Linda, I think of Bondi as Trump's pseudomommy who protects her Baby Donnie in every way she can, so no one can escape his fear and anger and no one can do him harm. She knows just what Trump is, and probably has some stuff on him, but is comfortable as AG, or will be as long as she can keep going after Trump's foes and can permit him to do whatever harms he can get away with. She has no intention to actually investigate anything Trump's goons have done because she is OK with their brutality; it isn't focused on her, so whatever!
Agreed. There will be names of people whom we admire. But the this rottenness has to be unearthed so it can wither in the light of truth and accountability.
Sophia, I hope Massie is really willing to release the names of the perpetrators, but the truth is that he is a Republican and Repubs can't seem to follow through these days on any of the things they say they are going to do, unless they are going to do harm to someone Trump doesn't like. I hope he will, though because it is wrong that only the women's names are out here when they were/are the victims.
I am reading a novel by Ellis Peters, 'A Morbid Taste for Bones' after watching some re-runs of 'Cadfael', about a 12th century monk sunlighting as a detective. Fun, but I must admit I like the show better, likely due to laziness.
Interestingly, in some ways, there is a complementarity between the Saint and the Monk. Simon Templar is a well-meaning playboy whereas Cadfael is a veteran of the Crusades with a playboy past; perhaps the latter was a Templar, too.
Both are people who want to right the world -- one from travelling the Earth and trouble-shooting; the other working the earth, as a gardener, and trouble-sleuthing.
Ned, I, too, am worried for those women whose names were "accidentally" released. Of course it was not accidental; the DOJ and Bondi, Trump's pseudomommy have had those materials for months and could have redacted the names. They wanted those names out so the rest of the women will be scared and the perpetrators of the rapes and other sexual crimes will know they can be blackmailed and that Pseudomommy Bondi has the names and the goons who can go after them, stopping only in exchange for some let's say "favors." Trump's "art of the deal" involves a lot of illegal activity that he has been able to get away with throughout his whole life. I hope the women whose names were released can connect with one another and the women who have chosen to have their names out so they can stand together against the men and woman who have done such harm to them. It could help if they connect with local journalists and possibly police and lawyers to get some real support to sue or more.
You and me, both, Ruth. Thank you for your compassion. You may find this encouraging. There may be a list of rapists, etc. being compiled by the victims.
Ned, I had heard about the list of the rapists the survivors were compiling. It will be interesting to see who they are able to include and where it leads. I suspect Trump is an important one, but I am sure there is still fear of his retribution due to his current position. The challenge, by the time he can be charged, the dementia will have pretty much removed his memories of what he has done to others.
It is authoritarianism 101! My book club is reading "1984" right now. We are going through it bit by bit each week, and I have read enough that I had forgotten about that I have a new understanding of the book, and fascism. I forgot what an important role sex played in the book. Perhaps I did not notice it before. I read it when I was much younger. Who can have sex and who cannot have sex at will. Reminds me of the Christian Nationalists in many ways with all the deprivation except at the top.
Reading that there were murders on Epstein Island and perhaps elsewhere since there are girls who disappeared and seeming remains of one was mentioned in some papers Ben Meiselas shared yesterday make me think that is the big thing that Trump wants buried. Someone has posted a Greg Olear Substack link in a chat I read, where he implied Trump had possibly made a snuff film with some 12 year old girl named Maria. These documents reveal and conceal horrors about Trump and others that are in power that show that they should be in prison. We already know that about Trump.
Remember how he always held his mouth in a circle when he spoke? And how he tried to give a microphone a blow job? I have had my suspicion for a long time. Not sure what humping the flag was all about.
Linda, I don't know a lot of details, but I do know that he is a pedophile who raped young teenage girls. Anybody in their right mind wouldn't want that exposed. I wouldn't be surprised if there were other things much worse in trump's and epstein's activities.
Just a reminder that he’s NEVER been in what most of us would define as “in our right mind”
Dr. Bandy Lee desperately did everything she could to warn our country before the 2016 election and ever since. An expert on violence, here she is being interviewed by Bill Moyers:
“ BILL MOYERS: What was it about Donald Trump that caught your attention?
BANDY LEE: His interactions with the crowd in rallies. So, the way that he was manipulating their reactions, responding to them, able to tug on their heartstrings in ways that I knew a very dangerous person could, especially someone with severe impairments. Because they cannot generate self-respect, they look to external sources. And because they are so hungry for adulation, they will puff themselves up and present a grandiose image of themselves primarily for themselves. But it becomes very attractive to a large audience that is also hungering for an idealized figure who they can identify with, and who will represent them, help them, and protect them, almost like a parental figure.
BILL MOYERS: Do you know Burt Neuborne?
BANDY LEE: Yes. I’ve read some of his work.
BILL MOYERS: The founding legal director of the Brennan Center has argued many cases before the Supreme Court and he wrote a book called A CITIZEN’S GUIDE TO DEFENDING TO OUR REPUBLIC. I learned from that book that Donald Trump’s first wife had revealed that he kept in a locked cabinet, beside his bed, a book translating and annotating Adolf Hitler’s speeches before World War II. It was called, quote, MY NEW ORDER, and it described the Germany he would bring about if he had the power. Neuborne wrote, “Ugly and appalling as they are, those speeches are masterpieces of demagogic manipulation.” So, my question to you is, what if all of this is not madness, but brilliant manipulation. That he decided this was his way to fulfill himself, to get what he wanted, to create the world he wanted?
BANDY LEE: Yes, I’m sure it’s his ambition, and certainly demagogues learn from one another. They’re actually magnetically attracted to one another. And so even without knowing about Hitler or his history, Donald Trump would be attracted to his speeches if he were to come across them. It’s a product of their psychopathology rather than a formula. It is also a formula, but I believe that the formula or playbook comes after the psychological drive. Because if you look at such autocratic figures, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Recep Erdogan, or Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, they all exhibit very similar features that are recognizable for us mental health professionals as a very common condition we see in patients. In fact, it’s projected that such dangerous personalities range anywhere from 1% to 5% of the population in the United States.
BILL MOYERS: People ask me, “What have you learned from studying Germany in the 1930s?” And it occurred to me that I learned what Donald Trump may have learned, that public opinion defines what is true and false. And I think this is something profoundly common to strongmen dictators, demagogues, that you mentioned. That they compose those speeches knowing that what they’re saying will create the reality they want.”
Christy, I've known for a long time that trump is a very sick man, a poor excuse for a human being. What you've included from that interview is very interesting, especially the idea that the Hitler book was in a locked cabinet. As if people couldn't figure out where he got some of his ideas. I believe trump has a gut level understanding of how to manipulate people, but I would never call it brilliance, unless it is the brilliance of an idiot savant.
Neuroscience has come far since the term “idiot savant” was coined. The brain is exceedingly complex but we definitely have seen that certain abilities can be exceedingly developed while others wither from their lack of use. The rise of disparaging and ignoring experts like Dr. Lee, scientists and scholars in their field goes hand in hand with the rise in fascism and violence
I have not been studying neuroscience, have not tried to keep up with it, but your point is well taken about abilities. trump never developed abilities like caring and empathy, even though with work they can be developed as an older adult (I know this from my life experience). We've gotten to watch the disparagement of science and expertise. That is important to authoritarians/fascists because it casts doubt on what people have always been taught was true.
Yes. I read it. Someone had shared it in a Heather Cox Richardson chat, and I found myself getting sick as I read the discussions of the young girls and Maria, aged 12. Greg wonders if she could have been in a snuff film. I am wondering if there is one snuff film there could be more. This is just speculation on my part based on reading what he wrote, but the part about girls buried in Trump's golf course reminds me about how Trump tells the truth in circumstances like this.
David, yep, but I don't think the fear factor is going to have much impact. The story is the protesting people of Minneapolis in bitterly cold weather in the face of chemical weapons and cowardly pepper balls fired at them at close range. Journalists will be there to cover the courageous stand no matter the threat. Trump is scared no matter how much Miller is trying to soothe him that they have things under control; they don't and Trump feels it even if he can't remember what any of it means in his dementia.
250 years ago the Founders/Framers of our radical "experiment" in democracy created a republican/representative form of governance in which the governed rule through the election of representatives. Giving "We the People" the power of self rule was radical and antithetical to Kings, British royalists and white ruling elites. Since then we have struggled, fought a Civil War and brought political pressure on our system to expand the rights of "equality" to Black Americans, women and multitudes of immigrants from around the world. For the past year We the People have been attacked and at War. Our constitutional traditions of self rule governed by clear laws have been attacked by an autocratic POTUS, his many racist and elitist, corrupt advisors and syncophats and his rouge army of lethal foot soldiers. We have been fighting back in limited ways since the war began. Now the Resistence and pushback is growing everywhere across America. The vast majority of Americans, regardless of party, are appalled by the Fascist behavior going on all around us. POTUS's approval has plummeted. We have entered the "Fog of War". The enemy's propaganda wing has gone into overdrive pretending to modify its Fascist behavior as a result of negative public opinion. DO NOT BE FOOLED! They are trying to splinter our Resistence. They will fail if we accelerate our fight. A national Strike, economic botcotts on businesses that support Trump, use the National Guard to protect people in BLUE STATES under attack by ICE, join local marches, make "good trouble", accelerate the pressure on public officials to just say "NO" and so forth. The Fascists will lose this war, not because they are weak, but because the People are stronger. The Fascists cannot imagine the devotion of the People to our liberty and our laws framed 250 years ago. They cannot imagine our persistent idealism. We will win and they will go back to their caves to wait for their next opportunity.
All should watch former Special Counsel Jack Smith's public testimony on Jan 22nd at https://bit.ly/49WR3kb . His prior behind closed door testimony is at https://youtu.be/lR-bhPzQYUE . His prior final report to the Attorney General is at http://bit.ly/41LGNYJ . This massive document was the last produced by the Special Counsel and I recommend that you read pp 1-25 and 83 (pardons) of the 165 page Government's Motion for Immunity Determinations https://bit.ly/4lEgn21 . We the people should determine if Donald J Trump is guilty or innocent. I doubt that this will ever go to trial because Trump must no longer be president and the Department of Justice would have to be under a Democratic president. Further, Trump must be capable of standing trial which is unlikely due to his observed diminished capacity.
Joyce: "it is unlikely that [conviction] will happen." It will not happen as attorney ABBE LOWELL is defending the journalist. I expect counter-claims.
I am saving the date for the next one. Sorry it won't be as warm the other 2. I believe our grandmothers are watching us, marching again as they did 100+ years ago.
The State of Minnesota can charge the shooters of Good and Pretti with criminal homicide, such as second degree murder, voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter. Minnesota’s jurisdiction over criminal homicide is completely separate from the federal government’s jurisdiction over, for example, violations of civil rights. They are not mutually exclusive; and the federal government cannot supersede, prevent, or preempt state government authority. The defendants can request a trial in federal court; but the trial will still proceed under Minnesota law.
The federal government might refuse to cooperate and might prevent Minnesota access to evidence. But that is not going to help the defendant federal officers. It is more likely to look like the defendants are so guilty that they need evidence to be suppressed.
Eyewitness testimonies and video recordings already establish that the defendants Had fired the shots; and autopsies can establish that the shots were the cause of death. What’s left? Defendants could claim “justification,”such as self-defense. However, self-defense and similar justifications are affirmative defenses that defendants are required to allege and support with sufficient evidence.
I suggest that Minnesota seek indictments against the shooters as soon as possible. If ICE and CBP officers believe that they can escape accountability — that they can “get away with murder” — or that they are immune from prosecution — then I fear there will be more shootings and more deaths.
I always told my Crim Law students to anticipate “how they can lose” in court. I don’t want to speculate on how those who shot Pretti might be able to convince a jury that they reasonably feared for their life and had no choice but to shoot Pretti. I don’t want to help them with their defense arguments. I’ll leave it at this — I agree with you. Shooting Pretti in the back “after he was immobilized & held down on the ground by multiple officers who had already relieved Pretti of his weapon” doesn’t sound like they feared for their lives and shot him ten times in self-defense. To me, it looked like an execution by a mob of trigger-happy soldiers. But I am patient. I can wait for a jury to hear all the evidence and decide.
It's telling that two courts refused to issue arrest warrants for Lemon and Fort because of a lack of probable cause and the so-called government had to finally go to a grand jury for indictments.
They grand jury was persuaded by people working for the DOJ who twisted the facts to look like probable cause. (Note the wording about "grazed" in Joyce's example.) Reputable prosecutors think carefully about what cases they will bring and if there is a reasonable chance of getting a conviction when it goes to trial. The current batch of DOJ prosecutors do not care if there is a conviction or not. They are following orders and so immune to embarrassment.
Here’s the summary point that should be at the end of these discussions of facts and lies and the nefarious goals that we believe motivate these actions and behaviors: TRUMP IS AN AUTHORITARIAN. HE IS ATTEMPTING TO DESTROY DEMOCRACY. HE MUST BE IMPEACHED AND CONVICTED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
All should watch former Special Counsel Jack Smith's public testimony on Jan 22nd at https://bit.ly/49WR3kb . His prior behind closed door testimony is at https://youtu.be/lR-bhPzQYUE . His prior final report to the Attorney General is at http://bit.ly/41LGNYJ . This massive document was the last produced by the Special Counsel and I recommend that you read pp 1-25 and 83 (pardons) of the 165 page Government's Motion for Immunity Determinations https://bit.ly/4lEgn21 . We the people should determine if Donald J Trump is guilty or innocent. I doubt that this will ever go to trial because Trump must no longer be president and the Department of Justice would have to be under a Democratic president. Further, Trump must be capable of standing trial which is unlikely due to his observed diminished capacity.
Under the Senate’s current practices, after an official is convicted by a two-thirds vote, he is automatically removed from office.
From Pg 9, Congressional Research Service, Impeachment: An Overview of Constitutional Provisions, Procedure, and Practice Elizabeth B. Bazan Legislative Attorney November 22, 2010
the Senate must determine the appropriate judgment: either removal from office alone, or, alternatively, removal and disqualification from holding further offices of “honor, Trust or Profit under the United States.” The precedents suggest that removal flows automatically from conviction on one or more articles of impeachment,34 but if the Senate chooses to impose an additional judgment disqualifying the individual convicted from holding future federal offices, a separate vote is necessary. A simple majority vote is required on such a judgment.35
We will believe it when we see it. Some of the senators might want to keep him around for him to pardon them!!! Making lite, but thank you for the legal reference. I really don't want to see another impeachment that leaves him in office and victorious to his minions.
For those who can't wait to fork over $15 to see "Melania," here's a review (via a link from archive today) from Alexandra Petri, formerly satirist-in-residence at what used to be The Washington Post, and now at The Atlantic.
Melania Is a Horror Movie
The first lady is trapped, and she doesn’t seem to know it.
Lets remember melani is a working girl to whom I give much credit. She got herself and her family over here, she is good at the game. She has 5 ? houses none of which are too shabby. She is exactly where she planned to be. Truth be told, I wanted one of those "I don't give a shit" coats .
To all the lawyers here, once the cases being brought against the journalists are dismissed, is there legal recourse to obtain monetary damages from the government? Regarding DOJ release of Epstein files saga, they must realize that they look like clowns with their credentials not even worthy of a “matchbook cover law degree”
The quick answer on whether Lemon and Fort can sue the government is yes, although such cases against the federal government are notoriously complex due to sovereign immunity and qualified immunity defenses. Doesn't mean they can't sue under 42 USC § 1983 which allows individuals to sue government officials acting "under the color of law" who deprived them of constitutional rights, such as First Amendment rights (freedom of the press) and Fourth Amendment rights (protection against unreasonable seizure). There is also the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) which allows lawsuits for specific intentional torts (civil wrongs) committed by federal law enforcement officers, including false arrest and imprisonment.
Meanwhile, Lindsay Graham held up the budget bill, demanding an amendment to uniquely and without any basis or precedent allow the 7 Jan 6 phone subpoena senators to sue the government for $500,000 each. Even the MAGA Mike House blocked that their bill. Thune has promised Graham to bring it up again, expanded from senators to anyone objecting to Smith's investigation and also one to criminalize the actions of state and local officials who do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement operations.
Maybe Senators Kelly and Slotkin should put in an amendment to sue the government for $1 million for defamation of character via tweets. It would apply to any Senator whose character and reputation is hurt by the administration’s tweets and amplified on Fox. $1 million for each occurrence.
The is Epstein scandal reminds me of Watergate. President Nixon tried to bury the enquiry with a ton of transcripts released in a high-profile manner. Did not work. Poll-dancers are showing the Harangutan is approaching President Nixon's levels in the run-up to being run out of town. The rub here, we do not have a good man ready to step into presidency.
I think J.D. Vance will be worse. I would rather see Trump castrated in office and drag down the M.A.G.A.s so they are crushed in 2028. Or, I fear, there will be a civil war.
Legislature advances proposal for broader anti-SLAPP law • Maine Morning Star
“The most important thing to me is that we recognize that there has been this weaponization of our legal system,” Tipping told Maine Morning Star ahead of the vote. “Wealthy corporations and individuals can shut down speech through these kinds of lawsuits far too easily, and when that’s happening, we really don’t have that First Amendment right that we’re all supposed to be guaranteed.”
The current anti-SLAPP landscape
Maine already has a version of an anti-SLAPP law, but it only protects people from SLAPP suits involving government proceedings — for example, testimony during a hearing. This leaves out protections in other public forums, such as comments published on news sites or social media, like the situation in Bangor, Tipping said.
Tipping’s proposal would broaden the law to apply to any action against someone exercising their First Amendment rights on matters of public concern.
Well, as a Maine resident, this post is truly profoundly helpful, following the links deepens my knowledge, awareness, of slapp considerations, also I’m learning of a publication not on my radar! Thank you all…
Trump is one of the stupidest jackasses walking around on this planet. They actually think this will intimidate -- not just Don Lemon, but reporters and journalists everywhere. I can imagine NOTHING that would galvanize reporters more, nothing that would awaken their consciences to make them fight this bastard and his vicious wormtongues with one voice.
This will blow up in their faces. Am so looking forward to the moment that Hindenburg-MAGA blimp goes ka-boom. You won't find me going "oh, the humanity" when it does.
Absolutely! He & they are not reading the room … they have poked the bear, it is scared but madder than scared & any further antagonizing will be met with equal or greater resistance. People are now AWARE of what’s at stake … guess we cd say ‘woke’ even!
And yes, seeing their extreme duplicitousness & meanness, I feel not an OUNCE of pity for their well-deserved comeuppance on its way.
* Nice to see Tillis in good form mouthing off against the regime.
The regime thinks the racist trope will still play. It's wearing thin. "I killed some white people and that didn't work so I'll arrest some black people." The overreach. The overreach.
I hope someone is keeping track of these hundreds of (or maybe thousands) lawless activities that is being thrust upon citizens, the rule of law and democracy. I would imagine somewhere along the line that information will be useful. I still believe dumpy will pardon everyone in his regime when he finally leaves (which isn’t soon enough for any of us.)
Regarding FULTON COUNTY — this is what Trump wanted to do after the 2020 elections: seize the ballot boxes. If he can do it once, he WILL DO IT AGAIN … AND OFTEN.
Yes he will . This will give Dictator Trump all the info he needs to know what polling stations to send ICE and other troops to in November to curtail the vote. There needs to be a massive initiative to ensure that Trump's favourite targets - people of colour and every immigrant, regardless of status- vote by mail. Wealthy Americans need to put such an effort in place. They could also fund an election help line in every state that people can call for help to cast their vote.
Democrats need to get a law passed that prevents ICE, border control, national guards, the military, local police from being present at polling stations. For the first time, Democrats could encourage foreign leaders to send election watchers to select polling stations.
Desperate times call for desperate actions. More ideas to secure free and fair elections are needed. Thinking caps on everyone. What can you do in your community? The future of America is depending on us. It's time to organize a free and fair election strategy today.
Exactly right—it’s for the threat, not an outcome. This is the playbook that Trump used to earn his first impeachment … (very) old dog, same trick.
What frightens me most is those poor women who were 'accidentally' outed; bool-sheet -- more intimidation from *the gangster régime.
And more of them may end up dead thanks to Murderer Pam Bondi. One of Ayatollah Trump's many Mullahs.
Linda, I think of Bondi as Trump's pseudomommy who protects her Baby Donnie in every way she can, so no one can escape his fear and anger and no one can do him harm. She knows just what Trump is, and probably has some stuff on him, but is comfortable as AG, or will be as long as she can keep going after Trump's foes and can permit him to do whatever harms he can get away with. She has no intention to actually investigate anything Trump's goons have done because she is OK with their brutality; it isn't focused on her, so whatever!
What I find heartening is that the Epstein files issue is not going anywhere, and hearing that Rep. Massie is willing to name perpetrators' names....
Agreed. There will be names of people whom we admire. But the this rottenness has to be unearthed so it can wither in the light of truth and accountability.
I think Rep. Massie is a man of principle. Not crazy about his politics, but good to have one G.O.P. Congressman fighting for these women.
Sophia, I hope Massie is really willing to release the names of the perpetrators, but the truth is that he is a Republican and Repubs can't seem to follow through these days on any of the things they say they are going to do, unless they are going to do harm to someone Trump doesn't like. I hope he will, though because it is wrong that only the women's names are out here when they were/are the victims.
Massie has worked hard with Ro Khanna, a Democrat, to have the administration release the files. His position is far from other Republicans....
Remember when the Mustache Petes had a code?
No. I guess I am ill-informed. 0y vey; I am going back to my Simon Templar re-runs from the 1960s.
The Saint books are even better.
I am reading a novel by Ellis Peters, 'A Morbid Taste for Bones' after watching some re-runs of 'Cadfael', about a 12th century monk sunlighting as a detective. Fun, but I must admit I like the show better, likely due to laziness.
Interestingly, in some ways, there is a complementarity between the Saint and the Monk. Simon Templar is a well-meaning playboy whereas Cadfael is a veteran of the Crusades with a playboy past; perhaps the latter was a Templar, too.
Both are people who want to right the world -- one from travelling the Earth and trouble-shooting; the other working the earth, as a gardener, and trouble-sleuthing.
Better yet, “Danger Man”.
Will have to check itnout.
Ned, I, too, am worried for those women whose names were "accidentally" released. Of course it was not accidental; the DOJ and Bondi, Trump's pseudomommy have had those materials for months and could have redacted the names. They wanted those names out so the rest of the women will be scared and the perpetrators of the rapes and other sexual crimes will know they can be blackmailed and that Pseudomommy Bondi has the names and the goons who can go after them, stopping only in exchange for some let's say "favors." Trump's "art of the deal" involves a lot of illegal activity that he has been able to get away with throughout his whole life. I hope the women whose names were released can connect with one another and the women who have chosen to have their names out so they can stand together against the men and woman who have done such harm to them. It could help if they connect with local journalists and possibly police and lawyers to get some real support to sue or more.
I hope they sue to the HILT!!!!!
You and me, both, Ruth. Thank you for your compassion. You may find this encouraging. There may be a list of rapists, etc. being compiled by the victims.
https://www.c-span.org/clip/news-conference/user-clip-the-victims-becoming-the-victors-2minvid/5179947
Ned, I had heard about the list of the rapists the survivors were compiling. It will be interesting to see who they are able to include and where it leads. I suspect Trump is an important one, but I am sure there is still fear of his retribution due to his current position. The challenge, by the time he can be charged, the dementia will have pretty much removed his memories of what he has done to others.
It is authoritarianism 101! My book club is reading "1984" right now. We are going through it bit by bit each week, and I have read enough that I had forgotten about that I have a new understanding of the book, and fascism. I forgot what an important role sex played in the book. Perhaps I did not notice it before. I read it when I was much younger. Who can have sex and who cannot have sex at will. Reminds me of the Christian Nationalists in many ways with all the deprivation except at the top.
Reading that there were murders on Epstein Island and perhaps elsewhere since there are girls who disappeared and seeming remains of one was mentioned in some papers Ben Meiselas shared yesterday make me think that is the big thing that Trump wants buried. Someone has posted a Greg Olear Substack link in a chat I read, where he implied Trump had possibly made a snuff film with some 12 year old girl named Maria. These documents reveal and conceal horrors about Trump and others that are in power that show that they should be in prison. We already know that about Trump.
Trump is driven by a fear of everything … but especially women. A need to dominate, and to diminish anyone who objects; a vast population.
He definitely has mommy issues.
His list of issues is as endless as his Enemies List.
I think he is a homosexual
Remember how he always held his mouth in a circle when he spoke? And how he tried to give a microphone a blow job? I have had my suspicion for a long time. Not sure what humping the flag was all about.
I cringe everytime I see that clip !
Linda, I don't know a lot of details, but I do know that he is a pedophile who raped young teenage girls. Anybody in their right mind wouldn't want that exposed. I wouldn't be surprised if there were other things much worse in trump's and epstein's activities.
Just a reminder that he’s NEVER been in what most of us would define as “in our right mind”
Dr. Bandy Lee desperately did everything she could to warn our country before the 2016 election and ever since. An expert on violence, here she is being interviewed by Bill Moyers:
“ BILL MOYERS: What was it about Donald Trump that caught your attention?
BANDY LEE: His interactions with the crowd in rallies. So, the way that he was manipulating their reactions, responding to them, able to tug on their heartstrings in ways that I knew a very dangerous person could, especially someone with severe impairments. Because they cannot generate self-respect, they look to external sources. And because they are so hungry for adulation, they will puff themselves up and present a grandiose image of themselves primarily for themselves. But it becomes very attractive to a large audience that is also hungering for an idealized figure who they can identify with, and who will represent them, help them, and protect them, almost like a parental figure.
BILL MOYERS: Do you know Burt Neuborne?
BANDY LEE: Yes. I’ve read some of his work.
BILL MOYERS: The founding legal director of the Brennan Center has argued many cases before the Supreme Court and he wrote a book called A CITIZEN’S GUIDE TO DEFENDING TO OUR REPUBLIC. I learned from that book that Donald Trump’s first wife had revealed that he kept in a locked cabinet, beside his bed, a book translating and annotating Adolf Hitler’s speeches before World War II. It was called, quote, MY NEW ORDER, and it described the Germany he would bring about if he had the power. Neuborne wrote, “Ugly and appalling as they are, those speeches are masterpieces of demagogic manipulation.” So, my question to you is, what if all of this is not madness, but brilliant manipulation. That he decided this was his way to fulfill himself, to get what he wanted, to create the world he wanted?
BANDY LEE: Yes, I’m sure it’s his ambition, and certainly demagogues learn from one another. They’re actually magnetically attracted to one another. And so even without knowing about Hitler or his history, Donald Trump would be attracted to his speeches if he were to come across them. It’s a product of their psychopathology rather than a formula. It is also a formula, but I believe that the formula or playbook comes after the psychological drive. Because if you look at such autocratic figures, Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Recep Erdogan, or Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, they all exhibit very similar features that are recognizable for us mental health professionals as a very common condition we see in patients. In fact, it’s projected that such dangerous personalities range anywhere from 1% to 5% of the population in the United States.
BILL MOYERS: People ask me, “What have you learned from studying Germany in the 1930s?” And it occurred to me that I learned what Donald Trump may have learned, that public opinion defines what is true and false. And I think this is something profoundly common to strongmen dictators, demagogues, that you mentioned. That they compose those speeches knowing that what they’re saying will create the reality they want.”
https://billmoyers.com/story/podcast-bill-moyers-talks-with-dr-bandy-lee-donald-trump-violence-contagion-trumpism/
Christy, I've known for a long time that trump is a very sick man, a poor excuse for a human being. What you've included from that interview is very interesting, especially the idea that the Hitler book was in a locked cabinet. As if people couldn't figure out where he got some of his ideas. I believe trump has a gut level understanding of how to manipulate people, but I would never call it brilliance, unless it is the brilliance of an idiot savant.
Neuroscience has come far since the term “idiot savant” was coined. The brain is exceedingly complex but we definitely have seen that certain abilities can be exceedingly developed while others wither from their lack of use. The rise of disparaging and ignoring experts like Dr. Lee, scientists and scholars in their field goes hand in hand with the rise in fascism and violence
I have not been studying neuroscience, have not tried to keep up with it, but your point is well taken about abilities. trump never developed abilities like caring and empathy, even though with work they can be developed as an older adult (I know this from my life experience). We've gotten to watch the disparagement of science and expertise. That is important to authoritarians/fascists because it casts doubt on what people have always been taught was true.
How rich is it to arrest journalists but allow pedophiles to run free....
Here is the Olear article. It’s worth a read:
Yes. I read it. Someone had shared it in a Heather Cox Richardson chat, and I found myself getting sick as I read the discussions of the young girls and Maria, aged 12. Greg wonders if she could have been in a snuff film. I am wondering if there is one snuff film there could be more. This is just speculation on my part based on reading what he wrote, but the part about girls buried in Trump's golf course reminds me about how Trump tells the truth in circumstances like this.
Olear: https://gregolear.substack.com/p/infrequently-asked-questions-about-519?utm_medium=web
You are full of it.
Lemon does get to violate the constitutional to worship without obstruction or harassment. He was a participant in an illegal act.
the constitution restrains the government from violating constitutional rights. not private citizens.
"James A" the Russian Bot has reappeared, only in Joyce Vance's Substack instead of HCRs.
YOU ARE THE RUSSIAN LOVER.
Democrats want to stop our acquisition of GREENLAND.
PUTIN thanks you!
As the saying goes: This is what FASCISM looks like!
As Robert Hubbell says, “ This all stops when enough of us say no.”
unfortunately half of us are saying yes
And that’s what tantrum sounds like.
Did you mean “Old Yeller” 😉
The remake … a new version where he goes feral.
And rabid.
Rapidly
David, yep, but I don't think the fear factor is going to have much impact. The story is the protesting people of Minneapolis in bitterly cold weather in the face of chemical weapons and cowardly pepper balls fired at them at close range. Journalists will be there to cover the courageous stand no matter the threat. Trump is scared no matter how much Miller is trying to soothe him that they have things under control; they don't and Trump feels it even if he can't remember what any of it means in his dementia.
I think it’s important to note that Trump cares only about the reviews, the optics .. and not the people.
250 years ago the Founders/Framers of our radical "experiment" in democracy created a republican/representative form of governance in which the governed rule through the election of representatives. Giving "We the People" the power of self rule was radical and antithetical to Kings, British royalists and white ruling elites. Since then we have struggled, fought a Civil War and brought political pressure on our system to expand the rights of "equality" to Black Americans, women and multitudes of immigrants from around the world. For the past year We the People have been attacked and at War. Our constitutional traditions of self rule governed by clear laws have been attacked by an autocratic POTUS, his many racist and elitist, corrupt advisors and syncophats and his rouge army of lethal foot soldiers. We have been fighting back in limited ways since the war began. Now the Resistence and pushback is growing everywhere across America. The vast majority of Americans, regardless of party, are appalled by the Fascist behavior going on all around us. POTUS's approval has plummeted. We have entered the "Fog of War". The enemy's propaganda wing has gone into overdrive pretending to modify its Fascist behavior as a result of negative public opinion. DO NOT BE FOOLED! They are trying to splinter our Resistence. They will fail if we accelerate our fight. A national Strike, economic botcotts on businesses that support Trump, use the National Guard to protect people in BLUE STATES under attack by ICE, join local marches, make "good trouble", accelerate the pressure on public officials to just say "NO" and so forth. The Fascists will lose this war, not because they are weak, but because the People are stronger. The Fascists cannot imagine the devotion of the People to our liberty and our laws framed 250 years ago. They cannot imagine our persistent idealism. We will win and they will go back to their caves to wait for their next opportunity.
Being informed has helped create a unified resistance thank you Joyce the more we learn the stronger we are
All should watch former Special Counsel Jack Smith's public testimony on Jan 22nd at https://bit.ly/49WR3kb . His prior behind closed door testimony is at https://youtu.be/lR-bhPzQYUE . His prior final report to the Attorney General is at http://bit.ly/41LGNYJ . This massive document was the last produced by the Special Counsel and I recommend that you read pp 1-25 and 83 (pardons) of the 165 page Government's Motion for Immunity Determinations https://bit.ly/4lEgn21 . We the people should determine if Donald J Trump is guilty or innocent. I doubt that this will ever go to trial because Trump must no longer be president and the Department of Justice would have to be under a Democratic president. Further, Trump must be capable of standing trial which is unlikely due to his observed diminished capacity.
Joyce: "it is unlikely that [conviction] will happen." It will not happen as attorney ABBE LOWELL is defending the journalist. I expect counter-claims.
All of this just makes me, a 67 year old white woman, want to protest more. They will not silence me.
at 72, I'm joining a Milwaukee area march today, again. Not how I expected spending this decade of my life.
Thank you. I'v got you beat by over 10 years and I went to the No Kings rally in the fall.
I am saving the date for the next one. Sorry it won't be as warm the other 2. I believe our grandmothers are watching us, marching again as they did 100+ years ago.
Of course. You and about 100 million others.
Time to squeeze the orange and *not a Lemon.
Nice!
The State of Minnesota can charge the shooters of Good and Pretti with criminal homicide, such as second degree murder, voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter. Minnesota’s jurisdiction over criminal homicide is completely separate from the federal government’s jurisdiction over, for example, violations of civil rights. They are not mutually exclusive; and the federal government cannot supersede, prevent, or preempt state government authority. The defendants can request a trial in federal court; but the trial will still proceed under Minnesota law.
The federal government might refuse to cooperate and might prevent Minnesota access to evidence. But that is not going to help the defendant federal officers. It is more likely to look like the defendants are so guilty that they need evidence to be suppressed.
Eyewitness testimonies and video recordings already establish that the defendants Had fired the shots; and autopsies can establish that the shots were the cause of death. What’s left? Defendants could claim “justification,”such as self-defense. However, self-defense and similar justifications are affirmative defenses that defendants are required to allege and support with sufficient evidence.
I suggest that Minnesota seek indictments against the shooters as soon as possible. If ICE and CBP officers believe that they can escape accountability — that they can “get away with murder” — or that they are immune from prosecution — then I fear there will be more shootings and more deaths.
Such indictments may also cause agent to temper their actions.
MN AG Keith Ellison and Hennepin Cty Atty Mary Moriarty are on this.
Yes. THANKS. They need our support.
How can it be self defense when he was shot in the back?
I always told my Crim Law students to anticipate “how they can lose” in court. I don’t want to speculate on how those who shot Pretti might be able to convince a jury that they reasonably feared for their life and had no choice but to shoot Pretti. I don’t want to help them with their defense arguments. I’ll leave it at this — I agree with you. Shooting Pretti in the back “after he was immobilized & held down on the ground by multiple officers who had already relieved Pretti of his weapon” doesn’t sound like they feared for their lives and shot him ten times in self-defense. To me, it looked like an execution by a mob of trigger-happy soldiers. But I am patient. I can wait for a jury to hear all the evidence and decide.
"especially for an independent journalist who lacks the backing of a major company..."
Not that the Washington Post stepped up when the home of one of its reporters was searched.
In fact the publisher – Bezos – told the reporters not to report on so much of this or something along those lines.
It's telling that two courts refused to issue arrest warrants for Lemon and Fort because of a lack of probable cause and the so-called government had to finally go to a grand jury for indictments.
But how did the grand jury get persuaded?
“Ham sandwich” theory….
Doesn't take much as we have seen but we, of course, won't (immediately) know since grand jury proceedings are secret.
They grand jury was persuaded by people working for the DOJ who twisted the facts to look like probable cause. (Note the wording about "grazed" in Joyce's example.) Reputable prosecutors think carefully about what cases they will bring and if there is a reasonable chance of getting a conviction when it goes to trial. The current batch of DOJ prosecutors do not care if there is a conviction or not. They are following orders and so immune to embarrassment.
That sounds like a reasonable explanation. I would have figured that citizens would be wise to this scheiße and therefore very skeptical.
I would think that citizens would realize that journalists do not conspire with activists. Journalists just report the news.
americans are idiots mostly
a lot of citizens are not up to par
Im not an attorney. Is it possible that a grand jury can be convened in just a couple of days in LA?
The grand jury that handed down the Lemon and Fort indictments was in Minnesota and empaneled on or about Jan.29.
How do you know that? Have you seen the full indictments? If so, where? Thanks.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/read-the-full-indictment-against-don-lemon-georgia-fort-and-others-charged-in-minnesota
half of america is MAGA + both reporters are black
Here’s the summary point that should be at the end of these discussions of facts and lies and the nefarious goals that we believe motivate these actions and behaviors: TRUMP IS AN AUTHORITARIAN. HE IS ATTEMPTING TO DESTROY DEMOCRACY. HE MUST BE IMPEACHED AND CONVICTED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
All should watch former Special Counsel Jack Smith's public testimony on Jan 22nd at https://bit.ly/49WR3kb . His prior behind closed door testimony is at https://youtu.be/lR-bhPzQYUE . His prior final report to the Attorney General is at http://bit.ly/41LGNYJ . This massive document was the last produced by the Special Counsel and I recommend that you read pp 1-25 and 83 (pardons) of the 165 page Government's Motion for Immunity Determinations https://bit.ly/4lEgn21 . We the people should determine if Donald J Trump is guilty or innocent. I doubt that this will ever go to trial because Trump must no longer be president and the Department of Justice would have to be under a Democratic president. Further, Trump must be capable of standing trial which is unlikely due to his observed diminished capacity.
Don't forget the remove part of the equation.
Under the Senate’s current practices, after an official is convicted by a two-thirds vote, he is automatically removed from office.
From Pg 9, Congressional Research Service, Impeachment: An Overview of Constitutional Provisions, Procedure, and Practice Elizabeth B. Bazan Legislative Attorney November 22, 2010
the Senate must determine the appropriate judgment: either removal from office alone, or, alternatively, removal and disqualification from holding further offices of “honor, Trust or Profit under the United States.” The precedents suggest that removal flows automatically from conviction on one or more articles of impeachment,34 but if the Senate chooses to impose an additional judgment disqualifying the individual convicted from holding future federal offices, a separate vote is necessary. A simple majority vote is required on such a judgment.35
We will believe it when we see it. Some of the senators might want to keep him around for him to pardon them!!! Making lite, but thank you for the legal reference. I really don't want to see another impeachment that leaves him in office and victorious to his minions.
For those who can't wait to fork over $15 to see "Melania," here's a review (via a link from archive today) from Alexandra Petri, formerly satirist-in-residence at what used to be The Washington Post, and now at The Atlantic.
Melania Is a Horror Movie
The first lady is trapped, and she doesn’t seem to know it.
http://archive.today/Zfwez
A large NY City theater according to a news report had 12 attendees at one performance.
Lets remember melani is a working girl to whom I give much credit. She got herself and her family over here, she is good at the game. She has 5 ? houses none of which are too shabby. She is exactly where she planned to be. Truth be told, I wanted one of those "I don't give a shit" coats .
Yeah, not bad for two contractual conjugal visits a year.
I really want that coat Mamdani's wife wore to his swearing in...
oh yeah, and peace on earth
To all the lawyers here, once the cases being brought against the journalists are dismissed, is there legal recourse to obtain monetary damages from the government? Regarding DOJ release of Epstein files saga, they must realize that they look like clowns with their credentials not even worthy of a “matchbook cover law degree”
The quick answer on whether Lemon and Fort can sue the government is yes, although such cases against the federal government are notoriously complex due to sovereign immunity and qualified immunity defenses. Doesn't mean they can't sue under 42 USC § 1983 which allows individuals to sue government officials acting "under the color of law" who deprived them of constitutional rights, such as First Amendment rights (freedom of the press) and Fourth Amendment rights (protection against unreasonable seizure). There is also the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) which allows lawsuits for specific intentional torts (civil wrongs) committed by federal law enforcement officers, including false arrest and imprisonment.
Meanwhile, Lindsay Graham held up the budget bill, demanding an amendment to uniquely and without any basis or precedent allow the 7 Jan 6 phone subpoena senators to sue the government for $500,000 each. Even the MAGA Mike House blocked that their bill. Thune has promised Graham to bring it up again, expanded from senators to anyone objecting to Smith's investigation and also one to criminalize the actions of state and local officials who do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement operations.
Maybe Senators Kelly and Slotkin should put in an amendment to sue the government for $1 million for defamation of character via tweets. It would apply to any Senator whose character and reputation is hurt by the administration’s tweets and amplified on Fox. $1 million for each occurrence.
Add posts to Truth Social in addition to Tweets. It should also extend to anyone slandered by the President, Vice President and any Cabinet Official.
Thank you.
The is Epstein scandal reminds me of Watergate. President Nixon tried to bury the enquiry with a ton of transcripts released in a high-profile manner. Did not work. Poll-dancers are showing the Harangutan is approaching President Nixon's levels in the run-up to being run out of town. The rub here, we do not have a good man ready to step into presidency.
Or a good woman to step into the presidency??
Thinking of Shady J.D.
‘No good man’ to step into the presidency?
ANY-one wd be better than the current *$&#@* — or the threatened (JV).
— people need to get over this ‘perfect being the enemy of the good’ thing.
I think J.D. Vance will be worse. I would rather see Trump castrated in office and drag down the M.A.G.A.s so they are crushed in 2028. Or, I fear, there will be a civil war.
Thanks to Democratic State Senator Mike Tipping, Maine now has stronger Anti SLAPP legislation.
Lawsuits meant to target reporters, silence dissent may face greater scrutiny in Maine - Maine Beacon
https://mainebeacon.com/lawsuits-meant-to-target-reporters-silence-dissent-may-face-greater-scrutiny-in-maine/
Legislature advances proposal for broader anti-SLAPP law • Maine Morning Star
“The most important thing to me is that we recognize that there has been this weaponization of our legal system,” Tipping told Maine Morning Star ahead of the vote. “Wealthy corporations and individuals can shut down speech through these kinds of lawsuits far too easily, and when that’s happening, we really don’t have that First Amendment right that we’re all supposed to be guaranteed.”
The current anti-SLAPP landscape
Maine already has a version of an anti-SLAPP law, but it only protects people from SLAPP suits involving government proceedings — for example, testimony during a hearing. This leaves out protections in other public forums, such as comments published on news sites or social media, like the situation in Bangor, Tipping said.
Tipping’s proposal would broaden the law to apply to any action against someone exercising their First Amendment rights on matters of public concern.
.https://mainemorningstar.com/2024/01/24/legislature-advances-proposal-for-broader-anti-slapp-law/.
Well, as a Maine resident, this post is truly profoundly helpful, following the links deepens my knowledge, awareness, of slapp considerations, also I’m learning of a publication not on my radar! Thank you all…
Trump is one of the stupidest jackasses walking around on this planet. They actually think this will intimidate -- not just Don Lemon, but reporters and journalists everywhere. I can imagine NOTHING that would galvanize reporters more, nothing that would awaken their consciences to make them fight this bastard and his vicious wormtongues with one voice.
This will blow up in their faces. Am so looking forward to the moment that Hindenburg-MAGA blimp goes ka-boom. You won't find me going "oh, the humanity" when it does.
Absolutely! He & they are not reading the room … they have poked the bear, it is scared but madder than scared & any further antagonizing will be met with equal or greater resistance. People are now AWARE of what’s at stake … guess we cd say ‘woke’ even!
And yes, seeing their extreme duplicitousness & meanness, I feel not an OUNCE of pity for their well-deserved comeuppance on its way.
* Nice to see Tillis in good form mouthing off against the regime.
The regime thinks the racist trope will still play. It's wearing thin. "I killed some white people and that didn't work so I'll arrest some black people." The overreach. The overreach.
From Springsteen’s great song, The Streets of Minneapolis:
“If your skin is black or brown, my friend
You can be questioned or deported on sight”
“It's our blood and bones
And these whistles and phones
Against Miller and Noem's dirty lies”
It is time to start wearing whistles. Pass them out at churches and other places.
https://genius.com/Bruce-springsteen-streets-of-minneapolis-lyrics
I hope someone is keeping track of these hundreds of (or maybe thousands) lawless activities that is being thrust upon citizens, the rule of law and democracy. I would imagine somewhere along the line that information will be useful. I still believe dumpy will pardon everyone in his regime when he finally leaves (which isn’t soon enough for any of us.)
Regarding FULTON COUNTY — this is what Trump wanted to do after the 2020 elections: seize the ballot boxes. If he can do it once, he WILL DO IT AGAIN … AND OFTEN.
Yes he will . This will give Dictator Trump all the info he needs to know what polling stations to send ICE and other troops to in November to curtail the vote. There needs to be a massive initiative to ensure that Trump's favourite targets - people of colour and every immigrant, regardless of status- vote by mail. Wealthy Americans need to put such an effort in place. They could also fund an election help line in every state that people can call for help to cast their vote.
Democrats need to get a law passed that prevents ICE, border control, national guards, the military, local police from being present at polling stations. For the first time, Democrats could encourage foreign leaders to send election watchers to select polling stations.
Desperate times call for desperate actions. More ideas to secure free and fair elections are needed. Thinking caps on everyone. What can you do in your community? The future of America is depending on us. It's time to organize a free and fair election strategy today.