Jenna Ellis, the lawyer who in 2020 described herself as part of Donald Trump’s “elite strike force team,” has reached a plea deal with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in Georgia and will plead guilty to a felony she committed when she worked to help Trump overturn the election results in Georgia. She was charged with soliciting a public officer to violate his oath to the people of Georgia. She pleaded guilty to a single felony count of aiding and abetting false writings and statements.
I love how they weasel on their admissions 😡‼️. None of them say I was wrong to try and violate the will of the voters and the Constitution. Slimy weasels all.
Of course that would be admitting to sedition, with pretty serious consequences, which they richly deserve.
Yes, they all knew at some point that Trump lost, especially after all the court cases and no solid evidence was ever produced by anyone, but they figured they could void the election in various less than honest manipulations and keep their man in the White House, thereby securing for themselves a cushy position in the administration.
It all boils down to a lust for power from Trump all the way down the chain.
Hi Mary, did you also see Trump's comment that Jesus would be elected speaker if he came back to earth, My comment to that would be Jesus would never be nominated for speaker of a GOP controlled House: He'd be a Democrat. He'd want nothing to do with House Gop pro- insurrectionists or liars about the election other than ask God to forgive them since they know not what they do.
I saw several MAGA congressmen saying "even Jesus Christ himself couldn't get 217 votes from this group" or similar sentiments. These fake Christians care nothing about Jesus' teachings. They're all just praying in the Temple.
So true, Tom. Yes, in effect someone perfect couldn't get elected speaker because they'd be too good - in other words, too close to being a Democrat :)
Let's not forget that although all the standouts in Congress are Democrats, some Democrats are decidedly mediocre or worse. I'm not even thinking about Menendez or Manchin either.
Actually, Tom, none of they are "praying." They are exchanging favors, money and power. Praying is for the suckers they fleece daily and on a grad scale every two years to keep their power and jobs.
Not to mention he'd have a hard time proving U.S. citizenship. The Republicans would accuse him of being an illegal immigrant and that would be the end of that.
When a flying saucer lands in Washington, D.C., the United States Army quickly surrounds it. A humanoid emerges and announces that he comes "in peace and with good will". When he unexpectedly opens a small device, he is shot and wounded by a nervous soldier. A tall robot emerges from the saucer and quickly disintegrates the Army's weapons. The alien orders the robot, Gort, to desist. He explains that the now-broken device was a gift for the President of the United States that would have enabled him "to study life on the other planets".
The alien, Klaatu, is taken to Walter Reed Army Hospital. After surgery, he uses a salve to quickly heal his wound. The Army is unable to enter the saucer. Gort stands outside, silent and unmoving.
Klaatu tells the President's secretary, Mr. Harley, that he has a message that must be delivered to all the world's leaders simultaneously. Harley tells him that in the current world situation this is impossible. Klaatu proposes that he spend time among ordinary humans to better understand their "unreasoning suspicions and attitudes". Harley rejects the proposal, and Klaatu remains locked in his hospital room.
Klaatu escapes and stays in a boarding house using the name Mr. Carpenter, adopted from a dry cleaner's suit tag. Among the residents are young widow Helen Benson and her son Bobby. Helen's suitor, Tom Stevens, becomes jealous of the stranger. ***** (Film continues...)
If somehow you never saw this, just find it, you'll thank me later.
Definitely so, if we just fairly and reasonably define "IQ" in your conditional as "relevant political nous and basic street smarts about the odds of pulling off preposterous, blatantly illegal and very stupid coups WITH NO SUPPORTING EVIDENCE," then their collective IQ score is some kind of square root of negative 1, it barely exists at all!
They also need to be positively smothered in due process of law, a fair trial as constitutionally guaranteed (not a "perfect" trial, whatever that would mean), afforded a zealous defense, rights to cross-examine witnesses, and so on - it's a long list, and if we could just live up to it routinely, even when the defendants are poor and unpopular, it would be one hellacious accomplishment!
In some places on this planet this bunch would just disappear into the gulags or be summarily executed, even tortured.
I listened to her plea and it sounded a whole lot more like excuses than a sincere apology. I hope that these folks who are plead out have delivered receipts to the prosecution, receipts that can be corroborated. I remain unimpressed by any of them. They don't even do "guilty" well.
I don't believe they would have gotten such favorable deals if the DA didn't have corroborating evidence.
Remember, if they deviate from the truth, their sweetheart deals disappear! It may happen yet, and I bet there will be more deals to come for other defendants who won't be willing to do time for the orange maggot traitor.
And you're right...they don't "plead guilty", they "whine guilty".
I can't find the thread via comment about authorship, here's what has me thinking the case is overwhelming - might take you 20-30-40 minutes to read, or scan for highlights, but they are formidable considerations!
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (“Welbeck” portrait, 1575)
History has left many clues indicating that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (1550–1604), wrote plays and poetry under the pen name “William Shakespeare.” These clues, taken together, add up to a very strong case for Oxford as the true author of Hamlet, King Lear, the Sonnets, and other works traditionally attributed to the man from Stratford. Following are some of the main reasons for thinking Oxford was Shakespeare.
#1. Hidden Writer
Edward de Vere (Oxford) was known during his lifetime as a secret writer who did not allow his works to be published under his name. In 1589, the anonymous author of The Arte of English Poesie stated: “I know very many notable gentlemen in the court that have written commendably and suppressed it … or else suffered it to be published without their own names to it, as if it were a discredit for a gentleman to seem learned and to show himself amorous of any good art.” This 1589 book also referred to “courtly makers, noblemen … who have written excellently well, as it would appear if their doings could be found out and made public with the rest. Of which number is first that noble gentleman Edward Earl of Oxford …” (emphases added). Francis Meres said in 1598 that Oxford was one of the best writers of comedy. Yet no comedies have come down to us under his name.
Goddess Athena statue Vienna
The Goddess Athena, the spear-shaker
#2. “Shakespeare” as a Pseudonym
In a 1578 Latin oration, Gabriel Harvey said of Oxford, “vultus tela vibrat,” which may be translated as “thy countenance shakes spears.” This may have been an inspiration for the later use of “Shakespeare” as a pen name. Pseudonymity was so common in the Elizabethan Era that is has been called “the Golden Age of pseudonyms.” Archer Taylor and Frederic J. Mosher, in their seminal book on pseudonymous writings, The Bibliographical History of Anonyma and Pseudonyma (University of Chicago Press, 1951), stated: “In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Golden Age of pseudonyms, almost every writer used a pseudonym at some time or other during his career.”
Pseudonyms were important because a person could be punished for saying things that displeased the authorities. For example, a man with the sadly fitting name of John Stubbs had his hand cut off because he wrote that Queen Elizabeth I was too old to marry. People in the nobility had an additional reason for hiding their identities if they wrote poetry (which was considered frivolous) or plays for the public stage (which were considered beneath a nobleman’s dignity). See quotations above from The Arte of English Poesie (1589).
“Shakespeare,” as a pen name, could be a reference to Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom who came to be viewed during the Renaissance as a patron of the arts and learning. She is often depicted shaking a spear. Pseudonyms were used because writings that offended the authorities could subject an author to punishment. Also, where the nobility were concerned, it was considered beneath their dignity to publish poetry, which was deemed frivolous, or plays for the public theatres, which were scandalous places where thievery, prostitution, and gambling occurred.
#3. Patron of the Arts
Oxford himself was a patron of the arts who loved theatre and poetry and commissioned various books and translations. Twenty-eight books were dedicated to him during his life. Oxford sponsored two theatre troupes: a men’s troupe and a boys’ troupe. He leased the Blackfriars Theatre in the 1580s for his boys’ troupe.
Titian’s “Venus and Adonis” with Adonis wearing a “bonnet”
#4. Titian’s Adonis with Hat
The long narrative poem, Venus and Adonis, the first work published under the name William Shakespeare, describes Adonis wearing a “bonnet.” This mirrors one of the many paintings of Venus and Adonis by the Venetian artist, Titian – the only one that shows Adonis wearing a bonnet. This could only have been seen at Titian’s studio in Venice, a city where Oxford spent a great deal of time during his mid-twenties.
#5. Ovid’s Metamorphoses
Ovid’s Metamorphoses, which is recognized as one of Shakespeare’s most influential sources, second only to the Bible, was translated into English by Arthur Golding, Oxford’s uncle. Oxford and Golding were living in the same household when the translation was being completed.
#6. “To Be or Not to Be”
The famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy in Hamlet echoes Gerolamo Cardano’s Comforte (De Consolatione), written in 1542: “What should we account of death to be resembled to anything better than a sleep. . . . We are assured not only to sleep, but also to die.” Oxford commissioned an English translation of Cardano’s Comforte by Thomas Bedingfield (1573) for which Oxford wrote the preface.
William Cecil, Lord Burghley, Oxford’s father-in-law (and the model for Polonius)
#7. “Polonius,” AKA Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley
Polonius in Hamlet has long been recognized as a parody of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley. Oxford had a long and often uneasy relationship with Burghley, who was first, his guardian, then later his father-in-law. Polonius’ advice to his son Laertes in Hamlet echoes a list of maxims that Burghley posted for the benefit of his household. The list was never made public until after Hamlet was published. In Hamlet, Polonius sends a servant to spy on his son when he is away at university, just as Burghley did with his son. Burghley sponsored Parliamentary legislation that made Wednesdays “fish-days,” a fact that may have inspired Shakespeare to have Hamlet call Polonius a “fishmonger.” Burghley’s motto was “Cor unum, via una” (“One heart, one way”). In the First Quarto of Hamlet, the Polonius character is named “Corambis,” (“double-hearted”), a parody of Burghley’s motto. Hamlet was not published until after Burghley died, as Oxford had no need to provoke his father-in-law while he lived.
Elizabethan tennis
#8. Young Men Falling Out at Tennis
Polonius’ mention of young men “falling out at tennis” in Hamlet refers to a famous incident in which Oxford had a quarrel on a tennis court with Sir Philip Sidney in 1579. Oxford and Sidney were rivals in many ways. Both had sought the hand of Burghley’s daughter Anne; they also disagreed on politics and literature. Sidney was playing tennis with some friends when Oxford came along and asked if he could join in. Sidney simply ignored him. In the ensuing quarrel, Oxford called Sidney a “puppy.” Oxford would later parody Sidney as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night, Slender in Merry Wives, and the Dauphin in Henry V, who says that his horse is his mistress (Sidney wrote a sonnet to his horse).
#9. Captured by Pirates!
One of the plot twists in Hamlet finds Hamlet being captured by pirates on his way to England and being left naked on the shore of Denmark. Oxford was returning to England from the continent when he was captured by pirates who left him naked on the shore of England.
Third Earl of Southampton: the “Fair Youth” of the Sonnets?
#10. The “Fair Youth”
Henry Wriothesley, the Third Earl of Southampton, was a beautiful young nobleman to whom Shakespeare expressly dedicated the two narrative poems Venus and Adonis and Rape of Lucrece. Many scholars believe that Southampton was also the “Fair Youth” of Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Around the time that the Sonnets are thought to have been written, Lord Burghley was trying to persuade a reluctant Southampton to marry Oxford’s daughter Elizabeth, who was also, of course, Burghley’s granddaughter. In the first 17 sonnets, the poet encourages the Fair Youth to marry and procreate. It would have been entirely presumptuous for William Shakspere, a commoner, to write sonnets offering marital advice to a young nobleman. The Sonnets make much more sense if they are seen as coming from an older nobleman to a younger one whom the older nobleman hopes will become his son-in-law.
Oxford’s Geneva Bible, now in the Folger Shakespeare Library
#11. Oxford’s Geneva Bible
Oxford’s handwritten notations in his personal copy of the Geneva Bible show a strong correlation to biblical references in Shakespeare’s works, as Professor Roger Stritmatter demonstrated in his Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Massachusetts. The more often a biblical passage is referenced in Shakespeare’s works, the more likely it is to have been marked in Oxford’s Bible. ***** The last seven points through the link, I think you should definitely take this case for De Vere seriously in light of the mass of evidence in the consensus historical record his own life, education and travels provided him ample opportunity to acquire the knowledge displayed in the plays, while with William from Stratford, it amounts to some mysterious process where he learned it from who knows where taught by no one ever named and with no one ever once referring to him as any kind of writer!
OK, this is cool, I am 2nd in line for the NINE DISC 11 HOURS AND 30 AUDIO BOOK VERSION READ BY WANDA MCCADDON, also first in line for the hardcover (4 copies in the Hennepin County Library system, all available on the shelves) - and I have Shapiro's A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599 and read that years ago, I did notice the NY TIMES review of Contested Will conflates the Bacon "byzantine ciphers" bit with the De Vere theory, but that's the NY TIMES for you, at times very reliable, at times ??? "WTF??? - at least this would require refutations - I am open to that, why not? - based on a separate set of arguments that engages with the claims directly. Anyway I can easily play the Contested Will discs AND COPY THEM to cassette tapes, when it comes to that, have the dual cassette deck w/ CD player for such exigencies, if and when there's material so useful I want it on audiotape. So thanks David, for pointing me in that direction, helps keep my mind active and alert!
Yes, and I thought of this key edit to my "still important on multiple levels" claim about authorship controversies, "but on the most important level of all, no, it does not matter, the play's the thing."
OK I will definitely make a point of reading Contested Will! I do think it matters, on multiple levels, though, but you're opting out and we can easily discuss for example both the Icke-directed Hamlet and this (w/o authorship discussions!), which I got on DVD from an outfit near your neck of the woods, "Kultur International Films, Lt." in West Long Branch, New JOISEY! {Segue: I am deeply biased in FAVOR of New Jersey, my father and uncle were born in Cincinnati and Akron OH respectively, but raised in Bound Brook NJ, finished some HS at Staunton Military Academy, Uncle Phil fought in France 1944-45 (not through Normandy, through Southern France & eventually into German-Austrian border area in '45) Buck was LIKE MILLIONS OF OTHERS essentially in line for Operations Olympic and Coronet, prospective invasions of Japanese home islands fall of 45 - into 1946, but A-bombs ended the war, arguably saving over ten million lives, as many as 15 million - mostly Japanese, as they wouldn't have surrendered, not under that crackpot fascist military clique and God-Emperor Hirohito was ineffectual; vacationed Jersey Shore -Lavallette, Manasquan, trips into NYC from there etc.)
In 1983, just a year after the very good (bordering on great, in my mind) BBC production, Granada Television produced another UK broadcast version, this one directed by Michael Elliott and starring arguably the most famous Shakespearean actor of the twentieth century, Laurence Olivier. Olivier was 75 when he appeared in this, and it would be his last Shakespearean role.
And he’s not the only heavy hitter in the production: John Hurt plays the Fool; Diana Rigg, Regan; Brian Cox, Burgundy; and Robert Lindsay (who appears in three of the BBC Complete Works productions), Edmund. With a pedigree like this, you’d expect this to be very, very good.
And it is.
This is a class production.
It looks great. More representational than either the Miller/Horndern and Eyre/Holm versions, it’s performed on a soundstage, but a relatively realistic one, one on which a horse or two don’t look ridiculous. This Stonehenge looks as good the one in the Blessed film.
Of course, it sounds incredible, too. Olivier was old but not declining in skill as a vocal actor. Like a veteran athlete, he plays smarter if not harder. His Lear is a marvel of subtlety. Imperious, but distracted. Self-pitying and fearful. When we see him post-storm, he’s crazed, but his kinesthetic memory is still there, knowing how to trap and skin a rabbit. And when the vocal performance seems to have reached its limits, his naturally aged body takes over. They shave his beard once he’s in Cordelia’s custody, and that loss of facial hair reveals greater visual age. This has a rather shocking effect on the viewer (at least this viewer), both empathetic (damn, he’s old), and impressive (and wow, he can still carry Cordelia’s dead body).
The supporting performances are exceptional, and the production runs tight and taut at just under two and three-quarter hours. No edits scream out in their exclusion, and the script does include the Quarto trial scene.
I’m making this sound nearly perfect, and honestly, there’s really nothing I can truly find fault in. Sure, the eye-gouging scene could have been more visually intense (but I have to wonder if that is because I like Titus or because this is my sixth Lear in the past few weeks and the scene has lost some of its quease-factor), but I can’t downgrade it for that. ******
{Critic then moves into quibbles based probably as much as seeing SIX productions of King Lear "in the past few weeks" as anything derived from THIS version, based on my experience of a half-century of reading critics, determines "it's not perfect," LOL. Sheesh!)
I like the BBC production very much. It's physically beautiful. I'm not especially fond of Jonathan Miller's take and Michael Hordern is a little too...I can't find the word. great supporting cast and again, for the limited budget, pretty gorgeous. there's a more recent one with Antony Sher, directed by Greg Doran (his husband, actually). it's in the gorgeous new-ish Stratford "big house" and is physically very impressive. but I saw Sher with the livestream of Simon Russell Beale (my favorite living actor) still in my head...a superb production with Lear as a Stalin-type and a huge bunch of supers making the whole thing quite epic and completely overwhelming...it's in existence but not available. there are TWO worthwhile productions with Ian McKellen, one from the NT about twelve years ago or so and another more recent one from Chichester, so it's a chamber production, very scaled down. both very much worth one's attention.
are we losing people, getting into this to this degree?
Lucian once said that he's fine with people having fun here, so...
I think the space is already sort of 'abandoned' but maybe we should shift some of this to the gmail route, even with google mail's less than optimal templates?
The Russian film version from 1971* -screened in student union auditorium, saw everything from Reefer Madness to Marx Brothers classics, The Maltese Falcon The Big Sleep, a bunch of zany W.C. Fields films I still enjoy despite the over-the-top blase bibulousness and "boozy humor,") made a huge impression on me and the girlfriend I saw it with, she was in tears (not sobbing thank god, no, she was - and is - just open to art of all kinds, it was actually very touching) at some of the "mad scenes of Lear's remorseful self-enlightenment," towards the end, I also think that if the director of Lear or the other Shakespeare warhorses gets enough talent among the main players, and sets the right tone scene after scene, it's hard to "screw it up"! So instead of seeing them failing, we get to see just how revelatory or novel or heart-breaking or sly or a mix of all that and more the ensemble gets out of the raw material.
It might be comforting to know that the governor of Georgia is one of four governors in the country who does not enjoy pardon power, so Brian Kemp -- even if he were of a mind to -- cannot spring P1135809 seconds after the word "guilty" emerges from the jury foreman's mouth,.
Yah - she's a good Christian, just like Mr. Pillowhead. Where are the bar associations in the states where these so-called lawyers are licensed to practice some kind of otherworldly "law"? They should ALL be disbarred, just like Giuliani.
“If I knew then what I know now...” These have to be the famous last words of everyone who’s ever fucked up. The poor girl had to have been a quart low, however. She slept with Rudy to get ahead. (At that time in his life and career, that would be the equivalent of a starlet wannabe sleeping with a grip to get into the movies.) She professes to be a serious Christian, yet she happily tied herself to one of the most ungodly man who ever lived. Maybe her fealty boiled down to the fact that Trump was the most famous person she’d ever met. Poor girl, this was the big time in the same way a colonoscopy is like a nap.
Like Abe Lincoln, she was home-schooled until she went to something called Cedarville University somewhere in Ohio. Their website says "Welcome to Cedarville University, an exceptional Christian university in southwest Ohio. As one of the top Christian colleges (Oh boy! Wow!) in the Midwest, Cedarville ..."
at least 90% of homeschooling seems pretty fucking evil to me. I had a student once who'd been homeschooled until the seventh grade. he knew a huge amount, but hadn't learned about not cathecting (an old friend's term for more or less stealing) things that weren't his.
with this old friend, I'd find a shirt missing and see it on him and ask him how he got it and he'd say "oh, it was yours, but I cathected it." now he's an agoraphobic shut-in who's been on methadone for forty-five years, has three parrots who fly around and cover everything with bird shit, hates ALL POC, etc. he also hates me, but I'm okay with that even though I miss the person he was back in the days.
There seems little control by the States over anything about homeschooling. Most of the parents who do it, from what I've seen here in Arizona, are themselves poorly educated, but no standards or inspection is in place; the parent or parents are little dictators. Furthermore, child abuse goes undetected. There is a very good book about the evils of homeschooling based on a family in the outback of Alaska: "Pilgrim's Wilderness: A True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier" by Tom Kizzia. So, I often wonder what goes on in these shacks and trailers out in the Arizona boondocks.
Oh Margo. I am laughing out loud: starlet wannabee sleeping with a grip for a movie job; and a colonoscopy is like a nap! Brilliant. And...it proves my point of being as bright as a small appliance bulb. Maybe less.
I dunno...my colonoscopy really WAS like a nap (and yes, I know, I'm about ten years overdue for another one).
on the other hand, the cystoscopy had me screaming so loud, the urologist had to scold me about how I was freaking out the folks in the waiting room. I had what I thought was a pretty good comeback: "fuck that shit, they've heard it all before." of course, that probably wasn't true and I figure he was a tad paranoid about those patients getting up and leaving, which is what I might have done myself.
and the starlet/grip thing is EXCELLENT. does it work if you change it to "best boy?"
His fat orange head with the muskrat on top must be exploding. Oh schadenfreude, I’ve hoped you would make an appearance soon and it seems now is that time
I didn't catch whether she is going to perform the most important service that I hope is required for any of these seditionists in exchange for getting probabtion instead of time in jail: testify against the big fish: Dumpster, Rudy, Eastman, et al.
I’d like to see her work as an election worker for part of her community service just so she could receive the lousy pay, hear from angry voters and see what others go through in order to actually vote. I remember people in lines for 5 hours, after work, with their kids. Maybe little Jenna could learn something.
I'm seeing a growing conga line of plea-coppers, which should be led by "Brazilian Bombshell" Carmen Miranda. She could hand out bananas piled on her famous headdress to the rest of them as probation potassium.
It's quite likely review proceedings for individual disbarrments will begin as soon as the various court cases - that is, their role in them - is wrapped up, appeals or no appeals by Trump's defense attorneys to the next level, appeals which might fail immediately, of course!
Given that it is attorneys who admitted to felonies, the burden would be on each one to mount some extraordinary defense of what they did, I cannot think what that could be, but the process would allow them to try if they like.
Then a license suspension could be within a range of time periods, one year, three years, far more than that depending on exact details. Again, they would have the opportunity to contest the sentence's length but likely it would be best to not the push that kind of issue before a review board that is already unhappy they even had to deal with something this egregious in the first place!
Funny, Marlene, I was thinking the exact same thing the other day. (Great minds think alike :) Of course in reality I'm sure most of us cringe when we hear some of these people referred to as "Honorable." Speaking of . . . you don't hear much about the Honorable George Santos any more :)
He's still at it, something about being kidnapped by Chinese communists. Seriously. I spotted that a few hours ago with Beth Levin's byline in Vanity Fair but I have used up my free articles, it HAS to be reported somewhere else...let me see,
George Santos Suggests Chinese Communists Kidnapped His 5-Year-Old Niece
Marco Margaritoff
~3 minutes
Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) appears to be brazenly continuing to blend fact with fiction.
The notorious congressman ― who fabricated details of his past before his election in 2022 and currently faces 23 criminal charges ― has been caught in yet another apparent tall tale, suggesting that people affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party briefly kidnapped his 5-year-old niece.
In an interview published Tuesday, Santos told The New York Times that he has endured numerous death threats as an openly gay lawmaker. He also suggested that his hard-line stance against the Chinese Communist Party made his young niece a target.
“I’ll give you one, I’ll give you one story that nobody talks about,” Santos told the Times.
The lawmaker claimed his niece vanished from a New York City playground in Queens but was spotted 40 minutes later on security footage with two Chinese men.
“Look, I don’t want to go into like, conspiracy theory,” Santos told the Times. “But you know, if the shoe fits, right?”
The Times contacted a high-ranking law enforcement official who reportedly confirmed police officers had been tasked to investigate. They never found evidence that anyone was kidnapped, however, let alone of any involvement from the Chinese Communist Party.
“We found nothing at all to suggest it’s true,” the official told the Times. “I’d lean into, ‘he made it up.’”
Santos’ office did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
Santos is currently facing 23 federal criminal charges and is due back in court Oct. 27.
The congressman has been victimized previously in earnest. The Times noted that a Florida man was charged for allegedly threatening to bash Santos’ “head in with a bat.”
These incidents are often overshadowed by Santos’ many alleged lies, half-truths and fabrications, however.
These include (but are certainly not limited to) his name itself, being a volleyball “star” at Baruch College despite never having been enrolled, that he is a “proud American Jew” who descends from Holocaust survivors from Ukraine, and that his mother was in the World Trade Center on 9/11.
Santos was arrested in May on 13 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, stealing public funds and lying on federal disclosure forms. Earlier this month, Santos landed 10 additional charges that included identity theft, embezzlement and submitting false campaign reports.
The congressman pleaded not guilty to all charges and is due back in court Oct. 27.
this might sound a little crazy, but I feel this additional rage at Santos because he grew up in THIS neighborhood (Jackson Heights), so somehow he is PERSONALLY offending me.
it's really tough to figure out the craziest part of this particular little flight of fancy, but now I'm thinking it's the Chinese Communist Party link. "yeah let's create an international incident to get back at that dangerous superhero George Santos...but only for forty minutes."
No doesn't sound at all crazy to me, for one thing being raised in Iowa many of us get a sense that people from ALL the smaller states were too often diminished or ignored altogether, or evolving that a bit, everyone in some neighborhoods, states (New Jersey has seemed to be a perennial "cheap joke," not without some NARROW SEGMENT of people from that state, just like any state you can name, who haven't sort of promoted a 'culture of stupidity and bad behavior in some fashion or other,'), also "Hillbillies," as if every single person living in certain areas of the US, who are poor, are white (usually white, but sometimes the kneejerk bigotry allows for, yeah "Equal Opportunity Bigoted Stereotyping"!) any time there's some terrible example that can be cited, blacks and other ethnic minorities, Jews of course, arguably the "paradigm case" of mindless discrimination, so conversely, whenever I (and I cannot have been the only Iowan doing this) would see some authentically notable or "cool" accomplishment, music, art, book, acting career, whatever, connected with Iowa roots, we were vicariously proud or just pleased to see it - and, circling back to your point: really pissed when what surfaced was someone engaging in fairly heinous bad taste, outright criminality, some national political scandal with Iowans prominently helping the bad behavior, etc.
All of that might even have some "evolutionary survival value," seriously, when evolved as a sense of sympathy for underdogs in all sorts of contexts beyond one's own background.
So I found People Will Talk on Ebay, plus I realized there are sellers on there who turn over enough product to ship free on everything, or offer a "Buy 2 get 1 free," so just now, still well within my monthly "entertainment budget," ordered "Cult favorite" Practical Magic, the ORIGINAL West Side Story from 1960 (and that's an Iowa actor playing Tony, btw, as long as we're on that subject) and Lawrence of Arabia, a one-disc version but at $3.99 and as the "free one" of the buy 2 get 1 free," I will take the chance it's acceptable. You know T.E. Lawrence had a for real genius level IQ, but was extremely naive about both power politics and how backwards the tribal peoples he wanted to "free from oppression" were, seems to have seriously thought both the Brits and the other colonial powers and the USA would even allow locally selected leaders a free hand, AND that the Arabs were going to eagerly embrace democracy, a recognizable rule of law without maintaining baksheesh corruption in every possible way, and I am not sure if he was some kind of (virulent, more than superficial but open to learning to go beyond unthinking biases) anti-semite, or just clueless and oblivious, especially since the Balfour Declaration was so recent, might have taken one of the more experienced Zionist leaders, or the staunch local opponents, to foresee the inevitable battles and resistance to more Jewish immigration. Anyway I love the usually cited merits of screen epics, none of the ones I have ever seen were exactly "faithful to history" but that's really beside the point.
Btw I now see with delight a weather forecast with FIVE DAYS IN A ROW having below freezing morning temps, that tends to just do the ultimate demolition job on all kinds of pollens, allergens, kills off a bunch of local bugs, gnats, that can't handle dewpoints in the 40s and 30s, it's great.
You may have a higher opinion of "gentlemen" than I do. The upper-crusty antebellum Southerners were all gentlemen, weren't they? (The ones that weren't ladies, that is.)
Young fame seeking lawyer doing what she knew would elevate her profile and notoriety from the legal backwater of Colorado with nary a thought as to accuracy, legality and veracity if it got her name and face on TV?
Did her brand of Christianity allow her to opt out of the whole “thou shalt not lie”
Provision?
She got caught and cut a deal to avoid prison time, fines And loss of her law license. She is getting off lightly because she finally had to deal with the reality she was a more than willing criminal in a conspiracy because she has information and confirmation the higher ups knew what everyone was doing was not just wrong but illegal.
The spear carriers are quickly surrendering and agreeing to become turncoats. The men in the bunker are now next in line. Poor little Jenna will now take her place in history with a footnote.
I love how they weasel on their admissions 😡‼️. None of them say I was wrong to try and violate the will of the voters and the Constitution. Slimy weasels all.
Of course that would be admitting to sedition, with pretty serious consequences, which they richly deserve.
Yes, they all knew at some point that Trump lost, especially after all the court cases and no solid evidence was ever produced by anyone, but they figured they could void the election in various less than honest manipulations and keep their man in the White House, thereby securing for themselves a cushy position in the administration.
It all boils down to a lust for power from Trump all the way down the chain.
As Jesus often said, "Thou shalt lust for power, and lie in his name."
Hi Mary, did you also see Trump's comment that Jesus would be elected speaker if he came back to earth, My comment to that would be Jesus would never be nominated for speaker of a GOP controlled House: He'd be a Democrat. He'd want nothing to do with House Gop pro- insurrectionists or liars about the election other than ask God to forgive them since they know not what they do.
I saw several MAGA congressmen saying "even Jesus Christ himself couldn't get 217 votes from this group" or similar sentiments. These fake Christians care nothing about Jesus' teachings. They're all just praying in the Temple.
So true, Tom. Yes, in effect someone perfect couldn't get elected speaker because they'd be too good - in other words, too close to being a Democrat :)
Let's not forget that although all the standouts in Congress are Democrats, some Democrats are decidedly mediocre or worse. I'm not even thinking about Menendez or Manchin either.
Actually, Tom, none of they are "praying." They are exchanging favors, money and power. Praying is for the suckers they fleece daily and on a grad scale every two years to keep their power and jobs.
Not to mention he'd have a hard time proving U.S. citizenship. The Republicans would accuse him of being an illegal immigrant and that would be the end of that.
It might get even worse, they might treat him the way the alien visitors were handled in the classic film, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Earth_Stood_Still (1951)
Plot
When a flying saucer lands in Washington, D.C., the United States Army quickly surrounds it. A humanoid emerges and announces that he comes "in peace and with good will". When he unexpectedly opens a small device, he is shot and wounded by a nervous soldier. A tall robot emerges from the saucer and quickly disintegrates the Army's weapons. The alien orders the robot, Gort, to desist. He explains that the now-broken device was a gift for the President of the United States that would have enabled him "to study life on the other planets".
The alien, Klaatu, is taken to Walter Reed Army Hospital. After surgery, he uses a salve to quickly heal his wound. The Army is unable to enter the saucer. Gort stands outside, silent and unmoving.
Klaatu tells the President's secretary, Mr. Harley, that he has a message that must be delivered to all the world's leaders simultaneously. Harley tells him that in the current world situation this is impossible. Klaatu proposes that he spend time among ordinary humans to better understand their "unreasoning suspicions and attitudes". Harley rejects the proposal, and Klaatu remains locked in his hospital room.
Klaatu escapes and stays in a boarding house using the name Mr. Carpenter, adopted from a dry cleaner's suit tag. Among the residents are young widow Helen Benson and her son Bobby. Helen's suitor, Tom Stevens, becomes jealous of the stranger. ***** (Film continues...)
If somehow you never saw this, just find it, you'll thank me later.
Must watch it again, Richard. So long ago since I saw it.
Have heard of it for sure but never watched it. My interest is now piqued.
I’m not so sure that they know not what they do! Unless we are to believe that the GOP Trumpster wing has an IQ of a small appliance bulb.
They do💡! How many Repubs does it take to change one 💡?
Zero. They just hold on to the bulb and think the world revolves around them.
Definitely so, if we just fairly and reasonably define "IQ" in your conditional as "relevant political nous and basic street smarts about the odds of pulling off preposterous, blatantly illegal and very stupid coups WITH NO SUPPORTING EVIDENCE," then their collective IQ score is some kind of square root of negative 1, it barely exists at all!
Indeed!
Would He return as an American?
He'd better, if he knows what's good for him, these MAGATS ain't foolin' around with any long-haired peace and love hippie freak outta the Sixties!
0:00 / 6:32
John Prine on Austin City Limits "Jesus: The Missing Years" (1992)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suoJ6mLVBlU
nah.
But JC was caught sitting at the defense table with P01135890!
It’s called sedition 😡‼️. They belong in prison!
They also need to be positively smothered in due process of law, a fair trial as constitutionally guaranteed (not a "perfect" trial, whatever that would mean), afforded a zealous defense, rights to cross-examine witnesses, and so on - it's a long list, and if we could just live up to it routinely, even when the defendants are poor and unpopular, it would be one hellacious accomplishment!
In some places on this planet this bunch would just disappear into the gulags or be summarily executed, even tortured.
All the way down the drain....
I listened to her plea and it sounded a whole lot more like excuses than a sincere apology. I hope that these folks who are plead out have delivered receipts to the prosecution, receipts that can be corroborated. I remain unimpressed by any of them. They don't even do "guilty" well.
I don't believe they would have gotten such favorable deals if the DA didn't have corroborating evidence.
Remember, if they deviate from the truth, their sweetheart deals disappear! It may happen yet, and I bet there will be more deals to come for other defendants who won't be willing to do time for the orange maggot traitor.
And you're right...they don't "plead guilty", they "whine guilty".
that's because it was all garbage.
you're right about all the rest. I've wondered about whether their "promises" are THAT binding. that was not an allocution and I wonder why not.
I can't find the thread via comment about authorship, here's what has me thinking the case is overwhelming - might take you 20-30-40 minutes to read, or scan for highlights, but they are formidable considerations!
(1)
https://shakespeareoxfordfellowship.org/discover-shakespeare/
12 Reasons to Question Who Wrote Shakespeare
(2) A broader summary, but with detailed arguments and factual citations:
https://shakespeareoxfordfellowship.org/the-case-for-oxford-revisited/
(3) And this is fascinating material irrespective of whether you are convinced or not
about any particular view on the authorship controversy:
https://shakespeareoxfordfellowship.org/top-reasons-why-edward-de-vere-17th-earl-of-oxford-was-shakespeare/ - the first eleven points:
August 18, 2019
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (“Welbeck” portrait, 1575)
History has left many clues indicating that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (1550–1604), wrote plays and poetry under the pen name “William Shakespeare.” These clues, taken together, add up to a very strong case for Oxford as the true author of Hamlet, King Lear, the Sonnets, and other works traditionally attributed to the man from Stratford. Following are some of the main reasons for thinking Oxford was Shakespeare.
#1. Hidden Writer
Edward de Vere (Oxford) was known during his lifetime as a secret writer who did not allow his works to be published under his name. In 1589, the anonymous author of The Arte of English Poesie stated: “I know very many notable gentlemen in the court that have written commendably and suppressed it … or else suffered it to be published without their own names to it, as if it were a discredit for a gentleman to seem learned and to show himself amorous of any good art.” This 1589 book also referred to “courtly makers, noblemen … who have written excellently well, as it would appear if their doings could be found out and made public with the rest. Of which number is first that noble gentleman Edward Earl of Oxford …” (emphases added). Francis Meres said in 1598 that Oxford was one of the best writers of comedy. Yet no comedies have come down to us under his name.
Goddess Athena statue Vienna
The Goddess Athena, the spear-shaker
#2. “Shakespeare” as a Pseudonym
In a 1578 Latin oration, Gabriel Harvey said of Oxford, “vultus tela vibrat,” which may be translated as “thy countenance shakes spears.” This may have been an inspiration for the later use of “Shakespeare” as a pen name. Pseudonymity was so common in the Elizabethan Era that is has been called “the Golden Age of pseudonyms.” Archer Taylor and Frederic J. Mosher, in their seminal book on pseudonymous writings, The Bibliographical History of Anonyma and Pseudonyma (University of Chicago Press, 1951), stated: “In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Golden Age of pseudonyms, almost every writer used a pseudonym at some time or other during his career.”
Pseudonyms were important because a person could be punished for saying things that displeased the authorities. For example, a man with the sadly fitting name of John Stubbs had his hand cut off because he wrote that Queen Elizabeth I was too old to marry. People in the nobility had an additional reason for hiding their identities if they wrote poetry (which was considered frivolous) or plays for the public stage (which were considered beneath a nobleman’s dignity). See quotations above from The Arte of English Poesie (1589).
“Shakespeare,” as a pen name, could be a reference to Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom who came to be viewed during the Renaissance as a patron of the arts and learning. She is often depicted shaking a spear. Pseudonyms were used because writings that offended the authorities could subject an author to punishment. Also, where the nobility were concerned, it was considered beneath their dignity to publish poetry, which was deemed frivolous, or plays for the public theatres, which were scandalous places where thievery, prostitution, and gambling occurred.
#3. Patron of the Arts
Oxford himself was a patron of the arts who loved theatre and poetry and commissioned various books and translations. Twenty-eight books were dedicated to him during his life. Oxford sponsored two theatre troupes: a men’s troupe and a boys’ troupe. He leased the Blackfriars Theatre in the 1580s for his boys’ troupe.
Titian’s “Venus and Adonis” with Adonis wearing a “bonnet”
#4. Titian’s Adonis with Hat
The long narrative poem, Venus and Adonis, the first work published under the name William Shakespeare, describes Adonis wearing a “bonnet.” This mirrors one of the many paintings of Venus and Adonis by the Venetian artist, Titian – the only one that shows Adonis wearing a bonnet. This could only have been seen at Titian’s studio in Venice, a city where Oxford spent a great deal of time during his mid-twenties.
#5. Ovid’s Metamorphoses
Ovid’s Metamorphoses, which is recognized as one of Shakespeare’s most influential sources, second only to the Bible, was translated into English by Arthur Golding, Oxford’s uncle. Oxford and Golding were living in the same household when the translation was being completed.
#6. “To Be or Not to Be”
The famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy in Hamlet echoes Gerolamo Cardano’s Comforte (De Consolatione), written in 1542: “What should we account of death to be resembled to anything better than a sleep. . . . We are assured not only to sleep, but also to die.” Oxford commissioned an English translation of Cardano’s Comforte by Thomas Bedingfield (1573) for which Oxford wrote the preface.
William Cecil, Lord Burghley, Oxford’s father-in-law (and the model for Polonius)
#7. “Polonius,” AKA Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley
Polonius in Hamlet has long been recognized as a parody of Sir William Cecil, Lord Burghley. Oxford had a long and often uneasy relationship with Burghley, who was first, his guardian, then later his father-in-law. Polonius’ advice to his son Laertes in Hamlet echoes a list of maxims that Burghley posted for the benefit of his household. The list was never made public until after Hamlet was published. In Hamlet, Polonius sends a servant to spy on his son when he is away at university, just as Burghley did with his son. Burghley sponsored Parliamentary legislation that made Wednesdays “fish-days,” a fact that may have inspired Shakespeare to have Hamlet call Polonius a “fishmonger.” Burghley’s motto was “Cor unum, via una” (“One heart, one way”). In the First Quarto of Hamlet, the Polonius character is named “Corambis,” (“double-hearted”), a parody of Burghley’s motto. Hamlet was not published until after Burghley died, as Oxford had no need to provoke his father-in-law while he lived.
Elizabethan tennis
#8. Young Men Falling Out at Tennis
Polonius’ mention of young men “falling out at tennis” in Hamlet refers to a famous incident in which Oxford had a quarrel on a tennis court with Sir Philip Sidney in 1579. Oxford and Sidney were rivals in many ways. Both had sought the hand of Burghley’s daughter Anne; they also disagreed on politics and literature. Sidney was playing tennis with some friends when Oxford came along and asked if he could join in. Sidney simply ignored him. In the ensuing quarrel, Oxford called Sidney a “puppy.” Oxford would later parody Sidney as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night, Slender in Merry Wives, and the Dauphin in Henry V, who says that his horse is his mistress (Sidney wrote a sonnet to his horse).
#9. Captured by Pirates!
One of the plot twists in Hamlet finds Hamlet being captured by pirates on his way to England and being left naked on the shore of Denmark. Oxford was returning to England from the continent when he was captured by pirates who left him naked on the shore of England.
Third Earl of Southampton: the “Fair Youth” of the Sonnets?
#10. The “Fair Youth”
Henry Wriothesley, the Third Earl of Southampton, was a beautiful young nobleman to whom Shakespeare expressly dedicated the two narrative poems Venus and Adonis and Rape of Lucrece. Many scholars believe that Southampton was also the “Fair Youth” of Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Around the time that the Sonnets are thought to have been written, Lord Burghley was trying to persuade a reluctant Southampton to marry Oxford’s daughter Elizabeth, who was also, of course, Burghley’s granddaughter. In the first 17 sonnets, the poet encourages the Fair Youth to marry and procreate. It would have been entirely presumptuous for William Shakspere, a commoner, to write sonnets offering marital advice to a young nobleman. The Sonnets make much more sense if they are seen as coming from an older nobleman to a younger one whom the older nobleman hopes will become his son-in-law.
Oxford’s Geneva Bible, now in the Folger Shakespeare Library
#11. Oxford’s Geneva Bible
Oxford’s handwritten notations in his personal copy of the Geneva Bible show a strong correlation to biblical references in Shakespeare’s works, as Professor Roger Stritmatter demonstrated in his Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Massachusetts. The more often a biblical passage is referenced in Shakespeare’s works, the more likely it is to have been marked in Oxford’s Bible. ***** The last seven points through the link, I think you should definitely take this case for De Vere seriously in light of the mass of evidence in the consensus historical record his own life, education and travels provided him ample opportunity to acquire the knowledge displayed in the plays, while with William from Stratford, it amounts to some mysterious process where he learned it from who knows where taught by no one ever named and with no one ever once referring to him as any kind of writer!
sorry, Richard. I'm not there at all and will NEVER be.
have you read "Contested Will" by James Shapiro?
no more on this. my reaction to it is irrationally strong...
and yeah, it's DEFINITELY irrational. and of course, on any real level, it doesn't really matter.
OK, this is cool, I am 2nd in line for the NINE DISC 11 HOURS AND 30 AUDIO BOOK VERSION READ BY WANDA MCCADDON, also first in line for the hardcover (4 copies in the Hennepin County Library system, all available on the shelves) - and I have Shapiro's A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599 and read that years ago, I did notice the NY TIMES review of Contested Will conflates the Bacon "byzantine ciphers" bit with the De Vere theory, but that's the NY TIMES for you, at times very reliable, at times ??? "WTF??? - at least this would require refutations - I am open to that, why not? - based on a separate set of arguments that engages with the claims directly. Anyway I can easily play the Contested Will discs AND COPY THEM to cassette tapes, when it comes to that, have the dual cassette deck w/ CD player for such exigencies, if and when there's material so useful I want it on audiotape. So thanks David, for pointing me in that direction, helps keep my mind active and alert!
I will maintain that a review in the NYT is pretty much always be something on the light side. not enough space to cover anything well.
Yes, and I thought of this key edit to my "still important on multiple levels" claim about authorship controversies, "but on the most important level of all, no, it does not matter, the play's the thing."
OK I will definitely make a point of reading Contested Will! I do think it matters, on multiple levels, though, but you're opting out and we can easily discuss for example both the Icke-directed Hamlet and this (w/o authorship discussions!), which I got on DVD from an outfit near your neck of the woods, "Kultur International Films, Lt." in West Long Branch, New JOISEY! {Segue: I am deeply biased in FAVOR of New Jersey, my father and uncle were born in Cincinnati and Akron OH respectively, but raised in Bound Brook NJ, finished some HS at Staunton Military Academy, Uncle Phil fought in France 1944-45 (not through Normandy, through Southern France & eventually into German-Austrian border area in '45) Buck was LIKE MILLIONS OF OTHERS essentially in line for Operations Olympic and Coronet, prospective invasions of Japanese home islands fall of 45 - into 1946, but A-bombs ended the war, arguably saving over ten million lives, as many as 15 million - mostly Japanese, as they wouldn't have surrendered, not under that crackpot fascist military clique and God-Emperor Hirohito was ineffectual; vacationed Jersey Shore -Lavallette, Manasquan, trips into NYC from there etc.)
https://thebillshakespeareproject.com/2016/04/king-lear-video-capsule-review-1983-directed-michael-elliott-laurence-olivier/
In 1983, just a year after the very good (bordering on great, in my mind) BBC production, Granada Television produced another UK broadcast version, this one directed by Michael Elliott and starring arguably the most famous Shakespearean actor of the twentieth century, Laurence Olivier. Olivier was 75 when he appeared in this, and it would be his last Shakespearean role.
And he’s not the only heavy hitter in the production: John Hurt plays the Fool; Diana Rigg, Regan; Brian Cox, Burgundy; and Robert Lindsay (who appears in three of the BBC Complete Works productions), Edmund. With a pedigree like this, you’d expect this to be very, very good.
And it is.
This is a class production.
It looks great. More representational than either the Miller/Horndern and Eyre/Holm versions, it’s performed on a soundstage, but a relatively realistic one, one on which a horse or two don’t look ridiculous. This Stonehenge looks as good the one in the Blessed film.
Of course, it sounds incredible, too. Olivier was old but not declining in skill as a vocal actor. Like a veteran athlete, he plays smarter if not harder. His Lear is a marvel of subtlety. Imperious, but distracted. Self-pitying and fearful. When we see him post-storm, he’s crazed, but his kinesthetic memory is still there, knowing how to trap and skin a rabbit. And when the vocal performance seems to have reached its limits, his naturally aged body takes over. They shave his beard once he’s in Cordelia’s custody, and that loss of facial hair reveals greater visual age. This has a rather shocking effect on the viewer (at least this viewer), both empathetic (damn, he’s old), and impressive (and wow, he can still carry Cordelia’s dead body).
The supporting performances are exceptional, and the production runs tight and taut at just under two and three-quarter hours. No edits scream out in their exclusion, and the script does include the Quarto trial scene.
I’m making this sound nearly perfect, and honestly, there’s really nothing I can truly find fault in. Sure, the eye-gouging scene could have been more visually intense (but I have to wonder if that is because I like Titus or because this is my sixth Lear in the past few weeks and the scene has lost some of its quease-factor), but I can’t downgrade it for that. ******
{Critic then moves into quibbles based probably as much as seeing SIX productions of King Lear "in the past few weeks" as anything derived from THIS version, based on my experience of a half-century of reading critics, determines "it's not perfect," LOL. Sheesh!)
I like the BBC production very much. It's physically beautiful. I'm not especially fond of Jonathan Miller's take and Michael Hordern is a little too...I can't find the word. great supporting cast and again, for the limited budget, pretty gorgeous. there's a more recent one with Antony Sher, directed by Greg Doran (his husband, actually). it's in the gorgeous new-ish Stratford "big house" and is physically very impressive. but I saw Sher with the livestream of Simon Russell Beale (my favorite living actor) still in my head...a superb production with Lear as a Stalin-type and a huge bunch of supers making the whole thing quite epic and completely overwhelming...it's in existence but not available. there are TWO worthwhile productions with Ian McKellen, one from the NT about twelve years ago or so and another more recent one from Chichester, so it's a chamber production, very scaled down. both very much worth one's attention.
are we losing people, getting into this to this degree?
Lucian once said that he's fine with people having fun here, so...
I think the space is already sort of 'abandoned' but maybe we should shift some of this to the gmail route, even with google mail's less than optimal templates?
The Russian film version from 1971* -screened in student union auditorium, saw everything from Reefer Madness to Marx Brothers classics, The Maltese Falcon The Big Sleep, a bunch of zany W.C. Fields films I still enjoy despite the over-the-top blase bibulousness and "boozy humor,") made a huge impression on me and the girlfriend I saw it with, she was in tears (not sobbing thank god, no, she was - and is - just open to art of all kinds, it was actually very touching) at some of the "mad scenes of Lear's remorseful self-enlightenment," towards the end, I also think that if the director of Lear or the other Shakespeare warhorses gets enough talent among the main players, and sets the right tone scene after scene, it's hard to "screw it up"! So instead of seeing them failing, we get to see just how revelatory or novel or heart-breaking or sly or a mix of all that and more the ensemble gets out of the raw material.
It might be comforting to know that the governor of Georgia is one of four governors in the country who does not enjoy pardon power, so Brian Kemp -- even if he were of a mind to -- cannot spring P1135809 seconds after the word "guilty" emerges from the jury foreman's mouth,.
That is a truly WONDERFUL bit of information to have. Thank you!!!
Alleluia!
Hooray!
yeah, I read that.
I'm sure that historically, that law comes from a REALLY terrible place. and if that's the case, it's excellent that it's going to apply in THIS case.
but I'm gonna be paranoid about the jury until they deliver that verdict.
Yah - she's a good Christian, just like Mr. Pillowhead. Where are the bar associations in the states where these so-called lawyers are licensed to practice some kind of otherworldly "law"? They should ALL be disbarred, just like Giuliani.
I'm still confused about whether or not she's been disbarred. if she hasn't been, she needs to be, along with the rest of them.
It’s truly hard to feel even an ounce of pity for her.
I'm not even gonna try. Ellis and her "sincere Christian" act makes me nauseous.
And the entire “Christian” nationalist movement that worships the Mango Mamzer like he’s the second coming of Christ.
actually, it's impossible.
and btw, she ISN'T sorry.
“If I knew then what I know now...” These have to be the famous last words of everyone who’s ever fucked up. The poor girl had to have been a quart low, however. She slept with Rudy to get ahead. (At that time in his life and career, that would be the equivalent of a starlet wannabe sleeping with a grip to get into the movies.) She professes to be a serious Christian, yet she happily tied herself to one of the most ungodly man who ever lived. Maybe her fealty boiled down to the fact that Trump was the most famous person she’d ever met. Poor girl, this was the big time in the same way a colonoscopy is like a nap.
Like Abe Lincoln, she was home-schooled until she went to something called Cedarville University somewhere in Ohio. Their website says "Welcome to Cedarville University, an exceptional Christian university in southwest Ohio. As one of the top Christian colleges (Oh boy! Wow!) in the Midwest, Cedarville ..."
That tells us a lot.
It would seem Christianity ain't what it usta' be.
😆
but c'mon...was it EVER?
at least 90% of homeschooling seems pretty fucking evil to me. I had a student once who'd been homeschooled until the seventh grade. he knew a huge amount, but hadn't learned about not cathecting (an old friend's term for more or less stealing) things that weren't his.
with this old friend, I'd find a shirt missing and see it on him and ask him how he got it and he'd say "oh, it was yours, but I cathected it." now he's an agoraphobic shut-in who's been on methadone for forty-five years, has three parrots who fly around and cover everything with bird shit, hates ALL POC, etc. he also hates me, but I'm okay with that even though I miss the person he was back in the days.
There seems little control by the States over anything about homeschooling. Most of the parents who do it, from what I've seen here in Arizona, are themselves poorly educated, but no standards or inspection is in place; the parent or parents are little dictators. Furthermore, child abuse goes undetected. There is a very good book about the evils of homeschooling based on a family in the outback of Alaska: "Pilgrim's Wilderness: A True Story of Faith and Madness on the Alaska Frontier" by Tom Kizzia. So, I often wonder what goes on in these shacks and trailers out in the Arizona boondocks.
Oh Margo. I am laughing out loud: starlet wannabee sleeping with a grip for a movie job; and a colonoscopy is like a nap! Brilliant. And...it proves my point of being as bright as a small appliance bulb. Maybe less.
You mean like the one in the refrigerator?
Oh no that’s way too bright. I mean the one in the electric screwdriver.
love this!
electric screwdrivers have lights?
obviously, I'm not a big DIY type.
I have one that is operated by a battery pack and has a light…it has to…I’m old. I need the help!
aren't we all?
🤣
I dunno...my colonoscopy really WAS like a nap (and yes, I know, I'm about ten years overdue for another one).
on the other hand, the cystoscopy had me screaming so loud, the urologist had to scold me about how I was freaking out the folks in the waiting room. I had what I thought was a pretty good comeback: "fuck that shit, they've heard it all before." of course, that probably wasn't true and I figure he was a tad paranoid about those patients getting up and leaving, which is what I might have done myself.
and the starlet/grip thing is EXCELLENT. does it work if you change it to "best boy?"
And another one bites the dust, good thing that Trump is channeling his inner Nelson Mandela . Hoping that a prison cell comes next.
I'm still trying to figure out what you're getting at here. Trump and Nelson Mandela barely exist in the same universe. Please explain.
Of course not. Yesterday Trump compared himself to Mandela and was bragging that he too would go to prison for his followers.
I know, it's gag inducing. However, I do believe that he should go to prison for his supporters. It's the right thing to do. Everyone says so.
OK, now I get it. These days I'm not paying much attention to the bilge that comes out of TFG's mouth.
His fat orange head with the muskrat on top must be exploding. Oh schadenfreude, I’ve hoped you would make an appearance soon and it seems now is that time
Boo fucking hoo, Jenna
I didn't catch whether she is going to perform the most important service that I hope is required for any of these seditionists in exchange for getting probabtion instead of time in jail: testify against the big fish: Dumpster, Rudy, Eastman, et al.
I’d like to see her work as an election worker for part of her community service just so she could receive the lousy pay, hear from angry voters and see what others go through in order to actually vote. I remember people in lines for 5 hours, after work, with their kids. Maybe little Jenna could learn something.
Yes, I like this idea, Andree!
An excellent idea, Andree! Send a letter to Fani Willis and suggest it.
I'm seeing a growing conga line of plea-coppers, which should be led by "Brazilian Bombshell" Carmen Miranda. She could hand out bananas piled on her famous headdress to the rest of them as probation potassium.
That pile of dominoes is really growing! Can't wait till it's a mountain that landslides on top of donny jonny.
Since these traitors (my opinion of them) are copping to a felony do they lose their law licenses?
It's quite likely review proceedings for individual disbarrments will begin as soon as the various court cases - that is, their role in them - is wrapped up, appeals or no appeals by Trump's defense attorneys to the next level, appeals which might fail immediately, of course!
Given that it is attorneys who admitted to felonies, the burden would be on each one to mount some extraordinary defense of what they did, I cannot think what that could be, but the process would allow them to try if they like.
Then a license suspension could be within a range of time periods, one year, three years, far more than that depending on exact details. Again, they would have the opportunity to contest the sentence's length but likely it would be best to not the push that kind of issue before a review board that is already unhappy they even had to deal with something this egregious in the first place!
it feels to me that if they're not disbarred forever, it remains a slap on the wrist.
Thanks for that information/explanation!
Thanks for the synopsis on that, Lucian. Saved me going to read it.
I can’t believe all those upstanding Republican gentlemen would’ve duped this naive, Christian lass. For shame!
Kevin. not to be critical of your comment, but is there any such thing as a Republican gentleman ? :)
😬 😉
Robert, don’t you just hate it when they’re called “the honorable”? I almost threw up when Jordan was referred by that.
Funny, Marlene, I was thinking the exact same thing the other day. (Great minds think alike :) Of course in reality I'm sure most of us cringe when we hear some of these people referred to as "Honorable." Speaking of . . . you don't hear much about the Honorable George Santos any more :)
He's still at it, something about being kidnapped by Chinese communists. Seriously. I spotted that a few hours ago with Beth Levin's byline in Vanity Fair but I have used up my free articles, it HAS to be reported somewhere else...let me see,
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/george-santos-claims-chinese-communists-kidnapped-his-5-year-old-niece_n_6538efb4e4b011a9cf7bde52
Wow, anybody seen George's niece?
George Santos Suggests Chinese Communists Kidnapped His 5-Year-Old Niece
Marco Margaritoff
~3 minutes
Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) appears to be brazenly continuing to blend fact with fiction.
The notorious congressman ― who fabricated details of his past before his election in 2022 and currently faces 23 criminal charges ― has been caught in yet another apparent tall tale, suggesting that people affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party briefly kidnapped his 5-year-old niece.
In an interview published Tuesday, Santos told The New York Times that he has endured numerous death threats as an openly gay lawmaker. He also suggested that his hard-line stance against the Chinese Communist Party made his young niece a target.
“I’ll give you one, I’ll give you one story that nobody talks about,” Santos told the Times.
The lawmaker claimed his niece vanished from a New York City playground in Queens but was spotted 40 minutes later on security footage with two Chinese men.
“Look, I don’t want to go into like, conspiracy theory,” Santos told the Times. “But you know, if the shoe fits, right?”
The Times contacted a high-ranking law enforcement official who reportedly confirmed police officers had been tasked to investigate. They never found evidence that anyone was kidnapped, however, let alone of any involvement from the Chinese Communist Party.
“We found nothing at all to suggest it’s true,” the official told the Times. “I’d lean into, ‘he made it up.’”
Santos’ office did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
Santos is currently facing 23 federal criminal charges and is due back in court Oct. 27.
The congressman has been victimized previously in earnest. The Times noted that a Florida man was charged for allegedly threatening to bash Santos’ “head in with a bat.”
These incidents are often overshadowed by Santos’ many alleged lies, half-truths and fabrications, however.
These include (but are certainly not limited to) his name itself, being a volleyball “star” at Baruch College despite never having been enrolled, that he is a “proud American Jew” who descends from Holocaust survivors from Ukraine, and that his mother was in the World Trade Center on 9/11.
Santos was arrested in May on 13 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, stealing public funds and lying on federal disclosure forms. Earlier this month, Santos landed 10 additional charges that included identity theft, embezzlement and submitting false campaign reports.
The congressman pleaded not guilty to all charges and is due back in court Oct. 27.
this might sound a little crazy, but I feel this additional rage at Santos because he grew up in THIS neighborhood (Jackson Heights), so somehow he is PERSONALLY offending me.
it's really tough to figure out the craziest part of this particular little flight of fancy, but now I'm thinking it's the Chinese Communist Party link. "yeah let's create an international incident to get back at that dangerous superhero George Santos...but only for forty minutes."
No doesn't sound at all crazy to me, for one thing being raised in Iowa many of us get a sense that people from ALL the smaller states were too often diminished or ignored altogether, or evolving that a bit, everyone in some neighborhoods, states (New Jersey has seemed to be a perennial "cheap joke," not without some NARROW SEGMENT of people from that state, just like any state you can name, who haven't sort of promoted a 'culture of stupidity and bad behavior in some fashion or other,'), also "Hillbillies," as if every single person living in certain areas of the US, who are poor, are white (usually white, but sometimes the kneejerk bigotry allows for, yeah "Equal Opportunity Bigoted Stereotyping"!) any time there's some terrible example that can be cited, blacks and other ethnic minorities, Jews of course, arguably the "paradigm case" of mindless discrimination, so conversely, whenever I (and I cannot have been the only Iowan doing this) would see some authentically notable or "cool" accomplishment, music, art, book, acting career, whatever, connected with Iowa roots, we were vicariously proud or just pleased to see it - and, circling back to your point: really pissed when what surfaced was someone engaging in fairly heinous bad taste, outright criminality, some national political scandal with Iowans prominently helping the bad behavior, etc.
All of that might even have some "evolutionary survival value," seriously, when evolved as a sense of sympathy for underdogs in all sorts of contexts beyond one's own background.
So I found People Will Talk on Ebay, plus I realized there are sellers on there who turn over enough product to ship free on everything, or offer a "Buy 2 get 1 free," so just now, still well within my monthly "entertainment budget," ordered "Cult favorite" Practical Magic, the ORIGINAL West Side Story from 1960 (and that's an Iowa actor playing Tony, btw, as long as we're on that subject) and Lawrence of Arabia, a one-disc version but at $3.99 and as the "free one" of the buy 2 get 1 free," I will take the chance it's acceptable. You know T.E. Lawrence had a for real genius level IQ, but was extremely naive about both power politics and how backwards the tribal peoples he wanted to "free from oppression" were, seems to have seriously thought both the Brits and the other colonial powers and the USA would even allow locally selected leaders a free hand, AND that the Arabs were going to eagerly embrace democracy, a recognizable rule of law without maintaining baksheesh corruption in every possible way, and I am not sure if he was some kind of (virulent, more than superficial but open to learning to go beyond unthinking biases) anti-semite, or just clueless and oblivious, especially since the Balfour Declaration was so recent, might have taken one of the more experienced Zionist leaders, or the staunch local opponents, to foresee the inevitable battles and resistance to more Jewish immigration. Anyway I love the usually cited merits of screen epics, none of the ones I have ever seen were exactly "faithful to history" but that's really beside the point.
Btw I now see with delight a weather forecast with FIVE DAYS IN A ROW having below freezing morning temps, that tends to just do the ultimate demolition job on all kinds of pollens, allergens, kills off a bunch of local bugs, gnats, that can't handle dewpoints in the 40s and 30s, it's great.
Ahh, yes, good ole Honorable Georgia Sangria! She must be cleaning his desk out about now. When oh when will she too, get convicted and ousted?!
Haha. Love it, Marlene.
You may have a higher opinion of "gentlemen" than I do. The upper-crusty antebellum Southerners were all gentlemen, weren't they? (The ones that weren't ladies, that is.)
EXCELLENT, Robert!
Where's the "laugh" emoji when you need it?
🤣🤣
No mercy. None.
Oh, where to start?
Crocodile tears?
Young fame seeking lawyer doing what she knew would elevate her profile and notoriety from the legal backwater of Colorado with nary a thought as to accuracy, legality and veracity if it got her name and face on TV?
Did her brand of Christianity allow her to opt out of the whole “thou shalt not lie”
Provision?
She got caught and cut a deal to avoid prison time, fines And loss of her law license. She is getting off lightly because she finally had to deal with the reality she was a more than willing criminal in a conspiracy because she has information and confirmation the higher ups knew what everyone was doing was not just wrong but illegal.
The spear carriers are quickly surrendering and agreeing to become turncoats. The men in the bunker are now next in line. Poor little Jenna will now take her place in history with a footnote.
Hahahahahaha!🤣🤣🤣🤣
Ditto!