Time is on Our Side (Oh yes it is)

[H2O Man]

"Greg Jacob, Vice President Mike Pence’s counsel, recounted a White House meeting on Jan. 4, 2021, in which Eastman said told Trump that his plan to thwart the counting of the Electoral College violated federal statute. ......

"The panel also showed written evidence that Eastman knew he was pushing a fallacious argument. Rep. Pete Aguilar, the California Democrat who led the hearing Thursday, showed an earlier Eastman memo that recognized that the vice president didn’t have the unilateral authority to reject electors: “Nowhere does it suggest that the President of the Senate gets to make the determination on his own,” Eastman wrote.

"In another bombshell from the hearing, the committee showed a Jan. 11, 2021, email from Eastman requesting a pardon from Trump for his role in the attempts to stop the transfer of power to Biden.

“ 'I’ve decided that I should be on the pardon list, if that is still in the works,' Eastman wrote to Trump’s personal attorney and confidant Rudy Guiliani, according to an email obtained by the Jan. 6 committee. Aguilar said Eastman did not get one. Trump publicly announced 143 pardons on the last night of his presidency. Eastman was not among them."

-- https://time.com/6188491/john-eastman-jan-6-testimony-trump/


I want to say from the giddy-up that I am not a "fan" of either CNN or Maggie Haberman. But that does not mean that I think neither has any value. Let's look at one example from last night:

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2023/08/02/donald-trump-mood-indictment-2020-election-overturn-special-counsel-investigation-maggie-haberman-sot-src-vpx.cnn

"Rattled" is accurate. "Furious" also fits. We know that, true to his nature as a sociopath, the defendent always seeks to blame others. As a paranoid creature, he becomes increasingly suspicious when learning, for example, that all of the witnesses listed in yesterday's indictments are republicans associated with him. He views this as betrayal.

Next, consider that the defendnt's legal team had assured him for moths that Jack Smith's J6 investigation would result in something similar to the Mueller Report, but not criminal charges against him. Now they are telling him that his best bet is to present an Amendment 1 defense, and appeal his conviction to the US Supreme Court, if need be.

That does not sit well with the defendent at this time. For he is suspicious of the federal judges that he apppointed as they, too, have betrayed him on the election cases his team brought to court. This includes his distrust of the Supreme Court. Keep in mind that the defendent has a shallow grasp of the balance of power in the federal system, at best.

Jack Smith made clear that this is not about what the defendent said, it was about what he did to advance his lies in a criminal conspiracy. It is a stretch to claim he was going on the advice of a respected constitutional scholar when that very fellow told him the plan was not legal.

[H2O Man]

1. PS:

https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/mike-pence-talk-radio-225855

The above link exposes who Pence actually is, and it isn't the character he has been playing in recent years. Expect this side to begin to show through. I'm not suggesting he is other than a cowardly pup.

[erronis]

3. They invented the word "hypocrisy" for people like Pence.

It's also a good fit for most pseudo-religious types.

[H2O Man]

5. I am at times tempted

to make a post on how people's religions are actually based on the projection, as they understand it, of their perfected self. Otherwise, for example, there would not and could not be so many different christian denominations. When one examines Pene's belief system, it has nothing to do with the historic figure of a radical rabbi from 2,000 years ago, but is Mike Pence with universal power.

[erronis]

6. I'll look forward to any post from you, especially on the intertwining of politics and religion

and the evils that they engender. I only slightly know some religions (being an atheist), but I do know that those that have a credo to stay away from influencing government and forcing values on others - I know that those are most admirable.

[erronis]

2. Thanks for this very cogent wrap up, at least so far.

I agree that the major news outlets (NYT, CNN, WaPo - not including shit like fuxnews/etc.) have a lot of linkages to the powers that may cloud their objectivity. Still, there are some semi-precious gems when the cruft is sifted out.

Marcy Wheeler's blog is good at calling out some of the MSM failings. Still, most punditry is facts slathered with opinions, so it's always hard to distill.

[H2O Man]

4. It seems to me

that blogs and podcasts have become the major source of political information for the younger generations. Of course, these often include clips from the "mainstream" media. My adult children assure me that blogs and podcasts will be the number one influence on how the younger generation votes in 2024.

Marcy Wheeler is a treasure.

[malaise]

7. Correct

It is about what he did
Lock hi. Up!

[H2O Man]

10. Thanks!

I don't think a freedom of speech defense is pathetic. Yet I recognize it as the defendent's "best chance."

[pwb]

8. Trump always has to be the boss.

They all did exactly what he said to do every time. Trump did this IMO. +

[H2O Man]

11. Definitely.

You nailed it. The defendent's whole reputation is one of insisting on being boss. Even as president, he didn't really listen to the experts in the executive branch. He ran the operation to steal the election. There are others who are as guilty as sin, but the defendent was the top dog.

[mercuryblues]

9. The best part is

the way trump's reasoning works.

He likely didn't pardon Eastman because the coup failed and Eatman was a loser in his book. If he had pardoned Eastman, trump wouldn't be in a boiling pot of hot water, just a pot of hot water.

I have said this for a long time. When you get involved with trump, you end up either a witness or co-conspirator.

[H2O Man]

12. Right!

I think you are right about why the defendent did not pardon Eastman. That was the "loser's" punishment for his failure to deliver. We know from several sources that the defendent was handing out pardons left and right. Kelly Anne Conway wrote about the defendent offering her one, and her saying she would not need it. So refusing Eastman's asking for one is significant.

And just as you say, the defendent harmed not only Eastman by denying a request for a pardon, he damaged himsef. He has gotten away with that type of thing for a long, long time. But he hasn't been in a criminal trial before, much less at the Big Dance with Jack Smith and his team.

[mercuryblues]

13. I swear, if I was playing poker with Jack Smith

and had a Royal Flush, he'd give me that look, and I would fold.

[Sogo]

14. "Furious"

According to tenets of the ancient scripture, Bhagavad-Gita, anger = weakness.

[H2O Man]

15. Yep.

I also know, from boxing and from working in a mental health clinic, it is iften how some people do fear.