This is overdue; sorry. I’ve been preoccupied with my own stuff but y’all deserve a place to talk about it.

[Guest post by Aaron Worthing; if you have tips, please send them here.  Or by Twitter @AaronWorthing.]

You can read the (very long) opinion here, but here is the headline.  It was a 2-1 decision.  The mandate was found unconstitutional, but also it was found to be severable, unlike the opinion below that decided that without the mandate the entire thing might never have been passed.

There are several interesting things to note here.  First, you might remember from before we noted that there were two Clinton appointees on the panel and one nominated by the elder Bush.  I also wrote at the time:

[David Freddoso] also notes that “Marcus was appointed to the district court by President Reagan before being bumped up by Clinton.”  So he might be more of a centrist.

In fact the dissent was written by Marcus, so he would be termed the “loony liberal” (note: I am joking) of the panel, all of which serves as an object lesson in how you should never allow yourself to think a certain outcome is a foregone conclusion dictated by who happens to nominate the judge.  People are simply not that controllable or predictable, especially when they have a lifetime appointment.

It also torpedoes the left’s claim that only republican nominees have had a problem with the mandate.  Sweet.

As for the reasoning itself, we have been over this ground many times.  I think what is interesting about it is that they are less interested in activity/inactivity, so much as finding a limit to the asserted power.  There is one particularly devastating part where they demonstrate that even Congress doesn’t seem to think it has this power, given that they don’t require people in flood plains to buy flood insurance.  After all, these people are regularly bailed out by the Federal Government, so it seems natural to ask them to get insurance; and yet the Federal Government does not.  Part of me smiled at that innovative argument.  And part of me thought, “don’t give them ideas.”

The opinion also contains a fairly comprehensive discussion of what the hell is actually in Obamacare, if you didn’t feel like reading all 975 pages of the actual statute.

[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing.]

Part 1 here. Part 2 here.

The following is given in chronological order. It is material sent to me from the person behind the JohnReid9 Twitter account. As with my previous document dumps, I make absolutely no representation that any of this material is genuine. There are two possibilities: 1) it is genuine, or 2) it is not. Either way, the alleged DMs are more information relevant to the controversy over the identity and motivations of Reid, Patriot, and other shadowy Internet figures. Either way, they are newsworthy — at least to those who still care about this controversy. (If you’re wondering why you should still care, I explain here.)

The Cliff’s Notes version: there are alleged DMs from Weiner to Nikki talking about how he is a superhero in cape and tights, and how that will be his and Nikki’s secret, and so forth. There are alleged DMs from Gennette to Nikki saying she flirted with Weiner (which Gennette admits having sent, although she says she did not actually flirt with Weiner; she was baiting Nikki, she says, whom she knew to be a troll). There are alleged DMs from Gennette to Nikki saying Weiner flirted with her, which Gennette denies having sent.

I vouch for absolutely nothing. Anyone who suggests differently is a liar.

If they’re not real, someone went to extraordinary lengths to construct them, add timestamps, and the like. To illustrate this, I will try to intersperse occasional screenshots of the more interesting DMs.

Gennette Cordova has already confirmed the authenticity of some of these DMs, and denied that of certain others. Let me be specific about that.

On June 23, I published this screenshot, which includes three of the messages that appear in this document dump:

I specifically asked Gennette Cordova if she had written those, and she confirmed that she had:

[Y]es, I did. It was a week and a half in, I knew why this person was engaging me but they hadn’t brought him up yet.
So I got the ball rolling.

In comments at my site, Gennette explained that she had not actually said these things to Weiner, but told Nikki that she had, because “I knew they were fake and I was trying to get it out of them that they were interested in him.” (Assuming this explanation is genuine, Gennette was prescient, as the New York Times later revealed that identification documents provided by the Reids to Tommy Christopher were fraudulent.)

When you look at the screenshot, you have to read from bottom to top — meaning the top one is the last one. In the thread where Gennette confirmed the accuracy of this screenshot, Aaron asked her:

Okay, here’s my next question. the first DM ends by saying “And Rep. Weiner said” and then it cuts off.

What came after that?

What did he say?

Although Gennette appeared several times in that thread subsequent to Aaron’s question, she did not answer Aaron’s question in that thread. (Last night she answered the question to me. We’re getting there.)

I received an e-mail threat that night from “Alicia Pain” threatening my family if I looked into the activities of Gennette and Weiner any further. Here is a partial quote:

You need to stop digging into Genette Cordova and Rep. AW. I cannot insure your safety if you continue.
Do not trust anyone.

Please think about your family. This story is not worth it. I can assure you that.

The next day, John Reid forwarded me the above three DMs, as well as the one that, according to what he sent me, would have been next in line. Remember, Gennette agrees she said: “Lol. 1 time I told him that I’d been pretty obsessed with him since I saw him address the house once and Rep Weiner said . . .” Here is what Reid claimed came next:

“obsessed? how big an obsession?” And I said, “Big.” And he said, “That’s not the only thing that’s big.” Ah I LOVE this man!
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 18, 1:14 AM.

I asked Gennette by e-mail on June 25 if that DM was genuine. She said it was a fake, and that Reid should have DMs from her saying Weiner never flirted with her. Last night, I asked her what she told Nikki that Weiner had said. In other words, what came after “Lol. 1 time I told him that I’d been pretty obsessed with him since I saw him address the house once and Rep Weiner said . . .”? What did she tell Nikki that Weiner had said in response? The answer: “obsessed with good government, I’m sure.”

On June 25, Gennette also denied the veracity of this DM:

Rep Weiner is hot. The funny thing is that when he first followed me I totally flirted with him & he flirted right back! It was hot.
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 18, 12:58 AM.

Finally, in the monster thread I included a screenshot of another DM:

When he stopped flirting back I admit it was a let down. Lol
Direct message sent by GNC (@GennetteNicole) to you (@starchild111) on May 17, 8:39 PM.

Gennette e-mailed me to deny that one as well. The next day (three days ago), John Reid e-mailed me for the first time in weeks. In response to my statement that I planned to prove he is Dan Wolfe, Reid replied that my doing so would convince people that the DMs he gave me were fake. He claimed, as an alleged Weiner supporter, that he was happy about that, saying things like:

Weiner did nothing wrong with underaged girls and shouldn’t be the target. If you really cared about truth you wouldn’t have written such horrible lies about him and Gennette.

He also said:

No. You did exactly what we wanted. We knew you would tie us to Dan like other people and it’s perfect. Gennette can do a victory dance and so can Weiner.

We wanted everything ever published discredited and you helped. Not trying to scare you. Just saying what you’ve done. You’ve helped.

No one thinks we have credibility and no one ever will. All of your stuff is tainted forever. Anything relating to Gennette and Weiner included.

No one will ever believe a word.

This may have been a clumsy attempt at reverse psychology — an attempt to keep me from connecting John Reid to Dan Wolfe by claiming that doing so would discredit my posts, and acting pleased by the prospect. But we’ll leave the theorizing for another day. Suffice it to say that I vouch for absolutely nothing a puppet says. Whether he says he is telling the truth or whether he says he is lying, a puppet’s motives must always be scrutinized.

Always.

I will publish that entire e-mail chain in the near future.

Complete document dump follows. Here we go:

(more…)

[Posted by Karl]

As usual, you are positively encouraged to engage in sockpuppetry in this thread. The usual rules apply.

Please, be sure to switch back to your regular handle when commenting on other threads. I have made that mistake myself.

And remember: the worst sin you can commit on this thread is not being funny.

—–

For Friday’s Frivolity, there are always the GOP debate and upcoming straw poll at my old stomping grounds in Ames, Iowa.  Pawlenty and Bachmann sniped at each other to Romney’s benefit (and to Pawlenty’s detriment, since that performance wont attract good press or big donors).  However, Romney’s answers on RomneyCare still stink, leaving an opening for someone like TX Gov. Rick Perry, who is expected to announce his candidacy on Saturday.   I almost hope Rep. Ron Paul wins the straw poll, if only to give that long-time media mirage a downgrade.

Alternatively, y’all can goof on the world’s first artificial sphincters.  You may even find a connection between the two stories.

–Karl