If you’re watching and want to comment, feel free.
Meanwhile, this happened today.
A federal judge on Thursday denied Donald Trump’s last-minute plea for extra time to front a massive sum of money to appeal his rape defamation trial, forcing the tycoon to suddenly come up with $91 million.
On Thursday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan told the former president that he was in a mess of his own making—after losing a trial that found him directly responsible for lying about sexually abusing the journalist E. Jean Carroll, ordered to pay an $83 million verdict, and waiting until the very last second to come up with a backup plan. …
… The judge then noted that Trump had essentially run out the clock all on his own, burning through nearly all of the 30 days he had until the $83 million judgment came due—and not even lining up the higher sum he’d need to pay to appeal the judgment. Instead, Trump defense lawyer Alina Habba waited until last weekend to propose an unorthodox alternative: a lowball offer to front a quarter of the money instead.
Just today he had another judgment that went against him.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump has been ordered to pay a six-figure legal bill to a company founded by a former British spy that he unsuccessfully sued for making what his lawyer called “shocking and scandalous” false claims that harmed his reputation.
A London judge, who threw out the case against Orbis Business Intelligence last month saying it was “bound to fail,” ordered Trump to pay legal fees of 300,000 pounds ($382,000), according to court documents released Thursday.
Orbis was founded by Christopher Steele, who once ran the Russia desk for Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6.
Also, too: Trump to Seize Control of GOP Machine After Clinching Nomination
Update: This is an energized speech. Ukraine and Putin right out of the box.
Oh, he’s being feisty. The January 6 insurrectionists were not patriots! They failed! Eat it, Republicans.
Speaker Johnson looks constipated.
Kate Cox who had to leave Texas to have an abortion is there.Directly addressing the justices about Roe v. Wade. Sam Alito isn’t there.
He’s taunting the Republicans.
Jobs! Labor! Unions built the middle class! This is a classic Democratic speech.
Speaker Johnson looks like he wants to be somewhere else.
This is like a Dem Party pep rally.
Speaker Johnson looks like he’s waiting to get root canal.
The Republicans are looking down at their shoes.
He’s yanking their chains over the border bill they tanked. They don’t like it.
MTG is having a tantrum.
“We can fight about the border, or we can fix it. I’m ready to fix it.”
Speaker Johnson stood for John Lewis of blessed memory. I bet MTG didn’t.
Overall a good speech.
"A federal judge on Thursday denied Donald Trump’s last-minute plea for extra time"
Time to pay up sucker! I can't sit through a SOTU never have been able too, I just hope Biden's speech is short and to the point. Thankfully there won't be any cackling pool reporters shouting questions, just MTG and the loons calling him god knows what. I'm watching my cubbies tonight!
If tRUMP doesn't pay on time, please, PLEASE, tell me they can handcuff this Tang-colored bag of scum, and drag his fat ass off to prison until he finally pays up!
I hear that the Speaker has warned his moronic, rabid lemmings not to heckle and be obnoxious toward the President during the SotU speech.
Ok, so how having said that, who do you think will blurt out something vile and stupid first?
My money's on MTG (R: Hades). They don't come much stupider and more obnoxious than her.
Or the "Hand-jive Queen," Mother-of-the Year candidate (NOT!) Lauren "Beetlejuice" Boebert! She'd give MTG a run for her money in a "Stupid & Obnoxious Bake-off!"
Give 'Em Hell, Joe!!!
Poor Mike Johnson was not having fun sitting behind Biden tonight. A lot of head-shaking and scowling. We all saw the field of battle being defined as far as Joe is concerned. Women's rights are the offensive line. Fairness for the working class and tax fairness regarding the upper class were two recurring themes. A tight connection to the sacrifices of civil rights leaders, some present in the room, and some passed. But it was a reminder of which party brought Civil Rights to the imperfect reality we have. And who is using every trick in the book to hold back Black voting power.
I understand Biden HAS to support Israel. For Biden to be honest about what Bebi has done – the mass murder of civilians under the guise of "war" – would be a feel-good moment that might cost Biden the election. Trump would support the continued genocide in Gaze and prop up Bibi. That's some ugly politics but it's reality. Most voters are ignorant of the most basic appreciation of the dynamics in the Middle East. If Biden calls it straight and honest, he will be labeled a terrorist and supporter of Hamas.
Someday history may tell that "diplomacy" brought the agreement of a port in Gaza for the infusion of humanitarian aid. Something tells me Bibi was not supportive and somehow Joe convinced him that he had no option. I do not know how serious Biden is, but once the US and the rest of the world can contribute to rebuilding Gaza as a prelude to a two-state solution, the "temporary" port may be damn hard to close. It depends to a great degree on Joe being re-elected and Joe using access to Gaza to push the new regeime in Israel (after Bibi) to open negotiations on an autonomous Palistinian state. It's also possible that Biden only wanted to get progressives off his back until after the election. We won't know until after the election how far we can push Biden. If Trump wins, the possibility evaportes.
Biden is not the orator that Obama was. In lots of places, Joe stumbled. In a few places, Joe was all-there with humor, like addressing Lindsey Graham at the end. In terms of substance and tone, I'd rate the speech highly.
Bright red MAGA (dunce) cap made it easy to spot the assclown, almost like the assclown wanted very much to be seen.
Of course she did, that's her stock in trade. She's just one big fucking mess. An attention whore! I can still see her badgering David Hogg and and taunting AOC through the mail slot of AOC's congressional office. Really. what a vile low rent, classless mean girl she is. She's puke city!
I watched bits and pieces maybe 5 min. total? Seemed pretty standard Biden but I didn't really see enough to have any real opinion, most of the press seemed to think it was a success for Biden? That's the thing about the GQP constantly calling Biden Dementia Joe and old and feeble, can't stand up straight, etc. They have really lowered the bar where all Joe has to do is deliver a speech with minimum mistakes and our media (except wing-nut hate media) will call it a success!
I saw yesterday where Stump is calling for debates "anytime, anyplace". Of course anything Stump says is bullshit he won't accept a debate unless the venue somehow favors him but Biden should respond: "yeah anytime anyplace and we will both take a drug test before the debate and have the results released to the public at the end of the debate, please proceed!
You missed out, big time. It was a barn burner. I dare say it was a game changer. Not perfect, but a triumph nonetheless.
I'll look at it on the you-tubes.
IMO regardless of what anybody including me may at any given time think about Biden, he is an absolute pro at this.
And for some follow-up hilarity, read reactions to Sen. Katie Britt's (who? yeah, my first thought too) GQP response to the SOTU.
It is possible that was the last State of the Union address we will hear as a Democracy. We came really close to not getting Biden in office at all. One of the people who tried to subvert the election results was right behind him and it was evident. I recall the State of the Union address when Daddy Bush was President, and the camera briefly went to a shot of Rush Limbaugh high in the gallery. That was all it took, as there was no heroic Dutch Boy to put his finger in the dike.
Biden said it well. The problem we are facing is not his age, but the age of the ideas the hate based republican party has adopted. Nothing is new about deception, bogus elitism, extortion, the political exploitation of religion, and the almost total amorality the party had adopted with their golden tennis shoe idol creator.
I do blame Daddy Bush. The world of Rush has grown like a malignant cancer. Let us not say we should have caught it earlier. But for Hitler, the last century would likely now be known as the German Century. We got though the last election by the skin of our teeth. Biden minced no words as to what and who we are up against. Losing to these old notions is not an option. If they win, we lose the Democracy, and the chance for a United States Century. Our choice.
Trump pays $91.6 million bond in E. Jean Carroll case.
Now Trump is beholding to somebody!
Chubb Insurance underwrote the payment, fucking fake billionare is broke. I Guess he's even pissed away the 400 million Daddy left him!
Junior and Not-Junior should just about now begin realizing there ain't gonna be nothing left for them.
I'll bet you a 30-pack of PBR that Trump burns Chubb on the deal (unless he wins the election and then pays them with government money).
Chubb knows what they are doing, I'm sure they made Stump sign over the titles to some properties worth at least the full amount. Donnie has run out of bullshit on this one, the only way he keeps his properties is if he wins the appeal and the court returns the bond to Chubb or if Stump loses and he decides to give Cubb the cash, in exchange for the property deed, either way Chubb gets the full amount.
IMO, Biden did very well. GOP propaganda about Senile Joe backfired by lowering expectations!
His only apparent goof – adding Moscow to the list of cities where Government keeps medicine prices low [by having a National Health Care system] – turned into my favorite part of the speech; he recovered perfectly, saying "well, probably there, too". That *might* have been scripted, but if so, Biden delivered it perfectly, and the writer deserves a bonus.
A moment later, Biden added a good dramatic pause, and I thought he was about to announce a push for Medicare for All, but no, he just doubled down on ObamaCare, [rightly] ripping Republicans for trying to kill it. My biggest fear about the coming campaign is that Trump might claim that he's going to do M4A, boxing Dems into defending the ACA (which is really RomneyCare). Of course Trump would never bother with the onerous details of actually writing any such legislation, and the GOP Old Guard would just use that as an opportunity to kill the ACA with no replacement (and somehow blame it all on Democrats).
Most of the plans Biden put forth are baby steps, but that's not surprising given his long history in Congress. The one Big Thing he proposed was Tax Hikes for the Rich, which is long overdue but great to hear. It won't be easy (The Rich own all the Republicans in Congress and also too many Democrats), but I was really glad to see him go at it hard.