Tuesday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
·
Tuesday, July 18, 2023
·
54 comments
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
Follow Steven on
Twitter
Dawgdamned immigrants… he can’t even speak English!
s// in case you can’t tell.
Republican one party rule in Tennessee:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/07/tennessee-republican-partisanship-one-party-state/674732/
We knew most of this already, but seeing it all in one place is…
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jul/18/miles-taylor-whistleblower-trump-biden-interview
I am especially concerned about these groups who claim to be doing God’s will. History shows that political groups who think God is guiding them have no limits on how radical and irrational they can become. If God is blessing and guiding you then you cant be wrong.
Steve
Why is this a surprise to him?
http://www.rawstory.com/jack-smith-trump-2662295128
@CSK: It is very rare that an indictment doesn’t follow a target letter. In those cases when it does not, it is usually the result of a settlement or plea deal. Trump is unlikely to consider a plea. The U.S. Attorney’s manual provides that a target letter be issued when the U.S. Attorney finds probable cause that a crime has been committed and that the recipient of the target letter committed the crime.
@CSK:
Trump is so fuq’d.
He has a hearing in the Espionage Case against him today.
Now he has been ordered to appear before the Jan 6 Grand Jury in the next couple days.
And Ms. Willis from GA is still hanging over him like Damocles’ proverbial Sword.
No wonder he shanked that ball the other day…
https://www.golfdigest.com/story/donald-trump-shank-golf-video
@Daryl:
Isn’t Aileen Cannon supposed to set a trial date in the docs case today?
The last time I played golf was 20 years ago. On one par 4 I got a birdie, and had such a good approach shot that I had to use the divot tool for the first time ever. So of course I hung up my spurs at that point, might as well go out on top.
After successfully avoiding golf for two decades I was dragged to one of those Top Golf type places…and immediately knocked a ball straight and true to the back flag marker. And then another, and another. Then I messed up for awhile, but with a few good hits mixed in throughout.
You know how when you are writing sometimes it’s good to take an hour, take a day, and let it ruminate?
I guess my body just needed 75,000 days or so to absorb the golf lessons I had been teaching it.
@Daryl: Not ordered, invited to appear. SOP before a GJ indicts.
@OzarkHillbilly:
IANAL but in Trump’s own posting he said;
@CSK:
It’s unclear to me if that will happen or not.
@OzarkHillbilly:
If you’re invited, you’re indicted!
@Daryl:
If Benito sounds worried and scared, it’s only because he knows what he did and how bad it was.
Here’s a despairing litany:
morningshots.thebulwark.com/p/its-getting-worse-isnt-it
@Daryl: Welp, “report to” is ambiguous, probably intentionally so, and also I wonder why you would expect Trump to be an accurate reporter of events, particularly those concerning himself.
@Jay L Gischer:
I certainly do not trust him too be an honest narrator…but it’s all I have to go on at this point.
Or had at that point.
I still haven’t seen the actual letter.
Some reporting I’ve seen has “invited” in scare quotes.
Not a hill I’m interested in dying on…
Edit: now that I think about it I guess an “order” would require a subpoena…again, IANAL
WAPO posted a Trump target letter story half an hour ago. (Jailbroken.) Same info but more sober write up. Trump says he’s received a target letter from Smith’s J6 investigation. (‘Bout damn time.) A target letter routinely OFFERS a chance to testify on one’s own behalf before any charges. An offer one assumes he will decline. Absent legal compulsion, Trump’s lawyers would, as a matter of course, chain him to his chair before allowing him to say anything under oath.
Wow – The MAGAts are absolutely apoplectic that Trump is being charged with the crimes he committed.
Marge Three-Toes says that Jack Smith is a “…weak little bitch…”
McCarthy says that they are indicting Trump because Trumps poll numbers went up.
These are deeply unserious people.
Trump is calling on Republicans to “DO SOMETHING!” about his looming indictments. He must be getting scared.
@Daryl: Yeah, “trump says…”
He got a target letter, not a subpoena. SOP is to give the accused an opportunity to tell their side of the story to the GJ before indictment. The same thing was done in the Marred a Lardo documents case. Nobody with any brains or a decent lawyer does so.
or what @gVOR10: said.
Heh, the ketchup at Mar a Lago.
@CSK:
Unfortunately Doc Brown is not a Republiqan, and he’s already stopped a Benito-like person before.
So they are reduced to equivocation, defending him over matters he’s not being charged with.
@Kathy:
I think the MAGAs have bought the HOAX! WITCH HUNT! crap hook, line, and sinker.
@Neil Hudelson:
Neil, the last time I played golf TPTB sent in the black helicopters to snatch me off the course. My game was adjudged an international war crime by the Hague
@CSK:
By “Republicans” he must mean Kevin McCarthy. Kevin’s in a tough spot, he must either face the slings and arrows of outrageous convefe, or obey orders from Something Rotten in Mar-a-Lago by conducting impeachment proceedings against Merrick Garland.
@CSK:
Yes, naturally.
But the news reports center more on the fake elector slates, the back-channel attempts to manipulate the elections results, etc., and not on the Jan 6th. riot/insurrection, nor on how Benito failed to handle it.
Imagine the accusation is robbing a bank and killing a security guard. His defenders focus on the fact he did not run any red lights during the getaway, and that running a yellow light is legal if you’d already started crossing the intersection.
@dazedandconfused:
McCarthy, yes, but he means all the Republicans in Congress as well.
the Guardian has a helpful compilation of the legal troubles Benito made for himself (so far).
This illustrates what I’ve been carping about since before the Cheeto’s term ended. That’s not just a lot of crimes for one person, but also a great dela of damage to America’s institutions and political structures.
As important, there’s so much to try Benito on, that odds are some of the charges will stick. it’s imperative they do, and that he pays for his misdeeds with some real time in forced confinement (probably won’t be in a real prison).
HUGE!!!
Michigan AG Dana Nessel just brought charges against 16 “False Electors” for Election Law and Forgery Felonies.
@Kathy:
I understand that there’s a prison in Louisiana that has a golf course, but it’s a state penitentiary.
@CSK:
My personal preference would be any federal prison. That’s unlikely to happen. So next would be a small area set in a military base. But the way things work in the US, Benito will likely get house arrest.
BTW, being charged, indicted, arrested, tried, convicted, and/or imprisoned, does not disqualify anyone from running in the general election, nor from exercising the duties of the office. Though it might prevent them from voting.
How insane is that?
Aileen Cannon has decided that mid-December is too early for the docs trial.
@Daryl: As I said about Trump’s J6 target letter – ’bout damn time.
@CSK: Whoa. Reuters and ABC say she rejected the December date proposed by Smith and set a date of Aug 14. Reuters noted that this is before the first debate, confirming yeah, this year. Apparently the glare of daylight, having been overturned, and Smith’s filings have had an effect.
On the other hand, no one thinks Aug 14 will actually happen.
@gVOR10:
Jeez, thanks. I didn’t see that. By pushing for Aug. 14, is she trying to help Trump or hurt him?
@CSK: Pretty soon, someone is going to suggest that 2028 is “too soon” for the docs trial to start.
@gVOR10:
I don’t find that at either Reuters or ABC News.
I recall this judge originally set a trial date for August this year, which both the prosecution and defense thought too soon. Maybe you stumbled across old news, or someone mixed up the two, or it’s for August 2024.
@CSK: @Kathy: My turn to say “jeez thanks”. Looks like I mistook old stories for new. What I see now is date “under consideration”.
@gVOR10: @Just nutha ignint cracker: @Kathy:
ABC and other sources are reporting that no trial date has been set.
@gVOR10:
Ah, for a moment there I had very high hopes 🙂
On other things, as the world simmers, the weather down here has returned to a more typical, less annoying mean. It’s still hot, but there’s been cloud cover and rain most days since the start of July.
Not to imply we’re Ok. Not at all. Typically these days we should have solid overcast for days, and rain throughout the day. So it’s still hot, but also dry. This is a concern in particular for the aquifers, and other inland bodies of water and reservoirs the city gets water from.
I think in part it’s due to a sluggish hurricane season in the Atlantic. Bad as such storms are, they drive a great deal of water from sea to land. This is not happening much now.
@Kathy:
I’m not sure we can say that yet. With the exception of anomalous years (2005, 2020), hurricane season doesn’t normally get going until late August.
@gVOR10:
It’s hard to keep up with this stuff.
Dr. Harry G. Frankfurt died Sunday, age 94. His 2005 book On Bullshit gets mentioned occasionally in these threads.
Prophetic.
@Stormy Dragon:
There’s a lot of variability, to be sure. But this year we’ve had few tropical depressions and storms. These sometimes resolve on their own, whether they hit land or not. Sometimes they develop into hurricanes. It feels slow compared to most years.
Wow! I just got a really happy surprise today! Occasionally, I google the name of a former student who went on to law school. Today, I got connected to her Linked-in page. Last I knew, she was a prosecutor in Oregon. Today she’s the Deputy Chief in a division of the DOJ in DC. Good job, Rose! Congratulations!
Here’s something odd:
A few years back when I was looking for a milk frother, I came across many hand held versions of the gadget. These struck me as looking cheap, and not as useful since they couldn’t heat the milk.
Then the other day I saw one being used, and my perspective did a 180.
It still won’t heat milk, but it looks much easier to clean, easy to use, and it allows one to see how frothed the milk is. The one I have is ok, but the frothing varies a lot.
Then I saw it used for beating eggs, which I find intriguing enough to try. And since I started drinking cold chocolate milk now and then, it might be nice to froth that as well.
So, I’m getting one soon. If it works well, I’ll get one for the office, too.
@Kathy:
I think “feels” is the key word here;
1851 – 2017 Atlantic hurricanes and tropical storms by month
We’re currently on the 4th named storm for 2023 (“Don”), which is actually ahead of average. Indeed, we’re almost only one storm behind 2021, which was the third most active season in history.
It’s hard to really judge in July because activity is mostly August-October
Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn’t it she who picked the December date? After which trump filed his frivolous appeal and JS said, “Oh no no no…”
@OzarkHillbilly: Blech, not an appeal, a “frivolous motion”. I am sill NAL.
@Stormy Dragon:
Thanks!
I may be warped by the heatwaves.
Or I may be plain wrong But, really, what are the chances of that 😉
@OzarkHillbilly:
I wonder if Benito will wind up testifying. Very likely not, as we all know he’d incur perjury charges on top of everything else.
Still, if I were writing the script of our near future, I’d have Benito testify in a trial televised (or streamed) live. And I’d let him have a classic Captain Queeg moment with a malicious twist.
I mean, Queeg was a man damaged by the strains and ordeals of war, on top of any other flaws he carried. That showed along with the paranoid rantings. With Benito, it would be just his narcissism and malice showing, perhaps along with his incompetence.
Both men, though, would end up as objects to be pitied.
Alas, there’s no script for the future. Not that we know. Certainly I’m not writing it.
@Kathy:
Under the heading of “But wait…there’s more!”
If his lawyers are worth anywhere near what he is paying them, no f’n way. They will hog tie him to a chair with the help of the SS.
eta: just drove halfway to Sullivan to get a signal to make sure my wife is still alive. Why can’t they make phones work out here?
@dazedandconfused: I saw this this morning and all I could think was……of course he’d steal Jewish antiquities. (eyeroll)
I wonder which bathroom they’re stored in?