Vox Populi, our weekly live chat about the week’s events begins tonight at 7:00pm PDT. Hope to see you then!
AdLib3 hours ago
Here early.
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
Hey Murph! How are things with you?
AdLiban hour ago
Ok.
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
And you?
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
Going well. I saw that heavy rainstorm that flooded NY continued over MA so I hope all is well with TW.
AdLiban hour ago
Ah….yes…..me too.
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
You saw the news about the plea deal in the GA case?
AdLiban hour ago
I did…..what is your read on the guy who took the deal…some are saying he is nothing but a bit player. Others are saying that he was a significant presence and was everywhere at once.
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
I read an article about Hall, he is right in the middle of so much, he will be damning for Powell, Clark, and Trump! It’s a big deal!
AdLiban hour ago
Scott Hall……he is on a lot of video inserting himself into counting activity.
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
I think Powell has to be sweating about taking a plea deal. He worked closely with her and will crush her in testimony. He was the go between on the theft of voting machine data between the Trump Campaign and Powell.
AdLiban hour ago
Yep! And the only reason he would have been given such a sweetheart deal on misdemeanors and no jail time is because he has huge testimony and evidence that is damning against top targets, including Trump I’ll bet.
AdLiban hour ago
A bail bondsmen who has made a mark….on those who he was, at one time, allied with.
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
And if Powell flips, Chesebro will be going nuts, he may flip too.
AdLiban hour ago
Will the cards cascade.
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
How funny that he needed a bail bond himself!
AdLiban hour ago
Poetic…
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
Good evening gentlemen
twilson117
an hour ago
Hey TW….you ok? Given all the water? Ad raised the concern and I joined in.
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
I think so, the dominoes are falling. No way Willis will be prosecuting 17 defendents, most will plead out just as she planned.
AdLiban hour ago
Hey TW, staying dry? Saw that NY storm headed your way.
AdLiban hour ago
I’m fine just a little rain here in MA Brooklyn got clobbered though. I see there is a chink in the armor around Trump with the Hall taking a plea deal it’s just a matter of time.
twilson117
an hour ago
Ad thinks the chink is just the beginning…..
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
TW – Yes, I think there will be a rush of defendents taking plea deals in the next couple of weeks, before the first trial takes place for Powell and Chesebro. After that trial, the best plea deals will be gone.
AdLiban hour ago
Ad I believe it will soon become a major problem I also think it’s just a matter of a lot more will try to plead out narrowing it down to 6 maybe.
twilson117
an hour ago
Will McCarthy deal with Jeffries to get the votes needed?
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
TW – Good point! And Willis being the brilliant prosecutor she is, knew she wouldn’t actually be having to prosecute 19 at once, she knew the plea deals would come. The evidence is so plentiful and damning.
AdLiban hour ago
Hall got a good deal according to reports. But that won’t be the same for others as they will have to give up a lot more.
twilson117
an hour ago
Murph – If I was among the Dems in The House, I would never make a deal with McCarthy. He made a deal on the budget with Biden then betrayed it without hesitation. You can’t be foolish to make deals with people who prove they’ll break them at any time.
AdLiban hour ago
I need a fact check but I’m betting McCarthy will set the record for being the House speaker for the shortest time.
twilson117
an hour ago
TW – Right, this is the way it’s done, the first to flip gets a great deal then those that follow get less and less, pressuring defendants to flip quicker or lose out.
AdLiban hour ago
Ad I will be reading the accounts of Trump’s dissolution and laughing the entire time.
twilson117
an hour ago
TW – I think you’ll win your bet. McCarthy has no clean way to get out of this corner he’s painted himself into, he’s damned if he works with Dems and damned to be unable to pass anything if he stays married to MAGA extremists. I always said he was an idiot. It seems pretty clear he is one…a spineless idiot to be clear.
AdLiban hour ago
Ad…..it all depends on how it would be handled. But, for me the key is that the GOP cannot be trusted to honor a commitment.
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
Ad I’m doing my prep work by reading the decision the judge handed down essentially saying he committed wholsale fraud.
twilson117
an hour ago
TW – The NY AG trial against Trump and his companies starts next week, he said he’ll attend but no way will he testify. I will save the video of his reaction to the judge hammering him with the financial verdict, hopefully close to the $250M the AG is asking for.
AdLiban hour ago
Murph you’re correct this set of Repug Congressional reps have no honor at all.
twilson117
an hour ago
Ad that will be fun to watch. If Trump takes the 5th his goose is cooked. If he testifies his goose is cooked, fried, and flayed and laid to the side. 
twilson117
an hour ago
Murph – Exactly. The moment McCarthy betrayed his agreement with Biden, his speakership was doomed. WHo would be foolish enough on the Dem side to ever make another agreement with him? The way things will have to get done between now and 2025 is to let him be tortured by his MAGAs, let the public get angry at him and the Repubs and then let them come to the Dems with the votes to do what needs to be done.
AdLiban hour ago
In a broader sense……we see in the drama in the House the underlying weakness of the House which was not designed as a place for parties….
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
TW – Yes, the judge has already granted summary judgement on these fraud charges but there are like 7-9 more that will be decided in the trial, along with damages declared on the fraud charges. This will be so ugly for Trump, I can’t wait to watch it all unfold. And this judge is pissed off at Trump and his lawyers, he sanctioned the lawyers for trying to delay the trial with nonsense motions.
AdLiban hour ago
Ad I’m thinking those in the House who want Kevin out won’t wait for him to ask Dem’s for help the will make up a reason to push him out just like they’re making up the evidence in their phony Biden impeachment investigation.
twilson117
an hour ago
The model that the framers were operating from was that of their individual state legislatures which had lower and upper houses. Lower houses met for very short periods with coalitions forming in response to budgetary matters. The coalitions were fluid and given the shortness of their stay in Washington (that is why they have benches rather than desks) they moved things with alacrity
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
TW – If Trump testified, which he won’t, taking the 5th in a civil trial can be construed as an indication of guilt. So I don’t think he’ll do that. He just wants to play victim and brood with his mugshot face for his suckers that contribute to him. He’ll need it, his companies (and his kids “legacy”) are all going away.
AdLiban hour ago
Ad, I heard Trump is trying to sell the Brookyln bridge at a discount any truth to that?
twilson117
an hour ago
Murph – How do Repubs even imagine they could keep the House in 2024 after exposing themselves through this shutdown of being incapable of governing and harming the nation when they are given power/
AdLiban hour ago
Murph I recall that in my 8th grade social studies class, what I don’t remember is when they turned into the idiot we have now.
twilson117
an hour ago
Side note. I was at a gathering a few days ago and a bunch of vets with MAGA in their blood were crowing about how Trump was going to hand some of the brass their heads on a platter…..which led to a number of other vets threatening them…a fight broke out. I left.
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
TW – I heard Gaetz is saying he’ll put in a motion to vacate by next week. He wants McCarthy’s scalp on his belt, he has no other purpose in The House than grandstanding and trying to show he’s smarter and more powerful than anyone who disagrees with him.
AdLiban hour ago
Murph who the hell are you hanging out with??? Grown men fighting over the likes of Trump wow.
twilson117
an hour ago
TW….what altered the House (and the Senate shortly thereafter) was the formation of permanent alliances which became parties. The idea that the Speaker of the House, third in line for the Presidency, should be chosen exclusively by a pretty holding the majority of seats even if that is by the narrowest of margins.
MurphTheSurf3
an hour ago
Murph – That makes a lot of sense. Unfortunately, like many institutions, The House has become just a political tool for Repubs to extort policies a majority opposes.
AdLiban hour ago
Ad…in a world where citizens took their politics seriously….the GOP would be a has been party but ignorance is bliss for many of their supporters.
MurphTheSurf3
44 minutes ago
TW – Trump has declared that Mar-a-Lago is worth a billion so it’s not a leap to imagine such a liar might promise a title to the Brooklyn Bridge for $2 billion.
AdLib44 minutes ago
Murph – Really?! Were the vets MAGAs too?
AdLib44 minutes ago
Ad…I would be surprised if they were not pro Trumpers as well.
MurphTheSurf3
43 minutes ago
Ad wasn’t that one of his son’s that said Mar-a-Lago was worth a billion. Just shows the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
twilson117
43 minutes ago
Murph one has to wonder about grown ass men fighting over Trump, you really do.
twilson117
42 minutes ago
TW….the are juvenile……
MurphTheSurf3
41 minutes ago
Murph – I saw Maddow say this week what we’ve been saying for a long time, the GOP is no longer a party interested in politics. That’s why they’re working so hard to disable democracy. They are merely a vehicle for authoritarianism so of course their enemies are the press, truth, democracy, and decency.
AdLib41 minutes ago
Ad, but I’ve sold the bridge along with toll booths a number of times. I sorta of got the paper work to prove it.
twilson117
41 minutes ago
Ad…I saw the same thing….she has a way of gathering strands into whole cloth.
MurphTheSurf3
40 minutes ago
Madow has been spot on about this current set of Republicans.
twilson117
40 minutes ago
Murph – So that makes me think that this could be a microcosm of what could be happening not just in MO or The House but across the US. MAGA Extremists could be getting so extreme that they become adversaries of other MAGAs who they begin to view as enemies. They could tear themselves apart as they’re doing in The House but nationwide.
AdLib39 minutes ago
TW – Eric said it was worth $1B but trump repeated that.
AdLib39 minutes ago
I wish she was on more often. I think she wanted to put her shoulder to other interests and her once a week gig (along with special appearances and roles with groups) was a way of keeping her.
MurphTheSurf3
38 minutes ago
TW – I always wanted to own a bridge! How much do you want for that Brooklyn one?
AdLib38 minutes ago
Ad of course Daddy would, damn I’m surprised he didn’t say 2 billion.
twilson117
38 minutes ago
So did either of you watch the Repub circus…I mean debate?
AdLib37 minutes ago
Ad nothing just said I owned it. Why not.
twilson117
37 minutes ago
Ad…the history of autocratic movements is one of splintering that leads to widespread infighting…normally a uniting figure such as Hitler catalyzes the movement.
MurphTheSurf3
37 minutes ago
Ad here in M
twilson117
37 minutes ago
I did not watch. I got the high (or rather low) lights the next day. Toadies and buffoons. All of them.
MurphTheSurf3
36 minutes ago
Ad here in MA when we got ride of toll both and went fully with easypass I just claimed the toll boths.
twilson117
36 minutes ago