Excerpt from NYT August 5”The federal prosecutors overseeing the indictment of former President Donald J. Trump on charges of seeking to overturn the 2020 election asked a judge on Friday night to impose a protective order over the discovery evidence in the case, citing a threatening message that Mr. Trump had posted on social media. By mentioning the incendiary post in an otherwise routine request seeking to keep Mr. Trump from making evidence public, the prosecutors in the office of the special counsel, Jack Smith, were drawing the attention of the judge, Tanya S. Chutkan, to Mr. Trump’s longstanding habit of attacking those involved in criminal cases against him.
“Hours later, Mr. Trump’s campaign responded with a statement calling the post “the definition of political speech.” The statement suggested that the post had not been directed at anyone involved in the election interference case, saying it was meant for Mr. Trump’s political adversaries.
“The exchange of words began on Friday evening when Mr. Trump posted a message on Truth Social, his social media platform, issuing a vague but strongly worded threat. ‘IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!’ he wrote.”https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/05/us/politics/jack-smith-trump-threat-social-media.htmlMy interpretation - Prosecutors think Trump will try to deter witnesses from cooperating or even testifying in the case out of fear he will reveal personal details about them, their family and associates and their intended testimony in advance so that his followers can harass them into silence. The prosecution is caught between a rock and a hard place in that they are required to share previously secret grand jury testimony with Trump’s legal team.
Folks - How did we ever get to this point? Surely, graduate level college courses will evolve in a generation or so - perhaps sooner - seeking to explore / answer that question.
Comments
By electing a conscienceless snake. Simple as that. What's most depressing is the number of people who seem to like that.
I’m thinking (1) the shift from delegate conventions to primaries, (2) the disregard for or absence of civics & history classes in schools, (3) the loss of defined benefit pensions for many workers, (4) the SC ruling allowing unlimited PAC contributions, (5) the increasing prevalence of firearms among civilians, (6) the the rise of the internet where every color of snake seems to attract a gathering, (7) the removal of earlier FCC “fairness doctrines” for broadcasters and (8 the decline in quality and number of independent newspapers - especially acute at the local level.
All this and more has gotten us to a snake infested environment. Unfortunately, there’s at least a few others waiting in the grass to replace snake #1 should he be diverted from his path. That’s the problem with assigning a simple solution to all this.
noun
A treacherous person.A deceitful or treacherous person.
noun
A treacherous person.A deceitful or treacherous person.
We watched it happen in slow motion. You’ve explained it much better than I could. I’ll just add that it seemed despicable at the time when several major airlines were allowed to declare bankruptcy with the obvious intention of “restructuring” and re-emerging after shedding the employee pension obligations they had agreed to. It was no secret at the time what they intended to do. Really screwed the pilots and other employees. And, ISTM other businesses followed suit once the path had been cleared in the courts.
I dunno if it’s gotten better, but 5 or 10 years ago there were guys flying commuter jets (under the flag of the majors) and making around $20,000 a year. One operator in Florida that ran commuter flights for United paid the pilots nothing. The poor kids flying the short hop flights needed flying hours to advance so badly they worked for nothing!
Makes me think wealth is never destroyed. It just swims or squirms from the weaker hands to the stronger ones. And now we’re getting into a tune Ray Dalio has been singing for a while. But I’ll stop here.
Example: “He snaked his way through the crowd.”
I do wish the Dems. could manage to sort out the work of championing labor rights and civil rights from the crazy "woke" stuff, though. It started out with good intentions. But now, there have been (for example) Bills introduced to prohibit "discrimination" on the basis of HAIRSTYLES. ("CROWN" Act.) Jayzuz.
I carry water for neither of them. But the Repugnants are clearly much worse. Just despicable, shameless.
And here in Hawaii, the "closed" Primary system transparently benefits the Dems, since the State is and has been so DEEPLY BLUE since... forever. But why should I have to choose between the Dems or Repugs---- if I want to VOTE????????? Sucks wet rat fur, I tell you.
Yes - Thanks for jogging my memory. Me wonders whether rank & file in some other unions were persuaded by rhetoric that this was a dandy idea, not realizing the repercussions would be far reaching and last for many decades.
As others note from time to time, some middle & lower income wage earners often seem to vote against their own self interest.
I’m proud as hell of my daughter’s law degree, but I’m not proud that she put herself through what is now the Scalia School of Law. Fortunately she crossed all the T’s and qualified for full forgiveness of her loans; you can bet your bippy that no Heritage Society members were involved in legislating the program to reward true public service.
I favor impeachment. But don’t look for it from these lawless Rs in Congress. As Cassius aptly declared, ”The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves,”
In this case, he might have said “in the halls of Congress”.
Gosh, the late 80s and 90s seem so uncomplicated in retrospect. Probably an illusion. But Bush v Gore in 2000 was perhaps an early indication of problems brewing. Settled peacefully. And than there was the 9/11 attack the next year. Worst day I can remember in my life. (JFK’s assignation’s a close second). But the country pulled together Today? Hell …
For the most part, the era leading up to 2000 I recall as one of prosperity for most working Americans. Politics were conducted in a civil manner. Stocks climbed higher and a lot of working class people rejoyced in watching their 401Ks grow. When a “scandal” can engulf the entire nation and consume the media dialogue day after day over a Prez f’ing around with a legally aged female, you know that, overall, things were going pretty smoothly..
Mexico? I’m all for a healthy Mexican economy. It’s in our best interest. But, yes, it seemed repugnant to see U.S. jobs being shipped there. I did not know it when I bought it, but was later surprised to learn that a really sweet 2008 Mercury Milan was Mexican built. A nice well put-together car. So much better than the garbage Detroit turned out during the 70s, 80s and 90s.
NissanMazda a few years earlier who was involved in the development. Helps explain the nice quiet tight frame. Ford did learn a lot about building cars during that partnership. It only lasted a few years.I liked Ford products despite the quality issues over the years. Wish they still produced sedans.Taurus was an OK car. Gave one a look in 2018 before buying the Honda. One concern was how well Ford might back the car - since they were no longer selling sedans - in the U.S. anyway.