Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Trump's Going Out Of Business Fire Sale?

 



The finding by New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron -- that the Malignant Loser committed habitual bank and insurance fraud -- could end up doing the most real world damage to an ego built on grandiose, delusional visions of business success and acumen:

Donald Trump is no longer in business. 

Worse, the self-proclaimed multibillionaire may soon be personally bankrupt as a result, stripped of just about everything because for years he engaged in calculated bank fraud and insurance fraud by inflating the value of his properties, a judge ruled Tuesday.

His gaudy Trump Tower apartment, his golf courses, his Boeing 757 jet and even Mar-a-Lago could all be disposed of by a court-appointed monitor, leaving Trump with not much more than his pensions as a one term president and a television performer...

[Permit us a short burst of schadenfreude... Bwahahahahahaha... That felt good.]  

You may recall when the Malignant Loser was deposed for this case, he pleaded the Fifth Amendment against self- incrimination hundreds of times.  In civil cases, you're allowed to make an adverse inference from the witness's refusal to testify.

In his ruling, Justice Engoron said of the Malignant Loser's fraudulent property valuations, "That is a fantasy world, not the real world."  In our fantasy world, the Malignant Loser is using his pension checks to buy goods in a maximum security prison inmate commissary.

(Photo: Trump and his phallic symbol may soon be parted / Kena Betancur, Getty Images)


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Tweets / Xeets Of The Day

 

Fraudster Trump  --

 

 

 

 

Job creators and job destroyers --

 

 

Press is forgetting what it doesn't want to know --

 

 

 


 Spineless Squeaker McCarthy's distortion of reality --

 


"I can explain!" (satire) --

 


Alabama's gift to the U.S. Senate --

 


100 cabbages?!?!  That's why you can't spell Ciapunio without "p u" -- 


 

 

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Mid-Week Song

 

Jazz keyboardist and composer Jeff Lorber and his ensemble Fusion have a new album out -- the 30th since 1977 -- entitled "The Drop." Lorber is considered a pioneer in jazz fusion, melding jazz with other genres into a creative sound. Here's the title track from that album, released two days ago.

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QOTD -- You Accept What's Happening?




David Rothkopf has some thoughts about how the seven dwarfs on stage at tonight's Republican Presidential Debate should be questioned:

The man who is far and away the most likely candidate to represent the GOP in next year’s presidential elections has dropped all pretense of respecting American laws, values, principles, or democracy itself. He is asking to be made our Caesar. It’s not hyperbole. Accept what’s happening.

So the question before every American right now—and especially before the so-called leaders of the Republican Party—is: Do you support a president who threatens his critics with death? Do you support a president who seeks to silence freedom of speech in America? Isn’t it long past time to acknowledge the threat Donald Trump represents? To stop laughing it off or making excuses for it?

More importantly, real journalists would not only pose these questions, they would insist on real answers. They would follow up when the candidates attempted to deflect or dodge the questions. They would ask the debaters, “How many crimes does this man have to commit or threaten to commit for you to dare to criticize him?”

The questioners will be former Bush press secretary Dana Perino, imported hack Stuart Varney, and Colombian Ilia Calderon, the latter being the only one for which we would have just the slightest hope.

We won't be watching.


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Baseball Great Brooks Robinson Dies




Baseball Hall of Fame third baseman for the Baltimore Orioles Brooks Robinson died yesterday at the age of 86. He was a true legend not only in Baltimore but among baseball fans everywhere. His stats are still remarked upon among baseball fans, as Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post notes:

"Baltimoreans of a certain age can recite the numbers by heart: Robinson’s 23 seasons in an Orioles uniform, the 18 all-star appearances, the 16 Gold Gloves as arguably the greatest defensive third baseman in history. He was the most beloved figure of the most successful era in Orioles history: the 1966 to 1974 teams that went to four World Series, won two of them and made two other playoff appearances."

His passing would be notable if only for his brilliant playing and status in the Hall of Fame. But that would cheat him out of his full legacy:

"To have grown up in Baltimore in the last quarter of the 20th century was to have known a hundred Brookses. The scrappy kid on your Little League team who insisted on wearing No. 5. Your schoolyard buddy from three stoops down. The cut-up in your fifth-grade class: Brooks, Brooks, Brooks. Even now, though Cals eventually came to outnumber them on the playgrounds of Charm City, you still meet an occasional Brooks, and the name still brings a knowing smile.

'Around here, nobody’s named a candy bar after Brooks Robinson,' Baltimore-based sportswriter R. Gordon Beard said in 1977, referring to the confection named for New York Yankees slugger Reggie Jackson. Instead, he said, 'We name our children for him.'”

He was humble, friendly and a gentleman to all, including in the day when baseball was adjusting at times roughly to African American players entering the game. Houston Astros Manager Dusty Baker recalls Brooks' decency. From ESPN:

"I never heard anything negative about him, ever. And he was on a team that with the Orioles had a number of African American players. I think they had 10 or 12. They all loved him. That's saying a lot. Especially back in the day."

Rest in peace, "Mr. Oriole."

BONUS: Sports writer Tom Boswell on the kind of person Robinson was.

(photo: Rogers Photo Archive / Getty Images)

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Tuesday, September 26, 2023

BREAKING: Trump Found Liable For Fraud In New York



A judge in New York just ruled that the Malignant Loser was responsible for defrauding banks and insurance companies during his time as head of the Trump Organization. A civil suit was brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James alleging that Trump manipulated the values of his property in order to obtain favorable loan rates and insurance. From the Associated Press:

"Judge Arthur Engoron, ruling in a civil lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, found that the former president and his company deceived banks, insurers and others by massively overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing financing.

Engoron ordered that some of Trump’s business licenses be rescinded as punishment, making it difficult or impossible for them to do business in New York, and said he would continue to have an independent monitor oversee the Trump Organization’s operations.  [snip]

The decision, days before the start of a non-jury trial in James’ lawsuit, is the strongest repudiation yet of Trump’s carefully coiffed image as a wealthy and shrewd real estate mogul turned political powerhouse.

Beyond mere bragging about his riches, Trump, his company and key executives repeatedly lied about them on his annual financial statements, reaping rewards such as favorable loan terms and lower insurance costs, Engoron found.

Those tactics crossed a line and violated the law, the judge said, rejecting Trump’s contention that a disclaimer on the financial statements absolved him of any wrongdoing. [snip]

Manhattan prosecutors had looked into bringing criminal charges over the same conduct but declined to do so, leaving James to sue Trump and seek penalties that aim to disrupt his and his family’s ability to do business in the state.

Engoron’s ruling, in a phase of the case known as summary judgment, resolves the key claim in James’ lawsuit, but several others remain. He’ll decide on those claims and James’ request for $250 million in penalties at a trial starting Oct. 2. Trump’s lawyers have asked an appeals court for a temporary delay." (our emphasis)

Developing story, but a major blow to the life long con man and fraudster. Here's the ruling from Judge Engoron. A slam dunk for Attorney General James.

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Today's Cartoons

 

(click on images to enlarge)

(Jimmy Margulies, jimmymargulies.com)

(Mike Smith, Las Vegas Sun)

(Matt Davies, Newsday)

(Clay Jones, claytoonz.com)


(Michael L. Martin, @mmandmm1967)

(Matt Wuerker, Politico)

(DonkeyHotey, @DonkeyHotey)

(Chris Britt, Creators.com)

(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

(Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News)

(Jen Sorensen, gocomics.com)

(Paul Noth, @PaulNoth)


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QOTD -- Grifting Oligarch Party

 

USA Today's Rex Huppke summarizes the week ahead for the rotted out Christofascist Republican Party/ cult and its cult leader.  An excerpt:

...A bunch of GOP presidential candidates who have no shot at the nomination because they only timidly criticize Trump out of fear of alienating his supporters will babble onstage at a library named after one of the Republican Party’s most-revered figures, Reagan, a man who would undoubtedly loathe most of them and would be particularly disgusted by Trump himself.

While they’re doing that, Trump will lie to a select group of supportive auto workers who somehow see a rich lifetime con artist eyeball deep in legal trouble as a sensible choice for commander in chief.

The next day, Trump’s lackeys in Congress will embarrass themselves by spewing a vivid collection of conspiracy theories and innuendos that allege Biden is both a global criminal mastermind and a doddering old fool who should be hauled off to Guantanamo while we wait on evidence to prove whatever it is this collection of right-wing sycophants are alleging.

And then, almost certainly, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his out-of-control caucus will find a way to marry their dislike for governing with their inestimable skill at doing exactly the wrong thing and cause a wholly avoidable government shutdown...

All of the above should matter.  Whether it does or not as we move into 2024 will help determine whether our democracy survives a high tide of demagoguery and fascism.


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Tweets / Xeets Of The Day

 

Cassidy Hutchinson's warning and smoke gets in your eyes, clothes, etc. --

 

 


The Malignant Loser's cult welcomes his perverse criminality and wants more --



The broken media can't be counted on to protect democracy, part infinity -- 

 

 

 


Hunter Biden to disgraced MAGAt groper Rudy "Toot Toot" Giuliani: see you in court! --



Four days until a Government shutdown that the felonious Malignant Loser wants --

 


Christofascist Republicans afflicting the afflicted, comforting the comfortable -- 



Con man Rama-smarmy going full fascist bully with his threats. MAGAts will love it -- 



The "master strategist" reflects on Ukraine's strike on his navy -- 



Ed. note:  a quick advisory that the days of this Hackwhackers feature may be numbered, due to the ongoing genius of the Chief Twit:

Elon Musk said Monday he's moving to require all users to pay a monthly fee to use his social media site X, previously called Twitter.

No. Nope. Non. Nein. Nyet. 

 

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BREAKING: Second Racially Gerrymandered Alabama Map Rejected

 

Alabama's racist congressional district map redraw was so bad even the Republican Supreme Court couldn't stomach it:

The Supreme Court on Tuesday handed a defeat to Alabama Republicans for the second time in three months, rejecting their latest attempt to use a congressional map that includes only one majority-Black district.

The court in two related applications refused emergency requests from Republican state officials to block lower court rulings that invalidated the new map. Lower court proceedings to approve a new map are still ongoing.

The decision was in line with the Supreme Court ruling against the state in June that reaffirmed a key provision of the landmark Voting Rights Act. There were no noted dissenting votes and the court did not explain its reasoning.

The Supreme Court's earlier ruling forced the state back to the drawing board. But the new map — like the previous one — includes only one district where Black voters are likely to be able to elect a candidate of their choosing. Alabama has seven congressional districts, and 27% of the state's population is Black...

How many more times will the antebellum Alabama Republican White supremacists try to rob Black voters of a second representative in Congress from that state?  What's the definition of insanity again?


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Republican Values: Rep. Duncan's Been Fruitful With Not- Wife

 


 

Another "traditional family values" Christofascist Republican gets exposed as a hypocrite and fraud:

When Jeff Duncan left his "Faith and Freedom BBQ" at the end of August, after calling Melody Duncan his loving and supportive wife, he then went "directly to the home of his paramour."

Melody Duncan, wife of U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-SC 3rd District, filed for divorce Friday at the Laurens County Courthouse. In the filing, she accuses the 13-year conservative representative of having multiple extramarital affairs, and leaving their marital home to live with a woman he's having an ongoing sexual relationship with.

Duncan, who on his congressional webpage calls himself "a strong advocate for life and traditional family values," has been married to Melody since Dec. 3, 1988. The two have three adult children together.

Melody's complaint, filed at about noon Friday, names Liz Williams as his paramour.

"[Duncan] has admitted this adulterous relationship to many other people, including the parties' sons and members of his staff," the complaint said.

The complaint said the day after Duncan hosted the regional conservative fundraising "Faith and Freedom BBQ" on Aug. 28, he left to go to Williams' Washington, D.C.-area residence, where Melody "is informed and believes he continues to reside." According to the complaint, he may have had affairs with at least one other woman, and this is "widely known in political circles of South Carolina and Washington D.C."...

You can download a pdf of Melody Duncan's complaint at the link above.

So, from Bible- banging to mistress- banging.  Why, he's simply been being fruitful and multiplying, like the Bible says! As for the Ten Commandments, those are advisory only.

Not to worry, though. As long as Duncan continues to pledge allegiance to the MAGA cult leader, all will be forgiven and forgotten

(Photo:  Duncan promoting quack Covid cure invermectin in 2022 / CQRoll Call via Getty Images)


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Biden To Join UAW Picket Line Today In Michigan

 



A day before the Malignant Loser holds a rally at a non- union shop, President Biden will be joining a UAW picket line in Michigan.  The stakes and ramifications couldn't be more significant:

President Biden has announced that he will join striking United Auto Workers members on the picket line on Tuesday in Detroit. News of the move—which would be an unprecedented show of support for organized labor by a sitting president—came hours after UAW president Shawn Fain formally invited Biden, and days after Donald Trump announced he would be appearing in Michigan, not to walk the picket line but to evangelize to autoworkers about his own presidency.

Already, the political press was referring to Biden’s relationship to the strike as “historic” after the president called for “record contracts” for the UAW, pointing to the automakers’ record profits. And now Biden has gone a step further, becoming the first president in memory to commit to joining striking workers on the line. In a phone call, Nelson Lichtenstein, director of the Center for the Study of Work, Labor, and Democracy at the University of California, Santa Barbara, agreed that the move was “historic, certainly,” he said. “The old centrist Democratic thing would be to encourage both sides back to the negotiating table and come to an agreement quickly.”

The strike is a huge moment for organized labor in the United States, which is enjoying the greatest public support it’s seen in decades, but makes up a still-dwindling percentage of the labor force. It’s also a huge moment for the Democratic Party. Joe Biden, the self-proclaimed most pro-union president in history, heads to Michigan with a chance to atone for 30 years of intermittent policy sins by Democratic presidents against organized labor and the auto industry—not to mention the state of Michigan.  [snip]

Already, the UAW’s actions have succeeded in several ways. Ford has agreed to end tiers and add cost-of-living raises; major wage increases look like a certainty (GM and Stellantis are the holdouts). The victory of that new contract, when it’s finally signed, will be powerful proof of the value of paying union dues, and make it much, much more difficult for nonunion plants at Toyota and Tesla to repel unionization efforts to come. These represent huge victories for Biden’s vision of industrial policy, what we’re now being urged to call Bidenomics.

“The implications for the election are huge,” Lichtenstein told me. “Biden can say, ‘I backed the UAW, which won higher wages for working people in the industrial Midwest.’ ” There’s arguably no clearer way for Biden to prove that his Democratic Party is different, and ensure that he gets some credit, than showing up. Getting from D.C. (or Delaware) to Detroit is a short trip, but it shows just how far the Biden Democratic Party has come. [our emphasis]

As Biden has been known to say, it's a BFD, and showing up is half the battle.  With Ford looking like it's breaking ranks with the other manufacturers, the path to a comprehensive UAW victory may come sooner rather than later, and Biden's historic show of union support may well be seen as contributing to the ultimate settlement.  Win / win scenario for union workers and the President.

BONUS:  There he is --

(Photo:  Evan Vucci, AP)

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Monday, September 25, 2023

Ukraine: Russian Black Sea Fleet Commander Killed

 

As reports of progress in their counteroffensive come in, Ukraine says it successfully targeted a meeting of top officers of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, killing its commander and others:

Ukraine said Monday it had killed the commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in a missile strike on the naval headquarters in occupied Crimea.

It comes days after an attack that left the building smoldering, the latest salvo in a mounting effort to target the Kremlin’s naval forces and isolate the annexed peninsula.

Kyiv did not provide evidence for the claim, which NBC News has not verified, but if confirmed it would be one of the most high-profile losses of the war so far.

Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces said in a post on Telegram that “the commander” of the Black Sea Fleet was among 34 officers who died in the strike on the fleet’s headquarters in the Crimean city of Sevastopol on Friday.

The commander of the fleet is Viktor Sokolov, although the Ukrainian statement did not name him directly.  [snip]

“If true it would likely be the highest ranking naval officer killed in combat since WWII,” Admiral James Stavridis, former NATO supreme allied commander and current chief international security analyst for NBC News, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Here's the moment a British- made Storm Shadow missile hit the headquarters:

 

Also, the first of 31 M1 Abrams tanks (2 battalions worth) are arriving months early in Ukraine, adding to the sense that the tide will be turning in the critical months before winter sets in.

The House Republican Putin Caucus must be beside themselves.


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Tweets / Xeets Of The Day -- Media Fail Edition

 

To understand why this response, see following Tweets --

 

 

Kristen Welker pushes Republican MAGAt shutdown narrative:  It's Biden's fault! --


 

 

Media skewing Republican MAGAt, outlier poll edition --


 

 

Apropos of 👆--

 

 

 

 

 

No joke! (See also "Today's Tomorrow Cartoon," below) --

 

 

And now for a little song, a little dance ... yeah yeah yeah! --

 

 

 

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QOTD: The Greatest Foreseeable Disaster

 

From today's Washington Post op-ed page by conservative national security writer Max Boot, looking at the existential disaster a second Trump term would be:

"The prospect of another Trump term is the greatest foreseeable disaster that can befall the United States and the world. Trump is likely to be 10 times more dangerous this time around, because he won’t allow any adults in the White House to act as a check on his worst instincts — no more Jim Mattis as defense secretary, John F. Kelly as chief of staff or H.R. McMaster as national security adviser. In a second term, Trump is likely to only appoint advisers as unhinged as he is.

We can only speculate what this will mean, but the likelihood is that Trump will cut off aid to Ukraine, pull out of NATO, eviscerate the civil service and the military’s top ranks, and appoint an attorney general who will prosecute his enemies. For a start. He was eager to do all of those things in his first term but was dissuaded or blocked by the 'deep state.' He’s unlikely to allow that to happen again. He has become even more radical and more authoritarian since leaving office, and he now has much more experience in getting what he wants out of the government.

The consequences will be dire enough domestically, imperiling U.S. democracy, but they will be even worse internationally. Among other alarming consequences, a Trump presidency could allow Russian leader Vladimir Putin to defeat Ukraine and remake the 21st-century global order in favor of tyrants and aggressors."  (our emphasis)

Boot writes that the Biden - Harris ticket may be uninspiring, but is the only game in town if you want to defeat American fascism on the rise in the person of the Malignant Loser. It's too late for fantasy Dem tickets with Gov. Whitmer (MI) or Gov. Newsom (CA), with primaries only a few months away. President Biden will have to sell his good record on the economy and on defending freedom here and abroad to a distracted and restive public in the 13 months before the next Presidential election.

 

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