JUSTICE!

 

Proud Boys Leader Joe Biggs Gets Hefty Sentence for Jan. 6 Riot 

 Proud Boys leader Joe Biggs was “an instigator and leader” of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, according to prosecutors. Now he’ll serve 17 years behind bars after being sentenced for seditious conspiracy on Thursday. It’s a lengthy jail term compared to the other Capitol rioters—only a year shorter than the longest sentence given for Jan. 6-related crimes. That belongs to Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who got an 18-year sentence for the same crime. Biggs is a veteran of the U.S. Army and sustained a head injury during his service in Iraq. He later joined right-wing conspiracy website Infowars as a correspondent. When he stormed the Capitol with his fellow Proud Boys on Jan. 6, Briggs was a “vocal leader and influential proponent of the group’s shift toward political violence,” prosecutors argued.

This is Biggs after the J6 insurrection, bragging about how much fun it was.

FAFO!

This is what our students face in their schools in the "Greatest Country in the World:"

The front page of The Daily Tarheel, August 29: 

Text messages sent and received by UNC students Monday, August 28. 

The campus was on lockdown for more than three hours.

 

We are a country that loves guns more than we love our children.

 

Republicans against Trump

@RpsAgainstTrump

Subscribe

Donald Trump who lives in FL, has been posting nonstop about his poll numbers, money he made from the mug shot, attacks on judges, prosecutors, Christie, DeSantis, and everyone else, But he’s yet to Post anything about hurricane #Idalia. It's almost as if he’s a narcissistic sociopath who doesn't give a sh*t about anyone but himself.

The Trumpublican Party is interferring with US justice...

 

to protect one of the most corrupt ex-presidents in American history.

A  Republican-led effort to reprimand District Attorney Fani Willis after she brought charges against former President Donald Trump in Fulton County is poised to expand, as state and federal lawmakers pursue new efforts to sanction the prosecutor. 

 State Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch said in an interview that Republican leaders could hold legislative hearings into whether Willis is using “her position in a political manner” after accusing Trump and his allies of a complex conspiracy. The two initiatives are part of a broader effort by Trump’s allies at the Georgia Capitol and the U.S. Congress to punish Willis over the 51-count indictment, which accuses Trump and 18 co-defendants of a sprawling “criminal enterprise” to reverse his 2020 defeat. 

 U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde wants to use an upcoming appropriations bill to slash federal funding for Willis, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and federal special counsel Jack Smith. Each is a top prosecutor in one of the four cases Trump is currently facing. 

[skip]

"Willis, who has long predicted the attacks, has declined to comment. But the district attorney said earlier this month when announcing the indictments that she acted 'based on the facts and the law.' 'The law is completely nonpartisan,' she said. 'That’s how decisions are made in every case.' " 

***************************

This is a peek at where the former Republican Party is going, and that is to no longer respect the separation of powers; to weaken the judiciary; and consolidate power. 

This is what Viktor Orban of Hungary would do. It’s a type of soft fascism, and alarm bells should be going off all over America as Trump cultists try to stop Trump from facing the consequences of his illegal plot to steal the 2020 election from President Biden.

Will the American people recognize what they’re seeing in Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Texas, & Missouri? These states are moving towards authoritarian style governments, and more red states are moving in the same direction.

THIS HAPPENED TODAY:

"A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that Rudolph W. Giuliani was liable for defaming two Georgia election workers by repeatedly declaring that they had mishandled ballots while counting votes in Atlanta during the 2020 election. 

The ruling by the judge, Beryl A. Howell in Federal District Court in Washington, means that the defamation case against Mr. Giuliani, a central figure in former President Donald J. Trump’s efforts to remain in power after his election loss, can proceed to trial on the narrow question of how much, if any, damages he will have to pay the plaintiffs in the case. 

 Judge Howell’s decision came a little more than a month after Mr. Giuliani conceded in two stipulations in the case that he had made false statements when he accused the election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, of manipulating ballots while working at the State Farm Arena for the Fulton County Board of Elections."

Victor Shi

@Victorshi2020

·

4h

A reminder to never mess around with Black women protecting our democracy. Today, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss won their defamation case against Rudy Giuliani & it is absolutely glorious. They are our heroes. They are the best of our democracy. Thank you, Ruby & Shaye.

GUEST POST BY DAVE MILLER -- "We're all in on it."

 We're all in on it...

We’re all in on it.

Each and everyone of us.

From the most powerful member of the Democratic Party, to the lowliest voter who, in the privacy of his or her voting booth, marked their ballot for the candidate Joe Biden.

We’re all wrong, not interested in justice, hate America or are blinded by our hate of Donald Trump. Trump Derangement Syndrome they call it. 

The system is in on it, the FBI is in on it. Congress is in on it and so are the courts. 

The mainstream media is on it, Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems are in on it, and so are every single governor and secretary of state across the United States of America. 

The DOJ of the Trump Administration was in on it. The Trump Administration Office of Cyber Security, which called the 2020 election the most secure in the history of the US, was in on it.

The ultra right Heritage Foundation was unable to find any real fraud or voting irregularities during the 2020 elections, because they too, abandoning their conservative bonafides, were in on it.

What is it that we are all in on?

The stealing of the 2020 election by fraud, subterfuge, ballot box stuffing and thousands of dead people “voting” and the accusing Donal Trump of wrongdoing.

Jack Smith is also in on it. Fani Willis and Alvin Bragg too. Because there’s no way Trump took any classified documents from the White House, no way he encouraged or directed people to mount an insurrection against the US Government on Jan 6, no way he has tried to cover his tracks, no way his aides have lied to US Investigators and no way Donald Trump has defrauded anyone. 

There also is no way Donald Trump is lying when he says he won the 2020 election. So they say.

If you visit the fever swamps of the right wing populace, Donald Trump is innocent of all charges in the 91 indictments across four jurisdictions and should be sitting in the White House today. Because they believe he won the 2020 election by millions of votes.

In spite of all the evidence and testimony to the contrary, anything that contradicts what these MAGA conservatives believe to be true, is false. All that evidence against him they say, exists solely in the minds of liberals, RINOs and unAmericans to end Trump’s reign of terror on the “deep state”, break the back of the political establishment and block efforts to “Make America Great Again”.

So what does America do? 

Literally, we are in the grip of about 40% of the population that for generations has resisted change, loss of power and prestige and refuses to cede any political ground for the common good of America. The difference now is that through the current primary process and because of the proliferation of social media, their earlier efforts, that were once consigned to the dark shadows of society, have gone mainstream and public.

Daily challenges to the rule of law, the will of the majority of Americans, the workings of government and peace and stability in our country are tearing at the fabric of our democracy. And there is no end in sight.

Even the majority of conservative politicians who do not believe someone like Trump should be president ever again, are afraid to openly say it. Because doing so would unleash the wrath of the MAGA extremists and possibly end their careers.

Recent polls show that the MAGA extremists, essentially the “guns and bible” crowd Obama described, the “deplorable” Hillary Clinton described and the “listless vessels” Ron DeSantis described have overwhelmingly decided that In Trump They Trust. By a wide margin over their pastors, conservative media and even their families and friends.

That almost absolute trust, to the exclusion of outside voices and influences, is one the most important distinctions of a cult. A cult that in this case has its hands wrapped around the neck of democracy.

God, if you are there, help us.

YOUR SUNDAY MOMENT OF ZEN

"Never Surrender!" 

Says the guy who's surrendered FOUR times to law enforcement authorities.

SATURDAY NIGHT DANCING

 

Dancin' to the jailhouse rock!

First time in American history...

 

an ex-POTUS got his mug shot taken, was fingerprinted, and weighed as he was arrested and processed in a sweeping racketeering case accusing him and his allies of conspiring to reverse his 2020 election loss in Georgia. 

This is in addition to the 70+ felony charges he's already facing in three other indictments.

What a disgrace for him and for our country.

(According to CNN, this is the real mug shot.)

Millions of Americans want this man, who was also found credibly liable for rape in May, to lead this country as POTUS and represent American democracy to the rest of the world.

What a sad and shameful time we live in.

I didn't watch the Republican "debate" last night...

 

but the most important takeaway I saw on video this morning is this:

Every single candidate EXCEPT Chris Christie (and Asa Hutchinson -- thanks, Dave.) raised his/her hand when asked by the moderator if Trump were found guilty of the felons he's charged with, would you still support him for POTUS.

And THAT, my friends, is all you need to know about that slate (minus Christie and Hutchinson) of presidential hopefuls:

All of them, save Christie and Hutchinson, would be in favor of having a convicted felon AND a man who was credibly found liable for rape as the leader of their party and representative of the values and aspirations of the Republican Party.

A convicted felon and rapist would, in their opinion, make America great.

Hard pass on that hideously shameful display of sycophantic pandering to the MAGA voters.

The Republican Party does not exist. It's a cult, and its leader is a Liar, a Cheat, a Fraud, a Rapist, and facing 91 felony counts.

What the hell happened to America?

This is hilarious. Charlie Sykes:

"Vivek is a facile, clownish, shallow, shameless, pandering demagogue, but he is exactly what GOP voters crave these days. So, he will likely get a bump in the polls, at least in the short-run. 

Last night, Vivek was Trumpier than Trump. He touched all the erogenous zones of the MAGAverse with a fluency and zeal unmatched by anyone on the stage, from his anti-Ukraine memes to his fawning praise of the absent God King."

More Worms Are Turning

 

Axios:

Georgia’s fake electors acted at Trump’s direction, indicted ex-GOP chair says 

 "David Shafer, former chairman of the Georgia Republican Party and one of the 19 defendants in the Georgia election interference case, claimed in a court filing that he and the other Republican electors who tried to falsely certify Donald Trump as the winner in Georgia were acting at the former president's behest. 

 Why it matters: As defendants in the sprawling case begin to turn themselves in ahead of the Friday deadline, Shafer's position signals that some may be poised to turn on the former president."

When will the Trumpers who continue to claim that the 2020 election was stolen and it was/is the "Deep State" that orchestrated (and is still at work) Trump's loss face the truth?

I'll answer my own question: NEVER!  

They're so far down the rabbit hole that they cannot work themselves out of it. That would mean they'd have to admit to themselves and others that they've been conned, deceived, hoodwinked, tricked, beguiled, seduced, and inveigled by the greatest con artist in American history:  Donald J. Trump.

No one likes to admit that, so we'll never see them acknowledge their colossal gullibility in believing that the 2020 election was stolen and in believing the Big Lie. That would be an admission of their egregiously poor judgement of character and willingness to believe a barely literate con man.

Even as we watch the lines of Republicans being fingerprinted, getting their mugshots, and being indicted for committing felonies in service to Trump's Big Lie, those people will never have the courage to admit what is sadly obvious to the rest of the country. They will continue to live in their self-deceiving worlds, ripe for another snake oil salesman to bamboozle them again.

And our country will continue to suffer from their stubborn allegiance to a Liar, Cheat, Fraud, and Rapist.

PS:

"Trump Kicks Off Debate Day By Ranting About Being ‘PROUDLY ARRESTED’ over ‘RIGGED & STOLLEN’ Election He Lost Fair and Square"

Trump still doesn't know the difference between a verb and a German Christmas bread. 

BREAKING: 

Jack Smith's team tells Judge Cannon that a key witness in Trump's Mar-a-Lago documents case retracted false testimony after switching lawyers.

Well, this is alarming.

 

Majority of likely Iowa GOP caucusgoers believe Trump won the 2020 election 

The new NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll shows Trump’s unfounded claims he won the last election remain salient ahead of the Iowa GOP caucus. 

 

"Majorities of self-identified Republicans (60%), those making less than $70,000 a year (69%), evangelicals (62%) and those without college degrees (59%) all believe Trump’s election claims. Out of those who say Trump is their first-choice candidate, 83% say they believe he won the 2020 election."

Joseph Goebbels was correct and prescient about future  misguided and the easily duped Trumpers:

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”

No one I know is surprised, but it is alarming to understand that our fellow Americans are so besotted with Trump who has a proven track record of lying, stealing, stiffing his creditors, sexually abusing, raping, and harassing women, and generally behaving like a bully and an idiot. He has been indicted (91 felony counts) for multiple illegal acts, and yet his Evangelical supporters see him as a godlike figure.

I can make no sense of any of this, except to see the Evangelicals' unwavering support of Trump as their having a complete break with objective reality. 

**************************

The OSS psychological profile of Hitler described his use of the big lie: 

"His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it."

YOUR SUNDAY MOMENT OF ZEN

 

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE!

 

Some classic SNL:

The Worms Are Turning

 

Remember Jenna Ellis? One of Trump's lawyers who defended Trump's scheme to illegally hold onto power by promoting The Big Lie?

Remember how she defended Trump?

Now that she's been named a co-conspirator in the Georgia indictment, she has changed her tune.

She's set up a "Go Fund Me" page to pay for the millions of dollars in lawyers' fees she'll have to dish out because she was foolish enough to associate with Donald J. Trump, the liar, the cheat, the fraud, and the rapist.

John Cardillo

@johncardillo

·

Aug 15

Few people fought harder for Trump than Jenna. He abandoned her when she was indicted for defending him. GiveSendGo - Jenna Ellis Legal Defense Fund

Yes. Jenna Ellis fought hard to break the law: 

"Jenna Ellis, an attorney who is an advisory fellow in constitutional law and policy at the conservative Centennial Institute at Colorado Christian University, also faces two charges. She is accused of racketeering and asking a public official to violate their oath as part of an effort to convince Georgia officials to appoint new electors for Trump, documents state." 

 "Colorado's office of attorney regulation censured Ellis in March after she acknowledged repeatedly making false statements about the election on television."

Now, this is what Jenna Ellis thinks of Trump and his supporters: