The Judge Doth Protest Too Much

06 Thursday Feb 2020

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I like Andrew Napolitano. But his obsession with the failed impeachment coup makes me wonder.

The Senate trial of President Donald Trump ended not with a bang but a whimper. What different outcome could one expect from a trial without so much as a single witness, a single document, any cross-examination or a defendant respectful enough to show up?

Law students are taught early on that a trial is not a grudge match or an ordeal; it is a search for the truth. Trial lawyers know that cross-examination is the most effective truth-testing tool available to them. But the search for the truth requires witnesses, and when the command from Senate Republican leaders came down that there shall be no witnesses, the truth-telling mission of Trump’s trial was radically transformed into a steamroller of political power.

And in its wake is a Congress ceding power to the presidency, almost as if the states had ratified a constitutional amendment redefining the impeachment language to permit a president to engage in high crimes and misdemeanors so long as he believes that they are in the national interest and so long as his party has an iron-clad grip on the Senate.

Cross-examination of witnesses they were not even allowed to name? Let it go.

Was There Ever Any Doubt?

05 Wednesday Feb 2020

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impeachment, Not Guilty, Trump

NOT GUILTY

says the Senate. 52-48 and 53-47. Which is one vote better than my preview prediction the other day. The 48th, instead of the 53rd, was, of course, Mittens. Way to go, ~~Massachusetts~~ Utah.

Now, on with the MAGA or whatever.

State of the Onion 2020

05 Wednesday Feb 2020

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state of the union, Trump

Peel back the layers, if you like and while we await the acquittal vote later today.

TRANSCRIPT (VIA C. SLIM’S BLOG)

I didn’t watch last night and I’ve only skimmed the transcript. I must admit he forever keeps up the rhetoric tempo, knowing how to please or rile a crowd. Uh…

This:

Now I call on Congress to give one million American children the same opportunity Janiyah has just received. Pass the Education Freedom Scholarships and Opportunities Act — because no parent should be forced to send their child to a failing government school.

They’d do it anyway; that or send the children to FAILED government schools (probably 50/50 failing/failed).

And this:

That is why I’m also calling upon members of Congress here tonight to pass legislation finally banning the late-term abortion of babies. (Applause.) Whether we are Republican, Democrat, or independent, surely we must all agree that every human life is a sacred gift from God.

A start not likely to get a start.

I’d grade it, but what’s the point? More, from the Senate, later perhaps. For now, carefully scan that transcript. I think a word is missing.

Impeachment Vote Preview

01 Saturday Feb 2020

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impeachment, Senate, Trump

Reverse this vote, and I think you may have the vote for-against removal. A far cry from a supermajority, they’re not going to even have an ordinary majority.

Senate Republicans rejected Democrats’ demands to call new witnesses and documents in President Trump’s impeachment trial, clearing the way for an acquittal on abuse of power and obstruction of Congress charges next week.

The 51-49 vote late Friday afternoon represented a major victory for Republican leadership, which has sought to complete the trial as quickly as possible and avoid testimony that could be politically damaging. Democrats had spent weeks calling for the Senate to subpoena former national security adviser John Bolton and other officials, seeking testimony about Mr. Trump’s efforts to press Ukraine to launch investigations that could benefit him politically.

Two Republicans, Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine, joined every Democrat to vote for the Senate to call in new witnesses. The GOP controls 53 of the Senate’s 100 seats.

Under a resolution that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) introduced late Friday, the impeachment trial will break for the weekend and resume Monday at 11 a.m. EST for four hours of arguments. After those arguments, the trial will adjourn again, giving senators the opportunity to speak on the floor about the charges before returning for a vote on the articles of impeachment at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

Longer deliberations usually (well, sometimes) bode well for the defendant. These have been going on for four years. Interesting that the State of the Union speech is supposed to come on Tuesday.

The Unborn Have Never Had a Defender in the Whitehouse

26 Sunday Jan 2020

Posted by perrinlovett in Legal/Political Columns, News and Notes

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abortion, law, March for Life, murder, Trump

Not since Roe. Still, in a campaign-friendly regulatory manner, Trump has done more than most.

President Donald Trump, seeking to court evangelical voters, addressed thousands of activists gathered Friday on the National Mall for the nation’s largest annual anti-abortion rally.

Trump, who this week revealed his “Pro-Life Voices for Trump” coalition for his 2020 reelection campaign, has strong ties to the anti-abortion community and is the first president to speak onstage at the event. Activists see him as a key ally in delivering policy priorities aimed at limiting abortion that he promised in 2016.

“On behalf of our marchers, I’d like to thank you for your stance and your record,” said Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, as she introduced the president.

Imagine that you observed your neighbor being murdered, and unable to intervene yourself, you called the police for help. And, all that they tell you is BS about elections, funding, and future potential legislative actions. You might say: “What about sending a man with a gun?!”

What about it, Trump? He could do three things to end child murder immediately in the US. First, declare that humans, no matter how young, are humans. Second, direct the DOJ to prosecute anyone who performs or facilitates child murder with federal criminal civil rights charges. Seek the death penalty in all cases. Third, to bypass the process and the wait, he could declare an emergency and halt the practice with the military. The first judge or elected rodent who squeaked about it could get the Soleimani treatment as an enemy combatant. Of course, this is the guy who, when cleared by the Senate on the fake charges against him, will do nothing to those who attempted the coup.

All the while, the children desperately need a defender, even if one fictional. I’m working on that.

Space Force: To Idiocy and Beyond

24 Friday Jan 2020

Posted by perrinlovett in Legal/Political Columns, News and Notes

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for the love of God, green space chickens, Space Force, Trump

For the absolute love of God … this. We’re now Star Trek.

Apparently President Trump thought we hadn’t had enough Star Trek spinoffs for one year.

After literal years of anticipation, President Trump debuted a logo for the “Space Force” he’s been touting his entire presidency. It’s none of the adorable logos he asked Trump email subscribers to vote on about a year and a half ago, but instead a near-exact replica of the Starfleet Command logo from Star Trek.

I wonder what those 40K “people” are saying. Might they be wondering if some of the $6.5-21 Trillion the Pentagram has misplaced these past few decades has been building a fleet of cash-fueled rocket starships? Nah. Any brown people living on other planets had better take cover now. Beam me up, Scotty.

Then Don’t go to War with Them

19 Sunday Jan 2020

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losers, Trump, War

The Trump railed against the professional military that hasn’t won a war (without massive Soviet assistance) in over 100 years – despite constant chances.

Trump is then said to have complained about President Barack Obama’s Iranian nuclear deal, and the length of the war in Afghanistan. Each time, his generals reportedly tried to gently explain why his view of these complex geopolitical issues might not be entirely accurate. It was reportedly during a conversation about Afghanistan that Trump blew his top.

The president reportedly called Afghanistan a “loser war,” and told his military leaders: “You’re all losers… You don’t know how to win anymore… I want to win… We don’t win any wars anymore… We spend $7 trillion, everybody else got the oil and we’re not winning anymore.” It’s reported that Trump was so angry at this point that he wasn’t breathing properly.

In his most incendiary comment, Trump—a man who, remember, managed to get out of military duty in Vietnam due to a supposed bone-spur problem—is said to have told the assembled forces, “I wouldn’t go to war with you people… You’re a bunch of dopes and babies.”

Don’t let them make you do things like instigating a war with Iran, Mr. Trump. I recommend what I call Operation O-6. Fire the admirals and generals and promote the junior officers. Task them with dismantling the empire. If they turn into dopes, then fire them too. Fire more brass, fewer missiles.

Napolitano on Soleimani

16 Thursday Jan 2020

Posted by perrinlovett in Legal/Political Columns, News and Notes

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Andrew Napolitano, Iran, law, Soleimani, Trump, War

The Judge has come back around. Not that he ever left; he and I just had a difference of opinion about some matters Ukranian. But, he’s spot on with the story of the murder of Gen. Soleimani.

The general’s assassination was odd, out of place, untimely and unlawful. Odd, because the general’s folks had worked with our intelligence folks in Iraq against ISIS. Out of place, because the Iranian general was welcomed by the Iraqi government and was not engaged in any violence or war crimes at the time he was killed. Untimely, because whatever he may have been planning to do was not an imminent attack on the U.S. or on Americans. We know this because Trump administration officials revealed that the president gave the kill order seven months ago, in June 2019. How imminent could an attack have been in June if it had not occurred by January?

And unlawful, because we are not at war with Iran, and political assassinations have been prohibited by still valid executive orders signed by Presidents Gerald R. Ford and Ronald Reagan. The U.S. Constitution limits the federal government’s lawful power to kill to foreign troops in wartime and after due process, neither of which abides here. Moreover, international treaties to which the U.S. is party, as well as the laws of war to which the U.S. subscribes, prohibit preemptive killings except when the target is just about — “certainty” is the standard — to strike.

Now, back to the shifting sands of justification.

I imagine those have shifted yet again, not that anyone is watching. More of the same.

Trial of the Century?

16 Thursday Jan 2020

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impeachment trial, Senate, Trump

Probably not. But, the Senate impeachment trial is up and running.

Schiff, standing in the well of the Senate usually reserved for senators, began reading the resolution, “Impeaching Donald John Trump, president of the united states for high crimes and misdemeanors.”

Later in the afternoon, Chief Justice John Roberts was to administer the jurors’ oath to senators who swear to deliver “impartial justice.”

Yawn. Now, back to lunch.

Lie, after Lie, after Lie, after…

14 Tuesday Jan 2020

Posted by perrinlovett in Legal/Political Columns, News and Notes

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Iran, lies, Trump, War, war crimes

It doesn’t really matter?

US President Donald Trump has lashed out against the “fake news media” and their “Democrat partners” over criticism of his administration’s decision to assassinate Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.

The president claimed in tweets marred with misspellings that it does not matter if Soleimani presented an imminent threat to the US, something he had said previously to defend the assassination, because of the general’s “horrible past.”

Trump also accused the media of trying to portray “terrorist Soleimani” as a “wonderful guy.”

Though the president has claimed the January 3 assassination of Soleimani was due to the general planning attacks against US forces and embassies, his own defense secretary admitted on Sunday that he “didn’t see” any specific evidence to suggest those attacks were imminent.

I’m sure they have just as much evidence about the horrible past as they did about the imminent attacks.

AND, what if the following had any truth to it?

The Russian military website refers to an independent investigation that concluded the US is “at least partial US responsibility” in the January 8 tragedy:

“According to experts, the US military had deliberately changed the information on the Ukrainian Boeing 737 flight, making it a real target for the Iranian air defense systems.”

According to data from Pentagon-related sources, several U.S. military planes were observed in the sky in the vicinity of Iran’s airspace, just at the time of the Boeing’s flight departure.

Anomalies were observed on Iran’s radar system, probably due to a cyber attack.

The civilian plane was therefore confused with a fighter plane heading directly for a military target.

“Since the pilot made a U-turn, it is very likely that the US cyber attack had also focused on the navigation system of the Ukrainian Boeing. This is not the first time that Americans have done this type of action, ” said Avia.pro.

What? Nothing, of course. We don’t do the truth anymore in this dead nation. Let nothing interfere with the football and the drugs. Yes, long-time readers, I was on this aviation remote threat five years ago. Good to see the warning was heeded.