. And with Bush, two right-wing justices, Roberts and Alito -- who were still around and made the difference between Roe v Wade being upheld or overturned. See this article of mine on that: https://www.progressive-charlestown.com/2023/11/repeating-year-2000-disaster.html
Maybe reading this will help him understand the necessity of voting.
https://ki6mnk.substack.com/p/i-stand-in-solidarity-with-the-refrigerators
Yes. Our 37 yo son is the same. It makes us crazy. No matter how we approach it, he simply shuts us down.
Trump hates dogs.
Daniel Good one! I’ll try that. Thanks.
Many People don't realize that but that's a big one!! We are a pet-loving country!! 😻 I need to remind my youngest daughter of that. How can you vote for someone who hates dogs?! She has two. Hope springs eternal. I have one very Liberal daughter and the other one is pretty apolitical but she will vote with her Husband and Vote for Trump again. Ugh. Breaks my heart.
Supports stealing from kids with cancer!
The disconnect is saddening.
Terri, I'm having the same issue.
It’s disconcerting and scaring me. I will attempt to change my approach.
Let us know how it works out. Thanks!
I do not speak with anyone who denies what they have done, then when caught, turns around and run.
Yes
Either they are uninformed.
Wrongly informed by cult news.
Or unaware of how wonderful Joe is and all he is doing for America.
News is really not news
YES
Deep canvassing resources!
https://open.substack.com/pub/jimhightower/p/friday-signpost-learn-how-to-listenand?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=ktt63
Yes ma’am 😤
I don't think anyone who voted for our former President was bamboozled. His electorate knew what they were getting when they went to the polls and are still willing to get him reelected. They are neither ignorant nor stupid, but they are surely racist.
@ Ian. Here's my posting today. I think it's relevant.
Bare knuckles.
16 million veterans. They are influential. Multiply that number by friends, family, patriotic supporters. A huge percentage supported Trump X 2. They can be flipped. Last night in Pennsyltucky were I was born and raised as the song goes, Biden invoked "not suckers and losers" for the first time and MSM picked it up. IMHO this is the visceral attack that hits 'em where it hurts.
I am in a DNC veteran's discussion group and one of our members is Fred Wellman, who is also chair of Forgotten Democrats. https://forgottendemocrats.org/ Fred is also a MeidasTouch personality. https://twitter.com/FPWellman?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor The No 1 movie running on TV is Midas Touch, and Ken Harbaugh's, "Against All Enemies" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjaUDqvdDHI. Groups like Vote Vets support Biden -- because Trump is a traitor. https://votevets.org/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjaUDqvdDHI
IMHO we can flip MOST Trump veteran supporters. When you meet them at the bar at the Legion, VFW, AmVets, ets, and say those magic words, "not suckers or losers," watch them choke on their beer.
8.81 million self-identified Polish Americans.
Today Trump met with the Polish President at Trump Tower. Trump ally Putin has said in essence, Ukraine first, Poland next. Most Polish Americans supported Trump (as did Ukrainian Americans). IMHO Trump's "government in exile" is a violation of the Logan Act. which criminalizes negotiation by unauthorized American citizens with foreign governments having a dispute with the United States. The intent behind the Act is to prevent unauthorized negotiations from undermining the government's position. This is another group, that to support Trump are like chickens supporting Colonel Sanders.
The magic words "Trump hates dogs" and "Trump stole from kids with cancer" work, too.
Otherwise, I still think we can sweep if we expand the base. Potentially 13 million non registered people trend heavily Democratic. Register Democrats - save democracy.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
Daniel, I have been asking for weeks (ever since I learned of the Logan Act) why these traitorous MAGAts have not been indicted. So far, I have not received a single answer.
I am the author of Breaking Up with Cuba. In 1953, Carlos Prío Socarrás, Cuba's President until Batista performed a "golpe" aa military coup, was prosecuted in violation of the 1939 Neutrality Act for shipping arms to Cuba. They tried the Logan Act, but only two people have ever been indicted on charges of violating the Act, one in 1802 and the other in 1852 and neither were convicted, so they didn't use it.
IMHO it's worth an attempt.
I think Trump and his son in law could be charged as agents for Saudi Arabia and maybe other countries in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which provides the public with an opportunity to be informed of the "identity of persons engaging in political activities on behalf of foreign governments, foreign political parties and other foreign principals, so that their activities can be evaluated in light of their associations.”
By inference Trump is aligned, if not an asset or agent of Putin. Trump should know -- as his first National Security director was convicted under that statute. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/jury-convicts-flynn-intel-group-founder-conspiring-act-undisclosed-agent-turkey
Thank you Daniel for answering my question. I find it sad and disheartening that there has been no pushback on these people who are obviously aiding and abetting the enemy.
🎯
There’s an awful lot of boozle in the U.S.
Trump is the villain, not the victim!
My guess in the 1512 case before SCOTUS is: 7/2 to set aside the convictions on that statute. Disgraceful and absurd, but SCOTUS is now a joke comprised of corrupt justices (Thomas and Alito), or liars (Beer Boy, Gorsuch and the Hand Maiden). Former Chief Justice is as much in charge of the court as Mr Magoo was in control of his Model T.
Justice Thomas should recuse himself from any case regarding the J6 Insurrection, but it will be a cold day in hell before that would happen. I do not understand how any of those traitors can rest easy.
Jean I picked up from CBS News Melissa Quinn, & posted the fact of Justice Thomas unexplained absence at Monday's Oral Argument & Roberts' cover statement that Justice Thomas would "participate fully".
CNN did follow-up & noted that SCOTUS did NOT respond to CNN's formal "request for additional information". So the Professor's Comment that Justice Thomas' unexplained absence development is "mysterious" caught my research eye.
I do not believe the public, citizens nor voters have the full forensic accounting of Thomas' gratuities, exotic yacht trips from donors or other "in kind" pre or post favorable rulings for interested parties.. Paging Senator Whitehouse. 🔍
Contact at: whitehouse.senater.gov
West Coast Update: 10:15 PM - I just wrote a message to Senator Whitehouse asking about Thomas's unexplained absence & the "gratuity" to a public official case.
Agree Bryan. I posted the same earlier only I suggested that politico do a more in-depth investigation of Clarence. They did a good job, but skimmed the surface. He was incompetent when Bush Senior appointed him. But Senior could check off the boxes. The one he could not check off was that he “replaced Thurgood Marshall.” He couldn’t carry Thurgood Marshall’s water across the street.
Try ProPublica. They have done 2 reports on Thomas so far.
Read my comment above and Bryan’s response.
I agree but, yesterday I received diligent work product from KYLE CHENEY at Politico about 2 "new witnesses" on the "DC National Guard response to J6" or lack thereof. So I have Kyle's I have contact Info handy.: @kyledcheney. I will ping Kyle.
Speaking of diligent work, I read all your postings. 🎯
Bryan, I’m continuing from below: Regarding Joe Biden’s response to the US press on Taiwan: when he was attacked by the press for the third time for making the statement that we would protect Taiwan, as China’s worships continued encroaching in the sea around Taiwan and flying up and down the beach with their fighter planes, he whipped around and responded “We. Will. Protect. Taiwan. Against. Oh. Threats.” Within two days, China was pulling out of the ocean and the warships left, and the fighter plane stopped flying up and down the beach. The person never got it. I doubt a single one has pulled the Taiwan agreement and read it. But I can tell you who has read it do in China has read it and he has no doubt in his mind that we will protect Taiwan because Biden said it in the only language that Xi could understand. Then Biden proceeded to reach out to China to re-initiate trade agreements with them. Biden is clicking on all cylinders.
After the Camp David meeting with the US, Japan, and South Korea, Biden took off for G20 in India. He already had a plan because he knew Putin and Xi would not be there. Putin had been declared a war criminal and was not welcome. But he still had the right to be there and with Joe’s wonderful sense of humor. He said “Gee, I wish they could’ve made it.” Joe next move was to meet with Brazil and Indonesia both of whom Russia and China had been courting. Already in place was an agreement for infrastructure for those two countries. Of course, none of this could’ve happened without blinking and his fabulous under secretaries and team who had been planning and negotiating these agreements during the prior months to G20. But since neither Russia nor China were around to throw a wrench in things, Joe Biden got that agreement signed. But for me, the most significant result of that G20 in India was to watch Modi fall all over himself to get an Ukraine agreement for Biden. I’m no fan of Modi as he has been positively despicable to farmers in India. But he just couldn’t outdo himself in getting everyone there to sign on to support Ukraine (making it clear that he was doing so in support of the US as well). Modi almost created an umbrella ceremony above and beyond the G20 ceremony for the sudden signing of support for Ukraine. By the way, what I’ve outlined occurred in about 45 days or less. Then Biden returned to the United States and took a weekend at the Shores of Delaware. The press complained about that and made a big deal about showing him relaxing on the beach while the world was in turmoil. Shortly, Hamas invaded Israel. Neither the press, Gen Z, Millennials, and even some people on this Substack, besides my constant rant, realize that we have agreements which result in treaties with Israel to support them as a major non-NATO ally. We have 16 in total; and they were all approved by Congress. Significantly are those from 1952, 1982, 1991 and 1994, which require us to support Israel unequivocally on invasion of Israel. So having hands tied Joe Biden responded by having Blinken meet with Israel’s foreign minister at APEC in San Francisco in October 2023, two weeks after Hamas had invaded Israel. Blinken laid down the law to the foreign minister of Israel that we would not stand for their attack of Gaza, killing citizens. And he informed the foreign minister from Israel that the United States would not accept anything except a two state settlement, for Palestine to have its own country and Israel would have no part of that country and neither would Hamas. That’s what Biden told Israel the US would accept, and he did this, knowing full well he had to abide by signed treaties with Israel, many of which were signed during Republican administrations and can only be withdrawn with full votes by Congress. On October 19, Biden traveled to Israel to relay the message to Bibi himself. Netanyahu did what dictators do: he ignored Biden. Blinken has made 12 trips to Israel and the Middle East since October 2023 and he has visited 82 countries in an effort to resolve the Israel Hamas situation. Israel on the other hand has increased their own aggression and refused to discuss a two state settlement.
Even while abiding with the four agreements, we have that constitute protection treaties with Israel, Biden has stayed firm in his statements that Palestine must have its own country, and Israel will not have any part of that new country - Nor will Hamas. So I’d like to also point out while I’m on the subject that the reason we have Hamas in Palestine in the first place is because when they had the first (and only)elections the George W. Bush (Junior) administration failed to vet Hamas because armed terrorists ( Hamas was known to be armed and terrorist) were not to be on the ballot. That Republican administration allowed Hamas to run as a political party. And once they were elected, there was no turning back, and there was no chance of a future election for the people of Palestine, the majority of whom did not support Hamas, but Hamas showed up at election points to intimidate. Does that sound familiar? Biden understands 100% how it would look for him to bring up on the campaign trail the fact that we have signed treaties with his real requiring our support because it would make it look like he won’t support Israel unless he has something forcing him to do so. His option has been to negotiate a peace agreement with Palestine and to build the wharf that will deliver humanitarian supplies (while Israel continues to bomb convoy of international aid workers). This is genocide, and it has been genocide from the get-go from the time Israel brought in bulldozers and bulldoze down the olive trees that were the sustenance of Palestinians - just as they are for Israel. And that’s how that is done: just as we killed off millions of bison to destroy the soul of native Americans. It was genocide done and it’s genocide now and there’s no other way to think about it and that’s exactly why Joe Biden has told Netanyahu that they will have no part of a new Palestine state. Nobody gets it like Joe Biden, he will be known as the greatest of all time, the greatest US president. So our work is to defeat Trump. I hope it helps to understand just a bit more and I’m not writing this for you as much as anyone who might read it but a bit more about Joe Biden and that he is not speaking about Taiwan one single minute (ask China why they move their warships out of Taiwan water because they understood it was not a misspeak) and he is also working with one arm tied behind his back in the Middle East because of Netanyahu‘s determination to remain dictator of Israel. For life. Again, we would not have the Hamas mess at all if George W. Bush Junior had vetted Hamas in the first place. He didn’t do his job and the fallout has been on Biden. Why isn’t Bush Junior speaking up? Where was Condelezza Rice in this ball-dropping Hamas mess? She’s still trotting around Stanford. Why doesn’t she weigh in with the truth? The fact is, even when Bush Junior and Connie Rice know the truth they will do nothing to help Joe Biden despite the raging maniac we are facing with Trump. They are both hiding. I have no respect for either of them.
Thank you. Much better informed now and still despise Netanyahu. He’s as bad as trump running from justice there as trump will do(is doing)here. Dick of all the BS that is currently happening in NY courtroom and sick of the lazy assed press that has forgotten how to do actual journalism.
Amen!! Where the hell is Bush btw?! Hiding like a coward. I have 0 respect for him or anyone from his administration. Even though he was a huge architect of the ghastly Iraq War at least Dick Cheney had the courage to speak out and warn of the dangers of Trump. More than anyone else has done.
Concur.
TY. I’m only diligent about knowing and semi-posting on what Joe Biden and team are doing. His entire first year spent cleaning up the devastation Trump left (his first on January 22, 2021 anfter his inauguration was to sign the application to reinstate us in the Paris accord - his first day in office and the first thing he did for example). And there was/is the. Strategic planning and nurturing to bring South Korea and Japan together at Camp David in August 2023- Japan and South Korea had had very little diplomacy going on since WWII, resulting in the signing of a three party defense accord to shore up the region against China, resulting in Kishisida’s recent address to the bilateral Congress regarding Japan as a non-NATO member raising their defense budget to 2% to match that of NATO members in response to Russia and China’s combined threat - displayed in Russia’s brazen invasion of Ukraine and Kishida’s schooling our Republican Congress members on that threat. In gratitude to and respect for Joe Biden prior to the Camp David meeting, S. Korea’s delegation stopped in Maui on their way to the U.S. with $1.5 million for Lahaina. That’s how diplomacy is done the year prior on his way to G7 in Hiroshima, Joe Biden laid the tracks for this meeting when he’s stopped in Seoul to meet President Yoon. On the steps of Air Force One, leaving Seoul, he made a very pointed statement regarding Taiwan, which was: ‘we will protect Taiwan.’ China had been swooping up and down the beaches of Taiwan with their fighter planes and filling the ocean with aircraft carriers and battleships playing wargames and getting closer and closer into incursion of Taiwan territory, frightening it citizens. Joe ‘s message was directed at China.
The American press in their vast unawareness leapt on this statement claiming Joe was deficient in knowing that “we can’t protect Taiwan.” Joe had made another statement in this regard about protecting Taiwan several months earlier and the know it all press who know nothing jumped on that as well as an implication that Joe didn’t know what he was talking about so far as our ability to protect Taiwan. He full well does know About our ability to protect Taiwan. He was a young senator at the time that Victor Li wrote the Taiwan Agreement. Dr. Li wrote the Taiwan agreement to be ambiguous and it definitely states we can protect Taiwan in any way that we need and specifically we can deliver arms and airplanes. There is nothing in the Taiwan agreement that says we cannot fully protect Taiwan. And that’s exactly, and precisely why the Taiwan agreement was written in the way it was. It was re-signed by Congress about 10 years ago I believe. It helps to know the players: Victor was a close friend of mine. I knew Victor from Stanford and socially (and I did some business with him regarding climate and reducing CO2 ) and we had many conversations at dinners, including discussing why he wrote the Taiwan agreement and that because of that event, he became the youngest full professor ever at Stanford. Joe Biden also knew Victor Li and Joe cut his teeth on international diplomacy, and is an expert like none you’ve ever seen in intelligence: if it’s happening anywhere in the world, he knows it. During the G7 conference in Hiroshima during he met with Japanese parents who had lost their daughters to North Korea in the 1980s and promised them he would work to bring them home. After the Hiroshima G7, and on returning back to the United States, he met more silly press about his ‘faulty’ statement that we would protect Taiwan. he went to Indonesia to G20, when he scooped a major triumph
I think Propublica has a new story they can dig into with Thomas. They have done a smashing good job so far.
Thank you Marycat2021 & Kathy J. I will check out the aptly named Propublica folks. :-)
The need for Thomas to recuse himself was particularly obvious in the obstruction case, since a decision on the scope of liability for obstruction could affect Ginni Thomas’s personal potential liability. Shame on you, Justice Thomas! (See my own commentary on this case, from a somewhat different angle. https://mitchellzimmerman.substack.com/p/right-wing-justices-join-trump-in .)
True, he should. They rest well because they lack a conscience. Sociopaths.
Either they lack conscience, or truly feel they are above the rest of us to interpret the law as they see fit. To paraphrase Leona Helmsley, laws are for "the little people."
Both I think. Yes, definitely think they are above others. Abuse of power, arrogance, self centeredness, lack a sense of loyalty to those they are supposed to serve, (us), and greed.
That brings up a question I have -- if the jury votes "guilty" and Donald and his lawyers appeal to SCOTUS, where do we go to appeal a SCOTUS "not guilty" verdict ?
It’s a state case, wouldn’t it be appealed in the state courts and not federal? The US Supreme Court should have no role
Two words. Blinded by entitlement.
History will not treat this Court well which is not a consolation because it is overtly corrupt from a political perspective! That undermines our entire system of alleged “justice.”
Think about what you just said: scotus is corrupt. Not right-leaning, or ideologic, or biased, or contused, or misguided, but corrupt…. That you said it, and are correct, should terrify us all…………..
Or this is the end of history as all legit historians will be fired if the orange menace is re-elected …
I’m frankly struggling to understand Justices Jackson. Sotomayor and Kagan. It seems like they’re drinking the Kool-Aid served up by the conservatives. There are the plain words. There is a legislative record. Whether it’s Snyder, Fisher of Sec.3 of the 14th Amendment I’m left scratching my head wondering how any of them can agree with the conservatives who are neither follow the text and meaning when it suits their needs.
Andrew: The conservatives on SCOTUS are gaslighting us.
Us, yes. But the liberal justices? I was absolutely dumbfounded what Justice Jackson raised the question about historical precedence in the Art.14, Sec.3 case.
Agree Andrew. I was dumbfounded as well. Was she bending over backwards to not show any bias against Trump?
Mystifying……….. No explanation…………
I wanted to write what you just did, but softer. I’m glad you beat me to it. Yes, it is sad.
I am not one to keep my mouth shut or soften my language. Once worked for an AMAZON TV series that was spending $10 mil per episode, more or less. Avg tv series cost might be $3-4 mil, depending on seniority of cast, etc. Anyway, I told the Amazon execs that they were astoundingly lazy for not having read the book they bought to turn into the TV show. That did not go over well.
Yes!
Yep
I’m hoping you’re wrong this time William. But any excuse for them to support their boy.
I sincerely hope I’m wrong.
The grant of cert in Fischer was ridiculous, pre-saging the argument. There is no ambiguity in the text of the statute. Normally that ends an inquiry about statutory construction. All of a sudden Sam Alito and Clarence Thomas are gravely worried about the rights of criminal defendants. It reminds me of how, after January 6th arrests, people like Marjorie Taylor Green and Matt Gaetz were suddenly concerned about the horrendous conditions at the DC jail. The Court is a shadow of its former self.
What really disturbs me is that what we are hearing from the justices may well be prelude to the upcoming “immunity” case for TFG. I have felt from the minute they took it and pushed it out on the calendar that Alito and Thomas would twist themselves in knots linguistically to find Trump immune. Moreover, it is my understanding that they may not reveal their decision until late June prior to running off to a lovely vacation paid for by Harlan Crow or a similar party who helped put them on the court.
We’ve got real trouble here in the U.S. Supreme Court. Stay tuned.
John -- I am SO tuned in ! If we Democrats end up with the Presidency and both houses of Congress, I hope one of the first things done is the House of Representatives. backed by the Senate, will produce a workable plan to clean up the mess that is our Supreme Court.
Today I watched Mitch McConnell praising "his" Senate for being honest and trustworthy -- and then I thought "Wait a minute Mitch ! You were responsible for cheating the Democrats out of a Supreme Court Justice when there were 11 months left in the year for them to nominate a new Justice." I'm still furious about that one.
Me too Barbara!! That was so damn wrong. They cheated him. Then had the unmitigated GALL to ram through Amy Coney Barrett. It sickens me to this day. Grrrrrrrrrr.
I'll go out on a limb -- I don't see them accepting the "immunity" claim. I'm guessing they only took that ridiculous case to save Trump from going to trial before the election. Our politics-in-command supreme court. (See my own commentary on this case, from a somewhat different angle. https://mitchellzimmerman.substack.com/p/right-wing-justices-join-trump-in .)
I like your optimism. But always remember “Get Out The Vote” is our mission in 2024.
I hope you are right Mitchell. I believe Trump is losing on November 5. Even if the case is pushed back and not heard prior to the election, it will be heard. And he will be found guilty.
Valere, I’ll try to adopt your “glass half full” point of view. I just can’t see state or even federal prosecutors shutting down their cases close to the election, or maybe even afterwards, dare I say it, even if the worst happens and Trump is elected. Granted, he would try to shut down the DOJ but since there is a special counsel in place that might be difficult and maybe the ACLU would ride to the rescue. Talk about a constitutional crisis! Makes Nixon’s Midnight Massacre look like child’s play.
Hi Laura and I know it’s extremely difficult for you being a former state prosecutor, seeing the worst of the worst. At least you have a basis for your world view. Trump is a sociopath of the worst degree. What we didn’t expect was the corruption from Judge Cannon and SCOTUS.
Yes sometimes I just have to grit my teeth. And why wouldn’t you expect Judge Cannon to act in Trump’s behalf, since she is totally incompetent. It’s not just that she is a Trump appointee — remember she passed Senate muster and many of the federal district court judges appointed by several presidents are hard working and competent. But somehow she slipped through the net and obviously has no idea how to preside over a complex federal case. And I have my own ideas about SCOTUS, better left unexpressed at this time.
IMO, what would be worse in the scheme of things, is the majority deciding that no, a president isn't absolutely immune, but also send the case back to Judge Chutkan's district court for further fact-finding on the limits of immunity --- thereby extending the delay of the actual DC election interference trial. Doesn't mean the trial couldn't take place in early fall, just increases the odds it won't. So, as Eric Holder pointed out, looks like we, the majority of the American voting public, will have to serve as the calvary. The courts don't appear at this point to be able to come "riding up" to the rescue.
They never would have anyway. WE the PEOPLE are going to have salvage this mess ourselves. Which, it must be admitted, is only fair since we all must take some responsibility for how matter got this way in the first place. We've been too complacent for too many years. Democracy needs constant care and attention of informed people. The movement conservatives have used stealth thievery and outright skulduggery to slowly erode the regulations and guardrails that kept runaway capitalism in check. We are looking at the corruption and oligarchy of late-stage capitalism and it isn't pretty and it will be a very difficult slog to correct.
Expand the base/ FT6.
BTW, Calvary = the hill the a rebellious Jew was crucified on. Cavalry = soldiers on horseback (or nowadays, in tanks).
Bingo. The only possible saving grace is Trump’s “whole hog” argument for absolute immunity, which is incredibly stupid.
I see SCOTUS straddling the fence: a President can be convicted of criminal conduct while in office, but the conviction cannot occur until he/she is out of office. And it will not occur unless they've been impeached AND convicted by the Senate. In which case, reconvene the Senate as it existed on 6 January 2021, weed out any senator who had any role in 6 Jan, then vote again. I know, not going to happen. So VOTE. And talk in neutral "What do you want your government to do for you?" terms.
Indeed!
I agree. Complete and utter nonsense. Another example of conditional "textualism" by the majority. And the sheer gall of Thomas not only to participate in the orals but to ask what had to be one of his more inane questions (and that's saying something...) about whether the government had applied the provision in question to other protests in the past. No doubt biting her tongue, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar repeated what she pointed out several times was (surprise !) the unprecedented and unique purpose of the attack on the nation's Capitol “I’m not aware,” she said, “of that circumstance ever happening prior to January 6.”
Yes, the solicitude for the danger criminal defendants might face serious criminal penalties for lesser conduct would be touching -- if we didn't know their sympathies were all for Trump and his insurrectionists. What hypocrisy!
(See my own commentary on this case, from a somewhat different angle. https://mitchellzimmerman.substack.com/p/right-wing-justices-join-trump-in .)
And yet, earlier in the week SCOTUS decided that it was ok to sue BLM folks! 🤬
They refuse to get their priorities right. Why should they care what happens concerning ANY of the cases they handle, when their biggest concern is how much their paychecks will increase each year? Adding insult to injury is the fact that they get paid for LIFE, no matter how outrageous they become.
The late Justices O'Connor and Ginsburg, along with lots of others whose names I cannot recall this time at night wouldn't recognize this SCOTUS. They'd be extremely disappointed.
They sure would Dianne. It's sad and maddening beyond belief.
O’Connor was the swing vote in Bush v. Gore. She would recognize herself on this court. In fact, years after she resigned, she tried to make amends for how she voted in favor of Bush. That for me was the moment our democracy was lost because the Supreme Court of the United States was politicized, thank you to Sandra Day O’Connor. Feel free to disagree with me. Just because she was the first woman justice and she did many Correct votes as the swing vote. She got it wrong that time. In fact, she got it so horribly wrong that we’re still seeing the shockwaves in education, and an unjust war. . Just because she was the first woman justice and she made many correct votes as the swing vote, she got it wrong in Bush v. Gore, 2000. In fact, she got it so horribly wrong that we’re still seeing the shockwaves: in public school education, and an unjust war in Iraq, climate change for which conservative policies have resulted in our having only 60 years before implosion because dirt has been plowed to have no nutrients are just two Bush policy issues that have impacted us for decades and will for generations to come. Sandra Day O’Connor above anyone else would recognize herself on this court. W’s father, Bush Senior nominated Clarence Thomas, a clearly incompetent individual who filled all the boxes (except the most important, which was the reason for the nomination: to replace Thurgood Marshall. Thomas couldn’t carry his water across the street. And Senior knew this: But he voted the right way for Senior when Junior came up for election, didn’t he?).. The justice who wouldn’t recognize himself was the justice Thomas ‘replaced’: Thurgood Marshall. But Sandra Day O’Connor. She more than anyone politicized the Supreme Court.
I agree 100%. I just found out the other day that it was the Reagan administration that began the horrific cuts in our college education system. I'm a former Republican who switched Party's in 2008, became an Activist and have never looked back. So yes I believe you.. The Reagan administration was not what people thought it was. It was totally corrupt, morally bankrupt and led us to where we are today.
Yep. And even worse (as a social justice activist) was Reagan‘s devolution of our medical care facilities for homeless, with 70% of them self- identifying with having at least one mental health condition. So that has left untold numbers of veterans without housing. He took federal government funding from these programs and thus the states were responsible. So you find these states with very little wealth per capita, and the burden of taking care of homeless and mentally ill individuals has damaged these states. New Mexico is a case in point because it’s a drop off for homeless and a poor state. I think the Southwest generally has been hit by the Reagan policies because of the high immigrant numbers coming across the border. And that expects states to care for individuals Also, don’t wait for the trickle down.
“Justice Thomas was not present for Monday’s argument and no reason was given.”
He was out collecting his “gratuities".
He already knows how he is going to rule.
I am sad to say that I found this funny, what a terrible place that we find ourselves
I know. Gallows humor
Jeff and Margaret, when we lose our ability to laugh at the craziness around us, we are doomed.
He was probably taking a long weekend to go yachting with one of his $$$ buddies.
Yea, they call it a shakedown cruise.
Margaret, Brilliant! You need to be a writer for Jimmy Kimmel!
If only!
I love the pictures of your chickens and cats. Could we also see more of your beautiful German Shepherd? Thanks!
Yes! I worry that I post too many animal pictures, but I have about a hundred photos of Bella on my phone from the last few days of gorgeous weather.
There is no such thing as "too many animal pictures," Joyce. Not with this crowd (written with MollyCat on my lap).
And Penny(chocolate labradoodle) in mine and Maggie (sweet German shepherd) on the floor.
Of course!
I have a miniature dachshund running the show and a Shiba Inu keeping things from becoming a total three ring circus. He provides a note of sanity, perhaps because he’s the oldest dog breed known?
We looked at Sheba Inus before adopting our latest blue heeler. Are they great dogs?
They are phenomenal. Chibi and his brother Ryu came from a temple drop in Sapporo, Japan 15 years ago. They are the oldest breed and the most loyal. I love him to pieces. He had shorter hind legs by justice smidgen, and that was probably why a breeder dropped him and Ryu knowing someone kind of would pick them up at the temple. They flew first class in their own seats (Prior to the days when Delta allow dogs up top and insisted that they be put beneath in cargo. Delta lost that battle. Chibi has Accupuncture every month for his stifle, and he has lots of homeopathic and ayurvedic, herbals for his arthritis. If you do get a Shiva, make sure it’s from a first class breeder. Those are the breeders who do home visits. Shibas want to ‘do life on their terms’ but my philosophy is, if they can be the oldest breed, save our lives by keeping us warm during freezing weather as we lived in caves and ice shelters, he doesn’t need much direction from me. And I feel the same way about the miniature dachshund because if he can go down a badger hole and kill a badger which he still thinks he can do in his mind, I don’t need to teach him silly things such as sit, stay, etc. He has too much dignity to even approach the kitchen when I am dishing up his food. He sits with his butt to the space that enters the living room, not looking at me, but he sure barks at 6 o’clock to get me in gear when supper isn’t on the table. Chibi has had manners from the get-go. Shibas adore humans. No matter the size of another dog approaching, he doesn’t flicker or look left or right. He has had zero training. I’ve had always large bit breeds like Bouvier des Flandres and German Shepherd - who need a bit of training. Bouviers have stronger jaw power than a pitbull. But they will never harm a human, they will instead grab them and hold them no matter how many hours it takes for you to come home. That’s not the kind of thing you want at a dinner party. So they are taught to never do that unless they have a command. So they make a lovely kind of guard dog because they can haul a sheep back up a cliff and not injure it and if a human intrudes into a house, they will put them down on the floor, and the human will never move until the police arrive, but they won’t kill them.
Shiba do not need this kind of training. But they are extraordinarily protective. I don’t think anyone would ever have gotten inside our house. They don’t bark. So there’s no warning to an intruder. They are 1000% perfect around small children. And smart as a whip. that’s why he didn’t need trained. I like to let dogs be dogs and do what their natural abilities are. He never ever tried to jump on people. He will push with his nose a bit and that’s sort of how he has always let us know. He wants anything. Easy easy, easy to take care of. The Dachshund on the other hand.….
I adore both. Chibi is a hunting dog though. I’m not sure about his herding, but he does have the instincts. As our oldest dog breed, he has probably done it all:) I’ve had a lot of dogs, including a dingo blue heeler mix. I adored her. Adored them all. Chibi is hands-down, the easiest dog I’ve ever had and I’ve decided I needed him as a reward:))
I page through my phone pictures and am embarrassed by how many of my cats and dog I have.
I'm going to be very happy I have them, my dog was just diagnosed with cancer and will likely slip away within a week or so. She's 14 and deserves a rest after being a total sweetheart all these years.
I am so sorry for what you and you're going through. It never gets easy. I've lost several cats and one dog to cancer, so when the time comes, I try to convince myself that they won't be suffering any longer. Maybe she can find Penny and Windy, the two Golden Retrievers who shared their lives with me, so they can play together. I'd like to think that there's a Dog Heaven.
“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.” – Will Rogers ;
I feel the same way. Wish Will Rogers could be here today, when we REALLY need his wisdom and kindness.
I like to think there's a Dog Heaven too.
When my time comes, I hope I get to drop by and give Spot (the dog we grew up with), Penny and Windy big hugs. There's a reason dogs are called "man's best friend," because they know when we're sad or something's wrong, even when humans don't always pick up on it. I must stop with this post now. Need to find my Kleenex box.
Dogs love us no matter what!
I lost my beautiful Egyptian cat, Mr Bean, two years ago to cancer. I'm still grieving. And no, you should never be embarrassed about loving your animals enough to keep lots of photos of them. Love is love.
It’s so hard to lose our beloved pets. Our red heeler Lula Belle is 14 and slowing down and I dread the day we lose her.
It is hard to let them go.
I love the name Lula Belle!
Actually her full name given by the rescue group is Talula Belle. She was rescued many years ago along with her eight 3-day-old puppies! She has been a wonderful dog.
Thanks. In a world of turmoil, dysfunction, and senseless violence created by the so called apogee of evolution—us!, we need to see and experience the simplicity, honesty, and majesty of our fellow animals on a daily basis. You are an American treasure. John
Sent from my iPhone
We love your photos! Spring has arrived & I love the photo of Tofu!
Dear Joyce… you cannot post too many pics! Here up North are so envious of you beautiful Roses and Fun Chicks, beloved cats and doggies too. I love that about you. You share things you love and help us with this God-awful mess. Thank you will never be enough. 🥰
I too, love your nature & animal photos! It somehow softens the frequent bad news out of our misguided politicians/justices.
Joyce - the tougher the news day the more animal photos we need. I imagine next week, with the Manhattan case as well as the Supremes, will be all chickens on deck, as well as the watchful eyes of Bella and Tofu.
Your pics bring us all back to reality. Why are we doing studying, reading all of this, anyway? The answer is we are moving forward toward a better way and also attempting to preserve what’s good about the past. You’re doing great!
Joyce, with all the horrible things going on, especially right here, I always look forward to your pictures. They cheer me up more than you realize.
I also enjoy reading your posts. Otherwise, I'd never make it through his nightmare. Your knowledge and expertise help all of this make sense.
Springtime looks lovely and your menagerie brings it to life! Thanks for sharing the photos.
Never too many pictures of the animals!
My roses are prolific this spring!!
I like animals much more than people, so you win points with me.
Definitely can’t have too many animal or grandkid pix. Our blue heeler Sylvie is not allowed on the bed, right! Unable to post pic of smiling granddaughter and smiling dog on the bed!
SCOTUS cannot be trusted to use common sense. It’s insanity. Impeachment processes need to begin for the justices that receive/received gifts.
Sadly, I don't think there is a process that would work. We had the most horrible luck that TFG was able to force through two justices.
A reelection of Biden, and blue bicameral Congress would give us the infrastructure to begin the recall impeachments of corrupt justices
Dream on about the recall part.
Laura, Your lawyer roots are showing:) 💙 In a hippy dippie kumbayah:))
Thank you Laura. Thus.
I have a dream. I guess I’m dreaming about the blue bicameral as well.💙🙇♀️
Love the pictures. Snyder: "...concerns that this and related laws like the bribery statute and fraud provisions don’t put public servant-defendants sufficiently on notice of what constitutes criminal conduct so they can avoid committing it." It's appalling that receiving cash (or something else of value), before or after an action taken by a public servant to "help" a constituent, can ever be seen as not criminal. Obviously, all public servants need to be schooled on ethical behavior.
I remember when I worked in court and after furnishing a half page transcript to a defense attorney within an hour without charge (and also to the prosecutor without charge) the defense attorney gave me a thank you card and a $10 Starbucks card. I gave it back to him because my understanding of the federal rules is accepting ANY gift is a no-no. He argued with me but I stood firm. It was common sense to me. Why is it so hard for others to understand that no gifts means NO gifts?
Right. It’s best to err on the side of caution. You are committed to honoring yourself and those you serve. To remain free and clear with high moral and ethical standards.
Hi Reader/Writer,
They understand very, very, very well. What they don’t understand is they think we are so stupid that we will fall for their gaslighting attempt. We will not, and I hope the summer is full of protests on the Supreme Court steps. Fear of our protest is exactly why they are hearing this case
When I worked as GC for a state parole board we received a gift of food from a grateful mother whose son had been paroled. We donated the food to a food bank.
Great solution!
I love the pictures too! Gorgeous foliage and flowers, kitty and chicken. 😊
Apparently American citizens all could use a small detailed test on what is obviously a huge test of one’s moral fiber. A simpleton already knows. Right is right and wrong is vaguely accepted by too many . We seem to love the cacophony . We can pretend shock when the obvious is being touted as confusion. We love bull shit.
One might want to watch “The Roosevelts, an intimate portrait” a Ken Burns film on PBS.
Seems like yesterday ????? We sure love reruns.
Patricia, SCOTUS has placed their own bar even lower than they ever have before. It’s at ground zero! They have resorted to gaslighting us, thinking we will buy their transparent blatherskite.
I’ll have to look that word up!
💙
Love the pictures ! The chicken looks very Happy, your adorable kitty looks sleepy and hot. The flowers are beautiful. Our trees are just showing signs of life.
The rest of the week will be very interesting.
Rest up !!
That Justice Jackson can reason that § 1512(c)(2) doesn't apply to physical interference in an official proceeding is all the proof we need that the law too easily takes as serious the discussion of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. And with that we are lost.
In "Worse Than Nothing" Dean Chemerinsky notes that the originalists (now textualists) believe in that doctrine except where it gives a result they don't like. As an old (80 years) attorney (now inactive) who did legislative interpretation, legislative advocacy, and legislative drafting for over 35 years for the California Judicial Branch the attempts to twist language until it is devoid of all meaning just to get a desired result is distressing. But this has been true for a while, going back to (and before) SCOTUS choosing to ignore a whole phrase in the 2nd Amendment to reach a clearly wrong interpretation of the right to bear arms.
Yes, the "Parse-We-Must" gang at it again. Scalia would be so proud.
And yet we should have some reason for a decision other than the white male property owners some 240 years ago thought this meant that.
Thing is, the founders were not against individual firearms ownership --- they simply didn't believe that this obvious need back then should be memorialized as an amendment. In fact, there was no jurisprudence, no significant decisions at any court level for more than 200 years from the ratification of 2A that indicated it applied to anything but the military or, "A well regulated militia..." Then in 2008, the NRA and gun manufacturers decided it did and Scalia was only too happy to accomodate them with his tortured parsing of the single sentence amendment.
Of course the basic dishonesty of originalism is that it is a blatant attempt to limit the Constitution with no showing that this was part of the original intent of the founders. Indeed there is just as much evidence that a living Constitution was intended. So there is nothing sacred about "original intent." If you goal is simply to limit guaranteed rights, as is the goal of the orignalists/textualist, then why not simply say no right exists unless it can be expressed as.a haiku.
The sophistry in the court has run rampant. We need judges who can put this bullshit to rest.
We are living in some kind of alternate reality, it appears. I'm waiting for gravity to stop working next.
Funny! 😆
So, if people broke into the Supreme Court building, and overpowered security, hearings would not be obstructed?
Right!?!
Stay tuned Charles. There may be protests and in that case, even that much is going to be called an obstruction and the Supremes will call for arrest of the protesters.
"Will be wild." Haha, funny, Joyce! But I'm aghast we could lose Fischer. Does that leave no law that would apply to hold accountable Trump's mob that physically broke into the nation's Capitol and halted the final certification of the electoral college votes and thus the transfer of presidential power?
In Snyder v US, the law states "anything of value from any person, intending to be influenced or rewarded in connection with any ‘government business’ involving any thing of value of $5,000 or more." How is the gratuity not considered a reward? INAL but that seems pretty straightforward to me
Heidi, indeed - hold the thought. It is about as straight up, straight-forward as any statute can be. What you are witnessing is called ‘gaslighting’ and it is being conducted by our very own SCOTUS.
At the risk of sounding churlish, I’d go with sophistry over gaslighting in this application. 😉
William - but don’t they go hand-in-hand that you would say sophistry is part of gaslighting (With gaslighting as the technique)?
Hi Valere. Legitimate point for sure. I’ve always viewed gaslighting as more of a psychological technique to make the other person feel like they’re at fault when the fault lies with the Gaslighter. Sophistry to me is more of an intellectual exercise employed to disguise pure bullshit with a complex web of words designed to deflect away from addressing the real problem in a pathetic attempt to steer people to the wrong conclusion. No question that gaslighting and sophistry come from the same inbred toolbox of the disingenuous among us.
I make a huge amount of money thanks to a city council vote. I decide to give gratuities to the council members who voted my way as thanks. However, none of them had any reason to suspect ahead of time that I would do so. The council members did nothing wrong when they voted and did nothing wrong by accepting my gratuity because the weren't expected to do anything else.
In real life that scenario is unlikely to be on the up and up. It allows a work around that defeats the purpose of the law. But, it might be technically legal by a strict reading of the law. (INAL either, but I do watch a lot of Law & Order.)
To your point, SCOTUS taking this case and giving the appearance of favoring the defense supports the notion that this court has a deep aversion to ethics.
Ah, Joyce, will it ever end? Oddly, I am optimistic about the election, but deeply concerned that the branch of government that is supposed to oversee the law is instead re-interpreting it to fit some arcane set of philosophical assumptions that are at odds with the real intent of the law and of our Constitution.
There are times, as with Dred Scott, that later courts reverse decisions that keep us from moving toward the goals we set ourselves as a fledgling nation. I can only see us surviving as the nation we set out to be if we can get to a place where a good many of the decisions made by this court are reversed by a future court. I often feel as if whatever I do this election cycle is in the hopes of maintaining a government that will be able to get to that point soon enough.
But perhaps, perhaps, the court will surprise us with a decision that will at least keep intact our expectation that corruption will not be tolerated.
You have the roses now. I have a large Charles de Milles on one side of my yard, that in about 8 weeks will fill my space with delightful scent and deep rich blooms. It is my favorite rose, I think. The Charles de Milles needs some hard pruning after this winter, but will still bloom on the old wood. My Great Maiden's blush is lost in the hedge on the other side, but once I release it and feed it, it will be entrancing, arching over the hostas, which are just beginning to emerge (I have a collection of many sizes- they are fascinating in their variety).
In the meantime there are the daffs and narcissus, whole beds that needed resetting two years ago, but are blooming anyway. I am imagining next year after I dig the beds, dig in compost and reset the bulbs. No chicks, but the world's most glamorous tan-spotted lady dalmation whose mission in life is to get as many ear rubs as possible.
So some things are still good. And I have simplified my life by letting go of town politics, which is not in a healthy place right now. Instead, I am joining so many folks to focus on those close races that need a little lift to help recreate a functional Congress. With a responsible Presidency and a Congress with its focus on the real issues, maybe we can stare down SCOTUS.
I hope I am not whistling into the wind (I know, mixed metaphor, but I like this version better). But every day, I think of my grandchildren and my as-yet-unborn greats, and all the children who will inherit what we leave. Even if just a little, I have to do what I can.
Annie, your response is beautifully written and I’m glad you are in nature. Kisses to your Dalmatian. My miniature dachshund (He Who Runs the Show) Max, and Shiba Inu, Chibi remind me every day, whether rain, sleet, snow or sunshine that we need to take our daily walk to the river. They sniff every blade of grass and every flower because they are hunters and they know who’s been there before them. Those walks bring me back to ‘center.’ I cook for them as well and that kind of care reinforces to me what is really important in my world and diminishes the trivia of corruption from those who are ‘privileged.’ Actually, we who have dalmatian ears to rub and Dachshunds to obey (he wants dinner on the table at 6 o’clock sharp) and a Shiba Inu who appreciates me for every small thing I do for him are the privileged. Imagine having to ask whether it’s appropriate to take a pay off before doing the political ‘favor’or whether it’s a crime to accept a payoff after doing a political favor? How do you explain that to the children? But no need: they already know.
In other Orange 1 alleged criminal activity, he may have finally poked the bear one too many times. He was already facing a hearing next week on violating Judge Merchan's gag order in the records falsification/election interference case ("hush money"). Then this evening, his three remaining brain synapses fired and he re-posted a false claim about the seven jurors selected so far by Head Liar Jesse Watters of Fox that is in direct contravention of the gag order stipulation not to even mention jurors in his public statements. That hearing may well be expedited and, in turn, Orange 1 facing for the first time, more than just another financial slap on the wrist for repeated violations.
Lock him up and put duct tape over his mouth.
Or is that duck tape??
Well, there is a Duck brand of duct tape, so you are forgiven any confusion.
Thank you for the clarification, Dale and Arne!
I think it's duct tape but the common usage is duck tape. It's even on the labels in the hardware store.
What’s a thousand here, a thousand there? But I think Judge Merchant may ratchet up the penalties. What gets my goat more than the tweets is Trump muttering at a prospective juror from 12 feet away.
Yeah, my guess is this time he'll get a severe dressing down, a hefty fine and be told he will get some kind of confinement for the next violation --- probably at home.