Posts Made By: Rod Kaufman

Originally Posted by James Brown

If DOGE does exceed its constitutional authority, I think the cons on the Court will surprise you.   Not everything is politically motivated.

More on Trump's appeal to "emergency" appeal to SCOTUS in regards to his firing of the head of nonpartisan independent agency that protects federal whistleblowers:

"A federal judge in Washington DC issued a temporary order on Wednesday allowing Mr Dellinger to hold on to his position while the case is being considered."

"District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said the firing broke US law which tried to ensure the independence of the agency and protect it from political interference."

"On Saturday, a divided US Court of Appeals in the nation's capital rejected the Trump administration's request to overrule the lower court."

"This court should not allow lower courts to seize executive power by dictating to the president how long he must continue employing an agency head against his will,.."

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgpgeve76qo

Now, I haven't been able to ascertain which judge or why one appeals court judges actually sided with Trump but if it's not on some sort of procedural grounds, that judge should probably have his head examined.  

That said, the fact that an appeals court judge ruled in Trump's favor sets the stage for the appeal to overturn the majority opinion of the appeals court by the conservative members of SCOTUS and I believe it's likely that will happen with the end result being Trump continues to act with impunity as will Musk...

Originally Posted by James Brown

If DOGE does exceed its constitutional authority, I think the cons on the Court will surprise you.   Not everything is politically motivated.

Watch SCOTUS overlook this:    "DOGE appears to be moving in no sort of predictable and orderly fashion," Chutkan said. "This is essentially a private citizen directing an organization that's not a federal agency to have access to the entire workings of the federal government, fire, hire, slash, contract, terminate programs, all without apparently any congressional oversight."

https://abcnews.go.com/US/judge-hear-arguments-musks-authority-lawsuits-administration-pile/story?id=118895817

But even that doesn't seem to indicate the judge in this case is inclined to block Trump/Musk from proceeding with the craziness. 

In other news, the musketeers scramble to rehire the nuke oversearteers they fired not to mention this:

"Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the firings could disrupt the day-to-day workings of the agency and create a sense of instability over the nuclear program both at home and abroad.

"I think the signal to U.S. adversaries is pretty clear: throw a monkey wrench in the whole national security apparatus and cause disarray," he said. "That can only benefit the adversaries of this country."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/doge-firings-us-nuclear-weapons-workers-reversing/

Originally Posted by James Brown

Of course not.  Trump lies a lot and it is the job of the press to call him on it. 

It was not the job of the press and social media to censor discussion of the likely lab-leak origins of Covid, but that is what they did, at the insistence of the Biden administration.  

It was not the job of the press and social media to preemptively deny the legitimacy of Hunter's laptop, but that is what they did, at the insistence of the Biden administration. 

It was not the job of the press and social media to promote the big lie of Trump as a stooge of the Kremlin (Russia! Russia! Russia!),  but that is what they did.

It was not the job of the press and social media to support the third, and possibly most consequential, "big lie" of the past decade, that Biden was/is mentally and physically competent to be president and/or run for another term, but that is exactly what they did.  Surely you remember how the press and social media treated those who tried to argue that Biden was incompetent?  If I were a Democrat I would never forgive the press, the party, and social media for this scandal.

"It was not the job of the press and social media to preemptively deny the legitimacy of Hunter's laptop, but that is what they did, at the insistence of the Biden administration."


"Zuckerberg told Rogan: "The background here is that the FBI came to us - some folks on our team - and was like 'hey, just so you know, you should be on high alert. We thought there was a lot of Russian propaganda in the 2016 election, we have it on notice that basically there's about to be some kind of dump that's similar to that'."

"He said the FBI did not warn Facebook about the Biden story in particular - only that Facebook thought it "fit that pattern".

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62688532

"It was not the job of the press and social media to censor discussion of the likely lab-leak origins of Covid, but that is what they did, at the insistence of the Biden administration. "

" By the time Biden became president, not only were certain government officials heavily invested in the zoonotic or natural origin theory, but so were many in the media."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/opinion-silence-labs-censorship-campaign-153000107.html

"Virologists and epidemiologists back natural origin for COVID-19"

https://www.science.org/content/article/virologists-and-epidemiologists-back-natural-origin-covid-19-survey-suggests


"It was not the job of the press and social media to promote the big lie of Trump as a stooge of the Kremlin (Russia! Russia! Russia!),  but that is what they did."

"Just" his campaign manager: "Manafort was ‘grave counterintelligence threat’ due to Russian contacts, Senate panel says"

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/18/manafort-worked-with-russian-intel-officer-who-may-have-been-involved-in-dnc-hack-senate-panel-says-397597

"It was not the job of the press and social media to support the third, and possibly most consequential, "big lie" of the past decade, that Biden was/is mentally and physically competent to be president and/or run for another term, but that is exactly what they did.  Surely you remember how the press and social media treated those who tried to argue that Biden was incompetent?  If I were a Democrat I would never forgive the press, the party, and social media for this scandal."

I'll take Biden's competence over Trump's any day of the week and twice on Sundays...

"Fact check: Trump makes false claims about January 6, Europe, NATO and Canada"

 https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/07/politics/fact-check-trump-false-claims-january-6-europe-nato-and-canada/index.html

That ain't no so-called Democratic driven suppression of the truth by fact checking it...

"President-elect Donald Trump’s team was given the questions asked by Fox News anchors at an Iowa town hall last January in advance by someone inside the network, according to a forthcoming book, in what would be a serious breach of journalism ethics."

"The report, which Fox said it plans to investigate, comes from the forthcoming book “Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power” by Alex Isenstadt, a national political reporter at Politico."


“About thirty minutes before the town hall was due to start, a senior aide started getting text messages from a person on the inside at Fox. Holy s–t, the team thought. They were images of all the questions Trump would be asked and the planned follow-ups, down to the exact wording. Jackpot. This was like a student getting a peek at the test before the exam started,” Isenstadt writes.

"Isenstadt reports that Trump seriously considered tapping Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo as his running mate, before being talked out of it by his team."

"Bartiromo was a “Trump favorite” Isenstadt reports, after fiercely defending him and conducting “numerous softball interviews with him over the years, including his first on-air sit-down following the 2020 election, for which she had given his team a heads-up on her questions ahead of time.”


https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/08/media/trump-fox-news-town-hall-questions-maria-bartiromo/index.html

"Former White House attorney Ty Cobb, who served in President-elect Trump’s first administration, sharply criticized U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon for temporarily blocking the Justice Department from releasing special counsel Jack Smith’s report on Trump’s two prosecutions."

"Trump, in his press conference Tuesday, praised Cannon as a “brilliant” judge five separate times."

"Asked to weigh in on the press conference and Trump’s use of the term “brilliant” to describe Cannon, Cobb said, “Well, to the extent that she’s brilliant, she’s shining. And the only reason she’s shining is she’s his tool, and he polishes her religiously.”


https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5073356-ty-cobb-criticizes-aileen-cannon/

Originally Posted by James Brown

His biggest regret ought to be opening the borders on day 1.  This was one of the two factors that cost the Ds control of the federal government, and it was entirely his fault. 

He also ought to regret deciding to run in 2023, when he is obviously physically and mentally incapacitated.   I don't blame him for this, since he is clearly mentally incapacitated, but his handlers and the party brass ought to regret this.  A lot.

Also, it is lol funny, in a very sad way, that Biden or his speechwriter, after being wiped out in what they called the most important election of our lifetimes, continues to blame Trump for everything.   Blame the other side, what a classic Trump-like loser move.  

Make no mistake, Trump did not "win" this election, through lies or otherwise.  No, the Democrats lost it.  They alienated their traditional base and barely motivated the "new" rich/white or young/privileged  Ds.   Trump and the Rs outcampaigned the Ds, blew the D ground game away, and won everything except the fund raising race.  

This lame "regret" demonstrates loud and clear that the the Ds learned no lesson from 2023.  If the Rs don't face plant (and they probably will) the Ds don't have a chance in the foreseeable future.  Even if the Rs faceplant, the Ds don't have a chance if they nominate Harris or Newsome next time.  Someone D needs to reconnect with the working class if the Ds are going to have any chance at all.

"Rs faceplant, the Ds don't have a chance if they nominate Harris or Newsome next time.  Someone D needs to reconnect with the working class if the Ds are going to have any chance at all."

Agreed; I've always advocated the need for a moderately conservative Democrat to be a nominee for the party. 

That said, in the case of Trump, one does need to fight fire with fire and the Democrats meekly squeaking like mouses won't ever cut it. They ought to be calling out Trump's lies with their own factual posts, non-stop, in response to any of the lies he continually spreads on a daily basis...

The Dems ought to be going after Trump's grifting, too:


"In the two months since the election, President-elect Donald Trump has urged his nearly 8.5 million followers on Truth Social to buy limited edition guitars that bear his signature and Trump-themed fragrances that “represent winning.”

"A $899 gold-plated inauguration edition was recently added to the line of Trump watches he first launched this summer and his nascent sneaker brand is now offering footwear featuring a state-by-state map of his electoral victory."

"The post-election sales pitches illustrate just how closely Trump’s personal business interests are entwined with his politics."


https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/08/politics/trump-conflicts-of-interest-second-term/index.html

Originally Posted by James Brown

This sort of thing is unbelievable.  Makes me glad I voted against Trump.  Still, I think the Ds best bet going forward is to pretend Trump doesn't exist, if that is possible.  The criminal prosecutions and lawsuits, the impeachments, and the 24/7 coverage of Trump's lies and excesses only served to motivate his base.  If the Ds campaign in 2028 is just a figurative run against "Trump" they will lose.  About 1/2 the Trump voters love him and don't believe he is a lying grifter.  The other half know he is a lying odious grifter, but voted for him anyway because (A) they're Republicans, and they prefer his policies, no matter what scum he is, or (B) the Biden/Harris years hurt them badly.  The new Trump voters fall into camp B.

We agree that a moderate D will be well poised to win in 4 years because people will absolutely get sick of Trump's chaos.  I think that moderate D needs to run on moderate policies though.  At least in conjunction with emphasizing any faceplants/chaos caused by Trump.  Running on the "I'm not Trump" platform alone is not going to cut it, as shown in '24.

" I think that moderate D needs to run on moderate policies though. "

Of course, otherwise they wouldn't be a moderate Democrat in the first place ...

Originally Posted by James Brown

This sort of thing is unbelievable.  Makes me glad I voted against Trump.  Still, I think the Ds best bet going forward is to pretend Trump doesn't exist, if that is possible.  The criminal prosecutions and lawsuits, the impeachments, and the 24/7 coverage of Trump's lies and excesses only served to motivate his base.  If the Ds campaign in 2028 is just a figurative run against "Trump" they will lose.  About 1/2 the Trump voters love him and don't believe he is a lying grifter.  The other half know he is a lying odious grifter, but voted for him anyway because (A) they're Republicans, and they prefer his policies, no matter what scum he is, or (B) the Biden/Harris years hurt them badly.  The new Trump voters fall into camp B.

We agree that a moderate D will be well poised to win in 4 years because people will absolutely get sick of Trump's chaos.  I think that moderate D needs to run on moderate policies though.  At least in conjunction with emphasizing any faceplants/chaos caused by Trump.  Running on the "I'm not Trump" platform alone is not going to cut it, as shown in '24.

Speaking of the unbelievable and the grifting that goes with it, this Rachel Maddow expose on Trump's pick to fire and replace the non-partisan head of the IRS has gone viral with more than a million views in four days and it is definitely worth the time it takes to view it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phb8oUnX3vk