We can't prove who invented the fire hydrant because the documentation for the patent was destroyed - in a fire.
Sep 9, 2023
Slippage
Seems like all the hangers-on are still trying to play it on the straight with Trump - even after he's demonstrated consistently that he has no intention of repaying their loyalty - because they're absolutely sure they've sold him on the idea that they need to stick together (?)
And it doesn't matter if his reciprocation makes his own position better or worse. It's just a matter of whatever fucked up notion he has in his head at any given time.
There's something wrong with these people. They all act like rubes.
Sep 8, 2023
Justice Limited
- 'Bout fuckin' time we started hearing about Mike Flynn and Boris Epshteyn
- There are 20 others who had a hand in this fucked up mess, but they'll walk because "insufficient evidence"
- Lindsey Graham is a smarmy little prick
I guess we just take what we can get.
Georgia Panel Recommended Charging Lindsey Graham in Trump Case
A special grand jury made the recommendation last year after hearing from dozens of witnesses on whether Donald J. Trump and his allies interfered in the 2020 election.
A special grand jury that investigated election interference allegations in Georgia recommended indicting a number of Trump allies who were not charged, including Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the former senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, and Michael Flynn, a former national security adviser.
In its final report, which a judge unsealed on Friday, the panel also recommended charges against Boris Epshteyn, one of former President Donald J. Trump’s main lawyers, as well as a number of other Trump-aligned lawyers, including Cleta Mitchell and Lin Wood.
Mr. Trump and 18 allies were charged in a racketeering indictment that was handed up last month by a regular grand jury in Fulton County, Ga.
The special grand jury, which Fulton County prosecutors convened to help with the investigation, met at an Atlanta courthouse from June to December of last year. It spent much of that time hearing testimony from 75 witnesses on the question of whether Mr. Trump or any of his allies had sought to illegally overturn his 2020 election loss in the state.
Under Georgia law, the panel could not issue indictments itself. In the Trump case, that task fell to a regular grand jury that was seated over the summer. The regular grand jury heard evidence from prosecutors for one day in early August before voting to indict all 19 defendants whom prosecutors had sought to charge.
The special grand jury’s mandate was to write a report with recommendations on whether indictments were warranted in the investigation, which was led by Fani T. Willis, the Fulton County district attorney. Ms. Willis asked to convene a special grand jury because such panels have subpoena powers, and she was concerned that some witnesses would not cooperate without being subpoenaed.
Portions of the report were publicly released in February, but those excerpts did not indicate who had been recommended for indictment, or on what charges. The release of the full nine-page report this week was ordered by Judge Robert C.I. McBurney of Fulton County Superior Court.
Mr. Epshteyn declined on Friday to comment about the report. Others whom the advisory panel recommended for indictment did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
After the special grand jury recommended indictments of about 40 people, the district attorney had to weigh which prosecutions would be the most likely to succeed in court. A potential case against Mr. Graham, for example, would have been hampered by the fact that there were conflicting accounts of telephone calls he made to a top Georgia official. Mr. Graham has repeatedly said that he did nothing wrong.
Fulton County prosecutors indicated in court filings last year that they were interested in those calls by Mr. Graham, a onetime critic of Mr. Trump who became a staunch supporter. They were made shortly after the November 2020 election to Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state.
Mr. Raffensperger has said that in those calls, Mr. Graham suggested the rejection of all mail-in votes from Georgia counties with high rates of questionable signatures, a step that would have excluded many more Democratic votes than Republican ones. But the phone calls are not known to have been recorded, and recollections differ about exactly what was said — factors that probably figured in the decision not to charge Mr. Graham.
In a filing seeking Mr. Graham’s testimony, prosecutors said that he “questioned Secretary Raffensperger and his staff about re-examining certain absentee ballots cast in Georgia in order to explore the possibility of a more favorable outcome for former President Donald Trump,” and “made reference to allegations of widespread voter fraud” during those calls.
Mr. Graham has characterized as “ridiculous” the idea that he had suggested to Mr. Raffensperger that he throw out legally cast votes, and the senator’s lawyers have argued that he was carrying out a legitimate investigative function as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In a bid to avoid testifying before the special grand jury last year, Mr. Graham waged a legal battle that made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Ultimately, he was forced to testify.
Afterward, he said that he had spent two hours giving testimony behind closed doors, where he said he “answered all questions.”
Mr. Graham has been critical of prosecutors in the Georgia case and the three other criminal cases against Mr. Trump, characterizing them as liberals who were “weaponizing the law” to unfairly target the former president.
After the Georgia indictment, Mr. Graham told reporters in South Carolina that he was not cooperating with the Fulton County prosecutors, dismissing the idea as “crazy stuff.”
“I went, had my time, and I haven’t heard from them since,” he said.
Sep 7, 2023
Making A Move
Sets $5 million goal for focus on issues including climate, guns and poverty
A pediatrician from South Carolina is forming a new political organization focused on children’s issues.
The group, “Their Future, Our Vote,” will advocate for measures that address climate change, gun violence, childhood poverty and voting rights, among other issues. An affiliated political action committee, “Their Future PAC,” aims to raise between $5 million and $10 million to support candidates who back its agenda.
Dr. Annie Andrews, a Democrat who made an unsuccessful run for Congress last year, said she launched the effort because children are often ignored by policy makers.
“I ran for Congress to bring children’s voices to Washington, and although I did not win, over the course of the campaign it became crystal clear to me that there is a huge gap in the national political landscape and that is that children continue to not be represented,’’ said Andrews, who lost to Republican Rep. Nancy Mace in South Carolina’s 1st District.
While many groups advocate for the individual issues cited by Andrews, the new PAC aims to bring a holistic approach.
“The individual issue advocacy organizations and PACs are doing incredibly important work and our goal is not to replicate that,’’ she said in an interview. “Our goal is to reframe those conversations and unify those issues from the perspective of kids.”
Andrews said her advocacy was shaped by her work at a children’s hospital in Charleston.
“I grew increasingly frustrated at all of the policy failures that impacted the lives of the patients I was caring for,” she said, citing “kids with mental health problems who couldn’t access mental health resources, kids who are hungry, kids who can’t access the internet in their homes so [they] can’t keep up on their school work and all of the children I have cared for over [a] 10-year period who have been shot.”
“I knew I needed to do more than care for patients individually at the bedside, as gratifying as that work truly is,’’ she said.
Andrews’ goal is to make independent expenditures in at least 3 races during the 2024 election cycle. Although the PAC is non-partisan, it would not back any candidate who does not support stronger gun safety laws. It also won’t fund candidates who receive contributions from oil and gas interests or call for the elimination of the U.S. Department of Education.
The new campaign has received support from Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, and gun violence prevention advocate Fred Guttenberg.
Andrews said she is encouraged by a new generation of youth activists who are using their voices to speak out on climate change and gun violence, among other issues.
“It’s heartening to see these youth-led movements, but I firmly believe we should not put it on the shoulders of our nation’s youth to fight for their safety and a brighter future,’’ she said. “Although they are incredibly impactful, we adults need to do the heavy lifting. We need to work on strengthening our democracy so we can pass down a healthy democracy for our children and grandchildren. We need to work to take urgent action on climate change so we can pass on a healthy planet and we need to fight for common sense gun laws so our children aren’t sitting in their classrooms wondering if they’re going to be shot today.”
Today's Keith
Smith is keeping it as simple as possible - because the rubes are stupid and can't handle anything more complex than the Kid's Menu at Denny's.
Selling Us Out
There's no good reason the problems with Social Security and Medicare can't be fixed.
Yay Elmo 🤨
If you remember, he paid $44B for a company valued at about $20B, and since then, the valuation has dropped by as much as $15B according to some, while others are (IMO) a little over-anxious to boost the company, thinking (again, IMO) it might be ripe for a big comeback.
NOTE: Fidelity helped put Elmo's financing together so he could buy the thing last fall.
Gee, I wonder if that has anything to do with their decision to pimp it up a little.
But the main problem being reported is that ad revenues continue to lag badly - because companies want to avoid the potential for brand damage due to their names appearing next to some seriously slimy posts on a platform becoming quite well-known for slime, and dis-infobots, and racism, and Nazis, and hosts of other monsters of the id.
Case in point:
We can't continue with an overarching policy of Profit Over Principle, and expect a nice happy ending. It's never worked out like that. Ever.
- People, then Policy
- Labor, then Capital
- Principle, then Profit
Call it a Business School version of Popper's Paradox: Allowing an anything-goes fully-laissez-faire management philosophy because "Profit Is King" can lead to the extinction of profit.
I think maybe Elmo is illustrating that for us now.
Sep 6, 2023
Today's Wingnut
Daddy State Awareness Guide
Rule 1:
Every accusation is a confession.
Rule 3:
Every prediction of some dire consequence is a veiled threat.
Whatever terrible thing they're "warning" us about is something they intend to make happen - usually in an attempt to coerce us into doing something they want.
When Huckabee "warns" us about what Biden is doing, he's telling us what Republicans will do if returned to power.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)