He Did It: Full Jan. 6 Report Scorches Trump "Crimes"

You hit the nail on the head on his view on his power over R. Congressmen. There was likely a plan  to put him there. McCarthy had to have known. These people were all idiots who did not realize Roberts, Milley and Joe Bureaucrat would never have followed him. They were also wrong about the 12th Amendment. States only vote when no one gets a majority of votes legally cast, not the majority of possible votes.

Sadly, @MSNBC @FoxNews and @CNN did not raise this issue or correct the notion that being president put him beyond arrest and prosecution, even after judges continually said as dicta that they doubt force of OLC memo. Own your blame, Ari.

4 Weird Questions That Might Make You an Atheist

We can claim to be speaking for God from a belief we know the truth for reasons of group dynamics. For example, not eating pork was a rejection of urban culture and an affirmation of pastoralism. Leviticus was creating a is society, not eternal truth.

Why is it moral evil for me to eat a cow but not when a mountain lion hunts it down to feed the pack? Why is it moral to eat mushrooms with my steak but not the steak itself? The first precept of the Buddha was about what killing does to us, not the suffering of animals. I look for the day when pain free lab grown steak is both available and properly rare. It will be easier to grow a steak in a home based lab than a cow, especially on a space station.

The God to worship is one that is entirely loving and humble, where treating others as God would treat them, or if they were personifications of God provides a heavenly joy on Earth, even to atheists. 

Belief is not required for divine action or it's rewards in this world or the next. Changing the beliefs of the Church to accept an all-humble God as a necessary corollary to an all loving God is the very essence be of rebellion. Both more fun and higher stakes due to risk of martyrdom.

Near death experiencers say that no one goes to Hell, although they may have a negative experience to have them call out to God for relief. Everyone goes home to Heaven and comes back to experience life and choice. Others say that only the Earth is a free will planet (where people culturally choose blame), but to we will grow out of it. 

The Pliedian mythos from the last statement to is more myth through channelling than NDE. Freedom is possible without alien channelling, as is society evolving to get beyond blame, hate and tribalism. Finding a "humble God" meme will be both more likely and better than a "post God" one because atheists can be as tribal as believers.

Antisemitism; But They... It Doesn’t Matter

I no longer believe in transactional redemption. Jesus (and the Father with him) went on a vision quest to experience the abandonment that is endemic to living on the planet. As to the temple hierarchy - Jesus was a member of the Pharisee Party. That is why they were always nearby. Also why they were hurt by Jesus' criticism of them. When he was tried by his fellows, it was not from a place of bloodlust. Many loved him in the Sanhedrin. For many, it was hard to send him to Pilate. In the end, they felt they had no choice. Jesus set himself up. 

Jesus killed Jesus, although it is not his death that ransoms us, it is when he joined us in our despair. When he died (in the Father's kingdom - as is evidenced from him drinking the fruit of the vine on the cross), it was so we could rise.

Anti-semites, indeed all conservatives, believe that they need to defend God. A God that needs defending is not a god. Jesus is entirely humble -- and true humility is not something these people want anything to do with. They want a tribal God, not one who is best loved and experienced by serving others.

Let's talk about the committee, the symbolic, and civics....

A symbolic referral was easily predictable, as are those in his orbit from the Willard Hotel. Do the criminal referrals extend to members of Congress and the Senate? The data still goes, so it matters less, provided that the guilty members are investigated by Mr. Smith. 

The Committee gets an C for referring only 4 members to the Ethics Committee and then, only citing not answering the subpoena. They punted. They also limited the number referred to less than the new majority. They were likely so afraid of being seen as political that they put their thumb on the scale, even though assisting an insurrection was a political act. Not referring these members is a failure to enforce the 14th Amendment.

There is a point when the new Congress convenes to challenge disputed elections. Does being a traitor rise to the level of disputability? We shall see. If they were to go this route, they would have to then refer the members not seated to Ethics anyway and, to not look political, suspend the election for Speaker until members or cleared or a special election is held for each member not seated.

For the moment, Jack Smith is the hope for the 14th Amendment meaning anything. Immediate indictments would be nice, but justice will soon come for insurrectionist members. If they plead guilty or are convicted, they will have to resign or be removed. Again, there will be a special election to fill their vacancy. Because the nation is mostly even, they will likely be replaced with other Republicans. This is why they should simply resign now.

As for certain Insurrectionist Senators, they will be replaced by their governors. In at least two cases, those governors are Democrats. Replacing just one defangs the two conservative Democrats.

January 6 committee to refer Trump to the DOJ for prosecution. Here's w...

THAT Trump is going to be convicted is a no brainer - and so is the fact that there will be a deal, not a trial. The DOJ is making sure it has enough evidence to force Trump to face the inevitable and to agree not to seek higher office (if he lives that long).  It is not the General Counsel's opinion from the Agnew affair that is precedent, it is how Agnew was dealt with. This time, however, there will be house arrest and probable behavioral health confinement orders.

The big one is actually why the Insurrection happened - which is to cover up the real circumstances of the first impeachment - that Lev and Igor got money from an Oligarch that went to Rudy's little diplomatic mission and Trump's political action committee. I am interested to see who that PAC money went to - it was not just the Trump grift.

More important is to refer members of the House and Senate to both Ethics Committees and to nail down rules to deal with the 14th Amendment in the Electoral Count Act and on the beginning of each Congress. This needs to be done with enough force to have people resign rather than show up for the new term. Even if the Committee does not do this, Jack Smith will make it happen later.

Under the 14th Amendment, the ability to hold office can be restored upon a positive vote of 2/3rds of each Chamber. Under U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton, only constitutional provisions can limit office holding - so just going with the Big Blue Book may not be enough on its own.

Let's talk about House Republicans wanting referrals

The whole Hunter Biden narrative is an outgrowth of the absurd notion that Joe Biden fired a prosecutor who was not prosecuting his son's company. Not exactly father of the year stuff. That whole question was part of the "perfect phone call" which was a misdirection from Trump trying (unsuccessfully) to stop Javelin missiles from going to Ukraine. The DoD Comptroller stopped Trump's espionage by making sure the money was spent. 

Luckily, DOJ found a related money trail from Putin to Trump's PAC - which likely also leads to certain Republican Congressmen. Some of these members will be sitting on pins and needles watching the criminal referral section of Monday's hearing by the January 6th Committee. Even if there is none, they know in their heart of hearts that Jack Smith has all of the information on the Ukraine matter.

The only people who were fooled by the perfect phone call were the Impeachment Managers - although I suspect that they took a dive instead. They paid for their nonsense. Never wound a king. Had they made the first impeachment be about Russia and not electoral hijinks, Pence would have become President - likely with Trump forced to resign rather than convicted. Instead, Schumer and Pelosi let the dice roll and, instead of building their majority in the House with people voting Democratic with Biden, they lost seats anyway because 2018 was an overcorrection. They got greedy.

Let's talk about the end of the Special Master....

Answering Beau's question:

Trump's Hail Mary pass was to get his Ukraine files walled off from his prosecution for the impeachment and insurrection. Trump likely did not let him make that argument directly and it will be hard for Smith to unsee this evidence. Trump would not have won because, under Hamdi, his executive power was constrained by congressional action. See http://xianleft.blogspot.com/2022/12/what-trump-was-hiding.html

Now that this question is over, Trump is laying low, probably on the advice of his attorneys (who are likely working a deal for him). He may also be under house arrest as of this writing.

The issue of Ukraine is more important than the documents. No Senator who wants to be president wants to criminalize foreign policy. See http://xianleft.blogspot.com/2020/07/regarding-trump-and-stone.html The relevant paragraphs:

Allowing Russia a zone of influence near its borders (a Monroe Doctrine, if you will) is not an idea originating with Trump. Is his presidential discretion wide enough to pursue such a policy, regardless of past doctrine?  This is another way of asking whether we wish to criminalize American foreign policy?

We tried in Iran-Contra, however the investigation led to the overturn of Lt. Col. North's criminal conviction. The question remains, was violating the Boland Amendment a crime or a secret foreign policy?

The Ukraine affair is of a similar nature - although the system worked well enough to make sure the military aid was spent. The purported crime was election interference, but that interference would have, at worst, been one day event on Fox News. It amounts to a dirty trick, and a sloppy one at that.

The real issue with Urkaine is whether election interference was just the cover story, with Trump's real intention being to hang Ukraine out to dry and force a pro-Moscow settlement. Would doing so have been a crime or an act of presidential discretion. While the impeachment trial hinted at treasonous intent, it was not pursued convincingly enough for Republicans to have to vote to remove.

Some may even conclude that Senator Schumer and Chairman Schiff took a dive, that the entire impeachment was, essentially, an electoral stunt all its own - one that far exceeds the 15 minutes of fame on Fox News had the Ukrainian President been more cooperative.

President Bush took a pass at arresting Vice President Cheney when he attempted to force his own policy on torture on the Justice Department - who objected and went to the President. There is also the matter of war crimes ordered by Cheney and Rumsfeld. The Geneva Convention was not observed at Gitmo. The war may or may not have been about WMD. Regardless, Rummy lost the peace by firing all Baath party officers from the Iraqi Army, thus destroying the existing civil society in Iraq. When the Baathists fled to Syria, they just may have taken the WMD with them. That chemical weapons were used in Syria should be no surprise to anyone who can connect the dots.

The 2006 election was about a few things, but the failure of the peace, as detailed by Bob  Woodward in a book that came out just before the election, had a big part in the loss (as did GOP corruption). There was a real push to hold the President (or the Vice President), responsible for the debacle, but Speaker Pelosi would not go there. Doing so would have criminalized foreign policy.

Where do we draw the line once we open Pandora's Box? Iran-Contra was played as a rogue operation by the National Security Advisor and his Deputy. By that time, Reagan's dementia was likely far enough advanced that he had no involvement - and no one asked whether Vice President Bush was in the loop. This has always vexed me. History may provide an answer when we are all dead or we may never know.

We currently have a similarly demented President, although he seems to be active when he thinks it is in his interest. His niece paints a picture in her book of a learning disabled sociopath. The real constitutional crisis is that the Executive Branch is operating without the active participation of the elected President. What role is Vice President Pence playing in the operation of the government? He should at least be held to account for not invoking the 25th Amendment when Robert Mueller was appointed. What did he know and when did he know it on Russia? Was the cover story of Flynn being fired for lying to Pence itself a cover story? Did anyone ask?

This is important because Cy Vance (as well as the D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine) are now empowered to investigate Citizen Trump. Does Trump v. Vance imply the end to the OLC Memo? How can it not if the President is not above the law? If A.G. Barr is really the bright shiny object distracting Trump while SDNY and DC do their work, is it time for them to now go forward, indict and arrest Trump (before Vance and Racine can beat them to it)?

If we are lucky as a nation, Leader McConnell will realize that he and his band of rats need to jump off the U.S.S. Trump, thus forcing him to resign or to have Pence bench Trump and become both Acting President and the nominee. In this case, Vice President Biden needs to shift his attentions from the incompetence and criminality of Trump to the lack of moral courage and mixed motives of Pence. Regardless, we must still address the issue of the criminality of the White House foreign policy.

Schiff should have followed the money trail, which in the Parnas and Fruman case has shown starts in Moscow, likely leads to Rudi and is alleged to fund the Trump Super PAC (thus benefiting much of the Senate impeachment jury). Let us hope this is not being saved as an October surprise. If McConnell moves Trump out of the way, it won't be of much use in going after Pence, who seems to have been mostly above the fray.

If McConnell fails to act, investigations must go on, which brings us back to Pandora and her box. How shall any Putin-Trump connection be played? Is it corruption or discretion. So far, only the corruption angle has been advanced. This has not worked with the GOP Senate or the electorate. If Trump is a traitor, it should be examined, but this will have implications for future presidents, including a President Schiff.

The question of whether Bin Laden was assassinated rather than being captured has criminal implications. Others have raised the question of the targeting of an American citizen who was part of Al Queda in the Arab Peninsula. Most come down on the side of presidential discretion. If we criminalize foreign policy, could it boomerang on our best president since Ike?

In my opinion, we need to open the box. Corruption is non-starter. It will not convince anyone in the Trump orbit that he did anything wrong. Unless Trump is pursued as a traitor - which I argue that he is - and the point is proven by a future DeutcheBank data dump on the Intelligence Committee - the nation will take a long time to heal. Not all Republican Trump supporters are his "fine people" who defend the Lost Cause. Continuing with Trump's criminality must lead to a knockout blow or it will be perceived as yet more partisanship, even if this means walking on the slippery slope.

What The 2030s Will Look Like with Ray Kurzweil

In Creating a Mind, Ray talks about using implants to expand our horizons. Is resistance useless? In the coming decades, we will learn to live with each other. I am betting that we get closer to Q rather than the Borg.

The singularity is not about computing or analytical power. It is about situational and physical awareness and, from that, being able to disobey your programming. Do we want computers that can tell us know?  Probably no.

The progress we need to make as a species is social, not technological. Seculars and Religionists need to agree to a perfectly humble god meme and all that this implies. Do that, and the rest falls into place.

Let's talk about Republicans assessing Biden....

As inflation goes down and Biden stays healthy, he will be like Obama in 2012. Once the Insurrectionist caucus is held to account, the GOP will be laying low. Newt is thinking about running for President again. Biden will likely decline during his second term, possibly letting his VP take the reins at some point. The GOP needs to find a candidate that won't go full racist or sexist on VP Harris, even in quiet rooms where no one knows that the waiter has left his phone on (which killed Romney in 2012). 

Biden is no socialist. Bernie is not either. Both are social democrats to one degree or another. So are most Republican voters - they simply call themselves that. The extremist rhetoric on Social Security in the last cycle did not help the GOP. The GOP needs a new script. So do the Dems. If they agree on one, we can have a sane 50-50, rather than the current toxic one. 

The most big government socialist (rather than social democratic) institution we have is the DoD sector. The closer NASA and the Space Force work together, the more socialism people will tolerate.

Let's talk about Trump companies being found guilty....

Now we know why Trump was upset enough to say that there should be a new election, a redux with GOP states Trump lost being allowed to resubmit and setting the Jan 20 date aside. He knew this was coming (and the 11th Circuit result had already dropped).  

The NYS $250M number is the low estimate. The real number will be higher or lower, depending on what Trump creditors can get their hands on as part of the case and how much the Trump family assets are really worth. I would say the stated value is over $250M, but the market value post-trial may be much less - even prior to distribution.  This should be fun.

The one thing that likely will not be included is prosecution for Trump laundering Oligarch money through DB. Statute of limitations has likely expired, but it will be part of the story that Jack Smith presents when talking about the Mar O Lago documents, the Insurrection and the actual crimes committed for which the Ukraine Impeachment occurred. 

The latter case is still active. Rudy will not be prosecuted as an unregistered foreign agent. The question is whether he was a GRU asset instead. Follow the money. You can see the trail if you read both the indictments of Lev and Igor and what Lev had to stipulate to as far as getting money from Russia through his wife in order to get bail.

The more important money question is what Trump's PAC did with the money Lev and Igor donated to it. Did it all go to enrich the Trump businesses or did some of it make its way into the campaigns of R. Congressmen who cooperated in planning January 6th or voted with those who did on January 7th?

Let's talk about the Republican response to Trump's new push....

Saying that they took Trump out of context is correct. He wants to call a new election or have the states he lost (with GOP legislatures) send a new set of electors. The provision he wants to cut out is the January 20th start date. Of course, he will not give Al Gore the same privilege. Gore won in 2000 if you credit him with double votes where they were both for him. Media recounts show Gore won on that basis.

Trump is lashing out after realizing that his files from Mar O Lago on Ukraine will be seen by Smith rather than set aside as privileged foreign policy (not criminal). He also knew he would lose NYC v. Trump Org. Self-pity oozes from his pores. 

He will be doing a deal shortly, being dragged kicking and screaming to it, and will have to give up on running for President again. After being convicted or pleading out, he loses his reason for running again. 

As for the GOP, they believe, probably correctly, that no one will care what they say now about Trump's foibles. If the GOP is smart, the Republican they will be supporting is Liz Cheney. People who vote for anyone on the GOP line will vote for Liz. Even MAGA. Someone needs to ask these GOP politicians that question. The answer will be the same. They will support the GOP nominee.

Eric Holder "extremely concerned" about Supreme Court elections case

The problem is that the Court took the federal courts out of the business of reviewing state redistricting. Unless the Voting Rights Act gives the federal government the power to pre-approve or allow challenges to redistricting under federal law, this question can be settled by tradition, but not statute. It is likely that this case was taken to force Congress to come up with a solution - or for the states to do so legislatively by prescribing standards by which to reapportion. The case the Supreme's got wrong was in taking away federal court review.

Proportional representation would fix this, although that has its own problems if all the members of the legislature or Congress live in one part of the state. Some kind of district rules would still be required - like which party can fill which district based on election results. Neither is an easy call and redistricting would still be required under the latter situation (unless minor parties would hold at large seats - with more seats than districts).

Eric's point is well taken on how redistricting has made the House competitive. It now reflects the 50-50 nature of our polity, which is as much about personalities as it is about issues (including the personality and demographic/economic traits of voters). 

The answer to our 50-50 nation is for one party to actually propose changes outside the margins of current debate - especially regarding tax policy. The consensus around the ill-advised 1986 tax reform and the narrowing range of rates between parties has reduced the field of issues to a few culture war tropes that the Court has mostly settled.

There will be no federal law on abortion unless it is bipartisan - something like fetal hospice with no other aggressive measures after the 14th week, but no limit on inducing pregnancy. Spending issues will be localized and foreign policy will likely begin to stop at the waters edge, depending on the prosecution of Trump.

The question of whether there is executive privilege on foreign policy, absent blatant bribery, is what drives whether Smith can see Trump's documents on the Ukraine affair for which he was impeached (as well as any assistance Trump received in 2016) and any campaign contribution to Trump channelled from Moscow through Fruman and Parnas.

The question of whether there will be civil unrest when Trump pleads guilty (and he will) is overblown. The leaders of the Oath Keepers have been convicted. The effectiveness of that organization as a terrorist group is over. The Proud Boys are next. The people who would lead any kind of violent movement are incarcerated and will not be released any time soon, if ever again. Trump did not hold back any reserves on January 6th. That tank is empty.

The MAGA Tea Partiers who stormed the Loudoun County School Board - and were investigated because they were on FBI watch lists, will get tired of their latest victims. The 2024 election rejection of such issues that Youngkin and DeSantis think are so important will end with their bids for national office. Pompeo and Pence are too tied to Trumpism and Ukraine to ever be elected either.

When the electorate is even, it can either stay in a rut or respond to fresh leadership on real issues. At this point, it is an open question.

Fmr. FBI Special Agent Says 11th Circuit Ruling ‘Really Embarrassing’ Fo...

Cannon did what Justy would not, ask for executive privilege for matters having to do with Ukraine. Essentially, she was carving out a presidential exclusionary rule for foreign policy without saying it clearly. She gave the opening to Trusty and he did not take it. 

The Ukraine evidence (both Mueller and impeachment) provide the reason for the Insurrection and document holding. It proves Trump is a Putinist traitor, with the inference that his supporters are soft on Putin. If you look at some of their statements, including MTG and McCarthy, as well as Collins and Nunes, it does not even require guessing. 

Keeping that information out was kind of a triage, because if it is considered to be foreign policy (which the system favors it being so that future Presidents are not constrained by criminal law), then he gets away with treason. He cannot now. 

Trusty needs to make his best deal for Trump ASAP before the question of the ultimate penalty comes up.

What Trump was hiding

 This was likely in the safe, along with related documents: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/white-house-lawyer-moved-transcript-of-trump-call-to-classified-server-after-ukraine-adviser-raised-alarms/2019/10/30/ba0fbdb6-fb4e-11e9-8190-6be4deb56e01_story.html

Trump Can Appeal Special Master Dismissal But ‘DOJ Is On The Job’ Expert...

Responding to Joyce Vance.

Questions having to do with Presidential documents are reserved for the DC District Court and DC Circuit. Trump could go there to seek "executive treatment" for the documents he attempted to hoard. The relevant question is whether the material gathered has anything to do with foreign policy having to do with Ukraine, removing it from the criminal law. The fact that Jim Trusty did not raise this issue has doomed his client. Of course, he may have taken a dive because his role is to get the best deal for his client - and dragging this out makes that harder. Also, Trump probably did not want his cards shown - so he may have screwed himself.

The Special Counsel cannot unsee evidence once it is released to him. If his purview reaches into the motives for the Insurrection,, which I contend is to keep his conduct on Ukraine out of the judicial system (since it involves being bribed by Putin), then any documents he took to cover up these issues leaves him with no other path than to make a deal for either home confinement or mental health hospitalization on a long term basis (as a criminal, is less culpable due to his grandiosity and mental illness or that he is not able to stand trial because he cannot aid in his own defense).

Getting Trump is not the main event. Getting R. Congressmen who were involved in the plot directed by Stone, et al, in the Willard Hotel is, including the extent to which Mr. McCarthy was in the loop on January 5th.

What was being hidden

Is There An Atheist Personality Type? (Psychology of Atheism Part 2)

My question is whether anything was found regarding the FPs and TJs?

I favor using the Jungian cognitive functions, but in a different way than Objective Personality uses them. I consider extraverted thinking and feeling as observer functions, with introverted thinkers and feelers as deciders - meaning they active engage their thinking and feeling environments rather than knowing them. 

Observer functions are also reshuffled. Extroverted sensing and Intuition are about acting for the tribe, while introverted sensing and intuition are about reacting to the tribe (observing it) in favor of the self (self-reflection of the sensory and planning for the self, not others). Thus, those who use TP and FP (whether E or I) are about active engagement with the tribe, while TJ and FJ are about active engagement with oneself.

My blog post on this can be found at

 http://xianleft.blogspot.com/2021/10/subjective-objections-on-cognitive.html

with the related YouTube video at https://youtu.be/hZAZ-Rkysb4