The Rule of Lawless 0
The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that Donald Trump’s role in fomenting insurrection disqualifies him from appearing on the 2024 ballot in Colorado under the Insurrection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, an amendment which was passed after–er–an insurrection. This was properly a state matter because, in the United States, individual states are responsible for administering elections.
From the Denver Post:
“We conclude that because President Trump is disqualified from holding the office of President under Section Three (of the 14th Amendment), it would be a wrongful act under the Election Code for the Secretary to list President Trump as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot,” the court’s majority opinion says. “Therefore, the Secretary may not list President Trump’s name on the 2024 presidential primary ballot, nor may she count any write-in votes cast for him.”
Trump is expected to appeal to the Supreme Supremacist Court. (It may be the only time in his long history of litigation that he does not try to draw things our as long as possible.)
I do not think it a foregone conclusion that the Court will accept his appeal or rule in his favor,* but that’s just me.
But if they do accept his appeal, we might finally have an answer to this question:
How many laws must a lawbreaker break before breaking the rule of law?
____________________
*A majority of the Justices might be happy never to hear his name again . . . ..
The Fifth Column 0
Afterthought:
If Dwight Eisenhower, Ev Dirksen, and Nelson Rockefeller came back from the grave, they would be deeply ashamed of what their Republican Party has become.
Heck, for that matter, even Richard Nixon would likely be less than pleased.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Another oxymoronic “responsible gun owner.”
Another car.
Another improperly stored firearm.
Our society’s addiction to lead is killing us.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
In the course of a longer article debunking a rumor that AI bots are being “trained” on DropBox documents, security expert Bruce Schneier observes (emphasis added)
And Round and Round We Go 0
It would seem that Donald Trump’s lawyers’ strategy can be summed up as, “If at first you don’t succeed, do the same thing harder.”
From Above the Law:
Trump never lied on his financial statements. Or if he lied, he had an “ironclad disclaimer clause” that immunized him from prosecution. And nobody was hurt by his fake finances, it’s a victimless crime. Anyway how can there be a “lie” about subjective valuations, it’s all vibes, man. Plus Michael Cohen is a liar, and the state has no authority to bring this case. Also, if the original loan is outside the statute of limitations, then all the annual statements of finance submitted to the lender are time-barred. So, please don’t murder the Trump Org?
Justice Arthur Engoron wasn’t persuaded the first 1,000 times Trump made these arguments, and he didn’t break his streak yesterday. Although, honestly he seemed a little bored with the whole thing.
Aside:
Methinks the point isn’t to win the motion; it’s to delay the arguments.
Delay has always been Trump’s primary strategy when someone wants to call him to account.
Letters of Apology 0
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
These are persons who tried to steal an election and got caught.
Frankly, it would not surprise me if they or their cohorts tried again.
We live in parlous times.
H/T to Job’s Anger.
Lies and Lying Liars 0
Seth takes a closer look at Donald Trump’s poisonous, hate-full rhetoric and perfidious plans and at the right-wing news machine’s attempts to pretend they aren’t.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
It looks like old times there may not be forgotten.
The Black couple said they walked outside to a burning cross facing their home over Thanksgiving weekend.
“There was a cross burning about eight feet from our fence,” Monica said. “We were speechless because we’ve never experienced something like that.”
More at the link.
Fly the Fiendly Skies . . . 0
. . . and meet some oxymoronic “responsible gun owners.”
No There There 0
David dissects the doubletalk.