“The first Jan. 6 rioter sentenced for a felony charge began mounting a desperate bid Wednesday to unravel his plea agreement, claiming through a newly retained attorney that his signature on the deal was forged. But the federal judge in the case, Randy Moss, expressed skepticism about the claim and noted it could even put Paul Hodgkins at legal risk, since he said under oath that he had reviewed and accepted the plea deal. Hodgkins was charged with felony obstruction of Congress for breaching the Capitol and making his way to the floor of the Senate, where images show him donning gloves and rifling through some papers left in the evacuated room.”

“He pleaded guilty to the charge in June, while being represented by attorney Patrick Leduc, a JAG Reserve officer who later deployed to Qatar, where he is assisting with Afghan refugee rescue operations. Moss sentenced Hodgkins in July to an eight-month jail term, far below the recommended 16-month sentence, an acknowledgment that Hodgkins was among the first to accept responsibility. But Hodgkins’ new claim puts the matter into turmoil. Hodgkins had asked Moss to delay his jail sentence, set to begin on Sept. 20, until January, giving him time to mount his effort to unwind the plea agreement. But Moss rejected that attempt Wednesday afternoon, saying Hodgkins ‘has not demonstrated good cause for the requested four-month delay'” – Politico.

Vladimir John Ondrasik III, better known by his stage name “Five for Fighting,” was invited on to Fox News for an afternoon live spot to promote a song he performs decrying President Joe Biden’s oversight of the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.  Titled “Blood on My Hands,” the song will surely be played at future GOP rallies, though it surprisingly doesn’t include any mention of the troops lost under the command of Donald Trump or George W. Bush, nor does it acknowledge the 620,000 Americans who have died from the coronavirus.

Ondrasik, who hasn’t had a Top 100 Song since 2009, was invited to share his views on the network that routinely savages celebrities who dare to share their political views.  The Ondrasik/Nugent/Kid Rock tour is allegedly in the planning stages.  Look for dates at a tractor pull near you.

Said Ben Shapiro on his Wednesday show: “On a national level, why should we care about California? Well, because what it actually presages is not just politics in California. What it presages is a question, whether we actually do want to remain part of the same body politic. If we do want to remain part of the same body politic, we’re going to have to construct a system of a federal government in which Texas can be Texas and California can be California. However, California has to let Texas be Texas. And herein lies the rub. Because the federal government has no interest, when run by Democrats, in allowing Texas to be Texas. They’d like Texas to be California. And if that’s the case, what you’re going to end up with is a fairly ugly split between states that wish to be left alone and states that wish to run their business from the top level of the federal government.”

A Quinnipiac University polling institute survey finds the Supreme Court’s approval pretty low, with an overall 37 to 49% approve/disapprove number among all respondents (negative 12 net), 37% to 47% approve/disapprove with Independent voters (negative 10 net), 28 to 62% with Dems (negative 34%), and 47% to 40 among Republican voters. Now if we had to guess why the most Conservative Supreme Court ever only manages a +7% net approval rating from Republican voters, we’d probably think decisions like not overturning the 2020 election would be a big reason. Maybe even the only reason, though Amy “Commie” Barrett’s refusal to hear anti-vax college students surely didn’t help.

Salah Abdeslam, on trial for his role in the 2015 Paris terrorist attack that killed 130 people, said the murders were “nothing personal” in his first acknowledgement of his part in the attack, the Associated Press reports.

The November 2015 attacks consisted of suicide bombings and mass shooters at six different locations around Paris, killing 130 victims and seven terrorists while wounding more than 400.  It was the deadliest attack on Paris since World War II.  The attackers hit a soccer stadium, a concert hall and street-front shops and restaurants.  The manhunt for the perpetrators stretched into the following summer.

A Belgian national, Abdeslam was one of nine ISIL terrorists working out of Brussels who were mainly French and Belgian citizens.  They traveled between the Belgium and France without issue, allowing them to transport their guns and bombs to the target after obtaining them in Brussels.

“Biden was just asked if General Milley did the right thing His answer: ‘I have great confidence in General Milley’ Nothing else”reports the AP’s Jonathan Lemire.

“Most Americans feel democracy is under attack in this country (56%), according to a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS, as 51% say it is likely that elected officials in the US will successfully overturn the results of a future election because their party did not win. Nearly all Americans feel that democracy in the US is at least being tested: 93% total say that democracy is either under attack (56%) or being tested but not under attack (37%). A scant 6% say democracy is in no danger.”

“Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to say that democracy is under attack, and that view is most prevalent among those who support former President Donald Trump. All told, 75% of Republicans say democracy is under attack, compared with 46% of Democrats. And Republicans who support Trump continue to drive belief in the big lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Among Republicans, 78% say that Biden did not win and 54% believe there is solid evidence of that, despite the fact that no such evidence exists. That view is also deeply connected to support for Trump. Among Republicans who say Trump should be the leader of the party, 88% believe Biden lost – including 64% who say there is solid evidence that he did not win – while among those Republicans who do not want Trump to lead the Party, 57% say Biden won legitimately” – CNN.

New York Times: “Pennsylvania Republicans moved on Wednesday to seek personal information on every voter in the state as part of a brewing partisan review of the 2020 election results, rubber-stamping more than a dozen subpoenas for driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers. The expansive request for personal information, directed at Pennsylvania’s Department of State and approved in a vote by Republicans on a State Senate subcommittee, is the first major step of the election inquiry. The move adds Pennsylvania to a growing list of states that have embarked on partisan-led reviews of the 2020 election, including a widely criticized attempt to undermine the outcome in Arizona’s largest county.”

“Democrats in the Senate questioned whether the committee even had the authority to request such information, which state law generally shields from public disclosure, and denounced the investigation as nakedly partisan and unfounded. The subpoenas, 17 in all, also included a request for communications between state and county election officials. They did not include requests for election machines or equipment. Republicans in several states have pursued similar reviews – misleadingly labeled ‘audits’ to suggest an authoritative nonpartisan investigation – in the name of protecting ‘election integrity.’ The reviews have often centered on baseless claims and debunked conspiracy theories about the presidential contest, spurred in part by the falsehoods promoted by former President Donald J. Trump and his allies. President Biden won Pennsylvania by more than 80,000 votes, and the results have been reaffirmed by the state’s Department of State.”

Like with every election (or courtroom verdict) that goes poorly for Team MAGA, there’s an embarrassingly long digital paper trail of comments confidently predicting the opposite outcome for Tuesday’s hotly anticipated California recall election. Be a pal and make sure they’re informed that still-Governor Gavin Newsom completely crushed their hopes and dreams of electoral lib-owning:

bjpun • 3 days ago
️Tuesday will be a political earthquake, It’s not looking good for Democrats.
First black Governor of California, Republican Larry Elder
Sun, 9/12/2021 7:55 PM on ‘On The Trail: California recall tests vaccine politics’

Smiles • 3 days ago
️Larry Elder will win.
Sun, 9/12/2021 7:53 PM on ‘On The Trail: California recall tests vaccine politics’

AwesomeConservative • 7 days ago
️”It’s in the bag” Just like in 2016
Wed, 9/8/2021 6:49 PM on ‘Obama cuts ad in support of Newsom ahead of California recall’

Zank Frappa • 7 days ago
️Excellent. the kiss of death for Gavin
Wed, 9/8/2021 7:04 PM on ‘Obama cuts ad in support of Newsom ahead of California recall’

JB • 11 days ago
️10 days baby! No more nincompoopery from the CA governor! We’ll finally have an adult at the helm!
Sat, 9/4/2021 11:13 AM on ‘Elder pledges to replace Feinstein with Republican if he wins California recall election’

Twelve classic toys and games are the finalists for induction into the National Toy Hall of Fame in the class of 2021, pitting games like Risk and Battleship against toys like Cabbage Patch Kids, toy fire trucks and sand.

The twelve finalists also include American Girl Dolls, billiards, Fisher-Price Corn Popper, mahjongg, Masters of the Universe, the piñata, and the Settlers of Catan (also known as Catan).  Fans can vote for their favorites at the Players Ballot.  The inductees will be announced November 4th.

“The Strong’s National Toy Hall of Fame recognizes toys that have engaged and delighted multiple generations. Criteria for induction include: Icon-status (the toy is widely recognized, respected, and remembered); Longevity (the toy is more than a passing fad and has enjoyed popularity over multiple generations); Discovery (the toy fosters learning, creativity, or discovery through play); and Innovation (the toy profoundly changed play or toy design),” the museum said in a statement. 

“The Claremont Institute’s Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence (CCJ) yesterday filed an amicus brief in State of Ohio v. Google, a lawsuit filed by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost asking a Delaware County Court to declare Google a public utility. The filing of the amicus brief follows Google’s motion to dismiss the case. Yost filed the lawsuit against the company in June. JD Vance and D.J. Swearingen joined the Claremont Institute’s John C. Eastman and affiliated attorney Adam Candeub in its filing of the amicus brief, which opposes Google’s motion for dismissal” says the right wing Claremont Institute’s circlejerky press release.

JD Vance is everyone’s favorite hillbilly novelist Trump critic-turned Trump worshipper Ohio Republican Senate nomination candidate, and a protege of evil homosexual fascist techno-libertarian Peter Thiel, so it makes sense for him to join up with the Claremont crew. Their greatest hits include calling for basically all out war on Blue States for daring to vote Trump out of office and high-ranking gauleiter Christopher Rufo’s all-out jihad on critical race theory – which appears to have sputtered out recently given MAGA attention turning to other largely manufactured freakouts.

I will be declining this invite to dine with Attempted Coup Leader & Renowned Critical Race Theorist Mark Milley. pic.twitter.com/xYIoBdaA8D

— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) September 15, 2021

“The attorney heading a partisan review of Wisconsin’s presidential election has been consulting with a losing U.S. Senate candidate who appeared in a conspiracy theory-fueled film, falsely claimed a million ballots were destroyed in Massachusetts and recently linked his election doubts to a science-fiction novel. Shiva Ayyadurai, since he lost a 2020 primary for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts has been spreading untrue claims about elections – suggesting last month without credible evidence that more than 4% of Donald Trump’s votes were shaved off his totals.”

“Now, he’s talking to former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman for Gableman’s review of the presidential election. Ayyadurai’s exact role is not clear. ‘They’re indicating they’re going to bring in Dr. Shiva as well to help on the forensic audit,’ Reince Priebus, Trump’s first chief of staff, said last month on former Trump advisor Steve Bannon’s podcast. Ayyadurai and Gableman ‘have had a lot of conversations,’ according to Harry Wait, president of the conservative watchdog group Honest Open Transparent Government. Wait said he speaks to Gableman frequently, including last week” reports the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Quick refresher: Gableman is a grown man who wears braces, and “Doctor” Ayyadurai claims to be the true inventor of email and that Vitamin C cures Coronavirus infections. Real winners these guys.

BBC: “Supporters of two rival factions reportedly brawled at the presidential palace in the capital Kabul. The argument appeared to centre on who did the most to secure victory over the US, and how power was divided up in the new cabinet. The Taliban have officially denied the reports. The group seized control of Afghanistan last month, and have since declared the country an ‘Islamic Emirate’. Their new interim cabinet is entirely male and made up of senior Taliban figures, some of whom are notorious for attacks on US forces over the past two decades”

“California basks in its clairvoyance. ‘The future happens here first,’ says Gov. Gavin Newsom, calling his state ‘America’s coming attraction.’ By emphatically turning back the effort to recall him from office, however, Mr. Newsom made clear that California’s cherished role presaging the politics of tomorrow was not as significant as another, larger factor in Tuesday’s results: the tribal politics of today. The first-term Democratic governor will remain in office because, in a deeply liberal state, he effectively nationalized the recall effort as a Republican plot, making a flame-throwing radio host the Trump-like face of the opposition to polarize the electorate along red and blue lines.”

“Mr. Newsom found success not because of what makes California different but because of how it’s like everywhere else: He dominated in California’s heavily populated Democratic cities, the key to victory in a state where his party outnumbers Republicans by five million voters. ‘Gavin may have been on a high wire, but he was wearing a big, blue safety harness,’ said Mike Murphy, a California-based Republican strategist. The recall does offer at least one lesson to Democrats in Washington ahead of next year’s midterm elections: The party’s pre-existing blue- and purple-state strategy of portraying Republicans as Trump-loving extremists can still prove effective with the former president out of office, at least when the strategy is executed with unrelenting discipline, an avalanche of money and an opponent who plays to type” – New York Times.

This event is 100% about #JusticeforJ6 and not the election or any candidate.

— Matt Braynard (@MattBraynard) September 14, 2021

“A Macomb County pizza baron who tried to illegally obtain almost $1 million in emergency aid designed to help entrepreneurs survive the pandemic was sentenced to almost three years in federal prison Tuesday. Michael Bischoff of Macomb Township, owner of several restaurants including Little Dino’s Pizza Express and Passport Pizza, was sentenced to 32 months by U.S. District Judge Paul Borman, almost one year after pleading guilty to a count of bank fraud. Bischoff admitted trying to obtain $931,000 in loans under the Paycheck Protection Program overseen by the Small Business Administration” – The Detroit News.

CNN: “Authorities have charged a man in the shooting of prominent South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh in what they allege was a conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. Curtis Edward Smith, 61, of Colleton County has been charged with assisted suicide; conspiracy to commit insurance fraud; pointing and presenting a firearm; and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, according to a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. According to the affidavit filed to support the charges, Murdaugh allegedly conspired with Smith in the shooting on September 4, providing him with the firearm and instructing Smith to shoot him in the head.”

“The purpose, according to the affidavit, was for Smith to kill Murdaugh so that his son could collect a life insurance payout of approximately $10 million. Murdaugh, who survived the shooting, admitted to the scheme on Monday, the affidavit said. On Tuesday, Smith admitted to being present at the shooting of Murdaugh and to disposing of the firearm, the affidavit said. Murdaugh is described as a co-defendant in the affidavit, although no charges have been announced against the 53-year-old attorney. SLED said additional charges are expected in the case. Smith has also been charged with the distribution of methamphetamine and possession of marijuana, according to SLED. It’s not clear if Smith has retained legal counsel at this time.”