Double-decker shirted pustule Steve Bannon was indicted for fraud for the We Build the Wall scam — this time at the state level, where the Trump pardon won’t be enforced: [WaPo]
Bannon’s case will be handled in New York Supreme Court by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
In a statement issued after the indictment was unsealed, Bragg said Bannon “acted as the architect of a multi-million dollar scheme to defraud thousands of donors across the country – including hundreds of Manhattan residents.”
Bannon “took advantage of his donors’ political views to secure millions of dollars which he then misappropriated,” James said in her own prepared remarks. “Mr. Bannon lied to his donors to enrich himself and his friends.”
The list of scammed donors is pure fucking gold! Imagine being stupid enough to believe contributing a portion of your social security check or Walmart greeter earnings to Steve Bannon would result in the construction of a multi-trillion-dollar, barbed-wire topped wall from sea to shining sea?
It’s a certainty that shady fraudsters nationwide are willing to auction off their mothers and first-born children to get their grubby mitts on that list!
Next up, some personal news:
I've considered volunteering as a poll worker in my very Trumpy county even though I'm busy as hell and it sounds like a pain in the ass. This convinced me to do it. https://t.co/dkqwK7Z1Lh
— Betty Cracker 🐊 (@bettycrackerfl) September 8, 2022
I half-way hope the Republicans who run the county elections weed me out as a donkey crank, maybe due to my bumper sticker that says, “No, really. HE LOST, and you’re in a cult.” The job sounds horrific. But Jesus, that CNN clip is scary. Someone’s gotta do something, and here and now, it might as well be me.
Also, this made me laugh:
Asking patients who the president is, as part of a neuro exam.
Now it’s a psych exam too.
— Nurse Ashley 💁🏼♀️✨ (@TheBlondeRN) September 7, 2022
So true. Open thread.
Bill Barr Is A Lying Liar Who Lies
Princess Leia
Did I miss news on John’s new kitten?
Baud
Good on you, BC.
Jeffro
Betty, I saw that tweet of yours earlier, and I’m going to do the same thing. Bob Good (VA05) and his goons will be out in force (both outside and inside the polls, unfortunately) and the least I can do is make sure they follow the rules like every other election.
Does everyone have their trumpov Indictment Day beverage of choice chilling in the fridge yet? You should – it’s getting close! ;)
sempronia
Ha ha, during the Trump years I asked a guy with a head injury who the president was, as part of his exam, and he said, “I can’t remember his name, but I hate him!” I actually stopped using that question during those years, because I couldn’t stand hearing the answer
Chat Noir
My mom was a poll worker for years in suburban Lansing, MI, and she LOVED it. It gave her a chance to get out of the house, chat with people she knew, and do her bit for public service. That these GOP officials are working in bad faith (not surprised) helps support my notion that these people are evil.
Ken
I came across this interesting GIF (twitter) of the Queen’s portrait on UK currency and stamps through the years. It made me think me of how many physical things will be changed when she passes. I don’t know the process for some of it — will they do a currency recall, for example? Many of the commonwealth nations will also be affected.
O. Felix Culpa
Good on you! I’ve signed up to be a poll worker too, but haven’t heard back yet. Bernalillo County, where we just moved, seems way more purple than our previous home in true blue Santa Fe County, to judge by the increase in Trump and other RWNJ bumper stickers and yard signs, so the elections could be…interesting.
JCJ
@Jeffro: Great idea! I will get some Chimay Blue to have on hand.
Chat Noir
@Jeffro:
The day that the 2020 election was officially called for Biden-Harris, we popped open a bottle of Moet et Chandon that had been in the fridge since 2016 (we paired it with pizza). I’m holding off on any celebration until the orange asshole is officially hauled off to the federal pen.
Layer8Problem
@JCJ: If it’s not really blue it’s misrepresentation, isn’t it? Possibly fraud. The world needs more blue food and liquor.
stinger
Pretty sure *some* people also envisioned it as “gold”. Cheap, gimcrack gilt.
FelonyGovt
Good for you, Betty. My dad was a poll worker in Brooklyn, NY each year after my mom died. He really enjoyed both the social and the community service aspects of it. It’s really sad that it’s been completely corrupted and politicized, but I admire you for volunteering to help keep it honest.
Mike in NC
They say Bannon could get 5 to 15 years, and possibly be required to bathe and shave at least once a month. That last bit constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
Amir Khalid
@Ken:
Recall the paper money and stamps with her face on them? They’re already in circulation, might as well just use them up. They can always print up new pound notes and stamps with Charles’ face as the old ones run out.
Calouste
@Ken: There won’t be a currency recall of any kind. Existing notes and coins will stay in use, but new ones minted will be with Charles’s head on it. Before the decimalization of the British Pound in 1970, there were still coins in circulation predating Victoria (although of course most of the old coins eventually get picked up by collectors).
Matt McIrvin
@Ken: When I visited the UK in 1986, I remember there were still some old coins with George VI on them circulating. I had a pre-decimalization shilling that seemed to function as a 5p coin, since it was the same size and shape and the same fraction of a pound.
Apparently that particular coin wasn’t officially demonetized until 1990.
Dangerman
@Jeffro: Every day I wake up thinking is this gonna be the day (aka the Prince Charles).
Roger Moore
@Ken:
I don’t think so. Paper money turns over fast enough- IIRC the mean lifetime of a paper bill is on the order of 18 months- there really isn’t a need. They probably won’t recall coins, either. IIRC, after decimalization, they avoided the need to replace some coins by letting people use old shillings as 5p coins, and those stayed in circulation for decades.
JoyceH
@Chat Noir: I haven’t had a pizza since March (when I joined Weight Watchers), but I’ve already decided that I’m ordering pizza for a Trump indictment. Or any major Trumpie indictment. A couple dozen fake electors will do.
Scout211
I saw that video of the GOP leaders in Michigan training poll workers to break election laws. Yet another very clear reason why red state pols want you to believe that mail-in voting is corrupt, so everyone must show up at the polling places to vote to prevent corruption. But in fact, if everyone voted in the privacy of our own homes, this type of obvious corruption at the polling places could not be accomplished. But they push the false notion that mail-in voting is more vulnerable to corruption.
A few years ago I tried to volunteer as a poll worker but our county here in California had already gone to 100% mail-in ballots (as the whole state has done since) and there were only a few “voting centers” if voters preferred to go to the polls. Those slots were already filled with long-time volunteers.
Gin & Tonic
So I know Rick Wilson and the Lincoln Project are assholes, but this video from him today is glorious.
rikyrah
Operation London Bridge (also known by its code phrase London Bridge Is Down) is the plan for what will happen in the United Kingdom on and immediately after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. It includes planning for the announcement of her death, the period of official mourning, and the details of her state funeral. Some critical decisions relating to the plan have been made by the Queen herself, although some can only be made by her successor, Charles, Prince of Wales, after her death.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_London_Bridge
germy shoemangler
@Mike in NC:
If he loses access to alcohol he may die from delirium tremens.
Feathers
On a blog I read, one of the regulars said RTE has been given a heads up that the death of the Queen will be announced at 6pm London time.
SiubhanDuinne
@Ken:
As both a philatelist and a great admirer of the Queen, I own albums and albums of stamps from the U.K. and around the Commonwealth with her image on them and commemorating various Royal events. I don’t believe the Royal Mint will abruptly recall stamps and coins and banknotes, but they will be attrited out as new currency and stamps with King Charles III are issued, probably within a few months of his becoming sovereign. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the artwork and designs are already approved and in place, so the transition to new bits of paper and coinage may not take all that long.
germy shoemangler
p.a.
Chuck III’s reign should be more uneventful than his namesakes’, but given Tory corruption, Labor self-immolation, and the current rise of fascism…
Elizabelle
From The Guardian, from 2017:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/mar/16/what-happens-when-queen-elizabeth-dies-london-bridge
Jeffro
@JCJ:
@Chat Noir:
these are good ideas!
In addition to beverages, I have an Indictment Day t-shirt picked out, and some extra Advil & pedialyte handy for the morning afterwards. =)
Parfigliano
@O. Felix Culpa: In Roswell. Ronchetti everywhere. Dont and never will watch channel 13. Told them too.
Elizabelle
@germy shoemangler: You made me look. And laugh.
But QE2 relented. There are a few royal pups, who will likely live out long happy lives. Albeit without Grams. I think she’s got at least one corgi, at the moment …
ETA: Brewing some strong tea. If QE2 has left us, will have some bubbly in her honor later.
Even if you don’t like the monarchy, you can like or at least respect her public service.
I don’t believe she’s a racist, as some have suggested. Possible she was surrounded them in childhood, but we can grow and learn, can’t most of us?
HumboldtBlue
Watching Americans twist themselves into knots and stamp their feet while others criticize the absurdity of the monarchy and the impending death of Liz is rather sobering. For them, the monarchy is a magazine article, a glitzy shining object to be looked at in awe instead of being the wealthy white face of a commonwealth built upon extraordinary human rights abuses and colonization. That actual adult humans are feeling sorry for a woman who spent her life in unearned luxury and privilege boggles. Liz is interesting because of her place in history, nothing else.
Get ready for a deluge of coverage.
Roger Moore
@germy shoemangler:
The people who run our prisons have plenty of experience dealing with alcoholics. He shouldn’t present any unprecedented problems.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
They could just install the automatic mist thingy that some supermarkets have over the vegetable department.
Roger Moore
@p.a.:
I think he had already indicated he will be George IX rather than Charles III.
Almost Retired
I found “The Crown” to be riveting, but I am bored shitless by the non-stop coverage of the Queen’s impending(?) death. I am sorry, though, that she probably won’t live long enough to see Trump indicted.
Omnes Omnibus
@Roger Moore: Where were Georges VII and VIII?
Alison Rose 💙🌻💛
A few years ago, a lady on my floor fell and hurt herself badly in the hallway. When EMTs came and were trying to assess her condition, they asked her some of those usual questions. (She also has some mild developmental disability.) Things like what year is it, what city are we in. When one of them asked her “Who is the president?”, one of the neighbors who had come out to help said “Oh God, don’t ask her that!” The injured lady started laughing and said she wished she’d hit her head hard enough to forget.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Elizabelle: Uh…
Are euthanasia laws different in the UK? Or just different for royalty?
Barbara
@Alison Rose 💙🌻💛: When my brother was asked this in 2018 he said “it’s that guy we all hate.”
Splitting Image
@Ken:
Canada in the 1970s and 80s still had coins in circulation with pictures of George V and VI, especially pennies. As people said above, they all eventually were snapped up by collectors. They never officially went out of circulation.
Paper money will change over a lot more quickly, so currency with Elizabeth’s picture will disappear a lot sooner, but it won’t be recalled.
What will definitely happen is that there will be a push to put somebody other than Charles on the new design. At this point in Canada, this will only affect the $20 bill. Elizabeth used to be on the $1 and $2, but those were replaced with coins years ago. Canada recently replaced John A. MacDonald on the $10, so I’m guessing that the opposition to redesigning the $20 will be muted.
The biggest change might be a big rush of musicians recording “God Save the King”.
Almost Retired
@Roger Moore: How do you choose between George and Charles? The most famous King George lost his mind and the most famous King Charles lost his head.
Omnes Omnibus
@Almost Retired: Media death watches are always ghoulish.
germy shoemangler
Jager
@Mike in NC:
I doubt if he can wear two or more jumpsuits at a time either.
zhena gogolia
@Roger Moore: Wait, what? Who were George VII and VIII?
EarthWindFire
@Jeffro: I’ve signed up for poll work with VA Dems and will go where asked. I have family in Good’s district. I’d be more useful there than true blue Fairfax where Connolly will be re-elected in a landslide.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@germy shoemangler: Why am I suddenly thinking of the “I’m not dead yet” scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail?
Especially in light of the description of George V’s death I quoted from the Guardian at comment #39?
germy shoemangler
Elizabelle
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: It’s been rumored that Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis left peacefully with the assistance of morphine or something along those lines. Would not begrudge anybody that choice. Again, the wealthy and those who can pass at home have options others do not.
Canadian Broadcasting saying Prince Harry was in Germany, thus the delay. He’s not there yet.
Elizabelle
With TFG, we’ll have a betting pool. And be enthused at his prospective demise. Just let it be after he is convicted of something serious.
Elated. Unless he is somehow strapped to an Obama at the time. But that is unlikely …
Redshift
Apparently the running joke in response to Teri Kanefeld’s Twitter thread about the Bannon indictment is “he launders money, but he can’t launder his shirts?”
Elizabelle
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: I know! What happens if she rallies?
Roger Moore
@Omnes Omnibus:
Sorry. I got my titles mixed up. Anyway, Prince Charles had indicated he would rule as King George, not King Charles. I guess Charles and James are going to join Richard, John, and Stephen as retired names for British monarchs.
germy shoemangler
p.a.
ian
@germy shoemangler: I don’t claim to understand the protocols here, but why would they blindfold the corgis?
SiubhanDuinne
@Almost Retired:
The Prince of Wales’ full handle is Charles Philip Arthur George, so there are at least two more options among his given names. There’s never been a King Philip in British history, though, and calling himself King Arthur might be seen as a bit … arrogant.
germy shoemangler
@ian:
That info is in the twitter thread. If you click on the date of the tweet you’ll see it.
Calouste
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: IIRC, the doctor made the decision to give the king those drugs to hasten his demise all by himself, and the thing only came out when they found his diary after his death.
germy shoemangler
@SiubhanDuinne:
I thought his ears were his handles. That’s what Camilla said anyway…
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@ian: Click on the tweet. It’s got an image of some text that says “she does not wish any to survive her death”. I guess it’s like the ancient Pharoahs? Won’t Charles be surprised if he’s on the list of people who are designated to accompany her to the Land of the Dead?
ian
@germy shoemangler: As a non-twitter I cant follow through with that stuff. Are they really going to kill the corgis? Strange customs them folk have.
Paul in KY
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: I think he’d just get moldy. I just about upchucked thinking of that.
germy shoemangler
@ian:
She had a change of heart apparently. The corgis will live on.
trollhattan
@Mike in NC:
If Bannon is subject to enforced bathing, then I have just the method by which it is given.
https://bdthetimestheyareachangin.weebly.com/uploads/2/9/4/0/29401609/3768537_orig.jpg
Elizabelle
@ian: Tis a joke. That she did not wish any of her corgis to survive her.
For a while, she did not have any. She did not have any new litters bred, and the existing ones aged out. But, after Philip’s death (and during pandemic isolation), I believe she acquired a corgi or two. Who have bright futures, perhaps. (I think one of the puppies died soon after arriving, sadly.)
Paul in KY
@Almost Retired: I think he can technically chose any name. Would be interesting if he chose the name of the Earl of Mountbatten, who was blown up (with some other people) by the IRA. Charles really loved him.
germy shoemangler
@trollhattan:
None of the five charges carry mandatory jail time, and the top count, second-degree money laundering, carries a maximum of 15 years. The 2020 federal charges on the same “We Build the Wall” donor-scam allegations — the case Trump pardoned Bannon on — had carried a maximum of 20 years prison. It is unclear why Manhattan prosecutors did not get an indictment on grand larceny
trollhattan
@ian: Didn’t they inter pharaohs with pets and servants and such?
Guessing nobody asked them whether they wished to join King Whatsisname the Seventh in the afterlife journey.
Betty Cracker
@Omnes Omnibus: True. The coverage of Michael Jackson’s demise was the most appalling media celebrity death carnival I can recall, equal parts lurid and mawkish.
Paul in KY
@Roger Moore: Don’t forget ‘Mary’. Won’t be another one of those.
trollhattan
@Paul in KY:
My money’s on King Kardashian I.
Paul in KY
@Calouste: Didn’t want a rag like Daily Mail or such to be the first ones to announce his death. George V probably would have approved.
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne: Only one King John. The Magna Carta. Guess that was enough.
King Canute. Love that. I kind of see a Great Dane, but that could be good.
germy shoemangler
@trollhattan:
I remember a horrible Onion article about a panicked and screaming Kermit the Frog being buried with Jim Henson.
ian
@trollhattan: They did it with Jenghiz Khan’s horses too. It is why I fell for the joke, it seemed to be they were going to do it in this case.
Elizabelle
@Betty Cracker: I missed that whole thing, WRT Michael Jackson. Was traveling; poor radio signal and no internet. Heard about it late in the day, just NPR reporting that he had died in Los Angeles, and wondered if he had been a suicide.
2009.
Elizabelle
@germy shoemangler: That’s terrible! Although I laughed.
And he was using Bill Gates’ and Julia Child’s voices. They both sound like Kermit to me.
HumboldtBlue
@Paul in KY:
That’s who the littlest one is named after, Louis.
trollhattan
@Betty Cracker: It was over the top, for sure, and happened to be the best thing that ever happened to Mark Sanford, who had dominated the headlines with his Appalachian Trail hijinks, right up to Jackson’s death.
Reaction to Kobe Bryant’s demise came close.
Elizabelle
Announcement she died this afternoon.
Redshift
@EarthWindFire: (& @Jeffro)
One of the improvements in Virginia a few years ago is that you can do a half day of you can find someone willing to split it with you. It’s a long day, with all the pre-opening and post-closing work.
Elizabelle
They’re announcing it will be King Charles.
trollhattan
@germy shoemangler: Oh man, missed that one entirely!
Almost Retired
@Paul in KY: Good to know. I think the UK is ready for another King Ethelred.
Paul in KY
@Elizabelle: The Magna Charta was the good thing he did. There were many not good things he did during his reign.
Tinare
Queen Elizabeth has died. I don’t know how to paste it but the BBC had tweeted it.
PaulWartenberg
I volunteered as a poll worker (which made me the supervisor of the precinct) in Broward County in 2002, when they were switching to the new touchscreen systems, and it was an interesting experience. It’s an all-day thing, from super-early in the morning (had to set up by 6AM for the 7AM opening) and then lasts past 7PM (we had a short line at the cutoff point, the rules were we stayed open for them, so we really wrapped up around 8PM), then some time printing the receipts and results, packing up ALL the machines, locking the voting bags, driving it all in to the regional elections office, waiting in line with the other precinct officers… really didn’t get it done until 10PM.
My mom volunteered as a pollster in Pinellas county for about 10 years or so. I think one year she had only one troublemaker but otherwise it went well for her.
trollhattan
@Tinare: Got the same, from the BBC news feed.
R.I.P. HM.
UncleEbeneezer
@Alison Rose 💙🌻💛: They have to ask my Mother-In-Law these questions every day as she has been suffering some delusions and disorientation from being in the hospital for the past month and a half. The other day when she answered “Joe Biden” one of the nurses apparently added “unfortunately.” Pissed my wife off, big time. Fucking Texas…
geg6
@HumboldtBlue:
Yep. I’m rather gobsmacked by it. Unbelievable.
Paul in KY
@HumboldtBlue: Thank you. I had braindumped on his name.
geg6
@Almost Retired:
Why would she care about that? She honored him. Fuck her.
Baud
@geg6:
Plus, I’d imagine the Queen of England gave much thought to Trump one way or the other.
Almost Retired
@geg6: She doesn’t. I was just hoping Trump would be indicted before she died. Or before tomorrow….or before lunch.
Anyway
Great timing by Liz Truss – getting sworn in as PM before the Queen shuffled off this mortal coil…
HumboldtBlue
@Almost Retired:
Where the hell is Uhtred?
Hoppie
@SiubhanDuinne: I believe he will take George VII as his regnal name, but I can be corrected by our British jackals. (See now that I have been anticipated)
PaulWartenberg
@Paul in KY:
Charles can go by any name, but tradition dictates it should be the given names of his christening, which are Charles Phillip Arthur George.
He could go with George as that’s a royal name with little baggage. Arthur would be a joke. He wasn’t on good terms with his father so taking Phillip is unlikely. Charles has a history but not a good one (one beheaded, the second a philandering doof).
He’s likely sticking with Charles. It’s the name everyone knows him by.
Alison Rose 💙🌻💛
I am sad about the Queen. But what a life. Longest-reigning British monarch in history. And the best wardrobe of any ruler ever.
wenchacha
Only because I still want to piss and moan about it, networks are breaking into daytime to tell us about the death of a monarch, but couldn’t cover Biden’s speech about the preventing the death of our democracy.
Feathers
@Elizabelle: There was much call and greater need for an apology for the racism of the British Empire and the Slave Trade. She surely knew this. The apology never came. If it comes from Charles, it will not have the same meaning. This is a choice she made.
There is a difference between excellent manners and being appreciative of people who are showing you respect. It’s matter to recognize that other peoples may have their own wants, needs, and demands that are different from what you may consider appropriate.
Paul in KY
@PaulWartenberg: Twill be Charles III, I deem.
Betty Cracker
@Alison Rose 💙🌻💛: The end of an era.
Tony Jay
@geg6:
Thirded.
Uber-rich and mind-blowingly privileged racist landowners who lived high on the hog and way above the law get tiny violins and zero sympathy from me. She enjoyed her life, raised a paedo, then she died. Tears are optional.
NoraLenderbee
@Betty Cracker: It’s a momentous event. I feel very somber. Which is not the same as being sad.
Hoppie
@Hoppie: (Also that I believed wrongly)
HumboldtBlue
It appears Liz’s death has broken Twitter.
Betty
@Gin & Tonic: The tweet has been deleted. By Twitter maybe?
...now I try to be amused
@SiubhanDuinne:
Reminds me of Roman Emperor Claudius I, whose full name was Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus. Members of his family went by all five of those names.
lowtechcyclist
@SiubhanDuinne:
I dunno. People would take every opportunity to say things to him like “now go away, or I shall taunt you a second time.”
Elizabelle
@Feathers: An apology is more than in order. She may have been leaving that for Charles, with a suggestion he issue one. Pronto.
I can’t say.
Am sure one is coming, and soon. Or no more tours of many of the Commonwealth countries.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@lowtechcyclist: indeed, Charles is both a Python fan and a Goon Show fan.
Roger Moore
@Paul in KY:
There have been two reigning queens named Mary. The first might have spoiled the name, but James, Duke of York (later James II) decided to name his daughter that when it seemed very unlikely she would ever inherit the crown. She did OK as Mary II, so there might very well be a Mary III.
ETA: I guess technically Mary II didn’t inherit the crown. Her husband invaded the country and her father ran away, leading Parliament to offer the crown to her and her husband as joint monarchs.
Paul in KY
@Roger Moore: I sorta forgot about the Mary of William and Mary. Good catch!