good morning.
I was reading Luke 1 this morning (as would be expected). Luke is an interesting book in that it relates what other people told him.
Luke, as most of you know, spent a couple of years in Jerusalem while Paul was in prison. He likely heard the story from the women several times. And he gives a different view of the story.
“Trump pardons 26, including Paul Manafort, Roger Stone and Charles Kushner”
“President Trump continued his pre-Christmas forgiveness blitz on Wednesday, pardoning his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, his longtime associate Roger Stone, and Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Both Manafort, 71, and Stone, 68 — whose sentence Trump had already commuted in July — were convicted as a result of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Trump has now pardoned four people convicted in special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe including former national security adviser Michael Flynn and 2016 campaign aide George Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.
Manafort, a longtime Republican aide and lobbyist, had been sentenced to seven years in prison for tax fraud and other crimes relating to his work in Ukraine. The White House said that Manafort’s convictions were “premised on the Russian collusion hoax.”
He was released from prison in May because of coronavirus concerns and was under home confinement. He thanked the outgoing president in a tweet, writing that “words cannot fully convey how grateful we are” and praising his administration.
Stone was convicted in November 2019 of lying to lawmakers also investigating Russian election interference and was spared a three year and four month prison stint when Trump commuted his sentence a day before he was due to begin serving time.
“Due to prosecutorial misconduct by Special Counsel Mueller’s team, Mr. Stone was treated very unfairly,” the White House said in a statement.”
Remove the foreign aid that has nothing to do with Covid and give it to Americans. Cut out the trough feeding pigs at the Kennedy Center too.
But the R’s seem intent on snatching defeat from the jaws of victory yet again.
They. Are. Useless.
This is why they shouldn’t be able to omnibus these bills. Foreign aid and the other funding has nothing to do with Covid relief. But then they’d have to get to work on 2 things and can’t use the other as a bargaining chip. This should be stand alone bills.
“GOP blocks House Democrats’ attempt to pass $2,000 stimulus checks”
“House Republicans on Thursday blocked a Democratic attempt to pass $2,000 direct payments to Americans, as the fate of the massive coronavirus relief package passed by Congress earlier in the week hangs in the balance.”
“The Democrats moved to increase the size of the checks after President Donald Trump threatened to oppose the $2 trillion pandemic aid and federal funding bill because it included only $600 in direct payments rather than $2,000.
Congress passed the proposal Monday after Trump took no role in weeks of talks. The plan included $900 billion in coronavirus relief.
Trying to cap the plan’s cost, most of Trump’s Republican Party sought $600 in direct payments rather than the $1,200 passed in the CARES Act in March. In criticizing the year-end legislation, Trump also pointed to foreign aid spending — which Washington includes in funding bills every year.
The House tried to pass the $2,000 payments during a pro forma session on Christmas Eve day, a brief meeting of the chamber where typically only a few members attend. Democrats aimed to approve the measure by unanimous consent, which means any one lawmaker can block it.
Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., offered the proposal from the House floor, but was blocked because the measure was not approved by House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
Subsequently, Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., attempted to get lawmakers to reconsider aspects of the spending bill related to foreign aid. That move was blocked by Democrats.”
Pardons before you leave office always annoy your opponents, however, this years pardons are a bit much.
Trump pardoned people who lied for him in the Mueller investigations. In other words, they lied for the president and now they are pardoned. It sets a precedent — if you cover for the president you can wait for a pardon. I remember the horror which Conservatives greeted Clinton’s last pardon list — this is quite similar if not worse.
He also pardoned four mercenaries who killed children in Iraq. Blackwater contractors ie mercenaries shot up a car. The car was close enough to the mercenaries that they should have seen the children inside; after all one bullet blew a child’s head apart. Its understandable to pardon soldiers who may have made a mistake while in the country’s service but these were soldiers of fortune wantonly killing children.
The Democrats called the Republicans on Trump. The bill was separate from the original Covid bil and was a simple 2000$ per person. The Republicans could have passed it and still withheld the foreign aid.
The foreign aid and other monetary matters stuffed into the Covid was the end of the year spending that is normally passed at the end of the year, The Democrats following Trump’s (and Sanders/AOC) lead did the right thing and separated monetary relief from the bill. Wittmans’ move to discuss the foreign aid in the bill was an attempt to save face. The bill still contains alot of unnecessary pork the Republicans want to keep in — specifically spending in their district.
Dominion executives, fresh from getting Newsmax and Fox to walk back their claims, are now poised to sue the Trump campaign team. They’ve already offered up Powell to DVS and I wonder who else will be thrown under the bus to save the main players on the Trump team. There’s no way they want to defend anything they said in court.
5) The veto override votes will be a test for some GOPers. Some say they support the defense bill, but will stand by the President and vote to sustain the veto
“The Metro Nashville Police Department says authorities believe an explosion that rocked the downtown area early on Christmas Day was a deliberate act. Police spokesman Don Aaron said about three hours after the explosion shook the area that investigators believe it was “an intentional act.” Police earlier said they believe a vehicle was involved in the explosion.
News reports say emergency crews have responded to an explosion in downtown Nashville. Black smoke and flames were seen billowing from the area.
Buildings shook in the immediate area and beyond after a loud boom was heard early Christmas morning. Police and fire crews were on the scene.”
Wandering Views 
good morning.
I was reading Luke 1 this morning (as would be expected). Luke is an interesting book in that it relates what other people told him.
Luke, as most of you know, spent a couple of years in Jerusalem while Paul was in prison. He likely heard the story from the women several times. And he gives a different view of the story.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Good.
https://nypost.com/2020/12/23/trump-pardons-paul-manafort-roger-stone-and-charles-kushner/
“Trump pardons 26, including Paul Manafort, Roger Stone and Charles Kushner”
“President Trump continued his pre-Christmas forgiveness blitz on Wednesday, pardoning his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, his longtime associate Roger Stone, and Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Both Manafort, 71, and Stone, 68 — whose sentence Trump had already commuted in July — were convicted as a result of investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Trump has now pardoned four people convicted in special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe including former national security adviser Michael Flynn and 2016 campaign aide George Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.
Manafort, a longtime Republican aide and lobbyist, had been sentenced to seven years in prison for tax fraud and other crimes relating to his work in Ukraine. The White House said that Manafort’s convictions were “premised on the Russian collusion hoax.”
He was released from prison in May because of coronavirus concerns and was under home confinement. He thanked the outgoing president in a tweet, writing that “words cannot fully convey how grateful we are” and praising his administration.
Stone was convicted in November 2019 of lying to lawmakers also investigating Russian election interference and was spared a three year and four month prison stint when Trump commuted his sentence a day before he was due to begin serving time.
“Due to prosecutorial misconduct by Special Counsel Mueller’s team, Mr. Stone was treated very unfairly,” the White House said in a statement.”
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Of course they did.
Remove the foreign aid that has nothing to do with Covid and give it to Americans. Cut out the trough feeding pigs at the Kennedy Center too.
But the R’s seem intent on snatching defeat from the jaws of victory yet again.
They. Are. Useless.
This is why they shouldn’t be able to omnibus these bills. Foreign aid and the other funding has nothing to do with Covid relief. But then they’d have to get to work on 2 things and can’t use the other as a bargaining chip. This should be stand alone bills.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/24/house-votes-on-2000-stimulus-checks-after-trump-supports-them.html
“GOP blocks House Democrats’ attempt to pass $2,000 stimulus checks”
“House Republicans on Thursday blocked a Democratic attempt to pass $2,000 direct payments to Americans, as the fate of the massive coronavirus relief package passed by Congress earlier in the week hangs in the balance.”
“The Democrats moved to increase the size of the checks after President Donald Trump threatened to oppose the $2 trillion pandemic aid and federal funding bill because it included only $600 in direct payments rather than $2,000.
Congress passed the proposal Monday after Trump took no role in weeks of talks. The plan included $900 billion in coronavirus relief.
Trying to cap the plan’s cost, most of Trump’s Republican Party sought $600 in direct payments rather than the $1,200 passed in the CARES Act in March. In criticizing the year-end legislation, Trump also pointed to foreign aid spending — which Washington includes in funding bills every year.
The House tried to pass the $2,000 payments during a pro forma session on Christmas Eve day, a brief meeting of the chamber where typically only a few members attend. Democrats aimed to approve the measure by unanimous consent, which means any one lawmaker can block it.
Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., offered the proposal from the House floor, but was blocked because the measure was not approved by House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
Subsequently, Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., attempted to get lawmakers to reconsider aspects of the spending bill related to foreign aid. That move was blocked by Democrats.”
LikeLike
Pardons before you leave office always annoy your opponents, however, this years pardons are a bit much.
Trump pardoned people who lied for him in the Mueller investigations. In other words, they lied for the president and now they are pardoned. It sets a precedent — if you cover for the president you can wait for a pardon. I remember the horror which Conservatives greeted Clinton’s last pardon list — this is quite similar if not worse.
He also pardoned four mercenaries who killed children in Iraq. Blackwater contractors ie mercenaries shot up a car. The car was close enough to the mercenaries that they should have seen the children inside; after all one bullet blew a child’s head apart. Its understandable to pardon soldiers who may have made a mistake while in the country’s service but these were soldiers of fortune wantonly killing children.
And finally he pardons Ivanka’s father in law. This one is strange since Kushner didn’t want a pardon (he didn’t want people to be reminded what he did) and he had served his sentence a long time ago and is back in the real estate game. Christie called Kushner’s crime “one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes I have ever prosecuted” If you want the lurid details;
https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-charles-kushner-new-jersey-elections-crime-00476ac6d7201f05d88a338bd101f597?utm_medium=AP&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&fbclid=IwAR3MO1XHXAcRGH4SkaP5EB_Ed6Xk_VZoAq0UV2KtPJkgQMkdgFOCky1Y9z4
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The Democrats called the Republicans on Trump. The bill was separate from the original Covid bil and was a simple 2000$ per person. The Republicans could have passed it and still withheld the foreign aid.
The foreign aid and other monetary matters stuffed into the Covid was the end of the year spending that is normally passed at the end of the year, The Democrats following Trump’s (and Sanders/AOC) lead did the right thing and separated monetary relief from the bill. Wittmans’ move to discuss the foreign aid in the bill was an attempt to save face. The bill still contains alot of unnecessary pork the Republicans want to keep in — specifically spending in their district.
Dominion executives, fresh from getting Newsmax and Fox to walk back their claims, are now poised to sue the Trump campaign team. They’ve already offered up Powell to DVS and I wonder who else will be thrown under the bus to save the main players on the Trump team. There’s no way they want to defend anything they said in court.
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Enough politics. I’m off to start two days of cooking for the family meal. Merry Christmas and here’s my favorite version of Silent Night
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Good.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/12/trump-vetoes-defense-bill/
“Trump Vetoes Defense Bill”
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Looks about right.
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Sounds like a car bomb…..
https://twitter.com/ohboywhatashot/status/1342483582519025665
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“Police: Explosion in Nashville may have been “intentional””
https://www.wbko.com/2020/12/25/reports-explosion-rocks-downtown-nashville/
“The Metro Nashville Police Department says authorities believe an explosion that rocked the downtown area early on Christmas Day was a deliberate act. Police spokesman Don Aaron said about three hours after the explosion shook the area that investigators believe it was “an intentional act.” Police earlier said they believe a vehicle was involved in the explosion.
News reports say emergency crews have responded to an explosion in downtown Nashville. Black smoke and flames were seen billowing from the area.
Buildings shook in the immediate area and beyond after a loud boom was heard early Christmas morning. Police and fire crews were on the scene.”
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I sure hope they find the perpetrator/s.
LikeLiked by 1 person