327 Comments

I predict Judge Carl Nichols will rule that Bannon can move in with him for five months instead of spending time in stir.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Another houseguest will be Judge Aileen Cannon. Cocktails on the weekend with Justices Thomas and Alito, and Justices Roberts, Kavanaugh, Barrett, and Gorsuch might drop by, too. Leonard Leo might bring champagne.

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Late RSVP for the weekend: Leonard Leo is definitely bringing champagne to toast Project 2025 and the Heritage Foundation. Unless Justice Thomas brings his RV, there's not enough room for the Trumps.

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Did you see John Oliver's (Last Week Tonight host) offer to give SC Justice Thomas an extremely expensive/fancy RV if he agreed to resign? But darn it, he didn't agree...

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Trump wouldn’t be caught dead in an RV. I say that as a former RV owner too. He’d think it was beneath him. We found the nicest people rving. Unfortunately some confederate flag carrying yahoos too.

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The flying of Confederate flags mystifies me. What exactly is the message?

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A celebration of an attempted military coup, forced conscription to serve the coup leaders, and fealty to the oligarch tobacco and cotton plantars and slave industry owners. But remember, it's heritage, not hate.

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Oh, that's right. I guess it's still heritage when I see it flown in upstate NY alongside modest houses and big pick-up trucks.

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They are relishing defeat.

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To my understanding that flag is a "war flag"..

& even tho they lost

the war..they were welcome back to their political positions in government..they were allowed to continue to fly their war flag including infront of governmental buildings & we allowed the honoring of their Generals name on military bases..They continued to disrespect the Constitution regarding equality for all..They have destroyed so many lives & we have allowed then to do so with no regard to the rule of laws..no consequences for their hateful superior attitude..oh but they go to church & r "Christians"

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Heck, I remember when Trump said the WH was "a dump."

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Amen. Did lots of Care-a-Vaning (working on houses through Habitat for Humanity. Truly amazing and wonderful people, and I learned so much!

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Bwahahaha!!!! Thank you for this brilliance and making me laugh out loud!!!

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😳😜😂😂😂

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And there will be an upside down American flag so they can find the house.

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😂 Thank you all for the much needed humor ❤️ helps me stop wanting to cry my eyes out for a few. We've got this folks! Believe and Manifest! The ship of Democracy is NOT going down!

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Everyone who loves their freedom needs to vote blue..WOMEN VOTING BLUE FOR US IS A MUST!!!..Let's get these sadistic white men out of r lives..Did anyone one hear Mitch McConnell is now wanting to push for refusing to codify contraceptives?..COME ON WOMEN THIS COUNTRY NEEDS US..VOTE BLUE!♡

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Brilliant!

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Thank you for the early morning giggle! A great way to start my day!

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I hadn't finished my first cup of coffee, and out came the first out-loud chuckle of the day. Thank you.

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is there a Mrs, Nichols? if so, she might want a vote; actually she’d probably want the only vote.

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Thanks Joyce for this incredible gift of your newsletter and turning the complexity and layers of events of this traumatic environment into language even I can understand!

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Thank you Professor Vance & Christopher too. My understanding is that the convicted felon, DJT, was immediately served right after the verdict with a "COURT ORDER FOR INVESTIGATION AND REPORT" [ Caps in the Original Court Order ].

Per New York criminal procedure, DJT must "report immediately to the department of probation" so the pre-sentence investigation can begin. I can start a draft report now for the the Parties' response:

"The Defendant, Donald J. Trump, has demonstrated zero remorse, has taken absolutely no responsibility for his criminal conduct & continues to violate the Court's Gag Order by attacking witnesses while per Reuters reports his supporters threaten & intimidate Jurors and New York District Attorney office personnel. The Defendant is at high risk of recidivism & further contumacious conduct & basically a danger to all human beings in the North American continent."

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I love your draft response. The Economist made a special publication in October 2023 (in addition to the regular magazine and the anniversary, so they had three magazines that month). They dedicated one entire magazine issue entitled “Trump is the greatest danger to the world in 2024.”

Are we able to include anything like this in the report that the prosecutors would give to the judge? we are the United States of course leader of the free world. Those are some powerful words from the economist, and this is the view of most of Europe (free Europe that is).

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I keep hearing the "Trump is the biggest danger " stuff. It bugs me, and I think it needs an addition.

"Trump with the power of the United States in his little hands is the biggest threat". Trump without is just another aging addled strangely orange golden haired lunatic ranting at the neighbors.

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I think even as an office-less lunatic he and his enablers are the biggest danger to the idea that America is based on the rule of law. And that kind of rhetoric spreads all over the world.

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He'll remain their hero, probably beyond death.

But I would say the same about Saint Ronnie with his trickle down Art Laffer crap we're still struggling with. He just didn't advocate violence. That's fine over the line

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One has to wonder what St. Ronnie would say about trump. Possibly "when you've seen one nutcase, you've seen them all?"

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IMHO, Putin is the greatest danger to the US, if not the world. Trump is his failing puppet, but most Republicans are his Stepford Wives.

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Hope, you’ve got it! 🎯

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😆 fire that off to the editorial board of the Economist:)

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trump, backed by loser citizens give power to the federalist society et al and they remain largely unknown...citizens united.

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gives power

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Thank you Valere. You mean I was not engaging in hyperbole? -- : )

I can always amend the Draft Report.

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Jun 3·edited Jun 3

No you were not.. I have the print and on-line issues - I believe October 26, 2023. Economist made a thoughtful and strong warning. all in its own issue. The minions, cultus, MAGA will not read. Everyone else sure has. I can send you the link, but it probably has a paywall.

Let me try to do that tomorrow. Wish we could send attachments and I would do the PDF for the whole magazine.

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The platform "Discord" builds digital communities, has robust, limitless, memory, has personal data protection & video sharing among other tools. More later.

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Ok

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Thank you for the reminder, Valere; I remember seeing this and in fact, several versions of that same basic fatalist title scattered around the Web. I had a subscription to it at one time... must go check and see if I can find a pdf of the article.

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I was listening to Jen Taub. She said that a psychologist or social worker gives the questions. But of course it is sealed so we will never know from a professional what we already know- he’s a narcissist, delusional, maniacal autocrat wannabe

Did I leave anything out?

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No that's pretty thorough Kathi. But, I think the ex-Yale Professor, Dr. Bandy Xenobia Lee toped everyone including the Economist with her psychiatric diagnosis years ago of Trump Contagion: "The Most Dangerous Case of Donald Trump."

I subscribe to Dr. Lee's Substack : The Newsletter of Dr. Bandy X. Lee" where Dr. Lee has been previewing the chapters of her new book: "The Psychology of Trump Contagion: An Existential Threat to American Democracy & All Humankind". Substantially more than a summer read.

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I think I subscribed because of you. The book will be thorough and thoroughly frightening. The story would be sad if there weren't so many lemmings willing to follow the crazed elderly person off a cliff.

Btw not everyone his age is "elderly" but he certainly is.

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Prosecutors do not give PSI reports. The interviews are done by probation officers, not shrinks, and they also talk to family members and crime victims. A confidential report is given to the judge, the prosecution and the defense. Generally, the court will sentence the defendant in accordance with the recommendation made in the report by the Probation Dept.

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probably could add “showing signs of cognitive decline consistent with unspecified forms of dementia” to the list?

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Absolutely based on observable behavior……what was edited out of that Fox interview? See my comment here too.

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That’s good one and likely to be picked up by the professional interviewing Trump.

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In the mid stages of dementia per Dr. John Gartner and colleagues at “DUTY TO WARN.”

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"And well parried!" as my dear Mum and Brit friends are wont to say. "Spot-on" also comes to mind. Many of us are feeling continued hope for dragging his sorry a*s further down the road of accountability to reap the 'back-at-you" just rewards for that whole deplorable "Lock her up" movement.

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Learned a new word today! - "continuous"...oops! So did Spellcheck:

"contumacious"! Thanks Bryan!

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Superb!

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Thank you, Sheila! A light comment on the annoying foibilities of machine taking its words when all are trying their best to communicate our own words and not Spellcheck's "suggestions".

I'm 🇨🇦ian, the home of🍁-syrup, and love what you're doing Joyce, on Civil Discourse. We are very worried about 2025 & the horrendous "Project 2025" GOP document! I read Joyce's site daily and watch your superb responses on MSNBC, an oasis of intelligent discourse and welcome sanity that always leaves one much smarter. Thank you, Joyce!

(PS. How kind to offer subscribers a thank-you! Would love a mug with 🐓s, but my Canadian location isn't recognized as a shipping address-I have a U.S. address that we use for mail etc. would that be possible if I send the address separately?

Cheers!

Don H.

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I agree with Christopher L. Groesbeck ur news letter is a gift..it is very informative & very easy to read..I'm also a fan of ur 5 guestions Friday!♡

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I realized today I needed to upgrade to paid. It’s like NPR, one day you realize you are hooked and need to support intelligent reporting! Thank you for all you do!

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Same!

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So well worth the little we pay!! Welcome to the group!

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Seeing Bannon in an orange jumpsuit would be great. Might be good for Steve to have some time to detox.

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Do you think they would make the slob shower?

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A fire hose will do the trick.

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🤣...A shave and haircut might help, too. I never see him but what he looks like an unmade bed after a restless night with high humidity.

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I first read your comment to say, ' . . . after a restless night with high humanity." Hilarious. My guess is that Bannon himself would not survive a restless night with even middling humanity.

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Don't forget the wire brush!😆😆

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😆😆 oooh.. that will at least get a couple of layers off 😎

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🤣

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A flea dip would be appropriate, as well.

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oh gods...good one. Thanks for the out loud chuckle!

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He does resemble a homeless mentally ill person who needs help. Also a rabid raccoon..

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And give him a haircut!

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I wonder if they can do that along with a clean shave!..U know his uncut messy look might bring him the wrong attention..so he might want the male clean cut & shave look quickly

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Authorities no..friends inside that must bunk with him ..eat with him..lol..oh yeah he'll shower!..lolol

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Yes, wherever Steve goes, people are detoxing in his wake.

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And unstopping their shower drains

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He went to Italy after the 2020 election to foment crazy and the Italians threw him out.

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Oh dear. Major clean-up of spewed coffee after reading this post and all the follow-up responses. 🤣

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That wasn’t my intention Beth, but I’ll take it!😎

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Watched an interview with Cy Vance today, he was vague where appropriate sometimes but I do wish he'd have pushed back a bit more when asked if he thought a prison sentence was appropriate for a first time offender, with something like 'there are additional election interference indictments pending trial, so while this may have been his first charged, he is an alleged repeat offender'. He did say that trump killed the investigations, mentioned Geoffrey Berman investigation as being one example, but really should have laid into the weaponized DOJ under Barr at Trumps direction as the reason, since the GOP are accusing Biden of that when he isn't, it is always projection!

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Cyrus Vance ran out the back door of the burning building at the NYC office! He was careful and did not want to work on the Trump case, bowing out on “retirement.” Let it be known, his name sake son was working at the White House in the Oval Office for Trump! Was that pre-arranged for Dad Vance?

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So are Baker and the NYT finally starting to be concerned about the possibility of Trump as president? Sure hasn't seemed like it in the last couple of years.

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Sally Buzby at WaPo was just booted and WSJ and Murdoch are taking over. They say they are moving into "social media journalism", and seem to be betting on Trump winning and setting themselves up to survive the Project 2025. There goes the already fading WaPo. Their lack of concern is now cemented.

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Well, that calls for a "not like" button. And what the heck is social media journalism?

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Pretend journalism with no editorial content or oversight.

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exactly... "Yellow journalism" - but, the worst form of elaboration... truth is not a priority, but a deplorable agenda is.🙄😕

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Isnt that what we have had for the past 7-10 (maybe more) years?

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Oxymoron for morons.

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It’s surrendering to the Musks and Zuckerbergs of the world.

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Jun 3·edited Jun 3

They are just shuffling the chairs in their club, pretending to be

businessmen, but every time they are in trouble, they whine home to Congress. Let’s buy them each a big huge bag of pampers with a binky. They are simply stacking the deck to get Trump elected and some more fat tax breaks for themselves . Surprise on November 5. 💙

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Facts... 💯. But yes, even more 🌊🌊 in November.

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Fox News type journalism.

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What about Jennifer Rubin at WaPo?

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There will always be a place for Jennifer Rubin. She has lots of fans, including me.

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And me! For a long time.

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Thank you Jeff Bezo. It’s just shuffling of the chairs by the good old boys club.

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I hope you’re wrong. The article in the Post does not say exactly what you are saying, Ransom. This will be a new division WaPo has been my hometown paper for the past twenty years. They were also a client of mine for 10 years. A much better paper than NYT and WSJ. Unless you read it cover to cover daily, you have no idea the breadth of good journalism. The Post has made some questionable business decisions starting with the Grahams in early 2000s, too numerous and tedious to go into. But I was on site when this was going on. Financially they have never gotten out of that hole. The various news departments have gone through shake ups over the years including weak editor in chiefs. They will survive this.

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OMG 😱. My poor ulcer.

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Had no idea Murdoch was taking over WAPO.

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🤯🤬😱

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It sure hasn't, but since the verdict something has changed. It seems fishy.

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The expectation by many of our friends in discussions such as this one is that he should get prison time. I respectfully submit as a passionate opponent of him both politically and legally that such expectations are unrealistic for a variety of reasons. First, nonviolent crimes such as these generally are not punishable by prison. Second, his age is a factor which generally would indicate that prison might lead to a serious health risk. Third, the availability of strict home confinement is readily available and in many ways is more appropriate. And finally, this issue is really for show because the appellate process is likely to take well more than one year and if the supremes grant cert, it could take in total more than two years when he would be 80 years old. So let’s settle reasonably on probation plus strict home confinement in his tower for six months without access to daily internet as is usually prescribed?

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Martha Stewart was imprisoned on her first offense for 5 (?) months.

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Hi Carol, Martha handled it well. She protected her stock tipper guy (women nurture) and lied to the investigators (he was wired). It appeared that Martha got a sentence for doing something that men (sorry guys) receive a pass on in many cases. And she’s a class act, and is worth much more money today because of that she served her time and we all respect her. She was extremely gracious when she showed her fellow inmates, how to do crafts. Trump couldn’t carry her water across the street. IMUHO (in my unsolicited humble opinion:))

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I wrote to Martha when she was in prison saying I was never a fan of hers, but I felt she was framed. She actually wrote me back a thank-you note. Of course, I’m a fan of hers now! Leave it to Martha Stewart to serve her time with class.

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Oh, to not have him spouting his lies at his rallies for the next 6 months would be heaven! And, that would put us past the election.

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I'd be happy with that as long as they DID keep him off the internet!!!

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Maybe longer than six months too.

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Thank you Ira for sanity, sageness and taming us down. Agree: the conviction is plenty good, while jail would only serve to stir up his minions.

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Ira, excellent analysis. No matter how much we all want to see Trump wearing an orange jumpsuit, it ain’t gonna happen!

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I'd settle on dead from any cause whatsoever. From myocardial infarction to banana peel Skylab debris or mosquito. Pancreatic cancer would be nice.

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Careful doc(karma) safer to pray for his early rapture........also tell the people myocardial infarction is a heart attack, some know not all.

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SCOTUS will acquit him. He will have mo consequences. While in appeal he will be free to do as he pleases re Bannon.

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Isn't weisselberg like 80 something ?

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All that is true. However, Trump's co-conspirator Michael Cohen was as well a first time offender and got 3 years at Otisville.

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My understanding is that one of the chief comparisons in determining sentence is penalties for like crimes. In this case we have an exact comparison: Michael Cohen, who served three years.

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BEST sentence would be community service. Put him in a jumpsuit and make him pick up trash in NYC. That would be much better than letting him sit and stew in his gold-plated apartment.

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I good with jail being a health risk for Trump

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Thanks for the updates ... Bannon, Petey-boy, Probation, WSJ! My hunch on why F(aux) news interview was so heavily edited: Drumpf's cognitive slippage is more and more evident - or - Drumpf was violating gag order so often, he was done another favor by the F(aux) and Friends powers that be!?!

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Rhonda, I’m guessing your first hunch is correct. He likely can’t string together a three word sentence response.

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Joyce, We do love you, and we really appreciate hearing about and seeing your chickens!! You are so approachable, kind, and careful. It is wonderful to have your information about these complicated issues and you make it very accessible. Thank you. Thank goodness you're continuing to write. I will be a subscriber as long as you do.

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Barbara, She is kind and patient and works tirelessly to keep us informed. I know she has a lot of irons in the fire, but somehow I sense that we come first.💙

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I'm a complete sucker for a good t-shirt. Can't wait!

Joyce, thank you for all you do! We love you.

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I know, right? I went to an event yesterday where there were several booths run by members of the Navajo Nation and there were t-shirts with writing in the Navajo language explaining ( I hope!) an issue about water on the reservations that I just couldn't pass up because of the lovely color and graphics! And supporting a Very Good Cause. Looking forward to Friday!

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very good cause are not proper nouns.

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Says the guy who starts a sentence with a lower-case letter.

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But they are Very Important Words in that sentence, and that is why I capitalized them.

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So long as it's not a formal document, I'm all in favor of capitalizing Very Important Words. I think of it as being like ALL CAPS but not quite as much. Helps add nuance?

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Agree! Nuance is the perfect way to describe it. I was surprised at Doc Blase’’s comment, especially here. (now, how does THAT unusual punctuation look making Doc’s name possessive?)

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Hey Doc, you are not grading a paper here. Give it a rest…it is so not important.

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She had me at "mug"!

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Amen to that!!

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Jun 3·edited Jun 3

Peter Baker: "If Trump wins, he will have survived two impeachments, four indictments, civil judgments for sexual abuse and fraud and a felony conviction."

--Don't leave out tax evasion, bribing Georgia's officials to overturn the election, stealing classified documents, and murder (just because he didn't pull the trigger or bash police officers with flag poles doesn't mean he did not incite).

"Trump told Fox and Friends, 'I didn't say 'lock her up,'" when we saw him say it with our own eyes.

--After tens of thousands of lies, why should we consider any of his continuing lies as newsworthy?

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Murder would apply to the million or so people who died from the COVID-19 pandemic, including those taking ivermectin or swallowing bleach. It's not just for Jan. 6.

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I don't think you can call it murder. These pathetic folks did it themselves, and chose to beleive him.

Complete failure of leadership though is a low bar he meets all the time. Should be disqualifying but rape isn't, so....

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You can't be a leader, lie to people about the pandemic, and advise them to inject bleach into their bodies without being responsible for their deaths. You can't rape either....

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I agree with what Sophia said. Even if the people who died made the choice to be not intelligent about what they did, they still had a choice about who they listened to. I'm floored by the idea that what experts tell us seems to count for nothing.

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The drumpf cult still is enraged at Anthony Fauci. Couldn't even begin to understand what he does or knows or tried to do. How patient and dedicated.

Lacking any understanding of how little they know, they think they can do their own research. I had a friend tell me excitedly about the ivermectin cure, and as I was avidly reading all the science I could get my hands on I found the paper in the British medical journal. I think it's been pulled as while I had the link it goes nowhere now. It was an in vitro study, and clearly there were two possible conclusions from what they found. These folks probably never read the paper and wouldn't understand it. The ivermectin prevented the lung tissue cells from growing, was one conclusion, and that's why covid didn't grow either. Seemed obvious to me. I use ivermectin on my horses but hope I never have parasites I need it for.

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Jen, if you ever do need ivermectin for anything, make sure you get the version for humans, which is apparently of a significantly lower dose. And make sure you get a prescription for it. Good on you for reading all the science you could get. I have enough medical education to know when an expert truly is an expert, as opposed to people like the surgeon general of Florida. Fauci has spent a lifetime dealing with infectious diseases, and clearly was trying to do everything he could to keep the pandemic from getting as bad as it did.

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I'm an analytical chemist with advanced degree in medicinal chemistry. Thanks for the advice, but I've got this.

We are not the surgeon general of Florida!

You would likely appreciate the ivermectin paper too. They incubated lung epithelial cells in growth medium, spiking experimental vats with covid and some with and some without ivermectin (apparently it had been reported effective for some bovine corona viruses, perhaps H5N1 as we're concerned now). The samples with ivermectin had a far lower titer of covid virus than the vats without. They reported that there was also much slower growth of the lung cells in those samples with ivermectin

The obvious question for those who understand, ya know, thinking and stuff, is that maybe cells need to reproduce for the coronavirus to thrive. We know now that's true.

But people without skills assumed ivermectin killed covid.

Sad really

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Exactly

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It's the old standby: "Do you believe me, or your own lying eyes?"

tRump lies, MAGA believes.

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Thank you for this great synopsis! It is hard to keep up, and to separate the crazy from the mundane.

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Thanks for helping to keep all of us off the ledge. The world is a better place with you in it.

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Congratulations on 2 years! I've learned so much and have come to rely on your explanations of what the hell is going on.

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Happy Substack birthday, Joyce. Keep it going!

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Looks like the Bezosification of the once august Washington Post is now complete. Sally Buzbee has stepped down as exec editor and is being replaced by another former WSJ type.

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Exactly Dale. The shuffling of the chairs.

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