Last Call For Trial Of The Century 2.0

If I'm reading this right, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham is warning Democrats not to call a single witness in Donald Trump's second impeachment trial, because if they do, he'll make sure that the FBI is also called and that they will present weeks of testimony about how the January 6th attack on the US Capitol was completely premeditated by Trump's cultists (but somehow this will clear Trump's name).

 

Graham told Fox News’ Trey Gowdy on Monday that a “Pandora’s box” and “a can of worms” would be opened if just one witness was brought forward in the Senate trial of Trump, set to begin next week.

The House last month impeached Trump over the violence that left five people dead.

Graham, a former fierce critic of Trump who after the 2016 election became one of his most loyal defenders, warned that calling witnesses could mean a monthslong trial “and that would be bad for the country.” Graham and other Republicans have argued it is time to “move on” from the insurrection for the good of the U.S.

“If you open up that can of worms (by calling witnesses), we’ll want the FBI to come in and tell us about how people actually pre-planned these attacks and what happened with the security footprint at the Capitol,” the South Carolina Republican continued, parroting a right-wing talking point that the attack was planned well before Trump urged his supporters at a pre-riot rally to march to the Capitol.

Graham did not mention that Trump ― even before the election ― whipped his supporters into a lie-fueled frenzy about voter fraud.

“You open up Pandora’s box if you call one witness,” Graham said. “I hope we don’t call any and we vote and get this trial over next week when it starts.”

 

I again admit to being genuinely confused by this defense strategy. If indeed the plan by Graham is to have the FBI come in and spell out how the January 6th attack was planned weeks in advance, it'll only take one major witness to then say "and yes, Donald Trump was part of this from the beginning" and he's toast.

It's like the defense laying out a RICO case by showing there was indeed a conspiracy, but then saying "Well the mafia don didn't have anything to do with it" and half of the jurors are made mobsters saying "I don't see anything wrong here."

Yes, there's a 99% chance Trump will be acquitted anyway, because the same GOP enablers are afraid that Trump's domestic terrorist cult will show up and empty both barrels into their faces and their families.

But it still has to be done.

These Disunited States, Con't

South Dakota wants to opt out of federal control and nullify President Biden's executive orders, banking on the Roberts Court to somehow overturn 150 years of precedent over the Supremacy Clause.

A bill introduced into the South Dakota House of Representatives seeks to give the state’s attorney general the authority to review executive orders issued by the president of the United States.

Introduced by new member Rep. Aaron Aylward of Harrisburg, HB 1194 outlines a process of review for any presidential orders that have not been approved and signed into law by the U.S. Congress.

This process begins with a review by the Executive Council of the Legislative Research Board, followed by a referral from the Council to the attorney general and the governor. Once the referral has been made, the attorney general may examine the order to determine whether the state can seek an exemption or declare it unconstitutional.

The bill takes a broad view, stating that no executive order may be implemented “that restricts a person’s rights.”

The proposed bill would also allow the attorney general to block implementation of any order deemed unconstitutional if the order refers to:

• A pandemic or other public health emergency
• The regulation of natural resources
• The regulation of the agricultural industry
• The regulation of land use
• The regulation of the financial sector through the imposition of environmental, social, or governance standards
• The regulation of the constitutional right to keep and bear arms

So we're not even pretending anymore, South Dakota Republicans are going to make the Biden administration challenge this in court and argue that he can't make them do anything by executive order.

It's weird how we only have these nullification problems with Democratic presidents. 

The Coup-Coup Birds Come Home To Roost, Con't

So it turns out that many of the US Capitol terrorists didn't even vote at all in the 2020 election, for their god-emperor Trump, or for anyone else for that matter.

They were there to "Stop the Steal" and to keep the President they revered in office, yet records show that some of the rioters who stormed the US Capitol did not vote in the very election they were protesting. 

One was Donovan Crowl, an ex-Marine who charged toward a Capitol entrance in paramilitary garb on January 6 as the Pro-Trump crowd chanted "who's our President?"
Federal authorities later identified Crowl, 50, as a member of a self-styled militia organization in his home state of Ohio and affiliated with the extremist group the Oath Keepers. His mother told CNN that he previously told her "they were going to overtake the government if they...tried to take Trump's presidency from him." She said he had become increasingly angry during the Obama administration and that she was aware of his support for former President Donald Trump. 

Despite these apparent pro-Trump views, a county election official in Ohio told CNN that he registered in 2013 but "never voted nor responded to any of our confirmation notices to keep him registered," so he was removed from the voter rolls at the end of 2020 and the state said he was not registered in Ohio. A county clerk in Illinois, where Crowl was once registered, also confirmed he was not an active voter anywhere in the state.

Crowl was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of destruction of government property and conspiracy for allegedly coordinating with others to plan their attack. He remains in custody after a judge said, "The suggestion to release him to a residence with nine firearms is a non-starter." In an interview cited by the government, Crowl told the New Yorker that he had peaceful intentions and claimed he had protected the police. Crowl's attorney did not provide a comment about his client's voting record. 

Many involved in the insurrection professed to be motivated by patriotism, falsely declaring that Trump was the rightful winner of the election. Yet at least eight of the people who are now facing criminal charges for their involvement in the events at the Capitol did not vote in the November 2020 presidential election, according to an analysis of voting records from the states where protestors were arrested and those states where public records show they have lived. They came from states around the country and ranged in age from 21 to 65. 

To determine who voted in November, CNN obtained voting records for more than 80 of the initial arrestees. Most voted in the presidential election, and while many were registered Republicans, a handful were registered as Democrats in those jurisdictions that provided party information -- though who someone votes for is not publicly disclosed. Public access to voter history records varies by state, and CNN was unable to view the records of some of those charged. 

Among those who didn't vote were a 65-year-old Georgia man who, according to government documents, was found in his van with a fully-loaded pistol and ammunition, and a Louisiana man who publicly bragged about spending nearly two hours inside the Capitol after attending Trump's "Stop the Steal" rally. Another was a 21-year-old woman from Missouri who prosecutors say shared a video on Snapchat that showed her parading around with a piece of a wooden sign from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office. And a Florida man previously convicted of attempted murder who was accused by the government of refusing to leave the Capitol likely did not have the option to cast a ballot because of his unpaid court fines.

They didn't even bother to vote.

I'd say America needs a better class of villain, but we don't really deserve it. This is a trash country, filled with tens of millions of trash people, and the rest of us are trying not to drown in refuse every damn day.

StupidiNews!

• Republican Senators say that while Monday's meeting with the Biden White House was a "Very good exchange" they say no deal has been reached on new COVID-19 relief legislation.
• The Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery, established by the CARES Act, is looking into several Republicans including Ted Cruz to probe their roles in assigning small business aid.
• Dozens of former George W. Bush administration officials say they are leaving the Republican party, calling the current GOP incarnation a "cult" dedicated to Donald Trump.
• House Democrats have given House GOP minority leader Kevin McCarthy 72 hours to remove Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green from her committee assignments, or she will be stripped.
• A new report finds that 70% of "civic" public groups on Facebook or "toxic or violent", something that the social media company knew since August of 2020.