The fact that former vice president Mike Pence’s lawyer disclosed on January 18, 2023, that Pence also had documents with classified markings at his Indiana home should tell us a couple of things. First, the discovery suggests that it is apparently not uncommon for officials to find such documents among their papers, although the level of classification clearly matters. There have been complaints for a long time that people overuse classification in general at the lower levels. We do not know the level of classification of the documents found at the Biden and Pence residences, but it is possible to imagine lower-level documents slipped in among their papers when they were packed up to move from one office to another.
I am absolutely speechless at the “Revenge Politics” game being played out by Speaker McCarthy as the price paid for POWER. I admire your ability to simply report the facts without bias, or speculate in any way. You are an invaluable resource in a time becoming more difficult to navigate with each day that passes. Thank you for being the stoic person you are.
I thank Mike Pence for taking some of the hot air out of the GOP talking heads who have been equating Trump's handling of classified documents with that of the Biden case. And they're going to struggle mightily to find diversions to what Fani Willis is about to unleash on Trump.
Glad it is 10:01 PST and my dinner has digested or I may have gotten sick reading Kevin’s letter especially the last part where bringing back trust to the American people. So much B.S.
It sounds very hopeful that Fanni Willis is going to indict Trump and possibly others. This has got to be the best news so far in many weeks! And hopefully there will be other indictments forthcoming soon. Perhaps this sordid house of cards is going to collapse, finally.
Prosecutor, Fani Wilson's decisions control the publication of the Georgia Special Grand Jury's Report. For a quality legal analysis of the legal context of Willis' work, see Anna Bowers' analysis at Lawfare. Professor Joyce Vance provides full context & briefly summarized Bower's work in "Civil Discourse" today. FANI retains the only copy of the Report
Willis gave notice of "imminent" action & the need to protect the rights of named indiduals in the Report. I can think of many more reasons NOT to publish now: prevent witness intimidation, preserve the jury pool, protect venue, justice, due process just to name a few.
"Integrity matters more." Gives whole new meaning to the words "irony," "specious," "self delusional," "craven," and a longer list best not to get into in polite company.
Good grief! “ I am committed to returning the @HouseIntel Committee to one of genuine honesty and credibility that regains the trust of the American people. ” Kevin McCarthy wouldn’t know genuine honesty & credibility it it bit him in the ass!
“But I cannot put partisan loyalty ahead of national security, and I cannot simply recognize years of service as the sole criteria for membership on this essential committee. Integrity matters more.”
Does he run to the bathroom after spewing such unmitigated bullshit, to purge himself of the revolting taste that must remain? And, after wiping his face and looking up to the mirror, think for one moment: What have I become?
Quiverin' Qevin McQarthy is without a doubt the most useless, worthless Speaker of the House in US history. He's so full of shit it's no wonder his eyes are brown.
Today I was discussing politics with a friend of mine who left Iran after the last revolution. The revolution that toppled the Shah of Iran is considered one of the successful revolutions, but look at what has become of Iran since then. She told me that people need to realize more clearly what has been happening in Iran and Afghanistan. Those countries were both taken over by criminals and thugs who planned for years and have become deeply entrenched. They will kill anyone to stay in power. Unfortunately similar circumstances are occurring in quite a few countries. The party of the white supremacists have the same goal and are probably using the same playbook.
The fact that some things get over-classified is not an excuse for mishandling the documents. That said, it's clear that the executive branch has not had proper procedures for handling classified materials in place for a very long time. It wouldn't surprise me at all if this problem has been there since the Johnson administration. It needs to be fixed. Perhaps the one good thing that hopefully will come out of this, is an implementation of proper controls and perhaps ensuring that it doesn't happen again.
There is a bigger issue though. It's not ok to let this sort of things slide for presidents and vice presidents, while others have been severely punished for it. If someone in the service or at a defense contractor were to be caught so carelessly handling such materials, not only would they have their clearance revoked, they would be arrested on the spot. At the very least, they would lose their jobs and not be able to work on a classified program ever again. There's no tolerance for this sort of thing down in the ranks at all - not even a tiny little bit. In the meantime, I think some conviction reviews are in order, and anyone who has a record for having mishandling materials, and for whom their case record clearly shows that they did so unintentionally, is owed a pardon. The law needs to be applied equally to all.
I’ll believe it when I see Trump standing out in the middle of a Georgia onion patch hoeing weeds in an ill-fitting polyester jumpsuit on a nice, Georgia 115° afternoon. And not one minute before. 
It already seemed to me with the Biden papers, but is more clear that the systems for viewing and storing sensitive government papers need updating, just as the systems at the IRS do. This might be in part a problem of the underfunding of government that has been ongoing in the extreme since Ronald Reagan took office and pretty much told us that the best government was no government. I have always wondered why Republicans or Libertarians even run for office if this is what they believe. It seems pretty hypocritical to me, but I have grown to understand the nature of Republicans is that they really do want government but only if it can be used as a tool to serve their purposes. It is obvious that Biden and Pence are in a different class from Trump and also obvious that one should be looking at the papers of other former high ranking politicians to see what papers they possess. I am going to be very concerned if MTG gets her hands on any confidential papers because she is a treasonous person in word and deed. That goes for many of her fellow Republicans whom McCarthy has assigned to sensitive committees yet one cannot trust them farther than one can throw the Burj Khalifa. I find it interesting that McCarthy is able to create all Republican committees. Is this allowed? Doesn't he have to let Jeffries appoint the Democrats? If not, he is setting a new precident. Is that one that Republicans want to have stand, or do they assume they will be in power into perpetuity. Perhaps they imagine they will destroy our nation in these next two years so any future will be a mute point.--I think I mentioned that my 17-year-old daughter just gave a presentation on Monday in German comparing the freedom of Austrian and American youth. She claimed that Austrian youth have more independence. Because they have a very low crime rate their parents and other adults allow them a lot of autonomy early on. This is something she observed in her exchange there in her junior year, but also was backed up in her research too. She was taking public transportation by herself at night to get home without being concerned. Austria has a safety index of 5 on the Global Peace Index Scale while the USA has one of 129, so this feeling of safety that she had in Austria was not just imagined it was real. Here in Chicago every weekend we read of people being shot. Then, this morning I saw a headline which read, "Three Weeks and 39 Mass Shootings. This is America in 2023." The sentence the struck me most was, "Firearm injuries are now the leading cause of death among people younger than 24 in the United States, according to a study published in the December 2022 edition of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics." Wow! My daughter was onto something with her thesis. She ended her talk by saying that all teens want to feel safe and be able to go out and explore their world independently, but that is going to be difficult for American youth to do until we make our country safer.
In my opinion, the press is subjecting its audiences to far too much baseless chatter about the now three cases of high-ranking elected officials found to have classified information in their possession outside legally-prescribed control regimes. The press does not know with certainty how any of these security failures came to be and are using their limited imaginations to flood readers and listeners with unsubstantiated possible explanations of what happened. The talking heads brought in by the major networks to be quizzed by clueless anchors should know better than to participate. I fear they all could be missing the mark badly.
I'm content to trust the two -- and soon possibly three -- Special Counsels to do their jobs and wait patiently for their reports.
“But I cannot put partisan loyalty ahead of national security, and I cannot simply recognize years of service as the sole criteria for membership on this essential committee. Integrity matters more.” I can't stop laughing. When and if McCarthy loses his seat in Congress (and it can't come soon enough) he should try stand up comedy. Thank you Dr. Richardson for the report comparing Biden and Pence, 2 real American politicians with that orange clown the trumpster. Dr. Reich is spot on demonstrating the pretend mainstream media trying their best to hold a false equivalency. While I'm not a fan of Mike Pence religious political stance, he is a gentleman,
January 24, 2023
I am absolutely speechless at the “Revenge Politics” game being played out by Speaker McCarthy as the price paid for POWER. I admire your ability to simply report the facts without bias, or speculate in any way. You are an invaluable resource in a time becoming more difficult to navigate with each day that passes. Thank you for being the stoic person you are.
I thank Mike Pence for taking some of the hot air out of the GOP talking heads who have been equating Trump's handling of classified documents with that of the Biden case. And they're going to struggle mightily to find diversions to what Fani Willis is about to unleash on Trump.
Glad it is 10:01 PST and my dinner has digested or I may have gotten sick reading Kevin’s letter especially the last part where bringing back trust to the American people. So much B.S.
It sounds very hopeful that Fanni Willis is going to indict Trump and possibly others. This has got to be the best news so far in many weeks! And hopefully there will be other indictments forthcoming soon. Perhaps this sordid house of cards is going to collapse, finally.
Prosecutor, Fani Wilson's decisions control the publication of the Georgia Special Grand Jury's Report. For a quality legal analysis of the legal context of Willis' work, see Anna Bowers' analysis at Lawfare. Professor Joyce Vance provides full context & briefly summarized Bower's work in "Civil Discourse" today. FANI retains the only copy of the Report
Willis gave notice of "imminent" action & the need to protect the rights of named indiduals in the Report. I can think of many more reasons NOT to publish now: prevent witness intimidation, preserve the jury pool, protect venue, justice, due process just to name a few.
"Integrity matters more." Gives whole new meaning to the words "irony," "specious," "self delusional," "craven," and a longer list best not to get into in polite company.
Good grief! “ I am committed to returning the @HouseIntel Committee to one of genuine honesty and credibility that regains the trust of the American people. ” Kevin McCarthy wouldn’t know genuine honesty & credibility it it bit him in the ass!
“But I cannot put partisan loyalty ahead of national security, and I cannot simply recognize years of service as the sole criteria for membership on this essential committee. Integrity matters more.”
Does he run to the bathroom after spewing such unmitigated bullshit, to purge himself of the revolting taste that must remain? And, after wiping his face and looking up to the mirror, think for one moment: What have I become?
Nah!
Here’s a good explanation about how documents get classified and why so many end up classified. https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2023-01-24/explainer-the-what-why-how-much-and-how-often-behind-classified-information-in-the-u-s
Quiverin' Qevin McQarthy is without a doubt the most useless, worthless Speaker of the House in US history. He's so full of shit it's no wonder his eyes are brown.
Today I was discussing politics with a friend of mine who left Iran after the last revolution. The revolution that toppled the Shah of Iran is considered one of the successful revolutions, but look at what has become of Iran since then. She told me that people need to realize more clearly what has been happening in Iran and Afghanistan. Those countries were both taken over by criminals and thugs who planned for years and have become deeply entrenched. They will kill anyone to stay in power. Unfortunately similar circumstances are occurring in quite a few countries. The party of the white supremacists have the same goal and are probably using the same playbook.
The fact that some things get over-classified is not an excuse for mishandling the documents. That said, it's clear that the executive branch has not had proper procedures for handling classified materials in place for a very long time. It wouldn't surprise me at all if this problem has been there since the Johnson administration. It needs to be fixed. Perhaps the one good thing that hopefully will come out of this, is an implementation of proper controls and perhaps ensuring that it doesn't happen again.
There is a bigger issue though. It's not ok to let this sort of things slide for presidents and vice presidents, while others have been severely punished for it. If someone in the service or at a defense contractor were to be caught so carelessly handling such materials, not only would they have their clearance revoked, they would be arrested on the spot. At the very least, they would lose their jobs and not be able to work on a classified program ever again. There's no tolerance for this sort of thing down in the ranks at all - not even a tiny little bit. In the meantime, I think some conviction reviews are in order, and anyone who has a record for having mishandling materials, and for whom their case record clearly shows that they did so unintentionally, is owed a pardon. The law needs to be applied equally to all.
I’ll believe it when I see Trump standing out in the middle of a Georgia onion patch hoeing weeds in an ill-fitting polyester jumpsuit on a nice, Georgia 115° afternoon. And not one minute before. 
It already seemed to me with the Biden papers, but is more clear that the systems for viewing and storing sensitive government papers need updating, just as the systems at the IRS do. This might be in part a problem of the underfunding of government that has been ongoing in the extreme since Ronald Reagan took office and pretty much told us that the best government was no government. I have always wondered why Republicans or Libertarians even run for office if this is what they believe. It seems pretty hypocritical to me, but I have grown to understand the nature of Republicans is that they really do want government but only if it can be used as a tool to serve their purposes. It is obvious that Biden and Pence are in a different class from Trump and also obvious that one should be looking at the papers of other former high ranking politicians to see what papers they possess. I am going to be very concerned if MTG gets her hands on any confidential papers because she is a treasonous person in word and deed. That goes for many of her fellow Republicans whom McCarthy has assigned to sensitive committees yet one cannot trust them farther than one can throw the Burj Khalifa. I find it interesting that McCarthy is able to create all Republican committees. Is this allowed? Doesn't he have to let Jeffries appoint the Democrats? If not, he is setting a new precident. Is that one that Republicans want to have stand, or do they assume they will be in power into perpetuity. Perhaps they imagine they will destroy our nation in these next two years so any future will be a mute point.--I think I mentioned that my 17-year-old daughter just gave a presentation on Monday in German comparing the freedom of Austrian and American youth. She claimed that Austrian youth have more independence. Because they have a very low crime rate their parents and other adults allow them a lot of autonomy early on. This is something she observed in her exchange there in her junior year, but also was backed up in her research too. She was taking public transportation by herself at night to get home without being concerned. Austria has a safety index of 5 on the Global Peace Index Scale while the USA has one of 129, so this feeling of safety that she had in Austria was not just imagined it was real. Here in Chicago every weekend we read of people being shot. Then, this morning I saw a headline which read, "Three Weeks and 39 Mass Shootings. This is America in 2023." The sentence the struck me most was, "Firearm injuries are now the leading cause of death among people younger than 24 in the United States, according to a study published in the December 2022 edition of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics." Wow! My daughter was onto something with her thesis. She ended her talk by saying that all teens want to feel safe and be able to go out and explore their world independently, but that is going to be difficult for American youth to do until we make our country safer.
In my opinion, the press is subjecting its audiences to far too much baseless chatter about the now three cases of high-ranking elected officials found to have classified information in their possession outside legally-prescribed control regimes. The press does not know with certainty how any of these security failures came to be and are using their limited imaginations to flood readers and listeners with unsubstantiated possible explanations of what happened. The talking heads brought in by the major networks to be quizzed by clueless anchors should know better than to participate. I fear they all could be missing the mark badly.
I'm content to trust the two -- and soon possibly three -- Special Counsels to do their jobs and wait patiently for their reports.
“But I cannot put partisan loyalty ahead of national security, and I cannot simply recognize years of service as the sole criteria for membership on this essential committee. Integrity matters more.” I can't stop laughing. When and if McCarthy loses his seat in Congress (and it can't come soon enough) he should try stand up comedy. Thank you Dr. Richardson for the report comparing Biden and Pence, 2 real American politicians with that orange clown the trumpster. Dr. Reich is spot on demonstrating the pretend mainstream media trying their best to hold a false equivalency. While I'm not a fan of Mike Pence religious political stance, he is a gentleman,