Old News: My Pillow guy loses $5 million.

In case you were distracted by the indictments last May and missed this one....I found this interesting break down of why we haven't heard much from Mike Lindell lately.

[link:https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/05/26/my-pillow-mike-lindell-investigation-00097903|

Just this to put a pardon by Gov. Kemp to rest.

From the NYTimes today:

"There is one final important advantage of the Georgia case. It is shielded from what may be Mr. Trump’s ultimate hope: the issuance of a pardon should he or another Republican be elected president in 2024 (or a command by a Republican that the Justice Department simply drop the case). A president’s power to pardon federal offenses does not extend to state crimes.

And pardons in Georgia are not an unreviewable power vested solely in the chief executive. They are awarded by the State Board of Pardons and Paroles — and are not even available until five years after completion of all sentences."

[link:https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/15/opinion/trump-indictment-georgia-fani-willis.html|

Did anyone listen to RW Radio on Tuesday, May 23?

I spent the day in the doctor's waiting while they cut up my wife's face chasing skin cancer. Two other old white guys were also there and out of the blue they started talking about things they heard...I'm assuming....on the radio. This is Massachusetts:

1. Over twenty eight whales have died at the site of the new windmill foundations going in south of Cape Cod.

2. Immigrants are being housed in Hotel rooms with the $150/night charged to "us taxpayers." They are getting $45/day for food.
Also all the medical care they need for free etc. You've heard it for sure.

Is there anything new in this area of discourse? I didn't reply and they did not go on for long but the one said he had heard the
stories also. I'm guessing Howie Carr, but maybe some national hate monger working to replace Rush Limpballs?

The Republican/Christian dilemma:

]https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10227914030420122&set=gm.5574530732610047&idorvanity=936919026371264&__cft__[0]=AZV1xjHDJasUXvQAxNAd288EfsjarShCe9keWVLTHat5-1zsc6S4QpaernT6-1eshBvOdIfEVa_emA8RlugHaGYf4e9h6ERCUuQPMjZsHT_0KDzRbelWeNX6a5SHNVrQeFpv78QoBH-BQFzPRWf6smNAT5Z0gUMIbtDbkodh-Kb8M9CSkl8tyACputXH_9GQwUo&__tn__=EH-R



This is a link to a facebook post with picture referencing the problem Christianity presents the Republican with selfish feelings.

Just Checking: How many here even know where their local FBI office is? n/t

NY Times: Ukraine off the website's front page, Covid still costing 400+ lives a day in US.

That's about 145,000/yr.

Finally, sensible talk about what really needs to be done! Ration Gas.

At least the Europeans are considering a workable, proven method to address material shortages caused by WAR. A 15% cut of use would really stabilize prices and availability to essential uses...like food production...rather than vacation drives etc.

I suggested this months ago and was met head on by the DU "free enterprise wing of the Democratic party."

Rationing worked in 1942-5, it could work today. This needs to happen with Natural Gas and Gasoline.

[link:https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/07/20/world/ukraine-russia-war|

Robbert Hubbell suggests paying attention to the extraordinary issues....

not high gas prices and inflation.

" Anyone who fails to see that this moment is unlike any in the last hundred years must look up from their smartphone and spreadsheets to engage in a few moments of reflection. The January 6th hearings are extraordinary. The ruling in Dobbs is extraordinary. The confluence of the “concealed carry” ruling in Bruen with mass killings in Buffalo, Uvalde, and Highland Park is extraordinary. The dissolution of the separation of church and state in Bremerton is extraordinary. The effort of GOP legislators to turn women into fugitives is extraordinary.

Any journalist who ignores those facts to write a story that views the midterms through the lens of gas prices and Joe Biden’s favorability ratings is incurious, lazy, and in the wrong profession. We are living in a moment like no other in the last century. Journalists ignore that truth at their peril."

Oh, and the secret service apparently played a role in the Jan 6th insurrection.

[link:https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/corrected-echoes-of-a-shameful-legacy|

Robert Hubbell finds consequences in Supreme's Gun Love.

[link:https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/real-world-consequence|

" Over the past three decades, Justices Thomas, Alito, and Roberts protected the right of anti-abortion protesters to harass women entering medical clinics. Last month, those justices were joined by Kavanaugh, Barrett, and Gorsuch in protecting the right of every American to carry a weapon in public. Protesters have now gathered near the homes of justices to peacefully protest the decision in Dobbs. Predictably, some protesters are armed—as is now their right under Bruen (allowing universal concealed carry for self-defense).

The justices were offended and frightened by the sight of armed protestors near their homes. They apparently believe that the First and Second Amendments do not apply to protesters directing their speech toward the justices. So, the Marshal of the Supreme Court demanded that governors in Maryland and Virginia stop the peaceful protests. The request from a federal official demanding action by state law enforcement is, to say the least, irregular. But let’s put that problem of federalism aside for the moment and reflect on the irony of the request from the justices.

One of the pro-Trump governors who received the demand from the Supreme Court Marshal responded by pointing out that his state lacked—wait for it—constitutional authority to stop the protests. See Joe Patrice in Above the Law, Supreme Court Officials SHOCKED To Learn That Supreme Court Rules Apply To The Supreme Court. As Patrice notes in his article, the Supreme Court Marshal did not act on her own; she was directed by a justice (or justices) who should have a passing familiarity with the Constitution.

In Dobbs, Alito wrote that the Court could not—and should not—consider the real-world consequences of stripping women of the constitutional liberty to control their reproductive choices. (“This Court has neither the authority nor the expertise to adjudicate . . . conflicting arguments about the effects of the abortion right on the lives of women.”) Having turned their backs on the real-world “effects” of their decisions, the justices should not be surprised when their decisions puncture the comfortable bubble that typically insulates them from the chaos of “the little people” who must live under the scourge of the Court’s decisions."

Robert Hubbell has an idea for getting control of the Supreme Court.

[link:https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/a-modest-proposal|

"Restrict the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to those cases in which the justices who participate in the review and disposition of the cases (a) have no conflict of interest and (b) sign and file affidavits affirming they have no conflicts of interest. If a justice with a conflict of interest recuses themselves, the Court can exercise appellate jurisdiction. "

" Fix the Court has compiled a list of recent conflicts, including the following:

Justice Scalia attended Koch Industries-backed retreat in Palm Springs in 2007, a time when Koch was bankrolling several litigants with cases before the Supreme Court;

Justice Scalia flew on a private plane to stay for free in a $700-per-night room at the ranch of a businessman whose company had a case before the Court the prior year (Scalia voted favorably for the company).

Justice Barrett refused to recuse herself from a case involving Americans for Prosperity, which spent more than $1 million to help get Barrett confirmed.

Justices Alito and Kavanaugh met at the Supreme Court with the head of the National Organization for Marriage when it was appearing before the Court to urge opposition to the inclusion of gay and lesbian workers under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Although the Court granted protections to gay and lesbian workers, Alito and Kavanaugh dissented.

Justice Gorsuch failed to recuse himself from a case involving Penguin Random House when Gorsuch had earned more than $650,000 from his book contract with Penguin Random House since becoming a justice.

It is debatable whether Congress can force Supreme Court justices to adopt an enforceable code of ethics. But the Constitution provides that Congress can restrict the appellate jurisdiction of the Court, as provided in Article III, Section 2:

[T]he Supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.

Congress has restricted the Court’s appellate jurisdiction in the past, and justices of the Court have repeatedly recognized the right of Congress to do so. See Joshua Zeitz writing in Politico, Opinion | How the Founders Intended to Check the Supreme Court’s Power. "