US Politics: Time for the Stormy season with a chance of conviction

[Jaxom 1974]

 

 

[BigFatCoward]

37 minutes ago, Mr. Chatywin et al. said:

You can also just lie. Having a sign in your yard saying you have a security system works almost as well as actually having one. 

Actually the best security is 'don't be a fucking idiot' but most political leaders aren't going to know how to swing that. 

[Dawn Vibration]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/04/16/supreme-court-jan-6-obstruction-case-trump-rioters/

This court continues to be horrendous on so many levels.

I fully expect them to give Trump immunity and word it in such a way it only applies to him.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

26 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

Actually the best security is 'don't be a fucking idiot' but most political leaders aren't going to know how to swing that. 

Nah, this is the best security system:

 

[Erik of Hazelfield]

1 hour ago, Mr. Chatywin et al. said:

You can also just lie. Having a sign in your yard saying you have a security system works almost as well as actually having one. 

It works because it’s credible. You may very well have a security system at your house. If you want to make the claim of having nuclear weapons though, you better back it up with some concrete evidence or other countries won’t buy it. Deterrence is a credibility game.

 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

9 minutes ago, Erik of Hazelfield said:

It works because it’s credible. You may very well have a security system at your house. If you want to make the claim of having nuclear weapons though, you better back it up with some concrete evidence or other countries won’t buy it. Deterrence is a credibility game.

 

Strategic and selective leaks can do a lot of work.

[Makk]

I think the judge should grant Trump leave to attend Barons high school graduation. Trump doesn't even want to go, he didn't for any of his other children, but now he's made such a big fuss about it he would have to sit through it.

[Zorral]

He can sleep at graduation.

Anyway court's not in session tomorrow.  He can sleep then too.

[The Anti-Targ]

Now that Russia has appeared to give moral if not material support to Iran in it's conflict with Israel, how likely is that to move the right to being more willing to support continued aid to Ukraine?

I guess ultimately for the right it's about doing whatever will weaken Biden, so it's not really about having a coherent foreign policy position. They can figure out what position to take once their in power.

[Zorral]

When you gonna get it?  The fascists love Putin.  Putin is all there meddling in the elections to get romperola and those ilks elected -- not only in the US but everywhere else.  This include providing funds and funding and personnel to do it.

In the meantime there's alignment of Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, to make war on the 'West' by all and any and every means. And trumpisto and all his worshippers are down, down, down with them (as is Hungary's Orban, etc.).  And probably bibi and the Likud party.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/17/alignment-russia-china-iran-north-korea/

Edited April 17 by Zorral

[DireWolfSpirit]

The simplest explanation to me for the red state Trump and Putin worshipers is that they hate America, they hate diversity,  they hate the melting pot and they relish harm coming to 60% of the rest of country that arent MAGA mind diseased.

They barely hide the harbored desire to just kill us off and be done with it.

Given the mindset, the Putin/Trump lust makes perfect sense.

[Zorral]

‘Big journalism fail’: Mainstream media blasted over coverage of historic Trump trial
David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement

https://www.rawstory.com/big-journalism-fail-mainstream-media-blasted-over-coverage-of-historic-trump-trial/

Quote

 

The media's ability to shape public opinion is well-documented, and by the end of the second day of the first criminal trial in history of a former U.S. president critics are slamming the content, framing, and focus of mainstream media organizations. The biggest concerns: refusing to cover the former president's apparent inability to stay awake in court, too much identifying information of potential and chosen jurors, and even subtle descriptions that can be used to feed into false perceptions the trial is "unfair" or, as the ex-president likes to say, a "scam."

Overnight, CNN's Oliver Darcy's "Reliable Sources" newsletter blasted mainstream media outlets that "strangely show little interest in reporting on Donald Trump's courtroom naps."

"Imagine, for a moment, if President Joe Biden were to be caught openly sleeping at an important hearing," Darcy posits. Trump was caught "nodding" off repeatedly several times over the first two days of trial (there is not trial Wednesdays). "Then imagine it were to occur at another important hearing the next day. Not only would right-wing media outlets like Fox News run wild with coverage questioning his fitness for office, mainstream news organizations would no doubt also treat the snooze fest as a serious news story. But, for some unknown reason, Donald Trump falling asleep at his historic criminal trial in New York (as he apparently did, again, on Tuesday) has been met with a rather muted response."

Noting, "It's important," Darcy asks, "why has much of the press fallen asleep at the wheel?" and serves up some examples – or lack thereof.

"ABC News and NBC News didn't even bother mentioning it on their evening newscasts and many major outlets haven't even filed straight stories on it. To be frank, if not for The NYT's Maggie Haberman reporting on the matter Tuesday, it's unclear whether the public — which is relying on news organizations to be its eyes and ears in the courtroom, given cameras are barred — would know about it."

"It's all the more bizarre given that Trump has made attacking 'sleepy Joe' a central tenet of his campaign, framing the president as lacking the stamina to serve in the nation's highest office. Which is to say, the fact that Trump is the one apparently unable to stay awake in his own criminal trial isn't a trivial story."

Jennifer Schulze, a media critic who was a Chicago Sun-Times executive producer, WGN news director, and adjunct college professor of journalism, pointing to Darcy's criticism, calls it "a big journalism fail." ....

 

Cable ratings are in for the first day of the historic Trump trial: MSNBC led CNN, averaging 2.2 million total viewers in prime time, compared to CNN's 711,000. In the advertiser-coveted 25-54 demo, MSNBC averaged 223,000 viewers in prime and CNN averaged 148,000 viewers. Over in right-wing talk television, Fox News averaged 2.4 million total viewers in prime and 272,000 in the demo

https://www.rawstory.com/big-journalism-fail-mainstream-media-blasted-over-coverage-of-historic-trump-trial/

 

[Kalbear]

The Mayorkas impeachment was killed without trial:

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/alejandro-mayorkas-impeachment-trial-senate-04-17-24/index.html

I have to say I'm a bit surprised that dems would do this given that it pisses off some of the conservative dems, and that it sets something of a shitty precedent for the inevitable impeachment of various Trump officials down the line. Not that precedent should really matter here and would matter that much, but I'm still a bit surprised. 

[DMC]

6 minutes ago, Kalbear said:

I have to say I'm a bit surprised that dems would do this given that it pisses off some of the conservative dems, and that it sets something of a shitty precedent for the inevitable impeachment of various Trump officials down the line. Not that precedent should really matter here and would matter that much, but I'm still a bit surprised. 

No idea why you’re surprised, and it’s not pissing off any Dems.  Republicans are threatening to use the dismissal against vulnerable Dem incumbents, of course, but both Tester and Brown literally laughed that off last week.  It’d obviously be worse for them politically to grant legitimacy to such an absurd impeachment, devote multiple news cycles to it, then vote to acquit which ultimately they most certainly were going to do anyway.

[Martell Spy]

Johnson moving forward with Ukraine aid bill despite pressure from hardliners

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/17/politics/mike-johnson-ukraine-aid/index.html

Quote

 

Speaker Mike Johnson announced Wednesday he is sticking with his plan to put a series of foreign aid bills on the floor, including funding for Ukraine, after facing significant pressure from hardliners.

Johnson said in a note to members that they will vote on these Saturday evening.

 

 

[Dawn Vibration]

https://www.propublica.org/article/israel-gaza-blinken-leahy-sanctions-human-rights-violations
Blinken Is Sitting on Staff Recommendations to Sanction Israeli Military Units Linked to Killings or Rapes.

That's not great.

[Fragile Bird]

A story just popped up on Google saying that in Trump’s trial jury selection two corporate lawyers have been picked out of the 7 chosen so far. That could get really interesting. Traditionally lawyers are not chosen for juries.

[The Anti-Targ]

How do you sanction a military unit? That seems like a token gesture, and of course war crimes have to be proven to be sanctionable, right?

Do meaningful sanctions against top brass and political leaders, or the country as a whole, or don't do them at all.

[kissdbyfire]

7 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

A story just popped up on Google saying that in Trump’s trial jury selection two corporate lawyers have been picked out of the 7 chosen so far. That could get really interesting. Traditionally lawyers are not chosen for juries.

I saw the cnn legal analyst (Honig?) talking about that last night. He said that usually lawyers aren’t picked but that in this case the factors were a) so many people saying right off the bat they didn’t think they could be impartial and b) “NY has a lot of lawyers”. I can see the former being true but not sure if he was serious about the latter or just being cheeky. 

Edited April 17 by kissdbyfire

[Zorral]

.... “Beginning tomorrow, we ask that all candidates and committees who choose to use President Trump’s name, image, and likeness split a minimum of 5% of all fundraising solicitations to Trump National Committee JFC. This includes, but is not limited to, sending to the house file, prospecting vendors, and advertising,” Trump co-campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita wrote in a letter reported on by Politico.

“Any split that is higher than 5% will be seen favorably by the RNC and President Trump’s campaign and is routinely reported to the highest levels of leadership within both organizations," the letter added. ....