YOUR SUNDAY MOMENT OF ZEN

Judge Luttig was Sen. Ted Cruz's mentor. "He was like a father to me." -- Ted Cruz

Remember that should Ted Cruz or those like him try to besmirch Judge Luttig's name.

SATURDAY NIGHT DANCING

 

Juneteenth Youth Dancers

 

A friend emailed this to me:

"According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a traitor is “one who betrays another's trust or is false to an obligation or duty.” Regardless of what criminal charges the Justice Department may or may not bring against Donald Trump and those around him, it is clear from a political standpoint — based on what we have seen in the Congressional hearings to date — that we can righteously call Donald Trump, his allies, and those who support him traitors. 

They have betrayed the United States of America. Those in Congress who continue to support him should resign in disgrace. Whether they do or do not, their dishonor will live in history."

DONALD J. TRUMP, HIS ALLIES, AND HIS SUPPORTERS POSE A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

Retired federal Judge J. Michael Luttig, a staunch conservative long admired by many Republicans, testified before the House's Jan. 6 committee on Thursday with an urgent and stark message for the panel about former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election: 

"America's democracy was almost stolen from her."

 

Highly respected Conservative Judge J. Michael Luttig intoned at today's hearing that Donald J. Trump, his allies, and his supporters present a clear and present danger to America's democracy.

J Michael Luttig testified that ex-president and his supporters are preparing an ‘attempt to overturn 2024 election’ as they did in 2020

In a statement before the hearing, Luttig said: “A stake was driven through the heart of American democracy on January 6 2021, and our democracy today is on a knife’s edge. 

 “America was at war on that fateful day, but not against a foreign power. She was at war against herself. We Americans were at war with each other – over our democracy.” 

 The hearing which followed focused on efforts by Trump and advisers to convince Pence to block certification of Joe Biden’s victory, Pence’s refusal to do so and the deadly attack on the US Capitol which put Pence in danger. 

 Closing the hearing, Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the Democratic committee chair, asked Luttig to say what he meant by calling Trump and his supporters a clear and present danger. Luttig said: 

“Almost two years after that fateful day … Donald Trump and his allies and supporters are a clear and present danger to American democracy.” 

 “That’s not because of what happened on January 6. It is because to this very day the former president and his allies and supporters pledge that in the presidential election of 2024, if the former president or his anointed successor as the Republican party presidential candidate were to lose that election, they would attempt to overturn that 2024 election in the same way that they attempted to overturn the 2020 election, but succeed in 2024 where they failed in 2020.”

Harry Litman

@harrylitman

·

6h

Eastman clerked for Luttig. Luttig is much revered and was perhaps the single most prominent conservative judge on the court of appeals. Eastman is a pipsqueak and rogue. Today is going to be like Luttig taking down Eastman’s pants and spanking him in front of the whole country.

 What I'll never understand is the devotion and admiration that Trump's cultists still give to him, knowing that he plunged a dagger into the heart of our democracy; that he conspired to overthrow a free and fair election; that he incited an insurrection against his own government; and that he placed in mortal danger his own vice president.

Who are the people who still support this traitor to America?

"Tourists" in the Capitol Building on Jan. 5, Led By Rep. Loudermilk, (R-GA)

 

According to Punchbowl News, the guy narrating this video was given a tour of the Capitol Building on January 5, by U.S. Rep. Loudermilk (R-GA). He doesn't sound like a typical tourist to me:

 

U.S. Rep. Loudermilk (R-GA) leading "tourists" on Capitol visit on Jan. 5. "Tourists" taking photos of stairwells and tunnels -- just what tourists take photos of in the Capitol building?

 Loudermilk is on the House committee that oversees Capitol buildings and grounds as well as the Capitol Police. Is he an inside man?

GOOD!

 

Judge rejects Bannon’s effort to dismiss criminal case for defying Jan. 6 select committeeU.S. 

District Court Judge Carl Nichols rebuffed a series of arguments Bannon had lodged, including that Trump had asserted executive privilege to block his former aide’s testimony. 

 A federal judge on Wednesday rejected former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s effort to dismiss the criminal contempt case against him for defying a subpoena from the Jan. 6 select committee. 

 In an oral ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Carl Nichols rebuffed a series of arguments Bannon had lodged, including that Trump had asserted executive privilege to block his former aide’s testimony. Nichols contended that there’s insufficient evidence that Trump truly did assert privilege or seek to block Bannon from testifying to the panel the House created to investigate the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and related events.

Of Course Trump Is Responsible for His Lies

IMPORTANT: NPR Politics @nprpolitics 

The House Jan. 6 committee said former President Trump and his allies raised $250 million in the weeks after the election, some of which was ostensibly for an "Official Election Defense Fund" — which the committee found did not exist. 

Wire Fraud anyone? 

Of Course Trump Is Responsible for His Lies 

It’s not what he believed that matters, but what he had the responsibility to know. 

by MONA CHAREN JUNE 14, 2022 5:30 AM

 

[snip]

"The January 6 committee devoted the second of its public hearings to demonstrating beyond doubt that Donald Trump knew he had lost the 2020 election. He was told by his campaign staff, by officials at the Department of Justice, by local election administrators, by his daughter and son-in-law, and by the attorney general, among others. And yet he persisted in propagating the lie to the American people. 

 The unstated assumption here is that Trump did not sincerely believe the election was stolen. He was told over and over again that it wasn’t and yet persisted in propagating a dangerous lie to the world. And therefore he is responsible."

[snip]

"Are the people who get all of their news from Fox or The Federalist responsible for what they believe? They are. Every person in a democratic republic has a duty to ascertain the truth as best they can and that means questioning the pap that they are fed nightly. It means letting the light of skepticism peek under the blanket of certainty every now and then. 

A Fox viewer is lied to, yes, but he or she can ask: Why did Tucker Carlson do an entire show on the first night of televised hearings, Thursday, June 9, without commercial interruptions? What was he afraid viewers would learn if they switched channels to any other outlet even for a minute? 

 Yes, viewers are lied to and the liars deserve particular opprobrium, but at some point citizens have to use the sense God gave them. If the Dominion Voting machines were rigged, why did Republican House and Senate candidates do so much better than Trump? 

If there was a vast conspiracy to flip votes from Trump to Biden, why did Trump perform better with Hispanics in 2020 than he had in 2016? And if the problem was the “rigged” voting machines, why did two hand recounts in Georgia show no discrepancies? If the riot at the capitol was the work of Antifa and the Deep State, why was Ashli Babbit a martyr? And for that matter, if it was Antifa, why were Republican members asking Trump for pardons in the final days of his presidency? Alternatively, if it was an “normal tourist visit,” why blame it on Antifa?"

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

Excellent essay. But we know that Trump cultists will  refuse to read and understand what this means. They, too, are willfully blind and are so invested in believing Trump's lies and betrayal to America that even this evidence of Trump's treachery will not move them.

The truth is out there for everyone to see. But some of our fellow Americans will choose not to see it. 

And I pity them for their continuing self-deceit. 

Trump wanted to burn down America's democracy

So wild was he to avoid the "loser" label, Trump continued to insist that the election was stolen, an accusation that was wrong, and an accusation that his advisors, lawyers, and those who oversaw election security said was wrong.

Trump was willing to destroy our American democracy to protect himself from the realization that he was a loser.

"Trump was so adamant not to acquire the “loser” title that he furiously sought confirmation of specious allegations. Finding none, he was willing to burn down the system to keep power. This is not delusion; it’s intentional destruction of American democracy." --J.Rubin, WaPo

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

If you've watched the two hearings, you know that almost all of the witnesses have been from Trump's own campaign or his own administration. They testified that Trump knew he had lost the election and tried to remain in office anyway. 

There is no other side to this, except the side that continues to lie. And those liars are the people who continue to support Trump: his allies in Congress, his family, and his cultists. They all  know they are promoting the Big Lie; it's not some kind of honest disagreement about the election results.

The witnesses we've seen so far are all part of the Trump inner circle. But it is very telling that the witnesses that presumably would be on Trump's side of things are all refusing to testify or pleading the 5th or apparently sought preemptive pardons.  

Today's hearing was more effective and damning than last Thursdays, and that one was pretty damning. It's interesting to note that even Fox was apparently shamed into covering today's hearing live. That is an admission of something. 

Let us hope that the committee has solid proof on the Republicans who asked for pardons. They must have this proof, since they don't seem to me to be stupid enough to put it out there without any. 

All in all, the first two hearings were great. 

 

“Liz Cheney, an American patriot, honored her oath to defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic, while the rest of the Republican Party abandoned their oath, and the country.”

JUST A REMINDER

This is the LEAST of Donald J. Trump's crimes:

Donald J. Trump flouts the law and gets away with doing it. Unlike you and me, he places himself above the law. And yet, his deplorable supporters continue to worship this unworthy, shameless, malignant narcissist. :

 "On April 21, an Instagram user posted a photo of the seal at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. The picture shows a circular, blue-and-silver marker set in closely cropped grass, and an accompanying caption reads: “45th President 45 yards from hole on 18.” 

 It is against the law to use the presidential seal in a way that could convey the impression of government approval or sponsorship of private-sector businesses. The West Palm Beach golf club is the fourth Trump property to feature the seal in possible violation of the statute, following a trend set at courses in the Bronx, New Jersey and Jupiter, Florida. Violations of the law can result in prison sentences of up to six months, although prosecutors have never prioritized charging people who misuse the seal. 

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

Cheney: "As you will see, Representative [Scott] Perry contacted the White House in the weeks after January 6th to seek a presidential pardon. Multiple other Republican congressmen also sought presidential pardons for their roles in attempting to overturn the 2020 election."

The question is who are these "Multiple other Republican congressmen?" Who are these congressmen/women who worked to stop the Constitutional process of certifying the electoral college? Seeking a pardon from POTUS -- DJT -- indicates they KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING WAS ILLEGAL. 

Once upon a time there were consequences for politicians in high places who broke the law:

And what will happen to the wife of a Supreme Court Justice who was involved with the overthrow of the U.S. government?

Tom Nichols

@RadioFreeTom

"It strains credulity to the point of breaking if Justice Thomas claims that he had no idea what his “best friend” Ginni was up to when she was allegedly fomenting a violent insurrection." -

@KatiePhang

And remember this:

Josh Marshall

@joshtpm

· Jun 10

Today is a good day to remember that Republicans have said repeatedly via Axios and other publications that their top priority in the next Congress will be retaliating and seeking "revenge" against Democrats for the decision to investigate the Jan 6 insurrection/riots.

Trump and his criminal pals in Congress DO NOT want America to know the truth about the Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How of the January 6 plot to overturn a free and fair election and illegally install Trump for a second term.

They are all complicit. They would not want to end this inquiry if they were innocent. 

They're not.

The following quote by Carl Sagan applies to Trump followers and defenders. We here at P.E. often read Trumpulican bloggers' posts. They still support and defend Trump, knowing full well how often he's broken the law. The quote by Sagan applies to those bloggers.

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.” ― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

YOUR SUNDAY MOMENT OF ZEN

 

SATURDAY NIGHT DANCING

"Trump did this."

Panel blames Trump for Capitol ‘carnage’

According to Liz Cheney, Trump expressed sentiment that Mike Pence ‘deserved’ to be hanged

The opening hearing of the January 6 Committee was riveting, especially Rep. Liz Cheney and the way she laid out the case against Trump. 

 Her message was clear: TRUMP DID THIS. 

I was worried there would not be enough emphasis on his guilt. 

The committee needs to pound that home over and over. 

Now I understand why FAUX would not air this damning evidence.

 

Glenn Kirschner

@glennkirschner2

·

9h

The anger I feel at Trump intentionally endangering the lives of EVERYONE at the Capitol on 1/6, and then placing no calls, giving no orders to send forces to defend the Capitol, with Pence having to give those orders . . . there are no words. Other than TREASON!

Robert Lusetich

@RobertLusetich

·

9h

Replying to

@BeschlossDC

That was an indictment of Trump, whose hunger for power & inability to accept he'd lost was his only guiding light. Maybe not a criminal indictment, but if GOP embraces him in 2024, it is hard to see a way forward for them. Ivanka saying the election wasn't stolen will kill him.