Brad Sallows
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Besides some points in the timeline that has some…context missing (e.g. Trump flip-flopping on the Covid vaccine), I think that article leaves out one important point - the “team” effect of US politics.Economist John Cochrane wrote an op-ed for the WSJ a short while back, and it's here on his Substack. ("Understanding Trumpers")
The basic theme is that the establishments aren't doing a satisfactory job and their responses to Trump's presence have been counter-productive.
The establishment flaws run a lot more broadly than a handful of issues in Congress. And the point that should be obvious from what Cochrane wrote is that the path to moderation, if we work backwards, requires electing moderates, which first requires convincing voters to elect moderates, which first requires demonstrating moderation, competence, fairness, objectivity, apolitical-ness, etc across all the agencies. By "demonstrating" I mean actual and apparent - as in, propriety and fairness and the appearance of propriety and fairness. "Promise" doesn't enter into it, because credibility has been shat out by so many people and agencies. And the people who got denied the trough in 2016 have to stop throwing in their own grenades - either start working productively, or just shut up and go away.Besides some points in the timeline that has some…context missing (e.g. Trump flip-flopping on the Covid vaccine), I think that article leaves out one important point - the “team” effect of US politics.
The Dems can promise “moderation, openness, and simple competence”, as he argues. But, US politics is at a point where I’m not even sure that will work anymore. Hell, just 24 hours ago, MTG wanted to oust the House Speaker bc the House passed a necessary spending bill to make sure that the US govt (including the US military) had funds to continue going past today. And don’t forget Tuberville’s blocking of GOFO promotions last fall, with its 2nd/3rd order effects, because of abortion.
We have a lot of big problems. Successive governments ignored a lot of infrastructure issues - and we have roads, and bridges that need a lot of work if the country wants to continue to function.The establishment flaws run a lot more broadly than a handful of issues in Congress. And the point that should be obvious from what Cochrane wrote is that the path to moderation, if we work backwards, requires electing moderates, which first requires convincing voters to elect moderates, which first requires demonstrating moderation, competence, fairness, objectivity, apolitical-ness, etc across all the agencies. By "demonstrating" I mean actual and apparent - as in, propriety and fairness and the appearance of propriety and fairness. "Promise" doesn't enter into it, because credibility has been shat out by so many people and agencies. And the people who got denied the trough in 2016 have to stop throwing in their own grenades - either start working productively, or just shut up and go away.
The Republicans also put out a budget plan a couple of days ago, including one of several possible options to deal with the approaching insolvency of social security: raising the eligibility age a couple of years (67 to 69). Insolvency is about 10 years away, and will result in an estimated 22% or 23% cut in benefits (the difference between contributions in and benefits out when the special "bonds" run out). This is a huge problem, affecting a lot of people. Democrats basically refused. They've been refusing as long as Republicans have been trying to solve it. It's one of the things Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell had as objectives. So much for Democrats working with moderate Republicans to solve important problems in Congress.
Have you seen the pork barreling in that 1000+ page bill? It is not necessary spending. Dropped on Congress at 2am and passed 10 hrs later. It wasn't read fully by anyone. It's full of stuff that has zero to do with funding the government. Paying tuition for Egyptians going to school in Egypt. Money for border security in Jordan. That one is pretty ironic.Besides some points in the timeline that has some…context missing (e.g. Trump flip-flopping on the Covid vaccine), I think that article leaves out one important point - the “team” effect of US politics.
The Dems can promise “moderation, openness, and simple competence”, as he argues. But, US politics is at a point where I’m not even sure that will work anymore. Hell, just 24 hours ago, MTG wanted to oust the House Speaker bc the House passed a necessary spending bill to make sure that the US govt (including the US military) had funds to continue going past today. And don’t forget Tuberville’s blocking of GOFO promotions last fall, with its 2nd/3rd order effects, because of abortion.
…which makes it worse. This isn’t supposed to be a controversial thing - it happens every year.Have you seen the pork barreling in that 1000+ page bill? It is not necessary spending. Dropped on Congress at 2am and passed 10 hrs later. It wasn't read fully by anyone. It's full of stuff that has zero to do with funding the government. Paying tuition for Egyptians going to school in Egypt. Money for border security in Jordan. That one is pretty ironic.
MTG needs to STFU.
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The problem is they don't have an approximately unified budget, like we do. There is no straightforward way to put a brake on mandatory spending except the debt ceiling. Here, Parliament passes a budget; anything not fully funded - "mandatory" or not - goes short and makes do. They have a ceiling; we have a ceiling; it's just that ours is whatever Parliament decides to authorize, each year. They could set a ceiling that they think would last ten years, if they wanted to. I doubt very much they can continue on their fiscal trajectory. Pain now, or more pain later. Hiding behind the principle that "Congress already authorized it" is just playing the ostrich.…which makes it worse. This isn’t supposed to be a controversial thing - it happens every year.
If Kinzinger is going to drag 2016 into the mix, he ought to reasonably apply his principles to Hillary Clinton's election interference, which became governmental interference.
This is why no person should take these people seriously.If Kinzinger is going to drag 2016 into the mix, he ought to reasonably apply his principles to Hillary Clinton's election interference, which became governmental interference.
Their chief witness is Michael Cohen, a known serial liar, convicted of perjury. Just saying. Of course the jury is picked from New York, so there's a good chance it won't matter if Trump proves his case, he'll likely be convicted by them no matter.Meanwhile over on the criminal side, Trump’s state felony trial in New York over the alleged hush money payments had a date set today after the judge rejected the late disclosure claims. Jury selection begins April 15th, then rolling immediately into trial. This will be the first but likely least significant of the four criminal trials currently faced by Trump.
Right, but we’ve been over this before. A witness’ impugned credibility can be accounted for through various corroborative evidence. There’s no way prosecutors would take a matter to trial with only or mostly just that to go on. The soft spot in this case won’t be Cohen as a witness; it’ll be the linking of the business record falsification to election law violations to get them to felony status. That‘a novel application of law. But in any event, this case matters by far the least out of the criminal ones.Their chief witness is Michael Cohen, a known serial liar, convicted of perjury. Just saying. Of course the jury is picked from New York, so there's a good chance it won't matter if Trump proves his case, he'll likely be convicted by them no matter.
SECOND COUNT:AND THE GRAND JURY AFORESAID, by this indictment, further accuses the
defendant of the crime of FALSIFYING BUSINESS RECORDS IN THE FIRST DEGREE,
in violation of Penal Law §175.10, committed as follows:
The defendant, in the County of New York and elsewhere, on or about February 14, 2017,
with intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission
thereof, made and caused a false entry in the business records of an enterprise, to wit, an entry in
the Detail General Ledger for the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, bearing voucher number
842457, and kept and maintained by the Trump Organization.
Depends. The Feds will generally have a narrative of the basic particulars with their indictments. Doesn’t look like NY does at the state level. But that will be pre of what they have to prove at trial, although not to the extend of proving commission of that other linked offence.Here is the second count of the Bragg indictment, all 34 are all similar with changes to dates and voucher numbers. High lighted in yellow it says there was intent to commit another crime and conceal it. For the life of me I can't find this "other crime" in the indictment. Is this usual practice to do this?
Trump Indictment
I found some info on that in a press release from DA Bragg's office. Seems peculiar it wasn't included in legal documents.Depends. The Feds will generally have a narrative of the basic particulars with their indictments. Doesn’t look like NY does at the state level. But that will be pre of what they have to prove at trial, although not to the extend of proving commission of that other linked offence.
Not that particular legal document. I’m sure it’s in other materials, and it’ll definitely be in the prosecution’s disclosure to defense. Some documents are convenient and interesting for public co gumption; most are not. I love the federal DOJ indictment narratives; they’re a great prosecutorial summary.I found some info on that in a press release from DA Bragg's office. Seems peculiar it wasn't included in legal documents.
Bragg Press Release
The chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability’s Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce sent a preservation letter Thursday to Rosa Brooks, an associate dean at Georgetown University School of Law, for materials related to the Transition Integrity Project.
TIP ran its exercises in the spring and summer of 2020, and one of its concerns was the loyalty of the District of Columbia National Guard. The D.C. National Guardsmen responded effectively to the George Floyd riots in the nation's capital with a discipline that concerned TIP participants—so much so that in the final TIP report, the authors expressed concerns that they were too loyal to Trump.
During the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill protests, Pentagon generals and civilian leaders delayed the National Guard's mobilization to the Capitol for more than two hours, citing their concerns over the optics of the military restoring order. Leaders could also have been concerned that the Guardsmen would influence the presidential election's certification in favor of the Trump team's effort to challenge the elector slate committed to former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.
J6 whistleblower Col. Earl G. Matthews, the senior legal advisor to the DCNG’s commanding general, told RedState the delay was so significant that New Jersey state troopers arrived at Capitol Hill before the D.C. National Guard.
Sessions wrote that NBC News also suggested that McCord would be running the effort to undermine civilian control of the Pentagon.
Continued civilian control of the Pentagon is being challenged by the idea that the military is an autonomous or even feudal fiefdom immune from political influence—political meaning democratic.
The highest-profile proponent of Pentagon autonomy is retired Gen. Mark A. Milley. In speeches and interviews, Milley repeated the phrase: "We took an oath to the Constitution, not an individual.”
In Federalist 69, Alexander Hamilton wrote that the president, like the King of Great Britain, would have the supreme command and direction of the military and naval forces, as the first general and admiral of the country.
Milley said it was up to him to figure it out. Hamilton said the senior general and admiral is the president.
McCord’s effort to suppress Article Two refers to the Constitution’s Article Two, Section 2:
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States…