online today!
UPDATE: (10/26) - Amy Coney Barrett Sworn In As SCOTUS Associate Justice.
A Look At ACB - From When She Was Considered For The Seat Filled By Kavanaugh
A Leftie Take On ACB -
Today from CNN;
In response to:
The absolutely bonkers threat Donald Trump made this week
Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large
Updated 4:50 PM ET, Tue October 27, 2020
(CNN)At a rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said something incredible -- even by his standards.
Recounting how his campaign had to move the site of the rally to comply with Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf's Covid-19 protocols, Trump said this:
"I'll remember it, Tom. I'm gonna remember it, Tom. 'Hello, Mr. President, this is Governor Wolf, I need help, I need help.' You know what? These people are bad."
Let's be very clear what Trump is doing here: He is threatening to withhold federal aid -- or some sort of other assistance -- the next time Pennsylvania needs it because the state's governor, according to the President, made it difficult to find a site to hold a campaign rally. Yes, really.
Oh, and by the way, a spokeswoman for Wolf's office insisted to Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that Trump's version of this story is simply wrong -- that the governor's office sent a letter to Trump's campaign earlier in the year requesting that they adhere to social distancing and masks guidelines, but that's it.
"Outside of that, the administration has had no contact with the Trump campaign about its events," wrote Wolf spokeswoman Sarah Goulet in an email to the Tribune-Review. "The Trump campaign is under no obligation to reach out to the administration when it is planning visits. We believe the campaign works directly with the owners of property or local officials when planning. Again, what the president said is inaccurate."
It's easy to lose sight of the abnormality of something like this because so much of what Trump says and does is deeply abnormal compared to the ways in which we have always seen our presidents act.
But we shouldn't just gloss over comments like this. For a few reasons:
1) It shows, again, that Trump believes that the federal government is essentially a tool that he can use to reward friends and punish political enemies. We've seen this time after time during Trump's first term -- most notably at the Department of Justice, where the President has wondered aloud why the FBI and the CIA aren't doing more to investigate, charge or put people he doesn't like in jail. (Trump is never clear on the exact crimes for which his opponents should be incarcerated.)
Asked over the weekend about the plot to kidnap Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and whether he bears any sort of responsibility because of his rhetoric focused on her, Trump responded: "It was our Justice Department that is the one that's helping her. My Justice Department, if you call it that." My Justice Department. (Trump's used that construction before. Who could forget his reference to "my generals" in reference to the US military commanders.)
For Trump, the power of the federal government isn't really about doing the most good for the most people. It's about him. It's his government -- to do with as he pleases.
2) There's a chilling effect here. If you think other governors didn't pay attention to Trump's threat to Wolf, then you don't know how aware state-level officials are of the power (and the purse) of the federal government. Trump's willingness to make clear that he plans to exact revenge on a governor because of some alleged disagreement over where an event can be held suggests that he is would do the same to other governors who also slight him or make his life harder. That's not the sort of thing that a governor wants to have to factor into their calculations about what's best for their state.
Now, it's possible that Trump loses his bid for a second term next Tuesday and never has a chance to make good on that threat to Wolf. .....
(continued in my next comment below)
Today from The Huffington Post;
In response to:
Conservative Icon George Will Predicts The 'Pouting' End Of Donald Trump's Presidency
Lee Moran·Reporter, HuffPost
Thu, October 22, 2020, 2:55 AM EDT
Donald Trump will end his presidency just as he began it, longtime conservative commentator George Will predicted in his new column for The Washington Post.
And that is by whining.
Trump is “a practitioner of crybaby conservatism,” Will wrote in the column published Wednesday.
“His presidency that began with a wallow in self-pity probably will end in ignominy when he slinks away pouting, trailing clouds of recriminations, without a trace of John McCain’s graciousness on election night 2008,” he added.
Will also called out the GOP, which he left in mid-2016 as Trump became its presidential nominee.
The Republican Party had “eagerly surrendered its self-respect” in the Trump era, Will lamented, warning that “having hitched its wagon to a plummeting cinder” it “is about to have a rendezvous with a surly electorate wielding a truncheon.”
Will, a vocal opponent of the Trump White House, also suggested Democratic nominee Joe Biden (whom he endorsed in July) could “become the first candidate in 32 years to capture more than 400 electoral votes.”
I don't know about 400, but perhaps over 300 electoral votes is becoming a well deserved probability.
Certainly, not only most of the country, but even most of the world, has grown quite tired of the tirades by the infantile Trump.
Don't you get it?!!! If Biden wins the Democrats will
PACK THE SUPREME COURT, will create at least two and possibly
THREE NEW STATES, will
ELIMINATE THE FILIBUSTER, and will change the rules of congress and redistrict
SO THAT IT ENSURES AMERICA WILL BE PERMANENTLY RUN BY ONLY ONE PARTY.YES ONE PARTY... Just like
CHINA, Just like
RUSSIA, Just like
IRAN, Just like
NORTH KOREA just like
CUBA.
Don't you get it? We are talking about permanent STRUCTURAL CHANGES.
DON'T YOU GET that the reason Biden is completely silent and won't answer any questions about these things it BECAUSE THIS IS THEIR PLAN AND
THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW IT.
WAKE UP BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!
From Business Insider;
More than 700 leading economists, including 7 Nobel winners, urge US voters to reject Trump, a 'selfish and reckless' presidentKate DuffyFri, October 23, 2020, 8:23 AM EDT
* More than 700 economists from major US institutions signed an open letter warning against reelecting President Donald Trump.
* They wrote that Trump's "selfish and reckless behavior" had weakened the economy and described Trump's actions as a "sustained assault" on democracy.
* "He has a poorly-informed, zero-sum view of economics that engenders needless viciousness and cruelty," the economists wrote.
* Among the economists are seven Nobel winners, including Paul Milgrom, Oliver Hart, and George Akerlof.An open letter signed by 727 economists urges people not to vote for President Donald Trump on November 3.
More than 700 economists from major US institutions signed an open letter warning against reelecting President Donald Trump.
They wrote that Trump's "selfish and reckless behavior" had weakened the economy and described Trump's actions as a "sustained assault" on democracy.
"He has a poorly-informed, zero-sum view of economics that engenders needless viciousness and cruelty," the economists wrote.
Among the economists are seven Nobel winners, including Paul Milgrom, Oliver Hart, and George Akerlof.
More than 700 economists, including seven Nobel winners, urged US voters not to reelect President Donald Trump on Election Day.
As of Friday, the open letter, which is being updated until November 3, had been signed by 727 prominent economists from major institutions across America, including the Nobel winners Paul Milgrom, Oliver Hart, and George Akerlof.
"In just one term in office, Donald Trump has rendered the United States unrecognizable, and has faced no consequences for doing so," the economists wrote, adding that the president had "weakened the economic recovery with selfish and reckless behavior."
Among the economists' arguments were that Trump had carried out a "sustained assault" on democracy, that he had "normalized corruption," and that he had spread "dangerous misinformation."
The letter pointed out that analysts at Moody's Analytics and Goldman Sachs had predicted that Joe Biden's economic plans would generate faster employment and GDP growth than Trump's.
"He has a poorly-informed, zero-sum view of economics that engenders needless viciousness and cruelty," the economists wrote.
They also slammed his response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed the lives of more than 223,000 Americans since March.
"He undermined mask use and social distancing, held indoor rallies, encouraged the use of unproven and potentially dangerous medical substances, downplayed the severity of the pandemic, and hosted a superspreader event that incapacitated the White House and forced military leadership into quarantine," they wrote.
The economists concluded: "For these reasons, we strongly recommend that the electorate do what no one else can: reclaim your democracy by voting to remove Donald Trump from office."
More details to come...
It looks like Trump is now brokering a peace deal between Israel and Sudan (another arab country.
This is a big deal.
Trump has done more good than Obama could ever dream of, not that Obama had any good intentions for the U.S. and it's allies...
Amazing how brazen and delusional the right has gotten in recent years.
Today in CNN;
13 charged in plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
By Christina Carrega, Veronica Stracqualursi and Josh Campbell, CNN
Washington (CNN)Thirteen people were charged Thursday in an alleged domestic terrorism plot to kidnap Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, federal and state officials announced.
The alleged scheme included plans to overthrow several state governments that the suspects "believe are violating the US Constitution," including the government of Michigan and Whitmer, according to a federal criminal complaint.
Six people were charged federally with conspiracy to kidnap, and seven other people, associated with the militia group "Wolverine Watchmen," were charged by the state, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced.
"The individuals in (state) custody are suspected to have attempted to identify the home addresses of law enforcement officers in order to target them, made threats of violence intended to instigate a civil war, and engaged in planning and training for an operation to attack the capitol building of Michigan and to kidnap government officials, including the governor of Michigan," Nessel said at a press conference.
The arrests are likely to draw additional attention to the political tensions roiling the nation in the closing weeks of the 2020 election season, and underline warnings from law enforcement officials, members of Congress and groups that track extremism about the increasing threat of extremist and far-right groups. Whitmer at times has been the focus of extreme vitriol from far-right groups over her handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
In an interview on CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront" on Thursday night, Whitmer thanked law enforcement for making the arrests.
"This is unlike anything we have seen before. The brave men and women of these two police organizations put their lives on the line to keep me and my family safe," she said. "I'm incredibly grateful and humbled by the work they do."
In televised remarks Thursday afternoon, Whitmer said she "knew this job would be hard, but I'll be honest, I never could've imagined anything like this." She specifically blamed President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly declined to condemn far-right groups.
"Just last week, the President of the United States stood before the American people and refused to condemn white supremacists and hate groups like these two Michigan militia groups," she said. "'Stand back and stand by,' he told them. 'Stand back and stand by.' Hate groups heard the President's words not as a rebuke, but as a rallying cry, as a call to action. When our leaders speak, their words matter. They carry weight."
In response, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Whitmer is "sowing division."
"President Trump has continually condemned white supremacists and all forms of hate," McEnany said in a statement to CNN. "Governor Whitmer is sowing division by making these outlandish allegations. America stands united against hate and in support of our federal law enforcement who stopped this plot."
The six charged by the federal government are Michigan residents Adam Fox, 37, Ty Garbin, 24, Kaleb Franks, 26, Daniel Harris, 23, Brandon Caserta, 32, and Delaware resident Barry Croft, 44.
The seven people charged by the state are Paul Bellar, 21, Shawn Fix, 38, Eric Molitor, 36, Michael Null, 38, William Null, 38, Pete Musico, 42, Joseph Morrison, 42. They face a variety of firearm and terror charges.
The FBI became aware of the scheme, first reported by The Detroit News, in early 2020 through a social media group of individuals.
online today!
Calling all informed, VERY informed, powerfully truthful bloggers. My homeys all.
Willy wonk buster, Long Dongg man ( VERY long), spot on String fella, MEGA Miclee, Cutie Cryptogirl, BC Jenny blogger, Chat lion, Ash lady----and others.
Former China/Ukraine corruption associate of Biden crime family, with a Polsky name (Yaberblonsjy?), reveals all. Everything from ---what is still nowhere formally denied on it all, by sniffy, creepy, real racist-Jim Crow J--- to who is the "Big Guy", all in damning can't erase family texts/emails, ---to crickets from MSN, the DNC, and syndromics of various stripes. Please send help!
Fill in the facts on this blockbuster, creepbusting latest info. Just the facts, ma'am.
Struck container. Bow stove in. Sinking rapidly. Life raft broken away from deck painter Diesel flooded. Mast cut loose. Bilge pumps out. Sea drogue as well. Soon same with radios. Sharks circling.
44.4259092 North and 69. 0064234 West (VERY sixty nine). Elevation, treetop.
Imagine a CS blog world without the VIERK! Soooooooo, act now.