[Transcript edited for clarity, flow and legnth]
Sen. Foghorn Leghorn: Do you believe in the Tooth Fairy?
Jack Smith: I do not.
Foghorn: How about the Easter Bunny?
Smith: I no longer believe in the Easter Bunny.
Foghorn: Do you think Jimmy Hoffa died of natural causes?
Smith: I do not.
Foghorn: Okay.
That is the level of seriousness with which Republicans in the Senate take our government. That, of course, is the notorious Oxford graduate, Senator Foghorn Leghorn.
Today on Capitol Hill, former special counsel Jack Smith faced the Senate Judiciary Committee in a hearing Republicans titled “Oversight of Jack Smith’s Abuse of Authority in the Targeting of Republicans.” Smith led the two federal investigations into Donald involving his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his illegal theft and retention of classified documents.
Republicans, because they have nothing else to do and they have nothing going for them, are accusing Smith of exceeding his authority and politically targeting Donald and other Republicans, which, by the way, he was targeting them because they are criminals who committed crimes against our country. Smith, of course, rightly rejected those accusations, saying that his team followed Justice Department rules and pursued the evidence without regard to politics, that is, without fear or favor.
Smith told senators today:
I will not be silenced by the continued threats of prosecution from Donald or others.
This is what Smith said in his opening statement:
Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in serious crimes against our nation. If asked whether to prosecute a former president today, based on the same facts, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat. The charges against President Trump were the result of the evidence. Grand juries in two separate districts reached this conclusion based on his actions as alleged in the indictments they returned. Rather than accept his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results and prevent the lawful transfer of power.
It is as clear as day. We saw Donald commit these crimes. We heard him commit these crimes. And that was back in the day when the Department of Justice was a serious institution that took its responsibilities seriously.
Republicans’ questioning felt more performative than investigative because they are not interested in the investigation. Of course, that investigation leads to the conclusion that Donald did indeed, beyond a reasonable doubt, commit the crimes for which he was indicted. There was a lot of fake outrage on display, but very little, if any, actual oversight.
Republican Senator Eric Schmitt accused Smith of attending an Atlanta Hawks game in Atlanta in February 2024, where he suggested Smith could have colluded with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in the Georgia election interference case. He probably also collided with the other 50,000 people at the game, for all I know. Schmitt even produced a poster and said he had text messages as evidence.
One problem, however. Smith was never at that Atlanta Hawks game. Instead, he was at a University of Maryland game against the Iowa Hawkeyes. Smith said he was there to see Caitlin Clark play. Senator Amy Klobuchar eventually pointed out that Senator Schmitt had apparently confused the Atlanta Hawks with the Iowa Hawkeyes because, when it comes to women’s sports, these people are as ignorant as they are about everything else.
Schmitt stood by his comments, calling Jack Smith a “dirtbag,” despite the fact that his comments were based on complete and utter falsehoods. Senator Josh Hawley said this:
If it were up to me, I would charge you with perjury. You should certainly be disbarred.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz said:
You’ve succeeded where Richard Nixon failed, which is weaponizing the Justice Department to go after your political opponents. Your conduct represents the most egregious abuse of power in the history of the DOJ.
These people have no shame whatsoever. What they are describing is exactly what Donald has done. He has weaponized the Department of Justice, using lickspittles like Todd Blanche to do his bidding, to be his personal defense attorney, and to go after his political enemies, his perceived political enemies, like Jack Smith, James Comey, and Letitia James. It is Donald, with the help of his Republican coconspirators, who continues to destroy the rule of law in America so they can continue to get away with their crimes.
I don’t know what’s supposed to happen now.
This morning at the White House, Donald announced America.gov, a new AI powered federal government portal ostensibly designed to make it easier to access government services. This comes as Donald hosts tech executives and billionaires for what the White House is calling the beginning of a “new golden age.”
Wait a minute. I thought we already started the golden age when he came back into office last year. I guess we need a new one because you can never have enough gold, apparently. And this is perfect messaging because nothing tells Americans struggling with the cost of food and fuel that you have their backs quite like an invitation only golden age billionaire luncheon.
This is what Donald said while announcing the new, supposedly unhackable website:
You say this is one of the most incredible things that your government has done. I don’t think so. I think it’s damn good. But somebody said, Sir, this is going to be the single biggest thing you’ve done in government. I said, I don’t think so, but it’s damn good, okay? It’s just another thing. Just another thing. Sir, there’s no question this will be the biggest thing you’ve ever... If it is the biggest thing I’ve ever done, I’ve done a terrible job as president. But you know what? It’s damn good.
Okay. Very stumbly and incoherent. If we had ended that clip at “I’ve done a terrible job as president,” that would have been appropriate, although it is an understatement.
Everything he is doing now is designed to weaken all of us. And if you seriously think that this regime is going to keep our information private, well, you are sadly mistaken. All of this is happening amid growing concerns that AI is advancing too rapidly and could eventually move beyond human control. As somebody who watched the Terminator movies when I was younger, well, that sounds familiar.
Donald, however, is there to allay all of our fears. Why? Well, because he’s making a fortune and he doesn’t care.
This is what Donald said:
This kind of innovation in government is just a preview of what is possible with super intelligence, or SI, and that’s the official name in the United States. I’ll be signing a very powerful executive order. I spoke to President Xi. He loves it. Because when you say artificial intelligence, it’s artificial. This is extreme intelligence. It’s superior intelligence. It’s supreme, also intelligence, but the word super is the best word of all, and it’s the simplest.
Yes, America, that is the guy 78 million of us decided to put in charge. Artificial intelligence is called artificial intelligence because it is artificially created by human beings and now is apparently completely outside of the control of those human beings.
I think that Donald is on this because he is conflating AI and himself, because he knows that he’s a deeply stupid person who needs to be thought of as smart- super smart. And as for the renaming of artificial intelligence, I don’t think even a powerful executive order, whatever the hell that is, is going to make that happen. Although I don’t hold out hope for Google Maps not changing the name of AI. Luckily, Merriam Webster certainly will not fall for this nonsense.
This morning, House Speaker Mike Johnson appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box to discuss artificial intelligence ahead of today’s White House meetings. During the interview, Johnson once again insisted that the economy is doing fabulously, or it’s just about to. Americans just need to give it a little bit more time because Joe Biden keeps screwing things up.
Now, it is almost October. What does that mean? That means it has been 20 months since Donald and the Republicans have been in charge of everything.
This is what Mike Johnson said, promising that “the feast and the banquet” are set for 2026:
Okay, but here’s the thing. The economy, all the economic conditions are in place. As Scott Bessent said at the end of last year, 2025 is like setting the table. The feast and the banquet will be in the economy in 2026. And just as we predicted, as we calibrated with the big beautiful bill and all of our policies, the biggest tax cut in U.S. history for working families, the biggest spending cut in U.S. history, 1.6 trillion in the big beautiful bill.
Oh, okay.
First of all, that smarmy little creep seems not to understand that we’re 10 months into the year we were told that the table set in 2025 would give us all this banquet. And to use the Iran war as an excuse for this glorious epoch of economic success not to start is nonsense because Donald started that war. The Republicans own that war. And that war, in addition to Donald’s insane and deleterious tariffs, is why prices are on the rise, inflation is on the rise, and our economy is on the brink of recession.
With the midterms just about a month away, Johnson, who just lies with such fluency I’m beginning to think I’m related to him, was asked what his message is to American voters and what Republicans will do if voters give them another chance.
And, by the way, another chance to do what? To do the stuff they said they were going to do already? To do the stuff they said they had already done, but apparently haven’t done yet?
This is what the current Speaker of the House had to say:
What we would do in the next two years is exactly what we have been doing already, and that is putting the conditions in place for a strong America again. We restored not just American energy dominance and peace through strength, but a vibrant economy. The conditions are there for this to take off, and that’s why the stock market indexes are high. That’s why job numbers exceed expectations. The Atlanta Fed says 5.1 percent economic growth expected in the third quarter.
Okay. So, Americans, if Republicans get back into power, holy cow. We’ll have to wait another two years to see any good come from their supposedly benign policies. Mike Johnson is a walking bumper sticker: waste, fraud, and abuse. Nothing that man says is true, and nothing he presents corresponds to the reality the rest of us are dealing with.
But it must be nice to go on a show and not be fact checked, not get any pushback whatsoever. So I will leave you with this.
I’m 5 feet 10 inches tall, and I am the greatest concert violinist who ever lived.
Smith is an American hero, Congressional Republicans are shite. We need to vote every single Republican out of office EVERYWHERE.
They are so desperate.