Steve Thomas

I wonder if the Trumpyites (troglodytes) are proud of themselves. That's a hell of a casualty list. 7 dead. 140 wounded. What's next? Shiloh? Antietam? Steve Thomas

The GOP Just Spit in the Face of American Democracy bt Michael Tomasky Feb. 13, 2021 https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-gop-just-spit-in-the-face-of-american-democracy-by-acquitting-trump-at-his-second-impeachment-trial?ref=home “Well, now we know. We know how the Republican Party wants to go down in history. They’ve made it as clear as could be. First, two-thirds of the members of the Republican caucus of the House of Representatives voted on Jan. 6 to refuse to affirm the results of the presidential election. They continued doing so, we know, after the riot, after Capitol Hill Police Officer Brian Sicknick lay dead, after a mob had defaced the Capitol building. Denying Joe Biden the presidency was, of course, the mission of the mob. So two-thirds of House Republicans voted to condone the mob. And now, we’ve seen that 86 percent of Republican senators have voted to deny what’s in front of their noses and insist that Donald Trump bears no blame they can provide for the riot he incited. In sum, congressional Republicans have put themselves on record saying that they are, in effect, untroubled by the worst assault on our democracy since the Civil War. The rioters were justified, said the two-thirds of House Republicans who agreed that Biden wasn’t really elected. And Senate Republicans said that the president who urged them to march on the Capitol and fight like hell or you won’t have a country anymore and then sat back and watched and did nothing to stop it (and to this day has never denounced it) bore no responsibility for the assault, or at least none that they could mete out. Those 43 Republicans just spit in the face of American democracy.” SteveThomas

A Broken Party Acquitted Donald Trump In His Second Impeachment “The ex-president’s boast he could get away with murder proved true.” By Paul Blumenthal 02/13/2021 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-impeachment-acquit_n_6027e114c5b6f88289fbfc0f “Back in January 2016, before Donald Trump won his first presidential primary, before he secured his position atop the Republican Party and before he won the White House, he mused about the unbreakable bond between himself and his supporters with a joke about murder. “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters,” Trump said, to a laughing audience, while pointing his finger at them like a gun. “OK? It’s, like, incredible.” What was once true of his supporters is now true of nearly the entire Republican Party.” “Trump stood in the middle of Washington, D.C., pointed his supporters at Congress and fired. Seven people ― three police officers, including two by suicide, and four Trump supporters ― died as a result of the president’s actions. And his party let him off the hook.” Steve Thomas

I will never view a high school football game in the same light again, and I think every cheerleader in the country should be investigated. Steve Thomas

Tuberville comments help fuel House case against Trump By KYLE CHENEY and ANDREW DESIDERIO 02/11/2021 https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/11/trump-impeachment-trial-day-3-468588 “Sen. Tommy Tuberville revealed late Wednesday that he spoke to then-President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, just as a violent mob closed in on the Senate, and informed Trump that then-Vice President Mike Pence had just been evacuated from the chamber. “I said ‘Mr. President, they just took the vice president out, I’ve got to go,'” the Alabama Republican told POLITICO on Capitol Hill, saying he cut the phone call short amid the chaos. House managers say the Trump-Tuberville call took place shortly after 2 p.m. Pence was evacuated from the chamber at about 2:15 p.m., and Trump sent his tweet attacking Pence at 2:24 p.m. The entire Senate was cleared by about 2:30 p.m. ...the call occurred at virtually the same moment Trump fired off a tweet attacking Pence for lacking “courage” to unilaterally attempt to overturn the presidential election results — a tweet that came after Pence and his family were rushed from the Senate chamber. “ "Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution," Trump said. Trump knew that Pence was in danger, and wasn’t even in the Chamber to affect any change.. The rioters responded by shouting, “Hang Mike Pence”! “Hang Mike Pence”! Don’t tell me Trump wasn’t calling the shots. He deliberately tried to have Mike Pence killed. Steve Thomas

David, I think you may be quoting someone else here. I don't remember ever writing that. Could you tell me where and when I wrote that? I'm puzzled because I don't use the word "posits" as part of my normal vernacular. Steve Thomas

Posted by David Andrews in the Education Fourom 23 August 2012 - 12:48 AM entitled: How JFK's body was wrapped. David Andrews in the Education Forum 8/22/12 http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=19412 “Kellerman's and other SS agents' behavior on leaving Parkland in a hurry, with guns drawn, knocking people out of the way, could have been to prevent Texas authorities' possession and opening of an empty coffin. (Otherwise, it was necessary to keep the pre-autopsy alterations in DC on schedule.) I tend to think that David Lifton was on track in Best Evidence, and JFK's body actually returned to Washington on Air Force Two (the V-P plane). Which would mean switching the body at Parkland.” Edited by David Andrews, 23 August 2012 - 12:52 AM. David Sanders, who helped clean Trauma Room# 1 Price Ehibit 25 http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/pdf/WH21_Price_Ex_2-35.pdf page 75 said that after Jackie came in and placed her ring on JFK's finger and kissing his hand, she left the room. Afterwards they placed the body in the casket. Diana Bowron Price Exhibit 12 http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/pdf/WH21_Price_Ex_2-35.pdf page 55 “When Mrs. Kennedy had left we placed the President's body on a plastic sheet in the casket. We all left the room and Mrs Kennedy entered alone and stayed with the body until it was removed a short time later.” ACTIVITIES OF MARGARET HINCHLIFFE. Price Exhibit 30 http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh21/pdf/WH21_Price_Ex_2-35.pdf page 91 “After Mrs.Kennedy and the priests left the room, Miss Bowron and myself, with the assistance of David Sanders, the orderly, prepared the body... We remained with the body until he was placed in the casket. Then, Mrs. Kennedy entered the room and everyone left the room and waited outside until the President's body was taken from the hospital.” I tend to agree with David. I think the fight in the hallway was over an empty coffin. I don't know how they managed it, but I think the coffin was empty. That makes a whole lot more sense than needing to fly JFK's body all the way back to Washington so they could an autopsy and to get Jackie out of Dallas. Steve Thomas

QAnon 'prophet' says Super Bowl is a sign Trump will soon return to the White House -- here's why by Brad Reed February 08, 2021 https://www.rawstory.com/qanon-2650404677/ "As Right Wing Watch documents, self-described QAnon "prophet" Johnny Enlow on Monday told his followers that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' victory of the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday's Super Bowl matchup was a divine sign of Trump's impending return to power. Enlow's evidence for this claim is that Buccaneers linebacker Devin White, who made a game-sealing fourth-quarter interception, wears the number 45 -- and Trump was America's 45th president." Yup. It's written in the stars. Steve Thomas (looking for the nearest revival tent)

Trump's DC hotel jacking up room rates on date QAnon believers think he'll assume power again: report By Tom Boggioni 02/07/21 https://www.rawstory.com/trump-qanon-2650380375/ "According to a report from Forbes, the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC has massively increased rates on the dates QAnon believers are claiming Donald Trump will oust President Joe Biden and once again assume control on the U.S. Government. According to a theory pushed by so-called "sovereign citizens" that has been making the rounds since Biden was inaugurated, on March 4th Donald Trump will once again be president. "Sovereign citizens believe that a law enacted in 1871 secretly turned the U.S. into a corporation and did away with the American government of the founding fathers. The group also believes that President Franklin D. Roosevelt sold U.S. citizens out in 1933 when he ended the gold standard and replaced it by offering citizens as collateral to a group of shadowy foreign investors." Vice previously reported. With that in mind, QAnon adherents are planning on holding inauguration festivities that day to welcome the ex-president back. Never one to pass up an opportunity to cash in on making a buck off of fans of the now ex-president, his hotel bumped their rates. Substantially. "At the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC, the least expensive room option is the deluxe king, ranging in size from 350 to 475 square feet. At this time of year, it normally runs anywhere from $476 to $596 per night," the report states. "Interestingly, on March 3 and 4, the same room is selling for $1,331 per night. That's 180% above the base rate and more than double what you'd pay any other night in February or March, according to the hotel's website."" Steve Thomas

Republicans in the House of Representatives voted not to strip Marjorie Taylor Greene of her House Committee assignments, because they didn't want to overturn the will of the people in her District in Georgia who elected her; which is ironic, because a month ago they were trying to overturn the will of the people in the entire State of Georgia, as well as the entire States of Michigan, and Pennsylvania, and Arizona. Can you spell hypocrisy? Steve Thomas

Dallas Dispatch Tapes http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/dpdtapes/ 12:34 Dispatcher 103 clear. 12:34 Dispatcher Unknown motorcycle - up on Stemmons with his mike stuck open on Channel 1. Could you send someone up there to tell him to shut it off? (12:34 p.m.) WC testimony of Joe E. Murphy http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/murphy_j.htm Mr. BALL. Were there any other officers on that overpass? Mr. MURPHY. Yes; there were two more about - oh, a 100 feet south of me - to slow traffic or to stop traffic whenever the motorcade entered the Stemmons Freeway north entrance. Mr. BALL. Now where were they located - and, did they as the motorcade came down Elm Street, did they go into the highway and stop traffic? Mr. MURPHY. Yes; they did. Mr. BALL. Will you put their positions on the Stemmons Freeway overpass at the time the motorcade came west on Elm, and mark it (2) and (3). Mr. MURPHY. (Marked diagram as requested by Counsel Ball.) Mr. BALL. Do you know the names of those officers that were (2) and (3)? Mr. MURPHY. I can't recall. I know them but I can't recall who they were. Mr. BALL. Were they three-wheeler officers too, do they drive three-wheelers? Mr. MURPHY. I believe both of them three-wheelers. Purdue Lawrence, page 494 https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1137#relPageId=514&tab=page To the best of my knowledge, none of these guys were called to testify before the Warren Commission. Steve Thomas

Donald Trump’s Business Sought A Stake In Parler Before He Would Join By Ryan Mac and Rosie Gray February 5, 202 https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/trump-parler-ownership Documents seen by BuzzFeed News show that Parler offered the Trump Organization a 40% stake in the company. It is unclear as to what extent the former president was involved with the discussions. The deal was never finalized, but legal experts said the discussions alone, which occurred while Trump was still in office, raise legal concerns with regards to anti-bribery laws. But the White House counsel’s office soon put a stop to the talks, one person with knowledge of the discussions said, ruling that such a deal while Trump was president would violate ethics rules. The never-before-reported talks between Trump’s business organization and Parler, a social media network that promises less moderation than mainstream sites and is embraced by the far right, provide more insight into the frantic last weeks of Trump’s presidency. Steve Thomas

This is how it's done, by Gum! https://twitter.com/i/status/1357897178505740289 Steve Thomas

I got to wondering where a "pink/grey" shipping casket may have come from. I mean, what does a hospital do when a person arrives DOA at a hospital, or dies during surgery, etc? Do hospitals keep a supply of caskets in storage or something? Dr. Price, Parkland Hospital Administrator was asked this. In his Warren Commission Price Exhibit 33, page 111 he wrote this: http://www.aarclibra...ice_Ex_2-35.pdf “About this time a secret service man came to me and asked how we could move the president's body. He asked if we had a casket, a basket or anything that we could get to move the body immediately. I told him that we had nothing like that, but that we had several military installation nearby where we could get a casket, or we could get one from a local funeral director. He asked me to wait where I was, stating he would be back in just a minute,. I noticed that Steve had started out of the area with a secret service man and asked where he was going. He said to get a casket, and I told him to wait a minute as someone had just asked me about one and had asked that no further action be taken at that tine. Another man in the group who had been talking with Mrs. Kennedy and the other secret service agents near her came to me and asked that we get a casket of any kind from any place the quickest possible way. I then turned to Steve and relayed the request to him, and asked that he see what could be done about it.” I don't know who this "other man in the group talking with Mrs. Kennedy" was. If you needed a "pinkish/grey" shipping casket similar to ones used to ship servicemen home from Vietnam, what better place to get one than from a military installation? Is this how the casket was removed? On page 110 of this Exhibit, Price wrote: “While talking with Mrs. Nelson, one of the secret service men who had been bruised or had a minor injury came to me and asked if there were another way that the President and Mrs. Kennedy could be taken out of the building. I told him there was a tunnel exit and that if he would come with me, I would walk it off for him. I walked down to inspect the tunnel, then returned to the surgery area of the Emergency Room.” (Does anyone know about a Secret Service man who had been bruised or had a minor injury?) “While I was talking with him, (a Mr. Maher) another secret service man grabbed me by the arm and asked if I knew an alternate route the Johnson*s could use for an exit. I told him I had walked out an alternate route with another agent a few minutes ago and that if he would come with me, I would show him. We went to the Emergency Room elevator, one of the maintenance men was manually operating it and told him to take us to the basement.... I instructed the elevator operator to go to second (floor for an emergency delivery of blood),and then to take us on down to the basement. The secret service agent and I "ran" the alternate route, then when we got back to the Emergency Room area, he asked me to show him where the Johnsons were.” While all the attention was on Air Force One, could the shipping casket have been placed on Air Force Two, or the C-130 military plane that took the limousine back to Washington? I would have to find the radio logs for Air Force Two or the cargo manifest for the C-130 to find out more. Steve Thomas

Vince, This is just intended as a fill-in. In the film, Byrd talks about auctioning off the TSBD. He sold the building in 1970. “Corsicana Daily Sun” from Corsicana, Texas March 31, 1970 Page 10 https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/41268447/ Famed Depository Building for Sale DALLAS (AP) — The Texas School Book Depository Building goes on the auction block April 16. The drab, seven-story building that entered American history the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, will go to the highest bidder at the Northpark Inn in Dallas. The building is owned by the Dallas Trust Corp. The majority stockholder of the firm, Col. D. Harold Byrd, 69, has decided to liquidate some of his holdings. The Texas School Book Depository has built a new warehouse outside Dallas and their lease on the building is about to expire. The auction is open to the public and auctioneer G. C. Walters, who will conduct the bidding, says no stipulations have been put on possible buyers as to what may be done with the building. Walters said some have suggested turning the building into a shrine in honor of the memory of the President. Another informal proposal has been made to convert it into a John F. Kennedy Memorial Day Care Center. It’s just possible the new owner will choose to raze the structure, 1961 Dallas City Directory page 387 https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth806907/m1/723/?q=Byrd Steve Thomas

Volume XX of the Commission Hearings and Exhibits starting on page 489 has Purdue Lawrence's assignments for the motorcade. pp. 493-494 has the officers staged at the Stemmons Freeway. https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1137#relPageId=513&tab=page Motorcyclists in the 200 range are 3 wheelers, such David Harkness (260) Steve Thomas

Thank goodness for Donald Trump. Exposing all this fake news. This isn't a real impeachment trial. It's just "purported impeachment proceedings" "Then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." Steve Thomas

Militia alliance in Georgia signals new phase for extremist paramilitaries By Chris Joyner, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution https://www.ajc.com/news/militia-alliance-in-georgia-signals-new-phase-for-extremist-paramilitaries/UD2JMQV5A5EABHHAKBQZBK2IVY/ "The leader of a private paramilitary group that provided security for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said he has formed alliances with other far-right groups to advocate for Georgia’s secession from the union, following the arrests of participants in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. “The way patriots are now being hunted down and arrested by fellow men and women who have taken the same oath has disheartened any faith I had in the redemption or reformation of the USA as one entity,” Justin Thayer, head of the Georgia III% Martyrs, said in a text exchange with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution this week. Thayer said the Martyrs have allied themselves with fellow “Three Percenter” militia the American Brotherhood of Patriots and American Patriots USA (APUSA), a north Georgia group headed by Chester Doles, a Dahlonega resident who belonged to various racist and neo-poopoo hate groups before forming the new group in 2019. The combined groups will advocate for Georgia’s secession from the union through an amendment to the U.S. Constitution or through “the collapse of the American experiment,” Thayer said. “For the last 150 years, the Imperial Yankee culture of the northeast has been molding Georgia — and the South in general — into its ‘perfect’ image,” he said." Donal Trump has vowed to destroy the Governor of Georgia and its Secretary of State. I would not be surprised at all to see him use Georgia as the launching pad for any post-election machinations. Steve Thomas

Ron, As I understand it, the term "martial law" wasn't brought up at that particular meeting. What Sidney Powell (and perhaps Flynn too) suggested to Trump was that he invoke something called, " emergency national security powers", There is no such thing. Kind of like Al Haig after Reagan got shot, “I, Al Haig, am in control here at the White House,” Steve Thomas

Who is that thuggish-looking guy hovering in the background? Is that Bruce Carlin? Steve Thomas

Ron, I think that last line, "I don't really like to give my opinion of what I really believe" is more a reflection of how women were trained to talk in those days. They were told that women were to be seen and not heard. Steve Thomas

The defense lawyers for Donald Trump file their brief: https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/02/politics/trump-response-impeachment-article/index.html On page 1, the brief is addressed to the Unites States Senate. They repeat this on page 9. I wonder who they are. Steve Thomas

Read: Democrats' impeachment trial brief Updated 02/02/21 10:29 AM ET, https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/02/politics/democrats-impeachment-trial-brief/index.html Steve Thomas

Bonus episode: Inside the craziest meeting of the Trump presidency By Jonathan Swan, Zachary Basu https://www.axios.com/trump-oval-office-meeting-sidney-powell-a8e1e466-2e42-42d0-9cf1-26eb267f8723.html “Four conspiracy theorists marched into the Oval Office. It was early evening on Friday, Dec. 18 — more than a month after the election had been declared for Joe Biden, and four days after the Electoral College met in every state to make it official.” “Flynn went berserk” “Finally Herschmann had enough. "Why the xxxx do you keep standing up and screaming at me?" he shot back at Flynn. "If you want to come over here, come over here. If not, sit your ass down." Flynn sat back down.” “Powell waved an affidavit from the pile of papers in her lap, claiming it contained testimony from someone involved in the development of rigged voting machines in Venezuela. She proposed declaring a national security emergency, granting her and her cabal top-secret security clearances and using the U.S. government to seize Dominion’s voting machines.” "How exactly are you going to do this?" an exasperated Herschmann asked again, later in the conversation. Newman again cited the 2018 executive order, which prompted Herschmann to question out loud whether she was even a lawyer. Then Byrne chimed in: "There are guys with big guns and badges who can get these things." Herschmann couldn't believe it. "What are you, three years old?" he asked. I am speechless. Steve Thomas

Eugenio Rolando Martínez, Watergate burglar and former CIA asset in Miami, dies at 98 Miami Herald 02/02/21 https://this.kiji.is/729174268642623488 “In a column he penned in 1974, Martínez described the scheme [Watergate]as a bungled affair that reminded him of the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba — an ill-fated, poorly planned attempt by the CIA to spur revolution by attacking communist dictator Castro’s troops with Cuban exile troops. “I can’t help seeing the whole Watergate affair as a repetition of the Bay of Pigs,” he wrote. “The invasion was a fiasco for the United States and a tragedy for the Cubans. All of the agencies of the U.S. government were involved, and they carried out their plans in so ill a manner that everyone landed in the hands of Castro — like a present.”” “Martínez, born in July of 1922 in Artemisa, Cuba, was a prolific asset for the U.S. CIA in the 1960s, running hundreds of missions to Cuba from Miami. Martínez’s granddaughter, Michelle Diaz, said Monday that he conducted 365 missions in all.” Steve Thomas