Short-term, the Oathkeeper pleading guilty is more interesting, as he increases the already-high odds Stewart Rhodes will be convicted. He was also in contact with Roger Stone, which begs the question of if he told Stone about their plans, or, more troublingly, might have been directed to take certain actions.
I've said this a couple times and I'll say it again: how stupid is the Republican Party for not taking Pelosi's offer for a bipartisan committee? We'd never be in "the last President committed a criminal conspiracy" territory with GOP veto power over subpoenas.
Kuddos to the one kid I saw in the background(there may have been more, I couldn't see) that kept their mask on after getting berated by that asshat...
I think the people counting on AG Merrick Garland to do the right thing and prosecute Trump are going to be sorely disappointed. I don't care if the Justice Department is handed the case on a silver platter...I think Garland is going to refuse to prosecute. Garland has shown a remarkable lack of a spine when it comes to these matters. Let's not forget that the Mark Meadows criminal referral has been sitting on his desk for nearly 3 months. Don't tell me it takes times to develop such cases. The referral is for ignoring a subpoena. The facts that led to the referral have already been established. The law is clear. You could put together a case to present to a grand jury in a week easily.
I have made the prediction that by the end of the year, Democrats will come to hate Garland and demand that Biden fire him.
Yesterday, I watched one of the Pod Save America bros eloquently talk about the grief of suffering a miscarriage and how men should be more vulnerable talking about this topic, followed by Ben Shapiro spewing this vile crap - and I thought to myself, "are all the men in Conservative, Inc. just emotionally stunted?"
Can we just create a position, President of the West, and elect Gary Kasparov to it? Maybe his successor could be Magnus Carlson.
I'm thinking it's going to take Putin firing a nuke off to get any military response from the West, because honestly I think the only thing preventing such a response right now is that Putin has the threat of using nukes.
And that is encouraging news from the 1/6 Committee. This needs to get done fast, though, before the next Congress, and if all they have time to get done is handing off very incriminating evidence to DOJ, Garland needs to do something with it. Too many examples in recent history of appalling behavior going unpunished and despicable villains becoming emboldened.
How does the war in Ukraine end? That’s a question we’ve all been asking ourselves.
Being a pessimistic optimist, I think that in the end the Ukrainian people will ultimately prevail and achieve their freedom…however…it will be a long and terrible journey to achieve that. And, they won’t be able to do it alone, which is my greatest fear.
After a week of the Ukrainians fighting valiantly the world has rallied to their cause and many nations are sending both humanitarian and military supplies to bolster those under siege. But a siege is what the Russians are beginning to begin. The shelling of cities and civilian targets grows by the day. It is only a matter of time before street to street fighting begins in earnest; indeed, in the city of Kherson today an official said they could not give a casualty count, “We cannot collect all the bodies, and we cannot count.”
When such carnage begins in Kharkiv or Kyiv, what will the world do then? When Zelenskyy is toppled or killed, what will the world do then? When the images of civilians – children – lying dead in the streets become common place, what will the world do then?
There is the hope that the economic sanctions on Russia and it’s oligarchs will cause the oligarchy/leadership in Russia to push Putin out and put an end to the war. This is wishful thinking, but history has shown that dictators/autocratic leaders have been able to hold on to power, all while their country and it’s citizens are ground into dust. See the examples of Hitler, Hirohito, Mao, Saddam, Chavez; all of them held power while their countrymen suffered greatly. While it is possible Putin is removed, we should not expect it to be.
That is where my fear comes in. The people of Europe, the US and even the world have become emotionally invested in the fight for freedom by the Ukrainian people. Will they just sit idly by while these people die by the thousands? Or, will they demand of their governments that they put a stop to it (See: Kasparov)? Already, people are calling for a no-fly zone of Russian aircraft over Ukraine. I fear that the pressure to stop the carnage will become too much for government leaders to withstand, and the call to arms – sending troops to fight in Ukraine – will become a reality. That the drumbeats of war will become deafening and impossible to resist.
So, as the drumbeat of war gets louder, what happens then? Do European countries send troops to fight in Ukraine (make no mistake – sending “advisors” to “support” is going to be viewed by Russia as fighting)? Do supply lines run from Poland and Romania into Ukraine? One could very well expect that Russia would try to close those off. And when they do – resulting in Polish/Romanian casualties – does that trigger NATO? Does Putin use a tactical nuclear weapon against European/NATO forces when they try to intervene in Ukraine?
That is my fear – that the populations of the free world will not standby – rightly so – as thousands of Ukrainians are killed, and millions more suffer. They will demand action and we will enter a full-scale war in Europe. World War III will begin.
Personally, I believe this is a fight that needs to happen, and will happen – it’s just a question of when and where. Our leaders would do the country a service and start preparing the people for war – real war.
Just got off the phone with friends from Munich. The German people are very afraid of the invasion of Ukraine because they think it will spread. They hate Putin. They do like Biden, although some think he is a weak. They hate Trump and think is a fool, especially for cozying up to Putin who is a viper.
All the usual caveats are in order. There is no guarantee that Congress will make a criminal referral to the Department of Justice; no guarantee that the DOJ would impanel a grand jury or that the jury would indict the former president.
And you can safely bet your last dime that Lardo Lardass will declare his candidacy for re-election (that he keeps "hinting" at) in time to claim "political prosecution" if the committee makes the referral, and the institutionalists at DOJ will get stymied over that memo written to protect Nixon when they got rid of Agnew back in 1973.
And there are still 60 million idiots who will vote for him and a party dedicated to putting out a red carpet for his return.
So, can the committee send the DOJ the referral or is it the entire house? Garland certainly will be under pressure but the time to act is short. Ad to that the grand Jury time . Much as I'd love to see it, I don't tend to think Trump will be indicted. Time will run out in November.
Off topic here, but brought over from the podcast, a thanks to Tim Miller for raising the NIMBY housing issue which is preventing accommodations for 3K students in Berkeley. For the record, State Senator Scott Wiener has been fighting FOR housing for years, and butting his head up against the "I've got mine, you can take a hike" NIMBYs statewide. And yes, you can see 30 million dollar mansions in SF Sea Crest neighborhood with Black Lives Matters posters -- but let no black person walk that area late at night without being prepared for a stop.
Any chance Putin escalating to give cover for TFG? With 1/6 filing on Eastman, Ukraine situation focus, not Trump (although I do hope one of the alphabets is monitoring Trump).
I would like to believe that Merrick Garland's Justice Department was investigating and considering possible charges against Trump, but if that were the case, it's hard to believe that we wouldn't have caught at least a whiff of it by now. If it happens, even if it takes the Committee's evidence to finally get the ball rolling, you can color me pleasantly surprised. But I'm not betting money on it: I only bet on sure things.
Between Ben Shaprio and Ron Desantis, the amount of "smart people" saying dumb things to win support from the laymen is just embarrassing.
Short-term, the Oathkeeper pleading guilty is more interesting, as he increases the already-high odds Stewart Rhodes will be convicted. He was also in contact with Roger Stone, which begs the question of if he told Stone about their plans, or, more troublingly, might have been directed to take certain actions.
I've said this a couple times and I'll say it again: how stupid is the Republican Party for not taking Pelosi's offer for a bipartisan committee? We'd never be in "the last President committed a criminal conspiracy" territory with GOP veto power over subpoenas.
That Ben Shapiro tweet is unhinged.
Kuddos to the one kid I saw in the background(there may have been more, I couldn't see) that kept their mask on after getting berated by that asshat...
I think the people counting on AG Merrick Garland to do the right thing and prosecute Trump are going to be sorely disappointed. I don't care if the Justice Department is handed the case on a silver platter...I think Garland is going to refuse to prosecute. Garland has shown a remarkable lack of a spine when it comes to these matters. Let's not forget that the Mark Meadows criminal referral has been sitting on his desk for nearly 3 months. Don't tell me it takes times to develop such cases. The referral is for ignoring a subpoena. The facts that led to the referral have already been established. The law is clear. You could put together a case to present to a grand jury in a week easily.
I have made the prediction that by the end of the year, Democrats will come to hate Garland and demand that Biden fire him.
Thanks, Charlie, for the extended remarks from Gary K. Vital that we know the WHY of this crisis. I’m keeping it saved to pass along.
Yesterday, I watched one of the Pod Save America bros eloquently talk about the grief of suffering a miscarriage and how men should be more vulnerable talking about this topic, followed by Ben Shapiro spewing this vile crap - and I thought to myself, "are all the men in Conservative, Inc. just emotionally stunted?"
Can we just create a position, President of the West, and elect Gary Kasparov to it? Maybe his successor could be Magnus Carlson.
I'm thinking it's going to take Putin firing a nuke off to get any military response from the West, because honestly I think the only thing preventing such a response right now is that Putin has the threat of using nukes.
And that is encouraging news from the 1/6 Committee. This needs to get done fast, though, before the next Congress, and if all they have time to get done is handing off very incriminating evidence to DOJ, Garland needs to do something with it. Too many examples in recent history of appalling behavior going unpunished and despicable villains becoming emboldened.
How does the war in Ukraine end? That’s a question we’ve all been asking ourselves.
Being a pessimistic optimist, I think that in the end the Ukrainian people will ultimately prevail and achieve their freedom…however…it will be a long and terrible journey to achieve that. And, they won’t be able to do it alone, which is my greatest fear.
After a week of the Ukrainians fighting valiantly the world has rallied to their cause and many nations are sending both humanitarian and military supplies to bolster those under siege. But a siege is what the Russians are beginning to begin. The shelling of cities and civilian targets grows by the day. It is only a matter of time before street to street fighting begins in earnest; indeed, in the city of Kherson today an official said they could not give a casualty count, “We cannot collect all the bodies, and we cannot count.”
When such carnage begins in Kharkiv or Kyiv, what will the world do then? When Zelenskyy is toppled or killed, what will the world do then? When the images of civilians – children – lying dead in the streets become common place, what will the world do then?
There is the hope that the economic sanctions on Russia and it’s oligarchs will cause the oligarchy/leadership in Russia to push Putin out and put an end to the war. This is wishful thinking, but history has shown that dictators/autocratic leaders have been able to hold on to power, all while their country and it’s citizens are ground into dust. See the examples of Hitler, Hirohito, Mao, Saddam, Chavez; all of them held power while their countrymen suffered greatly. While it is possible Putin is removed, we should not expect it to be.
That is where my fear comes in. The people of Europe, the US and even the world have become emotionally invested in the fight for freedom by the Ukrainian people. Will they just sit idly by while these people die by the thousands? Or, will they demand of their governments that they put a stop to it (See: Kasparov)? Already, people are calling for a no-fly zone of Russian aircraft over Ukraine. I fear that the pressure to stop the carnage will become too much for government leaders to withstand, and the call to arms – sending troops to fight in Ukraine – will become a reality. That the drumbeats of war will become deafening and impossible to resist.
So, as the drumbeat of war gets louder, what happens then? Do European countries send troops to fight in Ukraine (make no mistake – sending “advisors” to “support” is going to be viewed by Russia as fighting)? Do supply lines run from Poland and Romania into Ukraine? One could very well expect that Russia would try to close those off. And when they do – resulting in Polish/Romanian casualties – does that trigger NATO? Does Putin use a tactical nuclear weapon against European/NATO forces when they try to intervene in Ukraine?
That is my fear – that the populations of the free world will not standby – rightly so – as thousands of Ukrainians are killed, and millions more suffer. They will demand action and we will enter a full-scale war in Europe. World War III will begin.
Personally, I believe this is a fight that needs to happen, and will happen – it’s just a question of when and where. Our leaders would do the country a service and start preparing the people for war – real war.
Just got off the phone with friends from Munich. The German people are very afraid of the invasion of Ukraine because they think it will spread. They hate Putin. They do like Biden, although some think he is a weak. They hate Trump and think is a fool, especially for cozying up to Putin who is a viper.
All the usual caveats are in order. There is no guarantee that Congress will make a criminal referral to the Department of Justice; no guarantee that the DOJ would impanel a grand jury or that the jury would indict the former president.
And you can safely bet your last dime that Lardo Lardass will declare his candidacy for re-election (that he keeps "hinting" at) in time to claim "political prosecution" if the committee makes the referral, and the institutionalists at DOJ will get stymied over that memo written to protect Nixon when they got rid of Agnew back in 1973.
And there are still 60 million idiots who will vote for him and a party dedicated to putting out a red carpet for his return.
So, can the committee send the DOJ the referral or is it the entire house? Garland certainly will be under pressure but the time to act is short. Ad to that the grand Jury time . Much as I'd love to see it, I don't tend to think Trump will be indicted. Time will run out in November.
Johnson is so awful that anyone to the right of Abbie Hoffman should win easily. The fact that it's in doubt tells you quite a bit about WI.
Off topic here, but brought over from the podcast, a thanks to Tim Miller for raising the NIMBY housing issue which is preventing accommodations for 3K students in Berkeley. For the record, State Senator Scott Wiener has been fighting FOR housing for years, and butting his head up against the "I've got mine, you can take a hike" NIMBYs statewide. And yes, you can see 30 million dollar mansions in SF Sea Crest neighborhood with Black Lives Matters posters -- but let no black person walk that area late at night without being prepared for a stop.
Any chance Putin escalating to give cover for TFG? With 1/6 filing on Eastman, Ukraine situation focus, not Trump (although I do hope one of the alphabets is monitoring Trump).
I would like to believe that Merrick Garland's Justice Department was investigating and considering possible charges against Trump, but if that were the case, it's hard to believe that we wouldn't have caught at least a whiff of it by now. If it happens, even if it takes the Committee's evidence to finally get the ball rolling, you can color me pleasantly surprised. But I'm not betting money on it: I only bet on sure things.