463 Comments

I wonder if Chutkan realized the significance of March 4, 2024, being 235 years to the day when the US Constitution became the law of the land.

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Steve, such beautiful Karmic payback. Even Shakespeare couldn’t have come up with a more “perfect date”....I hope the Democrats trumpet (pardon the pun) that important fact all over the US. Really.

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When thinking about Trump’s legal woes and the fix the Republican Party has managed to get itself into by supporting this miscreant, these words from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam come to mind:

“The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it"

The tab has arrived, folks. Enjoy your just deserts!

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'Indicting Hunter Biden Would Make Him Formidable Republican Candidate'

'WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—An indictment of Hunter Biden would immediately catapult him to the top tier of the Republican Presidential field, a new poll of likely G.O.P. voters indicates.'

'The poll reveals that, if indicted by the just-appointed special counsel, the President’s son would be in a virtual dead heat with the Republican front-runner, Donald J. Trump.'

'Davis Logsdon, who supervised the poll for the University of Minnesota, noted that Governor Ron DeSantis lags far behind, in third place, because of G.O.P. voters’ queasiness about supporting a candidate who has no indictments.' (Satire, NEWYORKER)

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Thank you, Fern McBride! This can go with the Onion headline when Obama won.

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Dead heat for what? trump has the criminal charges sewed up. Hunter's "crimes" are not half as serious: drugs, tax evasion, owning an illegal gun? get real

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It's satire, but it must have worked, if 20% of the audience missed it.

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It's an Andy Borowitz column. He is hilarious, you can sign up for free. But perhaps not needed here.

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Thanks, Fern! An unexpected laugh is very good!

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I met a traveller from an antique land,

Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;

And on the pedestal, these words appear:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

Ozymandias, Percy Bysshe Shelley

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The orange horror wouldn’t know Shelley from a shell-company.

So apt as he enters the vast & wasting desert of his open mouth:

‘....a shattered image visage lies whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold

Command’ etc...

Bravo you Lynn!

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The "colossal Wreck" part is apt, too. Shelley couldn't possibly have known, but man, was he prescient!

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Bad quote: xx image xx line 5

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Another great one. I thought of Ozzy many times when Trump was hawking his "big, beautiful" Great Wall.

And a lot more lone and level sands (maybe a dune here and there) are likely to stretch is we don't get more serious about protecting climate.

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My husbands’s favorite poem. Republicans have never believed it, and keep trying to cancel their evil for most of my adult life. Rupert’ and Ronnie’s goal. I’m with you, Omar…

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Jeri, it is also one of my favorites, too. One of my favorite lines is: "Strange among that earthen lot, some could articulate, and some not. What then, did the hand of the Maker shake?" In Trump's case, the shaking was uncontrollable, resulting in a congentially deformed malignant narcissist.

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Yeats' The Second Coming is what ran through my mind when Trump became president in 2016.

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Me too, Marycat.

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You can't beat a little bread beneath the bough. Not forgetting the flask of wine.

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This is a little more risque´than I anticipated.

But needs cheese.

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I think the cheese goes without saying. So he didn't say it.

Don't forget the "thou". And I can't find the quotation, but I am sure Terry Pratchett said in one of his books something about "a loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou, or at least a selection of thous."

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Good cheese for sure.

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Thank you LeMoine

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TAMAM SHUD?

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A perfect date...

Somehow, the appropriate opposite to a certain perfect phone call we keep hearing mentioned.

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What we don't have ... YET, is the direct testimony of 1 or more of the 3 or 4 Witnesses that were "in the room" during that "perfect" call. Jack's got it.

Tuesday Update: Confirmed in Court yesterday by an audio recording, one (1) of those Witnesses heard to speak on the audio tape was MARK MEADOWS.

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You know, Bryan, I'm just incredulous that Meadows testified. I really don't get the strategy behind it. And I hope the entire transcript is released.

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I agree Lynn, clearly MEADOWS is attempting to flee the Fulton County Jury Pool.

Meanwhile, the Judge has NOT ruled yet but, instead has issued an Order asking the parties to brief a highly technical statutory issue that appears to a indicate that the evidence shows MEADOWS was not acting in his "official capacity" on several acts. But, I was not in the Courtroom.

The Trial Judge knows the case is immediately going to 3 Judge Appellate panel & possibly on to SCOTUS & he wants to get it right in the sense of accurately following current law while providing the Appellate Courts with well briefed record on appeal.

I must make a deep dive on the statute cited by the Judge before posting my take from the Cheap Sseats ;)

Bryan.

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Do you have a citation to the statute?

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Ya know????? 😂 😂 😂

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“Lordy, I hope there are tapes!”

Well, whaddya know!! 😂

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Well Camilla B in the Peach state, at least one (1) tape of MARK MEADOWS talking to BRAD on the "perfect" call, "What I am hopeful for ... is there some way that we can some form of agreement."

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And the campaign is willing to $upport

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That’s right! He offered remuneration for the effort from campaign coffers. That’s a gotcha. A big ‘un!

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Exactly.

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The resonance of the date is perfect, but I'm much more relieved about this chronology:

"Judge Chutkan’s establishment of March 4 for the federal trial over Trump’s attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election means that Trump-appointed federal judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing the Mar-a-Lago documents trial and who seems eager to protect the former president, will have far less power to shape public perceptions of the cases against (tffg)."

I wanted to quote it because anything that takes some of the stress of all this away leaves us more energy to take this mf down.

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Somehow I had wished that the trial would start on March 15 - the ides of March. Still, it is so appropriate that a Black female judge now controls much of TFG's fate.

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Richard, you crack me up. Yeah, the Ides of March is right. And right on, Black Lady Justice, too.

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It would be nice to see death star having to mutter et tu lots of times.

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Well, we know they're brutes, even if he doesn't yet.

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Intent on making life on this planet nasty, brutish and short; along with the Taliban.

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To those turning state's evidence.

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March fourth is also the only sentence in the calendar. As in events unfold, we all march forth, hopefully toward the correct conclusion.

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There is the chance that there will be no trial, but instead a complete global settlement of all the cases. Trump agrees to house arrest for the rest of his life, no acceptance of pardons, no broadcasting his BS, no participating in politics of any kind. Fini. It's over and he avoids prison. I think that it's like that this will be discussed and promoted by his attorneys.

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And remember, there is still the 14th Amendment section 3

Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits anyone who has previously taken an oath of office (that is, most current and former public officials) from holding public office if they have “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the United States. Send a letter to your state's Secretary of State.

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A case has alredy been filed by an attorney in Florida. I have sent requests to the ACLU, NOW and LWV to file suits in various states against the Secretaries of State to compel them to refuse to put Trump's name on the ballot.

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It's not just a good idea, it's the law.

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One can hope. And that the settlement includes severe consequences should he violate any part of it. Because, well, you know he will.

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I would not like to see a settlement that coddles him just because he was rich and powerful. We saw that happen with Nixon, and I think it contributed to the corruption we see today. Like Jeffery Epstein's settlement of child sex trafficking. "Equal Justice Under Law" is engraved on the SCOTUS building, but way too often, that's not what we see. Mercy yes, but deference to social status is corruption.

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Richard, that has been my thought from the beginning. No nonsense.

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Perhaps that will be the date on which the guilty verdict comes down.

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Et tu Rudi?

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The global settlement would only cover Trump. The others could/probably will cut a plea deal. Many cannot afford to pay for their attorneys and Trump, true to form, is not using any of the millions that he is grifting to help them.

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I recall a photo of a woman wearing a shirt that said "Trump can grab my pussy". "He loved Big Brother" isn't just fiction. There is often a strange dynamic of fealty by those exploited. I can't help but wonder how many of those are the product of abusive homes.

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How about the day WWII ended, and the powers of authoritarian government crumbles. I just looked up the date in May. Too late.

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HCR's last paragraph resonates with what real lawmakers understood about creating a Constitution, laws that guarantee democracy, and the foundation of a country based upon it.

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“Because power corrupts, society’s demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases.” - John Adams

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I am all for making things difficult for Loose Cannon. I keep seeing hilarious memes too including the faces of the Kracken and Rudy on the farmer and his wife in Grant's famous painting. It's early here , so hope I have the artist right. And as aside, we had a little rain last night...the first in months.

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Yep, Grant Wood

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thanks....couldn't quite remember....it was before 6 am and I hadn't had much coffee.

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☕️👍

Wood’s sister, the woman in the painting, lived in Menlo Park CA when I did. It made the news when she passed some years ago.

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Interesting. I didn't know that.

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The nation needs a serious conversation about ethics. No one should judged by a person he or she appointed. No one should be pardoned by his or her former subordinate, nor pardon to accomplish a coverup.

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JL, Right? I'd say that's Ethics 101.

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I feel you!

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The far right Republicans in the House are trying to save nickels and dimes on the expense side of the budget, but refuse to raise corporate taxes by 3-4% which would more than make up for their penny-ante cuts.

Gym Jordan has spent tens of millions on his various failed witch hunts while his cohorts try to cut support for child care, the IRS, Social Security and the Ukraine war.

Apparently, the MAGAs eat it up or Gym would drop it? Again, what fly by night law school did he attend? He got so little out of it that he didn't attempt to take the Ohio bar exam.

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Jim Jordan is a particularly reprehensible loud mouth. I will take great joy in writing postcards in support of whoever runs against him.

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He's an ugly man.

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If halitosis and body odor were combined in one face.....

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Good one Barbara!

My sister lives in OH. She’s pretty active with post cards, phone calls, door to door and standing in the line in the grocery store to try to persuade people to think about who and what they’re voting for. She’ll love your apt description! Jordan is despised in many parts of OH. The gerrymandering confirms a Republican will never lose his district, unless no one votes for a Republican. Something the cheaters never saw coming. Now it’s staring them down. “Cheaters never win, and winners never cheat”. Halitosis and body odor! Sprinkle in a little Athletes Foot and you have the whole OH Republican Party!

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One look, and you'd wait for the next elevator.

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He should be indicted along with many other repugs that participated in the in !!

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That's the removal of the "administrative state", extreme Republicans rage against the "communist" ambitions of the Democrats; so force it by reducing taxes, the ability to afford policy, and of course, direct assault on social support programs because the State can no longer "afford them", the very result of their own conniving. In any case, it's gonna be the top 20% of income tax payers who finance American federal government. Very little from the lower 50%. Says something about the ongoing drift of income inequality in USA, the destruction of trade unions and hollowing out of the American middle classes which rose to prominence in the 50s. There is a huge economic payback by expanding social support "infrastructure" for everyone involved, including corporate rich.

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Law school?!!!! it must really have been flying by night and hs missed it.

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Twenty five dollars to an Internet address.

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The modern "GOP" is wholly bought and paid for and has been for at least 40 years. It all boils down to making the rich richer and the rest subservient.

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I just read today that House Republicans are trying to defund the Department of Justice so it can't follow through with the trials. https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/04/politics/house-republicans-doj-fbi-funding-divisions/index.html

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Yeah, they will transfer authority to the Ministry of Love.

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The US Constitution? What's that? Never heard of it.

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LOL

Just a scrap of sheepskin with some invisible treasure map on the back perhaps...

oh, that was the Declaration in a fictional movie about (gasp!) conspiracy theories.

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Thus spakesth Zarathustra, I mean TFG. Remember Bush, Jr., proclaiming that the Constitution ". . . is nothing but a G..D......d piece of paper?"

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Richard Sutherland - Remember Bush, Jr., proclaiming that the Constitution ". . . is nothing but a G..D......d piece of paper?"

Q: Did President Bush call the Constitution a “goddamned piece of paper”?

A: Extremely unlikely. The Web site that reported those words has a history of quoting phony sources and retracting bogus stories.

The report that Bush “screamed” those words at Republican congressional leaders in November 2005 is unsubstantiated, to put it charitably.

Update, Feb. 21, 2011: The author of the Capitol Hill Blue story has now withdrawn it. Doug Thompson messaged us to say:

Doug Thompson: This is to let you know that the piece on Bush and the Constitution has been changed and reads:

“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦.”

I no longer stand behind that article or its conclusions ...

https://www.factcheck.org/2007/12/bush-the-constitution-a-goddamned-piece-of-paper/

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No, I didn’t remember. Was so turned off by him (both Bushes for same and different reasons and out of the country, so missed that stupidity. Thank you for adding to my collection of Bush “memorabilia.”

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I view the Bushes as a crime family, but I have to say, they are rank amateurs in the face of the death star crime family.

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Well, there is ultra right wing edition

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I have no doubt she knew and chose this date accordingly. Judge Chutkan is extremely astute and wouldn’t pass up the chance to make a historical statement with this date

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Correction -see:

https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/the-day-the-constitution-was-adopted

"On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the critical ninth state to ratify the Constitution. That day, the Constitution was officially adopted, and the new government officially started operating on March 4, 1789."

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FYI, a law becomes "the law of the land" on its effective date, not on its date of passage. What needs correcting?

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I am sure she does.

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“Here come Da Judge”!!

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🤣 Been waiting for this! Perfect! All the humor we can get in this moment. Also a tribute to Sammy Davis, Jr.’s memorable shtick.

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Thought that was Flip Wilson--"this judge done startin' a war on crime, and everybody here gonna do some time--here come the judge, here come the judge"

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If you mean “Here come de judge,” that was definitely Sammy Davis, Jr. Saw the clip more than once. He was priceless.

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I stand corrected. Appears that FW , as guest host, introduced the sketch, so perhaps that is why I confused it

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No apology needed. I wasn’t much of a TV watcher before 45, so some few moments are indelible.

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Chutkan perhaps hears the echoes of Martin Luther King Jr. proclaiming, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

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I think that Trump's only conceivable defense would be that he had hard evidence (presumably classified) that the election was being stolen from him.

There is a handful of places where discrepancies might enter the vote count. I like this one, quoting from the introduction to "Votescam: The Stealing of America" (originally 1992)

https://books.google.com/books/about/Votescam.html?id=ZxpZCgAAQBAJ#v=onepage&q&f=false

"By means of an unofficial private corporation named News Election Service (NES), the Establishment press has actual physical control of the voting and counting and dissemination of the vote, and it refuses to let the public know how it is done."

Quoting from the footnote to the above quote in the 2015 edition:

"In 1964 it was born National Election Services (NES), a consortium of ABC, CBS, NBC, AP and UPI. In 1994 NES merged with Voter Research and Survey (VRS) to become Voter News Service (VNS), which included CNN and Fox News. In 2002 it morphed again to become News Election Pool (NEP)."

"Votescam" talks about a situation where the tabulating computers "crash" on election night and come back up in the wee hours with skewed numbers.

I witnessed something similar, in the do-or-die (for Hillary) in the North Carolina primary in 2008. I planned to stay up late and watch the results come in.

Around 10 or 11 p.m., Hillary and Obama were neck-and-neck, and the computers crashed, just like "Votescam" talked about.

I waited up, hour after hour, because I wanted to see the moment that results were updated. Around 3:00 the computers came back up: Hillary's total was flat, but Obama had received a big boost, putting the primary (and the nomination) out of reach.

For a couple days, there was talk that Hillary might challenge the results. She didn't, and went on to be Secretary of State. North Carolina Attorney General Ray Cooper went on to br Governor. Charlotte, North Carolina was awarded the next Democratic convention.

p.s. A starting point for Trump's potential supporting argument that the 2020 Democratic nomination was stolen from Bernie Sanders is the eye-popping discrepancies between the exit polls and the computer results in the Massachusetts primary:

https://tdmsresearch.com/2020/03/04/massachusetts-2020-democratic-party-primary/

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