Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Usually wrong but never in doubt

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

Everybody saw this coming.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

I was promised a recession.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

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)

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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

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

Reader Interactions

250Comments

  2. 2.

    WaterGirl

    @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.

  4. 4.

    TeezySkeezy

    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).

  6. 6.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    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

    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.

  11. 11.

    germy

    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

  13. 13.

    scav

    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.

  16. 16.

    Edmund Dantes

    @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

    @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.

  19. 19.

    geg6

    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.

  22. 22.

    germy

    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

    “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

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

  28. 28.

    Baud

    @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

    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.

  34. 34.

    NotMax

    “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.”

    ;)

  36. 36.

    Kay

    @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.

  39. 39.

    Baud

    @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

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

  42. 42.

    The Thin Black Duke

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

  43. 43.

    Kay

    @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

    @JPL:

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

  48. 48.

    Another Scott

    @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

    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.

  51. 51.

    Cacti

    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.

  53. 53.

    WaterGirl

    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.

  55. 55.

    Mallard Filmore

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

  59. 59.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @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.”

  63. 63.

    Steeplejack

    @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

    @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

    @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.

  67. 67.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @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.

  72. 72.

    Another Scott

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

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  73. 73.

    cmorenc

    @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

    @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.

  79. 79.

    Kay

    @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.

  81. 81.

    geg6

    @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.

  84. 84.

    Another Scott

    Good speech.

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

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  85. 85.

    C Stars

    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.

  87. 87.

    Kay

    @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.

  89. 89.

    stinger

    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.

  91. 91.

    Avalune

    @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.

  94. 94.

    WaterGirl

    @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.

  96. 96.

    C Stars

     

    @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.

  99. 99.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @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.

  105. 105.

    C Stars

    @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

    @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.

  108. 108.

    Baud

    @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

    @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

  113. 113.

    Steeplejack

    @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

    @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

    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

    @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

    @Ken:

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

    How has Obama Garland betrayed us today?

  119. 119.

    The Moar You Know

    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

    @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

    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

    @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

    @?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!”

  127. 127.

    James E Powell

    @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.

  129. 129.

    C Stars

    @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.

  131. 131.

    Avalune

    @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.

  135. 135.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @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

    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.

  138. 138.

    Kent

    @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

    @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.

  143. 143.

    smith

    @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.

  145. 145.

    Brachiator

    @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.

  148. 148.

    artem1s

    @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.

  151. 151.

    catclub

    @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

    @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.

  154. 154.

    Citizen Alan

    @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.

  157. 157.

    Benw

    @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

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

  159. 159.

    Avalune

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

  161. 161.

    Brachiator

    @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.

  163. 163.

    smith

    @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.

  165. 165.

    J R in WV

    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?

  167. 167.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @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

    @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

    @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.

  171. 171.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    Why isn’t Garland prosecuting the Designated Hitter rule?

  172. 172.

    Ken

    @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

    @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.

  176. 176.

    mrmoshpotato

    @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

    @Ken

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

    “A penetrating analysis.”
    – Porkus Review

    //

  178. 178.

    Cermet

    @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

    @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

    @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.

  184. 184.

    cintibud

    “Remember, remember

    The January 6th offenders…”

    ETA: Maybe in future history books?

  186. 186.

    Peale

    @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

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

  188. 188.

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

  191. 191.

    Kay

    @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

    @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

    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

    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

    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

    @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.

  206. 206.

    Mart

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

  208. 208.

    Barbara

    @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.

  210. 210.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @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.

  213. 213.

    Ken

    @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…)

  215. 215.

    ThresherK

    @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

    @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.

  219. 219.

    Captain C

    @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

    @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?

  223. 223.

    cain

    @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

    @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.

  226. 226.

    Brachiator

    @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

    @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

  229. 229.

    TriassicSands

    @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

    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.

  232. 232.

    randy khan

    @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

    @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.

  235. 235.

    TriassicSands

    @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

     

     

    @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.

  238. 238.

    Hob

    @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.

  241. 241.

    Kay

    @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

    @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

    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

    @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

    @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.

  247. 247.

    sdhays

    @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.

  249. 249.

    OGLiberal

    @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

    @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.

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