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Do Go Read All Of EmptyWheel’s Smart Post On Flynn-Barr, From Yesterday…

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I cannot (even remotely) do it… justice.

Just go read it all — she is smarter about all matters Flynn — and almost everything Trump scandal-related (but I repeat myself!), than I’d ever hope to be:

…Yesterday, [resigning AUSA Nora] Dannehy made it clear that the results of the Durham inquiry have also been pre-determined. (Though I half wonder whether the Durham team reviewed Peter Strzok’s book, found ready explanations to questions that neither HJC/OGR nor SSCI bothered to ask about the investigation — most likely about how the team chose four targets — and realized they were chasing hoaxes invented by Fox News.)

There’s is increasing evidence that Billy Barr moved to dismiss Flynn’s prosecution based of the results he is demanding Durham produce.

Barr may still get Durham to produce the results he has demanded. But that may not come before Judge Sullivan has an opportunity to ask about it….

Onward, to a fine Monday morning here — people: stay safe, and dry, in the bayou — and way away from the flames, and daunting smoke hazards — both north and west. Smiling… at one month’s growth, and flawless copper colored beauty….

नमस्ते

[U] Tonight — Oddly Enough, I Actually… Pity Hinderaker.

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Updated — Sunday @ Noon: Well… yes, as fate would have it — I’m angry with the idiot Hinderaker, once again, now — 20 hours later. Based on literally zero evidence, he blames BLM for the shooting of two LA County deputies overnight. He’s… a libelous, if unflushable… turd.

End, update.

It’s quite sad to see… a man so clearly diminished.

He offers a single, largely preposterous example, claimed to be from his experience, now almost a half century ago… to establish some vaguely unsavory assertion — about the underpinnings of anti-racism.

There once was a time — (not so terribly long ago) even for John Hinderaker, as a trained legal mind — when an anecdote from the 1970s, offered as proof of… anything, related to race relations… in 2020… would have been waived off, as silly. And no longer salient.

But that time has passed for Hinderaker… he is no longer capable of even recognizing how… irrelevant his stories have become… here, a half-century on.

Like I said at the top — it leaves me with pity, for him — at least for tonight.

I may be angry with him by Sunday afternoon, but pity is all I feel, now.

Out.

[O/T] Mine Disasters Are Especially Harrowing, For This Blogger… “But For The Grace… There Go I”

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These things always seem to come in threes… (and my own brothers’ other two, for September, I’ve mentioned previously in footnotes).

But mining deaths… they strike directly at my growing sense of mortality (prior 2018 one, there). Doubly so, where even minimal mine safety regulations and site inspections, and water pumping equipment, would almost certainly have saved all 50 of these young lives. There are no re-breathers in these cramped tunnels; support timbering is woefully inadequate to non-existent, as the photo shows — and almost no one can afford to buy, let alone be issued, any gear beyond a cap-lamp.

Do keep these miners and their families in your meditations… as they now travel out, into the Infinite. Here’s a bit, via local press coverage, from inside the Democratic Republic of Congo:

…Informal gold miners in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo scoured rubble on Saturday for more than 50 colleagues presumed dead after a mine collapsed under the weight of heavy rain.

Hundreds of young men in rubber boots crowded around the site of Friday’s cave-in, with some removing rocks by hand from the muddy hillside, video footage showed.

Dozens of people die each year in accidents in largely unregulated artisanal mines in Congo, where often ill-equipped diggers burrow deep underground, in search for gold, cobalt and other ore bodies.

Alexandre Bundya, mayor of the nearby town of Kamituga, Mpila, ordered two days of mourning. The office of the governor of South Kivu province, Theo Kasi, said most of the victims were young people and expressed condolences to their families.

“The search continues to identify our deceased compatriots, bring assistance and implement measures to prevent such incidents from repeating,” Kasi’s office said in a statement….

This is a largely-unsolvable problem: with under-staffed governmental offices, and remote “no roads” access to small bits of potentially sustaining income, buried under hundreds of feet of loose clay soil. People will simply do… what they need do, to survive. Truly tragic. Almost no one in these artisanal mines ever becomes wealthy, or moves away — they simply are able to eat… for a few more years. Before the next cave-in….

नमस्ते

Trump’s Nonsense Brief, On Cy Vance’s Grand Jury Subpoena To Mazars — In The Second Circuit…

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The turgidly silly brief is… here, for the purpose of a complete record, only.

It was filed after hours, tonight, and it offers no well-argued, or applicable law… whatsoever, in support — but that’s really no surprise, from Team Trump.

Now you know — the criminal grand jury subpoena in New York will be enforced, against Trump’s accountants.

You may click my earlier graphic in this case, at right — it explains the actual, applicable law.

Onward — sleeping virtually, now under a canopy of twinkling, golden-flecked irises, at the edges, as my… stars, tonight.

Hinderaker Started Out So Promisingly, This One Time — On Vaccine Candidates…

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…But, as ever, he draws precisely the wrong conclusions, from what was very good scientific advice that he heard (first hand, on a radio show, as a “pinch-hitting” host) — and from a renown FDA expert, to boot.

The expert explained why getting longitudinal data on perhaps 30,000 healthy volunteers who allow themselves to be injected with a vaccine candidate… takes time. Real, on the clock and calendar… time.

But from this — John (rather than discussing the virtues of masks and social distancing, matters which, no doubt — his radio guest took him through, off-air — as matters of sound, life-saving, science) just leaps to… “let’s just get on with the dying“. Here’s that manifestly illogical / insane bit:

“…Of those who die after catching COVID, an unknown percentage will actually die on account of COVID. This is nothing new in human history: diseases can kill people. Fortunately, this particular virus kills very few who are not already on, or close to, their death beds [Ed. note: this is entirely false, and John knows it]…. We should be grateful for that, and should get our lives back to normal. Now.”

Ah… always “about making Benjamins“, that Hinderaker. Disgusting.

John’s argument is self-refuting, as he likens it to a common cold — without mentioning that no one in the history of the last half century, at least, in the USA has ever argued — let alone proved — that common colds… kill over 200,000 people in about nine elapsed months.

But that will be an irrefutable fact, some time late next week, here. ~200,000 dead — and all but perhaps 20,000 or so were preventable, with more aggressive federal efforts, using the Obama/Biden-drafted (2014 era) 43 page pandemic playbook.

You know, the one Trump had ignored, whilst he golfed for three months. In fact, he still ignores it.

So — Trump and Hinderaker — both responsible for making this pandemic ten times worse than it needed to be, due to affirmatively spreading dis-information, to low-information (largely elderly) people. That ought to be… a crime.

Maybe it technically… isn’t, tonight — as I type this — but I think it will be so judged, at the pearly gates, John….

Good luck.

Onward.

The Preeminent [Ret.] USDC Judge Gleeson, As Amicus — “Lights Bill Barr’s Double-Wide Booty, On Fire” — This Evening, In The US v. Flynn Matter…

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This filing is worth reading all the way through.

None of this will be resolved before the election — but after it, in the highly unlikely event Trump wins, it will offer a clear path to indicting Trump.

More than likely, Trump loses — and the new DoJ leadership allows rank and file career AUSAs to do their jobs — and they then agree that the work previously done, for three years, was accurate — and Ex-Gen. Flynn sees his perjury used to increase his incarceration time.

Which likely leads to his cooperation in naming Trump, as obstructing justice, in the original Mueller probe. Game. Set. Match, either way (and that’s the important part!). Here’s some of it — but do go read it all:

…[T]he Government’s [Bill Barr’s] statement of reasons for seeking dismissal is pretextual. The Government claims there is insufficient evidence to prove materiality and falsity, but even giving it the benefit of every doubt — and recognizing its prerogative to assess the strength of its own case — this contention “taxes the credulity of the credulous.” Maryland v. King, 569 U.S. 435, 466 (2013) (Scalia, J., dissenting). The Government’s ostensible grounds for seeking dismissal are conclusively disproven by its own briefs filed earlier in this very proceeding. They contradict and ignore this Court’s prior orders, which constitute law of the case. They are riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact. And they depart from positions that the Government has taken in other cases. While Rule 48(a) does not require the Government to bare its innermost secrets, it does require a statement of its reasons for dismissal. See Ammidown, 497 F.2d at 620 (explaining that this requirement “prevent[s] abuse of the uncontrolled power of dismissal previously enjoyed by prosecutors”). Leave of court should not be granted when the explanations the Government puts forth are not credible as the real reasons for its dismissal of a criminal charge.

Second, the Court should deny leave because there is clear evidence of a gross abuse of prosecutorial power. Rule 48(a) was designed to “guard against dubious dismissals of criminal cases that would benefit powerful and well-connected defendants.” In other words, the rule empowers courts to protect the integrity of their own proceedings from prosecutors who undertake corrupt, politically motivated dismissals. See id.; see also Ammidown, 497 F.2d at 620-622. That is what has happened here. The Government has engaged in highly irregular conduct to benefit a political ally of the President. The facts of this case overcome the presumption of regularity. The Court should therefore deny the Government’s motion to dismiss, adjudicate any remaining motions, and then sentence the Defendant.

The Court has also asked me to address whether it should issue an order to show cause why Flynn should not be held in criminal contempt for perjury. Flynn has indeed committed perjury in these proceedings, for which he deserves punishment, and the Court has the authority to initiate a prosecution for that crime. I respectfully recommend, however, that the Court not exercise that authority.

Rather, it should take Flynn’s perjury into account in sentencing him on the offense to which he has already admitted guilt….

A scorcher, indeed. Do read it all. Onward, grinning… at an inky pavement of night, powdered with Milton’s stars, tonight….

नमस्ते

Paul M. — A Lost Little Racist’s Soul, Revealed.

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Mere moments ago, Paul presumed to read the minds of NFL players he’s never met.

Then he pretended to tell the players, to a person — as well as (impliedly) the coaching staffs — what, in HIS America’s view, is acceptable political speech, from the players. [There is no dispute that none of it incites violence; and it is clearly free expression territory — but as all racists do, Paul wants to dictate views to people he’s never met.] Thus:

“… As for “misinterpretation,” this probably refers to the claim that refusing to stand during the National Anthem isn’t an expression of lack of pride in our country. But that’s exactly how it should be interpreted….”

Except of course that Kap (whom Paul M. mentioned a paragraph earlier, for having “courage”) said his taking a knee was to protest police brutality against people of color. Yes here Paul condescends to tell us what not standing MUST mean, for everyone. [What a small-minded… tool he is.]

Paul M. closes his post by presuming to know the minds of a few fans — specifically those who booed the players.

Maybe he’d do better… if he used his ESP powers at the craps table, in Atlantic City.

And the non-ironic bonus then would be… that “the ESP view” he tries to use, in the mindless rant of his… would properly be labeled… as C R A P, too.

Out.

A Courageous And Noble Life, Well Lived — Snuffed Out, 43 Years Ago, Tomorrow: Human Rights History

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Forty three years ago tomorrow, somewhere along a several hundred mile journey by police paddy wagon, Stephen Biko died in the custody of Apartheid-era South African police forces. He had been repeatedly beaten, suffered multiple blunt force trauma injuries, was by then suffering from severe swelling of his brain (due to the blows which caused his brain injuries) and had been comatose for several days — and indisputably had been left naked in his cell, and denied meaningful medical attention. [I had just arrived on campus in Boulder two weeks earlier, for the first time — after a summer spent hard rock mining, over a mile under the surface of the Rockies… the world was so… new, then.]

On the main narrative arc, half a world away, as I wrote three years ago on that anniversary, the spark of his ultimate sacrifice — around an idea worth dying for — became an unquenchable bonfire for equality, in South Africa. His murder led very directly to Nelson Mandela’s ascension. He died, that a supremely worthwhile idea might. . . live.

[I do believe the fine young leaders of BLM would do well to closely study the writings and tactics of Steve Biko and Mr. Mandela. The campaign’s effective reach might be thereby increasingly broadened.]

As I did three years ago (on the 40th anniversary of his arrest) I’ll ask again that we each ponder which ideas — here in our nation — should “live on.” Should we remain the most-free nation on Earth? Or should we build walls, conduct religious tests at our borders (and even more ominously, inside them)? The ideas written in our founding charter (in spite of all our founders’ flaws, and limited visions, as well) are too grand, too revolutionary, and hard-won, to sacrifice — to a thin-skinned petulant man-child.

Please — we all know so many who have died — that these ideas might live on: “out of many, one…” That is what our currency says (in the original Latin) — and it is in a very real sense the capital that has distinguished our nation, many times. Don’t turn your back on it, America. And do pause to thank Bantu Steven Biko, too. And thank all who came before — and after — him, who were willing to die for the ideas of pluralism, and the progress of humankind.

नमस्ते

The eyes of the world are watching now… watching now.

Shocking! John Is Having Trouble Finding ~70 People, To Listen To Sarah Sanders, And Gov. Noem… FOR FREE.

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Yes, I am moderately encouraged by this: only about 50 people, nationwide, are willing to sit through even a total of one hour of a pair of speeches — one by the former White House Press Secretary, and her smoky eye shadow… made of lies. Nor the far-right gestapo advance trooper / sitting Gov. in the Dakotas… you know, the one who offered Trump a potential spot, on Rushmore.

Indeed, that is… encouraging. Real Americans are now increasingly seeing through the thin tissue of racist lies that wrap around this president, and Hinderaker’s purported “think tank“. Thus:

“…So far, somewhere between 50 and 60 [people] registered, mostly in Minnesota….”

Any real contribution to informed public debate, here in the time of COVID, on the other hand — for example, the virtual culture/society events put on via the same technology, in Chicago at PBS… regularly draw 200 participants, at $320 per seat, for a one hour lecture — from exclusively local talent, via… Zoom. John can’t. give. his. away. Let that sink in for a second.

Yes, John’s philosophy — and world-views — are joyously falling into the ash-can of history, as you read this.

Perfect. Good-bye, John, Sarah and Kristi. Don’t let the gate hit you in the ass, as you fade away….

Hilarious.

YAWN. The 14th Amendment Says Count… “Persons” — Not Only Citizens.

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Trump is again shown the gate, for violating several federal statutes — and at least the spirit of the Fourteenth Amendment — in his treatment of people living in America without all the papers we might… normally be expecting (i.e., a misdemeanor).

Of course, Trump is highly likely to appeal directly to the Supremes… but he will now be gone — long before they can hear argument on any appeal, should they even decide to grant a hearing. Here’s a bit from the 86 page opinion, out of New York’s federal district courthouse in Manhattan tonight:

…The President… is required to transmit to Congress “a statement showing the whole number of persons in each State… as ascertained under the… decennial census of the population, and the number of Representatives to which each State would be entitled” using a mathematical formula “known as the method of equal proportions.” 2 U.S.C. § 2a(a). Throughout the Nation’s history, the figures used to determine the apportionment of Congress — in the language of the current statutes, the “total population” and the “whole number of persons” in each State — have included every person residing in the United States at the time of the census, whether citizen or non-citizen and whether living here with legal status or without.

On July 21, 2020, however, the President announced that this long-standing practice will no longer be the case….

[T]he President ordered the Secretary of Commerce (the “Secretary”) to provide him two sets of numbers for each State: first, the total population as determined in the 2020 census and, second, the total population as determined in the 2020 census minus the number of “aliens who are not in a lawful immigration status.” Id. The President left it to the Secretary of Commerce to figure out how to calculate the number of “aliens who are not in a lawful immigration status” in each State….

…[N]oting that the Presidential Memorandum itself identifies a State — believed to be California — that would stand to lose two or three seats in the House of Representatives if illegal aliens are excluded from the apportionment base, they argue that the Memorandum will result in the loss of seats in the House. Second, they argue that the Presidential Memorandum is having an immediate impact on the census count — which is still ongoing — and that that, in turn, is resulting, and will result, in various forms of injury….

For the reasons that follow, Plaintiffs are entitled to summary judgment. The Presidential Memorandum violates the statutes governing the census and apportionment in two clear respects. First, pursuant to the virtually automatic scheme established by these interlocking statutes, the Secretary is mandated to report a single set of numbers — “[t]he tabulation of total population by States” under the decennial census — to the President, and the President, in turn, is required to use the same set of numbers in connection with apportionment. By directing the Secretary to provide two sets of numbers, one derived from the decennial census and one not, and announcing that it is the policy of the United States to use the latter in connection with apportionment, the Presidential Memorandum deviates from, and thus violates, the statutory scheme. Second, the Presidential Memorandum violates the statute governing apportionment because, so long as they reside in the United States, illegal aliens qualify as “persons in” a “State” as Congress used those words.

On those bases, we declare the Presidential Memorandum to be an unlawful exercise of the authority granted to the President by statute and enjoin Defendants….

“C’Mon, November Three — That’s… For… MEEEEeeee!”

नमस्ते