Cases, such as Trump's immunity, that are of existential import to the country, may  be decided by five of the nine justices.   Cases taken to be decided by four justices.  Affecting a country of 332 million people. Three justices appointed by Trump, two by W.Bush, one by Daddy Bush.

Federal circuit courts seem riddled with ideologues as part of a concerted effort by Leonard Leo and his billionaires. An egregious example is the Fifth Circuit's upholding of a ban on US enforcement of guidelines in Texas requiring ER docs to perform abortions if necessary to stabilize ER patients  The guidelines, based on the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, can require emergency stabilization even in states where abortion
is banned. And, the Court's rulings use language such as "the unborn child", which seems ideologically revelatory.  The upshot: let'm die.

And, it is becoming apparent that Trump is letting it be known that he expects his Supreme Court appointees to stand back and stand by, in so many words, with his lawyer surrogate saying Trump is worried that these justices will try to appear neutral and make the wrong call.  We will see, at our peril, if the bullying works.

-- Associated Press, January 5, 2024.

"Next by the AP: Julia Child and Jeffrey Dahmer are two famous cooks with different approaches to ingredients."

Ron Filipkowski
@RonFilipkowski
·

Arriving in Iowa tonight, Trump looked a lot like George Washington.

I mean how Washington looks right now

Add the 23,420 votes gained by the fascist DeSantis despite being  a talentless national politician and at the expense of Floridians who will long suffer from his ignorant and cruel laws and policies enacted in his futile quest to out Trump Trump.

Then there is the poor, deluded Haley falling off her surge built of paper money from late-to-the-party high rollers. Off to new Hampshire riding on her third place votes of 21, 085. We can just feel the Haleymentum !!!  Then on to South Carolina, after which she will have more time to spend with her family and to study the Civil War.  Although Trump may no longer call her a "bird brain" and pick her as a running mate thereby giving short shift to slavery.

He wrote more than 100 symphonic, choral, solo instrumental and chamber works. But he was better known, and celebrated, as a musical parodist. Who can forget "The Concerto for Horn and Hardart?"

Quote of the Day
January 18, 2024 at 12:03 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 46 Comments

"For every Karen we lose, there's a Julio and a Jamaal ready to sign up for the MAGA movement."

-- Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), on Newsmax, seemingly arguing Republicans don't need women voters

`Fargo' Season Five Finale: Don't Go the MAGA Way

The names of up to 150 people tied to Jeffrey Epstein were released as part of a massive document dump involving the late sex trafficker.

The documents are now being reviewed by the news media.

Trump Shares Messianic Video About God Sending Him To Save World

And on June 14th, 1946, God looked down on his plan Paradise, and said, I need a caretaker. So God gave us Trump.

God said, I need somebody willing to get up before dawn. Fix this country. Work all day. Fight the Marxists. Eat supper. Then go to the Oval Office and stay past midnight. And a meeting of the heads of state. So God made Trump.

"You could've negotiated that... this is something that could've been negotiated... that was a tough one for our country... if you negotiated it, you probably wouldn't even know who Abraham Lincoln was... that would've been okay."

A North Carolina man who served more than 44 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted in 1976 has reached a historic $25 million combined settlement in a civil lawsuit, his attorneys said Tuesday.

Ronnie Long, 68, settled a civil lawsuit against the city of Concord, North Carolina, about 25 miles northeast of Charlotte, and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, according to Duke Law School's Wrongful Convictions Clinic. Long's total settlement includes $22 million from the city and a previous $3 million settlement with the State Bureau of Investigation.

The clinic, which represents Long, said the settlement is the second-largest wrongful conviction settlement ever recorded. The settlement puts an end to the wrongful incarceration lawsuit that was filed by Long's attorneys in 2021 and also included a public apology from the city of Concord.

Good for him!  But it makes me scratch my head comparing this award to the little or nothing others receive.

Despite no physical evidence connecting Long to the rape and burglary, he was accused of, his attorneys said the prosecution used the victim's identification of Long as their main piece of evidence.

But the prosecution's evidence "was the product of a suggestive identification procedure arranged by the police to target Long, who did not match her original description of the assailant as a 'yellow or really light-skinned Black male,'" the clinic said.

But, thing are about to start changing.  Trump is about to be held accountable.  True, it's a civil case but it's bigly.  And it's about a lot more than money.

And I will predict to you that it's going to be downhill from there.

Trump will never be president.  He won't.  
I have started doubting he will even be the nominee.  Altho I admit I have no idea what might happen instead.  

American voters are idiots.  Trump has been off Twitter and Facebook.  Most people have not been listening to him.  They are about to get a superduper family sized helping of Trump and his ideas for America.

I know most of you probably want to just smack me right now for rubbing it in your faces, but this is unseasonably cold for us even at this time of year, and our house doesn't have central heating. The wet weather just makes it feel colder. We broke out the winter clothes and blankets last night. The dog is cuddled up between my wife and me on the couch, and our three cats are sleeping together in their basket on a nearby chair.

Willis hired attorney Wade to work as a special prosecutor while they had a romantic relationship, according to the filing. Wade, a private attorney, has been paid $653,881, and they've traveled to Napa Valley in California, Florida and the Caribbean, according to the filing. Wade is undergoing a divorce in Cobb County, Georgia, where the records are sealed.

Defense attorney Noah Pines said the optics of the case are bad for other prosecutors.

"What is strange to a lot of people in the legal community is bringing in a special prosecutor and the amount of money he's being paid far surpasses what other prosecutors in the office are being paid," Pines said. "Maybe if he was the Tom Brady of RICO prosecutions it would be understandable, but he's not."

Trump Wins Iowa Caucuses
January 15, 2024 at 8:36 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

"Donald Trump won the Iowa caucuses Monday, a crucial victory at the outset of the Republican primary that reinforces the former president's bond with his party's voters even as he faces extraordinary legal challenges that could complicate his bid to return to the White House," the AP reports.

"The magnitude of Trump's success is still coming into focus, but the former president's supporters endured a historic and life-threatening cold snap to participate in caucus meetings that unfolded in schools, churches and community centers across the state."

The best way I can conceive of doing the selection, needing only a federal statute and no change to the constitution, would be:

1. 6 months before election day, 1000 elected officials (Congress, Governors, Mayors) send in their choice for POTUS.  The top 10 from this poll (perhaps determined by ranked choice) advance to the next step.  
   
2. National Primary Day - 3 months before the November election the country votes as a whole on the 10 candidate from 1. Their party affiliation is not on the ballot. The top 2 (again ranked choice can be used) advance to 3.
   
3. Election Day - Business as usual, electoral college and all.

Tenth Amendment
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.