Saturday, May 04, 2019

"context, nature and substance"


Teddy and Taft
Until the contentious campaign of 1912, President William Howard Taft and Former President Theodore Roosevelt were the best of pals. That all changed when Roosevelt announced that he wanted to live in the White House again and launched a bitter campaign for the Republican nomination against the incumbent. The contest got so insanely nasty on both sides that Taft privately lamented to a reporter that is was hard to behold so devoted a friendship coming to pieces "like a rope of sand". He then broke down and wept. Although Roosevelt won the primaries, the GOP was able to steal the nomination from TR. He mounted a third party campaign and, by doing so, virtually handed the presidency over to Woodrow Wilson. In the years that followed, although both men professed to have let bygones be bygones, their close friendship never fully recovered.

It's hard not to take this historic example of a cindered friendship and place it in a modern context. Former Special Prosecutor and Attorney General Bill Barr have, by all accounts, a close friendship that goes back decades. Apparently, even their immediate families are close to one another. Keeping this in mind, it's hard not to imagine the next Labor Day cookout that the Muellers and the Barrs spend together might be just a tad....ahem....awkward? Like the Taft/Roosevelt friendship of so long ago, The Bob and Bill bromance has gone up in smoke, forever to be consigned to the ash-bin of history. Stuff happens, you know?

On the morning after Barr's May 1 appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Rupert Murdoch's New York Post Toasties published an editorial claiming that the Democrats "completely struck out" during their questioning of the attorney general. There's no better example I can think of that would illustrate why the fools who rely on the Murdoch empire for their news and information are the least informed suckers on the planet earth. The fact is that Barr's performance was so inadequate and pathetic, even I felt sorry for the poor son-of-a-bitch. The interrogation he underwent from Senator Kamala Harris alone was so withering that you could see his cheeks begin to turn red. Look it up on YouTube if you think I exaggerate. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee called Barr's responses, "torturous". Indeed.

Barr in the hot seat
`
Were you able check out any of Barr's testimony? I watched the spectacle from start to finish. It was quite a touching thing to be sure. It was amusing to watch the man twist himself into semantic pretzels in his lame attempt to justify, not only his gross misrepresentation of the Mueller report, but the criminal behavior of Donald Trump. When asked a couple of weeks ago whether or not Mueller had objected to his characterization of the nearly two-year investigation into the Trump administration, Barr implied - under oath - that he had not. Now we learn that on March 24, Mueller sent a letter to the attorney general accusing him of misrepresenting the "context, nature and substance" of the four-hundred page report. Yesterday, after being subpoenaed to appear for questioning before the House, Barr arrogantly refused to even show up. It was the House's intention to have experienced lawyers question him on his behavior. He did not have the courage to face them. These are not times for profiles in courage.

Lawyers lie for their clients all the time. That's to be expected. We should expect a little more from attorneys general. Quaint, huh?

It is my belief that the attorney general is guilty of obstruction of justice, perjury and contempt of Congress. That's just my humble opinion. Pay it no mind.

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY

SUGGESTED VIEWING:

Here's a link to watch Senator Kamala Harris of California "striking out" while she questions the highest law enforcement official in the nation. It's quite funny on the part of Bill Barr - unintentionally so, that is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sak58M2Og8

Here's Senator Mazi Hirono "striking out" at the same hearing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eEdGXlwFIk

I've seen the moon at Bali Bali
And the moon over Wai Ki Ki
I'd give it all for just one ball game
And Mazie to see it with me....
`
There are extraordinary times.

16 Comments:

At 3:24 PM, Blogger Just the Facts! said...

Give it up leftists, you bet on a dead horse when you put all your money on Mueller.


What until Barr does his investigation into the entire stack of lies that started under Obama. Or as I like to call it, the failed coup.

 
At 7:10 PM, Blogger Jefferson's Guardian said...

"It is my belief that the attorney general is guilty of obstruction of justice, perjury and contempt of Congress." ~~ Tom Degan

There's no doubt, Tom. You outlined the travesty of justice perfectly.

Next up will be Robert Mueller, who will body slam Trump's proxy personal attorney to the floor of the hearing chamber in the first ten minutes.

I can't wait!

 
At 7:58 PM, Blogger Just the Facts! said...

Hillary Clinton’s defenders will never stop making excuses for why she lost in 2016: It was Matt Lauer! It was James Comey! It was men being sexist! It was women being sexist! It was voter suppression! It was Citizens United! It was fake news! It was WikiLeaks! It was Facebook! It was the Russians!

Today, a new excuse: It was Jon Stewart!

The latest in cutting-edge political science/flat-earth theory is that after Stewart quit hosting a comedy show for liberals, the advantage swung to Trump because Democrats forgot there was an election or something.

And the left wonders why the majority of Americans are laughing at them?

Betting on a dead horse will do this to you.

 
At 10:51 PM, Blogger The New York Crank said...

Uh, Just the Facts? May I call you Just for short? Listen, Just, some of my fellow leftists and I are not betting on horses. We're betting on Democracy and the U.S. Constitution as being among the best ideas humanity has had since the Ten Commandments, and therefore worth saving from the depredations of brogans like Bill Barr and Donald Trump.

You see, Just, when the Constitution is permitted to work, America works for everyone. And when somebody like Bill Barr or The Trumpster throws a monkey wrench into the Constitution to cover his own lying butt and his own corruption, that threatens the future of The United States of America, its citizens, and its very existence. And if he does it deliberately, Just, that even carries a faint whiff of...shall we call it treason?

There was a time when men like Donald Trump and Bill Barr, when shown to be enemies of the Constitution, were hanged in prison yards. And those poor bastards hadn't even taken a solemn oath to defend the Constitution as Trump and Barr have. You can see one example of how people of their ilk were treated here: https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/execution-lincoln-conspirators-1865/

So Just, shut up. Or should I say, just shut up?

Yours with hyper cranky irritability,
The New York Crank



 
At 2:34 PM, Blogger Tom Degan said...

You obviously haven't been paying attention, have you.

 
At 5:05 PM, Blogger Jefferson's Guardian said...

"Lawyers lie for their clients all the time. That's to be expected. We should expect a little more from attorneys general." ~~ Tom Degan

William Barr, Donald Trump's private attorney, lied extraordinarily for his mob boss client.

Sadly, the U.S. government's attorney general failed to show up that day...and the following, also.

 
At 8:31 PM, Blogger Just the Facts! said...

Attention to the failed coup? Yes I have, have you?

 
At 6:55 AM, Blogger Jefferson's Guardian said...

"When asked a couple of weeks ago whether or not Mueller had objected to his characterization of the nearly two-year investigation into the Trump administration, Barr implied - under oath - that he had not." ~~ Tom Degan

In a normal world, before the departure from the rule-of-law of Trumpism and its inherently inempness and corruption, Barr's obvious lie before Congress would have been seen as perjury.

The definition, still, and despite of, the corruptness of Trumpism: "Perjury is the criminal offense of lying under oath. A perjury charge may be brought when someone makes a false statement after being sworn in or promising to tell the truth in a legal situation."

It's okay if you're a Republican, though. Right?

 
At 11:04 AM, Blogger Dave Dubya said...

Tom,

We know a cultist cannot pay attention to anyone but his cult leaders.

Ever wonder why JTF attacks me when I'm not even in the conversation? His love/hate pseudo-homosexual response to me is amusing, but inappropriate. It proves I live in his head. A dark place, indeed.

JTF parrots Trump's "Total exoneration" lie. This proves his cult-like ignorance.

When he whines about my not publishing his racist comments, that proves his hate.

I allow his comments only if they apply to the discussion. His racist trolling isn't permitted. His latest racism was yet more birtherism against the Black president.

 
At 11:46 AM, Blogger L. Madon said...

Obstruction of Justice, Perjury, and Contempt of Congress? These were the same charges that sent Nixon's Attorney General to jail. We all remember John Mitchell, don't we?

 
At 11:50 AM, Blogger L. Madon said...

Nixon's Atty.Gen., John Mitchell went to jail for Obstruction, Perjury, and Contempt of Congress.

 
At 3:00 PM, Blogger Jefferson's Guardian said...

"It is my belief that the attorney general is guilty of obstruction of justice, perjury and contempt of Congress. That's just my humble opinion." ~~ Tom Degan

Tom, your "humble opinion" is shared by almost 400 past and present federal prosecutors. Read the following excerpt from the Guardian...

"On Monday, more than 370 former federal prosecutors signed a public statement saying Mueller’s work would have produced 'multiple felony charges for obstruction of justice' against Trump, were it not for the office he held.

'The Mueller report,' the statement said, 'describes several acts that satisfy all of the elements for an obstruction charge: conduct that obstructed or attempted to obstruct the truth-finding process, as to which the evidence of corrupt intent and connection to pending proceedings is overwhelming'.
" ~~ The Guardian, "Trump escalates fight with Democrats as they move to hold Barr in contempt", by David Smith, May 6, 2019

Obstruction, perjury and contempt...indeed...

...not to mention, "overwhelming".

 
At 10:40 AM, Blogger Just the Facts! said...

Meme of the day
To the Left, Attorney General Barr is the most dangerous man in D.C.
For the first time in 10 years there’s an Attorney General who is applying the laws rather than a party’s ideologies. There are 10 years of crimes that have gone without prosecution, and the Left is very scared.

 
At 5:48 PM, Blogger Just the Facts! said...

"just shut up"

How very authoritarian of you Crank.

 
At 6:35 PM, Blogger Jefferson's Guardian said...

"To the Left, Attorney General Barr is the most dangerous man in D.C."

No, to the Left, and to all rational and democracy-loving people of different political persuasions everywhere, the most dangerous person in D.C., and the world at-large, is Donald Trump.

William Barr is only recognized to be the lackey lapdog of Trump's that he is.


"For the first time in 10 years there’s an Attorney General who is applying the laws rather than a party’s ideologies."

You're drinking again, aren't you Vern?

Trump was missing his Roy Cohn. He got him in William Barr.

He's always needed a fixer.


"There are 10 years of crimes that have gone without prosecution, and the Left is very scared."

Scared? Scared of what, exactly?

You truly live in an alternate universe, don't you?

 
At 2:40 PM, Blogger Jefferson's Guardian said...

Vern, that's because authoritarians only understand authoritarian demands -- never rationality or logic. New York Crank was only trying to speak your language.

But you already knew this.

 

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