I’ve updated this piece to indicate that the claim that only a few drones entered Iranian air space is one coming from Iran—whose spin actually is what most matters at this juncture. We still don’t know the true number of drones or other weapons launched.
Dr. Heather Cox Richardson posted this golden nugget in her letter yesterday: After Large Marge proposed several ridiculous riders to the Ukraine bill, Jared "Moskowitz proposed 'that Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene...should be appointed Vladimir Putin's Special Envoy to the United States Congress.'" Right there on the House floor. For everyone to hear. I LOVE IT!!!
They should be sent to work in Russia on a project. Or, perhaps we should send them to clean up Ukraine. Either way they will learn something. In fact, Biden should offer jobs in Red States to people to go help clean up Ukraine. Should be posted at unemployment bureaus.
I think she is working on it. However, thanks to Treacherous-treasonous-tantruming-traitorous-Trump, and all of his treasonous co-conspirators, she has to get in line.
Loved that! It would be epic if he had a new nameplate made for her office and/or desk and got it installed. She's ditzy enough to possibly not notice for a while and the memes would be golden!
Trump might be vain enough to think by testifying that he can win over the jury. Remember that it will be at least another four weeks or so that he will be obligated to sit & listen to damaging testimony about himself, which he will not enjoy. Of course, there is also the chance that during the trial that he might act up enough to be put into « time out. »….
The pressure Watters put on is a form of stochastic terrorism. Watters is reporting based on what other reporters said, but it is his framing that puts the juror at risk. Legally I’m not sure what if anything can be done to Watters.
Have you read the Wiki page explaining stochastic terrorism? It seems to me that under the Brandenburg v. Ohio case, both Watters and TFG should be brought up on charges. Doing that, thought, would be a big fight with an unknowable outcome.
"Defining features
Although stochastic terrorism is considered an academic term without a formal legal definition,[4] it is differentiated from other forms of terrorism due to its public, indirect, and seemingly random nature.
Speech: A public figure or group disseminates violent, inflammatory rhetoric via mass-media, directed at people or groups of people, sometimes suggesting or legitimizing the use of violence.[4] This speech tends to be protected due to the use of ambiguous coded language, dog whistles, jokes, hints, and other subtext in statements that fall short of a criminal threshold for causation.[5][6][4] Other themes identified include black and white good vs. evil narratives[7] as well as painting an enemy as a mortal threat, which have been compared to the radicalization techniques used by terrorist groups.[8][9] These attacks are often repeated and amplified inside a media echo chamber.[10][11]
Speaker(s): Typically the speaker is an influential political or media figure, who is referred to as the "stochastic terrorist" for his or her alleged indirect culpability for the attack.[12][11][4] The instigator(s) or "stochastic terrorist(s)" may or may not knowingly use this technique to attack and intimidate enemies, nonetheless, the effect remains the same. The public figure can plausibly disclaim any subsequent attack, as their words were not an explicit call for violence, and because of the lack of a direct organizational link between the instigator and perpetrator of the attack.[13][4] The public figure cannot be prosecuted for his or her statements so long as they do not meet the legal definition of incitement. This is the key distinction between stochastic terrorism and other forms of terrorism. In the U.S., the 1969 Supreme Court case Brandenburg v. Ohio held that violent, inflammatory speech cannot be criminalized unless it is intended to, and likely to, result in imminent lawless action.[5] However, Kurt Braddock warns that speech can be quite dangerous even if legal.[12]
Inspiration: An individual or group, without any ties to known terrorist groups, hears the speech and becomes motivated to commit violence against the target of the speech, believing it will further a political or ideological goal.[5][14]
Attack: An attacker commits an act of terrorism that could include physical violence, threats, or other acts meant to harm, instill fear, intimidate.[12] The victims may receive or fear physical attacks, (online) harassment, and death threats.[15] This can have a chilling effect, as many victims do not have the resources for adequate security.[16]
Probability: While difficult to predict each individual act of violence due to the disconnected chain of causality, the speech makes threats and terror attacks more likely. These attacks observed as a collection have a statistically valid relationship, even if individual attacks are too random (stochastic) to predict precisely.[17]"
I wonder if that potential juror could do that. I'm not sure being dismissed from a jury is a harm though. And of course if she did, everyone would know who she is.
The dismissal might not be harm (although it does deprive her of her right) but the fear that led to her request to be dismissed might. She was afraid to go to work. That is surely grounds to sue, I would think.
Floor Action Response Team? Really? I'm trying to decide if none of them thought to write that out or if they did and thought they were unbelievably clever given their predilection for elementary school behavior. Also wondering if they are aware of what "trump" is slang for in England and this is a way of (ahem) signaling their fealty. The MAGA team song so to speak.
According to a podcast I heard recently, (an episode of "The Allusionist" - sorry, cant remember which episode; might have been #92, but im not sure) it's not even slang. One of the actual dictionary definitions of the word "trump," in British English, is to fart.
Good. Maybe it's time he and all his cronies realize their job is not to kiss his ass but rather to govern this country. Something they have yet to prove they know how to do
It's really difficult since too many of the House GOP are actually disguised Fourth Graders. Shame on their constituents to send them to do an adult's job.
No decent defense lawyer would let him testify, exposing him to what would likely be devastating cross-examination. But, if he wants to ensure his conviction, let him have it.
I am aware. Isn’t that a delicious prospect? Because we all know he’s smarter and handsomer and richer than anyone ever in the history of history… just ask him 🤯
If tRump insists on sitting in the witness box and "telling his side of the story", one has to believe that "his" lawyers actually want the POS to lose this case bigly, as their reps have suffered badly, and there is little chance of avoiding conviction here. Bring it on!
I'm wondering if Johnson's sudden about face has anything to do with making some kind of deal with Jeffries? Enough Democrat support for him to keep his job with the understanding that when the motion to vacate comes up again, and it will, they will let him flap on the breeze. Just a thought. On Israel, the media keeps saying that that Iran's attack was unprecedented. My question is, was Israel's attack on their embassy in Damascus also unprecedented? If it was, why isn't the media also highlighting that? Not that I'm a supporter of Iran, at all, but I'm also not a Netanyahu fan. He's a horrible person and completely untrustworthy. On trump's trial, I'm really concerned for the safety of the jurors. Apparently, CNN put out a ton of information about them, even after the judge told the media to stop. Don't even get me started on Jesse Waters on fox. He should be arrested for what he's doing. I also saw that some think that trump has a mole in the courtroom. I'm getting sick of judges who set boundaries for him, but the refuse to uphold any of them. It's weak and cowardly. It's also the main reason trump believes he can get away with anything he wants because he does. It's disheartening and exhausting.
I think part of the about face is what Johnson said about his son who is about to enter the Naval academy. He's worried that American troops would eventually end up in Ukraine and he doesn't want his son involved in a war.
So, as a typical Republican, he doesn't care about anything until it directly affects him.
Sometimes it isn't that a person doesn't care, it is that a person doesn't understand. The closer to home something gets, the more thoroughly a person looks at it. An all out war is going to affect and endanger everyone.
The end result of aggressive gerrymandering. The primary election is all that matters in many districts, and to win in the primary, the GQP scumwads try to “out-asshole” each other.
Trump thinks he can get by with anything because for 77 years, he ALWAYS has. This is only now the times he's actually being called to task, for many things.
My thoughts are that the two worst things he's done involve the top secret stuff and instigating the insurrection. In the olden days, he'd be lucky to stay extant.
The Sandoval Notice (linked below) filed by the D.A.'s Office listing all of Trump's prior crimes and bad acts they propose to use to cross-examine Trump and attack his credibility shows why it would be suicide for Trump to take the stand. Which is why I hope he insists on doing so.
As much as I’d LOVE to see tRump grilled on the stand he won’t do it. Oh he’ll bloviate ad nauseam that he wants to testify, beat his chest to “tell the truth” all up to the actual time to testify but the coward won’t. Like a bully coward he’ll say his lawyers won’t let him- they’re so mean. Boo boo. Poor widdle man/boy.
At this point, I would have no problem with the Democrats helping Johnson to stay as Speaker should the Republican Bloviates try to oust him. At least some work is being done in the House versus the inevitable circus and wasted time we'd have to once again endure with another Speaker election when zero work would get done. November isn't all that far off and neither is another Speaker election come January. We can limp along until then, especially if Johnson is seeing the light regarding Ukraine. And especially since he appears to be willing to stand up to Trump, at least on this issue. Too bad he didn't see the light on the border bill, although that one will come back to bite the GQP.
There’s a recent news alert that — should a motion to vacate come up — 2 Republican representatives intend to immediately resign. Opening up the possibility that Dems (joined by 1 or 2 Rs who are tired of Putin’s Caucus) could elect Hakeem Jeffries to Speakership.
Moscow Marge and the GOP "Freedom" Caucus and other Putin-loving Republicans prove daily why "America first" was actually their first Big Lie. And they are also why one of the hardest jobs in journalism is writing for The Onion.
I know right? The Onion might as well go into hibernation for the next few months because most of the time reality trumps (!) whatever they might fabricate!!
Johnson is now part of the 8 congressional personnel that get security briefings. If its true that his son is entering the Navy, combined with what he read in those briefings, he must of had a come to Jesus moment. (Yes, I know, the irony.)
It must be critical. He’d never take on TFG and Moscow Marge otherwise.
Many years ago, I read John Ciardi’s translation of Dante’s Inferno.
In Canto XXI when Dante and Virgil encounter some demons appearing as grotesque gargoyles, Ciardi wrote: "And he (one of the demons)had made a trumpet of his rump" (the last words of Canto XXI).
I’ve updated this piece to indicate that the claim that only a few drones entered Iranian air space is one coming from Iran—whose spin actually is what most matters at this juncture. We still don’t know the true number of drones or other weapons launched.
Dr. Heather Cox Richardson posted this golden nugget in her letter yesterday: After Large Marge proposed several ridiculous riders to the Ukraine bill, Jared "Moskowitz proposed 'that Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene...should be appointed Vladimir Putin's Special Envoy to the United States Congress.'" Right there on the House floor. For everyone to hear. I LOVE IT!!!
I believe she's now known as "Moscow Marge." :)
I still call her Empty Greene, for that describes her pretty well.
As does Moscow Marge.
It would sure be nice if there was a way to revoke her citizenship since her behavior is so outrageous.
The people who voted her into Congress TWICE 😳😳 need their citizenship revoked!!!
They should be sent to work in Russia on a project. Or, perhaps we should send them to clean up Ukraine. Either way they will learn something. In fact, Biden should offer jobs in Red States to people to go help clean up Ukraine. Should be posted at unemployment bureaus.
This!!!!!!!
I think she is working on it. However, thanks to Treacherous-treasonous-tantruming-traitorous-Trump, and all of his treasonous co-conspirators, she has to get in line.
Trump, too, for that matter.
I love Jared Moskowitz!!
BTW, Jay, those three photos heading your post today made it exceedingly difficult to down my breakfust...u-u-u-rp!
Loved that! It would be epic if he had a new nameplate made for her office and/or desk and got it installed. She's ditzy enough to possibly not notice for a while and the memes would be golden!
That’s now immortalized in the Congressional Record! ♥️
Yess!!
OMG. LOOOOOVE THIS!!!!
Trump might be vain enough to think by testifying that he can win over the jury. Remember that it will be at least another four weeks or so that he will be obligated to sit & listen to damaging testimony about himself, which he will not enjoy. Of course, there is also the chance that during the trial that he might act up enough to be put into « time out. »….
He doesn't really appear anywhere that isn't a safe space for him though. Whether its campaign events or interviews, etc.
Win over a jury he disrespects on a daily basis? Ha!
They'd have to really up his meds for him to be anywhere close to coherent on the stand. The Gettysburg speech really demonstrates his deterioration.
Aid to Ukraine is so important that I would be happy to see house democrats keep him as speaker, at least until November.
Question Jay: What can legally be done about the jury tampering being accomplished by RWNJ's like Jessie Watters? He needs to be investigated.
The pressure Watters put on is a form of stochastic terrorism. Watters is reporting based on what other reporters said, but it is his framing that puts the juror at risk. Legally I’m not sure what if anything can be done to Watters.
I was hoping Jury tampering laws applied in this case. Oh well...
Have you read the Wiki page explaining stochastic terrorism? It seems to me that under the Brandenburg v. Ohio case, both Watters and TFG should be brought up on charges. Doing that, thought, would be a big fight with an unknowable outcome.
"Defining features
Although stochastic terrorism is considered an academic term without a formal legal definition,[4] it is differentiated from other forms of terrorism due to its public, indirect, and seemingly random nature.
Speech: A public figure or group disseminates violent, inflammatory rhetoric via mass-media, directed at people or groups of people, sometimes suggesting or legitimizing the use of violence.[4] This speech tends to be protected due to the use of ambiguous coded language, dog whistles, jokes, hints, and other subtext in statements that fall short of a criminal threshold for causation.[5][6][4] Other themes identified include black and white good vs. evil narratives[7] as well as painting an enemy as a mortal threat, which have been compared to the radicalization techniques used by terrorist groups.[8][9] These attacks are often repeated and amplified inside a media echo chamber.[10][11]
Speaker(s): Typically the speaker is an influential political or media figure, who is referred to as the "stochastic terrorist" for his or her alleged indirect culpability for the attack.[12][11][4] The instigator(s) or "stochastic terrorist(s)" may or may not knowingly use this technique to attack and intimidate enemies, nonetheless, the effect remains the same. The public figure can plausibly disclaim any subsequent attack, as their words were not an explicit call for violence, and because of the lack of a direct organizational link between the instigator and perpetrator of the attack.[13][4] The public figure cannot be prosecuted for his or her statements so long as they do not meet the legal definition of incitement. This is the key distinction between stochastic terrorism and other forms of terrorism. In the U.S., the 1969 Supreme Court case Brandenburg v. Ohio held that violent, inflammatory speech cannot be criminalized unless it is intended to, and likely to, result in imminent lawless action.[5] However, Kurt Braddock warns that speech can be quite dangerous even if legal.[12]
Inspiration: An individual or group, without any ties to known terrorist groups, hears the speech and becomes motivated to commit violence against the target of the speech, believing it will further a political or ideological goal.[5][14]
Attack: An attacker commits an act of terrorism that could include physical violence, threats, or other acts meant to harm, instill fear, intimidate.[12] The victims may receive or fear physical attacks, (online) harassment, and death threats.[15] This can have a chilling effect, as many victims do not have the resources for adequate security.[16]
Probability: While difficult to predict each individual act of violence due to the disconnected chain of causality, the speech makes threats and terror attacks more likely. These attacks observed as a collection have a statistically valid relationship, even if individual attacks are too random (stochastic) to predict precisely.[17]"
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stochastic_terrorism#:~:text=This%20is%20the%20key%20distinction,result%20in%20imminent%20lawless%20action
The House GOP are one or two more resignations away from Jeffries becoming Speaker before November!
ROEVEMBER!
Sue the fuck outta FOX like Dominion did and others are doing.
I wonder if that potential juror could do that. I'm not sure being dismissed from a jury is a harm though. And of course if she did, everyone would know who she is.
The dismissal might not be harm (although it does deprive her of her right) but the fear that led to her request to be dismissed might. She was afraid to go to work. That is surely grounds to sue, I would think.
I hope something good comes of this. He has no right to do that to people.
Floor Action Response Team? Really? I'm trying to decide if none of them thought to write that out or if they did and thought they were unbelievably clever given their predilection for elementary school behavior. Also wondering if they are aware of what "trump" is slang for in England and this is a way of (ahem) signaling their fealty. The MAGA team song so to speak.
On Monday, they introduced the Hands Off Our Home Appliances Act., or the HOOHA Act.
Lolol I didn’t see that. Mahvelous!
🤣👍💙💙
Are you SERIOUS?!
Unfortunately, yes. The extreme right in the House has no respect for decorum.
That is just one of six ridiculous appliance-related acts that had been intended for action. See Joyce Vance: https://ww.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=7640083409357631&set=a.310984835600895
Brilliant!!!
According to a podcast I heard recently, (an episode of "The Allusionist" - sorry, cant remember which episode; might have been #92, but im not sure) it's not even slang. One of the actual dictionary definitions of the word "trump," in British English, is to fart.
https://www.amazon.com/England-Trump-Means-Fart-T-Shirt/dp/B07M6C81ZW
That's truly poetic justice!
I adore that acronym. Tee hee!
The British slang use is absolutely hysterical in the context of the current trial: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/264355/in-what-english-speaking-communities-does-trump-refer-to-the-breaking-of-wind
Take. The. Stand. Donald!
Lol
JUST. DO. IT! Let the schmuck hang himself! ✔️
Trump is not going to like Johnson’s support of Ukraine or his comments on Putin.
His response was more whiny than threatening.
Typical. . . He is a mighty whiny (orange) snowflake. . . .
Trump is, more than anything else, a coward
Good. Maybe it's time he and all his cronies realize their job is not to kiss his ass but rather to govern this country. Something they have yet to prove they know how to do
It's really difficult since too many of the House GOP are actually disguised Fourth Graders. Shame on their constituents to send them to do an adult's job.
Who cares?
No decent defense lawyer would let him testify, exposing him to what would likely be devastating cross-examination. But, if he wants to ensure his conviction, let him have it.
Sure, no DECENT defense lawyer would but his team of “legal eagles” is as obsequious as the rest of his flunkies…
The thing is, if he insists despite the advice of his lawyers, he would be allowed to do so. He'd end up convicting himself.
I am aware. Isn’t that a delicious prospect? Because we all know he’s smarter and handsomer and richer than anyone ever in the history of history… just ask him 🤯
If tRump insists on sitting in the witness box and "telling his side of the story", one has to believe that "his" lawyers actually want the POS to lose this case bigly, as their reps have suffered badly, and there is little chance of avoiding conviction here. Bring it on!
It sounds as if you believe his lawyers can control his behavior?
Quite the opposite...pls reread.
I'm wondering if Johnson's sudden about face has anything to do with making some kind of deal with Jeffries? Enough Democrat support for him to keep his job with the understanding that when the motion to vacate comes up again, and it will, they will let him flap on the breeze. Just a thought. On Israel, the media keeps saying that that Iran's attack was unprecedented. My question is, was Israel's attack on their embassy in Damascus also unprecedented? If it was, why isn't the media also highlighting that? Not that I'm a supporter of Iran, at all, but I'm also not a Netanyahu fan. He's a horrible person and completely untrustworthy. On trump's trial, I'm really concerned for the safety of the jurors. Apparently, CNN put out a ton of information about them, even after the judge told the media to stop. Don't even get me started on Jesse Waters on fox. He should be arrested for what he's doing. I also saw that some think that trump has a mole in the courtroom. I'm getting sick of judges who set boundaries for him, but the refuse to uphold any of them. It's weak and cowardly. It's also the main reason trump believes he can get away with anything he wants because he does. It's disheartening and exhausting.
I think part of the about face is what Johnson said about his son who is about to enter the Naval academy. He's worried that American troops would eventually end up in Ukraine and he doesn't want his son involved in a war.
So, as a typical Republican, he doesn't care about anything until it directly affects him.
Sometimes it isn't that a person doesn't care, it is that a person doesn't understand. The closer to home something gets, the more thoroughly a person looks at it. An all out war is going to affect and endanger everyone.
This Johnson/Rules/FART business makes my head spin. A bunch of whiny babies are in control— how could this happen?
Morons in the electorate. Say it ain't so.
The end result of aggressive gerrymandering. The primary election is all that matters in many districts, and to win in the primary, the GQP scumwads try to “out-asshole” each other.
Trump thinks he can get by with anything because for 77 years, he ALWAYS has. This is only now the times he's actually being called to task, for many things.
My thoughts are that the two worst things he's done involve the top secret stuff and instigating the insurrection. In the olden days, he'd be lucky to stay extant.
I thought Israel’s attack in Damascus was unprecedented, too!! But media seems to be ignoring that!
A mole to do what? Do you mean on the jury?
The Sandoval Notice (linked below) filed by the D.A.'s Office listing all of Trump's prior crimes and bad acts they propose to use to cross-examine Trump and attack his credibility shows why it would be suicide for Trump to take the stand. Which is why I hope he insists on doing so.
https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24554326/peoples-sandoval-notice-filed.pdf?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Why isn't Trump being charged with perjury for his lying on the stand in those other cases noted by the DA?
As much as I’d LOVE to see tRump grilled on the stand he won’t do it. Oh he’ll bloviate ad nauseam that he wants to testify, beat his chest to “tell the truth” all up to the actual time to testify but the coward won’t. Like a bully coward he’ll say his lawyers won’t let him- they’re so mean. Boo boo. Poor widdle man/boy.
At this point, I would have no problem with the Democrats helping Johnson to stay as Speaker should the Republican Bloviates try to oust him. At least some work is being done in the House versus the inevitable circus and wasted time we'd have to once again endure with another Speaker election when zero work would get done. November isn't all that far off and neither is another Speaker election come January. We can limp along until then, especially if Johnson is seeing the light regarding Ukraine. And especially since he appears to be willing to stand up to Trump, at least on this issue. Too bad he didn't see the light on the border bill, although that one will come back to bite the GQP.
There’s a recent news alert that — should a motion to vacate come up — 2 Republican representatives intend to immediately resign. Opening up the possibility that Dems (joined by 1 or 2 Rs who are tired of Putin’s Caucus) could elect Hakeem Jeffries to Speakership.
Moscow Marge and the GOP "Freedom" Caucus and other Putin-loving Republicans prove daily why "America first" was actually their first Big Lie. And they are also why one of the hardest jobs in journalism is writing for The Onion.
I know right? The Onion might as well go into hibernation for the next few months because most of the time reality trumps (!) whatever they might fabricate!!
Johnson is now part of the 8 congressional personnel that get security briefings. If its true that his son is entering the Navy, combined with what he read in those briefings, he must of had a come to Jesus moment. (Yes, I know, the irony.)
It must be critical. He’d never take on TFG and Moscow Marge otherwise.
' They called it the “Floor Action Response Team.” '
That is funny. Juvenile, but funny.
Many years ago, I read John Ciardi’s translation of Dante’s Inferno.
In Canto XXI when Dante and Virgil encounter some demons appearing as grotesque gargoyles, Ciardi wrote: "And he (one of the demons)had made a trumpet of his rump" (the last words of Canto XXI).
In the original Italian:
“ed elli avea del cul fatto trombetta.”
Dante, classy. MTG, not so much.
Ciardi’s is the only translation I’ve read, but it left quite an impression.
And apropos of the news reports coming out of the stinky courtroom where Diaper Don is, very apt.
Typical for the fourth-grade level these people are mentally.
Superb!! Thanks for using your MANY TALENTS & EXPERIENCES TO HELP WE THE PEOPLE COMPREHEND TRUTH, Jay