- Texas Hospitalizations: 3,556 (+37). I think that's five positive days in a row.
- Here are five of the six* men charged in federal court in Michigan in a plan conceived this Spring to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. (*You'll see references to 13 people but seven are charged only in state court with slightly different allegations. Regardless, they all pretty much look like these boys.)
- Where in the world did those bubba nutcases get inspired to overthrow the Michigan government simply because they didn't like COVID restrictions? Who is their leader? Who do they admire?
- Everyone knew what he was talking about in April. He even got grilled about it during one of his COVID updates on the day of the tweets.
- And you wonder why so much of modern day religion is called the "Prosperity Gospel."
- Texas AG Ken Paxton has been in the news all week about bribery allegations and other corruption. It looks like it all revolves around the protection of this guy who the Texas Tribune profiled yesterday. Is everyone a conman out there?
- Yep. I'll say it again: This is going to be bad.
- Legal stuff: Rod Rosenstein got torched online yesterday for this tweet. Everyone, including me, wanted to dog him because the standard to indict someone is legally one of only probable cause (and, in practice and reality, much, much less than that.) But, I'll be dang, I "did a little research" and found that the official federal prosecutor manual from the Department of Justice proves him to be, at least in print, correct. It says don't indict unless you believe you have enough "admissible evidence" to "sustain a conviction." I doubt they honor it, but it does technically back up Rosenstein's tweet.
 |
From the manual
|
- Well, I would certainly hope so.
- Messenger: Above the Fold
- Texas hospitalizations. +125.
- Gov. Greg Abbott, who has somehow become the boogeyman for the Far Right, is now allowing bars to open at 50% capacity but only if the local county judges give it the OK. Wise County Judge J.D. Clark immediately said he would. Harris, Dallas, and Bexar county judges said no. The Tarrant County Judge is in a pickle and is currently deciding.
- There was a time in Wise County, in my lifetime in fact, where the County Judge would have shut down every bar or beer store for any reason he could legally find to do so just to insure he would get re-elected. And he would have been hailed as a hero if he did. That's not a political opinion, just an observation of how times change.
- Breaking: The Commission on Presidential Debates announced that next week's presidential debate will be virtual. The Contagious President immediately said he won't take part in it. (That was after he called Kamala Harris "this monster." And you wonder why he's not doing well with women?)
- Here's the billboard I was talking about on 287 north of Decatur.
- In the end, this is all we will remember from last night.
- Regarding the killing of a black man in Wolfe City by police, I told you that I bet there was a bodycam and that it had to be really bad based upon the quick arrest of the officer. Well, I was right about the bodycam according to the Probable Cause Affidavit. Now they need to release the video. The only reason they won't is that the fear a national reaction like after the George Floyd murder.
- Legal stuff: An interesting case was refused for review by Texas' highest criminal court yesterday (they were one vote short of the the required four.) The issue: Is it a due process violation if the prosecutor's brother-in-law and the judge's brother are seated on the jury and neither the prosecutor or judge says a thing? Yes, the defense lawyer failed to ask the questions to discover the problem but, still, is a constitutionally required fair trial destroyed if the prosecutor and judge just sit back, remain quiet, and smile? Here's the Petition which asked the court to review the case. (It did something I do from time to time: Cite to the TDCAA Weekly Case Summaries commentary which can sometimes be shockingly candid.)
- Maybe it's just a fluke, but I'm seeing a lot of high profile stories of violent crimes being committed by teenagers. Pandemic related? Social media upbringing related? We've got the story below out of Denton and about 10 days ago there was a horrific crime spree by a an 18 year old in Arlington (stabbed a store clerk, later attacked a couple walking and killed a man, and then stole a car and ran over another pedestrian on person.) And I could have sworn I saw a story out of Mesquite (?) about a gang of teenagers involved in a killing or robbery.
- I kept seeing this and thinking it was a parody account, but it has the verified blue check mark.
- I think I'd be so outraged I'd say, "That's odd but what time is Texas/OU?" (It's also a story from August.)
- If you really like legal stuff and First Amendment law, here is a great explanation why the Netflix prosecution by the fashion model D.A. over Cuties will go down in flames.
- Delkus is mad over something other than people ragging on him for being a bad weatherman. In his defense, this really is insane. How hard is it to process an application? And I wonder if he lives
- Fun fact about Wise County Jail population (after studying it for years): At any given time, 1/3 of the inmates have been in jail for under 30 days while 1/4 of them have been in jail for over 100 days. Those numbers are bizarrely consistent. The jail population seems to stay in a range from 175 to 195.
- Texas hospitalizations: A couple of days of increases.
- COVID and football:
- #2 in 6A-Division 1 Denton Ryan has cancelled its next two games. (Side note: I like spelling "cancelled" with two Ls.)
- New this morning: New England Patriots Stephon Gilmore has tested positive. Here he is with Pat Mahomes from Monday night:
- And, look out, we've got reports this morning that a player on the Las Vegas Raiders has tested positive.
- And another: Just saw that the Titans have two new positive tests and have cancelled today's practice. The game with the Bills on Sunday is now in jeopardy.
- There's a new billboard on 287 as you are entering Wise County from Montague County warning drivers to be on the lookout for ticky-tacky traffic violations that cops use as a pre-text to pull you over and spend an hour searching your car. Anyone got a photo? (I think the billboard is more of a shot at the Wise County Sheriff's Office than DPS although both are guilty.)
- A play called The Medicated President in Three Acts.
- Act I: Trump tweets at 1:48 p.m.
- Act II: Stock market reacts.
- Act III: Last night at 8:54 p.m.
- Netflix has been indicted out of deep East Texas.
- The D.A. in Tyler County (not Tyler, Texas) indicted Netflix for "Promotion of Lewd Visual Material Depicting Child" because of the film Cuties. That county is about the third of the size of Wise County. There is no way this indictment does not get dismissed. Disclaimer: I haven't seen Cuties, and most hard liners who have aren't particularly alarmed. (And "alarmed" isn't enough to criminalize speech in the United States anyway. This isn't hard.)
- Now is a good time for my trademarked slogan to be reissued again: "Too many cops. Too many prosecutors."™
- As much as I was surprised about that indictment, I was more stunned to learn that the photo below is of the actual elected district attorney in Tyler County. Really! I'm dead serious. His name is Lucas Babin who Wikipedia describes as "an American attorney, actor and fashion model."
- I really can't get over that. And District Attorney Babin was also "Spider" in School of Rock.
- I'm not sure what property got everyone's attention, but there was a large crowd for the monthly foreclosure auction on the Wise County courthouse steps yesterday.
The death of Eddie Van Halen made me realize (1) we are all getting old, and (2) I don't care who it is, I've always hated the extended electric guitar solo.
Messenger: Above the Fold
- Texas Hospitalizations: Steady.
- Bridgeport ISD seems to be in a COVID mess. There was little to no transparency about the Homecoming game being canceled on Thursday of last week, and yesterday they sent a letter out saying one student who has tested positive was on campus "on Friday."
- I told you to watch this case. The Texas Rangers have already hauled off an arrested the 22 year old officer on a murder charge. There has to be a video, and it has to be really bad. But I find it very disturbing that the official DPS statement says the decision to arrest was made after a "preliminary investigation." Preliminary? Is there some rush here? Is there some new rule where law enforcement has to go off half-cocked before having all the information?
- In one of the weirdest moments of any president, a highly medicated Trump returned to the White House, fully infected with a disease there is no cure for, labored to breath, saluted for 23 seconds like he went into a trance, and then ripped of his mask before walking into a taxpayer mansion to infect people who actually work for a living.
- Not to mention he filmed it all, helicopter ride included, so he could post a campaign ad within 30 minutes of it happening. All at taxpayer expense. This was all very Third Worldly.
- Then, once he is through the door, he films another sound bite to tell us, "Don't be afraid of COVID." Yes, don't be afraid, if you have a free helicopter on standby to fly you to free hospital, to see a free team of doctors, who will give you free experimental drugs, and then return you to your free mansion where you will have a free team of doctors by your bedside. Correction, I'm wrong about the free part. You'll have to pay $750 a year.
- Good lord, he just called COVID the flu again. And that's after calling it the plague two days ago. He's gone full circle to his attitude in February. This is really insane. Either that or the Dexamethasone side-effects are kicking in.
- And another. (COVID version).
- There were some local Megachurch leaders in the audience in the Super-Spreader Rose Garden event a week and half ago. In front of COVID-positive Chris Christie is Prestonwood pastor Jack Graham. Over there on the far left is Southlake Gateway Church TV pastor Robert Morris. (Just for fun I circled the crazy Paula White in the middle. That remind me: When is Righteous Gemstones coming back on HBO?)
- Here's video of Kellyanne Conway and her daughter arguing (as posted by her daughter.) Everything is fine in that house.
- Texas hospitalizations: 3,192.
- A lady died in the custody of the Wise County Jail on Friday night. Jennifer Leinberger, 46, who listed an address of Springtown, died for undetermined reasons. She had picked her daughter up at the jail earlier in the day but was then stopped about two miles away for her own outstanding warrant. I've got a rumor I'm working on.
- It was a heck of a weekend at, and leading up to, Trump's visit to Walter Reed. Let's review.
- Those with the red underline got the COVID at a super-spreader event.
- Chris Christie caught it to.
- Kelley Ann Conway's very wheels off daughter caught it from her mom.
- Is this what it looks like when you catch something "just like the flu"?
- The "lead doctor", Dr. Sean Conley, had to explain why he lied to us about Trump not receiving oxygen on Friday. His explanation might be the weirdest statements of a multitude of weird statements: "I didn't want to give any information that might steer the course of illness in another direction." Huh?
- They moved Trump in front of a couple of desks with the same props so he could "review documents" and sign his name to a blank piece of paper.
- Then Trump decided to try and kill a few secret service agents for a photo-op.
- If you haven't seen the video of this guy sucker punching someone at the Buc-ee's in Denton, you need to. What a coward.
- Unless my eyes deceive me, it looks like that pretty big hotel by Brookshires in Bridgeport has locked its doors and shut off its lights.
- A funny move by Lindsey Graham's opponent during their debate Saturday night.
- Keep an eye on this especially if there was a bodycam. And it might be time for Texas to find a different agency than the Texas Rangers to investigate these things.
- College football: (1) Man, TCU has the Evil Empire's number. (2) I generally hate TCU but I really like that sophomore QB. (3) OU has lost 3 of its four last four and has dropped out of the Top 25. They were 67-5-2 against Iowa State. (4) Baylor lost in double overtime after a questionable call. They stole four games just like that last year. It all averages out. (5) If I ever turn on a Texas Tech game, I'm always wildly entertained. (6) Pic of the week. The score at the time makes if funnier . . . .
- It's probably a bad sign when seven of Texas AG Ken Paxton top assistants alert the federal authorities that he's taking bribes.
- Good lord. Last night a child was killed during a carjacking which occurred during a weekend custody swap in the parking lot of Hugely Hospital off I-35 near Burleson. An arrest has been made.
- I stumbled across Old School on network CBS last night. I stuck with it about 10 minutes. What was left after the editing for "regular TV' would be as awful as you think.
.jpg)
