JustOneMinute

Open Thread

The Supreme Court leak investigation fizzled out and the trust is gone.

Classified Documents Underfoot Everywhere

The cases are quite different in terms of Trump's level of cooperation but the basic fact - Team Biden wandered off with classified docs and stored them somewhat randomly - makes a prosecution of Trump much more dubious. And of course, Biden's "totally irresponsible" description of Trump's behavior will play on an endless loop.

Happy New(ish) Year!

These long weekends have me off stride. Happy New Year all!

All According To The Plan Of the Gloriously Eternal Xi

China's sudden switch from 'Zero COVID' to 'Zero Plan' is not going well.

But no news is good news:

China’s top health body stops publishing daily Covid case figures as infections soar

People turn to other clues for facts on the ground. Or under them:

Shares of China-based funeral company are surging as Covid infections spike

Anecdotal, but hospitals are swamped:

Medical staff on front line of China's COVID-19 fight say hospitals are 'overwhelmed'

Just floating a theory here, but... Putin's disastrous invasion of Ukraine looked like a lock for the evidently coveted "You Call THAT Crazy?!? Hold My Beer!" award for 2022. Elon Musk made a late run with his flameout at Twitter but now Xi is a making a strong run with his Zero COVID reversal. Up for grabs!

Federal Reform Of Marijuana Laws - On Hold Until 2025?

Modest refroms to Federal marijuanna laws have died in this Congress and its considered to be unlikely that House Republicans will be more enthusiastic next session.

Brittney's Back! And Two Men Left Behind...

Brittney Griner is swapped for Viktoe Bout, the Merchand of Death.

The Times writes on The Other Guys - two Americans known to be stuck in Russia.

Paul Whelan's saga could be titled The Accidental Spy. The US insists he's just a tourist caught in a web of Soviet lies but his life reads like the profile of a spy from a Le Csrre novel: multiple passports, a law enforcement/ military background, and a deep interest in Russia which had grown to include a large number of on-line and In Real Life Russian friends.

 

Marc Fogel has been a teacher at the Anglo-American school in Moscow. A great way to meet lots of parents and recruit for the CIA? The Russians may think so, and it seems weird that the US has yet to declare him to have been unlawfully detained:

Marc Fogel, 61, was arrested in August 2021 when he tried to enter Russia with a small amount of medical marijuana that had been prescribed for chronic pain. A native of Pittsburgh, Mr. Fogel had been teaching in Russia for a decade, capping a long career at international schools in countries including Colombia, Venezuela, Oman and Malaysia.

In any case, the US has run out of high level Russians to offer in a swap. Not good.

Gettingg WAAAY Too Ready For Some Football

When the smoke clears, Georgia will have beaten Michigan for the national title. I just hope the Big Ten doesn't embarass themselves.

Back In China With Xi Riding The Lockdown Tiger

The lockdowns in China may have made sense in the early days of flattening the curve while the world developed therapeutics, vaccines, expertise and facilities.

But China can't figure out how to quit and ease back into the world- COVID isn't going away, their population has relied on less-effective Chinese vaxxs and has no acquired natural immunity. Unrest!

Another Wild Weekend

Away we go.

That Went Well

Democrats keep the Senate, may even keep the House.

One of the many things that will make 2024 interesting - Republicans probably know by now that they have a problem and may even try to fix it. Democrats, on the other hand, may think their party has it all worked out.

IMHO (and that of George Will) someone has to thank Joe and Kamala for their service and push them out the door. That's harder after this recent Dem success in which neither was on the ballot.

Election Day!

What with all the extended voting rules Election Day is now the end of the beginning. Brookings has background on the various timetables states have adopted for processing and counting absentee ballots. Close races are likely to lead to delayed results in, eg, Pennsylvania.

Captain Ed reprises another pre-mortem on what looks like an emerging Democratic minority.

Welcome To Portland

Welcome to Portland, and be sure to drive your Clown Car:

An ‘Army’ of Volunteer Sleuths Are Out Hunting for Your Stolen Car

In Portland, Ore., vehicle thefts have soared, and the police say they are focused on other crimes. Now victims are helping each other track down their own cars.

The police force was cut back as part of the 'defunding the police' brain wave. Now homicides are setting new records and tracking stolen cars is a reduced priority.

Fortunately, a Facebook group has sprung into the breach. Srsly.

Sunday Evening

I'm waiting for the Yankees to close this up... they are trailing 6-5 in the 8th.

Jan 6 Hearings - Mission Accomplished?

The WSJ editors tell us what they think the Jan 6 hearings accomplished:

The House Jan. 6 committee voted 9-0 on Thursday to subpoena former President Trump, but the clock is ticking. If Republicans take the House, they’ll shut down the inquiry posthaste in early January. If he wants to avoid the hot seat, Mr. Trump only needs to find a way to resist the subpoena until then.

...

Getting direct evidence of Mr. Trump’s action—and inaction—was always going to be a challenge. There is no evidence so far that Mr. Trump was communicating or coordinating with the Proud Boys or other nefarious elements in the runup to Jan. 6. On Thursday the committee played video of foolish talk by Roger Stone, another Trump flunkie who also took the Fifth. “I say f— the voting, let’s get right to the violence,” Mr. Stone said on Nov. 2, which was the day before the election.

What the committee has accomplished, however, is to cement the facts surrounding Mr. Trump’s recklessness after Nov. 3 and his dereliction of duty on Jan. 6. The Justice Department and Mr. Trump’s own campaign repeatedly told him that his fraud claims were without basis. Whether it was willful blindness or an intentional strategy, he kept repeating them.

...

Committee members said Thursday they will write a report summarizing their findings. Transcripts of the testimony ought to be released at the same time, so that posterity can see what Mr. Cipollone and others said in full. Ditto for the documents gathered. The committee’s credibility has suffered without GOP cross-examination of the witnesses. And the way that the committee selectively leaked Ginni Thomas’s text messages was outrageous, and appeared to be an effort to discredit her husband, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

The Jan. 6 committee probably won’t get Mr. Trump under oath, but the evidence of his bad behavior is now so convincing that political accountability hardly requires it.