Today there was a school shooting in St. Louis that resulted in three deaths, including the shooter’s. I can already promise you that the governor may issue a statement, or not, but that will be the end of that. Nothing else will be done. Because guns are more important than people.
In other news — Miz Lindsey Graham really does not want the criminal justice system to know how he was involved with Trump’s scheme to overturn the election. He’s been fighting a subpoena from the Fulton County GA grand jury, and courts keep telling him he can’t get out of it. Now Clarence Thomas has given the senator a temporary freeze on a lower court’s ruling requiring Graham’s testimony to the grand jury.
Seriously, Graham could just show up and plead the Fifth. There must be something he is desperate for people to not find out that they might find out if he testifies, somehow, even though it’s a grand jury. People who have already testified to that grand jury include Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Pat Cipollone, Kelly Loeffler, Brad Raffensperger of course, and a Trump lawyer named Boris Epshteyn. They all survived. Why does Miz Lindsey think he is special?
What does miz lindsey know and what does he have on clarence?
Where is the new scotus reform and accountability act. Please vote on it before nov 8.
It’s a Wonderful Life!
Vote on Nov 8! 'Be There. Will be Wild!'
For those who would like to cheer up, my local classical music station has a wonderful Christmas music stream. I look forward to it every year. On now. There’s also an app.
your turn
I'm not sure if the investigation in Georgia is the classic iceberg where the bulk of the berg is out of sight. Mayor bug-eyes and Miss Lindey have each fought tooth and nail NOT to testify under oath.
Rudy has been identified as a target. I think he'll be charged for his participation in putting together the fake electors. How involved is Graham in the coup attempt? We know Graham made a phone call to try to get specific votes thrown out. Graham has said he was only asking questions. If you believe (and I do) that Graham's involvement was at Trump's direction, what else did Miss Lindsey do? Who else did he talk to? Can the prosecution prove that Miss Lindsey was an active participant in a conspiracy to commit fraud against the voters of GA?
Why not go and plead the 5th? The 5th says you do not have to give testimony that would incriminate you in a crime. IDK, but if GA is putting together a conspiracy case, Rudy does not want to confirm his association with people already identified as targets nor does he want to deny his association if the DA can prove it. That's perjury. But the 5th is an admission of criminal risk – to the Grand Jury, it might be the red flag that gets them to recommend an indictment of the senator.
The big unknown is what the Grand Jury knows. Who has cut a deal in exchange for testimony? Of the fake electors who could be charged, who has ratted out Rudy and has Rudy caved? Did Rudy know enough about Lindsey's involvement? (Even Lindsey can't know how much Trump told Rudy.)
Here's the brass ring. If Rudy and Lindsey turn state's evidence, Trump is on the hook. The only people I see going to jail for Trump are Bannon and Stone. The rest are ambitious for the power they might have in a fascist state, but they aren't go-to-jail zealots.
Yup.
Also, I think even putting aside all of those risks for Mr. Graham, it could even be as simple as this:
Encrypted communication from TFG to the senator: Hey, could you try this angle to fight the subpoena?
The senator considers this. a) do TFG a favor b) tell TFG to jump in a lake.
This one is easy to predict. Except for one evening when his life (actual and political) was threatened inside the US capital, the senator has been all-in on TFG ever since he was inaugurated. In the investment and business worlds, they say "don't throw good money after bad…" In the modern GOP, throwing good money after bad is the only viable strategy.
For the GOP this little annoying stunt by the senator serves the GOP and the rest of the neo-fascist faction in the following way: Hey we get to signal that we *own* at least one SCOTUS justice. The signal is meant for both the radical right supporter and for the reasonable people who have been working to save the republic since Jan 2017: "The judicial branch can't stop us any more!"
Of course there's an element of "fake it until you make it" to this ploy. Another pathetic strategy of the radical right.
Fuck you maha with the gay man=womanly bullshit. How very Republican of you.
Too bad there is not a downvote option.
If you can not present an argument without the insults to Maja, why don't you pack your bags and leave.
Yeah, well, while your point is totally valid, but make the point, not the accusation.
That dude is a tool, figuratively and literally, so to me the hypocracies are too hard to short hand …. and lots of us have an experience with this type of person and know the dangers involved. My friend "Lindsey" had sores on his knees from his devotions. Kinda hurts to watch.
What makes you think Lindz is Gay?
The mocking of Senator Graham has nothing to do with his sexual orientation. I could care less. I seem to remember that Maha tagged him because he has the "Gone With The Wind" swooning, pearl-clutching routine. It's often so hypocritical. given a previous stance.
Some will still say we should only mock MissLindsey in politically correct ways. He's only a deceitful unprincipled sack of manure who participated in an attempt to overturn the results of the last presidential election in partnership with the former guy who staged a violent attack on the capitol.
I'm angry and would indulge in profanity (which I'm proficient at, having been trained by the US Navy) but sarcasm is more effective in a public forum.
Amen to your second paragraph. I couldn’t agree with you more
casual homophobia passed off as something benign is uncool
FWIW: I have never equated the "Ms Lindsey/Miz Lindsey/Miss Lindsey" snark as suggesting he is gay. If it is generally known that this senator is gay, then I missed that memo. I have always assumed that the "Miz Lindsey" moniker was merely to suggest a wussy man. Which leads to another fraught discussion of toxic masculinity vs. modern masculinity. If anyone wants to know my view of the social construct called "masculinity" I'll be glad to answer any questions.
But bottom line, I thought the taunting was about lack of courage. And it was also payback to the R's because of TFG's constant name-calling.
One thing about Lindsey that I have difficulty with is understanding how he made the transition from denouncing Trump as a complete scoundrel to being his number one golf buddy. It kinda shows an inconsistency in the sincerity of his character. Policy differences can be understood, but it’s a long way from assessing someone as being a despicable human being to chubbin with them in a golf cart.
Off topic, but real.
My local news outlet (yes, I live in florida, and everything you heard is true, and if I die here my epitaph will be "help! I moved to florida and I can't get out", but I digress..) practically wet itself (metaphorically) over a poll which claimed both Ron Desantis and marco Rubio were leading their races by double digit figures over Charlie Crist and Val Demmings, respectively for governor and Senate.
The "poll" was completed by the University of North Florida public opinion lab. That's right, essentially an undergraduate classroom. Students taking courses called "how to call people 101" and "Interviewing over the internet" and "texting for money". The UNF site proudly reports that the lab will provide accurate(?) real time polling for their "clients". While on the site I was offered the opportunity to become a pollster for the lab for $15 an hour.
I tried to find the raw data for their polling (when I worked my job required a little bit of knowledge about statistical data, algorythyms and the like) but it was unavailable.
So the takeaway should be IGNORE POLLS AND DON'T LET THEM INFLUENCE YOUR VOTE. SEEK KNOWLEDGE AND TRUTH.
thanks for listening.
@swami all you need to know is that this is how politicians operate. It's completely about which way the wind is blowing and what position they need to take for maximum advantage. This is the only thing they're sincere about.