Would You Believe---Russia?

 

For the first time, 60 Minutes is reporting that multiple sources say a senior official of the Department of Defense, was struck by the mysterious symptoms, coined Havana Syndrome, and sought medical treatment at last year's NATO Summit. https://t.co/RNG5twMYLn pic.twitter.com/CGUOoOewUG

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) April 1, 2024

This is the most believable and also weird story happening recently. It's probably too easy to dismiss vague symptoms of some unknown origin as being anything but a kind of mass hysteria, but because of the nature of who was experiencing the "syndrome" and so on, it being a Russian op feels both too on the nose and a little like: "Who else?" 

But it is also absurd--we aren't living in Cold War times anymore, right? Except that we never stopped being in one. We (the US, apparently) thought when the Soviet Union failed, our relationship had radically changed. But that isn't exactly what happened. 

Dark Brandon Took Down the Bad Balloon

 

Because this was the show you wanted this weekend, the Chinese surveillance balloon made it to the South Carolina coast where it was beyond the debris falling over a populated area, and then it got POPPPPPPPEDDD!  The debris field was seven miles. This is why you don't do this sort of thing over populated areas. That could have been not-great. Also, the US was on it like a bonnet and had been blocking the balloon from surveilling much of anything while trying to study what it was actually here for--so we received some intelligence while it was up there, and China did not receive so much intelligence. 

We might learn more from what we gather from what got downed. 

And anyway it was since Wednesday that Biden said to bring it down and the US military observed when it was safe to do it--and then it got done. You know, while all the critics were suggesting "Do it now!" as if the damn thing was about to cause havoc or whatever.  No havoc got caused, friends. 

TWGB: Something Special?

 

With Trump's announcement that he was going to run in 2024 (not that I think that should have come as much of a surprise--although for my part, I was surprised to see that he not just announced, but also filed FEC papers), I don't think the appointment of a special counsel to insulate the investigate from claims of partisanship and political fuckery sound too far out of whack. 

I mean--it's pointless because Republicans have been crying partisanship and political fuckery all along. Trump's own announcement contained the claim that he was "a victim".  The announcement of the appointment of  a special counsel has GOP stalwarts in much umbrage--which is wild since the new GOP majority in the House has been crowing about how happy they will be to investigate Hunter Biden and impeach the current president. Public perception is a fine thing to talk about, but our national perspective is pretty far out of whack...and on a very particular side. (Although Trump's own AG, Bill Barr, the one who squashed the Mueller investigation, but also negated claims of mass voter fraud, admits that Trump is very likely headed for indictment--I say, he's partisan, but he is not a dummy.)

So really, it's about the end of the 1/6 Committee in the House and Merrick Garland being subject to the clown parade of a GOP-led Oversight Committee. Sure, there will still be some criticism from the right--but hopefully, things proceed from this point will all deliberate speed.

I don't have an opinion about Merrick Garland's or the DOJ's ideas about timing because, as always, I don't play a lawyer on this blog. I'm seeing on Twitter the usual war between the "there's a plan, just be patient" folks (who told us Mueller had it in the bag-- and I am old enough to recall folks wishing one another a very Merry Fitzmas) and the people who believe justice is being delayed and denied RIGHT NOW! Because obviously the man is guilty as a sonuvabitch and so are all his little friends!

It's dueling banjos. There are two things to look at--part of which I know hardly anything about, which is the time it takes to build a case that will be effective in a court of law, and the part I think I've got a handle on--the flagging attention span of the public and the easily-manipulated notion that if the man hasn't been indicted yet, then truly, they must have nothing on him. It might not be true, but it feels true. Because tell me, legitimately: if someone was behind a coup to overthrow the lawful government, or stole top secret documents, shouldn't their ass be under the jail by now?

This is how Trump goes around with his whole chest out telling people he "won't partake" in an investigation as if he was declining a glass of wine. Although there's plenty of evidence, as far as he's walking around able to run for president and be a pest about whether our elections are fair and running his various (under investigation) companies, he can claim he's as pure as the driven snow. 

He's pure as a driven slush fund. 

So, while I'm skeptical about results (after all this time), I don't think the appointment of Jack Smith has anything to do with slowing things down--he's being called up from where he's been prosecuting war criminals at the Hague, and that sounds to me like a guy who can handle a case against heavy hitters. He's not starting from scratch, and he will be getting what the 1/6 Committee already has. I don't have a reason to believe any of this is a set-up for failure.

But this case better move along with strength and speed, because it carries a lot of freight with it, including our national security and the future of democracy. 

TWGB: The Best Plans

 

You know, I had forgotten all about the RICO case Trump wanted to make of Jim Comey and Peter Stzrok and Hillary Clinton and all the wild cast of characters Trump wanted to say schemed against him in 2016 and spoiled his precious presidency.  It got tossed, because it was hopelessly dumb.  The full tossing of this meandering paranoid rant was a thing of beauty owing to it's entirely giving of no fucks about not just pointing out that it isn't really a crime for people to say bad things about someone if they are true or just opinions, but that the complainant got his term in office and in no way was materially harmed by an investigation that had a legitimate basis. 

It also holds open the question of whether Trump's lawyers should be sanctioned for bringing such a case forward as if they were overindulging a toddler to his own detriment (as I think this case would have been uncomfortably revelatory of what Trump lawyer should not, for the interests of their client, want pursued. So what's the plan? 

Alina Habba, an attorney for Trump, said Trump will "immediately move to appeal this decision." 

"We vehemently disagree with the opinion issued by the Court today," Habba told CNN in a statement. "Not only is it rife with erroneous applications of the law, it disregards the numerous independent governmental investigations which substantiate our claim that the defendants conspired to falsely implicate our client and undermine the 2016 Presidential election."

This is the best strip mall shingle across from your golf club lawyering a man can probably eventually pay for. (Or not.) There are no governmental investigations that find that Hillary Clinton and Jim Comey conspired to make Donald Trump look like he was colluding with Russia by shoving a hand up his ass puppetlike and making him say "Russia, if you are listening?" and so on. The Steele Dossier and the pee tape nonsense came out once he was already president and didn't harm him anymore than, say, Mike Flynn being on the payroll of Russia and Turkey did, or Trump's own firing of Jim Comey and then telling anyone who would listen he did it to end the Russia investigation did. The idea of appealing is just a dopey way to keep whether or not Trump was a puppet of Russia in the spotlight which is the dumbest thing imaginable when Russia is not really popular at the moment if anyone noticed and goddamn, Streisand effect, anyone?  Compounded by why has he taken secret documents out of the White House?