• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris

Fear or fury? The choice is ours.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

People are weird.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

“In this country American means white. everybody else has to hyphenate.”

Giving up is unforgivable.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Mobile Menu

  • 4 Directions VA 2025 Raffle
  • 2025 Activism
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Politics / Violent Insurrection at the Capitol / Attorney General Merrick Garland Speaks About Jan 6 (LIVE at 2:30 ET)

Attorney General Merrick Garland Speaks About Jan 6 (LIVE at 2:30 ET)

by WaterGirl|  January 5, 20222:12 pm| 250 Comments

This post is in: Biden Administration in Action, Open Threads, Violent Insurrection at the Capitol

FacebookTweetEmail

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland to Deliver Remarks Regarding First Anniversary of the Attack on the Capitol

Scheduled start time 2:30 pm ET  Scheduled start time 2:45 pm Eastern

Watch Today at 2:30 p.m. ET: Attorney General Merrick B. Garland to Deliver Remarks Regarding First Anniversary of the Attack on the Capitolhttps://t.co/VOabbFCPRW

— Justice Department (@TheJusticeDept) January 5, 2022

Hoping for a YouTube video; I will embed that as soon as I find it.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « 1/6 Accountability Update
Next Post: Wednesday Evening Open Thread: SCIENCE! »

Reader Interactions

250Comments

  1. 1.

    Spanky

    January 5, 2022 at 2:13 pm

    Garland doesn’t do breaking news.

  2. 2.

    WaterGirl

    January 5, 2022 at 2:16 pm

    @Spanky: I am on Team No Breaking News, but I am perfectly willing to be surprised.

    Still, totally worth listening to what he says. Probably no red meat because there are a million open cases and investigations underway.

  3. 3.

    Starboard Tack

    January 5, 2022 at 2:17 pm

    Platitudes.

    ETA: “Drink when you hear………”

  4. 4.

    TeezySkeezy

    January 5, 2022 at 2:20 pm

    Garland seems too procedural and too *boring* to use the eve of the anniversary to announce a major move against anyone. Happy to be wrong (let’s hope in a few minutes I am devastatingly WRONG).

  5. 5.

    WaterGirl

    January 5, 2022 at 2:23 pm

    I am really looking forward to what Garland has to say.

  6. 6.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 5, 2022 at 2:25 pm

    It would be pretty tone deaf to give a speech today and have nothing to say, and I’m sure there are people around him to point that out if he’s really that apolitical. I imagine it’ll be like one of those Mattis interviews or letters that make people like David Ignatius say ‘if you read between the lines, this is a searing indictment…”

    And nothing Garland could say could appease those who persist in the delusion that Garland could order trump seized and cast into irons.

  7. 7.

    Another Scott

    January 5, 2022 at 2:25 pm

    I expect lots of numbers about arrests and so forth, but nothing specific about ongoing cases.  I expect statements like “the full weight and power of the US Government” to follow the evidence wherever it leads and bring the sword of justice down on the ringleaders.

    He knows what successful prosecution takes.  He knows how judges work.  He knows what’s at stake.

    He’ll do his job carefully, and today he’ll update us on what that entails.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  8. 8.

    germy

    January 5, 2022 at 2:27 pm

    Why today and not Jan. 6?

  9. 9.

    germy

    January 5, 2022 at 2:27 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Me, too.

    Thank you for this reminder.  I’d completely forgotten he was scheduled to speak.

  10. 10.

    Starboard Tack

    January 5, 2022 at 2:29 pm

    @Another Scott:

    I expect statements like “the full weight and power of the US Government”

    Take a drink.

  11. 11.

    germy

    January 5, 2022 at 2:30 pm

    New: AG Merrick Garland set to address DOJ employees on 1/6 now at 2:45.

    Per excerpt just sent to reporters, he will say DOJ “remains committed to holding all Jan. 6th perpetrators, *at any level*, accountable under law…” 1/2

    — Alex Mallin (@alex_mallin) January 5, 2022

    MORE from the excerpt: “…whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy. We will follow the facts wherever they lead," Garland will say in his speech.

    — Alex Mallin (@alex_mallin) January 5, 2022

  12. 12.

    Baud

    January 5, 2022 at 2:31 pm

    @Another Scott:

    Really? I expect him to fire a shotgun at a photo of Trump and company.

    I’ll be super disappointed if he doesn’t do that.

  13. 13.

    scav

    January 5, 2022 at 2:31 pm

    Having someone procedural and boring going over the self-evident (to us) facts might very well be entirely eye-opening to the less news-obsessed.  Also too, Duh-dunt-duh-dunt-duh-dunt, while not the flashiest of tunes, does rather well in the build-up.

  14. 14.

    WaterGirl

    January 5, 2022 at 2:32 pm

    @germy: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have the spotlight tomorrow.

  15. 15.

    germy

    January 5, 2022 at 2:32 pm

    Someone hoping to remain anonymous just filed suit against Verizon to try and block the release of their communications records to the Jan. 6 committee –> pic.twitter.com/MGkobkjt86

    — Alex Mallin (@alex_mallin) January 5, 2022

  16. 16.

    Edmund Dantes

    January 5, 2022 at 2:33 pm

    @Another Scott: maybe someone can ask him why the DOJ has decided not to pursue domestic terrorism sentencing enhancements in the Jan 6th attacks where guys broke/damaged/vandalized federal property in the Capitol but they have said they will for a BLM protester that spray painted the steps of the Lincoln Memorial?

    I’m sure it’s a fascinating good reason for it.

  17. 17.

    Another Scott

    January 5, 2022 at 2:35 pm

    @Edmund Dantes: Popehat covered it.

    Thread:

    With respect to @joshgerstein, who is an excellent reporter, I don’t think this analysis fairly conveys why the feds are not seeking the terrorism enhancement from the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. /1https://t.co/gMGx721pyJ

    — SatanicBeanbagHat (@Popehat) January 4, 2022

    The details matter.

    HTH!

    [eta:] – I assume the BLM stuff you reference was a comment by TFG.  I don’t recall Garland or Biden saying such a thing.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  18. 18.

    germy

    January 5, 2022 at 2:37 pm

    pic.twitter.com/0ONQdrdtLa

    — Renee (@Angelsfan4life) January 5, 2022

  19. 19.

    geg6

    January 5, 2022 at 2:37 pm

    I expect exactly nothing from this.  It’s all performative because he’s been getting beaten up in the press.  He’s not going speak about any ongoing cases and won’t even identify any.

  20. 20.

    germy

    January 5, 2022 at 2:38 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    You’re right, I hadn’t thought of that.

  21. 21.

    Cacti

    January 5, 2022 at 2:40 pm

    @Edmund Dantes: Because white people with economic anxiety.

  22. 22.

    germy

    January 5, 2022 at 2:41 pm

    Per pool report from the Great Hall at DOJ before Garland's speech, the place is "sparsely populated" due to COVID protocols but FBI Director Wray, Deputy AG Monaco, AAG Vanita Gupta, and Kristen Clarke, head of the department’s civil rights division are in the front row.

    — Alex Mallin (@alex_mallin) January 5, 2022

  23. 23.

    C Stars

    January 5, 2022 at 2:42 pm

    “Be extremely subtle even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent’s fate.”
    ― Sun Tzu

    Hopefully that’s Garland in a nutshell. We’ll see.

    Somewhat off topic, but related to the Hannity texts released yesterday: It is extremely disturbing to me that Hannity himself had reservations about the plans for the Jan. 6, but Ginni Thomas–the spouse of a SC judge–seems to have organized and egged on the insurrection.

  24. 24.

    patroclus

    January 5, 2022 at 2:42 pm

    I expect him to say “thank you” to all the hard working employees of the DOJ for all the work they do.

  25. 25.

    Baud

    January 5, 2022 at 2:43 pm

    @patroclus:

    Certainly,

  26. 26.

    WaterGirl

    January 5, 2022 at 2:44 pm

    Starting now!

  27. 27.

    Another Scott

    January 5, 2022 at 2:44 pm

    Garland is speaking now.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  28. 28.

    Baud

    January 5, 2022 at 2:44 pm

    @geg6: Agree.  Not even sure why this is being hyped.  Did DOJ do something extraordinary to publicize this, or is it Twitter?

  29. 29.

    lowtechcyclist

    January 5, 2022 at 2:45 pm

    Predictions, anyone?

    My predictometer has been totally broken for years now.  A casualty of 2016 no doubt, but it’s no good for anything anymore.

  30. 30.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 5, 2022 at 2:45 pm

    @WaterGirl: Does Nancy SMASH! have anything insurrection-related scheduled for tomorrow?

  31. 31.

    germy

    January 5, 2022 at 2:45 pm

    @patroclus:

    He did!

  32. 32.

    Mallard Filmore

    January 5, 2022 at 2:45 pm

    he is on

  33. 33.

    patroclus

    January 5, 2022 at 2:46 pm

    @germy: Called it!!

  34. 34.

    NotMax

    January 5, 2022 at 2:48 pm

    “Knowing how anxious you are for information, I’m pleased to report the Department of Justice has found no evidence meriting investigation in the death of Betty White. Thank you and good afternoon.”

    ;)

  35. 35.

    C Stars

    January 5, 2022 at 2:51 pm

    @NotMax: lol!

  36. 36.

    Kay

    January 5, 2022 at 2:51 pm

    @C Stars:

    but Ginni Thomas–the spouse of a SC judge–seems to have organized and egged on the insurrection

    Fun to think about what the reaction and coverage would be if one of the liberal judges had an insane Lefty activist spouse who advocated throwing over the government in a Leftist coup. Sotomayor, for example. We would never hear the end of it.

  37. 37.

    germy

    January 5, 2022 at 2:51 pm

    He’s really laying out the scale of the investigation.

  38. 38.

    germy

    January 5, 2022 at 2:52 pm

    Speak softly and carry a big stick.

  39. 39.

    Baud

    January 5, 2022 at 2:53 pm

    @Kay:

    Fun to think about what the reaction and coverage would be if one of the liberal judges had an insane Lefty activist spouse college roomate whose third cousin once removed who advocated throwing over the government in a Leftist coup. Sotomayor, for example. We would never hear the end of it.

  40. 40.

    JPL

    January 5, 2022 at 2:55 pm

    Have I missed the part where he speaks to investigating those who planned and funded the assault?

  41. 41.

    WaterGirl

    January 5, 2022 at 2:56 pm

    “We will and we must speak through our work.”

  42. 42.

    The Thin Black Duke

    January 5, 2022 at 2:56 pm

    @Kay: And did Ginni Thomas and her Negroid husband think they would emerge unscathed the day after the revolution?

  43. 43.

    Kay

    January 5, 2022 at 2:56 pm

    @Baud:

    Can you IMAGINE? I don’t even know what Ginni Thomas looks like. I would know what Sotomayor’s Leftist radical spouse looks like!

  44. 44.

    germy

    January 5, 2022 at 2:56 pm

    @JPL:

    He says he’s laying a foundation, first going after overt (violent) actors and then working up the food chain.

  45. 45.

    Spanky

    January 5, 2022 at 2:57 pm

    @NotMax: Coverup!!11!

  46. 46.

    Alison Rose

    January 5, 2022 at 2:57 pm

    Okay I assume he said “we follow the money” but I swear to God, I thought he said “we follow the bunny”

  47. 47.

    C Stars

    January 5, 2022 at 2:57 pm

    @Kay: Yep.

     

    @Baud: Yep.

    Fox bimbos would spend weeks on it. Atlantic magazine writers would rhetorically furrow their brows.

  48. 48.

    Another Scott

    January 5, 2022 at 2:58 pm

    @JPL:  Roughly, “… anyone who was criminally involved in the attack on our democracy, whether present at the Capitol or not…”

    It’s pretty open-ended. And rightfully so.

    No mention of RICO yet, so far… ;-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  49. 49.

    Kay

    January 5, 2022 at 2:58 pm

    Busting up the Trump crime ring in the Villages:

    A fourth retiree from The Villages has been arrested as part of an ongoing investigation into voter fraud at the well-known central Florida retirement community. Charles Franklin Barnes, 64, was taken to Sumter County Jail on Tuesday night, and faces a charge of fraud, according to a spokesperson for the county sheriff’s office. Three other residents of The Villages, all reportedly registered as Republicans, were arrested last year for allegedly casting ballots in both Florida and their home states. Soon after, Lake County officials said they’d handed another six potential cases of double voting over to prosecutors.

  50. 50.

    germy

    January 5, 2022 at 2:58 pm

    “There cannot be different rules for the powerful and the powerless.”

  51. 51.

    Cacti

    January 5, 2022 at 2:58 pm

    OT, but I just saw that Glenn Youngkin will appoint Trump’s EPA director as the VA Sec. of Natural Resources and Dir. of Environmental Quality.

    Guess that “moderate” act that the press swallowed whole was bullshit after all.

  52. 52.

    trollhattan

    January 5, 2022 at 2:58 pm

    @Kay:

    She’s like the Uhr Karen.

  53. 53.

    WaterGirl

    January 5, 2022 at 2:59 pm

    Garland:

    “In cases like january 6 a full accounting does not just suddenly materialize.’

    there cannot be different rules for friends and foes

    there is only one rule:  follow the facts and enforce the law in ways that respect the constitution.

    we adhere to these norms and especially when the circumstances we face are not normal.

  54. 54.

    Spanky

    January 5, 2022 at 2:59 pm

    @The Thin Black Duke: Negroid! Does she know this?

  55. 55.

    Mallard Filmore

    January 5, 2022 at 2:59 pm

    “there is only one rule” … even when it gets to be 80 days before an election?

  56. 56.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 5, 2022 at 3:00 pm

    @Kay: she makes teh media from time to time, like when she (according to some) drunk-dialed Anita Hill

    I’ll admit I remembered that first picture as being her wearing red, white and blue deely-boppers, but I was close

  57. 57.

    Starboard Tack

    January 5, 2022 at 3:00 pm

    @Alison Rose:

     “we follow the money”

    Not going to get through this sober.

  58. 58.

    JoyceH

    January 5, 2022 at 3:00 pm

    “We follow the money”. A hint.

  59. 59.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    January 5, 2022 at 3:00 pm

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    “Yeah, lady, we know what all you did to bring this about, and we’re grateful.  Now, line up for transport to camps, you race traitor.”

  60. 60.

    Baud

    January 5, 2022 at 3:00 pm

    @Cacti:

    Guess that “moderate” act that the press swallowed whole was bullshit after all.

    It always is.

  61. 61.

    C Stars

    January 5, 2022 at 3:00 pm

    Gosh, Garland’s a bit more salty than I expected.

  62. 62.

    Gin & Tonic

    January 5, 2022 at 3:01 pm

    What kind of condiment goes on a nothingburger? Asking for a friend.

  63. 63.

    Steeplejack

    January 5, 2022 at 3:01 pm

    @Kay:

    You would know what her leftist radical spouse looked like as a 10-year-old with a cowboy hat and a cap gun—a dramatic foreshadowing of his future leftist radical criminality!

  64. 64.

    Woodrow/asim

    January 5, 2022 at 3:02 pm

    @The Thin Black Duke: And did Ginni Thomas and her Negroid husband think they would emerge unscathed the day after the revolution?

    Of course they did. They always think they done pulled one over on the White Supremacists they sniff the butts of, and the rest of us Black folx, as well. That is, when they aren’t just True Believers, as well.

    And I say this as someone who was tempted to that Dark Side, who had family who fell over.

  65. 65.

    Leto

    January 5, 2022 at 3:02 pm

    @Kay: I was looking up Justice Sotomayor because I read an article last week on The WaPo by a journalist whose last name was also Sotomayor. Thought maybe it was her kid? Turns out the Justice isn’t even married! I was kind of surprised. She was previously married right out of law school for a few years, but they parted ways. Single ever since. Just an interesting tidbit.

  66. 66.

    prostratedragon

    January 5, 2022 at 3:02 pm

    @Alison Rose:  It’s not about the bunny.

  67. 67.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    January 5, 2022 at 3:03 pm

    @Cacti:

     

    Wouldn’t that be “acting”?  I mean, was there anyone in his cabinet that had been Senate-confirmed by the end of his term?

    Imagine naming people so reprehensible that Mitch McConnell couldn’t rig GOP unanimity in his caucus.

  68. 68.

    Baud

    January 5, 2022 at 3:03 pm

    @Alison Rose: Ivanka’s code name?

  69. 69.

    Alison Rose

    January 5, 2022 at 3:03 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: A dollop of weak sauce?

    I’m trying to remain positive and I do believe Garland wants to hold these people accountable, but it’s hard to keep that mindset going

  70. 70.

    Steeplejack

    January 5, 2022 at 3:04 pm

    @Another Scott:

    “It’s not the RICO!” (@Popehat, inevitably.)

  71. 71.

    Alison Rose

    January 5, 2022 at 3:04 pm

    @Baud: Ewwwwww

  72. 72.

    Another Scott

    January 5, 2022 at 3:05 pm

    Oooh.  Citing Scalia on how genuine threats of violence are not protected by the First Amendment.  Good move.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  73. 73.

    cmorenc

    January 5, 2022 at 3:05 pm

    @C Stars:

    should legal issues critical to the prosecutability of the jan 6 mal-actors come before SCOTUS, what are the chances Justice Thomas will recuse himself because of conflict of interest, especially issues that could potentially expose his wife Ginny to criminal liability?  What are the chances Roberts might exert pressure on Thomas to do so if Thomas does not do so on his own motion (considering Roberts recent stern admonishment to the entire federal judiciary about the appearance of financial conflicts of interest?)

  74. 74.

    Kay

    January 5, 2022 at 3:06 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I enjoyed that, I admit, because I’m petty.

    Also I had just watched an older documentary of Anita Hill and sort of fallen in love with her. She has a peaceful presence. A really impressive person. So double-fun that crazypants was drunk dialing her.

  75. 75.

    Cacti

    January 5, 2022 at 3:07 pm

    About what I expected from Garland.

    Mush mouthed, milquetoast, institutionalist blather.

  76. 76.

    Starboard Tack

    January 5, 2022 at 3:08 pm

    @Baud: That’s what her father calls her in private.

  77. 77.

    Old School

    January 5, 2022 at 3:08 pm

    @Cacti:

    Mush mouthed, milquetoast, institutionalist blather.

    I take it that you aren’t watching.

  78. 78.

    C Stars

    January 5, 2022 at 3:09 pm

    @cmorenc: 1. Zero 2. Close to zero.

  79. 79.

    Kay

    January 5, 2022 at 3:10 pm

    @Leto:

    Thank you, but I knew that. I didn’t pay that much attention to her when she was nominated, other than to note with horror that elite lawyers are horrible snobby ass kissers and were disrespectful to her, but  she has come to be one of my faves and I read about her.

  80. 80.

    Cacti

    January 5, 2022 at 3:10 pm

    @Old School: I’ll just keep holding my breath waiting for him to prosecute anyone other than a peon.

  81. 81.

    geg6

    January 5, 2022 at 3:10 pm

    @Kay:

    If you ever catch Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates on PBS, she’s going to be one of the guests in next week’s episode.

  82. 82.

    Mallard Filmore

    January 5, 2022 at 3:12 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: 

    I am watching the DOJ show, so have not verified anything … but this may be appointment to Virginia state positions.

  83. 83.

    Leto

    January 5, 2022 at 3:12 pm

    @Kay: She did a very good interview with John Oliver back in 2018 concerning workplace sexual harassment. Starts at the 17:25 mark.

  84. 84.

    Another Scott

    January 5, 2022 at 3:12 pm

    Good speech.

    I liked the reminder to everyone that the DOJ cannot protect our democracy alone.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  85. 85.

    C Stars

    January 5, 2022 at 3:13 pm

    I feel like this speech probably looks much better on paper. I seem to remember way back when Obama first nominated him to the SC, folks noted that his mien and delivery was quite bland.

  86. 86.

    FridayNext

    January 5, 2022 at 3:13 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Low-fat, sugar free, vegan mayonnaise

  87. 87.

    Kay

    January 5, 2022 at 3:15 pm

    @Leto:

    Thanks. I generally don’t watch so I haven’t seen it. She was a prosecutor so I expected her to be different. Pleasant surprise. Annually really. She’s the gift that keeps on giving.

  88. 88.

    WaterGirl

    January 5, 2022 at 3:16 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Interesting.  I found it more meaty and more inspirational than I expected.

  89. 89.

    stinger

    January 5, 2022 at 3:16 pm

    I’ve never understood the freakout, here and elsewhere, over Garland’s alleged inactivity. Barack Obama believed he would be a good Supreme Court justice, calling him “someone who brings to his work a spirit of decency, modesty, integrity, even-handedness, and excellence.”

    Referring to the Oklahoma City bombing investigation, Obama said, “Throughout the process, Merrick took pains to do everything by the book. When people offered to turn over evidence voluntarily, he refused, taking the harder route of obtaining the proper subpoenas instead, because Merrick would take no chances that someone who murdered innocent Americans might go free on a technicality.”

    (More here: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/03/16/remarks-president-announcing-judge-merrick-garland-his-nominee-supreme)

    This is a much bigger investigation than OKC, and I’ve always been willing to wait and see.

  90. 90.

    SiubhanDuinne

    January 5, 2022 at 3:16 pm

     

    @Alison Rose:

    Follow the Bunny. https://youtu.be/EmC1KyxhEJU

  91. 91.

    Avalune

    January 5, 2022 at 3:16 pm

    @Alison Rose: I definitely also heard follow the bunny. I mean granted I’m at work and was writing an email so only half listening but I thought of Alice in Wonderland and figured that tracks. FOLLOW THE BUNNY.

  92. 92.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    January 5, 2022 at 3:17 pm

    @Mallard Filmore:

    Oh, it is. I’m talking about referring to him as Trump’s former EPA director.

  93. 93.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 5, 2022 at 3:18 pm

    Getting awful Green Lanterny around here

  94. 94.

    WaterGirl

    January 5, 2022 at 3:18 pm

    @Another Scott: Am I the only one who thought he was speaking to the current supreme court justices when he was talking about the voting rights act and how they took a hatchet to it.

    For Garland, i consider that calling them out publicly.

  95. 95.

    The Thin Black Duke

    January 5, 2022 at 3:19 pm

    @Woodrow/asim: Herman Cain would like a word. Oh. Oops.

  96. 96.

    C Stars

    January 5, 2022 at 3:19 pm

     

    @WaterGirl: I didn’t expect a juicy cheeseburger because, well, Merrick Garland. But also given the chronology of recent leaks and revelations about those who were in communication with TFG, it just didn’t seem likely.

  97. 97.

    stinger

    January 5, 2022 at 3:20 pm

    @geg6: Good to know! Thanks!

  98. 98.

    WaterGirl

    January 5, 2022 at 3:21 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: What does that mean?  All sorts of people are using that lately but i just do not know.

    the google wanted to tell me about ejaculation between breasts so i didn’t linger too long there trying to figure it out.

  99. 99.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 5, 2022 at 3:23 pm

    @WaterGirl: Politics, or in this case criminal prosecutions, are merely a matter of courage and will. The implied notion in a lot of these comments that if Garland had any balls he would have arrested trump by now.

  100. 100.

    sab

    January 5, 2022 at 3:23 pm

    @Alison Rose: I heard it that way too.

  101. 101.

    Leto

    January 5, 2022 at 3:23 pm

    @Avalune: no no, “follow the bunny” like in The Matrix. *headtappingmeme

  102. 102.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    January 5, 2022 at 3:24 pm

    @The Thin Black Duke: Didn’t he win some kinda award?

  103. 103.

    trollhattan

    January 5, 2022 at 3:24 pm

    @The Thin Black Duke: “Aww, shucky duckie.”

    I’ll give it up to ol’ Herman for his soundbite-ability. The rest, full nope. (I assume he’s still dead.)

  104. 104.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    January 5, 2022 at 3:25 pm

    @Leto: I thought “follow the bunny” was Alice in Wonderland.

  105. 105.

    C Stars

    January 5, 2022 at 3:26 pm

    @WaterGirl: I found this on Urban Dictionary (below the more R-rated entries that you mention):

    Green Lanternism

    A belief that political miracles are achieved by sheer will force. Proponents of the Green Lantern Theory have attributed failure and compromise to a lack of presidential willpower. Matthew Yglesias came up with the Green Lantern Theory of Geopolitics* to ridicule conservatives who claimed “the only thing limiting us is a lack of willpower” in foreign policy. The Green Lantern Theory was later applied to the Obama Administration who seemed to lack the will power to make the radical changes in policy such as universal health care, lowering medical costs, banking reform, and peaceful negotiations that people had hoped for., especially after the Republicans took over the US House in 2011.

  106. 106.

    randy khan

    January 5, 2022 at 3:28 pm

    @Cacti:

    Guess that “moderate” act that the press swallowed whole was bullshit after all.

     

    Of course it was.  Sadly, lots of people mistake a folksy demeanor for actually being reasonable.  Just wait for what he does on abortion.  And never mind what he actually said he would do on education, which could strip public schools of tons of funding in favor of money going to private schools.  Luckily the Dems still control the State Senate, so they should be able to stop that sort of stuff.

  107. 107.

    WaterGirl

    January 5, 2022 at 3:28 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: @C Stars:

    Thank you!

  108. 108.

    Baud

    January 5, 2022 at 3:28 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    the google wanted to tell me about ejaculation between breasts so i didn’t linger too long there trying to figure it out.

     
    ?!

  109. 109.

    Ken

    January 5, 2022 at 3:28 pm

    @Baud: I expect him to fire a shotgun at a photo of Trump and company. I’ll be super disappointed if he doesn’t do that.

    Bah. Performative pablum for the masses.  I demand the skulls of my our nation’s enemies piled high on the steps of the Lincoln Monument, and the reflecting pool red with blood.

    — Conan the Historian

  110. 110.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    January 5, 2022 at 3:29 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Well, we are “through the looking glass and off the map”, as Adam reminds us from time to time…

  111. 111.

    WaterGirl

    January 5, 2022 at 3:29 pm

    @Baud: That’s what the Urban Dictionary wanted to tell me when I asked for the definition of Green Lantern.  ?‍♀️

  112. 112.

    WaterGirl

    January 5, 2022 at 3:30 pm

    I replaced the DOJ live link with the YouTube video of the speech that just finished.

  113. 113.

    Steeplejack

    January 5, 2022 at 3:30 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    God, I don’t know what’s in your cache—and I don’t want to—but the Green Lantern theory fallacy is that some individual in a situation, usually someone in power, has the superhuman ability to just make things happen.

    Vox:

    According to Brendan Nyhan, the Dartmouth political scientist who coined the term, the Green Lantern Theory of the Presidency is “the belief that the president can achieve any political or policy objective if only he tries hard enough or uses the right tactics.” In other words, the American president is functionally all-powerful, and whenever he can’t get something done, it’s because he’s not trying hard enough, or not trying smart enough.

    Brad DeLong boiled it down to “the belief that if only people would lead, they could do anything.”

  114. 114.

    Ken

    January 5, 2022 at 3:31 pm

    @WaterGirl: What does that mean?

    The “Green Lantern” theory is that those in power can do whatever they want if they have the will (though it’s usually not expressed in quite those terms).

    For example, Garland should be able to pile the skulls of my our nation’s enemies (etc.), so the fact that he hasn’t done so means he doesn’t want to.

  115. 115.

    Gin & Tonic

    January 5, 2022 at 3:31 pm

    Since it’s an open thread, I’ll follow up on a post from this morning:

    Kazakstan: Radio Azattyk (RFE/RL) correspondent is reporting that police in the western city of Atyrau opened fire on demonstrators, one struck in the head and died
    — Peter Leonard (@Peter__Leonard) January 5, 2022

  116. 116.

    C Stars

    January 5, 2022 at 3:34 pm

    @Steeplejack: The–ahem–activity that Watergirl mentions is just what is listed as the first definition of Green Lantern in urbandictionary.com, which is the first entry that pops up if you google the term. I read the whole entry (yes, I did) and there’s also something to do with a blacklight. Seems complicated and unnecessary.

  117. 117.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    January 5, 2022 at 3:34 pm

    @Ken:

    the fact that he hasn’t done so means he doesn’t want to

    How has Obama Garland betrayed us today?

  118. 118.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    January 5, 2022 at 3:35 pm

    @C Stars:

    Seems complicated and unnecessary.

    Sounds like sex!

  119. 119.

    The Moar You Know

    January 5, 2022 at 3:35 pm

    About what I expected from Garland.

    Mush mouthed, milquetoast, institutionalist blather.

     

    @Cacti: I, too, wanted him to lead off with “the hangings will start tomorrow” but then remembered I don’t live in the Philippines.

  120. 120.

    Another Scott

    January 5, 2022 at 3:37 pm

    @WaterGirl: He was calling out the Roberts SCOTUS and the other federal courts, the GQP in Congress, and basically everyone who swears an oath to protect the Constitution from “all enemies foreign and domestic”.  He did the same in his voting rights speech last year.  But he also made the point that we’re all in this together, that his DOJ will not be partisan, and will only work with the legal tools that the department has (while pressing for more tools and resources).

    It’s easy to see why Obama wanted him (as a compromise nominee) on the SCOTUS.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  121. 121.

    laura

    January 5, 2022 at 3:39 pm

    Regardless of what Garland does or doesn’t say, I don’t want to hear any hot takes from law professors who do not practice and for the rest of my born days from Jeff Toobin because fuck that workplace jack hands.

  122. 122.

    C Stars

    January 5, 2022 at 3:39 pm

    @Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: True, true, but after all that does one really have the energy to run and plug in the blacklight?

    To each their own, I suppose. Also, I may have misconstrued the actual activity being described. I read it rather speedily as I assumed off the bat it had nothing whatsoever to do with Merrick Garland.

  123. 123.

    Leto

    January 5, 2022 at 3:39 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: it was, but “follow the white rabbit” is used in both Matrix 1 and 4 and I was using it in that context. “Follow the money” and “Follow the bunny/white rabbit” to discover “the truth!”

  124. 124.

    zhena gogolia

    January 5, 2022 at 3:40 pm

    @NotMax: lol

  125. 125.

    trollhattan

    January 5, 2022 at 3:40 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    Or, more formally, “Leading with leadery leadership.”

    Tapping heels together while pining for Kansas is another approach.

  126. 126.

    zhena gogolia

    January 5, 2022 at 3:44 pm

    @The Moar You Know: lol

  127. 127.

    James E Powell

    January 5, 2022 at 3:45 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    “We will and we must speak through our work.”

    Everyone in the press/media hates this guy. So does nearly everyone on social media.

  128. 128.

    The Thin Black Duke

    January 5, 2022 at 3:45 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Posthumously.

  129. 129.

    C Stars

    January 5, 2022 at 3:46 pm

    @stinger: I actually thought it was quite clever of Garland to link this insurrection to the Oklahoma City bombing. All of a piece with the violent right wing extremism.

  130. 130.

    joel hanes

    January 5, 2022 at 3:49 pm

    Minor DC Comics hero The Green Lantern acquires his ability to do things by sheer force of will by recharging a special ring in a mystical green lantern while reciting special words.

    https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/112985497073288154/3C3E3FB28B14C2CFC74B75298D9002DEE2E1737B/

  131. 131.

    Avalune

    January 5, 2022 at 3:51 pm

    @Leto: Oh you are correct but I’m pretty sure the matrix nod to following the bunny was also still a reference to Through the Looking Glass and following the rabbit down the hole – so either way.

  132. 132.

    WaterGirl

    January 5, 2022 at 3:51 pm

    @Steeplejack: Count me as officially offended by your “cache” reference.

    If that was supposed to be funny, it wasn’t.

  133. 133.

    trollhattan

    January 5, 2022 at 3:54 pm

    @James E Powell:

    Has all the right enemies, at least.

  134. 134.

    Gin & Tonic

    January 5, 2022 at 3:55 pm

    Take with a grain (or two) of salt, naturally, but the photos in this Tweet reportedly show a statue of Nursultan Nazarbaev in the city of Taldykorgan, Kazakhstan.

  135. 135.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    January 5, 2022 at 3:56 pm

    @Steeplejack:Brad DeLong boiled it down to “the belief that if only people would lead, they could do anything.”

    “There goes my people. I must follow them, for I am their leader.”― Mahatma Gandhi

  136. 136.

    Kay

    January 5, 2022 at 3:57 pm

    Brit Hume
    @brithume
    ·Jan 6, 2021
    Do not be surprised if we learn in the days ahead that the Trump rioters were infiltrated by leftist extremists. Note: this is not to excuse any of them.

    Knew it was a lie when he wrote it because the trash heap he works for were begging Dear Leader to call off the mob.
    They just lie and lie and lie. All day, every day.

  137. 137.

    Ken

    January 5, 2022 at 3:58 pm

    @The Moar You Know: I, too, wanted him to lead off with “the hangings will start tomorrow”

    No!  Skulls!  Piled high!  Or better, displayed as a salutary reminder to all of the consequences of offending me our nation’s highest principles!

  138. 138.

    Kent

    January 5, 2022 at 3:59 pm

    @Kay: Which is why Fox News is so gung ho about pursuing 1/6 prosecutions.  Since they are all leftists in disguise, throw the fucking book at them!

    oh wait…

  139. 139.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    January 5, 2022 at 4:01 pm

    @WaterGirl: the google wanted to tell me about ejaculation between breasts so i didn’t linger too long there trying to figure it out.

    The Song of Solomon is a spicy take for The Bible.

  140. 140.

    Doug R

    January 5, 2022 at 4:02 pm

    @Alison Rose: I heard “bunny” as well.

  141. 141.

    NotMax

    January 5, 2022 at 4:03 pm

    @Gin & Tonic

    Covered this a few days ago.

    Ghost peppers.

    ;)

  142. 142.

    Ken

    January 5, 2022 at 4:04 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: Ezekiel 23 also has a few words on the subject.

  143. 143.

    smith

    January 5, 2022 at 4:04 pm

    @Kay: They’re sticking to the original script. The plan, apparently, was to provoke violence between the rioters and Antifa as a pretext for disrupting the proceedings, perhaps by invoking martial law, but Antifa ungraciously refused to show up. It’s illustrative of how dumb and poorly-planned the whole event was that they didn’t anticipate this possibility and arrange for some Antifa cosplayers themselves.

  144. 144.

    Kay

    January 5, 2022 at 4:04 pm

    @Kent:

    I love his Twitter photo. “I am a serious newsman”. Whatever you clown.

  145. 145.

    Brachiator

    January 5, 2022 at 4:05 pm

    @C Stars:

    Green Lanternism: A belief that political miracles are achieved by sheer will force.

    We may need another metaphor for Trump.

    His idiot supporters believe that he achieved political miracles when he actually didn’t do much of anything at all, besides his posturing and bloviating.

    And yet I heard some idiot recently declare that Trump was the greatest president since Washington.

  146. 146.

    Alison Rose

    January 5, 2022 at 4:05 pm

    @Doug R: since many people did, I wonder if he has a cold

    but now I keep picturing bunnies in Maga hats…

  147. 147.

    catclub

    January 5, 2022 at 4:06 pm

    @Kent: the great thing about spewing lies is that don’t have to be logically consistent.

  148. 148.

    artem1s

    January 5, 2022 at 4:06 pm

    @Kay: ​
     

    all reportedly registered as Republicans, were arrested last year for allegedly casting ballots in both Florida and their home states.

    I’ve suspected this has been the practice going back to W and 2000 at least. TFG’s fit over the mail in ballots indicates the usual GOPer projection. If we’ve been doing it, surely they must be too. I’ve always thought the SCOTUS decision to stop the FL 2000 recount was prompted by knowing if the lawyers looked too closely they would turn up something far worse than hanging chads.
    Back during the Kasich administration he put the kibosh on a state voter ID law that would have required anyone living out of state more than 30 days to get a new driver’s license and re-register to vote upon returning to OH. It was targeting out of state students on college campuses but unintended consequences, might expose the wrong voter fraud, you know.

  149. 149.

    Starboard Tack

    January 5, 2022 at 4:06 pm

    @Brachiator: Sounds like the Wizard of Oz. Another charlatan.

  150. 150.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    January 5, 2022 at 4:09 pm

    @Ken: Someone was obsessing over hookers and wine in the early Iron Age, damn.

  151. 151.

    catclub

    January 5, 2022 at 4:10 pm

    @cmorenc: ​
     

    What are the chances Roberts might exert pressure on Thomas to do so if Thomas does not do so on his own motion (considering Roberts recent stern admonishment to the entire federal judiciary about the appearance of financial conflicts of interest?)

    funny. ummm… zero?

  152. 152.

    Kay

    January 5, 2022 at 4:10 pm

    @smith:

    Well, why would they show up? It was a Trump rally. They think Antifa has some kind of emergency mobilization plan? Big trucks with black-booted Antifa sitting on the sides rolling into DC? The profound misunderstanding of Antifa on the Right is really something. Fantasies are fine but one really shouldn’t plan around them.

  153. 153.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    January 5, 2022 at 4:12 pm

    @Brachiator: We may need another metaphor for Trump.

    I suggest “The Brown Lantern”

  154. 154.

    Citizen Alan

    January 5, 2022 at 4:12 pm

    @Woodrow/asim:

    I firmly believe that when Clarence Thomas looks in a mirror, he sees a white man staring back at him. Every opinion he’s ever written or joined that touches on civil rights suggests that he doesn’t expect the law to ever treat him as it does the typical African-American.

  155. 155.

    danielx

    January 5, 2022 at 4:13 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    I believe the original German is “triumph of the will”.

  156. 156.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    January 5, 2022 at 4:14 pm

    @Leto: What is this Matrix that you speak of, a film of some sort?

  157. 157.

    Benw

    January 5, 2022 at 4:14 pm

    @Baud: Did TFG kick the doors in, fire his Tommy gun into the air, and holler “you’ll never take me alive, copper!”

    No? Disappointed

  158. 158.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 5, 2022 at 4:16 pm

    Clarence Thomas officiated Rush Limbaugh’s wedding. The third one. It didn’t take. Not sure about the fourth.

  159. 159.

    Avalune

    January 5, 2022 at 4:16 pm

    So, the obvious conclusion to draw here is that the DOJ is running around shouting SHOW ME THE BUNNY! Right?

  160. 160.

    Cacti

    January 5, 2022 at 4:16 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: A film franchise that should have stopped after the first.

  161. 161.

    Brachiator

    January 5, 2022 at 4:17 pm

    @smith:

    They’re sticking to the original script. The plan, apparently, was to provoke violence between the rioters and Antifa as a pretext for disrupting the proceedings, perhaps by invoking martial law…

    I keep seeing variations of this as part of Trump’s master plan, but I don’t see how this would have accomplished anything, except for a possible delay of the largely ceremonial counting of the electoral votes.

    But none of this would have kept Trump in office a nanosecond past January 20.

  162. 162.

    Ken

    January 5, 2022 at 4:17 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: Someone was obsessing over hookers and wine in the early Iron Age, damn.

    The preferred description is “Timeless moral lessons, as relevant now as when first penned.”

  163. 163.

    smith

    January 5, 2022 at 4:19 pm

    @Kay: I think I remember some comments on left wing blogs in the days leading up to 1/6 that urged counter-protesters to steer clear, mostly, I think, to avoid the way it would be reported if there were violence. As you recall, there had been at least one earlier Proud Boys march where counter-protesters showed up and people were stabbed, and of course the media reported  it as left-wing violence. I also would not be surprised if people in the loose network that is “Antifa” had listening posts in RW chat rooms who picked up on their eager anticipation of a massive showdown.

  164. 164.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    January 5, 2022 at 4:20 pm

    @Brachiator:

    But none of this would have kept Trump in office a nanosecond past January 20.

    Yeah, that detail seems to be overlooked in all their plans.

  165. 165.

    J R in WV

    January 5, 2022 at 4:20 pm

    I didn’t see/hear the speech, but Wife did, and was favorably impressed, also somewhat surprised by it. No surprise that several folk here were not impressed at all, they told us they wouldn’t be impressed before he said a word.

    We shall see what happens as it unfolds over the next few months. Here again we will watch history as it happens. After Nixon resigned I thought I wouldn’t live to see that kind of history again, but here it is again. Hmm, didn’t someone once say something about “Those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it!”? Is the dammed White Rabbit running in circles?

  166. 166.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    January 5, 2022 at 4:20 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: Now it’s just Mayhew with his hookers and blow.

  167. 167.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    January 5, 2022 at 4:22 pm

    @Ken: The preferred description is “Timeless moral lessons, as relevant now as when first penned.”

    What, that brothel is still going after 2,500 years? I mean, World’s Oldest Profession, but I never imagined. 0o

  168. 168.

    smith

    January 5, 2022 at 4:25 pm

    @Brachiator: Was there anything about the whole production that would have made sense under normal law or procedure? I mean, look at all the lawsuits based on totally bonkers ideas about election law. If they were willing to advance the arguments they did with a straight face in courts of law, what they dreamed up in privacy must have been several times more fantastical.

  169. 169.

    Kay

    January 5, 2022 at 4:26 pm

    @smith:

    I don’t know much about Antifa and I don’t trust what I hear. I listened to a (great) podcast that was “about” an Antifa (young man) who was killed walking out of a bar when a Right winger ran him over- his mother was the main speaker in the series- and to me it became about their relationship- the mother and son. He had been with Antifa since he was 16. It’s a much broader political philosophy than “liberal” – they don’t really take part in “politics” like we understand it. So it would make sense for them to fight with Proud Boys but not with Trumpsters wearing MAGA hats. They wouldn’t care if Trump was seated instead of Biden. It’s a much longer and bigger battle to them.

  170. 170.

    geg6

    January 5, 2022 at 4:26 pm

    @smith:

    Yes, I saw such posts, too.  All the political groups I belong to on FB were warning people to stay away.

  171. 171.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    January 5, 2022 at 4:27 pm

    Why isn’t Garland prosecuting the Designated Hitter rule?

  172. 172.

    Ken

    January 5, 2022 at 4:30 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: Interesting question. A quick google search indicates the oldest operating brothels are around a century old. But, I’d think by their nature, there could be older brothels that never came to public notice.  Definitely room for a master’s thesis in history here.

  173. 173.

    geg6

    January 5, 2022 at 4:30 pm

    @Kay:

    What you must realize is that they pretty much consider all Dems to be Antifa.  They have no idea what the real Antifa, which is simply a loosely connected group of anti-fascists, is or the fact that they aren’t not an organization, per se.  It’s just Democrats.

  174. 174.

    Starboard Tack

    January 5, 2022 at 4:31 pm

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: Exactly! The DH is the crime of the (last) century.

  175. 175.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 5, 2022 at 4:31 pm

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:

    Why isn’t Garland prosecuting the Designated Hitter rule? 

    And the 7-inning double headers, and the runner-starts-on-2nd rule?!

  176. 176.

    mrmoshpotato

    January 5, 2022 at 4:34 pm

    @geg6:

    They have no idea what the real Antifa, which is simply a loosely connected group of anti-fascists, is 

    They really do love their boogymen, don’t they?

  177. 177.

    NotMax

    January 5, 2022 at 4:36 pm

    @Ken

    Definitely room for a master’s thesis in history here.

    “A penetrating analysis.”
    – Porkus Review

    //

  178. 178.

    Cermet

    January 5, 2022 at 4:37 pm

    @smith: Antifa has no organized structure, at all – that is solely a rightwing myth that they spread. So, even if someone that call’s themselves Antifa read what you said online, there’d be no way to spread such information to anyone else who also say’s they were Antifa.

  179. 179.

    Leto

    January 5, 2022 at 4:41 pm

    @Avalune: Can’t wait for Tom Cruz to be cast as Merrick Garland, shouting, “SHOW ME THE BUNNY!!!!!” In the upcoming film adaptation.

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: “Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself.” :P

  180. 180.

    smith

    January 5, 2022 at 4:42 pm

    @Cermet: I’m not talking about an organized structure. People with similar political views talk to each other. They sometimes agree to show up at a place and time to make themselves heard. As far as I know, that’s it. Certainly no meetings, no dues, no membership lists, no charter, no elected officers. But not completely isolated individuals who never communicate with each other, either.

  181. 181.

    CaseyL

    January 5, 2022 at 4:42 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    @Ken:

    If there was such a thing as a millenia-old brothel, imagine the history contained in it!  Which crowned rulers and Popes patronized it… or owned it!

  182. 182.

    The Moar You Know

    January 5, 2022 at 4:43 pm

    Big trucks with black-booted Antifa sitting on the sides rolling into DC? 

    @Kay: you gotta learn to speak conservative better.  The vehicle you’re looking for is called a “low-rider”.

  183. 183.

    WaterGirl

    January 5, 2022 at 4:44 pm

    @Avalune: I would pay to see that.

  184. 184.

    cintibud

    January 5, 2022 at 4:45 pm

    “Remember, remember

    The January 6th offenders…”

    ETA: Maybe in future history books?

  185. 185.

    Jeffro

    January 5, 2022 at 4:47 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: EXCELLENT!

    I think Orange Lanterns are supposed to be the embodiment of greed, so that one also works on multiple levels.

  186. 186.

    Peale

    January 5, 2022 at 4:48 pm

    @Kay: What they don’t have is a wife of a supreme court judge with a bankroll to rent buses. When they go out into Eastern Oregon to start fires, they are lucky if they have enough money to rent a sub-compact from Avis.

  187. 187.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    January 5, 2022 at 4:49 pm

    In the immortal words of George Zip (inventor of the Zip Code), “Win one for the Bunny! ?”

  188. 188.

    ThresherK

    January 5, 2022 at 4:51 pm

    Okay, some people on Twitter are telling us that Garland said “both sides”. (I haven’t heard this–haven’t heard any of the presentation.)

    Is that possibly true? I don’t trust the people who are saying this. They don’t even have a four-second clip or quote.

  189. 189.

    Miss Bianca

    January 5, 2022 at 4:55 pm

    @ThresherK: Probably best to just take a listen to it for yourself – I don’t think it’s that long.

  190. 190.

    piratedan

    January 5, 2022 at 4:57 pm

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: those immortal words turned the tide in the fight for Drambui IIRC

  191. 191.

    Kay

    January 5, 2022 at 5:01 pm

    @Peale:

    The podcast was sad because the kid had (in my view) completely romanticized his role, like a 16 year old might. He and his mother had a hard life, poverty, which he understandably saw as unfair, an injustice,so he joined this kind of army. And ended up dead. But way beyond “politics”. Outside any system.

  192. 192.

    Captain C

    January 5, 2022 at 5:01 pm

    @Kay: Antifa just means Anti-Fascist (so those who are opposed, well…).  In a somewhat narrower sense, it’s those on the left who are willing to physically oppose the bullying and intimidation done by the various Rightist groups.  What the lying right and their mouthpieces in the media do is try and confuse them with the Black Bloc anarchists, who generally seem to be privileged kids pretending to have a political philosophy but who really want to trash shit and get praised for it, especially at other people’s rallies.

  193. 193.

    Chris Johnson

    January 5, 2022 at 5:02 pm

    Could ‘bunny’ be somebody’s code name? Like Trump? Or Clarence Thomas? Or I don’t know, Tucker Carlson? Who is the bunny they are following?

    Beau of the Fifth Column thinks they’re leaking stuff about Hannity sending worried texts, to give him motivation to flip whereupon they can cut him a deal. I think this is the time when the pressure is really on to reveal big big names that were behind 1/6. I mean, we know Ginny Thomas was, and Hannity knew and we know that. This is not going to be all about Trump and his spawn: they’re total losers expecting to reap the benefits because they’re Russia’s pet potemkin first family. So who was NOT a bozo but was responsible for the actual work of all this?

    Not that it went well, mind you, but still?

  194. 194.

    Barbara

    January 5, 2022 at 5:12 pm

    Can anyone imagine what a putative defendant’s lawyer would make of statements by the AG that he was going to get these people come hell or high water?  They are already in some cases asserting that they are victims of a political witch hunt.  I truly do not understand this desire for some kind of moral victory that supposedly accrues from vitriolic statements by law enforcement about people under investigation.  Any victory along these lines would be symbolic at best and might actually compromise actual prosecutions.  It seems obvious enough to me that it becomes incredibly tedious to listen to those who are flogging Garland for not being the modern day AG equivalent of GWB scoring all those rhetorical points over the axis of evil.

  195. 195.

    NotMax

    January 5, 2022 at 5:13 pm

    OT.

    Not all of the kids are alright.

    Late in December, some of the conservative movement’s biggest influencers gathered at the Monarch Theatre in Downtown Phoenix for what was advertised as “the biggest patriot’s party ever.”

    Inside, the DJ played a club remix of the “Let’s go, Brandon!” chant, while a curly-haired kid wearing a proper button-up and slacks swang from an aerial hoop above the stage. James O’Keefe, right-wing political activist and founder of Project Veritas, posed for selfies with eager, young fans as the music boomed. Organizers said Matt Gaetz, the Florida lawmaker currently embroiled in scandal amid allegations of child sex trafficking, made an appearance earlier in the night.

    The partygoers were in town for AmericaFest, Turning Point USA’s final student activism conference of the year. But while the official speaker list focused on Fox News regulars like Gaetz, the party was geared towards younger influencers, drawn together by Turning Point’s ambassador program. Some of them were lifestyle influencers, while others ran communications for Republican congressmen in Washington like Madison Cawthorn. Many already had podcasts and brand deals. At the event, they wore special badges giving them access to a VIP lounge in the convention center only a few blocks from the hotel rooms Turning Point had booked for them. Source

  196. 196.

    smith

    January 5, 2022 at 5:15 pm

    @Captain C: My impression is that “Antifa” means something similar to what “Anti-War” meant during Vietnam. There were organized anti-war groups then (though many were pretty loosely organized), but being “Anti-War” didn’t imply membership in any of them. A lot of anti-war people showed up for demos, carried out other actions as they saw fit, called themselves anti-war, but never attended any meetings or joined any group.

  197. 197.

    schrodingers_cat

    January 5, 2022 at 5:15 pm

    @Barbara: The “resister” Twitter wants their version of Barr.

  198. 198.

    Cameron

    January 5, 2022 at 5:16 pm

    @Peale: Aren’t there any Jews willing to loan them a space laser or two?

  199. 199.

    zhena gogolia

    January 5, 2022 at 5:17 pm

    @Barbara:

    @schrodingers_cat: I agree with sc.

  200. 200.

    Chief Oshkosh

    January 5, 2022 at 5:17 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    To be clear, it’s good for G&T to be making noise about it. Change doesn’t happen unless people push.

    Who has said that? Has it been said at BJ?

  201. 201.

    zhena gogolia

    January 5, 2022 at 5:17 pm

    @NotMax: swang?

  202. 202.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    January 5, 2022 at 5:18 pm

    @Alison Rose: “Silly little bleeder. One rabbit stew coming up.”

  203. 203.

    debbie

    January 5, 2022 at 5:19 pm

    @Barbara:

    I second your final sentence and scorn anyone who thought this could all be wrapped up in a day or two.

  204. 204.

    debbie

    January 5, 2022 at 5:20 pm

    @smith:

    Anti-Fascist. It explains itself.

  205. 205.

    WereBear

    January 5, 2022 at 5:22 pm

    I liked AG Garlands assurance they will be “tracked down, on any level.”

  206. 206.

    Mart

    January 5, 2022 at 5:22 pm

    @Brachiator: Pretty sure “the plan” involved invoking Marshall Law… something something… discard the votes in swing states… something something… President forever!

  207. 207.

    Starboard Tack

    January 5, 2022 at 5:24 pm

    @Mart: George Marshall died sometime ago.

  208. 208.

    Barbara

    January 5, 2022 at 5:25 pm

    @Mart: That would be martial law, as in rule according to military diktat. It’s not too bold to say that to some extent we are all being ruled by Marshall law, Marshall being John Marshall, the fourth and still arguably the most consequential CJ of the Supreme Court.

  209. 209.

    Mart

    January 5, 2022 at 5:25 pm

    @Starboard Tack: Marshall Martial what’s the diff?

  210. 210.

    Chief Oshkosh

    January 5, 2022 at 5:26 pm

    @C Stars:

    All of a piece with the violent right wing extremism.

    Are prosecutors pursuing now with the post-OKC bombing and post-911 legal tools available? Seems like something to do.

  211. 211.

    Starboard Tack

    January 5, 2022 at 5:26 pm

    @Barbara: Yours is better.

  212. 212.

    cain

    January 5, 2022 at 5:27 pm

    @joel hanes:

    Minor? Sir…

  213. 213.

    Ken

    January 5, 2022 at 5:28 pm

    @Mart: Just don’t confuse them with Marital.

    (Joke stolen from Terry Pratchett, where someone thought he was ordering an illustrated handbook of Martial Arts…)

  214. 214.

    Barbara

    January 5, 2022 at 5:29 pm

    @Starboard Tack: I love wordplay.

  215. 215.

    ThresherK

    January 5, 2022 at 5:30 pm

    @Miss Bianca: Okay, I skimmed thru it at 1.75x normal speed, stopped a couple of times to relisten to a bit here and there, and still am not picking up what is being claimed. Still not hearing the Bothsidesing.

    I’ll just keep my eye out for more people claiming it.

  216. 216.

    cain

    January 5, 2022 at 5:30 pm

    @Kay: It’s not really a misunderstanding – the leaders know who exactly antifa is – as with everything they use every tool for the ill-informed to be terrorized.

  217. 217.

    Starboard Tack

    January 5, 2022 at 5:30 pm

    @Ken: It takes a license?

  218. 218.

    cain

    January 5, 2022 at 5:31 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Song by Duran Duran

  219. 219.

    Captain C

    January 5, 2022 at 5:32 pm

    @smith:

     My impression is that “Antifa” means something similar to what “Anti-War” meant during Vietnam.

    This sounds like a pretty good analogy.

  220. 220.

    rmjohnston

    January 5, 2022 at 5:32 pm

    @Brachiator:

    We may need another metaphor for Trump.

    Hmm . . . an Adderall snorting, incredibly lazy, malignant narcissist and congenital liar of questionable literacy, always on the scam.  The indolent idiot of Arkham Asylum?

  221. 221.

    Starboard Tack

    January 5, 2022 at 5:34 pm

    @rmjohnston: Also preening and overweening

  222. 222.

    Chief Oshkosh

    January 5, 2022 at 5:35 pm

    @Chief Oshkosh: That was weird – totally off quote from another thread from earlier today. Oh well.

  223. 223.

    cain

    January 5, 2022 at 5:36 pm

    @Leto: In the upcoming dramatic court scene..

    TomC: I Want the BUNNY!

    Col: You want the bunny?! You want the bunny??!

    TomC: I think I”m entitled to it!

    Col: You can’t have the bunny!!! Son, we live in a place with a lot of grass. We keep the bunnies to eat them – you use them a  punchline! I have no inclination to give answers to someone whose grass is well groomed.

    Col: either way, I don’t give a DAMN what you think you’re entitled to!

  224. 224.

    Old School

    January 5, 2022 at 5:36 pm

    @ThresherK:

    Okay, some people on Twitter are telling us that Garland said “both sides”. (I haven’t heard this–haven’t heard any of the presentation.)

    Is that possibly true?

    It is likely this part being referred to:

    These acts and threats of violence are not associated with any one set of partisan or ideological views.

    But they are permeating so many parts of our national life that they risk becoming normalized and routine if we do not stop them.

    That is dangerous for people’s safety. And it is deeply dangerous for our democracy.

    In a democracy, people vote, argue, and debate — often vociferously — in order to achieve the policy outcomes they desire. But in a democracy, people must not employ violence or unlawful threats of violence to affect that outcome. Citizens must not be intimidated from exercising their constitutional rights to free expression and association by such unlawful conduct.

    The Justice Department will continue to investigate violence and illegal threats of violence, disrupt that violence before it occurs, and hold perpetrators accountable.

  225. 225.

    cain

    January 5, 2022 at 5:37 pm

    @cintibud: Unlikely, apparently V for Vendetta is on the ban list cuz of critical race theory.

  226. 226.

    Brachiator

    January 5, 2022 at 5:41 pm

    @smith:

    Was there anything about the whole production that would have made sense under normal law or procedure?

    We are talking about Trump, so nothing was normal.

  227. 227.

    cain

    January 5, 2022 at 5:42 pm

    @NotMax: Speaking of kids not being alright – it seems that George Floyd’s 4 year old grand niece got shot in her bed on New Years morning at 4am. It took the cops till 7am to show up. An internal affairs investigation has started because a 3 hour response time to a shooting is pretty piss poor and of course. You can’t rule out the cops wanting revenge.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/george-floyd-great-niece-shot-injured-b1987005.html

  228. 228.

    Avalune

    January 5, 2022 at 5:43 pm

    @cain: I was waiting for you can’t handle the bunny.

  229. 229.

    TriassicSands

    January 5, 2022 at 5:48 pm

    @trollhattan:

    I think the formula is: F = Gc²

    where F= fascism, G = Ginni Thomas, and c= the speed of light

    I won’t speculate as to why, but the amazing thing to me is that she may not be racist. Either that or her exception is for one person.

  230. 230.

    artem1s

    January 5, 2022 at 5:52 pm

    Welcome relief. Facts, no hyperbole. Was very clear about the process. Thank the FSM Barr is gone.

    Merrick did take a not at all subtle shot at SCOTUS overturning preclearance. Spoke at length of the dangers of eroding voting rights. That’s gonna really chap Robert’s ass getting schooled in front of the whole DOJ staff revealing what a partisan hack he is. Not allowed in the NPR playbook.

  231. 231.

    cain

    January 5, 2022 at 6:01 pm

    @Avalune:

    lol – sorry to disappoint. It would have made the other bits harder to write :-)

  232. 232.

    randy khan

    January 5, 2022 at 6:01 pm

    @C Stars:

    I sometimes feel like certain Urban Dictionary entries are made up just to catch people who are looking for other things.

  233. 233.

    TriassicSands

    January 5, 2022 at 6:08 pm

    @cmorenc: what are the chances Justice Thomas will recuse himself because of conflict of interest

    Less than the chances that Trump will come out and admit he lost the election and congratulate Biden for his victory and great leadership.

    If Ginni Thomas were convicted of insurrectionist activities and the case reached the SCOTUS, Clarence would not recuse himself. He wouldn’t recuse himself if he were the defendant.

  234. 234.

    Subsole

    January 5, 2022 at 6:10 pm

     

     

    @Citizen Alan: The Honorable Supreme Court Justice Uncle Ruckus. No relation.

  235. 235.

    TriassicSands

    January 5, 2022 at 6:15 pm

    @stinger:

    Barack Obama believed he would be a good Supreme Court justice, calling him “someone who brings to his work a spirit of decency, modesty, integrity, even-handedness, and excellence.”

    The same could be said for Mueller. In this case, being a SCOTUS justice and AG are very different and require very different qualities.

    Garland is much older now¹ and age may do much to explain Mueller’s abject failure.

    This is an observation, not a judgment.

     

    ¹ Than he was for the Oklahoma City bombing.

  236. 236.

    Subsole

    January 5, 2022 at 6:24 pm

     

     

    @smith: The crowning irony of it all is that antifa is a lot closer to an ad-hoc citizens’ “Militia” than the reskinned slavecatcher patrols Americans currently associate with the term – thanks in no small part to right wing groups misusing the term.

  237. 237.

    Subsole

    January 5, 2022 at 6:27 pm

    @Mart: Marshall Law is just Slim Shady in camo.

  238. 238.

    Hob

    January 5, 2022 at 6:32 pm

    @Captain C:

    Antifa just means Anti-Fascist (so those who are opposed, well…).  In a somewhat narrower sense, it’s those on the left who are willing to physically oppose the bullying and intimidation done by the various Rightist groups. 

    Your first sentence there is very misleading. I mean, that is the derivation of the name, but that name has never been used with a general meaning of just being against fascism. The “narrower meaning” is the one it has always had, because it’s a reference to a name used in Germany for a particular strain of leftist activism that absolutely does not include people who are doing mainstream social-liberal democratic politics, no matter how much they hate fascists. If you just wanted to describe yourself as being anti-fascist in Germany but were not revolutionary-inclined, you wouldn’t use that specific abbreviation, you would just say anti-fascist. In the US it’s a similar story, more specifically coming out of the punk rock scene, but either way the name was picked up by a specific subculture and always had the narrower connotation.

    I really hate this common dodge of saying “anyone who’s not pro-Antifa must be pro-fascist– that’s what the name means!” No, sorry, no one is required to take ideological self-labeling at face value. I mean, if the statement “Anyone who’s against the Democratic Party must be against democracy” has any truth it’s because of current circumstances, not because of the literal meaning of the name.

  239. 239.

    WaterGirl

    January 5, 2022 at 6:38 pm

    @cain: Wow, that stinks to high heaven.

  240. 240.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    January 5, 2022 at 6:58 pm

    What if they invoked Marcia Law?

  241. 241.

    Kay

    January 5, 2022 at 7:00 pm

    @Captain C:

    In a somewhat narrower sense, it’s those on the left who are willing to physically oppose the bullying and intimidation

    Well, I’m not an expert. It was just the one podcast. But one of the people they interviewed was a friend of the antifa kid and the friend has political ambitions. He wants to be elected as a socialist. He drew a clear line between his views and those of antifa, in that he is willing to work within a system and they’re simply not interested in that although they’re aligned ideologically (and were also friends).

    They reject his approach and he rejects theirs. He still believes he can effect change within the existing political system and they do not.

  242. 242.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 5, 2022 at 7:19 pm

    @TriassicSands:

    Garland is much older now¹ and age may do much to explain Mueller’s abject failure.

    Adam Schiff and Jamie Raskin are considerably younger, and they couldn’t get the public outraged about trump’s crimes either.

  243. 243.

    UncleEbeneezer

    January 5, 2022 at 7:26 pm

    Merrick Garland’s investigation of Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols and the Unabomber had zero leaks before indictments,100% convictions and no turnovers on appeal. Sometimes you have to have a little faith in the process. Happy Wednesday.

  244. 244.

    TriassicSands

    January 5, 2022 at 7:48 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I was speaking about Mueller’s horrendous testimony, not his public relations.

    As for Garland, he would almost certainly be a great AG in normal times. His measured approach would be reassuring and his exemplary character would assure fair treatment for everyone.

    Whether he is the right person in extraordinary times is another question. Because the work is done behind closed doors, we don’t know what is being done or if the level of urgency is sufficient. Business as usual, may not be good enough when the entire system is threatened.

    Garland’s presentation today is long overdue. It comes in response to growing criticism of the silence and lack of visible action from the DOJ. The fact that Garland let it come to this could be a bad sign about his understanding of what is needed as opposed to how he would like to perform his duties. That doesn’t mean he’s not doing a great job — we haven’t a clue.

    “As long as it takes…” That fails to acknowledge that there are other forces at work and if it takes too long, but could have been done faster if the proper sense of urgency had been guiding the work, it could be too late. I’m sure Garland doesn’t like the idea of letting politics affect his work. But politics — midterm elections specifically– are critical. Once Republicans regain control of both houses, the outcome of the DOJ’s investigations may not matter anymore. There is no guarantee, but that outcome could change the results of the elections and conceivably save our democracy.

    We’ll see…

    It was great that Garland pointedly criticized the radicals on the SCOTUS, particularly the phony moderate John Roberts, for gutting the VRA. The media should have raised this issue constantly over the past several years.

  245. 245.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    January 5, 2022 at 8:09 pm

    @TriassicSands: Mueller’s report was clear. The evidence was there. Congress dropped the ball. The American people moved on.

    No one’s age had anything to do with the inability or unwillingness of the majority of the American people to care about trump’s crimes.

  246. 246.

    CindyH

    January 5, 2022 at 8:38 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: This.

  247. 247.

    sdhays

    January 5, 2022 at 9:31 pm

    @Cermet: To be fair, these are the people who believe “the Jews” have been conspiring to install a Jew as Pope for 300 years. Ginning up nasty fantasies about what a given group is without worrying about whether it has any relationship with reality comes naturally.

  248. 248.

    sdhays

    January 5, 2022 at 9:36 pm

    @NotMax: What a lovely little super-spreader event, of both hate and COVID – a common combo.

  249. 249.

    OGLiberal

    January 5, 2022 at 11:26 pm

    @Brachiator: Here’s about all that Trump accomplished beyond meaningless Sharpie signed exec orders.

    1. Tax Cuts for rich folks
    2. Three SCOTUS Justices
    3. Moved US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem
    4. Rapid development of COVID vaccines.

    1 and 2 would have been done by any of the 8 million people who tried to win the GOP nomination…you didn’t need Trump for either. (Federalist Society gives list of nominees – GOP president nominates….at least the other GOP contenders may have known at least a little something about the nominees – pretty certain Trump had no idea who any of them were)

    Not sure if anybody but Trump would have done #3 but the God Squad loves him for that and #2.

    #4 is commendable but also something any other GOP president would have tried to do.  But the Trump fans think the vaccine is from the devil so not a reason they think he’s the greatest president ever.

  250. 250.

    TriassicSands

    January 6, 2022 at 1:40 am

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    We have an extraordinarily different view of Mueller’s testimony. To me, he seemed barely familiar with the report. “If it’s in the report, I stand by it,” was a frequent kind of response. You are actually the first person I’ve ever come across who apparently thinks Mueller’s testimony was even marginally adequate.

    The Washington Post’s Carol Leonnig, who is the co-author of the new book A Very Stable Genius about President Trump, described on Tuesday how difficult it was for some of Mueller’s close family friends to watch his shaky testimony before Congress last summer.

    Shaky is not usually considered good in this context.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - BarcaChicago  - Off the Gunflint Trail/Boundary Waters 7
Image by BarcaChicago (7/17/25)
Donate

Recent Comments

  • Jackie on Thursday Night Open Thread (Jul 17, 2025 @ 9:58pm)
  • BellyCat on Thursday Night Open Thread (Jul 17, 2025 @ 9:58pm)
  • Princess on Thursday Night Open Thread (Jul 17, 2025 @ 9:52pm)
  • HinTN on War for Ukraine Day 1,239: A Brief Thursday Night Update (Jul 17, 2025 @ 9:52pm)
  • Ramona on Thursday Night Open Thread (Jul 17, 2025 @ 9:51pm)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!