Humpday open thread: Oh my oh my

Well! Yesterday was interesting!

First, the New York Times and ABC News broke the story that Special Counsel Jack Smith sent Donald Trump a target letter, informing him that he was going to be indicted for inciting the January 6th insurrection.

Needless to say, Trump reacted with quiet, dignity, and grace. LOL, no, he shit his Depends and went on a completely nonlucid tirade on his social media site. If you'll recall, before this he let it slip that he was going to be charged in the insurrection case. Some thought it was just him getting it confused with the classified documents indictment. Seems that he was fully aware of what was coming down the pipe. And the indictments could come as soon as Thursday or Friday; Trump was invited to testify before the grand jury, which he refused.

Now, the likes of Steve Scalise and Speaker-in-name-only Kevin "Steve" McCarthy made the usual noises defending him. But one big-hitter in the GOP nomenklatura had this to say:

Asked about his level of concern that Trump may be accused of breaking the law in Jan. 6 probe, GOP Sen. John Cornyn told me: “I think that's entirely within the purview of the Department of Justice and has nothing to do with the United States Senate.”

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) July 18, 2023

Not exactly a full-throated defense. GOP presidential hopeful Asa Hutchinson also called for Trump to drop out of the race. Now, no, I don't think that the Republican Party will jettison Trump. It's now his cult. But perhaps some of the savvier politicians see the writing on the wall, will take the hit of 2024, and hope to rebuild in the ruins. No Republican is above corruption; but some might not want to go down the pit of despair, and hope to reconstruct the sweet deal they had working for them.

Then towards the end of the day news broke out of Michigan. Attorney General Dana Nessel charged the state's sixteen fake electors with a battery of crimes, which taken in total carry about 80 years of prison time. To our friends in the Bernie left who whine that voting doesn't matter because it's all rigged, I would point them to this. Not that it will change their minds, but the evidence for the need to vote every damned time, and not waste it on your own feels, is right there.

We've been waiting so long for justice that it always feels premature to celebrate. Fuck that. Every step on the road towards holding accountable those who would traduce our Republic is a reason for a joyful noise. What I hope to come out of these past few years is that those on the liberal-left side of the ledger no longer take this democracy for granted, or carry an ironic air about the duties of citizenship. We see what happens when we do not exert eternal vigilance to keep our liberties.

This is your open thread.

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