Law and ordure

 A man renowned for his "compassion, humility and unwavering belief in the goodness of people" has died at 88.  No, of course I don't mean hatemonger James Dobson.  Judge Frank Caprio was a municipal court judge in Rhode Island who presented the show Caught in Providence.  He never became a reality star, much less a Trump hire, because he didn't berate people or make them feel small.  He dealt with them gently and used his platform to address issues like unequal justice.  "Almost 90% of low-income Americans are forced to battle civil issues like healthcare, unjust evictions, veterans benefits and yes, even traffic violations, alone," he said.  "I would hope that people will see that we can dispense justice without being oppressive."  His words are like an echo from a dying world.

In the world of 2025 justice is under constant attack.  Having warmed up on Brazil and Israel, Trump is now threatening "harsh measures" if Colorado does not release Tina Peters, convicted last year of misconduct, conspiracy and impersonation.  Peters was the election clerk who gave a Trump operative access to Mesa County voting equipment under fake credentials.  When her lawyer argued for probation the judge called her "as defiant a defendant as the court has ever seen" who would "do it all over again if you could."  He sentenced her to nine years.  To the felon in the White and Gilt House she is "a brave and innocent patriot who has been tortured by Crooked Colorado politicians including the big Mail-In Ballot supporting governor of the State."  Also "an old woman, and very sick."  It maddens him that he can't pardon state convictions but that doesn't mean he won't try to free her, probably with force.

Even the International Criminal Court, to which the US has never been a signatory, is not safe from these lawless goons.  Calling it a "bankrupt institution" because it operates outside the control of the casino bankrupter, Marco Rubio announced sanctions on four ICC judges who "engage(d) in efforts to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute nationals of the United States or Israel."  In other words, Trump's partner in Gaza real estate development Bibi Netanyahu.  The bulldozers should be ready to roll:  the Guardian reports, "Figures from a classified Israeli intelligence database indicate five out of six Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza have been civilians, an extreme rate of slaughter rarely matched in recent decades of warfare."  As of May the death toll stood at 53,000, only 17% of whom were identified as Hamas fighters.

Coming soon:  The Trumpenyahu Tower Hotel, Condominiums and Office Park

If I flew all the way to Alaska to broker a peace and nail down a Nobel, putting the prestige and honor of my country on the line, I'd be pissed off today.  Or I would if I paid attention to my daily briefing.  Overnight Russia fired 40 cruise missiles and 574 drones into western Ukraine, far from the scenes of fighting in the east and south.  For further humiliation, one of the missiles destroyed a "major American electronics manufacturer" in the city of Mukachevo.  Flex, Ltd., is headquartered in Texas -- apparently you can mess with Texas.  Whatever Putin has on Trump must make the Epstein file look like an episode of Jersey Shore.

The American bar's Hall of Shame welcomes two once-respected firms doing free work for Palm Beach Fats.  Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Kirkland & Ellis are said to be working for the Commerce Department, which has plenty of lawyers, so it's probably a cover for trying to get his felony convictions overturned or dreaming up grounds for suing whatever independent news organizations still exist.  Fats wants to outlaw flag burning (by executive order, of course), defying the 1989 Supreme Court ruling that defined it as protected free speech.  To do so he needs to call it a public nuisance, disorderly conduct or -- this is great -- environmental violation.  

Meanwhile, some Ozark MAGAts who style themselves Democracy Restored want Hillary Clinton disbarred in Arkansas for her imagined role in the investigation into how Russia had its thumb on the scales for Trump in 2016.  Yes, they're really continuing to sell that shit sandwich.  I guess preventing Clinton from practicing law in Arkansas is the worst thing they can imagine for her.  Keep busy, guys, and stay out of the sun.

Eighty years on, there's no escaping World War II.  Fort Bliss, Texas, used during the war as an internment camp for Japanese Americans, is being refitted as an ICEstapo concentration camp to hold 5,000 desperados.  In 1988 Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act and each survivor received $20,000 in compensation.  If civil liberties are ever restored, I wonder how much these people will get.

"You know what?  He's right!"  Podcasting from his shed in Maine, Tucker Carlson scooped the big media by interviewing Dave Collum, who describes his profession as "researcher."  He has done the research and concludes that "the story we got about World War II was all wrong," according to a book he read by someone named Diana West.  I assume he means -- oh, Google her if you care.  Since Roosevelt's "right hand man" was a Soviet spy, "therefore we should have sided with Hitler and fought Stalin."  See, "FDR was a sociopath.  And the only thing he could do was lie.  He was a compulsive liar.   His inner circle had to constantly cover for his lying.  And the only thing he's used for now is, every time you want to grow government you cite FDR."  Needless to say, Baby Tuckoo agreed.  It was even too much for his former Fox stablemate Mark Levin:  "So now we should've backed Hitler?  Let's see if these shitheads are denounced by any but a handful of us on radio or TV."  Or at the Antonin Scalia School of Law at George Mason University, I swear to crom, where Adam Mossoff notes "Tucker Carlson joins Candace Owens down deep in 'the Nazis were the good guys' rabbit hole."  Another fissure opens up in MAGA.  By the way, why does no one ever suggest that Japan should have won the war, too?

I'm just asking questions.