LOGIC💣

For these types of stories, I always think of traffic laws and speed limits, specifically because most people are familiar with breaking those laws.

“The speed limit here is 30 miles per hour. You should not drive over the speed limit.”

“We need to investigate this person because he is telling people to follow the law.”

This reasoning is sort of unthinkable and unfair.

I agree that they won’t be refiled, and that MAGA will probably act like it’s some conspiracy, that the rulings were fake or something, just like any election that MAGA doesn’t win must be fake.

One other reason that they won’t be refiled is that these cases have now been analyzed in public pretty thoroughly now. Any lawyer who is offered the job now knows for sure how high profile it is, and as a result, how likely they are to face some consequences for their actions.

his latest move could kill us all

This phrase could literally have been said at any point during Trump’s current term, and it will continue to be true for the rest of his term. Trump is regularly doing things that could kill us all.

she decided to spend the last few months trying to save some face so she can try and retire peacefully

This part doesn’t make sense to me. It’s not like people on the left are going to forgive everything she’s done because she did the absolute minimum necessary to call herself a human for a few months. She’s just making enemies of people on the right, as well.

will qualify for her pension just couple few days before

This part makes a ton of sense to me because it’s about money. I don’t know whether it’s true or not about the timing of the pension, though.

Actually, money might be the entire explanation. Let’s say that she’s getting a windfall after she leaves. Like, maybe somebody has paying her to vote a certain way, but they can’t actually give her the money until she leaves congress because then the bribery would be so obvious, then she might have no reason to lie and say that she supports everything Trump does.

I still can’t figure out why Greene resigned and talked about someday coming back to help her constituents. Like, lady, you’re literally already in the best place to help your constituents. You have a whole year left in your term. You don’t even have to get primaried if you just choose not to run again. What’s the deal with Republicans just deciding not to do the job that people voted for them to do?

The vastness also makes it much harder for aliens to find Earth. The most likely reason for us to find aliens visiting Earth is if Earth was originally seeded life by those aliens.

392,000 people were tricked by a person who isn’t even smart enough to use a VPN.

I don’t doubt that Musk is better than Trump at any sort of intellectual pursuit, but that’s only because Trump is that much of a dumbass. I mean, Musk seems to be able to read at a reasonably adult level.

Musk frequently says and does quite stupid things that involve him or his companies in legal peril. He’s famous for over-promising and under-delivering, and not via weasel words, but being specific. I think he gets away with it more from having good lawyers than from him acting any more intelligently than the average person.

Musk had not been just their visionary leader. For them, he was their protector: the man who had a direct line to Trump, who they believed could pick up the phone and secure a presidential pardon if the worst came.

Now, that seems not to be a quote from somebody involved, but a quote from Politico, but with that in mind…

What kind of person does something with the expectation that they might need a pardon? Only people who think they might be committing a crime. You know, criminals.

And I would argue that if they were committing crimes with the expectation that Musk would secure them pardons from Trump, that is describing a conspiracy that includes Musk himself. (As well as Trump, but it wouldn’t be possible to charge him with that, given a recent Supreme Court ruling.)

If I was the next president, I’d have everybody from DOGE on federal charges as soon as was feasible, including Musk… Although given Trump’s health, the next president will likely be Vance. I wonder what the odds makers put on Vance being the next president.

with great states rights comes great states responsibilities

I get the impression that you think you disagree with me much more than I think you disagree with me, at least from what you’ve said here in your comment. I basically agree with everything you’ve said, apart from these two points, which I think you implied more than outright said:

First, I think you are implying that “more educated individuals than [yourself]” is a group that includes theology majors, but does not generally include “other technically minded people,” which is something I disagree with.

And second, I think you are implying that the study of theology is simply an academic effort, like any other major. But the basis for my comment was the assertion that most people major in theology because they are already religious. They believe their own religion to be correct, and other beliefs to be incorrect, and therefore wish to study to further their devotion to that religion. Perhaps I am mistaken in that assertion, but that was the basis for my saying “they’ve already decided” the answer.

I think that a person who has decided to major in Theology has already passed the point where they’re soul searching for the most part. They’ve already decided to dedicate a lot of time to studying the thing they’ve already decided is the answer.

I guess if you’re a theology major that’s like becoming a professional in make-believe.

I commented on the previous story how I was surprised that they did the Nazi symbols at the same time as the Confederate symbols, essentially admitting that they have almost the same meaning. A racist with even the tiniest shred of intelligence would do the Confederate symbols first and the Nazi ones later.

And now here we are, the Nazi symbols are back on the list, but nobody is talking about the Confederate symbols.

not all grand jury members saw the final version

They’re phrasing it this way because technically the foreperson had to sign the final version.

But most likely, the foreperson wouldn’t have expected deception and malfeasance from Halligan, and simply assumed they were signing the indictment that had previously been presented, or that it didn’t matter if there were differences.

So, technically the foreperson saw the final version of the indictment. But for all intents and purposes, you might as well say that none of the grand jury members saw the indictment.

I don’t know whether Stephen Miller quacks, but I am pretty sure that he goose steps.

Oh there definitely is a way to defend it.

Reading your comment, I have realized that you are correct, there are at least several ways to defend it contrary to what I said, but I think your specific example is flawed.

Trans people are evil incarnate trying to destroy humanity.

I said it was impossible to defend “without basing it on bigotry,” and that is simple bigotry. I do agree with you that this is almost certainly the sort of argument you’d hear from a Trump supporter.

Like I said, though, reading your comment, I did realize that it’s theoretically possible to defend without bigotry, just as long as you allow fantasy and insanity as defenses. Like, if they say, “God told me it was the job of religious people to take away the pensions of trans people,” that would not be bigotry.

Also, sheer ignorance and stupidity can be a non-bigoted defense. You know, like, “Trump would never do something evil. Therefore, this must be good.”

There may even be some sort of pedantic defense, something like, “People who are dishonorably discharged are supposed to lose their pension.” (I don’t know that they were dishonorably discharged, or that people who are dishonorably discharged are supposed to lose their pensions. It’s just an example of how there might be a pedantic argument.)

I’d be interested if there was actually an argument that could be used to defend Trump that didn’t insult everybody’s intelligence, though.

I hate to say anything positive about this situation, but sometimes, it’s nice to have definitive, unambiguous evidence that you’re fighting on the side of good against evil. There is no way to defend the Trump administration here without basing it on bigotry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relationship_of_Donald_Trump_and_Jeffrey_Epstein

In 2002, speaking to New York magazine, Trump said “I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy.” He also stated that “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

and

In 2017, Epstein told Wolff that he had been Trump’s “closest friend for 10 years”.

Two guys who say they’d been friends for a long time.

“I am starting to regret my vote for Trump.” - David Cross bit from Trump’s first term.