I’ll give you treason-adjacent, but there is no way this Supreme Court would elevate either the January 6 riot or the underlying fake electors conspiracy to straight up treason. The plain text purists will take a very narrow, literal meaning of “levying war,” and the resident historian on the Court will note that the Constitution was written in the immediate aftermath of the Revolutionary War, which is clearly the standard for both the constitutional and statutory application of the term.
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Also notable is that the whole charade was a new version of the republican puke funnel, except this time involving the courts and not just the media. Same SOP - scream about something uncontroversial and get the media to amp it up until it becomes controversial, but now use the artificial controversy to file suit in court, assuming their hand picked judges would be as reliably fascist as Hannity, etc.
Lucky for us, that was a bridge too far for even their judges.
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Off topic, but still in the realm of jurisprudence and because I can’t resist a Florida Man tale.
This week, a jury in Florida found her husband, David Tronnes, guilty of murdering her because he was so enraged by her refusal to go on the show, which he believed would bail them out of costly improvements to their house.
Tronnes, 55, received a sentence of life imprisonment after his conviction on Wednesday, the local state attorney’s office said in a statement. The conviction came at the end of a six-day trial whose grisly details drew national attention.
The mug shot:
Christamitey!
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The R̶e̶p̶u̶b̶l̶i̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶p̶a̶r̶t̶y̶ Donner party continues to eat its own, and the nation has heartburn as a result.
The Crazy Chaos Caucus is happy with the way things are going.
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Seems pretty shocking to get a flat out admittance that their clients were involved in a criminal conspiracy. This really needs to be in a democratic campaign ad.
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I was thinking about this last evening. I would bet at this point that there are maybe 100 people in the country who truly, deeply, sincerely believe Trump won the election. The vast majority know he did not and don’t care due to the hatred you referred to. Everyone knows. EVERYONE.
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It’s also what you know. Powell and Chesebro were adjacent to people at the top, or a notch below, of the conspiracy whereas the low-level state actors know nothing of significance to share with prosecutors. They say knowledge is power, well, it’s also a pretty good bargaining chip.
Prosecutors are following the exact strategy they use to take down mob bosses. While Donald Trump is asking, where’s my Roy Cohn; Jack Smith is asking, where’s my Sammy “The Bull” Gravano?
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Yes. Even these fuckers knew what they were doing was treasonous. We should stop pussy footing around with legalisms and spray the word “treason” all over these discussions.
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20-30 years ago, I’d say, absolutely, but now, is the expense worth the number of converts or those made more enthused to vote against the GOP? So many in the GOP see this as persecution and independent voters might see it as “just politics”. Just asking.
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Dems have latched onto the phrase “MAGA Republicans” and say it every chance they get. I think it’s a good thing, and including this quote from their own lawyer seems like a pretty good extension of that.
ETA: I think we’re getting to the point where some people who had dipped their toes into the maga pool can be shamed into slinking away from it as it becomes more obvious how fetid it is. We have to say it because no one else will.
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I think you might be underestimating the appeal of conspiracy theories. People get a little dopamine jolt in the brain when they latch onto a conspiracy theory and see it reinforced within their social mediasphere. They feel like they’re in on something that others aren’t aware of, and therefore smarter and superior.
Somewhere in their brains there may be a nugget of knowledge that it isn’t true, that Trump probably lost the election. But the emotional reward of having their beliefs reinforced by other conspiracy fans overrides the logical part of the brain and validates their superiority. If they accepted the truth, they would no longer be special and superior compared to the hated libtards.
Of course there are also plenty of MAGAts who know Trump lost the election and just support the Big Lie because it’s fun to tweak the libtards. But I think there are still plenty of true believers operating on the principle above. You can see it in their earnest interviews outside Trump rallies. They believe the election was “stollen.”
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Not the two guys seating behind me a lunch this week. “Trump won. Everybody knows. What about the water main break?”
I’ll skip the recap on vaccines.
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I think this is all Donald Trump’s doings as kingpin of the Republican Party.
Back in January, Trump threw his endorsement behind Kevin McCarthy, helping him get elected Speaker, but with a key poison pill thrown in - a one member recall card.
So long as McCarthy did Trump’s bidding, there would be no problem. But as soon as Trump saw Kevin was willing to deal with Biden to keep the government running, he was out on Kevin. He had to stop that because closing the government to demonize Biden as unable to govern is an important part of his electoral strategy. So he and Gaetz, one of his loyalest soldiers in the House, engage in phone calls and various back and forths just before Gaetz pulls the plug on McCarthy.
Trump then endorses Jordan, another loyal soldier and far right extremist, who he knows will shut down the government. Jordan lost, but as long as no moderate type wins, Trump is happy. That’s why he’s dead set against Emmer for Speaker. I believe Trump is orchestrating this chaos behind the scenes. What does he care if Republicans lose the House as a result, as long as he wins the presidency?
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Yep, the coup was “justified” and “necessary”. Conspiracy is a “by any means necessary” action and constitutionally prescribed by the 1st and 2nd Amendments*.
*Some restrictions apply
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We have one of @carolson’s 100 true believers who regularly writes letters to the editor explaining how the “First law of the United States in the Declaration of Independence Section 1, Organic Law portion U.S. Legal Code Annotated” grants the people the absolute right to abolish the government. His latest missive claims the tyrannical attempt to imprison a candidate for president is sufficient cause to overthrow the government if we have the courage to do it and save our country and our freedom.
Purely anecdotal, but it supports your point that people like him are impervious to facts and logic and would only see this as more persecution of the righteous.
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I doubt anyone is going to be released because the courtroom isn’t big enough.
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But wait a minute Bub, hold those horses, we have to check the record of history to see what some jurist in the 13th century had to say about “treason” and “levying war”.
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Well as long has it’s heartburn and not angina…
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Milquetoast Merrick refusing to prosecute tangeranus until the J6 committee forced his hand just gets worse every. damn. day.
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