Trump in Court: Is It Better to Be Seen as a Liar or a Loser?
Plus: Trump and the MAGA GOP Are National Security Risks
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KIM WEHLE: Trump Courtroom Conundrum: Is It Better to Be Seen as a Liar or a Loser?
DONALD TRUMP TOOK THE WITNESS STAND on Monday, stunning some with his admissions about his involvement in the false documentation of the value of his real estate properties (a bid to normalize illegality as merely what people do in the fast world of finance)—but surprising no one with his vitriol, atmospherics, and lies.
Trump’s testimony was immediately followed by an email plea to supporters for money, on the ironic rationale that “America has descended into utter tyranny” and that “right before our very eyes, our once beautiful Republic is being transformed into a Marxist tin-pot dictatorship where Crooked Joe’s regime has weaponized the legal system against not only a former president (your favorite, I might add), but against the very citizens he swore an oath to protect.” [Italics in original.]
BILL LUEDERS: Aquilino Gonell, American Hero.
AQUILINO GONELL HELD HIS TONGUE as long as he could. He had been among the more than 400 Capitol Police officers on duty on January 6, 2021, as a mob instigated by President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol. He saw his fellow officers being “brazenly beaten with pipes, sticks, and rocks by rioters chanting ‘Fight for Trump’ and ‘USA! USA!’” He was there as they “hurled bear sprays and full cans of soda at us, making pipes and a giant Trump banner with a metal frame into ramming devices, weakening our queue.”
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TONIGHT! Bill and Tim recap tonight’s off-year elections.
JILL D. LAWRENCE: Trump and the MAGA GOP Are National Security Risks
OF ALL THE CHALLENGES piling up in the last few weeks, from a looming government shutdown to a new House speaker who is . . . concerning on numerous fronts, national security is the most panic-worthy. The threats we face are alarming—and they include risks we’ve created for ourselves.
MATT JOHNSON: When Hamas Tells You Who They Are, Believe Them.
ANYONE WHO HAS READ THE original Hamas charter knows it’s a reeking stew of paranoid antisemitism and genocidal fantasies about world domination. But if you suggest that these ideas are what motivated the eruption of mass murder, kidnapping, and rape in southern Israel on October 7, you won’t get a hearing from many of the progressives who call themselves friends of Palestine.
🚨OVERTIME🚨
🎵On the Jukebox… 🎵 Coldplay - Daddy
Happy Election Day! How has it been three years since Four Seasons Total Landscaping? Daylight Saving Time has wrought havoc on our household, so today’s Overtime will be shorter than usual as I pay attention to our local elections before nodding off after Bill & Tim’s livestream. See you in the comments!
An important thread from Amir Tibon… As he recounts the horror of hiding from Hamas terrorists with his wife and daughters.
Keep putting them on video… The “Birchers in Heels” as Robert Tracinski calls "Moms for Liberty” sure seem to get defensive when there is video of them going to authorities to try and ban books and potentially jail librarians. More of this, please.
The perils of AI in news… Outlets are using AI-generated images of Gaza, and not telling readers they’re fake.
AI as a form of “Magic Eye” art… Remember those? From the Scholastic Book Fair? Tell me what you see here. If you don’t see it, this explainer will tell you what you missed, and you’ll never unsee it.
Meanwhile, in the “Free State of Florida™”… Taxpayers could potentially be paying to help Donald Trump’s self-imposed legal woes, if the state’s CFO gets his way. Remember this guy? He thought that wokeness, and not math / poor governance, were the reason why property insurers are fleeing Florida.
The end of the U2… The legendary spy plane is nearing the end of its service, and movies will never be the same as unmanned drones and satellites take its place.
In the 1960s, two macrobiotic enthusiasts started a health-food sect beloved by hippies... Now it’s the most culty grocer in L.A.
Why Aldi is a threat… to Supermarkets. (And it’s not just the Aisle of Stuff.)
A New CEO Says Employees Can’t Work Remotely After All… and, predictably, they revolt.
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