Do you lean left? Comment on today’s news or on any recent issues posted in The Hustings with your opinions in the box in this column, or email editors@thehustings.news.

Scroll down for these recent issues …

Mar-a-Lagogate and The Washington Post’s scoop on a document regarding a nation’s nuclear capabilities.

President Biden’s Labor Day midterm campaign launch in Milwaukee and Pittsburgh.

Biden’s “Battle for the Soul of a Nation” speech calling out MAGA Republicans’ authoritarian tendencies.

•Contributing pundit Ken Zino’s commentary, “Biden In Like a Unity Lamb, Now an Anti-Fasccism Lion” on Biden’s speech.

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Queen Elizabeth II: 1926-2022

(FRI 9/9/22)

Justice Department appeals… Amid widespread criticism from the legal community of Federal District Judge Aileen Cannon’s order to appoint a special master in the case of classified documents the FBI uncovered at Donald J. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago compound August 8, the Justice Department Thursday asked the judge to allow prosecutors to further review and use the materials seized, reports CQ Roll Call. The DOJ was expected to appeal Cannon’s ruling in favor of ex-President Trump for a special master. 

The judge ordered the DOJ and Trump attorneys lists of acceptable special master candidates by Friday.

In its filing, the Justice Department argues that the injunction on reviewing the seized materials “could impede efforts to identify the existence of any additional classified records that were not being properly stored …” potentially posing an ongoing risk to national security.

Note: The likelihood of a successful appeal to the controversial ruling by a judge President Trump appointed to the Southern District of Florida after he lost the election to Joe Biden seems positive, though as usual, Trump is successful at creating delays.

•••

Queen Elizabeth II … has overseen 15 British prime ministers in her 70 years on the throne. The Queen had met Prime Minister Winston Churchill, born in 1874, and on Tuesday appointed Prime Minister Liz Truss, born in 1974, according to Jane Hartley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom, interviewed on NPR’s Morning Edition Friday. Queen Elizabeth died two days after meeting with Truss at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. The longest-reigning British monarch (her great-great grandmother, Queen Victoria, served for 63 years and seven months) is succeeded by her son, King Charles III, who was scheduled to address his nation later Friday.

--Todd Lassa

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...meanwhile... (THU 9/8/22)

Bannon charged … Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon was charged in a Manhattan court Thursday on money laundering and conspiracy charges in connection with the WeBuildTheWall Inc. fundraiser, the Associated Press reports. New York State prosecutors allege Bannon funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to two others with money collected from supporters of then-President Trump who wanted to help fund a wall on the southern border with Mexico. 

Prosecutors did not name the two others in the alleged fraud, though Brian Kolfage and Andrew Badolato pleaded guilty to federal charges last April, AP says. Bannon also faced federal charges, though Trump pardoned him on the last day of his administration, before Bannon’s court date. 

That last fact is likely to negate any defense of double jeopardy. State charges are not covered by presidential pardons.

Federal agents arrested Bannon on a yacht off the coast of Connecticut in 2020 and charged him with pocketing more than $1 million in WeBuildTheWall donations. 

•••

Kyiv, Ukraine … Secretary of State Antony Blinken became the highest-ranking official to visit Ukraine Thursday with an unannounced visit to the National Specialized Children’s Hospital Ohmatdyt, where he met with children from the eastern part of the country and with the famous bomb-sniffing dog, Patron, NPR reports. He was scheduled to meet with Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba later Thursday. Blinken announced $2 billion in long-term investments in security for Ukraine and neighbors potentially threatened by Russia. 

Military aid: Meanwhile, from a meeting with counterparts in Germany, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced an additional $675 million in military aid to Ukraine. The State Department said this is set to include more High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as additional munitions and armed vehicles, NPR reports. 

--Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Do you lean right? Comment on today’s news or on any recent issues posted in The Hustings with your opinions in the box in this column, or email editors@thehustings.news.

Scroll down for these recent issues …

Mar-a-Lagogate and The Washington Post’s scoop on a document regarding a nation’s nuclear capabilities.

President Biden’s Labor Day midterm campaign launch in Milwaukee and Pittsburgh.

Biden’s “Battle for the Soul of a Nation” speech calling out MAGA Republicans’ authoritarian tendencies.

•Pundit-at-large Stephen Macaulay’s commentary, “Not Normal,” on Biden’s speech.

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William Barr, attorney general for ex-President Trump until he resigned just before Christmas 2020, has joined a plethora of legal experts in criticizing Federal District Judge Aileen M. Cannon’s ordering of a special master in the case of the FBI’s seizure of confidential government documents from Mar-a-Lago. 

“The opinion, I think was wrong,” Barr, whom critics will note is also promoting his book, One Damn Thing After Another told Fox News Tuesday, “and I think the government should appeal it. …

“I don’t think the appointment of a special master is going to hold up,” he continued, saying it will only delay the investigation. “But even if it does, I don’t see it fundamentally changing the trajectory.”

Enter your thoughts in the Comment box in this column, or email us at editors@thehustings.news and identify yourself as leaning left or right in the subject line. 

 

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(WED 9/7/22)

Nuking Mar-a-Lagogate… A document describing a foreign government’s military defense, including nuclear capabilities was found by FBI agents in their August 8 search of Donald J. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and private club, The Washington Post reports. (Picture above is for illustration purposes only -- NOT the document(s) in question.) The FBI also discovered documents so sensitive that only the current, sitting president, some of his cabinet members or near-cabinet level officials “could authorize other government officials to know details of a special access program,” the report states, citing unnamed sources. 

On August 8, serving a Justice Department warrant, the FBI found documents stored at Trump’s Florida estate, more than 300 of them classified, with “uneven security,” 18 months after the former president dragged himself out of the White House, WaPosays.

Who has the nukes?: Sources declined to identify to the WaPo the government involved. It’s unclear what level of nuclear capability might be involved, but for the record, here’s the list of known nuclear weapon powers, beside the United States, according to World Population Review: Israel, North Korea (where the former president has had a “love affair” with its leader), Pakistan, India, China, France, the United Kingdom and, of course, Russia.

•••

Bannon indicted again … Ex-President Trump confidant Stephen K. Bannon is expected to surrender to New York State prosecutors Thursday over a new criminal indictment over the $25 million “We Build the Wall” fundraiser, The Washington Post reports. The indictment alleges that Bannon and “several others” defrauded contributors who thought they were funding a portion of then-President Trump’s wall on the southern border with Mexico. 

Uh-oh: Trump pardoned Bannon in 2020 over federal charges in the “We Build the Wall” scheme, but presidential pardons do not apply to state prosecutions.

•••

Massachusetts primary… Donald J. Trump-backed candidate Geoff Diel won Tuesday’s Republican primary for governor, 55.6% to moderate Chris Doughty’s 44.4%, according to Ballotpedia, despite no reports of Democratic Party money helping his campaign. Diel, who is fervently anti-abortion and was the state chairman for Trump’s 2016 campaign, faces Maura Healey on November 8. Healey took 85.4% of the Democratic primary vote Tuesday, and her only challenger, Sonia Chang-Diaz, who unofficially withdrew. 

Healey is now a heavy favorite to win the general election to replace outgoing Republican Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and would become the state’s first openly gay governor. While outsiders think of Massachusetts as deep-blue, it has had only one Democratic governor since 1990, Deval Patrick. 

Note: The reality of Massachusetts is that it has a socially liberal, fiscally conservative constituency, according to Newsweek.Considering its gubernatorial history of the past 32 years, it seems an ideal place for the vastly diminished moderate wing of the GOP.

--Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “has been on the phone with big donors for the past several weeks” to raise campaign fund to fill in for the National Senate Republican Committee’s dwindling funds, report CNN’s Manu Raji and Alex Rogers https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/06/politics/rick-scott-mitch-mcconnell-republican-senate-fundraising/index.html?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=9/7/22%20%20Punchbowl%20News%20AM&utm_term=Punchbowl%20AM%20and%20Active%20Subscribers%20from%20Memberful%20Combined.

McConnell and NSRC Chairman Rick Scott, of Florida, disagree on politics, policy, strategy and fundraising, Punchbowl News reports. The NSRC’s financial woes went public last weekend with a New York Times report that the committee has burned through 95% of its $181.5-million war chest, with much of it spent on a digital fund drive with a “buy it now” tactic that has angered many contributors. CNN says Republican senators are maneuvering to take the matter in their own hands and directly help candidates who need critical resources. Add to that McConnell’s “high-spending” Senate Leadership fund to help make the Kentucky senator the majority leader once again. 

Go to the Comments box below or in the left column, or email editors@thehustings.news.

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Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) joined President Biden in the Democratic Party’s official kickoff to the midterm campaign season at Milwaukee’s Laborfest on the lakefront, Monday. “Notably absent,” according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who is challenging uber-MAGA Republican incumbent Ron Johnson for his U.S. Senate seat this November 8. 

“He couldn’t be here, but he’s going to be your next United States senator,” Biden said. Barnes participated in a Laborfest parade before the president’s arrival, according to the Journal Sentinel

Later, Biden attended a Labor Day parade in Pittsburgh, accompanied by Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, and others, according to the Pittsburgh Press-Gazette. There, officials touted the nation's highest support of labor unions in 57 years during the Biden administration, reaching 68% approval according to a recent Gallup Poll.

Biden used the appearances to repeat his warning from Independence Hall in Philadelphia last Thursday about the dangers of Trump supporters to our democracy: “Not every Republican is a MAGA Republican. Not every Republican embraces that extreme ideology," he told the Milwaukee crowd. "But the extreme MAGA Republicans have chosen to go backwards, full of anger, violence, hate and division.”

Enter your comments in the box below, or email editors@thehustings.news and please identify yourself as left or right in the subject line.

--TL

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(TUE 9/6/22)

2020 Election tampering … CNN has obtained video surveillance tape showing Cathy Latham, already under investigation for signing a document as a fake elector in the 2020 presidential election, unlocking a door to Coffee County, Georgia voting machines to three Trump operatives who were working with attorney Sidney Powell, on January 7, 2021. One of the three Trump operatives is identified as an IT specialist.

The video from a Manchester, Georgia video office was recorded on the same date various elections offices in swing states were illegally breached, according to CNN. 

Statement released: Attorney Bob Cheeley said in a statement, "Ms. Latham has not acted improperly or illegally ... Ms. Latham did not authorize or participate in any ballot scanning efforts, computer imaging or any similar activity." (Per CNN.)

See for yourself: Watch the CNN copy of the video at https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2022/09/06/trump-lawyer-election-georgia-official-drew-griffin-vpx.cnn

This week … The Senate is in session Tuesday through Friday, and again Monday, September12, while the House of Representatives has committee work scheduled this week. Both chambers are in session Tuesday through Friday, September 13-16.

•••

Truss replaces Johnson … Queen Elizabeth made it official Tuesday at her Balmoral, Scotland, castle conferring on Liz Truss the U.K.’s 56th prime ministership, per The Guardian, thus replacing the scandal-plagued Boris Johnson. Truss, 47, is the U.K.’s third female prime minister, after Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May, all of them Conservative Party leaders. Truss has so far indicated placing some distance between the U.K. and U.S., traditionally known as the closest of allies, over the disastrous withdrawal led by the U.S. from Afghanistan last year, NPR’s Morning Edition reports.

Economic challenges: Truss has promised to cut taxes for a nation reeling over the economic hits from the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.K.'s inflation rate is currently 10.1%, CNN notes, versus the 8.5% rate in the U.S.

•••

Judge grants Trump special master … Federal District Judge Aileen M. Cannon in a court order issued Monday said she would appoint a special master to examine nearly 13,000 documents that the FBI seized from ex-President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate and private club on August 8. Cannon ordered both Trump’s attorneys and the Justice Department to each submit a list of acceptable candidates for the job by Friday. 

The Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation of Trump’s possession of the government documents, which include papers labeled “Secret” and “Top Secret.” Cannon ruled that the department must stop its review of the documents until after the special master concludes his or her assessment. 

Upshot: Based solely on that number -- nearly 13,000 documents – DOJ’s criminal investigation, which appears to include potential obstruction of justice violations, will run well past the November 8 midterm elections and would give Trump plenty of time to announce a run for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. Chalk this up as a win for Trump, who appointed Cannon to the Southern District of Florida court.

--Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

A CHIPS Act and Inflation Reduction bill ago, the GOP was tipped to retake the House of Representatives for sure and likely the Senate along with it, thanks to President Biden’s low poll numbers, high inflation rates and conventional wisdom regarding a president’s party’s midterm election prospects. Now the Republican Party’s prospects for retaking the Senate from its 50-50 split (with Vice President Harris breaking ties) are dimming, which also makes a huge gain in the House less likely. 

The Republican Senatorial Committee is looking downright DNC-like, yanking potential defeat from the jaws of victory. On Sunday The New York Times scooped via campaign records how the committee, headed by Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, had collected a record $181.5 million in campaign funds by last July and splurged all but $23.2 million of that on a digital fund drive that has many donors cutting off subsequent contributions. The committee reportedly sent millions of text messages with provocative text messages like “Should Biden resign?” followed by “Reply YES to donate,” which if you did and already had card information stored with the party, sucked cash from your account immediately. 

Such party leaders as Senate Majority Leader-in-waiting Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “are fretting aloud that Republicans could squander their shot at retaking the Senate in 2022, with money one factor as some first-time candidates have struggled to gain traction,” according to the NYT.

Have you been frustrated by such modern methods of raising cash, for either party? If so, tell us about it in the Comments box below or in the left column if appropriate -- or email editors@thehustings.news and let us know in the subject line whether you lean right or left.

--TL

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By Ken Zino

Ah, the changing of the seasons. President Biden’s second trip to Pennsylvania this week resulted in not only the great photographic backdrop of Independence Hall, but it allowed a framing of the crisis that has come from seasons of Republican-created catastrophic political climate change. This is now approaching the second brutal winter troubling the soul of American democracy since Biden won the 2020 election. Indeed, Biden won the last election by using the same theme, but until Thursday night Biden had been remarkably restrained from using it. Biden announced his bid for the presidency in 2019 close to Independence Hall. This was a compelling sequel. 

President Biden -- after clearing his throat into a live microphone -- got straight to the point. Trump (Biden until now referred to him as the “former guy”) and additional so-called MAGA Republicans espouse destructive ideas casting doubt on election results, spreading conspiracy theories and attacking law enforcement and American institutions.

“Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic,” Biden said. …they “are determined to take this country backward” … “advocating authoritarian leaders and they fan the flames of political violence.”

Key points for patriots: 

“As I stand here tonight, equality and democracy are under assault,” Biden said. “We do ourselves no favor to pretend otherwise.”

“Not every Republican, not even a majority of Republicans, are MAGA Republicans. Not every Republican embraces their extreme ideology,” Biden said. “But there’s no question that the Republican Party today is dominated, driven and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans. And that is a threat to this country.”

“MAGA forces are determined to take this country backwards.” 

“Backwards to an America where there is no right to choose, no right to privacy, no right to contraception, no right to marry who you love.”

“For a long time, we’ve reassured ourselves that American Democracy is guaranteed. But it is not. We have to defend it. Protect it. Stand up for it. Each and every one of us.”

Yes, I know that MAGA Republicans are clutching more than all the Mikimoto pearls extant would allow. Republicans brought Biden’s real moral outrage on themselves. They are unfit to hold office as we move on to an improving and optimistic American democratic experiment. 

Remember 1776, when 13 colonies embarked on a distinguished experiment in self-governance as an independent, autonomous nation because the course of human events made it necessary to separate ourselves from our unjust rulers. That was the foundation of something immense, and thus far, enduring. The colonies had but 2.5 million people at that time reporting English and other ancestry. Small numbers in today’s world, but they were people with far bigger aspirations, following far bigger ideas.

We the People were refugees or immigrants, lettered or illiterate who were fleeing or escaping religious and political persecution. Biggest of all was the idea that led to the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution of the United States. These ideals embodied in our laws say we will work together to be free of despots and kings.

That’s why it’s called Independence Hall. Not Despot-Lago.

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

By Todd Lassa

Yes, it was a political speech. At least, that’s how House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) prefaced President Biden’s “Battle for the Soul of the Nation” in his pre-speech press conference. As far as the minority leader was concerned, Biden, speaking from Philadelphia’s Independence Hall Thursday night, might have well called Donald J. Trump’s 74-million 2020 voters “deplorables,” but he did not use that word.

Biden didn’t have to.

The president was not speaking to whatever portion of those 74 million Trump 2020 voters still adhere to his Big Lie; he was trying to wake up his own 81 million 2020 voters, too many of whom would not bother in normal times with this November 8th’s midterm elections. These are not normal times, Biden said, conflating his partisan politics with saving American democracy and the Constitution. 

Fail to turn out November 8 to counter the MAGA Republicans – whatever percentage of those 74 million who might remain – and we could lose that ever more fragile democracy to a political movement that would “take America backwards…” MAGA Republicans see January 6 “as a path. … They see it as a path for the 2022 and 2024 elections.”

So that was Biden’s baldly political message at Independence Hall – a warning many Democrats and never-Trump Republicans have been making for two years; that MAGA Republicanism left unchecked would lead the country into authoritarianism -- a descriptor that would have better served Biden than “semi-fascism” from his previous visit to Pennsylvania.

(LABOR DAY WKND 9/2-9/5 2022)

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

By Stephen Macaulay

“At 12 a.m. Thursday, President Trump retweeted a video in which a supporter says, ‘The only good Democrat is a dead Democrat.’

“At 12:53 a.m. Friday, he followed this up by referring to riots in Minneapolis and saying, ‘When the looting starts, the shooting starts.’ — The Washington Post, May 29, 2020

As you may recall, Donald Trump was the president then.

Let that marinate as you think about these comments that were made by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) prior to President Joe Biden’s speech last night: 

“President Biden has chosen to divide, demean, and disparage his fellow Americans.”

"When the President speaks tonight at Independence Hall, the first lines out of his mouth should be to apologize for slandering tens of millions of Americans as 'fascists.’”

"In the past two years, Joe Biden has launched an assault on the soul of America, on its people, on its laws, on its most sacred values. He has launched an assault on our democracy. His policies have severely wounded America's soul, diminished America's spirit and betrayed America's trust."

Let’s unpack that a little bit.

Thursday night Biden said:

“Too much of what’s happening in our country today is not normal. Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic.

“Now, I want to be very clear, very clear up front. Not every Republican, not even the majority of Republicans, are MAGA Republicans. Not every Republican embraces their extreme ideology. I know, because I’ve been able to work with these mainstream Republicans.

“But there’s no question that the Republican Party today is dominated, driven and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans. And that is a threat to this country.”

And:

“And here, in my view, is what is true: MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law. They do not recognize the will of the people. They refuse to accept the results of a free election, and they’re working right now as I speak in state after state to give power to decide elections in America to partisans and cronies, empowering election deniers to undermine democracy itself.”

Are these so-called “MAGA Republicans” Americas? Yes. Are these people who seem to live in a world of alternative facts Biden’s “fellow Americans.” Well, in the sense that they are probably American citizens, the answer to that is yes.

But in terms of the ideology that they espouse, no.

Did Biden slander “tens of millions of Americans as 'fascists’”?

No.

Rather, Biden said to a group of Democrats in a private home: "It's not just Trump, it's the entire philosophy that underpins the -- I'm going to say something: It's like semi-fascism."

In other words, Biden was criticizing an ideology that is held by some people, probably not tens of millions, but it seems that ever since Trump lied about the number of people who attended his inauguration, many Republicans have trouble with math.

What’s more, Biden’s actual word was “semi-fascism.” The prefix means “somewhat.” But things like quoting accurately is also something that many Republicans have trouble with, too.

Should the president apologize to people who espouse support for what runs counter to the Constitution? Perhaps McCarthy ought to spend a little more time with that document.

McCarthy claimed that Biden has conducted some sort of assault?

Read, again, the opening passage regarding Trump’s tweets. Did Biden say anything about violence? Did McCarthy and any of his cohorts suggest that Trump apologize—ever?

“The Democrats are hopeless — they never vote for anything. Not even one vote. But we're going to try and give our Republicans, the weak ones because the strong ones don't need any of our help. We're going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.

“So let's walk down Pennsylvania Avenue.” — Donald Trump, January 6, 2021

“Take back our country.” From whom?

Americans who voted?

What about that, Kevin?

-30-

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

FRI 9/2/22 -- The U.S. economy added 315,000 jobs in August, the Labor Department reported Friday. Notable job gains came in professional and business services, health care and retail trade. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate rose by two-tenths of a point to 3.7%.

--TL

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news