[guest post by Dana]

Let’s go!

First news item

Kamala Harris’ campaign is right:

Former President Donald Trump said Sunday that he had “every right” to interfere with the 2020 election, even as two criminal cases involving those allegations hang over him. On Monday, Kamala Harris’ campaign charged that the comments were evidence that Trump believed he was “above the law.”

. . .

Trump marveled that the criminal charges did nothing but boost his poll numbers, because, he surmised, his supporters didn’t buy them in the first place.

“Whoever heard you get indicted for interfering with a presidential election where you have every right to do it, you get indicted, and your poll numbers go up?” Trump said. “When people get indicted, your poll numbers go down. But it was such, such nonsense.”

Second news item

Russians behind media company that hired and paid right-wing personalities :

They have millions of followers online. They have been major players in right-wing political discourse since Donald Trump was president. And they worked unknowingly for a company that was a front for a Russian influence operation, U.S. prosecutors say.

An indictment filed Wednesday alleges a media company linked to six conservative influencers — including well-known personalities Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson — was secretly funded by Russian state media employees to churn out English-language videos that were “often consistent” with the Kremlin’s “interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions in order to weaken U.S. opposition” to Russian interests, like its war in Ukraine.

Another influencer, Lauren Chen, was an “independent contractor” at Blaze Media. She and her husband David founded the media company linked to the influencers named above. It has been reported that Chen has been fired.

I find it amusing that The Blaze has fired Lauren Chen.

The Blaze is run by Glenn Beck, who appears with Tucker "The Nazis Were Good, Actually" Carlson on September 7 in Salt Lake City.

And Lauren Chen promoted Nick Fuentes's take on Israel/Hamas. That was OK with the Blaze.

— Patterico (@Patterico) September 6, 2024

Third news item

Again, putting the onus on Israel and not Hamas (ostensibly because it is a vile terrorist organization, and yet there seems to be this wacky belief that the same terrorist organization will abide by a ceasefire agreement and even a two-state solution…):

“Well, I think first and foremost what we saw on October 7 was a horrific act of violence against the people of Israel. They have certainly, and the vice president said it, I’ve said it, have the right to defend themselves and the United States will always stand by that,” the Minnesota governor says.

“But we can’t allow what’s happened in Gaza to happen. The Palestinian people have every right to life and liberty themselves. We need to continue, I think to put the leverage on to make sure we move towards a two-state solution,” Walz says. “I think we’re at a critical point right now. We need the Netanyahu government to start moving in that direction.”

Walz says that people in Michigan are speaking out “for all the right reasons. It’s a humanitarian crisis. It can’t stand the way it is.”

“We need to find a way that people can live together in this and we’ve said it and continue to say it, getting a ceasefire with the return of the hostages and then moving towards a sustainable two-state solution is the only way forward,” Walz says.

It should not have to be said: but what is happening with the Palestinians is horrible on an epic scale. But until Hamas is completely erased, the Palestinians will never be able to live in freedom.

Note: “people” in Michigan includes a “100,000-strong Arab-American community.”

Fourth news item

Alleged school shooter and father makes court appearance. This after the father was arrested for having been the one to purchase the gun used in the school shooting for his then-13 year old son:

Colin Gray, the father of 14-year-old Georgia school shooting suspect Colt Gray, appeared in court Friday and learned he could spend the rest of his life behind bars if convicted.

Gray, 54, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, four counts of involuntary manslaughter and eight counts of cruelty to children after Wednesday’s mass shooting, which killed two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School…

On Friday, Judge Currie Mingledorff told the father he would face the following maximum penalties if convicted:

Up to 30 years in prison for each count of second-degree felony murder
Up to 10 years in prison for each count of involuntary manslaughter
Up to 10 years in prison for each count of cruelty to children
The judge said if Colin Gray is convicted on all counts, he could face a maximum prison sentence of 180 years.

Also, Judge Mingledorff on the 14-year old suspect’s possible sentencing:

Judge Currie Mingledorff just called 14-year-old Apalachee High School shooting suspect Colt Gray back into the courtroom to correct on the record that the teen would not be eligible for the death penalty if he is convicted, because he is under 18 years old.

Gray could face a maximum sentence of life in prison with or without the possibility of parole, the judge said.

Fifth news item

Trump supporters: make this make sense, thank you:

Q: What specific legislation will you commit to to make child care affordable?

Trump: Well, I would do that and we're sitting down, you know, I was, somebody, we had Marco Rubio and my daughter, Ivanka… But I think when you talk about the kind of numbers that I'm talking about… pic.twitter.com/v8gqLUHS2v

— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) September 5, 2024

Sixth news item

Helping Trump:

Judge Juan Merchan decided to postpone former President Trump’s sentencing in New York v. Trump until after the November presidential election.

Trump’s sentencing date is now scheduled for Nov. 26. The original date was set for Sept. 18.

It could be argued that had the date been before the election, Trump could’ve used that to campaign on, and perhaps blame an election loss on. But it really doesn’t matter, because if he loses, there will be a litany of excuses given for his loss. Made up or not.

Have a great weekend.

–Dana

[guest post by Dana]

I feel like this should be getting way more attention than it has:

Former President Donald Trump publicly acknowledged that he did not win the 2020 presidential election, telling podcaster Lex Fridman that he “lost by a whisker.”

Fridman asked the Republican nominee about his expectations for his debate next week against Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, in a podcast episode released Tuesday.

Trump initially answered, “I’ve done a lot of debating … I’ve done well with debates,” before embarking on a tangent about the number of votes he received in 2020, saying: “I became president. Then the second time I got millions more votes than I got the first time.”

“I was told if I got 63 million, which is what I got the first time, ‘You would win. You can’t not win.’ And I got millions more votes than that and lost by a whisker,” Trump added

Trump admitting that he lost the election is no small thing. Especially when considering what he dragged the country through. From his election denial and efforts to overturn the results, to the violent insurrection on Jan. 6, to his rejection of a peaceful transfer of power, to his complete willingness to ignore the Constitution and the 60 court cases he lost concerning the said election. How do his supporters feel? It’s been years of his endless lies and denials about the election, and now he admits that he knew he lost? That’s got to sting.

Moreover, how do those hundreds of Trump supporters who went to jail for him, feel about their leader admitting that he lost the election? Because when you’ve lost the foul Nick Fuentes. . .

Nick Fuentes (@NickJFuentes) talks about Donald Trump's "I lost by a whisker" comment admitting he lost the 2020 Election.

"Would have been good to know that before 16K people got charged. Before I got my money frozen & put on a Federal No Fly List." pic.twitter.com/v4pypEY6mV

— KaizerRev (@Kaizerrev) September 4, 2024

—Dana

[guest post by Dana]

When the priority is making darn sure that Donald Trump doesn’t step foot in the White House again because of the danger he poses, this is what you do:

Liz Cheney endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris at Duke University@newsobserver pic.twitter.com/taoMYNQ6d1

— Emma Cline (@emmacline_) September 4, 2024

Donald Trump, no matter what your policy views are—no matter if you are a conservative Republican or not—Donald Trump cannot be trusted with power. The power of the presidency is the most awesome power of any office anywhere in the world, and the character of the people we elect really matters. And, so what I say is, I understand the desire to think that you’re casting a vote for conservative policies, but—first of all, he is not a conservative, and he’s dangerous, and this is not a policy election, and we can talk about getting this country back on track once we get through this election cycle—but Donald Trump, if he is reelected, will be far more dangerous than we have ever seen before.

He has told us he believes you can terminate the Constitution. He’s gone to war with the rule of law. He repeatedly suggests that the people who assaulted and attacked the Capitol should be celebrated. He has said he will ignore the rulings of the courts. He won’t leave office. He is a risk that we simply can’t take, and he has to be defeated…

It is crucially important for people to recognize — not only is what I’ve just said about the danger Trump poses something that should prevent people from voting for him, but I don’t believe we have the luxury of writing in candidates’ names, particularly in swing states.

As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this. And because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris.

Good on Liz for backing up her words with action. No lip service for her. And what does it say that the Republican nominee is so reprehensible to so many Republicans that they would rather vote for a Democrat than vote for a man who has been found liable for sexual abuse, has attempted to overthrow legitimate election results, resisted a peaceful transfer of power, and faces a multitude of counts across four cases in which he has been charged? It says a heck of a lot about Trump, and none of it good.

—Dana

[guest post by Dana]

Just one day after the bodies of six Israeli hostages who had been killed by Hamas were discovered, President Biden made a rather egregious comment when asked if he believed that Prime Minister Netanyahu is doing enough to secure a deal for the release of the remaining hostages. While he expressed “devastation and outrage” over the killing of the hostages, he was pointed in his criticism of PM Netanyahu:

President Biden on Monday said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not doing enough to secure a hostage deal, adding pressure on the Israeli leader to reach a cease-fire agreement after six more hostages were found dead in Gaza over the weekend.

Biden was asked by reporters outside the White House on Monday if Netanyahu was doing enough to reach a hostage release agreement, to which he said, “No.”

When asked if mediators are prepared to present a final hostage deal this week to both Israel and Hamas, Biden said, “We are very close to that,” adding, “Hope springs eternal.”

Here’s what I don’t understand: Why is the burden to do something placed on Israel rather than a global increase of pressure on the depraved terrorist organization? Why is Israel blamed in this and not Hamas? Does President Biden really believe that PM Netanyahu isn’t doing enough? Look, we can agree that to one degree or another, PM Netanyahu has been caught up in the politics of this mess, no doubt. But can we agree that he is not actively preventing the hostages from being released? And I would ask: with any sort of exchange deal or ceasefire, what evidence has been demonstrated by Hamas that would lead anyone to believe that they are a trustworthy entity? Why should Israel trust that they will release the remaining hostages rather than kill them, no matter what/who is in turn exchanged? This is just ridiculous. If Hamas isn’t cut off at the head, the Palestinian people will never be free and will continue to live under the boot of Hamas. And Israel will forever remain under threat 24/7. There is no decency, no functioning moral compass, nothing righteous, or anything that would suggest any humanity within the members of Hamas. To the contrary. And yet the fools and idiots in the U.S. seem to believe otherwise.

PM Netanyahu responded to the accusation that he wasn’t doing enough to secure the hostages release:

Maximum pressure should be put on Hamas. pic.twitter.com/kQtTFzEUHG

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) September 2, 2024

All of this:

“Hamas probably can’t believe its luck-or the lack of moral seriousness by its enemies. The terrorists murder six Israeli hostages, including one dual-citizen American, and Israel is suddenly under pressure to make concessions-to Hamas.”

–Dana

[guest post by Dana]

While it’s your standard back-to-school for most students, Georgia students at Apalachee High School, tragically faced an active school shooting. What is being reported (but is subject to change as more information is released):

At least four people are believed to have been killed and approximately 30 more were injured in the shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, although it’s unclear how many of the injuries are from gunshot wounds, according to law enforcement sources…A suspect, who is of student age, is in custody, but it’s unclear if the person actually attends the school, according to the sources…The shooter who opened fire inside Apalachee High school is believed to be a 14-year-old male, a law enforcement source tells CNN.

The source said it is not yet known whether the teen attended that school.

The FBI and ATF are at the school site supporting law enforcement.

NBC is reporting 9 injured:

Other law enforcement sources told CNN there could be up to 30 people who were injured, although it’s unclear how many of the injuries are from gunshot wounds.

Obviously this is a story in flux.

–Dana