That was a bullshit rule when they invented it for Nixon. It’s still bullshit.
2 Likes
Same as it ever was…
“Steal a little, they throw you in jail,
Steal a lot, they make you king.”
–Bob Dylan
1 Like
Or we will simply find out that he was in the tank for TMF all along, explaining his incompetence.
Such projection.
I actually think it’s a good idea to wrap hispanics into the pool of white voters and, maybe, to some extent, all the POC. Change the framing to class and income. Speak to their aspirations. I suspect that a whole lot of “others” would really rather not be others. Every time someone is put in a separate group, their lives get harder - their accomplishments are questioned, they’re singled out for special, usually negative, attention when things aren’t perfect, and they’re easy to sideline if someone wants to cut them out of the pie.
I say this as a woman that spent my entire educational and working life trying to succeed in a world where only white men were considered legit. In the past, I chose to sign papers only with initials so the instructors in a big class wouldn’t single out my work for extra scrutiny or refuse to give me a good grade because girls don’t belong in engineering. I refused awards that started with the word woman. Every time there was a change in management, I would be removed from whatever project I was working on to do demonstration work to prove that I wouldn’t mess things up - no man had to do that.
This is not to say that there shouldn’t be programs and policies to include and elevate POC and to improve the fairness of our systems. And you have to have data to make sure things are working. But maybe lose the programs for this minority and that minority during elections. Take the target off the backs of women and minorities.
Sorry for the long post, but trying to figure out how to improve opportunity and equity for all without turning whole classes of people into punching bags. The current system isn’t working.
3 Likes
I think TCF will do quite a few things that are specifically proscribed in law. He has made a point of doing his criming in public and on national TV. That seems to work for him and the Republican party. He does what he wants, and, if someone objects, he basically dares them to sue him.
2 Likes
I do not think that. Lawyers might think that, because (as evidenced by this discussion) lawyers think that the defense of law rests solely on 100% conviction rates and waiting for the perfect case, because that’s what preserves their reputations. Meanwhile, outside of lawyerly conceits, the rule of law actually hangs on communicating to the public things like ‘the President tried a coup’ and ‘he may be getting off on a technicality, but we all know what happened and should vote accordingly.’ So instead of a big public process with mulitple appeals over several years that would have conveyed a lot of information to the public, regardless of verdict, we got “mumble mumble working on it sorry time for recess mumble the other guy sorry not quite ready oh yeah we better hurry up Jack Smith welp.”
The DOJ is not responsible for what happened in AZ and GA directly, but if the chief law enforcement agency of the country fails to act with urgency, that loads a lot of pressure on state attorneys, who then face the choice of acting with the same lack of urgency (sensible but disastrous) or attempting to plow ahead without federal cover (which, as we saw, means they end up trying to stare down both the Supreme Court and the lawyerly establishment on their own). If, as you say, no matter what, given our system, “nothing would have mattered,” then I say close all law schools and fire all lawyers, and use their salaries for the public good.
Considering that trump is threatening to prosecute the prosecutors after he takes office, it is in the SCO’s best interest to eviscerate trump and his co-conspirators in the greatest detail imaginable so as to prove the depth and righteousness of their investigation.
The guy’s a literal war crimes prosecutor. He’s not going to back down from a bully.
ETA: And it would be truly hilarious if trump did force DOJ to indict Team Smith, because their defense would be to put trump on trial for his crimes even though he’s not a defendant.
4 Likes
I really and truly hope you are right about any of this - make no mistake about it.
So far, however, none of us have been batting even .500 with all of this, now that many, if not all, of the cases against the President-Elect are in some way suspended.
I say this having read this morning from a young man of 18 years old on his dad’s social media this morning claim that the charges against the President-Elect were all bogus anyway and was happy they were dropped. I watched this kid grow up from an infant. His family and he attended the church I attended for 25 years. I was appalled (he was also smoking in his parents’ kitchen, which was also appalling).
3 Likes
The system was working. Not perfectly, by any means, but trump was on the glidepath to certain conviction in both federal cases.
And then democracy failed us because too many low-information voters felt that the national vibes were bad.
4 Likes
To be clear, the charges were not “dropped”. Jack Smith requested that they be dismissed without prejudice, and Judge Chutkan granted it without delay. Everyone can pile on and say that doesn’t matter. I don’t care. Have at it. I’m stating a fact. I’ll leave the doomy prognostication to others who feel compelled to express it.
2 Likes
When the Feds fold, it has a chilling effect on everything under it. Retaliation against judges is a REAL thing, not something you read about happening in other countries.
Like the 3-legged stool… if one leg collapses, you hit the ground!
The statement “a fish rots from the head down” means that, in addition to being a major contributing factor in an organization’s success, leadership is also the root cause of an organization’s failure and demise. This is true whether that organization is a country, a company, or a sales force.Feb 2, 2022
1 Like
If they fold I am not blaming that on the Feds. In fact, I don’t feel like I know enough about what is involved to actually pass judgment on people like Smith. I am not an expert. Maybe some people are, or at least think they are. The point is they started their cases as early or earlier than Jack Smith and they have not gone to trial yet either.
I live in an area where there are a lot of those voters. They thought Trump was being picked on by the corrupt Democrat machine and they just had to save him so that he could save America. Sickening. I don’t even know how to respond to something like that without profanity.
2 Likes
I think you are just ignoring the larger picture. They did act with urgency and the voters cut them off at the knees. This was not a failure of the DOJ. This was a failure of the American people. If they had prosecuted him months ago, this case would still be in appeal and he would still have won. In fact there were still 2 Supreme Court appeals to deal with. I think you are blaming the wrong people.
1 Like
This was a real emergency for our Democracy that required immediate action. Putting Trump in jail after he staged an insurrection against his own country is something to don’t fool around with. If there were a serial killer on the loose and the police knew where he was, he would be arrested and jailed before he could kill someone else.
This isn’t rocket science. It’s obviously a glaring case of incompetence and corruption within the DoJ itself. It should have been rooted out and dealt with then. The members of Congress who directly participated in the insurrection should have been rounded up too.
Everything failed, obviously. There is no debate about that. Start at the top!
They live in an impenetrable propaganda bubble. Their minds are fully melted.
3 Likes
Some of them are Republicans for generations back. Their churches vote for Republicans. In some ways it is not even a devotion to Trump so much as party. And then there are the straight up crazy people who believe everything he says. Democrats, on the other hand are more than willing to turn on their own people.
3 Likes
Whoops. But Rove skated amiright? And he’s the one who actually leaked the info about Plame in an interview with the WaPo journalist?
I can honestly say I don’t think the President-Elect survives the four years. That’s just actuarial tables talking there.
I’m the first one to say only the good die young and this guy is so foul the devil doesn’t want him because he’s too much competition. One out of three means two of those three don’t make it. That’s good enough odds for me.
3 Likes