The (no longer) much too early 2024 election thread

[Voronwë the Faithful]

This is a great quote from Shenna Bellows

[N.E. Brigand]

A New York Times article tonight explains that Secretary Shenna Bellows's decision to bar Trump is based on "an obscure constitutional amendment."

[N.E. Brigand]

Elie Mystal suggests that Nikki Haley is looking for a better example of "states' rights" than the origin of the Civil War, she would do worse than to turn to the recent decisions concerning Donald Trump's ballot eligibility in Colorado and Maine.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

A New York Times article tonight explains that Secretary Shenna Bellows's decision to bar Trump is based on "an obscure constitutional amendment."

An updated version of that same article confirms that Shirley Weber, the Secretary of State here in California is not going to remove Trump from the ballot here.

[N.E. Brigand]

Republican polling analysts who "confronted a focus group [of Donald Trump's supporters] with the facts about Trump's failure to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border" were told by one of these Trump fans that he "intentionally didn't finish the barrier so that migrants would bottleneck in the gaps and be easy to detain there."

I think if Trump walked into that room and shot one his own supporters, the rest of them would explain why that person deserved to die.

[Frelga]

I don't know why Fox News had a Tarot reader on their show, but this happened

[Snowdog]

I don't know why Fox News had a Tarot reader on their show, but this happened

[N.E. Brigand]

Speaking of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., tonight he acknowledged on Fox News that he flew twice on Jeffrey Epstein's plane in the 1990s because "my [second and now-long deceased] wife had some sort of relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell."

Now I don't actually think that everyone, or even most people, who were guests of Epstein and/or Maxwell were involved in the pair's illicit activities. Epstein and Maxwell liked to cultivate a circle of rich friends, whom they used in a variety of ways.

The late and unlamented Jeffrey Epstein is back in the news following the release of a further tranche of documents that were part of a lawsuit brought by one of Epstein's alleged victims. Very little in the documents is new, which is one reason the judge permitted their release. What's most notable is how the news is being misused online by liars falsely claiming that it shows people unconnected to Epstein (like President Biden)* figure in the case. For some reason, Aaron Rodgers, the infamously vaccine-averse quarterback for the New York Jets football team, joked on ESPN yesterday that talk show host Jimmy Kimmel would appear in the documents. Kimmel quickly denounced Rodgers and threatened legal action, and in fact, his name was not there. But there are many social media posts claiming otherwise.

*Unlike Biden, Donald Trump is known to have flown with Epstein on his plane. But as I said before, that doesn't make Trump an accomplice to Epstein's awful behavior. (Though of course, Trump engaged in plenty of similarly awful behavior on his own and was found liable for sexual assault in a trial.)

[N.E. Brigand]

Snarky observers may be right that Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor and former Donald Trump supporter now running for president, is really just auditioning to become a cable news personality, but I think it is nonetheless valuable that Christie is forthrightly admitting his errors:

[N.E. Brigand]

Speaking of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., tonight he acknowledged on Fox News that he flew twice on Jeffrey Epstein's plane in the 1990s because "my [second and now-long deceased] wife had some sort of relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell."

Now I don't actually think that everyone, or even most people, who were guests of Epstein and/or Maxwell were involved in the pair's illicit activities. Epstein and Maxwell liked to cultivate a circle of rich friends, whom they used in a variety of ways.

The late and unlamented Jeffrey Epstein is back in the news following the release of a further tranche of documents that were part of a lawsuit brought by one of Epstein's alleged victims. Very little in the documents is new, which is one reason the judge permitted their release.

Several threads could be tied together with the news that Neri Oxman has admitted to plagiarizing four paragraphs in the 300+ page doctoral dissertation she completed in 2010. Like Justice Gorsuch, but apparently to a lesser degree, she didn't use quotation marks where she should have. But who is Neri Oxman? Per Wikipedia, she's a "designer and professor known for art and architecture that combines design, biology, computing, and materials engineering. She coined the phrase 'material ecology' to define her work." She's partnered on projects with celebrities like the singer Björk. But more notably for our discussions, she is married to Bill Ackman, who is an "American billionaire hedge fund manager who is the founder and chief executive officer of Pershing Square Capital Management" (that's also per Wikipedia), and again if you're asking "So what?", he's been one of the most visible critics of his alma mater, Harvard University, and its now former president, Claudine Gay: he was among those most vociferously demanding her resignation for plagiarism. (Which ties to the Israel-Gaza thread,* because no one would have looked into Gay's writings had she not given a poorly worded answer in a Congressional hearing about how colleges are handling Antisemitism prompted by that conflict.) But also, it was reported in 2019 that Ackman leaned on MIT, where Oxman teaches, to "keep Oxman's name out of a brewing scandal over an original sculpture she gave to Jeffrey Epstein in exchange for a $125,000 donation to her lab."

I am sure that Oxman, like most people who benefited from Epstein's money, had nothing to do with his nefarious activities. He was using them.

*It's not important but just a minor coincidence that Oxman once was a lieutenant in the Israeli Air Force.

Edited a day later to add that this person makes a convincing case that Oxman's plagiarism is more serious than initially reported.

[N.E. Brigand]

Here in Ohio: "A transgender candidate for the Ohio House has been disqualified because she only circulated petitions with her legal name, instead of her former/dead name. She also happens to be a lawmaker's estranged stepdaughter." And three other Ohio candidates may be hit with the same problem.

A law from the 1990s requires all candidates to list on their signature petitions any name changes within five years ... [but] not only is there nowhere to put it on the petition ... it isn’t included in the secretary of state’s 2024 candidate guide. It hasn't been on any candidate guides in recent years.

And there's an exception for married vs. maiden names. And some other people have pointed out to the reporter that the rule hasn't been consistently enforced, citing a candidate whose first name is Christopher who had his candidate petition approved by the secretary of state's office even though it listed him as "Chris."

[N.E. Brigand]

The late and unlamented Jeffrey Epstein is back in the news following the release of a further tranche of documents that were part of a lawsuit brought by one of Epstein's alleged victims. Very little in the documents is new, which is one reason the judge permitted their release. What's most notable is how the news is being misused online by liars falsely claiming that it shows people unconnected to Epstein (like President Biden)* figure in the case. For some reason, Aaron Rodgers, the infamously vaccine-averse quarterback for the New York Jets football team, joked on ESPN yesterday that talk show host Jimmy Kimmel would appear in the documents. Kimmel quickly denounced Rodgers and threatened legal action, and in fact, his name was not there. But there are many social media posts claiming otherwise.

*Unlike Biden, Donald Trump is known to have flown with Epstein on his plane. But as I said before, that doesn't make Trump an accomplice to Epstein's awful behavior. (Though of course, Trump engaged in plenty of similarly awful behavior on his own and was found liable for sexual assault in a trial.)

Those well steeped in this story won't find much new here, but this is still a decent summary of Donald Trump's connections to Jeffrey Epstein:



One thing I never noticed before is how, in that last interview, Donald Trump says that Jeffrey Epstein "was either killed or committed suicide in jail," and later he asks: "Was he killed?" What? Trump's own attorney general, who oversaw the agency that ran the jail, said it was a suicide.

[N.E. Brigand]

Donald Trump's attorney Alina Habba tonight said this in a Fox News interview about Trump's appeal of the Colorado ruling that bars him from appearing on the ballot:

"I think it should be a slam dunk in the Supreme Court. I have faith in them. You know, people like Kavanaugh, who the president fought for, who the president went through hell to get into place. He'll step up."

She went on to say that the justices will support Trump because the law is on his side, but what?! Aren't there rules about a client's lawyer not saying a judge should rule for her client because the client has done favors for the judge?

[narya]

Quid pro quo? Nah.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Aren't there rules about a client's lawyer not saying a judge should rule for her client because the client has done favors for the judge?

Honestly, it is so far outside of the conduct that a normal lawyer would consider doing that I'm not sure it is is even specifically covered in the rules of ethics, though I'm sure there is something that could apply.

[N.E. Brigand]

Last night, Florida's govenor, Ron DeSantis, said that as President he would have Congress enact a flat income tax.

As noted here, that would cut income taxes on the very rich but raise the median earner's federal income taxes by 400%.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

[N.E. Brigand]

"God Made Trump," says Donald Trump in new campaign ad.

And apparently Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a wolf.

[N.E. Brigand]

Several threads could be tied together with the news that Neri Oxman has admitted to plagiarizing four paragraphs in the 300+ page doctoral dissertation she completed in 2010. Like Justice Gorsuch, but apparently to a lesser degree, she didn't use quotation marks where she should have. But who is Neri Oxman? Per Wikipedia, she's a "designer and professor known for art and architecture that combines design, biology, computing, and materials engineering. She coined the phrase 'material ecology' to define her work." She's partnered on projects with celebrities like the singer Björk. But more notably for our discussions, she is married to Bill Ackman, who is an "American billionaire hedge fund manager who is the founder and chief executive officer of Pershing Square Capital Management" (that's also per Wikipedia), and again if you're asking "So what?", he's been one of the most visible critics of his alma mater, Harvard University, and its now former president, Claudine Gay: he was among those most vociferously demanding her resignation for plagiarism. (Which ties to the Israel-Gaza thread (it's not important but just a minor coincidence that Oxman once was a lieutenant in the Israeli Air Force), because no one would have looked into Gay's writings had she not given a poorly worded answer in a Congressional hearing about how colleges are handling Antisemitism prompted by that conflict.) But also, it was reported in 2019 that Ackman leaned on MIT, where Oxman teaches, to "keep Oxman's name out of a brewing scandal over an original sculpture she gave to Jeffrey Epstein in exchange for a $125,000 donation to her lab." That said, I am sure that Oxman, like most people who benefited from Epstein's money, had nothing to do with his nefarious activities. He was using them.

Edited a day later to add that this person makes a convincing case that Oxman's plagiarism is more serious than initially reported.

Although it drifts even further off topic, I just can't resist noting a new report that Oxman plagiarized from Wikipedia. That is in fact something I caught that J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia contributor doing (although most of that long encyclopedia entry lifted instead from Humphrey Carpenter).

[RoseMorninStar]

It's Insurrection Fail day! Now we just have to wait for Insurrection Jail day! /cheekiness.