49 thoughts on “Past Present”

  1. Horsey’s op ed to the ‘toon above

    Is this 2024 or 1934? | The Seattle Times

    Ah, springtime. A time of renewal, of blossoming, of light and warmth and … fascism? Like budding flowers, the ominous signs are sprouting everywhere.

    A once great political party is in thrall to a leader with strong authoritarian inclinations. Independent party officials are replaced with the leader’s toadies and relatives.

    In fear-inducing speeches, the leader rants about outsiders “poisoning the nation’s blood.” He calls his political opponents “vermin” who must be driven out and jailed. He predicts a “bloodbath” if he is not elected president and urges his followers to “defend the vote” — code for “do anything to win.”

    The leader disparages democratic allies and consorts with the foreign autocrats that he emulates. Like them, he depends on a steady stream of lies and distortions to bend reality in his favor.

    The leader’s supporters forgive his crimes, believe his lies and have demonstrated they are willing to fight police and storm the Capitol to preserve his power.

    This spring, 2024 in the USA feels too much like 1934 in Germany.

  2. 2024 or 1934 or 

    even more like

    1984 George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty-Four - Paperback

    as Wiki describes:

    Nineteen Eighty-Four (also published as 1984) is a dystopian novel and cautionary tale by English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell’s ninth and final book completed in his lifetime. Thematically, it centres on the consequences of totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and repressive regimentation of people and behaviours within society. Orwell, a democratic socialist, modelled the authoritarian state in the novel on the Soviet Union in the era of Stalinism and Nazi Germany. More broadly, the novel examines the role of truth and facts within societies and the ways in which they can be manipulated.

  4. kimmel last night:

    The NCAA Tournament is underway and Gonzaga played their first game, the Dodgers fired Ohtani’s translator yesterday for allegedly stealing Ohtani’s money to cover gambling debts, a royal update on Kate Middleton, Donald Trump is having a tough time coming up with his $464 million bond, he is now considering 15 candidates for his running mate including Florida Senator Marco Rubio, there are a bunch of crazy A.I. photos of Jesus on Facebook, and we get a visit from Crab Jesus!

  5. Biden forgives $6 billion in student debt. Here’s who qualifies. (msn.com)

    The Biden administration on Thursday said it is forgiving almost $6 billion in student debt for 77,700 borrowers, with those recipients scheduled to receive an email from President Joe Biden alerting them about their debt cancellation. 

    The people who qualify for the latest round of student loan forgiveness are public service employees, such as teachers, nurses, social workers and firefighters, the White House said in a statement. On a per-person basis, the forgiveness amounts to about $77,000 per person.

    [continues]

    but before that announcement was John Oliver’s show this past Sunday on same subject.  click here for

    With over 43 million Americans paying off student loans, John Oliver discusses how so many people have come to take on student loan debt, why it’s so hard to pay off, and what we can do about it, mama.

  6. happy trails, craig. see you on the other side.

    take your pick for whichever get well message is applicable

    What To Say In Get Well Card After Surgery

    or

    Hip Replacement Funny Humour Card get well 5023291302306 | eBay

  7. slamming the door on his way out

    Ken Buck’s parting gift to GOP: Signing Democrats’ Ukraine discharge petition (axios.com)

    Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) on Thursday dealt one final blow to House Republican leadership one day before leaving Congress by signing Democrats’ foreign aid discharge petition.

    Why it matters: Buck is the first Republican to sign onto that discharge petition – or any Democratic discharge petition this Congress – amid GOP concerns about surrendering the House floor to Democrats.

    Driving the news: The discharge petition, which would force a vote on the Senate’s $95 billion aid package to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, is now up to 188 signatures with Buck, according to the House clerk’s website.

    What he’s saying: Buck, whose resignation from Congress takes effect on Friday, told reporters “we’ve got to fund Ukraine and help people who are yearning for freedom.”

    • Buck said he talked both to Fitzpatrick and several Democrats about signing the petitions.
    • Buck said he likes Fitzpatrick’s discharge petition, in particular, because it “also covers the border.”

     

    Between the lines: A quirk in House rules allows Buck’s signature to count towards 218 until his district votes in a special election to replace him.

    • The special election is scheduled for June 25 and is likely to result in a conservative replacement disinclined to support either discharge petition.

    Context: Buck has proven a persistent thorn in Republican leadership’s side during this congressional session. He has vocally criticized efforts to impeach President Biden.

    • On Tuesday night, the House Freedom Caucus — a right-wing group of which Buck has long been a member — voted to kick him out.

  8. Ken Buck’s ass.  

    If he really gave a shit about anything he’d do the right thing:  stay in place and switch party to become a Democrat or at very least vote with them. Any reason he comes up with for not doing that is total horse shit.

  11. Craig, rest easy – until the damn PT comes in and says “Get out of bed – we’re walking to the door.”
    From Jennifer Rubin’s piece yesterday.

    New York judge’s ruling on evidence couldn’t have gone worse for Trump

    By Jennifer Rubin

    Four-time indicted former president Donald Trump suffered arguably his worst loss(es) in any criminal matter this week when, in his New York trial for alleged falsification of business records, Judge Juan M. Merchan ruled against him in virtually all of his motions to exclude evidence. By contrast, the judge largely granted Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s motions to exclude evidence for trial that Trump believed might be exculpatory. That does not bode well for Trump’s chances to avoid conviction when the case goes to trial, likely in a few weeks.

    Trump, for example, moved to exclude testimony of former fixer Michael Cohen on the grounds Cohen is “a liar.” The court rebuked this desperate move: “This Court has been unable to locate any treatise, statute, or holding from courts in this jurisdiction, or others, that support Defendant’s rationale that a prosecution witness should be kept off the witness stand because his credibility has been previously called into question.” Trump’s lawyers can cross-examine Cohen at trial.

    Trump also tried to keep back evidence of his intent to influence the 2016 election (a material part of Bragg’s case) and his intent to defraud. Having already ruled on these issues, Merchan scolded Trump’s counsel: “Rearguing this Court’s prior rulings in this manner is procedurally and professionally inappropriate and a waste of this Court’s valuable resources.” These motions were denied.

    Trump also wanted to exclude evidence regarding a meeting in which Cohen, Trump and David Pecker (onetime head of American Media Inc.) discussed the “catch and kill” scheme to keep evidence of Trump’s sexual transgressions from voters. Since this evidence is directly germane to the issue of Trump’s intent to defraud, this motion also failed.

    Merchan rebuffed Trump’s attempt to block the testimony of two people with damaging stories to tell about him. While excluding any of the lurid details of Trump’s interaction with them, Merchan nevertheless found: “The steps taken to secure the stories of [Dino] Sajudin and [Karen] McDougal complete the narrative of the agreement … stemming the flow of negative information that could circulate about Defendant before it reaches the public eye.” He continued, “Locating and purchasing the information from [Stormy] Daniels not only completes the narrative of events that precipitated the falsification of business records but is also probative of the Defendant’s intent.” Evidence of Daniels’s polygraph test was excluded (although there is no indication Bragg intended to use it).
     
    Likewise, the judge rejected Trump’s effort to exclude evidence including the “Access Hollywood” tape (the scandal that precipitated Trump’s effort to silence other women), Trump’s violation of federal campaign finance law (one rationale for elevating the crimes to felonies), Cohen’s guilty plea (although it cannot be used to prove Trump’s intent) and classification of the hush money as “promotional” expenses for AMI. Merchan also rejected Trump’s attempt to reargue that he and his organization were distinct entities.
     
    Most important, Marchan refused to exclude more than 100  Trump statements since these can be classified as “admissions against interest.” Despite Trump’s plea, he will also allow in Allen Weisselberg’s notes, if the prosecutor shows they are business records.

    In sum, the lion’s share of the evidence that Trump views as damaging will be heard by the jury. This underscores the quantity and strength of the facts that implicate Trump. It surely explains why he has been desperate to avoid trial.

    Even worse for Trump, the judge granted the prosecutor’s key motions to exclude evidence and arguments that Trump hoped would sway the jury in his favor. Merchan knocked out most of Trump expert Bradley Smith’s potential testimony. “The People’s motion is granted to the extent that Smith may not testify as a lay (fact) witness; offer opinion testimony regarding the interpretation and application of federal campaign finance laws and how they relate to the facts in the instant matter, nor may Smith testify or offer an opinion as to whether the alleged conduct in this case does or does not constitute a violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act.” (He can testify generally about what the law does.)

    In addition, Trump will not get to introduce evidence that the Southern District of New York prosecutors and the Federal Election Commission declined to bring charges against him. Nor will he get to air his complaint about “selective prosecution” (a favorite excuse from Trump, who whines he is singled out by left-wing prosecutors). He will be barred from offering hearsay evidence about federal prosecutors’ opinions about Cohen’s credibility and from presenting evidence in support of a “reliance on counsel” (or “presence of counsel”) defense. The judge reserved for later the determination as to whether to admit evidence of Trump’s efforts to intimidate and harass witnesses as “consciousness of guilt.”

    […]

    Sometimes when things go badly they can sometimes go REALLY badly.  That would be one of those times. There had to be a lot of chop licking going on in Bragg’s office following those rulings.

  14. who’s behind the curtains of DWAC?  next question is will he really use the money to put up the bond and to pay his lawyers?

    Truth Social merger approved, giving Trump potential source of cash | The Hill

    Shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC) approved a merger with former President Trump’s media startup on Friday, teeing up Truth Social’s stock market debut and a potential $3.5 billion windfall for Trump.

    The long-delayed merger between the blank check company and Trump Media & Technology Group received regulatory approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last month.

    Trump stands to make about $3.5 billion from the deal, given the nearly 79 million shares he would control in the newly merged company.

    The potential windfall comes as the former president struggles to secure a $464 million bond in his New York civil fraud case. Trump’s lawyers admitted earlier this week that it was “impossible” to secure the full appeal bond, due to a lack of cash on hand.

    If Trump cannot secure the half billion-dollar bond by Monday, he could risk the seizure of his assets. The New York attorney general’s office has taken a first step toward seizing Trump’s golf resort and private estate known as Seven Springs, after filing judgments in Westchester County.

    Entering a judgment in the counties where Trump owns properties is the first step toward attempting to recover them.

    A judgement has already been entered in New York City, where Trump’s civil fraud trial took place and where the former president’s famous 40 Wall Street and Trump Tower properties are located.

    Despite the potential windfall coming his way, Trump won’t be able to immediately access the money, due to a provision that prevents insiders from selling new shares for six months.

  15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_World_Acquisition_Corp

    “On June 29, 2023, three people were arrested on charges that they had illegally traded DWAC based on nonpublic knowledge before the proposed merger was announced in 2021.[16]

    “The founder of the DWAC SPAC, Miami banker Patrick Orlando, had been discussing the deal with Trump since at least March 2021, as The New York Times reported days after the TMTG deal was announced. This may have skirted securities laws and stock exchange rules, since SPACs are not allowed to have a target company in mind prior to going public.”

    “In October 2021 it was reported, based on information provided by congresstrading.com, that House representative Marjorie Taylor Greene(R-GA) had purchased between $15,000 and $50,000 DWAC shares after the Trump merger was announced.[25][26][27]

  16. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/02/03/trump-social-dwac-investigation/

    “Trump and Trump Media have not been accused of wrongdoing in the case. But Trump Media has been blocked from accessing the $300 million it expected to receive through the merger — money that it could use to build out Truth Social, Trump’s main online megaphone, ahead of the November election.”

    “Rejected by banks and lenders over the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and his long history of bankruptcies and business failures, Trump had approved the merger of his company with a special-purpose acquisition company as a way to raise money in the months after he lost the White House. Often called “blank check” firms, SPACs promise access to public stock investors with fewer financial disclosures than a traditional corporate listing requires.”

    “Trump allies have claimed that the SEC’s delay in approving the merger proves he’s being persecuted by the Biden administration. But the cache of investigative documents, submitted as part of the pretrial discovery process ahead of a spring trial of those already charged, shows the investigation went far beyond the SEC.”

    “One investor, the Miami Beach businessman Anton Postolnikov, had amassed a huge stake in Digital World. Postolnikov, who was born in Russia and is the nephew of a longtime Russian government official, sold most of his stake just days after Trump’s announcement sent the stock soaring, according to an FBI agent’s search warrant affidavit. His profit: $22 million.”

    “Another, a Ukraine-born nightclub manager turned private equity investor named Michael Shvartsman, told his business partners and a neighbor about the moneymaking opportunity, according to the affidavit — before securing $18 million in profits for himself.”

    “Those profits caught the attention of federal officials, who launched a sprawling investigation into Digital World’s investors, the details of which raise questions about how Trump, who built his political reputation in part on having mastered “the art of the deal,” ended up committed to a business arrangement that federal agents now allege was undermined from its inception by financial fraud.”

    “The documents also reveal that FBI agents secretly tracked the holiday travel to Mexico of a Digital World board member so he could be intercepted on his return to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, where Customs and Border Protection officers commandeered his iPhone.”

    “In July, Digital World saidit would pay $18 million if the merger goes through to settle SEC charges that it had misled investors and violated rules designed to counter fraud. Digital World said last month in anSEC filing that investigations by the SEC and Justice Department could “delay, materially impede, or prevent” the merger.

     

    “The meeting came one month after Orlando had signed a registration statement filed with the SEC saying Digital World had not “initiated any substantive discussions, directly or indirectly, with any business combination target.”

    “But messages included in an FBI affidavit indicate that Trump’s company was part of the conversation in the meeting. In an email shortly afterward, Garelick wrote that he and Shvartsman had talked with Orlando about the “future payment processing needs for the Trump Media Group.”

    “One executive at Rocket One, Allen Beyer, told the firm’s leaders after the meeting that he was underwhelmed, writing in a text message that Trump’s last online venture, a blog, “was an embarrassment” and that the idea of an app just for “Forever Trumpers” would “be a bust,” the affidavit said. “Would you ever be associated with this as a ‘founder’ or anything in case it goes up in literal flames?” Beyer wrote. He did not respond to requests for comment.
    In December 2021, more than $16 million had been moved from a Rocket One brokerage account into two OptimumBank accounts in Shvartsman’s name, the indictment said. From there, the money was shuttled into a “wash account” that Shvartsman’s company Transact First had used to transfer millions of dollars in a single day, an HSI agent said in an affidavit for a bank-account-seizure warrant later signed by a judge.

    “The account’s “sheer volume of high-dollar transactions” made it a “convenient tool to conceal the proceeds of illegal activity,” according to the affidavit. Over the next several months, it alleged, millions of dollars filtered from that account into another bank account in Shvartsman’s name.”

    “Trump Media later received a $2 million promissory note from a lender called ES Family Trust, Digital World said in an SEC filing last year. According to media reports, the trust’s only named trustee, Angel Pacheco, says on LinkedIn he is also a director at Paxum, Postolnikov’s bank.”

    Messy, messy, messy!

  17. NBC has hired Ronna McDaniel.  Now ain’t that just ducky.  

    Maybe they think they have a good reason to become dead to me.

    Serves to remind what people are in charge of media. “Corporate” media.

  18. The WSJ article from last month says tRUMP Media expected to make about $300 million from the merger. 

    patD’s article from The Hill says $3.5 billion.

    That’s a huge difference.

    Why did the SEC approve the merger with all of the money laundering, etc., going on with foreign nationals?

    What gives?

  19. Sturg – Maybe Ronna gives them an air of we’re-not-the-liberal-media and will draw moderates and indies further away from tRUMPsky, assuming they aren’t invested in the lies of Fix Noise.

  20. https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/federal-government-shutdown-03-22-24/index.html

    “Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene files motion to oust House speaker amid fighting over funding bill”

    “GOP opposition after bill passes: Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene filed a surprise motion to oust Speaker Mike Johnson in anger about the government funding bill that just passed in the House. The House would have to consider it within two legislative days after she is recognized.”

    I think a few Republicans should vote for Hakeem Jeffries, in addition to all Dems, and solve the Putin/tRUMPsky influence in the House. Make the minority whip SOTH.

    “What’s at stake: If the Senate doesn’t pass a bill before the deadline, a temporary lapse in funding would take place, triggering a partial shutdown. A number of critical government operations and departments need to be funded.”

    “House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik dismissed GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s effort to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson.”

    “Republican lawmakers who spoke with GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene told CNN that her plan is to use the two weeks of recess when the House is not in session to figure out when to bring the motion to vacate against Speaker Mike Johnson.”

  26. Large Marge—The Red Queen.  

    Can you even imagine if this freak had any real power?

    Time for republicans to jump ship. High time.

  31. Dems offering to keep Johnson in the speakers seat in exchange for a Ukraine aid bill.  The gqp will have a one seat majority come April 19.  Very interesting. 
     
    I am still interested in reading the report of his life with young men and where his money is. The former party now magat is working hard at not governing.

  32. I do hope she’s able to kick Oliver Cromwell Johnson out of the speaker chair.  That part is happy time.   

  33. Physical therapist just came and we went for a walk with walker. So far hospital staff and patients on this floor are 85% Biden voters. Trump, RFKjr, undecided in single digits.

    I do bias the sample a bit. First tell them “I like Joe Biden. What do you think?”

    Nurse had a great line: “He has a good heart. That other one needs a replacement”

  38. Olbermann:
    Hey look
    @nbcnews
    just hired somebody worse than
    @kwelkernbc
    : Ronna McDaniel Make no mistake what this is: all news orgs think “how do we survive if Trump seizes control and the U.S. goes fascist?” Hiring this POS is their unscrupulous idea of an answer

  40. https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/22/media/ronna-mcdaniel-nbc/index.html
    “McDaniel has a lengthier history attacking the progressive cable news channel MSNBC, which she will appear on in her new role. In recent years, she has repeatedly attacked the channel for “spreading lies” and blasted those she described as the network’s “primetime propagandists.”
    “McDaniel was involved in a phone call in 2020 to pressure Michigan county officials not to certify the vote from the Detroit area, where Joe Biden had a commanding lead. McDaniel told the officials, regarding the certification: “Do not sign it. … We will get you attorneys.”

    “NBC’s hiring of McDaniel, however, plays into a recent trend at the network’s outlets, which has seemingly softened its stance on Trump as he inches toward the Republican nomination for president.”

    “MSNBC has even started carrying Trump’s remarks live on television, a practice that the network boasted for years it would not do. Star host Rachel Maddow, who has said carrying Trump’s lies on the air is dangerous, even objected to the network broadcasting a recent speech from the presumptive Republican nominee, calling it “irresponsible.”
     
     
    NBC trying to give an air of legitimacy to fascists?   I guess SNL will now be the only counter-programming on the network.

  43. https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/investors-greenlight-trumps-6-billion-social-media-deal-2024-03-22/

    “While the next step would be for the deal to be completed next week, its future is fraught with uncertainty. Digital World’s former CEO Patrick Orlando and former Trump business associates Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss have separately sued to ask for more shares for their previous work on the deal.”

    “It is unclear how and when these cases will be resolved. Even if the deal gets completed next week, Trump will not be allowed to sell any of his shares in the combined company for six months or borrow against them, based on terms he previously agreed.”
     
    Yep, but if he can promise whomever holds his bond that he’ll be flush with cash six months after the merger, they might agree to bail out his sorry backside. 

    “Buying the stock “will help President Trump get his bond, buying 4 shares by all will benefit all,” Truth Social user @racinrob wrote in a post this week.”

    “Digital World’s shares tumbled over 10% on Friday following the deal’s shareholder approval.”

  46. Fanciful thought would lead me to the belief that gop congresspersons are going to begin the resignations—first one here, then one over there, then another there again—until there’s going to suddenly be a log jam of gop rats crowding the hawsers trying to get out of the way of the oncoming tsunami of consequences.
     
    Look out, Yon Yohnson from over in Wisconsin….i think you’re up next?

  47. David A. Lustig
     

    @drdave1999

     

    NBC: We really wanted Eva Braun, but we were told that she isn’t available, so we had to settle for Ronna. We’re confident in her ability to erase every vestige of credibility we had remaining.

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