Althouse: At the Late Night Cafe...

August 21, 2018

At the Late Night Cafe...

... you can talk all night.

53 comments:

readering said...: Donald Trump, meet Michael Cohen.; 8/21/18, 8:53 PM
Floris said...: Just catching up on the Bennett / Argento / Bourdain thing. Is there anyone alive who doesn't think that the entertainment industry is full of the most repulsive people on earth? What is it that attracts people of such disgusting character to that industry?; 8/21/18, 8:59 PM
Original Mike said...: Kellyanne Conway today: Dossier is a French word for pile of crap.; 8/21/18, 9:04 PM
Drago said...: readering: "Donald Trump, meet Michael Cohen."

You'd be prudent to post no more than 3 words at a time.

LOL; 8/21/18, 9:06 PM
readering said...: Reminded that Rep. Scott DesJarlais was the third Member of Congress to endorse Trump for president (Collins and Hunter 1 and 2).; 8/21/18, 9:06 PM
SteveR said...: We just need the SCOTUS pick to go thru.; 8/21/18, 9:08 PM
readering said...: I'd take that deal.; 8/21/18, 9:14 PM
Mike Sylwester said...: Song lyrics by Meredith Wilson (1902 - 1984)

-----

Till There Was You

There were bells on the hill,
But I never heard them ringing.
No, I never heard them at all,
Till there was you.

There were birds in the sky,
But I never saw them winging.
No, I never saw them at all,
Till there was you.

And there was music,
And there were wonderful roses --
They tell me --
In sweet fragrant meadows of dawn
And dew

There was love all around,
But I never heard it singing
No, I never heard it at all,
Till there was you!

-----

Sung by Shirley Jones; 8/21/18, 9:18 PM
rhhardin said...: Fusion jazz from "In a Day" (2006)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cge7XbzT_IE
lyrics in first comment

interesting for changes between pairs of lines starting on 3rd beat or 1st beat of 4/4, giving the impression the time has changed but no beat seems to be missing.; 8/21/18, 9:19 PM
Inga...Allie Oop said...: Cohen under oath. Not a good day for Trumpists. It’s only the beginning.; 8/21/18, 9:20 PM
mccullough said...: Mookie Betts is having an MVP year.; 8/21/18, 9:25 PM
Sebastian said...: "What is it that attracts people of such disgusting character to that industry?"

What is it that attracts people to people of such disgusting character in that industry?

What is that attracts people to that industry's product?

What does that attraction say about the audience, and about the Polanski Left's success in transvaluing American values?; 8/21/18, 9:29 PM
n.n said...: #PWGLM = Pretty White Girl's Lives Matter

#BLM = Baby Lives Matter

#AALM = African-American Lives Matter

I wonder if they will investigate Obama's role in deposing the democratic government in Kiev. The selective witch hunt hinges on retroactive crimes.; 8/21/18, 9:30 PM
Original Mike said...: Blogger Inga...Allie Oop said...”Cohen under oath. Not a good day for Trumpists. It’s only the beginning.”

At most, it’s a campaign violation.; 8/21/18, 9:34 PM
Sebastian said...: Althouse said: "There's too much talk about the Iowa murder case, with a suspect who's been in the country illegally, and how this might be what ordinary Americans really care about."

I really care about it, unlike those non-ordinary Americans, whoever they are.; 8/21/18, 9:42 PM
Michael K said...: readering is enjoying Duncan Hunter being indicted on campaign finance chrges, sory fo like Cohen.

The day after the September 11 attacks, Hunter quit his job and joined the United States Marine Corps. He attended Officer Candidates School at Marine Corps Base Quantico. Upon graduation in March 2002, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He subsequently served as a field artillery officer in the 1st Marine Division after the 2003 invasion of Iraq and completed a second tour in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004, serving in Battery A, 1st Battalion, 11th Marines. During his second tour, he participated in Operation Vigilant Resolve.

In September 2005, Hunter was honorably discharged from active duty but remained in the Marine Corps Reserve. He then started a residential development company. In 2007, he was recalled to active duty and deployed to Afghanistan in support of the War in Afghanistan; this was his third tour of duty during the War on Terrorism. Hunter was honorably discharged from active duty in December 2007, but continues to serve in the Marine Corps Reserve.[9][10] Hunter was promoted to major in 2012.

Meet Duncan Hunter.

Hunter's attorney Gregory Vega said that an indictment only three months before the election and almost two years since the investigation began “reflects a loss of impartiality and appears to be an effort to derail Congressman Hunter’s reelection in the Nov. 6, 2018 election.”

Hunter has previously said he did not handle the campaign’s credit card and did not do anything improper. He attributed any violations to honest mistakes, and repaid several thousands of dollars to his campaign before the FBI investigation began.

But the government alleges the Hunters often overdrew their bank accounts and charged up their credit cards to support a lifestyle they could not afford, and were repeatedly warned that using campaign funds for their personal spending was inappropriate.

The Clintons don; over use credit cards. They don't have to. Peter Strzok gets $500k in his "GoFundMe" account.

The LA Times is salivating.; 8/21/18, 9:43 PM
readering said...: Always admire stories of wartime service:

https://www.wired.com/story/robert-mueller-vietnam/; 8/21/18, 9:49 PM
Wince said...: Althouse overlooks the sense of utter preventability occasioned by a homicide at the hands of a person who should not be inside the country in the first place.; 8/21/18, 9:53 PM
eric said...: Duncan Hunter is very pro border patrol and hardline immigration.

This story smells to me.

Also, why are we celebrating Trump being blackmailed by these women? They should be prosecuted for their crime.; 8/21/18, 9:54 PM
wwww said...: There's no good excuse for this:

"Clothing purchases at a golf course were falsely reported as golf "balls for the wounded warriors.""; 8/21/18, 9:57 PM
Howard said...: MIke K: Was talking with wife today about Hunter's woes. IMO, part of the problem is that congress is way under-payed. They get $175K work all the time at a world-class job and have to maintain two households. It's a situation that invites chiseling, graft and under the table payments.; 8/21/18, 10:04 PM
wwww said...: 156) On or about November 19 to 29, the HUNTERS spent $14,261.33 (including airfare) in Campaign funds to pay for a family vacation to Italy.

157) On or about November 23, 2015, in an attempt to justify the use of Campaign funds to pay for the family's trip to Italy, DUNCAN HUNTER attempted to set up a day tour of a U.S. naval facility in Italy. After Navy officials responded that they could only provide a tour on a particular date, DUNCAN HUNTER said he would discuss the proposed date with MARGARET HUNTER, then subsequently told his Chief of Staff, "tell the navy to go f*** themselves (no alliteration in the original)," and no tour occurred."; 8/21/18, 10:05 PM
narciso said...: Of course it stinks to high heaven, are they going to go after every congressman that goes on junkets, Charlie Rangel didn't declare a million dollars in taxes.; 8/21/18, 10:22 PM
Francisco D said...: "Cohen under oath. Not a good day for Trumpists. It’s only the beginning."

Tell us more than you got from the DNC website, Inga. What will Cohen say that will put Trump in trouble?

You may have to put down your vibrator to type out a response. No judgment there. Even fat, stupid and ugly people need love.; 8/21/18, 10:22 PM
Big Mike said...: Of course it stinks to high heaven, are they going to go after every congressman that goes on junkets, Charlie Rangel didn't declare a million dollars in taxes.

He's a Democrat. He doesn't have to obey the law. Just ask Inga and readering and roesch.; 8/21/18, 10:27 PM
narciso said...: There's a dossier in this last mission impossible film, it has echoes to the first film. When you think about it.; 8/21/18, 10:28 PM
StephenFearby said...: It strikes me that it would be inappropriate (or illegal) for Trump's campaign organization to fork over hush money to blackmailers.

Since the money paid was NOT paid by the campaign, proving there was a campaign violation would appear to be a stretch.

But not for the guy (who said he would take a bullet for Trump) looking for a sweet plea deal for tax evasion:

'Michael Cohen’s lawyer issued a statement Tuesday that President Trump “directed” his client to commit a crime to help him get elected.

The lawyer, Lanny Davis, made the comment after Cohen admitted in Manhattan Federal Court that he paid two women hush money — “at direction of the candidate” — to influence the 2016 presidential election.

“Michael Cohen took this step today so that his family can move on to the next chapter,” Davis said.

“Today he stood up and testified under oath that Donald Trump directed him to commit a crime by making payments to two women for the principal purpose of influencing an election.”

Cohen pleaded guilty to two campaign finance-related charges, as well as five tax-evasion charges and one charge of making a false statement to a bank.

Davis claimed that if Cohen is guilty, so is Trump.

“If those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldn’t they be a crime for Donald Trump?” Davis asked.'

https://nypost.com/2018/08/21/cohens-lawyer-trump-directed-him-to-commit-a-crime/

Since I'm not a lawyer, perhaps someone who is might usefully opine.

Here's something from the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

'Giving “hush money” certainly sounds shady, but attorneys say it’s not illegal to give someone cash to keep quiet about an affair.

“It’s very common, and not just for sexual things but anything embarrassing,” said Robert Langford, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor.

Confidentiality agreements are common, involving anything from medical malpractice cases to adultery, he noted.

It could be a crime, however, if someone paid a witness to withhold testimony or tried to influence their testimony in an official proceeding.

In a high-profile case Langford was involved in, singer Celine Dion’s husband, Rene Angelil, paid a woman who had accused him of sexual misconduct $2 million. As part of a settlement, the accuser and her husband agreed to keep quiet in exchange for the money.

The couple later was charged with extortion because authorities said they demanded more money and threatened to go public if they weren’t paid.

In Sen. John Ensign’s case, the April 2008 payments from each of his parents were intended as four $12,000 gifts to Cindy Hampton, her husband Doug and two of their children, who were described as long-time family friends going through a tough time.

But giving money to the Hamptons isn’t a crime even if it was intended to silence them, lawyers said.'

https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/payment-of-hush-money-common/; 8/21/18, 10:36 PM
Big Mike said...: Came across a clever joke today. What is the difference between Donald Trump and a reform rabbi?

ANS: Trump has Jewish grandchildren.

Not that anyone will laugh. Either you aren’t of Jewish descent and you don’t get it, or you are Jewish and the truth embedded in the answer will only piss you off even more.; 8/21/18, 10:53 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Well, I found Oglaf funny this week in a silly, nsfw way:

https://www.oglaf.com/redleather/

(It's an online comic, mostly, but not always nsfw, set in a d&d type universe. Did I mention IT IS NSFW?)

Surprisingly no deities were present..; 8/21/18, 11:01 PM
Yancey Ward said...: This is the end of the Mueller investigation, though Inga doesn't realize it. The idea that Trump is going to be indicted on the word of Michael Cohen is ridiculous, as is the idea that paying Daniels off is a campaign finance violation. Trump could have spent a million or ten million buying Daniels off and it wouldn't be a campaign finance violation- he is free to spend his own money in any amount on his campaign. Cohen is in trouble for admitting he spent his own money on Daniels- that could be construed as a political donation above the federal limits, but here is the thing- Trump reimbursed him. All Cohen can claim is that Trump told him to pay Daniels without reimbursement, but what idiots other than those like Inga are going to believe this- it literally makes no sense for Trump to pay Daniels this way since it is the only way the payment can be made illegally. I don't know why Cohen used his own funds, but his story is illogical on its face. Unless Cohen has a tape of Trump ordering it be done this way, it will go no further than this, and I think if the ADA in Manhattan had any plans at all of pursuing this angle, Cohen would not be facing the jail time he is- his testimony would surely be worth a much, much shorter sentence.; 8/21/18, 11:41 PM
readering said...: Amateur hour on Manafort and Cohen. Meanwhile, any takes on Hunter(s) indictment. Interesting reading.; 8/21/18, 11:48 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: In SoCal in the 80s & 90s, there were 3 great wild congressman; (1) Bob Dornan, (2) Duke Cunningham and (3) Duncan Hunter (the father). Sadly, it hadn't turned out too well for all 3.; 8/21/18, 11:58 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Readering, I will make the prediction right now- Trump won't be indicted for Cohen's "crime".

As for Manafort, he got what he deserved, but then he never had anything on Trump to offer in a plea, which is why he was forced to go to trial and lose. The real amateur hour are all the people thinking this is the end of Trump. Simply mind-boggling to any rational human watching today's events.; 8/22/18, 12:01 AM
eric said...: Blogger Yancey Ward said...
Readering, I will make the prediction right now- Trump won't be indicted for Cohen's "crime".

As for Manafort, he got what he deserved, but then he never had anything on Trump to offer in a plea, which is why he was forced to go to trial and lose. The real amateur hour are all the people thinking this is the end of Trump. Simply mind-boggling to any rational human watching today's events.

The glee will soon enough turn to rage and tears, as it has for the past few years.

However, the goal isn't the joy the Never Trump and Democrats are feeling today.

The goal is to get out the vote in November.

I'm pretty sure it's going to work, too. My guess is that Mueller will announce something come October or November and whatever it is, won't fizzle like a dud until later in November or next year.

I'm pretty sure most of the deep state folks and politicians and media personalities are all aware that they won't be able to "get Trump" unless they win in November, and so, that's the plan.

I think they'll succeed in the House and if they win in the Senate, it'll be by a slim margin.; 8/22/18, 12:30 AM
Gretchen said...: There were two very flawed people running for president in 2016.

One of them engaged a private IT firm to operate a private server which was used for highly classified government communications. Communications that could get Americans killed. Hillary used unsecured devices in Russia and other countries hostile to the US and our interests. She got off scot-free, and was not punished at all, unlike the treatment a 19-year-old lowest level enlisted member of the armed services would be. Hillary also used her position as SOS to secure millions in "donations" to the CGI or as speaking fees for Bill. This money dried up when she lost her bid for the Presidency, so obviously it was for access.

The other one paid hush money to one of his mistresses.

Which is a bigger threat to the safety of the country?; 8/22/18, 12:36 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Here is the theory of the Cohen story- does any of this make sense?

Trump asked Cohen to pay off Daniels and do so with his, Cohen's, money. Does that story make even a bit of sense? Why would Cohen agree to this- not to even ask why Trump would demand it in the first place? What would be gained by doing so? And, in any case, Trump was the person who paid in the end. If Trump had put it on his Amex card, would American Express be guilty of a campaign finance violation?

Cohen has bad lawyers if he agreed to plea on that count, but it is Lanny Davis, so I shouldn't be surprised.; 8/22/18, 12:51 AM
Rosalyn C. said...: Mark Levin explained at length on his own program as well as to Hannity why the payment of "hush money" AKA non-disclosure agreements are not actually campaign contributions. Notice that Michael Cohen plead guilty to this even though numerous lawyers state he wasn't guilty of that, rather than have a trial where that question of campaign finance law could have been disputed in court. That was the big bargain. Cohen's lawyer Lanny Davis, obviously was/is motivated by extreme animus against Trump rather than defending Michael Cohen. I wonder who actually suggested Cohen fire his entire defense team and who put him in contact with Lanny Davis. Cohen hired Davis as a lawyer (beginning in July, 2018) as well as Guy Petrillo, a former top staffer in the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, the same office that is now probing Cohen, to make this deal. Now Davis is claiming Cohen has been "liberated" and wants to talk about conspiracies/collusions, etc., because his only interest is serving the cause of Truth. We're told that wasn't part of the plea deal, of course. Never underestimate the evil of lawyers.; 8/22/18, 12:52 AM
walter said...: I ain't gots no legal learnin' but..
Seems to me a lawyer's role is to shepherd their client toward, ya know, legal actions..; 8/22/18, 1:14 AM
walter said...: Rumor has it the blog hostess has legal learnin'.
Dunno..; 8/22/18, 1:29 AM
walter said...: I remember some FBI suit sayin' Trump was concerned about his current wife and piss tape rumors, of all things.
I'm sorta sure this has no relevance to charges about shuttin' up whores.
But again, I aint gots no legal learnin'.; 8/22/18, 1:36 AM
rehajm said...: Headwinds Facing GOP Might Not Be So Strong. Number five alone pretty much covers it.; 8/22/18, 4:35 AM
rehajm said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/22/18, 5:35 AM
rehajm said...: A strong contrast to the prevailing 'wisdom' of the party in power always loses seats in the midterms or worse, relying strongly on turnout models based largely on special elections.; 8/22/18, 5:48 AM
rehajm said...: Target and Wal-Mart are seeing significantly growing same store sales. Target and Wal-Mart shoppers are lower/middle/upper middle class households- those households Trump targeted in the Midwest. Trump Democrats. Are those people going to reject their improving economic status, reject capitalism and embrace the socialist message peddled by the left? It doesn't make much sense to me...; 8/22/18, 5:57 AM
Darrell said...: We reject Macy's because of their red-star logo.
Go K-Mart!; 8/22/18, 6:06 AM
Kevin said...: We now begin the Lanny Davis media tour on behalf of his client who already accepted a plea deal.

Wait, what?; 8/22/18, 6:38 AM
Robert Cook said...: "Just catching up on the Bennett / Argento / Bourdain thing. Is there anyone alive who doesn't think that the entertainment industry is full of the most repulsive people on earth? What is it that attracts people of such disgusting character to that industry?"

They're just a microcosm of humanity at large. The public's attention is focused on them, so we see their foibles; these foibles also exist in people we're not looking at.; 8/22/18, 6:40 AM
tim in vermont said...: They're just a microcosm of humanity at large.

No, most people just want to live out their lives in quiet desperation.; 8/22/18, 7:48 AM
EsoxLucius said...: Dig up Danny Kaye to sing "The King is in the Altogether"; 8/22/18, 8:00 AM
William said...: My powers of clairvoyance lead me to believe that the Mollie Tibbets story will disappear from mainstream news but will become bigger than the Lindbergh kidnapping on Fox News......If you need a lengthy explanation to document the nature of the crime and the legal theory as to why it's a crime, then it's not a high crime or misdemeanor.; 8/22/18, 8:21 AM
MadTownGuy said...: Seen today in social media, from The Atlantic: 'Corporations Are People' Is Built on an Incredible 19th-Century Lie.'

My impolite question is - if corporations aren't people, what are they? Robots? Clumps of cells? And if corporations consist of voluntary associations of people, do those people become non-persons by virtue of belonging to a corporation? Just wondering.

Further, though I'm not a student of Constitutional Law, I wonder if there aren't other cases, before and after, that didn't rely on what the article claims is a lie about the intent of the authors of the 14th Amendment.; 8/22/18, 8:28 AM
tim in vermont said...: That is the liberal definition of a lie. A lie to a liberal is something that they refuse to consider may possibly be true. Therefore it is a lie because reasons.; 8/22/18, 10:02 AM
Bad Lieutenant said...: readering said...
Reminded that Rep. Scott DesJarlais was the third Member of Congress to endorse Trump for president (Collins and Hunter 1 and 2).

8/21/18, 9:06 PM

Is that the order, then, in which y'all are politically assaulting them?; 8/22/18, 3:50 PM