Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Be a wild strawberry.

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

They don’t have outfits that big. nor codpieces that small.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

When we show up, we win.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

Everybody saw this coming.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

Is trump is trying to break black America over his knee? signs point to ‘yes’.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

Consistently wrong since 2002

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

In after Baud. Damn.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

You cannot love your country only when you win.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

You are here: Home / Politics / Friday News Roundup on Saturday

Friday News Roundup on Saturday

by | 71 Comments

This post is in: ,

This is the post I was composing on Friday before my out of town company arrived a bit earlier than I expected   If there was a big news dump after 3:30 on Friday, I missed it.  Did anything major happen after that?

Some news today that I think is worth noting.

Legislation has indeed been introduced to expel Santos.  If we’re lucky, we might get a “you can’t fire me, I quit!”

CNN tells us that the other Special Counsel  is not expected to press charges after his investigation into Biden’s handling of classified docs.  Of course, he seemed to bow to pressure by extending his investigation not that long ago, so I will believe it when I see it.

Poor Donald.  Judge Chutkan has denied his motion to strike the language related to the Jan 6 attack.  Apparently stating the truth isn’t considered prejudicial!

Musk is antisemitic scum.  Part 185.

Another victory for Democracy Docket, this time in North Dakota.  I did not know that it was still possible to have a ruling that anything violates the Voting Rights Act!

More grifters; there appears to be an unending supply. No Labels (because the label would have to admit they are mostly funded by the two Rs (Russians and Republicans) tax returns show they rolling in money, and that they are spending 2/3 on ballot initiatives and 1/3 on executive pay and raises.  I am officially (not) shocked.

The new vile Speaker plans to release Jan 6 videos in a “rolling” fashion, in “waves”.  He sure does like ladders and waves and rolling out information and deadlines in a game-like fashion.  He probably ran on something like that in junior high school when he was running for class president.  (Just guessing, I don’t know that he actually did that, but in junior high it might have been cute.)

There is apparently some 3-minute audio or video of Trump from Jan 6 where he admits that the crowd would have responded to him if he had asked them to go home.  Is it just me, or does this seem really bad for Trump?  I have not yet found the actual clip anywhere.

Trump-Judge Cannon has issued another ruling that appears to all-but-guarantee that the FL trial won’t happen before the election.  Attorneys, is there any hope that Jack Smith could get anywhere if he filed legal documents requesting a different judge?  I’m sure my little Henry could see what she’s been up to, if he had the slightest interest in politics.  But is all the circumstantial evidence good enough for the 11th Circuit, or does she have to do something that taken all by itself is egregious?

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

71Comments

  4. 4.

    HinTN

    Attorneys, is there any hope that Jack Smith could get anywhere if he filed legal documents requesting a different judge?

    Jack Smith knows exactly what he’s doing. Chill

  8. 8.

    H.E.Wolf

    [WaterGirl] Trump-Judge Cannon has issued another ruling that appears to all-but-guarantee that the FL trial won’t happen before the election.

    Never fear. Fani Willis is here!

    Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, in a court filing Friday, is requesting a start date of Aug. 5, 2024, for the trial of former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case. […]
    In Friday’s filing, the DA said the August date “balances potential delays from Defendant Trump’s other criminal trials,” as well as the other defendants’ constitutional speedy-trial rights.

    abcnews.go.com/US/fulton-county-da-requests-august-start-date-trumps/story?id=104991029

  11. 11.

    Martin

    I think the expulsion vote on Santos that previously failed might succeed this time. ‘No’ votes like Raskin said he didn’t support an expulsion without due process, and he pointed to the indictment of Santos not yet having made it through a jury. But Congress views their ethics committees as sort of equivalent to that process, and so Raskin might say ‘yes, we had a process, I can now vote to expel’.

    We shall see.

  12. 12.

    smith

    My understanding about Jack Smith finding grounds to request “Judge” Cannon’s  recusal depends on her making an actual appealable ruling. So far, she’s been issuing these paperless orders that delay proceedings and confuse the issues, while avoiding any final rulings he could latch on to.

    As to the trial date, it was clear from way back that she’s going to push the trial out beyond the election in any case, but with her most recent ploy, in which she said she is too going to hold the trial in May (while at the same time putting off some essential steps until it will be too late for that date), she gave Fani Willis the opening she needed to request a trial date in GA before Nov. If Judge McAfee approves the date, it will start just after the GQP convention when, if all goes as expected, they will have nominated a convicted (from the DC case) felon,  and that nomination will be uppermost in people’s minds. It’s right at the time when less engaged voters start paying attention, and it will be televised, making it easy for them  to follow the plot. In fact, it will be almost impossible for even the most disengaged voters to ignore it.

  13. 13.

    Barney

    “You can’t fire me, I quit!” – seems unlikely to me. Santos really has no other job options, having been so comprehensively and publicly shown to be a compulsive liar. Even One America News would have difficulty using him without people simply laughing, I think. And his face is now too well-known for a lot of possible cons.

    So I reckon he’s got to hang on to that congressional salary for as long as possible. Maybe he could try to rebuild his brand in the QAnon section, where the truth is frowned on as suspect, or a plot, but that’s a lot of work.

  14. 14.

    bbleh

    But is all the circumstantial evidence good enough for the 11th Circuit, or does she have to do something that taken all by itself is egregious?

    Lol, I’m just waiting for her to impanel a jury and then dismiss the case for lack of sufficient evidence.  But maybe she figures that, if she delays things past the election, then either the whole thing will be shut down by the Führer or nobody will notice she’s just tossed it without possibility of review.

  16. 16.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Barney: is he a citizen? If he is I wonder if his citizenship can be pulled for the theft or fraud or whatever he did in Brazil?  I don’t see how he gets out of doing time assuming he gets convicted. If he does there’s a decent possibility they go into his immigration stuff.

  19. 19.

    Alison Rose

    I’ve just finished reading Patrick Stewart’s memoir, which was overall quite interesting and enjoyable. Over the chapters where he’s talking about his time on ST:TNG, he references and discussed a handful of episodes, and I kept hoping he would mention Qpid, but he didn’t. It’s the one where Q sends Picard and the others to Sherwood Forest in the roles of Robin Hood and his crew. It may not be one of the best episodes of the show, but it’s one of my faves and it’s hilarious. So at the end of that portion of the book, I went to YouTube to look up my favorite moment, with Michael Dorn’s absolutely excellent delivery of “I am NOT a merry man!”

  20. 20.

    Jeffro

    There is apparently some 3-minute audio or video of Trump from Jan 6 where he admits that the crowd would have responded to him if he had asked them to go home.  Is it just me, or does this seem really bad for Trump?  I have not yet found the actual clip anywhere.

    There was already plenty of J6 Committee testimony to the effect that trumpov was apprised that the crowd was armed and that the Secret Service wanted to funnel everyone through magnetometers, and His Orangeness waved it off, saying, “they’re my people…they’re not here to hurt me“.  Not quite the same thing, but everyone knows that was his crowd and would have done whatever he wanted.

    Again, a healthy democracy would have already settled this account either early on the morning of January 7th (or at the latest, the day after the testimony I’m noting above.)  But whatever.

  22. 22.

    Frank Wilhoit

    “George Santos” can’t be expelled unless the process was defined so that an alias can be used on the paperwork.  Someone upthread asked whether he is a citizen; Occam’s Razor says oh Hell no, but how to prove it, either way?  We don’t even know what the guy’s name is, and we probably never will.

  23. 23.

    mrmoshpotato

    Poor Donald. Judge Chutkan has denied his motion to strike the language related to the Jan 6 attack. Apparently stating the truth isn’t considered prejudicial!

    SAD!

  25. 25.

    Shalimar

    @Mai Naem mobile: George Santos was supposedly born in New York City.  I assume he has a birth certificate.  A Brazilian court identified him as an American 10 years ago, so I also assume they had access to that information and weren’t just accepting his word.

  27. 27.

    bjacques

    @smith: I, too, want to thank Judge Cannon for helpfully making room on the calendar for trials whose judges won’t piss all over them and ensuring at least one will deliver a verdict before the election.

  30. 30.

    wjca

    @Frank Wilhoit: We don’t even know what the guy’s name is, and we probably never will.

    Get a DNA sample, and start tracking down relatives.  Once you get a few of those, focusing in should be (relatively) simple.

    Anyone want to bet he turns out to be the previously unknown product of TIFG and some (Brazilian?) hooker?  The apple not falling far from the tree and all.

  32. 32.

    Guy Incognito

    @Jay: For that matter,  all you have to do is add another right angle to each leg of “X”, and look what you have! That Elon, what a rascal!

  33. 33.

    bbleh

    @NotMax: @Frank Wilhoit: fortunately once Real President Trump is restored to his rightful seat of power this sort of thing will be handled quietly in the basement of the Capitol and without lots of worry over silly paperwork.

  38. 38.

    Gin & Tonic

    The Economist leads with “Donald Trump poses the greatest danger to the world in 2024.” They call it a “leader” whereas in the US it’d be called an “editorial,” so it is the paper’s official position.

    Gift link here, not sure if it will work for everyone (they are pretty stingy.)

  40. 40.

    wjca

    @Gin & Tonic: The Economist leads with “Donald Trump poses the greatest danger to the world in 2024.” They call it a “leader” whereas in the US it’d be called an “editorial,” so it is the paper’s official position.

    Not a surprising position for them to take.  The Economist hates tariffs, and TIFG was slapping them on right and left.

  41. 41.

    FelonyGovt

    I’m annoyed about “Judge” Cannon’s nonsense in large part because the classified documents violations are so egregious, and perhaps more easily proven than the charges in some of the other trials.

  46. 46.

    Martin

    @FelonyGovt: I’m annoyed because I think the voters deserve to know if the candidate they are voting for is a national security risk. I think that resolving that question before the election is paramount and heaven and earth should be moved to ensure a fair trial is completed before then. In greatest fairness to Republicans, that should be done before they pick a nominee.

    My guess here is that Trump will win the nomination, or enough of it that by the time a jury hands down a guilty sentence in the DC case, the GOP will be stuck with him. And I think that’s kind of a terrible outcome, but it’s entirely of their own making. It’s just so stupid and shortsighted.

  52. 52.

    Frankensteinbeck

    There is apparently some 3-minute audio or video of Trump from Jan 6 where he admits that the crowd would have responded to him if he had asked them to go home. Is it just me, or does this seem really bad for Trump?

    The only part of J6 itself I can possibly imagine Trump being convicted for is that he knew it was happening, could have stopped it, and refused to.  Everything else can be blown off with ‘I was just running my mouth’.  So, yes.

  53. 53.

    Another Scott

    @rikyrah: Thanks for the pointer.

    Here’s the paper (7 page .pdf):

    Hormonal fluctuations in the perimenopause are associated with an array of physical and psychological symptoms. Those with pre-existing mental disorders may experience changes to their symptoms and response to treatment during the perimenopausal and postmenopausal periods and may also be at risk of poorer longer term physical health outcomes in menopause. The transition towards menopause may be compounded by the oestradiol -suppressing effect of many psychotropics on the
    hypothalamopituitary–gonadal axis. A collaborative approach between primary care and secondary mental health services is an opportunity for proactive discussion of symptoms and support with management of the perimenopause. This may involve lifestyle measures and/or hormone replacement therapy, which can both lead to improvements in well-being and mental and physical health.

    Keywords Comorbidity; neuroendocrinology; organic syndromes; primary care; patients.

    Bodies are complicated, and women need to be taken more seriously – everywhere.

    Thanks again.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  60. 60.

    TheflipPsyd

    @rikyrah: Thank you. I’ve believed there was a connection for years and it’s great to see that someone is paying attention and researching women’s health.

  62. 62.

    smith

    @Martin: My guess here is that Trump will win the nomination, or enough of it that by the time a jury hands down a guilty sentence in the DC case, the GOP will be stuck with him.

    They get no sympathy from me. In fact, I’m looking forward to their place in history as the party that nominated a convicted felon and insurrectionist to be president. They have had years and thousands of reasons to disavow him, and the fact that they haven’t should stick to that party forever.

  63. 63.

    CaseyL

    @Martin:

    @smith:

    I think it would be helpful to stop thinking of Republicans as an “American” political party.  It is not.

    The GOP is a Confederate Party.  Its intent to re-fight the Civil War and win this time.

    What is good for “America” is not irrelevant, but antithetical to their purposes.

  71. 71.

    grubert

    @NotMax: “once up a time when things were rotten!”  that song stuck in my head for decades, with me wondering if it was just a dream.

    Found it on the Youtubes recently. Yeah, it was a little cringy.. just like “Men in Tights”

Comments are closed.