Cont: The Trump Presidency: Part 19

Status
Not open for further replies.
Segnosaur said:
Perhaps instead of arguing that Blago's sentence was too long, maybe instead you should consider the possibility that Blago's sentence was the right length, and Ryan's was too short.
Click to expand...

I don't see a single argument from anyone that 8 years was too short, so... yeah. Why don't you get on that first.
 
Ziggurat said:
A commutation may show contempt for the original sentence, but sentencing isn't democratic. Blago served more than 8 years in prison. He hardly got off scott free. And plenty of people who aren't Trump supporters have been saying for a long time that the original sentence was excessive.
Click to expand...

Besides, Dear Leader is incapable of error.
 
It's clear that the Trump supporters here have no interest in rule of law, no intereste in real Democracy, only interested in maintaining the GOP in power at whatever cost.
 
Meanwhile, The Trump Adminstration and Assange are calling each others liars, and they are both right.
 
Ziggurat said:
My source gave such an example: Nick Calabrese, who was only sentenced to 12 years. And he murdered 14 people.

Or the case of Gov. George Ryan. He was also convicted of corruption for selling government licenses, contracts, and leases. Unlike Blago, Ryan's corruption actually got people killed. He was only sentenced to 6-1/2 years in prison.

And until Trump commuted the sentence, Dick Durbin was one of the people saying that Blago's sentence was excessive.

Can you provide comparable cases to show that 8 years in prison is insufficient?
Click to expand...

I said comparable cases. Neither of these is comparable.

In Ryan's case, he was not selling a Congressional seat, he was selling licenses, contracts, accepting gifts etc.

A jury deliberated for 10 days before convicting Ryan in April
of racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud and other offenses while he
was secretary of state from 1991 to 1999 and governor of Illinois
for four years after that
Click to expand...
.
Ryan doled big-money contracts and leases out to his longtime
friend, businessman-lobbyist Warner and other insiders and in
return received benefits ranging from Caribbean vacations to a free
golf bag.
Click to expand...
The same jury that found Ryan guilty convicted Warner of
racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, attempted extortion, illegally
structuring bank withdrawals and money laundering.
Prosecutors argued in advance of the sentencing that Ryan should
get between eight and 10 years in prison. They said federal
guidelines called for a sentence in that range. But the guidelines
are no longer mandatory.
Click to expand...
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/art.../george-ryan-sentenced-to-6-5-years-in-prison


In Calabrese's case, he was never tried for the murders because it was part of the plea deal he made with the prosecutors in return for his cooperation in informing on the mob. Calabrese also expressed great regret for what he'd done. Blago, on the other hand, not only expresses no remorse, he insists he did nothing wrong. Sound familiar?
 
Ziggurat said:
I don't see a single argument from anyone that 8 years was too short, so... yeah. Why don't you get on that first.
Click to expand...

He was convicted of 18 federal charges, including attempted extortion, in two trials. That's a long-term pattern of deliberate abuse of his public office, not just "a mistake." The judge who heard all the witnesses and saw all the evidence determined that 14 years was an appropriate sentence. If a defendant feels a sentence is too harsh there are mechanisms to appeal it, and he did and was turned down by an appeals court. If he wanted a presidential pardon, there are procedures to request one. This is just an example of one crook taking care of another.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Blagojevich_corruption_charges

And Blagojevich is on TV today claiming that he was a political prisoner, prosecuted unjustly. No remorse, no apology, no regret.
 
Last edited:
Bob001 said:
He was convicted of 18 federal charges, including attempted extortion, in two trials. That's a long-term pattern of deliberate abuse of his public office, not just "a mistake." The judge who heard all the witnesses and saw all the evidence determined that 14 years was an appropriate sentence. If a defendant feels a sentence is too harsh there are mechanisms to appeal it, and he did and was turned down by an appeals court. If he wanted a presidential pardon, there are procedures to request one. This is just an example of one crook taking care of another.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Blagojevich_corruption_charges

And Blagojevich is on TV today claiming that he was a political prisoner, prosecuted unjustly. No remorse, no apology, no regret.
Click to expand...

Wow....he really has turned into a Trumpocrat!
 
This argument that Trump pardoned these men only because their prosecutions/sentencing offended Trump's keen sense of justice is ridiculous. But if you have to try and defend everything this bum does, what else do you have? Trump, the defender of liberty and justice. Seriously?

It looks to me like Trump is starting to do what Trump has ALWAYS done. Self-destruct.
 
Trump Tweets

I am pleased to announce that our highly respected Ambassador to Germany, @RichardGrenell, will become the Acting Director of National Intelligence. Rick has represented our Country exceedingly well and I look forward to working with him. I would like to thank Joe Maguire....

....for the wonderful job he has done, and we look forward to working with him closely, perhaps in another capacity within the Administration!
 
Upchurch said:
Daily Kos is worth finding a supporting source.
Click to expand...

Daily Kos serves decently well as a news roundup, I think. As it was, that link provided further links to what it was basing pretty much everything that it said there, like most of the links to Daily Kos that I use here.
 
To poke at stuff on Daily Kos again...

A new report out of The Daily Beast suggests that at least one of the many criminals pardoned by Donald Trump during his Tuesday free-for-all filled up the Trump Victory Committee with “hundreds of thousands of dollars in direct contributions and in-kind air travel.” According to the Beast, Paul Pogue and his family signed a lot of checks to the president’s committee in the months preceding his pardon.

Paul Pogue was convicted in 2010 for filing false income tax statements. According to the Dallas Morning News, Pogue, the former CEO of construction company Pogue Construction, based in Texas, pled guilty to underreporting taxable income in 2004, 2005, and 2006 and was given three years’ probation, a $250,000 fine, as well as a restitution judgement of almost half a million dollars. An additional 1,000 hours of community service was also required of Pogue.
Click to expand...

Also...

Missouri Republicans mistakenly kick 60,000 kids off of Medicaid, resist reinstating them

Par for the course, really, much as mistakenly might be a bit inaccurate. As would be kicked, honestly, give that it's more that the Republicans failed to do their duty to notify the parents and then blame the parents for not acting when they hadn't been notified.
 
Last edited:
Trump, continuing to follow through on his campaign promise to only appoint the very best, has named Richard Grenell as the acting Director of National Intelligence. He is the current Ambassador to Germany. Grenell has no experience in Intelligence which makes him an odd choice, especially considering the DNI serves as the top intelligence officer in the US. Grenell's experience, besides being the Amb. to Germany was as the US spokesperson at the UN and as Romney's foreign policy spokesperson during his 2012 bid for the presidency. On the other hand, Grenell is a huge Trump supporter. That pretty much is all the requirement that Trump needs.
 
Last edited:
Aridas said:
Missouri Republicans mistakenly kick 60,000 kids off of Medicaid, resist reinstating them

Par for the course, really, much as mistakenly might be a bit inaccurate. As would be kicked, honestly, give that it's more that the Republicans failed to do their duty to notify the parents and then blame the parents for not acting when they hadn't been notified.
Click to expand...

If you really want perspective on Missouri Medicaid, consider this: the current MO Medicaid eligibility rules for a custodial parent are that they can't make more than $301 a month. A month. Because that will make them too wealthy to qualify for state-funded medical insurance.

That's ten bucks a day. If you make ten bucks a day and have custody of a child you are considered rich enough to afford private health insurance here.
 
TragicMonkey said:
If you really want perspective on Missouri Medicaid, consider this: the current MO Medicaid eligibility rules for a custodial parent are that they can't make more than $301 a month. A month. Because that will make them too wealthy to qualify for state-funded medical insurance.

That's ten bucks a day. If you make ten bucks a day and have custody of a child you are considered rich enough to afford private health insurance here.
Click to expand...

There's no law that says a kid has to eat every day. And what's wrong with a tent? Today's tents can be very luxurious with zippers on the doors and even waterproof roofs. They need to stop feeling so entitled.

:rolleyes:
 
TragicMonkey said:
If you really want perspective on Missouri Medicaid, consider this: the current MO Medicaid eligibility rules for a custodial parent are that they can't make more than $301 a month. A month. Because that will make them too wealthy to qualify for state-funded medical insurance.

That's ten bucks a day. If you make ten bucks a day and have custody of a child you are considered rich enough to afford private health insurance here.
Click to expand...

Are you sure about that?
https://medicaid-help.org/Missouri-Qualifications/
The numbers I see there are considerably higher.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Back
Top Bottom