ryoder

OK, I will temporarily suspend my policy of not responding to trolls, to address the "Biden opened up the border" bullshit. Cato Institute: Data Show Trump Would’ve Released as Many Border Crossers as Biden But that comes from those bleeding-heart liberals at Cato...oh wait...it's a Libertarian think tank founded by Charles Koch and others. Never mind.

Well, hell they can't let that get through! Else all they have left to rant about is the imaginary culture war!

I was not even aware of this one! The Stable Genius Trump Just Got Hammered to the Tune of $400,000 Donald Trump has suffered another legal blow, this time over his lawsuit against the The New York Times. A New York state judge on Friday ordered Donald Trump to pay The New York Times almost $400,000 in legal fees for a lawsuit he brought against the paper in 2021. Trump accused the paper and three Times reporters of conspiring with his niece Mary Trump, who has contributed to The New Republic, in an “insidious plot” to illicitly obtain his tax records. The Times published a series of stories on Trump’s taxes in 2018 that revealed the president wasn’t the self-made billionaire he claimed he was. In fact, most of his wealth came from his parents or from dodging taxes, as his businesses continued to bleed money elsewhere. So much whin....err...winning!

And in Kansas, the GOP still cannot grasp the fact their job is to represent the people, and not to rule them. Abortion ban back at Kansas Statehouse

Try this with your ICE car. Mercedes says the feature is only for offroad, but then decided to show it off on the Las Vegas Strip. I imagine it is hard on tires.

Ohio grand jury ignores prosecutor and goes with common sense. Ohio woman who miscarried on home toilet is not criminally liable, grand jury says

Democracy working: Plattsmouth voters recall school board member who crafted book removal policy

Another good one to watch is Rep Jared Moskowitz (D-FL).

Not news: DeSantis loses his appeal. News: DeSantis loses appeal in attempt to remove the elected Democratic State Attorney for Tampa. MTN: Desantis Loses Appeal on State Attorney Removal

Not so much about Bobo, but about her ex. He was just arrested on an assortment of charges from two incidents! First the altercation with her at the restaurant; Second, an unrelated incident where he attacked their son. Westworld: Lauren Boebert's Ex-Husband Assaulted Eldest Son Tyler, Shoved Thumb in His Mouth: Cops

A good point from Heather Cox Richardson's latest letter. https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-9-2024 A quick reminder: Impeachment is a political process, not a legal one. A president could be impeached simply for watching TV all day, which is not a crime but which would make it impossible to do the job. Another reminder: as NBC’s Vaughn Hillyard documented today, in Trump’s second impeachment trial, his own lawyer Bruce Castor assured the Senate that “the text of the Constitution…makes very clear that a former President is subject to criminal sanction after his presidency for any illegal acts he commits.” A number of Republican Senators—including then Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)—agreed, saying they would acquit Trump but expected him to answer to the law rather than the political system. “We have a criminal justice system in this country,” McConnell said. “We have civil litigation. And former Presidents are not immune from being held accountable by either one.” Interestingly, Trump’s argument that he cannot now be charged with crimes makes the Republican senators who voted to acquit him complicit. It’s an acknowledgement of what was clear all along: they could have stopped him at any point, but they repeatedly chose not to. Now he is explicitly suggesting that their behavior shields him from answering to the law.

But for for late night talk shows, this is a gold mine!

I knew a guy in Granby CO, who had a bunch of assorted old cars sitting on his property, and once of them was a Studebaker Avanti. Don't know why he had it just sitting there. Seems like that would be worth some serious money.

When the reporter knows the state constitution better than the Secretary of State. And the reporter didn't even correct the fool's claim that Democrats removed Trump in CO. The plaintiffs in that case were 4 Republicans and 2 Unaffiliated.

Politico: Christian Ziegler ousted as chair of the Florida GOP amid rape accusation Took them long enough.

They buried the lede in this story about evidence Jack Smith has found regarding Dan Scavino (who has worked for Trump since 2004). ABC News: Special counsel probe uncovers new details about Trump's inaction on Jan. 6: Sources After unsuccessfully trying for up to 20 minutes to persuade Trump to release some sort of calming statement, Scavino and others walked out of the dining room, leaving Trump alone, sources said. That's when, according to sources, Trump posted a message on his Twitter account saying that Pence "didn't have the courage to do what should have been done." Trump's aides told investigators they were shocked by the post. Aside from Trump, Scavino was the only other person with access to Trump's Twitter account, and he was often the one actually posting messages to it, so when the message about Pence popped up, Cipollone and another White House attorney raced to find Scavino, demanding to know why he would post that in the midst of such a precarious situation, sources said. Scavino said he was as blindsided by the post as they were, insisting to them, "I didn't do it," according to the sources.

Just the Boeberts celebrating January 6: Lauren Boebert’s Ex Called The Cops After Physical Fight in Public on Saturday Night

NPR: Former top NRA official admits wrongdoing in New York corruption case Some choice bits from the article: "The finances of the NRA are in shambles," Powell wrote, portraying the NRA as part of "the grifter culture of Conservative Inc." In a 2020 interview with NPR, Powell said that under LaPierre's leadership, the NRA tried to radicalize gun owners in order to raise more money. "The term 'pour gasoline on the fire' is from Wayne's lips to God's ears ... it's very easy to raise money off of fear," he said. So just the standard fear-mongering-for-money-and-power business model pioneered by Rush Limbaugh.

Don't tell Emily about this episode!

A Ukrainian Saboteur Traveled 900 Miles to A Snowy Russian Airfield And, In The Dead Of Night, Lit A Russian Sukhoi Fighter-Bomber On Fire Just imagine this guy's grand kids having to listen to: "Back in my day we had to walk 900 miles through the snow to blow up an Su-34, and it was uphill both ways!"

NYT: Wayne LaPierre Resigns From N.R.A. With Trial Set to Open So I wonder if this will be the end of him using it as his personal slush fund.

Abortion initiative hits milestone for getting in front of Florida voters If the voters don't vote as they should, I'm sure DeSantis will find a way to correct the outcome.

And sometime this year, Musk will make his 11th annual announcement that Tesla will release "Full Self Driving" in a matter of months.

[Shudder] Well, at least it's not Cleveland.

According to Youtuber Jason Fenske (who owns a Tesla), a long road trip actually takes less charging time overall if you stop at 80%. The reason is that charging rate slows down above 80% to lessen stress on the battery. (His Youtube channel is "Engineering Explained").