Tag Archives: Sidney Powell

Let There Be Consequences

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, education, Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary

Y’know … some mornings I wake up and wonder what alternative world I have stumbled into.  Nothing is as it once seemed, norms that I’ve known for some 7 decades have been shattered, replaced by utter stupidity and conspiracy theories, and I am not sure how to cope with this not-so-brave new world.  It’s tempting to simply stay in bed surrounded by books, disconnect from the rest of the world, and never come out of my cocoon.  In the past, I have mocked people for doing just that, but now … I understand.  When it seems we have absolutely zero control over what is happening in the world, when the minority are paving the way to chaos while the majority sit quietly on the sidelines wringing their hands, I wonder just how much longer this nation can survive.

I did manage to find one sign that there is still a bit of sanity left in this country …

Remember in the days and weeks immediately following last year’s election when the former guy refused to acknowledge that he could possibly have lost?  He had countless lawyers filing frivolous lawsuits attempting to get courts to overturn the election results without so much as a single shred of evidence that the results, by which President Biden won by more than 7 million votes, were anything but legitimate.  The court cases dragged on, costing more and more money, each one thrown out for lack of credible evidence.

I wondered at the time why any self-respecting attorney who had worked hard to get to this point in his/her career would associate with the likes of the former guy, a known con artist and liar.  I think the key word there is ‘self-respecting’ … the attorneys who filed these cases were not serious about their career in law, but rather wanted to make a name for themselves, sought to trail in the spotlight that seemed to be constantly on the former guy.  Fame & fortune?

And now, those same attorneys who will never again be trusted by honest people are being sent back to school!  Yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Linda Parker imposed sanctions on Sidney Powell, Lin Wood and seven other pro-Trump lawyers in a strongly worded denouncement of what the court called a frivolous election fraud lawsuit, saying they “filed this lawsuit in bad faith and for improper purpose.” That’s an understatement if ever I’ve heard one, but okay.

As part of the sanctions, the attorneys must take legal education classes and also reimburse attorneys’ fees that the city of Detroit and Michigan state officials paid in seeking the sanctions.  I hope the next step is disbarment, but I’m not holding my breath on that one.  This ruling was over one case in Michigan … dozens of frivolous suits were filed late last year … if every single one comes before a conscionable judge and more sanctions are heaped on, then perhaps we can rid the public of yet another clump of human trash.

I Tried To Be Nice … It’s Hard!!!

Posted on by under Election 2020, Free Press Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

Let me start by saying that today is National Say Something Nice Day.  I may struggle with this one … let me try, though … … … … … …  🤷

Well, okay, that one didn’t work out so well, did it?  Perhaps I’ll try again later, but for now I’ll stand by that old adage “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything.”  Have a nice day!

Oh wait … that qualifies as saying something nice, doesn’t it?  I mean, it even has the word ‘nice’ in it!  So now, I’ve fulfilled my obligation to say something nice and I can carry on with my normal grumbling and grousing!

In case you hadn’t heard, QAnon, the conspiracy theory group, held a ‘conference’ in Dallas, Texas, over the weekend.  QAnon must surely require that its members have an IQ under 50 in order to join, for there was, from what I’ve read, not a single bit of intelligence uttered at any point.  Reporters were largely banned from the event.  For starters, there was the infamous Sidney Powell, the attorney who filed multiple phony lawsuits on behalf of the former guy attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election that President Biden won by over 7 million votes.  Ms. Powell lost every single one of those cases.

At the QAnon conference, wearing a leather biker vest covered in Trump stickers, she spouted more nonsense, saying of the former guy …

“He can simply be reinstated. A new inauguration date is set, and Biden is told to move out of the White House, and President Trump should be moved back in. I’m sure there’s not going to be credit for time lost, unfortunately, because the Constitution itself sets the date for inauguration, but he should definitely get the remainder of his term and make the best of it.”

She’s a lawyer???  She must surely have gotten her JD out of a box of Cracker Jacks, for any sane person who ever took a course in Constitutional Law knows that what she said is pure bullshit.  But she received lots of applause and cheering for her words … there were a whole lot of fools in Dallas this weekend!

And then there was there was Louis Gohmert, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas … a man who should be held to a higher standard than to attend a meeting of a bunch of fringe lunatics!  Gohmert spent his time on stage denigrating House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and claiming that the attack on Congress on January 6th was really no big deal, that no investigation is necessary, and that it wasn’t just right-wing extremists, but also the left – a theory that has been disproven multiple times.

Gohmert also suggested that the insurrection shouldn’t be a serious concern because the United States has weathered worse, including foreign attacks.

“Some of us think Pearl Harbor was the worst attack on democracy, some of us think 9/11 was the worst attack. Some of us think that those things were worse attacks on democracy.”

Pearl Harbour and 9/11 certainly took more lives than January 6th, however … they were not attacks from within, not attacks attempting to overthrow our government.  Gohmert has once again shown that he is not fit to be a member of Congress, perhaps not even fit to walk among us!

But perhaps the must heinous, most inhumane comments came from none other than Michael Flynn, the former National Security advisor who lasted only 22 days in the position before being forced to resign as a result of lying about his role in helping Russia interfere in our 2016 election.  Flynn is a former Lieutenant General in the U.S. Army and former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency … not someone you would expect to encourage a military coup, but that is precisely what he did at the QAnon conference last weekend.

During the Q&A session, Flynn was asked this question by a low-IQ attendee …

“I want to know why what happened in Myanmar can’t happen here?”

To which the traitorous Flynn replied …

“No reason. I mean, it should happen here.”

Michael Flynn would be in prison today if he had not been pardoned by the former guy.  Instead, he is spouting dangerous rhetoric to a group of people who are too stupid to have a clue what is happening in Myanmar.  Despite his response being recorded on video, Flynn later tried to weasel out and say it wasn’t what he said … or what he meant … or who knows what the man meant.

And lastly, what would a QAnon conference be without the deplorable Roger Stone?  Although I don’t think Roger showed up in person, his ‘social media advisor’, Jason Sullivan, made quite a stir.  Referring to Hillary Clinton as that “god-awful woman,” Sullivan then made a noose gesture around his neck, which was greeted with wild applause by the audience.

The real danger in all this lunacy is that there are a large number of people who actually believe the conspiracy theories.  A recent poll shows that 15% to 20% of Americans believe in tenets central to the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory movement — a minority, but not an insignificant number.  Fifteen percent of all Americans and 23% of Republicans said they agree that “the government, media, and financial worlds in the U.S. are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex trafficking operation.”  As we saw on January 6th, these people are willing to act on their beliefs, to attempt to overthrow the government, to burn the Constitution, and fools like Sidney Powell, Mike Flynn and others are encouraging them, are pouring fuel on the fires of hatred.