Weekend Open Thread
[guest post by Dana]
Let’s go!
First news item
Oberlin College initiates payment in full, but offers no apology:
After a legal battle spanning several years, Oberlin College has finally agreed to pay $36.59 million in damages to a local bakery for falsely accusing the business owners of racism…Oberlin had repeatedly appealed a lower court ruling which found that the college, in 2016, defamed Gibson’s Bakery after a shoplifting incident involving three black students…”We are disappointed by the Court’s decision. However, this does not diminish our respect for the law and the integrity of our legal system. This matter has been painful for everyone. We hope that the end of the litigation will begin the healing of our entire community,” Oberlin said Thursday in a press release.
Oberlin added that it “has initiated payment in full,” representing the total damages awarded and interest, and that “is awaiting payment information from the plaintiffs.”
Second news item
Yet another investigation concerning Trump and friends moneymaking schemes:
A federal grand jury investigating the activities leading up the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and the push by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the result of the 2020 election has expanded its probe to include seeking information about Trump’s leadership PAC, Save America, sources with direct knowledge tell ABC News…The interest in the fundraising arm came to light as part of grand jury subpoenas seeking documents, records and testimony from potential witnesses, the sources said…The subpoenas, sent to several individuals in recent weeks, are specifically seeking to understand the timeline of Save America’s formation, the organization’s fundraising activities, and how money is both received and spent by the Trump-aligned PAC.
Third news item
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon was charged Thursday in New York with defrauding donors who were giving money to build a wall at the southern U.S. border.
Bannon, 68, was indicted on charges including money laundering, scheming to defraud, and conspiracy in what prosecutors described as a yearlong scheme. He pleaded not guilty in a brief arraignment before acting Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan and agreed to surrender his passports as a condition of his bail. Supreme Court is the name of New York’s principal criminal court.
Fourth news item
The investigation is apparently still ongoing:
Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch said Thursday that he hopes the investigation into the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization draft opinion leak will be completed soon.
[…]
“The chief justice appointed an internal committee to oversee the investigation,” Gorsuch said. “That committee has been busy, and we’re looking forward to their report, I hope, soon.”
Fifth news item
Disturbing news from Alabama:
Several pregnant women in Alabama have been held in jail for months after being accused of using drugs during their pregnancies.
Ashley Banks, 23, was arrested on 25 May with a small amount of cannabis and an unregistered firearm. She admitted to having smoked marijuana two days earlier, the same day that she found out that she was pregnant.
In Etowah County, this meant that she was unable to post bail and leave until it was time for her trial. She wouldn’t be able to leave the jail unless she went to drug rehab, meaning she was left in a position of limbo for three months, al.com reported.
Multiple women facing allegations of having used drugs while pregnant have spent weeks or months in the Etowah County Detention Center. The specific bond conditions the women face include rehab and a $10,000 payment.
Sixth news item
Homeless camps blocking sidewalk access, lawsuit filed:
People with disabilities in Portland, Oregon, have sued the city, saying they can’t navigate its sidewalks because of sprawling homeless encampments.
The federal class action lawsuit says the city has violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by allowing homeless people’s tents to block city sidewalks, making it difficult for people using wheelchairs, walkers or canes to use them.
“The entire class of persons with disabilities are regularly deprived of the benefits of services of the city of Portland,” said John DiLorenzo, lead counsel for the plaintiffs.
[…]
The class action suit seeks to require the city to clear all sidewalks of tent encampments and debris, and to “construct, purchase, or otherwise provide for emergency shelters in which to house the unsheltered persons” who may be affected.
Seventh news item
Lawsuit challenges Florida’s Stop WOKE Act:
To protect free speech, the government must censor. That’s the absurd argument put forth by Florida lawmakers in the controversial “Stop WOKE Act.”
The law suppresses viewpoints disfavored by Florida lawmakers, threatens tens of millions of dollars in annual funding for universities that don’t crack down on faculty who “promote” an opinion on a government blacklist, and encourages people to report other Americans to government authorities if they “advance” those views — all in the name of “individual freedom.”
Today, a professor and student group from the University of South Florida sued to protect professors’ ability to teach and students’ ability to learn. The lawsuit, filed by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, alleges that the higher education provisions of Florida’s “Individual Freedom” law (dubbed the “Stop WOKE Act” by its proponents), impermissibly chill free expression and promote unconstitutional censorship on the state’s college campuses.
“Without the freedom to engage in vigorous and robust debate about important issues and contentious concepts, a college education is just an exercise in memorizing facts and repeating government-approved viewpoints,” said FIRE attorney Adam Steinbaugh. “That’s not freedom or education.”
Eighth news item
Paging President Biden! Mayor Bowser is correct: the crisis at the border is getting worse:
Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser declared the busing of migrants to the nation’s capital a public emergency Thursday as over 9,000 asylum-seekers have arrived in the district since April.
The declaration authorizes Bowser to establish an Office of Migrant Services, which will provide support and services to migrants being sent to Washington DC from Texas and Arizona.
The district will initially allocate $10 million for the creation of the new office and will seek reimbursement from the federal government, according to the announcement.
“This is what we know. The crisis at the border is not lessening. It’s getting worse,” Bowser said at a press conference, adding that she expects “hundreds of more buses” to arrive in the fall.
Ninth news item
Near-total abortion ban rejected in South Carolina:
South Carolina senators rejected a ban on almost all abortions Thursday in a special session called in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade after five Republicans, including all the chamber’s women, refused to support it.
The 30 Republicans in the 46-member chamber had a majority to pass the ban, but did not have the extra votes to end a threatened filibuster by Republican Sen. Tom Davis.
[…]
Senators did pass a few changes to the six-week ban, including cutting the time that victims of rape and incest who become pregnant can seek an abortion from 20 weeks to about 12 weeks and requiring that DNA from the aborted fetus be collected for police. The bill goes back to the House, which passed a ban with exceptions for rape or incest.
Tenth news item
Ah:
Ohio Democratic Senate nominee Tim Ryan has insisted that President Biden should not run for the White House in 2024, saying it is time for a “generational move” for both parties amid a “poisonous” political atmosphere in America.
Ryan’s remarks, which were made during a Thursday evening interview with Youngstown’s WFMJ-TV, one day before he is slated to appear alongside Biden during his visit to the state to tour a new semiconductor manufacturing facility from Intel near Columbus.
“My hunch is that we need new leadership across the board, Democrats, Republicans,” Ryan said when asked whether Biden should seek re-election. “I think it’s time for a generational move for new leaders on both sides. I think the environment politically across the country is poisonous and, you know, people, I think, want some change and I think it’s important for us in both parties…”
MISCELLANEOUS
Brilliant:
The evening is worth it for this image alone: @Goopsik’s portrait of @ZelenskyyUa on the wall of the Russian ambassador’s residence with the Russians desperately trying—and failing—to blot it out with a fascist symbol. pic.twitter.com/k0kDUuOVsb
— Benjamin Wittes (@benjaminwittes) September 9, 2022
Have a great weekend.
–Dana
Hello!
Dana (1225fc) — 9/9/2022 @ 9:32 amShe wouldn’t be able to leave the jail unless she went to drug rehab
I don’t favor forcing anyone into “drug rehab.” It’s a waste of money and takes a bed in the rehab away from those who might want to be there. Recovery from addiction requires willingness at minimum and probably requires a strong desire to change.
Since long-term recovery requires long-term action by the individual — rehab is only a starting point — it is ludicrous to expect a forced rehab to accomplish anything except 1) provide employment to rehab workers, and 2) allow the system to demonstrate they are “doing something.”
The question of whether drug use by expectant mothers should be criminalized is a separate matter.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/9/2022 @ 9:43 amTo protect free speech, the government must censor. That’s the absurd argument put forth by Florida lawmakers in the controversial “Stop WOKE Act.”
The government is not “censoring” as the speech is the government’s in the first place. All the act does is restrict what government employees may teach on government time in government schools. It has been repeatedly decided that employees’ speech is subject to regulation by their employer while they are on the job.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/9/2022 @ 9:47 amThe federal class action lawsuit says the city has violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by allowing homeless people’s tents to block city sidewalks, making it difficult for people using wheelchairs, walkers or canes to use them.
This should be interesting. If successful, it won’t end with Portland.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/9/2022 @ 9:51 amSouth Carolina senators rejected a ban on almost all abortions Thursday in a special session called in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade after five Republicans, including all the chamber’s women, refused to support it.
Good. This is the right direction. By the time November 2024 rolls around, there will be no state with a ban on 1st-trimester abortions, and there will be pressure for a federal law akin to those in Europe.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/9/2022 @ 9:54 am“My hunch is that we need new leadership across the board, Democrats, Republicans,”
Indeed. THe GOP may have Trump, but the Democrats have a collective Trump.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/9/2022 @ 9:55 amThe Ukrainians have made a substantial gain — and appear to have taken Putin’s people by surprise.
According to the article, the Ukrainians may — I repeat, may — be on the verge of surrounding thousands of Russian soldiers.
The fall mud season, which is likely to begin by the end of this month, will slow movement down, so now is the time for counter-offensives. (After the ground freezes, probably by the middle of November, movement will be easier, but the cold will cause other problems.)
Jim Miller (85fd03) — 9/9/2022 @ 10:02 am4,
I agree that if the Portland lawsuit is successful, other cities across America will face them as well. Unfortunately, the answer to the overwhelming problem still eludes officials being pushed by competing entities: homeless advocates, local activists, private businesses, and residents.
Recently, a New Jersey township chopped down all of the mature shade trees in their city square to prevent homeless people from congregating under their shade. We’ve also seen cities insert concrete pylons throughout green spaces to prevent homeless camps from sprouting up. Residents are outraged by a seeming lack of movement by city officials to solve the problem. But how to solve this ever-increasing problem is a question most mayors continue to grapple with.
Dana (1225fc) — 9/9/2022 @ 10:08 amKevinM-
I responded to your question on Tory voting patterns here.
Rip Murdock (9f3047) — 9/9/2022 @ 10:21 amDana nailed it – the outrage, the hopelessness, the slow response….
EPWJ (650a62) — 9/9/2022 @ 10:31 amThose who want more technical detail on the war in the Ukraine can find it at the Insitute for the Study of War. Here, for example, is their September 8th report.
Sample:
(Almost anyone who has read a little military history will be amazed at how openly these operations are being discussed, even in Russia. And commercial satellites are giving unprecedented, open-source views.)
Jim Miller (85fd03) — 9/9/2022 @ 10:32 amTrump loses bigly again:
Rip Murdock (9f3047) — 9/9/2022 @ 11:03 amFuneral Joe; Irish Catholic Squinty confirms he will attend state funeral for Protestant Christian Queen Elizabeth II. No looking at your watch; no breaking wind for Camilla, windbag.
DCSCA (661174) — 9/9/2022 @ 11:14 amRussian Media Watch:
Rip Murdock (9f3047) — 9/9/2022 @ 12:31 pmGood. This is the right direction. By the time November 2024 rolls around, there will be no state with a ban on 1st-trimester abortions, and there will be pressure for a federal law akin to those in Europe.
The South Carolina law that was passed has a six-week limit. Indiana passed a law that forbids elective abortions at any stage. We could go through a few other states, too. Are you predicting that those laws will be repealed? Are you expecting Democrats to win control of those legislative chambers?
mikeybates (85f02a) — 9/9/2022 @ 1:27 pmRip Murdock (9f3047) — 9/9/2022 @ 12:31 pm
i don’t think media misdirection is specifically a russian problem
recession, inflation, gas prices, border chaos, demented chief exec — no, What’s trump up to today?
JF (ca20d8) — 9/9/2022 @ 2:10 pmI think Kevin is projecting….there are some very conservative states where a ban may prevail. I think he’s correct with purple swing states that they will probably settle back to a 12-16wk period where it’s allowed. Indiana and SC are pretty conservative….both might fall below his 12wk mark
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 9/9/2022 @ 2:10 pmI saw an article about China and Covid that had one or two very interesting paragraphs:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/19/business/china-covid-tourists-hainan-lockdown.html
Nobody else blames it on fish.
That must be part of the cover-up – they “worry” about it to lend credibility to the theory that Covid originated at the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market. They are not even consistent. They’ve blamed frozen fish; they’ve said, and published a paper with data from 2017 that said there were some stalls live animals in the market, with pictures; they’ve admitted it didn’t really originate were. But they still lend support to all propaganda.
That NYT article links to this earlier story about live fish: https://m.weibo.cn/status/4803459705210804#&video (in Chinese)
The other interesting thing I noticed in that mid-August NYT article was this:
Xinjiang (Sinkiang) is, of course where the Uyghurs are arrested and are kept under surveillance. But here, in this article (and in parts of Cina) it’s known as a tourist destination,
I suspect monitoring the close contacts of those close contacts may have something to do with the Uyghurs – that is, they are not foing that in some other places were they have had Covid lockdowns..
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 9/9/2022 @ 2:27 pmLosing.
Rip Murdock (9f3047) — 9/9/2022 @ 2:29 pmThe DoJ objected to including documents marked classified in the review of the special master. They said they are ipso facto surely government records and tat there are only 100 or so f them – and claimed, for reasons I do not understand, except that this might be bureaucratic nonsense, that it would delay a security review.
Well, they probably shouldn’t get a review. There is almost no shot Iran or Russia or China saw any of that, and considering sources to be compromised would only cut the US off from information — also maybe give them an excuse to attribute hostile government knowledge of what the US knows to the wrong source.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 9/9/2022 @ 2:33 pmThe less expert professional fentanyl makers and smugglers make imitation 30 mg oxycodone pills and smuggle them into the United States with fruits and vegetables. (dogs I guess are not trained to detect that, or the trucks carrying fruits and vegetables are not searched)
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 9/9/2022 @ 2:37 pmBannon has been indicted for the same “give me money to build the wall” fraud that Trump pardoned him for.
Normally double jeopardy prevents New York from prosecuting someone for the same thing that the federal government did (the reverse is not true) but Bannon was pardoned before trial.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 9/9/2022 @ 2:39 pmThe Dobbs leak investigation is not being doe by the FBI, it seems.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 9/9/2022 @ 2:40 pmTrump seems to have told his lawyers to sue whereever they can He likes being in court.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 9/9/2022 @ 2:42 pmFrom a previous thread:
Yes-the point is that Sunak et. al. may be rich enough to be Tories, but he (and other politicians from immigrant backgrounds) will never fit in political parties that are more than 95% “white British”. Britain itself is 87% white (compared 57.8% in the US). They will always be outsiders.
It has nothing to do with gender.
Rip Murdock (9f3047) — 9/9/2022 @ 10:13 am
Truss was always the favorite not because she is a woman but because Sunak isn’t “white British” in a party that’s 96% and a country that is 87% WB.
Rip Murdock (9f3047) — 9/9/2022 @ 2:42 pmKathy Hochul is complete nonentity, following instructions, still following instructions now that she’s Governor, but can she lose to a Republican???
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 9/9/2022 @ 2:44 pmThe investigation is apparently still ongoing…
Uh-huh.
So is the Korean War.
DCSCA (f14f10) — 9/9/2022 @ 2:55 pmItem 10 from AOC to tim ryan most democrats agree to biden not running again. Item 9 also michigan supreme court rules abortion protection initiative will be on november ballot so women can come out to vote to give the anti-abortion rethugliKKKans a political post natal abortion! Item 5 its the south what do you expect. They still wave confederate flags and give black people minor felony convictions so they can’t vote.
asset (a7d25a) — 9/9/2022 @ 3:10 pmDoes having one frivolous lawsuit tossed this week mean that Trump won’t threaten another? I guess not……..
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/9/2022 @ 3:32 pmYou still think Alito did it?
lurker (cd7cd4) — 9/9/2022 @ 3:37 pm@30. Absolutely.
DCSCA (0614c2) — 9/9/2022 @ 3:39 pm@30. Small clique of be-robed bureaucrats investigating selves, proclaims small group of berobed bureaucrats.
Film at 11.
DCSCA (0614c2) — 9/9/2022 @ 3:43 pmThen I’ll make you a bet. If the investigation finds Alito was the leaker, I’ll sign off, go back to lurking, and never be heard from around here again. If it finds somebody other than Alito did it, you likewise disappear forever. Deal?
lurker (cd7cd4) — 9/9/2022 @ 4:00 pmResidents are outraged by a seeming lack of movement by city officials to solve the problem. But how to solve this ever-increasing problem is a question most mayors continue to grapple with.
Not so long ago, a pro-homeless LA City Councilman refused to post “No RV parking” signs in single-family residential areas in his district, citing some dubious ruling by a dubious judge.
This did not, however, prevent him from posting such signs in a few square blocks around his own residence.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/9/2022 @ 4:21 pmI think Kevin is projecting….there are some very conservative states where a ban may prevail.
Maybe, although if Kansas won’t do it, who will on a secret ballot?
In any event, Congress will intervene so as to put an end to the issue.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/9/2022 @ 4:26 pm@33 Now that’s bold! Here’s my prediction: DCSCA is not confident enough to make the bet.
norcal (da5491) — 9/9/2022 @ 4:27 pmPeople with disabilities in Portland, Oregon, have sued the city, saying they can’t navigate its sidewalks because of sprawling homeless encampments.
An intersectionality woke-off. Pass the popcorn!
norcal (da5491) — 9/9/2022 @ 4:29 pmNot everyone:
Except:
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/9/2022 @ 4:30 pmthe furthest thing they could from the war: the health of Queen Elizabeth II, who died on Thursday afternoon.
“stable”
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/9/2022 @ 4:31 pmThe South Carolina law that was passed has a six-week limit. Indiana passed a law that forbids elective abortions at any stage. We could go through a few other states, too. Are you predicting that those laws will be repealed? Are you expecting Democrats to win control of those legislative chambers?
I am expecting that sufficient numbers of state legislators will lose in swing districts to cause reconsideration. I am expecting that wherever a ban comes onto the ballot by itself, it will lose. Am I predicting that people with bags-of-hammers for brains will see the light? No. But when 70-80% of voters oppose total bans, they will either fall at the state level of Congress will get really very tired of this shn1t.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/9/2022 @ 4:34 pmHopefully by banning abortion entirely in the next Republican Congress, after Biden is defeated.
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/9/2022 @ 4:34 pm*OR Congress will get really very tired of this sh1t.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/9/2022 @ 4:36 pmHopefully by banning abortion entirely in the next Republican Congress, after Biden is defeated.
It is literally insane to think so.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/9/2022 @ 4:37 pmAn intersectionality woke-off. Pass the popcorn!
No contest. People like the disabled.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/9/2022 @ 4:40 pm@35 Polls in deep south over 50% favor choice and with some moderate limitations its over 60% to 70% depending on state.
asset (a7d25a) — 9/9/2022 @ 4:41 pmTwo-thirds of Republicans said they want Trump to run again, and a whopping 61% of them said they still want him to run even if he’s charged with a crime.
This is what a minor party does. Hopefully he will have been convicted of an insurrection-related crime by then, and be disqualified.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/9/2022 @ 4:42 pmIt’s not insane to think so, just an eternal hope. Losing potential family members to abortion is a tragedy for all.
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/9/2022 @ 4:42 pmasset, few anywhere approve the straight-up “Do you favor the right of a minor to have a 3rd-trimester abortion, paid for by the state, with the government helping to hide it all from her parents?”
But that is the current Democrat position, although they won’t admit it.
More favor a total abortion ban, but probably not a majority in any state.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/9/2022 @ 4:45 pmArticle II, Section 1, Clause 5 provides the qualifications for president, it says nothing about disqualification. The 14th Amendment Disqualification Clause applies to “officers of the United States” who are appointed by the President, but he is not one himself (at least according to this analysis).
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/9/2022 @ 4:57 pmSee here for a discussion of who is an “officer of the United States.” It is based on the Appointments Clause of the Constitution (Article II, Section 2, Clause 2).
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/9/2022 @ 5:06 pmSo insane that it was a bedrock position of the Republican Party for decades. Now that they have won a great victory they need to press forward, not retreat, as so many Republican candidates seem to be doing, after loudly proclaiming their opposition to Roe.
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/9/2022 @ 5:25 pmI figure there are more Republican politicians upset at the overturning of Roe v. Wade than there are Democratic politicians. The Republicans lost their bread and butter campaign issue.
The Democrats are in clover. The baby-killers will keep their money-making first trimester elective abortions, which are 92.7% of all abortions, in all except a handful of states, and have a new cause to rally around, where they had indulged in complacency before.
Right, asset?
nk (2eab6f) — 9/9/2022 @ 5:58 pmI am expecting that sufficient numbers of state legislators will lose in swing districts to cause reconsideration. I am expecting that wherever a ban comes onto the ballot by itself, it will lose. Am I predicting that people with bags-of-hammers for brains will see the light? No. But when 70-80% of voters oppose total bans, they will either fall at the state level of Congress will get really very tired of this shn1t.
I guess we’ll see if that prediction comes to pass. In Indiana, for example, Republicans hold large majorities in state legislature, so I’m not sure how many would have to lose for them to repeal this law. And it isn’t a “total ban,” in any case.
The death penalty polls very well, and always wins at the ballot box. But the Democrats repeal it anyway, and it doesn’t slow them down at all. Public opinion only matters so much. And remember too that abortion rates are far lower (40% lower) in Republican states than Democratic states, and far lower among Republican-voting groups than among Democratic-voting groups.
mikeybates (4e558b) — 9/9/2022 @ 5:58 pmRepublican legislators/candidates need to put up or shut up. Opposing Roe was a cost free position in the past, but now they must do what they promised for so many years, to “protect the sanctity of human life,” and not just after 6 weeks.
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/9/2022 @ 6:41 pmA well known foreign policy analyst offers advice to Ukraine.
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/9/2022 @ 6:54 pmAn intersectionality woke-off. Pass the popcorn!
norcal (da5491) — 9/9/2022 @ 4:29 pm
Ha, no kidding. Who wins the Hegelian dialectic to achieve the superior “critical consciousness” in this one–the disabled and their extremely loud and obnoxious activists, or the homeless and their extremely loud and obnoxious activists? Expect lots of “ableism” and “privileged” pejoratives to be thrown back and forth.
Factory Working Orphan (2775f0) — 9/9/2022 @ 7:18 pmI’ll give them Plan B because errare humanum est; rape and incest because I consider it self-defense; and, of course, as a medical decision to preserve the physical health of, and prevent serious injury or death to, the mother. But arbitrary time periods for “elective” abortions just don’t sit right with me.
nk (2eab6f) — 9/9/2022 @ 7:21 pmThe only states that have any shot at passing outright abortion bans are deep red states where Democrats are basically window dressing–just as it is the opposite in deep blue states where unrestricted abortion all the way up until the infant’s feet exit the magic birth canal trip is now the law.
Anywhere that the parties are relatively close, outright bans and unrestricted abortion will be moderated more towards current European laws on the practice.
Factory Working Orphan (2775f0) — 9/9/2022 @ 7:22 pmRe: Fourth news item-Dobbs leak
MAGAWorld have their own theories about who leaked opinion:
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/9/2022 @ 7:30 pmor hold any office, civil or military, under the United States,
Rip, I’ve heard the argument that the President (and likely VP) isn’t technically included in that class, but if you were an originalist, and not a textualist, you would probably conclude that they intended the President to be covered.
That many “Officers of the United States” or even most such officers are appointed by the President does not mean that the President himself is not such an officer. The analysis at Volokh suggests that, while “any officer” (in the disqualification clause) might include the President, the oath-taking clause does not, exactly, as it uses a narrower term “Officer of the United States.”
My take on that is “Nice Try.” People can differ. The questions is whether he can get 5 of 6 to agree. I think not.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/9/2022 @ 7:37 pmSo insane that it was a bedrock position of the Republican Party for decades.
So was balancing the budget.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/9/2022 @ 7:38 pmWhen you have a really divisive issue, one that has ravaged the political scene for 50 years, and you have a compromise that about 70% of the voters will accept, there is no profit in working an extreme.
The only question I have is which party will see that first.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/9/2022 @ 7:41 pmI’ll guess we’ll find out if an attempt is made to disqualify Trump under Section 3.
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/9/2022 @ 7:55 pmSource
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/9/2022 @ 8:09 pmI think the people trying to keep pregnant women sober by many means are being consistent in their pro-life beliefs, but the failures illustrate the intransigent nature of the problem.
On one hand we don’t want anymore crack or meth babies being tortured by drugs during pregnancy but we also don’t want the easy route out,abortion, to be taken.
Sometimes in the human adventure, you chose the least worst option.
steveg (f9c809) — 9/9/2022 @ 9:08 pm@33/@36. Pfft. OFGS, how incredibly naive. What in God’s name makes you think the CJ would ever publicly ‘j’accuse’; point the finger and out another sitting justice on the SCOTUS and thereby damage the institution even further?
Wake up. It’s a small, closed circle of be-robed bureaucrats as it is w/limited access to the paper work in question– and Roberts likely knows already. Hell, Alito’s own pattern of behavior, own writings and subsequent Nathan Jessup neon-sign-crowing at the Vatican all but says, I did it, so give me my ‘you want me on that wall’ credit!
The official “investigation” will end up being officially inconclusive. But internally, the CJ likely knows who ate the strawberries. And once Alito retires, he or the CJ could either claim credit in a memoir reveal [unlikely] or take it to the grave- [most likely.] Look how many decades was the FBI’s Mark ‘Deep Throat’ Felt identity kept secret from investigative tendrils at… the FBI.
DCSCA (1f8fbd) — 9/9/2022 @ 10:55 pmJustice Dept. and Trump Legal Team Clash Over Special Master Candidates
Billable hours.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/10/2022 @ 12:43 amOn one hand we don’t want anymore crack or meth babies being tortured by drugs during pregnancy but we also don’t want the easy route out,abortion, to be taken.
Something criminalizing drug use during pregnancy would generally accomplish. After all, if someone is already putting drugs before the welfare of the child, the next step is easy. I’d also expect some do-gooders to suggest paying for the abortions to prevent damaged babies to become a societal problem.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/10/2022 @ 12:48 amWhen abortion ruling came down I said it would be dred scott II. Conservatives said here and in the rest of the conservative media no big deal its the economy that will drive voters to the polls not abortion. Then came the Kansas vote. Most democrat candidates are wimp liberal snowflakes because abortion ruling came all of a sudden. It will be the next election that democrat candidates will run on giving it back good and hard to right to lifers and their republican shills. The donor class is telling democrats don’t say vote democrat or use a coat hanger. That is not the corporate establishment way. The next election the fierce amazon warriors will tell the donor class we don’t need your stinking money we want direct action against republican elected officials. Get ready for the term post natal abortions by the left in 2023/2024. They will kick any establishment democrat out of the way in the primaries who don’t want to fight. Hope this answers the questions the posters here have been asking me about. Katie hobbs running for gov. in az is the kind wimp liberal I am talking about. Hobbs is afraid to debate kari lake. She lacks the toughness to walk over to lake at the start of a debate and hand her a coat hanger look into the camera and say republicans want 10 year old girls to use this!
asset (2b860e) — 9/10/2022 @ 1:24 am@67: So your implausible Alito theory is conveniently unfalsifiable due to SCOTUS omerta. Why that seems almost designed to deprive you of your rightful credit for sussing the whole thing out.
I hope you’re trolling. If you are, good one. You got me.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 9/10/2022 @ 1:37 am@71. Pfft. Alito’s the leaker; he’s ‘at war’ w/t persuasive sway of the CJ, who has foiled his arcane arguments in– and from– the past. And he’s busting his Catholic buttons to tell you.
DCSCA (10e9de) — 9/10/2022 @ 2:53 amEven if Alito was the leaker, Thomas ended up with most of the attaboys. That resentment might eventually eclipse the CJ Roberts resentment.
urbanleftbehind (f1ad64) — 9/10/2022 @ 4:40 amYou know, last week, back in the Elizabethan era…
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/10/2022 @ 5:22 amJust a day or so ago, Balakliya, and now Izyum, both of which are strategically important rail hubs. This is Ukraine’s most successful advance since Kharkiv, and it’s happening fast.
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/10/2022 @ 5:44 amMick Adams has a good thread on the subject.
Regarding the proposed special masters, yes to all except Huck, who has a wife on the 11th Circuit.
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/10/2022 @ 5:54 am“An independent panel of experts on computer systems and election security issues has concluded a lengthy investigation into the voting systems currently in place in the state of Georgia and sent recommendations to the State Election Board and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. The current system primarily relies on touchscreen voting machines produced by Dominion Voting Systems. The audit must not have gone very well because they advise that the state discontinue the use of the Dominion machines and move immediately to hand-marked paper ballots.”
https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2022/09/10/computer-experts-ditch-georgias-voting-machines-n495519
Colonel Haiku (80389e) — 9/10/2022 @ 7:05 amPaul Montagu (753b42) — 9/10/2022 @ 5:44 am
based on all the reporting seen here the past many months, ukraine should be marching on red square any day now
JF (e5c5b5) — 9/10/2022 @ 7:05 amIf polio can make it there
JF (e5c5b5) — 9/10/2022 @ 7:28 amIt’ll make it anywhere
It’s up to you
New York, New York
You sound disappointed that Putin is
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/10/2022 @ 7:55 amregroupingretreating, JF. Why is that?You sound disappointed that Putin is regrouping retreating, JF. Why is that?
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/10/2022 @ 7:55 am
it won’t matter to you, cuz anyone who doesn’t swallow the propaganda must be a putin fan, but I hope ukraine kicks azz
putin state media says things are going great and anyone who disagrees is a nazi, and you dish the same hooey from the other side
there’s a lot in common there
then there’s the reality that we’ve gotten ourselves involved in a stupid war that isn’t going to end for years, and not to our liking
JF (e5c5b5) — 9/10/2022 @ 8:08 amIt must be interesting, JF, you and your conversations with your imaginary friend, but I’m glad you support Ukraine.
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/10/2022 @ 8:10 ambased on all the reporting seen here the past many months, ukraine should be marching on red square any day now
One can hope. Rip said so.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/10/2022 @ 8:14 am“Wake up. It’s a small, closed circle of be-robed bureaucrats as it is w/limited access to the paper work in question– and Roberts likely knows already.”
Of course which people on the Court had their lives more upended by the leak? And will continue to have their families harassed and their appearances stalked? All of this unease is obviously predictable by an even slightly sharp mind….but especially by one trained to consider consequences.
According to the Alito-is-the-leaker theory, it was necessary to keep the votes locked in. However, all of the external pressure unleashed after the leak was to pre-emptively trash the opinion’s reasoning and bring public backlash to 11. It just doesn’t pass the sniff test and supporting evidence is that liberal media has lost all interest in the investigation. Why? Cause they know in their heart of hearts that it’s one of their own…..a clerk….or perhaps a retiring justice.
I do agree that Roberts probably has a good feel for who likely did it….and it’s more probable to be from the losing side of Dobbs.
AJ_Liberty (242c56) — 9/10/2022 @ 8:19 am“then there’s the reality that we’ve gotten ourselves involved in a stupid war that isn’t going to end for years, and not to our liking”
JF still hoping for that Russian nuke strike so he can be RIGHT about the wisdom of the U.S. joining the rest of the world (minus N. Korea, Iran, and parts of Hungary) in supporting the Ukraine.
AJ_Liberty (242c56) — 9/10/2022 @ 8:23 amhttps://nypost.com/2022/09/09/hochul-donor-got-bigger-bucks-than-competitors-in-covid-test-deal/
NJRob (eb56c3) — 9/10/2022 @ 8:27 amAJ,
one of the requirements when critiquing someone is to accurately restate their argument. Not engage in strawmen. You should apologize to JF.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 9/10/2022 @ 8:29 amAJ_Liberty (242c56) — 9/10/2022 @ 8:23 am
Warsaw is still in Polish hands, AJ, so put down the pom poms
JF (e5c5b5) — 9/10/2022 @ 8:33 amMaybe DOJ should get a search warrant for Bedminster, given there’s video of Trump people carrying eight boxes of documents onto his private jet.
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/10/2022 @ 8:38 amI have never said anything like that.
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/10/2022 @ 9:09 amThis week’s Politico collection of cartoons was weaker than usual, but I still found two I liked, Whamond’s
presidential portrait, and Michael Ramirez’s comment on the weather in Las Vegas.
(DCCCP will absolutely love the first.)
Jim Miller (85fd03) — 9/10/2022 @ 9:09 amI have never said anything like that.
You said one could hope (regarding an extremely unlikely abortion ban(. Sorry that the antecedent was unclear.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/10/2022 @ 9:16 amNothing like a real world demonstration of weapon systems to boost sales.
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/10/2022 @ 9:23 amA full abortion ban is more likely than the Ukraine Army in Red Square. However, I wouldn’t mind seeing the Russian Army in Red Square after a coup against Putin.
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/10/2022 @ 9:26 amRussian Media Watch 2:
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/10/2022 @ 9:41 amThey are simply advancing to the rear in force.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/10/2022 @ 9:43 amR.I.P. Marsha Hunt, actress, 104
Outlived HUAC.
DCSCA (2c4555) — 9/10/2022 @ 9:56 amHUAC is dead, but the Hollywood Blacklist thrives.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/10/2022 @ 10:03 amwhere’s the “mission accomplished” banner?
Speech therapist reveals she’s been inundated with wave of ‘COVID babies’ who can barely SPEAK because of pandemic shutdowns – and parents are paying up to $1,000 a month to repair the damage
JF (e5c5b5) — 9/10/2022 @ 10:11 amNow who is the moron?
Complaint, Statement of Facts, & Plea Agreement.
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/10/2022 @ 10:25 amStatements of Facts & Plea Agreements at link.
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/10/2022 @ 10:53 amI said upthread that Ukraine’s advances are “happening fast”. Not just fast, but really fast. Volchansk is 76km northeast of Kharkiv, just south of the Russian border.
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/10/2022 @ 10:55 amWith apologies to Marine General Oliver P. Smith, the Russians aren’t retreating, just advancing in a different direction.
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/10/2022 @ 11:10 am@84. It just doesn’t pass the sniff test…
Then you need a nose job because Alito’s own behavior, attitudes and language over the years has the ‘Nathan Jessup stink’ all over it. The Catholic zealot did it. And he wants you to know he did it- up on that wall- thwarting the usual CJ tactic to effectively sway other justices on an issue so important to him.
Alito’s Call to Arms to Secure Religious Liberty
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/11/opinion/religion-supreme-court-alito.html
DCSCA (2c4555) — 9/10/2022 @ 11:18 amDonetsk…
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/10/2022 @ 11:24 amGlory to Ukraine and NATO!
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/10/2022 @ 11:56 amIf Putin intends to use the Bomb, it would be now. I hope the Ukrainian forces aren’t bunched up.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/10/2022 @ 12:07 pm“because Alito’s own behavior, attitudes and language over the years has the ‘Nathan Jessup stink’ all over it.”
WTF does that even mean?
“The Catholic zealot did it.”
That I understand but it’s just projection. Who people think leaked is generally a pretty good rorschach for how they view Dobbs and abortion rights. You hate the decision…so the author MUST be the leaker. Get a pet dog and take him for lots of walks.
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 9/10/2022 @ 12:32 pmDCSCA had to work in a movie reference somehow, even if it doesn’t make sense.
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/10/2022 @ 12:49 pmWipeout!
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/10/2022 @ 12:59 pmYeah, if they had all those documents, it would be a fine display in the US Mission to the United Nations.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/10/2022 @ 1:41 pmThe best propaganda is true propaganda.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/10/2022 @ 1:41 pmDCSCA had to work in a movie reference somehow, even if it doesn’t make sense.
Hmm, I thought it was an anti-Catholic reference he was trying to sneak in.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/10/2022 @ 1:43 pm@109. If you gotta ask, you can’t handle the truth.
DCSCA (030713) — 9/10/2022 @ 1:46 pm@114. That’s Alito’s cross to bear.
DCSCA (030713) — 9/10/2022 @ 1:48 pm@111:
That offensive looks like Bastogne December 1944 without a 101st Airborne.
Or, to quote LTG Sychevoi: “яйца”
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/10/2022 @ 1:50 pm@98 What goes around comes around. Susan sarandon will tell you its not just conservatives. Tit for tat.
asset (3bd92e) — 9/10/2022 @ 2:17 pmPfft. When will you Big Dick Slow Joe Reaganoptic royalists finally bow down to the persuasive power of an implausible but unfalsifiable conspiracy theory, fortified as always, as Rip reminds us, by an inane movie reference?
=Mike Drop=
lurker (cd7cd4) — 9/10/2022 @ 2:34 pm@114. =yawn= If you’re gonna call the play-by-play from the booth, you best know the players on the field- or stick to peddling popcorn in the stands:
Justice Alito’s Crusade Against a Secular America Isn’t Over
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/09/05/justice-alitos-crusade-against-a-secular-america-isnt-over
DCSCA (030713) — 9/10/2022 @ 2:36 pm@119. ROFLMAOPIP
“You can’t handle the truth.” – Nathan Jessup [Jack Nicholson] ‘A Few Good Men’ 1992
DCSCA (030713) — 9/10/2022 @ 2:39 pm“Pfft. When will you Big Dick Slow Joe Reaganoptic royalists finally bow down to the persuasive power of an implausible but unfalsifiable conspiracy theory, fortified as always, as Rip reminds us, by an inane movie reference?
=Mike Drop=”
Now I have to clean off my monitor…..Glorious!
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 9/10/2022 @ 2:49 pmThere is a recent Supreme Court opinion discussing the scope of the Constitution’s “Officers of the United States”-language
You miss my point rather entirely. Regardless of the nuances of the phrases used regarding the violated oath, it was intended that NO PERSON could serve who had violated same.
In one place you have a list, and lists always have unintended exceptions. In the other place you have a blanket “No person.” They did not include the President or VP explicitly because those three (Lincoln, Hamlin and Johnson) had not violated such an oath, but persons in all those other categories had.
Perhaps you can find some argument from the ratification debates that expresses a desire to exclude the top guys. but until then this rabbinical dissection of the words is just special pleading.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/10/2022 @ 3:14 pmA New Jersey speech therapist says she’s recently seen a wave of infants and toddlers ‘unable to communicate’ after being born during the pandemic – one of several now-surfacing consequences of school and day care closures seen over the past few years.
The phenomenon, speech pathologist Nancy Polow says, is part of a concerning trend in kids born during or shortly before the pandemic, who are ‘falling behind’ on key milestones due to a lack of social interaction during that time span.
Compounding the crisis, when parents sought help, they were often met with lockdown-related roadblocks, such as masking restrictions, the challenge of tele-health appointments for toddlers, and fear of in-person therapy.
Makes me even more glad that my kids were in a wonderful red state during the pandemic, and got to see the happy, smiling faces of their family members, teachers, schoolmates, and the general public, while blue states went in to hypochondriac mode. They’re not only thriving, but my oldest went in to a gifted program this year, thanks to not suffering through one these deep blue mental wards.
Factory Working Orphan (2775f0) — 9/10/2022 @ 4:58 pmI didn’t miss your point, I just pointed out that the Supreme Court has twice spelled out why the President is not “an Officer of the United States” and that he could not be disqualified as such under Section 3.
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/10/2022 @ 5:50 pmAnd I said that the language there is of no interest — it is an historical artifact of the situation at the time the amendment was written. You are focusing on A tree when there is a broad forest of meaning.
A better argument is “this only had to do with the civil war.”
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/10/2022 @ 6:23 pmHow a railroad strike could send food prices soaring
Crazy Eddie.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/10/2022 @ 6:24 pmWake up you naive deep state Papist royalist. Confidence has nothing to do with it. It’s about where Reagan hid the strawberries. DC would have taken the bet in a hot Mar-a-Lago minute if the Berobed Bureaucrat Dread Pirate Roberts hadn’t been cowed into unfalsifiable silence by his terrifying subordinate, Nathan Deep Throat Jessup Alito. It’s all plain as day to my darting paranoid eyes.
Anyway, congratulations on the the easiest prediction ever.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 9/10/2022 @ 6:34 pm@128. Ain’t it though; translation: you lose.
DCSCA (f0be40) — 9/10/2022 @ 6:36 pm@129: Let’s vote.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/10/2022 @ 6:41 pmIf Putin intends to use the Bomb, it would be now. I hope the Ukrainian forces aren’t bunched up.
OFGS.
Chernobyl.
DCSCA (860a74) — 9/10/2022 @ 7:18 pmR.I.P. actress Marsha Hunt; she passed on September 7th at the age of 104
Icy (ee212f) — 9/10/2022 @ 10:58 pmNo we don’t. It is not the financial services industry (or any other industry) to infringe on the legal right to own firearms.
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/11/2022 @ 12:28 amA not only unnecessary, but harmful, flood “resiliency” project in New York City, with pretend inor concessions to the opposition.
https://nypost.com/2022/09/09/gothams-set-to-lose-wagner-park-in-battery-park-city/
https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-wrong-battery-park-resiliency-plan-20220910-4kuobfmwvfejtkr5bzgnncdg54-story.html
Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 9/11/2022 @ 6:47 amThere was no insurrection, in the normal meaning of the word. No attempt to secede or to replace the government of the United States. It was something less.
Sammy Finkelman (b434ee) — 9/11/2022 @ 6:50 amNo we don’t. It is not the financial services industry (or any other industry) to infringe on the legal right to own firearms.
These are the same people who would be aghast if contraceptive sales were tracked in this way.
“Privacy!”
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/11/2022 @ 7:53 amYou keep posting this like it’s a bad thing. 😉😜
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/11/2022 @ 9:45 amThe reading of the names, broadcast on television (but not on radio, as far as I know) just finished one or two minutes ago.
Sammy Finkelman (418659) — 9/11/2022 @ 9:48 amStop Fascism! Vote Republican!
Colonel Haiku (1fcd26) — 9/11/2022 @ 10:22 amI have no problem with that.
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/11/2022 @ 10:26 amI have no problem with that.
Well, there’s some they do, and some they don’t, ….
nk (a56588) — 9/11/2022 @ 10:39 amThere was no insurrection, in the normal meaning of the word. No attempt to secede or to replace the government of the United States. It was something less.
It was an attempt to replace the duly-elected president with a usurper. That IS an attempt to replace the lawful government. That it was terribly undermanned and the organization was confused was due to Trump’s Chaotic alignment does not change that.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/11/2022 @ 10:44 amFor the anniversary of 9/11, David Von Drehle wrote this somber reminder:
If our terrorist enemies don’t want to quit — and they don’t — the war will continue.
Though this is less well-known than it should be here in the US, some conflicts have lasted hundreds of years, for example, this one:
(Links omitted.)
Did that conflict end in 1492? No. Portugal and Spain had already seized cities in North Africa, and continued to try to seize more land there. (They might have conquered all of what are now Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco, had it not been for the rise of the Ottoman Empire.)
And this one. Around 1000 AD (According to Colin McEvedy), Athabaskan Indians — the best-known are the Apaches and the Navajo –came down into the American Southwest, and preyed on the farming tribes there, for example, the Hopi. That conflict lasted until the Spanish came up from what is now Mexico, and conquered the area.
(According to Lawrence Keeley in “War Before Civilization: The Myth of the Peaceful Savage”, that second long conflict is typical of wars before empires, or even states. Mostly minor raids, interspersed with occasional trading, and sometimes punctuated by massacres.)
I very much wish this were not true, very much wish there were some practical way we could end this war in a year or two, but I don’t see any such way — and I do think we are better off recognizing that sad fact.
Jim Miller (85fd03) — 9/11/2022 @ 11:32 amThe 15 scenarios are (order reflects scenario receiving highest percentage of “very likely” responses):
Cross tabs and top lines.
Rip Murdock (354535) — 9/11/2022 @ 12:58 pm#144 – We’re in a cheerful mood these days, aren’t we?
Jim Miller (85fd03) — 9/11/2022 @ 2:18 pmThose of you who are so proud to vote against Trump voters that you want to elect leftists should be ecstatic about the Vice President saying that if they get 52 Senators they will end the filibuster and turn America into a communist utopia.
That’s so much better than voting with those icky Trump voters.
NJRob (ba8f28) — 9/11/2022 @ 4:42 pmNBC’S CHUCK TODD: “[The US] will have 2 million people cross this border for the first time ever.”
VP HARRIS: “We have a secure border.”
https://twitter.com/breaking911/status/1569083622010884097?s=21&t=1FAS9uOQJqCA6NNBpDVfCQ
There are conservatives who voted for this.
Obudman (2d52ed) — 9/11/2022 @ 8:10 pmA nice collection of moronic tweets comparing Jan 6 to 9/11:
https://twitter.com/_a_badaise/status/1568978086787514369?s=21&t=1FAS9uOQJqCA6NNBpDVfCQ
It was stupid enough saying Jan 6 was worse than the Summer 2020 race riots/looting/arson/destruction/murder that caused upwards of $2 billion in damages (lots of it to government buildings) but it takes an even extra special kind of idiocy to compare it to that terrible day.
Obudman (2d52ed) — 9/11/2022 @ 8:16 pmI’m becoming more convinced that you don’t consider your hyperbole to be hyperbole at all. Not a good thing.
In other news, at a time when there’s a true need for a viable third party that represents principles over person, the Libertarian Party in VA voted to dissolve.
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/11/2022 @ 8:19 pmTwitter trolls say stuff like that hoping to get attention, and maybe hoping you believe it’s a more popular view.
I think Jan 6 was a pretty historic event, but obviously not remotely comparable to 9/11. While the BLM antifa riots were worse in a lot of ways, Jan 6 was serious because of what it was specifically trying to do, and the role a lot of politicians played there. I think Al Gore’s refusal to accept election results, slowing the peaceful transition of power, is a minor contributor to 9/11 being possible, as was the Clinton admin’s total failure on foreign policy, but there was a peaceful transition of power. That’s something the USA had over its enemies and needs to have. The rules in our elections aren’t all fair, they aren’t all great, and we should keep improving elections, but schemes to undo them? Historically very significant.
Who would have them vote for? They didn’t get an option in 2016 or 2020. Lifelong democrats who want to spend too much and don’t respect us at all. I understand the appreciation that Trump fights back, the frustration with moderate republicans, but can we at least have a conservative option? We can’t if the populist streak goes to a stupid place.
Dustin (a87c64) — 9/11/2022 @ 8:36 pm@144. He’s young– and clearly missed out on 1968 w/all the strife, assassinations, daily turmoil in the headlines, rioting, looting- the National Guard on the loose in Washington, DC…albeit all to some damn good music… when the country was truly at a height of civil unrest akin to the days of the Blue and Gray.
DCSCA (455aef) — 9/11/2022 @ 9:09 pmI very much wish this were not true, very much wish there were some practical way we could end this war in a year or two, but I don’t see any such way — and I do think we are better off recognizing that sad fact
We aren’t even noticing the Reconquista that’s going on now.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/11/2022 @ 9:39 pmHow Americans evaluate the likelihood of dire political scenarios
The fearmongers are in fine form. Who would watch cable news if everything was roses?
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/11/2022 @ 9:40 pmThere are conservatives who voted for this.
There are conservatives who thought everyone would vote for a jackass.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/11/2022 @ 9:41 pmWe do need a fairly good political shake up. Here’s a plan:
Divide up ALL the big states into much smaller states. No state with over 10 million people, preferably 5 million, but LA and NY make that hard. Divide them up by culture and interests, not by some gerrymander where WE control THEM. Then allow for significantly more federalism.
The conflicts we have aren’t really local, they are A ganging up on B, to bend them to A’s will.
A hundred states, and some of them do things like ban cars, and others give everyone a free one.
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/11/2022 @ 9:47 pmBubba wallace who is black won his second nascar race and unlike wendell scott the first black man to win a nascar race he was given the winners trophy instead of threatened to be shot if he didn’t leave without it! Things really seem to be improving.
asset (a9bc7b) — 9/11/2022 @ 11:13 pmThere are conservatives who thought everyone would vote for a jackass.
Uh-huh: Reagan won.
Twice.
DCSCA (9e3e8e) — 9/11/2022 @ 11:14 pm@146 A communist utopia. Well if you believe everyone who is more liberal then you is a communist. I am sure if I believed everyone who is more conservative then me is a nazi I would feel the same ;but I don’t Simple test please name the senators that are communists. Saying anyone who wants to raise your taxes is a card carrying member of the communist party is not the definition of a communist.
asset (a9bc7b) — 9/11/2022 @ 11:23 pmSo is the new Never Trump position that they want the Democrats to end the filibuster and pass all sorts of left-wing items? I thought Never Trump people were conservative on policy and so on. Has that changed? People usually just take their policy positions from their party, so I guess if you become a Democrat, you begin taking liberal policy positions.
mikeybates (fa14c0) — 9/12/2022 @ 4:55 ammikeybates
Never Trumps mostly are – either angry and too proud to admit they are wrong – or people who hate their fellow americans and want the poor to suffer – single moms to be shoved below the poverty level and lose millions of brave young men fighting needless foreign wars
EPWJ (650a62) — 9/12/2022 @ 5:38 amIt figures that Russian bots would have trouble understanding English words. Never Trump means:
— nev·er
/ˈnevər/
adverb
1. at no time in the past or future; on no occasion; not ever.
2. not at all.
— Trump
/’trahm’p/
noun
Old, fat, bald, orange, Fifth Avenue fancy boy who sued a hooker for a refund.
But thanks for the illustration of how you group of folks operate. One of you posts some horse manure on the internet; the rest take it as fact, repeat it, and expand on it.
nk (4f452c) — 9/12/2022 @ 6:00 amIt really is something that East Coast elite silver-spoon fancy boys like Trump and Carlson have not only portrayed themselves as fighting for the common man, but that so many have actually bought into it.
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/12/2022 @ 6:39 amnk
you mean like russian collusion? Trumps an agent of Russia?
heh…
EPWJ (650a62) — 9/12/2022 @ 6:41 amPaul,
So you’re voting for Gavin right? Its a binary choice – Trump vs Newsom – going to have to make a choice.
EPWJ (650a62) — 9/12/2022 @ 6:55 amDana,
Interesting article:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/washington-secrets/probe-94-of-key-2020-counties-wrongly-dumped-ballot-info
EPWJ (650a62) — 9/12/2022 @ 6:59 amI said before that Matt Labash is one of my favorite conservative political writers, and his latest doesn’t disappoint.
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/12/2022 @ 7:18 amEvery working family in the heartland has a Fifth Avenue penthouse and a Palm Beach mansion. So don’t go desecrating them!
nk (ac6f7a) — 9/12/2022 @ 7:19 amIt may feel like a “binary choice” for you but not for me, because neither one earned my vote. I’ll protest-vote for a Republican, but never for a sh-tstain on America Trump.
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/12/2022 @ 7:21 am…like Trump.
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/12/2022 @ 7:22 amPaul,
So you want hardships to befall your fellow man, you dont care about the country, you dont care about your freedoms. good economies, you want pain, so you will be voting for pain.
We understand….
EPWJ (650a62) — 9/12/2022 @ 7:34 amThe way I see it, you’re the one causing hardships by nominating a lying criminal for POTUS.
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/12/2022 @ 7:41 amTrump fans be like drink this Orangeade and the sky won’t fall on our heads. I be like “Drink this!”
nk (ac6f7a) — 9/12/2022 @ 7:49 amPaul,
I didnt vote for Biden like you did
EPWJ (650a62) — 9/12/2022 @ 7:54 amnk,
Not a fan, but its a binary choice, same for you, paint me orange, roll me in orange juice and then tar and feather me with Tang, I still have to choose between the Hair twins Trump and Newsom
EPWJ (650a62) — 9/12/2022 @ 7:56 amPaul
Labash is a salon writer – who has been sued for libel and slander and lost – one suit alone – its been reported than his lifetime earnings are garnished.
Go figure –
EPWJ (650a62) — 9/12/2022 @ 8:01 amSince we’re on the subject, gasoline at Harlem and Addison in Chicago is $4.50 a gallon. Gasoline at WI-59 North of I-90 is $3.25 a gallon. Why does Biden love Edgerton and hate Chicago?
nk (ac6f7a) — 9/12/2022 @ 8:07 am01010100 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01110100 01100101 01101110 00100000 01101011 01101001 01101110 01100100 01110011 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01110000 01100101 01101111 01110000 01101100 01100101 00100000 01101001 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110010 01101100 01100100 00101110 00100000 00100000 01010100 01101000 01101111 01110011 01100101 00100000 01110111 01101000 01101111 00100000 01101011 01101110 01101111 01110111 00100000 01100010 01101001 01101110 01100001 01110010 01111001 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101111 01110011 01100101 00100000 01110111 01101000 01101111 00100000 01110110 01101111 01110100 01100101 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01010100 01110010 01110101 01101101 01110000 00101110
nk (ac6f7a) — 9/12/2022 @ 8:11 amYou’re lying.
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/12/2022 @ 8:14 amWhich means you didn’t read a word. Your prejudice is noted.
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/12/2022 @ 8:20 amThat probably Thompson-Edgar-Bush 41 hate (EPA blends, state gas taxes) just given cherries on top by Fat Boy.
urbanleftbehind (8fc2f7) — 9/12/2022 @ 8:27 amBTW, Chopra sued the Murdoch-owned Weekly Standard, not Labash personally, and they settled out of court, mostly because one of the Chopra’s hookers recanted. The settlement was reportedly for “the payment of legal fees to Chopra, a mind/body spiritualist from India, but no additional cash.”
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/12/2022 @ 8:37 am“Why does Biden love Edgerton and hate Chicago?”
Clearly a Packers fan.
AJ_Liberty (ec7f74) — 9/12/2022 @ 8:42 amFixed it.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/12/2022 @ 8:58 am@145, 153, et. al.-
With calls on the MAGA right for Civil War II, and repeated references to “the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants” in reference (I assume) to attacking the Federal government, I found the poll @144 to be interesting window into what Americans think to be the future of the United States. And based on multiple comments, there are some posters here that seem to wish these scenarios on America (you know who you are).
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/12/2022 @ 9:14 am@184: I see these conversations on the left too.
Its’ very disturbing… as I don’t think we can survive as a nation in another civil war.
whembly (b770f8) — 9/12/2022 @ 9:44 amStamp Out Fascism. Vote Republican.
https://www.based-politics.com/2022/09/10/elizabeth-warren-wants-visa-mastercard-to-track-gun-purchases/
Big Lump has a Mini-Me?
https://twitter.com/debbieformola/status/1569045620639539200/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1569045620639539200%7Ctwgr%5E89705248482900e30e76b45d4d73f36b59225cbf%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnotthebee.com%2Farticle%2Fso-weve-finally-seen-senate-candidate-john-fetterman-without-a-hoodie-since-his-stroke-and-the-internet-has-questions
Colonel Haiku (b5dda8) — 9/12/2022 @ 10:33 amFrom my link in post 144:
I really doubt that any future civil war would be similar to the one from 1860-1865. I think it would be more like the Irish ‘Troubles”: hit and run attacks against police and civilian targets rather than large contending armies.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/12/2022 @ 11:16 am@177. ..-. .-. — — / — -.– / .. .-.. .-.. .. -. — .. … / …. . .- …- . -. / …. — .-.. . / – .-. ..- — .–. / …. .- .-.. . -.– / ..— —– ..— ….- / .- -. -.. / -… . .- ..- / … .- -.– … / …. . .-.. .-.. — / .— — . / .- -… .-. .- …. .- — / .-.. .. -. -.-. — .-.. -.
DCSCA (7fcfcc) — 9/12/2022 @ 11:16 amMAGAWorld not amused:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/12/2022 @ 11:27 am
@187. Its’ very disturbing… as I don’t think we can survive as a nation in another civil war.
Oh, please. 1861-1865, Great Depression, two world wars, the ’62 missile crisis; 1963-64, 1968, Reaganomics, Black Friday fighting over Cabbage Patch dolls…
We’re fine. Populism is healthy; revisit Founding Father Jefferson. It’s only the folks shuffled to the bottom of the deck who can’t accept rejection and change. Steal a podium, rattle some cages; storm a castle or two; deny the Wicked Witch ambassadorship to Italy.
“It’s still the same old story; A fight for love and glory; A case of do-or-die…” – Piano player Sam [Dooley Wilson] ‘Casablanca’ 1942
DCSCA (7fcfcc) — 9/12/2022 @ 11:35 am177 184. I haven’t got the patience to decode either ASCI or Morse code.
I tried running the Morse code @188 through a Morse code translator
https://capitalizemytitle.com/morse-code-translator/
I got:
(from . ..-. .-. — — / — -.– / .. .-.. .-.. .. -. — .. … / …. . .- …- . -. / …. — .-.. . / – .-. ..- — .–. / …. .- .-.. . -.– / ..— —– ..— ….- / .- -. -.. / -… . .- ..- / … .- -.– … / …. . .-.. .-.. — / .— — . / .- -… .-. .- …. .- — / .-.. .. -. -.-. — .-.. -. )
It seems to be something about Illinois and Lincoln
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 9/12/2022 @ 12:05 pmHopefully she will get the mental health treatment she obviously needs.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/12/2022 @ 12:22 pmThe Scumbag Line/Talking Points…
https://twitter.com/KateTalksTruth/status/1568996908563144706?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1568996908563144706%7Ctwgr%5E651cfd478d1be724cdf1be13f23144b8e52a68f7%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Face.mu.nu%2Farchives%2F400917.php400917
Colonel Haiku (07a7ac) — 9/12/2022 @ 12:35 pm“It seems to be something about Illinois and Lincoln”
If there’s any mention of Chicago – the City of Windbags – it’s about guns/murder and avocado-shaped abogados.
Colonel Haiku (07a7ac) — 9/12/2022 @ 12:38 pmnk (4f452c) — 9/12/2022 @ 6:00 am
That was a refund of a legal settlement. I think she voluntarily paid. It was to free herself from a non-disclosure agreement. But I may not have the details right.
Maybe it was for losing a defamation lawsuit that Michael Avenatti persuaded her to file or maybe filed on his own with a power of attorney – he must have at least persauded her not to drop it (He also, separately, stole money from her)
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/stormy-daniels-must-pay-300k-donald-trump-losing-defamation-case-appea-rcna21002
The lawsuit Trump filed against her was something else:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/trump-attorney-accuses-stormy-daniels-of-violating-nondisclosure-agreement-20-times-claims-right-to-seek-20-million-in-damages/2018/03/16/a5fd1686-296b-11e8-b79d-f3d931db7f68_story.html
I think she eventually paid back the money Michael Cohen gave her ,
She didn’t charge him for the original incident. He wanted more. She wanted too much. She wanted to be given a role on Celebrity Apprentice. IIRC. I don’t want to go through all the research that I would need to do to look this up.
The other one was Karen McDougal.
Both of them were arranged by some unknown people at Lake Tahoe, Nevada shortly after Melania gave birth without Donald Trump asking for it. Who they were, and why they did it, in the most interesting question about this.
Trump thought Karen McDougal was a prostitute and offered her money. She didn’t want to think of herself, or maybe be thought of, as a prostitute, and Trump, seeing she was willing to do this again for free or for gifts, had an affair with her that lasted ten months until he wanted to introduce her to his wife Melania – maybe not as a mistress – which was too much for Karen McDougal. She broke it up at that point. She was eventually paid, about ten years later, by the National Enquirer to write and for her exclusive story except that just wanted to buy her silence. This was in October 2016.
Michael Cohen wanted Trump to reimburse the National Enquirer, because its lawyers were concerned that with their payment to Karen McDougall they might have made an illegal corporate campaign contribution. Trump was willing to do so, (having bought the argument MC made that the National Enquirer might not always keep the secret (David Pqckard might get hit by a truck) but Trump didn’t understand why it would have to be done in a hidden way and not with a simple check, they never reached a decision.
Michael Cohen had to use his own money and had to lie to banks about the value of taxi medallions he owned (they had greatly dropped in price because of Uber etc. and because they were inflated in the first place) in order to borrow the money to reimburse the National Enquirer, which he proceeded to get back from Trump by overcharging him for legal fees – except that Trump’s money managers knew it and Trump didn’t mind, so that part was legal.
From the viewpoint of MC this was an illegal political contribution or illegal loan to the Trump campaign but would not have been so for Donald Trump – not even maybe an accounting error because he had personal reasons which extended past the election for making the transaction but Michael Cohen did not.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 9/12/2022 @ 12:44 pm148. Obudman (2d52ed) — 9/11/2022 @ 8:16 pm
Jan 6 was more of a threat to the constitutional order (but not much of a threat) than 9/11 but 9/11 was more terrible.
Just one thing: They wanted to destroy the whole Capitol building on 9//11 but were prevented from doing so by Todd Beamer and the others on Flight 93. (It was thought by George Bush and Dick Cheney and others at the White House that the White House was the fourth target but they later realized that it was probably really the Capitol.)
The January 6 rioters did not permanent damage to the Capitol building.
135. 142
Kevin M (eeb9e9) — 9/11/2022 @ 10:44 am
They may have thought they would keep Donald Trump in office if they stopped the count but that would only have replaced Joe Biden with Nancy Pelosi (temporarily)
Failure to qualify a president would not extend the term of the previous president by one extra second.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 9/12/2022 @ 12:56 pmhttps://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/09/business/china-covid-zero-xi-jinping.html
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 9/12/2022 @ 1:40 pmhttps://arstechnica.com/science/2022/09/this-should-be-the-absolute-peak-of-hurricane-season-but-its-dead-quiet-out-there/
A nice, quiet hurricane season. Wonder how climate change will be blamed and the forced panic created.
NJRob (4b1f5f) — 9/12/2022 @ 1:49 pm60 years ago today: Rice University, Houston, TX:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuW4oGKzVKc&t=1s
Truly one of the most inspiring and rallying speeches by a U.S. president in history. And only our Squinty could poop on it as tries to plagiarize JFK’s messaging; the contrast in language, delivery and passion is stunning.
Hey Joey: “Lots of luck on your trip to the Moon.” Sound familiar, President Plagiarist??:
‘When asked about Elon Musk’s pessimistic attitude toward the economy, President Joe Biden made a dismissive little quip: “Lots of luck on his trip to the Moon.” It’s a funny aside — but there’s one tiny hitch. Technically, a good chunk of SpaceX’s funding to return people to the Moon comes from the Biden administration.’ – https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/3/23153261/joe-biden-elon-musk-nasa-spacex-starship-lots-of-luck-moon-artemis
And yesterday, instead of looking at his watch at a 9/11 wreath laying– he wore a disrespectful tan raincoat– every other civilian was wearing a black.
He’s a bum.
DCSCA (128510) — 9/12/2022 @ 1:56 pmNJRob @198
https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/hurricanes-weather-no-named-hurricanes-yet-august-september-nasa-sahara-winds-1.6567049
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 9/12/2022 @ 2:02 pmGavin Newsom wants Cali to start naming purported climate change-related events.
Get ready for Heatwave Steve!
Colonel Haiku (07a7ac) — 9/12/2022 @ 2:19 pmPaul still thinks Labash is a conservative writer – anyone can right moving tributes about those that have fallen, it doesnt gain them any cred.
We all lost on 9/11
EPWJ (650a62) — 9/12/2022 @ 2:28 pmcivil war? Between who? The liberal cities vs conservative/populist country side? The population is in the cities with more moving their all the time. Very few cities are run by conservatives. Democrats get more votes every election then republicans. Only by gerrymandering and small states having more political power then their small populations deserve. Also strict voter surppression in red states to keep democrats from registering and voting.
asset (68e525) — 9/12/2022 @ 2:30 pmhttps://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2022/09/12/did-trumps-legal-team-stick-the-dagger-into-the-heart-of-the-biden-dojs-maralago-case-n2612953
Going to leave a mark
EPWJ (650a62) — 9/12/2022 @ 2:35 pm“Going to leave a mark”
He doesn’t have the authority to declassify them now, there’s no evidence he declassified them in the past, and no trump filing has asserted that he did declassify them. The empty folders are concerning because the only time they should be empty is when someone is actively reading their contents.
They’re not his records. We the people own them, not him.
Davethulhu (aec6bf) — 9/12/2022 @ 2:57 pm#166 Paul – Thanks for that link to the Matt Labash piece. We need more journalism like that.
Jim Miller (85fd03) — 9/12/2022 @ 3:31 pmDavethulhu (aec6bf) — 9/12/2022 @ 2:57 pm
call Obama he has 31 million records
Also, they are the Presidents
EPWJ (650a62) — 9/12/2022 @ 3:40 pmUntrue.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/12/2022 @ 3:44 pm“call Obama he has 31 million records”
No he doesn’t.
“Also, they are the Presidents”
No they aren’t.
Davethulhu (aec6bf) — 9/12/2022 @ 3:47 pmDid Trump’s Legal Team Stick the ‘Dagger’ Into the Heart of the Biden DOJ’s Mar-a-Lago Case? No, but a mark could be left on Trump.
Whether the documents seized during the MAL search are classified or not is irrelevant to the case. The search warrant cited 18 U.S. Code § 793 – gathering, transmitting or losing defense information, which refers to “information respecting the national defense.” The Espionage Act predates the modern document classification system, so anything related to the national defense is covered by the Act.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 9/12/2022 @ 4:25 pmTwo bits of news.
One, DOJ and Trump lawyers agreedhttps://www.mediaite.com/politics/just-in-doj-agrees-to-accept-trumps-candidate-for-special-master/ on one of Trump’s special masters, Dearie, which is fine. The other Trump guy was a walking conflict of interest. This shouldn’t mean that the DOJ motion on executive privilege is inoperative.
Two, DOJ is busy, issuing 40 subpoenas of Trumpies and confiscating 2 cell phones from Trump advisors, primarily for the Fake Electors scheme, but some involve Trump’s
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/12/2022 @ 6:48 pmslush fundSave America PAC.It’s those walls! They’re closing in!
Colonel Haiku (435adb) — 9/12/2022 @ 6:59 pmWhat was in the empty classified file folders and what became of it?
nk (c41af9) — 9/12/2022 @ 7:24 pmAlex Jones is not only a lying conspiracy theorist, he’s one creepy dude.
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/12/2022 @ 7:34 pm144.
I don’t think these people have a good idea of what the word “likely” means.” And maybe also of “war” or “civil war.:”
Of course “somewhat likely” could be 10%
Sammy Finkelman (418659) — 9/12/2022 @ 7:44 pmSammy,
Thanks for showing me my prediction about the lunatics was correct. They just cannot help jamming that square peg into a round hole.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 9/12/2022 @ 8:05 pmAlex Jones is not only a lying conspiracy theorist, he’s one creepy dude.
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/12/2022 @ 7:34 pm
Paranoia is as paranoia does.
norcal (da5491) — 9/12/2022 @ 8:13 pm“October Surprise” like Reagan and Bush were accused of, for real.
https://nypost.com/2022/09/12/it-seems-clear-dems-pressured-the-fda-to-delay-the-covid-vaccine-to-hurt-trump/
Sammy Finkelman (418659) — 9/13/2022 @ 5:46 amRIP French film director Jean-Luc Godard (91).
Breathless.
Rip Murdock (b16a33) — 9/13/2022 @ 6:31 amRequiescat in inferno Ronald Pelton (80).
Rip Murdock (b16a33) — 9/13/2022 @ 6:41 amAfter reading this piece, my biggest takeaway is how incomprehensibly stupid Hunter was to abandon his devices at a storefront Delaware computer repair shop, risking a complete invasion of his privacy by strangers who did not have his best interests in mind. Good grief.
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/13/2022 @ 1:05 pmWhether he gets indicted or not, we’ll see, but I think he’ll get nailed for something by the feds, but who knows at this point.
I doubt any of Hunter’s personal corruption will extend to his dad, who IMO is not smart enough or diabolical enough to be part of the son’s hijinks. But again, we’ll see.
I’m asking myself why I don’t have more sympathy for the guy, but then what comes to mind is that he’s the son of a prominent politician and has been afforded every advantage but squandered pretty much all of it through his own bad decisions.
I hope Hunter gets the helps he needs, but I don’t believe he’ll ever escape his place in history as a president’s drug-addicted loser of a son. That sounds a little harsh even to my own ears, but I’ve heard a lot worse in the right-wing realm.
After reading this piece, my biggest takeaway is how incomprehensibly stupid…
Just a microchip off the ol’block: like father, like son.
DCSCA (61ac0a) — 9/13/2022 @ 1:07 pmNew York Magazine cove story about the Hunter Biden laptop. More about how different people dealt with the laptop than about what is in it. Pretty fair. The fact are told in a little bit of a jumbled manner (but not too much) . Fills in some details, and is missing a few also.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/hunter-biden-laptop-investigation.html
“This story is free for a limited time.”
Which is correct. It’s the recovered files.
Stored maybe on a hard drive.
I think he stored them on more than one device, and synched them to the cloud. But one day all of those he was using were not working – liquid damage.
The way I read it in the New York Post, one was beyond repair, one needed only an external keyboard (Hunter was supposed to return it after he got another keyboard or copied the files or maybe pay for the keyboard) and the third one couldn’t bot the data files could be recovered.
The source of all the files was one that needed more than a replacement keyboard.
I think the contents were 99.95% identical – that’s why Hunter never picked up his recovered files once he could the files on one of them.(besides the fact that he moved from Delaware to California, something missing from this New York Magazine story..
Moral: No source has everything.
Biggest revelation: The computer storeowner says there was no child pornography on the laptop that he noticed (or says he told the FBI that.) There was some concern about that possibility by Giuliani and the FBI but no obvious child pornography although there were plenty of explicit pictures many women on it.. There was a photo belonging to a teenage Biden family member whose photo roll had been backed up on the laptop.(but no underage prostitutes)
Also, Biden and family make no comment – and they now have come up with a speculative theory that the files might have come from another laptop Hunter abandoned while getting ketamine rehab (so that possession of the files would be illegal – the person who had the laptop denies that and besides we have the full story)
Also: Steve Bannon was not interested in pursuing this after the election. Someone else who had a copy may have distributed an edited version and also claimed to have recovered deleted files (impossible) which he wouldn’t let people see but that may have been stolen files from another Hunter, Beau Biden’s son’s who also used the cloud to store files.
The authors note that this was possibly the worst invasion of privacy that ever happened to anybody.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 9/13/2022 @ 1:28 pm223. Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/13/2022 @ 1:05 pm
I don’t think he realized quite how big a celebrity he (or his father) had become.
Hunter paid two visits to the store, both shortly before closing (he was not keeping regular hours.)
In one visit he brought the three laptops and took two back home with him (the totally ruined laptop, and the one that worked with a replacement keyboard. In the second he brought an external hard drive weith him on which the recovered files from the third laptop could be put.
He may not have known whether the files (or all of the files) would in fact be recovered.
He never came back for the third laptop or the hard drive or returned or bought the keyboard he had been lent for the second laptop..
John Paul Mac Isaac actually peeked a little (he saw the names of the files, of course anyway) before the 90 days till the laptop (and its contents) became legally his had run out.
He looked into a file called Income.pdf. (and the thought occurred to me that maybe he did that because he was wondering how he could be paid his $85. Hunter was unreachable.)
I think the authors fell for a misinterpretation that Guiliani and company made
That text was sent on January 3, 2019. The context was Hunter’s daughter Naomi asking him for money.
I feel the best interpretation is that Hunter was saying he would not ask to be paid back with half her salary, as maybe Joe had done with him. Even if she was sonly 25 the thirty years could refer to huis nuclear family. Even though he only married Kathleen Buhle in 1993.
Would Hunter Biden casually mention a secret? Besides Hunter was consuming money. The words “family’s cash cow” may be a quote from Miranda Devine, not Hunter Biden, I don’t know.
The New York Magazine article somehow manages to miss the very important fact that Ye Jianming, the boss of the Chinese energy company that directed millions of dollars in consulting fees to Hunter and his uncle (or planned to) was purged in early 2018 and has disappeared into the Chinese gulag and his company CEFC, (whose name was not mentioned in the NY Mag article – is the fact that not too many people would recognize the name enough reason to leave it anonymous?) once a Global 500company,was destroyed. I think because Xi Jinping did not approve of what Yu Jianming was doing . He was working for himself, and wanted to become indispensable and at that time Joe Biden would easily be seen as a long shot to become president — which was maybe why Yu Jianming targeted him- if Joe Biden became president, he’d have a monopoly on him. (I don’t think Joe Biden had any idea that Hunter was claiming he was holding 10% for him or that he was getting a key to an office in Washington.)
Yu Jianming of course had ties to Chinese Communist Party. The NY Mag article does mention the other Chinese connection(but also without a name Maybe ebcause he has not been prged and couldsue?)
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 9/13/2022 @ 2:12 pmThis article appears in the October 2022 print edition of the Atlantic with the headline “The Myopia Generation.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/10/kids-glasses-vision-increased-nearsightedness-myopia/671244
Of course that was wrong.
Nearsightedness is caused by glasses as the urban legend went.
As more and more children got examined at younger and younger ages, myopia increased.
Wat your eye needs to do affects the way it grows.
The worst mistake is to wear glasses for reading.
And if a child can’t see the blackboard, accept that. No matter what you do, in the way of vision correction, the child will not see the blackboard clearly from that distance.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 9/13/2022 @ 2:33 pmhttps://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/06/business/abbott-baby-formula-lawsuits-jones-day.html
What they basically did was argue, in each case, the contamination could have come from the household (which won cases) and prevent lawyers from realizing or arguing that it was more than a one time problem- that this was a periodic or general problem, and the source was probably often Abbott.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 9/13/2022 @ 2:37 pmWhy do these people in California want 100% of all new cars to be electric? It’s not best for all uses.
They should be satisfied with 35% to 60% indefinitely. A mix.
Of course it would be long after the mandate when it would become a big problem.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 9/13/2022 @ 2:40 pmYou know things are getting interesting when a chopped-foam pillow magnate has his cell phone seized by the FBI, assuming the Post Millennial report is true.
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/13/2022 @ 7:04 pmThis doesn’t sound justice to me. More the opposite.
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/13/2022 @ 8:47 pmJesse Singal, on the alleged racial incident at a Duke-BYU women’s volleyball match.
It sorta reminds me of another incident involving Duke.
Paul Montagu (753b42) — 9/15/2022 @ 8:41 amIs there a single Crystal Mangum Racist Hoax Award that Rachel Richardson, her father, and the NYT will need to share, or are there separate categories for Leading Role, Supporting Role, and Supporting Role By A Media Organization?
nk (bf1da4) — 9/15/2022 @ 10:09 amR.I.P. Henry Silva, actor who almost always played villains, but he was so damn good at it!
Icy (858f49) — 9/16/2022 @ 6:27 pmThe last of Sinatra’s Ocean’s 11 Rat Pack.
DCSCA (e7fe0d) — 9/16/2022 @ 6:39 pm