Attribution: Computer Overlord takeover by Dave Whamond, Canada, PoliticalCartoons.com
Question is will it be by machine, by magaTs or by Mr. Artificial himself?
Might as well lay back and deplore it no matter which.
User-Supported News Commentary Hosted by Craig Crawford
Spare me the sanctimonious crap about Biden pardoning Hunter. Quite rich coming from people who voted for a convicted fellow who pardoned a bunch of his crime pals. Who pardoned his son-in-law’s disgusting father and is now trying to make him Ambassador to France. Who will probably pardon himself, just to be safe. Who says he will pardon J6 rioters who attacked the police.
I’m not a fan of what-about-ism but in this case it fits.
Barb McQuade
Eric Holder
Poobah, absolutely. One thing the Dumbass “team” cannot, or at least should not attempt is criticism of any pardon issued by Joe. They have no standing to exclaim such criticism given Dumbass’ history of pardons. Of course the pardon of Hunter will be held up as justification for any pardon issued by DA in his upcoming term, but it’s a virtually unlimited power, so let them whine about the criticism that arises for his pardons and try to justify them. God knows they won’t be able to defend them on their merits.
We haven’t seen a pardon as sweeping as Hunter Biden’s in generations – POLITICO
The “full and unconditional” pardon is aimed at protecting the president’s son from future prosecution by the Trump Justice Department.
Got that out of my system.
Now to topic: my experience thus far with AI has been pretty good. I use the “co-pilot” on my new windows 11, combined with voice to text, for some interesting conversations. We even swap recipes.
For instance, I just asked: “Is Donald Trump an autocrat”
Got this diplomatic response:
Just asked AI, “Are marshmallows a good idea on sweet potatoes?”
Biden shouldn’t stop there. A lawless administration is about to take power to terrorize its political enemies. Further torturing Hunter would just be the beginning. Liz Cheney, Jack Smith — heck, even Jimmy Kimmel — should all get sweeping preemptive pardons. Seriously!
Another Way To Appoint MAGAts Without Senate Confirmation
Ok, this is in the weeds — DBI, “dull but important”, as we used to say in the newsroom.
A smart dude, Harvard law professor and Lawfare co-founder Jack Goldsmith writes at length about a workaround Trump could use to install his thugs without Senate confirmation that doesn’t involve recess appointments. Here’s an excerpt. Read More Here.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett:
Poobah, we are of the same mind on the pardons. But I suspect you knew that. I would broaden it to every member of the J6 committee. I believe they all look the same to Dumbass and Patel.
Anyone who voted for the adjudicated rapist/convicted felon/document stealer who attempted to overthrow the the government should not be whining about Hunter being pardoned.
I’m actually relieved he was pardoned, but as with any forthcoming pardons from President Biden, I’m wondering if they will be honored or if this country will be 100% beyond the rule of law after noon on January 20th. Will Orange Adolf care?
Add to the J6 committee, all of the prosecutors and judges on all of the many cases that were against tRUMPsky, plus General Milley, Mike Pence and others who spoke out against him, and late night talk show hosts (he seems to have the biggest burr under his saddle from Kimmel).
Maybe someone will start to think it’s a good idea to put some limits on the Presidential Pardon Power?
Found this really uplifting Jane Fonda video on aging aired on CBS Sunday morning..
today’s meme…
Ivy,
It would take a constitutional amendment to limit Art. II, Sect. 2, Clause 1 of the US Constitution. I’m not sure 2/3 of the states would agree to a “Free happiness pill” amendment, much less an “Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of this Constitution is herby amended to include the following limitations on the pardon and reprieve power of the President: (a) No stupid pardons….”
Looking at the Trump nominations, it looks as if he is trying to overwhelm the system with really horrible appointments. Advise and Consent can only handle so many eliminations so a lot of them will slide through to do their worst.
Jim Acosta, one of the bright lights still left on cable news, was spot-on as usual this morning talking about Trump again honoring J6 hostages:
Jamie, true that. And with a compliant Senate, WAAAAYYYY too many will.
I am glad Joe didn’t become a sort of martyr once removed and did pardon Hunter. It has become apparent Hunter wasn’t going to be locked up, but now the family can move on.Trump is going to free all those J6 felons unless the more egregious cases would cost him political capital.Kash Patel has reinforced his promise to turn The Hoover into a deep state museum on Day One. I went to Seat Geek for tickets to the museum opening but the message sent back was “What the fu(l< you talkin’ ’bout?”I could vent for ten thousand words about this upcoming Cabinet. You all know what we are in for. Anthony Bourdain once said he would really love to move to Viet Nam. Maybe I’ll take a look on how much it takes to live there…I kind of already know my way around over there. Now I have to drop off the old F-150 truck to get the heater fixed; it done got cold here. Luckily I didn’t freeze coming back from Columbus on Thanksgiving. Now it’s really cold.
Kash Patel has vowed to seek more prosecutions of Hunter. Joe had to pardon him.
craig, according to that politico article linked earlier:
and they also had noted why the need for a broader coverage than usual:
however, hunter still is at the mercy of magaT-loving DOTUS-elect loyalist state govs & AGs out there for any viable violations of state crimes.
Joe had no choice. If there was not a crew of perverts and pickpockets coming in to miscarry justice, it might have been a different story. I don’t care about the faux outrage of even my own governor.
Let’s remember how this all started. In the beginning Trump and his MAGAt mob were only terrorizing Hunter in hopes he would relapse and embarrass the President, jeopardizing his reelection.
Once the tariff-sh/t hits the fan, MAGAts will forget about Hunter and a lot of other lies and nonsense. There’s a lot of buyer’s remorse out there already. Wait until there’s actual inflation, and corporate greed will either have to back off to avoid implosion or double down on greedflation and shrinkflation and take while there’s still something to be taken. The stock market is gonna be a rollercoaster with a lot of death drops. Hunter, who?
I was more worried Joe wouldn’t pardon Hunter. I’m so relieved he did.
Donald Trump will bankrupt middle america. Hope they’re happy.
Zip it, Jeffrey Toobin.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/02/opinion/joe-hunter-biden-pardon-dishonor.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ek4.7REV.VVk6tcOrv4z9&smid=url-share
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/02/opinion/joe-hunter-biden-pardon-dishonor.html
How I larned it:
https://academic.oup.com/book/5430/chapter-abstract/148272683?redirectedFrom=fulltext
Amen.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/02/us/politics/hunter-biden-pardon-decision.html
Orange Adolf pardoned Charles Kushner last time he was prez, and now the orange felon is giving the felon-in-law that he pardoned an ambassadorship.
What about that?
Jared Kushner got billions from Saudis for what? Top secret intel?
As Ivy said yesterday, Biden had to pardon Hunter because tRUMPsky won the election. There is no dishonor in protecting someone if you can. All of this “taking the high road” has gotten Dems nowhere.
I hope there is a boatload of pardons in the works, especially preemptive pardons.
I hope every country that isn’t in cahoots with Putin will give tRUMPsky absolute hell at every turn.
I hope there are enough folks with buyer’s remorse to do whatever they can to make sure this isn’t the end of our democracy, like voting straight Dem in the midterms to take back Congress, bigly.
BID, valid points, plus repubs can always be counted on to take the lowest road they can find; so you’re just as well to cut them off at the pass, like Joe did, and no apologies needed.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/pete-hegseth-trump-allegations-history-b2657456.html
“Pete Hegseth accused of chanting ‘kill all Muslims’ on a drunken night out”
“Besides Hegseth drunkenly yelling the hateful Islamophobic chant, a whistelblower report alleged that he had to be stopped from storming a dancers’ stage at a Louisiana strip club.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/02/pete-hegseth-non-profit-allegations
“President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, was reportedly forced out of two leadership roles at veteran-focused non-profits amid allegations of financial mismanagement, drunkenness and sexist behavior.”
“…Hegseth’s behavior at two organizations where he held leadership positions: the Koch-backed group Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) and the “AstroTurf” billionaire-backed Vets for Freedom (VFF).”
“A whistleblower report accused Hegseth, who was CEO, of appearing frequently drunk at CVA social events, fostering a hostile work environment for female staffers and spending non-profit funds on personal expenses.”
“I’ve seen him drunk so many times. I’ve seen him dragged away not a few times but multiple times. To have him at the Pentagon would be scary,” a former staffer told the magazine.”
“At VFF, a former associate told the magazine that Hegseth had effectively run it into the ground, spending in a way that nearly forced the organization into bankruptcy. The findings of a forensic accountant hired by the organization’s donors were described as “appalling”, and one former staffer described parties that, “could politely be called trysts”.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kash-patel-fbi-trump-maga-merchandise-b2657380.html
“Earlier this year, Patel promoted pills that claim to reverse the effects of the Covid-19 vaccine. Marketed under the trademark “Nocovidium,” the pills from a company called Warrior Essentials actually simply contain common dietary supplement ingredients including turmeric extract, green tea extract and vitamin D.
“Spike the Vax, order this homerun kit to rid your body of the harms of the vax,” Patel said in a Truth Social post promoting the pills in February.”
“Patel has also penned three children’s books as part of the Plot Against the King trilogy, featuring himself as a wizard called the “Distinguished Discoverer” defending “King Donald” from villains. The three main villains are: “Hillary Queenton,” “Sleepy Joe” and “Comma-la-la-la.”
“The first instalment, which Patel called the “first ever children’s Russiagate book,” follows a story that the FBI started investigating Trump’s 2016 campaign’s alleged ties with the Kremlin based on the Steele dossier.”
“Patel also authored his 2023 memoir Government Gangsters where he called for a purge of government employees who undermine the president’s agenda.”
“Patel’s other ventures include his charity, the Kash Foundation, which was set up to provide legal defense funds to whistleblowers, according to its website.
The charity’s store also includes a suite of merchandise from Patel’s “K$H” brand, including playing cards with himself as the king and Hillary Clinton as the joker and apparel with Trump’s hair photoshopped on a Punisher skull in a range called “Orange Man Black.”
“According to tax filings for 2023, the charity’s revenues rose to $1.3 million last year, from $182,000 in 2022. The foundation listed expenses of $674,000, with about $425,000 spent on advertising and marketing.”
WTF? Not only should they all be required to undergo background checks and confirmation hearings, but they need full psych evaluations!
NEW THREAD