A Horrendous Ruling …

Posted on by under Election 2022, Election 2024, Law and justice, Political commentary, Rants

Are we getting tired yet?  Are we sickened by all we see coming out of the extreme right, the former guy & his minions, and the exaggerated evangelicals?  Would we like to just go somewhere ‘far away from the madding crowd’ and live out our days in peace?  Yeah … me too.  But guess what?  That’s what they’re counting on … the right-wingers who would replace our Constitution with their bible, and replace our democracy with their theocracy are hoping we’ll get so exhausted by it that we’ll tuck our tails between our legs and slink off, leaving them to do as they will.  But NO!!! We’re gonna all take a few nice deep breaths and remind ourselves what’s at stake here, then get back in the saddle and do whatever we can to stamp “PAID” on the lunacy that resides in the U.S. today.

I was enraged and incensed by the news that U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon ruled to appoint a special master to review the Mar-a-Lago search, possibly delaying the Justice Department’s work that is certain to result in charges against Trump.  The first thing I said was to call her a not-very-nice word meaning prostitute, for in my book she has prostituted herself … she indebted herself to Trump in exchange for a prestigious judicial appointment.  And this week, he called in the debt.  And she paid it, even though her decision goes against the people of this nation, goes against the rule of law, goes against everything she learned in her tenure at University of Michigan Law School.

I share here Robert Hubbell’s views of the horrendous decision …

Judge Cannon did everyone a favor.

Robert Hubbell

7 September 2022

In one respect, Judge Aileen Cannon did everyone a favor in her decision to appoint a special master to review the Mar-a-Lago search. She wrote an opinion so awful and bereft of legal reasoning that commentators on all sides of the political spectrum are panning the opinion as an abomination. Indeed, they are falling over themselves to find adjectives, comparisons, and metaphors that adequately describe the havoc of her decision. Here is a fair sampling:

          And then there is Bill Barr, a man who destroyed his legacy to support Trump. Here is what Bill Barr told Trump’s supporters during an appearance on Fox News:

  • The opinion, I think, was wrong, and I think the government should appeal it. It’s deeply flawed in a number of ways.
  • [T]he government has very strong evidence of what it really needs to determine whether charges are appropriate . . . there’s some evidence to suggest that they were deceived.
  • [N]one of [the government’s case] really relates to the content of documents. It relates to the fact that there were documents [at Mar-a-Lago] and the fact that they were classified and the fact that they were subpoenaed and never delivered.

My point is not to trash Judge Cannon’s integrity, intelligence, or fairness. She has already done so beyond my meager ability to add to the opprobrium already heaped upon her. Rather, the point is that Judge Cannon now understands she is universally regarded as the most incompetent, biased, and clueless federal district judge in the nation—and that is saying something!

          How Judge Cannon responds to that stomach-churning realization is what matters. Will Judge Cannon attempt to undo her grotesque error by revising her order? Will she reject efforts by Trump’s team to exploit the legal gruel disguised as analysis in her opinion? Or will she redouble her efforts to serve as Trump’s surrogate defense counsel from her position on the bench in the Southern District of Florida?

          The next few days will provide much more information about Judge Cannon’s intentions. I infer (read: speculate) that she is in legal waters way above her head and tried to kludge a remedy unsupported by the law. The result is a Frankenstein’s monster that will haunt her for the remainder of her career. Her decision is already being cited as “The Loose Cannon Rule,” under which criminal defendants can seek a stay of federal criminal proceedings whenever evidence is seized under a search warrant.

          The DOJ has many paths forward, most of which are legally complicated and equally unsatisfactory. But as Bill Barr also noted in his comments to Fox News, the decision is more like a “rain delay.” One of the most likely steps is for Merrick Garland to proceed with the special master process and appeal the order staying the investigation—which is a constitutional insult of the highest order.

          In her order, Judge Cannon has told the Article II branch of the government that it may not perform the duties granted to it by the Constitution. As Neal Katyal noted yesterday on MSNBC, none of his first-year law students at Georgetown would suggest such an outlandish and unsupported violation of separation of powers. Although the University of Michigan Law School is not the guarantor of the future performance of its graduates, the faculty at the U.Mich.Law should be revising their syllabi to add a few extra sessions on separation of powers—not to mention a deep dive into US v. Nixon. And judicial ethics. And legal research. And common sense.

          In the end, Judge Cannon’s decision is so bad it cannot stand. The DOJ will find a way to circumvent the worst parts of her ruling. Trump stole classified documents, concealed them, lied about it, and refused to return them after being served with a grand jury subpoena. He is in deep trouble. If past is prologue, Trump will make his predicament worse by uttering new lies and issuing new admissions.

37 thoughts on “A Horrendous Ruling …”

    • No, I don’t think she will. She owed a debt and she paid it … she likely wants to move on and wash her hands of it now, but this is likely to follow and haunt her for many years to come. I hope it leads to the demise of her judicial career.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Yes, she paid a debt, but other than the negative kickback she’s getting, I tend to think she still supports Trump and will do what’s necessary to help him out. These people are so like the ultra-religious in that they are totally brainwashed.

        Liked by 1 person

        • As long as there is even a remote possibility of him returning to power, his minions, sycophants and paid lackeys like Ms. Cannon will not dare to rule against him or speak against him for fear of possible future repercussions. Funny … the Republican Party claims to be the “party of law & order” and yet they have completely corrupted the judiciary from the lowest courts all the way to the highest court in the land. Law & order??? I think NOT!

          Liked by 1 person

  6. Pingback: A Horrendous Ruling … |jilldennison.com | Ramblings of an Occupy Liberal

  7. AND YET … yesterday I met ANOTHER DUFFUSS who insists that Trump will be reelected in 2024 & that Biden is a demented old fool “the worst president in my lifetime” & Pelosi & Schumer are leading this country to utter ruin & yadda yadda yadda … the same old shit. THIS … in so-called liberal NY.

    I’m telling ya, I meet more of these jerks than reasonable people of any political stripe. & it doesn’t seem to matter where I am, wither.

    Liked by 3 people

    • It’s almost like a disease that seems to be spreading across the nation. We have them here, my friends in San Francisco say they run into them sometimes, and even in the Pacific Northwest. I often wonder if they actually believe the rhetoric they spew, and if so, then there is seriously something wrong with their ability to think and reason! Sigh.

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Jill, a simple question for elected officials in my old party – the Republican Party. What will you have to defend tomorrow, next week, next month…next year? And, will it be from an old alleged crime or a new one. I have been asking this question of GOP officials for over four years now. There is always a new Trump alleged crime or some form of deceit.

    Accountability. Responsibility. Truth. These are words that are lacking these days to define the Republican party. Dems are not perfect, but they are at least talking and doing something about issues of import. Seeing Sarah Palin claim election fraud yesterday was as predictable as the nose on my face. I told my wife last week that she will claim fraud at some point.

    I also knew Trump would claim election fraud and contest the election two months before he did as he had hired 1,000 attorneys and defamed and tried to hobble the mail in process. Bernie Sanders told a late-night TV audience in October, 2020 with eerie accuracy what Trump would do the next month with the election.

    What I cannot figure out is why people buy his false bravado when he accepts accountability for nothing? I see a very shallow and weak-minded person who cannot admit he lost or made a mistake. What saddens me more are the sycophants who buy into and sell his bogus claims when they have to know better. Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Lindsey Graham, et al routinely shame themselves falling over to defend this untruthful bullying and seditious acting person.

    Any group that has to rely on groups like QAnon, Alex Jones and other opinion personalities to white wash what is happening or has happened deserves every bit of scrutiny it gets. And, what they should be doing is paying attention to those Republicans testifying under oath or taking risks to speak out against the lies and fraud committed by the former president. That is courage. Biden is not perfect and critics try to use his imperfections as “what-about” responses, but I have never seen anything like what we are seeing now with a party that conservative pundit Michael Gerson says is “in decay”

    We need a viable conservative party, but what we have now is not it. Accountability, responsibility, truth. They could start there.

    Keith

    Liked by 1 person

    • I would also ask them how they sleep at night, knowing that they were shattering their oath of office, putting their own interests ahead of the people who voted for them in good faith.

      Watching the GOP today is like watching a really bad soap opera on television. I cannot understand why so many seemingly educated men & women have sold their soul to Donald Trump. And I cannot understand how so many of the Republican voters … some 60+% … can still believe the lies.

      Like

  9. Only fooling themselves, they don’t even dignify their double-speak and biased rulings with even a veneer of The Possible. Speaking directly to the Mob which controls them, quivering and kneeling to their audience and with a painful hopefulness saying ‘ Is this OK folks??’

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Judge Cannon has ensured the name of the judiciary in general will stink for some while., all decisions will be questioned and some political bias sought. It’s to be hoped some valuable lessons will have been learned.

    Liked by 2 people

    • There was a reason Trump made special effort to appoint so many judges … he figured he’d be needing to call in some favours down the road. You’re right … it sullies the reputation of the judiciary, but then … look at the Supreme Court … it was already sullied.
      Cwtch

      Liked by 1 person

  11. Pingback: A Horrendous Ruling … | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News

  12. We seem to have a case of herd mentality here and the Bull is not just out of the fence but has the people trapped inside their house and cars. We now know the name of the lead cow in the herd and now know which one to rein in first! Get her back in the pen and there is a small chance some of the others will follow. Cows are not very smart, you know. Most of the herd know they are doing something wrong but it’s easier to follow the herd than to do the right thing.

    Just couldn’t resist the comparison, Jill! Cows are stupid and will take the path of least resistance even when they know they are doing something wrong. The time is here for us to stop being chicken and EAT MORE BEEF!!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  13. So many have thrown themselves on Trump’s sword for what? I am so disgusted. These formerly rational people can’t believe this horror he spews. Surely enough people will come to their senses and act to save our democracy.

    Liked by 3 people

    • Like you, I am thoroughly disgusted, and I don’t understand the allure at all! He isn’t well-spoken, isn’t well-educated, has no charisma … what’s the lure? I sometimes believe they really have been ingesting some substance that has clouded their vision. I hope you’re right, but … I wish I had more confidence.

      Liked by 2 people

      • I tend to think the “allure” is that he’s totally convinced his followers that he’s “rich and successful” and they want to be like him. I’m sure you recall this was one of the primary reasons many put forth when he was running … that he was a “successful businessman” and thus had the wherewithal to run America.

        Yeah, right.

        Liked by 1 person

        • Agreed. And I ask the same question now that I asked people to think about then: What sort of ‘successful businessman’ is involved in more than 5,000 lawsuits and files bankruptcy six times!!! People are blind as bats!

          Liked by 1 person

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