Guns for Tots, and the Afghans We Left Behind
Plus: Why this Indictment hits different
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WILL SELBER: The Afghans We Left Behind
EVERYBODY IN THE MILITARY HAS one superpower. Some are great gunslingers. Others are expert bureaucratic knife fighters. A precious few are master strategists. I am none of those things. However, my superpower was rare: I was great at befriending Afghans.
I spoke their languages, studied their history, and immersed myself in their culture.
That superpower nearly destroyed me after the fall of Afghanistan. It’s been two years exactly since the last American plane left Kabul, and I—along with thousands of other veterans—still struggle every day.
READ THE REST and please share this powerful piece.
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KIMBERLY WEHLE: This Indictment Hits Different.
LATE MONDAY NIGHT, a grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia handed down a sweeping 98-page indictment against Donald Trump and 18 others—including former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and lawyers Jeffrey Clark, Kenneth Chesebro, John Eastman, Jenna Ellis, and Rudy Giuliani.
The indictment lists 41 crimes that the defendants are allegedly responsible for in varying degrees. Everyone from the top down is charged with violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute. The slew of other crimes includes Solicitation of Violation of Oath by Public Officer (recall the infamous Trump call asking Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” 11,780 votes); False Statements and Writings; Impersonating a Public Officer (think: the fake electors scheme); Forgery in the First Degree (ditto); and Filing False Documents (ditto). Given the complexity of the indictment and the number of defendants, there are multiple related forms of several of the charges—so, not just False Statements and Writings but also Conspiracy to Commit False Statements and Writings as well as Criminal Attempt to Commit False Statements and Writings.
BILL LUEDERS: Guns for Tots: What Could Go Wrong?
ON HER MSNBC SHOW LAST WEEK, Rachel Maddow did a segment on the marketing of an assault-style rifle made with little kids in mind. It is the JR-15, which stands for Junior 15, a smaller, lighter version of the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle. It is made and sold by an Illinois-based company called Wee 1 Tactical (“wee one,” get it?) and advertised with the tagline, “Get ’em One Like Yours.”
🚨OVERTIME🚨
🎵 On the Jukebox🎵 Go Through You by Rhett Miller.
Happy Tuesday! Now that we’re all indicted up, as JVL alluded to, it’s a time for choosing for Republicans. Surely, they’ll make a rational, informed choice, no? No?
As Nicholas Grossman observes: Republicans are all out of the "don't try to hold Trump accountable or we'll do something you won't like" card to play. Ted Cruz is giving us a preview of the card they’re gonna play.
In what appeared to be really good timing, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined MSNBC to discuss the indictment and the GOP. Naturally, MAGA clutched its pearls.
How Fire… Turned Lahaina Into a Death Trap.
This Indictment of Trump… Does Something Ingenious.
🇺🇦🇺🇸 Lend your voice… Republicans for Ukraine is airing an ad during the GOP debate next week, also taking out billboards in Milwaukee. If you’re a Republican or former Republican who supports Ukraine, sign up and add your testimonial.
Meanwhile, in the “Free State of Florida™…” Ron DeSantis has “basically moved on” and is asking Disney to drop its federal lawsuit. I thought he was the one who fights?
The SNL “blind side” skit… Is looking pretty darn prescient.
The Final Frontier of Trump Defenses… Is Just Refusing to Understand How Law Work
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