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Betsy Cazden @betsy-cazden.bsky.social · 18h

Does that mean now you can come back to visit? Hope so! Would love to see you!

Reposted by Betsy Cazden

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 3d

It's increasingly clear that the president lives in a constructed bubble of unreality designed by aides who are manipulating him in order to take control of US policy. Seems like an important story - wish media would cover it.

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Betsy Cazden @betsy-cazden.bsky.social · 19h

Writers generally have to yield to the style-sheet of the publisher or publication. I am team Oxford comma, team em-dash, and American spelling please. But the publisher's copy-editor gets final say.

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Betsy Cazden @betsy-cazden.bsky.social · 19h

It would be delicious if what defeats Trump's attempt to punish Soros's foundation and other left-leaning funding entities is the awful right-wing ruling in Citizens United that money = speech and corporate entities have the same free speech rights as individuals.

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Betsy Cazden @betsy-cazden.bsky.social · 19h

Recommended for further viewing: the documentary No Time to Fail, tracking RI officials and poll workers in the 2020 (Covid) election. Great behind-the-scenes footage of everything that goes into running an election.
www.amdoc.org/watch/notime...

No Time To Fail | American Documentary

www.amdoc.org

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Betsy Cazden @betsy-cazden.bsky.social · 19h

So why are ICE agents, who are decked out just like military (and unlabeled so how to tell the difference?) allowed to do civilian law enforcement including invasive abusive searches and arrests (for non-immigration-related crimes)?

Betsy Cazden @betsy-cazden.bsky.social · 19h

I assume Stephen Miller queues up endless video footage from wherever whenever, and tells him, "This is what Portland looked like this morning."

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Betsy Cazden @betsy-cazden.bsky.social · 21h

Wait, minifigs in drag? Or are they trans-figs? You can just add stuff if you want to?

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Betsy Cazden @betsy-cazden.bsky.social · 21h

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Betsy Cazden @betsy-cazden.bsky.social · 21h

I'm baffled by what reams of classified information could possibly be involved in "You said X, X was untrue, you lied."

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Betsy Cazden @betsy-cazden.bsky.social · 21h

A/k/a "how to one-up border-hoppers from MA law firms trying to poach NH legal business."

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Betsy Cazden @betsy-cazden.bsky.social · 22h

They didn't have a choice of venue -- has to be where the alleged crime took place. (He was testifying in Congress via Zoom from his home in VA.)

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Betsy Cazden @betsy-cazden.bsky.social · 22h

Doubtful. That's obviously the goal, but there's a limit. The reason this case was rushed through is that his testimony to Congress was Sept. 2020 and the 5-year statute of limitations has now run out.

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Betsy Cazden @betsy-cazden.bsky.social · 22h

They may have misrepresented their opinions about issues that might come forward in the future -- which are almost impossible to frame as "lies" for perjury charges. "I said I wasn't likely to do X, but then I did X" doesn't mean you lied.

Betsy Cazden @betsy-cazden.bsky.social · 22h

Ah, but if her appointment was completely invalid, it's void, and since she's the only one who signed the indictment, the indictment is void too. Or so I understand. And the statute of limitations has now expired so they can't have a do-over.

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Betsy Cazden @betsy-cazden.bsky.social · 22h

Nope. Nada. (I take it as a hopeful sign, that even within the FBI there are some people who understand either morality or really bad optics, enough to say "No, sir, we're not doing that.")

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Betsy Cazden @betsy-cazden.bsky.social · 22h

I sincerely hope that you have a much better and more joyful birthday and week than the two guys who agreed to prosecute this dismal excuse for a case.

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Betsy Cazden @betsy-cazden.bsky.social · 23h

The attacks on yoga (and silent meditation) are long-standing in certain segments of the right-wing evangelical Christian community. There have been school board battles to get them banned as illegal proselytizing of religion (Hindu, Buddhist, something something un-Christian) in schools.

Betsy Cazden @betsy-cazden.bsky.social · 23h

Basic question: Is it possible this whole venture is because the Occupant doesn't understand that "war on drugs" was intended as a metaphor? I mean, he conflates political asylum with insane asylum, because it's the same word.

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Betsy Cazden @betsy-cazden.bsky.social · 23h

These are lawyers newly brought into the case from out of district, trying frantically to catch up with what they've signed onto. Tip: Do that before you agree to take the case.

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Betsy Cazden @betsy-cazden.bsky.social · 23h

Who votes in primaries doesn't correlate at all with general election outcomes. (In RI it's common to have a hot contest in the Dem race and little or none on the GOP side. Hot contest = higher turnout on that side. We've had higher total turnout for a primary than for the general.)

Betsy Cazden @betsy-cazden.bsky.social · 23h

Does the judge have authority to make these dismissals "with prejudice" to prevent re-charging them? And order compensation to the defendants for obviously improper filings?

Betsy Cazden @betsy-cazden.bsky.social · 1d

Halloween is a great time to stock up on all sorts of weird costumes, just saying. The suppliers seem to have put in good stocks before the tariffs hit.

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Betsy Cazden @betsy-cazden.bsky.social · 1d

You're assuming that the GOP *will* vote to reopen the government. Given how Vought (and with him, Trump) are gloating and scheming about how great the "shutdown" is and how it gives them total power, I suspect Johnson/Thune will do their bidding and just keep it shut and the House on recess.

Betsy Cazden @betsy-cazden.bsky.social · 1d

The problem with this: Russell Vought's goal is to make Congress irrelevant, and just spend money on what he approves of without authorization -- while everyone reliant on SNAP, WIC, VA services, or any other government program starves, and millions of Federal workers go unpaid.