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Here's a far more disturbing prospect than Biden's weird turns of phrase (from Politico):

 

Can Trump run for president from prison? Yes, and it's been done before.

 

While part of me would be darkly amused by the ensuing chaos, the more rational part is fairly terrified at the prospect of a win by an imprisoned Trump.

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9 hours ago, Pattern Ghost said:

 

Here's a far more disturbing prospect than Biden's weird turns of phrase (from Politico):

 

Can Trump run for president from prison? Yes, and it's been done before.

 

While part of me would be darkly amused by the ensuing chaos, the more rational part is fairly terrified at the prospect of a win by an imprisoned Trump.

Matthew Broderick GIF

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Trump’s Fox News interview was a defense attorney’s nightmare

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“I have every right to have those boxes,” Trump told Fox News host Bret Baier as part of their conversation, while claiming that these documents were “declassified,” a point the indictment rebuts. “This is purely a Presidential Records Act. This is not a criminal thing.”

Trump’s statements, many of which were meandering and difficult to follow, both provided a muddled defense, and may have offered fodder to reinforce some of the charges against him. By acknowledging that he had the documents in his possession and that he had reasons for not returning them promptly, Trump’s statements corroborated allegations he’s charged with regarding mishandling these materials.

 

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Yeah, Trump's always had one of the worst cases of hoof and mouth disease in human history.

 

Yet too many still support, or at least excuse, him.  Yeah, fine, given the polarization, they won't bail to a Democrat, but they're still not moving away from Trump.  FiveThirtyEight suggests, this may be reflective of DeSantis' weakness;  his numbers have fallen significantly.  Graph from them:

 

Screen-Shot-2023-06-20-at-9.12.09-AM.png

 

 

 

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A federal judge in Arkansas has blocked the state's ban on transgender care for minors.

 

From NYT:
 

Quote

In his 80-page ruling, Judge James M. Moody Jr. of Federal District Court in Little Rock said the law both discriminated against transgender people and violated the constitutional rights of doctors. He also said that the state of Arkansas had failed to substantially prove a number of its claims, including that the care was experimental or carelessly prescribed to teenagers.

 

Related...New York passed a shield law for those who prescribe and send abortion medications to patients in states where it's banned.  Again from NYT:

 

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The New York bill now goes to the desk of Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has indicated that she supports the idea of such a shield law. The bill stipulates that New York courts and officials will not cooperate if a state with an abortion ban tries to prosecute, sue or otherwise penalize a New York health care provider who offers abortion via telemedicine to a patient in that state, as long as the provider complies with New York law. It passed the State Assembly by a vote of 99 to 45 on Tuesday evening after clearing the Senate by a vote of 39 to 22 last month.

 

IF!! the abortion restrictions are upheld, which isn't a given, the shield laws would appear to set up a clear Supreme Court clash between the states.

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50 minutes ago, Old Man said:

You'd think the Republicans would leap to the defense of his God-given right to buy a gun while drunk.

 

They would, but their hatred for a Democratic president and his family outweighs their obsession with the Second Amendment.

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On 6/20/2023 at 8:20 PM, Pattern Ghost said:

 

Here's a far more disturbing prospect than Biden's weird turns of phrase (from Politico):

 

Can Trump run for president from prison? Yes, and it's been done before.

 

While part of me would be darkly amused by the ensuing chaos, the more rational part is fairly terrified at the prospect of a win by an imprisoned Trump.


Comparing Debs to Trump... Hand me a sickbag.

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On 6/21/2023 at 9:36 AM, Old Man said:

You'd think the Republicans would leap to the defense of his God-given right to buy a gun while drunk.

 

That law's actually being challenged in court, so they kind of are.

 

It's the provision against drug addicts buying firearms that's on the firearms transfer paperwork, FWIW. Apparently, his date of purchase lines up with his time as an active drug user, meaning he would have had to lie on the ATF Form 4473, which is a crime.

 

The fact that charges were even brought is pretty unusual. Lying on a Form 4473, and possession of a firearm by an addict aren't typically prosecuted. One article I read noted that the Justice Department has been using that one to go after White Supremacists lately (which I presume is why the recent court challenges have happened, to protect the interests of those same White Supremacists).

 

Being charged after the fact for failure to pay taxes -- after the taxes are paid off -- is absurd, IMO. The main thing the IRS is interested in is getting your money. People have gone decades without paying taxes, then decided to pay up and been given payment options with no charges brought. They're typically satisfied with levying penalties and interest on the money.

 

Seems like an attempt to appease certain noisy people who really should not be appeased.

 

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At this point, it's not really all that surprising.

 

Moms For Liberty chapter apologizes for quoting Hitler in their newsletter

 

Quote

A local Indiana chapter of Moms for Liberty, a national conservative parents organization, apologized on Thursday for quoting Adolf Hitler in a newsletter.

The Hamilton County chapter of Moms for Liberty quoted Hitler's remarks at a 1935 rally on the front page of its new newsletter on Wednesday. The quote, placed directly below the masthead, read: "He alone, who OWNS the youth, GAINS the future.”

 

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https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/23/europe/russia-mod-wagner-yevgeny-prigozhin-intl/index.html
 

So there’s a lot of buzz about Wagner and Russian forces getting in firefights, charges being brought against Prigozhin (incitement to an armed rebellion), and general ugliness between the two.
 

Maybe this is why you don’t use large scale mercenary forces?

 

Anyway, always hard to know what the truth is but this is pretty good news for Ukraine (just a matter of how good).

 

 Edit: here’s the link to the criminal charges. unbelievable. https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-06-23-23/h_a103a31ff6e0de344102f9f17c980eb3

Edited by Iuz the Evil
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Russian "private military companies" have been multiplying since the Ukraine War started, as Putin tries to broaden his manpower base and various wealthy oligarchs see a path to influence and power in having their own militaries. None are as large as Wagner yet, but multiple armed forces with diverse loyalties are a recipe for conflict. Ramzan Kadyrov's Chechen army could also be considered similar, in that while they're officially part of the Russian military, their first loyalty is to Kadyrov.

 

All this divisiveness makes Putin look weak, which in a government that runs top-down bodes poorly for stability. Several Russian commentators I follow suggest conditions are ripening for outright civil war.

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2 hours ago, Lord Liaden said:

All this divisiveness makes Putin look weak, which in a government that runs top-down bodes poorly for stability. Several Russian commentators I follow suggest conditions are ripening for outright civil war.

 

Ripe pear-shaped, looks like Prigozhin and his men have mounted up and are on their way to Moscow.  The Duma, Kremlin, and presidential palace in Moscow have been blocked off by Rosgvardia in armored cars.

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56 minutes ago, Old Man said:

 

Ripe pear-shaped, looks like Prigozhin and his men have mounted up and are on their way to Moscow.  The Duma, Kremlin, and presidential palace in Moscow have been blocked off by Rosgvardia in armored cars.

 

Putin in crisis: Wagner chief Prigozhin declares war on Russian military leadership, says ‘we will destroy everything’

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Honestly, they haven't been able to put down the Free Russia Legion, which is operating in territory that is squarely Russian. Russia is already in a civil war.

 

I can see Prigozhin's opportunity. He's had a lot of good press. Putin will never be more militarily vulnerable than he is now with all his forces in Ukraine. Even so, he has no shot of a real coup. He could kill Putin and take the capital, maybe, but that doesn't make him the new boss. None of the remaining military would accept him.

 

Best case scenario, Prigozhin causes distraction and loss right when Ukraine needs it. Worst case, Russia descends into an age of warlord bandits.

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Prigozhin and Kadyrov have recently fallen out, too. The Chechens would certainly have something to say about a President Prigozhin.

 

If we do get full civil war, I wonder what the chances are that the Russian government will pull their troops out of Ukraine to bolster their support? Wouldn't it be beautiful if the occupying army just melted away?

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