Category: Current Events

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Just a Little Reality Check

From Reluctant Rebel:

David Frum:

But if both Republicans and Democrats, left and right, suffer political violence, the same cannot be said of those who celebrate political violence. That's not a "both sides" affair in 2020s America. You don't see Democratic House members wielding weapons in videos and threatening to shoot candidates who want to cut capital-gains taxes or slow the growth of Medicare. Democratic candidates for Senate do not post video fantasies of hunting and executing political rivals, or of using a firearm to discipline their children's romantic partners. It's not because of Democratic members that Speaker Nancy Pelosi installed metal detectors to bar firearms from the floor of the House. No Democratic equivalent exists of Donald Trump, who regularly praises and encourages violence as a normal tool of politics, most recently against his own party's Senate leader, Mitch McConnell. As the formerly Trump-leaning Wall Street Journal editorialized on October 2: "It's all too easy to imagine some fanatic taking Mr. Trump seriously and literally, and attempting to kill Mr. McConnell. Many supporters took Mr. Trump's rhetoric about former Vice President Mike Penceall too seriously on Jan. 6."

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Getting Down to Brass Tax

From Darwinfish2:

There are now three guaranteed certainties in this life, Death, Taxes, and Republicans trying to get out of paying taxes. I saw this a couple weeks ago and it got me thinking:

First, I don't know who was "crying" about Elon Musk buying Twitter instead of "solving" world hunger. Yeah, it would have been nice for a guy like Musk to spend some of his excessive dough on projects that would better our surroundings. And he likes to pose as quite the philanthropist, but I think he prefers his vanity projects.

And since when can $80 billion "solve" world hunger? There are far too many factors and variables to make it so that no one is ever hungry again. $80 bil wouldn't make a dent. It may help a select group of people for a finite amount of time, but that's not a solution. A serious solution would look too much like Socialism and that's the last thing people who like this meme would want. Or, it might look like this idea from the 80s:

"It occurred to me that there wouldn't be world hunger if you people would live where the FOOD IS!"

But I was really more interested in the IRS bit. This Democrat is thrilled that the IRS is getting rejuvenated. The last administration was keen to let the whole organization whither on the vine and die so that the richest among us could still use all the tax lawyers at their disposal to ensure that the national tax burden rested on the rest of us, and not them.

I don't think the IRS is interested in chasing down us commoners for audits. Where's the payoff in that? (Other than enjoying the sadism.)

If I'm a guy working for the IRS and I want to produce results, where do I look? I look where the money is, with the rich, and not with the working stiffs. Chasing down the average citizen is a waste of time and resources. I'd want to be able to say to my boss at review time, "I recovered X-dollars' worth of unpaid taxes," where "X" is the largest number possible.

Republicans know this, probably because their rich donors pound it into their heads, so they want the IRS to be as under-manned, under-funded, and under-equipped as possible. So when the new funding bill wanted to bolster the T-men, they figured they need to get the commoners good and scared about getting audited by gun-packing federal agents. It's the tax equivalent of the "death squads" they trotted out to make everyone afraid of Obamacare, and just as misleading.

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Bank of America Says the Quiet Part Out Loud

From Mock Paper Scissors:

Guys, if you can believe it, Bank of America is really hoping for widespread unemployment:

The memo, a "Mid-year review" from June 17, was written by Ethan Harris, the head of global economics research for the corporation's investment banking arm, Bank of America Securities. Its specific aspiration: "By the end of next year, we hope the ratio of job openings to unemployed is down to the more normal highs of the last business cycle."

The hope from Bank of America is that more people will be unemployed and workers will have lost this rare moment of bargaining power. Fat cats in corner offices believe that paying workers causes inflation, and not the record-breaking profits from price gouging.

We also note that the Federal minimum wage of $7.25/hr was last updated 13 years ago, and after inflation, people making U.S. minimum wage are earning less now than 60 years ago. That should put a smile on B of A executives vulpine faces.

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? ? ?

The raid on Mar-a-Lago was based largely on information from an FBI confidential human source, one who was able to identify what classified documents former President Trump was still hiding and even the location of those documents."

[source]

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Oh Boo Fucking Hoo

To be filed under: He fucked around and found out.

Lawyer: Arbery shooter fears he'll be killed in state prison

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP)

The white man who fatally shot Ahmaud Arbery after chasing the running Black man in a Georgia neighborhood says he fears he will be killed by fellow inmates if he's sent to a state prison to serve a life sentence for murder.

Travis McMichael, 36, faces sentencing Monday in U.S. District Court after his conviction on federal hate crime charges in February. His defense attorney filed a legal motion Thursday asking the the judge to keep McMichael in federal custody.

Attorney Amy Lee Copeland argued McMichael has received "hundreds of threats" and won't be safe in a Georgia state prison system that is under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department amid concerns about violence between inmates.

On Feb. 23, 2020, McMichael and his father, Greg McMichael, armed themselves with guns and jumped in a pickup truck to chase Arbery after he ran past their home just outside the port city of Brunswick. A neighbor, William "Roddie" Bryan, joined the chase in his own truck and recorded cellphone video of Travis McMichael blasting Arbery with a shotgun.

The killing of Arbery became part of a larger national reckoning over racial injustice amid other high-profile killings of unarmed Black people including George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky.

In Georgia, the McMichaels and Bryan were sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of Arbery's murder in a state court last fall. They have remained in a county jail in custody of U.S. marshals.

In Georgia, the McMichaels and Bryan were sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of Arbery's murder in a state court last fall. They have remained in a county jail in custody of U.S. marshals since standing trial in February in federal court, where a jury convicted them of hate crimes. Each defendant now faces a potential second life sentence.

Once the men are sentenced Monday by U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood, protocol would be to turn them over the Georgia Department of Corrections to serve their prison terms for murder.

That's because they were first arrested and tried by state authorities.

For Travis McMichael, "his concern is that he will promptly be killed upon delivery to the state prison system for service of that sentence," Copeland wrote in her sentencing request. "He has received numerous threats of death that are credible in light of all circumstances."

[Source]

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It's Pathological

But oh, the schadenfreude!

I cannot wait for the J6 Committee to get their hands on Jones' texts.

As the latest defamation trial of Alex Jones wound down to its conclusion, an old saying seemed to become more and more apropos.

How can you tell Alex Jones is lying? His lips are moving.

In the trial that concluded Thursday in Texas, the jury only needed to decide how much Jones owed Sandy Hook parents Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis—parents of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis who was murdered in the 2012 school shooting. Sandy Hook victims in Texas and Connecticut already won a default judgment against Jones for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

As such, it would behoove Jones to only tell the truth while on the stand, under oath. Instead, the InfoWars founder and host was caught in several lies including one about the judge presiding over the trial—Texas District Court Judge Maya Guerra Gamble.

The still grieving parents' attorney Mark Bankston asked Jones' directly if his InfoWars website and program repeatedly shared a meme depicting Judge Gamble on fire.

On the second day of Jones' testimony, Bankston asked:

"You've been broadcasting repeatedly a picture of our judge on fire, haven't you?"
Jones' lawyer immediately objected, but Jones still answered:

"No!"

After Jones' first day of testimony, Bankston called for sanctions against him and his lawyer Adino Reyal for knowingly presenting lies to the jury to influence the ruling.

Judge Gamble chastised Jones for lying and not answering the questions he was asked.

The judge provided explicit instructions and guidance on telling the truth then dismissed the parties for the day.

You can see Judge Gamble's excoriation of Jones here:

In response to being told not to lie, Jones told Judge Gamble:

"I believe what I said was true."

The judge—appearing exasperated—replied:

"You believe everything you say is true. But it isn't. Your beliefs do not make something true."

She later added:

"Your belief that something is true does not make it true. It does not protect you. It is not allowed."

"You are under oath. That means things must actually be true when you say them."

https://twitter.com/BettyBowers/status/1554874601112469505

On Jones' second day of testimony, plaintiffs' attorney Bankston questioned him about using InfoWars to further defame his clients—Heslin and Lewis—during the trial.

Bankston said Jones also used his platform to try to discredit Judge Gamble, but on the stand, under oath, Jones denied it.

Bankston asked:

"In fact, Mr. Jones, you're telling the world not to believe what happens in this courtroom because the judge worked with Child Protective Services, who you say is involved with pedophilia and child trafficking?"

Jones replied:

"No, that's not what I'm saying."

After Bankston shared more damning evidence…

…Jones justified his answer by claiming he didn't direct or produce the InfoWars segment.

He also suggested it might be taken out of context which Bankston disputed.

Bankston responded:

"Is there anything before and after that that will make it great to show pictures of our judge on fire and tell the world that she's involved with pedophiles?"

"Tell the context that comes before or after that makes that great."

Despite being told the day before about the difference between truth, opinion and conjecture, Jones once again chose to lie then backtrack.

People were astounded at Jones' hubris.

https://twitter.com/AnnOkla/status/1555638766433345536

https://twitter.com/ChafedCharlie/status/1554989631535398912

https://twitter.com/ChafedCharlie/status/1554989631535398912

 

On Thursday, the jury awarded Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis $4.1 million.