May 31, 2022

Not your Mama's subpoenas

https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/these-arent-the-subpoenas-were-used?s=r

These Aren’t the Subpoenas We’re Used To Seeing

'On May 26, two FBI special agents arrived at the home of former White House aide to Donald Trump, Peter Navarro, and banged on his front door in the early morning hours...The subpoena asks Navarro to produce any documents he has related to the attack on the Capitol last January. It also asks for any documents that would shed light on his refusal to testify to congressional investigators in February, as well as any contacts or communications with the former president or his attorneys related to January 6. Finally, and tellingly, it also demands Navarro appear before a federal grand jury on Thursday, June 2.....That the grand jury has now reached into Trump’s inner circle of advisors and demanded Navarro personally produce documents and appear to testify is a significant escalation.

A separate but important subpoena was issued by the Fulton County grand jury that was recently specially empaneled to investigate election fraud, conspiracy and possible racketeering by the Trump White House in the state of Georgia...One of the key witnesses to efforts by the former administration to illegally overturn the result of the Georgia presidential election is Brad Raffensperger, the current secretary of state.

Will the subpoenas prove more effective than what we’ve seen so far? Most likely. Subpoenas from the courts carry far more weight and are far more difficult to oppose than ones from a congressional committee, which must rely upon the Justice Department to move to enforce them. A refusal to appear after a grand jury has called you to testify can land you in jail for contempt of court far faster.'

May 31, 2022

Will there ever be a Republican reckoning?

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-30-2022?s=r


'The fury of the response to the Uvalde murders, after many years in which many in the country seemed to move on from dramatic mass murders seems to me a reflection not only of the unspeakable carnage in this country, but also of the political corruption that permits it to take place.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) seems to fear the power of this fury...he has encouraged Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) to meet with Democrats to try to hash out a bipartisan solution in response to the Uvalde school shooting. If I had to guess, I’d say McConnell is simply trying to buy time until the furor calms a bit..

...regardless of what happens with gun safety regulation in the next few weeks, Americans unhappy with Republican manipulation of our political system are unlikely to be reassured. On June 9, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol will begin six televised hearings to explain to the American people what happened on and around that day.

There are other subpoenas also being stonewalled...The New York Times had previously reported that Meadows had burned papers in his office fireplace.

If Americans are concerned that the Republicans have gamed the system, the January 6 committee hearings seem unlikely to provide much reassurance.'

May 29, 2022

Oklahoma festival ends in a mass shooting -- one is dead

https://www.newson6.com/story/6293796ce3f7e60712421512/osbi-investigating-overnight-shooting-in-taftTAFT, Oklahoma -
One person is dead and seven more injured after a shooting at a Memorial Day celebration in Taft.
OSBI agents confirm at least one fatality and at least seven people injured. Two of the people injured involved minors.


https://www.rawstory.com/mass-shooting-taft-oklahoma/

Another day in America brought another mass shooting. This time it was in the town of Taft, Oklahoma, where at least one is dead and seven others are injured.

I have no words.

May 27, 2022

NY Yankees & Tampa Bay Rays will not use social media to cover their game.....

"The initial story of what happened on Tuesday in Uvalde fit the Republican myth...One of the key things that drove the rise of the current Republican Party was the celebration of a certain model of an ideal man, patterned on the image of the American cowboy. Republicans claimed to be defending individual men who could protect their families if only the federal government would stop interfering with them.

Police spokespeople told reporters that a school district police officer confronted the shooter outside the building before he barricaded himself in a classroom, killing 19 and wounding 22 others in his rampage.

A Texas Department of Safety official told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer tonight that the law enforcement officers at the school were reluctant to engage the gunman because “they could’ve been shot, they could’ve been killed.”

But this evening the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays announced they would use their social media channels not to cover tonight’s game but to share facts about gun violence. “The devastating events that have taken place in Uvalde, Buffalo and countless other communities across our nation are tragedies that are intolerable.”

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-26-2022?s=r
A lot to unpack here with the professors Letter, but well worth the read.

May 23, 2022

Just a thought or two about our nation and it's current state...

We are a a magnificently beautiful and bountiful country and, by most standards, one of the greatest democratic/republics to ever exist. Our advances in science, education, and technology are legendary. Our military is the best in the world and our soldiers are great warriors.

But, in my view, as a nation we lack humility. Greatness includes a healthy dose of humility. Our nation is a nation of flaws and laws. Much of our country was built on the sweat and blood of slaves and slavery. Our country grew and expanded over the dead bodies of indigenous peoples. Women were not allowed to vote until 1920. Ours was a segregationist country until 1964. Just a reminder of who we were, who we became and, sadly, who we may return to being.

“A mistake that makes you humble is better than an achievement that makes you arrogant”
― (Unknown)

May 23, 2022

'Are you kidding me?' Rick Wilson slams the Jan. 6 Committee for only holding six hearings...

https://www.rawstory.com/rick-wilson-donald-trump/

Maybe, maybe not. If it's ok with the lady of steel, Cheney and my hero, Raskin,it's ok with me.

May 23, 2022

Capitol attack panel to hold six public hearings as it aims to show how Trump broke law

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/23/capitol-attack-panel-public-hearings-trump

"The House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol is expected to stage six public hearings in June...with the first and last in prime time, where its lawyers will run through how Trump’s schemes took shape before the election and culminated with the Capitol attack.

The hearings are set to be a pivotal political moment for the country as the panel aims to publicly outline the potentially unlawful schemes that tried to keep the former president in office despite his defeat at the hands of Joe Biden.

A select committee member will lead each of the hearings,..but top investigative lawyers who are intimately familiar with the material will primarily conduct the questioning of witnesses to keep testimony tightly on track.

As the witnesses – most of whom are being subpoenaed to appear at the hearings – give evidence... the committee attorneys will simultaneously flash texts, photos and videos to illustrate the testimony, the sources said.

While the exact content and timings of the hearings are still subject to change, the sources said, the panel intends to lay out how the efforts to reverse Trump’s defeat crystallized over a critical 65-day period from the time he falsely declared he won the 2020 election until 6 January."

May 21, 2022

A new name to remember: The American Muckrakers PAC

'Is Lauren Boebert about to be “Cawthorn-ized”? We’re going to find out...But can lightning strike twice? According to David B. Wheeler, head of that group (The American Muckrakers PAC—also known as FireBoebert.com)..

Indeed, much of the drama has already been reported. Back in 2004, Boebert’s husband was arrested for exposing himself to two women at a bowling alley (Boebert was there)...And then… they got married...

Since then, Boebert has had plenty of brushes with the law, including a 2015 incident where she was handcuffed at a country music festival after allegedly encouraging minors being detained for underage drinking to leave police custody. Boebert reportedly told police that “she had friends at Fox News and that the arrest would be national news.”

So, there are obvious similarities between Cawthorn and Boebert. And there will be no dearth of material to use against Boebert, including things that are yet to emerge (scandals are sort of like cockroaches—for every one you see, there are probably a hundred hiding).

This raises an interesting ethical question: Should we be cheering on this shitshow?'

My answer is yes, yes, and yes!!!

https://www.thedailybeast.com/after-madison-cawthorns-primary-loss-is-lauren-boebert-next?ref=author

May 21, 2022

Does the name Larry Ellison ring a bell? And what does he have to do with the 2020 election?

Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-20-2022-friday?s=r

'And then, this afternoon, Isaac Stanley-Becker and Shawn Boburg, also of the Washington Post, reported that the billionaire co-founder, chair, and chief technology officer of the computer technology corporation Oracle, Larry Ellison, also participated in a call about the 2020 election. Legal filings in a court case against True the Vote, an organization that has spread lies about widespread voter fraud, contained a note from True the Vote’s founder Catherine Engelbrecht that read: "Jim [Bopp, a lawyer for True the Vote] was on a call this evening with [Trump lawyer] Jay Sekulow, [South Carolina Senator] Lindsey O. Graham, [Fox News Channel personality] Sean Hannity, and Larry Ellison…. He explained the work we were doing and they asked for a preliminary report asap, to be used to rally their troops internally, so that's what I'm working on now."

Ellison, whom Stanley-Becker and Boburg identify as the 11th richest person in the world, gives significant money to right-wing causes and candidates, including Lindsey Graham, to whom he donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2018. More recently, he pledged $1 billion of the $44 billion deal for Elon Musk to buy Twitter.'

If we don't get the dark money out of politics our Republic is doomed. Looking at you, Justice Roberts.

May 19, 2022

I'm done...I don't care who the fuck you are... No more!

https://www.rawstory.com/roeper-school-birmingham/

Racist lesson labeling Obama as a 'primate' handed out to Michigan students

"Administrators at the Roeper School, the oldest K-12 school for gifted children in the country, are investigating the materials, which were described as "an introduction to primates" but included photos of Obama, the nation's first Black president, reported WJBK-TV...

On behalf of Roeper School’s leadership," read the letter, "I would like to acknowledge the disturbing racial offense contained in this worksheet and sincerely regret its use and the harm it has caused."