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Saturday Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Sat May 05, 2012 at 02:54:05 PM EST
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Your turn. President Obama officially launched his bid for reelection today.

I haven't read any George Zimmerman news today, but feel free to discuss the case here.

It doesn't look like the Government is going to call Rielle Hunter in the John Edwards trial. Hampton Dellinger says the Government told the court yesterday afternoon it anticipated concluding its case by next Thursday. It provided its next six witnesses and Rielle wasn't one of them. While that's no guarantee, I don't see any benefit to the Government from calling her. All the money she got went though Andrew Young. And since two of the lawyers who represented her in the state civil case against Andrew Young are now representing Edwards at trial, with her approval, I think she'd try to help Edwards, even though the Government gave her immunity from prosecution in exchange for her telling its the truth.[More...]

I also don't think Andrew Forger, Bunny's lawyer, hurt Edwards by saying he knew the money went to his benefit. There was no time frame given as to when Edwards first knew that, and Forger didn't get the information until the fall of 2008, after the crime. According to Forger, in 2007, Edwards and Fred Baron both told him they didn't know Andrew Young had taken money from Bunny. Edwards suggested to Forger that Andrew Young should have to repay the money.

Also, an expenditure "for his benefit" amy not be the same thing as for his "personal use" under the campaign contribution statute. And even if it did go to his benefit and was for his personal use, it still had to be for the purpose of influencing the election -- rather than hiding Hunter from the media so his wife wouldn't learn that his affair was more than a one night stand. And Edwards, during his case, may present evidence that Baron and Mellon would have given the gifts even if he hadn't been running for office, because they were friends. I'll write more about all this later.

In the meantime, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

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    Saturdaydreams (5.00 / 1) (#1)
    by Dadler on Sat May 05, 2012 at 03:18:32 PM EST
    This old photo of my wife and son at the zoo (link) has been holding my attention for about an hour now.  Something about the composition, the big old orangutan, the shadow on half my son's face, I dunno, just has my mind pondering the simple joy of a loved existence. Have a good one, y'all. And happy Cinco de Mayo. Peace.

    no offense to the big guy (none / 0) (#2)
    by Dadler on Sat May 05, 2012 at 03:23:31 PM EST
    who's in that glorified cage.  Ah the irony.

    Parent
    I read (none / 0) (#3)
    by lentinel on Sat May 05, 2012 at 03:54:42 PM EST
    that Obama is pressing ahead with Bush's idiotic StarWars project of placing missiles on the Russian border.

    For some unexplained reason, the Russians don't seem to like the idea very much. They have gone so far as to say that if things get in the least dicey, they will preemptively blow the fking things up.

    I hope this doesn't deter Obama from his quest to fulfill yet another of Bush's fiascos.

    The deal to place missile defense ... (none / 0) (#8)
    by Donald from Hawaii on Sat May 05, 2012 at 09:56:03 PM EST
    ... units in eastern Europe -- not on the Russian border, save for the tiny Russian enclave around Kaliningrad, formerly the German city of Koenigberg -- was actually brokered a long time ago when Poland joined NATO, with the Poles actually insisting on it. Given Poland's very thorny history with Russia, I don't blame them in the slightest.

    The Russians can bluster and threaten all they want. The Cold War is long over, and they lost. The sooner they realize