Thursday, August 29, 2024

"Hollowed" Ground

The US Army issued a stark rebuke of former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign over the incident on Monday at Arlington National Cemetery, saying in a statement on Thursday that participants in the ceremony “were made aware of federal laws” regarding political activity at the cemetery, and “abruptly pushed aside” an employee of the cemetery.

“Participants in the August 26th ceremony and the subsequent Section 60 visit were made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and DoD policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds. An ANC employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside,” the Army spokesperson said in the statement on Thursday.

“This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked. ANC is a national shrine to the honored dead of the Armed Forces, and its dedicated staff will continue to ensure public ceremonies are conducted with the dignity and respect the nation’s fallen deserve,” the statement said. 

The Army spokesperson said while the incident was reported to the police department at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, the employee in question “decided not to press charges” so the Army “considers this matter closed.”

We're fair and balanced here, so the lying weasels get their say, too:

Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung disputed claims of a physical altercation, but said an unnamed individual decided to “physically block members of President Trump’s team during a very solemn ceremony.” Cheung suggested that Trump’s team has video to back up the claim.

Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita shared a similar account with CNN, saying in a statement that “President Trump was there on the invitation of the Abbey Gate Gold Star Families to honor their loved ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country.”

“For a despicable individual to physically prevent President Trump’s team from accompanying him to this solemn event is a disgrace and does not deserve to represent the hollowed [sic] grounds of Arlington National Cemetery. Whoever this individual is spreading these lies are dishonoring the men and women of our armed forces, and they are disrespecting everyone who paid the price for defending our country,” LaCivita continued. 

Yes, Civita did say "hollowed" in his press release.  There's a whole twitter thread (of course!) chasing down the news outlets who repeated that error verbatim, v. the ones (hem hem NYT hem hem) who silently corrected it.  Another rabbit hole, truthfully.  The truth is the campaign is a reflection of the candidate, who is not fit to associate with decent people, or indeed be let out in public.

I actually love the stupidity of La Civita in this one: 

The campaign has been complaining that Harris is treating Trump like the incumbent (political jiu-jitsu is fun until it's used on you!).  But here La Civita literally states Trump is more C in C than Biden or Harris.  So is Trump the de facto incumbent, or not? (And yes, considering how many times Trump avoided attending funerals/memorials/even arrival of caskets after he showed up once and the father of the dead soldier berated Trump, whose delicate fee fees would not brook another such incident!, this is all a bit too much anyway.)  Trump literally wouldn't be there if he knew people grieving might approach him with their opinions of him.  Or it if was raining; lightly misting, even.

Wait a minute, it only gets better.  This is per WaPo (via Raw Story):

"Officials said they wanted to respect the wishes of grieving family members who wanted Trump there, but at the same time were wary of Trump’s record of politicizing the military. So they laid out ground rules they hoped would wall off politics from the final resting place of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their nation."

Trump's team was told he could attend only in his personal capacity and that campaign staff members were not allowed. Some of his top campaign staffers reportedly attended Monday's event despite the rules set by cemetery officials. Also in attendance were several Republican politicians, including Governor Spencer Cox of Utah, now under fire for using a photo of the event in a re-election campaign fundraising email.

"No hats, signs or banners were allowed, according to military officials," The Post also reported. "No speeches. Reporters and photographers could follow Trump for a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns, but not to the 14-acre plot where veterans from recent wars are buried, known as Section 60. The media was kept away, unable to see the altercation — or anything else, for that matter — during that part of his visit."

That "altercation," reportedly involved a cemetery official who later filed a report stating Trump's team verbally and physically assaulted her, according to multiple reports. She has said she is unwilling to press charges out of fear of retaliation from Trump's supporters, according to The New York Times. The Trump campaign denies the allegations while campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told The Times the reason for her decision to refuse to press charges “is ridiculous and sounds like someone who has Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

The cemetery "employee tried to enforce the rules as provided to her by blocking Trump’s team from bringing cameras to the graves of U.S. service members killed in recent years, according to a senior defense official and another person briefed on the incident," The Post adds. "A larger male campaign aide insisted the camera was allowed and pushed past the cemetery employee, leaving her shocked."

The Daily Caller reports Monday's event "would have not happened without Speaker Johnson,” according to an unnamed source.

"Speaker of the House Mike Johnson had to intervene to get former President Donald Trump into Arlington National Cemetery for the third anniversary of the Afghanistan withdrawal with Gold Star families, a family told the Daily Caller," according to the right-wing website. [emphasis added]

La Civita's posting of language giving Trump permission to bring photographers and videographers was clearly misleading, at best.  His assertion the video vindicates his version of the story is now even more significant.  And Speaker Johnson has been sucked into it.  This just gets better!

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Kind Of Getting Through?

That tweet is notable (to me) because Maggie Haberman retweeted it.  And on CNN:

"You say that Donald Trump was a candidate of stability. Why was Donald Trump over the last 36 hours on his social media re-posting slogans from QAnon and reposting misogynistic, sexist content about Vice President Harris?"

[Karoline] Leavitt [Trump's national press secretary] argued that CNN's viewers were not concerned about social media posts, but were instead worried about reports of crime by undocumented migrants and gas prices but Berman pressed on, asking if she knew why Trump had posted sexually demeaning comments about Harris and Hillary Clinton.

"Karoline, Karoline – do you know why he posted that?" Berman asked. "Do you know why he reposted that content?"

Leavitt paused for a moment and said the same thing that campaign senior aide Jason Miller told CNN's Kasie Hunt earlier Thursday, saying she hadn't had a chance to speak to the former president since he shared the lewd post. She then piled on a series of attacks on Harris before the host took up the question yet again.

"I do want to ask you again, the social media content reposted by the Republican nominee in the last 36 hours, how do you explain it?" Berman said. "How do you explain why he is reposting content from QAnon and this misogynist content?"

Leavitt argued that the unconnected murders of three women by migrants were more demeaning than Trump's social media activity, but Berman said voters can care about multiple issues at once — and pressed again for an explanation.

"When there's content being reposted that uses QAnon slogans and when there are these sexist, misogynistic posts, it's interesting to me that you can't, you're not – you don't think they're bad," he said. "You have no problem with them."

ICYMI (and only because of that), this is what Berman is talking about:
I don't mind watching Trump people trying to defend the indefensible.  I enjoy it even more when journalists make them try.
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Wednesday, August 28, 2024

Now I'm Wondering...

The woman on the far left has a phantom hand on her waist. Equally, where the hell is Trump's left arm? He doesn't even seem to have a left hand dangling.

Did Team Trump cobble this fucking picture together?  Reality wasn't grotesque enough for them?

Look at the top of the gravestone she's standing in front of, too.

And the gap between her and the woman to Trump's right is a gray-blue blur.  The man standing behind them has no legs; there is only the blur.  Somebody crudely edited this picture, for reasons I don't understand. In the grand scheme of things it means the least about this offensive activity; but why did somebody do this?

Inquiring minds want to know.
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Dear JD Vance: Fuck You

"The other thing our veterans care a lot more about is that three years ago, 13 brave, innocent Americans died, and they died because Kamala Harris refused to do her job, and there hasn't been a single investigation, or a single firing," he said. "Look, sometimes mistakes happen, that's just the nature of government, the nature of military service. But to have those 13 Americans lose their lives, and not fire a single person is disgraceful. Kamala Harris is disgraceful."

"You want to tell a story about those 13 Americans who lost their lives, it's that Kamala Harris is so asleep at the wheel that she won't even do an investigation into what happened, and she wants to yell at Donald Trump because he showed up? She can go to hell!" Vance continued.

By the way, asshole:

Proud of yourself, Marine? Hit dog hollers, huh, Vance? You piece of shit.
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Still Digging

Now, wait a minute: And there was an ad: And "emotional support" is grinning like a loon and giving a "thumbs up" over a grave? I'd hate to see when Trump was campaigning. 

So, Vance, you were saying....
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First Rule Of Holes

Yell at everybody walking by and say "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKIN' AT???!!!!????" Second best response:  "WHO YOU CALLIN' 'WEIRD'???" I love the talk of "normal people" when discussion Trump and his entourage. It's so....jarring and out of place. And shit, it just gets fucking worse: But it's on TikTok, so no one dare mention it in the MSM. If I hold my breath, I'll pass out first. I'm guessing that TikTok is the only video we're going to get. This is the way. To not dig a hole, to not punch the tar baby, to not feed the troll. May it be a prelude to the debate on ABC. Let Trump rant. Point and laugh. And make your points. In fact, Kamala just smiling and making her points would do all the damage one could hope for.
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Tweets Or It Didn't Happen

I truly wonder: are people buying it, or does he just say they are? They're NFT's, right? Not like sales show up on Amazon, or warehouses empty out, or store shelves are cleared. He said he sold Trump Steaks, too. And wine. And ties (I actually saw those, along with Trump shirts, in a store. Looked like something the gangsters wore in "Guys 'n' Dolls." Black shirts, red ties. Really classy.). Clearly never enough to keep it going. So how many idiots are there, actually, who are so easily parted from their hard-earned? I love it when a plan comes together. You can't make this shit up. Pro tip: keep the thoughts in your head.  See? You'd think once would be enough: And just to pound that nail all the way in: It's only a "rich tradition" when Republicans do it: Honestly, can Kamala/Walz hang the "whinging and bitching party" albatross around the GOP's neck already?
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Got To Admit I Want To Slap That Name Out Of His Mouth

He said this because people in California can vote by mail, the way Trump did in the Florida primary this year. But when Democrats do it, it's bad. Somehow. Maybe "Dr. Phil" can explain it.
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It Can Always Get Worse

But I'm guessing this originally appeared on Truth Social, so it's like the tree falling in the forest no one is around to hear, huh?

And yes:
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By "Limits," You Mean....

Donald Trump's presidential reelection bid would likely nosedive if moderate voters discovered the dark messages he shares on Truth Social, a senior campaign official told Rolling Stone Wednesday.

The anonymous insider said Trump's team is "consistently relieved, for the sake of their 2024 campaign" that the public hasn't caught on to the QAnon conspiracy theories and authoritarian threats the Republican nominee posts on his social media platform, Rolling Stone reported.

"It limits the public reach and media attention that these kinds of posts receive, as Trump is trying to appeal to moderate and swing voters in the final months of the election," Rolling Stone reports. 

The media can't possibly report on it?  Did they report on Trump's "interview" with Elmo, on Twitter?  I think it was covered, but more for how the technology failed than for the nonsense Trump spewed.

Gosh, if only there was some way this stuff could be covered, huh, Katy Tur?
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"The Hardest Thing To See Is What's Right In Front Of Your Nose"

 Finally, an image Hillyard showed is a photo of when former President Barack Obama welcomed Trump to the White House after winning the 2016 election. The meme text claims: "All roads lead to Obama. Retruth if you want public military tribunals."

"This is Donald Trump in the last two hours," Hillyard explained.

But [Katy] Tur questioned whether it was real or possibly part of a different effort.

"It doesn't seem like these are posted by real people," she suggested. "The handles with the emojis on them and the quality of these AI images make you wonder if it's an individual somewhere posting this and creating this stuff on their own or done by a bot or some other agency that wants to influence things. Put that aside, this is the former president reposting images of his opponents—political opponents—in prison, big business leaders like Bill Gates."

Hillyard explained that none of this is new and that last month, Trump even suggested a military tribunal for former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY).

"We're two months out from an election, and for anybody to suggest retribution is not on Donald Trump's mind, go to his social media account because this is where he has direct control over what he can post and repost," he suggested.

Trump's allegations include "election interference," he says is happening at the hands of Google and the grand jury indictment. He also alleges the gag order ahead of his sentencing in the Manhattan trial is also part of that ongoing conspiracy against him.

I guess if it's not in the pages of the NYT, it's not real, Katy?

(Granted, the question could be rhetorical for the sake of letting Hillyard explain.  But what Hillyard is telling her is apparently "news."  Except, as he explained to Tur, "none of this is new," and some of the language comes straight from Trump (the horse's....mouth.) So....) 

And that's the mild stuff:

I can understand not "data muling" such things. But to be stone ignorant about them?  As Josh said: Funny, indeed.
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Hoisting The Supremes On Their Own Petar

 A good analysis (so READ IT!) of part of what Smith did with a superceding indictment.  This, however, is the REALLY interesting part:

Smith will still need to overcome the presumption created out of thin air by John Roberts on all of this. But he may do so from a posture where the utter absurdity of Roberts’ ruling are made obvious.

That’s one reason it’s important that Smith has included the tweet via which Trump almost got Mike Pence assassinated.

Smith rationalized doing so by emphasizing that Trump wrote it neither in the Oval Office nor with anyone’s assistance.

92. Beginning around 1:30 p.m., the Defendant, who had returned to the White

House after concluding his remarks, settled in the dining room off of the Oval Office. He spent much of the afternoon reviewing Twitter on his phone, while the television in the dining room showed live events at Capitol.

[snip]

94. At 2:24 p.m., the Defendant personally, without assistance, issued a Tweet intended to further delay and obstruct the certification: “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!” [my emphasis]

This situates this Tweet, which almost got Mike Pence killed, a private act for which Trump has no immunity. It may not work. But that’s the logic.

Trump v. US ruled that what happens in the Oval is presumptively "official" (more of the crap reasoning of that ruling.  The Oval is somehow "magic," while the dining room attached to it is not.)  When I was in seminary, I was a "licensed pastor" for a church.  I was the pastor, for all purposes, but "official" only when I was at that building.  We joked that the Holy Spirit (invoked during ordination, which I hadn't had yet) was yanked out of me when I drove away from the church (I lived at the parsonage on the grounds), and re-entered me when I drove back into the garage.  That's the reasoning here.  The UCC logic (my church) was that I wasn't "fully" a pastor, so I couldn't administer sacraments for other churches.  Okay.  It was really an administrative (literally) question. The legal "logic" of Trump v US is...well, hell if I know. POTUS is official in the Oval, unofficial in the dining room? And "immunity" works on what evidence shows where he was when he crimed?  DOJ is certainly pushing that point here.  And it leads to this:

Here’s where things get interesting. As far as I’m aware, we have yet to see any of the superseding indictments for crime scene defendants against whom DOJ wants to sustain obstruction charges (we have seen superseding indictments against people against whom DOJ has replaced obstruction with something else, like rioting).

DOJ could have used a combined grand jury to do both, Trump and his mob. They’re each going to focus on the same issues: What staffers did to preserve the certificates as mobster came in, and the intent to prevent their counting.

They appear not to have done so; yesterday’s indictment lacks the date the grand jury was seated, which normal DC District grand juries have.

If that’s right, then Jack Smith (appears to have) seated a grand jury that could spend the next several months examining different charges, perhaps boosted by whatever precedents come out of the proceedings before Judge Chutkan and others, rather than simply sharing a grand jury with prosecutors doing much the same thing, addressing Fischer.

If Jack Smith succeeds in preserving this indictment — and that’s still a big *if* — then he will do so by making the argument that Trump, in his role as candidate, had the intention of using a mob to target the guy who played the ceremonial role of counting the vote. It would result in a collection of judicial holdings that presidential candidate Donald Trump had a mob target his Vice President in an attempt to remain President unlawfully.

Sure, John Roberts and his mob might yet try to odverturn that. John Roberts might endorse the idea that presidential candidates, so long as they are the incumbent, can kill members of Congress to stay in power.

But doing so would clarify the absurdity of such a ruling.

Trump v US really doesn't hold up to scrutiny.  And if the Roberts court pushes it to absurdity, they'll almost certainly get a Constitutional Amendment in response.  If they don't, they reveal the opinion as an absurdity.

Damned if they do; damned if they don't.  I wonder if they're regretting it already?  Probably not; but they'll have cause to, soon enough. 

BTW, about that new grand jury:

And if it's still sitting, it can certainly keep working.  One other related issue:
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"You Know Damn[ed] Well This Is True"

First, look at the far left of that picture. The woman on the outside?  Where is that hand on her hip coming from.  The man closest to her has his arms across his chest.

Once you notice that, does everything from the tree behind Trump and to the left, look slightly out of place?  What's up with this fake picture?
That was the line from MAGAts and bots on twitter until NPR reported this story. I want to think that "hollowed" is a typo, and not verbatim.
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Tuesday, August 27, 2024

There. Is. No. Bottom.

A source with knowledge of the incident said the cemetery official tried to prevent Trump staffers from filming and photographing in a section where recent U.S. casualties are buried. The source said Arlington officials had made clear that only cemetery staff members would be authorized to take photographs or film in the area, known as Section 60.

When the cemetery official tried to prevent Trump campaign staff from entering Section 60, campaign staff verbally abused and pushed the official aside, according to the source.

Republican Presidential nominee, former president Donald J. Trump remarks during a campaign event at 
In a statement to NPR, Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign's spokesman, strongly rejected the notion of a physical altercation, adding: "We are prepared to release footage if such defamatory claims are made.

"The fact is that a private photographer was permitted on the premises and for whatever reason an unnamed individual, clearly suffering from a mental health episode, decided to physically block members of President Trump's team during a very solemn ceremony," Cheung said in the statement.

The Trump campaign declined to make that footage immediately available.

In a statement to NPR, Arlington National Cemetery said it "can confirm there was an incident, and a report was filed."

"Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries, to include photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate's campaign," according to the statement. "Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants."

Trump has absolute immunity.  Haven't you heard? 

Besides, this is old news: Ask yourself who has the history of lying: Arlington National Cemetery, or Trump & Co.? See? It's not even man bites dog. Old news. Been done to death. Nothing "new" here to report.
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And Still Most Of The Country Says:

"Tulsa? Idn't that in Oklahoma? Tulsa endorsed Trump? Huh?" "Blago-who?" The NYT said his Catholicism is important to him, right?
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Data Muling

Interesting; but not as interesting as this: Yeah, I know: But Trump the Crybaby is more interesting to me:

Interestingly, this comes at the exact same time as Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook has admitted to concealing massive amounts of information, such as Hunter Biden's Laptop from Hell, which is a direct acknowledgment that the 2020 Presidential Election was MANIPULATED and RIGGED by the DOJ

The DOJ in 2020 was...Trump's DOJ.  Under the direction of Bill Barr.  Trump remains a stable genius.

As Jack Smith knows, the whole case should be thrown out and dismissed on Presidential Immunity grounds, as already ruled unequivocally by the U.S. Supreme Court. Smith rewrote the exact same case in an effort to circumvent the Supreme Court Decision.

As Trump's lawyers know, Jack Smith is allowed to do that.  As I've said, the Supremes didn't really give the POTUS immunity.  They just ruled that certain evidence could not be presented against a POTUS in criminal court, dumping almost anything that might be considered immune and therefore inadmissible.  Smith has conformed his indictment to meet those requirements, and obviated the need for a "mini-trial" (which would give Trump a road map to Smith's case, with no possibility of a criminal equivalent of a summary judgement to compensate Smith for that).  He gets to do that, too.  Though I'm sure Tom Fitton has told Trump otherwise.

If you want to read the redline version (the markup of the original showing what's changed in the current document):

You know, President's are only as good as their advisors.
One interesting point I hadn't seen is that this new indictment tangles up the DC case and the Georgia case in interesting ways: The Supremes really didn't do Trump the favor he thinks they did (although, I reiterate for the peanut gallery, they screwed things pretty badly. What they simply couldn't do (get the votes for?) was declare POTUS a monarch.)

I see this case getting back to the Supremes, though I'm not sure it can do so before trial (interlocutory criminal federal practice is hardly my specialty.  Generally, interlocutory appeals are not available, and I think questions of admissable evidence have to be heard after the verdict, not before.  Again, the Supremes didn't do Trump the solid he thinks they did.).  Which means it won't get back up the chain until, oh, 2026 or later.  By which time Trump will be breaking up the furniture in MAL for kindling, and paying his attorneys may be a dim dream from the past.
From your lips to God's ear. 

UPDATE: I take it back. Trump wasn't talking to Fitton, he was talking to his other legal expert, Stephen Miller:
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Texas Replies: "Hold My Beer"

 The Lincoln Project’s new ad, “State Line,” depicts a father in a dystopian America in the not-too-distant future under a Project 2025 abortion ban driving his daughter out of a red state to obtain medical services. A police officer pulls them over and starts to interrogate the daughter, having very personal and specific information about her pregnancy, her sister’s whereabouts, and the GPS coordinates of their destination “in one of those abortion states.”

“What are you, about eight weeks pregnant?” the officer says. “I see you’ve been spotting recently. You had any cramps, or nausea?”

As the interrogation heats up, the teenager says, “We have the right to travel.”

The police officer shakes his head and says, “Not anymore.”

The ad concedes with text that reads: “With Project 2025, a nationwide ban on abortion with out exception is enforced by anyone with a badge.”

CNN’s Scott Jennings, a Karl Rove protege who has worked for President George W. Bush’s campaigns and in the Bush White House, began the commentary by mocking the ad and its producers.

“Well, I’m glad to see we have very serious people putting out very serious advertising,” snarked Jennings, who has also worked for Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

,,,

Panelist Katie Frost, a former communications director for Alabama’s Roy Moore’s failed Senate bid, said the ad to her felt like “fan fiction.”

Texas has entered the chat:

Amarillo residents will vote on a so-called abortion travel ban in November, one of the few times Texas voters will have a say on abortion since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.

Supporters of the measure, who gathered 6,300 verified signatures to petition for approval of the ordinance, submitted their request to city officials to have it placed on the Nov. 5 ballot after the Amarillo City Council rejected it last month, per local rules.

Amarillo Mayor Cole Stanley confirmed reports about the committee requesting to add the ordinance to the November ballot. Stanley said the request will be on the agenda for the council’s next meeting on July 9. The council will take a procedural vote, which Stanley said is expected to pass, so it will be officially placed on the ballot.

This ballot move is the latest salvo in the battle over abortion rights in the conservative Panhandle city, and in a state with one of the most restrictive bans in the nation.

The ordinance, first proposed by anti-abortion activists, aims to forbid the use of the city’s roads and highways to seek an abortion out of the state. It would punish anyone aiding a woman seeking the procedure, including by providing funds or transportation, and be enforced through private lawsuits, similar to a 2021 state law that prohibited abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy.

The measure does not call for pregnant women to be punished for having an abortion elsewhere. However, Jonathan Mitchell, an anti-abortion lawyer who is working with the ordinance’s supporters, has filed legal petitions seeking to depose women he claims traveled outside Texas for abortions.

"Fan fiction," huh?  I've been through Amarillo a few times.  Small town, over all.  I wouldn't be surprised if pregnant women staying overnight (it's a long drive to Amarillo from damned near anywhere in Texas, and a reasonable stopping port if you're heading to New Mexico, or Colorado) would draw attention and even questions about the nature and purpose of their journey.  Hell, if 6,300 people want it on the ballot and if it passes, everybody in town is suddenly a vigilante for the "unborn."  Restaurant workers, hotel desk clerks, gas station attendants...

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According to Project 2025...

Trump will pay for his policies by raising taxes on the middle class and lowering taxes on the rich. Also by tariffs on everything imported, which Trump thinks will painlessly replace the federal income tax.  

Yowzir.
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Did Not Have THIS On My Bingo Card

The indictment tracks the previous indictment issued by the grand jury in D.C., but does remove reference to certain acts taken by Donald Trump that could fall within the scope of his official duties as President, such as the allegations concerning Trump allegedly commandeering the Department of Justice to support his effort. 

Notably, the indictment was issued by a new grand jury that had not previously heard the evidence against Trump. The new grand jury did not include any prior grand jury member from the first indictment.  

I don't think the commentators and pooh-bahs are going to get their "mini-trial" this year, at all.  Just as well.  I saw some speculation that the Florida case won't get to trial before 2026, due to appeals of the dismissal and further appeals on this immunity issue.  That's fine.  The DOJ won't run out of money for lawers.  But Trump will.  And probably before 2026.

According to Georgia constitutional law professor Anthony Michael Kreis, "The superseding indictment is the Special Counsel's attempt to adhere to the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision without showing the prosecution's cards in an evidentiary hearing a/k/a a mini trial. Jack Smith is working to preserve his case and move expeditiously."

All the pundits will be so disappointed Smith doesn't want to put on a show for them before the actual trial.

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Submitted For Your Approval

Not quite Hunter S., but a damned sight better than anything Taibbi ever penned, including the vampire squid metaphor. 

Although "Boys on the Bus" did it first and better, and Thompson was infinitely more insightful and crazier, and truly outside the "media elite" (yes, we had them then, and they made the "elite" today look hod carriers).  The problem with modern media criticism is it thinks it will "improve" media, or "fix it," or just push it aside so "citizen journalists" will save us.  

Like Greenwald and Taibbi?  Please.

Thompson knew better.  No one is going to save us.  No institution is going to perfect itself and then us.  We do this, or it isn't done.  We have to be "woke" even if James Carville thinks that's a political error.  We have to care, even if there's nothing to care about.  We have to be vigilant, even if there's nothing to see but peace and tranquility.  Because usually that vision just means you've moved to Omelas, and you're already forgetting about the poor unfortunate in the basement.  Because every system has its price.  And no system will take care of us, for us.  There is no parent or Big Brother here.  There's only us.

Now I could tell you about the basilea tou theou, but I think you'd misunderstand me.  The principle there is simple; too simple.  And it's always in our hands.  There is no race to the top, no struggle to see justice where it is not, or fight for equality, there.  It is one simple rule:  the first are last, and the last are first.  You want to be first?  Be last of all and servant of all.  That's it.  Do that; and the rest will take care of itself.

Too simple.  Too easy.  Too damned hard.  But you want to meet "the enormity of the moment"?  Our national symbol of that is G I Joe, the average American who went to Europe and saved them from Germany, who went to the Pacific and won every battle with the Japanese from our engagement at Midway to the surrender in Tokyo.  The humble guy who just wanted to do what was right, and stop the enemy, and go back home.  Most likely he didn't really exist.  I never knew anyone who came home from war and told me who "G I Joe" was.  My brother-in-law volunteered for the Army, and went to Vietnam as a Captain.  He told me two things he knew five minutes after he got there:  1) it was the most beautiful country he'd ever seen; 2) we had no business being there.  He did what he was sent there to do, anyway.  And he came home; and eventually, we left their country to them, which we should have done in the first place.

Did that meet "the enormity of the moment"?  Hell, I don't know.  We heard Dr. King talk about a promissory note owed to people like him by America; all we remembered is that he had a lovely dream that seemed to take all us white people off the hook for that note, so we forgot about it and remembered the dream.  Did we meet "the enormity of the moment"? Not hardly.  We didn't even sanctify King until he was dead and safely buried.  We buried most of what he said with him, but we sanctified him for what we wanted to remember.

"Enormity of the moment"? Who the hell ever meets that on the road, walking?  Better we should tend our own garden. Better we should be last of all and servant of all.  Better we should consider that we're doing, and let everyone else worry about what they're doing.  If they won't, we can't worry about it for them.

God knows Hunter Thompson never did.
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