Just One Thing: Just finishes hit-job against Trump family
On Friday, a New York judge ordered Donald Trump to pay $355 million in penalties and his sons to each pay $4 million more, and for the former president to be barred from 3 years for being an officer or director of any New York company…and two years for his sons. Since The Trump Organization is a family business, and those three guys really run it, if this penalty is upheld, new leadership will need to be found in for a famously insular company. I stipulate that Trump lied about the values of some real estate. So what? There is precisely zero evidence that any person or company was harmed. ZERO. Furthermore, the fact that New York Governor Kathy Hochul said that other businesses have “nothing to worry about” shows this case to be the political hit job we all know it is.
Trump was fined $355 million, barred from his NY business temporarily. What's next? (msn.com)
Trump Q&A: How much does he owe and how fast is the $355M tab growing? | The Hill
Hochul tells NY businesses not to fear about Trump verdict: ‘Nothing to worry about’ (msn.com)
All that said, I would like to push back on the MAGA folks who are arguing that the goal of the prosecutions of Trump are to cause him to die in prison as Alexei Navalny just did in Russia (where he was likely poisoned by Putin's henchmen.) This is nonsense. Even if convicted, it's extremely unlikely that Donald Trump will ever see the inside of a jail cell. And only the most blinded-by-Trump-hatred Democrats would want him to because it would turn Trump into the biggest political martyr in American history, at least in the minds of a significant part of the country. Again, I'm not saying there's no Dem who wants Trump to die in prison; I'm sure there are plenty. But let's not go so far as to compare Trump to Navalny, as Trump himself seems to want to do.
Up next for Trump, a ridiculous prosecution from a prosecutor who hates him in a jurisdiction that hates him. Andy McCarthy thinks Trump will be convicted. In almost any other location, I'd disagree but in New York it could easily happen: Donald Trump Trial: Alvin Bragg Prepares Criminal Version of Letitia James' Civil Annihilation | National Review
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Where art thou, Denver
It's easy to laugh at this, but it's a serious problem and something that the City Council and mayor need to try to fix.
Read the comments to this tweet:
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Today's Guests:
Laura Carno is Founder and Executive Director of FASTER Colorado which trains educators and other school employees how to provide armed defense of schools should it be necessary. We'll discuss a new bill at the state legislature which seems aimed at making the arming of teachers, even in rural districts where law enforcement response times might be 30 min or more, impossible. This as a fairly large school district in Colorado Springs is thinking about arming staff: ASD20 discusses arming staff and teachers | FOX21 News Colorado (Note, the only staff who get armed are those who want to and complete the training....it's NEVER mandatory to participate.)
Here's the bill: School Safety Measures | Colorado General Assembly
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KT McFarland joins us for her monthly visit to KOA. We'll talk about the apparent murder of Alexei Navalny among other major international and US national security stories.
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Other Stuff
Don't know if this is true, but I hope it is: Ukraine says it shot down 2 more Russian fighter jets — extending its streak to 6 in just 3 days (msn.com)
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Immigration and politics:
The politics of the issue within the Democratic Party:
AOC worries progressives will tack right on immigration after Suozzi special election win (msn.com)
Biden’s shift on immigration angers advocates, but resonates with many Democrats | AP News
The president of Mexico understands Biden's quandary as much as Republicans do. But House Republicans are too stupid to take advantage of it. I don't know that AMLO (the nickname for the Mexican president) will get anything he wants but at least, unlike House Republicans, he's trying:
I wish I didn't believe this story, but I do:
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US Senate race news:
This is good for the GOP. Rosendale was the weaker candidate. Trump, unusually, endorsed the right guy.
Don't get caught up in the tweets by blowhards like Mark Levin who say that people shouldn't support moderate Republican Larry Hogan in the Maryland Senate Race. Hogan is literally the ONLY Republican who could win that seat in 2024 and it could massively influence the balance of power in the Senate.
Hogan leads or ties major Democrats in Maryland Senate race: Poll | The Hill
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Some seriously mixed messaging here: Biden to go to UN Security Council to force temporary cease-fire on Israel, halt Rafah offensive | Fox News
The Arab/Muslim population in the US is not very large but there are quite a lot of them in Michigan which is a key swing state. Biden's political people are pushing him to pander to those voters even if it means protecting Hamas. Supporting some of the most evil people on Earth to pander to Dearborn, MI is disgusting.
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Confirms what we knew. There are possible side-effects, esp for younger men (re pericarditis.) The side effects for the Astra-Zeneca vaccine are not relevant for Americans as that vaccine is not approved in the US: Largest multi-country COVID study links vaccines to potential adverse effects | The Hill
It seems clear that for older populations and people with extra health risks, the risks from COVID -- including the risks of those same side-effects -- are worse than the risks of the vaccines: Covid Vaccines Linked To Small Increase In Heart And Brain Disorders, Study Finds—But Risk From Infection Is Far Higher (msn.com)
That said, I expect the study to be quoted and misquoted by folks trying to talk others out of getting a vaccination.
For me personally, I got the first two that I was required to get in order to be able to do many things as part of a normal daily life...and I did not get any boosters beyond that. I don't think COVID poses a risk of serious injury or death for me, but I'm also not afraid of risks of the vaccine. I really just don't want to take the time or money to get the shot. If there were a combined flu and COVID shot that I thought was worth the time and cost, I'd probably take it. But this year, for example, the variants of the flu virus that made it into the vaccine seem to prevent fewer than half of cases because other variants have become somewhat dominant. (At least that's what a doctor told me recently.)
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It's mostly pandering to unions and a little bit of a nod to reality, and it's a good start (I mean in moving away from their insane "electrify everything" nonsense): Biden Administration Is Said to Slow Early Stage of Shift to Electric Cars - The New York Times (nytimes.com) - no paywall!
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Presidential experts rank Biden 14th among presidents in survey, Trump comes in last | The Hill
The only way this happens is with a biased panel of respondents. There is no way Biden should be ranked outside of the 10 or 15 worst. As for Trump, if you include January 6th (when he was still technically president), then he deserves a very low rating. But even then he's probably not fairly ranked last. If you were to exclude January 6, 2021 (and I'm not saying that you should), he'd probably fairly be ranked slightly above the middle.
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I understand that the most hardcore pro-lifers like decisions such as this one but they are electoral gold for Democrats: Frozen embryos are children, Ala. high court says in unprecedented ruling (msn.com)
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I don't have much to add to this. It's important: FBI Director Says China Cyberattacks on U.S. Infrastructure Now at Unprecedented Scale - WSJ
If only we could cut their fingers off so they couldn't use computers anymore: LockBit: FBI and allies seize dark-web site of world’s most prolific ransomware gang | CNN Politics
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Today's Videos
I guess he thinks his arms are longer than they are:
Another great Reagan joke
And Reagan on a much more serious note