Thursday, August 20, 2026

But Sure….

Ossoff says Trump wants to fly around with 🪉, and the Administration goes apeshit over what they think is the implication. But this?

Yeah, I really don’t want to touch it, either.
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Come December…

... it’ll be the fault of the Democrats in Congress. Until January, 2029.
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80 Days To Midterms

"In the long run, we’re all dead.” —J.M. Keynes Speaking of growth: Sorry! Wrong kind of growth! Suck it, peasants! All my sharecroppers need to get back in the fields! See? Better! When in worry, when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout! 🙀 80 days to the midterms! Keep up the good work! The federal government had that money. The American people were told it would be paid by the exporting countries. The money came from consumers. Who got screwed by Trump. Both ways. The state AG’s did us all a favor, by ending the illegal taxation.
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Considering The Unthinkable

No shit, Sherlock.
Shawn Nanny, a Republican county commissioner in West Texas, said data centers and power line plans are the “straws that broke the camel’s back” when it comes to Abbott and other Texas GOP leaders.

Some longtime conservatives are now considering the unthinkable — voting in November for a Democrat to be Texas’ next governor. And Abbott’s August directive to pause Texas data center grid approvals hasn’t convinced all of them to vote for him.

“They understand the repercussions of that, but you know what I’m hearing is, ‘Yeah, we’ll have a Democrat in there and grit our teeth and bear it, but hopefully we’ll come out of it the following election,’” said Nanny, who lives in Tom Green County. “They’re so upset; they just want [Abbott] out.”
The Lege took away local authority over data centers. The Lege is controlled by the GOP.
Numerous conservative voters in sparsely populated areas said in interviews they feel like Abbott and state Republican lawmakers from larger cities have been over eager to support business and infrastructure build-outs that threaten their way of life.

And activists across the political spectrum bemoan state lawmakers’ actions to strip counties and municipalities of authority — so much so that in most unincorporated areas, Texas counties can only regulate data centers’ drainage plans, floodway construction, septic tanks and driveway permits.
Abbott’s opponent has noticed:
Greg Abbott signed HB 2712, giving hyperscale data centers a 20-year tax break to strain our power grid.
That’s from a fundraising email I received from Gina Hinojosa, who is just one point behind Abbott as he tries for a fourth term. No wonder Greg has asked for a temporary pause on data centers. You know, until after the election, maybe. You’d have to know Texas politics to appreciate this, but even the Texas Commissioner of Agriculture (yes, an elected office) is publicly warning Abbott to step away from AI. The last firebrand C of A Texas had was Jim Hightower, and that was about 35 years ago. The current incumbent is as good old boy as they come, but he understands how the rural folks feel.

Abbott is in the shit, and he may not swim out.
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One Of These Things Is Just Like The Other

President Donald J. Trump has announced what he calls the "MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY," declaring a campaign of unprecedented economic warfare and isolation against Iran.

Trump said the United States will target not only Iran, but any country, financial institution, business, airport or government entity providing Iran with what he describes as a "lifeline." He specifically cited oil smuggling, financial transfers, currency exchanges, ship registries and front companies.

The announcement represents a significant shift in rhetoric from the administration's repeated public assertions over the past several months that negotiations with Iran were progressing well and a deal was close.

As recently as August 5, Trump said negotiations were "working out quite well," while on July 28 he described discussions with Iran as a "beautiful discussion" and said the door remained open to a deal.

Those statements came despite the June Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) ultimately collapsing, the 60 day negotiating window expiring without a broader agreement, and Iran and the United States remaining sharply divided over the Strait of Hormuz, sanctions and the U.S. military presence in the region.

Today's announcement therefore appears to mark another significant turn in the administration's carrot-and stick strategy toward Tehran: Trump is simultaneously declaring Iran to be on the brink of collapse while imposing substantially broader economic pressure intended to force a resolution.

Trump also reiterated that Iran will never be permitted to obtain a nuclear weapon.
Earlier: Did that make it so, too? Or is Trump just a toddler with a shotgun?
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But Apparently The News Yesterday…

President Donald J. Trump disclosed today that North Korea possesses "57 very powerful nuclear weapons," adding that the arsenal "shouldn't have been allowed to happen." The figure is notable because the U.S. government does not publicly disclose a precise number for North Korea's nuclear stockpile; outside estimates have generally placed it in the roughly 50–90 warhead range.

The disclosure comes days after Trump ordered Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to substantially reduce U.S.-South Korean military exercises, arguing that the drills are too costly and send an "inappropriate and hostile" signal to North Korea, which he described as "unthreatening and respectful."

The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise subsequently began but was shortened by six days, with Seoul announcing that it would conclude Friday rather than continue through its originally scheduled period.

Trump has also said he intends to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this year, potentially marking another effort to revive the diplomacy that stalled after the 2019 Hanoi summit.
… was that Trump ranted about granite and ballrooms and drones. How many people in the punditocracy know that “the U.S. government does not publicly disclose a precise number for North Korea's nuclear stockpile”?
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Wednesday, August 19, 2026

Perfect Synopsis Of South Carolina Politics

That; or this: Hannity couldn’t have tossed a slower, fatter pitch straight over the plate. And yet she swung three times and still whiffed it.
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The Wages Of Incompetence Is Absolute Failure

Incoming:
In Minnesota, a federal judge told prosecutors from the Trump Department of Justice that she wants to see all of the minutes from the grand jury proceedings to see if grand jurors were given all of the correct information in the case against journalist Don Lemon, who was arrested in January while covering a protest that occurred inside of Cities Church in St. Paul.
No, not just because a judge wants to see the grand jury transcripts, although that strongly indicates a lot of discontent and a dismissal is coming. No, this is the interesting bit:
“Two things to know about the grand jury. One, it's a one-sided process. The only people in the room are the prosecutor, witnesses, grand jurors, and a transcriber," Honig said. "And, two, judges almost never agree to look at the minutes before a trial happens. So, we don't know exactly what the alleged infirmity here is, but 99 times out of 100, judges are going to say, 'The grand jury is not my business.'"

"The fact that the judge is saying, 'I'm going to take a look at those' is a real red light to me," he continued. "And the judge has noted this Justice Department has been found to have violated grand jury procedures in other cases, including in Illinois against anti-ICE protesters. So there's a bit of history here as well."
That "bit of history” is the thin end of the wedge. Incompetence always undoes itself. The true hallmark of Trump 2.0 is Trump and Miller and Vought thinking they know what they’re doing; obviously, they don’t.
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POV

How far out are we from the midterms? Same question. And in the long run, we’re all dead. A 5 year old has a better grasp on how Santa Claus works than this. Except Trump isn’t talking about the state of the nation. Trump only talks about Trump.
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This Is How You Organize An International Embargo

When you have absolutely no fucking idea what you’re doing.
Trump: No one has given the Islamic Republic of Iran a greater opportunity to make a Deal than me. TRAGICALLY, for them, they have failed to take it.

Therefore, today, I am announcing the MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN AGAINST ANY COUNTRY! This will be Economic Warfare and Isolation on an unprecedented scale. Their navy is gone, their air force is destroyed, their military factories are now rubble, their currency is worthless, and their country is hanging by a thread.

Today, I am also announcing that ANY country that allows its financial institutions, businesses, airports, or government entities to provide any type of lifeline to Iran will itself face TREMENDOUS Economic Consequences. Oil smuggling, swap lines, cash transfers, exchange houses, ship registries, front companies — It all needs to stop NOW. You know who you are.

This will be an ECONOMIC D-DAY, and we need all of our Allies to stand with the United States of America to isolate, and defeat, the Iran threat. These maniacs are on the ropes, and these HISTORIC MEASURES will cripple them and their ability to project terror worldwide. IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.
On the same day he announced he was ending tariffs on Canada. Credibility.  TACO. 🌮 

I’m old enough to remember when GHWB formed an international coalition and spent months preparing for the Gulf War. And Shrub built support for his war; and Obama crafted a multinational coalition to constrain Iran from having a nuclear weapon; something Trump has absolutely given up on. And what happened to all those threats to unleash WWII redux? Yeah, that’s what happened to that.

 Economic sanctions? Isn’t that what we’ve had on Russia for years? 

And the same countries Trump has insulted (Spain, South Korea), are supposed to come to his side now? Because they read this tweet? Does Trump even understand it’s the European Union he has to talk to, not European countries?

No matter. He doesn’t know what he’s doing, and he never will. Maybe Congress will finally step up in ‘27.

Maybe. 🤔 
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Absolutely August

If it were standing right now, he’d never go outside again. And his bed and office would be in it. Miracle-Gro sucks. Does Scotts get to put a sign on the lawn? 5-4 is my worst case scenario, although 6-3 wouldn’t surprise me. The Court has historically paid attention to election returns, and I suspect Roberts is hearing footsteps. So, communism is good? We didn’t have tariffs under the USMCA, which Trump negotiated first time around. Apparently that was Biden’s fault. And the Strait of Hormuz was open in February. I’m beginning to see a pattern…. So Trump and his friends can ride out the collapse of the post WWII world order that he ushered in?
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It’s August, Isn’t It?

Ossoff said Trump wants to travel with Natalie on his flying palace. To be fair, Trump did call Ossoff “Pee Wee Herman,” a reference to a character popular in the’80’s. Ossoff was born in ‘87. Yeah, it’s August.
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Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Living In Interesting Times

I’m sure the data being used is absolutely reliable.
Christina Adkins, the state elections director, told county officials the state had reviewed Texas Department of Public Safety records confirming the citizenship of some of the 2,724 registered voters who were flagged as potential noncitizens, according to an audio recording of her comments obtained by Votebeat and The Texas Tribune, as well as election officials who heard them. The voters were flagged after the state checked its voter roll through a federal program called Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, used to verify the citizenship of people registered to vote.
Absolutely. Reliable.
When county clerk Brianna Lennon got an email in November saying a newly expanded federal system had flagged 74 people on the county’s voter roll as potential noncitizens, she was taken aback.

Lennon, who’d run elections in Boone County, Missouri, for seven years, had heard the tool might not be accurate.

The flagged voters’ registration paperwork confirmed Lennon’s suspicions. The form for the second person on the list bore the initials of a member of her staff, who’d helped the man register — at his naturalization ceremony. It later turned out more than half the Boone County voters identified as noncitizens were actually citizens.

A similar situation has been playing out in Texas, where county clerks have likewise found numerous examples of misidentified voters across the state.

The source of the bad data was a Department of Homeland Security tool called the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE.

Once used mostly to check immigrants’ eligibility for public benefits, SAVE has undergone a dramatic expansion over the last year at the behest of President Donald Trump, who has long falsely claimed that millions of noncitizens lurk on state voter rolls, tainting American elections.

At Trump’s direction, DHS has pooled confidential data from across the federal government to enable states to mass-verify voters’ citizenship status using SAVE. Many of the nation’s Republican secretaries of state have eagerly embraced the experiment, agreeing to upload all or part of their rolls.

But an examination of SAVE’s rollout by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune reveals that DHS rushed the revamped tool into use while it was still adding data and before it could discern voters’ most up-to-date citizenship information.

As a result, SAVE has made persistent mistakes, particularly in assessing the status of people born outside the U.S., data gathered from local election administrators, interviews and emails obtained via public records requests show. Some of those people subsequently become U.S. citizens, a step that the system doesn’t always pick up.
Texas has 18,657,918 registered voters. 2,274 were incorrectly identified as noncitizens. Trump says out of 128,000,000 voters, 24,000 were identified as noncitizens. Which is actually a higher failure rate, who must be presumed because we can’t verify his numbers. 

And he thinks the Senate should just accept these numbers and pass the SAVE Act. In a functional government, this would be laughable. Right now we have to rely on the electoral calendar and the lack of interest in this law in the Senate. Where the question is whether it makes it to the floor, and not, will it be filleted in committee. As it should be.
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🦗 On The 🪉

Matthews: They tried to get her to not stay at Bedminster that summer while they were on the campaign trail, because even campaign staff recognized that it was a weird relationship between the two.

So what did Natalie Harp do? She found a workaround. She stayed in the women's locker room all summer long. So I think that it's fair to point out the sycophancy of her in particular, and their close relationship.
Psaki: The reason I asked about Natalie Harp is because it’s kind of raised this question out there. More questions about her. He is surrounded by sycophants, no question. I just talked about that. But you specifically mentioned her, and I just wonder why.

Ossoff: Well, I’ve heard this particular aide referred to as his security blanket. And I think we could say that about any number of the senior aides in the White House. They’re not telling him what he needs to hear. They’re telling him what he wants to hear. And the nation is at war, and we cannot afford that. We need a team in the White House—we need folks at the State Department, at the Defense Department, in the United States Congress who take their jobs seriously.

Those sailors out on the Lincoln, they do their jobs with excellence and dedication every single day. They didn’t sign up for luxury. They signed up to defend the country. And the president, surrounded by enablers in the West Wing, is playing golf, is trading stock, and is decorating his ballroom. It’s a disgrace.
Ossoff: While the sailors on the Lincoln fight his war, while he fruitlessly drains our munitions and oil reserves, the president sleeps through his meetings. He golfs and trades stocks. So he doesn’t want to do the job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the Emir of Qatar.
Which is all that Ossoff said about Harp.

Maggie Haberman called Harp “the human binkie.” The response to that? 🦗🦗🦗🦗
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🛢️🛢️🛢️🫥

DOE, November 28, 2024:
The U.S. Department of Energy today announced that 200 million barrels of crude oil have been delivered, contracted at a good deal for taxpayers, an average price of $74.75. following the closure of the most recent solicitation to acquire 2.4 million barrels of crude oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). This aggressive buyback strategy has resulted in the purchase of 20 million barrels more than the 180 million barrels sold under the emergency declaration authorized by President Biden in 2022 following the unpreceded Russian invasion of Ukraine.

To date, DOE has directly purchased 59 million barrels of oil for the SPR at an average price of under $76 per barrel. This is about $20 per barrel lower than the $95 average sales price for 2022’s emergency sales. In addition, DOE secured 140 million barrels by working with Congress to cancel mandated sales between FY24 and FY26, at approximately $74 a barrel. Together, this brings the total oil purchased or retained in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) since 2022 to nearly 200 million barrels.
In other words, Biden put more oil in the SPR than he released from it.

Today:
Crude oil stocks in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell by about 5.3 million barrels last week to their lowest level since 1982, government data showed Monday.

The reserve contained 293.4 million barrels of crude oil as of Aug. 14, down from 298.7 million barrels a week earlier, according to US Department of Energy data.

The latest total comprised 100.9 million barrels of sweet crude and 192.5 million barrels of sour crude, the data showed.

Historical data from the US Energy Information Administration showed that the reserve last held less oil in December 1982.
In January, 2025, the SPR had approximately 395 million barrels.  I’m trying to figure out how the Biden Administration got hold of over 100 billion barrels of oil from the SPR after Trump took office.
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Speaking Of Gas Prices

(Yes, I know they aren’t standard gasoline engines. But they aren’t electric cars, either. And how is this of any importance to anyone outside of D.C.? Most if whom may just be annoyed by the noise.))
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Be Careful What You Ask For

 You might get it:

The lawsuit was supposed to be another exercise in the familiar Trumpian playbook: File a claim, demand an astronomical sum, bury the target in legal expenses, force a humiliating settlement that gets marketed as a political win. That strategy has worked before. In 2024, ABC News agreed to pay $15 million after network anchor George Stephanopoulos inaccurately said Trump had been found liable for rape. Paramount later paid more than $24 million over CBS News’ handling of an interview with Vice President Kamala Harris that took place during the 2024 presidential race. With that track record, Trump had every reason to expect the BBC to fold in the same way.

He miscalculated badly. As a public service corporation, the BBC operates under a royal charter that explicitly bars it from entering into out-of-court financial settlements to make litigation disappear. It cannot cut a check to sweep away Trump’s claims. The corporation is legally bound to fight until a verdict is reached — or until Trump himself gives up. And its defense team, anchored by the First Amendment firm Ballard Spahr, has used that obligation to go straight at the people closest to Trump on Jan. 6.
Oops.  (Paramount and ABC also had regulatory/DOJ reasons to settle. But no one’s ever accused Trump of being too bright for his own good. )

Maybe you have to be a lawyer to appreciate this, but it’s a perfect example of why lawsuits are not superpowers or secret weapons, and why Roy Cohn wasn’t really that bright, or, in the end, a good example.

The BBC has asked for alternative service on Jared and Ivanka; odds are they get it. And shortly thereafter, Trump drops this suit. Being the biggest asshole in the courthouse is not always the golden ticket.
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When Comedy Becomes Reality

“‘The autonomy of the Office of the Attorney General is paramount, and I will defend it against any act, statute, ordinance, or even basic common-law principle,’ said Blanche, emphasizing that no federal law or constitutional restriction would have any influence whatsoever upon his investigations, prosecutions, or other official actions.”
Black comedy. Trump considers these posts official, am I right?

He doesn’t even have a schoolboy’s understanding of what “territory” means. But I’m sure this will distract everyone from inflation and the price of gas.⛽️ 
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“From Tariffs To War”

 This looks bad. Is this bad?

Bond markets are entering an era where the inflation and interest rate outlook is ‌more uncertain and the upside risks are greater, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies — from tariffs to war — upend the global order.

Debt levels in developed countries are reaching levels that look increasingly unsustainable, with the U.S. debt pile nearing $40 trillion. The war in Iran is dragging on, pushing up oil prices and inflation and hitting global growth.

In addition, massive borrowing by technology companies to fund a buildout of artificial intelligence infrastructure is competing with demand for government bonds.

Taken together, that means the post-financial crisis period of low rates ​and subdued inflation might be behind us, said Kjersti Haugland, chief economist at investment bank DNB Carnegie.

"It coincides with the very high level of government debt in many countries, particularly Japan, the U.S., ​France and the UK," she said.

Thirty-year bond yields in the United States, the world's deepest and most systemically crucial government bond market, hit their highest since 2007 as oil prices rose ⁠back above $90, fanning inflation worries as U.S.-Iran peace hopes faded.

In Japan, inflation angst and expectations that Japan could hike interest rates as early as September pushed 10-year borrowing costs to a three-decade high just under 3%.

In Europe, Germany's ​10-year Bund yield touched its highest since 2011 , French yields were at their highest since 2008 and Britain's 30-year borrowing costs neared peaks hit in May that marked the highest levels since 1998. When a bond's yield rises, ​its price falls.
Yup, it is bad.
The selloff in government bond markets matters because the repercussions ripple through economies. Sovereign debt sets the benchmark for borrowing costs for companies and other loans, including household mortgages.
When elephants fight, the grass gets trampled.
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“That's not all life tenure and zero accountability have produced lately. But it's enough.”

This is an interesting case that examines the authority of rules of evidence, and rules of procedure. It’s a case from the Hawai’i Supreme Court voiding a rape conviction from 1990 which rested on “CSI” type evidence that was not, in fact, valid evidence. (“CSI” wasn’t a thing in 1990, but most of us recognize the reference today.  In the 1960’s it was the FBI whose word was as sound as the gospel, thanks largely to Ford and Efren Zimbalist, Jr. Now CSI is the word of God. But as this case illustrates, it ain’t that simple.)

To state it plainly, an FBI expert testified at trial that hair and fiber samples taken from the clothing of the rape victim, matched samples from the accused himself, and the car where the rape allegedly took place. The problem arose in 2009, when a study of how such materials were analyzed found that, at best, they could be identified only as classes of material, but not as  material obtained from a specific source (rather than general sources).  This is where the rules of evidence enter the chat.

Courts run on two primary sets of rules which determine the application of laws and even constitutional provisions to cases. One set is procedural; how cases and appeals are conducted.  These are designed to insure justice, but also to promote judicial economy and even closure. Cases must come to conclusions. Endless appeals just for the sake of appeal are a waste of resources and punitive to some party’s interests. See, e.g., Trump’s continuous appeals of E.Jean Carroll’s judgements against him. In the defamation case, those appeals are now ended. Procedure prevails over petulance. A rare case proving clearly the value of such rules. In most cases, it’s not that simple.

The other set of rules are the rules of evidence. These are even more important to justice than the rules of procedure. “Change the facts, change the outcome,” is a basic principle of American law. Rules of evidence don’t determine the facts; the trial court does that (another matter for the rules of procedure). Rules of evidence determine what facts can be considered by the trier of fact. The Hawai’i Supreme Court holds that scientific evidence like hair and fiber analysis which can be shown, even 40 years later, to be an unscientific analysis, voids a criminal conviction. The act of voiding the conviction is a procedural matter. The determination that such “evidence” is not evidence, rests in applying the rules of evidence.

There’s an interesting parallel here to the “presumption of regularity” which is currently being shredded by the federal courts. The presumption is that the DOJ is professional and competent and sound, and its representations can be accepted as valid, absent strong contrary evidence. I would not argue that was ever an unalloyed good, but it was reality. Comparably, judges are not scientists. Under the general (there are federal rules, and each state has their own) rules of evidence, scientific analysis, once proven in court and accepted there, remains presumptively valid until strong contrary evidence is presented. In this case, the Hawai’i Supreme Court took judicial notice of that contrary evidence. Another procedural matter that I won’t belabor here.

The court ruled that the evidence presented in 1990 was not admissible, because it wasn’t scientifically valid. It was thought to be then, but the court holds that later proof it was invalid, means it was never admissible. Which is an evidentiary and procedural holding. Sometimes the two work to see justice done, however belatedly.

The court gets into a long, and valuable, discussion about “false evidence” v. newly found evidence. Again, a procedural issue. Courts cannot allow constant appeals based solely on “new evidence” claims. No case would ever be final, no court judgement trustworthy. But “false evidence,” the Hawai’i court holds, raises due process issues, and that is more fundamental than procedural issues. Failure to follow procedure can cost you a chance to appeal. New evidence can be denied review based on procedural grounds. Due process is more fundamental; the court must follow due process, or invalidate its own proceedings. The Hawai’i court rests its conclusion on U.S. Supreme Court decisions. and the Hawai’i constitution. Here’s an example of how the court puts it:
In contrast, court rules create the new evidence standard. HRPP Rule 40 reflects prudential concerns about when post-conviction relief is appropriate. The due diligence requirement and probability-of-different-outcome standard promote finality and deter “sandbagging,” the strategic withholding of evidence at trial only to raise it later. See McNulty, 60 Haw. at 268, 588 P.2d at 445 (“the composite knowledge of both the accused and his counsel will be considered” to determine whether the defendant diligently tried to locate the evidence); Eason v. State, 157 Hawai'i 252, 267, 576 P.3d 765, 780 (2025) (Rule 40’s limitations on post-conviction relief “provid[e] a balanced approach to post-convictions proceedings that maintain the integrity of criminal convictions while also comporting with constitutional due process requirements.”) (quoting Judiciary, Testimony to House Committee on Judiciary on S.B. 2, Proposed H.D. 1, 30th Leg., Reg. Sess. (Mar. 27, 2019)).

But these are not constitutional commands. They are judge-made rules that address prudential concerns appropriate only for discrete circumstances.

Newly discovered evidence is a prudential doctrine. False evidence is a constitutional violation. When the government obtains a conviction using false evidence, the conviction offends due process. Stone, 147 Hawai'i at 271, 465 P.3d at 718. Constitutional protections require applying the false evidence standard rather than McNulty’s prudential rule.
And a quick excerpt of how the state constitution controls in this case:
Granillo is not less wrongly convicted because everyone in 1990 acted in good faith. He sits in prison on testimony the science no longer supports. Good faith describes the lawyers. It does not describe the defendant's plight. A standard that requires fault before relief leaves them without a remedy. Article I, section 5 exists for cases like this one.
None of this is why anyone outside Hawai’i is paying attention to this case. And what I’ve quoted is the majority distinguishing the reasoning of the concurrence from the majority opinion. Which is the context for this blistering assault on the Roberts Court.
The concurring opinion looks outside Hawai'i for support. To a concurrence in Ex Parte Warner cautioning against side-stepping prosecutorial knowledge. 721 S.W.3d 436, 445 (Tex. Crim. App. 2025) (Finley, J., concurring). Warner is one judge's separate writing on a denied habeas petition. It binds no one. Not even in Texas. And the federal due process doctrine that animates it cannot tell this court how to read article I, section 5.

We are not side-stepping anything. We are doing what state constitutionalism asks us to do. Stand our ground.

The concurrence seizes on the federal precedent the Texas court's concurring judge cited. The United States Supreme Court has “never held that an unknowing use of false evidence violates due process,” that judge wrote. Warner, 721 S.W.3d at 443 (Finley, J., concurring). The concurrence also cites Glossip v. Oklahoma, 604 U.S. 226, 145 S.Ct. 612, 221 L.Ed.2d 90 (2025), as confirming a knowledge requirement. But Glossip addressed a knowing-use case. It involved a prosecutor who knew. Id. at 228, 145 S.Ct. 612. It did not confront what shakes out when an entire branch of forensic science collapses.

That statement is not a boundary. Glossip described the precedent as it stood. It did not shut the door on cases like this one.

The concurrence's insistence that the prosecution's knowledge concession in Butler counsels adoption of Stone in this context, like its reliance on Glossip, ultimately depends on the premise that federal constitutional doctrine controls this court's interpretation of article I, section 5. It does not.

We interpret the Hawai'i Constitution on its own terms. The United State Supreme Court's construction of the federal Due Process Clause does not define the protections of our state's due process clause. This court “reason[s] independently, untethered from the Supreme Court's analysis of the United States Constitution.” State v. Wilson, 154 Hawai'i 8, 14, 543 P.3d 440, 446 (2024).

The Court that now defines federal due process does not honor the work of 1954. It revives the work of 1857. The work of 1896. The Constitution must be interpreted “according to its true intent and meaning when it was adopted.” Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393, 405, 19 How. 393, 15 L.Ed. 691 (1857).

Today's hubristic originalists use the same method to control modern life. See City & Cnty. of Honolulu v. Sunoco LP, 153 Hawai'i 326, 361, 537 P.3d 1173, 1208 (2023) (Eddins, J., concurring) (“A justice's personal values and ideas about the very old days suddenly control the lives of present and future generations.”).

The Court overrides what Congress passed. It overrides what the people chose. All to serve its own ends.

What this Court has done to constitutional rights, democratic institutions, and the rule of law explains why Hawai'i's Constitution takes no instruction from it.

Article I, section 5 provides versatile and sovereign protection. This court does not anchor Hawai'i's due process rights to the federal floor. Especially one that keeps sinking.

We take no guidance on the meaning of due process from a court that gutted due process protections in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Org., 597 U.S. 215, 142 S.Ct. 2228, 213 L.Ed.2d 545 (2022). Zuffante called it straight. Dobbs erased a “generations-long constitutional right, stripping autonomy from half the population, and empowering states to force birth.” State v. Zuffante, 157 Hawai'i 194, 200, 576 P.3d 243, 249 (2025).

Article I, section 5 does not import that results-driven approach to due process. We follow principles, not agendas.

The Supreme Court's imperious ideology does not stop at due process. The same jurisprudence has cratered democracy itself. Start with the Voting Rights Act.

The Roberts Court did what Congress never would. It rewrote the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a cornerstone of American civil rights, democratically enacted and repeatedly reauthorized. Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 529, 133 S.Ct. 2612, 186 L.Ed.2d 651 (2013), began the judicial demolition, inventing a textually unsupported equal-sovereignty fiction and striking down preclearance on a hunch that the law worked too well. Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, 594 U.S. 647, 141 S.Ct. 2321, 210 L.Ed.2d 753 (2021), fabricated “guideposts” nowhere in Section 2 to greenlight racial discrimination in voting. Louisiana v. Callais, 608 U.S. ––––, 146 S. Ct. 1131, ––– L.Ed.2d –––– (Apr. 29, 2026), buried what remained of the crown jewel of the civil rights movement. Pretend law for a real statute.

The Court then ditched its own thirty-two day default for releasing decisions and hustled out its judgment mid-primary, a favor granted over objection only twice in twenty-five years. Callais v. Louisiana, 608 U.S. ––––, 146 S. Ct. 1111, 1113, ––– L.Ed.2d –––– (May 4, 2026) (Jackson, J., dissenting). Weeks later, on its shadow docket, the Court tossed an eleven-day trial record built on fifty-one witnesses, 790 exhibits, 2,600 pages of testimony, and a 270-page opinion by a three-judge court. See Singleton v. Allen, 782 F. Supp. 3d 1092, 1115, 1355 (N.D. Ala. 2025). It resurrected a tainted congressional map the three-judge factfinders found deliberately entrenched racial bias against Black voters. Allen v. Milligan, 608 U.S. ––––, 146 S. Ct. 1377, ––– L.Ed.2d –––– (June 2, 2026); see also Hilo Bay Marina, LLC v. State, 156 Hawai'i 478, 516, 575 P.3d 568, 606 (2025) (The “Court's frequent misrepresentation of the factual record and its throw-judges-under-the-bus disdain for district courts, the fact-finders of the federal judiciary, harm the justice system.”).

The Roberts Court sees only white. It refuses to acknowledge who the Equal Protection Clause was written to protect. The freed people, their descendants, and all others denied equal citizenship. U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1. It turns its back on what is in plain sight. The Fourteenth Amendment is not colorblind. It never was.

The Court calls the Constitution colorblind while engineering the dilution of Black votes, the unraveling of hard-fought civil rights remedies, and the erasure of Black history. That is not blindness. That is white sight, by design.

A Constitution interpreted this way is not colorblind. It is whatever the Court needs it to be. A way to advance its partisan project. The damage to democracy extends beyond the Voting Rights Act.

In Citizens United v. Fed. Election Comm'n, 558 U.S. 310, 130 S.Ct. 876, 175 L.Ed.2d 753 (2010), the Court claimed fidelity to text, history, and tradition while invalidating yet another democratically vetted law, handing corporations the same speech rights as flesh-and-blood Americans and letting dollars talk louder than voters. See Sunoco, 153 Hawai'i at 362, 537 P.3d at 1209 (Eddins, J., concurring) (originalism applies selectively and vanishes inconveniently); Leo E. Strine, Jr. & Nicholas Walter, Originalist or Original: The Difficulties of Reconciling Citizens United with Corporate Law History, 91 Notre Dame L. Rev. 877 (2016) (Citizens United cannot be reconciled with corporate law history).

Other decisions followed. The Court abandoned partisan gerrymandering to the gerrymanderers, refusing for the first time to remedy a constitutional violation because it believed the task beyond judicial competence. Rucho v. Common Cause, 588 U.S. 684, 139 S.Ct. 2484, 204 L.Ed.2d 931 (2019); see id. at 721, 139 S.Ct. 2484 (Kagan, J., dissenting). It placed a president above the law. Trump v. United States, 603 U.S. 593, 144 S.Ct. 2312, 219 L.Ed.2d 991 (2024).

Last month, Nat'l Republican Senatorial Comm. v. Fed. Election Comm'n, 609 U.S. ––––, ––– S.Ct. ––––, ––– L.Ed.2d –––– (June 30, 2026), made Citizens United look quaint, shredding coordinated spending limits Congress had enacted, and ensuring that those who bankroll elections drown out the ordinary person. Billionaires spend to be repaid. Everyone else just votes. The Roberts Court has made sure one's wealth counts more than another's vote.

Rulings run in one direction, time after time. Weakening protections for those with less power. Fortifying those with more. The pattern speaks for itself. A court that systematically dismantles democratic safeguards, steamrolls constitutional liberties, and tramples human dignity does not chart the course for the Hawai'i Constitution.

Our constitutional system was designed for times like these. Federalism is not a formality. It is the architecture. The framers built dual sovereignty into the structure of American government as an independent check against concentrated federal power. A Supreme Court driven by agenda and intent on swiping power that belongs to the people is exactly what that check was built for.

When six justices walk away from those they are supposed to protect, state constitutions hold the line. That is not defiance. That is the design.

State constitutionalism makes it easy to consider Roberts Court jurisprudence “white noise.” See Hilo Bay Marina, 156 Hawai'i at 518, 575 P.3d at 608.

Add it all up. Draining due process. Rolling back voting rights. Flooding elections with money. Rubber-stamping gerrymandering. Crowning a president. Blessing discrimination in the name of the Constitution. Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, Pa., 593 U.S. 522, 141 S.Ct. 1868, 210 L.Ed.2d 137 (2021); 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, 600 U.S. 570, 143 S.Ct. 2298, 216 L.Ed.2d 1131 (2023). Looking at naked racism and seeing none of it. Mullin v. Doe, 609 U.S. ––––, ––– S.Ct. ––––, ––– L.Ed.2d –––– (June 25, 2026) (racist words not “overtly racial”). Making the country more dangerous with a Second Amendment unmoored from text or history and unrecognizable to the framers who wrote it. New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass'n, Inc. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1, 142 S.Ct. 2111, 213 L.Ed.2d 387 (2022); Wilson, 154 Hawai'i at 22, 543 P.3d at 454 (“disabl[ing] the states’ responsibility to protect public safety, reduce gun violence, and safeguard peaceful public movement” with its deadly jurisprudence). Then striking down a careful law and showing disdain for Hawai'i's constitutional traditions. Wolford v. Lopez, 609 U.S. ––––, ––– S.Ct. ––––, ––– L.Ed.2d –––– (June 25, 2026).

Subverting congressional choices with a homemade “major questions” power grab that plays “get-out-of-text-free cards” to block agencies from doing what Congress told them to do. West Virginia v. Env't Prot. Agency, 597 U.S. 697, 779, 142 S.Ct. 2587, 213 L.Ed.2d 896 (2022) (Kagan, J., dissenting). Then commandeering the interpretive authority Congress gave federal agencies, overruling Chevron after forty years because, to this particular Court, precedent is advisory. Loper Bright Enters. v. Raimondo, 603 U.S. 369, 144 S.Ct. 2244, 219 L.Ed.2d 832 (2024).

This term, transmuting federal spending programs into private contracts, the Court forged the Spending Clause to “reduce[ ] some of Congress's greatest legislative achievements.” Landor v. Louisiana Dep't of Corr. & Pub. Safety, 609 U.S. ––––, 146 S.Ct. 1931, ––– L.Ed.2d –––– (June 23, 2026) (Jackson, J., dissenting). Days later, it freed the President to fire at will the very commissioners a law shielded from removal, discarding a unanimous opinion, Humphrey's Executor, on a cherry-picked slice of history - a century of settled practice recast as a mistake, competent governance sacrificed to the partisan cause. Trump v. Slaughter, 609 U.S. ––––, ––– S.Ct. ––––, ––– L.Ed.2d –––– (June 29, 2026). The next morning, fair-weather textualists – living constitution originalists, really - deserted the text and our nation's history the moment it promised citizenship, one vote from writing that right out of the Constitution. Trump v. Barbara, 609 U.S. ––––, ––– S.Ct. ––––, ––– L.Ed.2d –––– (June 30, 2026).

That's not all life tenure and zero accountability have produced lately. But it's enough.

Article I, section 5 needs no part of this. The Hawai'i Constitution was built to stand on its own. And so it does.
I pause to note the latest print issue of “The New Yorker” has an article about the Roberts court, which features the Chief Justice demurring that the justices get along very well. Which isn’t exactly the thrust of the criticism of his court; especially not here.

I have to say I appreciate the analysis, even as I question its place in a judicial opinion. It’s a sound critique, IMHLO, but the Voting Rights Act and Citizens United and Dobbs don’t really have anything to do with the legal issues in this case. They don’t even challenge the court’s interpretation of the Hawai’ian constitution.

OTOH, sometimes the soap box you have, is the one you have to use. As this case illustrates, there are rules of procedure, and rules of evidence, and constitutional requirements. And there is a principle of stare decisis that is as fundamental to the legal system as due process, procedure, and evidentiary rules. Those should shift slowly, as necessary, to be sure justice is not bending to convenience. This opinion makes a very good argument for that position, at a time when we need it.  Life time tenure and zero accountability do, indeed, breed a contempt for the law, and for justice. But when you start with racists who see only white….
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Monday, August 17, 2026

Sorry To Harp On The Human Binkie

Psaki: The reason I asked about Natalie Harp is because it’s kind of raised this question out there. More questions about her. He is surrounded by sycophants, no question. I just talked about that. But you specifically mentioned her, and I just wonder why.

Ossoff: Well, I’ve heard this particular aide referred to as his security blanket. And I think we could say that about any number of the senior aides in the White House. They’re not telling him what he needs to hear. They’re telling him what he wants to hear. And the nation is at war, and we cannot afford that. We need a team in the White House—we need folks at the State Department, at the Defense Department, in the United States Congress who take their jobs seriously.

Those sailors out on the Lincoln, they do their jobs with excellence and dedication every single day. They didn’t sign up for luxury. They signed up to defend the country. And the president, surrounded by enablers in the West Wing, is playing golf, is trading stock, and is decorating his ballroom. It’s a disgrace.
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Sliding Down The Razor Blade Into The Vat Of Alcohol Since 1980

Ever notice the people who used to praise St. Ronnie (one more thing I guess Trump ruined) effusively were all affluent (at least) white men?

Of course, if they decided now to see the obvious, it would probably kill them.
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If One Could Die Laughing

😹😹😹😹 Narrator: Trump has no idea what “territory” means.  No more than a five year old would.
Trump: South Korea has been protected by us for many, many years. When I called recently, the president of South Korea and I said, “Would you like to give us a little hand?” We don’t need help with Iran, but if you’d like, give us a hand with Iran. He said, “No, thanks.” And I said, “Wait a minute. We have 39,000 soldiers over there guarding you from Kim Jong-un, your next door…”

We can't go around and protect all of these countries, especially when they're not there to help us.
(The White House was completely gutted under Truman and rebuilt within the shell. “Lincoln Bedroom” is no more Lincoln’s former room than MLK Boulevard” in many cities in the country is King’s former roadway.)

Sure. Let’s bring in the pool and answer every question. That’ll work!

😹😹😹😹


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The Military Industrial Complex Ike Warned Us About

FDR didn’t build the Pentagon as a military center. That was supposed to be temporary. Its real purpose was to house government records.

Then Korea followed WWII, and lit the match for the Cold War. 

And yes, the greatest fear of the nuclear buildup of that “war” was that we were building them to use them. Mast may think he’s limiting the word “stockpiles,” but even if he does, it doesn’t mean we can restock them by Christmas.

And why do we have a standing military we pay billions for if it runs out of munitions this fast? Maybe because ETTD?
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Blinks First?

 Trump blinks more than an Aldis lamp.

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Sunday, August 16, 2026

No Notes

💯 
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You Go First

 Uh-huh.

Given the growth of election denialism and conspiracy theories since 2020, we are likely to see some officials attempt to use refusal to certify to delay the conclusion of the 2026 election if they disagree with the results. Refusing to certify accomplishes two things for election conspiracists, even if refusal is ultimately unsuccessful. First, it amplifies election conspiracy theories and further undermines public confidence in our election system. Second, it can lead to delays in the post-election process, particularly if state officials and candidates aren’t prepared to respond quickly.

That’s why those who refuse to certify or attempt to delay should be met with an immediate response. Accountability not only increases the likelihood of the current results at issue being certified in a timely manner, it also works as a deterrent to help prevent future threats to certification.

State officials and courts should step in when certification is threatened. It’s important to note that the requirement to certify by the legal deadline generally applies even when there are questions about the conduct of the election or the validity of certain ballots — state law provides mechanisms for candidates, officials, or voters to challenge the election’s administration or results.

Because it’s a ministerial duty, election certification can be compelled by a court, which is a way to ensure these disputes are resolved quickly. Attempts to halt the certification of an election are therefore highly likely to fail, and may result in some sort of civil or criminal penalty for those who obstruct the process.
And all Biggs would do is threaten the representation of the people of Arizona in Congress. Real popular position to take.  It doesn’t really mean anything for the country. It would mean a lot to Arizona.
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But Trump Gets Along Well With Kim And Xi

NORTHCOM Deputy Commander Lt. Gen. Joseph Jarrard issues a stark warning about the growing threat to the U.S. homeland:

“North Koreans have successfully flight tested ICBMs with enough boost to deliver a nuclear payload anywhere in North America.”

Jarrard also warned that China and Russia are rapidly developing advanced weapons designed to evade U.S. defenses, concluding: “The threats to North America are real and persistent, and they radiate from every point of the compass.”
NORTHCOM Deputy Commander Army Lt. Gen. Joseph Jarrard says the U.S. is UNABLE to defend against an attack by a swarm of drones on U.S. soil:

"We don't have the sensors, and depending on where that swarm is going to attack, it depends on whether we have any sensors at all, and also on whether we've got any effectors to go after that problem. So we are ill-equipped right now to handle something like that, and obviously we've seen it used. We're seeing it used on a daily basis around the world, and we've got to figure out how to mitigate that threat, but we're not there yet."
But Trump will have a ballroom to hide in, so it’s all good.
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Shout It From The Mountaintops

Trump allies himself with totalitarian dictator Kim Jong Un against South Korea: “Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, I am not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate in Joint Military Exercises with South Korea. These exercises are not only costly, with much of these costs paid for by the United States of America (as usual!), but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful … While somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, ‘No thanks!’”
I thought we were trying to lay claim to the Strait of Hormuz. Let the people say: “AMEN!”
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Naked Emperor Perorates On The Finery Of His Attire

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