Thursday, September 23, 2021

The Best And The Brightest

And, too, also: The context is the 27 page criminal complaint against Michael Sussman which Popehat, a former AUSA (federal prosecutor, IOW) said should have been 1 paragraph, since the rest is completely extraneous.  Quoted there is Taibbi's response which doesn't just assume "relevant" equals "admissable evidence in court," but that "relevant" means "solid evidence of the crime."

Often pleadings are filled with what the filing lawyer hopes will be grounds to support the claim when the case finally gets to trial.  Things not plead cannot be raised then.  "Relevance" is not even a concern.  The usual approach is "throw it against the wall and see what sticks," because you don't want to get to trial and get a whole line of evidence and argument tossed because it wasn't in the pleadings. It can also lead to what Popehat identifies in the Durham filing:  trying to make a mountain out of a molehill by piling up as much extraneous dirt as you can.

The simple fact is, just like "admissibility" (of evidence), "relevance" is decided by the judge.  Pleadings make claims.  They don't end the discussion; they barely even start it.  I know you have to be a lawyer to understand that fully; but this is why you don't argue something you don't understand.

Sorta like Kayleigh MeEnany did.  Then again, Republicans seems particularly bad with the concept of calendars:

During an appearance on C-SPAN's Washington Journal program, Smith complained about the size of Biden's budget.

"If they pass this reconciliation bill of $4.3 trillion, if you just talk about the new spending that they've passed in the last 18 months, in order to pay just for the new spending, that's not counting to fund government, the new spending since they've been in power in the last 18 months if they enact this, you couldn't -- it would take the entire taxpayer annual wages of all Americans," Smith explained.

Democrats have controlled the White House and Congress since January, 2021.

Maybe it has something to do with being a Republican.  Or just being a fool.  But I repeat myself.
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1 comment:

  1. The Thought Criminal6:26 AM

    Matt Taibbi must have drunk the punch Glenn Greenwald gave him. I have to wonder how this relates to how so many of the self-regarding authentic lefties always seem to end up on the same side as Republican-fascists in their hatred of Democrats, one of the more enduring habits of the Marxist and vaguely Marxist friendly leftists, the results are their most enduring impact on American history. Why, as I've studied the American left in more depth I have grown to despise it, their effect has so empowered gangsters and other fascists.

    It's too bad, he used to do some valuable work, something you can't really say about Greenwald and his ilk. Apparently any habits of careful journalism are in his past, too.

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