I am glad that the Mueller Investigation was not a total waste. However, the timing of the Rosenstein press conference the day after the disastrous Strzok Hearing indicates to me the FDB/DOJ play the media and politics. I suppose it is good to take the public’s attention away from the corrupt Strzok and refocus it on the good work the FBI does. It is an obvious ploy, but okay.
Tweet of the Day
That pretty lady is Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Republicans Forced to Call U.S. Marshals to Serve Subpoena on Lisa Page
“…Republicans called in U.S. Marshals to serve former FBI lawyer Lisa Page on Wednesday after she refused to comply with the committee’s subpoena, according to Fox News.
Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Rep. Bob Goodlatte accused Page of “apparently” having “something to hide.” Republicans want to question Page about her anti-Trump texts with disgraced FBI agent Peter Strzok, with whom she was having an extramarital affair.
Page’s lawyer claimed she “will cooperate with this investigation” even as Page defied the subpoena to appear on Wednesday before the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform Committees.
Page’s attorney initially agreed to comply with the subpoena, Goodlatte told Fox News, but “then turned around and immediately tried to reject it.”
“So that’s why we sent the marshals to her house, to serve the subpoena,” he explained. “They had to go back three times before they were finally able to reach her.”…”
Losing the Supreme Court can teach Democrats same valuable lessons
Seth Lipsky:
“…This line of thinking was nicely articulated the other day by The New York Times’ David Leonhardt in a column urging liberals not to despair. Leonhardt didn’t go so far as to suggest that a right-wing court would be the “best” thing in years. He did, though, urge a course of realism and a new strategy for pursuing liberal policies.
Like, say, winning elections.
“Over the last half-century, conservatives have put more energy into building a movement,” Leonhardt wrote. Above all, he added, “winning local, state and congressional elections.”
Democrats, meanwhile, “have emphasized higher-profile politics, like the presidency and landmark court cases.” Leonhardt suggested Democrats “can’t afford to do so anymore.”
Those strike me as wise words as we stand at the brink of what might yet come to be called the Trump court. And they are words to mark for the conservative caucus, too.
After all, we were there once…”
Strzok Hearing – Nauseating Display of Moral Turpitude
Roger Simon:
“…So we’re all liars and maybe we are, but I’ll tell you what convinced me — besides an overwhelming amount of circumstantial evidence equivalent to the O.J. trial — that Strzok was not just your garden variety prevaricator but an out-and-out conniving, evil S. O. B.: his smirk.
The shrinks call that “inappropriate affect” and it sure was. What the hell was this guy smirking about? Even in the remote possibility (oh, how remote) that his bias had no direct political and investigatory consequence, he had shamed himself, his family, and the FBI and its personnel tremendously, damaging the organization materially for years to come. And yet he was smirking.
In fact, he wasn’t just smirking. He was fighting back as if he were the wounded party. One “useful idiot” on the Democratic side even said he deserved the Purple Heart.
It was a nauseating display of moral turpitude on the part of the Democrats and Strzok. Who paved the way for that? Well, I’ll tell you: Inspector General Michael Horowitz.
Listening to the hearings today convinced me more than ever that he, like Strzok, is a liar — only a far subtler and therefore ultimately more dangerous one. In fact, he’s so good he probably believes his own lies Unlike Strzok, he doesn’t smirk or get angry…”
Trump could end up replacing 3, even 4, Supreme Court justices in his first term.
“…President Donald Trump reportedly has suggested he hopes to remake nearly half of the US’s highest court in his image by making four separate appointments during his first term — and so far, that’d already be half right.
Upon taking office, Trump quickly filled the Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia with Neil Gorsuch, a conservative who has already played a key role.
On Wednesday, Justice Anthony Kennedy announced that he would retire on July 31.
Trump now stands to secure two justices in the first half of his first term. Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush appointed two justices each during their eight years in office.
Supreme Court justices, who serve for life after a presidential appointment and Senate confirmation, represent one of the longer-lasting marks a president can leave on the country, as the justices often serve for decades.
But Trump reportedly thinks he can get an additional two justices in.
In October, the news website Axios cited an anonymous source detailing private predictions by Trump that Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor would retire during his term.
“What does she weigh? 60 pounds?” Trump asked of the now-85-year-old Ginsburg, a source told Axios. The same report indicated Trump said Sotomayor, over 20 years younger than Ginsburg, was also in trouble because of “her health.”
“No good. Diabetes,” Trump reportedly said.
Sotomayor had a health scare in January with paramedics treating her for low blood sugar, but she quickly returned to work. Sotomayor says she’s vigilant about her Type 1 diabetes, which she’s had since childhood.
During the 2016 campaign, Trump often said he or his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, could end up appointing five justices.
So far, Trump has had the chance only to replace judges appointed by Republican presidents, and he is sure to nominate a conservative-leaning judge to replace Kennedy.
The nine-justice court already leans conservative, but Kennedy, chosen by President Ronald Reagan, has been viewed as a swing vote during his tenure, supporting same-sex marriage and upholding a woman’s right to abortion.
Ginsburg and Sotomayor are liberal justices, so replacing both Kennedy and either of them with conservatives could change the court’s makeup for decades, possibly reversing decisions like Roe v. Wade.
“The future of our democracy is at stake,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said of replacing Kennedy.
“We’re looking at a destruction of the Constitution of the United States,” if Trump gets to appoint another conservative to the Supreme Court, Sen. Kamala Harris, a Democrat from California, said on MSNBC.
Supreme Court nominees need at least 51 Senate votes to win confirmation, and Republicans hold a 51-49 majority. For Democrats, this makes their bid to take control of the Senate in November’s elections all the more vital….”
Another Shot of Group in Meadow
Austin at Bridalveil
Lesley at Bridalveil
Flare Shower Over Utah
Three Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles fire flares over the Utah Test and Training Range, July 3, 2018.
Tweet of the Day
One of my Favorite Movie Clips
MSM Journalist Nitwit Statement of the Day
Jonathan Chait: Unlikely But Possible That Trump Has Been Russian Asset Since 1987; “Probably Not True But It Might Be”
Probably not true but it might be…
Think about that coming from a “journalist”
Nitwit Statement of the Day
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) expressed Wednesday what troubles her about Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Shaheen said although she does not know Kavanaugh’s position on “women’s reproductive freedom,” she is “troubled” by what she expects it to be.
El Capitan and the Merced
Follow the Money
With all the talk on Trump being too aggressive with our European allies, consider the map below prepared by Bloomberg. Our NATO allies that we pay to defend from Russia, do a substantial business with Russia in natural gas and other commodities. The same can be said for European investment in Iran. The difference between Trump and previous democrat and republican presidents is that Trump will talk about European hypocrisy in the open without restraint. Is that good or bad? I don’t know, but it is different, and it very well may work to improve U.S. financial and military interests world wide.
California City Will Experiment with $500/Month Universal Basic Income
From the “What Could Go Wrong?” file:
“Stockton is selecting 100 residents to receive the money with no strings attached.”
Money in this context refers to other people’s money. Worth a risk in those circumstances.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Encased In Carbonite Until Next Court Session
“…WASHINGTON, D.C.—With President Trump now nominating his second justice to the Supreme Court, a lot of attention is being paid to the oldest Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Critics fear that if Trump replaces her, it would shift the court far to the right. She’s in fine health for now, though, according to the technicians that have frozen her in carbonite until the next term of the Supreme Court.
As Ginsburg was lowered into the carbonite freezing chamber, she bravely looked up at her fellow liberal justices, who said, “I love you.” She reportedly replied, “Huh?”
Ginsburg’s legal aides assured the press that carbonite-freezing is very common for someone her age and should keep her safe and perfectly preserved until she is needed again. As soon as there is another court session, they’ll unfreeze her, and after a brief bout of hibernation sickness, she’ll be back to hearing cases and delivering opinions…” Original Here
Related Tweet of the day:
The Democratic Party left me behind — and I’m not alone
Saritha Prabhu:
“…The real divisions, as I see it, aren’t between Democrats and Republicans, but between the political and corporate ruling class and the national media establishments that support them, on the one hand, and the rest of us. All the other divisions are less consequential.
Politicians from both parties have gotten away with letting down ordinary Americans for decades because millions of Americans are culturally wedded to their tribal political identities of Republican or Democrat, and can’t think outside the box.
Looked at this way, the election of Donald Trump made perfect sense to me. Sixty-three million voters — including African-Americans, Hispanics and Democrats — rejected status quo politics and voted for a strong, rank outsider to shake the establishment from their comfortable perches.
Would President Donald Trump’s supporters have preferred a decent, moral, well-behaved, well-informed populist? Sure, but in dire times, you take the populist who shows up because beggars can’t be choosers, etc…”
Oil News
This looks like the fruit of Trump diplomacy and results from our alliance with the Saudis against Putin’s Russia and their client state Iran.
“…OPEC’s oil output jumps in June as Saudi Arabia opens the taps to tame crude prices…” Original Here
Related story: U.S. Set to Become World’s Top Oil Producer
Related Story with interest to the NATO Summit: Germany is a Captive of Russia