Those of you who have to deal with Hurricane Helene today, please stay safe.
I don’t pay much attention to New York City politics, but I suppose I should note that Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted by the feds for something or other. I am not shocked. I was surprised he was elected in the first place, because he seemed hinky to me. IMO he’s been a poor mayor, and even if he somehow beats the rap I doubt he’ll be re-elected. If the city’s Democratic progressives can all get behind one candidate instead of canceling each other out on the ballot, maybe NYC can get a decent mayor some day. Axios is reporting that Andy Cuomo is thinking about running for the job, so a united front front from the progressives might be the only thing keeping that waste of space out of Gracie Mansion. See also Josh Marshall, Adams Indicted; Gotham Yawns.
Jack Smith’s really long brief will be submitted to Judge Tanya Chutkan today. Politico:
The filing — a legal brief accompanied by supporting exhibits — is expected to contain never-before-seen evidence about Trump’s efforts to subvert the last election. It could include snippets of interviews prosecutors conducted with some of Trump’s top advisers, documents Smith procured from the National Archives and a log of Trump’s Twitter activity as violence raged on Jan. 6, 2021.
But prosecutors are not going to file these documents publicly. They must first submit them “under seal” to Chutkan, who will then decide how much of the evidence is fit for public release.
So it’s up to Judge Chutkan now. See also Paul Campos at Lawyers, Guns and Money, Remember that time Donald Trump tried to overthrow the government?
Dem Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon has just introduced a sweeping Supreme Court reform bill that includes adding six new justices, which sounds about right. I don’t expect it to pass in this Congress, but let’s get the proposal out there for the next one. And this might give the Chief Justice something to think about.
Some good news I missed: On Tuesday a judge ordered that all of Alex Jones’s media empire must be liquidated to pay the Sandy Hook families. CNN:
Everything from the Infowars.com domain, to its social media accounts, subscriber list, and even production equipment and studio set will be auctioned off piece by piece to the highest bidder on November 13, according to the auction house handling the bidding.
The proceeds of the sale, which could fetch millions of dollars, will be used to chip away at the nearly $1.5 billion Jones owes the families of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. Jones went into personal bankruptcy after he was ordered to pay the massive sum for pushing false conspiracy theories about the 2012 massacre that left 26 people dead.
Bye, Alex Jones.
Yesterday J.D. Vance got in front of some cameras and said Kamala Harris lacks “character” because she “is so afraid of the American media ? the friendly media ? that she won’t even do an interview.” Kamala Harris was being interviewed by MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle at the time.
And Ruhle wasn’t throwing softballs; it was an intelligent and occasionally challenging interview. Yes it was MSNBC, but note that no one ever complains that all of Trump’s interviews are with Fox or some other clown from the Right Wing Circus. Trump wouldn’t last five minutes with Rachel Maddow.
The Hill noted that “Harris’s interview with Ruhle went deeper into her proposed economic policies than any of the other media appearances and interviews she’s done as the Democratic nominee.” That’s because Ruhle wasn’t asking stupid Dana Bash gotcha questions about why Harris changed her mind about fracking and instead asked questions about Harris’s actual economic policies. It was very informative, I thought. Here’s the video:
The economic policy speech she gave earlier in the day has been well received, as near as I can tell, by mainstream news sources. Right-wing media are tearing it apart, of course.
I watched the Sam Elliot ad (previous post). Fantastic.
I'm very biased, but I think Kamala's selectivity about who she talks to (on the surface, no different than Trump) is genius, not because of trying to find a friendly interview setting, but because she and Walz refuse to play the right-wing game, alluded to by Paul Waldman.
Never answer malicious stupidity (trolling) on its own level. It took years for the Democrats to figure this out, as finally embodied in Harris-Walz. They're playing on such a high level, it's hard to believe "these are Democrats???" Simon Rosenberg talks about this, about how brilliantly their campaign is executing. Someone else described them like characters in an action movie, running ahead of all the explosions going on in their wake, not bothering to address the right-wing crap being hurled at them – "the same, tired old playbook" as she says.
Kudos to Stephanie Ruhle.
There's some great parody music out there:
The Last Dog in Springfield
Mr Tangerine Man
Paint it Orange
What about Rudy? Americas mayor? He’s looking for work. To you know, keep him out of bankruptcy.
(crickets and blank stares, with some waiting for a punch line)
If conservatives are good at anything, it’s walkie-talking in lockstep. Progressives are better at debating, sometimes a bit too much, to the point where it might look to outsiders like squabbling. Not saying we should start walking in lockstep, but maybe demanding certain core principles? Like mandating that declaring oneself to “have a really good brain” shall not be considered a passed intelligence test.
I’ve heard talk about JD Vance. They’re thinking that in private, such as in 4chan chatroom scenarios, Vance might actually come across as semi-wonky smart. But in public he must of course repeat pet-eater gibberish, to respect his base. I’m still at a loss to explain how polls suggest that more still trust Trump/Vance with the economy than they do Harris/Walz, as if blue collar workers are really that dumb.
Greetings from just south of Tampa. We didn't get hit hard and I suspect that's true south of us on the Gulf Coast. I was surprised how little rain we got (compared to what I expected) We got an outer band yesterday, then no rain and no serious wind til the afternoon today. Looking at the history, Helene was far enough off the coast that only the outer fringes of the rain bands dumped on land.
Other communities may not be so lucky starting this morning. It seems likely to make landfall at 2AM or so and drive inland to Tallahassee, which is still a serious hurricane. What I find interesting is the prediction that the storm will still have hurricane-strength winds when it gets to Atlanta. The political implications are huge – if FEMA does a good job, this reflects on the Biden/Harris administration. If they screw up, it could cost them Georgia.
Alex Jones is getting plucked like a dead chicken. Rudy lost his license to practice in DC. He didn't contest it. IMO. nobody was willing to represent him without payment in advance. If Trump does not win, both of them are history. (Even if Trump wins, state prosecutions will proceed.)
Jack Smith submitted his argument (180 pages) under seal. That means Team Trump got it, too. They will have a couple of weeks to respond, and Jack can reply to their silly arguments. Some time after that, well into October, Chutkin will decide. Maybe, we will get a redacted copy before November. Chutkin is VERY productive – she obviously works while she's waiting for arguments. So she might have the final copy of the redacted document ready before Smith files his final reply. I don't know if Trump can block Chutkin with a pre-emptive appeal of some kind. I'm sure he will try but… if anyone knows how this will play out in federal court, enquiring minds want to know.
From Steve Benen at Maddowblog, a commentary on the "weaponization" of the DOJ against the GOP and what a crock that is:
"The Justice Department, under the leadership of Attorney General Merrick Garland, has:
And did I mention that Biden’s Justice Department dropped its investigation into Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, rather than file charges? Because that happened, too."
I’m so glad you’re safe. The way they were going on on the teevee last night it sounded as if Florida was about to be wiped out. It’s still a really nasty storm, though.
There was quite a bit of "The sky is falling!" reporting. It was a threat where it made landfall and on the coastline directly. By coastline, I mean beachfront and a quarter-mile inland. Yes, there was some street flooding. Florida is flat so a hard rain has no place to drain.
My point is: the threat assessment should have been more nuanced. The real problem is that next year when there is a threat, residents won't pay attention. The warning along the coast should have been to take cover as the hurricane passes but get out of harm's way where landfall was predicted, In ALL the models, there was consensus where landfall would be.
Next year or the year after, we'll have serious casualties because idiots will disregard the warnings because this was hyped so much.
Fortunately that storm was really hauling ass so there was alot of rain but it didn't just sit and soak. Hell it's already raining on Indianapolis this morning.
"Bye, Alex Jones"
I read over at Breitbart (sometime I like to suffer) that he's trying to get his "supporters" to fork over the cash at auction so that he can continue to lie to them. That sounds like a plan, me thinks if your stupid enough to listen to Alex Jones then your definitely stupid enough to fork over the cash!
This hurricane won't be the last one. Yet before the next one I will see people filling sandbags by hand on the television. I will see politicians on television giving dire warnings. What I will not see is machines filling sandbags positioned by the politicians so people can spend their time placing them where needed instead of filling them by hand.
That would take a change. We would need foresight based on reality not fantasy. How silly of me to think that will ever happen.
If they went there then they might see the inevitable climate chaos that will overwhelm any pile of sandbags. Best just keep everyone's head in the sand.
OT – I was watching Glenn Kushner do an interview where I got an answer to the question I'd asked a few days ago re the J6 trial.
Judge Chutkin's decision on when and what parts of the 180-page argument will be released publicly IS NOT APPEALABLE. Glenn said Trump will try to appeal to the USSC but if the USSC intervenes, it would be a break with protocol. It would also violate their own order when they handed the case back to Chutkin for them to second-guess every decision she makes during the process of deciding if the revised indictment meets the standards of the USSC decision on immunity.
Mind you, the USSC can take whatever case they want ond override any decision by any court. At risk is the legitimacy of the USSC when Democrats are proposing in Congress to expand the court.
Also worth considering – the USSC never tries a case. They review and affirm or strike down lower court decisions when they have an element of Constitutional significance. If Trump can make an appeal of EVERY decision Chutkin makes directly to the USSC, they are trying the case. It has never worked that way. The lower court hears the case and either side can appeal the result to a higher court.
I predict the USSC will not intervene. If that's true, it's up to Judge Chutkin when to release the full or redacted motion by Jack Smith – as early as Oct. 10.
Hurricane Helaine Will Cost Donald Trump the Election