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

Before Header

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

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

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

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

“I was told there would be no fact checking.”

Radicalized white males who support Trump are pitching a tent in the abyss.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

People are weird.

People are complicated. Love is not.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

We will not go back.

Trump’s cabinet: like a magic 8 ball that only gives wrong answers.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Politics / Trump Indictments / Wednesday Afternoon Open Thread & Legal News

Wednesday Afternoon Open Thread & Legal News

by WaterGirl|  December 13, 20233:35 pm| 123 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Trump Indictments

FacebookTweetEmail

When do we not have legal news lately?

This does not appear to be good news for the good guys.  But I trust Judge Chutkan, so she must feel that this is what she needs to do in order to cross all the “T”s and dot all the Is.  “I”s.  I wonder if this is the same ruling she would have made if Jack Smith hadn’t petitioned the Supreme Court.

As a general rule, when a lot of critical things are in flux, it’s never a bad thing to hold tight.

Judge Chutkan will hold all deadlines “in abeyance.”
She will enforce the gag order for now, but will await further instruction from DC Cir on that one, uncertain if she has even that power. Basically, Trump wins on almost all of the stay pending appeal.https://t.co/GKYixeqETj

— Roger Parloff (@rparloff) December 13, 2023

🌼

Reuters: U.S. APPEALS COURT REJECTS DONALD TRUMP’S REQUEST FOR IMMUNITY FROM E. JEAN CARROLL’S DEFAMATION LAWSUIT

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 13, 2023

🌼

Jack Smith’s response to Trump’s opposition to an expedited appeals court briefing schedule has been filed a day early. It was due tomorrow. It obliterates Trump’s opposition.

This is for the appeals court, not SCOTUS. https://t.co/oa3ONOf5eE

— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) December 13, 2023

🌼

Supreme Court agrees to review a case (not the Jack Smith Jan 6 case) related to obstruction of an official proceeding.

I think this is a good thing, as it is better for DOJ to know sooner rather than later what if anything the S Ct is going to say the law requires to hold someone criminally liable for obstruction. https://t.co/cXROck9ZPH

— Andrew Weissmann (weissmann11 on Threads)🌻 (@AWeissmann_) December 13, 2023

I don’t feel like I can begin to explain this case, but Harry Litman an explain it to you if you have 7 minutes.

🌼

I am filing this under WTF?

A Republican who previously acted as a fake elector for former President Donald Trump has been appointed to the Wisconsin State Elections Commission.

This development is notable as it involves an individual directly linked to the controversial attempt to overturn the 2020…

— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) December 13, 2023

Open thread

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « FL GOP Awash in Flop Sweat
Next Post: War for Ukraine Day 658: President Zelenskyy Goes to Oslo spy v. spy flyouts»

Reader Interactions

123Comments

  1. 1.

    Dangerman

    December 13, 2023 at 3:44 pm

    Fact: This Wisconsin Dude wasn’t supporting Trump. He was supporting Chesebro.

  2. 2.

    Trivia Man

    December 13, 2023 at 3:45 pm

    Thanks, everyone for the new judge in Wisconsin. Hope it’s enough to shut down the next attempts at fake elector shenanigans.

  3. 3.

    Trivia Man

    December 13, 2023 at 3:47 pm

    Is this one  Of those who gave a pinky swear not to be an elector again? Can we force recusal for an decision involving Cheeto?

  4. 4.

    WaterGirl

    December 13, 2023 at 3:53 pm

    @Trivia Man: I don’t recall which state made that a part of the settlement.  It was a civil case, though, brought by the real electors, so that should narrow it down pretty well.

    I am getting ready for company for dinner, so I don’t have time to google right now, but maybe one of you guys will have time!

  5. 5.

    Scout211

    December 13, 2023 at 3:54 pm

    I’m confused with all these filings and rulings and responses. Which one of these rulings/filings mentioned above have to do with the Trump team’s filing today calling Jack Smith a grinch for spoiling their holiday plans? The Mueller She Wrote tweet?

  6. 6.

    rikyrah

    December 13, 2023 at 3:55 pm

    @Trivia Man:

    Thanks, everyone for the new judge in Wisconsin. Hope it’s enough to shut down the next attempts at fake elector shenanigans.

    Clap clap clap clap

  7. 7.

    WaterGirl

    December 13, 2023 at 3:59 pm

    @Scout211: Since they are talking about opposing the fast-tracking of the immunity fight, I would say that this was in reference to the Jack Smith petition for the Supreme Court to pick up the immunity case.

    Trump’s response to the Jack Smith’s response was due today at 5 pm eastern, so that fits with the timeline, too.

    Donald Trump’s lawyers oppose fast-tracking the fight over whether he’s immune from prosecution for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election — argue "rushed" schedule undermines fair hearing, "Grinch" special counsel trying to spoil holidayshttps://t.co/f5HqjJ3LTq

    — Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) December 13, 2023

  8. 8.

    WaterGirl

    December 13, 2023 at 4:01 pm

    @Scout211: I haven’t seen Trump’s social media response or the Official Announcement from attorneys, but the grinch comment does not sound very lawyer-like!

  9. 9.

    Trivia Man

    December 13, 2023 at 4:06 pm

    Story: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/06/wisconsin-fake-electors-admit-biden-won-2020-election

    adding the Election Commission details

    https://news.yahoo.com/wisconsin-secretary-state-calls-fake-171608718.html

  10. 10.

    Scout211

    December 13, 2023 at 4:06 pm

    @WaterGirl: Thanks.  I found it on  NBC News as an addition to the original news story that I posted downstairs.  (The Jack Smith is a meanie old Grinch filing from the Trump team).

    Prosecutors filed their response to Trump’s legal arguments Wednesday and suggested Trump’s attorneys had their math wrong, saying their filing would be due Dec. 23, not Dec. 26. “In any event, the public’s need for a speedy resolution of these important legal issues take precedence over personal scheduling issues,” prosecutors wrote.

    They did not mention Trump’s holiday jab.

    . . .

    Smith’s filing Wednesday argued that time is of the essence. He said because Trump is appealing U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s ruling finding that he’s not entitled to immunity, trial proceedings are suspended until the appeal is resolved.

    “Expediting the appeal in this case is necessary to vindicate the public’s interest in a timely trial,” Smith’s team contended, and would not prevent “the parties from giving the issues on appeal due consideration.”

  11. 11.

    Old School

    December 13, 2023 at 4:09 pm

    @Trivia Man:

    Is this one  Of those who gave a pinky swear not to be an elector again?

    Yes.

    Spindell and other nine fake electors conceded in a legal settlement last week that Biden had won the state and agreed to not serve as electors in next year’s election or in any in which Trump is running. They also agreed that their actions were “part of an attempt to improperly overturn the 2020 presidential election results.”

    But they also avoided paying any damages and didn’t accept any liability or admit any wrongdoing for their actions.

    “The civil settlement explicitly states that the plaintiffs acknowledge that the defendants, including Commissioner Spindell, admit no guilt or culpability,” LeMahieu said. “Liberal groups sought millions of dollars in court, and instead walked away with nothing. The Trump electors’ actions were an effort to support an ultimately-failed legal strategy. Not a sinister plot to overturn an election.”

  12. 12.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    December 13, 2023 at 4:10 pm

    “Who gives a fuck about the Christmas stuff” ~ Melonie Trump

  13. 13.

    Trivia Man

    December 13, 2023 at 4:12 pm

    @Old School: thanks for more details, we are still trying to dig out of the shit storm caused by redistricting in 2010.

  14. 14.

    Scout211

    December 13, 2023 at 4:12 pm

    @WaterGirl: but the grinch comment does not sound very lawyer-like!

    Trump team filing:  NBC

    In the filing, Trump’s attorneys said that signing off on Smith’s proposed schedule “would make President Trump’s opening brief due the day after Christmas. This proposed schedule would require attorneys and support staff to work round-the-clock through the holidays, inevitably disrupting family and travel plans. It is as if the Special Counsel ‘growled, with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming, “I must find some way to keep Christmas from coming. … But how?”'”

    That’s a reference to Dr. Seuss’ classic “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” about a character with a heart two sizes too small who hates the whole Christmas season and plots to sabotage the holiday.

  15. 15.

    WaterGirl

    December 13, 2023 at 4:13 pm

    @Trivia Man: So they agreed not to be electors in 2024 or in any election involving Trump.

    But the fine print didn’t say they couldn’t serve on the Wisconsin State Elections Commission?

    All i can think of to say are things the nuns in grade school said we would go to hell for saying.

  16. 16.

    Trivia Man

    December 13, 2023 at 4:18 pm

    @WaterGirl: I forgive you

  17. 17.

    Suzanne

    December 13, 2023 at 4:24 pm

    LMAO, I was reading one of those gift guides that are so prevalent right now, and there is a Dyson pet grooming attachment for your vacuum.

    Tagline: “Groom. Suck. Gone.”

    IM DED.

  18. 18.

    Old School

    December 13, 2023 at 4:30 pm

    I see the Dow Jones closed at an all-time high today – breaking 37,000 for the first time.

    When is Biden going to do something about this horrible economy?!?!

  19. 19.

    lowtechcyclist

    December 13, 2023 at 4:31 pm

    @Scout211:

    Given that they can’t even quote the Grinch correctly, I’d hate to think about the quality of the rest of their brief.

  20. 20.

    NotMax

    December 13, 2023 at 4:31 pm

    @Suzanne

    Rotating tag material if ever there wert.
    ;)

  21. 21.

    sab

    December 13, 2023 at 4:37 pm

    @Suzanne: With a husky or malamute they will have to empty that dyson every thirty seconds. That dog will escape.

  22. 22.

    Jeffro

    December 13, 2023 at 4:40 pm

    @Old School: blasting that far and wide, and rubbing many, MANY noses in it ;)

    “wasn’t there some sort of, oh, ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ or something a year or so ago?  whose idea was that again?  who voted against it, again?  hmmm….”

    LOLOL

  23. 23.

    Jeffro

    December 13, 2023 at 4:41 pm

    Back to the legal thing…isn’t it just amazing that Mr. Innocent wants to delay his moment of COMPLETE VINDICATION so far into the future?

    Why, you’d think he would want his various trials to take place next week!!  I mean, why waste his valuable time and money like this, since he’s, well, soooooo innocent?  Totally.

  24. 24.

    Doc Sardonic

    December 13, 2023 at 4:45 pm

    Since a lot of pets do not particularly care for the vacuum cleaner, especially the small handhelds, maybe they should change the tagline to Groom, Suck, Go to ER. However we did have one cat that liked to be vacuumed, and would get insulted if you didn’t get the little dusting brush attachment and give her a good vacuuming.

  25. 25.

    Mallard Filmore

    December 13, 2023 at 4:48 pm

    @Old School: I wonder how much of this rise is from the money fleeing from China.

  26. 26.

    WaterGirl

    December 13, 2023 at 4:48 pm

    @Suzanne: Groom, suck, gone.  With a lot of dogs, they would be gone before you began.  And forget about cats, there’s no way they would stand for that.

  27. 27.

    WaterGirl

    December 13, 2023 at 4:51 pm

    @Mallard Filmore: I wonder how much is the manufacturing of replacements for things we are sending to Ukraine.  More workers in factories, more wages, more money to spend.

    Trickle up!

  28. 28.

    Suzanne

    December 13, 2023 at 4:51 pm

    @NotMax: That is Balloon Juice After Dark material right there.

    Daaaaaaamn, give that copywriter a raise!

  29. 29.

    Suzanne

    December 13, 2023 at 4:54 pm

    @Doc Sardonic: My dearly departed Luna used to attack the vacuum cleaner. My big scary black dog, never attacked a single person or other animal. Nor any other household implements.

  30. 30.

    Baud

    December 13, 2023 at 5:03 pm

    @Old School:

    But how does Mr. Jones feel about the economy.

  31. 31.

    Kelly

    December 13, 2023 at 5:10 pm

    @Doc Sardonic: Had a cat that loved the vacuum 40+ years ago. Same thing with the brush attachment. Our current cats stay as far as possible from the running vacuum cleaner, fleeing from room to room as necessary.

  32. 32.

    NobodySpecial

    December 13, 2023 at 5:11 pm

    This does not appear to be good news for the good guys.  But I trust Judge Chutkan, so she must feel that this is what she needs to do in order to cross all the “T”s and dot all the “I”s.  I wonder if this is the same ruling she would have made if Jack Smith hadn’t petitioned the Supreme Court.

    Rulings like these are perfect for a judge who wants to nail someone to a wall without any way to wiggle out and doesn’t care if the remedy is served cold.

  33. 33.

    New Deal democrat

    December 13, 2023 at 5:11 pm

    @Old School:

    I see the Dow Jones closed at an all-time high today

    The Fed strongly suggested that they were done raising rates, and are likely to make 3 rate *cuts* in 2024.

     

    And yes, that is good news for Biden.

  34. 34.

    BR

    December 13, 2023 at 5:13 pm

    @New Deal democrat: ​
    On the flip side, whenever I see a mention of the stock market here, whether because of highs or lows, I take that to be a contrary indicator at least in the short term.

  35. 35.

    Another Scott

    December 13, 2023 at 5:15 pm

    @Scout211:

    Meanwhile, … PetaPixel.com:

    Photographers have been warned about doing Grinch-themed photo shoots over the holidays due to “serious trademark infringement issues.”

    Alongside traditional Santa photo sessions, Grinch-themed shoots are also popular among photographers during the Christmas period. However, photographers could allegedly risk being sued over this by Dr. Seuss Enterprises.

    […]

    Hmmm…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  36. 36.

    New Deal democrat

    December 13, 2023 at 5:18 pm

    @BR: To be clear, the “good news for Biden” is if there are Fed rate cuts, not whatever gyrations the stock market undertakes.

  37. 37.

    🐾BillinGlendaleCA

    December 13, 2023 at 5:20 pm

    @Another Scott: There goes my next astro shoot.

  38. 38.

    Baud

    December 13, 2023 at 5:22 pm

    @Another Scott:

    We will sue you in court.

    We will sue you for sport.

    We will sue you here and there.

    We will sue you everywhere.

  39. 39.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 13, 2023 at 5:22 pm

    LOCK HIM UP!  FOREVER!

  40. 40.

    eclare

    December 13, 2023 at 5:23 pm

    I signed up for my 2024 ACA plan today, I’ve used the marketplace for several years. My plan cost increased about $10 per month after the subsidy.  Thanks Obama!  And Nancy!  And Harry!

  41. 41.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 13, 2023 at 5:23 pm

    @Another Scott: Taking a page from the greedmongers of Disney, I see.

  42. 42.

    Baud

    December 13, 2023 at 5:24 pm

    @eclare:

    Good health to you.

  43. 43.

    hrprogressive

    December 13, 2023 at 5:24 pm

    Why the fuck is the attempt to commit a Coup and seize power being described as “controversial”?

    Who thinks there is “controversy” about this, and why do they think it is anything other than “an abject horror for which justice should be brought and further attempts prevented at all cost”?

    Re – Wisconsin elector story

  44. 44.

    oldgold

    December 13, 2023 at 5:24 pm

    What annoys me about this is that the immunity and double jeopardy  arguments are pure BS. The Constitution is clear that impeachment is not the only remedy for crimes committed by a President and that there is no double jeopardy bar created by the impeachment process.

    The last paragraph of Section 3 of Article I of the Constitution provides:

    “Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.”

  45. 45.

    Baud

    December 13, 2023 at 5:26 pm

    @hrprogressive:

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

  46. 46.

    Kay

    December 13, 2023 at 5:33 pm

    Florida women denied health care. This is coverage that will reach older normie women (they vote):

    For Cook — who was just over 15 weeks pregnant, early in her second trimester — that meant her options for medical care were limited. According to Florida’s ban, she wasn’t sick enough — yet — to qualify for induced labor, even though her doctor all but guaranteed she would be soon enough.
    “[The doctor] told me in that very moment that you can get an infection, possibly sepsis and die,” Cook said. “All I’m thinking is, ‘Well I’m at the hospital, right? I’m okay. I won’t die because I’m at the hospital.’”
    She continued: “I looked at my husband and that’s when reality hit me, because he’s looking at me and he’s saying, ‘No, babe. I don’t think you’re understanding what the doctor is saying.’”
    Because Cook’s life wasn’t immediately in danger, she didn’t qualify for an emergency exception to the abortion rule. She was discharged with antibiotics and told to return if her symptoms — pelvic pain and bleeding — worsened.
    “The nurse asked if she could pray for me,” Cook said. “All I knew was that I was not going to survive what was happening.”
    ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer and senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott spoke to Cook and 17 other women in ten states for the special report on how restrictive abortion laws are negatively impacting women and their health. Several women experienced severe health consequences — and others fled to states without the restrictive laws, spending their life savings to get emergency abortions.

  47. 47.

    RaflW

    December 13, 2023 at 5:33 pm

    I’m sure Brian Allen was snarking about the “secret” community thing, but I don’t see how that helps.

    This is naked, totally unsecret corruption. There could be no doubt that Robin Vos is involved.

  48. 48.

    BR

    December 13, 2023 at 5:37 pm

    @New Deal democrat: ​
    I agree. I just meant in the past when I’ve seen political blogs start talking about the stock market, it’s usually a sign of a trend change. (I remember you writing as much about comments made by Digby back in the day.)

  49. 49.

    WaterGirl

    December 13, 2023 at 5:38 pm

    @Baud:  I just had to see this again!

    We will sue you in court.
    We will sue you for sport.
    We will sue you here and there.
    We will sue you everywhere.

  50. 50.

    RaflW

    December 13, 2023 at 5:40 pm

    @Old School: Good gracious. Sh*t like this makes me want the Democrats to just go hog wild in redistricting New York. Push it to the very edges the Supremes seem to think are ok.

    And yes, I know WI & NY are different places, but the Republicans play dirty everywhere. We can at least skate right to the very edge of clean.

  51. 51.

    WaterGirl

    December 13, 2023 at 5:40 pm

    @Baud: You are in fine form today, and you seem to be in especially good spirits.  Whatever you ate for breakfast, keep eating it. :-)

  52. 52.

    New Deal democrat

    December 13, 2023 at 5:41 pm

    @BR: Thanks.

    Better than that, I once called a stock market bottom *in real time* when a Doomer at the Orange Place posted a triumphalist diary!

  53. 53.

    Redshift

    December 13, 2023 at 5:43 pm

    This does not appear to be good news for the good guys.

    Based on my vast expertise from listening to Preet Bharara, it’s not a big deal. Since the appeal on immunity, if successful, would dismiss the entire case, it’s pretty normal to pause any action that requires the defendant to do anything (i.e., anything that requires paying lawyers.) The government was asking to only proceed with things they could do on their own, like producing discovery material, and motions already pending. So it’s not a big loss, and probably worth it to have less chance of an appeal succeeding.

  54. 54.

    RaflW

    December 13, 2023 at 5:47 pm

    @sab: Oh. Well I was going to say that our Std American Eskimo would shrink by half when he got wet he was such a furball, but I see now, decades later, that he was German and not related to Huskies or anything frozen North American! Rather a Spitz offshoot.

    I’m trying to think how we’d have said Fairbanks will a thick-fake German accent.

  55. 55.

    Redshift

    December 13, 2023 at 5:47 pm

    @oldgold: The double jeopardy appeal is complete BS, yes. The “absolute immunity” one apparently isn’t, only because the courts have never ruled in it. It’s not likely to succeed, but it’s not unreasonable for defense lawyers to try it.

  56. 56.

    Scout211

    December 13, 2023 at 5:48 pm

    @Kay: Florida is one of the nine states working to get a ballot initiative expanding abortion rights for 2024.  Link

    With the help of many registered Republicans, they are close to getting enough signatures by the February 1 deadline.

    Women are concerned about what’s happening with our bodies and our right to choose. And there’s a lot of people that you wouldn’t think would be the pro-choice advocates, but they are,” she said. “And the government overreach, it’s huge right now.”

    Carter is one of more than 150,000 registered Republican voters who have signed a petition in support of a ballot amendment that would bar the state from restricting abortion “before viability” — which is usually at 24 weeks — or “when necessary to protect the patient’s health.”

    That total comes from the Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition, one of several groups working to gather the 891,523 signatures necessary to get the measure on the ballot, working with Floridians Protecting Freedom, the campaign leading the ballot initiative. The group says it has gathered and submitted more than 1.3 million signatures so far. The website of the Florida Division of Elections says it has validated 687,699 signatures as of mid-December.

  57. 57.

    Baud

    December 13, 2023 at 5:51 pm

    @BR:

    Have we been talking about the stock market though? Someone just noted that it reached an all-time high, which is not an indicator of an economy in shambles, as the media would portray.  No one here is following the market day to day.

  58. 58.

    Baud

    December 13, 2023 at 5:53 pm

    @Kay:

    I hope Biden calls Trump the “Architect of Dobbs”.

  59. 59.

    Kay

    December 13, 2023 at 5:53 pm

    @Scout211:

    Oh, good. The more the merrier.

    It was genuine pleasure to work on Ohio’s referendum. Highly recommend. Just a great group of women.

  60. 60.

    Kay

    December 13, 2023 at 5:56 pm

    @Baud:

    I get Gov Whitmer’s social media on Threads and every time she (or her employee) write about abortion they say “Donald Trump overturned Roe” somewhere in the message.

    She knows how fucking stupid people are. You have to hit them over the head.

  61. 61.

    zhena gogolia

    December 13, 2023 at 5:56 pm

    @Kay: Good for her.

  62. 62.

    RaflW

    December 13, 2023 at 5:57 pm

    House Republicans vote in a solid bloc to formalize the Biden bullshit*t impeachment.

    Time to roast the 18 jagoffs in Biden-won districts. Just infuriatingly stupid and destructive.

  63. 63.

    Captain C

    December 13, 2023 at 5:57 pm

    @Redshift: Supreme Court:  Presidents have absolute immunity for everything.

    Biden:  *licks chops*  Oh, really…

    Two days later:  The house passes an excellent budget, including a shitload of Ukraine aid, 212-0, and the Senate does the same 49-2 (Manchin and Umbridge voting no), and pretty much the entire rest of the Biden agenda.

    Two days after that:  The Supreme Court, in a series of 3-0 votes, overturns all the Republican nonsense that the court has put through over the last several decades, except the case that has allowed Biden to have every Republican congresscritter and Supreme Court Justice summarily arrested and stashed on an iceberg near Antarctica, guarded by a couple Navy destroyers.  Trump, meanwhile, is preparing to be the slug in a new railgun test, while a chorus of volunteers takes turns telling him how much Ivanka hates his guts.

  64. 64.

    Baud

    December 13, 2023 at 5:58 pm

    @Kay:

    Excellent.

    Hopefully, she remembers not to say out loud how stupid people are.

  65. 65.

    Brachiator

    December 13, 2023 at 6:01 pm

    @Kay:

    Florida women denied health care. This is coverage that will reach older normie women (they vote)

    This was always one of the consequences of restrictions on abortion. And many men and women who oppose abortion accept this. They will dismiss the best available medical advice and instead depend on prayer and “God’s will.”

    The tragedy is that they seek to force all other women to submit to religious ignorance, even to the point of forcing doctors to lie to their patients.

  66. 66.

    oldgold

    December 13, 2023 at 6:01 pm

    @Redshift:  I do not think so. If there is immunity, the provision I cited makes no sense. Plus, the the idea the President is immune is antithetical to the entire construct of the Constitution.

  67. 67.

    RaflW

    December 13, 2023 at 6:04 pm

    NYT actually writes a social media post (Bsky) that didn’t make me blow my stack:

    Breaking News: The House approved an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, as the GOP pushes ahead with a yearlong investigation that has turned up no evidence of wrongdoing.

  68. 68.

    Baud

    December 13, 2023 at 6:05 pm

    @RaflW:

    Some intern is getting fired.

  69. 69.

    RaflW

    December 13, 2023 at 6:06 pm

    @Baud: Unpaid intern, probably. “Think of the experience you’ll gain.”

  70. 70.

    Baud

    December 13, 2023 at 6:07 pm

    @RaflW:

    “Not a single cloud or shadow in sight.  You’ll never make it in this business, kid.”

  71. 71.

    trollhattan

    December 13, 2023 at 6:11 pm

    @Kay:

    The Nurse Praytitioner gives the story an uplifting aspect.

  72. 72.

    RaflW

    December 13, 2023 at 6:14 pm

    @Baud: Of course the GOP ‘case’ against Joe doesn’t even have an emanation or a penumbra, much less a shadow.

  73. 73.

    Mallard Filmore

    December 13, 2023 at 6:20 pm

    @Kay: 

    Because Cook’s life wasn’t immediately in danger,

    She would not die before the current shift ends.

  74. 74.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 13, 2023 at 6:24 pm

    @Scout211: I once cited the Lorax in an appellate brief.

  75. 75.

    Tom Levenson

    December 13, 2023 at 6:28 pm

    Seems that the DC circuit has accepted the Grinch’s schedule in Trump’s appeal of Chutkan’s order denying his claim of presidential immunity.

  76. 76.

    FelonyGovt

    December 13, 2023 at 6:28 pm

    @Kay: I just posted about this in the dead thread above. I’m glad this is getting national attention.

  77. 77.

    Mallard Filmore

    December 13, 2023 at 6:30 pm

    @Brachiator: 

    They will dismiss the best available medical advice and instead depend on prayer and “God’s will.”

    How odd that they don’t go with “God’s will” when they get tuberculosis.

  78. 78.

    Martin

    December 13, 2023 at 6:30 pm

    @Baud: Some of us are. But I don’t think the market is particularly relevant to the economic concerns. The upper half of society isn’t struggling. They’re pulling away. 

    The problem is the bottom half. Not poor people – god no – nobody cares about them. But the kids of the upper half who are just getting going – many of whose parents thought they did everything right – got them to college, they got jobs, and they’re struggling with bananas rent increases or homes out of reach, or their ‘good’ jobs are getting them jerked around with random downsizing or job replacement by AI, permanent positions replaced by contract, etc.

    At least some of the perceived job growth is fake – at least on the listings side. A lot of employers are posting job listings they have no intention of filling – but if they get a superstar in the pool, they’ll recruit them.

  79. 79.

    Paul in KY

    December 13, 2023 at 6:33 pm

    @Kelly: My cats always hated the vacuum cleaner. I assumed it was the noise it made.

  80. 80.

    Gin & Tonic

    December 13, 2023 at 6:34 pm

    @Baud: Some of us are.

  81. 81.

    Baud

    December 13, 2023 at 6:36 pm

    @Martin:

     

    @Gin & Tonic:

    I should have said “talking about,” not “following.” I haven’t noticed much discussion of it.

    Anyway, I’m of the view that high stock market and low unemployment are good things.  But I realize I’m in the minority.

  82. 82.

    Paul in KY

    December 13, 2023 at 6:37 pm

    @Baud: I certainly think they can be robustly sold as good things!

  83. 83.

    Baud

    December 13, 2023 at 6:38 pm

    @Paul in KY:

    And that’s exactly what Trump will do if he’s president in January 2025, just as he did in January 2017.

  84. 84.

    realbtl

    December 13, 2023 at 6:47 pm

    I had a #65 Weimaraner that was convinced the vacuum was a puppy eating machine.

  85. 85.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 13, 2023 at 6:48 pm

    @oldgold: While I agree with you on the proper end result of the immunity claims, it is not insane for defense counsel to give it a shot.  “The horse might learn to sing.”

  86. 86.

    Scout211

    December 13, 2023 at 6:51 pm

    @Tom Levenson: Wow, that was fast. The Grinch rules!

  87. 87.

    Kay

    December 13, 2023 at 6:51 pm

    I’m of the view that high stock market and low unemployment are good things. But I realize I’m in the minority.

    Lol we were never in the minority until about 2017 when everyone else lost their minds :)

  88. 88.

    Alison Rose

    December 13, 2023 at 6:52 pm

    @RaflW: That’s about as salty as they are mentally able to be. I suppose we gotta take what we can get…

  89. 89.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 13, 2023 at 6:56 pm

    @Baud: The pantsless often are.  In this case though, I agree with you.  No economy is good for all people.  There are people who are going through rough times.  If people are waiting for that to say the economy is good, they will wait forever.

  90. 90.

    Kay

    December 13, 2023 at 6:58 pm

    jvlast
    2h
    Inflation is gone, mortgage rates are down and 401k’s are booming. But three university presidents are why this Midwestern independent says he’s voting for Trump…

  91. 91.

    HumboldtBlue

    December 13, 2023 at 7:05 pm

    Where are we goin’? PAAAAARRRRKKKKK!!!!!

  92. 92.

    FelonyGovt

    December 13, 2023 at 7:07 pm

    @Kay: That sounds like the Pitchbot wrote it.

  93. 93.

    Baud

    December 13, 2023 at 7:07 pm

    @Kay:

    Remember when unemployment was high in 2016 because U6 instead of U3? Good times.

  94. 94.

    Baud

    December 13, 2023 at 7:08 pm

    @FelonyGovt:

    We are all DougJ now.

  95. 95.

    Another Scott

    December 13, 2023 at 7:18 pm

    @Martin:

    From the CBS story:

    According to Volberg, over-listing jobs is most common in New York and Los Angeles, and for jobs in engineering, sales or customer-service positions.

    (Emphasis added.)

    Back in the neolithic when I was job hunting, in the late 1980s, if I responded to an employment ad, my inquiries would get a postcard back, if I was lucky, saying they’d keep my resume on file for a year. AFAIK, and the story doesn’t seem to provide more than anecdotes, only the ease of spreading ads everywhere is new – not them advertising for jobs that they won’t be filling anytime soon. I would ass-u-me that the folks at the Treasury and the Fed are smart enough to know that 20 identical ads for the same position don’t mean there are 20 openings that will be filled…

    (The CBS story reads to me like an attempt at edgy contrarianism rather than attempt to inform. YMMV.)

    Advertised job openings have been at historically high levels for a long time. Here’s why that’s bad news for Joe Biden… – DougJBalloon, probably.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  96. 96.

    Kathleen

    December 13, 2023 at 7:30 pm

    @Old School: I didn’t read the article but from what I saw in the Comments “reporting” was classic genre “bad news for Joe Biden”.

  97. 97.

    cain

    December 13, 2023 at 7:35 pm

    @Kathleen: Imagine if it was the same media back in WW2 – “Hitler beaten back, bad news for Truman”.

    We should do some retro pitchbot – tweets.

    “In this, Ohio diner – discussion over the latest war news indicate that while everyone agrees the war is going well, they still aren’t sure about Truman.”

  98. 98.

    Kathleen

    December 13, 2023 at 8:18 pm

    @cain: That would be funny! “Don’t guiltmail  me into voting for Jesus over Barabbas because Jesus will be crucified if he loses. He has to earn my vote”.

  99. 99.

    MobiusKlein

    December 13, 2023 at 8:24 pm

    @Another Scott:

      Some amount of those ads / openings are there because we have to open a position if folks want a green card.
    I have somebody on my work team in that position. Here on an educational visa, which includes a built in ‘you can work in the US for X years’ part.
    Now he would like to keep working here, so… we need to grind thru the system.

  100. 100.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishments☘🌈 Koch

    December 13, 2023 at 8:26 pm

    @cain: On D-Day, the WSJ wrote on their front page the success meant the war would end soon and end wage controls, which would eat into corporate profits.

  101. 101.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 13, 2023 at 8:41 pm

    @Martin:

    got them to college, they got jobs, and they’re struggling with bananas rent increases or homes out of reach, or their ‘good’ jobs are getting them jerked around with random downsizing or job replacement by AI, permanent positions replaced by contract, etc.

    I thought this new AI tech was a nothingburger and that it was no different than technological advancements of the past that made people’s jobs/skills obsolete. Is that not true?

  102. 102.

    cain

    December 13, 2023 at 8:42 pm

    Lawd,

    https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/status/1735077631974887429

    https://twitter.com/RadioFreeTom/status/1735077631974887429/photo/1

    Apparently, when confronted with dictatorship – his people are all in. Plus apparently under Biden we already are in a dictatorship.

    You know it’s funny because they call my open source project a dictatorship because we don’t listen to our users. Just wild.

  103. 103.

    cain

    December 13, 2023 at 8:43 pm

    @David 🌈 ☘The Establishments☘🌈 Koch: WSJ always thinking about the wage earners. 🙄

  104. 104.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 13, 2023 at 8:47 pm

    @cain:

    Holy shit, so much to unpack.

    “My kids call me a dictator….”

    “He said he’d only do it for a day”

    That woman, who has to hide behind a pseudonym (Sue), literally compared a hypothetical Trump dictatorship to parents being firm to children to clean up the house

    ETA:

    The first guy from Tom’s screenshot: “That’s not what Trump really meant, but actually that wouldn’t be so bad because we need someone who will ‘move forward fast’ to clean everything up, and actually Biden is a dictator because he doesn’t do what I want him to do”

    Do you ever notice that with Republicans/conservatives, as in rank and file voters, that if you criticize Trump/any Republican for anything they always try to make a false equivalence with something a Dem did? Like, even if it were true, I’d still think it was wrong if a Dem did something wrong. It’s like they don’t get that and just want to swipe at you

  105. 105.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishments☘🌈 Koch

    December 13, 2023 at 8:54 pm

    @cain:

    “A British physicist [Patrick Blackett] is saying the atomic bombings were not the last act of World War II, but the first act of this cold war with Russia.”

     

    Now he was right, but he could have celebrated V-J for a couple of minutes before pouring a bottle of Doom.

  106. 106.

    Yutsano

    December 13, 2023 at 8:58 pm

    I know Adam just put his thread up, but this seems more appropriate in this thread. TL;DR: Über and the other gig platforms in the EU are gonna have to start treating their giggers as employees.

  107. 107.

    eclare

    December 13, 2023 at 9:14 pm

    @Yutsano:

    Whoa, that is huge.  More huge if it happens here.

  108. 108.

    Jackie

    December 13, 2023 at 9:24 pm

    Interesting!

    Four hours after testimony wrapped in the civil fraud trial against Donald Trump and the Trump Organization, the lower Manhattan courthouse was evacuated after someone set papers on fire, then pulled and used multiple fire extinguishers on the same floor as the courtroom.

    The judge in the case, New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, was in his robing room when he heard shouting on the floor, and was safely escorted out of the courthouse.

    The judge was unaware of any specific personal threat at the time he evacuated.

    Two courthouse officials told Business Insider that the evacuation was prompted by a man creating a small fire by igniting paperwork, and then setting off two or more fire extinguishers. The man, who was not identified and was not a courthouse employee, was arrested, they said.

    https://www.businessinsider.com/manhattan-courthouse-evacuated-donald-trump-new-york-civil-fraud-trial-2023-12

    The person arrested wasn’t TIFG – as he is currently in Iowa bellyaching about Jack Smith.

  109. 109.

    Eric S.

    December 13, 2023 at 9:28 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Not at all the same but in my programming days I’d use famous quotes in my code comments. I was particularly proud of adapting the old Energizer (?) batter commercial, “I dare you to knock this batter off my shoulder” for a warning message.

  110. 110.

    Matt McIrvin

    December 13, 2023 at 9:31 pm

    @David 🌈 ☘The Establishments☘🌈 Koch: Blackett was an interesting guy–the first person to demonstrate nuclear transmutation of elements.

    He proposed a correlation (which turned out to be spurious) between an object’s mass, rate of rotation and magnetic field that the science-fiction writer James Blish turned into a mechanism for antigravity in his “Cities in Flight” series. Blish liked throwing Blackett’s name around, along with Paul Dirac’s.

  111. 111.

    Matt McIrvin

    December 13, 2023 at 9:33 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): You can murder so many people in one day. I’m sure things will just go back to normal afterward!

  112. 112.

    cain

    December 13, 2023 at 11:41 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    They live in a completely different reality.

  113. 113.

    Frankensteinbeck

    December 14, 2023 at 12:12 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    It is true, but NFTs were valueless garbage and the Metaverse was going nowhere.  That didn’t stop a lot of executives from wasting vast amounts of resources on them before the truth finally bludgeoned its way home.  They want so badly to fire a bunch of people that they may not wait to find out that no, AI can’t do those people’s jobs.

  114. 114.

    Martin

    December 14, 2023 at 12:17 am

    @Baud: I’m not saying they aren’t good things. I’m saying that they’re only a tiny reflection of the economy – and the market is generally irrelevant to low income people.

  115. 115.

    Martin

    December 14, 2023 at 12:19 am

    @eclare: We tried in CA. Voters overturned it.

  116. 116.

    wjca

    December 14, 2023 at 12:57 am

    @Frankensteinbeck: They want so badly to fire a bunch of people that they may not wait to find out that no, AI can’t do those people’s jobs.

    As Musk is currently demonstrating, sacking a bunch of people can be extremely effecting . . . if your goal is to trash the value of your company.  With careful application, you can sach the value all the way to zero.

  117. 117.

    wjca

    December 14, 2023 at 1:22 am

    effecting => effective

    Autocorrect is amazing sometimes.  And regularly reminds me of how far AI is from being ready for prime time.

  118. 118.

    Mike in Pasadena

    December 14, 2023 at 2:01 am

    @Jeffro: Ha ha ha ha ha. Nail head, meet hammer.

  119. 119.

    Mike in Pasadena

    December 14, 2023 at 2:01 am

    @Jeffro: Ha ha ha ha ha. Nail head, meet hammer.

  120. 120.

    Rebel's Dad

    December 14, 2023 at 2:18 am

    I’m so scattered lately that I don’t remember if I’ve even showered today. How tf can Trump keep up with FOUR lawsuits? Normally each case would have a bevy of stellar attorneys so all he’d have to do is sign the checks, but we all know it’s tie game of who’s the biggest stupid? with the lawyers and Trump.

    If he was even a halfway-decent person, I’d be in awe. But instead I feel bamboozled and lightheaded just trying to keep up with his tonterías. 

  121. 121.

    Paul in KY

    December 14, 2023 at 10:57 am

    @Baud: Obviously, Pres. Biden should tout that too!

  122. 122.

    Paul in KY

    December 14, 2023 at 11:01 am

    @Kathleen: “Sure Jesus seems to be the son of God & can change water into wine and raise people from the dead, but Barabbas steals from the Romans!”

  123. 123.

    H-Bob

    December 14, 2023 at 1:47 pm

    @RaflW: We had a miniature American Eskimo and it was a Spitz dog.  “American Eskimo” was the name of the breeder/kennel that introduced them.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - beckya57 - Copper Canyon, Mexico, April 2025
Image by beckya57 (7/31/25)

World Central Kitchen

Donate

Recent Comments

  • Kayla Rudbek on Goebbels In, Goebbels Out (Open Thread) (Jul 10, 2025 @ 12:36am)
  • Kayla Rudbek on Goebbels In, Goebbels Out (Open Thread) (Jul 10, 2025 @ 12:34am)
  • Martin on Wednesday Night Open Thread (Jul 10, 2025 @ 12:23am)
  • Marc on Wednesday Night Open Thread (Jul 10, 2025 @ 12:07am)
  • Sister Inspired Revolver of Freedom on War for Ukraine Day 1,231: Wednesday is a Repeat of Tuesday and Thursday Will Likely Be a Repeat of Wednesday (Jul 10, 2025 @ 12:01am)

Balloon Juice Posts

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

Featuring

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

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

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

Calling All Jackals

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

Social Media

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

Keeping Track

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

Feeling Defeated?  If We Give Up, It's Game Over

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

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

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

Email sent!