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Very simple , Biden “governs” versus Trump’s “controls”. Biden understands that he is a “servant” to the American citizens versus Trump’s understanding that he is a “CEO”. Biden understands that it is not about him but rather the day by day “ building back better”. Trump approached is that that the presidency is “ the Apprentice” on a global scale.

Biden understands it is the quality of the “team” necessary for effective governance. Trump has no clue as to what governance really means and how to develop a team that works for the betterment of the American citizens and the world. Thanks Robert , you make this so entirely clear.

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The big news yesterday is that Biden announced OPEC agreed to raise production quotas. Hopefully energy prices will drop in time for the election and Russia, Iran, et al will have less funding for their wars in the Ukraine, Syria, Yemen and Gaza.

I keep asking why Treasury doesn't arbitrage part of the debt: borrow from our "allies" like Japan, Switzerland, Scandinavia, at their 1% rates to retire some 7% US debt? Why we haven't held OPEC accountable for arbitrarily fixing high prices?

IMHO Trump was responsible for high prices by encouraging OPEC to lower production to benefit BIG OIL, which led to inflation. Like a snowball from the mountain top leading to an avalanche.

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I think you're giving Convicted Felon too much credit. He doesn't see himself as "CEO;" he sees himself as "the Boss." It's not that CF has no clue about governance; he doesn't care. It doesn't serve his interests.

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founding

Well, make that “mob boss” and I am with you. The latest report noted in yesterday’s Today’s Edition & HCR’s Letters From An American make clear how he operates a mob.

https://www.propublica.org/article/donald-trump-criminal-cases-witnesses-financial-benefits

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I was kinda implying that, but I doubt that he considers himself a "mob boss" even though the rest of us do. Michael Cohen referred to him as "the Boss," and I suspect that was common and a preferred moniker.

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Thanks for the new acronym. I’m going to use CV now instead of TFG or IQ45.

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Actually I meant CF. I corrected it.

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Convicted Villian?

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That could work but CF ties back to his real accomplishment. I'll probably do as I meant to do here - use "Convicted Felon" at first mention in a comment and "CF" afterwards.

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It's not just that he doesn't have a clue how to do it. Working for the betterment of the American citizens and the world definitely is not on his agenda.

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Substitute controls for bully

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Jun 5Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Nagging thoughts.....

Major League Baseball imposes a lifetime ban on any player caught betting on games. Pete Rose was banned from entering the Hall of Fame for such activities while a manager. Recently, Tupicita Marcano, a 24 year old shortstop , was banned for life just 2 days ago for placing bets while on the injured list. In the legal profession, lawyers and judges alike, routinely recuse themselves from cases where there is the slightest smell of conflict of interest. Many times it is simply " the appearance of conflict " rather than an actual conflict that results in a recusal. The SCOTUS is also bound by the same principles. The conflict of interests on the part of Thomas and Alito have long since passed the stage of " a whiff of conflict." It has reached the level of a full blown, rank, odoriferous stink. Just as no man is above the law, no jurist is either, even a member of the Supremes. Can a sport have higher standards than the highest court in the land?

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"Can a sport have higher standards than the highest court in the land?" Considering the behavior of several of the justices, baseball does have higher standards than the high court.

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But the major sports are going down a slippery road by sanctioning any legal betting on their sport. I understand they are acknowledging the fact that betting happens regardless of whether it's sanctioned or not, but to allow it is to support the questionable ethics behind it. And so too does Chief Justice Roberts allow the highest court in the land to become mired in the stink of corruption. To quote Marcellus in Hamlet, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”

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I think you are mistaken. 6 votes from the Gang of Six makes Supreme (MAGA only) Court Justices above the law in the sense the only laws they have to follow are the ones they make for themselves

“Bribery isn’t illegal if its done for Partisan Purposes and not for Racist ones. “

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founding
Jun 5Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

As the first Justice Jackson said, “ We are not final because we are infallible. We are infallible because we are final.” Which works only when the system is not corrupt.

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Maybe we should ban them from baseball and the courts.

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Marcano bet about $99 and won about $28. That measly amount got him suspended for life. Guess he didn’t think it mattered or that he would get caught. He was thinking like CV, only on a much smaller scale.

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I am glad to hear you say “Defeat Trump and every GOP who supports him “. I remind myself of the Heritage Foundation’s Plan 2025 - which tells me that ANY republican candidate who won the presidency in 2024 would be a danger to the country because they would be expected to follow that plan, and the Republicans who support Trump, if still in office, would work towards that goal. We, the American people, need to resoundingly defeat them all to protect democracy.

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❤️❤️❤️

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I saw broadcasts of both the House hearings with Dr. Fauci and Attorney General Garland and the questions and accusations were totally inappropriate and false. There were clips of Democrats such as Adam Schiff and others pushing back but the media knowingly allowed the broadcast of these hearings when they knew the claims were false and distorted. They are contributing to the problem not reporting it. If they are going to broadcast the claims made by MTG then they also need to broadcast the other side of the equation. Allowing MTG and Gaetz to have any news exposure is adding fuel to the fire. You know the famous line about if a tree falls in a forest and no one was there does it make a sound! Well imagine if the MAGA insurrectionists made outrages comments and no one reported it.

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Biden should have attacked the media on day one, but he and the democrats are playing dumb. The media is responsible for our current state of affairs. Why the democratic leadership has hardly mentioned this crisis is a mystery to many.

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The media is not perfect but it’s not totally at fault. We can’t let the Republican Party off the hook for letting this happen to their party.

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The republican party is being backed by billionaires that own the media. The media has been focused on the ills of the democratic party and the leadership that support them.

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While convict Trump still smothers the news and Biden runs the country, more billionaires announce their support for Trump. They like that Trump is a criminal, it means that the whole purpose of his administration is allowing corruption, open, blatant, exploitation and fraud. They are all for it.

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Maybe he has blackmail on them. Maybe they see it as insurance.

If the Dominionists take over many of them will be out. Only "Christians" a/k/a "the 7 Mountain Mandate" ideologues will have full citizenship.

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These people all believe that because they are rich they are brilliant. They are too short-sighted to realize that everyone who thinks they can benefit from being in Trump's orbit get screwed and/or indicted, sooner than later.

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founding
Jun 5Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

With respect to the new charges in Wisconsin, when can we expect Jim Jordan to be prosecuted for his supporting role as mule?

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author

Frustrating, isn't it? Dozens of lawmakers participated in the coup. Not a single charge.

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Aren’t Congresscreatures exempt from federal charges if they do their dirty deeds inside the Capitol building?

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Yup, see: https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R45043

Time to reinterpret the clause to exclude any act of sedition, insurrection or treason.

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I agree, but it’s beyond my legal “pay grade” to comment on whether a reinterpretation would hold up with legal eagles.

Thanks for the link.

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Additionally, there is much being said about the participation of WI Sen. Ron Johnson in this as well. The fact that nothing appears to have been done to address his involvement (along with Ted Cruz) in spite of published and reputable broadcasted evidence is more than troubling. It appears that SCOTUS is not the only untouchable branch of our government!

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The only reason I can think of as to why the GOP wants Hur's audio is to possess a sound bite they feel is valuable in their campaign.

They want to air an ad so their constituents can hear Hur say,

Biden is a "well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory."

To the GOP, all they have is, "Biden’s old."

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They want the audio so they can recut and manipulate it in any number of different ways to create propaganda and try to humiliate Biden. MAGA cultists aren't likely to double-check by reading the full transcript but would hear the doctored audio over and over ad nauseam on Fox, OANN, Newsmax, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

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Jun 5Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Trump may have a non-frivolous Sixth Amendment claim (based, as I understand it, on the idea that jurors did not have to be unanimous on what the Trump’s second crime was), but it will not be decided until long after the election, and is thus irrelevant now. And as for the claim, it is very unlikely to succeed, because it would call into question hundreds, maybe thousands of criminal convictions. Even the Extreme Court is likely to avoid such a morass.

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author

That is a good point. I think New York has the better argument, but the Supreme Court has said that a jury must be unanimous on every ELEMENT of a crime. Here, Marchan said they need not be unanimous on the MEANS by which a nested crime was to be committed. I think that distinction saves the conviction, but a motivated Supreme Court could find a non-frivolous way to say that NY (and all states) must require unanimity on all nested crimes.

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Sadly, I think you're right, Robert, given the current slant of the jurists. However, assuming Jon is right AND we can pull off a triumvirate victory in November and expand the Court before the case reaches the Supremes, your concern Robert will happily be moot!🤞

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Jun 5Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Thank you, Robert, for noting that we're talking about "Convicted Felon Trump" over and over again. Democrats in unanimity need to use this same moniker from now until Election Day. Imagine what the Republicons would be doing if this were Biden convicted and which they're trying to conflate with the Hunter Biden saga. Democrats need to play it like Republicons have always played it, define the narrative and broadcast it far and wide.

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Three quotes sum up the current reality for me. "Trump's an effing moron." Rex Tillerson "Everything Trump touches dies." Rick Wilson "The only good Republicans are pushing up daisies." Harry Truman

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Jun 5Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Robert, I hope you'll circle back to the partisan judge in Florida, Aileen Cannon. My reading of her recent rulings on amicus briefs and everything else is that she's in way over her head. Maybe that's obvious. But when she hesitates over one little procedural matter or another, she plays right into Trump's desired strategy of delay, delay, delay. My last question: assuming for a moment that Trump wins in November, is it then within Trump's power (or his AG's) to dismiss the case if Cannon manages the delays to after inauguration in January?

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I don't think Cannon is "in over her head". Reports from clerks and others who have worked with her is that she is extremely intelligent (technically) and knows the law. She was a task master.

I think her "procedural matters" process is most likely in support of the Trump tactic of throwing everything at the wall to see what might stick - and very much the big Trump/Cohn schtick of "delay, delay, delay"..."deny, deny, deny" and maybe someday it will go away.

In some ways the theft of Top Secret Documents should have been the open and shut case that put Trump away - or at least sidelined him from running for office. The evidence is available for all to read. There can be no denial. Add to it the fact that he shared some of the docs with others and don't we have at least criminal neglect and at worst, treason?

Cannon is no dunce or slacker. She is part of the MAGA conspiracy to install dictatorship and expand oligarchy.

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I certainly agree with your closing sentence

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I agree. Cannon is slow-walking this case purposefully in the hope that Trump will be re-elected and, via quid pro quo, will require his new loyal flying monkey, oh, I mean, attorney general, drop this case and the election interference case. The bottom line is Trump must be soundly defeated.

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I'm not a lawyer but I don't think the finer points of legality and constitutionality -- or any points, for that matter -- will matter if the former guy is re-elected. Constitution and legal norms be damned, he will immediately install a lapdog as AG who will cause any lawsuits against him to be abandoned.

As for Cannon, yes, she does appear to be in over her head, but also, the dark, cynical side of me -- a side I'm not proud of, but there it is and it won't go away -- figures, with no actual evidence in hand, that she is receiving sub rosa coaching from top right-wing legal talent. Any ham-fisted partisan judge can drag her feet, but that Cannon, who bungled so badly that she had to be slapped down hard by the 11th Circuit in her previous Trump fiasco, could on her own pull off the tricky, unappealable moves that she has in the current case simply beggars belief.

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I do think it is very likely that she is not making decisions in a vacuum. I hope the names of her coaches get revealed.

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Her husband for example?

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I think Smith is bidding his time knowing he can’t try Trump before the election and also betting Biden wins and then he goes nuclear.

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Nothing dark and cynical about it. You simply state the obvious. Her latest stunt is the scheduling of hearings on the constitutionality of Jack Smith's appointment. And she allows third parties to participate. Gym Jordan was already getting into the game at yesterday's congressional hearing.

Should be interesting to see if the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society will make an appearance. Actually there would be no need for that. They already have a representative on the bench.

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Hopefully there's a schism at the Federalist Society.

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Thanks to the https://www.dumpalito.com/ and all who sent in complaints.⬇️

“Since May 16, the court clerk “has received over 1,000 judicial complaints against Judge Cannon that raise allegations that are substantially similar to the allegations raised in previous complaints,” Pryor wrote. “These complaints appear to be part of an orchestrated campaign.”

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2024/06/03/court-stops-taking-complaints-against-judge-overseeing-trump-documents-case/?utm_medium=browser_notifications&utm_source=pushly&utm_campaign=4820460

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I’m sorry, it that is just an excuse for not acting. Yes, this may be part of an “orchestrated campaign “ but that does not diminish the validity of the argument nor the intense outrage that we feel. If we don’t raise our voices then people will just move on. And if the issues have already been raised, then why has there been no action?

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Thanks for sharing the Sentinel story. I had a feeling that random people just complaining was not going to be the most effective approach. The story underlines that the serious complaints should really come from either the prosecution or the defense.

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And when will something be done.

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Jun 5Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

So glad to see you referring to “convicted felon Donald Trump,” instead of “former President …” How about “convicted felon and sex offender Donald Trump”?

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Rapist. Liar. Cheat. Felon. Jackass.

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Remember when Robert asked us all to be Truth soldiers. ? This information about crime and immigration must be distributed to counter act Republican false narratives. Nationwide, there has also been no evidence of a migrant crime surge. In 2023, homicide and violent crime dramatically declined. And, this year, cities that have received the most migrants as a result of Texas’ controversial busing program have seen crime levels drop, an NBC analysis found.

If anything, research shows that immigration is linked to decreases, not increases, in violent crime. Neighborhoods with higher concentrations of immigrant populations also have lower crime rates, multiple studies found. Between 1990 and 2014, undocumented immigration, in particular, was “generally associated with decreasing violent crime,”

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Stephen, do you have a link to that NBC analysis. I don't want to quibble over citations, when Republicans make outragous statement all the time, with no evidence. But if you have a link or a date, that will strengthen the reference. If not, I will use as you summarized and let our opponents chase down counterinformation as we have been doing for eight years. Thanks.

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If the Supreme Court takes the Trump New York case, who wants to bet they get make a reversal decision before the election, while exonerating him everywhere else? We've got a dishonest, radically right, hyperpartisan court that will do anything to help Trump, especially because they fear a possible Democratic sweep that will address their unamericanism. It's up to us. Every possible vote!

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I've been involved in "border health" for asylum-seekers on both sides of the border since 2019. There are horrendous atrocities on our side that result both from militarization of our borders and from for-profit contractors running detention centers. The horrendous atrocities on the other side are from the cartels, local police, and sometimes the Mexican national guard. As a physician and a humanitarian, my involvement has been exclusively with non-profits and volunteers. Some border patrol agents were kind and helpful in that they did not disturb food/water sources that were left for migrants crossing the desert. Some of them also did their best to get medical aid for migrants who were dying in the desert. We were not allowed to do so. At this point, there are essentially no "illegal crossings". Most migrants cross at a port of entry and turn themselves in for asylum. Some, as was reported recently by 60 minutes, cross through holes in the wall to waiting Customs & Border Patrol agents, who transport them to the appropriate place to do their paperwork...these are Chinese immigrants with suitcases! My current experience is in monitoring wildlife gates in the wall and, at least in AZ and NM, the word on the ground is that there are essentially no illegal crossings. President Biden's long-awaited expansion of the asylum system is exactly what we need. Physicians for Human Rights has an Asylum Network wherein physicians, aided by medical students and lawyers, document the torture or injustice that the asylum seeker is fleeing. This affidavit increases the seeker's likelihood of asylum from very low to 90ish %. The person is then legally in this country, waiting( now for 6 years) for an asylum hearing (it was 2 years when I first started this work).

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Robert,

You helped me connect some dots today. The fact that the Pennsylvania Fast Action group is focusing on disaffected blue collar voters who have been left behind and Bidern's new immigration approach, forced on him when the Republicans refused to pass an immigration bill containing everything they wanted, contains a provision to go after CEOs who exploit undocumented immigrants. The poor are being exploited. Disinformation spouted by outrageously outsized egos is obscuring this fact. Thank you foir your column.

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