thewayne: (Default)
"Oh, well, you see there's still an on-going investigation! We CAN'T release them!"

The stage was set a few weeks ago when Trumplestiltskin told Bondi to investigate Bill Clinton and the Democrats. So now the files are part of an active, on-going investigation and it could conceivably be argued that they can't be released. At least until the investigation is concluded. Even though in the 20,000 pages that have been released thus far Clinton's name has not appeared.

Regarding the claim that the release of the files will endanger the privacy of victims or other innocent people in the files, the bill that was approved yesterday did address those concerns, so that claim is null. Also, any CSAM or identifying photographs are also redacted, so that's null.

And again, what's Mike Johnson going to do? The bill ordering the documents to be released has no teeth to it. So what, he'll hold members of the government in contempt and order PAM BONDI to prosecute them? Yeah, that'll happen.

What I think would be the likely result is if the Justice Department doesn't release them despite this law passing is that we'll have a Deepthroat event and more tranches of the documents will happen to leak.

We shall see.

Article is behind a free paywall requiring registration:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/11/19/epstein-files-justice-department-release/


I should have included one very important piece of information on the court throwing out the Texas redistricting plan. It was concluded that it was blatantly and baldly illegal on the simple premise that it was racist and racially discriminatory. A very important point.

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN TEXAS? SAY IT ISN'T SO!

Another point in California's Proposition 50, their redistricting plan to fight Texas' redistricting. The original plan was that it had a trigger - if Texas went through with their plan to redistrict, so would California. From what I read last night in two different sources - neither of which was 100% official but tended towards that way - that trigger was removed in the legislative process before it went to the public vote. So theoretically, if Prop 50 survives court challenges, the redistricting will happen and the count in the house of Democratic seats will go up in California's representation.

Of course, it is widely believed that in next year's mid-term elections that there will be a huge backlash against the incumbent party and the Dems will gain a large number of seats in both chambers. But as that election is over 11 months away, I'm not holding my breath. Too much will happen between now and then, memories are short and there's no telling what the state of the country or the political landscape will be then.
thewayne: (Default)
In the House of Representatives, the Epstein Files Transparency Act passed almost unanimously, 427 to 1 with Clay Higgins (R-LA) the lone no vote, claiming that it will expose victims. I personally expect their names will be redacted, but I could be wrong. In the Senate, Chuck Schumer called for the bill to be passed by voice acclamation and it passed unanimously. There were five or six non-votes in the House at the conclusion of the vote, I don't know if they were absent or didn't vote.

So the bill has overwhelmingly passed Congress. And now comes the interesting part - it goes to the White House for Trump to sign! If he doesn't sign it, he grossly breaks campaign promises going back years which he could have fulfilled at any time by his command. And he's facing a truly huge veto-proof margin. I would really like to see the blow-back of him not signing it and it going back for an override vote.

But here's another thing. He has blatantly ignored and broken the law so many times during this presidency, ruling by fiat. If he refuses to sign the bill and tells Bondi to not release the files, what's Johnson going to do? Does Mikey have the cajones to hold impeachment proceedings?

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/house-republicans-epstein-files-bill-rebuke-trump_n_69174f28e4b0191be9d4d60c

Jon/Thespian/DisneyDreamer voiced questions as to whether the files could be altered. As it happens, England has their own set of the files. It's possible that other countries also have sets. I expect that as soon as more information is released that they will be meticulously double-checked against other copies.


Second event: TEXAS!

The United States District Court Western District of Texas, El Paso Division, issued a 160 page document to preliminarily enjoin the State of Texas using their redrawn maps, reducing the number of Democratic districts in the U.S. House of Representatives for the upcoming 2026 elections next year. The best part: the judge signing the statement was a Trump appointee! He was joined by an Obama appointee.

Needless to say that this was a preliminary injunction and it will be appealed to the circuit court, and then to the supreme court if it's upheld at the circuit level.

Still, it's a beginning.

I absolutely loved the quote at the beginning of the decision:
“The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.”

The person who said that? United States Supreme Court Justice John C. Roberts.

In another blow to the administration, the Indiana legislature stopped their plans to redistrict, I believe their main point being questioning the legality of the action. I'm not sure what this action will hold in regards to California's redistricting as theirs was passed by ballot proposition, of course it is guaranteed that just as the Texas decision will be appealed, the California proposition will be challenged and then endlessly appealed in court.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/texas-redistricting-court_n_691cb930e4b0414d84d7b979
thewayne: (Default)
The Attorney-General of Texas, Ken Paxton, has decided to sue the corporations Kenvue, and Johnson and Johnson, the makers and former makers of the Tylenol family of pain relievers, citing “deceptively marketing Tylenol” knowing that it “leads to a significantly increased risk of autism and other disorders.”

WHEEEEEEEEEE!

President Pudding Brain did that lovely press conference a few weeks ago where he repeatedly said, with minor variations "“Don’t take Tylenol. There’s no downside. Don’t take it. You’ll be uncomfortable. It won’t be as easy maybe, but don’t take it if you’re pregnant. Don’t take Tylenol and don’t give it to the baby after the baby is born”. There were some supercuts of this made that were quite amusing.

A couple of interesting sidenotes. The first is that Paxton will probably not be in office when this goes to trial as he's running for the U.S. Senate, so this is purely performative to appease the Orange God. He's also facing Federal Charges, which I believe are still pending, on some campaign finance irregularities - he was impeached on Texas charges but of course the Republican Texas legislature without surprise or irony found him innocent. It's definitely in his best interest to get out of Texas local politics before a change in political power takes place, which could happen.

The reality of autism and Tylenol, of course, is that autism was first classified as a disorder over a decade before Tylenol came to market. Still, this could cause J&J and Kenvue to bend the knee and cough up millions of dollars to the "Trump Presidential Library".

I hope they fight and drive Paxton et al into the ground.

https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/10/if-things-in-america-werent-stupid-enough-texas-is-suing-tylenol-maker/

In 1939...

Sep. 20th, 2025 08:47 am
thewayne: (Default)
"Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels today ended the professional careers of five 'Aryan' actors and cabaret announcers by expelling them from the Reich's Chamber of Culture on the grounds that 'in their public appearances they displayed a lack of any positive attitude toward National Socialism and therewith caused grave annoyance in public and especially to party comrades.'"
-- New York Times, Feb. 3, 1939


A friend of mine sent me a copy from the archive. Fun times, eh?
thewayne: (Default)
Kirk, a conservative activist, was the founder of Turning Point USA and a regular speaker at colleges and universities. He would challenge people to debates and was good at turning said debates to conservative talking points.

The shooting happened not long after his talk began, his security rushed him to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead. The campus, Utah Valley University in Orem, went into lock-down and shelter in place. While one arrest was made on-site, that person was later released. The assassin is still at large at this time.

POTUS has ordered flags at the White House to half-mast and Mike Johnson a moment of silence in the House of Reps.

It is reported that the shooter was on the roof of a near-by building, about 200' away.

Tots and pears. It's hard for me to say that our political process should not devolve into violence when the party in power incites violence daily.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/live/charlie-kirk-shooting-live-updates-conservative-activist-shot-at-utah-valley-university-event-school-says-190606372.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/live-blog/live-updates-shooting-charlie-kirk-event-utah-rcna230437

[Edit: the shooter was on top of the building 200 YARDS, not feet, away. I should have caught that. I believe the measured distance was 183 yards. The weapon was a bolt-action high-powered rifle, basically a hunting rifle. It was recovered a few hours after the murder, with the fired round still in the chamber.]
thewayne: (Default)
Yep, we now have a new jet. The decision came from Upon High to accept the "donation", and it is now parked in San Antonio while the Air Force and Boeing decides what to do with it.

Would you like to know what a tricked-out 747-8 looks like after it took four years to plan and refurbish? Look no more, just click on the link below!

https://www.businessinsider.com/qatar-boeing-747-plane-trump-air-force-one-photos-interior-2025-5


Apparently Secretary of Defense Otis Hegseth (shout-out to the Andy Griffith Show) gave the order to accept the offer. It isn't in the below Newsweek article, but SecDef Otis said that the donated plane's remediation should be done in a way that should not "unduly impact" the delivery of the two new AF1's on order from Boeing and due to be delivered around 2029.

ROFLMAO!

One of the things delaying that delivery date is the difficulty in getting workers screened for their security clearances. And now there's a THIRD 747 that's going to require a massive refit before it can be put into service for use as an Air Force One that is going to further strain that clearance chain. Not to mention they still have to maintain the TWO EXISTING AIR FORCE ONE 747s!

Yeah, it won't unduly impact the delivery of the ordered planes in the slightest. And to quote Wayne's World, monkeys might fly out of my butt.

https://www.newsweek.com/hegseth-update-qatar-jet-trump-air-force-one-2074837

And remember, they're making government smaller and more efficient and saving money!
thewayne: (Default)
Oh, my! WHAT A BURN!

Junkyard Dog Vance, or is it Juvenile Delinquent Vance? got all of SEVENTEEN SECONDS in the procession line after the mass. A basic "Hey, how ya doin'? I'm praying for your soul, J.D., it needs it." and a hand shake, then the pope was off to the next person.

Who did the pope spend a lot of time with? He had "extended" private audiences with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Peruvian President Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra!

PERU!

J.D. got snubbed for PERU!

I do so love it when the fickled finger of fate stops and says 'Nah, not your day, bud!' and makes Peru the anointed one to get a nice long gab session with the pope.

I would like to visit Peru some day: Russet did grad work there and they have some great telescopes there in the Andes. Sadly, once we move away from high altitude, it's unlikely that Russet will be able to return to it for any significant amount of time.

Leo, in his previous incarnation as a bishop, had some very choice tweets about the operation of Our Beloved Leader in his first term in office, and in what they were doing thus far in this term, I expect the slight was intentional.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/pope-leo-xiv-snubs-jd-vance-as-he-meets-with-world-leaders/
thewayne: (Default)
Ah, love the smell of techbro's petulance. While the Republicans took the seat in Florida, which was the other major election Tuesday, that one was unlikely to flip, though it was a possibility. The Wisconsin seat maintains the balance of power in WI, at least it will make gerrymandering more difficult for the R's and gives the Dems a bit of hope for the next election cycle.

Leon spent over $20 mil in the state to sway the election, most likely breaking election laws, but apparently no one is concerned about such things unless Dems were to attempt it.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/liberal-judge-wins-wisconsin-seat-defying-musks-millions_n_67ec4ef4e4b0923ef8b46e24
thewayne: (Default)
Gaetz resigned is seat on November 13, "effective immediately", after being re-elected to it when it was announced that he was going to be the nominee for Attorney General. And today he withdrew his name from that nomination.

The question on my mind, and many others, is: can he return to his seat?

And the answer as it stands right now is: we don't really know, but probably not.

First, we don't know if he'll ask to be seated come the swearing in of the new 119th Congress in January. And there's also the report hanging over his head of the sexual allegations of him having sex with a minor. It's believed that was the real reason he resigned, to prevent the release of the report, which the committee voted to table since he was no longer a member of Congress. If he asks to be reinstated, the report could become a real liability for him. Very shortly after he withdrew his name from consideration, CNN announced that another woman has come forward stating that she had sex with him when she was 17 years old.

Second, there's a problem with that concerning the specific wording of his resignation, which in part reads: "I do not intend to take the oath of office for the same office in the 119th Congress." That is pretty clear and explicit. The governor of Florida, Ron DeSanctimonious, has already instructed the Secretary of State to organize a special election to fill Gaetz's seat.

Currently, there is no rule in Congress for taking back a resignation - and again, we don't know if he's going to ask for his seat back. The State of Florida could sue to block a move - if Gaetz asks to be sworn in to the 119th - as they've already started incurring expenses to replace him.

Could get interesting. But it's possible nothing will come of it. And there's always the likelihood that he'll get something cushy in the forthcoming administration that won't require congressional approval.

One very funny comment that I read said "He didn't even last a Scaramucci!"

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/matt-gaetz-seat-congress_n_673f99cde4b0fc93e3d1319a


Now Rolling Stone reports that allies of the old weird convict from Florida were afraid that Gaetz was too big a blackmail target to be able to serve in that roll with as many skeletons in his closet as he has. In the words of the bard, DUH!

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-gaetz-attorney-general-blackmail-1235176338/
thewayne: (Default)
Well! At least that's one inept scumbag sycophant that won't be appearing in high office.

There's an interesting thing that Gaetz did. He was re-elected to office in the election this month. But he resigned from the current congress, presumably for the nomination to AG, but also possibly to dodge the report about him that's possibly forthcoming. So is he going to show up on the first day of Congress and get sworn in?

https://www.kbtx.com/2024/11/21/matt-gaetz-withdraws-name-attorney-general-nomination/
thewayne: (Default)
An email went out to our entire campus staff today.

Some rectal haberdasher took down our campus American flag and ran it back up the flag pole - UPSIDE DOWN.

It was rectified as soon as it was reported and is now flying correctly.

For those not in the know, the American flag flying upside down is a distress signal. Someone wanted to make a political statement about today being election day.

Jerks. If you're going to be an ass, at least own it and do it on your own property.
thewayne: (Default)
My favorite is the one wondering about the Sephora points.... While most of them are digs about Junkyard Dog, some of them are about Tim.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/funny-tweets-tim-walz-jd-vance-debate_n_66fd6968e4b0d70dca9ff0c0
thewayne: (Default)
He was talking about how Vance dodged the question of whether or not Biden won the 2020 election, saying "I look to the future". Scarborough had this to say: "... one side of the race is “anti-democratic,” while the other side is “pro-democracy, pro-constitutional republic, pro-James Madison checks and balances, pro-peaceful transfer of power.”"

That sums up the two sides quite well. I've always viewed it as pro-democracy vs pro-facism, I like Joe's phrasing better.

Scarborough, the host of Morning Joe, is a former Republican Congressman and now identifies himself as an independent voter.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/morning-joe-scarborough-jd-vances-debate-answer-explains-why-im-not-supporting-republicans


I heard an interesting - broad - description of Republicans vs Democrats. Again, a very broad description, and this is primarily on economics. Republicans view a lot of economics as a zero-sum game. For me to succeed, you have to lose. Just like the game Monopoly. There has to be a winner, which also makes you think about the ego boost that some get from success and how morose they are when they're not constantly winning. The Democrats, OTOH, believe that it's possible for lots of people to win. Maybe not everyone, maybe not all the time, but that it doesn't have to be a zero-sum game. It's possible to elevate lots of people simultaneously.

I definitely prefer the latter camp.


I also read what would have been the perfect question for Tim to ask J.D. to start off the debate: "So, you figure out what kind of donut you want yet?"
thewayne: (Default)
It's an amazing piece of footage. Unfortunately I don't have a cite at the moment, but it might be making articles tomorrow.

He's on the committee that's been investigating the President and his family for about as long as this Congress has been in session. And he gets recognized by the Chair, and he says "I'm going to make this easy for you since you seem to have a problem doing this. I formally make a motion to impeach President Joe Biden. Can I have a second?"

*crickets*

He goes on to say "See? They won't do it because they know they have no evidence and can't bring charges."

Hilarious! Just an absolutely brilliant move!

Edit: Thanks to [personal profile] dewline, we have the CNN cite! https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2024/03/21/biden-impeachment-jared-moskowitz-jim-jordan-vpx.cnn

Rep. Jared Moskowitz provides the entertainment, and Jim Jordan just sits there.
thewayne: (Default)
As expected, 11-month Representative and serial fabulist Santos produced guilty pleas in court today, and interestingly, also produced a seemingly sincere apology to his constituents for his behavior. Now, maybe it was a show for the judge to try to get a lighter sentence, but he's facing some serious time: "Santos is set to be sentenced on Feb. 7. He could face as much as 22 years in prison, and waived his right to appeal any sentence less than 95 months - just under eight years - as part of a plea deal with federal prosecutors."

Eight years! Santos plead to "one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, the latter carrying a mandatory two-year prison sentence", so I'm not quite sure how the 95 months works into this. I guess we'll find out in February.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/expelled-former-rep-santos-plead-guilty-corruption-charges-source-says-2024-08-19/
thewayne: (Default)
Oh, boy are they in for a rude awakening!

Russia has a 50% divorce rate, rampant alcoholism and violence. People are largely followers of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which ain't your American Christianity. They were given Russian passports, I imagine they surrendered their American passports which means they're going to have one hell of a time trying to get out!

Have they never read about Americans being thrown in prison on trumped-up charges as political pawns? It happens literally all the time! Not to mention the various families who have moved to Russia for basically the same reason, only to find their bank assets frozen and their inability to speak the language a real problem when it comes to finding meaningful employment. Oh, and at least one of this family's three children is an ideal age to "help Mother Russia against those Nazi's in Ukraine". Let's see what they think of that if the government comes knocking to see if he'll "volunteer".

https://www.thetimes.com/world/russia-ukraine-war/article/the-american-families-moving-to-russia-to-flee-moral-decline-of-us-k9975x2nj


In other "Russian migrant" news, an American serviceman fled there to avoid charges of possession of child pornography. This guy was in the Air Force National Guard for a decade. He faced up to five years in prison and fled the country in January, resurfacing in Russia and signing a contract with the military to be a drone operator in the Ukraine conflict.

In a video published by Russian media, "...the former U.S. serviceman criticizes the U.S government, saying, "The United States have done things that are very provocative"

"It's been involved in other people's politics, other nation's interests. It should not be doing that." He continued, stating that, "The country is ran by different people than the people that live in the country and feel a different way."

"Our country is trillions of dollars in debt, our country is collapsing, it's falling apart."

"I think that the people who caused this in my country should be held responsible for what they've done," he said.


HAS HE TAKEN A LOOK AT RUSSIA?!

"These people are the salt of the earth, the common clay. You know: morons." Yeah, he got away from a five year prison term, which is pretty much nothing as these things go, by fleeing to RUSSIA?! And he now probably has an Interpol arrest notice out on him if he ever exits Russia for an EU or American-friendly country. Really stupid move. Yeah, America isn't remotely perfect. But RUSSIA?!

What a maroon.

https://www.newsweek.com/national-guard-member-defects-serving-russian-military-telegram-video-1941094
thewayne: (Default)
About a week ago, the Cheeto Benito announced that The Muskbrat was giving him $45,000,000 PER MONTH. Of course, it's a major election law violation to give that kind of money to a candidate, much less on a repeating basis, it has to go through a Pac or Superpac, and that's what was going on here.

And now The Muskbrat is walking back The Convicted Felon's claim. Apparently he gave $45mil to a superpac that focuses on get out the vote efforts supporting conservative causes, but will not be making that donation on a monthly basis.

Which is probably a good thing. Like our previous (and cannot be forgotten soon enough) president who demonstrated liquidity problems, it would be kinda embarrassing if he had to sell more Tesla stock to make recurring donations a reality.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/elon-musk-45-million-trump-never-pledged-donate-1235066489/
thewayne: (Default)
Not much to say. The question is, what does this do for the race? The classic case for decades is that you support the incumbent president, so there's never much of a primary, and now this. It'll make for a heck of a convention, and it may well have handed the presidency to the convicted felon.

The Democrats have always been terrible at messaging. Joe Biden oversaw perhaps the greatest turnarounds of the economy that the nation has ever seen, and then you have Trumplestiltskin claiming that we have 50% inflation at his convention speech. The media - supposedly liberal - always criticizes Biden's gaffes, even though he's made them his entire political life, and never touches Trump's. It's become clear to me that the owners of said media want Trump to win because he ensures eyeballs to their product.

The one thing that gives me a little bit of hope is the die-hard MAGAts absolutely hate JD Vance, Trump's VP pick, because he married a non-white woman. They are spitting up furballs left, right, and center. I don't know if the DNC will be able to stomp Trump into the dirt, I really don't. They won't be able to campaign on Biden's policies if he's not running. It is an obvious and measurable/demonstrable fact that the country does better under Democratic administrations than Republican ones, but facts don't do a good job of swaying voters.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/biden-drops-out-1235064696/
thewayne: (Default)
Patrick Braxton was reinstated as mayor. He ran - unopposed - when he learned that his town's leadership had been appointed by white officials who occasionally rotated roles. The mayor and the entire town council appointed themselves and led the town of Newbern, consisting of 133 mostly black residents. Braxton learned the rules for elections and filed for mayor with the county clerk. He won by default as the then-mayor did not file for re-election. And the second day he showed up at town hall, all of the locks had been changed and the council had re-appointed the previous mayor.

Braxton filed suit, and finally a civil rights compromise was reached and Braxton is mayor again. The town's next elections will be in 2025.


https://www.huffpost.com/entry/patrick-braxton-newbern-alabama-reinstated-lawsuit_n_66719708e4b0502eac647a4c

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