MAGA-Mafiosi Heed the Boss’s Instructions
...and other atrocities from the "Law 'n Order" party
Are you wondering why Senators Tommy Tuberville (from AL, and roundly acknowledged as the “dumbest US senator”) and the oily JD (“I really don’t care what happens to Ukraine”) Vance from Ohio; Speaker Mike Johnson (LA); Matt Gaetz (Rep., FL); Vivek Ramaswamy (failed aspirant for R Prez nomination); Doug Burgum (governor of ND and another failed aspirant for R Prez nomination); TX AG Ken Paxton; and Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, the doltish duo representing districts in GA and CO respectively, were spending their time in NYC at Trump’s trial (list incomplete)?
Certainly not doing the public’s business, but spending their constituents’ tax dollars on….??
Here’s what.
They were following the Boss’s call to come to New York to bash the judge and witnesses and undermine the rule of law. Plain and simple.
After multiple warnings Trump seems to have restrained himself somewhat from breaking the gag order imposed by Judge Juan Merchan, which essentially prevents him from talking about witnesses or jurors participating in the case, and which he has violated (and been fined for) multiple times, or “causing others to do so.”
I guess they can claim that they did this on their own; that their actions were not “caused” by Trump. If technically true and legally allowable, what they are doing is clearly a violation of the spirit and intent of the judge’s order. And they know it. In typical mob boss style, Trump made his wishes known to his underbosses, cronies, and lackeys without explicitly giving the orders. He maintained plausible deniability.
But be very clear. They know he’s guilty. They know they are lying. They know they are undermining the law and the public’s faith in the law.
For decades, a core strategy of the Republican right for decades has been to attack news organizations to both intimidate them into more favorable coverage as well as undermine faith in the media and create an environment in which people despair of finding real facts.
It’s really only since Trump came on the scene that they have expanded their attack on institutions by trying to undermine the legal system.
Because defending Trump requires it.
Meanwhile, in an atrocity far surpassing the show in NYC…
TX Guv Pardons a Racist Murderer
In one of the most stunning and infuriating – but sadly unsurprising – pieces of news you will ever hear, TX Governor Greg Abbott pardoned Daniel Perry, a man who, angered by Black Lives Matter protesters after the murder of George Floyd, grabbed his gun, hopped in his car, and ran a red light to run his car into a group of those protesters.
One of them, an Air Force veteran named Garrett Foster was there taking care of his wheelchair-bound wife who wanted to be present. Foster approached Perry when he was starting to exit his car, suggesting that he not get out of his car and leave the area for his own safety. Perry responded by shooting him.
Foster was carrying a rifle (legal in the open-carry nirvana of Texas) but witnesses, and Perry himself, said the rifle was pointing to the ground and not towards Perry. But Perry shot him anyway. This occurred at a peaceful protest, being monitored by the police.
A Texas jury convicted him. According to news reports, “[l]ess than 24 hours after a jury in April 2023 found Perry guilty of murder, Abbott said on social media that he would approve a pardon if one were recommended by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. The announcement came after prominent conservative figures called on him to undo Perry's conviction.”
Perry spent a year and a week in prison before the Parole Board took the hint and Abbott approved their recommendation. AND, GET THIS: HIS “FIREARMS RIGHTS” HAVE BEEN RESTORED. So he can go out and hunt some more, I guess.
If you can take hearing more about this, Andrew Egger wrote in The Bulwark. It will make you sad…and angry. I am linking to it here at the end, to read if you care to.