It took just three days.
After drag performer RuPaul announced the creation of a “no censorship” Allstora bookstore, censorship was back with a vengeance after many on the left learned that free speech meant that opposing views might be sold at the site. While the sentiment was appealing, it became intolerable when activists noted that a “no censorship” store would mean that they could not censor others.
In the rollout, RuPaul stood in a blue suit before a flag to defy the censors and embrace access to works of different authors and viewpoints. For many of us, it was an exciting moment. The anti-free speech movement on the left has grown exponentially. Now, this iconic figure from the left was taking a bold stand for free speech.
With ten million titles, readers could buy most any book, including writers like Riley Gaines who have challenged transgender theories.
Various sites like National Review have covered the rise and rapid fall of the free speech initiative.
The rollout was promising. Like many of us, the founders objected to book bans across the country. Such bans have been implemented by both the left and the right.
Allstora was founded on the pledge that “We’re a marketplace for all books and all stories, with a focus on elevating marginalized voices.” Co-founder Eric Cervini and drag performer Adam Powell, welcomed visitors to the website with a pop-up message that warned “you may find books you disagree with.”
The site declared “censorship of any book, perspective, or story is incompatible with the survival of democracy.” After all, “banning books is never the answer.”
The pledge was heralded in the media. Many viewed it as a jab at conservatives to show that there is nothing to fear in access to opposing views.
Then someone thought about what free speech means.
Liberal critics raised the alarm that the bookstore would be selling “homophobic,” “transphobic,” and “anti-woke” works. Drag performer “Lady Bunny” noted that the store would be selling works by figures like Mike Huckabee, Chaya Raichik, and Matt Walsh.
Lady Bunny asked “Why not just stop selling what many on the left consider to be hate speech?”
That is all that it took. Allstora first implemented a flagging system for offensive books and then just got rid of the no censorship pledge. While some sites state that Allstora only moved to add disclaimers, it appears that the no censorship pledge is gone and various authors are missing. I searched for books by writers like Gaines and Matt Walsh and found nothing.
The obvious response to Lady Bunny is that she is the answer to her question. In the name of combatting hate speech, she is embracing the very tool used by the most hateful movements in history from book burning to black listing of opposing views. Censorship becomes insatiable as the list of offensive topics or views grows from transgender politics to climate change to abortion. Every advocacy group finds opposing its own views to be dangerous and harmful.
It is analogous to what Gandhi said about vengeance: “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.” The same is true about censorship. Eventually it leaves the whole world ignorant.
I went to Allstora store, to go see if they had the “little red book” sold at all gun shows, and they did.
-Earl Turner
“SOTU”
That shrill, jacked-up campaign speech was like a garishly dressed, hideously ugly prostitute. You know its phony. You know is repulsive. And you can’t understand why anyone buys it.
P.S. Whoever jacks up JB needs to lower the dose. The contrast to addled JB was too stark.
In Other News: “Bipartisan summit at Washington, DC declares that in sum, both parties together hate all American Citizens”
~+~
In the aftermath of the State of the Union address, a behind-closed-doors summit between the leadership of the Democrats and Republicans, (and a token representation of third parties), gathered to find any form of unity they could agree upon. After deliberations the sole point of unity discovered that there was not one single American citizen whom did not attract and warrant the hatred of at least one or more individual politicians or a political party in general.
A citizen might be loved by a Republican, but would certainly be worthy of contempt or revulsion by a Democrat, and vice-versa. In essence he or she might possibly be loved by someone, but is certain to be hated in one way or another by a politician or political party.
The summit concluded with resounding hails of victory.
“One Nation”
“One Government”
“One Hatred”
Mespo, did you see Eric Metaxas conversation with Naomi Wolf about the SOTU? It’s exactly what you said about the demonic lying coming out of the demonically-animated corpse that goes by the name of Joe Biden.
Thanks for the tip! Listening to it now.
Awesome 😎
Link to it! Naomi Wolf was a part of Clinton White House, so it’s a good thing she woke up!
https://rumble.com/v4i1sw8-naomi-wolf-weighs-in-on-the-state-of-the-union.html
Kewl! They mentioned Leni Riefenstahl and the iconography of the Nazis!
Instead of “Triumph des Willens” it should now be “Triumph of the Villians”
They both mentioned “contempt for the American people” – the lies about immigration, egs. Heck, why not have contempt? The Democrats have been getting away it for years, because of the Zombie vote.
It is impossible to exaggerate about the zombie vote in America. Americans often asked me as a teen and young adult, how it was that anyone in Cuba could have supported Fidel Castro. I explained that Castro lied, but his running start was short. He orchestrated a coup quickly. America’s trajectory was different, more insidious than Cuba. Democrats have been blowing their horns about the oppressed, the poor, minorities, and Republicans have been banging their drums about religion and family values, and here we are. Zombies everywhere with neither party having the cojones to admit that they have manipulated their audiences just like Fidel Castro did.
Patients, university faculty and clinic staff often tell me they believe, kinda sorta, in God but dont feel a closeness to their Faith, i.e. they are zombies. I tell them you don’t become a world champion bodybuilder by going to the gym to train once a month, an expert medical diagnostician by reading medical textbooks, a renowned litigator by watching Youtube videos on lawyering. You have to practice your faith, your craft, your passion daily if you hope to be decent at it. Who prays daily, regularly, read the Bible, Early Church Fathers, works by spiritual masters like St John of the Cross, Ignatius of Loyola, John Henry Newman? Who are we kidding!?!
Its easy to fall away from one’s principles. I do daily, if not hourly. Still, one needs to beat their chest, if they have integrity, apply introspection, confess their sins / errors, and try, try, try again. There is no arriving, its the doing, the getting there, the journeying, that defines the man
Americans are largely zombies because Democrats, Republicans and most Americans believe in nothing in particular but everything in general. They have no integrity. Bill and Hillary, Biden, Trump, most members of Congress, quite a few Judges, too many parents and spouses who couldnt care less about their soul, their loved one’s soul, or the future….all had a hand in creating a nation of zombies. Mespo often mentions Dante’s Inferno. There is a lot of wisdom in Dante’s classic, but who has read it? recently? ever?
You dont become a Saint Augustine, a Saint Thomas Aquinas, or Dante by shooting from the hip, faking it till you make it. It takes a daily, rigorous, difficult routine of work, introspection, practicing and honing one’s craft, and striving to not be mediocre. Americans are mediocre, are zombies, are relishing being a character in Dante’s Inferno.
It is Lent. Try to take this season to right your journey, practice works of mercy AS DANTE TEACHES IN THE INFERNO, and maybe we will save our country.
May God have mercy on us all, and may we have the courage to seek His face daily, ask for His direction and live accordingly.
Cheers
Me, too!
It reminded me of the demonically animated corpse at the end of That Hideous Strength (by CS Lewis) that forced the people who had rejected God to bow down to it.
A common approach from the left. Free speech for me but not for thee. We can see that rejecting one of their own will not be out of bounds if they do not conform to what is or is not allowed. Those on the right have not called for the elimination of books in any book store. Those on the right have only asked that young children not be exposed to the sexual grooming by the left in school libraries. Now we see that only the leftist are actually calling for the burning of books to keep them from the shelfs of adult bookstores. They want to keep you from reading what you want and they want to cancel your vote with no voter ID laws. Some will vote themselves into submission.
Your belief in the artificial constructs of “left” and “right” is pathetic.
So, I went to the Allstora website, and I saw one book there, on the home page, that I have – Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi. I think I also saw the movie. Most of the other books looked a little far out there, and not something I would want in my library. Although, I did acquire, somewhere along the way, a Mapplethorpe book, Some Women, written with Joan Didion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT3iLJpdLRs
IIRC, I really enjoyed it, but sort of depressing read. Oh, and they have Dune! I saw some of the online comments, and I wonder if in addition to FAQ, they will also put in a Frequented Asserted Gibes tab???
More mean-spirited Dims taking marching orders from The Senile-in-Chief and his over-the-top rant last night that masqueraded as a State of the Union speech. Compare Trump to Hitler in sentence one and then go straight downhill from there. Biden is a demon or in league with them and boy it shows. Buckle up folks. It’s gonna be a wild ride in 2024 as we battle the demon horde, but – spolier alert – we win because unless they make you as old, bitter and miserable as they are, you Win!
Good summary. Biden’s not a demon but he is motivated but demonic impulses, so “in league with them” may be accurate. Every good and noble impulse is hated and scorned by the unbelievably corrupt administration of which he is the figurehead. I’m thinking the white suburban women who disliked Trump’s “mean tweets” must’ve been legit appalled by the nasty venom-spewing performance last night.
Don’t see him short on that demon thing:
His puppet masters thought it would be good to paint him as a demon, because the truth (his senility) must be hidden at all cost. But if it turns out he’s a demon, then he’s a junior demon: Wormwood to his master Screwtape. And in the end his master will have no pity on him.
To be clear: his master is the CCP.
I hope the white girls are appalled – but I despair of them watching the speech, and they will certainly not get a truthful review from The View, or MSNBC.
Oh memories of Nancy Pelosi, the art market, and the state of the union address from 2020
I am old, and I am bitter that a Republican party we relied on has sold us out for corporate profit and personal gain. Miserable? No, I planned to succeed in the worst case scenario and we are doing fine. God wins.
^^ That comment was written 50 years ago and has been bouncing around the stratosphere until it just now landed. I wonder if the person who wrote it is still alive to see how the two major parties’ roles have reversed.
Mespo,
Trump, like Hitler, preaches a message of victimhood to foment rage amongst his followers. And you can see that on these comment threads. People imagining themselves as victims are then capable of grat cruelty.
But Hitler at least had a vision of where he wanted to take Germany. His vision was romanticized nonsense, but it was a vision of some kind.
Whereas Trump’s only vision is starting a civil war, then collecting the billions Putin has offered him.
So basically what you are describing is Biden and the Democrats, and you’ve described them quite well. But oddly you accidentally typed the word “Trump” where Biden belongs, and “Putin” where “the CCP” belongs. No worries, we knew what you meant.
Anon:
If you can’t see the hand of Death in everything Biden talked about last night from Nazis to abortion to war in Ukraine to aiding Hamas to attacking the opposition and fomenting civil war, I really think you need to re-read Dante’s “Inferno.” Start with the Seventh Circle. It’s text book demon work. And no I don’t mean Trump.
Anonymous – the irony of your comment is that Biden and his family have taken more money from foreign sources than all previous Presidents combined (excepting possibly the Clintons).
Omg… where did you get such a warped and otherworld perception of DJT?! Nevermind. Your TV is on 24×7 to actual propaganda and you hate Elon Musk too. Got it.
Professor Turley Writes:
“Then someone thought about what free speech means”.
…………………………….
Professor Turley, to his credit, attempted total free speech on these comment threads from late autumn to early winter. But his most prolific commenter reacted quite badly when certain parties kept naming his many puppets.
That prolific commenter, then known as ‘Tom’, kept writing profanities to create an ongoing crisis.
Tom didn’t like that uncensored format. Because he was losing his chokehold on these threads. The outing of all his puppets exposed Tom as the fraud most of us had suspected.
So Tom kept writing ‘steaming turd’ up and down these threads, plus ‘f__k’ and ‘k__t’. The results were barely readable. It looked the walls of a toilet stall at some low-class high school. And that was the effect Tom intended.
Tom won this battle when Professor Turley decided to end the experiment. Aggressive moderation returned and none of us are allowed to name Tom’s puppets anymore. Or the name he most frequently uses now (which rhymes with ‘Boyd’).
But Professor Turley tried. Just like RuPaul tried. They both learned that total free speech often leads to chaos.
Wasn’t it Tom that named you turdrunner, and then you continued to post under Anonymous because his juvenile antics shamed you into it? Still butt hurt about that, we see.
It’s strange that “none of us are allowed to name Tom’s puppets”, when YOU were the only one claiming that Estovir and Tom and Upstate and James and Iowan and whoever else you wanted to try to silence with your own childish crap, were all the same person. Disrupting the conversation with that nonsense every few minutes at some points.
I applaud Tom’s attempt to get the mods to do what many of us, especially the lurkers who don’t post much but come for the varied perspectives, pine for. A paywall to stop people like you from disrupting the conversation in any way you see fit, as you just did again, as if thats any better than vulgar slang.
Of course you’ll probably claim I’m just a sock puppet, though Tom’s posts in any form, get deleted.
That’s how you operate.
Anon – the anon to which you responded suffers from ED (Estovir derangement).
Tom, I knew you’d show up. You always have a way of identifying yourself.
Why call me Tom? I’m Estovir. Everyone is Estovir and Estovir is everything. You can’t escape! Bwahahahaha!
Nope, I am Spartacus.
Is there anybody else here, besides me, who rhymes with Boyd??? Just askin’.
And as we can now all see, including the anonymous known as turdrunner, Tom’s posts were promptly deleted, while everyone else’s remain.
This site will never be what it could be until the likes of this anonymous are banned or excluded by paywall.
RuPaul would approve of Saint Mother Gabrini!
In theaters International Women’s Day March 8th
“This is America the greatest nation on Earth where rats have it better than Italian children ”
Jonathan: There are loud mouths and deadbeats– and then there is Steve Bannon, a convicted criminal, who continues to loudly defend DJT. After Nikki Haley pulled out of the GOP race Bannon vociferously claimed on his “War Room” podcast: “Screw Nikki Haley. We don’t need your endorsement [of DJT].”
But Bannon is in the news for a different reason. The Daily Beast had a headline article yesterday: “Steve Bannon’s Refusal to Pay His Bills is Costing Him Big”. What’s that about?
Despite his bluster and bravado Bannon is facing an avalanche of legal problems. He is being sued by his former attorney, Bob Costello, for refusing to to pay $484,197 in legal bills ordered by a NY judge seven months ago. He is also facing a four-month jail sentence for refusing to comply with J.6 Committee subpoenas. On top of this the Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg, is putting Bannon on trial in May for duping native donors to give him money to build the “We Build the Wall”– a scam Bannon used to put money in his own pocket–not to build the wall.
So there are deadbeats and scammers–and then are Steve Bannon and DJT. Birds of a feather….
Bannon is a happy warrior fighting the good fight. Nothing but respect for the man.
It is Liz Cheney, Pelosi and their fellow comrades on the sham J6 committee show trial who should be subpoenaed and then prosecuted.
____________________________________
@seanmdav
Liz Cheney and her corrupt J6 committee hid evidence and suppressed a transcript proving that Trump asked for 10,000 National Guard troops to guard the Capitol.
Cheney and the committee then launched a public smear campaign of the witness whose testimony they hid.
https://thefederalist.com/2024/03/08/exclusive-liz-cheney-january-6-committee-suppressed-exonerating-evidence-of-trumps-push-for-national-guard/
The evidence that Trump sought the NG in large numbers BEFORE J6 – completely destroys the entire DC J6 case.
Dennis is just to deep in the bubble to grasp that.
I would note that there is far more than Ontario’s testimony – multiple sources plus documentation confirm that Trump wanted the NG there because he did not trust pelosi, or the FBI or the left.
Dennis working hard to ignore the corruption of his heroes.
FOI has revealed the Jan 6 committee hid testimony proving Pelosi and DC Mayor refused to bring in National Guard into DC for Jan 6.
.
More FOI requests have unearthed interviews surrounding all the entrapment the FBI engaged leading a few happless guys into believing they could kidnap the Gov of Michigan
Then Woodward has admitted maybe the media needs to do some internal examination, around the “Russia inquiry”, he fears the people were not served well.
Everything Dennis believes in is all lies. Not that Dennis wont keep repeating the lies, because that’s what liars do.
There are good FBI agents. But the FBI has been corrupt for a long long long time.
Entrapping the Michigan Wolverines would not be the first time, it would not even be the one dozenth time the FBI was caught entrapping innocent people.
Too many do not understand, the FBI is not politically corrupt in the left/right or republican/democrat sense – though there are partisans in the FBI on both sides.
They are political in the sense of what benefits the power of the FBI, and particularly their domains.
Trump is/was a threat to the russia, europe and mideast deesks in the FBI/CIA/State department.
What most of those in government who went after Trump have in common is not political affiliation, but loss of power as Trump shifted the US interests to china.
There are legitimate thoughtful comments-and then there is Dennis
Why do the internal personalities of republican politics matter to you ?
The GOP is not collapsing. Bannon is correct – Trump does NOT need Halley’s endorsement.
That will have no consequential effect on the election.
There is only ONE way that Halley matters in 2024 – and that is if Trump picks her as VP.
I think the odds of that are about 50:50.
Trump has a commanding lead over Biden at the moment – he leads by almost 100pts in the electoral college and 8m votes in the popular vote.
At the same time – while there is near zero chance of a conviction before the election, There is zero doubt that if Trump loses the election – Biden and fascist democrats will jail him. You left wing nuts need to destroy Trump and terrify anyone not on the far left over what might happen to them if they mess with Democrats. That has been the strategy since the 2020 election. The means that the 2020 election was rigged is not repeatable on the scale necescary to overcome Trump and Republicans in 2024.
The entire J6 nonsense, the SWATing and arrests of not just Trump – but everyone arround him and any republican that offends those on the left is a nececisty for the survival of the democratic party.
So despite having the advantage Trump is going to do everything possible to hedge his bets.
Niki Haley ticks all the boxes Trump needs to tick to add a couple of percent to his popular vote totals – that is insurance.
Trump’s pick of Spence in 2016 was tactical – a necescity to shore up support of evangelicals in an election he knew was going to be razor thin.
Picking Halley ion 2024 would be a similar move. I think Trump is incredibly angry at Halley.
But if she boosts his odds of winning more than any other choice – he will pick her.
Bannon is not stupid – and he knows this, and does not want Halley. Trump does not need Halley’s endorsement.
He needs her on the ticket.
That is likely to piss off Alot of Trump supporters.
But they are going to vote Trump anyway, and they will understand.
Trump supporters are not like the idiot left wing nut children who are protesting Biden over Israel, who can not seem to grasp that they are putting Biden in an impossible position.
He can not win without their support. But he will be burried in a landslide if he turns his back on Israel.
Personally I hope Trump does NOT pick Halley. There are lots of republicans that are better choices – as well as Gabbard.
There are rumours that RFK jr. was offered VP – I do not think that is true, I do not see RFK Jr. accepting, and I do not think Trump offered.
But I think if Trump thought RFK Jr. would accept, Trump would offer.
The GOP will be controlled by MAGA for the foreseable future – Trump won that fight. That is over. But just like Democrats Republicans can not win the presidency or the majority of the house or senate purely on MAGA voters. Both Parties MUST reach outside their base.
Hunter Biden refused to comply with a congressional subpeona – yet no charges ?
The Bragg case is horse$hit. This is more democrat nonsense.
No Bannon did NOT line his own pockets. In fact a far higher percent of funds raised went to actually building wall than the very best of charities. Bannon made the rhetorical promise that every dime collected would go to building the wall.
A few percent went to administrative costs – the Clinton foundation has administrative costs of over 50% – no one is prosecuting them.
Nor was it Bannon that chose to pay administrative costs – he had nothing to do with that.
But he offered to refund anyones donation if they wanted it back.
So once again we have an idiot democrat claiming Fraud when there is no fraud.
Bannons bills are his problem and unlike you I am not weighing in on things I do not know about and do not care about.
it is not like Democrats have not stiffed people all the time. Do you think Morris will ever get the money he loaned Hunter back ?
Today Trump posted bond in the E Jean Carroll case.
So the odds of the Carroll case surviving appeal are diminishing by the day.
When the case is vacated – do you think that Kaplan will repay the millions in interest she will have cost him ?
Do you understand this is THEFT legalized by corrupt courts and biased juries ?
I suspect you do. You just do not care. The ends justifies the means.
You had better pray to the god you do not beleive in that Trump’s promise that he will be too busy fixing the mess you made to extract revenge proves true.
Others here are posting about the Chenney/Thompson suppressed J6 testimony regarding Trump’s personally offering the national guard.
While to me this is a Yawn – Those who met with Trump on the issue allready publicly and in testimony confirmed that Trump actively pushed for the NG and that Pelosi is the reason that NG were not present.
Trump wanted the NG – because the CP was under Pelosi’s control and Trump did not trust Pelosi to not use them to start something.
Trump wanted the NG to protect Stop The Steel protestors. Trump figured that a large NG presence would separate the protestors from forces controlled by Pelosi. Trump was also worried about violent counter protestors – like there were at Charlottesville.
This has all been well documented before in many many ways – including the Capitol Police communications.
But this particular story is significant – because it was supressed – hidden.
Because it obliterates the DC J6 case.
I know this is hard for wing nuts like you to grasp – but Trump sought to do everything he could to prevent what happened on J6.
And Pelosi wanted what happened – or worse. Pelosi would be very happy to have seen half a dozen or more dead CP officers.
Small price for the political benefits she could reap.
While I am not personally convinced that J6 was an “inside job” – there is a difference between Pelosi hoped for violence and undercut all efforts to prevent violence, and Pelosi actually caused the violence.
Contra the left – there is zero doubt there was a large FBI (and other undercover ) presence at J6. as the House Sargent at Arms that Pelosi fired said – he was not told there were FBI agents in the crowd. But it would have been highly unusual if there were NOT.
That said the FBI’s efforts to coverup their involvment makes it look bad.
It is always the coverup that gets you.
Here is what people need to understand about J6….
Pelosi said the purpose of her J6 Committee was to “establish and preserve the narrative” surrounding that day.
Not to be confused with ‘getting to the truth’ of what happened that day.
We all saw their Hollywood-produced J6 movie played over and over…
but we saw only the images they wanted to brainwash into the public mind …
in order to ‘create their narrative.’
VP Harris compared J6 to Pearl Harbor and 9/11 … which we all know is absurd.
The purpose was to establish and lay a predicate…
to justify their weaponization of the justice system…
to justify silencing their opposition, censorship, misinformation.
J6 is a narrative. Based on lies.
Not to be confused with ‘the truth’ of what happened on that day.
Biden’s gas lighting was not liked by Americans per Democrat poll analyst Nate Silver.
“Biden needs to win over public opinion, not pundit opinion”
The State of the Union got a good reaction on Twitter, and a mediocre one in the polls
https://www.natesilver.net/p/biden-needs-to-win-over-public-opinion
It boosted morale among Democratic partisans I follow on Twitter . . .
Wait, I thought all the Democratic partisans had fled Twitter because it was allowing too much free speech. Is this like their constant promises to leave the US if a Republican is elected – promises they sadly never follow through on?
Biden appears to have gotten the tinest bounce. The speech was bad. It turned people off, it was full of obvious big lies.
But Biden did stand at the podium for an hour, read from a telepromter and not fall off the stage or babble incoherently.
To that extent it was a success and a very important one. While it does not end attacks on Biden’s competence. It barely weakens them.
But there was an expectation – both on the right and the left, that Biden could not avoid thoroughly screwing this up.
A significant brain fart at SOTU would have been the end for him.
OT
SUI – Speaking Under the Influence
Require Joke Buydone to take a Breathalyzer test after his
“Backward Looking Meth Speech.”
Off-topic (though it’s becoming increasingly unnecessary to point that out in this comment section):
Two days ago (Wednesday, March 6), Judge Cannon of the Florida federal court in one of the Special Counsel cases against Trump, accepted two amici briefs, stating the following:
“Mar 6, 2024 PAPERLESS ORDER granting Unopposed Motions for Leave to File Amicus Briefs 360 364 . The Court has reviewed the motions and finds that the proposed amici bring to the Court’s attention relevant matter that may be of considerable help to the Court in resolving the cited pretrial motions…”
Both of those amici briefs (docket entries 360 and 364) support Trump, and one of the briefs is the latest version of former AG Ed Meese’s briefs previously filed in the Supreme Court and the DC Circuit Court of Appeals
Here again is a link to the Florida federal docket where you can find access to those docket entries 360 and 364:
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67490070/united-states-v-trump/
That March 6th docket entry by Judge Cannon also tells the parties that they have until March 15th to file any responses to the amici briefs. Speaking for myself, I can’t wait to read the Special Counsel’s response (if any) to the Meese brief that points out that Smith was never legally appointed as Special Counsel, because that appointment requires presidential nomination for the office AND Senate confirmation, and “Special Counsel” Smith has NEITHER, having instead been UNLAWFULLY appointed by lawless Attorney General Garland. There really is no getting around the FACT that Smith was never lawfully ensconced as Special Counsel and therefore has no “standing” concerning these cases before any court, federal, appellate, OR supreme.
I think Judge Cannon now has all she needs to flush the “Special Counsel’s” case against Trump down the toilet where it belongs along with the case in the DC District. Smith has NO “legal standing” in those cases.
Assuming Smith proceeded, knowing that he had no legal authority, two questions arise: 1) does he have any kind of immunity for his actions; 2) is he guilty of bringing a groundless prosecution (at the very least a tortious civil action)?
Good questions. I suspect that Smith is personally immune concerning groundless prosecution simply because prosecutors usually (if not always) have immunity due to the presumption that they are doing their “duty” — even when they do it poorly. To make Smith criminally (or civilly) responsible — even if he is IN FACT guilty — would create chaos in the justice system, same as holding Trump liable for his actions as president would cause problems for all future (and past) presidents.
Put it this way: Any argument that Smith can be held legally responsible for his prosecutorial actions would be similar to an argument that Trump is legally responsible for his presidential actions. To make the case, one would have to show that the actions taken were well beyond the scope of a lawyer’s or president’s job descriptions.
But unlike a president, Smith still has to answer to the bar association. Unfortunately, they have notoriously-low standards. On the other hand, I think the bar association can take past actions into account, and this wouldn’t be the first time that Smith has run afoul of the letter of the law.
Anyway, like I said: I’m REALLY looking forward to reading Smith’s response (if any) to Ed Meese’s arguments. Funny thing about the law — even in the face of apparent guilt it’s always best to hear from both sides before making a ruling. But if I HAD to rule on this before hearing Smith’s response, I’d probably be leading the lynch mob or carrying two buckets — one with tar and the other with feathers.
42 USC 1983 allows a tort suit against federal officials for denial of civil rights “under color of law”. Trump has been denied his right to campaign freely for public office. Of course, even if liability could be shown, that still leaves open the question of what kind of immunity, if any, protects Smith and Garland. Ironically, we may see Smith and Garland joining Trump in seeking a broad definition of immunity from the Supreme Court.
42 USC 1983 establishes a general right of redress in civil courts. Like all laws, it is subject to countless restrictions and refinements after years of cases and judicial opinions.
What I know about this particular issue comes from my own direct experiences in court after having once upon a time been subjected to false arrest and malicious prosecution — a crooked circumstances that happened in a crooked country in northeast Ohio,
After the judge threw out the case against me half way through the trial, when it came time for redress of my grievance (in the language of the Ohio Constitution); I was constrained to sue the county and the county sheriff’s department,
I could NOT sue the prosecutor, despite the FACT that he should have known (1) that he had no case, (2) that testimony had been fabricated by a sheriff’s deputy, (3) that the MALICIOUS intent of the false arrest was to influence a civil property dispute whereby a neighbor with friends in the sheriff’s department was attempting to force me to sell my property to the knucklehead next door who built an illegal structure on my property without the formality (required by law) that he first get a survey to discover where his property boundaries are BEFORE building anything, and only then obtain zoning and building permits — NONE of which he did.
So my knowledge of this area of law is circumstantial, but extensive in terms of time spent in court, fighting bogus criminal charges and then suing the living crap out of everyone involved — neighbor, sheriff’s department, county — but NOT the prosecutor. And you’d better believe that I would have LOVED to sue that scumbag prosecutor.
For the record, suing someone for the tort of Abuse of Process is often the better course of action than suing for Malicious Prosecution. In my case, Ohio had only just recognized the tort of Abuse of Process simultaneously with when I was in court. I don’t believe that tort is available in every state, but if it’s available, it frequently is the better way to seek redress in court.
The error is not Smith’s it is Garlands. And Garland has immunity
Thank you for that.
Here is a 2019 Court of Appeals decision that rejected a similar challenge to the Mueller special counsel appointment. https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/D8B4E4A98FA295DE852583AD00547CD5/$file/18-3052.pdf
I appreciate the information. That case will probably be what Special Counsel Smith hangs his hat on if/when he responds to former AG Meese’s amicus brief.
I’m curious as to why the DC Circuit Court of Appeals only mentioned the EXISTENCE of the Meese amicus argument in the final footnote of its ruling soon to be reviewed by the Supreme Court:
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68073028/01208593677/united-states-v-donald-trump/
There were other amici briefs submitted in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals case reviewing the judgment of Judge Chutkan in the DC District Court case against Trump, but to my recollection the other amicus briefs weren’t singled out by the Court of Appeals as was the Meese brief for the apparent purpose of merely declaring that they couldn’t be ruled on, which is what the appellate court did with the issue(s) raised by former AG Meese.
In that final appellate footnote referencing the Meese amicus brief on the final page of the appellate ruling, the 3-judge appellate panel says the following:
“On appeal from a collateral order, we generally lack jurisdiction to consider issues that do not independently satisfy the collateral order doctrine unless we can exercise pendent jurisdiction over the issue.”
That phrase — “we generally lack jurisdiction” — seems a bit vague, possibly indicating that they COULD have considered the Meese amicus brief, but found an excuse to decide not to.
In that regard, this is what the Meese amicus brief says:
“Furthermore, this Court may reach this issue now. That is becausethe Supreme Court has “expressly included Appointments Clauseobjections *** in the category of nonjurisdictional structuralconstitutional objections that could be considered on appeal whether ornot they were ruled upon below.” Freytag v. Comm’r, 501 U.S. 868, 878–879 (1991) (collecting cases). See also Dynaquest Corp. v. USPS, 242 F.3d1070, 1076 (D.C. Cir. 2001) (“[C]ourts have discretion to considerAppointments Clause challenges raised for the first time on appeal.”).Judicial economy also points towards this Court deciding theAppointments Clause issue now, as otherwise Defendant will simplyraise it before the District Court if the case is remanded and this Courtwill face the issue again on appeal. This panel is accordingly free toinvalidate Smith’s appointment, and should do so.”
In any event, a ruling by a three-judge panel of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals concerning the appointment of Robert Mieuller as Special Counsel back in 2017 may not be binding in the Florida District Court in 2024, compared with a ruling issued by the Supreme Court, which apparently didn’t happen concerning any arguments against Mueller’s appointment as Special Counsel.
And that decison was error. there is a long long long list of cases that go the opposite way.
This is NOT specifically about the SC. It is about the appointment of Officers of the United States.
Even US Attorney’s must be appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate.
Every officer of the United states – that is anyone that has delegated policy making power – and that included all US attorney’s.
and certainly the SC, must be confirmed by the senate and appointed by the president.
However they do not have to be confirmed and appointed for the job they are taking.
A US attorney can be appointed SC without a NEW
senate confirmation.
The problem with this challenge to the SC is that no one has standing until it is near impossible to get a court to throw the bad appointment out. The courts are not going to throw Smith out 3 years in.
The Meese brief is correct and Damning.
But I do not beleive it will result in Smith’s removal.
I do not think either Cannon or SCOTUS have the balls to throw Smith out this late.
The challenge needed to have occured much earlier and it is possible that earlier no one had standing.
But what is important about those challenges is that even a wrong but unfavorable outcome will divert the court for months.
I would note that the Meese brief does not prevent a Special counsel – it just prevents Smith.
Garland could have elevated ANY US Attorney to SC – they are appointed by the president and confirmed by senate.
This was a mistake
Sigh. Just, sigh. These people, who proclaim themselves to be the stewards of a new frontier (‘the change we bring’), are spoiled brat, privileged cowards who have never created or contributed anything in their useless lives, more mired in their status quo than anyone else could hope to ever be. Last night was not a State of The Union (what in holy h*ell was that? 🙄🙄), it was a State of The Narrative, and how in all of the God’s names are people just swallowing and regurgitating it? Never, ever, voting dem again. Tragic, to me. The trolls really need to give up. Too any of us see, and I pray this does not all come to something truly tragic. Sigh. Let’s put them to rest once and for all in November.
It was a hate of the Union speech.
James,
Well said.
MSNBC had some pundit who proclaimed that if Biden did not win, “We could be a dictatorship next year if Donald Trump is elected and carries through on his threats and carries through on his threats to suspend the Constitution. That’s what’s at stake.”
They are going all in on the FUD.
OldManFromKS,
Exactly.
They have to gin up the fear and hate.
They cannot run on Biden’s policies.
Expect more till election day and it will only get worse.
thanks for the laugh. Good one.
It appears the Left BLM are threatening to kill Kyle Rittenhouse if he speaks at Univ of Memphis on March 20 as invited by Turning Points USA. No surprise here given they censor speech, ban books and use violence to assert their authoritarian edicts. Memphis, where > 61% of population is black, is one of the top cities in the nation in violent crime
TPUSA Blasts Leftists Outraged Over Kyle Rittenhouse Event at U of M
TPUSA Ozark Field Representative Anne-Elizabeth Matheny blasted a mob of activists calling for the University of Memphis to bar Kyle Rittenhouse from speaking on campus later this month.
Former Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer threatened to shut down the event if the school doesn’t pull it. “I just hope that @uofmemphis knows that if they don’t shut this down, the people will,” Sawyer wrote on “X.” Some social media users went even further, inciting violence against Rittenhouse.
“Drag his a** Memphis,” one user posted — while another leftist wrote: “He don’t know he fina get booed and sh** thrown at him I hope they steal his car he might get the MLK treatment.” Sawyer is also leading an effort — along with the schools Black Lives Matter chapter — to snatch up all the tickets for the event so would-be attendees won’t get a seat.
https://mighty990.com/tpusa-blasts-leftists-outraged-over-kyle-rittenhouse-event-at-u-of-m/
Media would call it “a mostly peaceful murder”. 😒
Estovir,
I am shocked, shocked I say, that BLM would suggest violence or to seek to silence someone from speaking.