Question of the Day: Is this the person the Republican Party wants as their standard bearer? Is this the person the country wants as the leader of the free world?
As reported by most news outlets today, the former president was ordered by a Manhattan jury on Friday to pay $83.3 million to the writer E. Jean Carroll for defaming her in 2019 after she accused him of a decades-old rape and sexual assault.
Ms. Carroll’s lawyers had argued that a large award was necessary to stop Mr. Trump from continuing to attack her. The nine-member jury responded by awarding Ms. Carroll $65 million in punitive damages, finding that Mr. Trump had acted with malice. On one recent day, he made more than 40 derisive posts about Ms. Carroll on his Truth Social website.
On Friday, the judge, Lewis A. Kaplan, called in the jury shortly after 4:30 p.m., cautioning, “We will have no outbursts.” The verdict was delivered nine minutes later to utter silence in the courtroom. Hearing the numbers, his lawyers slumped in their seats.
This does not include the $5 million he was ordered to pay to her after it was ruled in a civil suit that he sexually abused her.
Yet, he will be the standard bearer for the Republican Party in November’s presidential election. I just don’t get it.
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The former president wants to make immigration a major issue of his campaign. He accuses the Biden administration of opening the door for terrorists and for fentanyl to pour into the country. In campaign ads he claims Biden’s immigration policies raise “the possibility of a Hamas attack” in the United States. Yet, he doesn’t want a bi-partisan bill approved by the Senate which addresses immigration to come forward at this time, because he doesn’t want the Biden administration to get credit for addressing immigration in this election year.
Does this sound like a person who cares about the country, or does this sound like a narcissist who only cares about himself? Is that who we want to be the leader of the free world?
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As reported in the NY Times today, a Republican-appointed judge on Thursday denounced as “shameless” the attempts by prominent Republican politicians to recast the Jan. 6 riot in a positive light, including by portraying the former president’s supporters who sacked Congress as having done nothing wrong and by calling those convicted of crimes political prisoners or hostages.
Criticizing the rioter, James Little, for displaying “a clear lack of remorse,” the judge used the occasion to also “set the record straight” about what he portrayed as a broader disinformation campaign, citing the evidence he has absorbed from presiding over many Jan. 6 prosecutions. The following is my Quote of the Day
“This is a matter of right and wrong,” Judge Lamberth wrote. “Little cannot bring himself to admit that he did the wrong thing, although he came close today. So, it is up to the court to tell the public the truth: Mr. Little’s actions, and the actions of others who broke the law on Jan. 6, were wrong. The court does not expect its remarks to fully stem the tide of falsehoods. But I hope a little truth will go a long way.”
“In my 37 years on the bench, I cannot recall a time when such meritless justifications of criminal activity have gone mainstream,” wrote Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the Federal District Court in Washington. “I have been dismayed to see distortions and outright falsehoods seep into the public consciousness.”
“I have been shocked to watch some public figures try to rewrite history, claiming rioters behaved ‘in an orderly fashion’ like ordinary tourists, or martyrizing convicted Jan. 6 defendants as ‘political prisoners’ or even, incredibly, ‘hostages,’” wrote Judge Lamberth, a 1987 appointee of President Ronald Reagan. “That is all preposterous. But the court fears that such destructive, misguided rhetoric could presage further danger to our country.”
Judge Lamberth gets my Orchid of the Day
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Yesterday I included the following quote from Mitch McConnell in my blog.“We don’t want to do anything to undermine him. We’re in a quandary”
The quandary he is talking about is one that could have been completely avoided if Mitch McConnel and then House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy would have put America first by convicting the former president on the charges outlined in his second impeachment trial following the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Here is what McConnel and McCarthy said on January 6, 2021, following the attack on the Capitol.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell addressed the January 6 attack on the Capitol in a statement before a reconvened joint session of Congress later the same evening. Here are excerpts of what he said.
“I want to say to the American people the United States Senate will not be intimidated. We will not be kept out of this chamber by thugs, mobs or threats. We will not bow to lawlessness or intimidation. We are back at our posts. We will discharge our duty under the Constitution and for our nation. And we’re going to do it tonight!” 1
In a later speech McConnell said the following, “there is no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day,” and that “a mob was assaulting the Capitol in his name. These criminals were carrying his banners, hanging his flags, and screaming their loyalty to him”.
Here is what Kevin McCarthy said on the day of the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
“The violence, destruction and chaos we saw earlier was unacceptable, undemocratic and un-American. It was the saddest day I have ever had as serving as a member of this institution.“
When it came time for vote on the charges on February 13, 2021, the former president’s reach within the Republican Party was on full display as only 7 Republican Senators voted against the former president. By this date, Mitch McConnel did a complete turnaround and voted for the former president’s acquittal.
Yes, Mitch McConnell, you and the Republican members of congress are in a quandary. A quandary of your own making.
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Every day I appreciate the work of the reporters for Bridge Michigan. Without them, our state politicians could probably get away with murder and no one would have to disclose it. Here are excerpts from an article today on the continued lack of transparency in our state government.
In 2022, when Republicans still controlled the Legislature, the state spent $1 billion in one-time grants. That included $2 million for the Traverse City Curling Club, which has 130 members, and larger ones, including another $15 million grant to help develop the land owned by the company where Robert Schostak, the former state GOP chair is a director, and $40 million to develop a “greenway” around Detroit.
The following year, Democrats took control of the Legislature for the first time in 40 years.
Lawmakers approved another $1.3 billion in onetime pet projects, according to estimates from Schneider, the former budget official.
Grant and LaFave, the former state representative, agree there should be more disclosure and more transparency. “I think that the voters have a right to know,” LaFave said. The money, after all, is taxpayer money, Grant said. “These belong to the people of Michigan. It’s always prudent to ask questions about what dollars are being used for,” Grant said. “It helps keep the system working as it should.”
But that’s not how it has worked, at least so far. Lawmakers decide in private what to put on the big budget wish lists, drafting vague spending descriptions.
I am not judging whether the money has been spent wisely or is not needed. It is about the lack of transparency. We shouldn’t have to depend on a group of diligent reporters to find out information that should be willingly shared with the public. We elect our legislators to represent us, the citizens. As such, the legislators should be more than willing to explain how and why the money is being spent and who will benefit.
Unfortunately, that is not the case in Michigan. More importantly, I have no confidence that this issue will ever be fixed by our elected officials. They are not motivated to do so. They want to keep us at 49 out of 50 in terms of the lack of transparency. Once again, the state legislature gets my Onion of the Day
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Quote of the Day: “There is no bottom for Trump. He is the quintessential school yard bully shaking the small kids down for their lunch money.” A reader of my blog.
Orchid of the Day: Judge Lamberth. See above.
Onion of the Day: The Michigan Legislature, one more time. See above.
Question of the Day: See above in the first section.
Video of the Day: For the Detroit Lions fans.
Gridiron Heroes. The official fight song of the Detroit Lions! (youtube.com)
Biggsie, well done. Great job to end the week!
Boz