Props to the judge’s !….
SOMEBODY has to step to the Trump Bull Shit…
Two lawyers who went to court to claim voter fraud after the 2020 election must pay nearly $180,000 to the defendants they sued, a federal magistrate judge ordered Monday, saying their lawsuit aimed to “manipulate gullible members of the public and foment public unrest.”
The order from Magistrate Judge N. Reid Neureiter of the US District Court in Colorado adds to the federal judiciary’s condemnations of attempts by attorneys supporting then-President Donald Trump to use the courts to vet right-wing conspiracies in the days after the presidential election.
Attorneys Gary D. Fielder and Ernest John Walker will have to pay attorneys fees of $50,000 to Facebook (now Meta), about $63,000 to Dominion Voting Systems, about $63,000 to the non-profit Center for Tech and Civic Life, more than $6,000 to the state of Pennsylvania and nearly $5,000 to the state of Michigan.
“They need to take responsibility for their misconduct,” Neureiter wrote in his order, adding that the lawsuit defamed the defendants….
…
In August, a federal judge in Michigan sanctioned pro-Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Lin Wood, as well as several other attorneys, ordering them to reimburse the attorneys’ fees that the city of Detroit and Michigan state officials paid in seeking the sanctions. The judge said the lawyers, who worked on Trump-aligned lawsuits seeking to challenge election results, had “engaged in litigation practices” that were “abusive and, in turn, sanctionable….
jamesb says
New Open Thread is HERE….
jamesb says
This is a place to have a GOOD time…
To NOT be tooooo SERIOUS…
I have had to say that those other than U…
I HAS gone back to that in the past few weeks…
I want it to stay that way…
The personal stuff is unnecessary and settling scores ain’t what this place is about…
We simply do NOT need it to have a good and comfortable time….
Keith says
Jim Swift: “Over the weekend, Conservatism Inc. found a new scandal to promote: A false report that Nancy Pelosi had purchased a $25 million mansion in Florida, home to 2024 hopeful, Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Trump. To underscore: This story is false. Nancy Pelosi has not bought a $25 million mansion in Florida.”
“But watching how the fake news blew through the conservative ecosystem is illuminating.”
Now, why would Nancy move from beautiful Northern California when she has homes in Presidio Heights in San Francisco and St. Helena in Napa to a hell hole like Florida and a sea of the unvaccinated? Nancy is already making plans for her daughter to replace her in Congress. Tough to do that from Florida. Besides, to some, living in Napa is a crime.
The conservative ecosystem? I guess you could call it that.
jamesb says
How Conservative Media Makes Up News
Jim Swift: “Over the weekend, Conservatism Inc. found a new scandal to promote: A false report that Nancy Pelosi had purchased a $25 million mansion in Florida, home to 2024 hopeful, Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Trump. To underscore: This story is false. Nancy Pelosi has not bought a $25 million mansion in Florida.”
“But watching how the fake news blew through the conservative ecosystem is illuminating.”
Keith says
This article lists four states: Florida, Iowa, Kansas, and Tennessee.
All spring and summer, Republicans cried bloody murder about how too-generous unemployment benefits were supposedly discouraging Americans from returning to work. Expanded jobless benefits were creating welfare queens, they argued, and driving labor shortages and hurting small businesses.
As I wrote at the time, it seemed reasonable to believe that at least for some workers, jobless benefits were a factor weighed when deciding whether to accept or reject available jobs. But lots of other factors mattered, too — including child-care availability, fear of getting ill, transit problems, changing family priorities, the wages offered and burnout.
Ultimately, those other factors seemed to matter more. Expanded pandemic benefits ended, first in a few GOP-controlled states (over the summer) and eventually nationwide (in September). Their lapse appeared to have little impact on job growth.
That didn’t stop some Republican politicians from continuing to blame labor shortages on unemployment benefits even after the offending federal programs had expired nationwide. Their talking point long outlasted its plausible relevance.
Now, Republicans are expanding these laziness-inducing benefits once again — but only for workers who refuse shots.
At least four states — Florida, Iowa, Kansas and Tennessee — have recently extended benefits to workers who are fired or quit over their employers’ vaccine requirements. For context, workers who are fired for cause or who quit voluntarily are usually not eligible to receive unemployment benefits. With limited exceptions, only those laid off through no fault of their own have been able to receive such aid.
Incidentally, most of the states implementing this new policy had earlier rejected calls from President Biden to use federal relief funds to issue $100 payments to inoculated individuals. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R), for instance, said this summer that it wasn’t “the role of government” to financially incentivize vaccines.
At least not vaccines for humans, anyway. Over the past two years, Tennessee has sent almost half a million dollars to farmers for vaccinating their cattle against various ailments, according to the Associated Press. So, apparently, that’s an appropriate role for government.
Incentivizing Americans to refuse coronavirus vaccines is not pro-life. It’s not small-government. It’s not pro-growth. And it’s not pro-personal responsibility.
So why are Republicans doing it?
A recent report from Axios argues that these policy changes are primarily about building “loyalty with unvaccinated Americans”: “Republicans see a prime opportunity to rally their base ahead of the midterms,” Axios reports.
Maybe that’s true. Maybe this is about showing important political constituencies that Republicans have their backs. There have also been some examples of officials in bluer areas refusing to confront their anti-vaccine allies, and sometimes even effectively paying them not to get shots, as well. A Nevada school district, for example, paid public workers overtime to get tested regularly if they refused coronavirus vaccines.
But building solidarity with fellow culture warriors isn’t the only benefit for Republicans.
These policies also undermine federal efforts to get the pandemic under control, which the right then blames Biden for not controlling. They also might help sabotage the economic recovery, which the right will also blame Biden for not sufficiently juicing. Of course, the magnitude of the economic effect of these unemployment-benefit policies alone may be tiny, at least based on that recent experience with other unemployment benefit expansions. But that’s not what Republicans have said they believe.
And remember, these unemployment benefit expansions are just one among many anti-vaccine actions Republicans have taken.
There’s been some debate on the left about whether the GOP’s covid denialism is simply misguided or whether it is driven by a cynical attempt to sink the economy. On the one hand, as New York magazine’s Jonathan Chait has observed, Republicans have trashed efforts to mitigate covid (shutdowns, mask-wearing) as far back as early 2020, when President Donald Trump was still in office.
On the other hand: Since then, 777,000 Americans have died of the illness, and we’ve developed an economically painless tool — vaccination — to save lives. A tool developed under Trump, no less! GOP politicians and right-wing media have sown suspicion in this miraculous measure all the same. Some also seem to be openly cheering for an economic crash. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), for example, recently described the prospect of unfavorable economic conditions next year as a “gold mine” for his party heading into the midterms.
Whatever their motivation, Republicans seem to be rooting for the virus — and against the country.
CG says
Currently, Florida has among the lowest rates of new Covid infections in the nation.
I take it that the above group of paragraphs is just missing attribution or quotes.
I will be consistent on this. Whether it relates to a vaccine mandate (with the option for remote work where possible or regular testing) or a non-drug use/ non compliance with testing policy. somebody should not get unemployment benefits.
jamesb says
Florida’s ‘reported numbers ARE on the low end now…….
And Biden’s mandate that the courts have stayed has a testing back door that no one mentions
jamesb says
Boston Globe
Vermont reports record COVID-19 hospitalizations
jamesb says
Biden OSHA mandate stayed again…..
jamesb says
Yes Keith
Good read on the Politics of the virus
Democratic Socialist Dave says
Conspiracy theory-endorsing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) introduced a bill this week to award Kenosha killer Kyle Rittenhouse the Congressional Gold Medal.
The extremist Republican was immediately reminded on Twitter of a similar bill she voted against earlier this year which was passed and awarded Congress’ highest honor to the U.S. Capitol Police officers who risked their lives during the deadly Jan. 6 riot.
Rittenhouse claimed self-defense in the shooting deaths of two men and wounding of another during protests in Wisconsin last year. He was acquitted of all charges on Friday.
QAnon adherent Greene joined the right-wing lionization of the 18-year-old with her campaign.
Rittenhouse “deserves to be remembered as a hero who defended his community, protected businesses, and acted lawfully in the face of lawlessness,” she told The Hill on Wednesday.
The bill is unlikely to advance, however, given Democratic control of both the House and the Senate.
*********
¶Donald Trump boasted that Kyle Rittenhouse is “a fan” of his as he revealed the Kenosha killer, freshly acquitted of homicide charges, visited him at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday.
In an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, the former president called Rittenhouse “really a nice young man” and a “really good young guy” who should “not have had to suffer through a trial” for shooting two men dead and wounding another during protests in Wisconsin last year.
Rittenhouse, 18, claimed self-defense and was found not guilty of all charges on Friday. Since the verdict, he’s been lionized by right-wingers and even offered internships by some extremist GOP lawmakers.
Trump said Rittenhouse “called and wanted to know if he could come over and say hello.”
Trump posed for photographs with Rittenhouse and his mother.
Hannity showed a picture of the group on air.
The trial was “prosecutorial misconduct,” Trump rambled on, inexplicably adding that it was “happening all over the United States right now with the Democrats.”…
—Lee Moran, HuffPost
https://news.yahoo.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-gets-blunt-103943383.html
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-kyle-rittenhouse_n_619e0dcfe4b0f398af0cedf0
¶ I’ve sat in the courtroom as a reporter through several jury trials — although infinitely fewer than Jack has — and I’ve learned never to disagree too strongly with the verdict of those who sat in the jury box, listened to the judge’s instructions and deliberated in secret upon the evidence they saw, heard or read in court.
Not having sat through it personally, and not having seen it on 24-hour news TV, I can’t really say that Rittenhouse was guilty without doubt of any of the charges as presented by the State of Wisconsin (although the judge inexplicably threw out several lesser charges on which the jury might well have convicted Rittenhouse).
But he shouldn’t have come to Kenosha in the first place and shouldn’t have come armed with an assault rifle. And two men are dead, regardless of who was threatening whom.
So making a hero (and thus a rôle model) out of this misguided teenager (who at one time expressed remorse for his folly) is outrageous.
jamesb says
Good Morning and Happy Thanksgiving to All….
I hope everyone has a good holiday….
Peace, Good fortune, and Good Haelth to you and all yours…
Come over to this new thread please….
jamesb says
Coast Guard gets a visit….
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden stopped by the US Coast Guard Station Brant Point Thursday, meeting with US troops stationed there as well as troops around the world virtually as they expressed their gratitude on the Thanksgiving holiday.
After about an hour inside the Coast Guard station, the Bidens walked outside to greet about 20 servicemembers in uniform, the President wishing them a happy Thanksgiving, handing out challenge coins, and posing for a group photo….
More…
Ghost of SE says
This popped into my head earlier. Has a LOT of traction in Republican circles, even being featured prominently at either the 2017 or 2018 Texas GOP Convention. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/daisy-dog-rescued-911-survivors/
Ghost of SE says
It was commented by CG that I could never be on the Rittenhouse jury. Truthfully, I would never want to be on a jury. Did jury duty in February, 2016, and the case I was sample grouped for involved the question of whether one had a religious objection to alcohol. I claimed such, and at the time I did feel that way, though that stance has since changed as I’ve become…a more spiritually astute person.
Frankly, the whole judge and jury deal should just be streamlined to just a judge trained, educated, etc, for years in the reading of the law. Juries of fallible people such as myself are quite a hot brew. One other guy in my sample group, who I’d met in various trips across the state, also admitted getting his life sorted out semi recently after years of blackout drunkenness. Any bias on issues from smallness to largeness and every gray area inbetwixt will always crop up.
Judges come and go as elections and political appointments warrant, but imagine being on a high profile case and you later decide to use your prominent position of jurisprudence to base a political campaign for high office? Triumph of the common man, or just a self promotional shit show? As Jack himself has noted, it’s a wonder the origami construct known as American Jurisprudence even works at all, to say nothing of the smoke and mirrors myth known as political leadership.
My Name Is Jack says
Yes I’ve commented on that several times.
If people knew how really chaotic the criminal justice system is,the wonder is it functions at all.Thats why I snicker when I hear some Right wing goof demanding an end to plea bargaining(While demanding his right to a jury trial when he gets a speeding ticket).Without plea bargains the whole edifice would collapse in a matter of days.
We have created a system that is nearly perfect.Oh the players(judges,lawyers , police etc ) might be flawed but the system?The accused is guaranteed a plethora of rights .He can file numerous motions, has the right to total discovery of all evidence that may be used against him, can raise objections galore (often frivolous), be tried by a jury which must reach a unanimous verdict in most cases ,then if convicted avail himself of numerous appeals and, if that doesn’t work, then file a post conviction relief petition(alledging that his lawyer was incompetent.) and demanding a whole new trial.
Then the public rarely sees how prosecutors end up either dismissing hundreds of cases because there are proof issues or (frequently) the police screw something up, Pleas are done mostly because there simply are so many cases they can’t possibly all be tried.
So it all “works “in a manner of speaking.
Make no mistake though, it is chaotic and mistakes are often made as I stated earlier due to the imperfect players in the play.As to SEs idea that Judges should replace juries?I would actually favor that in all but the most serious cases where a defendant may be facing years in prison.Interestingly and little known,in federal cases, one who is facing six months or less in prison has no right to a jury trial.
However real criminal justice reform is highly unlikely .Too many people have a vested interest in the present system with all its frailties.So it will likely continue as before while everybody bitches about what a rotten system it is and,except for about every other one you can think of?
They’re right!
jamesb says
Great comment on the criminal justice system Jack!
MAJOR PROPS!
Ok with a post off it here later?
My Name Is Jack says
Ok
jamesb says
Thanks Jack
Zreebs says
Famed GOP visionary, legal mind, and thought leader Louis Gohmert has announced he will leave Congress to run for Texas Attorney General in what should be a crowded race.
Zreebs says
A new Covid-19 variant with at least 30 mutations is causing havoc in South Africa and Botswana.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/25/world/covid-variant-south-africa-immune-evasion-transmissibility/index.html
jamesb says
I saw that
Good for the media to go back to ‘hair on fire ‘ screaming headlines….
I HAVE pointed out that some form of the covid virus IS going to be around from now until….
BTW?
The common cold is several covid virus’s
For now?
I stand by view that this current spike is leveling off….
We won’t know until early next week
And of course new variant’s will present new challenge’s…. New vaccines needed?
In Europe there are protests against possible new restrictions
Hell of time for humans on this planet
My Name Is Jack says
The question is…
How long before Rand Paul blames this new variant on Dr. Fauci ?
jamesb says
And other GOPer’s follow……
The Stock Market drops on this also….
Here we go again against the economy
Biden IS gonna get NO break
The Republicans ARE gonna us this like a political sledge hammer
My Name Is Jack says
You need to flash a bulletin to Wall Street about how the pandemic is “fading.”
Might start a rally!
Zreebs says
Stock prices are down because of fear of the new variant.
jamesb says
He, he, he
They’ll recover the 900 or so point drop
Wait
Zreebs says
The WHO is saying that the new Covid-19 variant is believed have originated from a patient with untreated HIV.
jamesb says
Z?
This is ‘hair on fire’ part
Ya gotta wait fir a get to get some factual info…..
Again
There ARE AND HAVE BEEN different covid based virus’s around as a normality….
We are just gonna be more aware of them now….
The challenge will be find some sort of tolerance and normality …….
You cannot have world on booster shots every month and constant restrictions and quarantined…
It would be end of civilization as we know it….
Of course
Vast civilizations have ended due to differnt factors in the past
jamesb says
Medical experts, including the World Health Organization, warned against any overreaction before the variant that originated in southern Africa was better understood. But a jittery world feared the worst nearly two years after COVID-19 emerged and triggered a pandemic that has killed more than 5 million people around the globe.…
AP
jamesb says
Jennifer Bendery
NEW, from a senior admin official:
“On the advice of the President’s Chief Medical Advisor and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Administration will restrict travel from South Africa and seven other countries starting on Monday.”
jamesb says
New variant name….Omicron
Zreebs says
I don’t know if some element(s) of HIV can be transformed into something that is transmittable through air, but that is sure a frightening thought.
Zreebs says
Good article for those on where who argue that the right to bear arms should continue to take priority over all other rights.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/26/world/us-gun-culture-world-comparison-intl-cmd/index.html
jamesb says
My view is that America has a gun culture that will not be stopped by legislative actions….
Different area’s should be treated different
But it will be pushed to one size fits all probably….
jamesb says
Morning people…..
It’s ‘Sale’ Day…….
Ghost of SE says
Broadway icon Stephen Sondheim dies at 91.
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/11/stephen-sondheim-dies/amp
Zreebs says
When CG was recently asked about his back-channel communications on his secret agreement with James, he volunteered that James emailed CG and asked CG to post the libelous information about Keith that CG was trying to peddle on CG’s own blog. It is worth reminding people that Keith was found not guilty by a court, and that CG in a very recent post emphasized that the judicial system in the US works and it should be trusted. The fact that James may dislike us is not an adequate excuse for his role in trying to harm Keith.
People on this blog have a right to feel safe from James’s vengeance. Who knows what other of his back channel communications we don’t know about?
jamesb says
Z?
The statement that had ANYTHING to do with Keith past comes from whete?
Please provide the proof of that ….,.
Otherwise YOUR comment is figment of your imagination…….
Or what u guys say to bait me?
‘A lie’……..
jamesb says
Instead……
YOU have just brought up Keith’s past YOURSELF
UNINITIATED…….
jamesb says
This personal shit needs to STOP….
Sometimes i wonder why the fuck i run this place……
People just canNOT just stay on others stuff
My Name Is Jack says
Good point.
Maybe you ought to practice what you preach.
CGs revelations as to yourprivate interactions with him as to others here make you the worst offender of all!
jamesb says
I DO practice what i preach
The problem is confined to only a few here
My Name Is Jack says
Well you weren’t when privately communicating with CG!
jamesb says
Jack ?
I talk to EVERYBODY JERE back channel
Just as others here do the same
Don’t bull shit me on this
My Name Is Jack says
I’ve never had a “ back channel” conversation with anyone here.
jamesb says
Other’s have
Or just alluded to
My Name Is Jack says
Well ,all I know Is I haven’t!
Zreebs says
Keith often writes me to ask me about my cancer, and a had a few conversations with the ghost months ago about life in general, but nothing recently. I otherwise don’t communicate with anyone else here privately. That is the extent of my back channel conversations. Nothing sinister.
Zreebs says
Quit Lying rot at least once in your life.
I didn’t bring up any information about Keith other than that CG said you were asking him to post libelous information about him on his website. You didn’t deny the charge when CG made it. I guess you just want us to remain silent when you try to screw your blog participants? Well I for one am tired of your unethical behavior.
Why don’t you take a break from the blog. If you don’t participate, no one will comment on your lies or on your inane comments. Speaking for myself, I would very much appreciate the break from you. I suspect others would too.
jamesb says
Z?
YOU NEED to take a break from ur need to borrow into people’s personal lives…..
It is not needed
Seriously?
You need stop it….,,,
If it means u taking a break
Do it
But cut that shit out
Zreebs says
I’ll take a break from posting political comments. You have a nasty habit of distorting what I say anyway and then disagreeing with it.
But I need to defend people when you try to screw them. And I won’t stop insisting that lying and tax fraud are wrong even though you might not like it. And when you lie to protect yourself, I will point that out too. It seems that you are always the common denominator when there is a conflict on This blog. That doesn’t happen by chance. You are the biggest problem by a long shot.
CG says
My advice would be to take a break and focus on your health, as I have done, and will be mostly doing.
Zreebs you have perhaps the worst habit of distorting things you think you hear on here and trying to stir up drama because of it. Since you are most likely an intelligent person, that might be your form of entertainment, though I have always suspected that you and Keith communicate all the time regarding this blog and that he has you act as his sock puppet and you like doing that for him because it makes you feel important.
To be brief, years ago, I wanted to reference published news stories that demonstrated Keith’s hypocrisy and to the fact that he constantly referenced his background and experience in politics. Despite the fact that I was going to take great efforts to redact any reference to his last name, and thus not post the actual links itself, james said he did not want it on his blog and would delete those posts. He said “you should do it on your blog.” i.e, keep me out of your beef. I did not post anything on my blog.
Now, as long as last names are fair game here, I definitely can post rhat relevant information that features last names, if I choose too. However, I think it is best for all of us to leave names that are not part of someone’s current handle out of it and instead focus on more current issues and if disagreements are to be had, have them aired in a more civil and less personal way Let’s see how Keith handles it. As we all know, it will ultimately be up to him.
Finally, the best extent of what I had found online indicated that Keith eventually plead guilty to the charges against him and accepted a plea bargain. I am unaware that he was found “not guilty.” If somebody wants to post something or otherwise send to me a source to inform me of a different end to that specific saga in my region’s political history, that would be fine.
Zreebs says
I don’t have any information that you don’t have. You have researched Keith far more extensively than me. I think I found and read only one article when you first brought this up many years ago.
It is possible that some of the story I just told was misleading, but you largely repeated what I just said.
CG says
I have seen no evidence that the case, brought by a prominent Special Prosecutor, ended in a “Not Guilty.”
I know that others, below him in the scheme and who reported to him, plead guilty and served time.
Zreebs says
It is my understanding that Keith was found not guilty. If I am wrong, it was an honest unintentional mistake.
Truthfully, what happened 40 years ago doesn’t matter much to me. The truth is that I got away with some things I did when I was young that I am not proud of, as have many of us. But I am not now the same person I was when I was in my twenties.
CG says
It was 34 years ago (Trump would extent it to 30), but this is something that is literally taught in History classes. It was part of my History of Chicago class at college, years before I ever knew I would come into contact with Keith.
So, with so much talk about how we need to teach all history, the good, the bad, everything and not “whitewash” matters, especially related to race, his past, which he has not expressed an ounce of remorse for, would have to be relevant in an historical sense.
If he were doing these things in the 1980s as a Republican and was a Republican today, everybody would be in line to bash him here for it,
CG says
and he was in his 40s and was a prominent political operative for the Cook County Democrats when this happened.
The stuff from ISU I do not care about.
Zreebs says
Correct. We should not whitewash our history. I’m more concerned that I was never taught about the role of the White Citizens councils or even the Council of Conservative Citizens, whose writings Dylan Roof used as justification to terrorize the blacks in that SC church. Far more prominent people than Keith were in these organizations. I’m more concerned that high school students are NOT taught that a racist white mob once burned the black section of Tulsa to the ground, killing hundreds.
And yes, Keith does regret that episode from his past. He is not going to discuss it with you because he does not trust your intentions, and why should he? I have no reason to believe that Keith is a racist in 2021 or even ten years ago when we first met.
Keith says
Sigh, this is the old “are you still beating your wife” storyline. I have never been convicted of anything other than drinking beer underage and it was bad beer (that should have been my punishment).
People don’t get promoted to Senior Executive Service (by George W. Bush no less) and a government security clearance if they have plead guilty to a crime. That’s just a fact.
The years our friend Corey Gross has spent trying to sell this story could have been spent developing his career or any other productive activity. No one here believes this bullshit or care. Doesn’t mean the stories will stop.
As far as Zreebs is concerned, I email him frequently to check on how he is doing. Since we don’t agree on everything political our conversations revolve around everyday life. I admire the fact that he has met his health challenge head on with a great attitude. No whining from Zreebs about his health. He’s a brave man.
CG says
Well, there H. Keith Lesnick goes again with the full names. It’s his choice.
Now, there was also another ISU arrest, of a far more personal nature, as well, but I am not going to get into that because it’s irrelevant to anything today.
What is relevant though is that you were indicted and accepted a plea bargain to voter fraud and perjury and that H. Keith Lesnick was well known for leading a public campaign of racial tropes and inferences against Harold Washington and other minority politicians who were aligned with Washington during the “Council Wars” era.
CG says
The claim that james is a “tax cheat” is definitely an unfounded and unfair one. It is used on here by some because they know it bothers him personally.
He had a horribly misguided and dumb idea that he could somehow get a tax break for running this blog but that does not mean he was able to act on anything or intended to violate any tax law.
Still, others throw out that accusation against him here without concern to what might actually be true.
You Democrats have a genuine policy disagreement between yourselves over how high taxes should be. Instead of just disgareeing with james on that and stating your case, a ridiculous personal charge was used against him as a smokescreen,
Zreebs says
CG probably doesn’t remember this, but he was the first person on the blog to comment that the blog was a hobby and not a business and was not likely eligible for a tax deduction.
CG says
Right, I said it was not a good idea to try to ask for a tax break for the blog. This is clearly nothing more than a personal hobby.
But asking is not a crime. I am sure he was told no by a professional if he asked. That does not make him a cheat, does it?
My Name Is Jack says
James
You bring all these problems upon yourself.
What I find most amusing of all is your “confiding” in CG as some kind of “confidant.”
CG ,arguably ,has been the most critical of you personally of all the posters here.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.As I’ve stated many times in the past,you figuratively have a sign on your back”Kick Me In The Ass And Kick Me Hard!“
Keith says
Exactly Jack, our friend Corey took their conversations and stuck them to James where the sun don’t shine.
Keith says
I must have missed this Zreebs, should I contact my lawyer?
Zreebs says
No specific information about you was provided. Who knows what exact words James said to CG?
Keith says
I was actually trying to make a joke about all this because at the end of the day there are, at most, eight people posting here and this all happened almost forty years ago and people who I value always knew this was what the Brits would call a “stitch-up.”
The fact that Corey went to, and appears to be still doing it, such great lengths to expose and then promote this story tells us all we need to know about him – and now James.
This story comes up instantly when you search my name and I still get comments occasionally from people I do charitable work with. Corey would be proud.
The boy who thinks Ted Kennedy destroyed the moral fiber of our political system by having sex on the floor of an expensive French restaurant uses his moral superiority to justify the spreading of half truths, ignoring, as James ignores, his own actions.
I don’t doubt Corey gets some type of thrill retelling this story akin to the thrill Ted did that night on the floor.
I might advise both our “friends,” you cannot be a blog bully and a victim at the same time.
CG says
I have made this point before. While Ted Kennedy, a severe alcoholic had numerous instances of public debauchery, mostly in the 70s and 80s that might have included drunken sex on a restaurant floor (something to be proud of I guess), there was one specific incident from that era, where with witness corroboration, he and Chris Dodd were accused, by a waitress, who went on public record with her name, in which she accused him of an unwanted sexual assault.
Her name is Carla Gaviglio and her story is detailed and well documented. She was not Kennedy’s date. She was a waitress, at work, when she was attacked.
This is an article from 1990:
https://www.gq.com/story/kennedy-ted-senator-profile
That makes it very different than whomever he got it on with on a restaurant floor.
So, Keith either hates people with the initials CG or has a problem with women in general.
Ghost of SE says
Could the ticket of JB Finley and CR Gross be the one that revitalizes Democrats and saves America?
jamesb says
No……
jamesb says
Morning everyone……
Daniel says
Regardless if there was Fraud or no Fraud in the 2020 Election Trump has to run again in 2024. The Republican Party cannot win without him and here is why:
I crunched out some Numbers in the Battleground States over the last 5 Days which Mitt Romney lost in 2012 like FL, OH, VA, WI, MI, NC, CO and he underperformed compared to Trump in the Rual Red Counties between 5-10 Percentage Points. While Romney got between 68-73 % Trump got between 74-81 %.
If the Republican Party goes back to a Romney-Type Nominee in 2024 they are TOAST!!!!!!
I’ve never ever in my lifetime seen a Candidate like Trump who appeals so much to the WWC in the upper Midwest. Although Biden managed to get PA, MI and WI back in 2020 these 3 States are now permanent Toss Up States.
And in both Elections, 2016 & 2020 Trump massivly overperformed the Polls AND the Pollsters still haven’t learned.
jamesb says
Morning…..
Zreebs says
sixty-one people on two flights from South Africa to the Netherlands have tested positive for Covid-19. That is very, very scary.
My Name Is Jack says
Cong.Ronny Jackson (R-Texas),a former White House physician, has dubbed the latest variant,
“The Mid Term Election Variant.
The conspiracy theorist claims that the Democrats will use it to steal the election.
Why the Democrats would spring this variant now, a year before the election, and how they involved South Africa, Botswana, Israel, Britain and Belgium in the plot and how they stuffed those positive people on that plane ,remains unknown.
My Name Is Jack says
Meanwhile, Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves says that rural Mississippians were going to get vaccinated but Jor Bidens vaccine mandates made them so mad, they’re not anymore.
That makes sense.
Typical “conservatives “ I’m sure.
“Yeah this shot might save my life but if Biden is gonna do a mandate?HellIll take my chances with death!”
Mississippi ain’t the fiftieth state in just about everything for nothin’!
Ghost of SE says
That actually sounds like the logic of them backwoods types around here. You’re not far off.
Oh, there’s a smattering of people who think science is Satan’s Playpen and the Covid vaccine is the Mark of the Beast or some other unspeakability. But mostly it’s people who got their flu shots in years past before Trump and the Banana Republicans played politics with Covid and made this all a tribal shitfest. Now, they all dutifully spout their talking points about how Covid is not even up there with the common cold.
Ghost of SE says
50th in the nation…I remember when I found out my local school system was rated among the best in GA. I had terrible experiences with them and was shocked by this. Took me many years before I realized it made sense only because GA is #47 on average.
My Name Is Jack says
In South Carolina,which is usually ranked 49th in everything, we have a saying…..
“Thank God For Mississippi!”
Ghost of SE says
Get off of main highways in SC, and it’s a litany of potholes and dark brown asphalt.
In Alabama, main roads are poorly paved and all side streets are dirt.
GA and all the other states bordering at least have the whole paving of the roads thing down.
Mississippi and non New Orleans parts of Louisiana seem like a real no man’s land.
Zreebs says
I heard that when I lived in Baton Rouge too. Louisiana is often 2nd worst in a lot of metrics, after Mississippi!
Zreebs says
Northern Louisiana is just like Mississippi. Culturally, politically and reliously. Southern Louisiana is like an entirely different state.
jamesb says
Cohen Says Trump Absolutely Committed Crimes
Michael Cohen said prosecutors in New York could “indict Donald Trump tomorrow if they really wanted and be successful,” The Guardian reports.
Said Cohen: “I can assure you that Donald Trump is guilty of his own crimes. Was I involved in much of the inflation and deflation of his assets? The answer to that is yes.”
He added: “You can bet your bottom dollar that Allen Weisselberg is not… the key to this. They are going after Donald. They’re going after Don Jr, Eric, Ivanka, a whole slew of individuals, family as well.”
jamesb says
Republicans Will Probably Blow Their Chance
Ross Douthat: “Republicans have a lot to be thankful for. In the years since George W. Bush their party has staggered around without a governing ideology, veering from one style of fantasy politics to another, and twice nominated a ridiculously unfit reality-television star for the presidency. Yet through it all the party has never collapsed, never fallen more than a little distance out of power and almost always retained a certain capacity to block the Democrats, which is the only thing its constituencies can agree on.”
“This pattern seems unlikely to be broken even if Biden’s poll numbers bounce back across 2022 and 2023. In that scenario Republicans will still probably narrowly recapture the House of Representatives, returning to the position that they held immediately after last November’s election — as a minority coalition, but a large one rather than a rump, which thanks to its structural advantages can always hope to hold at least part of Congress and ride a few lucky breaks into the White House.”
“But in a way, that advantage is also the core Republican weakness, and the party’s good fortune in avoiding profound punishment for all its follies is the reason those follies will probably continue.”
Zreebs says
Mississippi is actually first in the country in most Covid-19 Dearhs per capita, easily beating the #2 death trap, Alabama.
Daniel says
A Record Number of Republican Women (196) and Veterans (179)
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/nov/26/house-republican-candidate-recruitment-spikes-last/
Republicans taking a page out of the Playbook from Democrats in 2018.
Of the 13 Seats gained by Republicans in the House 2020 3/4 are Women, mostly Minorities.
jamesb says
Biden’s approval numbers ARE creeping back up ever so slowly
Daniel says
Wrong! Nothing is creaping up!
jamesb says
Yea his approval numbers ARE creeping up….
But he needs to reverse the approve bs disaprove
CG says
My fever is creeping up, WTF.
but if the is the cost of fighting the War on Covid, so be it.
jamesb says
Drink some cool liquids Z
Keep urself hydrated
Water or Gatorade if ya have it
CG says
Im not Z but..Problem is I took a 24 hour Alleve at 8 am because I expected nothing other than a sore arm. So, now I can’t take any Ibuprofen.
jamesb says
Keep ur self hydrated
jamesb says
Sorry CG…..
But the advice applies as well
Ghost of SE says
On this, the 20th anniversary of Harrison’s passing, this one lands as a statement on how I feel about where I am in my own life:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=M3-so70ZguY
jamesb says
Morning people….
CG says
The “whataboutism” claims about me on here are always ridiculous. However, Chris Christie is acting like a fool and a buffoon on CNN trying to mitigate Boebert’s comments about Omar, because Omar had also in the past said some horrible things.
Obviously, Omar deserved criticism and received it for her anti-Semitic remarks. She seems to tie those anti-Semitic beliefs to specific policy positions, just like I have seen them expressed on this blog by others, That is up to the voters in her district though to decide whether she represents them well or not.
The difference is that Omar did not claim, jokingly or otherwise, that a specific Jewish-American posed some kind of threat to the lives of others.
So, you are an idiot Chris Christie.
Zreebs says
Well congrats. This is the first time I honestly ever recall you criticing a “what about” said by a Republican. .I am pleased.
you clearly are suggesting that I have anti-Semetic beliefs. I may have anti-Israel beliefs, but I don’t believe I have any anti-Semitic beliefs.
Lastly,my church (which CG has unfairly accused on this site on more than one occasion as being anti.Semitic) Not only has Jewish members, but we sometimes celebrate Jewish holidays, and will even periodically sing Jewish hymns during the service.
Keith says
Chris Christie’s book is crashing, it’s not selling, not selling at all.
The man who stopped traffic on a New Jersey bridge to get even with a political opponent is now getting all morally superior about Trump, a little late don’t you think? Nicole Wallace took the little chubby devil apart on her show, he claimed that he never watches Fox News so cannot comment on the Tucker Carlson sedition “documentary,” what a bullshit lie.
The bottomline, the Republican Party has moved past this fat bastard and is owned hook, line, and sinker by Trump, LLC.
Don’t believe me, just consider what’s happening with the the Marjorie Taylor Greene/Nancy Mace feud. A feud that Kevin McCarthy tried to resolve this evening.
“House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy tried — without success — Tuesday night to end an ugly battle between two of his GOP freshmen,” Politico reports.
“The California Republican implored Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Nancy Mace (R-SC), in separate private meetings, to stop attacking one another after their back-and-forth online spat dragged on for hours earlier Tuesday.”
CNN: “Emerging from her meeting, Greene told CNN that both she and former President Donald Trump would back a primary challenge to Mace in 2022.” They run the Party.
When asked about Greene on her way onto the House floor tonight Mace responded, “bless her fucking heart.”
Greene calls Mace pro-abort because Mace, who was raped in high school, believes there needs to be an abortion exception for rape and incest. Of course, Greene thinks those horrible reminders should be with a woman forever. Of course she would.
Bottom line, McCarthy cannot, unlike the Iron Lady Nancy, control his own caucus, except to promise the most odious of his caucus promotions if he becomes Speaker. He must have nightmares about Trump becoming Speaker. Can you imagine what would happen if Trump demanded the GOP make him Speaker? How fast would they fold? Warp speed I suspect.
Finally, I have known Zreebs for many years now and know that there isn’t an anti-Semitic bone in his body. We have had enough conversations that something like that would come out.
We have someone here that likes to make “when did you stop beating your wife” accusations based on little information and defend the indefensible with whataboutisms.
Scott P says
The anti choice movement has largely given up on exceptions for rape and invest.
I at least give Mace credit for still wanting that exception. That sentiment used to be standard among those who opposed Roe v. Wade.
But it’s just another reason we can’t let the anti choice fringe win. I mean if they are now fine with forcing a 12 year old to carry the evidence of her father’s rape what will they “evolve” on next? Birth control? It wouldn’t be out of the question.
Zreebs says
There is no movement that I know of to ban birth control by the government. Birth Control is opposed by the Catholic Church, and six of the justices are Catholic, but I am not really concerned at all.
The Supreme Court would oppose birth control mandates in the ACA, but as I see it that as far as they will go.
Still, Scott has a point about this activist Court, it wasn’t that long ago that Roberts and the conservatives disarmed the Voting rights Act giving permission to conservatives in Southern States to take all sorts of measures to reduce voting by blacks. So as the GOP becomes even more authoritarian and neo-fascist, who knows what is potentially on the table for groups they hate?
jamesb says
Z?
Define ‘government’?
Almost half the ‘state’ governments are ready to deny woman a choice over ‘their’ bodies….
The Supreme’s may just allow state ‘governments to do whatever they want ….
Keith says
No James you define government.
You still can’t after all these years do it.
You clearly did not understand what Zreebs was saying, like you don’t understand the issue of public health, and just typed.
Zreebs says
Who knows? Maybe James doesn’t understand the difference between birth control and abortion?
It is really annoying that James continues to misread what We write and then disagree with us. If he doesn’t understand our posts, why does he feel compelled to disagree with them? The natural result is that we conclude he is either stupid or is deliberately trying to agitate us for his pleasure. And, understandably, he doesn’t like those conversations.
jamesb says
He, he, he….
I was as clear as a bell…..
Z’s comment actually was all encompassing…
And I saw Z’s comment as structurally incorrect…
He, he, he…..
Public Health?
Hmmmm?
I wonder what THAT might mean?
Zreebs says
Okay James. Repeat what you think I said and tell us exactly what you disagree with because it appears you are severely confused.
Keith says
He can’t. He will simply repeat what he wants to respond to, not what was actually written. Jack calls him on this stuff all the time.
jamesb says
Chris Cuomo gets a ‘time out’ from CNN for helping his brother Andrew deal with sexual harassment claims while being the New York Governor…..
Ghost of SE says
A few weeks of that stuffed shirt not being the darling of beltway Democrats and Rockefeller Plaza pencil pushers is not long enough. Shouldn’t have even given him his start at ABC News. When you’re the son and brother of Governors of New York, you can’t be an impartial observer of anything.
jamesb says
Probably
I stopped watching cable news channel’s a while ago….
We ARE talking about two bothers and Chris wasn’t one who did the stuff….
CNN HAD to suspend the guy