The Idaho abortion challenge is extremely upsetting to me. It’s all so completely retro, not the values of a country that (used to be) looked up to. I have a lot of family residing in the US, mainly N. Carolina, Illinois, Nevada and Texas. I worry for everyone, but especially the girls and women. Residents of Idaho will die. Doctors in Idaho will be thrown in jail, and/or they will leave the state entirely.
Certainly no doctor interested in obstetrics will began practicing in Idaho. And many will leave. God help the women left behind. Any woman who becomes pregnant in Idaho has to consider the possibility that should she miscarry, a zealous prosecutor might accuse her of aborting the supposed "unborn child" and charge her with murder.
Heaven forbid a woman has an appendicitis attack while pregnant in Idaho, I may have missed something in the case Joyce mentioned but it sounded like they didn't examine her at all. What if it had been a ruptured appendix causing her pain, they had no way of knowing, would that be malpractice or negligent homicide?
Torn between disgusted and sad that Maddie Cawthorn "vessel" statement seems to have had some basis in the thought process behind ill intentioned conservative legislation, but the medical community indicates fetal mortality is a factor in the scenario I presented, I too have no medical background just common sense.
Mayo clinic;
Besides intrauterine complications, appendicitis is the most frequent surgical problem during pregnancy. (1,2,3,4) It is most common during the second trimester. (1) In fact, a perforated appendix is the leading surgical cause of fetal loss during pregnancy. The incidence of fetal loss increases 3-fold once perforation of the appendix occurs.
Exactly. This is why I argue that women's rights are being thrown out the window when it comes to having a fetus inside of them. That fetus has 100% rights but she has none?
Many of my friends and family voted for Trump because they believed his abortion stance would result in pregnant patients seeking termination simply to be "turned away at the door." None could have imagined where their decisions would lead to today.
Many have proved it. All were in the party formerly known as Republican. One legislator claimed an ectopic pregnancy fetus could be re-implanted. One claimed women's bodies reject sperm from a rape, so they won't get pregnant. And on and on.
Yeah - its really difficult to conceive (sorry not a pun) of anyone - male or not - that is that ignorant & unintelligent. The twit that stated our bodies "reject" sperm from a rape? To call him an idiot does idiots no favor.
Idaho has created "Abortion Refugees". I would seriously consider moving to Spokane if I lived in Idaho now. With draconian abortion laws, makes you wonder what's next.
This is a common problem. I live in Virginia, which is the first state going north on I95 with relatively liberal abortion laws. I am a high risk OB, and I refer a fair number of pregnant patients with pregnancy complications or fetal abnormalities to local abortion providers. Because of the influx of patients from out of state, the wait for patients needing abortion in VA is getting longer, and I anticipate it will only get worse.
It is also no longer safe for OBs to practice in states with these laws. The laws are deliberately vague about how sick a patient needs to be to qualify for an emergency abortion - at high risk for maternal harm? At death’s door? And no matter how sick the patient is, the doc will have to worry about prosecution by an overzealous DA for giving lifesaving maternal care. As a result, many states are, pardon the analogy, hemorrhaging obstetricians and maternal fetal medicine docs. This, in turn, results in poor access to care in these states, even for uncomplicated pregnancies and gynecological problems.
I too live in VA, and while not in healthcare hear about the increase in out of state patients. I'm a male, but I recognize the unique pain and angst women are forced to endure and see it as manifestly unfair. Personally, I would like to see a universe where an individual patient, talking to their chosen doctor, be able to make ANY health-related decisions free from outside pressure or intimidation.
California has a plan for issuing temporary licenses to Arizona abortion providers. Perhaps Washington/Oregon could do something similar for Idaho providers.
I live in Idaho and doctors are already leaving our state. AND it's making it nearly impossible to recruit replacements...including ER doctors! The following is a direct quote from an open letter published by the Idaho Capital Sun:
"Perhaps you didn’t see the survey showing that 22% of practicing obstetricians have left the state since the abortion bans took effect according to a report by the Idaho Physician Well-Being Action Collaborative." ~ Dr. Amelia Huntsberger, guest columnist, Idaho Capital Sun, 4/16/2024
Because of the GOP’s effort to impose their theocratic values on everyone in the states they control, women will die--even when abortion is not involved--for want of medical care. In the name of the “pro-life” movement. All the more reason to support The States Project!
Hopefully, the God-botherer and Obstructionist Party is going to be drowned it a blue wave come Roevember. They just keep reminding us why they need to be thrown out.
They do, but it's important to remember that they didn't come out of nowhere. The "Dark Money" millionaires and billionaires aren't going away, and neither are the white Christian evangelicals.
Trump seems to get the blame for overturning Roe, but the Bushes set the stage with Alito and Thomas and McConnell sealed the deal by blocking Garland. You're right, we'll still have to be wary of whatever arises from the ashes of the GOP once Trump is gone.
When any action (or coherent thought) is attributed to Trump, I take it with at least a peck of salt. F'rinstance, only in the most literal terms did he "nominate" Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett to SCOTUS. He didn't choose them. They were chosen for him by Mitch McConnell, Leonard Leo, and the Federalist Society. OTOH, I do believe that he was a main driver behind all the highways and byways of election denial, up to and including January 6, 2021. Because he was and remains that kind of guy.
Well, a fictitious PhD leaving Idaho, wouldn't have deprived the women of child bearing age there of yet another doctor who had training and experience in providing normal and high-risk pre-natal care, delivering babies, and life saving emergency abortions. Perhaps emergency Ob-Gyn care isn't something you'll ever need. To women who who have or will need these services, their lives are actually now at risk. What if they don't have the funds or the time left to travel to another state?
If you'd really like to know what the world is coming to, here's a story about a young Idaho couple who never expected to be in that position and what they had to go through to get help. It's nine minutes reading - well spent: https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/10/health/idaho-abortion-laws/index.html
I read a medical history article some years ago (did not verify its accuracy) that I found fascinating. It opined that the Hippocratic oath Drs take stemmed from the ancient practice where a customer could go to their "doctor" and obtain a potion/poison to kill a spouse or adversary. The oath took the pharmacist out of the deliberate killing loop. Made sense to me based on my understanding of how some things were done centuries ago. But again, it could all be BS - but I like it, works for me.
It appears these "representatives of the people"(!) are NOT listening. I honestly wonder if the minute the letter R is put next to a politician's name - any brain matter disappears!
I totally agree that women risk their health when they become pregnant in a state like Idaho and others like it. I wonder how all the large faith-based hospitals now rationalize their faith-based missions with turning away pregnant women from their ERs that clearly have an emergency with their pregnancy? I wonder why the intelligent folks who teach at our nation's med schools, those who sit on hospital boards of directors, the impacted members of national medical associations: Emergency Medicine, Ob-Gyns, Internal Med, and Surgeons have been silent? Surely not being able to treat an obvious pregnancy emergency knowing its consequences will likely be fatal for both Mom and child, would be as traumatic to their members as it was for them to helplessly watch the early Covid patients struggle and expire. I think we all remember reading those stories about burnout, leaving the profession, and worse.
It's such a obviously dangerous backwardness that one can only wonder why or how twenty-first century people have become subjugated by taliban-like laws. At some point, like Newton's Third Law, there will be an equal and opposite reaction and we'll see the path forward to correct this situation. It can't come too soon.
Why isn't anyone mentioning the rights of the pregnant woman? Why is it always the rights of the fetus that we talk about? Why is the fetus assumed to have more rights than/rights over the person who is carrying the fetus?
Is this an extension of parental rights that is to say, does a child have more have more rights than a parent? The child is assumed to have equal rights, that the parent has equal rights. But what about the fact that the child is totally dependent up the parent and the parent is giving up a lot to bring up that child; or in the case of a pregnant woman making it possible for the Child To keep on living.
They are already leaving Annie, Washington welcomes them to set up practice there, I don’t know about Oregon, that part of Oregon is the most conservative and in fact there is a move afoot to leave Oregon and join Idaho, so I’m not so sure that Doctors and their practices would be welcome with open arms like in Washington. The SC asked for this when they ruled on Dobbs, this is nuts.
Eastern, and some central and southern Oregon does want to leave and join Idaho, at least the loud ones do. But Portland and the rest of the state will welcome the doctors and certainly the women who need abortion and reproductive healthcare.
All that talk about leaving for Idaho is just talk.
The votes were to force the County commission to talk about the possibility. It's supposed to draw attention to the fact that people in eastern Oregon feel like they are not represented in decisions made in the Capitol.
And they partially right; the vast majority of people live west of the Cascade Mountains while the vast majority of the land is east of the Cascades.
However, even those who voted for talking about joining Idaho don't want their sales tax or their low minimum wage. Not to mention Idaho doesn't want a bunch more territory that costs more to administer than it pays in taxes.
Don’t be ridiculous, NOTHING haunts them. They are devoid of empathy and sympathy…the wrath of the orange idiot continues. And then there’s today’s immunity hearing…
I worry with you, Annie…It feels like the tide is pulling hard on us, dragging up back to pre-Roe America. The shocking thing to me is how many women are fighting for these very strict abortion bans…
Wow. That article was from two years ago. It’s unimaginable how women are coping with losing access to determining their fates with all the hardcore bans.
I agree....i feel like we are getting tax refugees in the deep south who are more racist and disruptive...thus making us a redder state. Conversations overheard are "we moved here so we are more free to be ourselves. " one later left saying they were headed to the "free state of FL because we were not WELCOMING!" YEAH... we aren't okay will being a racist asshat.
I suspect they are true believers that patriarchy is their refuge, that the man is not only the head of the family but, by extension, the rightful head of the state. They take the idea of helpmate all the way to the open door of self-destruction.
It seems that pro-life people think of a woman as a life support system for a fully conscious human being. Quashing medical evidence and denying the obvious (pregnancy is a biological function of a woman's body) is ignorant and cruel. These guys just don't get it. They confuse their beliefs and superstitions with truth and science. How dare they?!
The largest population centers in Idaho are relatively close to Oregon and Washington, both of which have Planned Parenthood facilities just across the border.
A significant chunk of eastern Oregon is attempting to become part of Idaho. There, the folks believe in freedom (for themselves,) guns and supremacy for a certain demographic.
Nah, it's all bluster and pitching. There's a small group of semi-professional cry babies who want all the benefits of living in the city plus all the benefits of living 25 miles from their nearest neighbor.
Doctors in Idaho are leaving the state. And you can’t blame them. You really don’t want to be a woman of childbearing age in Idaho. It is maddening and very sad. The hospital in northern Idaho, Sandpoint, lost all of their OB Gyns last year and you can’t get obstetrical care unless you travel to Spokane, Wa. I used to live in Idaho, and am happy now to live in Oregon where women can make their own healthcare decisions, and medical providers are free to give the care needed.
Karen, I just heard an interview last week from an OB/GYN in Arizona who said that they will be losing potential future doctors as well as current doctors because the medical schools will not be offering training in some of these procedures, and who wants to get their training in a state where they’re not getting a full education?!?! soon Arizona will become an OB/GYN desert just like an Idaho…
That is heartbreaking Irene. I just keep asking myself how can this be happening now?? But then I remember Justice Alito citing a 13th century judge who endorsed human slavery and a 17th century jurist who sentenced “witches” to death, and defended marital rape in his draft opinion in Dobbs. So here we are.
It sounds like justice Alito is using corpus linguistics AI to gather anything written that might be remotely connected to his ultra-conservative slant. It doesn’t matter if it makes sense or if it’s relevant. If it’s written on paper, the justices such as Thomas, Alito and Amy Coney Barrett, who are using AI instead of organic thinking will drum it up. Thomas doesn’t have the mental ceiling to write a brief and he never has. He has his clerks do everything.
I'm guessing it hasn't occurred to Republicans that the CURRENT president could do anything he wants to if this immunity case goes the way they want it to go.
Dead justices? A speaker arrested? Opponents of his bills detained until the votes go his way. The possibilities are horrifying to contemplate regardless of who holds the office.
It's mind boggling that ANYONE would think it a good idea.
I think the US Supreme Court grant of cert on this immunity case was a pure ego play by the US Supreme Court justices. They didn’t want the brilliant DC circuit court decision to get all the credit that it deserved and pompously insisted on putting their own imprimatur on a decision that we all know will not grant unfettered immunity to US presidents to commit crimes while in office. This case should’ve been over with months ago.
But he won’t be reelected, that’s their problem. Trump won’t hold up to six more months of the pressure of litigation that he is being placed under. By November he’ll be a clearly broken man.
Trump obviously hasn't thought it through because he continues to whine about Biden going after him with trumped up prosecutions while also arguing that the President should be able to do anything. Unfortunately, even though the argument is nonsensical and a non-starter, it's true purpose is as a delaying tactic and it's proven highly successful.
Judging from how trump Has repeatedly astounded us with what he was/is willing to do, the suggestions I have heard so far about what could be done by a president with no limits on prosecution Are nothing compared to what an evil mind could dream up.
With SO much going on, let’s all remember to take some time for ourselves. Get outside, work on a craft. I’m sure I’m not the only one who can get wrapped up in all this.
I’ve vowed that since Wednesday is no court, I’m going to water aerobics. I don’t watch the news on the weekends.
Like Joyce says, we’re all in this together so reach out to a friend if you need to.
If Donald Trump is not jailed, the country will not survive. Once again, I remind everyone of the similarity of the country’s position to 1930/31 Germany — Hitler could have been stopped once and for all, but the former chancellors, the present chancellor and the doddering imbecile President, von Hindenburg, dithered and blathered and, well, as they say, the rest is history. Oh, lest we forget, that history included WWII and the holocaust. There is little reason to think a second Trump presidency would turn out much better. INDICT. CONVICT. IMPRISON. DESTROY DONALD TRUMP.
It is entirely clear that the judge is going to hold Trump in contempt: The judge was quite explicit that Trump's lawyer was not responding to his questions, that his responses were not answering the judge's questions, and that Trump's lawyer was giving the judge neither facts nor law supporting their opposition. And it would be hard to see him granting less than the $1000 per violation that the prosecutors asked for -- the max possible yet a sum monetarily insignificant for one of Trump's wealth. I'm not sure that there was anything ambiguous about any of the claimed violations, and I imagine the judge would like to be able to show even-handedness. But at this point, I don't see him leaning over backward for Trump.
What will be interesting is just what the judge will say by way or warning regarding Trump's NEXT violation. Because everyone seems to understand (even though the defense is not acknowledging it) that Trump cannot be controlled by lawyers and won't be restrained by a court order. If it's taking longer than it might for the judge to rule, I'm sure it is because he is fashioning a VERY clear and well-reasoned opinion, carefully addressing Trump's supposed defenses and citing the violations in great detail . . . so that the basis is also very clear for more steps if and when Trump violates the order again.
As I read this judge, he knows he's going to have to jail Trump, reluctant though he may be to take that step, and is preparing the groundwork for that as carefully as possible. Sending Trump to prison, even during say the days trial is running for one week, would be a momentous historic event, and will give rise to quite a lot of hysteria. But I don't think there's any way for the judge to avoid it. It will be interesting to see just how he lays the groundwork, how he communicates to the country at large what's going on. Because that is also part of his job.
Sentence him to jail, but suspend the sentence until the trial is over. Let Trump know if he crosses over the line again, the days in the cooler get longer.
I heard one legal pundit suggest that the wise thing to do would be to sentence the fines, holding out imprisonment. Then sentencing that when (not if) further violations occur. And delaying the serving of the sentence until after the conclusion of the trial, so as not to cause delay. Which is pretty brilliant, considering an appeal would certainly follow.
That is brilliant, because a) it avoids appeal and b) trump couldn't claim to be a martyr (well, yes he could and would, but I think at this point most people would see through that).
Great stuff Mitchell. Thank you. Now - if anyone has wondered what the word sophistry stands for, I submit for your consideration the following statement made in court by Trump‘s principal counsel:
MR. BLANCHE: Well, your Honor, to be clear,
Mr. Avenatti had been saying things like this publicly. There have been news articles about it that he had been
saying it. So he has been -- he has somebody on the outside, a Federal person, that is pushing articles, and to be -- and, your Honor, there is no dispute that Mr. Cohen has repeatedly talked about the fact that, again, not for having to do with his testimony about how President Trump
It's important to remember that Trump's gag orders have survived appeal; the appeals court won't overturn any punishment unless it's particularly egregious. Also, the Secret Service is already having discussions on how to handle Trump being jailed. While just a fine is likely right now, Merchan almost has to threaten him with jail time when he violates the order again. Seems like confining him overnight on a Monday or Thursday gets the point across without really letting him play the martyr.
Like the supposed overwhelming number of his supporters he claimed would show up on the day he turned himself in in NYC (which turned out to be only about two dozen) the same number will show up if he’s put in jail for violating the gag order. So call his bluff, put him in jail for one night. Then Increase it by 2 for every further violation of the gag order. (2, 4, 6’ 8, etc up to the max of 30 days).
Dumpster, if jailed like what he is trying to by all his bullshit in pushing the judges , will use it for grifting ! " OH, poor me , the judge hates me and jailed me , I need your help "...
It's time to talk about Stormy Daniels, the broad who had the cojones to stand up to the big bad wolf himself, Donald Trump. This is a story about power, corruption, and the sick, twisted games that the rich and famous play with people's lives.
Stormy, she's no angel. She's a porn star, a dame who makes her dough in the seedy underbelly of the American dream. But when she got mixed up with Trump, she found herself in a whole new level of filth. The Donald, he's a man who thinks he can buy anything, even a woman's silence. And when he was finished with Stormy, he tried to discard her like yesterday's trash.
But Stormy, she wasn't going down without a fight. She battled, tooth and nail, against the legion of lawyers and fixers that Trump dispatched to muzzle her. She endured the insults, the death threats, the character assassination, and she kept on swinging. Because she knew that this wasn't just about her. It was about every woman who's ever been exploited and mistreated by a powerful man.
And now, as David Pecker takes the stand to spill his guts about the whole sordid affair, we're reminded once again of just how deep the decay goes. Pecker, he's a maggot, a bottom-feeder who made his living by peddling sleaze and scandal. He was in cahoots with Trump, helping him cover up his dirty deeds and silence his accusers. It's the kind of corruption that makes you want to take a long, hot shower and scrub yourself raw.
But Stormy, she's not retreating. She's still out there, fighting the good fight, speaking truth to power. She's a reminder that even in the face of overwhelming odds, one woman with enough moxie and determination can make a difference.
So as the sleazy details of this whole mess continue to seep out like pus from a festering wound, let's not forget the real hero of this story. Stormy Daniels, the broad who stood up to the beast and lived to tell the tale. In a world full of cowards and sycophants, she's a shining example of what it means to have true grit.
Alright, let’s dial it back a notch but keep the spirit alive. So, you spin out this deeply personal, gut-wrenching tale—really, a nightmare on any scale—and then, in the very next breath, you hit me with "your rants are tiresome"? That's rich, truly a twisted sort of poetry.
It's almost like you're testing the waters to see if after such a tale, I'll just nod and mute my usual fire. But let's get this straight: life isn’t handing out passes for us to quietly tiptoe around the edges of discomfort. If my rants strike you as tiresome, then, hell, maybe you’re missing the point. They’re meant to shake the rafters, not just stir the air.
My voice, my rants—they’re not just noise, they’re the lifeline I throw into the void, hoping to snag something real. And I'll keep hurling them out there, tiresome or not, because that’s how we stir up the depths and make a splash in this vast, indifferent universe. Let's not sleepwalk through life when we could be on a rampage.
I really hope that women will be ones to take that pestilence and his enablers to the dump , hopefully on a tanker and head off to one of his boy crushes !
I'm sure that others have already come to the conclusion that I have just come to. But it has suddenly just dawned on me what Trump's flagrant disregard of the Court's gag order and his smears and clownish antics are really all about.
I now believe that his end game is not merely about taunting and baiting the judge into throwing him into jail so that he could hold himself out as a "political prisoner".
It's more basic than that. And it resembles the political version of the common "Mustard Distraction Scam" practiced by teams of 2 or more pickpockets. One of the group squirts mustard on their victim while the others pick his pockets.
Is Trump squirting us all with mustard to distract us from his hush-money criminal trial and his other crimes?
Last night on The Daily Show, there was a variety of skits parodying Trump's antics in violation of the Court's gag order. They were very funny until, at the end of the show, someone asked, "What case???"
Trump appears to taking a page out of the magician's manual by trying to get us to take our eye off the ball to focus on his antics.
I believe that the extract from the article below on the "Art of Distraction: How Magicians Manipulate Our Minds" could be serving as a blueprint for Trump to distract the electorate' from his "Catch & Kill" hush-money payments to his porn star flame, his attempted coup, his plot to use phony electors, his sexual molestation and defamations and his business frauds. By playing himself to the hilt as the loudmouth blowhard slandering witnesses, judges and even their children and taunting and baiting the judge to throw him in jail, Trump has been struggling to keep the spotlight on him and his vaudeville act and off all the crimes he's committed.
"The key principle employed by magicians is misdirection - guiding attention away from a secret action. It can be as simple as a magician waving one hand to draw attention away from what the other is doing. This exploits what is known as the 'spotlight theory' of attention, which posits that we can only fully concentrate on one thing at a time. When a magician guides our attentional spotlight away from their trick's method, they are free to execute their secret maneuvers without detection....[T]hese principles are closely related to the techniques used in persuasion, advertising, and even political propaganda..."
Hey everybody! Look over here. It's showtime, starring Donald J. Trump!!
The accordion hands are part of distraction technique, looking forward to never seeing his act again, Jr does this too and looks just like Weary Willie the clown IMO.
What is not yet clear is whether becoming the jailed martyr will work with voters who consider themselves independents. The most persuasive contempt charge, I think, to a lay person, of the ten contempt charges, was the one relating to Trump posting a claim that "they [someone] are catching undercover liberal activists lying to the Judge in order to get on the Trump jury." I think anyone could understand that calling the jurors "undercover liberal activists" who lied is setting them up for threats. Hopefully, people who read Trump's been jailed for something like this will say, "Well, it's Trump's own fault. He should not have done that."
You're so right. It is a childish, pathetic attempt at distraction. I also remember reading that he's afraid of Melania (remember that video of her flicking his hand away in May 2017 when they landed in Rome and he was trying to get her to walk beside him?) This trial is going to put all of his infidelity towards her back into public view. Also, Judge Merchan read off her name, among other trump family witnesses, so she might have to make an appearance in this trial that she's called a "disgrace". So, yeah, I think he's also performing his tap-dancing distraction act is to attempt to distract his wife, who by several accountings, is said to be watching "every ounce of coverage". Michael Cohen's $130,000 bought trump a loud flashing-light circus instead of secrecy. Here's hoping he gets convicted.
That's exactly what he's been doing all along. During his presidency he was constantly throwing out shiny objects to distract us from what he was really doing. If it was something stupid or illegal (or both), there was always a shiny object to distract. I don't think that Judge Merchan will fall for that - so far he hasn't.
Thanks for the Wednesday rundown, Joyce. BTW, what do you think of Glenn Kirschner's recent point that if Justice Merchan holds Trump in criminal contempt, that will mean Trump has also violated Judge Chutkan's conditions of release (not to commit a local, state, or federal crime), and while her proceedings have been stayed, that does not "divest" her court of jurisdiction "to enforce the measures it has already imposed to safeguard the integrity of these proceedings." IOW, she could revoke his pretrial release. Surely an unintended consequence when Trump thought he could just get away with paying a measly $10,000 sanction.
I have been wondering this too knowing that he was on pretrial release in two federal cases and another state case. In normal times, there would be no question that there would be a warrant issued for the defendant’s arrest or an order to appear/show cause, but this defendant is so special…
Thank you again, Joyce, for this comprehensive review of today’s activities. I read, with glee, about the convictions against the Republicans who tried to influence the election. Kudos to the AZ AG! What a dirty filthy group of people they are, thinking they could get away with this dastardly deed and all for one notoriously obnoxious bigot and consummate liar. Trump’s goose is cooking, as we speak, unless SCOTUS permits him immunity. I simply do not see that happening. What worries me is what this Court will decide re: the abortion issue. I didn’t burn my bra in the 70’s for nothing! Alito truly needs to be put out to pasture and Thomas needs to resign or be put in prison. Kavanaugh is pathetic while Barrett remains the wild card, in my opinion. Gorsuch isn’t worth giving the time of day to. I heard that Chief justice Roberts is very worried about the legacy of his court. He should be…it’s in shambles and he contributed a lot to it.
It's not good when people worry more about their legacy - how they'll be remembered in 10 or 100 or more years - than about their own day-to-day choices and actions. John Roberts apparently thought his resume, contacts, and charm would win over the SCOTUS zealots so he wouldn't need to reveal his own reactionary beliefs. He and Mitt Romney both look so much better than they are, get away with a lot of bad stuff, and only too late seem to have a touch of moral clarity.
Marlene, at least 1 defendant, JENNA ELLIS, will plead guilty soon. I suspect that unnamed Co-conspirator, Kenneth Cheesbro, has already cut a deal with AZ AG.
Check out an angle that Glenn Kirschner put forward earlier this evening. "Oooo. Oooo, Francis." If Judge Merchan finds Trump in contempt of court, Trump will have violated his conditions of release on the charge in DC about attempting to overturn the election and the government on 01-06-2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5_KNfvDVRk
I keep seeing discussions of incarcerating DJT if he continues to violate the gag order. Is there any reason why he could not just be put on house arrest in his 30,000 square foot condo (we know how big it really is). Who could object to that? Why not fit him with an ankle monitor to make sure he stays there? Not being able to attend rallies and golf dates would seriously hamper his movements and might even get his attention without the specter of a jail cell to fundraise from.
Thank you Joyce. You are a gleaming treasure in my inbox. I always look forward to words and pictures.
I live in Idaho. I used to work for Idaho in Session a few years ago which is kind of like Idaho's CSPAN. The reps here are unbelievable and even more head smacking now. The complete disregard for compassion and constituent needs, replaced by knee jerk ideocracy is astounding - flabbergasting!
Thanks for covering this. It's a long shot here, hoping for something resembling a balance. Kind of like hoping a sea gull will drop a fish on your head as you wander the desert.
One more day, so much happening. I will be listening to the comments from the lawyers and people covering the trial as it goes on. It is really too bad it isn't being televised. Thank you for filling us in ! You are a gem!
An Arizona Grand Jury has indicted 18 named Defendants, 11 Fake Electors detailing the Defendants' see-through cover story along with 7 Trump allies: Mark Meadows, Rudy, Eastman & others including JENNA ELLIS. Ellis has already pled guilty in the Georgia Rico case & reasoned deduction indicates Jenna will also cop-a-plea in AZ & will be a witness for the Prosecution on these Class 2, 4 & 5 felonies.
Kudos to MSNBC Reporter, Vaughn Hillyard, tonite who was interviewed by Alex Wagner. Vaughn Hillyard has documented that 1 Fake Elector is the COO of the Trump, Charlie Kirk Front "Turning Point USA' essentially the vehicle for taking over the ARIZONA R's for 2024 MAGA mayhem.
This case alleges a conspiracy to disenfranchise AZ voters & put Trump in power without 270 Electoral College votes on J6.
The Arizona State's Attorney General is pretty impressive. I wouldn't want to be on her list. I don't see her backing down and I bet she indicts Trump too once the presidential immunity issue is resolved. When I heard the details of the Republican Party in Arizona I was astounded. What unmitigated filth and corruption. I've read that her prosecutor for the case is highly regarded.
I cannot imagine a woman in Idaho tolerating this situation for herself, or for any other woman in the state. Nor can I believe the men who love them will.
The Idaho abortion challenge is extremely upsetting to me. It’s all so completely retro, not the values of a country that (used to be) looked up to. I have a lot of family residing in the US, mainly N. Carolina, Illinois, Nevada and Texas. I worry for everyone, but especially the girls and women. Residents of Idaho will die. Doctors in Idaho will be thrown in jail, and/or they will leave the state entirely.
Certainly no doctor interested in obstetrics will began practicing in Idaho. And many will leave. God help the women left behind. Any woman who becomes pregnant in Idaho has to consider the possibility that should she miscarry, a zealous prosecutor might accuse her of aborting the supposed "unborn child" and charge her with murder.
Heaven forbid a woman has an appendicitis attack while pregnant in Idaho, I may have missed something in the case Joyce mentioned but it sounded like they didn't examine her at all. What if it had been a ruptured appendix causing her pain, they had no way of knowing, would that be malpractice or negligent homicide?
Negligent homicide only happens to fetuses. Women are simply justified sacrifices. Or collateral damage.
Torn between disgusted and sad that Maddie Cawthorn "vessel" statement seems to have had some basis in the thought process behind ill intentioned conservative legislation, but the medical community indicates fetal mortality is a factor in the scenario I presented, I too have no medical background just common sense.
Mayo clinic;
Besides intrauterine complications, appendicitis is the most frequent surgical problem during pregnancy. (1,2,3,4) It is most common during the second trimester. (1) In fact, a perforated appendix is the leading surgical cause of fetal loss during pregnancy. The incidence of fetal loss increases 3-fold once perforation of the appendix occurs.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK551642/
Exactly. This is why I argue that women's rights are being thrown out the window when it comes to having a fetus inside of them. That fetus has 100% rights but she has none?
Many of my friends and family voted for Trump because they believed his abortion stance would result in pregnant patients seeking termination simply to be "turned away at the door." None could have imagined where their decisions would lead to today.
Vote BLUE.
As we know many women have no idea how their bodies actually work. Years of zero reproductive health education has brought us here. It is insane.
And if "many women" have no idea - just think of little these politicians have! No clue at all.
Many have proved it. All were in the party formerly known as Republican. One legislator claimed an ectopic pregnancy fetus could be re-implanted. One claimed women's bodies reject sperm from a rape, so they won't get pregnant. And on and on.
Yeah - its really difficult to conceive (sorry not a pun) of anyone - male or not - that is that ignorant & unintelligent. The twit that stated our bodies "reject" sperm from a rape? To call him an idiot does idiots no favor.
what do they think of the result? An unintended consequence, but worth the banning of abortion, or do they see the horror it has wrought?
They declare it a Win for God.
What’s happening is that women are coming into Spokane, Washington for treatment, which is putting stress on our hospitals.
Idaho has created "Abortion Refugees". I would seriously consider moving to Spokane if I lived in Idaho now. With draconian abortion laws, makes you wonder what's next.
O wouldn't even drive through Idaho if I were of childbearing age. Not even to get to Spokane.
That's an even better idea.
This is a common problem. I live in Virginia, which is the first state going north on I95 with relatively liberal abortion laws. I am a high risk OB, and I refer a fair number of pregnant patients with pregnancy complications or fetal abnormalities to local abortion providers. Because of the influx of patients from out of state, the wait for patients needing abortion in VA is getting longer, and I anticipate it will only get worse.
It is also no longer safe for OBs to practice in states with these laws. The laws are deliberately vague about how sick a patient needs to be to qualify for an emergency abortion - at high risk for maternal harm? At death’s door? And no matter how sick the patient is, the doc will have to worry about prosecution by an overzealous DA for giving lifesaving maternal care. As a result, many states are, pardon the analogy, hemorrhaging obstetricians and maternal fetal medicine docs. This, in turn, results in poor access to care in these states, even for uncomplicated pregnancies and gynecological problems.
I too live in VA, and while not in healthcare hear about the increase in out of state patients. I'm a male, but I recognize the unique pain and angst women are forced to endure and see it as manifestly unfair. Personally, I would like to see a universe where an individual patient, talking to their chosen doctor, be able to make ANY health-related decisions free from outside pressure or intimidation.
California has a plan for issuing temporary licenses to Arizona abortion providers. Perhaps Washington/Oregon could do something similar for Idaho providers.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/newsom-arizona-abortion-19418767.php
I live in Idaho and doctors are already leaving our state. AND it's making it nearly impossible to recruit replacements...including ER doctors! The following is a direct quote from an open letter published by the Idaho Capital Sun:
"Perhaps you didn’t see the survey showing that 22% of practicing obstetricians have left the state since the abortion bans took effect according to a report by the Idaho Physician Well-Being Action Collaborative." ~ Dr. Amelia Huntsberger, guest columnist, Idaho Capital Sun, 4/16/2024
https://idahocapitalsun.com/2024/04/16/if-you-arent-sure-why-doctors-are-leaving-idaho-its-because-youre-not-listening-to-them/#:~:text=Perhaps%20you%20missed%20an%20early,abortion%20laws%20as%20the%20reason.
Because of the GOP’s effort to impose their theocratic values on everyone in the states they control, women will die--even when abortion is not involved--for want of medical care. In the name of the “pro-life” movement. All the more reason to support The States Project!
Hopefully, the God-botherer and Obstructionist Party is going to be drowned it a blue wave come Roevember. They just keep reminding us why they need to be thrown out.
They do, but it's important to remember that they didn't come out of nowhere. The "Dark Money" millionaires and billionaires aren't going away, and neither are the white Christian evangelicals.
Trump seems to get the blame for overturning Roe, but the Bushes set the stage with Alito and Thomas and McConnell sealed the deal by blocking Garland. You're right, we'll still have to be wary of whatever arises from the ashes of the GOP once Trump is gone.
When any action (or coherent thought) is attributed to Trump, I take it with at least a peck of salt. F'rinstance, only in the most literal terms did he "nominate" Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett to SCOTUS. He didn't choose them. They were chosen for him by Mitch McConnell, Leonard Leo, and the Federalist Society. OTOH, I do believe that he was a main driver behind all the highways and byways of election denial, up to and including January 6, 2021. Because he was and remains that kind of guy.
And I've heard it's not only obstetricians, but all kinds of doctors are leaving Idaho.
Think of all the sane people fleeing Idaho with their daughters.
I heard that just a few weeks ago a Doctor of Philosophy left the state and moved to Kathmandu. What is the world coming to!
Ha! Good one!
Well, a fictitious PhD leaving Idaho, wouldn't have deprived the women of child bearing age there of yet another doctor who had training and experience in providing normal and high-risk pre-natal care, delivering babies, and life saving emergency abortions. Perhaps emergency Ob-Gyn care isn't something you'll ever need. To women who who have or will need these services, their lives are actually now at risk. What if they don't have the funds or the time left to travel to another state?
If you'd really like to know what the world is coming to, here's a story about a young Idaho couple who never expected to be in that position and what they had to go through to get help. It's nine minutes reading - well spent: https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/10/health/idaho-abortion-laws/index.html
Many doctors take their oaths seriously.
"Do no harm." Today, that's the GOP's job.
Vote BLUE.
I read a medical history article some years ago (did not verify its accuracy) that I found fascinating. It opined that the Hippocratic oath Drs take stemmed from the ancient practice where a customer could go to their "doctor" and obtain a potion/poison to kill a spouse or adversary. The oath took the pharmacist out of the deliberate killing loop. Made sense to me based on my understanding of how some things were done centuries ago. But again, it could all be BS - but I like it, works for me.
It appears these "representatives of the people"(!) are NOT listening. I honestly wonder if the minute the letter R is put next to a politician's name - any brain matter disappears!
I totally agree that women risk their health when they become pregnant in a state like Idaho and others like it. I wonder how all the large faith-based hospitals now rationalize their faith-based missions with turning away pregnant women from their ERs that clearly have an emergency with their pregnancy? I wonder why the intelligent folks who teach at our nation's med schools, those who sit on hospital boards of directors, the impacted members of national medical associations: Emergency Medicine, Ob-Gyns, Internal Med, and Surgeons have been silent? Surely not being able to treat an obvious pregnancy emergency knowing its consequences will likely be fatal for both Mom and child, would be as traumatic to their members as it was for them to helplessly watch the early Covid patients struggle and expire. I think we all remember reading those stories about burnout, leaving the profession, and worse.
It's such a obviously dangerous backwardness that one can only wonder why or how twenty-first century people have become subjugated by taliban-like laws. At some point, like Newton's Third Law, there will be an equal and opposite reaction and we'll see the path forward to correct this situation. It can't come too soon.
The hypocrisy is deadly.
Why isn't anyone mentioning the rights of the pregnant woman? Why is it always the rights of the fetus that we talk about? Why is the fetus assumed to have more rights than/rights over the person who is carrying the fetus?
Is this an extension of parental rights that is to say, does a child have more have more rights than a parent? The child is assumed to have equal rights, that the parent has equal rights. But what about the fact that the child is totally dependent up the parent and the parent is giving up a lot to bring up that child; or in the case of a pregnant woman making it possible for the Child To keep on living.
They are already leaving Annie, Washington welcomes them to set up practice there, I don’t know about Oregon, that part of Oregon is the most conservative and in fact there is a move afoot to leave Oregon and join Idaho, so I’m not so sure that Doctors and their practices would be welcome with open arms like in Washington. The SC asked for this when they ruled on Dobbs, this is nuts.
Eastern, and some central and southern Oregon does want to leave and join Idaho, at least the loud ones do. But Portland and the rest of the state will welcome the doctors and certainly the women who need abortion and reproductive healthcare.
All that talk about leaving for Idaho is just talk.
The votes were to force the County commission to talk about the possibility. It's supposed to draw attention to the fact that people in eastern Oregon feel like they are not represented in decisions made in the Capitol.
And they partially right; the vast majority of people live west of the Cascade Mountains while the vast majority of the land is east of the Cascades.
However, even those who voted for talking about joining Idaho don't want their sales tax or their low minimum wage. Not to mention Idaho doesn't want a bunch more territory that costs more to administer than it pays in taxes.
You're right, and it's going to haunt them (SCOTUS) for years.
Don’t be ridiculous, NOTHING haunts them. They are devoid of empathy and sympathy…the wrath of the orange idiot continues. And then there’s today’s immunity hearing…
Ontario, Oregon, the nearest town of any size to the border with Idaho has an active Planned Parenthood center.
Fits their mock frontier values. I wonder if they’ll also not use social security.
I worry with you, Annie…It feels like the tide is pulling hard on us, dragging up back to pre-Roe America. The shocking thing to me is how many women are fighting for these very strict abortion bans…
I don't understand that either. I wish someone would do a documentary about these women and their life experiences and mindsets.
I want to follow up on this article from NPR shared by a friend. It’s another scary and sad ripple effect to all of this!
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/07/29/1113573995/more-people-are-opting-to-get-sterilized-and-some-are-being-turned-away?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0BMQABHVwkwNVGaE_eoW-mLLRCR-F2zJSVDdmTrRAZcrl-WXRQG_V1wk3iNVFjzg_aem_AR3i0teN5wfALEWzFGvfCmOQBv_Ua4FSQnBYVPzs6ZWNXSleayDl_WjTjmBFpN_Kec0#:~:text=Books-,With%20Roe%20overturned%2C%20doctors%20see%20growing%20demand%20for%20sterilization%20procedures,on%20people%20of%20childbearing%20age
Another "must read" article.
Step One: Ban Abortion.
Step Two: Make getting sterilized as difficult as possible.
Step Three: Ban Contraception.
Step 4, put her in a burka
Wow. That article was from two years ago. It’s unimaginable how women are coping with losing access to determining their fates with all the hardcore bans.
I agree...why are women willing to sacrifice themselves or their daughters/granddaughters to this ideology? I'm not.
Red states will get redder, and their dwindling populations will have even more unbalanced power due to the ridiculous Senste.
So many states really need to be recombined. The Dakotas, Wyoming with Montana,
They only have enough population to get a single representative but have two senators.
I agree....i feel like we are getting tax refugees in the deep south who are more racist and disruptive...thus making us a redder state. Conversations overheard are "we moved here so we are more free to be ourselves. " one later left saying they were headed to the "free state of FL because we were not WELCOMING!" YEAH... we aren't okay will being a racist asshat.
I suspect they are true believers that patriarchy is their refuge, that the man is not only the head of the family but, by extension, the rightful head of the state. They take the idea of helpmate all the way to the open door of self-destruction.
I think what we're seeing is the death struggle of backward religious belief. A dying thing will fight hard.
And it will kill everything around it if it can.
I hope you are right. We can get along just fine without the mullahs.
It seems that pro-life people think of a woman as a life support system for a fully conscious human being. Quashing medical evidence and denying the obvious (pregnancy is a biological function of a woman's body) is ignorant and cruel. These guys just don't get it. They confuse their beliefs and superstitions with truth and science. How dare they?!
Even this speaker doesn't say anything about women's rights being violated.
The largest population centers in Idaho are relatively close to Oregon and Washington, both of which have Planned Parenthood facilities just across the border.
A significant chunk of eastern Oregon is attempting to become part of Idaho. There, the folks believe in freedom (for themselves,) guns and supremacy for a certain demographic.
Nah, it's all bluster and pitching. There's a small group of semi-professional cry babies who want all the benefits of living in the city plus all the benefits of living 25 miles from their nearest neighbor.
We're on our way back to Sumpter now.
Doctors in Idaho are leaving the state. And you can’t blame them. You really don’t want to be a woman of childbearing age in Idaho. It is maddening and very sad. The hospital in northern Idaho, Sandpoint, lost all of their OB Gyns last year and you can’t get obstetrical care unless you travel to Spokane, Wa. I used to live in Idaho, and am happy now to live in Oregon where women can make their own healthcare decisions, and medical providers are free to give the care needed.
Karen, I just heard an interview last week from an OB/GYN in Arizona who said that they will be losing potential future doctors as well as current doctors because the medical schools will not be offering training in some of these procedures, and who wants to get their training in a state where they’re not getting a full education?!?! soon Arizona will become an OB/GYN desert just like an Idaho…
That is heartbreaking Irene. I just keep asking myself how can this be happening now?? But then I remember Justice Alito citing a 13th century judge who endorsed human slavery and a 17th century jurist who sentenced “witches” to death, and defended marital rape in his draft opinion in Dobbs. So here we are.
It sounds like justice Alito is using corpus linguistics AI to gather anything written that might be remotely connected to his ultra-conservative slant. It doesn’t matter if it makes sense or if it’s relevant. If it’s written on paper, the justices such as Thomas, Alito and Amy Coney Barrett, who are using AI instead of organic thinking will drum it up. Thomas doesn’t have the mental ceiling to write a brief and he never has. He has his clerks do everything.
Yes…
I heard yesterday that the GOP-controlled Arizona house has managed to vote to repeal that 1864 abortion ban. So there might he some hope for Arizona.
I'm guessing it hasn't occurred to Republicans that the CURRENT president could do anything he wants to if this immunity case goes the way they want it to go.
Dead justices? A speaker arrested? Opponents of his bills detained until the votes go his way. The possibilities are horrifying to contemplate regardless of who holds the office.
It's mind boggling that ANYONE would think it a good idea.
I think the US Supreme Court grant of cert on this immunity case was a pure ego play by the US Supreme Court justices. They didn’t want the brilliant DC circuit court decision to get all the credit that it deserved and pompously insisted on putting their own imprimatur on a decision that we all know will not grant unfettered immunity to US presidents to commit crimes while in office. This case should’ve been over with months ago.
No, but if they drag it out long enough, and if T gets elected, the case disappears.
But he won’t be reelected, that’s their problem. Trump won’t hold up to six more months of the pressure of litigation that he is being placed under. By November he’ll be a clearly broken man.
Or perhaps he won’t awaken from one of his naps.
Lord, hear our prayer. Let him leave this blessed land so that we can live in peace. Vote Blue.
I think it was pigheadedness from Thomas to protect his idiot wife. Joined of course by the brilliant ass Alito.
Trump obviously hasn't thought it through because he continues to whine about Biden going after him with trumped up prosecutions while also arguing that the President should be able to do anything. Unfortunately, even though the argument is nonsensical and a non-starter, it's true purpose is as a delaying tactic and it's proven highly successful.
It also show how stunted TFG's ability to reason has become.
Well they know Democrats won't.
Judging from how trump Has repeatedly astounded us with what he was/is willing to do, the suggestions I have heard so far about what could be done by a president with no limits on prosecution Are nothing compared to what an evil mind could dream up.
With SO much going on, let’s all remember to take some time for ourselves. Get outside, work on a craft. I’m sure I’m not the only one who can get wrapped up in all this.
I’ve vowed that since Wednesday is no court, I’m going to water aerobics. I don’t watch the news on the weekends.
Like Joyce says, we’re all in this together so reach out to a friend if you need to.
Democracy will prevail!
Thank you, Rosalie, for this important reminder for self care. If we are to survive “to fight another day”, we must take care of ourselves first.
If Donald Trump is not jailed, the country will not survive. Once again, I remind everyone of the similarity of the country’s position to 1930/31 Germany — Hitler could have been stopped once and for all, but the former chancellors, the present chancellor and the doddering imbecile President, von Hindenburg, dithered and blathered and, well, as they say, the rest is history. Oh, lest we forget, that history included WWII and the holocaust. There is little reason to think a second Trump presidency would turn out much better. INDICT. CONVICT. IMPRISON. DESTROY DONALD TRUMP.
HEARING ON CONTEMPT MOTION RE GAG ORDER: I just read the transcript of the hearing (which you can find here https://pdfs.nycourts.gov/PeopleVs.DTrump-71543/transcripts/ -- then click on 4-23-2024).
It is entirely clear that the judge is going to hold Trump in contempt: The judge was quite explicit that Trump's lawyer was not responding to his questions, that his responses were not answering the judge's questions, and that Trump's lawyer was giving the judge neither facts nor law supporting their opposition. And it would be hard to see him granting less than the $1000 per violation that the prosecutors asked for -- the max possible yet a sum monetarily insignificant for one of Trump's wealth. I'm not sure that there was anything ambiguous about any of the claimed violations, and I imagine the judge would like to be able to show even-handedness. But at this point, I don't see him leaning over backward for Trump.
What will be interesting is just what the judge will say by way or warning regarding Trump's NEXT violation. Because everyone seems to understand (even though the defense is not acknowledging it) that Trump cannot be controlled by lawyers and won't be restrained by a court order. If it's taking longer than it might for the judge to rule, I'm sure it is because he is fashioning a VERY clear and well-reasoned opinion, carefully addressing Trump's supposed defenses and citing the violations in great detail . . . so that the basis is also very clear for more steps if and when Trump violates the order again.
As I read this judge, he knows he's going to have to jail Trump, reluctant though he may be to take that step, and is preparing the groundwork for that as carefully as possible. Sending Trump to prison, even during say the days trial is running for one week, would be a momentous historic event, and will give rise to quite a lot of hysteria. But I don't think there's any way for the judge to avoid it. It will be interesting to see just how he lays the groundwork, how he communicates to the country at large what's going on. Because that is also part of his job.
Sentence him to jail, but suspend the sentence until the trial is over. Let Trump know if he crosses over the line again, the days in the cooler get longer.
I heard one legal pundit suggest that the wise thing to do would be to sentence the fines, holding out imprisonment. Then sentencing that when (not if) further violations occur. And delaying the serving of the sentence until after the conclusion of the trial, so as not to cause delay. Which is pretty brilliant, considering an appeal would certainly follow.
That is brilliant, because a) it avoids appeal and b) trump couldn't claim to be a martyr (well, yes he could and would, but I think at this point most people would see through that).
Great stuff Mitchell. Thank you. Now - if anyone has wondered what the word sophistry stands for, I submit for your consideration the following statement made in court by Trump‘s principal counsel:
MR. BLANCHE: Well, your Honor, to be clear,
Mr. Avenatti had been saying things like this publicly. There have been news articles about it that he had been
saying it. So he has been -- he has somebody on the outside, a Federal person, that is pushing articles, and to be -- and, your Honor, there is no dispute that Mr. Cohen has repeatedly talked about the fact that, again, not for having to do with his testimony about how President Trump
acted with respect to pardons while in office --
The judge kept trying to get Blanche to specify which statements Trump was responding to. He couldn’t.
It's important to remember that Trump's gag orders have survived appeal; the appeals court won't overturn any punishment unless it's particularly egregious. Also, the Secret Service is already having discussions on how to handle Trump being jailed. While just a fine is likely right now, Merchan almost has to threaten him with jail time when he violates the order again. Seems like confining him overnight on a Monday or Thursday gets the point across without really letting him play the martyr.
Call his bluff.
Like the supposed overwhelming number of his supporters he claimed would show up on the day he turned himself in in NYC (which turned out to be only about two dozen) the same number will show up if he’s put in jail for violating the gag order. So call his bluff, put him in jail for one night. Then Increase it by 2 for every further violation of the gag order. (2, 4, 6’ 8, etc up to the max of 30 days).
Nothing will happen to the psychopath. He will get away with this as w all else.
I fear you are right but I hope you are wrong.
Dumpster, if jailed like what he is trying to by all his bullshit in pushing the judges , will use it for grifting ! " OH, poor me , the judge hates me and jailed me , I need your help "...
It's time to talk about Stormy Daniels, the broad who had the cojones to stand up to the big bad wolf himself, Donald Trump. This is a story about power, corruption, and the sick, twisted games that the rich and famous play with people's lives.
Stormy, she's no angel. She's a porn star, a dame who makes her dough in the seedy underbelly of the American dream. But when she got mixed up with Trump, she found herself in a whole new level of filth. The Donald, he's a man who thinks he can buy anything, even a woman's silence. And when he was finished with Stormy, he tried to discard her like yesterday's trash.
But Stormy, she wasn't going down without a fight. She battled, tooth and nail, against the legion of lawyers and fixers that Trump dispatched to muzzle her. She endured the insults, the death threats, the character assassination, and she kept on swinging. Because she knew that this wasn't just about her. It was about every woman who's ever been exploited and mistreated by a powerful man.
And now, as David Pecker takes the stand to spill his guts about the whole sordid affair, we're reminded once again of just how deep the decay goes. Pecker, he's a maggot, a bottom-feeder who made his living by peddling sleaze and scandal. He was in cahoots with Trump, helping him cover up his dirty deeds and silence his accusers. It's the kind of corruption that makes you want to take a long, hot shower and scrub yourself raw.
But Stormy, she's not retreating. She's still out there, fighting the good fight, speaking truth to power. She's a reminder that even in the face of overwhelming odds, one woman with enough moxie and determination can make a difference.
So as the sleazy details of this whole mess continue to seep out like pus from a festering wound, let's not forget the real hero of this story. Stormy Daniels, the broad who stood up to the beast and lived to tell the tale. In a world full of cowards and sycophants, she's a shining example of what it means to have true grit.
Gloria noir. I like it. You need to send this script to your agent in Hollywood.
That’s a nest of vipers I’m staying away from. LOL
Okay, in this context, I'll accept "broad" and "dame".
I tried writing this crazy story in fancy language, but it made the shocking details too dull.
Book
❤️❤️❤️
You get tough early when your trailer park neighbor rapes you at 9 and your mom says be quiet bc she needs the child support.
I find your rants tiresome.
Alright, let’s dial it back a notch but keep the spirit alive. So, you spin out this deeply personal, gut-wrenching tale—really, a nightmare on any scale—and then, in the very next breath, you hit me with "your rants are tiresome"? That's rich, truly a twisted sort of poetry.
It's almost like you're testing the waters to see if after such a tale, I'll just nod and mute my usual fire. But let's get this straight: life isn’t handing out passes for us to quietly tiptoe around the edges of discomfort. If my rants strike you as tiresome, then, hell, maybe you’re missing the point. They’re meant to shake the rafters, not just stir the air.
My voice, my rants—they’re not just noise, they’re the lifeline I throw into the void, hoping to snag something real. And I'll keep hurling them out there, tiresome or not, because that’s how we stir up the depths and make a splash in this vast, indifferent universe. Let's not sleepwalk through life when we could be on a rampage.
I really hope that women will be ones to take that pestilence and his enablers to the dump , hopefully on a tanker and head off to one of his boy crushes !
Trial??? What trial???"
I'm sure that others have already come to the conclusion that I have just come to. But it has suddenly just dawned on me what Trump's flagrant disregard of the Court's gag order and his smears and clownish antics are really all about.
I now believe that his end game is not merely about taunting and baiting the judge into throwing him into jail so that he could hold himself out as a "political prisoner".
It's more basic than that. And it resembles the political version of the common "Mustard Distraction Scam" practiced by teams of 2 or more pickpockets. One of the group squirts mustard on their victim while the others pick his pockets.
Is Trump squirting us all with mustard to distract us from his hush-money criminal trial and his other crimes?
Last night on The Daily Show, there was a variety of skits parodying Trump's antics in violation of the Court's gag order. They were very funny until, at the end of the show, someone asked, "What case???"
Trump appears to taking a page out of the magician's manual by trying to get us to take our eye off the ball to focus on his antics.
I believe that the extract from the article below on the "Art of Distraction: How Magicians Manipulate Our Minds" could be serving as a blueprint for Trump to distract the electorate' from his "Catch & Kill" hush-money payments to his porn star flame, his attempted coup, his plot to use phony electors, his sexual molestation and defamations and his business frauds. By playing himself to the hilt as the loudmouth blowhard slandering witnesses, judges and even their children and taunting and baiting the judge to throw him in jail, Trump has been struggling to keep the spotlight on him and his vaudeville act and off all the crimes he's committed.
The title of the article is: "Art of Distraction: How Magicians Manipulate Our Minds" https://www.miragenews.com/art-of-distraction-how-magicians-manipulate-our-1024588/#
The following are extracts:
"The key principle employed by magicians is misdirection - guiding attention away from a secret action. It can be as simple as a magician waving one hand to draw attention away from what the other is doing. This exploits what is known as the 'spotlight theory' of attention, which posits that we can only fully concentrate on one thing at a time. When a magician guides our attentional spotlight away from their trick's method, they are free to execute their secret maneuvers without detection....[T]hese principles are closely related to the techniques used in persuasion, advertising, and even political propaganda..."
Hey everybody! Look over here. It's showtime, starring Donald J. Trump!!
Trial? What trial????
The accordion hands are part of distraction technique, looking forward to never seeing his act again, Jr does this too and looks just like Weary Willie the clown IMO.
I think the according hands are distressing. I can't watch him speak because the hands distract from what gobbledygook he is saying.
As intended.. I find everything about him repulsive but some are enthralled and I'll never understand it.
What is not yet clear is whether becoming the jailed martyr will work with voters who consider themselves independents. The most persuasive contempt charge, I think, to a lay person, of the ten contempt charges, was the one relating to Trump posting a claim that "they [someone] are catching undercover liberal activists lying to the Judge in order to get on the Trump jury." I think anyone could understand that calling the jurors "undercover liberal activists" who lied is setting them up for threats. Hopefully, people who read Trump's been jailed for something like this will say, "Well, it's Trump's own fault. He should not have done that."
You're so right. It is a childish, pathetic attempt at distraction. I also remember reading that he's afraid of Melania (remember that video of her flicking his hand away in May 2017 when they landed in Rome and he was trying to get her to walk beside him?) This trial is going to put all of his infidelity towards her back into public view. Also, Judge Merchan read off her name, among other trump family witnesses, so she might have to make an appearance in this trial that she's called a "disgrace". So, yeah, I think he's also performing his tap-dancing distraction act is to attempt to distract his wife, who by several accountings, is said to be watching "every ounce of coverage". Michael Cohen's $130,000 bought trump a loud flashing-light circus instead of secrecy. Here's hoping he gets convicted.
I agree with you wholeheartedly.
That's exactly what he's been doing all along. During his presidency he was constantly throwing out shiny objects to distract us from what he was really doing. If it was something stupid or illegal (or both), there was always a shiny object to distract. I don't think that Judge Merchan will fall for that - so far he hasn't.
Thanks for the Wednesday rundown, Joyce. BTW, what do you think of Glenn Kirschner's recent point that if Justice Merchan holds Trump in criminal contempt, that will mean Trump has also violated Judge Chutkan's conditions of release (not to commit a local, state, or federal crime), and while her proceedings have been stayed, that does not "divest" her court of jurisdiction "to enforce the measures it has already imposed to safeguard the integrity of these proceedings." IOW, she could revoke his pretrial release. Surely an unintended consequence when Trump thought he could just get away with paying a measly $10,000 sanction.
I have been wondering this too knowing that he was on pretrial release in two federal cases and another state case. In normal times, there would be no question that there would be a warrant issued for the defendant’s arrest or an order to appear/show cause, but this defendant is so special…
And check the bail orders in two other cases.
Not one thing has stuck so far.
Well, E. Jean Carol worked pretty well.
Gee , I wonder if Merchan is aware of this ? Someone should mention this continuously, don't you think !
Thank you again, Joyce, for this comprehensive review of today’s activities. I read, with glee, about the convictions against the Republicans who tried to influence the election. Kudos to the AZ AG! What a dirty filthy group of people they are, thinking they could get away with this dastardly deed and all for one notoriously obnoxious bigot and consummate liar. Trump’s goose is cooking, as we speak, unless SCOTUS permits him immunity. I simply do not see that happening. What worries me is what this Court will decide re: the abortion issue. I didn’t burn my bra in the 70’s for nothing! Alito truly needs to be put out to pasture and Thomas needs to resign or be put in prison. Kavanaugh is pathetic while Barrett remains the wild card, in my opinion. Gorsuch isn’t worth giving the time of day to. I heard that Chief justice Roberts is very worried about the legacy of his court. He should be…it’s in shambles and he contributed a lot to it.
It's not good when people worry more about their legacy - how they'll be remembered in 10 or 100 or more years - than about their own day-to-day choices and actions. John Roberts apparently thought his resume, contacts, and charm would win over the SCOTUS zealots so he wouldn't need to reveal his own reactionary beliefs. He and Mitt Romney both look so much better than they are, get away with a lot of bad stuff, and only too late seem to have a touch of moral clarity.
Marlene, they’re not convictions, they’re indictments.
You’re right! I got ahead of myself with wishful thinking!
Marlene, at least 1 defendant, JENNA ELLIS, will plead guilty soon. I suspect that unnamed Co-conspirator, Kenneth Cheesbro, has already cut a deal with AZ AG.
Check out an angle that Glenn Kirschner put forward earlier this evening. "Oooo. Oooo, Francis." If Judge Merchan finds Trump in contempt of court, Trump will have violated his conditions of release on the charge in DC about attempting to overturn the election and the government on 01-06-2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5_KNfvDVRk
That is super interesting.
I keep seeing discussions of incarcerating DJT if he continues to violate the gag order. Is there any reason why he could not just be put on house arrest in his 30,000 square foot condo (we know how big it really is). Who could object to that? Why not fit him with an ankle monitor to make sure he stays there? Not being able to attend rallies and golf dates would seriously hamper his movements and might even get his attention without the specter of a jail cell to fundraise from.
And block his internet access.
Thank you Joyce. You are a gleaming treasure in my inbox. I always look forward to words and pictures.
I live in Idaho. I used to work for Idaho in Session a few years ago which is kind of like Idaho's CSPAN. The reps here are unbelievable and even more head smacking now. The complete disregard for compassion and constituent needs, replaced by knee jerk ideocracy is astounding - flabbergasting!
Thanks for covering this. It's a long shot here, hoping for something resembling a balance. Kind of like hoping a sea gull will drop a fish on your head as you wander the desert.
One more day, so much happening. I will be listening to the comments from the lawyers and people covering the trial as it goes on. It is really too bad it isn't being televised. Thank you for filling us in ! You are a gem!
An Arizona Grand Jury has indicted 18 named Defendants, 11 Fake Electors detailing the Defendants' see-through cover story along with 7 Trump allies: Mark Meadows, Rudy, Eastman & others including JENNA ELLIS. Ellis has already pled guilty in the Georgia Rico case & reasoned deduction indicates Jenna will also cop-a-plea in AZ & will be a witness for the Prosecution on these Class 2, 4 & 5 felonies.
Kudos to MSNBC Reporter, Vaughn Hillyard, tonite who was interviewed by Alex Wagner. Vaughn Hillyard has documented that 1 Fake Elector is the COO of the Trump, Charlie Kirk Front "Turning Point USA' essentially the vehicle for taking over the ARIZONA R's for 2024 MAGA mayhem.
This case alleges a conspiracy to disenfranchise AZ voters & put Trump in power without 270 Electoral College votes on J6.
The Arizona State's Attorney General is pretty impressive. I wouldn't want to be on her list. I don't see her backing down and I bet she indicts Trump too once the presidential immunity issue is resolved. When I heard the details of the Republican Party in Arizona I was astounded. What unmitigated filth and corruption. I've read that her prosecutor for the case is highly regarded.
I cannot imagine a woman in Idaho tolerating this situation for herself, or for any other woman in the state. Nor can I believe the men who love them will.