SaintsInDome2006

Well ordinarily I would say this is just a local issue but the president has spoken on this, the only reason anyone on the right cares about this is the president’s personal henchman Coristine is involved, & the president has taken it upon himself to determine that the US military is responsible for local law enforcement. And frankly it’s a staple of conservatism that character in office matters. I have nothing to do with any of that but you might as well acknowledge it.

I am not being facetious. This sounds like the poor black families talking about how the criminal system wronged their poor babies, railroaded them. I’ve heard it a thousand times.

No, I’m saying we should elect people who haven’t been convicted of felonies.

I don’t disagree with you about the books, parties & non-profits & donors buy them. And both parties do the books thing & specifically the President. But absolutely not, IMO campaign financing reform is the way to resolve that. But it’s been the GOP USSC appointed judges who have knocked those laws down at every opportunity.

I’m not really sure why judges or even criminals should respect or concern themselves with any of this when the President of the US is himself a felon & was indicted multiple times besides that. I wish I was just needling you, but it sends an awful message to everyone.

Also what about free & fair elections? What about democracy? There’s been no talk of that at all. Yet when Hamas came to power that’s how it happened, an election & there was never another one. There’s the whole Oslo framework which is supposed to structure how Palestine - West Bank & Gaza - is governed & it needs to be enforced for any of this to move forward. And obviously Trump & Netanyahu hate that framework but without it there can be no peace or the sort of stability needed for development.

It’s the same deal & Baskin isn’t the only one to say that. It was also reported last summer that Trump - who had zero official role but nonetheless was talking to people like Netanyahu, Putin & Xi - was talking to Bibi & that he encouraged Netanyahu to wait because the co flick was bad for the Dems, which it was. But I’ll tell you who else is celebrating & even more loudly - the Palestinians, Hamas & the Arabs. I do think one thing has changed though - who will get the redevelopment contracts. IMO Trump & his Arab benefactors have done a good amount of self-dealing there that didn’t exist last summer, which was probably Trump’s real goal last summer. Not only did waiting cause I told more deaths & destruction & thee loss of hostages but it was also bad for Israel & the US. Now almost 200 nations recognize a Palestine state, including our closest allies who have just blown off the US. And Trump has made himself & the US the middle of all this instead of relying on international consensus. Hamas was always going to have to stand down. What was never resolved, & still isn’t, is how. Post deal they’ve been free to conduct reprisals & purges. And the US has authorized them to do so. And a couple days ago Trump said that if they don’t disarm themselves the US will disarm them. And we’ve committed 200 trooos to do that, which is fewer than what we’re sending to our own cities to confront protestors in costumes.

I did see the reception. The war has been very unpopular in Israel, there have been large mass protests against it. But nonetheless Netanyahu carried it on. He’s been in office for almost 16 years, 18 years total. I think almost everyone there was relieved to see the suffering & fear ended, but it should have been over a year ago or really by this past January.

Please explain what this is? TIA.

He’s always been fine, he was obviously in physical therapy for a while that’s all. Frankly I wouldn’t be surprised if he loses his Dem primary when he’s up, practically his whole staff revolted against him during the summer. Another politician obsessed with media hits.

Agree. Halligan has to prove a motive to profit by secretly using the property for investment, but if the grandniece is down on her luck & in need of help then James’ motive is assisting her & familial devotion.

It really cracks me up how Fetterman for the GOP was demented, physically decrepit & a disgraceful dresser who should be forced out the Senate. But now he’s the new Manchin & he’s just great.

The briefs will be interesting. Let the NC AUSAs tell the judge all about it. For the purposes of the 1st motion to dismiss none of this will matter.

Thanks for the response. What happened with Seth Rich - like Coristine, a staffer, but robbed & murdered in nearly the same area - was far right conspiracy mongers created a myth that the Clintons had murdered him, as a way to cover for the Russian hack & dissemination of DNC data. Back then the crime was far worse. Since then crime in the US’s major cities has been precipitously declining to levels not seen since the 60s & 70s. There are different theories for that - better policing methods, better technology, Biden funding of police forces, the death of retail, the shift towards digital payments, gentrification, the strong economy - vary, take your pick. The GOP reaction to the crime against Coristine is just as cynical as its reaction to the crime against Rich.

Joe Biden and Netanyahu were offered Gaza deal a year ago, says negotiator Gershon Baskin says he got the plan on to the president’s desk but then learnt the Israelis were waiting for a change of administration in Washington >> Israelis and Palestinians may have danced in the streets when news broke overnight that a deal had been reached between Hamas and Israel over the first phase of a peace deal for Gaza. But the terms of the deal were in place more than a year ago, according to an independent Israeli negotiator, and could have been agreed months ago. Gershon Baskin, the architect of the negotiations that freed the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011, revealed on Thursday that Hamas had agreed the exact same terms of the deal in September 2024, in the last months of the Biden administration, but that Biden officials had disregarded it while Binyamin Netanyahu had refused point blank. “This deal could have been done a long time ago,” Baskin wrote in an essay revealing his involvement. “Hamas agreed to all of the same terms in September 2024 in what became known as the ‘Three Weeks Deal’ that I had received in writing and voice message in Arabic and in English. But at that point the response of the Israeli negotiators was that ‘the prime minister did not agree to end the war’.” … Baskin would soon learn that the Israelis had no intention of striking any agreement before a change of administration in Washington. On December 26, 2024, Baskin met Ronen Bar, then head of the Shin Bet agency, where he “was requested not to use my back channels, because ‘in three weeks there will be a ceasefire deal’”. “From that moment, it was clear to me that the only way that the war would come to an end is when President Trump makes the decision that it has to end,” he said. He set about establishing a back channel to Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, “knowing that the negotiation did not have to be directly with the Israeli side. The Israeli side would accept whatever Trump forced them to accept.” Baskin heard Witkoff would be at a bitcoin conference in Abu Dhabi and caught a flight there. The encounter led to swift negotiations resulting in a ceasefire on January 19, allowing Trump to boast that he had brought peace to the Middle East before he even returned to office the next day. The ceasefire had three stages, the first of which saw 33 Israeli hostages released in exchange for 1,900 Palestinian prisoners, while Israeli troops were to withdraw from populated areas and humanitarian aid flooded in. The second and third stages were designed to achieve a permanent ceasefire with the release of additional hostages and prisoners while Israel completely withdrew and reconstruction began. The deal collapsed when Israel refused to progress past the first stage, stranding the remaining hostages. Israel put Gaza under siege and launched a fresh offensive. Each side traded blame over the coming months as famine gripped parts of Gaza. On September 8, Baskin was with American negotiators as the Qatari government presented Hamas with effectively the same deal from a year earlier. With only 20 living hostages remaining, they were all on the table at the same time. The negotiations collapsed a day later when Israel bombed the home of the Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya, killing his son. …. Arab leaders infuriated by the Doha strike went to the White House where Baskin’s plan formed the basis of what would become Trump’s 20-point plan. Trump called Netanyahu personally to tell him they were close to a deal. Netanyahu tried to resist. “Why are you so negative?” Trump is reported to have fumed. When Netanyahu tried to tweak the plan, Qatari mediators, who had refused to leave, did their best to pull him back. Hamas signalled their agreement, despite silence on key issues such as disarmament, and Trump enthusiastically accepted. …<< - Times of London

Contribute enough money & you can have your name or company logo etched into the White House. Trump goes on to explain that he has gutted the bathroom adjoining the Lincoln Bedroom & remodeled it in his style.

Any of mine? The electric chair & the wino can pull the lever. I was just talking about the DEI thing. As to Justice, like HT pointed about above there are 150 kids walking around with ankle monitors in DC even though they’ve committed violent crimes. Seth Rich was murdered in a robbery pretty near the same neighborhood, & he is one of many, many unsolved murders in DC, but I don’t recall demands to solve the DC justice system or demands to send in troops in response. This has been going on a long time in almost every state. Drugs, guns, lack of jail space, culture, etc etc etc. I’m certainly familiar with it in my city.

The Federal Reserve Chairman Speaks.

Just general ongoing incompetence.

Trump Watch scam not going as smoothly as usual.

Wait isn’t that the story Trump tells on the campaign trail about himself?

Yes, criminalizing foreign policy & national security reporting is a hallmark of authoritarianism.

Here’s Bret Baier.

It follows a joint statement that included Fox. Fox has also lost its credentials.

Yes, hence the word “guess_ing.”