More to ignore, Book 93.....

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Steve Bannon Alleges That The Homes Of 35 Trump Allies Were Raided Yesterday By The FBI​

PvtJarHead

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www.washingtonpost.com

Prosecutors seek details from Trump’s PAC in expanding Jan. 6 probe​

The Justice Department is seeking details about the formation and operation of Donald Trump’s post-presidential political operation, according to three people familiar with the probe, sending a raft of subpoenas in a significant expansion of the criminal investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

A federal grand jury sent subpoenas on Wednesday to a wide range of former campaign and White House staffers asking for information about the Save America PAC, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing probe. They described the subpoenas as broad, seeking all documents and communications about opening the PAC and every dollar raised and spent.

At least one of the subpoenas also demanded information about the plan to submit slates of phony electors claiming Trump won pivotal states, including all communications with several key lawyers and advisers involved in the effort, one of the people said. They include Rudy Giuliani, Boris Epshteyn, Bruce Marks, Victoria Toensing and Joseph DiGenova, this person said.

Another one of the three people, who has direct knowledge of one of the subpoenas, said the document was “wide ranging” and included multiple other categories of information, but this person declined to describe them. FBI agents served at least some of the subpoenas in person on Wednesday, one of the people with knowledge said......
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So Bannon is exaggerating… These individuals were served with Grand jury Subpoenas.

 

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Court filings show Utah lawmaker advised Mormon Church not to report sexual abuse of children​

Walter Einenkel

Utah Republican State Rep. Merrill F. Nelson has been in the Beehive State’s legislature since 2013. Before that, he was an attorney with affiliations to the Utah Supreme Court, the Utah State Bar, and many other prestigious Utah groups, in including the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children. In December 2021, Rep. Nelson announced that he would not seek reelection and is due to leave at the end of 2022. In his announcement, Nelson said that one of the things he would “miss” was “having a voice and a vote on issues of public importance. Particularly, I hope that my efforts to protect children and strengthen states’ rights prove beneficial.”

On Thursday, the Associated Press released an explosive story showing that Nelson, who was also an attorney for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known as the Mormon Church), once “advised a church bishop not to report a confession of child sex abuse to authorities, a decision that allowed the abuse to continue for years.” This truly detestable allegation was filed in the Arizona Court of Appeals by the abused children who are seeking to have the Church disclose their communications in an ongoing lawsuit.
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In 2010, church member Paul Adams admitted to sexually abusing one of his daughters. According to the lawsuit, Bishop John Herrod took this information to the church’s “help line” (established in 1995), where they were referred to the Church’s attorneys at the law firm Kirton McConkie. That initial call was answered by Mr. Merrill Nelson. Nelson was a shareholder in Kirton McConkie. Calling the helpline was a mandatory step for clergy who were informed of any abuse.

Call logs filed show that Nelson spoke numerous times with Bishop Herrod, and later Bishop Robert “Kim” Mauzy, from the period before until the period after Nelson became a state representative. Adams was not reported to law enforcement and continued to abuse multiple prepubescent children in his home for the next seven years.

An important warning: The filing is truly disturbing. It includes the graphic blow-by-blow details of one of the videos made by Adams with his daughter, who was 9 years old at the time. The detailed abuse, which the Mormon Church was aware of, is excruciatingly vile.

According to the report, Rep. Nelson advised the church not to report the abuse. More importantly, if the Church chose to report the abuse, Nelson could be sued. In fact, “the instruction by counsel not to report Paul to the authorities was the law in Arizona and had nothing to do with Church doctrine.” The Associated Press caught up with Republican Nelson before these documents were filed to ask him about the case:

“I don’t have all the facts, but it seems to me like it did operate as intended,” he said. “The bishop called the help line and was advised no duty to report it to civil authorities. In fact, could not report because of the clergy privilege,” Nelson said.
“It is intended and always has from the beginning been intended to to help victims get the help they need through social services, professional counseling, medical help, legal help, law enforcement,” Nelson said.

Nelson has also opposed “legislation that would do away with the clergy-penitent privilege.” That’s some dark magic right there. Nelson did not respond to the AP’s requests for a statement after this information came to light.

The Church excommunicated Adams in 2013, but still did nothing to protect the children being abused. Federal officials arrested Adams in 2017. Adams died by suicide while in custody before his trial. His wife, Leizza Adams, served two years in state prison. Three of the six children filed this lawsuit against LDS. The Church is appealing a judge’s ruling that determined they must provide any “confidential” records related to the case they have been withholding.

 

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Video surfaces of Doug Mastriano leading prayer for Congress to disregard 2020 election results​

Brandi Buchman

Doug Mastriano’s extreme views and apparent proclivity for Christian nationalism are growing harder for him to deny by the minute.

On Friday Rolling Stone published an exclusive report and shared for the first time a video of Mastriano—now the Republican nominee for governor in Pennsylvania—from December 2020 where he kicked off a prayer meeting organized by the extreme right-wing, pro-Trump New Apostolic Restoration movement.

His prayer before the fundamentalist group was laden with the language of warfare and darkness and steeped in references to the battle between good and evil forces. But at the center of his remarks was the request that God “embolden” the leaders of the Republican Party, namely Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy, to ignore the 2020 election results in Pennsylvania and help Donald Trump seize power.

The insurrection at the U.S. Capitol would unfold a week later.

The video has not been published before, though Mastriano’s participation at the meeting was reported for the first time a year ago by a nonprofit organization with an eye on right-wing extremism known as Right Wing Watch. Rolling Stone only obtained the video through the help of an independent researcher and longtime analyst of the New Apostolic Restoration movement, Bruce Wilson.



This prayer meeting was one of more than a dozen “Global Prayer for Election Integrity” sessions organized by an evangelical leader of the New Apostolic Restoration movement, Jim Garlow.

Garlow has had the support of Republican lawmakers and politicians—see Newt Gingrich—for years. His belief that the Bible, and more specifically Christianity, are the principles that should govern politics above all else make up core tenets in his ministry. God, according to Garlow, “originally established government.”

At its core, this is also what defines Christian nationalism, or the unequivocally anti-democratic belief that it is God’s most fervent intent that the United States population be 100% Christian, no exceptions.

When Trump was in office, Garlow was a regular champion for Trump’s agenda. He prayed over the former president in the White House in 2017 along with two dozen other prominent evangelical figures. And when the 2020 election finally came around, the group lined up to vocally and unapologetically support Trump’s claims of rampant election fraud and rigged outcomes.

Mastriano was one of many Republican voices who decried Trump’s defeat to now President Joe Biden and he promoted the lie that fraud had undercut the 45th president’s so-called “victory.” On the morning of Jan. 6, Mastriano was in Washington, D.C., just outside the Capitol building, snapping pictures with pro-Trump former Pennsylvania House Rep. Rick Saccone and walking with his wife on the Capitol’s northwest lawn.

Mastriano appeared to be enjoying the fruits of his labor. His office had, after all, paid to have people bussed to the Capitol on Jan. 6 and as The New Yorker pointed out in an extensive profile of him and his history of Christian nationalist support, he told his supporters days before the Capitol attack: “I’m really praying that God will pour His Spirit upon Washington, D.C., like we’ve never seen before.”

Though he initially denied being there at all, Mastriano later aggressively defended his presence on Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, saying he obeyed police lines as they “shifted” throughout the day. He’s relegated scrutiny of his actions as an “obsession” by “foot soldiers of the ruling elite.”

In a radio interview with NEWSTALK 1037FM uncovered last year by the watchdog group, Pennsylvania Spotlight, Mastriano said he saw at least two people try to breach the Capitol.

At least one person who took Mastriano’s charter bus to Washington on Jan. 6 was Sandra Weyer of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. According to court records, Weyer was arrested on a single felony charge of obstructing Congress and faced four misdemeanor charges including disorderly conduct for encouraging the assault of a photojournalist with The New York Times.

In the prayer video that surfaced Friday, Mastriano is seen clutching letters that he says Trump sent to him that morning “outlining the fraud in Pennsylvania.”

“I pray that … we’ll seize the power that we had given to us by the Constitution, and as well by You, providentially. I pray for the leaders also in the federal government, God, on the sixth of January that they will rise up with boldness,” he said.

He has flatly denied being involved with Garlow or the New Apostolic Reformation movement.

A key excerpt from the Rolling Stone report highlights how flagrantly unbelievable that statement is, however. Researcher Bruce Wilson, who first secured the tape of Mastriano, weighed in:

“Wilson finds Mastriano’s denials risible. “If Mastriano wasn’t a true [New Apostolic Reformation] believer, why was he there praying before them, and taking on the heroic mantle of Gideon?” he asks. “He didn’t just wander in off the street, he was invited.”
Noting the pine-tree flag adopted by Christian Nationalists in the background,
Wilson adds that Mastriano’s prayer was pitched perfectly to a NAR audience: “He speaks their vernacular so well, it’s hard to imagine he’s not all in.”

Mastriano did not immediately return a request for comment to Daily Kos on Friday.

The Republican nominee for governor of Pennsylvania has a long history of aligning himself with far-right policy and values.

As underlined by The American Independent in a comprehensive piece published Thursday, his campaign has hired former Oath Keepers to serve as security. Local online news outlet LancasterOnline turned up that connection in August. Mastriano has posed in a faculty photo at the Army War College donning a Confederate uniform. He’s been caught on tape praising a man wearing a Confederate flag as a cape as he stood in front of a statute of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

Mastriano has also vowed to ban abortions after six weeks if elected governor of Pennsylvania. He’s vowed to make entire state of Pennsylvania re-register its voters. This is something most legal experts overwhelmingly say violates federal law and most likely runs afoul of state law.

On Friday, The Philadelphia Inquirer published a report unpacking the “paranoia” that has seemingly overwhelmed Mastriano’s campaign. Dissension of any kind appears not to be tolerated. A “loyalist” to Mastriano who mentioned the words “January 6” during a recent campaign event was threatened to be removed before those in Mastriano’s camp realized she wasn’t there to question or criticize Mastriano about the insurrection. In fact, the Inquirer reported, she was just remarking about how she was in Washington on Jan. 6, too.

As of Friday, there are just 60 days left until the Pennsylvania midterm elections and the first date to vote early in person there is Sept. 19.

As the midterms approach, McClatchy highlighted in a report Friday that Mastriano has not aired any television commercials since May 16 and has not scheduled any upcoming ads for TV in the final weeks before the primary. Alternatively, Mastriano's Democratic opponent in the gubernatorial race, Josh Shapiro, has arranged to spend almost $30 million in on-air advertisements for his campaign.

Jim Schultz, the former counsel to onetime Republican governor for Pennsylvania Tom Corbett, told McClatchy he didn’t believe Mastriano had raised enough money to run ads in the expensive southeast Pennsylvania markets.

“I think the lack of support for Mastriano is unprecedented and warranted,” Schultz said.

Meanwhile, the Jan. 6 committee remains at odds with Mastriano for now. Though he initially said he would cooperate with the probe, he’s since turned his back on investigators and sued them to avoid complying with a February subpoena.

 

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FOX NEWS Publishes Brutal NY Times Story that a GOP House 'Could Plunge US and World Into Chaos'​

News Corpse

In recent weeks Donald Trump has been sinking ever farther into the quicksand of his inbred criminality. The Department of Justice is investigating his theft of highly sensitive national security materials and hoarding them at his Mar-a-Lago bunker. A federal grand jury is probing his phony "Save America" PAC. A Georgia prosecutor is close to indicting him for election interference. And these don't even include his real estate and tax fraud matters.

As the shroud of corruption envelopes him, some of Trump's associates and accomplices may be getting antsy about continuing to stand behind him for fear they won't see the oncoming bus. They have been testing the waters to see if they can safely distance themselves from what is becoming increasingly obvious is a crumbling foundation of flagrant felonies. And among the nervous nellies are some of the folks at Trump's Ministry of Propaganda, Fox News.
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On Friday the Fox News website published an article that was mostly a re-post of an in-depth analysis of the Republican Party's descent into Trumpian madness. The NY Times article profiled a handful of GOP House candidates who have consumed copious quantities of Trump's Kool-Aid. And the conclusion was that these Ultra-MAGA extremists threatened to "plunge the U.S. and the world into 'chaos.'" Fox's re-post of the article said that...

"In his report, published Thursday, [New York Times congressional correspondent Jonathan] Weisman claimed that the potential influx of new GOP lawmakers that have 'fringe positions' and who have 'espoused conspiracy theories' could hamper the government in its ability to do everyday tasks. The piece went so far as to say that these future right-wing politicians could plunge the country and the world at large into 'chaos.'"

And that...

"It could also mean that the government will struggle to perform such mundane tasks as keeping itself from defaulting on its debt and plunging the global financial system into chaos." [...] "At the same time, a Republican-led stream of impeachments, as some lawmakers have promised for the attorney general, the homeland security secretary, the education secretary and the president, could serve as an endless string of distractions for the executive branch."

Indeed, a Republican majority in the House would implement a preposterous agenda that consisted mainly of exacting revenge on the Democrats who they believe offended Dear Leader Trump. And we know this not by speculation, but by the public promises of Republicans hoping to gain majority control, such as Jim Jordan and Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has already filed articles of impeachment against President Biden.

Republicans have also promised committee hearings into long ago debunked non-scandals involving Hillary Clinton, Merrick Garland, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Hunter Biden, and more. Trump has even said that he wants the FBI to search Joe Biden's house - aka the White House - for evidence of some unidentified, and surely imaginary, crime.

It is on the basis of these promises that Republicans are asking Americans to vote for them in November. Forget about the sort of productive accomplishments that Democrats have achieved in the past two years - Infrastructure bill, American Rescue Act, Gun safety, healthcare, tax reform, climate change, etc. - Republicans are offering pure, unfiltered vengeance.

That's what the GOP is promising the American people. It's a platform of political payback on behalf of a wannabe authoritarian tyrant. And it's what the Republicans swear they will devote their time to if given the opportunity. At least when they aren't cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy, and eliminating Social Security and Medicare.

What's more, that's what Trump thinks is a winning campaign strategy. However, based on this NY Times article that Fox re-posted, you have to wonder: Does Fox News think so?

 

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‘I’m not going to let it happen’: South Carolina Senate fails to pass new near-total abortion ban​

Aysha Qamar

Efforts to enact a second piece of abortion-restricting legislation in South Carolina failed after state Republicans were unable to receive enough votes to pass a near-total reproductive care ban on Thursday. The bill, which did not include exceptions for rape or incest, looked to ban abortion beginning at fertilization. According to the Associated Press, five Republicans, including all the chamber’s women, refused to support the bill. While 30 Republicans in the 46-member chamber had a majority to pass the ban they did not have the extra votes to end a filibuster by Republican Sen. Tom Davis.

Instead of passing a near-total ban without exceptions for rape or incest, the Senate then passed an amended bill that mirrors existing restrictions. Similar to the current heartbeat bill, passed after the Doobs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that hailed the end of Roe v. Wade, the Senate bill bans abortion after about six weeks. It also includes exceptions for victims of rape or incest for up to 12 weeks.

Additionally, the bill also includes exceptions for when a fetus is diagnosed with a fatal anomaly or when the life of the mother is at risk.

While the state already has a “heartbeat” ban that bars abortions after cardiac activity can be detected—at about six weeks’ gestation—some Republicans were hoping to make the harsh law even more strict. The heartbeat ban took effect in June, following the Supreme Court’s decision to reverse Roe v. Wade, but was blocked by the South Carolina Supreme Court in August.

As a result of the block, abortion is temporarily legal in South Carolina. Under that “heartbeat” ban, rape and incest victims can receive an abortion before 20 weeks. The State Senate proposal reduces that time to 12 weeks.

According to The Washington Post, the original bill under debate this week would have banned abortion except when a pregnant person’s life is at risk or “major bodily function” imperiled. Because there was not enough support for a ban on fertilization or a ban without exceptions for victims of rape or incest, several amendments were made. Physicians who violated the bill, as it was originally proposed, faced felony charges and civil penalties—including potentially a $10,000 fine, up to two years in prison, and the loss of their medical licenses.

Several legislators, even Republicans, have expressed issues with the proposed abortion bills. Republican Sen. Davis, after filibustering the proposed bill, said he would not support a stricter abortion ban. He recalled speaking to his daughters about the ban and promising them he would not vote to make South Carolina’s current six-week abortion ban worse, “because women have rights, too.”

“The moment we become pregnant, we lose all control over what goes on with our bodies,” Davis said, reflecting on what his daughters said. “I’m here to tell you I’m not going to let it happen.”

Davis added that he did not believe the proposed bill amounted to an “equitable balancing of competing rights” between a pregnant person and an unborn child.

The vote follows the South Carolina House of Representatives approving HB 5399, which outlawed abortion at almost every stage of pregnancy—with limited exceptions to rape or incest—before 12 weeks. According to Daily Kos, an amendment for making an exception for rape and incest was added at the last minute to the House bill, the original proposal had none.

This newly amended bill from Thursday will now go back to the House for approval.

 

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The Big Lie has gotten Trump’s Michigan attorney general pick into Big Doo-doo​

Joan McCarter

The Trump-backed Republican attorney general candidate in Michigan now has a special prosecutor on his ass. D.J. Hilson, the prosecutor for Muskegon County, will determine whether charges should be brought against attorney Matthew DePerno and eight others who allegedly breached the security of voting machines in 2021 in their “investigation” into supposed fraudulent vote counting in the 2020 election.

The nine allegedly engaged in a conspiracy to gain physical access to vote tabulation machines and voting equipment. For the past month, the Michigan State Police and Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office have been investigating the breach. Nessel sought the appointment of a special prosecutor on Aug. 5, since it would be “an inherent conflict of interest” for her given that DePerno is running against her.

“Prosecutor Hilson will review the investigation and information for possible charges. At this time, no charges have been filed against any of the possible defendants,” a statement from the Prosecuting Attorneys Coordinating Council said following his appointment. In addition to DePerno, state Rep. Daire Rendon and Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf are included in the potential conspiracy.

According to the Nessel’s’ office, the potential charges include—“but are not limited to”—conspiracy, willful damage of a voting machine, use of a computer system to commit a crime, malicious property destruction, and fraudulent access to a computer or a computer system. On top of all that, they could be charged with access these systems under false pretenses.

Documents from the attorney general’s office indicate that DePerno’s group, the “Antrim County Election Lawsuit and Investigation Team,” took five vote tabulators from Roscommon and Missaukee counties in northern Michigan, and Barry County in western Michigan. The attorney general investigators determined that the group broke into the tabulators and to perform voting “tests” on the equipment.

“It was determined during the investigation that DePerno was present at a hotel room during such ‘testing,’” a petition to the prosecutors’ council said.

DePerno would fit right in with Republican attorneys general. After all, the dark money arm of the Republican Association of Attorneys General helped organize the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, sending out a robocall the night before telling activists that they would be marching on the Capitol to “stop the steal.”

That’s precisely why we have to stop him from getting that office. Daily Kos has endorsed a slate of Democrats running for attorney general in five swing states, including protecting incumbent Dana Nessel. It’s vitally important to our democracy—and to protecting the 2024 election—that these key offices are in Democrats’ hands.

 

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Ukraine Update: Ukraine learned combined-arms maneuvers, but at great sacrifice​

kos

Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyі, architect of the Kharkiv offensive

Mark Sumner’s two stories today (morning, afternoon) have a great deal of information on Ukraine’s operational gains today. As I write this, it’s night in Ukraine and while undoubtedly stuff is happening, we won’t hear about any of it until morning.

This is most likely significantly out of date, but good enough for now with confirmed advances:



I wonder if Russia will hit Putin’s September 15 deadline to capture all of the Donbas.

They were already going to cut it close, but events up in Kharkiv might force additional delays. On the plus side, they are making some gains.



Wagner captured a hill. A hill guys! That’s like … 0.3 square kilometers, going a long way toward offsetting Ukraine’s 2,000-square-mile gain over the past four days.

My favorite response:



So good:



My brother helped with this:



This one made me laugh so hard:



You’ve probably seen it already, but if not, here is that bit of hijinx:



Anyway, there were rumors that Wagner would redeploy from the Bakhmut area to reinforce the Kharkiv front. Wagner didn’t take too kindly to that:

The information about the transfer of forces of the "Wagner Group" to the Izyum direction, as well as near Kupyansk, is not true.
"Musicians" [their self-styled nickname] continue their work on the fronts assigned to them, and at the moment they are almost, if not the only ones, who not only hold the front in Ukraine, but also advance it. No one is going to be removed from especially difficult areas to plug holes.”

DAMN RIGHT they aren’t going to leave their positions. As they note, they are the only Russian forces currently capturing anything. So sure, Ukraine has liberated 2,000 square kilometers the last four days, but since they got A HILL, that’s what matters most! Also, why not shit on the rest of the Russian war effort while they’re at it?

Seriously, this is one of the things that have hampered the Russian war effort. Each Russian military district initially got its own section of the front, none working together. And while they eventually got an overall commander, supposedly, nothing on the ground suggests it actually changed anything of note. Half the time we don’t even really know who it is. You shouldn’t have to be a Kremlinologist to know who is in charge.

Then you have Rosgvardia—Putin’s personal army, his “national guard.” They have their own chain of command bypassing the Russian Ministry of Defense. The VDV airborne guys have their own thing going because they’re supposedly so elite and cool. Wagner, of course, answers to their CEO (Putin’s chef). And the Donbas proxy armies are supposedly independent. We think, “Russians don’t allow local initiative, all orders come from the top.” And it’s true! It’s just that there are a lot of tops, and none of them seem to like each other.

Ukraine doesn’t have that problem.



Hell yeah it was risky! Amazing that he pulled it off.

Down in Izyum, Russian War Propagandist WarGonzo intended to prove that everything was safe and secure and no one needed to believe those pesky rumors of an impending Ukrainian assault.



Here’s the actual before (where he accidentally admits that Ukrainian forces are approaching) and after videos. In the after, he mentions there’s a single artery left out of town, admitting the city is operationally surrounded. As far as propaganda goes, that was a bust!
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So much loot! Blowing it up is great. Taking it by force and then using it against Russia is even better.

Now look at this: combined arms warfare!



Infantry dismounts, protects the armor. Armor pushes forward, uses the big gun to clear enemy armor and defensive positions. Infantry mounts up, and they move forward.

What’s lacking is any obvious air power, but Ukraine is doing fine. It’s worth noting that as much as people screamed that Ukraine needed this or that, the Pentagon and allies had a very clear understanding of what needed to be delivered, balancing ease of learning, operation, maintenance, and supply, with battlefield utility. Ukraine didn’t need NATO armor, it got close to 300 Soviet-era tanks from allies. M113s were sufficiently good infantry carriers (the YPR-765 is actually an M113 variant). Down in Kherson, where wide-open flat spaces expose advancing forces to deadly artillery barrages, Ukraine is using fast Humvees to speed from town to town, giving artillery little chance to zero in on them.

And aircraft? Ukraine received extra aircraft from allies, including the parts to revive planes destroyed on the first days of the war. Additionally, they’ve been modified to carry certain NATO weapons like anti-radar HARM missiles. WIth air defenses suppressed, Ukraine can fly more drones, from TB2 Bayraktars to little quadcopter dropping grenades on individual soldiers. And HIMARS really is doing a lot of the roles aircraft have traditional taken (destroying bridges, hardened defenses, ammo depots, and command and control facilities).

Would M1 Abrams and M2 Bradleys and F16s be better? Yes! But Ukraine would still be trying to learn the basics of how to operate and maintain them, nevermind the challenges of developing yet additional logistical supply chains to fuel and repair them. Remember, the M1 Abrams uses jet fuel, not diesel, and gets 2 gallons per mile. (Not a typo.) Fueling standard, more efficient diesel vehicles is challenging enough.

So kudos to the Pentagon for having a clear vision of what it would take for Ukraine to retake territory as quickly as possible, even as the peanut gallery wailed that “NATO isn’t playing to win, just not to lose!”

And really, this offensive is truly possible to all those Territorial Defense Force units stuck in trenches up and down the front for the past six months, getting slammed daily, oftentimes feeling abandoned. Their impossible heroism allowed Ukraines regular army units and 300,000 reserves to prepare in the country’s west, while Western allies equipped and trained them in proper war fighting techniques.

Those trench-bound TDF got dealt a shitty hand, and thousands paid the ultimate prize. Many will suffer from PTSD and other trauma the rest of their lives. But they’ve been rotated out, and hopefully they’re done, they’ve given enough. Hundreds of thousands of fresh soldiers behind them are ready to pick up the baton.

 

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Trump and Justice Department submit special master nominees to review Mar-a-Lago documents

The Justice Department and former President Donald Trump's lawyers have submitted their respective nominees to serve as the special master reviewing materials seized from Mar-a-Lago and vastly different proposals for how the process should work.

www.cnn.com

DOJ And Team #FPOTUS Submit Joint Filing With Their List Of Proposed Special Master Candidates​

PvtJarHead

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.618763/gov.uscourts.flsd.618763.83.0.pdf

Government’s Proposed Candidates

The Honorable Barbara S. Jones (ret.) – retired judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, partner in Bracewell LLP, and special master in In re: in the Matter of Search Warrants Executed on April 28, 2021 and In the Matter of Search Warrants Executed on April 9, 2018.

The Honorable Thomas B. Griffith (ret.) – retired Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, special counsel in Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, and Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School.

Plaintiff’s Proposed Candidates

The Honorable Raymond J. Dearie (ret.) – former Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, served on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, formerly the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Paul Huck, Jr.—founder, The Huck Law Firm, former Jones Day partner, former General Counsel to the Governor, former Deputy Attorney General for the State of Florida.
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Plaintiff’s position is that the Special Master should review all Seized Materials, including documents with classification markings. Plaintiff also contends that the Special Master should examine the documents to evaluate potential Executive Privilege claims. The Plaintiff does not believe that the Special Master should, or needs to, consult with the National Archives and Records Administration (“NARA”). To the extent that the Special Master determines such a need, the Plaintiff would suggest that the parties be heard by the Special Master, and possibly this Court, before that step is undertaken.

The Government’s position is that the Special Master should not review documents with classification markings; should not adjudicate claims of Executive Privilege (but should submit to NARA any documents over which such claims are made); and should consult with NARA on the determination of Presidential records. The parties generally agree on the categories of documents into which the materials to be reviewed by the Special Master should be allocated.
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Plaintiff proposes to split evenly the professional fees and expenses of the Special Master and any professionals, support staff, and expert consultants engaged at the Master’s request.

The Government’s position is that, as the party requesting the special master, Plaintiff should bear the additional expense of the Special Master’s work.
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The Government sets a deadline of October 17, 2022, within which to complete the review process. Plaintiff suggests that 90 days likely will be required given the volume of documents, but ultimately defers to the Court and to the selected Special Master.

 

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Cannon’s Constitutional Calvinball & Other Semi-Fascist Shenanigans​

ShowerCap

I hope the leather-bound, multi-volume tomes on the Rise and Fall of Whatever the **** We Wind Up Calling This Madness are able to capture just how goddamn irritating it was to live through. Like, when you open the book, maybe a speaker in the spine emits a shrill, piercing whine? There’s a mood you need to set, y’know?.....
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Well, this week, we learned it’s a helluva lot easier to loot lucrative state secrets when you can judge-shop until you land your case in front of some scruples-free sycophant auditioning for a gaudier uniform in the Reich to come.

Judge Aileen Cannon helpfully made Donnie Dotard’s case for him, since his idiot lawyers couldn’t, fabricating statutes as necessary to grant magical executive privilege rights to a cheap thief who was rather decisively stripped of executive powers by the American people not so very long ago.

Naturally, DoJ appealed Cannon’s loony attempt to elevate a larcenous reality television personality beyond the reach of the law, citing the damage caused to national security by her clumsy, clownish power grab. Since we’re trying to determine the whereabouts of the docs that once dwelled in all those empty folders, y’know? Like, did he swap ‘em to MBS for a golf tournament and a crate of experimental hair tonic, or just roll ‘em up to whack Eric on the nose for wetting the bed again?

Permit me to suggest that if former presidents were indeed allowed to hang onto classified intelligence pertaining to foreign nations’ nuclear capacity, like hotel towels or some shit, there would be extremely clear laws stating as much. There aren’t, of course, because that would be insane, though Kevin McCarthy’d probably instate jus primae noctis if asked.

Anyway, you can see why Team Treason tried to get their ridiculously frivolous (fridivulous?) lawsuit targeting Hillary Clinton and her Nebulous Confederation of Deep State Accomplices (who’ll be touring next spring in support of a new album, I’m told) heard by Cannon. Denied the crucial element of a robed accomplice, that one just got laughed out of court so derisively, Rudy Giuliani booked the parking garage next to Hyatt Regency Tuckpointing to complain about it.........
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Now, all this shameless lawlessness went a long way towards proving President Biden’s “semi-fascist” theory, but the MAGA-infected Republican Party still spent most of the week enthusiastically offering additional evidence at every opportunity.

Pumpkin Spice Pol Pot led the charge himself, throwing a cozy little hate rally for the Pennsylvania GOP’s absolutely batshit 2022 ticket. You definitely want to publicly praise oppressive dictators when you’re trying to prove how not fascist you are. Make sure to wank enviously to Xi Jinping’s “iron fist” while you’re at it, though I’d be hesitant to bring up fists of any kind, iron, ham, or otherwise, were I notoriously hypersensitive about my own tiny, inadequate, baby hands.

But surely only the unfascistest boy in the whole wide world would volunteer such a sad, simpering endorsement of flailing tyrant Jair Bolsanaro, right?

There’s certainly no better character witness to call than Marjorie Taylor Greene; it’s not like she’s world-renowned for spewing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories or anything. Speaking at the Pennsylvania rally, Marj credulously spread that silly furry-kids-shitting-in-litter-boxes-at-school hoax from a few weeks back, because ****ing of course she fell for something so obviously fake…I’m sure it’ll be a staple in mass shooter manifestos going forward.......
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Meanwhile, some MMA fighter got it into his head (erroneously) that some new study finally proved that suck it Fauci, ivermectin really actually truly worked this whole time, and the wingnut internet gathered for yet another giddy, taunting victory lap, because Some Guy Said Something Incorrect on the Internet. The fun thing about MAGA culture is you never know which random blockhead’s stray tweet’s gonna tumble into the scripture........
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I’ve never seen people so willing, so positively horny to be lied to. No wonder the papers’re full of stories about criminal investigations into various rube-bilking operations. My god, the ****ing money the ticks suck out of these fevered ****wits. More than $135 million to Save America PAC, a three-card-monte-obvious scam that’s now the target of yet another federal investigation earning subpoenas from grand juries.

“I gave Steve Bannon money, because he said he’d use it to build a wall on the Mexican border!” Wow, what a stupid ****ing thing to do! Does Steve Bannon strike you as someone who knows one ****ing thing about building anything? Did you check? Before you gave him your money? Yelp reviews? Anything? No? Huh.

Bannon got indicted again, which of course you already knew. Forgetting his gag reflex-triggering personality, he seems to believe he has a shot at being perceived as some sort of heroic political prisoner, like incel Nelson Mandela, I guess. Still, in a cult that canonizes the likes of Donald Trump and Kyle Rittenhouse, his chances aren’t awful.

(Incidentally, at a certain point in the very near future, I think we’ll need to examine whether or not recent unemployment figures have been warped by the sheer number of Americans serving on grand juries investigating the Trump cabal.)

Let’s not move on without belly-laughing at the institutional GOP’s fundraising woes; everybody’s bitching and moaning and pointing fingers as the grifter gravy train reroutes to Marm-a-Lago. Yeah, turns out that once the wall-builders and the Big Liars and the wild-eyed pillow merchants have taken their tithe, there isn’t much MAGA mad money left over for JD Vance, Adam Laxalt, or Blake Masters. I may be up all night crying about that.

Bet they could use some of those millions of dollars Rick Scott set on fire. Or the millions Rick Scott flushed down the toilet. The millions Rick Scott flung at the peasants from his luxury yacht during his recent Italian vacation, hoping to induce them to fight to the death for his amusement would surely be most welcome, but that money’s gone forever, alas; may I interest you in Rick Scott’s toxic policy platform instead? Cuz that’s what’s left.......
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Well, that and the exploitation horror movie roadside circus you weirdos nominated for Senate seats. You guys, Herschel Walker is polling well right now, and all he does is wander around Georgia, demonstrating how badly his brain works. Why is it so important to these people to grant fearsome political power to the manifestly unfit? Don’t you at least want competent assholes?

Nope, they want the freakiest freaks flopping around in their increasingly freaky mosh pit. Dangerous creeps with sinister ideas about democracy and freedom, because what the MAGA Republican base wants right now is leadership that condones law-breaking and violence. Because they’re such patriots, you see.......
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Heck, if watching video of a fake elector ushering a couple of Sidney Powell associates (or “kraken tentacles”) into a county elections office to breach the voting system doesn’t make you want to salute an apple pie, I don’t know what will. Seein’ folks come together like that, in a criminal conspiracy to steal our government from us, and lay it at the feet of a man who’s spent years bragging about passing a cognitive test, that’s Norman Rockwell shit.

Like those Michigan GOP officials, training poll workers to break rules in order to serve the party as “undercover agents. "Excuse me for a moment, I’m suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to fondle a bald eagle.

See, they tell one another that they’re justified in cheating because WE cheat, in the same way they tell each other that horse dewormer cures Covid, or that liberal teachers let children shit in boxes; misconceptions used to justify misbehavior, demands of vengeance for imaginary wrongs…just because it’s become so commonplace doesn’t make it any less insane.

And the dirtbag propagandists stoking this madness know exactly what they’re doing, as proven by the leaked Fox Nooz email reading:

While we’ve all learned to tolerate, and perhaps even quietly enjoy Jeanine Pirro’s drunken racist aunt shtick, those’re actually some fairly dangerous lies she’s belching up between boxes of Franzia, so maybe we ought to, I dunno, deplatform her before the country catches fire?

Anyway, she got promoted.
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A New Mexico judge removed capitol rioter Couy Griffin from his post as Otero County Commissioner, on account of his seditious terrorism and general brownshirtiness. What a great ****in’ idea that is. Barring violent insurrectionists from positions of power? Yes, please......
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‘Specially with the Anti-Defamation League’s new list of “elected officials, military members, and law enforcement officers” on the Oath Keepers’ membership roll. 373 of those ****ers, if you’re curious, “including at least 10 chiefs of police and 11 sheriffs.” Three hundred and seventy-three card-carrying members of a known domestic terror org, each wielding their own, personal slice of state power. How fun.......
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Dr. Oz says that the filthy takers don’t deserve health and that his daughters don’t want to **** him because his musk repels them and also that he should be a United States Senator, and, well, there’s a lot to disagree with there........
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I see Vladimir Putin has arrived at the hope-nobody-notices-me-buying-weapons-from-North-Korea phase of his inevitable march to immortality, amidst a shockingly successful Ukrainian counteroffensive. Somewhere in the world, there’s a restaurant so exclusive you have to be the leader of a superpower to get in, and the maître d’ at that joint has been openly rude to Pooty since April.
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Former U.S Attorney Geoffrey Berman’s new book details all the pressure his not-all-fascist bosses in the Turd Reich applied, hoping to force unjustified prosecutions of political opponents, essentially the same sort of gangster corruption Government Cheese Goebbels got impeached for pulling with Ukraine. Anyway, no semi-fascists, quasi-Nazis, or I Can’t Believe It’s Not the Klansmen here, clearly.....

…the book should not only scream at you while you read it, they should print it on paper that smells bad, like room temperature fast food farts and the brittle rage of the petulantly mediocre. Christ. No wonder I always need beer by the time I’m done writing this. Well, whatever your circumstances or preferences happen to be, my friends, I hope you find some equivalent way to take the edge off. Stay safe out there.

 

[Ten Thousan Marbles]

 

[Ten Thousan Marbles]

 

[Ten Thousan Marbles]

 

[Ten Thousan Marbles]