Month: February 2024

Navalny Murder, Tucker Taken, Putin’s Congress, Selling Soles, In Vitro Ban

  • At The Moderate Voice, Robert Levine explains why the conspicuous heroism of Alexi Navalny makes his murder by Putin a conspicuous evil.
     
  • Vixen Strangely, at Strangely Blogged, listens over the weekend for the reaction of mr Trump to the murder of Putin opponent Alexei Navalny, and hears nothing. She suggests, wisely, that the killing of someone who dares to defy non‑freedom of speech teaches us the natural result of Trump’s proposed presidential immunity.
     
    Key consequence:
    It would be the power of the thin-skinned and weak man to no longer have to argue his case, but to end the argument with one fatal command.
     
  • After a silent weekend, mr Trump finally reacts, somehow neglecting to mention his mentor Vlad Putin. The sudden death of Navalny makes mr Trump aware of …well… all the things wrong with the United States, which turn out to mostly be injustices to Donald Trump – his own self:
     
  • Dave Dubya‘s exchange with a conservative on social media provides insight on Tucker Carlson and Vlad Putin.
     
  • Hackwhackers chalks one up for the good guys as global law enforcement hacks the hackers.
     
    Key criminal:
    It would be utterly naive for anyone to believe that these cyber criminals operating out of Russia are doing so without the knowledge and involvement of the Russian state and its chief criminal/ thug Putin.
     
  • Iron Knee at Political Irony explains who, aside from mr Trump, cheers as Congress seizes up.
     
  • Wisconsin conservative James Wigderson carefully considers the Trump Declaration on NATO and Putin, and comes up with a logical extension:
     

  • Julian Sanchez, on Threads, reflects a common take on mr Trump – the human expectation that the future usually resembles the past:

    Post by @normative
    View on Threads

  • Eric Trump is especially upset by the ingratitude:

    And I couldn’t help it:
     

  • I really didn’t think we’d find anything much better than what we were given from Boebert’s brain.
     
    The left interfering in this political witch hunt:

    Until Marjorie Taylor Greene asked for her chance:

  • News Corpse watches Trump attorney Alina Habba on Fox as she offers her most compelling argument against the massive Trump corruption ruling: Prosecutor Letitia James went barefoot as Trump was fined.
     
    Key prosecutorial misconduct:
    Ms. James had her shoes off in court. Let’s not forget that.

Continue reading “Navalny Murder, Tucker Taken, Putin’s Congress, Selling Soles, In Vitro Ban”

Trump Tromped, 14th, Super Bowled, Hur Smear, NATO, Navalny Murdered

Wisdom and generous love are where you find them.

  • tengrain at Mock Paper Scissors has a solid summary of the massive judgment against Trump & sons, and mr Trump’s initial reaction in social media.
     
    Key spoiler (mine):

  • Our favorite Earth-Bound Misfit goes to the text of the $355 million dollar decision to show that Trump’s conduct in court contributed to the amount.
     
    Key personal blunder:
    By being an asshole and by having a witness who admitted perjury, he made it really easy for the judge to whack him with the Ruler of Justice.
     
  • Dave Columbo considers both sides of Trump legal troubles:
     
  • Interesting Thursday in Trumpville. Trump claims he is immune for whatever he did to anyone (that he says he definitely didn’t do to anyone) while he was President.
     
    An appeals panel goes unanimous against, while they avoid laughing. They say that mr Trump can appeal, but just directly to the Supreme Court. Saves time.
     
    Trump lawyers file a request to the Supreme Court to delay whatever they were going to do on his immunity claims. Then mr Trump decides to drop the whole appeal, delay and all, and go to trial.
    But Trump lawfolk say they will keep claiming immunity.
     
    The Palmer Report takes a look at the filing that Trump lawyers dropped, and finds only Trump style gibberish.
     
    So maybe the entire lawyer filing was not intended to win in the Supreme Court. But it might have satisfied the unraveling mind of their client.
     
    Bill Palmer speculates with reason: Senility may have become a major factor in mr Trump’s criminal trials
     
  • Wisconsin conservative James Wigderson manages to slam Trump on Presidential immunity, Trump on border mendacity, and Trump general ignorance all in one brief passage:
     

  • I admit to my own bias on the 14th Amendment case against mr Trump:

    Which leads us to New York Times columnist David French:
     

    Cato Institute’s Julian Sanchez, writing as @normative, has some initial empathy with the judicial predicament:

    …then burns to a cinder all logical bridges that might have led SCOTUS to safety:
    Ouch!

  • Nan’s Notebook considers the actual wording of the 14th Amendment and sees a mostly unexamined, but better, reason Trump should be declared ineligible.

Continue reading “Trump Tromped, 14th, Super Bowled, Hur Smear, NATO, Navalny Murdered”

Economy Twist, 14th, Immunity, FBI Oops, Taylor, Razor Wired Kids, Gaza

  • Frances Langum watches Fox hosts perform twist dancing to avoid talking about the Biden economy.
     
  • CalicoJack in The Psy of Life looks at polling crosstabs and figures out which subset of voters are most likely to throw the election to Trump by abandoning Biden for Kennedy.
     
  • The Palmer Report nominates Tuesday, February 6 as the day that destroyed Donald Trump.
     
  • tengrain at Mock Paper Scissors sees the coming Colorado decision as SCOTUS trying to rise the South again.
     
    My thought:
  • From the great Andy Borowitz:
     
  • So the Trump immunity appeal gets a decision.
     
    mr Trump’s basic point is that future Presidents will be inhibited by the fear that any renegade local prosecutor can bring charges for any old thing after a term ends.
     
    The Appeals panel says nope.
     
    At The Moderate Voice Joe Gandleman takes a close look at the reasoning in the immunity decision, and online reactions
     
    Key reaction/quote:

  • A-a-a-a-nd Trump immunity goes to SCOTUS.
     
    Dave Dubya also looks at the logic of the appeals panel ruling on Trump immunity, and hazards an informed guess on how the Supreme Court will handle it.
     
  • Cato’s Julian Sanchez, posting on Threads, is hopeful about a Supreme Court ruling:
     

  • Tommy Christopher brings us part of an interview with a former Trump attorney. The immunity Appeals panel verdict has to irritate mr Trump, but he will especially take personal offense that they referred to him as a citizen.
     
    Key quote from attorney Tim Parlatore
    I mean, I think that he’s probably taking it more personally, particularly the parts about citizen Trump. I think that he’s probably more concentrating on that.
     
  • Vixen Strangely at Strangely Blogged looks into the overarching Trump claim of presidential immunity for what laws he broke, his claims that he broke no laws, his claims that he was not responsible for the insurrection, his claim that there was no insurrection, and Republican squirms and wiggles as they struggle to make it all true.
     
  • Green Eagle is hopeful that mr Trump’s crimes will catch up with him at the ballot box, but is dismayed that a near majority of voters are unaware he has even been indicted.
     
    Key fault line:
    As I have said for years, Democrats could crush the Republican party into oblivion without hardly trying; what they cannot do is crush the Republicans and the press working together.
     
  • Our favorite Earth-Bound Misfit finds it hard to believe a MAGA conspiracy theory involving an FBI plot against mr Trump, considering stunning FBI ineptitude during the search for stolen documents at Mar‑A‑Lago.

Continue reading “Economy Twist, 14th, Immunity, FBI Oops, Taylor, Razor Wired Kids, Gaza”

Iran Proxies, Trump Trashed, 83 Million, Border Block, Razor Wire, Taylor Swift

  • After the drone attack by Iran backed Houthi rebels that took American lives, News Corpse is decidedly unsurprised as a Fox personality reacts by blaming the US military for enlisting too many Black people.
     
  • One problem shared by many on the fringes is an inability to make ideological distinctions. Everything is binary.
     
    Followers of Ayn Rand often see anyone who favors any degree of government regulation as a stalking horse for a proto-Soviet style dictatorship.
     
    Libertarian Michael A. LaFerrara takes the binary approach a bit farther, seeing the Biden administration as responding to deadly attacks on US soldiers with appeasement. Seems Biden is neglecting to make Iran glow in the dark.
     
    Key binary view:
    The idea that “war with them is not the answer” is a dangerous evasion that leads to a PRO-WAR POLICY OF CONTINUING APPEASEMENT.
     
  • Meanwhile, in the world of reality, the US has begun retaliating with major airstrikes on 85 targets across seven locations where Iranian-backed militants are holed up, with more US retaliation to come.
     
  • M. Bouffant at Web of Evil hears Joe Biden’s private description of Donald Trump and seems decidedly unstunned.
     
  • At The Moderate Voice Don Hermann points out the lesson Donald Trump is being taught by the American system of justice. Loser does not mean those who died to defend our freedoms. In fact, it means what he sees in the mirror as he brushes his teeth.
     
  • In theory, free speech doesn’t cover defamation. You can’t just lie about a private person.
    Reality doesn’t always follow legal theory.
     
    It’s a familiar pattern for some blessed with extreme wealth.
    I’m bigger than you, stronger, with resources you don’t have.
    If you go against me, I’ll make your life miserable.
     
    E. Jean Carroll gets assaulted by Donald Trump.
    Trump denies it happened and attacks her in very personal terms.
    And keeps attacking.
     
    She sues for defamation and wins. The award is $5 million.
    $5 million? Ha, ha, ha. Chump change for someone of his wealth. So he keeps attacking.
    And attacking and attacking.
     
    She sues again, and he attacks again. He keeps attacking even during the trial. Over and over, he attacks.
    Her lawyers ask the jury to consider how large an award it will take to get him to stop his attacks.
    Jury’s answer: $83.3 million.
    Wow!
     
    In television interviews, she is asked what she will do if he keeps attacking.
    Her answer is simple. She’ll sue a third time, then she’ll sue again as often as he attacks.
     
    Tommy Christopher reports as Trump is angry as all hell about verdict and the financial hit.
    He attacks the trial. In fact he attacks both trials.
    He attacks the verdicts.
    He attacks the judge.
    Somehow, he neglects to attack E. Jean Carroll herself.
    Some sort of memory lapse?
     
  • Green Eagle goes to wingnut world to watch MAGA folk get twisted out of shape about the $83 million verdict.
     
  • Julian Sanchez suggests that a massive defamation verdict just might not be an attack on free speech:
     

  • The Palmer Report brings us Rudy Giuliani and the weirdest defense ever of Donald Trump.
     
  • From Andy Borowitz:
     
  • So mr Trump sabotages border security because passing a bi-partisan bill would give President Biden a win.
     
    Iron Knee at Political Irony sees a replay of a Richard Nixon move in 1968, except Nixon was smarter about it.
     
  • In Letters from an American, historian Heather Cox Richardson sees Republican dizzying opposition to the same bipartisan border security proposal they have been supporting as yet another demonstration of the growing extremism of the Republican party.

Continue reading “Iran Proxies, Trump Trashed, 83 Million, Border Block, Razor Wire, Taylor Swift”