Even if Trump isn’t put back into the White House this fall, the damage he’s done to our nation’s moral fabric will take at least a generation to heal...
Think he's always right and choose never to admit a mistake? (Hubris)
Spread his hate with his cult followers to manipulate them? (Wrath)
Require more and more money regardless of the consequences? (Greed)
Become a serial sexual predator of children and adults? (Lust)
Be so lazy as to avoid doing his job so he could constantly play mediocre golf while in office? (Sloth)
Proudly drink Cokes and gobble down KFC to maintain his morbid obesity? (Gluttony)
Be willing to do anything to be considered an actual billionaire (and not a shameless grifter)? (Envy)
Trump has reached the pinnacle of immorality by being fully consumed by all Seven of the Deadly Sins, (aka, the Full Trump). He is the antithesis of a man that you would want as a role model for your children and someone who should spend the rest of his days in court or in jail.
Who would want this guy to lead the local scout troop for their children? And he's a candidate for the highest leadership role in the country? It's hard to understand. Just weird.
Yes, "People of the Lie". In his classic book by that name, M.Scott Peck makes the case that, if pure evil could be diagnosed it would be a malignant narcissist. No evidence that Peck ever knew Trump but nonetheless Peck described Trump in nearly every detail in his archtype of a malignant narcissist in "People of the Lie". Hitler deserves honorable mention too in my opinion.
Mike Johnson, the speaker of the house said that all of the charges against Trump should be dropped. It was extraordinary. Here is a man that claims Christian faith aligning himself with an explicitly immoral man and denigrating our justice system. So the disease has spread.
Trump is as much a symptom as a cause, though his grotesque and repulsive behavior certainly has made things much worse. Many years ago my wife and I heard the author Tom Wolfe talk about how he saw in today's America a real lack of shame by public figures. In the past people who were caught doing something immoral would quietly retire from the stage, today most seem to laugh it off, or are even proud of it. And the uncontrolled "Greed is good" mantra has certainly been around for decades. Maybe the saddest thing is the people who allow a "leader" like Trump to give them permission to bring out their basest instincts. Most folks are decent, but it takes a minority who want to be followers of the worst sort to make trouble for everyone else.
My 'ol pappy, a lifetime prosecutor, used to say a guilty plea is more devastating than the sentence. True for people with a conscience. The Scarlet Letter.
In Trump's case A - stands for a-hole. Shame is less important than ridicule. He can't handle it. Schmuck of historical proportions. Duns Scotus.
IMHO applies to Trump, but he is primarily a material, transactional man and loss of his worldly goods, and loss of his phallic tower, exacerbated by application of the letter A could push him over the edge.
I keep asking, whether the contempt citations are violations of bail in GA, DC and SDFL? I generally think that DOJ was/is asleep at the switch. If I were Fani Willis or Jack Smith, I'd file a motion to revoke bail That should increase the pressure.
Cannon is biased. I keep sayin' Jack Smith blew a chance to force Cannon to recuse. Got to remember this is her second Trump case. In the first case the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reprimanded her twice. Although there were disqualification complaints filed through the Judicial Conference system, which is parallel to but not part of the first case on its merits, Judge Prior, the CJ of the circuit, dismissed them.
The 11th Circuit found that Cannon “improperly exercised equitable jurisdiction” in hearing the case and that the entire proceeding should be dismissed. Notably, the court also found that regardless of the status of a document in question (personal or presidential), the government maintains the authority to seize it under a warrant supported by probable cause. The panel wrote, “The law is clear. We cannot write a rule that allows any subject of a search warrant to block government investigations after the execution of the warrant. Nor can we write a rule that allows only former presidents to do so.” https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23323385/trump-ca11-2022-12-01.pdf
There was some question whether she should have accepted the appointment after the second case was filed. Here's the procedure: 28 USC 144:
Whenever a party to any proceeding in a district court makes and files a timely and sufficient affidavit that the judge before whom the matter is pending has a personal bias or prejudice either against him or in favor of any adverse party, such judge shall proceed no further therein, but another judge shall be assigned to hear such proceeding.
The affidavit shall state the facts and the reasons for the belief that bias or prejudice exists, and shall be filed not less than ten days before the beginning of the term at which the proceeding is to be heard, or good cause shall be shown for failure to file it within such time. A party may file only one such affidavit in any case. It shall be accompanied by a certificate of counsel of record stating that it is made in good faith.
Smith could have made the motion. The standard is the appearance of impropriety.
28 U.S. Code § 455 - Disqualification of justice, judge, or magistrate judge
(a)Any justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.
(b)He shall also disqualify himself in the following circumstances:
(1)Where he has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party, or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding;...
There are new facts surrounding bias. Did she conspire with the SDFL Clerk to get the 2nd case? Is the clerk biased? Is Cannon's husband tied to Trump?
None of this has anything to do with the merits of the documents case, or her lousy rulings.
Daniel: I'm thinking that we are placing too much hope in Jack Smith, and Smith is reading the tea leaves, that is why he hasn't taken any action that will remove Cannon.
Liberals are too trusting, too hopeful and that is their deadly weakness.
Remember how everyone was wetting themselves in anticipation of the nothing burger than the Mueller report turned out to be., and again liberals are always their worse enemy, because they make excuses for what in reality appears to be bad faith. actions by those on whom they hang their hopes.
Unless there is a record turnout, especially in red states, by people who respect and protect hard earned women's rights, and because Muslims, young black males, and hispanic voters, as well as the student vote has threated at minimum to sit out the election or vote for spoilers like Cornell West, RFK Jr, Jill Stein. Trump will win the electoral college, by winning MI, PA, WI, which are the three of the five swing states this election, and I will dust off my passport, sell my property and hope that Canada will take me in.
I cannot follow the legal reasoning (and I'm sleepy), but I heard that Neal Katyal had said there was a valid reason that Jack Smith could not yet force and move to have her removed. I did not hear him address this. But, we all respect his reasoning. Would you please find out what Neal Katyal's reasoning was and explain it to us?
The analogy I am making is in addition to Harvey Weinstein. My daughter is preparing for a test on the Resistance to the Nazis under Hitler, and so we have been watching the series, Rise and Fall of the Nazis, a BBC production. I think everyone who has not seen it should watch the series because it is just so timely. It can be watched free on youtube. Here is a link to the first episode, it goes into the next. https://youtu.be/KcfTOKgDdWQ?si=3jfebm_8md5YB-Ic
In Episode 2 Hitler as a sexual being is discussed. If you see the relationship he has with his niece Geli, who is 23 when he is 41, and the rumors that exist, which I have read about before, but cannot be proven, I think we have some parallels in terms of who they are sexually. It is such tragic a story. There are other parallels we should be worried about, and look at how Hitler woos people he thinks he needs to have on his side. Then, what does he do first thing in parliament? You need to get to episode 3 to see that. There are so many lessons in this series for us and for Germans too. Right now, immigrants are the new "Jews" in that all problems are being attributed to them. Get rid of them and you will have jobs and housing. Well, we have been allowing our Texas Governor to actually kill people whom he is treating like Germany treated their Jewish people, with his border policies and razorwire death trips in the rivers.
Adding insult to injury, Trump is being openly promoted by Evangelical "Christians" who rationalize his serial carnal sins, lies, swindles, etc. as all part of God's will - thus accepting that their 10 Commandments are invalid. According to the Old Testament, the 10 Commandments were issued by God in reaction to the deterioration of social behavior among the escaping Jews. Any atheist can look at those 10 moral dictums and see their value for ensuring a civil social order. It does not require attribution to God's will.
Back in 1970, while in Naval Aviation Officer Candidate School, my Marine Gunny made us regularly recite our Officer Honor Code: "I will not lie, cheat, or steal; nor tolerate among us those who do." This code undermined Trump's attempted insurrection. He could not bend the military establishment to his immoral will which included lying to the public, trying to cheat citizens out of their vote, and steal an election. Trump had surrounded himself with "those who do." but not enough of them. As he assures the MAGAs, this time, only loyal liars, cheaters, and thieves will be welcome in his 2025 administration. Do you hear the "Amens?"
It alarms me, a Navy brat, to think that our military will have to save our representative democracy. First, because civilian control of the military is so ingrained in us. Second, because our military is hard wired against acting on American soil or for domestic ends. Third, because after what inevitably would become a coup, the leaders of our Armed Forces might be reluctant to yield control to a populace that created the problem in the first place. Fourth and worst, because the military establishment would face a severe, possibly bloody, internal power struggle given many of them are MAGAts, though more in the lower ranks. Even with those caveats, I would be more comfortable with a brief period of military rule than another term for tfg. Typing that goes against everything I have always believed, but the return of tfg would do more violence to those beliefs. May God help us all.
The oath all uniformed personnel take is to the constitution; not to the president. If his order is illegal - in opposition to the constitution, it must not be obeyed. Recall Admiral Ronny Jackson, Trump's lying doctor? He was promoted due to Trump extortion to advance his career as a TX congressman. He retired as a Captain quietly, for unethical behavior. He is just another example that the military plays by the rules, even when elected officials try to lie, cheat, and steal. Note the oath gives the constitution precedence over POTUS.
"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."
Hitler (actually his lapdogs in the Reichstag) changed the military oath to require allegiance to him personally rather than to the Constitution of Germany. I have little hope that a MAGA trifecta in the next election would pass up the chance to do the same.
I'm continuously horrified by the realization that everything the Nazis did was legal according to laws enacted by the Reichstag or by (legal) decrees issued by Reichskanzler Hitler. In light of that, the trumpification of the federal judicial system is dismaying to say the least.
Trump might try, but all he will get is mass resignations by most generals and admirals. He would have to have the entire armed forces renew their oath. Ironic, before 1960, the oath said nothing about the president until Eisenhower added POTUS - an stupid move.
You're probably right, but the result of that would be to open up promotion opportunities at the top for those in the lower ranks who, as noted, are (probably) MAGA-ier than those at the top.
It'd be a real quandary for them: resign on principal, or remain and try to minimize the damage?
That is why I wrote what I did. My Dad and favorite uncle were both career Navy officers. My Dad worked his way up from Seaman Apprentice in 1934 to Lieutenant Commander when he retired in 1964. He got a Purple Heart at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. My uncle was a naval activator who fought in the Pacific in WWII, and in Korea and Vietnam. He spent two years at our Antarctic research station in McMurdo Sound, and there is a peninsula bearing our family name there because of him, if it hasn’t melted yet. His grave in Arlington National cemetery is about 200 yards from the side of the Pentagon the plane hit on 9/11. But for my bad eyes, I likely would have gone to Annapolis. Our military isn’t perfect, but as a profession, its standards and professionalism leave most others in the dust.
Ronnie Jackson was never "punished" for violating his oath. Retiring as a Naval Captain (O-6) is a decent retirement check, and then as a Texas congressman, he has been richly rewarded for betraying his oath.
If Trump gets into the Whitehouse he will fill the cabinets with cronies, even if they are only acting cronies, and will do the same for the Pentagon, and there are more than enough Regular Officers, that have been corrupted by the Dominionist right wing cult. It started in the AF Academy and spread like a virus to other service academies. The only flag and general officers I trust are those that were commissioned via ROTC, not the service academies.
Extorted flag promotions are a fact of political life in DC. Politicians are flattered by and reward ass-kissing minions. There is probably one undeserved flag promotion every year or two. The military usually discovers a way to bust them back in rank and retire them after their first screwup in order to avoid a more painful and costly courts martial. Loss of flag status is a serious wound to a politician like Jackson.
I did not encounter much Dominionism during my career - much of which was spent in direct support of 3 & 4-star flag officers even as a LT. My impression was that those folks were exceptional leaders and administrators - and very straight shooters. One tour as research administrator, I worked for CNP/DCNO and sat in on all weekly board meetings with 6-8 admirals. It was a treat for an organizational psychologist to watch policy being made, and to see how data-based decision-making was back then.
Such experiences create a sharp contrast between experienced reality and what people cynically "think" life is like in the tall trees of power.
I retired before I could even be considered for promotion. I am a regular commissioned officer, I graduated top 7% of my class and was offered a regular commission and took it, I am also a mustang with a lot of enlisted service. I retired at 26 years.
The reason I retired is that I saw that the path to promotion was ass kissing, and I am not an ass kisser. In fact the only reason I wasn't court martialed, about three times for insubordination, is because I was a special ops team leader and very valuable, and hard to replace.
When Southern Command was at Albrook AFS in the Canal Zone, I accompanied my commander who had to brief the SouthCom commander. The General dressed him down (a Colonel, who had all of the testosterone drained out of him, shriveled, shoulders pulled in, face downcast, hunched, emasculated. I then watched as he regained his testosterone by repeating the dressing down to an O-4, a Lt Col, I was then a rather young Captain (0-3),.
That 04 then, at the first opportunity, proceeded to bully me. to tell the truth the worst bullies I have seen are 0-4's, and E-8's.
As regards Dominionist, I know that AF Academy is turning them out, one example is Ret. Col Salley McNalley of AZ.
Then there is Lt Gen Stanley McChrystal, Lt Gen William Boykin and Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone , and that is off the top of my head, all three considered the war in Afghanistan as a Christian crusade against Islam
Now I am no fan, and in fact a serious critic of Islam, many call me an Islamophobe, but this religious war symbology, whether it is on the part of a Christian, Muslim or Jew is too much.
I don't care about gods, ritual, holy days, sacrifices (as long as they aren't human), how you pray, when you pray, how many times a day you pray. The only thing that matters to a secularist like me, is equal and civil rights. That I care about and I am not a relativist.
We have DOD in common. Also a mustang of sorts (reserve Navy Airman for 2 of my 32 years). I cannot say that I ever smooched anyone's rudder - nor felt compelled to. After 12 years in the line w 2 combat tours, the Surgeon General switched me to Navy's Medical Service Corps when I got my psychology doctorate (though I only ever worked in 3 medical commands). My work after O-4 focused on research to fix broken organizations and improve training and personnel policies. I was often detailed a lot even to civilian federal agencies. Once selected for flag, I retired to avoid the promotion. I knew every flag job I would be eligible for and they all sucked. I was having too much fun with the line and had a standing job offer at NIH that enabled me to continue working all over Washington.
Biden began the tide back toward moral decisions by a the President today by stopping offensive weapon shipments to Israel if they attack Rafa, and questioning if Israel violated the international rules of war. Biden did this although AIPAC is very influential in US politics.
If the sane people of either party survive this election along with our democracy, we will need a serious discussion of how we can continue to mitigate the damage. We need a plan to better educate people about the past and present. Thom Hartmann and Rachel Maddow should not have to do it all alone.
Everybody on this planet needs some basic knowledge about mental health; they need to know about psychopaths. It's time for science to speak and for the rhetoric about evil to be toned-down.
Every big beautiful accomplishment of humanity was built using layer after layer of knowledge passed on to the next inventor, builder, artist, writer, healer, or scientist who did something extra with it. We can teach this and we can teach about mental health. We have the tools to educate the whole world.
OR, we can let some bat-shit crazy person like Trump, Putin, and any other textbook psycho you care to name continue to move through the world unchecked because PEOPLE DO NOT UNDERSTAND THEY ARE LITERALLY SICK AND ABNORMAL.
Every time I see an image of Donald Trump, my skin crawls. M. Scott Peck, in "People of the Lie," (early 80's) said a sense of "revulsion" was a survival instinct in the presence of evil. Peck was an MD psychiatrist who identified as devoutly Christian/biblical, famous for his previous book "The Road Less Travelled." But I find it hard to get away from his experience of what he identified as "evil." You ask the eternal question: why does one person instinctively want to get away from this smiling creep, but another is like moth to the flame?
Understood---all those nerves in your gut are attached to your brain.
Just like you have that reaction to him, Trump and his cohorts have a reaction to what they would call "weakness". They are low on empathy. They are big on feeling superior. His MO is just like Hitler's. Bombastic bullshit is his specialty, and they eat it up.
When it comes to lifestyles, they have all the answers. One way, no nuance, what is good enough for me and my ancestors is good enough for everyone.
I think it tracks that evil is a religious concept. Rohn called him a "thing" recently and the thing he is.....he is a PREDATOR. We feel that.
Look hard and we all find ourselves in the DSM. The difference is you won't find Trump or any other bat-shit crazy looking there. Most of the rest of us know we are UNFINISHED.
I'll keep workin' on myself, and I hope you do too.
Maybe we've never had a president as anti woman as DJT. The campaign should include the dramatic ways that women are important to our country and the globe. The lack of respect, the assumption of male prerogative in business, in politics, and in the realm of love sex and marriage should be spelled out--we have a teaching opportunity. It would be wise not to focus on Trump's utter boorishness and narcissism, but to describe these issues of great importance to the health and power of women. All people suffer when women are not honored as "equals"...men and children live in an unnecessarily diminished world, whether in the home, in schools, in politics, in medicine, in corporate life, in a country's economy, in the world of religious practice, and simply in the day to day world.
Today's American morality = The Jerry Springer Show... It appears we need to be shocked by extremes only to feel the need for greater extremes to entertain the sick mind.
This is becoming a nuisance. Almost every time recently, I am required to follow a link in my email to be able to comment. Could that be because I am a pain in the neck and in other places as I am compelled to be again today? Every word of the article is true and accurate and timely. I agree wholeheartedly about the comparison between Trump and Weinstein. But there is a glaring exception here which has bothered me consistently. JFK talked a good game and politically was very much an amazing orator and supporter of democratic and progressive social values. But there are innumerable wild stories about his romps with strings of fawning women naked in the White House pool and everywhere he could manage to lure them. Aides were kept very busy trying to keep the lid on and covering up all the daily comings and goings of paid consorts and married girlfriends, including Marilyn Monroe. He really was obsessed with Castro and broke all sorts of rules and laws in that pursuit, blowing it terribly with the Bay of Pigs. One commenter somewhere recently harshly criticized his story from PT109. I still think quite highly of most of his accomplishments, despite all that, but his name belongs on the list in the article as someone who set a tone and affected public attitudes, some might even say for the better if they believe in live and let live with regard to private sexual behavior. But hero worship disturbs me. While I'm wasting my time, I also have to say that a porn star should not be cast quite so much as a victim in the trump saga. I have no quarrel with how she lived or made money but she certainly couldn't have been shocked to discover what Donnie was planning for her when she accepted his invitation. I knew a porn star who lived a double life and although she was unbelievably like a regular neighbor with a kid in school, she was always angling to promote herself and make a buck with her special skills. Let's not be foolish about this. Daniels is no less believable in telling a story and Trump is no less culpable, but stop pretending she was innocently looking for a gig.
I read an interesting article way back when that decried the loss by the American people of the many myths historically provided that established lessons and cautionary tales, told in such a way that individuals reading them were left to evaluate and make a moral choice. But that great library of moral and ethic erudicion was abandoned and was replaced by a new, less challenging body of entities. Abandoning the demands of myths gave way to celebration of American CELEBRITIES. Yes, the famous and the heavily lucred, the movie starred and sports icons, etc. were now America's mythic moral role models. Explains a lot about today's baffling
endorsements, the curiously conflicting blank spaces, the lemming-like conscriptions oblivious to sane rational regard. We changed Gods and don't even know we are blind.
While I agree with you on the current state of affairs, I am not nostalgic for the myths of the past. I haven't studied mythology or read the Greek classics, regrettably, but I'm not sure they presented too many moral questions and choices that I would find useful in the 21st century. Although people may not have changed so much, certainly our understanding of human behavior through psychology, neuroscience, history, etc., should give us a leg up today. In any case, the problem I see is in the failures of schooling which turn more than half the population into robotic followers and hungry, empty, consumers of trash.
Sex drive clouds peoples minds, they are incapable of thinking rationally. I know three men, who totally screwed up because they married some floozy they met in a bar and she gave them great B.J.'s.
Mysisters first and only husband, a deacon in the church, divorced her, with twins yet, because she tired of giving b.j.s., he married an older woman with three kids who seduced him with b.j.s and that marriage lasted four years, he shortly found out that he was her tool, to support her and her brood, after four years the oxytocin wears off. Oxytocin, the "love" hormone.
George Washington is often referred to as the “father of our country,” a reference to that parental and exemplar role historically played by our presidents. He famously walked away from the office after his second term, setting an example that was followed until the 1930s.
Don trump - through the simple act of allowing himself to be - has blasted America into a moral deficit more prolific and catastrophic than any budget deficit ever could be.
Does a moral man:
Think he's always right and choose never to admit a mistake? (Hubris)
Spread his hate with his cult followers to manipulate them? (Wrath)
Require more and more money regardless of the consequences? (Greed)
Become a serial sexual predator of children and adults? (Lust)
Be so lazy as to avoid doing his job so he could constantly play mediocre golf while in office? (Sloth)
Proudly drink Cokes and gobble down KFC to maintain his morbid obesity? (Gluttony)
Be willing to do anything to be considered an actual billionaire (and not a shameless grifter)? (Envy)
Trump has reached the pinnacle of immorality by being fully consumed by all Seven of the Deadly Sins, (aka, the Full Trump). He is the antithesis of a man that you would want as a role model for your children and someone who should spend the rest of his days in court or in jail.
Who would want this guy to lead the local scout troop for their children? And he's a candidate for the highest leadership role in the country? It's hard to understand. Just weird.
"People of the Lie." M. Scott Peck, about 1982.
Yes, "People of the Lie". In his classic book by that name, M.Scott Peck makes the case that, if pure evil could be diagnosed it would be a malignant narcissist. No evidence that Peck ever knew Trump but nonetheless Peck described Trump in nearly every detail in his archtype of a malignant narcissist in "People of the Lie". Hitler deserves honorable mention too in my opinion.
Mike Johnson, the speaker of the house said that all of the charges against Trump should be dropped. It was extraordinary. Here is a man that claims Christian faith aligning himself with an explicitly immoral man and denigrating our justice system. So the disease has spread.
Trump is as much a symptom as a cause, though his grotesque and repulsive behavior certainly has made things much worse. Many years ago my wife and I heard the author Tom Wolfe talk about how he saw in today's America a real lack of shame by public figures. In the past people who were caught doing something immoral would quietly retire from the stage, today most seem to laugh it off, or are even proud of it. And the uncontrolled "Greed is good" mantra has certainly been around for decades. Maybe the saddest thing is the people who allow a "leader" like Trump to give them permission to bring out their basest instincts. Most folks are decent, but it takes a minority who want to be followers of the worst sort to make trouble for everyone else.
My 'ol pappy, a lifetime prosecutor, used to say a guilty plea is more devastating than the sentence. True for people with a conscience. The Scarlet Letter.
In Trump's case A - stands for a-hole. Shame is less important than ridicule. He can't handle it. Schmuck of historical proportions. Duns Scotus.
IMHO applies to Trump, but he is primarily a material, transactional man and loss of his worldly goods, and loss of his phallic tower, exacerbated by application of the letter A could push him over the edge.
I keep asking, whether the contempt citations are violations of bail in GA, DC and SDFL? I generally think that DOJ was/is asleep at the switch. If I were Fani Willis or Jack Smith, I'd file a motion to revoke bail That should increase the pressure.
Cannon is biased. I keep sayin' Jack Smith blew a chance to force Cannon to recuse. Got to remember this is her second Trump case. In the first case the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reprimanded her twice. Although there were disqualification complaints filed through the Judicial Conference system, which is parallel to but not part of the first case on its merits, Judge Prior, the CJ of the circuit, dismissed them.
The 11th Circuit found that Cannon “improperly exercised equitable jurisdiction” in hearing the case and that the entire proceeding should be dismissed. Notably, the court also found that regardless of the status of a document in question (personal or presidential), the government maintains the authority to seize it under a warrant supported by probable cause. The panel wrote, “The law is clear. We cannot write a rule that allows any subject of a search warrant to block government investigations after the execution of the warrant. Nor can we write a rule that allows only former presidents to do so.” https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23323385/trump-ca11-2022-12-01.pdf
There was some question whether she should have accepted the appointment after the second case was filed. Here's the procedure: 28 USC 144:
Whenever a party to any proceeding in a district court makes and files a timely and sufficient affidavit that the judge before whom the matter is pending has a personal bias or prejudice either against him or in favor of any adverse party, such judge shall proceed no further therein, but another judge shall be assigned to hear such proceeding.
The affidavit shall state the facts and the reasons for the belief that bias or prejudice exists, and shall be filed not less than ten days before the beginning of the term at which the proceeding is to be heard, or good cause shall be shown for failure to file it within such time. A party may file only one such affidavit in any case. It shall be accompanied by a certificate of counsel of record stating that it is made in good faith.
Smith could have made the motion. The standard is the appearance of impropriety.
28 U.S. Code § 455 - Disqualification of justice, judge, or magistrate judge
(a)Any justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.
(b)He shall also disqualify himself in the following circumstances:
(1)Where he has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party, or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding;...
There are new facts surrounding bias. Did she conspire with the SDFL Clerk to get the 2nd case? Is the clerk biased? Is Cannon's husband tied to Trump?
None of this has anything to do with the merits of the documents case, or her lousy rulings.
11th Circuit : Judicial conduct: https://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/judicial-conduct-disability
Daniel: I'm thinking that we are placing too much hope in Jack Smith, and Smith is reading the tea leaves, that is why he hasn't taken any action that will remove Cannon.
Liberals are too trusting, too hopeful and that is their deadly weakness.
Remember how everyone was wetting themselves in anticipation of the nothing burger than the Mueller report turned out to be., and again liberals are always their worse enemy, because they make excuses for what in reality appears to be bad faith. actions by those on whom they hang their hopes.
Unless there is a record turnout, especially in red states, by people who respect and protect hard earned women's rights, and because Muslims, young black males, and hispanic voters, as well as the student vote has threated at minimum to sit out the election or vote for spoilers like Cornell West, RFK Jr, Jill Stein. Trump will win the electoral college, by winning MI, PA, WI, which are the three of the five swing states this election, and I will dust off my passport, sell my property and hope that Canada will take me in.
I cannot follow the legal reasoning (and I'm sleepy), but I heard that Neal Katyal had said there was a valid reason that Jack Smith could not yet force and move to have her removed. I did not hear him address this. But, we all respect his reasoning. Would you please find out what Neal Katyal's reasoning was and explain it to us?
The analogy I am making is in addition to Harvey Weinstein. My daughter is preparing for a test on the Resistance to the Nazis under Hitler, and so we have been watching the series, Rise and Fall of the Nazis, a BBC production. I think everyone who has not seen it should watch the series because it is just so timely. It can be watched free on youtube. Here is a link to the first episode, it goes into the next. https://youtu.be/KcfTOKgDdWQ?si=3jfebm_8md5YB-Ic
In Episode 2 Hitler as a sexual being is discussed. If you see the relationship he has with his niece Geli, who is 23 when he is 41, and the rumors that exist, which I have read about before, but cannot be proven, I think we have some parallels in terms of who they are sexually. It is such tragic a story. There are other parallels we should be worried about, and look at how Hitler woos people he thinks he needs to have on his side. Then, what does he do first thing in parliament? You need to get to episode 3 to see that. There are so many lessons in this series for us and for Germans too. Right now, immigrants are the new "Jews" in that all problems are being attributed to them. Get rid of them and you will have jobs and housing. Well, we have been allowing our Texas Governor to actually kill people whom he is treating like Germany treated their Jewish people, with his border policies and razorwire death trips in the rivers.
Not only a predatory rapist, he hates dogs!
So true! Have you heard where Robert Reich's substack is today? He never fails to post.Could it be system failure, censorship, illness?
No word.
Curios.
Adding insult to injury, Trump is being openly promoted by Evangelical "Christians" who rationalize his serial carnal sins, lies, swindles, etc. as all part of God's will - thus accepting that their 10 Commandments are invalid. According to the Old Testament, the 10 Commandments were issued by God in reaction to the deterioration of social behavior among the escaping Jews. Any atheist can look at those 10 moral dictums and see their value for ensuring a civil social order. It does not require attribution to God's will.
Back in 1970, while in Naval Aviation Officer Candidate School, my Marine Gunny made us regularly recite our Officer Honor Code: "I will not lie, cheat, or steal; nor tolerate among us those who do." This code undermined Trump's attempted insurrection. He could not bend the military establishment to his immoral will which included lying to the public, trying to cheat citizens out of their vote, and steal an election. Trump had surrounded himself with "those who do." but not enough of them. As he assures the MAGAs, this time, only loyal liars, cheaters, and thieves will be welcome in his 2025 administration. Do you hear the "Amens?"
It alarms me, a Navy brat, to think that our military will have to save our representative democracy. First, because civilian control of the military is so ingrained in us. Second, because our military is hard wired against acting on American soil or for domestic ends. Third, because after what inevitably would become a coup, the leaders of our Armed Forces might be reluctant to yield control to a populace that created the problem in the first place. Fourth and worst, because the military establishment would face a severe, possibly bloody, internal power struggle given many of them are MAGAts, though more in the lower ranks. Even with those caveats, I would be more comfortable with a brief period of military rule than another term for tfg. Typing that goes against everything I have always believed, but the return of tfg would do more violence to those beliefs. May God help us all.
The oath all uniformed personnel take is to the constitution; not to the president. If his order is illegal - in opposition to the constitution, it must not be obeyed. Recall Admiral Ronny Jackson, Trump's lying doctor? He was promoted due to Trump extortion to advance his career as a TX congressman. He retired as a Captain quietly, for unethical behavior. He is just another example that the military plays by the rules, even when elected officials try to lie, cheat, and steal. Note the oath gives the constitution precedence over POTUS.
"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."
Hitler (actually his lapdogs in the Reichstag) changed the military oath to require allegiance to him personally rather than to the Constitution of Germany. I have little hope that a MAGA trifecta in the next election would pass up the chance to do the same.
I'm continuously horrified by the realization that everything the Nazis did was legal according to laws enacted by the Reichstag or by (legal) decrees issued by Reichskanzler Hitler. In light of that, the trumpification of the federal judicial system is dismaying to say the least.
Trump might try, but all he will get is mass resignations by most generals and admirals. He would have to have the entire armed forces renew their oath. Ironic, before 1960, the oath said nothing about the president until Eisenhower added POTUS - an stupid move.
You're probably right, but the result of that would be to open up promotion opportunities at the top for those in the lower ranks who, as noted, are (probably) MAGA-ier than those at the top.
It'd be a real quandary for them: resign on principal, or remain and try to minimize the damage?
That is why I wrote what I did. My Dad and favorite uncle were both career Navy officers. My Dad worked his way up from Seaman Apprentice in 1934 to Lieutenant Commander when he retired in 1964. He got a Purple Heart at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. My uncle was a naval activator who fought in the Pacific in WWII, and in Korea and Vietnam. He spent two years at our Antarctic research station in McMurdo Sound, and there is a peninsula bearing our family name there because of him, if it hasn’t melted yet. His grave in Arlington National cemetery is about 200 yards from the side of the Pentagon the plane hit on 9/11. But for my bad eyes, I likely would have gone to Annapolis. Our military isn’t perfect, but as a profession, its standards and professionalism leave most others in the dust.
Ronnie Jackson was never "punished" for violating his oath. Retiring as a Naval Captain (O-6) is a decent retirement check, and then as a Texas congressman, he has been richly rewarded for betraying his oath.
If Trump gets into the Whitehouse he will fill the cabinets with cronies, even if they are only acting cronies, and will do the same for the Pentagon, and there are more than enough Regular Officers, that have been corrupted by the Dominionist right wing cult. It started in the AF Academy and spread like a virus to other service academies. The only flag and general officers I trust are those that were commissioned via ROTC, not the service academies.
Extorted flag promotions are a fact of political life in DC. Politicians are flattered by and reward ass-kissing minions. There is probably one undeserved flag promotion every year or two. The military usually discovers a way to bust them back in rank and retire them after their first screwup in order to avoid a more painful and costly courts martial. Loss of flag status is a serious wound to a politician like Jackson.
I did not encounter much Dominionism during my career - much of which was spent in direct support of 3 & 4-star flag officers even as a LT. My impression was that those folks were exceptional leaders and administrators - and very straight shooters. One tour as research administrator, I worked for CNP/DCNO and sat in on all weekly board meetings with 6-8 admirals. It was a treat for an organizational psychologist to watch policy being made, and to see how data-based decision-making was back then.
Such experiences create a sharp contrast between experienced reality and what people cynically "think" life is like in the tall trees of power.
I retired before I could even be considered for promotion. I am a regular commissioned officer, I graduated top 7% of my class and was offered a regular commission and took it, I am also a mustang with a lot of enlisted service. I retired at 26 years.
The reason I retired is that I saw that the path to promotion was ass kissing, and I am not an ass kisser. In fact the only reason I wasn't court martialed, about three times for insubordination, is because I was a special ops team leader and very valuable, and hard to replace.
When Southern Command was at Albrook AFS in the Canal Zone, I accompanied my commander who had to brief the SouthCom commander. The General dressed him down (a Colonel, who had all of the testosterone drained out of him, shriveled, shoulders pulled in, face downcast, hunched, emasculated. I then watched as he regained his testosterone by repeating the dressing down to an O-4, a Lt Col, I was then a rather young Captain (0-3),.
That 04 then, at the first opportunity, proceeded to bully me. to tell the truth the worst bullies I have seen are 0-4's, and E-8's.
As regards Dominionist, I know that AF Academy is turning them out, one example is Ret. Col Salley McNalley of AZ.
Then there is Lt Gen Stanley McChrystal, Lt Gen William Boykin and Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone , and that is off the top of my head, all three considered the war in Afghanistan as a Christian crusade against Islam
Now I am no fan, and in fact a serious critic of Islam, many call me an Islamophobe, but this religious war symbology, whether it is on the part of a Christian, Muslim or Jew is too much.
I don't care about gods, ritual, holy days, sacrifices (as long as they aren't human), how you pray, when you pray, how many times a day you pray. The only thing that matters to a secularist like me, is equal and civil rights. That I care about and I am not a relativist.
We have DOD in common. Also a mustang of sorts (reserve Navy Airman for 2 of my 32 years). I cannot say that I ever smooched anyone's rudder - nor felt compelled to. After 12 years in the line w 2 combat tours, the Surgeon General switched me to Navy's Medical Service Corps when I got my psychology doctorate (though I only ever worked in 3 medical commands). My work after O-4 focused on research to fix broken organizations and improve training and personnel policies. I was often detailed a lot even to civilian federal agencies. Once selected for flag, I retired to avoid the promotion. I knew every flag job I would be eligible for and they all sucked. I was having too much fun with the line and had a standing job offer at NIH that enabled me to continue working all over Washington.
Thom, it saddens me to have to say: You nailed this one. Good work. Tragic, but good.
Biden began the tide back toward moral decisions by a the President today by stopping offensive weapon shipments to Israel if they attack Rafa, and questioning if Israel violated the international rules of war. Biden did this although AIPAC is very influential in US politics.
Let's hope. There's the metaphor of a "test balloon." Personally, I think 1,200 for 1 plus "scorched earth" is enough revenge, but that's just me.
Only a MAGAT could love Our Mad King (wannabe) Donald, even as it feeds on his still warm flesh.
BAT-SHIT CRAZY!---That's Trump and his cult.
If the sane people of either party survive this election along with our democracy, we will need a serious discussion of how we can continue to mitigate the damage. We need a plan to better educate people about the past and present. Thom Hartmann and Rachel Maddow should not have to do it all alone.
Everybody on this planet needs some basic knowledge about mental health; they need to know about psychopaths. It's time for science to speak and for the rhetoric about evil to be toned-down.
Every big beautiful accomplishment of humanity was built using layer after layer of knowledge passed on to the next inventor, builder, artist, writer, healer, or scientist who did something extra with it. We can teach this and we can teach about mental health. We have the tools to educate the whole world.
OR, we can let some bat-shit crazy person like Trump, Putin, and any other textbook psycho you care to name continue to move through the world unchecked because PEOPLE DO NOT UNDERSTAND THEY ARE LITERALLY SICK AND ABNORMAL.
Every time I see an image of Donald Trump, my skin crawls. M. Scott Peck, in "People of the Lie," (early 80's) said a sense of "revulsion" was a survival instinct in the presence of evil. Peck was an MD psychiatrist who identified as devoutly Christian/biblical, famous for his previous book "The Road Less Travelled." But I find it hard to get away from his experience of what he identified as "evil." You ask the eternal question: why does one person instinctively want to get away from this smiling creep, but another is like moth to the flame?
Understood---all those nerves in your gut are attached to your brain.
Just like you have that reaction to him, Trump and his cohorts have a reaction to what they would call "weakness". They are low on empathy. They are big on feeling superior. His MO is just like Hitler's. Bombastic bullshit is his specialty, and they eat it up.
When it comes to lifestyles, they have all the answers. One way, no nuance, what is good enough for me and my ancestors is good enough for everyone.
I think it tracks that evil is a religious concept. Rohn called him a "thing" recently and the thing he is.....he is a PREDATOR. We feel that.
Read your last sentence again and slowly. Forget all that precedes and you understand why we are in deep doo doo
People do not understand (because) they are literally sick and abnormal.
There is no normal, insanity,stupid, gulliblity, hate, fear that is the normal. If that doesn't describe you then you are abnormal. Alis.
Look hard and we all find ourselves in the DSM. The difference is you won't find Trump or any other bat-shit crazy looking there. Most of the rest of us know we are UNFINISHED.
I'll keep workin' on myself, and I hope you do too.
I totally agree. Everyone has a mental problem, even if it is the need to believe.I know what mine are, my wife reminds me constantly :)
Maybe we've never had a president as anti woman as DJT. The campaign should include the dramatic ways that women are important to our country and the globe. The lack of respect, the assumption of male prerogative in business, in politics, and in the realm of love sex and marriage should be spelled out--we have a teaching opportunity. It would be wise not to focus on Trump's utter boorishness and narcissism, but to describe these issues of great importance to the health and power of women. All people suffer when women are not honored as "equals"...men and children live in an unnecessarily diminished world, whether in the home, in schools, in politics, in medicine, in corporate life, in a country's economy, in the world of religious practice, and simply in the day to day world.
Excellent, instance insightful piece. Made better for sending to more conservative friends if Bill Clinton had been given a dishonorable mention.
Good point on the Clinton thing . . .
Today's American morality = The Jerry Springer Show... It appears we need to be shocked by extremes only to feel the need for greater extremes to entertain the sick mind.
This is becoming a nuisance. Almost every time recently, I am required to follow a link in my email to be able to comment. Could that be because I am a pain in the neck and in other places as I am compelled to be again today? Every word of the article is true and accurate and timely. I agree wholeheartedly about the comparison between Trump and Weinstein. But there is a glaring exception here which has bothered me consistently. JFK talked a good game and politically was very much an amazing orator and supporter of democratic and progressive social values. But there are innumerable wild stories about his romps with strings of fawning women naked in the White House pool and everywhere he could manage to lure them. Aides were kept very busy trying to keep the lid on and covering up all the daily comings and goings of paid consorts and married girlfriends, including Marilyn Monroe. He really was obsessed with Castro and broke all sorts of rules and laws in that pursuit, blowing it terribly with the Bay of Pigs. One commenter somewhere recently harshly criticized his story from PT109. I still think quite highly of most of his accomplishments, despite all that, but his name belongs on the list in the article as someone who set a tone and affected public attitudes, some might even say for the better if they believe in live and let live with regard to private sexual behavior. But hero worship disturbs me. While I'm wasting my time, I also have to say that a porn star should not be cast quite so much as a victim in the trump saga. I have no quarrel with how she lived or made money but she certainly couldn't have been shocked to discover what Donnie was planning for her when she accepted his invitation. I knew a porn star who lived a double life and although she was unbelievably like a regular neighbor with a kid in school, she was always angling to promote herself and make a buck with her special skills. Let's not be foolish about this. Daniels is no less believable in telling a story and Trump is no less culpable, but stop pretending she was innocently looking for a gig.
I read an interesting article way back when that decried the loss by the American people of the many myths historically provided that established lessons and cautionary tales, told in such a way that individuals reading them were left to evaluate and make a moral choice. But that great library of moral and ethic erudicion was abandoned and was replaced by a new, less challenging body of entities. Abandoning the demands of myths gave way to celebration of American CELEBRITIES. Yes, the famous and the heavily lucred, the movie starred and sports icons, etc. were now America's mythic moral role models. Explains a lot about today's baffling
endorsements, the curiously conflicting blank spaces, the lemming-like conscriptions oblivious to sane rational regard. We changed Gods and don't even know we are blind.
While I agree with you on the current state of affairs, I am not nostalgic for the myths of the past. I haven't studied mythology or read the Greek classics, regrettably, but I'm not sure they presented too many moral questions and choices that I would find useful in the 21st century. Although people may not have changed so much, certainly our understanding of human behavior through psychology, neuroscience, history, etc., should give us a leg up today. In any case, the problem I see is in the failures of schooling which turn more than half the population into robotic followers and hungry, empty, consumers of trash.
Power is the great aphrodisiac for men and women.
Sex drive clouds peoples minds, they are incapable of thinking rationally. I know three men, who totally screwed up because they married some floozy they met in a bar and she gave them great B.J.'s.
Mysisters first and only husband, a deacon in the church, divorced her, with twins yet, because she tired of giving b.j.s., he married an older woman with three kids who seduced him with b.j.s and that marriage lasted four years, he shortly found out that he was her tool, to support her and her brood, after four years the oxytocin wears off. Oxytocin, the "love" hormone.
Please elaborate on this statement:
George Washington is often referred to as the “father of our country,” a reference to that parental and exemplar role historically played by our presidents. He famously walked away from the office after his second term, setting an example that was followed until the 1930s.
What happened then?
FDR was elected for four terms.
He retired to his plantation.
Don trump - through the simple act of allowing himself to be - has blasted America into a moral deficit more prolific and catastrophic than any budget deficit ever could be.
Where are the "deficit" hawks now..