18 U.S.C. § 1503 defines "obstruction of justice" as an act that "corruptly or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, influences, obstructs, or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede, the due administration of justice."
Sounds like Trump committed a crime and it is recorded on video. Charge him.
1) There are a fair number of people that are qualified (at least on paper) to sit on the Supreme Court... probably numbering in the thousands;
2) One of the reasons that the appointment process is controlled by the politicians is because the Court and the law and the administration of justice is, despite our pretentions and ideals, political. Thus people are appointed to the court for political reasons, not for reasons of qualification or competence;
3) Choosing a black woman is a political choice to place a particular perspective on the Court in the hopes that it will help advance certain liberal political objectives--just as appointing white Catholics of a particular doctrinal bent and political/judicial philosophy is the same thing by the GoP... IOW, all the possible candidates are pre-sorted and selected for political reasons;
4) I believe that, as long as the person meets minimum competency, it is important to choose a person that answers or addresses the political concerns of the appointer and their constituency. This is probably more important than differences in perceived qualification.
Amazing story on Charlie's podcast a few days ago about Bill Kristol advising Charlie not to ghost write a book for Newt Gingrich. Imagine if Charlie felt responsible for Newt as well as RonJon. Somebody would be in charge of keeping sharp objects away from him.
My opinion is that Charlie's exceptional energy derives from his desire to atone for the RonJon mistake.
Yes, I read that. I love Charlie, but we gotta keep him on his toes. I wanna know, did Charlie have anything to do with bringing down Paul Wellstone’s plane? Don’t answer that!
The SCOTUS appointment and Democrats' oft-misplaced priorities converged for me in this: I doubt the promise of a black female Justice got Biden a single vote, but it has brought him grief- and were he to break it, it would lose him a lot of votes
Think Carville's got it right. Too bad he's not callin' the shots on this issue for the D's. Are these guys ever, ever gonna' wake up to what's actually going on in red states and statehouses around the country? Considering the hour and the evidence so far in hand, I think the answer to that is no.
Yeah, there's been a word or two muttered about the ECA of late. But that's not enough. There is more than one front in this battle. Considering that the R's have shown they have no real respect for the rule of law and the practice of practical norms, if they have their hands on the right levers of power at the state level and don't like the result of a federal election, what are the odds they're just gonna' roll over, even if the ECA is properly reinforced. And WTF does that leave those of us who value our liberties, do not take them for granted and realize the best guarantor of those liberties' continuance is a functioning liberal democracy that's as well protected from election fraud as it can possibly be. If protections on this front were as staunch and wide reaching as those for voter fraud, I'd be breathin' a bit easier. But I don't think the damned D's even know the difference between the two. And I won't be holdin' my breath waiting for them to figure it out, because, well...you know...
"There was nothing veiled about his suggestion that he would hand out get-out-jail-free cards to the rioters — and, by implication, to anyone held legally accountable for his attempted coup. "
There are three:
1. The Democrat political establishment that includes billionaire-funded professional activists, the campuses, the media and the primary hive of trial attorneys. They have managed to fake out the kids that the primary political issue is encased in both the climate change and woke alarmist calling. Their COVID alarmist calling is only a temporary distraction.
2. The Republican establishment that is silent, complicit or just useless in opposition to the former.
3. Trump
The first has become so inebriated on their advantages that they have shed all reasonable self-awareness for their blatant hypocrisy.
They explicitly scream at people challenging vaccination, masks and social distancing but explicitly support BLM and Antifa protests.
They explicitly scream about foreign forces influencing elections by digging up dirt on the Clinton campaign, and explicitly support the Clinton campaign paying for a fake dossier done by foreign forces and then using Obama plants in the FBI to use it to get FISA warrants to spy on the Trump campaign to dig up dirt.
They explicitly scream at Trump and his supporters over the protestors on Jan-6 as trying to violently overthrow the government (right), while both denying and supporting the rights of BLM and Antifa protestors who violently burn down neighborhoods and take control of them and demand sovereign and autonomous rights to govern themselves.
And now they explicitly scream that Trump would say he would pardon Jan-6 protestors after they explicitly posted bail for, released and failed to prosecute the violent BLM and Antifa protestors.
You see, one thing that voters hate more than anything, is a blatant hypocrite. The Democrats are doing their best to make Trump look like a completely authentic and transparent angel in comparison.
"There was nothing veiled about his suggestion that he would hand out get-out-jail-free cards to the rioters — and, by implication, to anyone held legally accountable for his attempted coup. "
Where to start? 1) climate change should be alarming. Look at the evidence provided by the majority of scientists. Also please observe the extreme weather happening around the globe. 2) please cite evidence of your claims. 3) to compare the January 6 insurrection to the BLM protests is laughable. First most of the BLM protests were peaceful. The ones that became violent were not trying to overthrow government at any level. Trump and the entire Republican party have raised hypocrisy to a high art form. No further comments.
Climate change is NOT alarming unless you are alarmed about weather, including the previous alarms about global cooling and the warming that occurred 1000 years ago. And besides, the climate change fear nuts are pushing extreme policy that will cause more human harm than does and will a changing climate, that by the way, will always change and scientists say will continue to change even if we stop burning all fossil fuels.
The establishment Republicans are popularity pimps running terrified of the Twitter mob waiting to toast them for misuse of a pronoun. They are failing to stand up to the crybullies to protect our Constitutional rights.
Calling Jan-6 anything other than a legal peaceful protest where a small minority of hotheaded attendees were riled up to occupy a federal building that they own and where a Democrat capital police officer murdered an unarmed female protester, whom by the way was arguing with the hotheads to stay peaceful, and to claim the BLM and Antifa "protests" were peaceful when they caused $2 billion in property damage, killed 32 and injured thousands... well it is a sign of zero critical thinking skills and/or dishonest left media propaganda feeds.
Charlie, it is middle of the road politics as the reason I'm a subscriber. My sanity depends on it. One request though: can you please turn on commentary for all Bulwark articles? These days readers' thoughts are as essential as the articles themselves
Charlie, really appreciate you pulling in intellectually honest viewpoints different from yours —and for Will’s encouragement to do the same. Perhaps this could be a regular feature in the Bulwark or your newsletter: “Views from someone I respect, that differ from mine” (with a catchier name). Loved the dialogue with Rich Lowry on Jane Coaston’s pod.
The SCOTUS is plenty inbred without making a virtue of institutional incest. It wasn't always so. Hugo Black was a Senator. Earl Warren was a Governor. (And BTW, neither had had either moral or scholastic records to be especially proud of.) William O. Douglas was chairman of the SEC.
John Marshall was an envoy to France, a Congressman and Secretary of State.
Add the fetish of narrow educational credentialism (in an era of steadily declining overall academic standards, no less) and the Court is arguably as parochial as it has ever been.
Under the circumstances the problem is not that Biden wants to nominate a black woman, but that he'll probably choose exactly the kind of person that presidents have been robotically nominating for decades.
Seems like an odd time for the Orange Menace to start dangling prospective pardons for seditionists. It would make more sense for him to have done this 9+ months ago or during his 2024 campaign. Unless the real purpose is to embolden MAGA fanatics toward injuring or killing MoCs and prosecutors.
I spent the last few hours on my tractor moving the snow out of our big horseshoe driveway, built back when I still needed to get big trucks in and out. Now, It's like plowing a parking lot with a dinky toy.
As I went back and forth I considered my reading of the Trump pardon ploy and wondered whether this was a good or a bad move on his part. I gave a lot of thought to his supporters who, in my mind are largely blue collar, high school educated people who already had the feeling that they had gotten a rotten deal out of life. You could pile up the reasons, they all have variations, but they are for the most part things that wound up separating them into classes that met in bars to have four or five beers. The other aspect of the MAGA crown is the politicians who feed off of discontent or the wealthy who see opportunity to become wealthier.
The wealthy used to be the backbone of the party. The blue-collar bunch, perhaps what were called Reagan Democrats were lulled into the culture wars and those wars have been expanded in the public eye and now say the quiet part said out loud. Those MAGA guys really do feel that their lack of status is because of Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians. If those guys weren't around, things would be really great!. Then the income disparities would disappear, and they could feel at home with the wealthy republicans. 1932-38 Germany really said the same thing to a disaffected populace that had been experiencing the great depression. They needed a scapegoat and those Damn Jews had snuck up and stolen the show. The populace looked the other way, -kind of ,as Hitler exterminated them.
I don't think I need to go further in the comparison really. What is discouraging for me is watching the Jeff Flakes, the Bob Corkers, the Jeb Bushes see that the fascist tide was high and they put out to sea. The resistance in the GOP is hard to find. Bulwark, the Lincoln project and a few others have waved objections but no where near enough to change much.
The ones who have to change are before us. Not the MAGA hat crowd, you'll never change them. It's the independents- the ones with a conscience who have to turn their backs on the planned move into authoritarianism. I really don't know if they will at this point. What Trump does is to pre-poison the well letting the red hats run wild. I do hope that the Jan 6th committee and the DOJ can act quickly enough to secure prosecution for Trump. No one else can do quite what he does, really a perfect grifter mafia figure who is pretty sure he has figured out how to game the system. Hopefully, like Eugene McCarthy, he will be ultimately puked out of the public view. I don't think amateurs like DeSantis will ever replace him. Weak Tea. These people want blood.
My thinking regarding independents is that Trump did himself no favors with this rally. And that he is truly frightened by NY AG and GA’s special grand jury.
Interesting you should make a connection between J. McCarthy and Trump. There is after all only one degree of separation between the two, namely, Roy Cohn, regarded by many as the preeminent dirtbag lawyer of the 20th century. During McCarthy's heyday, Cohn was his hatchet man as Counsel to the Senate Government Operations Committee. After McCarthy's death from alcoholism, Cohn eventually became Trump's lawyer and fixer and served as such until his death due to AIDS. Cohn always insisted he was not gay; he just preferred sex with men. The two were often seen together at Studio 54, the notorious gay disco and venue for use and sale of cocaine and other drugs.
Well, Eugene McCarthy disappeared rather quickly from view - wish Sanders would! He's just a grifter of a different stripe. Or is he more like a Bannon of a different stripe?
We should at least give credit to Bernie for consistency. He's been a left wing political activist his entire life. He came the House of Representatives 30 years ago and no doubt passed up many opportunities to make himself richer. Unlike AOC, when Bernie came to the House he was only noticed as an odd duck who made idealistic speeches that were considered irrelevant to the political sausage-making. Bernie only became a celebrity late in life when he moved to the Senate, issues of inequality really came to the fore, and when he ran for President. In contrast, Trump, Ron Johnson, and Eugene McCarthy changed with what seemed popular with their base.
What in the world is wrong with a black female on the court? Even Sen Graham says it will better reflect the make up of the country. Then you have Collins of Maine lying about what Ragen said before naming the first female. Actually it makes no difference in the decisions for years to come.
Last week we had International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Along with the gut wrenching documentaries were newspapers from that time. One that struck me was a front page from 1933 where Hitler was running for election again. It reminded me of Donald Trump. This weekend Trump called for violence against anyone who might indict him. His unhinged rants and lies were meant to stoke hate and violence. We had a taste of this on January 6. In essence Trump has his own stormtroopers who will menace and carry out violence. We minimize this at our own risk. He is the Republican party, supported by the GOP and spawning people like Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Green.
One huge advantage Hitler had were the SA and SS, huge armies that ran riot and often killed opponents. Question is are the Trumpers becoming their equivalent. If so, God help us all!
My husband and I watched a three part series - The Rise of Hitler. There were too many similarities between Hitler and Trump to count. When Hitler initially got in he did not have total control. But he manipulated and schemed until he controlled the government. Once he did he unleashed violence on his opponents. None of this happened over night.
He also had a government he was able to manipulate at will. People forget he was appointed chancellor to form a coalition government. His idea of coalition was to, with the willing assistance of others, was to ban all opposition parties. Dachau was begun in 1933, and was already filling up with Hitler's opponents.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it? I find it ironic that Trump kept using the poem "The Snake", can't remember who wrote it, in some of his rallies. Fits Trump to a "T", and people still don't see it. Including a whole lot of people who should, like National Review, TAC, and those Reps who still vote "lock-in-step" against everything the Dems propose, and refuse to condemn Trump.
Maybe in '33, but by then Hitler was chancellor, the SS and SA (until many of them were killed) and the Gestapo were in charge. By '34, Dachau was in place, and the mass arrests of dissidents and opponents had begun. And the SS was definitely armed by then.
A country that denied generations of people access to colleges and properly funded schools cannot because meritocracy until it ameliorate the impact of that
Actually, he confirms his ignorance on the statement itself, but once again he pulls the victim card. Trump, the bully, is the quintessential snowflake, who is the embodiment of his cult of snowflakes.
Of course. The prosecutors in New York and Georgia are Black. (Black women, no less.) What more does he need to prove he's being persecuted because of his race? What a perfect set of facts to stoke the racism that underlies his whole schtick.
So far the public face of the potential Trump prosecutions is Letitia James. This is Trump claiming he cannot be legitimately prosecuted by an African-American. Think Judge Curiel 2.0.
BREAKING: Just over three-quarters of Americans (76%) want Pres. Biden to consider "all possible nominees," while 23% want him to follow through on his commitment to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court, per a new @ABC News/Ipsos poll.
Hate this kind of reporting about polls. The punditocracy is focused on the controversy of whether Biden should have made his campaign pledge. How many of the people polled were even aware that the purpose of the poll was to get them to weigh in on this controversy? Did they even understand that this controversy existed?
Charlie is worried that Biden's pledge may have done political damage. If the nominee, the administration, and the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee do a great job of messaging such that a solid majority of the country is proud to have that nominee on the court, this process will be a huge plus for Biden.
In a perfect world, I would have wanted any nominees to be judged by their own merits. But our world is messed up and if Papa Joe needed to make that promise during the primary and general to energize his base, so be it. Of all the scary things ahead this year, the backlash from naming a black woman on the SCOTUS cannot be on top of the lists of pit falls. Backing away from that promise will certainly be much more damaging.
Polls have become a huge joke, and their perceived importance by both sides is ridiculous. Show of hands - how many have ever been polled? I'll get surveys in the mail or by phone and flat out ignore them. Maybe at one time, they served a function of sorts. Now, why do they even exist?
Agree on projecting-stands-in-the-moment polling...total nonsense.
On the SCOTUS nomination. This pearl clutching about Uncle Joe fulfilling his campaign promise to his constituents to nominate a Black woman is equally nonsensical.
Why was this currently so-called "Affirmative Action" move not an issue back then??
And why was it not an issue for ReTrumplican'ts when the Secessionist-In-Chief made it clear that his last nominee was going to be a woman???
"Are they screaming now because it is an Black woman??" I ask while stroking my chin.
The current manufactured issue arises from opinions full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Considering the circus of white male pols freaking out when fratboy Kavanaugh was being proven to be a truly flawed nominee makes this race issue laughable.
The hearing turned to farce when Kav brought forth the names of high school buddies, P.J., Squi, Handsy Hank, and Gang-Bang Greg, to proven his character, Truly off the tracks.
Then after taking the Oath of Office on a spare copy of "The Art of the Steal" held by Dingbat Don, Kavanagh went to his SCOTUS office to ensure the mini-beer keg was installed and then went about his business of gutting individual rights.
18 U.S.C. § 1503 defines "obstruction of justice" as an act that "corruptly or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, influences, obstructs, or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede, the due administration of justice."
Sounds like Trump committed a crime and it is recorded on video. Charge him.
1) There are a fair number of people that are qualified (at least on paper) to sit on the Supreme Court... probably numbering in the thousands;
2) One of the reasons that the appointment process is controlled by the politicians is because the Court and the law and the administration of justice is, despite our pretentions and ideals, political. Thus people are appointed to the court for political reasons, not for reasons of qualification or competence;
3) Choosing a black woman is a political choice to place a particular perspective on the Court in the hopes that it will help advance certain liberal political objectives--just as appointing white Catholics of a particular doctrinal bent and political/judicial philosophy is the same thing by the GoP... IOW, all the possible candidates are pre-sorted and selected for political reasons;
4) I believe that, as long as the person meets minimum competency, it is important to choose a person that answers or addresses the political concerns of the appointer and their constituency. This is probably more important than differences in perceived qualification.
Russ Feingold! You helped defeat Russ Feingold and elect Ron Johnson! OMG Russ Feingold was great. WTF
Amazing story on Charlie's podcast a few days ago about Bill Kristol advising Charlie not to ghost write a book for Newt Gingrich. Imagine if Charlie felt responsible for Newt as well as RonJon. Somebody would be in charge of keeping sharp objects away from him.
My opinion is that Charlie's exceptional energy derives from his desire to atone for the RonJon mistake.
Yes, I read that. I love Charlie, but we gotta keep him on his toes. I wanna know, did Charlie have anything to do with bringing down Paul Wellstone’s plane? Don’t answer that!
The SCOTUS appointment and Democrats' oft-misplaced priorities converged for me in this: I doubt the promise of a black female Justice got Biden a single vote, but it has brought him grief- and were he to break it, it would lose him a lot of votes
Think Carville's got it right. Too bad he's not callin' the shots on this issue for the D's. Are these guys ever, ever gonna' wake up to what's actually going on in red states and statehouses around the country? Considering the hour and the evidence so far in hand, I think the answer to that is no.
Yeah, there's been a word or two muttered about the ECA of late. But that's not enough. There is more than one front in this battle. Considering that the R's have shown they have no real respect for the rule of law and the practice of practical norms, if they have their hands on the right levers of power at the state level and don't like the result of a federal election, what are the odds they're just gonna' roll over, even if the ECA is properly reinforced. And WTF does that leave those of us who value our liberties, do not take them for granted and realize the best guarantor of those liberties' continuance is a functioning liberal democracy that's as well protected from election fraud as it can possibly be. If protections on this front were as staunch and wide reaching as those for voter fraud, I'd be breathin' a bit easier. But I don't think the damned D's even know the difference between the two. And I won't be holdin' my breath waiting for them to figure it out, because, well...you know...
"There was nothing veiled about his suggestion that he would hand out get-out-jail-free cards to the rioters — and, by implication, to anyone held legally accountable for his attempted coup. "
There are three:
1. The Democrat political establishment that includes billionaire-funded professional activists, the campuses, the media and the primary hive of trial attorneys. They have managed to fake out the kids that the primary political issue is encased in both the climate change and woke alarmist calling. Their COVID alarmist calling is only a temporary distraction.
2. The Republican establishment that is silent, complicit or just useless in opposition to the former.
3. Trump
The first has become so inebriated on their advantages that they have shed all reasonable self-awareness for their blatant hypocrisy.
They explicitly scream at people challenging vaccination, masks and social distancing but explicitly support BLM and Antifa protests.
They explicitly scream about foreign forces influencing elections by digging up dirt on the Clinton campaign, and explicitly support the Clinton campaign paying for a fake dossier done by foreign forces and then using Obama plants in the FBI to use it to get FISA warrants to spy on the Trump campaign to dig up dirt.
They explicitly scream at Trump and his supporters over the protestors on Jan-6 as trying to violently overthrow the government (right), while both denying and supporting the rights of BLM and Antifa protestors who violently burn down neighborhoods and take control of them and demand sovereign and autonomous rights to govern themselves.
And now they explicitly scream that Trump would say he would pardon Jan-6 protestors after they explicitly posted bail for, released and failed to prosecute the violent BLM and Antifa protestors.
You see, one thing that voters hate more than anything, is a blatant hypocrite. The Democrats are doing their best to make Trump look like a completely authentic and transparent angel in comparison.
"There was nothing veiled about his suggestion that he would hand out get-out-jail-free cards to the rioters — and, by implication, to anyone held legally accountable for his attempted coup. "
There are three:
I'll take non sequiturs for a thousand, Alex.
Where to start? 1) climate change should be alarming. Look at the evidence provided by the majority of scientists. Also please observe the extreme weather happening around the globe. 2) please cite evidence of your claims. 3) to compare the January 6 insurrection to the BLM protests is laughable. First most of the BLM protests were peaceful. The ones that became violent were not trying to overthrow government at any level. Trump and the entire Republican party have raised hypocrisy to a high art form. No further comments.
Thanks for the confirmation of my points. Unless this was intended as satire.
Nothing I said confirmed any of your points.
Climate change is NOT alarming unless you are alarmed about weather, including the previous alarms about global cooling and the warming that occurred 1000 years ago. And besides, the climate change fear nuts are pushing extreme policy that will cause more human harm than does and will a changing climate, that by the way, will always change and scientists say will continue to change even if we stop burning all fossil fuels.
The establishment Republicans are popularity pimps running terrified of the Twitter mob waiting to toast them for misuse of a pronoun. They are failing to stand up to the crybullies to protect our Constitutional rights.
Calling Jan-6 anything other than a legal peaceful protest where a small minority of hotheaded attendees were riled up to occupy a federal building that they own and where a Democrat capital police officer murdered an unarmed female protester, whom by the way was arguing with the hotheads to stay peaceful, and to claim the BLM and Antifa "protests" were peaceful when they caused $2 billion in property damage, killed 32 and injured thousands... well it is a sign of zero critical thinking skills and/or dishonest left media propaganda feeds.
Sounds like you write propaganda for OAN.
Funny. I see OAN as the real reflection of MSNBC and CNN.
Charlie, it is middle of the road politics as the reason I'm a subscriber. My sanity depends on it. One request though: can you please turn on commentary for all Bulwark articles? These days readers' thoughts are as essential as the articles themselves
Charlie, really appreciate you pulling in intellectually honest viewpoints different from yours —and for Will’s encouragement to do the same. Perhaps this could be a regular feature in the Bulwark or your newsletter: “Views from someone I respect, that differ from mine” (with a catchier name). Loved the dialogue with Rich Lowry on Jane Coaston’s pod.
The SCOTUS is plenty inbred without making a virtue of institutional incest. It wasn't always so. Hugo Black was a Senator. Earl Warren was a Governor. (And BTW, neither had had either moral or scholastic records to be especially proud of.) William O. Douglas was chairman of the SEC.
John Marshall was an envoy to France, a Congressman and Secretary of State.
Add the fetish of narrow educational credentialism (in an era of steadily declining overall academic standards, no less) and the Court is arguably as parochial as it has ever been.
Under the circumstances the problem is not that Biden wants to nominate a black woman, but that he'll probably choose exactly the kind of person that presidents have been robotically nominating for decades.
Seems like an odd time for the Orange Menace to start dangling prospective pardons for seditionists. It would make more sense for him to have done this 9+ months ago or during his 2024 campaign. Unless the real purpose is to embolden MAGA fanatics toward injuring or killing MoCs and prosecutors.
I spent the last few hours on my tractor moving the snow out of our big horseshoe driveway, built back when I still needed to get big trucks in and out. Now, It's like plowing a parking lot with a dinky toy.
As I went back and forth I considered my reading of the Trump pardon ploy and wondered whether this was a good or a bad move on his part. I gave a lot of thought to his supporters who, in my mind are largely blue collar, high school educated people who already had the feeling that they had gotten a rotten deal out of life. You could pile up the reasons, they all have variations, but they are for the most part things that wound up separating them into classes that met in bars to have four or five beers. The other aspect of the MAGA crown is the politicians who feed off of discontent or the wealthy who see opportunity to become wealthier.
The wealthy used to be the backbone of the party. The blue-collar bunch, perhaps what were called Reagan Democrats were lulled into the culture wars and those wars have been expanded in the public eye and now say the quiet part said out loud. Those MAGA guys really do feel that their lack of status is because of Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians. If those guys weren't around, things would be really great!. Then the income disparities would disappear, and they could feel at home with the wealthy republicans. 1932-38 Germany really said the same thing to a disaffected populace that had been experiencing the great depression. They needed a scapegoat and those Damn Jews had snuck up and stolen the show. The populace looked the other way, -kind of ,as Hitler exterminated them.
I don't think I need to go further in the comparison really. What is discouraging for me is watching the Jeff Flakes, the Bob Corkers, the Jeb Bushes see that the fascist tide was high and they put out to sea. The resistance in the GOP is hard to find. Bulwark, the Lincoln project and a few others have waved objections but no where near enough to change much.
The ones who have to change are before us. Not the MAGA hat crowd, you'll never change them. It's the independents- the ones with a conscience who have to turn their backs on the planned move into authoritarianism. I really don't know if they will at this point. What Trump does is to pre-poison the well letting the red hats run wild. I do hope that the Jan 6th committee and the DOJ can act quickly enough to secure prosecution for Trump. No one else can do quite what he does, really a perfect grifter mafia figure who is pretty sure he has figured out how to game the system. Hopefully, like Eugene McCarthy, he will be ultimately puked out of the public view. I don't think amateurs like DeSantis will ever replace him. Weak Tea. These people want blood.
Pete VanderLaan
My thinking regarding independents is that Trump did himself no favors with this rally. And that he is truly frightened by NY AG and GA’s special grand jury.
I agree. We'll see . His job right now is to alienate as many believers in the constitution as possible.
I meant Joe McCarthy. my sincere apologies.
Interesting you should make a connection between J. McCarthy and Trump. There is after all only one degree of separation between the two, namely, Roy Cohn, regarded by many as the preeminent dirtbag lawyer of the 20th century. During McCarthy's heyday, Cohn was his hatchet man as Counsel to the Senate Government Operations Committee. After McCarthy's death from alcoholism, Cohn eventually became Trump's lawyer and fixer and served as such until his death due to AIDS. Cohn always insisted he was not gay; he just preferred sex with men. The two were often seen together at Studio 54, the notorious gay disco and venue for use and sale of cocaine and other drugs.
Well, Eugene McCarthy disappeared rather quickly from view - wish Sanders would! He's just a grifter of a different stripe. Or is he more like a Bannon of a different stripe?
We should at least give credit to Bernie for consistency. He's been a left wing political activist his entire life. He came the House of Representatives 30 years ago and no doubt passed up many opportunities to make himself richer. Unlike AOC, when Bernie came to the House he was only noticed as an odd duck who made idealistic speeches that were considered irrelevant to the political sausage-making. Bernie only became a celebrity late in life when he moved to the Senate, issues of inequality really came to the fore, and when he ran for President. In contrast, Trump, Ron Johnson, and Eugene McCarthy changed with what seemed popular with their base.
What in the world is wrong with a black female on the court? Even Sen Graham says it will better reflect the make up of the country. Then you have Collins of Maine lying about what Ragen said before naming the first female. Actually it makes no difference in the decisions for years to come.
Last week we had International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Along with the gut wrenching documentaries were newspapers from that time. One that struck me was a front page from 1933 where Hitler was running for election again. It reminded me of Donald Trump. This weekend Trump called for violence against anyone who might indict him. His unhinged rants and lies were meant to stoke hate and violence. We had a taste of this on January 6. In essence Trump has his own stormtroopers who will menace and carry out violence. We minimize this at our own risk. He is the Republican party, supported by the GOP and spawning people like Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Green.
well, now they are stormtroopers on film. It seems to change them. We'll see I suspect.
One huge advantage Hitler had were the SA and SS, huge armies that ran riot and often killed opponents. Question is are the Trumpers becoming their equivalent. If so, God help us all!
My husband and I watched a three part series - The Rise of Hitler. There were too many similarities between Hitler and Trump to count. When Hitler initially got in he did not have total control. But he manipulated and schemed until he controlled the government. Once he did he unleashed violence on his opponents. None of this happened over night.
Yes, ma’am. They used the levers of democracy to tear it down. As it was written, “It Could Happen Here”.
He also had a government he was able to manipulate at will. People forget he was appointed chancellor to form a coalition government. His idea of coalition was to, with the willing assistance of others, was to ban all opposition parties. Dachau was begun in 1933, and was already filling up with Hitler's opponents.
All true. And the German people basically ignored it. Indifference is the enemy.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it? I find it ironic that Trump kept using the poem "The Snake", can't remember who wrote it, in some of his rallies. Fits Trump to a "T", and people still don't see it. Including a whole lot of people who should, like National Review, TAC, and those Reps who still vote "lock-in-step" against everything the Dems propose, and refuse to condemn Trump.
Maybe in '33, but by then Hitler was chancellor, the SS and SA (until many of them were killed) and the Gestapo were in charge. By '34, Dachau was in place, and the mass arrests of dissidents and opponents had begun. And the SS was definitely armed by then.
A country that denied generations of people access to colleges and properly funded schools cannot because meritocracy until it ameliorate the impact of that
When Trump refers to "racist" prosecutors, is the implication that he's being unfairly targeted because of his skin color?
Actually, he confirms his ignorance on the statement itself, but once again he pulls the victim card. Trump, the bully, is the quintessential snowflake, who is the embodiment of his cult of snowflakes.
Of course. The prosecutors in New York and Georgia are Black. (Black women, no less.) What more does he need to prove he's being persecuted because of his race? What a perfect set of facts to stoke the racism that underlies his whole schtick.
It's projection
Projection is the name of the game for the right.
So far the public face of the potential Trump prosecutions is Letitia James. This is Trump claiming he cannot be legitimately prosecuted by an African-American. Think Judge Curiel 2.0.
BREAKING: Just over three-quarters of Americans (76%) want Pres. Biden to consider "all possible nominees," while 23% want him to follow through on his commitment to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court, per a new @ABC News/Ipsos poll.
Hate this kind of reporting about polls. The punditocracy is focused on the controversy of whether Biden should have made his campaign pledge. How many of the people polled were even aware that the purpose of the poll was to get them to weigh in on this controversy? Did they even understand that this controversy existed?
Charlie is worried that Biden's pledge may have done political damage. If the nominee, the administration, and the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee do a great job of messaging such that a solid majority of the country is proud to have that nominee on the court, this process will be a huge plus for Biden.
In a perfect world, I would have wanted any nominees to be judged by their own merits. But our world is messed up and if Papa Joe needed to make that promise during the primary and general to energize his base, so be it. Of all the scary things ahead this year, the backlash from naming a black woman on the SCOTUS cannot be on top of the lists of pit falls. Backing away from that promise will certainly be much more damaging.
Polls have become a huge joke, and their perceived importance by both sides is ridiculous. Show of hands - how many have ever been polled? I'll get surveys in the mail or by phone and flat out ignore them. Maybe at one time, they served a function of sorts. Now, why do they even exist?
Agree on projecting-stands-in-the-moment polling...total nonsense.
On the SCOTUS nomination. This pearl clutching about Uncle Joe fulfilling his campaign promise to his constituents to nominate a Black woman is equally nonsensical.
Why was this currently so-called "Affirmative Action" move not an issue back then??
And why was it not an issue for ReTrumplican'ts when the Secessionist-In-Chief made it clear that his last nominee was going to be a woman???
"Are they screaming now because it is an Black woman??" I ask while stroking my chin.
The current manufactured issue arises from opinions full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Considering the circus of white male pols freaking out when fratboy Kavanaugh was being proven to be a truly flawed nominee makes this race issue laughable.
The hearing turned to farce when Kav brought forth the names of high school buddies, P.J., Squi, Handsy Hank, and Gang-Bang Greg, to proven his character, Truly off the tracks.
Then after taking the Oath of Office on a spare copy of "The Art of the Steal" held by Dingbat Don, Kavanagh went to his SCOTUS office to ensure the mini-beer keg was installed and then went about his business of gutting individual rights.
And the media was then on to the next chew toy.
Yet The GOP has only nominated white Christians since Thomas. Funny that no one mentions that
W really wanted to put Miguel Estrada on the court but was blocked by Dems.
And that stopped him from nominating any Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, or atheist people?
That stopped hom from nominating a Chinese American how?