Left and right upper crust white boys in positions of power skate on jail time for criminal activity. Yet Rosa Maria Ortega, a U.S. resident green card holder, will sit for 8 years in prison for mistakenly thinking her status allowed her to vote, and GASP!!!, she had the temerity to think living here under our laws and paying taxes somehow translated into access to the voting booth. 8 years. People serve less time for negligently running someone over with a car and killing them.
Welcome to the shining city on the hill.
Barack Obama (on TV): ā¦to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are oneā¦
Driver: You hear that line? Lineās for you.
Jackie Cogan: Donāt make me laugh. One people. Itās a myth created by Thomas Jefferson.
Driver: Oh, so now youāre going to have a go at Jefferson, huh?
Jackie Cogan: My friend, Thomas Jefferson is an American saint because he wrote the words āAll men are created equalā, words he clearly didnāt believe since he allowed his own children to live in slavery. Heās a rich white snob whoās sick of paying taxes to the Brits. So, yeah, he writes some lovely words and aroused the rabble and they went and died for those words while he sat back and drank his wine and fucked his slave girl. This guy wants to tell me weāre living in a community? Donāt make me laugh. Iām living in America, and in America youāre on your own. Americaās not a country. Itās just a business. Now fuckinā pay me.
Fuck himā¦ send him to jail
Hey, I feel for the guy. But senators shouldnāt be big-footing his trial. Regular folk donāt get that kind of favor. For the senators to do this is a bad move both morally and politically
Michael Flynn had something like 87 pages in his presentencing request to the judge comprised solely of letters from supporters and friends attesting to his character, provided to hopefully lessen his sentence. The same right is accorded any citizen awaiting sentencing on a criminal conviction. This staffer knows important people, so he implored those important people to write letters. The fact your average citizen doesnāt have important friends should not be held against those that do, no?
Watch him get more prison time than Cohen.
Am I reading this story right? The underlying conduct violated Senate rules, but was not illegal. The only crime was lying to investigators?
Jail time seems excessive for the facts of the case. Hate to say it, but witch hunt.
Lying to the FBI is a felony. Period. If you donāt like that you donāt get to ignore the law or minimize its import; you change the law. Thatās how its supposed to work in āa country of laws, not men.ā
Not quite. It has to be a lie of consequence in response to a question germane to an investigation. If an FBI agent asks me what I had for lunch on August 20th, 2018 and I say āI had a cheeseburgerā I have not committed a felony if he somehow can prove I had a fish sandwich. That is an extreme example, but nevertheless lying to an FBI agent is not AUTOMATICALLY a felony.
Like Mike Flynn, he should go to jail. How long can be negotiated with an eye toward the seriousness of the crime and extenuating circumstances. But jail is the most explicit way society has to signal that an action is unacceptable and a personal price has been paid, even by the well connected.
I would say especially by the well-connectedā¦
Given the context of the discussion I felt that that was implied. But yes, you are correct.
Lying about an affair imo is not material. Lying about an āunauthorized disclosureā is. But the common use of the law is with respect to coverups of actual crimes.
By the way, how is the investigation of unauthorized disclosures from the FBI NY field coven going?
Not inclined to give this guy a pass.
I donāt fault him for asking that they write letters on his behalf.
Iām faulting the senators for writing the letters.
Yes, at the very least bad form. For shame. Let him take the consequences so heāll learn to be honest. Iām sure he must have been warned to tell the truth.