The inevitable end result of our last 56 years

[W. Niederhut]

1 hour ago, Benjamin Cole said:

W.---

This is a rather weak reply. 

Trump's tweet ---"Be there. It will be wild"---is proof there was a covert cabal planning an insurrection? 

"Trump was the mastermind of the entire seditious debacle."----W. 

The idea of Trump as a "mastermind" of anything brings a quick guffaw, but....

 

Get a clue, Ben.

Rather than continuing to clutter this thread with ahistorical nonsense, take some time to finally study the Congressional J6 witness testimony about Trump's multi-faceted schemes to overturn the 2020 election.

Do you even know the historical context of Trump's December 2020 Tweet-- "Be there. It will be wild?"

What was happening at the White House that evening?  Any idea?

For a guy who repeatedly insists that he "studies the evidence" and "keeps an open mind," you're remarkably clueless about the historical facts.

[Ron Bulman]

Implosion in progress in the base?

QAnon is furious that Trump has announced a presidential bid for 2024 (msn.com)

[Matthew Koch]

17 minutes ago, W. Niederhut said:

Get a clue, Ben.

Rather than continuing to clutter this thread with ahistorical nonsense, take some time to finally study the Congressional J6 witness testimony about Trump's multi-faceted schemes to overturn the 2020 election.

Do you even know the historical context of Trump's December 2020 Tweet-- "Be there. It will be wild?"

What was happening at the White House that evening?  Any idea?

For a guy who repeatedly insists that he "studies the evidence" and "keeps an open mind," you're remarkably clueless about the historical facts.

William you don't make the case because you can't.

That is why you can't cite what you are saying like Ben and I can. 

[Benjamin Cole]

33 minutes ago, W. Niederhut said:

Get a clue, Ben.

Rather than continuing to clutter this thread with ahistorical nonsense, take some time to finally study the Congressional J6 witness testimony about Trump's multi-faceted schemes to overturn the 2020 election.

Do you even know the historical context of Trump's December 2020 Tweet-- "Be there. It will be wild?"

What was happening at the White House that evening?  Any idea?

For a guy who repeatedly insists that he "studies the evidence" and "keeps an open mind," you're remarkably clueless about the historical facts.

W--

Your reply is abrasive and ad hominem, but really does not get to the bottom of the question:

What did the 1/6 committee unearth or even say (with or without credible evidence) about what actually happened inside the infamous Willard Hotel meeting?

Not what commentators said or speculated about---what did the 1/6 committee say?

I have googled in quite few fashions about the Willard Hotel meeting, and not come up with much. The story just fizzles out. 

Other than speculation, do we know what happened or what was said inside the Willard Hotel meeting?  Is there even a hard list of attendees? 

For example, from the NYT, in copy now a year old:

"In another room of the five-star hotel, a phalanx of lawyers and political advisers for Mr. Trump — including Rudolph W. Giuliani, his personal lawyer; Bernard B. Kerik, a former New York City police commissioner; and John Eastman, a scholar working feverishly on a legal strategy to prevent Joseph R. Biden Jr. from assuming the presidency — had set up a kind of command post. "---NYT. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/09/us/politics/jan-6-subpoena.html

---30---

That is an interesting concession about the role of Eastman.

A one-time highly respected Constitutional lawyer, Eastman (now affiliated with Claremont colleges) was plumbing the septic-tank depths of constitutional law for a legal means to challenge the election---not a riot. Eastman was a private-sector lawyer with no authority over anyone in the US government. As a non-lawyer, my personal opinion is Eastman lost his marbles a bit, but he did not advocate violence at any time. 

More from the year-old NYT copy:

"What unfolded at the Willard Hotel in the hours before the Capitol riot has become a prime focus of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack as the panel intensifies its scrutiny into whether there was any coordination or tie between those pushing a legal strategy to overturn the election results and those who stormed the Capitol that day as Congress met to count the electoral votes to formalize Mr. Biden’s victory."

---30---

No ties have been found--and the word "ties" is large enough to drive a Mack truck through. 

Roger Stone evidently did not attend the Willard Hotel infamous meeting, as only lawyers were allowed, as they could claim lawyer-client privileges. Stone was relegated to the steps of Willard where he blow-harded around and gave an interview to fellow blow-hard Alex Jones. These guys had no authority over anyone, as did not the defrocked Michael Flynn (another nut). 

And that is pretty much where the Willard Hotel story ends, even now, a year later. 

There is exactly zero evidence that people in the Willard Hotel meeting---called a cabal---coordinated a physical attack on the Capitol. None.

No e-mails, texts, intercepted phone calls, confessions---despite the government panopticon that has retroactively seized literally thousands of texts, e-mails, phone, geo-locations, with the full cooperation of US telecom outfits (you have zero privacy, is one real and true lesson from Jan. 6). 

Add on: It is now coming out that the FBI had dozens of informants planted inside the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys (including No. 2 inside the Oath Keepers)---and not one informant has said "orders came out of the Willard to stage a physical assault" on the Capitol. 

So....the Willard Hotel "bombshell" story, like so much around Trump, just fizzles out. 

Where is the beef? 

To paraphrase Gertrude Stein, "There is no there, there." 

 

[Ron Bulman]

23 hours ago, Ron Bulman said:

I never tried the "magic" mushrooms referred to in Stephen Kinzer's Poisoner In Chief, "discovered" in Mexico in the mid 1950's.  

But I did try some once supposedly from a cow pasture in Texas or Oklahoma.  The story I was told was they often grow best in a pile of fertilizer, as in the cows eat mushrooms themselves then deposit the seeds in a pile of, fertilizer.  These were also reputedly picked by a person who knew the difference between poison mushrooms and ones that get you high.  Also, I was urged to try them by a couple of friends who had already done so a couple of days before and they were not dead yet.

The main thing I remember is they had been frozen to preserve them and were mostly thawed out.  Slimy and gross tasting, eating them was kind of like an oyster, chomp, chomp, ulp.  Thirty minutes to an hour later I regurgitated them.  But that's about when they kicked in.

After that it was pretty much like mescaline or LSD, which combined I tried maybe a dozen times.  The latter has more of an edge or intensity than the former.  I never had a bad trip though one was tense because of an unforeseen situation that came up.  I also never really hallucinated, seeing things that were not there.  More like a dream state, colors vibrant, getting intensely into a movie or tv show.

Music seemed clearer, more engrossing.  Hearing all the instruments, getting "into" the flow of a song. It's hard to describe.  The first time I saw Lynrd Skynrd with Bo Diddly on their second tour, then Eric Clapton with the palm trees on the stage, expanded my musical appreciation.  Watching the person in the white rabbit suit hop around the stage after the main lights went out before Jefferson Starship came out was a little freaky, but then Grace Slick came out and started singing the song and it was all cool.  Neil Young's garage band tour with the garage stage and the guy dressed as a mouse running around before the show and during intermission had us laughing our asses off. 

He also had mechanical cockroaches moving about the stage.  Which you can see at about 5:34 in this video.  Kind of cool for 1986, though the video is quite blurry at times.  Which is well worth watching.  Neil kills, shreds, nails it in this.  One of the most intense performances I've ever seen.

 

[Guest]

The bribes are collected after you leave office, if you’re a PM or President. 
 

Bungling Boris Johnson gets paid £276,000 for a speech at a US insurance conference. 
 

https://news.sky.com/story/boris-johnson-paid-over-163276000-for-speech-at-us-insurance-conference-12749687

[Ron Bulman]

Jan. 6 committee interviews Bobby Engel, who was Trump's lead secret service agent (msn.com) Obfuscation.

[W. Niederhut]

57 minutes ago, Ron Bulman said:

Jan. 6 committee interviews Bobby Engel, who was Trump's lead secret service agent (msn.com) Obfuscation.

Ron, 

   I doubt that Engel will be very forthcoming with the committee.  They should give him some LSD and lock him in a room with electronic cockroaches dancing on the floor.  The Sidney Gottlieb treatment.

   Meanwhile, Ben Cole still very much wants to believe that there "is no there there" with Trump and his Willard Hotel coup accomplices. Presumably, they were all just having cocktails with Rudy at the Willard to celebrate the imminent certification of Biden's election.

   But, does Ben remember what Steve Bannon said on January 5th about the January 6th rally?

   Does Ben know what Rudy G. said to Cassidy Hutchinson, in advance, about January 6th?

    Does Ben know what happened at the White House the night Trump tweeted to his fans to "Be there.  It will be wild?"

   Of course not.  He didn't listen to the Congressional hearings.

    

Edited November 18, 2022 by W. Niederhut

[Benjamin Cole]

1 hour ago, W. Niederhut said:

Ron, 

   I doubt that Engel will be very forthcoming with the committee.  They should give him some LSD and lock him in a room with electronic cockroaches dancing on the floor.  The Sidney Gottlieb treatment.

   Meanwhile, Ben Cole still very much wants to believe that there "is no there there" with Trump and his Willard Hotel coup accomplices. Presumably, they were all just having cocktails with Rudy at the Willard to celebrate the imminent certification of Biden's election.

   But, does Ben remember what Steve Bannon said on January 5th about the January 6th rally?

   Does Ben know what Rudy G. said to Cassidy Hutchinson, in advance, about January 6th?

    Does Ben know what happened at the White House the night Trump tweeted to his fans to "Be there.  It will be wild?"

   Of course not.  He didn't listen to the Congressional hearings.

    

That's it? 

I hold to the sensible standard: There needs to be evidence beyond reasonable doubt. 

Before we declare people guilty, let us present evidence beyond reasonable doubt to a jury of peers, and let the chips fall where they may. 

Convictions in the headlines and committee/commission hearings...well, not as convincing. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Benjamin Cole]

FBI director ‘very concerned’ by reports of secret Chinese police stations in US--Reuters

Christopher Wray says the FBI is investigating the existence of stations in New York, which could violate sovereignty

Christopher Wray said the FBI was looking into the legal parameters of Chinese ‘police stations’ in the US 

The United States is deeply concerned about the Chinese government setting up unauthorized “police stations” in US cities to possibly pursue influence operations, FBI director Christopher Wray has said.

“I’m very concerned about this. We are aware of the existence of these stations,” Wray told a US Senate homeland security and governmental affairs committee hearing, acknowledging the FBI’s investigative work on the issue but declining to give details.

---30---

The CCP owns the Waldorf. True story. Maybe they think the NYPD does not make the streets safe enough around their hotel. 

[Steve Thomas]

Mar-a-Lago Model Prosecution Memo

By Andrew Weissmann, Ryan Goodman, Joyce Vance, Norman L. Eisen, Fred Wertheimer, E. Danya Perry, Siven Watt, Joshua Stanton, Donald Simon and Alexander K. Parachini

November, 2022

127 pp

https://www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/just-security-mar-a-lago-model-prosecution-memorandum-november-2022.pdf

 

Mar-a-Lago Model Prosecution Memo
Executive Summary

This model prosecution memorandum (or “pros memo”) assesses the potential charges against former President Donald Trump emanating from his handling of classified documents and other government records since leaving office on January 20, 2021. It includes crimes related to the removal and retention of national security information and obstruction of the investigation into his handling of these documents. The authors have decades of experience as federal prosecutors
and defense lawyers, as well as other legal expertise. Based upon this experience and the analysis that follows, we conclude that there is a strong basis to charge Trump.

 

Mar-a-Lago Model Prosecution Memo

Table of Contents
Executive Summary 1
Methodology 2
Substance 2
Part I. Known and Reported Facts 3
Part II. The Law - Relevant Federal Offenses 4
Part III. Application of the Facts to the Law 4
Part IV. Department of Justice Precedents 5
Part V. Defenses 6
Acknowledgements 8

Steve Thomas

 

 

[Steve Thomas]

Definition of Class.

"This girl, Miss Alcoholic that she is, this panty dropper after two shots, okay?" Fiore said Tuesday night at a GOP event. "This girl, if you want a piece of Amy, give her two shots. She'll give it to y'all, okay?"

https://www.rawstory.com/michele-fiore-nevada/

Steve Thomas

[Kirk Gallaway]

Not a huge Billy Joel fan, but this is probably my favorite.

Edited November 18, 2022 by Kirk Gallaway

[Kirk Gallaway]

This article says the Dems blew control of the house by mismanaging in New York. They got greedy in gerrymandering and were ruled to break up their districts and lost 4 seats!

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/09/nyregion/ny-house-races-redistricting.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article

 

The current total is Repugs 218  and Dems 212 , with 5 outstanding and the Dems up in 3 of them. One outstanding Repug district is Lauren Boebert who is up by 550 votes. That district is the entire western half of Colorado.

What a bunch of dysfunctional loonies they must be!

It's too bad, that West side of the divide is very pretty!

 

-Isn't it interesting since Trump has disowned the results of the election, his sheep have kept away from the local county court houses and we've  had a relatively peaceful election after a rowdy pre election!

 

-I notice Bankman  is also staking Republicans such as Romney and Bill Cassidy.. Either you're into crypto, or your not, and if you are, scandals like this should come as no  surprise.

 

-P.S. I notice now that of course, Shari Lake,  is contesting her race, and Boebert's race is going to a recount, but she is the projected winner by a few news agencies.

Edited November 18, 2022 by Kirk Gallaway

[Andrew Prutsok]

With Twitter's demise said "imminent" by some, people are posting their all time favorite tweets. This was in poor taste but I couldn't resist sharing here:

 

https://mobile.twitter.com/gooey_v/status/1593460542617911296/photo/1