and now it really begins ...

[BrianTCB]

[drjohncarpenter]

Today, CURRENT president.















President Joseph R. Biden.

He does the job. He's a leader.

He represents EVERY American.

[drjohncarpenter]

Today, CURRENT president.



















God bless President Joseph R. Biden.


He represents ALL of us.

[drjohncarpenter]

The GOP is a party of zero empathy or decorum.

It's a shambles since Trump seized the spotlight, and does not represent the good people of this country anymore.

If it ever did.

Also, remember last October, when the 82 year-old husband of the Democratic speaker of the house was nearly bludgeoned to death in the middle of the night in his own home, in a hammer attack by a Trump MAGA supporter?

A MAGA maniac who actually planned to kidnap the speaker and possibly murder her, had she been home?

GOP members laughed, suggested as per right wing media that the break-in a homosexual affair gone wrong, tried to argue the attacker anything but a right-wing nutcase, and offered absolutely no sympathy or concern for a horrible situation. It was a miracle the victim survived.

That erased any remaining hope, no matter how microscopic, that the Republican Party could be redeemed.

[SteamrollerBlues]

This seems like the best thread to put this in, but I just have some thoughts that I feel like getting out in some form or fashion, and I figured here might be a good place.

I think what really irks/angers/depresses me the most about this modern political climate isn't a political thing at all. I think it's just the complete lack of human emotion and empathy, particularly generated from the people who identify with the ultra-religious right. I come from a real small town in Maine with a large, vocal, religious and conservative population. I know a lot of them personally. I've done CPR on a few of them. Pulled a few others out of car accidents. Put a few of their house fires out. Been to the benefit suppers for their families when they're in need. On the outside, they are surely fine and compassionate people. They go to church every Sunday, put their donation in the basket, and what have you. But I find it truly revolting the way I have seen and heard those same people act and speak when they talk about members of the LGBTQIA+ community. I have heard so much heartless venom directed towards a group of people that the ones denigrating them know nothing about, nor have they truly made any honest effort to do so. The people who claim they would do anything in the name of God for the greater good are the same ones I have seen threaten my one of my gay friend's lives in the name of God. What truly sane and decent person does that?

Are we not understanding what years of hateful propaganda brings? When I went to college, I chose to go to a community college, not only because I was more interested in a firefighting related-degree and a woodworking degree, but to truly meet a diverse range of people. I met so many people from so many different walks of life and for whatever reason we all ended up there in pursuit of mastering a trade to make a living. Many of them came from small town, poverty-line upbringings like mine. Many of them were gay, bisexual, or transgender. I spent many nights listening to their stories. I heard of the homophobic parents kicking their only child out of the house because of the "sin" of being gay. Being beat within inches of their lives by their peers when someone outed them. Being verbally harassed in public for not lining up with someone else's idea of a what a man or a woman is. I found that this hateful rhetoric isn't just confined to my small town. It's truly everywhere now, especially on Elon's "new and improved" Twitter, and a lot of other places on the internet. Please spare me.

Once you understand that life is basically a series of spectrums we all fall into, you also see that we all share masculine and feminine traits (sound like some guy in the '50s who wore makeup on stage when he shook his ass in pink suits? Good luck getting that show booked in Florida now, huh?) none of this gender war stuff truly matters. We are all just people. Why is it so hard for people to understand that above all us, ALL of us just want to feel accepted and liked? We all want to feel secure within ourselves. If we've been sold this idea of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, why are there so many laws being passed in this country banning gender-affirming care for trans youth and adults? I don't want to hear the whataboutism about doctors butchering kids, or teachers turning them intro trans. That is simply not happening. It is as simple as that. The process of getting surgery when transitioning is usually a years-long process that features a lot of thought and planning. People need to understand the true mental and social struggles that come with having this as part of your identity. Being outed or coming out can ruin a persons life. It takes guts to put yourself out there like that and risk all of the public scrutiny that comes with that. I've seen it on multiple occasions with my own eyes.

I want you to think about all of the times throughout your life you may have struggled with your own self-identities. The times you struggled to know yourself and find out who you are. I can think of, like, five times personally for me off the top of my head, and I'm sure I'm not alone. Now imagine on top of that you're a 16 year old boy whose parents just kicked them out of the house because they found out you have a boyfriend. Or a girl born Alexis but now you want to be referred to as a he named Alexander, but your peers continuously refuse to call you by the name you want. What is the problem with calling someone what they want to be called? Is it really that hard? Do you really think my real name is SteamrollerBlues? No, that was the name I chose when I signed up for this forum, and most of you refer to me as Steamroller! We have all agreed to call Hulk Hogan by his ring name until the end of time because that's what he chose! It is so easy to be kind and respectful. I understand not knowing, or understanding, but I don't understand how anyone can justify the hate towards any group of people, just for wanting to be who they perceive the best version of themselves to be. We don't get to choose much in life, my friends. We're all victims of circumstance, for better or worse. We should at least have the heart and decency to talk to people how they want to be talked to. Don't you want people to be nice to you, too?

If your kid happens to be gay, or bisexual, or transgender, and they work up the courage to share that information with you, I hope you give them the respect and care any human being deserves. The complete removal of human respect when their parents would dead-name them, refusing to use their kids preferred name and pronouns is one of the most heartbreaking things I regularly hear about from people I am in contact with. I know it can be hard and confusing and intimidating to be confronted with you don't know anything about. I promise you your kid would be just as confused and intimidated as you are. We are all just trying to be the best versions of ourselves. I think that if we are really interested in doing that, we will sit and we will listen and we will LEARN. A lot of this hateful speech is based in a very limited world view. I know we all want to see things in black and white, but there is far too much nuance in the world to do that. We have one planet and we have each other. I truly hope someday before I die I will see this country recognize that the only way out of this mess is empathy, and compassion, and love. And I know I talked bad about religion and church above, but I want to say shoutout to the churches and religious folk I do see participating in pride events and listening and learning and advocating. I know many LGBTQIA+ folks who are part of religious communities where they have been accepted, and I think that's fantastic. They are truly doing God's work.

To see so many candidates who identify as Conservatives spout disinformation and fearmonger and take advantage of a voter base that just wants their own biases reaffirmed is truly heartbreaking to me. I have a really hard time engaging in good faith with anybody who identifies with the DeSantis' and the Trump's and the MTG's and their ilk. I don't understand how anybody with a shred of decorum and humanity could find themselves voting for candidates who want to limit education and limit care and limit the freedoms ANYBODY deserves to have access to. I want you to think about this. You know what the first Nazi book burning was? The first clinic for Trans people opened in 1930. The Hirschfeld Clinic. They performed gender affirming care surgeries and was a space where people could feel comfortable being themselves. They built a medical library detailing the complexities of human sexuality and gender, and you know what the Nazis did? They burned it all. Years of research, and care, and compassion torched for no good reason. They executed half the people involved with the clinic. This is how it starts, everyone. They go after them first. "Where they burn books, in the end they will burn humans too". Do not get me wrong when I say this. There are Nazis making laws in this country right now. You know who they are. If you voted for them, you're one too. I truly can't see it any other way, and I'm sorry if that offends you, but if it does, I think that you might have a little bit more soul searching to do than I.

You can't legislate how somebody feels inside. You can't politicize a persons pursuit to make something out of themselves and find happiness in this place, man. I'm tired of seeing my friends and my family being called pedophiles or groomers just because they wear a shirt that says LOVE WINS with a rainbow on it, or because they're gay, or because they're transgender. As someone who identifies as a man who is pretty heterosexual, I'm very secure in my self image and what masculinity is to me. I paint my nails. I wear pink. I have a mustache. I like the smell of fresh cut Pine. It just doesn't matter, you know? We're all going to die someday. Why should we waste any of the time we have in a world where we know what we're dealing with being hateful and make each other miserable? Because whatever all of our hopes are, we don't know what's on that other side. I'd at least like to be able to confront that side knowing that I lived a life that was fulfilling and varied and most of all that people felt safe around me and I could be myself and that they could be themselves.

My DMs are always open as a safe space for anybody who might be struggling with their own identities and for those who have the courage and the curiosity to maybe learn more about LGBTQIA+ issues.

[latebloomer]

Steamroller, thanks for your compassion -- and courage. That was long overdue. Well done.

[drjohncarpenter]

Getting closer.





















No one is above the law.

Especially traitors.

[drjohncarpenter]

Oh, he lied.











It's an important job.

Cannot have corrupt liars like this guy in the Oval Office ever again.

[drjohncarpenter]

Today, CURRENT and EX presidents.











God bless the memory of all those brave young men on this day.

And the presidents who remember them.

'

[drjohncarpenter]

Seventeen years old.











This is why democracy is so precious.

[drjohncarpenter]

Getting ever closer.











". . . led in part by Jay Bratt, DOJ’s counterintel chief handling Espionage Act issues"

Hold on tight, America . . .

[BrianTCB]

Haaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaa. Having fun, Trumpers?

Donald Trump indicted in Jack Smith’s classified docs probe

https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/trump-indicted-classified-documents-jack-smith-rcna87681

Donald Trump has been indicted in special counsel Jack Smith's classified documents probe — marking the first federal charges ever against a U.S. president, sitting or former — and he says he has been summoned to appear in Miami federal court Tuesday.

NBC News has confirmed the indictment, which was first reported by the former president himself on his social media. This is now Trump’s second pending indictment but possibly not his last, as the special counsel is also investigating Jan. 6 in addition to the classified documents, and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is investigating possible election interference in Georgia as well. Trump already was indicted in New York state in his hush money case, which is set for trial in March.

NBC News reported that the new federal indictment contains seven counts. It’s unclear what the specific charges are at the moment, but it has seemed that Smith’s team investigated a mix of offenses related to mishandling government documents and obstruction of justice, as the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination apparently attempted to fend off officials from retrieving government documents that he kept at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago.

The latest indictment, while jarring as it comes against a former president and current candidate, has been expected, given a flurry of activity in a Florida grand jury this week. Trump was recently informed that he was a target of the investigation, and his attorneys met with prosecutors earlier this week in an apparent attempt to stave off indictment.

[NumberEight]

And now it really begins.

[drjohncarpenter]

And now it REALLY begins . . .



















No one is above the law.

A historic day in America.

Where are the Trump-supporting forum extremists now?

[drjohncarpenter]

Reaction to today's indictment of ex-president.

























This is the second indictment of the ex-president.

It's a safe bet there are more to come.

No one is above the law.

[rickeap]

He will play the victim, claim it's rigged - just like the election, that they hate Trump, that his supporters should donate to the poor, struggling so-called billionaire, that it's biased, that...
Reality is that he has skirted around the law all his life and it's all catching up on him now.
Maybe it's time for the cult to stop defending this sad excuse for a human.

[drjohncarpenter]

More reaction on ex-president's latest indictment.













Meanwhile . . .









Truth matters. Justice matters.

No one is above the law.

[drjohncarpenter]

Trump Federal Indictment Unsealed By Court.



The 49-page document is here:
https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000188-a12f-db74-ab98-b3ff4de50000



Special Counsel Jack Smith Delivers Statement on Indictment of President Trump
LIVE at 1:00 PM PT Today:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?528657-1/special-counsel-jack-smith-delivers-statement-indictment-president-trump



No one is above the law.

Especially traitors.

[drjohncarpenter]

Unsealed indictment reaction.















Meanwhile, flashback to nearly 7 years ago . . .







Another promise never kept by this corrupt, venal con man.

But he was right about one thing . . . no one is above the law.

[drjohncarpenter]

Reading through the unsealed indictment.



49-page Indictment of Trump and Nauta:
https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000188-a12f-db74-ab98-b3ff4de50000





























It's worse than imagined, and a sad day in history, really.

His actions and words are damning, the case appears to be very, very strong.

And more indictments from the other investigations are no doubt forthcoming.


As I've said, again and again . . .

Hold on tight, America. Justice is a-comin'.





'

[drjohncarpenter]

Special Counsel press conference.







Complete statement from Special Counsel Jack Smith on Trump Indictment





Thank you Jack Smith, and your team.

Nothing more needs to be said.

[latebloomer]

The indictment is the most chilling, appalling thing I've ever read. Whether Trump meant to keep those documents as ego-inflating trophies or intended to trade them for cash from the highest bidder, his utter disregard for the security of that information itself and of the various nations to which it referred is mind-boggling.

Nauta is a disgrace to the Navy and and every living past and present faithful member. If retired, he should be court-martialed and stripped of all benefits and entitlements and given a dishonorable discharge.

While I am thrilled to know Trump will be called to account, it is sickening to read about talking heads and their fellow Republicans who are outraged, making threats of various kinds of violence, spewing baseless whataboutism, and blathering about the 'weaponization of government. As low as his various sycophants and supporters have behaved in the past, today's performances are beyond the pale.

The "Ma'am" referred to in the indictment seems to me likely to be Melania Trump, because of the phrasing of her comment: She still cannot speak English properly and, as usual, like Trump himself, cannot think beyond her own interests.

I find it impossible to believe that only Trump and Nauta knew about those boxes and the more than 300 classified documents he had in his possession.

Why hasn't Bedminster been searched to try to locate the missing documents and get them back under proper safeguard?

Duty is a word no longer much used, and seldom understood when it is used. I grew up an Army brat, daughter of an NCO who served 22 years with an impeccable service record. I married a Navy NCO who also served 22 years and had an equally impeccable service record. Both men held -- and needed and used -- top-level security clearances. I served for nine years and was required to hold a Secret clearance, although I never needed to use it (thank heaven!). I knew what classified information was and why it is both carefully guarded and very dangerous to know or handle: Because it makes everyone who touches it a potential target of our country's enemies. I asked my Dad, when he taught me about classified information, when I was about ten years old, what he would do if someone held Mother, my brother, or me to try to coerce him to reveal something he knew. He said, "I love you all, and I think you know that. But my duty to the country is greater, because it covers everyone, everybody else's wives and children, too, and their safety. I would have to choose the country. I hope you understand why." I did, and still do: His duty was to the greater importance of the safety of the entire nation and of everyone in it, not just his own family. He was one of the "losers" Trump so disdains and derides. He died in 1970; my husband in December, 2022. I am deeply grateful that neither of them is alive to see this day.

[latebloomer]

Reactions to charges against Donald Trump in classified documents case
Reuters.com
June 9, 20239:27 PM EDT

June 9 (Reuters) - Court documents made public on Friday detailed 37 criminal counts against former U.S. President Donald Trump, including charges of unauthorized retention of classified documents and conspiracy to obstruct justice after he left the White House in 2021.

Following are some reactions to the news:

* Jack Smith, special counsel in the case:

"Our laws that protect national defense information are critical to the safety and security of the United States and must be enforced. Violation of those laws put our country at risk."

*Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as reported by Fox News on Twitter:

The charges are "going to disrupt this nation because it goes to the core of equal justice for all, which is not being seen today. And we're not going to stand for it,”

*President Joe Biden

Asked if he had spoken to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland soon after the indictment against Trump was unsealed, Biden said: "I have not spoken to him at all and I’m not going to."

*Ron DeSantis, Florida governor and Republican presidential hopeful

"I think there needs to be one standard of justice in this country," DeSantis said in remarks on Friday night, not mentioning Trump by name.

"Hillary had the emails," DeSantis said. "Is there a different standard for a Democrat secretary of state versus a former Republican president?"

*Chris Christie, former New Jersey governor and Republican presidential hopeful

"The facts that are laid out here are damning in terms of Donald Trump's conduct, and that's what I think we as a party should be looking at. Do we really believe that someone who engaged in this type of conduct is going to be the best person to put up against Joe Biden?"

*Sarah Matthews, former White House deputy press secretary under Trump

"All the 2024 GOP candidates and Republicans who rushed to defend Trump before the indictment was unsealed seem to have a lot of egg on their faces now. This indictment is highly detailed and troubling."

*Daniel Richman, a professor at Columbia Law School and former federal prosecutor

"The indictment stitched together considerable evidence of conscious and sustained wrongdoing and utter contempt for normal government processes. ... Critical details are the references to top secret materials and the litany of Trump comments about classification regimes — the need for others to respect them but willful disregard of them on his own part."

*Senator John Barrasso, chairman of the Senate Republican Conference

“This indictment certainly looks like an unequal application of justice. ... Large amounts of classified materials were found in President Biden’s garage in Delaware. No indictment. Hillary Clinton had a computer server in her house with classified documents. No indictment. ... You can’t help but ask why this is happening. It feels political, and it’s rotten.”

*Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow

"He stored highly classified documents in his bathroom!? Talk about a sh*tshow."

*Georgetown University law professor Todd Huntley

"Between surveillance video footage, text messages and this audio recording, they have very strong evidence of the willful and intentional retention of those documents."

*Republican U.S. Representative Andy Briggs

"We have now reached a war phase. Eye for an eye."

*Matt Bennett, co-founder of center-left think tank Third Way

"It’s impossible to bet against Trump’s staying power with the Republican base. ... If I had to bet, I’d pick Trump to win the nomination. But this conduct charged in this indictment is even worse than we expected – that might break through."

*Former Republican Representative Denver Riggleman

"For someone who has taken a oath to this country as an enlisted troop, commissioned intel officer and Congressman — and held the highest clearance levels — reading the Trump indictment is akin to setting my American soul on fire. Any elected official who defends Trump is unserious and worthy of contempt."

Compiled by Reuters; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Leslie Adler
[According to Wikipedia, Reuters is headquartered in London, receives some UK government funding, is owned by Thompson Corporation of Canada.]

[drjohncarpenter]

Today, indicted EX president.











The GOP is a shambles. A party that may never recover. All self-inflicted.

[latebloomer]

This is what I call who-what-when-where-why journalism. American news media, take note.

Trump risked national secrets, prosecutors allege in indictment
Sarah N. LynchJune 10, 20238:59 AM UTCUpdated ago

WASHINGTON, June 9 (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors unsealed a 37-count indictment against Donald Trump on Friday, accusing the former president of risking some of the country's most sensitive security secrets after leaving the White House in 2021.

Trump mishandled classified documents that included information about the secretive U.S. nuclear program and potential domestic vulnerabilities in the event of an attack, the federal indictment said.

Trump also discussed with his lawyers the possibility of lying to government officials seeking to recover the documents; stored some documents in boxes around a toilet, and moved others around his Mar-a-Lago resort home in Florida to prevent them from being found, the charges said.

"Wouldn't it be better if we just told them we don't have anything here?" Trump said to one of his attorneys, according to the 49-page indictment.

Unauthorized disclosure of classified documents posed a risk to U.S. national security, foreign relations, and intelligence gathering, prosecutors said.

The Justice Department made the criminal charges public on a tumultuous day in which two of Trump's lawyers, John Rowley and Jim Trusty, quit the case for reasons that were not immediately clear. A former aide, Walt Nauta, faces charges of being Trump's co-conspirator.

Trump is due to make a first appearance in the case in a Miami court on Tuesday, a day before his 77th birthday.

Since Trump would serve any sentences concurrently if convicted, the maximum prison time he would face is 20 years for obstruction of justice, a charge carrying the highest penalty.

"Our laws that protect national defense information are critical to the safety and security of the United States, and they must be enforced," U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the prosecution, said at a press conference.

"We have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everybody," Smith said in his first public appearance since Attorney General Merrick Garland assigned him to the investigation last year.

Smith said he would seek a speedy jury trial in Florida.

Trump has proclaimed his innocence. After the charges were unsealed, he attacked Smith on social media.

"He is a Trump Hater - a deranged 'psycho' that shouldn't be involved in any case having to do with 'Justice,'" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

The indictment of a former U.S. president on federal charges is unprecedented in American history and emerges at a time when Trump is the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination next year.

Trump's legal woes have yet to dent his popularity with Republican voters, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling.

But the charges laid out against him on Friday could give his Republican rivals in the presidential race ammunition to attack his national-security credentials. So far, they have largely sided with him.

"It’s impossible to bet against Trump’s staying power with the Republican base," said Matt Bennett of the center-left think tank Third Way. "But this conduct charged in this indictment is even worse than we expected - that might break through."

Trump and his allies have portrayed the case as political retaliation by Democratic President Joe Biden, but Biden has kept his distance.

Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump attends a campaign event in Manchester, New Hampshire, U.S., April 27, 2023. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
The White House said Biden had no advance knowledge of the indictment, and he later declined to comment when reporters asked about it.

BOXES IN THE BALLROOM, BOXES IN THE BATHROOM

Trump kept the documents at Mar-a-Lago and his golf club in New Jersey. Mar-a-Lago hosted tens of thousands of guests at more than 150 events during the time they were there, the indictment alleges, and it includes photos of Trump’s boxes on a ballroom stage, in a club bathroom and in a storage room, where some lay on the floor.

The classified materials came from seven federal intelligence agencies, including the Pentagon, the CIA, the National Security Agency and the Department of Energy, the indictment said. One document concerned a foreign country's support of terrorism against U.S. interests.

Prosecutors said Trump showed someone a Defense Department document described as a "plan of attack" against another country.

The indictment also alleges Trump conspired with Nauta to keep classified documents Trump had taken from the White House and hide them from a federal grand jury. Nauta, who worked for Trump at the White House and at Mar-a-Lago, faces six counts in the case.

Nauta falsely told the FBI he did not know how some of the documents ended up in Trump's suite at Mar-a-Lago, when in fact he had been involved in moving them there from a storage room, according to the indictment.

An attorney for Nauta declined to comment.

Investigators seized roughly 13,000 documents at Mar-a-Lago nearly a year ago. One hundred were marked as classified, even though one of Trump's lawyers had previously said all records with classified markings had been returned to the government.

Trump has previously said he declassified those documents while president, but the indictment alleges he had acknowledged that he lost that power when he left office.

TRUMP APPOINTEE AS JUDGE

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has been initially assigned to oversee the case, a source who was briefed on the matter said on Friday. She could preside over the trial as well, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Cannon, appointed by Trump in 2019, made headlines last year when she decided in favor of the former U.S. president at a pivotal stage of the case and was later reversed on appeal.

It is the second criminal case for Trump, who is due to go on trial in New York next March in a state case stemming from a hush-money payment to a porn star.

If he wins the presidency again, Trump could potentially try to pardon himself, a legal move that would be controversial and unprecedented.

He would not, however, have any power to derail the state case against him.

The case does not prevent Trump from campaigning or taking office if he were to win the November 2024 presidential election. Legal experts say there would be no basis to block his swearing-in even if he were convicted and sent to prison.

Special Counsel Smith is leading a second criminal probe into efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn his 2020 election loss to Biden, a Democrat.

Trump faces a separate criminal probe in Georgia related to efforts to overturn his loss to Biden in that state.

Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Jonathan Stempel; Additional reporting by Jack Queen, Jacqueline Thomsen, Karen Freifeld, Nathan Layne, Heather Timmons and Nandita Bose; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Howard Goller