This past week individual 1 commuted the sentence of Roger Stone who “had the goods” on our IMPEACHED so-called president and, clearly, was suggesting the first day he spent behind bars would be the day he would consider the old saying “lets make a deal.” And, of course, individual 1 chose a commutation as opposed to a pardon ostensibly because that’s what Stone was lobbying for – so he could “clear his name.” ????? That makes no sense to me. Stone says he wants another trial – of course he does, so he can be found GUILTY on seven counts AGAIN! If you believe these people I’ve got a bridge……………… (OK, you know where that goes) So, why the commutation instead of a pardon? Well, I believe the answer is quite simple.
Had individual 1 pardoned Stone he (Stone) could be called as a witness in a future proceeding and he would have lost his 5th amendment rights. In other words, the next Attorney General, who I’m going to assume will not be part of the same organized crime syndicate as William Barr, could decide to dig deeper into the “Russia thing” and call Stone as a witness. He would then have two choices (well, actually three). He could “rat out” individual 1 by telling the TRUTH about what REALLY happened in the 2016 campaign with the Russians or he could refuse to “rat out” ‘the boss’ and, without 5th amendment protection, go to jail for contempt of court. And, of course, the third option is what he usually does and that is to LIE! Of course, in this instance, LYING is perjury and, I would suppose, any good prosecutor could catch him in the act and, well, there he is back in prison.
I’m not sure what protections getting a commuted sentence brings him, but I’m guessing it precludes him having the opportunity to have to LIE for individual 1 once again. Actually, I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think so. Truth be told, I’m hoping he was actually telling the truth when he said he wants a new trial. I really hope that’s granted and I would look forward to seeing the results. Keep in mind, should that happen, Bill Barr will likely be long gone (maybe he’ll be defending himself in the next door courtroom – we can hope) so there will be no one to mitigate his sentence the next go round. Of course, Stone was LYING when he suggested he wants a “new trial.” He might be dumb, but he’s not stupid! (OK, I’m guessing on that one)
When you get beyond the CORRUPTION the Stone case – from the moment Barr interceded to the time individual 1 commuted the sentence Barr got reduced – you get a clear picture of why there were HUGE groups of Americans in the streets after the LYNCHING of George Floyd. There are a plethora of issues, none of which look good for “we the people.” (And, picture Barr right now – he further soiled himself in stepping on the “plank” and getting Stone’s sentence, essentially, cut in half – and, then individual 1 pushed him off the end of the plank by commuting that REDUCED sentence. But, there’s a whole lot more.
For starters: Picture if you had agreed to be a part of the jury which took a month or more out of their lives to do their “duty” only to have their work over ridden by our IMPEACHED so-called president in maybe the MOST brazen act of corruption in my lifetime. (I’ve been paying attention to all this stuff since the days for Eisenhower.) That’s got to be frustrating to sit on a jury for that length of time only to find out it was a waste of your time. Is it any wonder people don’t want to do their jury “duty?”
Of course, the real frustration lies elsewhere. Picture ALL the people (mostly Black and Brown) who are languishing in various prisons around the country for “crimes” like possession of marijuana or other non-violent crimes involving drug abuse. These are crimes far less serious than Stone’s and yet he is “freed” without spending a single day in jail. Robert Mueller made it clear in his report how serious the CRIME of “obstruction of justice” is to the fundamental ability of prosecutors to carry out “equal justice under the law.” Mueller made it clear “obstruction” is a very serious CRIME. Of course, individual 1 “OBSTRUCTS” justice routinely, so it’s not too surprising he would disregard the seriousness of his actions as he commuted Stone’s sentence. However, that doesn’t make it any less egregious!
Our IMPEACHED so-called president tried to “sneak” this action in while “we the people’s” focus was rightly aimed at his ignoring our troops being targeted by rebels in Afghanistan who were being “paid” by Vladimir Putin. Further evidence Putin has “something” on individual 1 – lately, I keep thinking there MUST actually be a “pee tape” – or maybe worse. And, of course, the ineptitude in dealing with Covid-19 makes it hard to pay attention to almost anything else. As of the previous week I’m guessing the “7 day average” number of NEW daily confirmed cases nationally exceeds 60,000! Dr. Fauci claimed “unless we change our strategy we will soon be experiencing 100,000 new confirmed cases per day.”
Well, individual 1 didn’t seem to like hearing that (plus a lot more coming from Dr. Fauci) so, naturally, his solution was to ATTACK Fauci in ANOTHER desperate attempt to DEFLECT blame from his TERRIBLE lack of leadership regarding the virus which is throttling this nation – getting worse EVERY day just like Dr. Fauci predicted. (I would understand if you thought I meant his “leadership” was getting worse every day – but, actually, I was referring to the virus. Although, you have a point!) We are witnessing the WORST president in American history in REAL time!
Final Thought: Numerous times on this site I’ve speculated there are republican governors all around the country who are CHEATING on the “causes of death” for people succumbing to Covid-19 because it makes their TERRIBLE decisions to “open” their economies way too soon look a bit better. That’s if you can make yourself look better when your hospitals are at 100+% capacity and the refrigerated truck trailers are lining up outside these hospitals to hold the bodies because the morgues are full. Well, that’s exactly what’s happening in places like Texas, Florida, Arizona among others – and, it’s getting worse – because their “leader,” individual 1 continues insisting on doing NOTHING to mitigate this virus.
So, here’s my suggestion. Check the statistics on people who’ve died from pneumonia in these places over the previous four or five months and compare it to the months prior to the virus hitting us and to previous years. I saw one example somewhere, I don’t remember where, and, I think, it was referencing Texas (or Florida) and the numbers of people dying from pneumonia and it showed exactly what I’ve been talking about. The difference in anticipated deaths from pneumonia and those reported since this pandemic started was something like 4000 deaths. That would make more sense based on the number of people who have the virus in that state (again, I believe it was either Florida or Texas – but, it could have been Georgia, Arizona, Iowa, or any number of states with republican governors. They have NO shame!)
So, you think I’m full of “you know what?” Well, now this “strategy” of LYING about the statistics is going national. It was reported today the “White House” is now “ordering” hospitals and health departments around the nation to report their “statistics” to a “private” data base instead of sending the info through the CDC. OK, I know YOU aren’t STUPID enough to miss the point here, right? This is just another way for individual 1 to FOOL his supporters into thinking things are better than they really are. Kind of like him saying “If we didn’t test there wouldn’t be any cases!” And, incredibly, there are MILLIONS of Americans who believe him. Every time I hear him say that I can’t help but wonder if his “base” really is that STUPID to believe him?
Apparently, if they (the “White House”) can manage to HIDE the actual statistics on the numbers of people getting infected with Covid-19 and those DYING from it, well, it will no longer be an issue. I’m guessing the “plan” is that by hiding the reality we can then open our schools and, by the November election, there won’t be too many teachers and other support personnel in the schools DEAD so that he can manage to get himself re-elected so we can continue this MISERY for another four years! OMG!
OK, I have to add: As I’ve pointed out here I’ve been a life long “independent” politically, although, of late, I simply vote AGAINST republicans. However, the other day I visited the website of the “Lincoln Project” – which is the work of a group of republicans (and former republicans) who oppose individual 1. They are making some of the BEST anti- individual 1 ads you’ll see anywhere so I chose to make a donation. If you’re wanting our IMPEACHED so-called president defeated, I would suggest you consider making a donation to these people. I know who some of them are: George Conway (husband of KellyAnne), Steve Schmidt, Rick Wilson, and several others.