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The Morning Report 5/14/24

Good morning, kids. There’s cluelessness and then there’s cluelessness. Sometimes I guess it’s just a way of coping; trying to process the events in front of one’s own eyes while preserving one’s sanity and worldview. And then there’s just having one’s head shoved so far up their alimentary canal they can see light from their own nostrils. 

The former applies to Jonathan Turley. Here are his observations about Michael Cohen’s performance in the Stormy Daniels anti-Trump show trial:

Michael Cohen apparently wants a reality show but, if his testimony Monday is any indication, reality is about to sink in for not just Cohen but the prosecutors and the court. In stoking interest in his own appearance, the former Trump counsel promised the public that they should be “prepared to be surprised.” Thus far, however, Cohen has offered nothing new and, more importantly, nothing to make the case for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. . .

. . . With the prosecution’s case almost over, Bragg needed Cohen to clearly state that Trump intentionally committed fraud to conceal some still poorly defined crime. The problem is that Cohen only confirmed that Trump knew he was going to pay for the nondisclosure agreement and that it would be buried before the election. None of that is unlawful. 

On his reality show promo, Cohen tells viewers that he is now there to fix their problems because “the little guy doesn’t usually have access to people with my particular set of skills. ”Those skills seem to have escaped all of the witnesses who were compelled to work with him. Witnesses detailed how Cohen was ridiculed as someone “prone to exaggeration” and unprofessional. . . 

. . . Absent a sudden epiphany in his final testimony on Tuesday, Merchan should rule in favor of a directed verdict — that is, throwing the case out before it goes to a jury. If he instead sends this farcical case to the jury, it is Merchan, not Cohen, who may have a better claim to a reality show as the ultimate “Fix It Man.”

I will give Turley credit for that last paragraph. He is a brilliant legal scholar but sadly he, like Alan Dershowitz and others, still believe we are living in a country where, flawed as our legal system was, is still the best/fairest that the world has ever seen and justice will prevail. 

The sad truth of the matter is if that were still the case, this pornographic farce of banana-republicanism would never have happened in the first place. Ditto the other show trials Trump is facing. Does Turley actually believe that a NYC jury is going to acquit Trump or that Merchan, whose fangs dripping with nitric acid have been bared against Trump from the get-go is going to throw this case out? 

Meh, why should I hammer away at a decent guy like Turley? He’s merely trying not to have a complete breakdown by realizing the profession and cause he devoted his entire life to is now a farce. In a mirror universe way, it’s why Merchan and all the others are going all out to destroy Trump and by extension all of us. They are true believers in every sense of the word that what they are doing is absolutely justified to save “our precious democracy.” 

For them to actually follow the very same law in the same way that Turley has tried all his life would create an equal if not opposite crisis of conscience that Turley faces by letting the scales fall from his eyes. It’d be a fascinating Beale vs Loki situation were it not for the fact that it has such dire and direct consequences on every one of us.

In the “having one’s head shoved so far up their alimentary canal they can see light from their own nostrils” category, we have another entry from the floundering ship that is The American Conservative these days:

My conundrum begins with the base concept that there is no such thing as hate speech according to the First Amendment. I believe something very different than the encampment protesters at Columbia. But I believe in defending their right to protest legally just as much. Makes for some uncomfortable times, but it’s the thought that counts.

There are no laws against “hate speech.” Some people have developed an alternate understanding of free speech, with students in particular believing “offensive” speech should not be protected, particularly when the offense is directed at groups defined by race, religion, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. But the 1A says a speaker can call people names and insult them by their religion. What many people think and say is hateful. It is in fact carefully thought out to inspire hate, to promote hate, to appeal to crude and base instincts. Indeed, that is the point. Free speech means just that, with any limited restrictions content-neutral. So there’s nothing in the law per se preventing people from holding and/or shouting anti-Semitic views.\

(BONUS: Much of what follows applies to Donald Trump’s own statements to the mob on January 6. His so-called inflammatory statements that morning are protected by much of the same law as the Gaza encampment people. It should make a college age ACLU donor proud to know her $25 contribution with Mom’s credit card helps the Gaza encampment people, Israel supporters, and Trump all at once.) . . .

. . . Universities like Columbia, which accept pubic funds, are avoiding the 1A by claiming their protesting students are trespassing or violating school Codes of Ethics that specify time, place, and manner of protests. Whether the latter would stand up in court is an open question.

There is no legal or other justification for banning speech based on who it may offend or threaten; in fact, quite the opposite. Wendell Holmes declared a “marketplace of ideas”—all ideas, not just popular ones. Free speech is messy as hell, but it is our essential defense against fascism, whether from the left or the right.

Even in the week before finals.

Bravo, Peter Van Buren, for a fairly rational, cogent, point by point argument. And bonus points for your nice “bonus” shot at Trump, despite the fact what you said about his “inciting” the J-6 crowd, and even the nature of that crowd, is complete bullshit. But seriously, given everything we know about cancel culture and our own government colluding with media to actively silence all voices of opposition and prosecute parents at school board meetings among many other things, do you really expect us to believe that you believe we have a level playing field where all opinions are welcome? Give me a fucking break. The title of the above quoted drivel, “Free Speech Still Applies at Universities” is the giveaway.

As a palate cleanser, there’s no one better than Daniel Greenfield:

After weeks in which college students at campuses from Columbia to Harvard to UCLA celebrated murders and rapes, waved the flags of Islamic terrorist organizations and assaulted Jewish people, one student has finally been held accountable.

The student, a frat brother at University of Mississippi, was a counterprotester who allegedly mocked a pro-terror student as “Lizzo” and made sounds some thought resembled a monkey.

While no amount of calls for the destruction of America or assaults on Jewish students led to any outrage in the media or actual consequences (including Khymani James, a leader of the Columbia University encampment who talked to university officials about killing Jews), the incident at a decidedly non-Ivy school has actually generated outrage and consequences.

Knocking a Jewish female UCLA student unconscious didn’t do it. Barring Jewish students from being able to go to their classes didn’t do it. Assaulting staff members and faculty at universities didn’t do it. But call a fat black female activist Lizzo” and it’s an instant nationwide outrage. . . 

. . . No university would tolerate a KKK rally on its premises. When racists marched at the University of Virginia, it was a national outrage, but when UVA recently cleared an encampment of Hamas supporters, the president felt the need to offer multiple apologies to the terrorist supporters. The terrorist rallies are not protected because of free speech, but because the Left backs them.

Even while defending the Hamas encampments, universities and the media have taken every opportunity to criminalize and punish opponents and counter-protesters. Whether it was assistant professor Shai Davidai being banned from the Columbia campus, Yale spending a year investigating Evan Morris, a Jewish engineering professor, for signing a letter condemning campus antisemitism, or blaming UCLA Jewish counterprotesters for fighting back against violent assaults by Hamas supporters or the Ole Miss incident, there’s a consistent pattern of harassing, penalizing and demonizing anyone who gets in the way of the Hamas supporters.

That’s not free speech either. . . 

. . . Now the unfortunate former frat brother at ‘Ole Miss’ is the latest national villain because it allows the media to distort the conflict between Jewish students and Hamas supporters in the Ivies into a more familiar story about a showdown between Southern racists and black people. While the story of the frat brother was covered by every major national media outlet, the story of Eleanor Saghian, a Jewish UCLA student who was knocked unconscious, only appeared on FOX News. Milagro Jones, a formerly homeless non-Jewish UCLA student who was mistakenly assaulted by Hamas supporters, was likewise only able to tell his story to FOX News.

The perpetrators of the assaults have not been suspended or expelled from campus. If Hamas supporters violently assault students, the national media will boycott the story, but if a counterprotester insults a Hamas supporter, the media will make sure it’s front page news.

Meanwhile, we have this garbage. Not from a cave in the Tora Bora hinterlands. But from right here in the good old US of A! In Miami of all places.

Jews — who are “tyrannical” and the “brothers of apes and pigs” — should be “annihilate[d],” according to a Florida Islamic cleric, who also accused Israel’s army of being “worse than the Nazis.”

During a sermon at the North Miami Islamic Center in Florida in late April, Imam Dr. Fadi Kablawi called for Allah to support “our oppressed brothers” in Palestine, as well as for the total annihilation of Jews, whom he referred to as “apes and pigs” — a phrase that radical Islamists have historically used to describe Jews.

“Oh Allah, annihilate the tyrannical Jews… for they are no match for You,” he said. “Oh Allah, annihilate the brothers of apes and pigs… [and] cut off their seed.”

. . . “[Israel’s army] is the most immoral army… they are worse than Nazis,” he claimed, adding that he “apologized to the Nazis last week because these people have been proven to be worse than the Nazis.”

“They steal the skin of the Palestinians. It is not enough that they stole their land; now they steal their skin,” he added, claiming that organs are “missing from children [and] from adults.” 

Kablawi, who called for Allah to “show us the black days that you inflict upon the Jews” just weeks after the October 7 massacre, then suggested identifying just “who is behind organ trading” both in the United States and around the world, reviving conspiracy theories alleging that Israeli rescue and medical teams sent to Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake participated in organ trafficking.

Kablawi. No doubt named after that most stylish of Muslim sartorial perfections that goes Ka-bloo-ee in Israeli pizzerias, London tube stations, German nightclubs and US Marine barracks, right? Funny how Jews are worse than Nazis who managed to annihilate two thirds of Europe’s Jews, and who Hamas has emulated since forever in trying to achieve the same not just in Israel but all over the world. Which is funny given their constant yammering that the Holocaust was a myth. Also, referring to him as a “radical Islamist” is a redundancy given the nature of Islam itself. He’s a Muslim. Period.

Is this protected speech Mr. Van Buren? Well, okay. But I double dog dare you or anyone else to set up a sound truck and blast “Hava Nagila” in front of his mosque or set up a barbecue and do a pork roast during Ramadan and see what happens. 

You’ll be indicted by Alvin Bragg 34 times. One for each piece of your desecrated body they can find after scraping up the rest of you from the pavement.

Meh. At some point, when sharia rules from “the river to the sea” – that is from the Hudson to the Pacific – this conversation will be moot. Or impossible due to our tongues having been cut out.

ABOVE THE FOLD, BREAKING, NOTEWORTHY

ISRAEL vs IRAN & GAZA/HAMAS . . . AND BIDEN

* * * * *

WE-ALL-SLAM-FOR-I-SLAM 

OFFICIAL DEMOCRAT PARTY/LEFTIST-ENDORSED ANTI-SEMITISM, ANTI-CHRISTIANITY

“BIDEN BORDER BLOODBATH,” AMNESTY, IMMIGRATION, BORDER SECURITY

SHAMPEACHMENTS, 2016 CLINTON/OBAMA COUP, CONGRESSIONAL PERSECUTION, SPYGATE, DEEP STATE, MUELLER DECEPTION

  • Jonathan Turley: “Michael Cohen apparently wants a reality show but, if his testimony Monday is any indication, reality is about to sink in for not just Cohen but the prosecutors and the court. . . Cohen had only one advantage for Bragg: His notoriously flexible morals and ethics, which allows him to say most anything to support his sponsors. ” ‘Mr. Fix-It’ Michael Cohen Bombs on the Stand, Offers No New Evidence to Convict Trump(Evidence? They don’t need no stinking evidence! – jjs) 
  • “Judge Merchan’s animosity toward Trump and his inability to ensure a fair trial is not lost on voters.” NY Judge May Get Trump Elected
  • “The numerous indictments against Trump are meant to politically sabotage his reelection campaign, Trump believes, buoyed by reports of multiple meetings between the Biden [junta] and Trump prosecutors.” Donald Trump Starts 4th Week of Trial: “I Should Be Out Campaigning … Election Interference”
  • “You have to wonder whether this judge is having second thoughts about his failure to stop this case or at least force the prosecution to be clear about it. There is nothing stopping the prosecutor from calling that accountant, so the introduction of that agreement was clearly intended to suggest to the jury that they have some smoking gun evidence, but because of this agreement they can’t present it. That’s entirely untrue and so Merchan was right to say I’m not going to let you do that.” Jonathan Turley Lays Out How Prosecutors Could Be Using Michael Cohen to Avoid Swift Defeat
  • Despite narrow instructions from prosecutors, the Arizona grand jury engaged in an aggressive level of independence, which could hamper the ability of the state’s Democrat Attorney General Kris Mayes to secure convictions. State prosecutors told Bobb and Ellis that neither was under investigation prior to the grand jury indictment. Additionally, at least one witness who testified before the panel said a group of jurors engaged in intense questioning that went far beyond the scope outlined by the prosecution. Anti-Trump Grand Jury Went ‘Rogue’ with Aggressive Indictments, Lied to Witnesses
  • Authentic Campaigns describes their work for the Brennan Center as being focused on converting those who read the group’s legal work and writing into donors. The company’s website reads: “Authentic embarked on a meticulously crafted journey to not only identify and acquire new subscribers but also to galvanize them into becoming active, contributing donors to the Brennan Center’s mission.” Judge Merchan’s Daughter Worked With Anti-Trump, Democrat-Aligned Lawfare Group
  • The altered call records were submitted into evidence, but Bragg’s office did not tell Trump’s team that three pages were missing, The Epoch Times reported. Paralegal Testimony: Alvin Bragg’s Office Tampered With Evidence
  • Judge Arthur [Enron/Gorgon/Erdogan], who oversaw the trial against former President Donald Trump for civil fraud, is now himself under investigation, after receiving unsolicited advice from a well known New York real estate attorney, according to NBC New York. Judge in Trump Trial Faces Corruption Allegations

CIVIL WAR 2.0: J-6 FBI FALSE FLAG “RIOT” & AFTERMATH, LEFTIST PERSECUTIONS, DEMOCRAT PUTSCH, AMERICAN DISSOLUTION 

FIRST AMENDMENT ISSUES, CENSORSHIP, FAKE NEWS, MEDIA, BIG BROTHER TECH

  • “The co-hosts could not seem to make sense of how [so-called quote-unquote “president”] Joe Biden is falling behind in national polling against the “disgraced, twice impeached” Trump. XiNN’s Fareed Zakaria cited an NBC poll from January finding 48% of surveyors believe Trump is ‘more competent and effective’ as of January 2024, while 32% said the same of Biden.” “I Blame the Media”: Watch Reality Dawn on The View That Bragg Trial May Actually Help Trump
  • “That’s why Google AI couldn’t answer questions about the Holocaust.” (Hat tip commenter MTF – jjs) Hey Google, Anti-Semitism is a Feature, Not a Bug, of the Left
  • Sunday’s media spin was centered on the ongoing war between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas — and [so-called quote-unquote “president”] Joe Biden’s attempts to play both sides as he struggles to keep his 2024 campaign from internal combustion. Once again, even the Left-leaning media outlets brought in Republicans to do the heavy lifting when it came to criticizing Biden’s recent actions — specifically his threat, after promising “ironclad” support to Israel, to withhold military aid already promised and approved by Congress if Israel invaded Rafah. Spin Cycle: Joe Biden Loves Israel, Joe Biden Loves Israel Not
  • The [junta] and the media continually go after purveyors of “misinformation” and “disinformation,” which translates to “anything that doesn’t fit the left’s preferred narrative.” The end game, of course, is to put an end to any individual or any outlet that stands in the way of Democrat power. The latest enemy for the left is Israel and those who support it. The Left Hates Us So Much That We’re Now on an ‘Enemies List’
  • “Musk challenged the demand last month, saying that it violated free speech, and that the Australian government did not have a right to dictate the content on his platform, but was ultimately ordered to comply with the demand.” Australian Federal Court sides with Elon Musk and X in case over blocking footage of terror attack on Sydney bishop

THE ECONOMY, STUPID

RED-GREENS, CLIMATE CHANGE HOAX, DEMOCRAT-LEFT WAR ON FOSSIL FUELS, JUNK SCIENCE, LYSENKOISM

CRIME & PUNISHMENT, NON-DOSTOYEVSKY

AMERICA AND THE WORLD IMPRISONED: CHINESE CORONAVIRUS FICTIONS AND FACTS

EDUCATION, AND WHAT PASSES FOR IT

ABORTION

THE 2020 AND 2022ELECTION HEISTS & AFTERMATH

DEMOCRAT/LEFTIST AND RINO SCANDALS, MESHUGAS, CHUTZPOCRISY 

POLITICS 

FOREIGN AFFAIRS, INTERNATIONAL

  • “If you think you control the borders of Iran, you are dreaming,” Rasoulof wrote. “If the geographical Iran suffers under your religious despotism, the cultural Iran lives in the collective mind of millions of Iranians who were forced to leave Iran due to your oppression and brutality, and no power can impose its will on it. From today, I reside in cultural Iran, a boundless land built by millions of Iranians with an ancient history and culture in every corner of the world. And they eagerly await to bury you and your regime of darkness in the depths of history. Then, like a phoenix, a new life will begin from that soil.” Famed Film Director Flees Iran, Slams “Criminal Regime”: “Eagerly Await To Bury You And Your Regime Of Darkness”
  • The law makes the provision, among others, that “[i]f a sex worker exercises the right to refuse more than ten times in a six-month period, the sex worker or the employer may seek the intervention of a governmental mediation service,” according to a May 3 press release by UTSOPI, the Belgian Union of Sex Workers. New Belgian Law Allows Pimps To File Gov’t Complaint If Hookers Refuse Sex With Clients

DOMESTIC AFFAIRS, THE COURTS, WASTE/FRAUD/ABUSE

ACTUAL SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY 

  • “This revenue number is even more astonishing when you compare it with the $12 billion in private capital the company has raised from investors since 2017. Next year alone SpaceX’s returns will cover half that investment, practically guaranteeing a generous profit in the coming years for those investors.” Starlink Revenue in 2024 Estimated at $6.6 Billion

FEMINAZISM, TRANSGENDER PSYCHOSIS, HOMOSEXUALIZATION, WAR ON MASCULINITY/NORMALCY

  • The legislation defines a woman as “a human female who is not a minor” and female as “an individual who has, had, will have through the course of normal development, or would have had, but for a developmental anomaly, genetic anomaly, disease, or injury, the reproductive system that at some point produces ova.” (Listen and learn Justice Jumanji Brown-25 – jjs)Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves Signs Bill Banning Men From Women’s Bathrooms
  • The AP claims Ketchum’s focus is “address[ing] the community’s concerns, ranging from accessible public transit to support for small businesses,” and jabs at “GOP lawmakers’ focus on books bans and bathroom access.” West Virginia Town May Get Transgender Mayor

CULTURE WARS, NATIONAL SUICIDE

  • “The announcement comes in an election year in the United States when abortion is expected to play a pivotal role, as Democrats seek to exploit voter dissatisfaction with Republican efforts to restrict access to the procedure.” Melinda Gates to Leave Gates Foundation, Keeps $12.5 Billion for Her Work
  • While awaiting the fallen soldiers from overseas, images and videos were captured of Biden checking his watch, a moment that received backlash from Republicans and former President Donald Trump’s team alike. Psaki writes about the infamous moment in her new book, Say More, obtained by Axios, saying that the [so-called quote-unquote “president”] only checked his watch after the ceremony had concluded, rather than during. Piss-Hockey Psaki Tries To Rewrite History On Biden’s Infamous Watch-Checking Moment In New Book: REPORT
  • Christian Toto: “Mumford & Sons’ co-founder turns cancellation into powerful second act.”Winston Marshall Shreds Pelosi in Epic Smackdown
  • “The decision overturns the previous school board’s 2020 decision to remove Confederate names amid the violent Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests and riots that saw many references to American and especially Southern heritage erased to appease far-left activists.” We’re So Back: Confederate Leaders’ Names Restored in Schools.
  • “The NFL’s decision to suggest that our black countrymen require a separate anthem is a disgusting and divisive affront, and the history of Jesse Owens in Berlin illustrates exactly that.” Jesse Owens and The Star-Spangled Banner
  • “These progressives will be surprised one day to learn that totalitarians expect complete obedience from everyone no matter what flag they were waving the day the tanks rolled into town. Their surprise will only be heightened when they find themselves placed in the Gulags they thought they were building for someone else.” (Not Alito, but the author’s conclusion – jjs) Justice Alito Has a Stark Warning for College Grads

HITHER & YON 

NOTE: The opinions expressed in the links may or may not reflect my own. I include them because of their relevance to the discussion of a particular issue.

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