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Glenn Reynolds, Rudy G. And Hinderaker All Libeled The Biden Family. Full Stop.

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But our robust First Amendment jurisprudence, with which I agree, BTW… allows even people like John and Glenn to openly lie — about public figures. [I am not convinced that Hunter Biden is a public figure, thought — he has never held office, and is in all of this simply allow hacks like Glenn and John to smear the President-Elect.] But no matter — let’s pretend he is a limited purpose public figure, under NYT v. Sullivan.

It would still be important — from any moral person’s point of view — to apologize to Hunter, in writing, when it turned out (as here) that Rudy G.’s clearly faked laptop drives — a/k/a Grandpa Tugs-A-Lot, was the sole source for their lies Glenn and John told, at the time they both published their statements.

Since then, the repeated attempts to shore up the veracity of the supposed emails Rudy exhibited has all but been obliterated. No one believes his jailhouse source. To this November 6 moment, not one header (nor any complete metadata file) has ever been shown by any proponent for any of the salient emails (and certainly not any that even hint at lawless conduct, by any member of the now-assembling Biden transition team).

It is thus fair to say… they were all fake. Likely faked by Russian buddies of Rudy G., but who really cares who did it? Hunter will (unlike the adult Trump children) serve no role in his Administration.

So — now Glenn is taking up occasional opinion page residence at the only major newspaper willing to join Rudy, and libel the Biden family in that evidence free and vicious way: that rag, the NY Post.

Yep. That makes sense. It scans.

Too bad the universally highly-regarded University of Tennessee Law School in Knoxville still lists a serial libeler among its faculty.

As one tangerine-hued moron might even be heard to say… “SAD”.

Onward.

[Updated — Called For Biden!] Candace Owens-Farmer’s Specious Suit — About Her (Allegedly) False COVID-19 Statements.

~ condor ~ 4 Comments

Update & Bump — 11.05.2020: Candace Owens-Farmer is now using a self-published fund-raising site (I won’t link it but it is the non-word “factcheck” followed, without spaces, by the word “zuck” and then followed by a “.com” suffix) to raise money. She claims the money will go to pay for her ballooning legal fees, on the below nonsense. I’ve given the banner over to mocking her, and it — until we have a President-Elect, officially. Either from a Trump concession (i.e., won’t happen!), or a Biden assertion of being the incumbent. AP calls race for Joe Biden / Kamala Harris. (maybe next week, mid-week). [This post was originally published at 10:22 PM on October 21, 2020.] End update.

It will be hard to stay right up to date on this nonsense suit, unless of course one of the defendants removes it — to federal court (based on diversity of citizenship).

And that is highly likely, in my estimation — so we will wait. For now though it is in the local, less wired Delaware state courts.

The claim — such as it is — is that Facebook damaged her reputation and earning power, on its own site — by applying warning labels to her falsehoods, and thereafter demonetizing her account.

Ahem. There is simply no… there, there. Facebook does not owe her a living off of her own lies. Many of those we’ve documented, as she set about defaming young black men, now dead from the gunshots — of white identity group affiliated assassins.

This one though is different — it turns out that Facebook (as is its right) takes a particularly dim view of misleading people about public health, as Ms. Owens repeatedly did (allegedly, at this point, I guess) — in the teeth of a global pandemic, no less.

And so, as a private platform, it took action.

Ms. Owens will lose, and likely lose attorneys’ fees, too — since the law here is so clearly settled against people’s attempts to magnify their profiteering (from a revenue sharing — by virtual country club)… via their own increasingly egregious lies — about public health, in someone else’s private dining car / country club.

Onward.

[U, X3] Sec. of State Of Penn. Opposes Trump Entering The Supremes’ Case — On Mail Voting In The Quaker State

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Updated @ 6 AM EST Friday: Mr. Biden is now about 900 votes ahead, in Georgia, and is steadily pulling away with about 30,000 votes left to count — and to be fair, counting the over 6 million votes there is still continuing. A literally razor thin lead (and at the moment it is within the margin that Trump may get a recount of right in Georgia), but it may well turn out that he doesn’t even need to win Pennsylvania now (Biden’s leading still in Nevada, and Arizona — with Georgia it would be game over). Thus the Democratic Party is rightly telling the Supremes that they shouldn’t weigh in, unless the later arriving ballots are of a size that they could swing the outcome, after all the undisputed ballots are counted. And, Mr. Biden continues to drive Trump’s lead in PA ever closer to… extinction. I am frankly… bouyant. End update.

Here is that full filing. But let us keep firmly in mind that the whole reason Pennsylvania is allowing ballots with up to three days subsequent postmark dates… is because US Postmaster General Louis DeJoy (a Trumpian) intentionally scrambled the regular mail delivery. That, and people face pandemic challenges, in the middle of a spike (approaching 240,000 deaths; and 100,000 new cases per day — PER DAY!)… in trying to get their ballots filled out and mailed in a safe manner. [Prior versions of pleadings in this actual underlying dispute are collected under that link.]

The wider-scope bottom line, then is that the Supremes (since no one alleges state actors are preventing votes; rather they are simply trying to count all valid, lawful ballots — mail or otherwise) should rule this is a creature of state law — already resolved there. Principles of federalism and comity dictate that the Supremes should decline to hear any more of this meritless Trumpian thrashing. Here’s the bit, from the capably argued filing:

…In addition to the [lack of] timeliness and prejudicial nature of the Trump Campaign’s motion for intervention, the motion also improperly seeks to cure a jurisdictional defect. The Trump Campaign’s motion to intervene is, as even it acknowledges, designed “to avert a possible standing defect” that arises from the Republican Party of Pennsylvania and the Individual Legislators (collectively Petitioners) petitioning for relief. Motion at 8. Without accepting the Trump Campaign’s premise that it has standing, as we previously pointed out in our opposition to the motion to stay, Petitioners lack the standing necessary to give the Trump Campaign a proper case in which to intervene….

Here, the Trump Campaign does not seek joinder under Rule 21 and the Republican Party of Pennsylvania is not merely an agent of a single candidate’s campaign. The instant Rule 24 motion is an attempt to improperly circumvent the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s interpretation of state law standing using the federal standards. Upon being denied intervention below, the Trump Campaign should have initiated its own action. Its failure to do so is fatal to its attempt to intervene now. Accord. Janus v. Am. Fed’n of State, Cty., & Mun. Employees, Council 31, __ U.S.__, 138 S.Ct. 2448, 2462–63 (2018) (intervenor must meet the requirements that a plaintiff must satisfy — e.g., filing a separate complaint and properly serving the defendants)….

Onward — to a new, but well-seasoned 46th President of the United States, soon… for its part, the Democratic Party of PA offers this just now, in its filing: “Should the [Supremes] nonetheless wish to rule on the motion to intervene now — despite the absence of any reason to think that deciding these cases will be necessary — the Pennsylvania Democratic Party Respondents do not oppose this Court’s granting movant leave to intervene.…”

Updated, Sunday morning — 11.08.2020: This (the last remaining GOP contention before the Supremes, in truth) was the answer, in PA — stating that all counties have segregated all the would-be disputed after mailed ballots, and not added them to the count. Trump’s still tens of thousands of votes short there. “…At the time Secretary of the Commonwealth Kathy Boockvar filed her Response in Application to the Republican Party of Pennsylvania’s Emergency Application for Injunction earlier yesterday, 63 of Pennsylvania’s counties had affirmatively confirmed their understanding and intention to follow the Secretary’s October 28, 2020 and November 1, 2020 guidance, as noted in the Response. Resp. at 1, 5. Since the filing, the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth has confirmed that the remaining four Pennsylvania counties have similarly confirmed their understanding and intention to follow that guidance. We would appreciate if you would circulate copies of this letter and attachment to the Justices of the Court….“ End update.

It is all a huge grin, as we watch Trump agonize in slow motion, getting his tweets blocked and labeled — in sum, over the lingering death of the guy’s social media presence — by a hundreds of thousands of… paper cuts. Karma, she rhymes, baby. . . .

नमस्ते

Hinderaker Thinks Trump’s Positively Loony Speech Was Accurate, Tonight.

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Let that sink in. But while you do, I want to ponder why John, Paul, Scott and Steve feel it is cricket… NOT to condemn Trump’s baseless attacks on democracy — on counting all votes. Rick Santorum, and many other righties are now saying Trump’s remarks tonight deeply threaten harm to specific honorable elections workers, nationwide, and certainly injure the core American ideals of peaceful transfers of power, by democratic vote. They are right.

Crickets from John — about this nation’s liberty — and fairness — which gave him all the wealth and stature he once enjoyed. Crickets. That. Is… Tragic.

Now, as to the quibbling matters….

As to his small points, I won’t bother to be non-plussed… John is clearly, and plainly… lying about what he saw. That’s on whether Trump made statements without any evidence. He did exactly that, in alleging five states’ wide frauds — but magically, in Arizona, where he was furious that Fox called it early for Biden — he flat out said he can still win, so there must now be no fraud there.

Mind-numbing. Moreover, as to fraud — if Democrats had a grand conspiracy to rub Trump off the map, why oh why would they do so terribly at preventing what now look to be GOP Senate seats / races from falling out of Democratic hands? Wouldn’t the Democrats have engineered the loss of McConnell and Graham?

How can they be so surgically perfect in dropping Trump by fairly small margins in four states, while missing out on all the down ballot opportunities they had?!

Occam’s Razor has the obvious answer: there was / is no system wide fraud — but there is abiding hatred for Trump, and apparently in many GOP strongholds, too — where locals remained loyal GOP voters, except that they abandoned… Trump.

That’s the dank, bitter pill of truth — and all the Powerline boys are twisting themselves in pretzels, to try to avoid admitting it.

Onward, grinning — if there are two Georgia runoffs for the Senate seats there, I expect we will see come January that Democrats get those two Senate seats… and newly minted President Biden might just have both chambers in friendly hands, like Mr. Obama did — by January 2010.

Buckle up.

Hinderaker: Chief Libel Dept., Against Wisconsin Election Officials… What An… Ass.

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Okay — it took less than 24 elapsed hours, before Hinderaker started openly lying (without verifying a single bit of his co-conspirators’ BS) about the nature of the Wisconsin electorate.

Of course he does so because it increasingly looks like Trump’s gambit — up to the Supremes, this evening — related to Pennsylvania mailed ballot issues… will (even if they improbably succeed, in the legal challenge) be irrelevant.

This is so, for two unrelated reasons:

(i) Mr. Biden may well win Pennsylvania without a single one of the disputed mailed-in (up to three days late postmarked) ballots, outright. [Note that this would even so, in effect, in some ways… reward DeJoy for his felonies at the USPS.] But Biden’s Philadelphia dominance is that large… running around 85-15 overall.

(ii) In addition, it seems increasingly likely Mr. Biden will reach 270 electoral college votes… without even looking a Pennsylvania. So Trump is barking up the wrong tree. [About that much, John is likely right.]

And so, John charges — in idiotic fashion — into Wisconsin. The one place that might (if flipped for Trump, along with a win in PA) bring him within reach of 268 or so.

Here’s the central problem with Hinderaker’s claim: he wants us to think that voter engagement is down, in southern Wisconsin, from the 2016 Clinton run. Preposterous. [Just look at any one of dozens of my videos.]

I walked those streets — see video below. Clinton did not visit Milwaukee in the three weeks before the 2016 election. Even so, she lost the state by… only a football stadium full of voters. Unlike Trump, Biden was invited to Kenosha, and he visited at least three times in Milwaukee and environs, in the last few weeks — in an open, respectful and listening fashion. Trump? Was warned to stay away by the Lt. Gov. (above), and Governor — as well as the Mayor of Kenosha. What did he do? Rolled in with armored vehicles, and held one of his Barr / “Star Chamber” militarized police task force sessions, closed to the press, as I stood and videoed it all, in Kenosha that gray day. He played… every bit the dictator, to a tee. And the good people in the streets (white, brown and black) of Kenosha voiced their anger, at his hubris.

Now think about 2020 (just since June, in fact): George Floyd, one state west — in a town very much like Milwaukee, murdered by police (a white cop choked him to death — on the street — on video).

Then Kenosha — young Jacob Blake: Unarmed — shot seven times in the back, in front of his kids by the all-white cops. Paralyzed for life.

Then Kyle Rittenhouse commits a pair of murders, during the resulting uprisings.

Then Kyle’s mom gets a standing ovation at a fancy Republican fundraiser / dinner in Red Wisconsin. She is invited to the GOP Convention.

All during this time, we are in Wisconsin — daily — registering previously apathetic young men and women, in Kenosha, Racine, Milwaukee, West Allis, Green Bay and yes Sheboygan Bay. Our estimates suggest that there were over 350,000 new, first time Democratic voters in Wisconsin in 2020. [I am sure the GOP registered some new voters in Red northern and western Wisconsin, too — but I’d be surprised if that total reached… 10,000.]

All of John’s so-called math assumes there was NO GROWTH in the voting population of Wisconsin.

Based on the above dot pointed time-line, the only thing that is implausible in this story — is that John is NOT a willful fabulist. I bet Twitter embargoes his “story” if he tries to post it there — just as it is doing with most of Trump’s own tweets on these topics.

One minute video of the last 24 (coupled to some of my footage from the BLM protest of Trump’s military shock and awe show in Kenosha, back in September), below. That really pissed people of good will off, in southern Wisconsin:


नमस्ते

At Nearly 2:20 In The Morning… Trump’s Toweringly-Irresponsible False Claims Dept.

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When Rick Santorum(!), at nearly 3 AM EST, on national television [and Ben Shapiro on Twitter, a few minutes earlier] BOTH say Trump is now acting in an astonishingly irresponsible manner — even for Trump, we should believe them.

The supposed president… claimed it was “a fraud…” to count all the votes validly cast. Pence tried to clean it up, but that is what he said. At after 2 AM EST this morning. Twitter had blocked his tweet as being false information, about an hour earlier. Biden will likely still win, but it will be close. Very close. Onward.

One minute video of the last 24, below:


नमस्ते

To Look At Non-Presidential-Electoral Politics, For Tonight — If You’d Rather Not, Until Tomorrow…

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I will offer an update on the Anita White “Real Lady A” common law trademark matter, as against Lady Antebellem.

Inside the federal courthouse in Nashville, things are moving like molasses — but up in Seattle, also in the federal courts, the Real Lady A is making progress toward getting the whole dispute heard there — on a fairly expedited basis.

To that end, Cooley has filed an overnight motion in Seattle seeking to get rolling, straight away — as Ms. White has every right to bring a suit there, and the country act’s contacts with that venue are indisputable, haveing played decade’s worth or more of tour dates in and around the state — promoting what it claims are its brands. Here’s a bit, but do go read it all:

…For nearly thirty years, Ms. White, an independent artist, has performed music under the trademark and stage name LADY A. Id. ¶ 2. Throughout her career as a performing artist, Ms. White has been based out of the Seattle, Washington area. Id. ¶ 3. After the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, and the protests that followed, Lady Antebellum announced on June 11, 2020 that it would no longer perform as “Lady Antebellum.” Id. ¶ 5. Thereafter, they would perform as “Lady A.” Id. Ms. White learned of Lady Antebellum’s name change from texts from friends. Id. ¶ 6. Ms. White, as an independent artist of limited means, and having no experience with trademark disputes, she retained pro bono counsel in Memphis, Tennessee based on a referral from a friend….

The next day, Ms. White was contacted by Lady Antebellum’s management team, who invited her to participate in a call with Lady Antebellum’s counsel and Defendant Hillary Scott. Id. ¶ 9. This call led to a further invitation from Lady Antebellum for Ms. White to attend a June 15, 2020 Zoom meeting with the band to discuss her concerns about their use of the LADY A mark. Id. ¶ 10. Although Ms. White agreed to explore the possibility of coexistence, she remained deeply concerned that use of the LADY A name, in particular by a large, well-known and well financed group like Lady Antebellum, would overwhelm and erase the brand identity that she had developed over decades of work….

Lady Antebellum now invokes the “first-to-file” rule as grounds for the Court to dismiss, transfer, or stay Ms. White’s substantive trademark infringement action. But the “first-to-file” rule should not be applied when, as is the case here, the first-filed action is an improper anticipatory lawsuit made for the purpose of depriving the natural plaintiff of her choice of forum. As Lady Antebellum acknowledges, Ms. White has moved to dismiss the Tennessee Action for lack of personal jurisdiction and on the ground that it is an improper anticipatory lawsuit (the “Motion to Dismiss”). If Ms. White is successful on these arguments, which is likely, then there effectively is no first-filed action to justify dismissal. Under these circumstances, the “jurisdictional uncertainty” of the first-file case renders dismissal on first-to-file grounds improper. See Alltrade, Inc. v. Uniweld Prods., Inc., 946 F.2d 622, 628-29 (9th Cir. 1991)….

In addition, equity militates against staying this proceeding pending a determination of the Motion to Dismiss. The Middle District of Tennessee has already stayed substantive discovery in that action until a decision is reached on the Motion to Dismiss. If this action is also stayed, Ms. White’s claims will effectively be placed in hibernation while the ongoing harm caused by Lady Antebellum’s use of the LADY A mark continues unabated….

I know I said this would not be about the election, but I simply must say — the entire country group approach here. . . is just peak Trumpian brand 2020 — pretend to be some faux-Abe Lincoln (seeking a supposed understanding after Mr. Floyd’s murder), while they’re actually the proprieter of… Candyland (ref. “Django Unchained“ — by filing a pre-emptive suit, down south. on their home turf).

To my eyes at least, the country artists never really acted in good faith here — it was all a ruse, to manufacture enough “contacts” with Tennessee, to allow Ms. White to be sued by the group there — in the guise of a negotiation they never intended to make good on. We shall see. Onward, to a new tomorrow… slightly grinning, in spite of myself.

नमस्ते

Updated — Bill Barr’s Now Thwarted “Star Chamber” Policing / “Commission Report”: Judge Bates Hands Down Two More Clarifying Federal Orders

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The still-sitting tenant, in our house, located at 1600 Pennsylvania (through Attorney General William Barr’s offices) was running a secret “star chamber” — to revamp (and largely militarize) local policing in America — in direct violation of applicable federal open meetings (and other) laws. Quite rightly, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund sued to end it, and unsurprisingly, won an injunction, at the beginning of last month in the DC District courts. [Backgrounder here.]

Overnight, the able Judge Bates issued a memorandum opinion, and a separate order — essentially preventing Barr/Trump from publishing any report unless the report opens with a copy of his order saying they willfully violated the law, and essentially saying the report lacks any semblance of balance.

I predict the report will never issue. The NAACP secured a complete victory, here — and ought to be awarded its attorneys’ fees. Moreover, since Trump is likely out of office shortly, the November 16 next status date will likely see the government agree to drop any objection to dumping the report. What a waste of our taxpayer money — all so Trump could attempt to militarize the streets of our larger cities. Damnation. But it will not come to pass. Here’s the bit, from that latest overnight memorandum opinion:

. . . .This Court recently granted plaintiff NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund’s (“LDF”) motion for summary judgment on several of its claims that defendants violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act (“FACA”) in forming and operating the Presidential Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice (“Commission”). The Court must now determine the appropriate remedy. Upon consideration of the parties’ proposals, and for the reasons set forth below, the Court will prohibit defendants from releasing the Commission’s report unless they first comply with FACA; or alternatively, if they do not, they must include a clear statement in the report that the Commission violated FACA and attach the Court’s remedial order. . . .

If defendants want to release the Commission’s report without a disclaimer detailing their FACA violations, they must comply with FACA. As previously ordered, compliance with FACA means the Commission must file a charter and provide timely notice of future meetings in the Federal Register, and the Attorney General must select a designated federal officer for the Commission. See Oct. 1 Order. The Attorney General must also take steps necessary to ensure the membership of the Commission is fairly balanced, and that new members can meaningfully participate in the Commission’s work. See Cummock v. Gore, 180 F.3d 282, 291 (D.C. Cir. 1999) (noting that an advisory committee may be “effectively unbalanced” if some members are “precluded from meaningful participation”). . . .

We are gratified that the NAACP stood up for all of us. We think this ill-starred, wrong-headed and lawless militarized police idea will now die on the vine. And we are optimistic. . . that this hateful, divisive, racist nightmare of four years (not remotely the first, but hopefully the last) in our long history is. . . ending tonight.

नमस्ते

O/T — But Useful, Life-Enhancing Science, Just The Same: Dropping Arsenic Content, From Your Steamed Rice…

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Typically, I will cook up one cup of rice with four cups of water. But as these able chemists suggest, five minutes into the boil, if you swap out the hot water for two cups of fresh water, even tap water — you will reduce the arsenic you absorb by up to a whopping 74 per cent. To be certain, that is going to be significant — over a lifetime of eating rice.

Some times, it is just a small move (like this one, and the potassium — from a daily banana!)… that increases both longevity, and quality of life, later in life. I will do this henceforth, given that I do enjoy my rice, at least once a week. I hope you will, too. Here it is, from phys.org:

…Cooking rice in this certain way removes over 50 percent of the naturally occurring arsenic in brown rice, and 74 percent in white rice, according to new research….

[This “swap the water” out] method involves parboiling the rice in pre-boiled water for five minutes before draining and refreshing the water, then cooking it on a lower heat to absorb all the water.

Arsenic, which is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, is water-soluble — so it accumulates in rice, which is grown in flooded fields more than other cereals. Arsenic exposure affects almost every organ in the body and can cause skin lesions, cancer, diabetes and lung diseases….

Over the long growing season, arsenic gets deposited repeatedly (and thus concentrated) on the husks of the rice grains by hundreds of wet/dry cycles. By “washing” the rice with boiling water, then refreshing — you apparently are able to essentially strip off most of that outer arsenic layer, while not letting it seep too deeply into the starch of the rice.

Now save ALL our lives — go vote! Smiling, ear to ear, here….

नमस्ते

Yet Another Federal Court — This Time, In Chicago — Blocks Trump’s “Wealth Test” For Immigration / Admission

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Once again, 45’s lawless over-reaching, on immigration measures has been blunted. The able USDC Judge Gary Finerman, sitting here in the city of big shoulders, has echoed the Ninth Circuit’s earlier rulings — that the purported executive order is. . . arbitrary and capricious.

“Donald Trump has continually tried to instill policies that penalize diversity. His administration’s attempt to shortchange immigrants by changing public charge threatens our public health and destroys communities that have immigrant populations who make these places across America great,” said Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, who brought the lawsuit that led to the ruling on Monday night in the federal district courthouse here.

And here, by way of background, is the February 2020 Ninth Circuit appellate ruling, a very solid 97 page opinion out of California:

. . .Regarding § 1182(a)(4)(B), we have recognized that this provision establishes “factors [that] are to be considered ‘at a minimum,’” but “[o]ther factors may be considered as well, giving officials considerable discretion in their decisions.” City & Cty. of San Francisco v. USCIS, 944 F.3d 773, 972 (9th Cir. 2019). The Proclamation does not permit any exercise of official discretion, as the enumerated § 1182(a)(4)(B) factors do, but instead imposes an absolute bar on the entry of uninsured immigrants. For instance, one of the individual Plaintiffs has submitted evidence that he could add his wife to his employer’s healthcare plan once she obtained a social security card, but social security cards are not mailed quickly enough to meet the 30-day deadline mandated by the Proclamation.

Even in this situation, the consular officer has no discretion to consider that the Plaintiff’s wife can obtain an approved health insurance plan and that this factor would weigh against finding that she is likely to become a public charge under § 1182(a)(4)(B). Instead the officer must find that she is inadmissible because she cannot obtain this insurance within 30 days. Without the Proclamation, the officer would have the discretion to consider her admissible, as § 1182(a)(4)(B) intended. In sum, the Proclamation’s health insurance requirement supplants the discretion afforded to consular officers in § 1182(a)(4)(B). . . .

[In addition,] the Proclamation’s perfunctory time limitations do not comport with the textual limits of § 1182(f); and second, § 1182(f) does not provide the President with limitless power to deny visas to immigrants based on purely long-term economic concerns. . . .

Now you know. Now. . . please do go vote — if you haven’t early voted, already. And as you do, I’d ask you to think about whether you want more of the above mindless cruelty, or a more-unified nation — “out of many, one”, here in America.

नमस्ते