It doesn't matter what Garland did or didn't. Citizens of this country elected Trump. To blame TFG's election on Garland, Biden, or anyone else shows denial of what we, the citizens, are as a country.
I guess I could have worded my comment better. I would have LOVED for the FELON to be tried, sentenced, and in a hair matching jumpsuit. With all that said, despite all of the facts coming out over the past 4 years (hiding boxes of classified papers, recorded telephone call to Mr. Rafensberher, J6 insurrectionists saying in court the FELON told them to do it, the scheme to said fake electors, reports on Project 2025, &c, &c) citizens of this country STILL ELECTED THE FELON over someone vastly more qualified, more honorable, more honest. The election, sadly, speaks more to the capitulation of a party and to the values of our citizenry. That is my opinion. Sad.
Apparently nearly 5,000,000 people did not vote in 2024 compared to 2020 (I’m looking for a link, but most reporting occurred in Nov before all votes were counted.) Of those who did vote in 2024, more voted for anyone but Trump (total: 78,208,963 for someone else vs 77,303,569 for Trump) according to Dave Leip’s US Atlas of Presidential Elections.
(https://uselectionatlas.org) It’s true that some “citizens of this country elected Trump” but most voters did not want him.
Something like 93,000,000 eligible voters did not vote. But most of them don't ever vote. The difference between 2020 and 2024 is far smaller, more like the 5,000,000 number.
To me, the whole chapter speaks to the ultimate stupidity of democracy. Eventually, it is rule by con men elected by fools. Half the electorate will always be below the mean intelligence. How is this supposed to work?
Democracy is a form of government. It doesn't equate to the electoral college, the filibuster, gerrymandering, and a lopsided representation equation as exemplified by the Senate. Please don't give up on democracy just because of the way it's executed in this country at this moment.
Paula, I appreciate your sentiment, but any way I look at it, democracy comes down to qualified and unqualified voters sharing power. I just can’t see how this is a fail-safe system. I hope one day you can call me and say, I told you so, but that won’t be Monday.
I read your comment below, and now I understand. I like your idea! People who hold government positions must be qualified. As to the voters, I don't know what to suggest except robust public education, which is one of my pet causes. I think by implementing those two things we would be a huge amount better off. But don't expect an I told you so from me. I think you've got the right idea.
Well, Ken, maybe you can tell us what would be better. A strong man who, after achieving power, may be mentally or physically unfit, mentally incompetent or demented and who will never allow you to post what you just posted without a prison sentence?
What would be better than (the current) inept and/or dishonest government is competent honest government which you will never achieve by allowing inept and/or dishonest people to vote for inept and/or dishonest candidates. Democracy inevitably degenerates into con artists governing fools. (A sensible way to create a government is to have a “Government” college major, and a post-graduate Government curriculum. Just as for lawyers, doctors, architects, truck drivers, hair cutters, if you want to be a congress person, take the course, and pass the test. NO MORE AMATEUR GOVERNMENT!
And if a demented strong man somehow achieves power, I will shout it from the rooftop because I would rather die defiant than live scared and silent. I would rather be a dead hero than a live coward hiding under the bead with a towel stuffed in my mouth. So would all the men who signed the Declaration of Independence, and all the colonists who shot at the king’s army, the most powerful in the world at the time. But if you’d rather continue your comfortable life and not risk losing anything for a principle, or for the benefit of others who are being trampled, or you’d like to help the fight for truth but you’re booked solid this week, I guess I’m wasting my breath. (And by the way, the monster you described in your question is taking the oath of office Monday, thanks to history’s greatest democracy.)
You strike me as an activist, perhaps an activist that wouldn't have a problem participating in a revolution... A real, guns and bullets revolution rather than a rhetorical one. That is a scary thought because most of the folks who are capable of starting one of those are on the other side of the fence. they've gathered their weapons and ammunition, and are prepared to fight a civil war. Just like you, they are prepared to die for whatever they think their cause is about...Oh, their cause is FREEDOM I think. Although beyond freedom it would be difficult to sort out what that means. Sure a liberal democracy is a vulnerable one and we are witnessing just how vulnerable. The concept of a Social Contract was what the Framers were shooting for. so here is a primer on our Social Contract. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI1t0dY5zoc&t=3s
You are complaining that our form of Democracy is a failure. I agree but you believe that training and honesty would be a requirement for those working in our government...Good luck finding all that honesty. Hooweee! We're humans, our brains work to give each one of us the best chance to succeed. Our brains operate subjectively and in my mind, subjectivity is just another word for making up shit. Governments are fictions. Every one of them.
There were probably disagreements among the players who attended the creation of the basic structure in 1776-7 but Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau were the main influences in how our constitution got written. Madison, Adams, Franklin, Jefferson were following the concepts. And yeah, all they did was structure a bare bones set of laws and instructions. There were guardrails put in place because they had to deal with the British presence and, of course the slave owning south and they gave us a chance to amend flaws in the future. I don't know the answer but I can assure you that money, things of value are the third rail for our country. Greed and the accumulation of wealth has become the dominant impulse and this idea of our country as a nation of laws is being disassembled.
As you say, most of the guys capable of a real revolution have guns. How do you propose we defend ourselves against them? As far as finding honesty, I suspect there are quite a few honest, competent, decent people in the State Department, the DoJ, the pentagon, HHS, and every other agency filled with career professionals who are not political appointees. I watched several of them testify before the impeachment committee. Most importantly, some of our brains can overcome nature’s will to live, and sacrifice for the benefit of others even risking death. Speaking for myself, I am not driven by greed. I certainly would not tolerate the abuse of people in the interest of profit. While we honest, decent people may be a minority, we will not roll over and play dead.
The sad thing is a large portion of our electorate has lost a sense of decency so someone like trump is ok for them, others have given up hope that their vote even matters. I live in a red,red state and since the split is 65% republican and 35% Democrat many Democrats think it is futile.We need to get rid of the Electoral College!!!
If I expressed disdain or disapproval of garland’s actions, it was out of frustration and I apologize for any misconceptions I have had. But nevertheless, movement on trump’s guilt was pitifully slow and inevitably ineffective. The blame no doubt can be spread over a large field as everyone seems to fear the repercussions of crossing the orange fool and his minions. I don’t see anything changing any time soon. The bastard got away with insurrection. Period.
Blame... I don't do well with the word. We had our expectations starting back in 2016 about how trump needed to be handled...legally. How many times did I/we get energized with the various declarations that an investigation here, an impeachment there was going to occur and trump would get his comeuppance. An endless series of disappointing results until all we could do was shake our heads in bafflement. Isn't this story more about how the idea that this is a nation of laws is a fiction. Wealth and lawyers have made that a sham. How much faith does anyone have that Justice still exists? Wealth and lawyers have brought in an era of oligarchy. The far right has put the republican party to good use to serve its purposes. You have to admit that wealth and the far right have done a good job of stripping away the progressive culture we lefties had thought was a given. The south, the confederate states never gave up their bitterness and were joined by most of the states between the coastal ones. Internet propaganda, disinformation, the electoral college, major job loses...lots of blame I suppose. And juvenile trump, how in hell did all those citizens, and republican politicians think he was acceptable? Has the dumbing down of the American people been accomplished? Weren't people blaming Biden, or Harris that this s**tstorm is about to hit us? Garland was just another one of those people that we on the left are disappointed in but we got a hard row to hoe ahead of us.
Yes. To see that rule of law could not be applied after all that, and to be left with a monster on a suicide mission taking down the US and all of us with it? Disappointment? Yeah, that's one part. Carter was my first vote, and I voted for him twice. At this point, disappointment is really all I've ever known.
Michael Jon Williams, it's not what "we, the citizens, are as a country"..... I respectfully suggest it's what a large number of the citizens are.... let's not forget that a great many of us (myself included) did not support nor vote for that treasonous insurrectionist convicted FELON. We held the line as best we could with what we had. Peace 🙏🕊️
Most of his followers actually think he is protected by their god, the one god of the earth that they worship...money. Their god and its propaganda are far from my God and the truths he proclaims.
Absolutely spot on. People want some plausible explanation for the outcome of the election and they want an identifiable scapegoat. Garland is an easy target because he is too principled to speak up in his own defense while still serving as AG. That should be applauded, as it is a trait that will be gone with the wind in 4 days.
People forget that a conviction would not have disqualified him. Only conviction by the Senate could have done that and blaming Garland just gives cover to the 43 Senators, most of whom admitted his guilt but hid behind a specious jurisdictional argument, then lined up to kiss his ring.
And then there is the American voter, who had access to all the facts and still reelected him.
Yes, even McConnell actually said Trump was guilty, but that because he was out of office, the courts could handle it.
I'm sure he is aware that his decision allowed for this. I wish a few had enough principles to switch to independent and caucus with the Dems, to protect our democracy.
The fact that the Senate that has the power to send troops to war would even consider an unqualified candidate like Hegseth, is sickening.
Totally agree, with the exception that Congress has abdicated their executive function for decades. We are about to see them become fully useless parasites on the public teat.
There is a political system in this country and a criminal justice system and they have different purposes and objectives. All the information that would have been presented at trial was in the public domain before the election. The voters didn’t care. If you want to blame anyone for the election outcome, other than the voters who voted for him, it is the 43 Senators who voted to acquit. That was the Constitutional remedy that would have prevented him from being a candidate. They breached their oath and as a result he was on the ballot.
Well, lots of things and lots of people didn’t help. Big parts of the media, for sure. Misinformation, which was amplified on Facebook, Twitter, etc. AI manipulation in general. Disinformation from overseas included. Opportunists in politics and business who saw Trump as their ticket for personal advancement and personal riches, just to name a few.
Those really have always existed. It may be more of a perfect storm with the way it all came together with the speed of today’s technology but at the base level, it is the same human weaknesses that the founders feared and tried to build checks, balances and safeguards to the dangers they present.
But the Constitution really only provides two remedies to Trump and what he specifically did, impeachment and conviction resulting in disqualification for future office is the primary one, the one that really failed spectacularly, and the final safeguard in a constitutional, democratic republic, the voters.
If those we elect are just as willing to disregard their oath of office as the perpetrator, and the voters don’t understand their responsibilities as citizens, the republic is dead, it just doesn’t know it.
I don’t think they did not care. I think so many people work so many jobs and then try to take care of their kids that they cannot know what is happening. They do not have the time to know. Those of us who have time to know are fortunate.
Yes. My little fantasy now is that McConnell repents that he failed to convict on the 2nd impeachment, and he will now encourage votes against Hegseth. Mitch has nothing to lose now. Surely there are a couple of GOP Senators who can stand with him.
If the available public information wasn't enough to help voters make "informed decisions", nothing would be. Even Jack Smith's report doesn't say much more than we already knew from the Jan. 6 committee. People who like Trump don't care.
I did not have time to read the massive report, just summaries of it. Did I miss the coup plotters converging in the Willard Hotel? If not , why was it not addressed? Seems the conspiracy in advance of the actual coup was a big part of this and included a lot of actors besides Trump who escaped accountability, including some who were in Congress.
It’s a lie that putting $250,000,000 into an election for propaganda does not is ok and that it is not cheating. But then Elon cheats on everything, including silly video games. Just like trump cheats at golf.
Your last line, “we have met the enemy and he is us,” was my cover photo right after the election. That is all of this succinctly distilled into that one sentence.
You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but “ legalese”, the discussion of the complexities of legal issues and of the judicial process, is the language for topic at hand, and the effect those factors had in the length of time it takes to move an unprecedented and extraordinarily complicated case against a defendant with virtually unlimited resources forward can’t be glossed over without it.
It does not change the fact that even a conviction would not have precluded his candidacy, only conviction in the second impeachment would have accomplished that and 77 million have shown that the facts of the conspiracy and the insurrection were not enough to dissuade them for doing the unimaginable.
I know you would like to have a single villain to blame here, but there is not one, and it is certainly not the people who did their jobs at Justice.
We have a criminal justice process in this country which is responsible for personal accountability and Trump’s rights to continued enjoyment of his civil liberties. And we have a political process, impeachment and election. The former was short-circuited by the latter, which is what failed miserably. You can wish the legal process had moved more quickly, you can parse what Garland and his team did, but they were not the mechanism to insure that Trump never set foot in the Oval Office again.
No, no, no. Garland’s methodical bottom up process was doomed to fail because the clock was always counting down to 01/20/2025. He failed the American people by allowing the clock to run out. The fake electors scheme was well documented 18 months before DOJ announced an investigation. J6 organization and planning and the Willard Hotel White House War Room were well documented long before any subpoenas were drawn. The House J6 Committee conducted ALL of the investigative work long before DOJ lifted a pencil. Garland let this happen. Nice man, good judge, terrible guardian of democracy. Now we will pay the price.
If Garland wants he could release Part 2 of Smiths Report right now. Why not? This would even the score. But he won't. Until the left starts playing by the same game rule as the right we will never equalize this travesty of a government we're about to endure. Expose them with what you got not with what you think you can do. JUST FUCKING DO IT GARLAND.
The way I see this is Merrick Garland never should have waited. He should have immediately ponied off the J6 committee and started handing out indictments like there was no tomorrow…because literally there was no tomorrow. So what did Garland do? Nothing.
Is it only people like me who understand what danger we are in? I blame Garland and now, since he has full immunity, I also blame Biden for not doing what could have been done. Elon Musk is beyond dangerous and I am sure Biden is aware of his illegal activities but has done nothing. There is so much he could have done to make so many pay for their criminal acts but the Democrats I used to respect and understand, refuse to play the way the Republicans are playing. So, we are losing our democracy just so the old people in our party can continue to do what they determine is “appropriate.” They are so wrong.
Sure…and soon we will have nothing that is for the people. I don’t want a dictator. I wanted Garland and Biden to follow the rule of law. That is something they were too weak to do. This will not affect me. I’m very fortunate but I am also smart enough to see what is happening, and what has happened. I’m 80. I’m privileged but I’m not stupid. And STRONGMEN is not about dictators being good or beneficial. It is about how they came to be. Good men did nothing. I have a close friend who was a Chief of Staff many years ago, he still believes in being “appropriate”…I do not. It is how you lose everything.
Yes, I agree with you that the old ways of doing things are gone. It takes two to play fair just like it takes two real political parties for our system to work properly. Its time to bring their game to them. Democratic operatives are smart and they need to start throwing the knockout punches. Let beat MAGA now before democracy is gone!
Harry, I just don't buy it! I think the movement was way too slow! Anybody but trump would have had a speedy trial and incarcerated by what trump did that was treasonous activities! Stealing classified documents should have given him life in prison alone! Rosenbergs were executed for passing along those type of files and a young lady Reality Winner was incarcerated for 4 years for the SAME THING! Now we go to the J-6, and we all saw trump encourage the activities that went on! That reach should have included members of Congress who offered tours the day before that was also illegal to show the layout of the building! All we had to do is read or watch videos and tv to realize they are CRIMINALS! Our Justice system FAILED miserably...and will be even more failed with the release of those J-6 criminals who get pardoned by their "Boss!"
What he said! 👆 Given the magnitude of the crimes, the foundational impact to the country and the mountain of evidence, this should have been priority #1 from day one. Investigating from the bottom up "even if it led to Trump" is a joke. Trump was the ringmaster, full stop. Anyone paying any attention heard and saw that. If these cases couldn't have made it at least through trial in 4 years, then that only confirms that we have a dysfunctional justice system and a non-existent one for those with money and power. Where are all the prosecutions of the accomplices, many if whom also operated openly? It was either going to happen in a timely way or not at all. I can't think of anything more damaging to our belief in the rule of law, which was the bedrock of our political and social systems. At this time in our history, the exact wrong approach was to slowly and cautiously follow traditional methods.
So in other words, it wasn't Garland, it's our entire Criminal Justice System that is FUBAR and won't hold the rich and powerful to account.
I hear there are two different systems of justice in this country. I see it having many more levels than that. There is a vast difference between what a poor black man, a working class white man, an upper middle class person, a rich person, a politically connected person and DJT experiences in the criminal justice system in this country.
I’ve been thinking the same thing for a long time now. The classified docs case case alone should have landed him in jail because if someone else not named tRump or musk or bezos or pick any other billionaire or politician they would have been tried convicted and in prison within a year. We have a broken system across the board but it’s been in disrepair for decades and no one is willing to put in the hard work to address the issues.
Yet, somehow the DoJ managed to get Hunter Biden tried and convicted in less time. Yea, I know that those were less complicated charges, but the DoJ treated Trump like a former President rather than an ordinary citizen. Maybe it wasn’t foot dragging but it sure was slow-walking because Garland showed an abundance — an extraordinary amount of abundance — of caution. Both Trump offenses were political — insurrection and stealing government documents. The election interference case on which he was convicted was political. Trump’s crimes were against the body politic. The result of this prosecution is exactly what Garland sought to avoid: a decrease in the respect for the DoJ and for the law. Whether or not it’s true, it looks like Smith couldn’t get a conviction. And as we all know, perception is reality. Even more so when the perpetrator not only beats the rap but gains the reward of the crime he committed.
Thank you for this information. I appreciate knowing more of the complexities and timelines. The American people know well who Trump is, and what we’ve sadly discovered, is that of those who voted, 1.5% more couldn’t care less that he’s a convicted felon, serial adulterer, and sexual assaulter. It doesn’t matter to them. A conviction may have even strengthened the idea that DOJ was out to get him. It is what it is. What happened in the minds of voters?
And apparently, a felon can still be President and Commander in Chief.
Agreed, but you may be giving "the American people" more credit than many of us deserve. Those who understand how government works and aren't dependent on right-wing media outlets for our news know who Trump is, but as to the rest? I have my doubts.
Should have filed for reassignment the moment Cannon was unable to hear the case because they didn’t have a secure facility to review the documents. Should have been moved to Miami immediately or refiled in DC.
Nice try, but I am not buying it. The 18 month delay in appointing Smith definitely mattered, and it signaled the lack of urgency that characterized Garland’s tenure.
It doesn't matter what Garland did or didn't. Citizens of this country elected Trump. To blame TFG's election on Garland, Biden, or anyone else shows denial of what we, the citizens, are as a country.
I guess I could have worded my comment better. I would have LOVED for the FELON to be tried, sentenced, and in a hair matching jumpsuit. With all that said, despite all of the facts coming out over the past 4 years (hiding boxes of classified papers, recorded telephone call to Mr. Rafensberher, J6 insurrectionists saying in court the FELON told them to do it, the scheme to said fake electors, reports on Project 2025, &c, &c) citizens of this country STILL ELECTED THE FELON over someone vastly more qualified, more honorable, more honest. The election, sadly, speaks more to the capitulation of a party and to the values of our citizenry. That is my opinion. Sad.
Apparently nearly 5,000,000 people did not vote in 2024 compared to 2020 (I’m looking for a link, but most reporting occurred in Nov before all votes were counted.) Of those who did vote in 2024, more voted for anyone but Trump (total: 78,208,963 for someone else vs 77,303,569 for Trump) according to Dave Leip’s US Atlas of Presidential Elections.
(https://uselectionatlas.org) It’s true that some “citizens of this country elected Trump” but most voters did not want him.
Those who did not vote at all actually " voted" for th Felon.
The number is much more if you count all eligible people. I just saw where it is over 90,000,000.
Something like 93,000,000 eligible voters did not vote. But most of them don't ever vote. The difference between 2020 and 2024 is far smaller, more like the 5,000,000 number.
Well, not all ‘eligible’ are voters, but some voters who voted in 2020 opted out in 2024 ☹️
To me, the whole chapter speaks to the ultimate stupidity of democracy. Eventually, it is rule by con men elected by fools. Half the electorate will always be below the mean intelligence. How is this supposed to work?
Democracy is a form of government. It doesn't equate to the electoral college, the filibuster, gerrymandering, and a lopsided representation equation as exemplified by the Senate. Please don't give up on democracy just because of the way it's executed in this country at this moment.
Paula, I appreciate your sentiment, but any way I look at it, democracy comes down to qualified and unqualified voters sharing power. I just can’t see how this is a fail-safe system. I hope one day you can call me and say, I told you so, but that won’t be Monday.
I read your comment below, and now I understand. I like your idea! People who hold government positions must be qualified. As to the voters, I don't know what to suggest except robust public education, which is one of my pet causes. I think by implementing those two things we would be a huge amount better off. But don't expect an I told you so from me. I think you've got the right idea.
Well, Ken, maybe you can tell us what would be better. A strong man who, after achieving power, may be mentally or physically unfit, mentally incompetent or demented and who will never allow you to post what you just posted without a prison sentence?
What would be better than (the current) inept and/or dishonest government is competent honest government which you will never achieve by allowing inept and/or dishonest people to vote for inept and/or dishonest candidates. Democracy inevitably degenerates into con artists governing fools. (A sensible way to create a government is to have a “Government” college major, and a post-graduate Government curriculum. Just as for lawyers, doctors, architects, truck drivers, hair cutters, if you want to be a congress person, take the course, and pass the test. NO MORE AMATEUR GOVERNMENT!
And if a demented strong man somehow achieves power, I will shout it from the rooftop because I would rather die defiant than live scared and silent. I would rather be a dead hero than a live coward hiding under the bead with a towel stuffed in my mouth. So would all the men who signed the Declaration of Independence, and all the colonists who shot at the king’s army, the most powerful in the world at the time. But if you’d rather continue your comfortable life and not risk losing anything for a principle, or for the benefit of others who are being trampled, or you’d like to help the fight for truth but you’re booked solid this week, I guess I’m wasting my breath. (And by the way, the monster you described in your question is taking the oath of office Monday, thanks to history’s greatest democracy.)
You strike me as an activist, perhaps an activist that wouldn't have a problem participating in a revolution... A real, guns and bullets revolution rather than a rhetorical one. That is a scary thought because most of the folks who are capable of starting one of those are on the other side of the fence. they've gathered their weapons and ammunition, and are prepared to fight a civil war. Just like you, they are prepared to die for whatever they think their cause is about...Oh, their cause is FREEDOM I think. Although beyond freedom it would be difficult to sort out what that means. Sure a liberal democracy is a vulnerable one and we are witnessing just how vulnerable. The concept of a Social Contract was what the Framers were shooting for. so here is a primer on our Social Contract. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI1t0dY5zoc&t=3s
You are complaining that our form of Democracy is a failure. I agree but you believe that training and honesty would be a requirement for those working in our government...Good luck finding all that honesty. Hooweee! We're humans, our brains work to give each one of us the best chance to succeed. Our brains operate subjectively and in my mind, subjectivity is just another word for making up shit. Governments are fictions. Every one of them.
There were probably disagreements among the players who attended the creation of the basic structure in 1776-7 but Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau were the main influences in how our constitution got written. Madison, Adams, Franklin, Jefferson were following the concepts. And yeah, all they did was structure a bare bones set of laws and instructions. There were guardrails put in place because they had to deal with the British presence and, of course the slave owning south and they gave us a chance to amend flaws in the future. I don't know the answer but I can assure you that money, things of value are the third rail for our country. Greed and the accumulation of wealth has become the dominant impulse and this idea of our country as a nation of laws is being disassembled.
As you say, most of the guys capable of a real revolution have guns. How do you propose we defend ourselves against them? As far as finding honesty, I suspect there are quite a few honest, competent, decent people in the State Department, the DoJ, the pentagon, HHS, and every other agency filled with career professionals who are not political appointees. I watched several of them testify before the impeachment committee. Most importantly, some of our brains can overcome nature’s will to live, and sacrifice for the benefit of others even risking death. Speaking for myself, I am not driven by greed. I certainly would not tolerate the abuse of people in the interest of profit. While we honest, decent people may be a minority, we will not roll over and play dead.
The sad thing is a large portion of our electorate has lost a sense of decency so someone like trump is ok for them, others have given up hope that their vote even matters. I live in a red,red state and since the split is 65% republican and 35% Democrat many Democrats think it is futile.We need to get rid of the Electoral College!!!
All true, but perhaps it just speaks to the total disconnect of most Americans from what's happening around them.
Civics education is sorely lacking in the States of America.
Agree: “speaks more to the capitulation of a party and to the values of our citizenry.”
If I expressed disdain or disapproval of garland’s actions, it was out of frustration and I apologize for any misconceptions I have had. But nevertheless, movement on trump’s guilt was pitifully slow and inevitably ineffective. The blame no doubt can be spread over a large field as everyone seems to fear the repercussions of crossing the orange fool and his minions. I don’t see anything changing any time soon. The bastard got away with insurrection. Period.
Blame... I don't do well with the word. We had our expectations starting back in 2016 about how trump needed to be handled...legally. How many times did I/we get energized with the various declarations that an investigation here, an impeachment there was going to occur and trump would get his comeuppance. An endless series of disappointing results until all we could do was shake our heads in bafflement. Isn't this story more about how the idea that this is a nation of laws is a fiction. Wealth and lawyers have made that a sham. How much faith does anyone have that Justice still exists? Wealth and lawyers have brought in an era of oligarchy. The far right has put the republican party to good use to serve its purposes. You have to admit that wealth and the far right have done a good job of stripping away the progressive culture we lefties had thought was a given. The south, the confederate states never gave up their bitterness and were joined by most of the states between the coastal ones. Internet propaganda, disinformation, the electoral college, major job loses...lots of blame I suppose. And juvenile trump, how in hell did all those citizens, and republican politicians think he was acceptable? Has the dumbing down of the American people been accomplished? Weren't people blaming Biden, or Harris that this s**tstorm is about to hit us? Garland was just another one of those people that we on the left are disappointed in but we got a hard row to hoe ahead of us.
Yes. To see that rule of law could not be applied after all that, and to be left with a monster on a suicide mission taking down the US and all of us with it? Disappointment? Yeah, that's one part. Carter was my first vote, and I voted for him twice. At this point, disappointment is really all I've ever known.
It matters!
Michael Jon Williams, it's not what "we, the citizens, are as a country"..... I respectfully suggest it's what a large number of the citizens are.... let's not forget that a great many of us (myself included) did not support nor vote for that treasonous insurrectionist convicted FELON. We held the line as best we could with what we had. Peace 🙏🕊️
Sad but true.
They never will understand that.
Most of his followers actually think he is protected by their god, the one god of the earth that they worship...money. Their god and its propaganda are far from my God and the truths he proclaims.
Absolutely spot on. People want some plausible explanation for the outcome of the election and they want an identifiable scapegoat. Garland is an easy target because he is too principled to speak up in his own defense while still serving as AG. That should be applauded, as it is a trait that will be gone with the wind in 4 days.
People forget that a conviction would not have disqualified him. Only conviction by the Senate could have done that and blaming Garland just gives cover to the 43 Senators, most of whom admitted his guilt but hid behind a specious jurisdictional argument, then lined up to kiss his ring.
And then there is the American voter, who had access to all the facts and still reelected him.
We have met the enemy, and he is us.
Yes, even McConnell actually said Trump was guilty, but that because he was out of office, the courts could handle it.
I'm sure he is aware that his decision allowed for this. I wish a few had enough principles to switch to independent and caucus with the Dems, to protect our democracy.
The fact that the Senate that has the power to send troops to war would even consider an unqualified candidate like Hegseth, is sickening.
I would have asked the chair to force him to strip and expose the racist tatoos for the record.
Daniel Solomon, excellent point 💯🎯
Totally agree, with the exception that Congress has abdicated their executive function for decades. We are about to see them become fully useless parasites on the public teat.
And *that* is very hard for many of "us" to accept.
A conviction? That is not what Garland robbed from the voters. The truth is what would have helped voters make informed decisions.
There is a political system in this country and a criminal justice system and they have different purposes and objectives. All the information that would have been presented at trial was in the public domain before the election. The voters didn’t care. If you want to blame anyone for the election outcome, other than the voters who voted for him, it is the 43 Senators who voted to acquit. That was the Constitutional remedy that would have prevented him from being a candidate. They breached their oath and as a result he was on the ballot.
They did breach their oath. But the media didn't help. They lied, they covered up, they misled. And that is a huge reason we have what we do now.
Well, lots of things and lots of people didn’t help. Big parts of the media, for sure. Misinformation, which was amplified on Facebook, Twitter, etc. AI manipulation in general. Disinformation from overseas included. Opportunists in politics and business who saw Trump as their ticket for personal advancement and personal riches, just to name a few.
Those really have always existed. It may be more of a perfect storm with the way it all came together with the speed of today’s technology but at the base level, it is the same human weaknesses that the founders feared and tried to build checks, balances and safeguards to the dangers they present.
But the Constitution really only provides two remedies to Trump and what he specifically did, impeachment and conviction resulting in disqualification for future office is the primary one, the one that really failed spectacularly, and the final safeguard in a constitutional, democratic republic, the voters.
If those we elect are just as willing to disregard their oath of office as the perpetrator, and the voters don’t understand their responsibilities as citizens, the republic is dead, it just doesn’t know it.
Unfortunately, you are so correct. I am old and for once, I am glad.
I have fantasies of fixing this but you may be right.
I don’t think they did not care. I think so many people work so many jobs and then try to take care of their kids that they cannot know what is happening. They do not have the time to know. Those of us who have time to know are fortunate.
It is called not listening to right wing talk radio and fox tv constantly. The propaganda is in their ears all hours.
Yes. My little fantasy now is that McConnell repents that he failed to convict on the 2nd impeachment, and he will now encourage votes against Hegseth. Mitch has nothing to lose now. Surely there are a couple of GOP Senators who can stand with him.
That is a lovely idea, and truly... a fantasy. McConnell has lost any insides that he used to have.
If the available public information wasn't enough to help voters make "informed decisions", nothing would be. Even Jack Smith's report doesn't say much more than we already knew from the Jan. 6 committee. People who like Trump don't care.
I did not have time to read the massive report, just summaries of it. Did I miss the coup plotters converging in the Willard Hotel? If not , why was it not addressed? Seems the conspiracy in advance of the actual coup was a big part of this and included a lot of actors besides Trump who escaped accountability, including some who were in Congress.
many WERE charged and convicted. If you didn't have time to stay informed, is it fair to blame others?
Who was charged from the Willard Hotel?
I was asking if the Willard Hotel stuff was in Smith’s report. Calm down.
sorry, you're right. It's hard not to panic at times.
They really don't. They remain convinced it is all a lawfare witch hunt and none of it is true.
The truth doesn’t matter to the maga cultists.
Unfortunately too many voters clearly don't care about a conviction.
What about intentionally ill or uninformed voters.
voters WERE informed. They either chose not to vote or to vote for trump. That's why he is now POTUS
You missed the Russian psy ops.Apprently so has Garland and Biden.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_interference_in_the_2024_United_States_elections#:~:text=The%20indictment%20revealed%20a%20key,and%20Benny%20Johnson%2C%20among%20others.
What do you mean, missed it? They interfere in every election.
Psy ops tilted the election. Made it invalid.
That could mean war.
Meanwhile, Trump is Consitutionally ineligible to serve.
Beware of Daniel Solomon.
Not honest, not true.
how and what is not honest or true?
It’s a lie that putting $250,000,000 into an election for propaganda does not is ok and that it is not cheating. But then Elon cheats on everything, including silly video games. Just like trump cheats at golf.
The people who voted for Trump were not interested in truth.
Truth doesn’t matter . Facts don’t matter, history doesn’t matter.
Proving, yet once again, that Pogo was correct! :-)
At least someone knows the source!
I recognized it. Because I'm old? Born in '54 - the previous century.
Thanks, John. I guess that qualifies both of us as antiques.
Your last line, “we have met the enemy and he is us,” was my cover photo right after the election. That is all of this succinctly distilled into that one sentence.
Agreed, Pogo.
You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but “ legalese”, the discussion of the complexities of legal issues and of the judicial process, is the language for topic at hand, and the effect those factors had in the length of time it takes to move an unprecedented and extraordinarily complicated case against a defendant with virtually unlimited resources forward can’t be glossed over without it.
It does not change the fact that even a conviction would not have precluded his candidacy, only conviction in the second impeachment would have accomplished that and 77 million have shown that the facts of the conspiracy and the insurrection were not enough to dissuade them for doing the unimaginable.
I know you would like to have a single villain to blame here, but there is not one, and it is certainly not the people who did their jobs at Justice.
We have a criminal justice process in this country which is responsible for personal accountability and Trump’s rights to continued enjoyment of his civil liberties. And we have a political process, impeachment and election. The former was short-circuited by the latter, which is what failed miserably. You can wish the legal process had moved more quickly, you can parse what Garland and his team did, but they were not the mechanism to insure that Trump never set foot in the Oval Office again.
No, no, no. Garland’s methodical bottom up process was doomed to fail because the clock was always counting down to 01/20/2025. He failed the American people by allowing the clock to run out. The fake electors scheme was well documented 18 months before DOJ announced an investigation. J6 organization and planning and the Willard Hotel White House War Room were well documented long before any subpoenas were drawn. The House J6 Committee conducted ALL of the investigative work long before DOJ lifted a pencil. Garland let this happen. Nice man, good judge, terrible guardian of democracy. Now we will pay the price.
If Garland wants he could release Part 2 of Smiths Report right now. Why not? This would even the score. But he won't. Until the left starts playing by the same game rule as the right we will never equalize this travesty of a government we're about to endure. Expose them with what you got not with what you think you can do. JUST FUCKING DO IT GARLAND.
So could Biden.
Because Nauta & de Oliveira have yet to stand trial. Garland would have to drop the charges for it to be released.
So drop them, and release it.
They will be pardoned day 1 of the convict’s second term. F that, release it
So drop them. They will be dropped anyway on Monday. Release the report.
Those guys will never be prosecuted under Trump, so not dropping the charges was another failure.
Bravo- Garland cowers.
Amen! For once Garland, do the right thing for the country!
The way I see this is Merrick Garland never should have waited. He should have immediately ponied off the J6 committee and started handing out indictments like there was no tomorrow…because literally there was no tomorrow. So what did Garland do? Nothing.
Let the s/l on the Mueller cases expire. Asleep at the switch.
The comments here are predictable. Folks need someone to be angry at. Thank you for your balanced commentary.
He should have appointed Jack Smith much earlier. The Supreme Court’s ruling hadn’t happened.
Sorry, Garland was a weak ineffective little man.
Is it only people like me who understand what danger we are in? I blame Garland and now, since he has full immunity, I also blame Biden for not doing what could have been done. Elon Musk is beyond dangerous and I am sure Biden is aware of his illegal activities but has done nothing. There is so much he could have done to make so many pay for their criminal acts but the Democrats I used to respect and understand, refuse to play the way the Republicans are playing. So, we are losing our democracy just so the old people in our party can continue to do what they determine is “appropriate.” They are so wrong.
I kinda agree with you. Too many who could do something, whatever that might have been, did nothing.
You want a "strong man" dictator, except you want him to be liberal. That's not what this country is about.
Sure…and soon we will have nothing that is for the people. I don’t want a dictator. I wanted Garland and Biden to follow the rule of law. That is something they were too weak to do. This will not affect me. I’m very fortunate but I am also smart enough to see what is happening, and what has happened. I’m 80. I’m privileged but I’m not stupid. And STRONGMEN is not about dictators being good or beneficial. It is about how they came to be. Good men did nothing. I have a close friend who was a Chief of Staff many years ago, he still believes in being “appropriate”…I do not. It is how you lose everything.
Very truly spoken. Thank you.
YES. They have done nothing except cash their paychecks and furrow their brows with concern.
Yes, I agree with you that the old ways of doing things are gone. It takes two to play fair just like it takes two real political parties for our system to work properly. Its time to bring their game to them. Democratic operatives are smart and they need to start throwing the knockout punches. Let beat MAGA now before democracy is gone!
ann schneider, 💯🎯
by acting like trump?
As a matter of fact you sound as if you believe in getting stepped on and losing our democracy. Read Strongmen by Ruth Ben-Ghiat.
Or just follow her Substack.
I started this morning. :) Thsnks!
Harry, I just don't buy it! I think the movement was way too slow! Anybody but trump would have had a speedy trial and incarcerated by what trump did that was treasonous activities! Stealing classified documents should have given him life in prison alone! Rosenbergs were executed for passing along those type of files and a young lady Reality Winner was incarcerated for 4 years for the SAME THING! Now we go to the J-6, and we all saw trump encourage the activities that went on! That reach should have included members of Congress who offered tours the day before that was also illegal to show the layout of the building! All we had to do is read or watch videos and tv to realize they are CRIMINALS! Our Justice system FAILED miserably...and will be even more failed with the release of those J-6 criminals who get pardoned by their "Boss!"
What he said! 👆 Given the magnitude of the crimes, the foundational impact to the country and the mountain of evidence, this should have been priority #1 from day one. Investigating from the bottom up "even if it led to Trump" is a joke. Trump was the ringmaster, full stop. Anyone paying any attention heard and saw that. If these cases couldn't have made it at least through trial in 4 years, then that only confirms that we have a dysfunctional justice system and a non-existent one for those with money and power. Where are all the prosecutions of the accomplices, many if whom also operated openly? It was either going to happen in a timely way or not at all. I can't think of anything more damaging to our belief in the rule of law, which was the bedrock of our political and social systems. At this time in our history, the exact wrong approach was to slowly and cautiously follow traditional methods.
Mike, 💯🎯
So in other words, it wasn't Garland, it's our entire Criminal Justice System that is FUBAR and won't hold the rich and powerful to account.
I hear there are two different systems of justice in this country. I see it having many more levels than that. There is a vast difference between what a poor black man, a working class white man, an upper middle class person, a rich person, a politically connected person and DJT experiences in the criminal justice system in this country.
I’ve been thinking the same thing for a long time now. The classified docs case case alone should have landed him in jail because if someone else not named tRump or musk or bezos or pick any other billionaire or politician they would have been tried convicted and in prison within a year. We have a broken system across the board but it’s been in disrepair for decades and no one is willing to put in the hard work to address the issues.
Yet, somehow the DoJ managed to get Hunter Biden tried and convicted in less time. Yea, I know that those were less complicated charges, but the DoJ treated Trump like a former President rather than an ordinary citizen. Maybe it wasn’t foot dragging but it sure was slow-walking because Garland showed an abundance — an extraordinary amount of abundance — of caution. Both Trump offenses were political — insurrection and stealing government documents. The election interference case on which he was convicted was political. Trump’s crimes were against the body politic. The result of this prosecution is exactly what Garland sought to avoid: a decrease in the respect for the DoJ and for the law. Whether or not it’s true, it looks like Smith couldn’t get a conviction. And as we all know, perception is reality. Even more so when the perpetrator not only beats the rap but gains the reward of the crime he committed.
Thank you for this information. I appreciate knowing more of the complexities and timelines. The American people know well who Trump is, and what we’ve sadly discovered, is that of those who voted, 1.5% more couldn’t care less that he’s a convicted felon, serial adulterer, and sexual assaulter. It doesn’t matter to them. A conviction may have even strengthened the idea that DOJ was out to get him. It is what it is. What happened in the minds of voters?
And apparently, a felon can still be President and Commander in Chief.
We are part of the problem.
Agreed, but you may be giving "the American people" more credit than many of us deserve. Those who understand how government works and aren't dependent on right-wing media outlets for our news know who Trump is, but as to the rest? I have my doubts.
He allowed a minor judge in FL to overrule the DOJ direction. If that isn’t weak I don’t know what is. He clearly was in trumps side the entire time.
Should have filed for reassignment the moment Cannon was unable to hear the case because they didn’t have a secure facility to review the documents. Should have been moved to Miami immediately or refiled in DC.
Yes!
Nice try, but I am not buying it. The 18 month delay in appointing Smith definitely mattered, and it signaled the lack of urgency that characterized Garland’s tenure.
Why doesn’t Biden release the entire report? He has immunity.
(And lift ALL of Barr’s ridiculous redaction “beards” from the Mueller report!)