451 Comments

Thank you for defending Fani Willis. I share your outrage at the way she was treated in the Fulton County hearings. I hope she continues to lead the case against the defendants who conspired to overturn the election results in Georgia..

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I agree. I am furious with the people who attack her because they are both Puritan and complicit with Trump, or just too ignorant of human psychology. Fani Willis needs to have close emotional support to get through a difficult trial like this. Where is she going to meet people when she probably works all the time? People who do not understand this are what makes life in the USA too stressful. And, they are siding with Trump, who has a habit of digging into the people prosecuting him's personal lives and twisting it. Should Fani Willis go years without human touch? Research shows that touch is important to human well being. How good a job can she do in such a high pressure trial if she does not have that? The only legitimate anger in this situation, for anyone who is not sexist and racist, is to be angry that her personal life is under such scrutiny. Frankly, if there is question of impropriety, let Trump bring it up on appeal. The only impropriety in this case, is if Fani was dating one of his lawyers, which is hardly likely to happen. ----As for the age thing with Biden, I feel Americans who bring this up need to have a better biology education. I am living in a country that is not so anti-aging, a big problem with American culture. If you were knowledgeable about human biology you would know that there is your age in months and years, and your biological age, and not everyone ages the same. So, the fact that Biden is really fit right now when he is running the country well under extremely difficult circumstances, with Trump ruling by proxy through MAGA Mikey Johnson, makes it likely that he is not on deaths door. I am currently living in Northern Germany, where so many people make it to 100, that the President had to stop giving them birthday cards and elevate the age to 105 when you get a birthday card from him, although now they say the real longevity here is in Southern Germany. Still, I am in an art group and one of the women is 91. She is so fit you would think she was not more than 70, and I mean a fit 70. My maternal grandmother lived in Northern Germany to the age of 99.5. She had to stop traveling to the US to visit us but was still riding her bike to the store on short errands at 93. Japan is also known for having a lot of centenarians, as is the USA. But, what is really upsetting about people being down on Biden's age, is that they are treating Harris like she is invisible. If you haven't read Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison you should, to understand how our White Supremacist society makes Black people invisible. Shades of plantation politics are so prevalent. If something happens to Biden in a second term, his wife will look out for him and Harris will step in. Not only does she have her own experience with governance but will have had 4+ years tutelage under Biden who is a master at getting things done, and negotiating so that both sides are involved in solutions. He has the long experience of his years in the Senate since 1972 and then 8 years in the White House with Obama, and now his own 4 years, where he has had to deal with some hostile members in his own party, one of whom has left and one of whom is leaving, and a hostile House. I can only think that the people who want "someone" else to replace him, which Germans ask me all the time too, is because they do not have the ability to imagine what it is like to be in the job. None of us can really understand, but we can imagine the mental acuity it takes, and the experience. As we get older our brains prune out the excess stuff to aid us in efficiency, but they also slow down. We put stuff we are not immediately working with in memory storage and may not be able to retrieve it so easily. So, let younger people work for older people and manage that stuff. Let them also learn from the ability of older people to manage working parts, and to have already figured out how things go. Biden has had amazing success in things that are very difficult and we are all better off for it. Putin aptly described Biden as the one you prefer in the White House and reliable. That reliability has helped us live beyond Covid and our fears of Putin engaging in nuclear war have somewhat dissipated. Can you imagine if Trump were in the White House how we would be looking at the prospect of war and of global nuclear catastrophe?

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Thank you Linda for your thoughtful and post! You covered so much important stuff, especially regarding age and biology, and the fact that Biden has surrounded himself with smart and capable people.

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Sharon…Right On! It absolutely astonishes me that there are some who have simply forgotten about Kamala. She was our Bay Area prosecutor for years before she became California’s AG. She is the VP of the United States of America and if something would happen to Joe, she would step in to lead us. People underestimate her adeptness in governing and that is shameful.

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What worries me is the guy behind Kamala Harris in the Presidential succession. That must be remedied.

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Absolutely!! He has to be removed…like yesterday!

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I agree, I've wondered if there is any general information that talks about the age range of Biden's administration. That decision takes wisdom and talent to achieve

He's running a successful administration.

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It is certainly a lot more diverse than Trump's ever changing administration. It wouldn't surprise me if it were younger in median age than at least Trump's original cabinet.

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Team Fani all the way! One of her best lines : A man is not a plan.

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This old White man loves that line.

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Thank you Linda. I would feel quite comfortable if VP Harris needed to step in. She was a good choice at the time and continues to prove her competence. I look forward to the VP debates. As far as age, both my parents lived well into their 90’s with excellent cognitive functioning that only faltered in the last few weeks of their lives. And they knew it. They made sound decisions based on that realization. They protected themselves and their assets. I trust Biden to do the same. I trust his family and advisors to help with that if needed. And Robert , thank you for defending DA Willis . Spot on regarding the misogyny and racism.

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I agree with all you've said - EXCEPT - let's scrap the debates. They are not debates and are a total waste of time - giving the press another opportunity to show their utter shameless, irresponsible reporting. And --- I doubt that Trump will agree to be on stage anyway. I wish that instead we could have 4 hour long interviews by 3 savvy people (why do we need journalists to do this??) of each candidate, with the same questions, recorded - and then broadcast in prime time with each candidate's answer shown together.

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Excellent idea

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Amen. This essay should be published far and wide in the U.S.

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It is estimated that 81% of females experience sexual harassment. That's what this hearing was. Hats off to Fani Willis for defending herself. Most men, especially white men, don't experience sexual harassment or understand how it happens or even what it really is. I appreciate Fani Willis saying, "You are confused. I am not on trial here."

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The Lincoln Project produced this ad after the 2nd E. Jean Carroll verdict was announced. I thought it was very powerful:

Verdict https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDKNM1XYRsE

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Yes, I agree. They are doing great work. Some of their best ads in years have come out in the past two months.

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Very powerful, indeed. Says it right out loud. I am a survivor of sexual abuse and this is exactly it. Every time someone makes an excuse for Donald Trump, they are also excusing my attacker. And making life more dangerous for other women. Every vote for him says it is ok for a President to be a malignancy on our nation.

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I just watched that ad - thank you, Cheryl, for sending it. It was quite powerful, as you said.

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Yes! Her statement was perfect.

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That was certainly the most interesting post I've read in a long time. It is certainly true that people age at very different rates and Biden may well be what experts in aging, such as S. Jay Olshansky, call a super ager (and he has suggested that Biden may be one).

A cousin of my mother's made it to 104, having passed the driving test for the last time at 96, "with flying colors," according to the instructor. (She quit driving at 98.)

Very interesting about all the super agers in northern Germany. A high school friend's uncle rode his bicycle 20-30 miles/day, every day, throughout his 90s, until the day he dropped dead at 99. At 70, I run every day with my dog, with the goal of being able to do so the rest of my life.

Yesterday I wrote Biden a letter of support, because of all the sh!t that's been going around about his age and that GD Hur report. He's the best president of my lifetime, which began the first summer of the Eisenhower Administration.

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This was a few years ago (before Covid). but a friend who has a vacation cabin up in the mountains was recounting a story about his elderly neighbor up there. My friend asked how he was doing. The neighbor responded "not too bad, but my back is bothering me some". My friends response was "maybe it's time to stop chopping your own wood" The guy was 95 at the time!

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Thanks for that account! That put a big smile on my face and gave me some chuckles! If I make it to my 90s, I'm hoping to still be running.

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Hear hear, especially as to any question of Fani’s impropriety — or none.

Isn’t the question whether any of this stuff would be prejudicial to the defendant?

Who gives a damn whether Fani and a colleague have whatever sort of relationship? It makes no difference, from an impropriety perspective which person paid for the wine or whatever - does it? Lawyers and other professional people are free to eat at nice restaurants, spend weekends at/in nice hotels regardless of which party pays - aren’t they? Fani could do such activities independently, and it certainly is no one else’s business if she chooses to do such things with Wade — does it? How does any of that negatively impact the defendant? It’s not like paying the judge (think CT) — is it?

This seems spot on to me: https://www.justsecurity.org/91368/why-fani-willis-is-not-disqualified-under-georgia-law/

“The motion filed by defendant Michael Roman seeks primarily to do just that – to disqualify Willis and Wade from further participation in this case. Under Georgia law, however, even if all the factual allegations regarding Willis and Wade were true, there would be no basis for disqualifying them from prosecuting Roman or any of the other defendants in the election conspiracy case.

The key point is that regardless of whether the factual circumstances involving Willis and Wade give rise to separate ethical concerns with respect to his hiring, such questions do not affect the propriety of the prosecution against Roman and his co-defendants. Questions about gifts and related matters go to Willis’s and Wade’s obligations to the Fulton County District Attorney’s office, and have no connection to assuring the defendants a fair trial…”

“As a matter of both common sense and Georgia law, a prosecutor is disqualified from a case due to a “conflict of interest” only when the prosecutor’s conflicting loyalties could prejudice the defendant leading, for example, to an improper conviction. None of the factual allegations made in the Roman motion have a basis in law for the idea that such prejudice could exist here – as it might where a law enforcement agent is involved with a witness, or a defense lawyer with a judge. We might question Willis’s judgment in hiring Wade and the pair’s other alleged conduct, but under Georgia law that relationship and their alleged behavior do not impact her or his ability to continue on the case…”

“[A] conflict of interest requiring disqualification from the cases does not exist as to either Willis or Wade under Georgia law. We expect Judge Scott McAfee will deny the Roman motion in its entirety after the evidentiary hearing. As a practical matter, Wade’s voluntary resignation would help resolve the controversy, enabling the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office to continue to serve the people of Fulton County in a manner that comports with the public interest.

Conversely, an unfounded disqualification of Willis would unjustifiably threaten to delay the case unnecessarily. That is because when the District Attorney herself is disqualified, the matter is transferred to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of the State of Georgia for reassignment. See McLaughlin v. Payne, 295 Ga. 609, 613, 761 S.E.2d 289, 294 (2014); OGCA § 15-18-5 (2022). That was what happened with the disqualification in July 2022 with respect to Burt Jones (discussed above). Today, 18 months later, we have yet to see a prosecutor assigned to the Jones case, much less a decision on whether to indict Jones. Whereas if Willis were otherwise sanctioned by ethics or county government authorities as a result of any separate inquiries (e.g. into her hiring decision involving Wade), it would not have this effect. The case would remain in the Fulton County District Attorney’s office.

A likely delay in the prosecution of Trump and his co-conspirators occasioned by moving the case is inconsistent with the public interest. There is a paramount need to resolve the question as soon as possible of whether Trump previously criminally abused the office he is seeking to recover. Accordingly, the stakes could not be higher for accurately applying the law of disqualification. “

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Thank you. People are quick to judge and slow to learn. With age come many valuable experiences and American culture is still phobic about aging.

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Spot on response, thank you.

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Great comments --- I will add regarding the unspecial counsel HUR ---- he has NO biological training, is totally unequipped to opine about mental functioning and was asked ONLY to assess the issue of top secret documents.

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Yes. But even more important, in my view, is the fact that Hur egregiously stepped outside the lanes established for his Special Counsel position.

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Yes ---- and ---- who appointed him ????? MERRICK GARLAND! Ugh!!!!

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Mr. Garland stalled on prosecuting Trump so long that I hold him personally responsible for all of the clamor and chaos surrounding Jack Smith's D. C. case. The case should have been filed before the end of 2021. Trial would be finished and Rump would be appealing his convictions now.

And then he appoints a MAGGAT to handle the investigation of President Biden. Again he is personally responsible, for the slings and arrows that Joe Biden has endured. When Joe Biden is re-elected I want to see a new AG.

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Yes ---- and ---- who appointed him ????? MERRICK GARLAND! Ugh!!!!

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Excellent post, Linda! Thank you.

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I cannot even entertain the thought of Trump in the White House again without feeling physically ill.

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“Not easily retrieved memory storage”. What a perfect description. I had a friend who used to say her filing cabinet was so full it took her longer to retrieve information. President Biden is doing a remarkable job with years of experience and a mental filing cabinet that most of us can only imagine.

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good thoughts. Can I put in a plea for more use of paragraph breaks? Your points get lost in the bulk of the presentation.

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Excellent comment, worth every word. And thank you for mentioning Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man, one of the greatest of American novels....Don't take my word for it, Saul Bellow said so first. The attacks on Fani Willis are another form of the invisibility that some men and especially women, and most especially black women experience everyday. Invisibility, you say? How can she be "invisible" when she was under such scrutiny. But those who were asking her questions, and certainly all in the Republican Party and many in the media did not see a courageous, strong, very smart, righteous woman. They saw an "uppity" or careless Black woman who deserves to be taken down a peg or two by white men who are allowed by a white male judge to guffaw at her and ridicule her with questions that have nothing to do with the question at hand. The attacks on Fani Willis are the smug assaults of people (men and women) who by their class, color, money, power, or religion -- or by their pretensions to those prizes in our culture -- seek to protect their image of themselves as masters. The last page of Ellison's novel ends with the the unnamed invisible man who has told his story over 500 pages saying, in part, as he emerges from his "hibernation,"

"there's a possibility that even an invisible man has a socially responsible role to play." He acknowledges that his story may seem like a rave, yet, "Being invisible and without substance, a disembodied voice as it were, what else could I do? What else but to try to tell you what was really happening when your eyes were looking through? And it is this which frightens me:

Who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you?" Fani Willis is successful, educated, hard working, a "professional," who knows people in power want to make her invisible. In her courage in that court room she would not allow that, and in so doing she spoke for all of us. She knows she has a "socially responsible role to play."

It is our duty to understand it and grow better.

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Amen, Linda.

“As we get older our brains prune out the excess stuff to aid us in efficiency, but they also slow down. We put stuff we are not immediately working with in memory storage and may not be able to retrieve it so easily. So, let younger people work for older people and manage that stuff. Let them also learn from the ability of older people to manage working parts, and to have already figured out how things go. Biden has had amazing success in things that are very difficult and we are all better off for it.”

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Well said. Thanks

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I agree. The attacks on her are just yet more attempts by the Trump team to delay and distract. I'm not angry with her; I'm angry with them.

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Gee. Republicans dissing a strong, bright, empathetic Black woman? Who would have thought!

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and, I would add, the Democrats who haven't bothered to defend her!

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Thank you Pam Smith--you said it far more eloquently than I ever could! I agree; if Ms. Willis had been a white male prosecutor this line of questioning would never even have been considered. Judge McAfee and Georgia--y'all ought to be ASHAMED of yourselves.

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Only a few of us in Georgia approve of how Ms. Willis was treated! Many of us pray that she will vindicated.

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Yeah and up to this incident, I had been pleasantly surprised by the professionalism of Judge McAFee since he is a Republican.

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I've been in the camp of, "What the hell was she thinking?" But the way this has evolved has made me want to see her succeed in her pursuit of justice. We forget that folks like Fani Willis are humans and have personal lives that are none of our business. I'm disappointed that the judge gave the RICO defense attorneys as much latitude as he did in their salacious questioning of Willis and Wade, but I'm glad that Fani and her father were able to school the attorneys and indeed the nation. I hope the defense strategy continues to self-immolate so we can get on with the pursuit of real justice.

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It sure felt like the Anita Hill hearings unfortunately led by Bidenand conducted by older white men. a very bad decision was made by that committee and we are witnessing the result.Women, especially African Americanscontinue to hold strong against the powerful, white, mysogynistic male, culture established and lead mostly by white males. I am optimistic that the females in our species will ultimately take control and lead us out of the manymesses in our very troubled world.

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I'm sure Biden learned from his mistakes during that episode, but it was indeed a sorry episode. Thomas should never have been allowed on the Court.

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Pam, I completely agree. I think Robert’s explanation of what transpired in that courtroom in Georgia is spot on. This is solely about criminals, liars, and election deniers trying to smear an excellent DA, because they know that the case she has made against them is airtight. These people are lowlife losers who will stoop to anything, including debasing another human being and attempting to ruin her reputation, because they are desperate. I hope each one of these creeps gets a conviction in this upcoming RICO trial, and I hope that Fani Willis wins her next election by a landslide. Let us not forget that bigotry and racism are alive and well in the United States; they have been given a new life and vigor by Trump.

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To coin a phrase - “ME TOO.”

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Totally agree!

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Agree! There is no way she should step down and those suggesting it are playing right into the hands of the trumpers and what they set out to do in the first place. Get her out of the way and delay, delay, delay. Scumbags, these trumpers, every one.

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Thank you Robert! I watched a good chunk of the Willis hearings and it was, in my opinion, as you report. By the end I felt I was witnessing a witch trial. The old white male questioning her was so tone deaf, it was shocking and so affirming of white privilege but also blind gender ignorance. I totally identified with Fani as a woman being diminished by a man but I was humbled to witness a sister of color explain her particular experience. It was an amazing piece of social/ political history. I was angry with her prior to watching but came away feeling she was being framed for political gain. It’s so unfortunate for us, who need Trump convicted so we can know our lives will be saved. But I’m clear that her predicament is part of this relentless attack on Democracy and equality in our country.

I sure do hope Democrats can stop picking on our own. Biden and Willis need us to have their backs. We should be roaring to protect them. We can’t win if we keep squaring off against our own. And the squaring off may have genuine substance but issues can’t be addressed by undermining our own. Just til November….we win and then we regroup and set about to really reform this system. If Trump is elected, it will be because of our fracture within. And if he is elected, there will be nothing left to protest and we will be hunted.

I’m not a blind follower and not a groupie. I fully support Biden and Willis and the Democrats everywhere with their strengths and faults but who are better and safer by far than the Republicans they are running against in this time in history.

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I prefer 81 years to 91 felony counts. Full stop.

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Excellent!!

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YES! When anyone in my circles raises the issue of Biden's age, I remind them that this is a conversation we cannot afford to have. Do I wish our candidates were younger? Yes. (and I'm 73). But that is irrelevant, given the risk of losing more to the MAGA cult.

As a lifelong democrat, I have come to believe that our big tent is and has been one of our biggest challenges. I am not suggesting that we make our tent smaller, only that we recognize when the seriousness of the challenge requires that we come together to maximize our collective impact. This is not the time, if it ever was, to exaggerate faults and minimize strengths.

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Would you let Warren Buffett invest your money? He’s in his 90’s. Do you think Barbara Streisand and Bob Dylan are still great? They’re older than Biden.

I can go on, but you get my point.

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And Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. served on the Supreme Court into his 90s, into the 1930s. This was a man who was so badly wounded in the Civil War that they almost left him for dead. See: Rufus: A Boy's Extraordinary Adventures in the Civil War, by Phoebe Sheldon.

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Do not forget Ruth Ginsberg! She was 87 when she died!

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Sorry Jocelyn , but this is actually a very compelling argument for why Biden should've last year stepped back from running. If RBG had left the Court a few years earlier, Obama would have appointed a liberal judge. Instead, Trump got to appoint another justice. This was RBG's most glaring failure in her long excellent service to America.

Every time I see a very disappointing 5-4 decision by the Court, I think about RBG's decision that she was "still very capable and the best person for the job". Sound familiar?

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And Ruth Bader Ginsberg had been kept alive by advanced medicine for a number of years. As Tyler Taylor says, she damn well should have let Obama replace her.

But I disagree that this is an argument for Biden to have refrained from running. One of his parents reached their 90s, the other died well into their 80s, and he is the best pres of my lifetime, which began the first summer of the Eisenhower Administration.

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Your criticism of her for "not deciding to leave the court" suggests a degree of prescience on her part that I doubt even she had. Why would she think at the tail end of Obama's administration, when she was 83, that trump would win in 2016? Almost no one thought that would happen. Further, she had BEAT cancer twice in 1999 and 2009. Remember the bit about 5 years survivorship. Should she have resigned in 1999? She didn't DIE for another 18 years, and 11 years after her second bout.

Her final bout happened in 2018, and bravo for her for sticking around in an attempt to PREVENT trump from getting her appointment. She almost made it. And I suspect she didn't trust the idea that McConnell would hold to his "gee, you can't appoint a new justice in the last year of a presidential term." And she would have been right.

Contemplate a bit of logic when you think about things like this. Hindsight isn't necessarily a very good guide.

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Ginsberg should have retired to enable Obama to appointment her replacement, true. But at her advanced age she was sharp as a tack, as is Biden. Your argument is logically misplaced. Biden is our best chance to defeat Trump. Whom we could argue is obviously less coherent and less mentally fit than Biden.

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I'm a 73-year-old retired primary care physician. Based on decades of experience, I would say the strongest predictor of a person's future vitality is how much it has or hasn't changed over the last say five years (assuming no major disease occurred then that affected the trajectory). If you look at a video of Biden from 2019, he clearly looked more vigorous then, and was walking better.

That said, I'm now a full-throated supporter of Joe Biden, but I'm also hoping and praying that he stays healthy for the next 9 months.

I ask folks to consider this: If I told you there was a Democrat that definitely had a 70% chance of beating Trump in Nov. and Biden has a 60% chance of winning, which one would you choose. I'll bet it would be the alternative to Biden, which tells us that what we care about the most (by far) is defeating Trump. If that's accomplished in a big way, I personally will be thrilled from head to toe and not concerned whether the Democrat coming in is Biden, Whitmer, Harris, Newsom, or whoever.

My worries related to Biden's age are threefold:

1) Some serious acute health event may happen to him in the next 9 months, potentially putting the nation in a terrible position.

2) Some voters like Biden but not Harris. The older he is, the more they'll understandably be concerned. How many of them will stay home, and how many percentage points might that cost their ticket?

3) If about half of Democrats are concerned about Joe's age, that's a bonafide problem. That worry is feeding on itself. This is not about right or wrong, it's about facing reality in order to win in Nov.

So, again, I will strongly support Joe Biden, and believe he's been an outstanding president in every sphere. But I believe in being objective – as I want others to be; this is a gamble that we've all been required to take because of Biden's 2023 decision. It may work out fine, but the above reasons say it might not.

It's now water under the bridge, and I'm ready to move ahead. I'm donating monthly to 8 different organizations to improve Democrats' chances of winning. Lots of postcards are in my future too!

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I invested some of my IRA funds in Berkshire Hathaway several years ago and haven't even thought about selling. It's been one of my better investments, far better than the "sure things" I identified on my own.

None of us get out of this life alive, and many of us continue to improve with age. As long as someone continues to function, we should not diminish their ability to contribute, and President Biden is functioning just fine.

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Ah, the beauty of common sense!

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Good evening Robert, it was a tragedy waiting to happen. Navalny knew it, we all knew it. It is past time to hound Mike Johnson about his absolute cowardice and traitorous support of Vladimir Putin.

The Speaker responded to my email yesterday morning asking me to text him on Telegram, the far right communication platform used by J6 thugs to coordinate their actions that day. I think I will stick with his personal gmail acct. <jamesmichealjohnson983@gmail.com>

Telegram here: https://t.me/jamesmichealjohnson

Lots of emails telling him what a traitorous cowad he is will bother him surely. He can ignore or delete,

but clogging his personal email will be a problem because he will have to contact lots of places, like his doctors office and all his friends etc. if he has to change it. His .gov email would be good too.

Thank you for the geat post, as usual and have a quiet weekend. My email to him was reasonably polite and I'll share it here if you don't mind :

Dear Speaker Johnson

I was not a volunteer who wrote postcards and made calls for Tom Suozzi, as many of my friends did, but the efforts of the REAL patriotic Americans prevailed. He won handily over Ms. Pilip because even your Republican citizens saw what you all are spending your time and energy on in the House. Impeaching Secy. Mayorkas does nothing to improve their lives. Implementing the border bill that includes almost all that you asked for does. Giving in to Trump may be the most short-sighted or Traitorous thing your party is doing. Our National Security is on the line with your abandonment of Ukraine and your tacit support of the dictator Vladimir Putin.

I invite you to do the right thing and your job, stand up to Mr. Trump, and put the foreign aid bill up for a vote. You know that most of the money is spent here, replacing what we send to Ukraine, don't you? Businesses all over this great land will be the ones who profit by standing up for democracy. Trump's base probably doesn't even know that. Why don't you let them know? You might be surprised at the results, including being seen as a strong hero rather than a weak Trump toadie.

Your choice, sir.

Ransom W. Rideout Jr.

Altadena, CA

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thanks for sharing your email to Johnson, and the links!

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You are quite welcom, sir. The more pebbles against his window will maintain his anxiety.

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Thank you RR. I just sent an email to Speaker Johnson, and asked him how he defends his cruel inaction towards Ukraine to his children, to himself and to the God that he claims to be guided by.

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It is naive to think Johnson is acting out of cowardice. This is what he wants. This is the plan. Remember he took the lead in trying to stop the counting of the electoral votes. Doing all he can to stop government from acting is the MAGA goal. It isn’t necessarily these issues of the border and support for Ukraine that he is avoiding with this two week vacation. It’s everything.

Make sure that when the congresspeople are in their districts they hear from the people. Let them know that we are not happy that they are getting paid $174,000 plus office and staff and benefits and expenses while they are on a break and there is so much we want them to do.

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We ALL. know this. That is his personal email acct. It's with him wherever he goes. As for when congresspeople are in their districts, Jessica Craven has the links to all of them, and more. If you are committed to taking action, she is the clearing house of what to do.

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Perfect!

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Thanks for writing the letter but Johnson has no backbone and can’t win whatever he does. Doing the right think for him is too expensive.

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I think Ransom made a very good point, though: clogging Mikey's personal email can contribute to making his life more difficult, even if he doesn't actually read the emails.

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The problem is that he will have a private email for personal things, like medical or family contacts. I do, just to keep things organized and safe from intrusion. Every politician I know does.

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I called all four of Johnson’s offices and left messages. I had a short list of Putin threatening border countries and leaders and said, do you know how WWII started? Then I said I know Rep Johnson won’t hear this, but can you talk to him? Convince him how important it is? Probably deleted since I was out of state. My husband says there is a march for Ukraine in DC this coming weekend.

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You're keepin' it going. I'm hit and miss for another month, maybe, getting my Mominlaw settled in to her new Assisted Living joint. She's been with us since Covid and there is a lot of catching up to do.

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Thank you, I just emailed to the Speaker, I expect nothing back but enjoyed the chance to speak to him via email.

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He got back to me fast, but seems he will only engage on Telegram, if at all.

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May I please use a lot of the text of your email to Mikey? It was excellent, and I'm not as good at formulating text like that.

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Please do. I asked Chaplain Niccoletti if I could plagiarize the letter she shared on Lucien Truscott's Substack and she agreed. I put my expanded letter back on Lucien's post and she liked what I did with it. Pass it arround to many othes.

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Does he spell 'Micheal' that way? It's an odd spelling

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Ransom explained in the last 2 days that Michael is spelled "micheal" in the email address. this might be to reduce the volume of email coming in. But I also wonder if a misspelling of the correct address was provided so that NONE of the emails from people like us will get through.

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He responded to my email with this :

James Micheal Johnson

Feb 15, 2024, 5:47 AM (2 days ago)

to me

Text me on telegram

Using this link

https://t.me/jamesmichealjohnson

Someone had to scrole down my message to send that reply.

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I think we should send to both…

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‘Micheal’ is never correct.

It’s MichAEl.

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A person name is spelled how it is spelled. YOUR name is spelled Michael. My friend's name is spelled Mikal (same pronouniation). Micheal is a not uncommon variant, and there are others.

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So my response doesn’t seem arbitrary, permit me to explain:

Like many “given” names (John, Daniel, Ruth, Judith, …), Michael comes directly from Hebrew. The “el” is a contraction for Eloheinu or Elohim, designating God (NOT the *name* of God, which is forbidden to utter). These designations are probably familiar to readers of the Christian Bible, and appear repeatedly in Handel’s oratorio Messiah.

Mi in Michael (pronounced “mee”) means “who is like.

That’s why Michael should be spelled with EL at the end.

We Michaels try not to let the meaning of our name (“who is like God) go to our heads (I hope).

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At this point in time, who the (I'll be polite ) cares. That is the way it is spelled on his gmail acct. It will be bounced back if you use "ae'. If he used yellow in the acct. name and you wrote in "blue", it would bounce back too. Got it?

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Gee, thanks.

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Thank you for that email address. I also just sent him an email hoping to clog up his email account. I don't know if he'll read it, but I expressed my opinion of him and the Republicans in the House. Felt good!

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Jamesmichealjohnson or jamesmichaeljohnson? Asking for a friend.

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Spelled with "ea". Dont forget the 983.

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See my above reply.

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“Joe Biden is a strong candidate. He has a terrific record of accomplishments. He deserves our unqualified support.” Robert, you’re damn right! And you’re damn right in your defense of Fani Willis, too. Democrats should have her back against the malicious attacks by Trump’s minions. Shameful. Just like she said in court, “You people are mistaken. I’m not the one on trial here. You are the ones on trial for trying to steal an election”.

Democrats must once again cease to engage in a circular firing squad and take aim at the actual enemies.

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What an encouraging edition this newsletter is. Unyielding, to the point, bringing the contours of our political landscape into sharp relief. The Republican deference to Putin is treasonous and poisonous. "What the hell are they thinking?" is the automatic initial reaction but today I received a newsletter from the Heritage Foundation touting their 51 years of undermining democracy (promoting "conservative values"), which goes a long way in explaining what they are thinking; perpetuating the vapid lie of "Trickle Down" economics in the face of its abject failure to deliver, all for the benefit of the neo-libertarians who want all the money. CPAC meets in Hungary??? They say the quiet part out loud every day.

Giving up now is not an option; I have no desire to die going on a walk in the Arctic Circle.

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Bruce, you might be on to something. The US territory also extends to the Arctic Circle. The Putin sycophants might already think about making good use of that remote, cold region. Hint: it's not drilling.

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Wonder how Sarah Palin’s feeling these days.

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Like a good nieghbor, I'm sure.

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Thank you for standing up for Fani Willis. The rush to judgement to dump her is synonymous with the rush to judgement to dump Biden for a younger more “charismatic” candidate. This is a exactly the reactions that Trump wants us to have- that fear feeds right into his grotesque propaganda machine. We must not cower and blame our own amazing people doing the work. They (Trump machine, incl., Putin) got the country hating Hillary Clinton in just that way. “Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me”. The Democrats and all who want to preserve our Democratic nation must stay United. Do not fall into these traps.

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Time is running out on the Democratic campaign for choosing a winning Presidential candidate. So the NYTs has taken to piling on to the issue of Biden's " too much of an old man and is probably in decline" to be the candidate. Here's a link to Ezra Klein's Podcast/opinion piece in today's Times. ,,........................................................ NYTimes: Democrats Have a Better Option Than Biden............................................... Democrats Have a Better Option Than Biden https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/16/opinion/ezra-klein-biden-audio-essay.html?smid=nytcore-android-share Klein has ample contact points for your comments at the end of his piece so I won't add in. ...,........................................ ........................Here is what to I emailed to Klein: ............. My recommendation to Klein and other Times journalists who are questioning the wisdom of Biden' 2nd run , Please STOP. There is only one person uniquely qualified to determine Joe Biden's qualifications for the task ahead and that's Joe Biden.Only we Democrats, "aiming at our foot", would raise serious doubts about the capabilities of the most successful Democratic President in the last 60 years. His 1st term record has been almost flawless and his team has been remarkably stable and without conflict. History will have many lessons to teach us from the Biden presidency. But absolutely one lesson is that Joe Biden does not dither when it comes to making decisions of consequence for the good of Americans. If he determines he's not up to the task, I for one am confident, he will create with the least damage, an effective transition. Until then we need to be 100% in with Joe. It is truly rich for the Times, with its anti-Biden vs Trump, click bait news to be pushing this line of caution. If the Times would abandon their anti-Biden bias and give the President the unbiased coverage the American people need, Biden's poll numbers would go up. I recommend everyone write your thoughts to Ezra Klein at any of the contact points in his article. Thanks, Merrill Weingrod

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Excellent!

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Thank you! Klein's podcast was the last straw - I unsubscribed from it when I saw the title.

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In my opinion, Ezra Klein is a bright guy who is overly enamored of his brightness and cleverness, sometimes at the expense of solidity.

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A totally reasonable reaction...how about , Biden's picture on the podcast heading?

He looks like a silver alert escapee from a home for the aged.

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I think you should consider that Biden’s age and if he should run or not is a news loop that they play over and over because they can’t keep reminding people how dangerous Trump is every single day.

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Stephen,

Thanks. I think that's a fair point. But

the almost total lack of coverage in the Times of the outstanding benefits Biden's domestic programs are delivering to Americans is what bothers me. The Times interviews many Americans about why they are unhappy or feel disenfranchised. It would be comforting to see interviews from Americans who are being helped by Biden's programs. I'm guessing a month of those stories and Biden's poll numbers would go up.

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I give up on the idea of the press doing their jobs. The drumbeat is relentless and outrageous. As I've said many times, they should all be forced to read the GUARDIAN every day to learn about good journalism. At least we have Jennifer Rubin, Gene Robinson, Paul Krugman, Tom Friedman to mention a few. How the WaPo has Marc Thiessen write for them is beyond the pale.

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Derek, of course it irritating to read right wing journalists in what we think of as the liberal press. However, a good argument can be made that the MSM has a responsibility to present both sides even if we hate reading some of it. The imbalance I see is far too few news articles as opposed to opinion pieces on the success of Biden's domestic agenda.

The Times and WaPo can easily find these positive stories. We need to consistently advocate for them printing positive stories.

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I agree in that I don't mind op-eds that present a conservative, or even MAGAT view. Those who read the NYT, as opposed to glance at its headlines, generally know enough to evaluate an op-ed.

The problem is in the huge disproportion of negative news stories, not opinions, that slant either the headline or the body of the story (by choice of details) as opposed to those who point out what Biden has accomplished. This is not "both" sides-ism. It is ONE-side-ism.

If Biden is successful on some point that some don't agree with--say limited student loan forgiveness--the headline is "Biden forgives certain student loans" NOT "Republicans attack Biden's student loan policy." MSM, it is NOT news to say Republicans attack Biden. And it is dishonest to say it is by phrasing your story/headlines that way. Let the op-ed discuss the counter view if it wishes.

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I totally agree with your viewpoint.

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I think the "both sides" issue boils down to this :

"Since all the news about Trump is negative, in all fairness, we must write equally unfair news about Biden. "

Anyway, it sure looks that way, if you don't believe the MSM is backing the new face of Facism because the MSM is an integral part of the oligarchy itself.

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On principle, I agree with you. That said - I don't have the stomach or patience for their point of views. The bias, mendacity and distortions drive me crazy. And, I do not consider the mainstream media the 'liberal' press anymore. It is hard not to think of them as the non-indicted co-conspirators in getting trump elected. (I don't believe he will - but the mainstream sure as hell ain't helping!)

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We have a right to be upset with the NYT but the voters we need don’t read the NYT or many newspapers at all which is the challenge.

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👏👏👏 PERFECT!

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Very good Merril. I sent this to the editorial board at NYT on the 11th. :

Dear Sirs and Madams,

Who's side are you on? Democracy or tyranny? You have done everything you could to demean Joe Biden over the past three years. You acknowledged receiving the Robert Hubble Substack I forwarded to you on Feb. 5, but have not responded. I know you are busy, but this one by Jeff Tiedrich is speaking to YOU. Does the First Amendment mean anything to you anymore? Are you comfortable with the threat to the free press? You have to stop carrying water for Putin and advocate for our Constitution and the American people. The threat is real. It is your responsibility to keep our nation informed of this danger. The absolute political smear of the Hur report? Do you accept without question all the speculative lies within it and those of the Trump cohorts? The story that you missed was that our president was on the phone to many world leaders, as well as leaders of the US military, constantly since the Hamas attack on October 7, within the previous twenty-four hours and he made time to meet with special counsel Hur while juggling world affairs so fast that anyone else's head would spin, but not our president. You missed that story and published hit pieces on your front page instead.

SHAME ON YOU.

Sincerely,

Ransom Rideout

Altadena, CA

A paid Subscriber

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you inspired me, Robert and Merrill, and I wrote to him too. Although I'm not as eloquent as both of you, I told him that We Democrats/Americans have rolled up our sleeves and been working to get the Democratic Vote out, have succeeded since 2018, in EVERY election cycle, .

I said :

"Instead of citing "poll after poll" why not look at "election after election"? If the past election cycles in (2020, 2022,2023, and 2024 to date) haven't given you confidence to get onboard this victory train, than I'm not sure what will, but PLEASE don't derail us by using your voice at the New York Times to add to what the mainstream media does best: spreads fear and doubt.

Come November, there is one choice, and one chance to save this Democracy and beat down Fascism and that is President Biden and Vice President Harris. Please start organizing that victory within yourself. To use an old and tired phrase, "United we stand. Divided we fall".

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Elisa, WOW...your response to Klein is 100% perfect. Thank you. Thank you

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Thanks for this post. I just wrote to Ezra Klein and will pass this along to friends I know who have valued his podcasts in the past.

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Yes!!! I listened to Ezra's podcast earlier and I was furious! What expertise does he or any others have to determine Biden's fitness for office? Have they not looked at his record? One thing I do agree with, however, is that Biden and his administration need to communicate more.

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How can they do that if the MSM are ignoring them? I educate myself by reading some very good non-MSM pubs and resources, including both national and local Democratic organizations. AND I listen to or watch speeches by Biden and Harris and other supporters. AND I let other people know when they think that because they aren't hearing it, it must not exist. Why are you listening to Ezra instead of seeking out a less biased source of info about Biden? Or is is that you prefer to feel indignation?

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Actually, I don't listen to Ezra regularly. A friend insisted that I listen to this week's episode because she thought he was right. I should have resisted her insistence! I do listen to and read other sources, by the way.

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Wow Merrill, this is such a great letter. I’ve been trying to figure out how to State these issues in my own letter, and have been unable to concisely come up with it. This helps me. I’m about ready to cancel my long time NYT subscription- which I will let them know too.

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regarding Fani Willis, IMHO you are 100% spot on. i was shocked to learn that many of your readers are so angry that they think she should step away. it would be devastating for her to resign or be removed. either way, we'd lose our best shot at holding Trump accountable. THIS is what a "witch hunt" looks like. thanks for making an excellent argument for my own point of view. i hope the judge sees it the same way.

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Agreed, Lani. I plan to contact and voice my support.⬇️

CONTACT US

141 Pryor St. SW

Atlanta, GA 30303

404-612-4000

customerservice@fultoncountyga.gov

https://fultoncountyga.gov/inside-fulton-county/fulton-county-departments/district-attorney/da-executive-team/fani-willis

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Thank you for the link. I just sent an e-mail of support.

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THANK YOU!! Thank you for writing the words about Fani Willis that have been in my head for weeks. That you for validating my thoughts. I watched a portion of the hearing and was disgusted by the line of questioning and the way she was treated. I applaud her for defending herself and feel her righteous anger. This was a disgusting smear campaign designed to provoke her to “prove” she should be removed from the case and damage her credibility. I support Ms Willis 100 percent.

And all the critics and pundits who labeled her belligerent - maybe they should go have a beer with Brett Kavenaugh.

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Good last sentence!

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Brilliant! Great piece! Thank you! I have only two caveats. First, I don’t think you need to apologize for your period of “silence” in the Fani Willis saga. Indeed, it could be said she herself changed tactics abruptly when she marched into that courtroom and testified rather than fighting her subpoena. Her decision to fight, coupled with her father’s very effective testimony, turned the tide — at least in my mind. When you are the target of Trump’s gutter attacks, there is no choice but to fight back. She did, she is, and she deserves our support as an important defender of Democracy. Anybody saying otherwise probably would have told General MacAuliffe to surrender at the Battle of the Bulge. On Thursday told Trump and his pack of jackals, “Nuts!”

On the subject of Biden’s candidacy and the pearl clutchers calling for him to step aside, I don’t think it’s about his “deserving” the nomination and our support. We are at a massive point of historical inflection. Biden is the proverbial “man in the arena” called upon to accept the proffered challenge. His need and entitlement to our support derives from what the country and all of us need. It’s not about him, it’s about us. We should be recognizing what personal sacrifice his service demands.

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Thank you, Mike. Spot on, both regarding Fani Willis AND Biden's candidacy. He earns my admiration more as time passes. He and I are about the same age. The guy is ok.

As for Fani Willis: you go, girl. I hope my granddaughters (and sons, for that matter) are watching. She is occupying her space, a good role model for young people who feel bullied. Because that is exactly what is going on. She is making the law work for her in the way it is supposed to, and that is what we need people like her to do. Want my descendants to know that.

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How I dream Clarence Thomas was 'interrogated' like that about him and his wife Ginny's actions. Not only democracy is under attack, also justice.

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Mr. Hubbell, I agree completely with your support of Ms Willis, and your thoughts about President Biden and the foolish fantasy belief in a Hail-Mary younger Super-person replacement Democratic Presidential candidate in ‘24. We are fortunate to have Joe Biden as our candidate. Do I wish he were a younger man? Sure. I wish that I was younger too, but that is not reality. Your encouragement for everyone to just get out and grind out the thankless day to day chores of retail politics is correct and admirable. Thank you for your hard work.

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Here, here Robert! I stand with you on defending Fanni Willis....clearly there were many who just wanted the "uppity black woman" to just sit down and shut up..she WILL NOT. I hope cooler heads realize this was nothing but a hit job by Tr8tor45 and his ilk.

Keep the faith people...

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The salacious character of the sleazy motion to disqualify Fani Willis and he office shouldn't surprise anyone. The motion was filed by defendant Michael A. Roman, described in this Politico headline as "[t]he mysterious oppo researcher working in the [Trump] White House lawyer’s office" who had "work[ed] for the Kochs’ Freedom Partners group as head of research" <https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/11/trump-oppo-researcher-roman-403138>. That says, I think, all you need to know about what should have been expected from the motion. If you read the motion, I think you'll see it's no wonder -- indeed, entirely understandable and defensible -- that Willis angrily attacked the motion as filled with lies and innuendo <https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24352579/motion-to-disqualify.pdf>.

Commentators knowledgeable about Georgia law on disqualification point out that the Georgia Supreme Court has held that a conflict meriting disqualification requires the defendant to prove that the prosecutor has a financial interest in the defendant's conviction (e.g., the prosecutor gets paid only if the defendant is convicted). There's been zero evidence of the necessary conflict here.

The more I heard from witnesses' testimony, the less I thought that Willis had exercised bad judgment in having a relationship with Wade. She's as entitled to a romantic relationship with a colleague (assuming it's not prohibited by office, county, or Georgia law or formal policy) as anyone else. It took a Trump and Koch acolyte to cast a tawdry pall over the relationship and broadcast it to the public. Quintessentially Trumpian. I thought that a defendant would not have brought such a motion in these circumstances if the DA had been male instead of female, especially a black female.

The bad judgment here was Judge McAfee's. He should have shut down the hearing as soon as it became clear (which it did early on) that the defendants didn't have any evidence remotely approaching that required to satisfy the Georgia Supreme Court's standard.

There's no basis here for disqualification. If Judge McAfee were to somehow decide to disqualify Willis and her office, we'd be in Judge Aileen Cannon's realm of judicial decisionmaking.

One possible upside of this disgrace: the defendants themselves, who likely watched this hearing with much anticipation, saw an aggressive, determined, and angry prosecutor who wouldn't give an inch in the face of egregious character assassination mounted by their lawyers. Do they now really want to go to trial against a prosecution team headed by her? Perhaps we can expect some guilty pleas in the next few weeks that might not have occurred otherwise.

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LOOK! A shiny object over here. I can't get over the coincidence -??? - of timing between the disqualification charges being filed and the release of the report showing no election fraud in the Georgia election and the discrediting of "2000 Mules". Delay...Delay...Delay. Distract...Distract...Distract.

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I so agree. That’s all they’ve got, so they will continue to use these lowlife tactics.

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I agree the Judge lost control of the courtroom and case but he went overboard to make sure he would not be attacked by MAGA supporters.

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Thank you for your comments on Fani Willis. What the judge allowed like Special Prosecutor Hur was a selection of position and duty. She will remain and bring justice to our democratic system.

Replace Joe Biden…he could loose half his memory and still have 10 times the knowledge to govern the country. There is no other candidate and no one who can do what he does.

Putin and the entire GOP will burn in the afterlife!

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Feb 17Edited

I think Trump is operating under the incorrect notion that Americans are fine with what Russia has shown itself to be. During the impeachment trial(s) the issue of Trump‘s possible involvement seemed fuzzy and unresolved. The suggestion of Trump’s later (or earlier?) possible relationship with Putin, and/or Russian agents, come and go in the news and people believe, or don’t believe them to be true.

Perhaps this had falsely emboldened the stupid, fatuous orange man to think that nobody cares about Russia, and so he goes on blabbing and saying ever more outrageous things like “let them attack NATO,” thinking nobody cares. But most Americans do seriously care (and particularly older white Republicans who were raised in an anti-Soviet era) and it is a great misjudgment on his part (possibly because of the continuing degrading of his mental capabilities) to appear so cozy and comfortable with Russia as a bed partner.

Good!

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Speaking of bed partners, remember conviction and sentencing of the sexy Russian spy Maria Butina when it is time to consider the NRA. She is celebrated as a hero now in the Russian Duma. That speaks volumes.

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Yes, she was but one of the people I had in mind

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