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TwiceHorn

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by TwiceHorn

  1. And Liberace nodded knowingly.
  2. i don't know what makes a successful coach. But I was rooting for Sark and knew better than most that his past didn't define his future.
  3. Yes Tucker, most philosophers, actual Christians, and intellectuals believe humans should follow their animal instincts to determine right and wrong. Also, animals, by and large, don't indulge in racism and misogyny.
  4. FURK. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/06/nyregion/trump-sentencing-delay-ruling.html
  5. Should be an interesting outcome. Jury verdicts are pretty often inviolable on appeal, but the evidence was pretty skimpy. And the judge had to make some evidentiary rulings based on some new "rape shield" type laws that he might not have gotten right. ETA: Don't be too surprised if it is reversed. But not because the Second Circuit is in Trump's pocket. There are some unusual aspects to the case.
  6. That's a valid point, but just one guy's views. They knew damn well it put a firewall between the office and the electorate, which is undemocratic, and they were ok with it. See Madison, again, in Federalist 10. Also see Federalist 68. Direct election of the President was never under meaningful consideration.
  7. Well, under the American/English view of mental incapacity, commonly known as the M'Naghten Rule from some hoary old English case, diminished capacity is only a defense to a crime if it is shown to have destroyed the defendant's ability to differentiate right from wrong. So, basically only the floridly schizophrenic or profoundly mentally disabled can defend that way. So, legally, the judge is correct and Hunter's addictions have no bearing on whether he did or did not evade taxes. Diminished capacity can come into play in sentencing, however. On the other hand, the government is probably entitled to show his spending patterns to show why he wasn't paying his taxes and that he was knowing or intentional about it. I really think we ought to develop some better jurisprudence on people with diminished capacity due to addiction and other disorders. It may well be that it should stay in the sentencing rather than the guilt phase. I suspect that Joe understands that Hunter needs to suffer the consequences of his actions. That's the only way he'll get or stay sober. I really rather doubt he'll be pardoned unless he receives a really draconian sentence. But he won't because white guy.
  8. Even worse. The mechanisms for challenging/subverting are built in and have historical precedent.
  9. Trying to challenge them? The Constitution has an amendment procedure embodied in Article V. It has been amended 27 times since 1789 and the first 10 were proposed within six months of ratification. Senate rules change all the fucking time. There's nothing sacrosanct about them. We didn't even have cloture until 128 years in, and they changed that again, about 50 years later. It's about time to change it again. None of this is in the least anti-democratic. It's part of the system. The Senate itself is purposely anti-democratic and so is the electoral college. In 1913 we made the Senate more democratic by subjecting senators to popular vote instead of appointment by the states. It's all in the game, yo. What isn't in the game is theocratic authoritarianism.
  10. Was hoping you'd say you copped a squat in the near vicinity or upper-deckered a toilet somewhere inside, but that would be unladylike.
  11. I don't mean ideologically. Set aside for a moment whether you want Trump to have any kind of immunity. You give him some, you give him a lot, but the notion that EVIDENCE of immune acts can't be used to prove, say motive or intent to commit non-immune crimes is astonishing. Without precedent in sovereign immunity law. And leads us to this: forcing the government to reveal all of its evidence pre-trial. Which sucks for the government, big time, but is also quite embarrassing for the defendant who has no opportunity at that point to vindicate him or herself. Dumb. Unnecessary. Unprecedented. Unworkable. Breuen is up there, though.
  12. This is gonna be fun. Because of the immunity ruling, there will have to be an evidentiary hearing where the government essentially brings forth all of its evidence, ahead of trial, so that it can be examined to see if it wanders into immunity territory. Trump is going to wind up hating the fuck out of that, as likely would any defendant. Roberts really fucked the dog on that one. Big. Time. Bro. Possibly objectively the worst SCOTUS decision aspect of my lifetime.
  13. Yeah it was the DMN, so you'd expect a level of conservatism, but by-and-large not this insane shit that Dreher himself calls Crunchy Con. I think I kind of like that, as a derogatory term.
  14. There's a good bit of informed speculation that Chen and Donovan are cooperating with the government and may themselves be subject to sealed indictment, although that's not a prerequisite to cooperation. Indicting companies is pretty meh.
  15. And one of the reasons they're going after Walz, not Harris, is that Walz is not yet part of the executive branch, so he might actually have to respond to subpoenas.
  16. God almighty. I suppose he was always fucking nuts, but he maintained something of a veneer of sanity while at the DMN.
  17. From what I understand, SUNY schools are pretty pretty good and maybe better than NYU and even Columbia these days. Also, it's Binghamton U these days.
  18. Not to mention, 20 months will jerk a square knot in most people's asses. Our sentencing is so draconian (before considering good time, parole, etc.), that our senses of what's right are way out of whack.
  19. Not to mention Melania and Barron mostly stayed in NYC while Trump was in office and very likely since.
  20. Well, sometimes he and Mack were sandbagging by holding back a freshman phenom RB, so that happened.
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