The jurors and alternates are selected, and the trial begins Monday. There also was a Sandoval hearing today, which is “to let a defendant decide whether it is in his or her best interest to testify. In the hearing, which typically takes place before a trial begins, prosecutors are required to outline a defendant’s past crimes and misdeeds that could be brought up on cross-examination,” it says on the Internet somewhere. The judge will rule on Monday what questions would be allowed if Trump testifies, which he wants to do. Yes, he’s that stupid.
Some guy named Maxwell Azzarello of St. Augustine, Florida, set fire to himself in front of the courthouse. I haven’t heard if he’s dead or alive. If he’s alive he might wish he were dead. He was completely engulfed in flames. Apparently this guy tossed pamphlets around before he lit himself, and Newsweek has published a copy. He was deep, deep down a conspiracy theory rabbit hole that seems to have been of his own making. A shame. He was a young guy.
The House Moscow caucus is fixing to remove Mike Johnson as speaker. If it comes to a vote I wouldn’t be utterly surprised if some Democrats step in to save him. Not that Johnson isn’t a hard-right Christian nationalist whackjob, but I’m hearing that Democrats think he’s easier to work with than Kevin McCarthy was, Democrats might decide they’d rather have Johnson than some other House Repubican who might be another Kevin McCarthy, or worse.
Johnson strikes me as someone who's 1) in over his head and 2) is getting some on the job training. Yes he's a Christian nationalist, but IMO he's hitting the wall with how far his bible-based beliefs can carry him. And so he comes across as indecisive, and yet malleable. It took him six months, but he's moving forward on the Ukraine aid, whether Moscow Marge likes it or not. I think it took locking him in a room with Schumer and the senior leadership to pound sense into him.
A couple weeks ago, he met with his caucus, brought his bible with him, and was using it to try and discern a direction forward. His teammates looked at him incredulously, they wanted leadership, not a bible study. I've been around people like him – all they read and know is the bible – it's their entire world.
By contrast, McCarthy was a pro who made some terribly stupid deals with the extremists, that came back to bite him and his successors.
I have read about extensive burn injuries and the process of recovery. It's hell on earth and Maxwell will have an easier time if he passes quickly to the other side. I don't say that with any malice or snark.
Trump has called to his followers to demonstrate. Max did. This is the Trump contingent willing to "fight like hell." I suspect Trump won't comment because he wants the crazies to save him. In my cynical opinion, Trump will be angry that Max didn't attack the prosecutor or judge with a bomb. Maybe kill a juror to shut down the trial. Max died without moving the needle for Trump.
This has a lot to do with the American cultural myth – think John Wayne v other myths. For example, the Arab Spring was kicked off by a suicide mission of self-immolation by a lowly street merchant. John Wayne almost always finished with a shootout – JW against impossible odds and only he survived to get the girl. The media won't cover Max tomorrow and there won't be a discussion of his manifesto.
I speak with some authority. I survived my flight and was available after to speak about WHY I did what I did. My "manifesto", a two-page letter to Congress got little coverage but some read it and understood there was a reason that I risked my life. I wound up doing media from GMA, Anderson Cooper to Hannity. But in studying the component of messaging before the flight (something Maha gets and teaches) I knew that survival was preferable to a fiery crash. I commented before that there have not been demonstrations outside the courthouse for Trump though they've tried to organize something. I don't think this tragedy will inspire MAGA to show up – hopefully, the specter of a violent mob for Trump will not materialize at ANY of his trials.
There's no way in hell that Trump will ever testify in his criminal trial. He's got so many conflicting lies out there that he can't possible navigate a path that would lead to him not being convicted. All he can possibly do is continue in his projection of being a victim and cry how the forces of evil are being put upon him.
Today I was reminded of the secret agreement between Peggy Peterson and David Dennison. I know Trump never had sex with Stormy Daniels, but I wonder if David Dennison ever had sex with Peggy Peterson? Why would Trump pay $130,000. on David's behalf? I think the prosecution should subpoena David to testify in Trump's criminal trail.
David Dennison, John Miller, John Barron, maybe more? Imagine discovering you are named after one of your dad's aliases. Choosing the name "Peggy" is somewhat intriguing I must say. This could get very interesting. If the name "Geunther" pops up, I'm outta here!
In my post above I misspelled the word trial at he end of my comment. I mistakenly wrote trail, but after spotting my error I wondered if trail wouldn't also be correct. You can't deny the fact that Trump has left a trail of criminality in his wake. So either way both words are fitting.
It's a shame that somebody's mind can get to the point where they think it's time to checkout, but I can think of better ways to turn out the lights then choosing to set myself on fire. I would opt for something quicker with a higher rate of success.
Word is there are enough Repub reps queued up to quit if the Moscow MAGAts introduce another motion to vacate to throw the majority to the Democrats
Never fear – the newly formed Floor Action Response Team (FART) is ready for doody when the alarm is sounded! (What does the alarm sound like you ask? You will immediately recognize it when you hear it, I expect we've all heard it many times before.)
It is a crack team and gas-producing states are well represented, you can literally smell the tension in the air.
There are many ways to really screw up. Mental rabbit holes are one of them. It is bad enough to attempt a permanent solution to a temporary problem but to attempt to find a permanent solution to an imaginary problem is absurd and pathologically mental.
The republican party is actively (with possible Russian assistance) creating and validating some serious mental pathologies in this country. A lot of these want to be martyrs need to just learn to say no to nonsense. The notion that Trump is a victim is nonsense. Many Americans are the victims of Trump. That is why he has been convicted in courts and faces many more trials.
None of this is aimed at Doug. His risky flight to deliver truth to power exposed quite a bit of unexpected paranoid reaction. I though his classy, airmail, special delivery, approach should have been given a lot better reception.
No offense taken.
Maha has talked about effective vs counterproductive demonstrations. In the US, the martyr meme doesn't resonate well. If it did, Max and his message would on everyone's tongue today. Others in the US have turned themselves into torches – the death is covered briefly but the cause gets NOTHING. Suicide bombers also don't rate highly – the stats of how many victims were taken out are reported briefly, what "team" the bomber was on, but NOT the grievance or the remedy. The "team" doesn't win any public opinion points because innocent victims were taken out. In the US, ineffective protesters dress up as clowns or animals often in a demonstration they "piggyback" (not of their design or organization) simply to get the cameras. It often works, to the frustration of the organizers who got the media out, only to have a clown siphon off the attention and dillute the message.
MAGA likes to combine Freedom of Speech with Second Amendment rights but the result is inevitably fascist. The presence of an AR-15 is a threat no matter how many times you say it isn't. It resonates with other fascists but almost nobody else.
An old book on the subject of successful activism, written decades before hand-held communications and social media tools changed activism, defines to the fundamentals. "Rules for Radicals" by Saul Alinsky is still the primer for the dynamics of activism. The gizmos add power but without direction and discipline, the hi-tech tools are impotent by themselves.
No offense taken.
Maha has talked about effective vs counterproductive demonstrations. In the US, the martyr meme doesn't resonate well. If it did, Max and his message would on everyone's tongue today. Others in the US have turned themselves into torches – the death is covered briefly but the cause gets NOTHING. Suicide bombers also don't rate highly – the stats of how many victims were taken out are reported briefly, what "team" the bomber was on, but NOT the grievance or the remedy. The "team" doesn't win any public opinion points because innocent victims were taken out. In the US, ineffective protesters dress up as clowns or animals often in a demonstration they "piggyback" (not of their design or organization) simply to get the cameras. It often works, to the frustration of the organizers who got the media out, only to have a clown siphon off the attention and dillute the message.
MAGA likes to combine Freedom of Speech with Second Amendment rights but the result is inevitably fascist. The presence of an AR-15 is a threat no matter how many times you say it isn't. It resonates with other fascists but almost nobody else.
An old book on the subject of successful activism, written decades before hand-held communications and social media tools changed activism, defines to the fundamentals. "Rules for Radicals" by Saul Alinsky is still the primer for the dynamics of activism. The gizmos add power but without direction and discipline, the hi-tech tools are impotent by themselves.
No "bright side" to the tragedy but at least Azzarello harmed only himself, although obviously a very traumatic thing to have witnessed.
Yahoo has cited reports of the demise of the human torch. Definitely now a permanent solution to his imaginary problem has been achieved. It is the way of the mental rabbit hole. The good exit is extremely hard to find, and he found the wrong one.