Asian elephant twins Yaad and Tukada were recently spotted beating the heat at Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York. Born to parents Mali and Doc on October 24, 2022, the twins are coming up on their 1st birthday milestone!
The babies’ first bubble bath:
More!
I guess he still thinks he can out-Trump Trump:
What in the hell is this outfit, by the way? Is he trying to channel Glenn Youngkin in his clothes and Trump in his blood thirsty language? And why does he have his name plastered all over his shirts, vests and jackets? His wife does too. Are they afraid people won’t recognize them?
If this is the re-tool it’s hard to see that it will work. Nobody does “blood-thirsty sociopath” like Donald Trump. The cult loves this stuff but they want it delivered with the glamour of the billionaire TV Star not some short guy in a vest with his name on it.
This should be standard in any Trump indictment. He constantly obtructs justice:
Lawyers who practice frequently in Washington, D.C., including MSNBC contributor Glenn Kirschner, say that most of the conditions of release imposed on Trump by the magistrate judge were standard, including the requirement that he not commit a crime while free.
However, they say that Judge Moxila Upadhyaya did issue a warning to Trump that is not commonly given to defendants at arraignments: “Finally, sir, I want to remind you that it is a crime to try to influence a juror, or to threaten or attempt to bribe a witness or any other person who may have information about your case, or to retaliate against anyone for providing information about your case to the prosecution, or to otherwise obstruct the administration of justice.”
Andrew Weissman had a similar impression:
[T]he standard condition that a judge usually emphasizes to a defendant is that they have to show up at each court appearance. That is the most important thing. That is what bail is for — so that you’ll show up in court.
But I heard that the standard condition and most important thing today is “do not commit a crime’’ followed up by “do not tamper with a juror.” My first reaction was, I was a prosecutor for 21 years and I was a defense lawyer for five years, and I’ve never heard that.
Trump has no compunction about threatening witnesses, prosecutors and judges, he does it openly all the time. Everyone one America knows this. This warning from the judge won’t stop him. Their whole legal theory is based upon the idea that threatening witnesses and ordering crimes to be committed by others is protected speech. Mob Bosses must be very interested in how this comes out.
I am unwilling to forgive Mike Pence for his four years of servility to a sociopath and his dereliction in failing to tell the public that Trump was planning a coup as he was doing it. But I guess we do have to acknowledge that he seems to have finally realized that there is no constituency for him anywhere and that he might as well be instrumental in ensuring that Trump doesn’t have the chance to do it again.
Trump’s coup indictment and his own conspicuous role in the indictment narrative and chain of evidence seem finally to have convinced Pence that this is a divide he simply cannot straddle. You’re either on Team Coup or you’re not.
Some quotes from the 48 hours after the indictment was handed down.
Pence: “The American people deserve to know that President Trump and his advisors . . . asked me . . . essentially to overturn the election. And to keep faith with the oath that I made to the American people and to Almighty God, I rejected that out of hand. And I did my duty that day.”
Pence: “Let’s be clear on this point. It wasn’t that they asked for a pause. The president specifically asked me and his gaggle of crackpot lawyers asked me to literally reject votes which would have resulted in the issue of being turned over to the House of Representatives.”
Pence: ““President Trump asked me to put him over the Constitution. But I chose the Constitution… I really do believe that anyone who puts themself over the Constitution should never be president of the US.”
I think there are a few other quotes out there. But you get the gist from these. They are of course self-congratulatory. He chose the constitution. He did his duty. He fulfilled his oath to God and the American people. He’s running for office. That’s natural. And he’s also not wrong.
One of the revelations in the Jan 6th indictment, not entirely surprising but still notable, is that Pence and Pence’s testimony are central to the case. He kept contemporaneous notes of key events in those crucial days. Again, not surprising but very significant as evidence at trial. And from the moment this became clear Pence seemed to realize there was no straddling this fateful divide. You’re on Team Coup or you’re not. And being revealed as inevitably on the ‘not’ side, he might as well lean into it. And he is.
Pence remains a fascinating, almost novelistic figure in this drama, almost a reductio ad absurdum, a mathematical representation of how to do the right thing with the least physically measurable quanta of dignity possible. In the two and a half years since, a hero’s role in the drama has always been there for the taking. But he’s never taken it. Indeed, he compromised it so thoroughly in real time it’s hard to say how much that role even existed. At Trump’s demand he also made pressure calls to state officials. But they seem to have been, at least in his telling, low energy and perfunctory. “I did check in with,” he told Face the Nation early last month, “not only Gov. Ducey, but other governors and states that were going through the legal process of reviewing their election results, but there was no pressure involved.” He went along with or made no clear efforts to derail the unfolding coup attempt. Indeed, he even publicly pined and anguished over whether there might yet be some way, consistent with law and constitution, he could give Trump what he wanted. Yet he finally decided, seemingly with critical guidance from retired Judge J. Michael Luttig, that he could not. It’s almost as if Pence found himself cornered, in spite of himself, with no options left other than to do the right thing.
And yet if Pence had gone along with Trump’s demands there’s little question his action would have kicked off a constitutional crisis without precedent in American history. Law, constitution, history and experience all make it crystal clear that Pence had no right or ability to do what Trump demanded. But Trump and Co weren’t so much looking for an action as a pretext. Sure he had no power to do it. But if he did, who was going to back stop that constitutional and legal reality? The White House was in the defeated but still empowered President’s hands. The Congress was controlled by his party. The Supreme Court – yes, let’s be real here – was too. Critically, the House of Representatives, which actually chooses a President in a disputed election, had Republicans lining up to violate their oaths and provide a papery wrapper of legitimacy to Trump’s coup.
Pence had no power to do it. But who was going to stop him? He also didn’t need power. Trump had the power. He and the rest of Team Coup just needed a pretext.
For reasons beyond the scope of this post I believe Joe Biden in all likelihood still would have been sworn in as President on January 20th, 2021. But the path to getting there would have been more chaotic, more damaging and quite possibly more violent. And there’s no guarantee it would have happened at all. That treacherous enemy of the Republic, Jeff Clark, had a ready solution for anyone who didn’t like it: invoke the Insurrection Act, which is to say use the American military to enforce order against, murder any Americans who were unwilling to let the Republic be overthrown.
Since that day Pence has been in a sort of long twilight struggle to evade credit for that critical moment. But it’s un-straddle-able divide. You’re either on Team Coup or you’re not.
He’s not .Finally. But he sure as hell took a long time to realize that refusing to give Trump what he wanted was the single best moment of his ignominious career.
Semafor reported on a new ad campaign to promote support for Ukraine among Republicans. It’s needed:
A poll by CNN released on Friday found support for more Ukraine funding hitting new lows, with 55% of respondents opposed to new aid. 71% of Republicans say the U.S. has done enough to assist Ukraine already, underscoring the challenge the group faces.
I can’t tell you how mind-boggling this is considering the Republican Party I’ve grown up with. It’s very strange. The only thing that makes sense is that Russia is white, Christian and authoritarian so they consider it an ally.
Fighter jets, truck drivers, American flags, a narrator with a twang, and a country-rock soundtrack: That’s how a new group lobbying Congress to pass more aid for Ukraine plans to woo their constituents.
The spot for the organization, Freedom at Home and Abroad, will air on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and “Fox News Sunday” this weekend, according to executive director Michael Franklin, who said the organization is spending $400,000 on media in August. Details of the campaign were shared ahead of time with Semafor.
The group’s target is pretty clear: blue collar, Republican-leaning voters, who polls show are divided over whether to provide Ukraine with further aid. The aesthetics are right out of a Ford F-150 commercial.
“Tell Congress: we’re not weak or scared,” the voiceover says. “We stand for American values. And when we stand up to bullies, we show that America is strong enough to take on anyone. We stand with Ukraine.”
The ad also tries to play on negative views in the U.S. toward the Chinese government: one clip features Russian President Vladimir Putin shaking hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
This fits with arguments I’ve often heard around Capitol Hill: Republicans supportive of Ukraine frequently say that a victory by Putin in Ukraine would embolden Xi to try to invade Taiwan.
Before launching the campaign, Freedom at Home and Abroad conducted focus groups with Republican-leaning voters in Phoenix and Atlanta to understand attitudes on sending aid to Ukraine.
According to a summary of the results viewed by Semafor, the Republican participants worried that a Russian success in its invasion of Ukraine could fuel Chinese aggression while depleting U.S. military supplies. Some participants complained about the cost of sending more assistance to Ukraine, but understood there would be a “political price” if the U.S. were to abandon support, the document said.
China is authoritarian too but it isn’t white and Christian and that’s what really matters so it figures that the only way to move Republicans to support Ukraine is to frame it as necessary to stop Chinese aggression. Sadly, it’s probably the only way to do it.
The humanity
He actually prefers “your majesty.”
You remember these two? (The Tennessean):
Four months after an expulsion vote thrust the pair into the national spotlight, Democratic state Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson formally won reelection Thursday to their seats in the Tennessee General Assembly.
Republicans voted to oust Jones and Pearson from the legislature in April after they interrupted House proceedings with a gun-control protest. But the two were quickly reappointed to the seats until this summer’s special elections.
In Nashville, Jones defeated Republican opponent Laura Nelson with nearly 80% of the vote for the House District 52 seat. In Memphis, Pearson defeated Republican Jeff Johnston with more than 90% of the vote for the House District 86 seat.
I had to read those margins again. Had a good laugh, too.
“Today is a landslide victory by the people, for the people, and in community with the people,” Jones said in a statement to The Tennessean. “Republicans tried to expel our democracy and then tried to buy it, but the voters of District 52 sent a message to extremist Republicans: we will not be silenced.”
Guess not.
“It ends with me.”
Contemplating generations of family dysfunction that damaged him as a child and haunted his adulthood, a friend once vowed he would not pass “it” on to his children.
America has yet to make that commitment and keep it.
Donald Trump was formally charged in Washington, D.C. on Thursday with four federal crimes stemming from his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Those efforts did not culminate with the violent insurrection he inspired at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Trump and his co-conspirators worked to subvert democracy that evening, even as police cleared the complex of rioters, and as hospitals treated the hundreds injured and processed the dead.
The last of the charges special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment levied against Trump dates from the Reconstruction era. Will Bunch reminds Philadelphia Inquirer readers that President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 in response to a similar post-election riot in South Carolina the year before. The law is the third of the Enforcement Acts passed to address white blowback to post-Civil War enfranchisement of former slaves (the males, anyway).
The Washington Post recounted what prompted the act’s drafting:
“We have just passed through an Election which, for rancour and virulence on the part of the opposition, has never been excelled in any civilized community,” South Carolina’s Republican governor, Robert K. Scott, wrote to Grant in fall 1870. “Colored men and women have been dragged from their homes at the dead hour of night and most cruelly and brutally scourged,” Scott reported, “for the sole reason that they dared to exercise their own opinions upon political subjects.”
The opposition, Scott told Grant, had declared “that they will not submit to any election which does not place them in power.” Klan sympathizers were even plotting to disrupt the vote tally. “I am convinced that an outbreak will occur here on Friday … the day appointed by law for the counting of ballots,” Scott wrote.
The three Enforcement Acts from that period are still on the books. Trump is charged under 18 U.S.C. § 241 for conspiracy to “to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person … in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same.”
Bunch writes, “Critics on the right may point to the age and relative obscurity of the law Trump was charged under to suggest that prosecutor Smith is overreaching. But in reality, invoking the anti-KKK statute feels like a remarkable and long overdue collision with the arc of justice.”
Over 150 years beyond the Civil War, the Third Enforcement Act remains relevant because this country has yet to — in its soul — make the vow not to pass on the racial animus that inspired it onto the next generation.
Certainly Fred Trump did not, Bunch writes, citing his 1927 arrest at a Klan rally in New York and Donald Trump’s history of racially inflammatory statements and actions. Trump’s scheme to throw out 2020 votes targeted cities with significant Black populations:
“Bad things happen in Philadelphia,” Trump famously told a 2020 debate — priming the pump for his foundational and utterly phony belief that voter fraud was coming from Democratic-run cities with large Black populations. When Trump started to fall behind in the vote tally about 24 hours after the polls closed on Nov. 3, 2020, his focus — and that of his henchmen — immediately turned to the swing-state cities where African Americans had voted in large numbers, especially Detroit, Atlanta, and Milwaukee, in addition to Philly.
Sherrilyn Ifill, former president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, addressed the country’s racist legacy Thursday evening with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes.
Trump’s narrative of illegitimate votes being behind his 2020 loss, she insisted, only works because it feeds racist tropes that resonate with a large minority of white Americans. Enough to inspire thousands to answer his call to come to the District on Jan. 6 and to storm the U.S. Capitol at his prompting. It animates the Republican claims that Trump cannot get a fair trial in Washington, D.C., a city that, like Philadelphia, Detroit, Atlanta, and Milwaukee, has a heavily Black population.
“Are we equal citizens under law or are there different classes of citizens?” Hayes posited as an unresolved issue in American history. The contention, explicit or implicit, behind the notion that some votes are illegitimate, “is that there are two classes of citizens, some of whose votes are suspect, their actions are suspect, cannot be trusted to fulfill the constitutional obligation to serve on a jury of peers, because they are fundamentally a lower order of citizen.”
As it was in 1870.
Trump reinforced that anti-Black narrative before leaving town Thursday. Denigrating Washington, D.C. where he will face trial, Trump claimed he’d witnessed “filth and the decay and all of the broken buildings” on his short drive to and from the airport. As the indictment document makes clear, Trump lies with abandon.
Hayes played a clip of Fulton County Georgia district attorney Fani Willis recounting how many racist slurs she’s experienced since opening her investigation into efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential results (that went against Trump).
“I’ve probably been called the ‘N’ word more times in the last two and a half years than a hundred people combined,” Willis said.
The pattern is clear. It is generational. To deny it is folly, and a threat to our continued existence as a nation. The whole world saw that on Jan. 6.
“To pretend that that is not a very essential part of Trump’s strategy, his appeal to a segment of the America population, and the willingness of the Republican Party — and in fact they have trafficked in this stuff, perhaps less blatantly, for many, many years — that’s what we’re facing,” Ifill responded, noting that the racial subtext to Trump’s strategy appears nowhere in the 45-page indictment.
“And if we pretend this is just about Trump and just about some charges but we leave that part out, we’re leaving the danger and the cancer still among us unaddressed.”
Bunch concludes:
White supremacy is the virus that has sapped democracy on this continent since 1619. The Civil War, Reconstruction, and the Ku Klux Klan Acts of 1870-71 were a bold attempt at finding our better angels and imposing a cure — but it fell way short. Consider the case of the United States of America vs. Donald Trump a booster shot. The trial of our former president may decide once and for all whether we were actually serious when we proclaimed that all people are created equal.
“We” were not. Pretty words. Aspirational. Powerful. Inspiring. But for a large segment of our people, words never fully embraced. More deeply rooted than our democratic norms is the belief that there are, as Hayes suggested, “different classes of citizens,” some a “fundamentally a lower order of citizen.” Some even who do not deserve citizenship by virtue of their skin color. That generational dysfunction persists despite what the documents encased in glass at the National Archives promise.
Was my friend successful in putting behind him his family’s cancerous legacy? I don’t know.
ICYMI:
Regular readers know very well what I think about this guy. He is as responsible for Trump’s degradation of democracy as anyone. But I am going to enjoy watching him needling Trump in interviews like this. If there are any normie Republicans left who haven’t been totally brainwashed, someone like Barr still probably has some juice.
CNN has a new poll out showing that almost 70% of Republicans believe that Biden is not a legitimate president. That’s 69% up from 63% for the last year. WTF is wrong with these people???
It’s good to look at the bigger picture, however and recognize that while this does represent tens of millions of our fellow Americans, it’s far from a majority:
Overall, 61% of Americans say Biden did legitimately win enough votes to win the presidency, and 38% believe that he did not. Among registered voters who say they cast a ballot for Trump in 2020, 75% say they have doubts about Biden’s legitimacy.
That says more about them than it does about Trump.
