Righteous Move Of The Year Crookie: Dominion Voting Systems

The Crookie for Righteous Move Of The Year goes to .... Dominion Voting Systems!

Yes, they're the company that's suing to make it oh so financially painful (to the tune of $1.3 billion) for Rudy Giuliani and Fox News. You love to see it! It was almost one year ago:

John Berman broke the news about the $1.3 billion lawsuit, and asked CNN legal analyst Elie Honig, "How strong does this case look to you?"

Honig said it looked "pretty strong."

"If you are the Dominion Voting Systems here, you have to prove two things. One, the statements that the defendant here, Rudy Guiliani, made were false. I mean, they should have very little problem proving that. These statements Rudy Guiliani made were not just false, they were wild. The second thing you have to prove is that the defendant Rudy knew they were false or reckless. Meaning, he should have known, could have known, said them anyway. Those are the requirements. Given the obvious falsity, I think Dominion will have a real shot to prove its case here."

Berman said a Dominion lawyer points out Guiliani never made the Dominion claims in a court of law, when he would have been under oath. "He only made them in public or testifying when he wasn't under oath. Why does that matter here to the point you were just making?"

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Crookie Boondoggle Of The Year: California Recall

Trumpers and QAnons live in such a bubble that they figured it would be a good idea to recall California Governor Gavin Newsom in the middle of a pandemic. They set up booths everywhere early in the year. That video above was in February, 2021 at Ventura Beach, where they were desperately trying to drum up enthusiasm for a recall no one but them wanted. They'd tried 4 times before to no avail, but a friendly judge gave them an extension to gather signatures, some billionaires gave them some money, and they were off and running.

As the year went on, they managed to snag right wing talk radio host Larry Elder as their mascot, and truly believed they were going to prevail.

Until they didn't.

Governor Newsom survived the recall by the same margin he had when he was elected. As I wrote at the time:

It was a monumental waste of money. It has energized Democrats going into the midterms and not just in California, but all over the country. Gavin Newsom's profile has been elevated nationally and he will stand out as a Democratic star.

But probably most importantly, it *should* change the media narrative and point them away from the Q-freaks and Trumpers.

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January 1 Bowl Games Open Thread

Fingers crossed that Covid doesn't interfere with game days.

Here are the games, times (all Eastern Time Zone), networks, and teams:

Outback Bowl, Tampa, FL Noon (ESPN2). Penn State (7-5) vs. Arkansas (8-4)

Fiesta Bowl, Glendale, AZ 1 p.m. (ESPN). Notre Dame (11-1) vs. Oklahoma State (11-2)

Citrus Bowl, Orlando, FL 1 p.m. (ABC). Iowa (10-3) vs. Kentucky (9-3)

Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA 5 p.m. (ESPN). Ohio State (10-2) vs. Utah (10-3)

Sugar Bowl, New Orleans, LA 8:45 p.m. (ESPN). Ole Miss (10-2) vs. Baylor (11-2)

Which are you following, and who are you rooting for? It's GAME DAY! Open football thread below...

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Crookie Mensch Of The Year Award: Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin

Not one week after Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin suffered the incalculable loss of his precious son to suicide, he endured witnessing his beloved Capitol attacked and breached by thousands of rabid traitors, egged on by, of all people, the nation's president. He'd returned to work barely before the official shiva period ended to do the work of certifying the election, only to see his workplace attacked by the Trump-crazed mob. To make matters worse, his youngest daughter and his son-in-law was in another part of the building having come to work with him that day. (Listen to him describe that in the video above.)

If one tragedy is not enough to break a person, the addition of the other certainly would be — at least for most people. Rep. Raskin, however, is most decidedly not "most people."

He accepted appointment to the committee in charge of impeaching Trump, and as an impeachment manager delivered some of the most memorable, soul-stirring, and legally incisive oratory voiced in either chamber. The video below was Raskin in January 2021, explaining in a very moving conversation with Jake Tapper how he was managing to cope.

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Mike's Blog Round Up

That time Betty White serenaded Morgan Freeman at the 39th AFI Life Achievement Award

emptywheel uses Clue to explains Sidney Powell's drifting.

Mad Kane’s Political Madness with some year-end haikus for you.

Infidel dares to look ahead with some hope.

Attention space nerds! NASA looks back at a year in space.

Round up by Driftglass, also of The Professional Left Podcast, the little podcast that celebrates its 12th (!) anniversary next week.

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Crookie Of The Year: The Insurrectionists

No one is more deserving of our Crookie of the Year award than each and every person who participated in, planned, or stirred up the January 6th insurrection. From the former occupant of the White House to all the misguided people he lied to, they all own this one.

There was a violent insurrection on January 6, 2021 because the former occupant of the White House could not stand to admit he lost the election. And the reason he couldn't and wouldn't admit it is because to Republicans, a Democrat winning is never a legitimate win. They do not believe in democracy. They are autocrats. He went out to the Ellipse and he told all of his violent followers that they needed to march to the Capitol and fight for him.

So they did.

Now they are in jail (or heading there), and he's sipping Diet Coke at Mar-a-Lago, sending out fake tweets through his Twitter proxy and deluding himself into a 2024 run at the White House.

It was a terrifying day. Here are some highlights, so we never forget.

The moment when the Senate Chamber was nearly overrun:

As @SenatorLankford speaks:

"The Senate will stand in recess until the call of the chair."

"Protesters are in the building." pic.twitter.com/35KgJfVxHM

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Mike's Blog Round Up

On this day in 1879 Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera "Pirates of Penzance" premiered in New York City, so today we present, "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General"

Yastreblyansky on the inherent stupidity behind every voter fraud fairy tale.

Lawyers, Guns & Money reminds us that Harry Reid’s playbook was to ignore the Politico Playbook.

Mahablog on Why Evangelicals Oppose Covid Vaccines

Attention space nerds! So you thought you knew all there was to know about "doped silicon".

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