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You are here: Home / Jan 6: Hearings / Getting the bus ready

Getting the bus ready

by David Anderson|  June 23, 20229:19 pm| 151 Comments

This post is in: Jan 6: Hearings, Jan 6: Insurrection, Open Threads

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These Jan 6 committee hearings are like social media. There is one main character each time and you don’t want to be the main character.

— Shana Gadarian (@sgadarian) June 23, 2022

And the usual suspects were asking for pardons

Pardon requests:
– Gaetz (for himself “from the beginning of time up until today, for any and all things” and for anyone at 12/21 meeting)
– Brooks (for anyone at the 12/21 meeting)
– Biggs
– Gohmert
– Perry
– Greene

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) June 23, 2022

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Previous Post: « Jan 6 Hearing – Day 5 on Thursday at 3:00 pm Eastern (LIVE)
Next Post: Today’s Hearing Open Thread: Here’s What, So What, Now What Today's Hearing Open Thread: Here's What, So What, Now What 3»

Reader Interactions

151Comments

  1. 1.

    lollipopguild

    June 23, 2022 at 5:24 pm

    You get a pardon, and you get a pardon and everyone gets a pardon.  Here in Kentucky we had a gop gov who was so corrupt he pardoned every person who had worked for him as well as pardoning himself.

  2. 2.

    Ruckus

    June 23, 2022 at 5:25 pm

    There seems to be a common theme here.

    The requests for pardons are from exactly the people you would expect to be asking. It isn’t the entire list of expected askers by any means of course but is there anyone on the list who was unexpected?

  3. 3.

    JoyceH

    June 23, 2022 at 5:26 pm

    Interesting that Gaetz was asking for a ‘blanket pardon’, and started lobbying for it in early December – he was trying to make that sex investigation go away.

  4. 4.

    Steeplejack

    June 23, 2022 at 5:27 pm

    Hearing-related, updated from this morning.

    I’ve been following the GoFundMe drives for Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, the two Georgia poll workers who testified at the January 6 committee hearing on Tuesday. Both drives were started last December but went almost nowhere until Tuesday. I think Ruby Freeman was around $60,000 late Tuesday, and now (this afternoon) she’s up to $266,476. Shaye Moss is at $222,738.

    These women are heroes, and they deserve every penny they get after all of the pain and suffering they went through—and still are. They are an inspiration to us all. I donated to both drives, and I urge all jackals to consider doing the same, if they can afford it.

    Note: These are the bona fide GoFundMe accounts for these two women. It has come out that several other accounts have been established, of doubtful provenance.

  5. 5.

    Cameron

    June 23, 2022 at 5:27 pm

    @Ruckus: I was initially surprised by Gohmert.  I figured he was too stupid for anybody to bring on board.  My error – I forgot how stupid ALL of them are.

  6. 6.

    Jerzy Russian

    June 23, 2022 at 5:27 pm

    I wonder if everyone named Jeff Clark can sue for reimbursement of the expenses associated with changing their names.

  7. 7.

    Leto

    June 23, 2022 at 5:28 pm

    @Ruckus: Oh, I’m sure the names who aren’t there still crimed their little hearts out. Just give it time. The commission’s work keeps on keeping on. Honestly, some of the best “must see tv” in a while.

  8. 8.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    June 23, 2022 at 5:28 pm

    From studying law on MSNBC a couple hours a week these past few months (okay, years), I believe pleading the fifth cannot be used against a defendant in a criminal trial. What about a request for a pardon? evidence of consciousness of guilt?

  9. 9.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    June 23, 2022 at 5:29 pm

    @Cameron:

    I was initially surprised by Gohmert.  I figured he was too stupid for anybody to bring on board.

    Yeah, but when he tried to ask for a pardon, he actually asked for a parsnip

  10. 10.

    debbie

    June 23, 2022 at 5:32 pm

    @JoyceH:

    “From the beginning of time.”

  11. 11.

    JPL

    June 23, 2022 at 5:33 pm

    Did Elise Stefanik forget that she said she would be giving a good rebuttal to the hearings and show trump’s side?

  12. 12.

    TriassicSands

    June 23, 2022 at 5:35 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Acceptance of a pardon is an admission of guilt. That is very different from a constitutionally guaranteed right against self-incrimination.

  13. 13.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    June 23, 2022 at 5:35 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    If bar associations were run by people of integrity (hah), I’d say that invoking the Fifth regarding questions of legal advice you gave to a client would be an admission against interest for the purposes of receiving discipline and potential suspension of your license.

  14. 14.

    debbie

    June 23, 2022 at 5:36 pm

    @JPL:

    No, her remarks are right there, beside TFG’s tax returns.  //

  15. 15.

    MisterDancer

    June 23, 2022 at 5:37 pm

    @JPL: It appears her rebuttal is via running to Fox News a lot.

  16. 16.

    Steeplejack

    June 23, 2022 at 5:38 pm

    @Jerzy Russian:

    Matt Gertz of Media Matters gets a lot of undeserved flak on Twitter. “Definitely not the GOP congressman.”

  17. 17.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    June 23, 2022 at 5:39 pm

    @TriassicSands: but if you asked for a pardon that wasn’t granted? as far as we know?

    One of my tin-foil hat questions is are there: signed and dated pardons, including a self-pardon, in wall-safes or safety deposit boxes in Florida and some of the nicer DC suburbs.

  18. 18.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    June 23, 2022 at 5:40 pm

    @Steeplejack: That poor guy. He says when his notifications blow up, he wonders what Gaetz has done now

  19. 19.

    Tony Jay

    June 23, 2022 at 5:40 pm

    “What did you think you needed a Presidential pardon for?”

    “……. nuthin. Just thought it’d be cool to have one is all.”

    “But you didn’t get one, did you?”

    Gulp!

  20. 20.

    Old Dan and Little Ann

    June 23, 2022 at 5:40 pm

    Still dreaming of an end like, “The Shawshank Redemption.”

  21. 21.

    BigJimSlade

    June 23, 2022 at 5:40 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Naw, he had just burped and farted at the same time.

  22. 22.

    Raoul Paste

    June 23, 2022 at 5:42 pm

    On MSNBC, Claire McCaskill just asked why are we not searching  Mark Meadows house today

  23. 23.

    Ruckus

    June 23, 2022 at 5:42 pm

    @Cameron:

    They are stupid, no question.

    But too stupid to do criming? Nope. A definition of criming is being too stupid not to. See my next line.

    Too stupid to not get caught criming? Yep.

  24. 24.

    Cameron

    June 23, 2022 at 5:44 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: You sound like you’re casting asparagus on him.

  25. 25.

    Tony Jay

    June 23, 2022 at 5:46 pm

    Plus, following that twitter thread on, did Clarence Thomas really ‘justify’ expanding concealed carry with reference to a butchered quote from Chief Justice Taney about the threat of armed Negros?

    There’s trolling, and then there’s whatever messed up acting out of deep seated neuroses that is.

    What a sad little wanker.

  26. 26.

    Elizabelle

    June 23, 2022 at 5:47 pm

    @Raoul Paste:   Oh please oh please oh please.

  27. 27.

    eclare

    June 23, 2022 at 5:48 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:   Hahaha….I literally LOL’d.

  28. 28.

    germy shoemangler

    June 23, 2022 at 5:49 pm

    The January 6 Committee is an unconstitutional political sideshow. It is rapidly losing the interest of the American people and now resorts to siccing federal law enforcement on political opponents.

    — Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) June 23, 2022

    You know he was gritting his teeth while he typed this

  29. 29.

    citizen dave

    June 23, 2022 at 5:49 pm

    I’m dreaming of an end like goodfellas with the stones/clapton soundtrack and the perp walks, etc

    Too bad the FBI can’t livestream their searches.

  30. 30.

    West of the Rockies

    June 23, 2022 at 5:50 pm

    @Old Dan and Little Ann:

    Works for me.  The lot of them (all Trumpies) can fit their pie holes for a Glock.

  31. 31.

    JPL

    June 23, 2022 at 5:51 pm

    @MisterDancer: At this point, I assume that Fox has switched to their daily coverage of DeSantis.

  32. 32.

    Craig

    June 23, 2022 at 5:53 pm

    @Jerzy Russian: The Jeff Clark who was the first person to go out and surf 65′ waves at Mavericks ain’t changing his name.

  33. 33.

    Geminid

    June 23, 2022 at 5:54 pm

    @JoyceH: I read a news story saying that while Gaetz asked for his own pardon, he recommended that his former friend Joel Greenberg’s pardon request be denied. I imagine that story made Greenberg really want to help put Gaetz away.

    Prosecutors have been rounding up more witnesses, and Greenberg’s sentencing judge has given them a sort-of deadline of August for Greenberg’s sentencing and by implication, indictments of Gaetz. In the meantime Greenberg is sitting in the Orange County, Florida jail.

  34. 34.

    Baud

    June 23, 2022 at 5:55 pm

    @JPL:

    When Trump and company are indicted, I promise you the Internet spin will be that Biden messed up by helping DeSantis.

  35. 35.

    TriassicSands

    June 23, 2022 at 5:57 pm

    One extraordinary hearing after another. Each one compelling. Among the best use of television in history.

    Only a brain dead imbecile or a psychotic cult member could watch these hearings and not realize the truth — Donald Trump and the Republican Party have been and are actively involved in behavior that threatens the foundations of this country. Of course, that is why few if any of the people who really need to watch these hearings will watch them. You can continue to insist the Earth is flat as long as you don’t put yourself in a position where you can see the obvious curvature¹. The best defense against the truth is utter, total, complete, overwhelming ignorance.

    ¹ Even then, the devout cult member can simply deny what is right in front of them.

  36. 36.

    The Thin Black Duke

    June 23, 2022 at 5:58 pm

    @Tony Jay: House Nigg*r.

  37. 37.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    June 23, 2022 at 5:58 pm

    @germy shoemangler:

    The January 6 Committee is an unconstitutional political sideshow. It is rapidly losing the interest of the American people

    Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1
    Quinnipiac poll:
    64% of Americans say the Jan. 6 attack was planned, rather than spontaneous.

    58% are following news about the work of the Jan. 6 Committee very or somewhat closely.

    59% think Trump bears a lot or some of the responsibility for the Jan. 6 attack.

    sorry Matt (my boldface)

  38. 38.

    zhena gogolia

    June 23, 2022 at 5:59 pm

    @Baud: take it to the bank

  39. 39.

    Delk

    June 23, 2022 at 6:00 pm

    WTF? MTG was in office all of 3 days and needs a pardon.

  40. 40.

    Baud

    June 23, 2022 at 6:01 pm

    @Delk:

    She’s more efficient than she lets on.

  41. 41.

    JPL

    June 23, 2022 at 6:06 pm

    Apparently, there is no repercussions if you ask for a pardon.

  42. 42.

    JPL

    June 23, 2022 at 6:07 pm

    @Baud: She was married and still was able to have multiple affairs at the same time.   Of course, she’s efficient.

  43. 43.

    John Revolta

    June 23, 2022 at 6:08 pm

    @TriassicSands:

    Only a brain dead imbecile or a psychotic cult member could watch these hearings and not realize the truth

    Ah, but we need a majority

  44. 44.

    TriassicSands

    June 23, 2022 at 6:09 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I wonder if your questions have ever been adjudicated. One could argue that asking for a pardon implies understanding that acceptance will constitute admission of guilt, which is voluntary self-incrimination.  And that should certainly be discussed if a pardon will be offered. But in this case the pardons didn’t materialize. The current intellectual state of the union is so wanting that the person in question could always argue that they didn’t know that and would never have asked for a pardon if they had known that.

  45. 45.

    Booger

    June 23, 2022 at 6:10 pm

    @Raoul Paste: Well who knows where he really lives anyway?

  46. 46.

    Xavier

    June 23, 2022 at 6:11 pm

    @JPL: Something something gas prices.

  47. 47.

    Martin

    June 23, 2022 at 6:12 pm

    @Delk: FOMO runs strong in the GOP.

  48. 48.

    Burnspbesq

    June 23, 2022 at 6:12 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    What about a request for a pardon? evidence of consciousness of guilt?

    Can’t find anything definitive on the point with a quick search, but if the mental state for the offense is willfulness, it seems intuitively obvious that it would be highly relevant.

  49. 49.

    SiubhanDuinne

    June 23, 2022 at 6:13 pm

    @West of the Rockies:

    Nope. Not even for people we detest.

    Pied.

  50. 50.

    Martin

    June 23, 2022 at 6:13 pm

    @JPL: I attribute that to a lack of object permanence on her part. If she wanders too far from her husband she assumes he doesn’t exist any longer.

  51. 51.

    JoyceH

    June 23, 2022 at 6:15 pm

    Hey does anyone else think this hearing being postponed might have been at the request of DOJ, which had the Clark search warrant in the works?

  52. 52.

    Scout211

    June 23, 2022 at 6:17 pm

    Unprecedented coming to Discovery+.  The trailer:

    Trailer

    ETA: link fixed

  53. 53.

    Burnspbesq

    June 23, 2022 at 6:17 pm

    @TriassicSands:

    Only a brain dead imbecile or a psychotic cult member could watch these hearings and not realize the truth — Donald Trump and the Republican Party have been and are actively involved in behavior that threatens the foundations of this country.

    True. But Trump et al have convinced tens of millions of your fellow Americans that the foundations of this country suck.

  54. 54.

    West of the Rockies

    June 23, 2022 at 6:19 pm

    The warden commits suicide at the end of The Shawshank Redemption. If Trumpian criminals make that choice, I do not care.

  55. 55.

    Cameron

    June 23, 2022 at 6:20 pm

    @Baud: “This is all good news for Ron DeSantis!”

  56. 56.

    Jeffro

    June 23, 2022 at 6:21 pm

    @Jerzy Russian: yes, and even those slightly derivative of ‘Jeff Clark’

     

    =P

  57. 57.

    Delk

    June 23, 2022 at 6:21 pm

    I hope whoever searched Clark’s kitchen accidentally knocked over a bottle of cooking oil.

  58. 58.

    Jeffro

    June 23, 2022 at 6:24 pm

    @Xavier: this is 110% the entirety of the GQP’s strategy from here on out…fingers in ears re: J6, keep harping on gas prices, and hope it works.

    “They WANT working Americans paying extremely high prices at the pump.  They don’t care who it hurts.  They have no solutions to bring prices down.  And they think you’ll be dumb enough to vote them into power.” – every Dem campaign at every level this year, hopefully.

  59. 59.

    Ken

    June 23, 2022 at 6:25 pm

    @TriassicSands: The current intellectual state of the union is so wanting that the person in question could always argue that they didn’t know that and would never have asked for a pardon if they had known that.

    Ah yes, the old “I’m in Congress — you can’t expect me to know and understand the law” defense.

  60. 60.

    Spanky

    June 23, 2022 at 6:29 pm

    @TriassicSands:

    Only a brain dead imbecile or a psychotic cult member could watch these hearings and not realize the truth — Donald Trump and the Republican Party have been and are actively involved in behavior that threatens the foundations of this country.

    And a large minority of this country is OK with that.

  61. 61.

    trollhattan

    June 23, 2022 at 6:30 pm

    @germy shoemangler: ​

    siccing federal law enforcement on political opponents.

    Your offer is acceptable.​

  62. 62.

    Captain C

    June 23, 2022 at 6:35 pm

    @Tony Jay:

    Plus, following that twitter thread on, did Clarence Thomas really ‘justify’ expanding concealed carry with reference to a butchered quote from Chief Justice Taney about the threat of armed Negros?

    Sounds about right.  Thomas will also probably write the opinions for overturning Loving, which could end his marriage (this could be a plus for him) and for declaring the 13th through 15th Amendments invalid, which could end his freedom, and that of his kids.  He’ll probably be proud of doing so, until he’s hauled off in chains to work for his ex-wife Ginni’s family.

  63. 63.

    Citizen Alan

    June 23, 2022 at 6:37 pm

    @Tony Jay:  Totally unsurprising. Clarence Thomas is basically Uncle Ruckus from The Boondocks if he somehow got an Ivy League law degree. The only reason he got appointed is because he’s a black man who hates all other black men and is totally supportive of white supremacy.

  64. 64.

    Captain C

    June 23, 2022 at 6:37 pm

    @germy shoemangler: Every time Gaetz is in front of a media person, he should be asked something along the lines of, “so how many underage kids have you raped so far?”  Every fucking time.

  65. 65.

    Tony Jay

    June 23, 2022 at 6:38 pm

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    Can’t argue with that assessment.

  66. 66.

    Captain C

    June 23, 2022 at 6:39 pm

    @Geminid:

    I read a news story saying that while Gaetz asked for his own pardon, he recommended that his former friend Joel Greenberg’s pardon request be denied. I imagine that story made Greenberg really want to help put Gaetz away.

    While I’m not surprised that the Trumpy criminals are so inept that they leave extensive records of their criming, I am a little amazed that they seem to think they can screw their co-conspirators while said people still have a chance to nark them out.

  67. 67.

    H.E.Wolf

    June 23, 2022 at 6:41 pm

    @JoyceH: ​
      The US House is going on recess for 2 weeks, returning on July 12th. Meanwhile the Jan. 6 Committee staffers will be hard at work. :)
    https://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2022/Senate/Maps/Jun23.html#item-1

  68. 68.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    June 23, 2022 at 6:44 pm

    @TriassicSands:  You can continue to insist the Earth is flat as long as you don’t put yourself in a position where you can see the obvious curvature¹. …

    ¹ Even then, the devout cult member can simply deny what is right in front of them.

    Yes, yes, it looks curved — but you’re forgetting about the cleverly placed black hole beneath our flat earth that bends light!

    (Actual theory I read once from a alleged flat-earther. Could have been someone pretending to be a flat-eather, though, as I’m kind of skeptical that an actual flat-earther would accept the existence of a black hole, but not a round earth.)

  69. 69.

    Geminid

    June 23, 2022 at 6:44 pm

    @Captain C: Yeah, I think Thomas’s end game is to abrogate Loving. He’s a very strict Catholic so divorce is out of the question. In desperation, Thomas has latched on to overturning of Loving as the only way he can rid himself of that horrible harpy!

  70. 70.

    Tony Jay

    June 23, 2022 at 6:45 pm

    @Captain C:

    @Citizen Alan:

    I’m aware of the concept of a self-hating (fill in the blank), but I never thought I’d ever see such a dialed up to 11 example outside of badly written fiction.

    Kind of explains why he married Ginni.

  71. 71.

    Shana

    June 23, 2022 at 6:45 pm

    @JoyceH: Speaking of which, is Greenburg (?) ever going to be sentenced or is he still giving up valuable info? It must be close to a year since I’ve heard anything about him. They just keep delaying his sentencing

    And I see it’s been answered at around #34. Thanks.

  72. 72.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 23, 2022 at 6:45 pm

    @Spanky: Which means that a majority is not.

  73. 73.

    JoyceH

    June 23, 2022 at 6:48 pm

    @Lacuna Synecdoche: The apparent curvature of the earth is an optical illusion created by God to test our faith. Same way they explain those dinosaur bones.

  74. 74.

    Tony Jay

    June 23, 2022 at 6:51 pm

    @TriassicSands:

    Well yeah, but as was discussed last week, their country and your country might share a geographical location, but they are very different places, and to their minds they can’t commit treason against a country they don’t belong to.

    The White Settler-State of Traditional America is a hard mistress.

  75. 75.

    David ☘The Establishment☘ Koch

    June 23, 2022 at 6:52 pm

     

    Looks like I picked the wrong week to sublet Jeff Clark’s abode

  76. 76.

    Geminid

    June 23, 2022 at 6:52 pm

    @Captain C: Greenberg was up to his eyeballs in provable charges by then, so he already had reason to be a cooperating witness. But this Gaetz pardon story must have made him that much more eager to hang his former friend.

    I just hope that the prosecutors have other good witnesses against Gaetz. I think we’ll know in two months, maybe sooner.

  77. 77.

    CaseyL

    June 23, 2022 at 6:52 pm

    Every time I think I know how loathsome Trumpists are, I’m proven wrong: they’re even worse than I thought.

    How does a creature like Trump with such a complete lack of redeeming qualities – to call him a spirochete is an insult to syphilis –  find and keep people willing to abase themselves for him?

  78. 78.

    JPL

    June 23, 2022 at 6:53 pm

    @Captain C: Makes sense in a twisted way, since if Greenberg is pardoned, his charges are real.  That would only implicate Gaetz more.

  79. 79.

    James E Powell

    June 23, 2022 at 6:54 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    And that majority is who we need to be talking to every day.

    It’s anecdotal, but I use my barely engaged sister who votes Democratic as a rough gauge of the low information voter.

    Until I mentioned it to her this morning, she was not aware of the hearings at all and did not know any of the things being established on the air..

    Voters like her aren’t going to get information from the news because they don’t watch the news. They have to get it from us, their friends & associates, or it will not register as something they should pay attention to or care about.

  80. 80.

    MazeDancer

    June 23, 2022 at 6:54 pm

    Looking forward to the DeSantis Showdown. Ron gotta be liking these hearings.

    Hoping Don kneecaps Ron while he still can. And encourages a revenge write-in candidate for Gov.

  81. 81.

    Baud

    June 23, 2022 at 6:55 pm

    @James E Powell:

    Spot on.

  82. 82.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    June 23, 2022 at 6:56 pm

    @Geminid: Yeah, I think Thomas’s end game is to abrogate Loving. He’s a very strict Catholic so divorce is out of the question.

    Of course we think Ginni Thomas is awful (because we’re part of  the reality-based community), but I can’t think of any reason why Clarence would would want to divorce her.

    I mean, they seem perfect for each other.

  83. 83.

    Frank Wilhoit

    June 23, 2022 at 6:57 pm

    @Martin: Isn’t he supposed to keep her on a leash or something?  I hear that the radical left is trying to ban pinch collars.

  84. 84.

    JPL

    June 23, 2022 at 6:59 pm

    @Frank Wilhoit: ha He married into a wealthy family, so he’s fine with whatever.  One of the affairs was highlighted in the New Yorker and it was a COX family heir, she couldn’t dispute, because she’s not that wealthy.

  85. 85.

    mrmoshpotato

    June 23, 2022 at 7:01 pm

    Fuck around and find out pic.twitter.com/Ph7IFvaxDy— Pete Lucier (@PeterLucier) June 22, 2022

    FUCK BLAGO! (and Kari Lake too!)

  86. 86.

    sab

    June 23, 2022 at 7:01 pm

    @Tony Jay: UK Law and Order said that in England you have the opposite of the 5th amendment. Failing to answer questions can be used against you as an indication that you have something to hide.

  87. 87.

    Geminid

    June 23, 2022 at 7:03 pm

    @Lacuna Synecdoche: I’m just having fun. Or what passes for fun in my humdrum life

    But maybe you are too.

  88. 88.

    Spanky

    June 23, 2022 at 7:03 pm

    “Spanky”, I keep telling myself, “half the American electorate is below average intelligence.”

    Largely invisible in the circle I move in, I have to keep reminding myself that they’re out there.

  89. 89.

    lowtechcyclist

    June 23, 2022 at 7:07 pm

    @debbie: “From the beginning of time.”

    “In the beginning the Universe was created.

    “This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.”

  90. 90.

    sab

    June 23, 2022 at 7:11 pm

    @CaseyL: If you have ever worked near a narcissist you’d have seen it. The minions are so busy clawing each others eyes out to impress the boss that they don’t think things though. They are all badly damaged people themselves.

  91. 91.

    Tony Jay

    June 23, 2022 at 7:11 pm

    @sab:

    The actual wording is –

    “You do not have to say anything. But, it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.”

    As always, what that turns out to mean depends a lot on how expensive your lawyer is.

  92. 92.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 23, 2022 at 7:13 pm

    8 years, 7 months, and 10 days — and revolution, war and massive bloodshed, I would add — after Mustafa published his call on Facebook for Ukrainians to come to Maidan and protest Yanukovych’s decision to abandon a deal with the EU, Ukraine has been granted EU candidate status. https://t.co/dYr5TpJrsW
    — Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) June 23, 2022

    Tens of thousands dead, millions displaced for this. Contrast that with the stupid motherfuckers in England who were too good for the EU.

  93. 93.

    Steve in the ATL

    June 23, 2022 at 7:14 pm

    @Tony Jay: the more expensive the better!  Lawyers are woefully underpaid.

  94. 94.

    sab

    June 23, 2022 at 7:14 pm

    @Tony Jay: Well that sounds a little bit better.

  95. 95.

    sab

    June 23, 2022 at 7:15 pm

    OT Why isn’t the right to bear arms limited to muskets and primitive rifles? Were our rich ancestors allowed to own cannons?

  96. 96.

    Steeplejack

    June 23, 2022 at 7:16 pm

    @Tony Jay:

    This was not a big deal when I was at Midsomer Law School, because the guilty party is always apprehended. There might be an occasional plot twist hiccup, but it all gets sorted in the end.

  97. 97.

    Baud

    June 23, 2022 at 7:16 pm

    @sab:

    Especially when said with a British accent.

  98. 98.

    raven

    June 23, 2022 at 7:17 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Where you bean frijole? Manning to Texas but we’re fine.

  99. 99.

    sab

    June 23, 2022 at 7:17 pm

    @Baud: While wearing a curly shoulder length white wig.

  100. 100.

    Steeplejack

    June 23, 2022 at 7:17 pm

    @Steve in the ATL:

    Well, they’re woeful, that’s for sure. Zing!

  101. 101.

    MomSense

    June 23, 2022 at 7:18 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    As horrible as his mentions must be, he definitely doesn’t want to change his Twitter handle.  He has made the absolute best of this unfortunate situation.

  102. 102.

    lowtechcyclist

    June 23, 2022 at 7:18 pm

    @H.E.Wolf: ​
     

    The US House is going on recess for 2 weeks, returning on July 12th.

    Oh, thank goodness! Due to various things coming up at work and at home, I’ve only been able to watch the first hearing and half of the third. Now I can catch up!

    Meanwhile the Jan. 6 Committee staffers will be hard at work.

    I would never have doubted it. They know they’ve got the bad guys on the run, and don’t want to let up.

  103. 103.

    Baud

    June 23, 2022 at 7:19 pm

    @sab:

    Who wouldn’t want to confess?

  104. 104.

    Steeplejack

    June 23, 2022 at 7:19 pm

    @sab:

    A peruke! (Crossword lore.)

  105. 105.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    June 23, 2022 at 7:19 pm

    @West of the Rockies:

    The warden commits suicide at the end of The Shawshank Redemption.

    I used to think that was how Trump would leave office after losing to Biden.  The only appropriate ending for this bastard is to die in prison along with Giuliani, Eastman, Ellis, and Powell.

  106. 106.

    MomSense

    June 23, 2022 at 7:20 pm

    @Tony Jay:

    What an asshole – plus there’s the states rights for forced birth (abortion) but states can’t make any laws about guns.  Fucking pubic coke Justice is an abomination.

  107. 107.

    Steeplejack

    June 23, 2022 at 7:22 pm

    @MomSense:

    He has done a great job of joking about it and getting the word out, to the point that random people will correct nitwit commenters.

  108. 108.

    sab

    June 23, 2022 at 7:22 pm

    @Steeplejack: I learn new things every day on this full service blog.

  109. 109.

    Steve in the ATL

    June 23, 2022 at 7:23 pm

    @raven: our QB room is well stocked and we don’t need the circus that will come with Arch!

    Been too busy with life and work.  And Europe!

  110. 110.

    debbie

    June 23, 2022 at 7:24 pm

    Pass.

    Precision.. pic.twitter.com/3PknhGH5mB
    — Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) June 22, 2022

  111. 111.

    Dan B

    June 23, 2022 at 7:24 pm

    @sab: Boiling oil and flaming arrows should be in the concealed weapons file.  Spears?  Must stick past battlements, sadly.

  112. 112.

    CaseyL

    June 23, 2022 at 7:24 pm

    Those 6 or 10 or however many MOC who were part of the scheme should be barred from being seated in the next session.  Hell, Pelosi should have refused to seat them for this session.

    And I want some Senators barred, too.  The J6 Committee isn’t talking much about them.  But the final electoral slate count took place, I believe, in a joint Session, where insurrectionist Senators were able to object to electoral votes being accepted.  Those are the ones I want to see barred from their seats.

  113. 113.

    raven

    June 23, 2022 at 7:24 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Cool good to see ya.

  114. 114.

    Steve in the ATL

    June 23, 2022 at 7:25 pm

    @Steeplejack: [sad face emoji] I’ll never post here again!

  115. 115.

    NotMax

    June 23, 2022 at 7:26 pm

    Follow the money. (WaPo link.)

    The Justice Department is asking a federal judge to probe possible financial relationships between members of the Oath Keepers accused of trying to prevent Joe Biden from becoming president and a nonprofit entity run by former Donald Trump attorney Sidney Powell that spread false election claims.
    [snip]
    The unusual request follows media reports that Powell’s nonprofit organization, Defending the Republic, has used some of the millions of dollars it has raised through spreading conspiracy theories about the 2020 election to pay legal fees for Oath Keepers members facing trial.… Source

  116. 116.

    hilts

    June 23, 2022 at 7:27 pm

    Don Lemon, the king of cool among cable news hosts, interviews Alex Holder tonight at 10:00

  117. 117.

    Steve in the ATL

    June 23, 2022 at 7:27 pm

    @raven: you and well. Hope the pain gets better!

  118. 118.

    kalakal

    June 23, 2022 at 7:28 pm

    @sab: The UK wording on being arrested is

    “You do not have to say anything. But, it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.”

  119. 119.

    phdesmond

    June 23, 2022 at 7:28 pm

    WaPo:

    Former president Donald Trump has said privately for months that McCarthy’s decision to pull pro-Trump Republicans from sitting on the Jan. 6 select committee was a mistake, one that has become clearer as Trump watches the hearings that are working to build the case that he should be criminally charged for conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

  120. 120.

    Geminid

    June 23, 2022 at 7:31 pm

    @Lacuna Synecdoche: They say, “there’s a lid for every pot.”

     

    @Geminid:

  121. 121.

    raven

    June 23, 2022 at 7:32 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: So far so good. Great weather for Athfest!

  122. 122.

    JaySinWA

    June 23, 2022 at 7:32 pm

    @David ☘The Establishment☘ Koch:

    Looks like I picked the wrong week to sublet Jeff Clark’s abode

    Caught with your pants down

  123. 123.

    debbie

    June 23, 2022 at 7:33 pm

    Unsurprising.

    JUST IN: American confidence in Supreme Court sinks to lowest level ever recorded by Gallup https://t.co/oNLapHJdW9 pic.twitter.com/bzDKQzr7lW
    — John Kruzel (@johnkruzel) June 23, 2022

  124. 124.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    June 23, 2022 at 7:35 pm

    @CaseyL:  Hell, Pelosi should have refused to seat them for this session.

    She can’t do that. Expulsion requires a two-thirds vote of the whole House.

  125. 125.

    Steeplejack

    June 23, 2022 at 7:37 pm

    @sab:

    Not necessarily useful, but new.

  126. 126.

    Omnes Omnibus

    June 23, 2022 at 7:38 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Don’t bother people with details.

  127. 127.

    Baud

    June 23, 2022 at 7:38 pm

    @debbie:

    Interesting. Barely dipped in 2000.

  128. 128.

    JPL

    June 23, 2022 at 7:38 pm

    @debbie: Who still supports them, is what I want to know.

  129. 129.

    Baud

    June 23, 2022 at 7:39 pm

    @JPL:

    The 27% (actually 25%).

  130. 130.

    Kathleen

    June 23, 2022 at 7:42 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Harrumph. I got my law degree from the Law And Order School of We TV Reruns. I can prosecute or defend, depending on my whim.

  131. 131.

    JPL

    June 23, 2022 at 7:43 pm

    @Baud: Barrett the let us not focus on the 14th amendment timeline is a real winner

  132. 132.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    June 23, 2022 at 7:45 pm

    @Baud: a long graph and I don’t have it broken down into years, but it looks like the Thomas nomination was a big hit

    that was after Poppy’s big boost from the first Gulf War, no?’

    ETA: Gulf War ended in Feb. 91, Thomas nominated in July

  133. 133.

    Baud

    June 23, 2022 at 7:46 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Good eye.

  134. 134.

    Elizabelle

    June 23, 2022 at 7:51 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: 

    Expulsion requires a two-thirds vote of the whole House.

    There is precedent, in the great state of South Dakota, ridding itself of state attorney general Jason Ravnsborg earlier this week. First successful impeachment there ever.

    Clear evidence of lying, criminal behavior, possibly dragging the rest of them down? (Ravnsborg hit and killed a man walking along a highway, and then lied about it.)

    It could happen in Congress, if the conditions are right.

  135. 135.

    Obvious Russian Troll

    June 23, 2022 at 7:53 pm

    @phdesmond: 

    This is one of the extremely rare occasions I’m gonna agree with the former guy. Kevin McCarthy absolutely fucked up the J6 committee for the Republicans.

    Thankfully.

  136. 136.

    Captain C

    June 23, 2022 at 7:56 pm

    @Wyatt Salamanca:

    The only appropriate ending for this bastard is to die in prison along with Giuliani, Eastman, Ellis, and Powell.

    If we arrange that he could share a cell, Seinfeld ending-like, with Beavis, Butthead, and Lucrezia (his 3 kids by Ivana), that would be very acceptable, especially if there was a continuous live feed complete with audio.  Money generated thusly could be used to compensate his many victimsl.

  137. 137.

    Steve in the ATL

    June 23, 2022 at 7:59 pm

    @Baud: I forgot that you were a little league baseball coach!

  138. 138.

    Scout211

    June 23, 2022 at 8:05 pm

    @Obvious Russian Troll:

    Sure, but do you really think pulling that power play by yanking all of his nominees when Speaker Pelosi rejected three of them was all Kevin McCarthy? It was likely either plotted by Trump and his advisors or at the very least approved by them. Throwing McCarthy under the bus (as if Trump himself had nothing to do with it) is just icing on the cake.  (schadenfreude cake).  The Trump bus has a big crowd of former allies underneath it now.

  139. 139.

    Bill Arnold

    June 23, 2022 at 8:07 pm

    @TriassicSands:

    You can continue to insist the Earth is flat as long as you don’t put yourself in a position where you can see the obvious curvature¹.

    I once spent close to 24 hours in a big tube high enough that the ground often could not be seen, and arrived in a place “they” claimed was called “Australia”.[1]
    At night, what looked like the constellation Orion was upside down. The little “sword” was above the belt.
    Also, I had never before seen the stars in much of the sky. (I know the name of every bright star visible from the northern hemisphere.)

    [1]“Someone on Quora recently posted a flat-earth craziness I was previously unaware of – which is that Australia doesn’t exist and all Australians are actors!! You really can’t make this stuff up!”

  140. 140.

    Steve in the ATL

    June 23, 2022 at 8:17 pm

    @Bill Arnold: if your sample is the Hemsworth family, then the theory checks out

  141. 141.

    Steeplejack

    June 23, 2022 at 8:30 pm

    @Obvious Russian Troll:

    I think at the time all of the Republicans—and Trump, too, probably—were braying about no coöperation with the fake witch-hunt committee. Now they’re underbussing McCarthy, not that he doesn’t deserve it on general principles.

  142. 142.

    Ken

    June 23, 2022 at 8:44 pm

    I’m wondering, is this the first time we’ve seen a circular firing squad but with busses?

  143. 143.

    Dopey-o

    June 23, 2022 at 8:54 pm

    @Geminid: Yeah, I think Thomas’s end game is to abrogate Loving. He’s a very strict Catholic so divorce is out of the question. In desperation, Thomas has latched on to overturning of Loving as the only way he can rid himself of that horrible harpy!

    He’s not a strict Catholic, he’s an Old Testament Catholic. All the fire and brimstone, all the vengeance and punishment. All that hippy stuff like love your enemy, give your stuff to the poor?

    He’s a Cafeteria Catholic, he’s anti birth control, anti abortion, but the death penalty and heartless immigration policies are fine. Kids in cages? A-OK. Union busting? Also fine.

  144. 144.

    Ken

    June 23, 2022 at 9:16 pm

    @Elizabelle: Ravnsborg hit and killed a man walking along a highway, and then lied about it.

    Worst of all, he got caught.

  145. 145.

    Jim Appleton

    June 23, 2022 at 9:34 pm

    @Bill Arnold:

    I once spent close to 24 hours in a big tube high enough that the ground often could not be seen,

    Whoa, you were that high?

    Props!

    I usually just forget I have legs …

  146. 146.

    prostratedragon

    June 23, 2022 at 9:37 pm

    @Ruckus:  I agree with this.  The idea of the “criminal genius” is a misapplication.

  147. 147.

    schrodingers_cat

    June 23, 2022 at 9:40 pm

    Wrong thread deleted.

  148. 148.

    catclub

    June 23, 2022 at 10:05 pm

    @Ruckus: ​
      But it is pure Trump that none of them got pardons.

  149. 149.

    catclub

    June 23, 2022 at 10:09 pm

    @Elizabelle: (Ravnsborg hit and killed a man walking along a highway, and then lied about it.)

     

    he was almost certainly speeding, and also likely distracted by reading his phone. so no jail time.

  150. 150.

    a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)

    June 23, 2022 at 11:39 pm

    @Delk: Honey or molasses.

  151. 151.

    TriassicSands

    June 24, 2022 at 10:02 pm

    I agree with the responses to my original comment.

    It all reinforces the sad fact that tens of millions of Americans are lost — untethered from reality, devoid of the ability to see beyond their own bigotries, and capable of fashioning bizarre explanations for why the nonsense they believe is true and the reality they deny doesn’t exist. In the end, their defense is simply to refuse to look, watch, hear, read, or accept anything that is in disagreement with their fantasy world.

    I don’t see any way to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

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