Update from the Sunland
No.1097
16.1.23 – 22.1.23
Blog version: http://heartlandupdate.blogspot.com/
To all,
On 8.September.2022, United States District Judge Donald Marsh Middlebrooks of the Southern District of Florida dismissed with prejudice the case of Trump v. Clinton [USDC FL SD Case 2:22-cv-14102-DMM (2023)]. The Plaintiff has accused former secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton plus 30 other individuals and organizations with conspiracy against him in the 2016 election and to deny him the 2020 election victory he likes to tout for fund-raising purposes. Last Thursday, 19.January.2023, Judge Middlebrooks issued his Order on Sanctions in the case. The first two paragraphs of the judge’s 46-page order stated:
“This case should never have been brought. Its inadequacy as a legal claim was evident from the start. No reasonable lawyer would have filed it. Intended for a political purpose, none of the counts of the amended complaint stated a cognizable legal claim.
“Thirty-one individuals and entities were needlessly harmed in order to dishonestly advance a political narrative. A continuing pattern of misuse of the courts by Mr. Trump and his lawyers undermines the rule of law, portrays judges as partisans, and diverts resources from those who have suffered actual legal harm.”
The judge granted Defendants’ Joint Motion for Sanctions against Donald J. Trump and Plaintiff’s lead attorney—Alina Habba and Habba Madaio & Associates—to the tune of US$937,989.39. Further, the judge detailed an excellent sequential example of modus operandi employed by [the person who shall no longer be named] in his relentless efforts to intimidate, coerce, distract, deflect, and otherwise consume anyone and everyone whom he feels stands in his way. The judge was not kind to the former president, and rightly so.
The judge’s sanction was to pay for the Defendants’ legal costs and fees. What is distinctly missing is punitive sanctions against [the person who shall no longer be named] for his frivolous wastage of judicial capacity. As the judge’s analysis indicated, [the person who shall no longer be named] deserves a steep, proportional, and very painful penalty for what rightly labeled superfluous litigation.
I happened to watch a Lex Fridman podcast interview of film producer/director Oliver Stone about his interview of Vladimir Putin and his opinions on the war in Ukraine. I was interested to hear his thoughts since I felt Ukraine was fairly clear cut, and I have seen and listened to Stove on numerous topics like his documentary series “The Untold History of the United States.” Stone has been and apparently remains a heavily left leaning person. He always makes some very good and valid points; however, he goes a little too far left for my knowledge of history and thinking. During the interview, Fridman referred to a tweet released by Stone a week or so after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Part One of Three of that tweet is inserted below.
Oliver Stone
@TheOliverStone
(1/3) My thoughts about the invasion of #Ukraine.
3:04 PM · Mar 3, 2022
Although the United States has many wars of aggression on its conscience, it doesn’t justify Mr. Putin’s aggression in Ukraine. A dozen wrongs don’t make a right. Russia was wrong to invade. It has made too many mistakes –
1) underestimating Ukrainian resistance,
2) overestimating the [Russian] military’s ability to achieve its objective,
3) underestimating Europe’s reaction, especially Germany upping its military contribution to NATO, which they’ve resisted for some 20 years; even Switzerland has joined the cause. Russia will be more isolated than ever from the West,
4) underestimating the enhanced power of NATO, which will now put more pressure on Russia’s borders,
5) probably putting Ukraine into NATO,
6) underestimating the damage to its own economy and certainly creating more internal resistance in Russia,
7) creating a major readjustment of power in its oligarch class,
8) putting cluster and vacuum bombs into play, and
9) underestimating the power of social media worldwide.
I could add a few more, but I think in this context, he has driven the nail home. I think he fairly accurately notes Putin’s causal mistakes, but Stone’s words during the Fridman interview go too far as quasi-rationale for the Russian invasion. As he has done in films, documentaries and opinion pieces, Stone cleverly uses his heavily left perspective to paint a different view of history. Ultimately, I cannot agree with his rendition of history, yet his perspective is important to hone our views and opinions.
The difficulty the world has now is convincing Putin and his ultra-nationalist supporters that they must leave Ukraine, return take lands including Crimea, and respect Ukraine as an equally sovereign neighbor. We must help them become comfortable with a return Ukraine that is a NATO signatory country. From my perspective, it is only a matter of time and how many dead they can tolerate.
For those who may be interested in the interview as well, here is the URL for Lex Friidman’s interview of Oliver Stone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygAqYC8JOQI
Comments and contributions from Update no.1096:
“Yes, your man whose name I cannot mention is constantly making our headlines. This time a massive charge for making a frivolous lawsuit. How much longer can this go on? I’m personally surprised he hasn’t done a runner to a safe hideaway but then who would want this disgraced individual spreading such offensive bunkum to us all. How did he ever make the grade needed to fulfil the role he once allegedly possessed?”
URL:
My response:
[The person who shall no longer be named] is in the headlines here as well, although less so lately. His modus operandi is decades old, long before he became 45POTUS; he uses litigation as a bludgeon to intimidate anyone and everyone who does not agree with him. He has stiffed subcontractors for work performed over the decades. He is a conman who uses bling and razzle-dazzle to distract, disorient, confuse, and diminish his opponents.
Running is still a potential, although for him it would be the choice of last resort because that would be admission that he committed crime(s). Imagine: he would be safe and welcomed in Russia; Putin loves him. To do so, he would have to shuck his Secret Service detail, not an easy trick. Remember, he wanted to go to the Capitol on January 6th, but the Secret Service stopped him.
“How did he ever make the grade needed to fulfil the role he once allegedly possessed?” Short answer: as an experienced conman, he fooled a large number of U.S. citizens, who fell victim to his razzle-dazzle and snake-oil pitch. They wanted to believe, and they believed. Worse, solid U.S. citizens who know better chose power and influence over the Constitution and the law.
My very best wishes to all. Take care of yourselves and each other.
Cheers,
Cap :-)
2 comments:
Good Monday, Cap,
The chickens are coming home to roost on 45POTUS. It’s a shame the judge didn’t add punitive sanctions; they’d be highly appropriate.
Putin’s mistake that neither you nor Oliver Stone mentioned is killing off some of his oligarchs. Any dictator needs the support of the wealthy, and losing the oligarchs will cause much trouble.
Putin doesn’t “love” 45POTUS or anyone else. Putin uses people, and 45POTUS is no longer useful.
Enjoy your day,
Calvin
Good morning to you, Calvin,
Quite so, and as you say, highly appropriate. I will add, the sooner the better. He belongs in prison . . . and if I had my way, he would be held in isolation and incomunicado; he deserves nothing more. There is always hope until there isn’t.
As I stated, my friend, I could add a few more mistakes to the list. Putin’s murder of anyone who opposes him or speaks out against him is certainly one of those additional mistakes. He likely did not pull the trigger, or inject the poison, or push someone off the 8th balcony, or any one of a variety of methods to kill, but there is zero doubt in my little pea-brain that he was and is the instigator of such crimes. In the case of the oligarchs he has disposed of, he is trying to send a clear message to the others, just as a dictator or a mafia boss would do—no dissent! Putin is playing a very dangerous game.
You caught me; I overstated reality, opting for simplicity. I think Putin sees the man for exactly what he is—a feckless façade of a human being who has conned millions of people to buy & believe in his worthless snake-oil. No, Putin knows exactly who he is, but to Putin, that makes him a useful parasite. I do think he would welcome him in Russia if he chose to run.
“That’s just my opinion, but I could be wrong.”
Stay warm and safe. Have a great day. Take care and enjoy.
Cheers,
Cap
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