Gag Order
This has gone beyond ridiculous. It is insane.
The absurdity of a judge having to issue a gag order against a former president which prevented any comments about anyone but the judge or the judge’s family, is not something I would ever see in my lifetime.
The former president, doing what he does best which is bullying, saw an opening and used the weekend to attack the judge and his daughter on social media. This did not sit well with the judge who expanded the gag order on Monday to include the judge’s family. Here are excerpts from Heather Cox Richardson and Joyce Vance on the subject in their respective newsletters from Monday.
Tonight, Judge Merchan expanded the previous gag order on Trump to stop attacks on the judge’s family members. Trump has a right “to speak to the American voters freely and to defend himself publicly,” but “[i]t is no longer just a mere possibility or a reasonable likelihood that there exists a threat to the integrity of the judicial proceedings,” Merchan wrote. “The threat is very real.”
Judge Merchan writes, “To argue that the most recent attacks, which included photographs, were ‘necessary and appropriate in the current environment,’ is farcical.”
The prosecution’s arguments are “compelling” in the Judge’s view and support the claim that Trump’s “conduct is deliberate and intended to intimidate this Court and impede the orderly administration of this trial.” It’s important to stop and remind oneself that this is a former president and the likely nominee of the Republican Party this year who is being characterized, on the basis of his own comments, as a threat to the integrity of the criminal justice system and the rule of law. Trump richly deserves it.
Yet, he is the face of the Republican Party, which is also insane.
NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
Monday night was a classic night in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, and the stars shined the brightest. Paige, JuJu, Angel, and Caitlin are taking the women’s game to a whole new level of interest in America’s sports’ scene. When I choose to watch the Iowa/LSU game over the Tigers and Red Wings games which were playing at the same time, and multiple friends call me or text me about the game, it shows how much these girls have done for their sport. Here are the four girls’ stats for last night’s games.
Min. FG Reb Assts Pts.
Paige Bueckers (UConn) 40 11-23 10 6 28
JuJu Watkins (USC) 39 9-25 10 2 29
Angel Reese (LSU) 36 9-25 20 9 17 3 blocks
Caitlin Clark (Iowa) 40 13-29 7 12 41
On Friday, Paige and Caitlin will be squaring off as UConn and Iowa meet in the national semifinals. I will be watching.
My Quote of the Day, sums it all up best. “It’s too soon to know what the audience ended up being for Monday’s masterpiece of a basketball game. It also doesn’t matter all that much because the two teams met the moment, and everyone who watched that game knows they witnessed athletic excellence. If 7 million people saw it, that’s 7 million people who saw a great game. If 8 million people tuned in, that means even more people chose a good way to spend their Monday evening.” Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic writing about last night’s NCAA women’s basketball game between Iowa and LSU.
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I would be remiss in not mentioning the University of South Carolina women’s team. They are unbeaten at 36-0 and have advanced to the final four for the fourth straight year. As usual, Hall of Fame coach, Dawn Staley, has the Gamecocks on the brink of a national championship.
Israel and Hamas
Following World War II, supporting Israel has been considered a historic duty in Germany. With the casualties in Gaza continuing to mount, the leaders of Germany are now wondering whether that unconditional support should be reconsidered.
Per the NY Times, Days after Hamas launched its Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, was one of the first Western leaders to arrive in Tel Aviv. Standing beside the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, he declared that Germany had “only one place — and it is alongside Israel.”
That place now feels increasingly awkward for Germany, Israel’s second-largest arms supplier and a nation whose leadership calls support for the country a “Staatsräson,” a national reason for existence, as a way of atoning for the Holocaust.
Last week, with Israel’s deadly offensive continuing in Gaza, the chancellor again stood next to Mr. Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, and struck a different tone. “No matter how important the goal,” he asked, “can it justify such terribly high costs?”
With international outrage growing over a death toll that Gazan health authorities say exceeds 32,000, and the looming prospect of famine in the enclave, German officials have begun to question whether their country’s support has gone too far.
The recent deaths of seven foreign aide workers in a accidental strike against the workers will not help.
Per the NY Times. Israeli strikes on an aid convoy in the Gaza Strip that killed seven workers for the charity group World Central Kitchen set off international outrage and prompted an unusual apology from the wartime Israeli government.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has rejected almost unequivocally international criticism over his nation’s prosecution of the war against Hamas, said Tuesday night that Israel “deeply regrets the tragic incident.”
The Israeli military has concluded it was responsible for the strike on the convoy, according to an army official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an internal investigation. Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the Israeli military chief of staff, was expected to review findings of an initial inquiry into the incident on Tuesday evening, the official said.
The carnage in Gaza must stop. The U.S. must make future support of Israel conditional upon an end to Israel’s aggression. Israel has gone way beyond defending Israel. They are now the aggressor.
This is how you handle a screw up.
Yesterday, I gave an Onion of the Day to the NCAA and those involved with the screwup related to the having different three-point lines on the ends of the court in the NCAA women’s regional in Portland, Oregon. Today the company responsible, Connor Sports of the Upper Peninsula in Michigan, apologized for their mistake. They didn’t blame anyone else. They accepted responsibility and fixed the problem immediately.
“We have not had a mistake of this magnitude, on this big of a stage, happen before. There have been errors in the past, but nothing like this.” Connor Sports marketing director Zach Riberdy wrote in an email to The Detroit News on Monday.
A copy of the full article from the Detroit News is in the link below.
Michigan company: 3-point line mismeasurement our biggest mistake (detroitnews.com)
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Quote of the Day: See above in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
Orchid of the Day: Ronel Blanco, Houston Astros pitcher threw a no-hitter in only his eighth career start. He barely made the team out of spring training. He welcomed a second child earlier in the week. I would say it was a pretty good week.
Onion of the Day: The former president. He is an embarrassment to this country with his bullying behavior and disregard for the laws he swore to uphold and protect.
Question of the Day: have Trump and his MAGA supporters driven the Republican Party off the rails?
Video of the Day: RIP Louis Gosset, Jr. From the movie, Officer and a Gentleman, in which Gosset became the first black actor to win an academy award in a supporting role. A classic scene.