First of all, I hope that the storm moving up the East Coast did not cause too much damage in your part of Maine.
OK, now on to Trump. Please everyone, chill out! Commentators on MSNBC were apoplectic today! The TFG's threats were dissected, inspected, projected, diced, sliced etc.
However, 2024 is still a long time away. One fear is that…
First of all, I hope that the storm moving up the East Coast did not cause too much damage in your part of Maine.
OK, now on to Trump. Please everyone, chill out! Commentators on MSNBC were apoplectic today! The TFG's threats were dissected, inspected, projected, diced, sliced etc.
However, 2024 is still a long time away. One fear is that a court case may go against TFG and he calls his supporters to take to the streets. I'm just not sure whom he would sic them on. Another fear is the undoing that can result if the Republicans take over the House in November.
Be patient; have faith in the January 6th Committee; watch the Republicans squirm as the heat is turned up. Between the court cases and the House Committee, the evidence against TFG will become overwhelming. Gosh, I sure hope I'm right!!!
Mina, time is arguably subjective. The midterms are right on the unprepared Democratic Party's doorstep, and 2024 is close behind. Maybe I've been living on COVID time too long, but 2019 seems like yesterday.
Of course we all fear violence and mayhem in the streets, but between that and an un-jailed Trump heading into the next elections, better the mayhem. Maybe Jan. 6th was not enough of an educational experience for many Americans, and we know they are not likely to hit the books anytime soon. But our government and courts must not be afraid of enforcing the law, which until further notice , is still the same for everyone.
Merrick Garland, are you listening?
Trump has been digging his own grave long enough and deep enough. Time to bury him.
Kathleen, I think we are past the point where we can wait and hope for a political solution to the Big Lie. Too many Americans appear to have lost their capacity for logical reasoning, and our digital world reinforces all their worst fears about the rest of us. This is happening in real time and in the absence of any above-the-fray authority of reference, not even our worn-around-the-edges Constitution. Greed rules, while generosity and tolerance are in short supply, and Americans are going full tribal.
Everyone who participated in planning or promoting the events of Jan. 6th needs to be investigated, interrogated, and -- as appropriate -- jailed to await trial. A few folks will slip through the cracks, some will exploit the legal system itself to avoid punishment and others will claim that the law is being used as a substitute for politics. Perhaps, in the final analysis, our laws and Constitution will not be able to save us from ourselves, but if we wait very much longer before arresting Trump and the worst of his toadies, there will be be no laws left, nothing even remotely democratic, and our lives will become the survival of the fittest, in the most bestial, Darwinian sense.
... in which case, the fittest will prevail ... look at these folks - they don't look that fit to me - in fact, they look downright unhealthy - worst of all, living a lie, guided by no deep conscience beyond preservation of self-interest and personal gain regardless of expense and consequence to others ... they may be able to win with laws and Constitution so deeply flawed (see how we got here in the first place) but the spoils of their victory would be spoiled from the start - rotten to the core - lacking substance, conscience and integrity they cannot prevail ... and people of conscience and integrity have a ripe opportunity to generate a fresh body of law that, in fact, serves truth, justice and freedom for all ... for real ... as Peter Burnett said yesterday:
"But darkness and light are not equals. Light shines, dispels darkness. Darkness cannot dispel light. Dark clouds may come, tornadoes of delusion may cross the Great Plains. They pass. Truth remains.
"They will try try to place a lid on Truth, they will try to screw it down. We know their foolishness will fail. We know that we are free -- we know that we ARE Freedom. So we shall overcome.
'Let us be aware of this now -- aware no less of the immense task, the immense responsibility that lies upon all men and women of goodwill -- and move forward now, drawing on the power of certainty that Truth will prevail. They cannot bury the light, they cannot unshine the sun."
I know what you're saying Mike - not just for black Americans either - so many suffer the difference ... friends of mine who have been through the worst of it light the way for me with their persistance, determination and indefatigable good will - in this very real way, light does dispel darkness ... so keep an open heart and carry on - we are paving the way into a more enlightened world with attitudes we hold, choices we make and actions we take through it all ....
While I agree with you wholeheartedly, I worry that it will be impossible to seat a jury unbiased enough to convict him. If 75 million of our fellow citizens still believe his shit, how in the name of god will any prosecution team be able to get a conviction? I fear we will have hung juries over and over.
Well, Dick, if under our system of government and jurisprudence a criminal can avoid arrest and trial by virtue of his popularity among a sizeable hunk of the population and the effect this may have on the selection of impartial juries, then we are screwed. But I'll have to see it to believe it.
I do believe that during jury selection potential jurors are questioned by prosecution and defense lawyers under oath, meaning that if they lie it constitutes a crime (perjury) punishable by fines and incarceration. Assuming Justice Dept. lawyers know how to ask the right questions, and the judge is not himself corrupt or ideological in his judgements, I think even folks who voted for Trump or actively support him might think twice before lying under oath.
While it may be hard to find jurors who have no preconceived notions about Trump, ours is a big country full of folks who follow politics about as much as I follow high fashion, which is to say not at all.
I suspect that IF tfg comes to trial, who the judge is appointed to the case will be as important or more than the jurors seated. Judge shopping and tfg appointments were always cornerstones in tfg's strategies. Do it. Get accused. Hire a flock of best defense lawyers. Pick the judge (now, among those he appointedted). Go through the theater performance. Negotiate the lowest fine. Get your accuser to pay the legal fees which usually bankruptcy the victim. Walk away. Empty the shells from the gun and wipe the knife clean on the schmuck's lapel, all on 5th Avenue before lunch at the Savoy.
You could well be right and I would like to think that you are. I remember the OJ trial which to anyone that watched it was a slam dunk, and how it turned out. I used to see Ron Goldman's father at Costco, he is buried in the cemetary next door to it, and while I never spoke to him, I didn't want to invade his privacy, my heart went out to him for what he endured. The OJ verdict will pale in the national psyche compared to a hung jury or acquittal of the imbecilic clown that put us through so much.
Yes, but failure to bring Trump to trial would be proof that the rich and famous are held to a different standard than the rest of us, and it would make a mockery of our Constitution, without which there is no nation, just 50 rowdy little states. And the Earth awaits.
So sorry that my history book omitted so much, like the picnics after church and before the lynchings. Family time for some. We have so much to face and stop hiding from.
David, I'm happy to have started a very good conversation and appreciate your thoughtful comments and those of the others who replied. I admit that I was a bit flippant in my posting. In truth, anyone who doesn't worry some about TFG probably has his or her head in the sand. However, we need to balance awareness and involvement with the calm that allows us to enjoy every day that we're alive.
First of all, I hope that the storm moving up the East Coast did not cause too much damage in your part of Maine.
OK, now on to Trump. Please everyone, chill out! Commentators on MSNBC were apoplectic today! The TFG's threats were dissected, inspected, projected, diced, sliced etc.
However, 2024 is still a long time away. One fear is that a court case may go against TFG and he calls his supporters to take to the streets. I'm just not sure whom he would sic them on. Another fear is the undoing that can result if the Republicans take over the House in November.
Be patient; have faith in the January 6th Committee; watch the Republicans squirm as the heat is turned up. Between the court cases and the House Committee, the evidence against TFG will become overwhelming. Gosh, I sure hope I'm right!!!
Mina, time is arguably subjective. The midterms are right on the unprepared Democratic Party's doorstep, and 2024 is close behind. Maybe I've been living on COVID time too long, but 2019 seems like yesterday.
Of course we all fear violence and mayhem in the streets, but between that and an un-jailed Trump heading into the next elections, better the mayhem. Maybe Jan. 6th was not enough of an educational experience for many Americans, and we know they are not likely to hit the books anytime soon. But our government and courts must not be afraid of enforcing the law, which until further notice , is still the same for everyone.
Merrick Garland, are you listening?
Trump has been digging his own grave long enough and deep enough. Time to bury him.
Maybe it is better to let him and his supporters bury themselves ...?
Kathleen, I think we are past the point where we can wait and hope for a political solution to the Big Lie. Too many Americans appear to have lost their capacity for logical reasoning, and our digital world reinforces all their worst fears about the rest of us. This is happening in real time and in the absence of any above-the-fray authority of reference, not even our worn-around-the-edges Constitution. Greed rules, while generosity and tolerance are in short supply, and Americans are going full tribal.
Everyone who participated in planning or promoting the events of Jan. 6th needs to be investigated, interrogated, and -- as appropriate -- jailed to await trial. A few folks will slip through the cracks, some will exploit the legal system itself to avoid punishment and others will claim that the law is being used as a substitute for politics. Perhaps, in the final analysis, our laws and Constitution will not be able to save us from ourselves, but if we wait very much longer before arresting Trump and the worst of his toadies, there will be be no laws left, nothing even remotely democratic, and our lives will become the survival of the fittest, in the most bestial, Darwinian sense.
... in which case, the fittest will prevail ... look at these folks - they don't look that fit to me - in fact, they look downright unhealthy - worst of all, living a lie, guided by no deep conscience beyond preservation of self-interest and personal gain regardless of expense and consequence to others ... they may be able to win with laws and Constitution so deeply flawed (see how we got here in the first place) but the spoils of their victory would be spoiled from the start - rotten to the core - lacking substance, conscience and integrity they cannot prevail ... and people of conscience and integrity have a ripe opportunity to generate a fresh body of law that, in fact, serves truth, justice and freedom for all ... for real ... as Peter Burnett said yesterday:
"But darkness and light are not equals. Light shines, dispels darkness. Darkness cannot dispel light. Dark clouds may come, tornadoes of delusion may cross the Great Plains. They pass. Truth remains.
"They will try try to place a lid on Truth, they will try to screw it down. We know their foolishness will fail. We know that we are free -- we know that we ARE Freedom. So we shall overcome.
'Let us be aware of this now -- aware no less of the immense task, the immense responsibility that lies upon all men and women of goodwill -- and move forward now, drawing on the power of certainty that Truth will prevail. They cannot bury the light, they cannot unshine the sun."
Well God almighty, I hope you're right and that I'll live to see the day. My fingers are crossed.
Me too David.
"Light shines, dispels darkness."
This is not true for a very significant number of black Americans Kathleen.
Not even approximately true.
I know what you're saying Mike - not just for black Americans either - so many suffer the difference ... friends of mine who have been through the worst of it light the way for me with their persistance, determination and indefatigable good will - in this very real way, light does dispel darkness ... so keep an open heart and carry on - we are paving the way into a more enlightened world with attitudes we hold, choices we make and actions we take through it all ....
"so keep an open heart and carry on"
I have been doing for a long time. But, it is good to read the words clearly.
... it shows, Mike ...
"everyone who participated in planning or promoting the events of Jan. 6th needs to be investigated, interrogated, and -- as appropriate -- jailed"
White people arrested for a crime in the US!!
David, PERISH THE THOUGHT!!
Yup
😳🙄😷👀🥺
:-)
While I agree with you wholeheartedly, I worry that it will be impossible to seat a jury unbiased enough to convict him. If 75 million of our fellow citizens still believe his shit, how in the name of god will any prosecution team be able to get a conviction? I fear we will have hung juries over and over.
Well, Dick, if under our system of government and jurisprudence a criminal can avoid arrest and trial by virtue of his popularity among a sizeable hunk of the population and the effect this may have on the selection of impartial juries, then we are screwed. But I'll have to see it to believe it.
I do believe that during jury selection potential jurors are questioned by prosecution and defense lawyers under oath, meaning that if they lie it constitutes a crime (perjury) punishable by fines and incarceration. Assuming Justice Dept. lawyers know how to ask the right questions, and the judge is not himself corrupt or ideological in his judgements, I think even folks who voted for Trump or actively support him might think twice before lying under oath.
While it may be hard to find jurors who have no preconceived notions about Trump, ours is a big country full of folks who follow politics about as much as I follow high fashion, which is to say not at all.
I suspect that IF tfg comes to trial, who the judge is appointed to the case will be as important or more than the jurors seated. Judge shopping and tfg appointments were always cornerstones in tfg's strategies. Do it. Get accused. Hire a flock of best defense lawyers. Pick the judge (now, among those he appointedted). Go through the theater performance. Negotiate the lowest fine. Get your accuser to pay the legal fees which usually bankruptcy the victim. Walk away. Empty the shells from the gun and wipe the knife clean on the schmuck's lapel, all on 5th Avenue before lunch at the Savoy.
You could well be right and I would like to think that you are. I remember the OJ trial which to anyone that watched it was a slam dunk, and how it turned out. I used to see Ron Goldman's father at Costco, he is buried in the cemetary next door to it, and while I never spoke to him, I didn't want to invade his privacy, my heart went out to him for what he endured. The OJ verdict will pale in the national psyche compared to a hung jury or acquittal of the imbecilic clown that put us through so much.
Yes, but failure to bring Trump to trial would be proof that the rich and famous are held to a different standard than the rest of us, and it would make a mockery of our Constitution, without which there is no nation, just 50 rowdy little states. And the Earth awaits.
Yes, in stadium size fonts. Dad.
oh, I thought it was just mine that wouldn't work
On and off - the Reply works, and if you get emails with posts the Like button there seems to work ...
The two above buttons ❤️worked for me but now yours doesn’t..it took a couple minutes to work. Odd.
But now yours worked too
As do the rest of Heather’s readers and lovers of our ever imperfect nation.
Be patient;
How did that work out for Black folks from 1865 to (yesterday)??
So sorry that my history book omitted so much, like the picnics after church and before the lynchings. Family time for some. We have so much to face and stop hiding from.
My vote is you are.
At 84, I know that every day is precious! Thank you, Christine.
David, I'm happy to have started a very good conversation and appreciate your thoughtful comments and those of the others who replied. I admit that I was a bit flippant in my posting. In truth, anyone who doesn't worry some about TFG probably has his or her head in the sand. However, we need to balance awareness and involvement with the calm that allows us to enjoy every day that we're alive.