When we were baby lawyers, most of us heard a version of the following from more experienced ones: If the facts are on your side, pound the facts. If the law is on your side, pound the law. If you have neither, pound the table. All Repubs and donny have is table pounding. See it for what it is.
Yes. He had both the facts and the law on his side. The presentation was surgically precise, non-hyperbolic, and devastating to the Repub clown car running the hearing. No table pounding was required.
May I add my suspicion? Jack Smith, or anyone for that matter, ‘testifying under oath’ means, I suspect, nothing to this gang. Truth means nothing, honor means nothing, lawful means nothing.
The world now knows this. Any ‘agreement(s) that may be reached re Greenland, tariffs, trade are wasted efforts. Why? See paragraph above.
Oaths...norms...even agreements...only work when ALL parties believe they matter. When truth and law are treated as optional...testimony becomes theater and diplomacy becomes meaningless. That erosion is the real danger. Today, Republicans in that room...did little more than create another shit show.
Jack H. said: "The question is whether the country still has the will to act on it." THIS question is exactly what I came away with today. I have been following Jack Smith since the end of 2020. I have high respect for him. I had the honor of talking to him a few times on social media. He IS the real deal. Today, he proved what kind of person he is. No bells, no whistles, just simply the truths. For that reason, I pray that something can happen where this country acknowledges Mr. Smith's testimony from today and launches a true and real investigation, leading to a reliable outcome. In my opinion, we are nothing if we can blink away all of what came out today. Jack Hopkins, I am SO grateful for you and your writings. Just simply, Thank You.
You’re naming the real fault line: not the evidence...but the will to act on it. Smith showed what integrity looks like under pressure. If we can blink past that...we’re choosing comfort over country.
BTW, for anyone reading this comment, please keep posting and commenting. I have to step away for a bit, as I have an appointment that I've been putting off.
However, I will be back in a couple hours...and I will absolutely respond to each comment that is waiting for me in this section regarding the Jack Smith article. You can count on it.
I am not sure what I expected from this hearing. Jack Smith was unflappable. Cautious, straight-faced, patient. I could not have done what he did without just getting up and walking out. I tried to keep track of which R was the biggest horse's ass. I'd have to give it to Troy Nehls for insulting not only Smith, but also the Capitol Police heroes to their faces. But there was also the troll who kept saying, "Why didn't you get the phone records of Democrats?" Seriously? How do you keep a straight face and not just say, "You cannot be serious!". I missed the final questioning, but suspect it was more of the same. It's like we live in two different universes that have somehow collided. #HoldFast indeed. At some point, the universes have to go their separate ways.
Roberta, that dissonance you’re describing is legit. Smith’s restraint...versus the bad-faith horseshit questioning wasn’t entertainment...it was a collision of two realities. One grounded in law...the other in performance.
Holding steady in that moment mattered more than winning it.
Troy Nehls is an incompetent Jack-ass. He's a loser; at least by every standard I use to assess test types on quick comment opinions.
Watching these punks try to gut the rule of law—and smear the people who risked their lives to defend it...I briefly thought charging straight through my closed office door might be a healthy release.
Instead...I just imagined it, and engaged in some rhythmic breathing for a few minutes.
Roberta, you are so right about their feeble questioning. Those particular individuals put rudeness where respect belonged, and in doing so, they proved that they truly do not care about honesty, law, and upholding what our country stands for. Instead they seem to be bowing to someone who has bought them.
I applaud Jack Smith for his calmness, ethics, and skills, and I applaud the wonderful individuals who politely stayed on the topic, understood Jack Smith’s actions and words, and respectfully showed how fortunate we are to have them in the hearing to support what really matters in upholding our country.
Great summary, thanks. Watching those assholes try to lay a glove on him and whiff every time in other times might be slightly entertaining, but today it was tragic and pathetic. What still escapes me is, and has been since it happened, is how he was compelled to drop an airtight case because of DOJ "precedent" and "policy"- not a law, but policy. I had not realized they were interchangeable.
OK, my policy if you batter down the door to my house will be.. well, you know.
You’re right to focus on that distinction, Randy! Policy isn’t law...but...in this case it overrode an airtight case anyway. That’s what makes it tragic...not entertaining.
When norms bend to power...accountability becomes optional...and everyone notices. I know I damn sure did.
A great breakdown of the hearing Jack, but I have a sickening feeling it’s all for nought as far as those there are concerned. We have watched Bondi, Patel, and so many others lie under oath, that truth seems to have no consequences whatsoever now. And the fact that files remain sealed, appears to have no red flags attached.
I’m trying to unclench my jaw, but it’s difficult to do right now.
Mo, that reaction makes sense. When lying under oath goes unpunished...and silence is treated as stability...it feels like gravity ITSELF is broken.
The sealed files should alarm everyone...but they don’t...because consequences have been hollowed out. Unclenching is hard when your nervous system is registering that reality....but....possible. A nice breath in...and a long....slow...exhale. 5...just like that.
Thank you for your in-depth analysis Jack. I watched with disgust as the Republicans dug up every irrelevant argument they could think of to try and discredit Jack Smith and make it look like he went after Trump for political purposes. It didn’t work.
For his part, Smith was exactly as I expected.. calm.. professional.. undeterred. He said what needed to be said… under oath… on the record.. THE TRUTH! It will never be able to be erased.
What happens now? I suspect nothing… At least for now… but Jack Smith did his job and that seems important. No Republican had a single shred of new evidence and Trump did exactly what was expected. He attacked because it was all he had.
I want to believe we’ll somehow see justice but that seems unlikely. I’m glad Jack Smith got this chance to tell the truth in public though. That matters!
Thank YOU, Susan. You’re right...the attacks failed because they had no facts to work with. Smith put the truth on the record...under oath,...where it can’t be erased.
Whether justice follows is uncertain...but that moment of clarity STILL matters!
PS. If I had held out any hope for impeachment… and I don’t think I did… it blew away like autumn leaves in a hurricane after listening to the GOP Congresspeople today. Most won’t do thing one to help the American people at all and that’s terribly concerning. I hope we can hold on until the midterms. Hell, I just hope there are midterms.
Yep. that hearing erased ANY illusion of courage on that side. Impeachment requires seriousness...and today showed a caucus allergic to it. We need to all be clear about this.
When self-preservation replaces duty...even basic governance becomes fragile. Holding on until the midterms now feels less like politics and more like endurance.
What you’re pointing to...is integrity as a governing skill...not ideology. Smith showed what it looks like to know the law...respect it...and submit himself to it.
In a different era, that would’ve been the baseline for leadership. The fact that it now feels exceptional...says more about the moment...than about him.
Great question, Rebecca Brents. We go forward clear-eyed. No illusions about good faith... no panic either. We keep telling the truth...supporting the people who still honor the law...and refusing to normalize what we just watched. Clarity is the ground now.
Garland is such a coward. We are lucky he never made it onto the Supreme Court. He would have voted right along with the other billionaire-owned trolls to strip us of our rights and enrich the owners of everything. History will show the boomers are the worst thing that ever happened to the US, the opposite of the generations that came before and after. We need to hose out this sewer and put some guardrails in place. Fuck gentleman's agreements. We need the rule of law. The trick is how to we get there without blood running in the streets? When there is violent revolution, the poor suffer most.
J Hardy, I hear the anger...and the fear underneath it...which...is 100% justified and legit, by the way.
You’re naming a REAL dilemma: when the rule of law fails quietly...pressure builds...and history shows that uncontrolled rupture always harms the most VULNERABLE... first.
You're right, the answer can’t be “gentlemen’s agreements,” and... it also can’t be bloodshed.
It has to be HARD guardrails...enforced law...and sustained civic pressure...that makes cowardice COSTLY again. That path is slower...but it’s the ONLY one that doesn’t end with the innocent....paying the highest price.
Yes...right now...I know full well that "enforced law" reads like fairy-tale bullshit. I understand that. However, we DO have control of the sustained civic pressure...and we must continue using that...for the purpose of increasing the likelihood of moving closer to "enforced law."
Thanks for calling to wipe me out off the face of the earth - one of those god-awful boomers who never did anything for the good of the country. Enjoying your phone? Perhaps you should consider that such a huge generation had assholes and geniuses, and regular people trying to live a life. Perhaps yours does too.
Prosecuting a sitting president can be dealt with; that’s one of the purposes for the 25th amendment. The president turns power over to the next person in line until the issue is resolved. Presidential immunity may become a factor, but denying an election and inciting a riot is nowhere near the official duties of the president. In fact, those duties come nowhere near elections, for a reason.
Scott, you’re drawing the line EXACTLY where it belongs. The Constitution ALREADY anticipates incapacity and abuse of power...that’s what the 25th Amendment is for.
And...you’re right: overturning an election...and inciting violence are not “official acts.” They’re the opposite of presidential duty. Treating them as such...is how accountability survives.
That DOJ “understanding” is out of date and probably wrong. It did originate in the judiciary, but well before the 25th was added, so that stance can and should be argued in a court.
The difference between Jack Smith’s testimony and the whining of the Republican congressmen was stark. Listening to Smith restored some hope in the ‘idea’ that is our country .
Smith spoke to the idea of the country as it’s supposed to work...law...restraint...accountability.
The whining exposed how far some have drifted from that idea. If there’s hope...it’s in recognizing the difference CLEARLY.... and refusing to pretend they’re the same.
Smith is about as clear-eyed and integrity driven as they come!
When we were baby lawyers, most of us heard a version of the following from more experienced ones: If the facts are on your side, pound the facts. If the law is on your side, pound the law. If you have neither, pound the table. All Repubs and donny have is table pounding. See it for what it is.
EXACTLY, Chichi. What we saw today was classic table-pounding...noise instead of facts... volume instead of law.
When neither can be refuted...theatrics are all that’s left. Seeing it clearly is the first step to not being manipulated by it.
There were serious people in that room asking questions (D's) and clowns attacking democracy (R's)
-Jack
Yes. He had both the facts and the law on his side. The presentation was surgically precise, non-hyperbolic, and devastating to the Repub clown car running the hearing. No table pounding was required.
Excellent commentary, Jack. Thank you.
May I add my suspicion? Jack Smith, or anyone for that matter, ‘testifying under oath’ means, I suspect, nothing to this gang. Truth means nothing, honor means nothing, lawful means nothing.
The world now knows this. Any ‘agreement(s) that may be reached re Greenland, tariffs, trade are wasted efforts. Why? See paragraph above.
Mary E, thank you. think your instinct is right.
Oaths...norms...even agreements...only work when ALL parties believe they matter. When truth and law are treated as optional...testimony becomes theater and diplomacy becomes meaningless. That erosion is the real danger. Today, Republicans in that room...did little more than create another shit show.
-Jack
Perfect: not simply a “shit show” but “ANOTHER shit show”; sad but so apropos.
They’re just trying to perfect 💩show…..
The Republikkkans would not recognize the truth if it bit off their dicks, just sayin’!
I don't know about their dicks, Elizabeth, but clearly the GOP has absolutely NO BALLS!
It’s the EOP now, Eunuchs Only Party! 🤣😂
Well-said!! 🤣🤣
(Love your pug photo! I have one of those lovable rascals running around here)!
Thanks! A hello from the ‘twinnies’, sister pugs Pickles & Kokomo!
And hello from the King of Rotten here, Wilby!
Exactly TimE!!
It already took their cojones, if they ever had any.
Yes, they threw those out along with the truth!
Brilliant Elizabeth!!
Jack H. said: "The question is whether the country still has the will to act on it." THIS question is exactly what I came away with today. I have been following Jack Smith since the end of 2020. I have high respect for him. I had the honor of talking to him a few times on social media. He IS the real deal. Today, he proved what kind of person he is. No bells, no whistles, just simply the truths. For that reason, I pray that something can happen where this country acknowledges Mr. Smith's testimony from today and launches a true and real investigation, leading to a reliable outcome. In my opinion, we are nothing if we can blink away all of what came out today. Jack Hopkins, I am SO grateful for you and your writings. Just simply, Thank You.
Cathy S, thank you...that means a great deal!
You’re naming the real fault line: not the evidence...but the will to act on it. Smith showed what integrity looks like under pressure. If we can blink past that...we’re choosing comfort over country.
BTW, for anyone reading this comment, please keep posting and commenting. I have to step away for a bit, as I have an appointment that I've been putting off.
However, I will be back in a couple hours...and I will absolutely respond to each comment that is waiting for me in this section regarding the Jack Smith article. You can count on it.
Thank you for your patience!
-Jack
I am not sure what I expected from this hearing. Jack Smith was unflappable. Cautious, straight-faced, patient. I could not have done what he did without just getting up and walking out. I tried to keep track of which R was the biggest horse's ass. I'd have to give it to Troy Nehls for insulting not only Smith, but also the Capitol Police heroes to their faces. But there was also the troll who kept saying, "Why didn't you get the phone records of Democrats?" Seriously? How do you keep a straight face and not just say, "You cannot be serious!". I missed the final questioning, but suspect it was more of the same. It's like we live in two different universes that have somehow collided. #HoldFast indeed. At some point, the universes have to go their separate ways.
Roberta, that dissonance you’re describing is legit. Smith’s restraint...versus the bad-faith horseshit questioning wasn’t entertainment...it was a collision of two realities. One grounded in law...the other in performance.
Holding steady in that moment mattered more than winning it.
Troy Nehls is an incompetent Jack-ass. He's a loser; at least by every standard I use to assess test types on quick comment opinions.
Watching these punks try to gut the rule of law—and smear the people who risked their lives to defend it...I briefly thought charging straight through my closed office door might be a healthy release.
Instead...I just imagined it, and engaged in some rhythmic breathing for a few minutes.
So, yes...I get it. I was furious.
-Jack
Roberta, you are so right about their feeble questioning. Those particular individuals put rudeness where respect belonged, and in doing so, they proved that they truly do not care about honesty, law, and upholding what our country stands for. Instead they seem to be bowing to someone who has bought them.
I applaud Jack Smith for his calmness, ethics, and skills, and I applaud the wonderful individuals who politely stayed on the topic, understood Jack Smith’s actions and words, and respectfully showed how fortunate we are to have them in the hearing to support what really matters in upholding our country.
Great summary, thanks. Watching those assholes try to lay a glove on him and whiff every time in other times might be slightly entertaining, but today it was tragic and pathetic. What still escapes me is, and has been since it happened, is how he was compelled to drop an airtight case because of DOJ "precedent" and "policy"- not a law, but policy. I had not realized they were interchangeable.
OK, my policy if you batter down the door to my house will be.. well, you know.
You’re right to focus on that distinction, Randy! Policy isn’t law...but...in this case it overrode an airtight case anyway. That’s what makes it tragic...not entertaining.
When norms bend to power...accountability becomes optional...and everyone notices. I know I damn sure did.
-Jack
A great breakdown of the hearing Jack, but I have a sickening feeling it’s all for nought as far as those there are concerned. We have watched Bondi, Patel, and so many others lie under oath, that truth seems to have no consequences whatsoever now. And the fact that files remain sealed, appears to have no red flags attached.
I’m trying to unclench my jaw, but it’s difficult to do right now.
Mo, that reaction makes sense. When lying under oath goes unpunished...and silence is treated as stability...it feels like gravity ITSELF is broken.
The sealed files should alarm everyone...but they don’t...because consequences have been hollowed out. Unclenching is hard when your nervous system is registering that reality....but....possible. A nice breath in...and a long....slow...exhale. 5...just like that.
-Jack
💙 I know. #StandFast‼️
Thank you for your in-depth analysis Jack. I watched with disgust as the Republicans dug up every irrelevant argument they could think of to try and discredit Jack Smith and make it look like he went after Trump for political purposes. It didn’t work.
For his part, Smith was exactly as I expected.. calm.. professional.. undeterred. He said what needed to be said… under oath… on the record.. THE TRUTH! It will never be able to be erased.
What happens now? I suspect nothing… At least for now… but Jack Smith did his job and that seems important. No Republican had a single shred of new evidence and Trump did exactly what was expected. He attacked because it was all he had.
I want to believe we’ll somehow see justice but that seems unlikely. I’m glad Jack Smith got this chance to tell the truth in public though. That matters!
Thanks Jack!
#HOLDFAST
~Susan
Thank YOU, Susan. You’re right...the attacks failed because they had no facts to work with. Smith put the truth on the record...under oath,...where it can’t be erased.
Whether justice follows is uncertain...but that moment of clarity STILL matters!
#HOLDFAST.
-Jack
Yes,indeed.
PS. If I had held out any hope for impeachment… and I don’t think I did… it blew away like autumn leaves in a hurricane after listening to the GOP Congresspeople today. Most won’t do thing one to help the American people at all and that’s terribly concerning. I hope we can hold on until the midterms. Hell, I just hope there are midterms.
Yep. that hearing erased ANY illusion of courage on that side. Impeachment requires seriousness...and today showed a caucus allergic to it. We need to all be clear about this.
When self-preservation replaces duty...even basic governance becomes fragile. Holding on until the midterms now feels less like politics and more like endurance.
And, my grit and resolve DOUBLED today!
-Jack
You are demonstrating critical thinking: objective, fact-based reasoning, clear and unbiased.
Imagine Jack Smith, a man of inteGRITy who knows the law and lives by it, as Attorney General and then as a Supreme Court Justice.
Thank you. Seriously!
What you’re pointing to...is integrity as a governing skill...not ideology. Smith showed what it looks like to know the law...respect it...and submit himself to it.
In a different era, that would’ve been the baseline for leadership. The fact that it now feels exceptional...says more about the moment...than about him.
-Jack
Exactly!
So where do we go from here?
Great question, Rebecca Brents. We go forward clear-eyed. No illusions about good faith... no panic either. We keep telling the truth...supporting the people who still honor the law...and refusing to normalize what we just watched. Clarity is the ground now.
-Jack
Garland is such a coward. We are lucky he never made it onto the Supreme Court. He would have voted right along with the other billionaire-owned trolls to strip us of our rights and enrich the owners of everything. History will show the boomers are the worst thing that ever happened to the US, the opposite of the generations that came before and after. We need to hose out this sewer and put some guardrails in place. Fuck gentleman's agreements. We need the rule of law. The trick is how to we get there without blood running in the streets? When there is violent revolution, the poor suffer most.
J Hardy, I hear the anger...and the fear underneath it...which...is 100% justified and legit, by the way.
You’re naming a REAL dilemma: when the rule of law fails quietly...pressure builds...and history shows that uncontrolled rupture always harms the most VULNERABLE... first.
You're right, the answer can’t be “gentlemen’s agreements,” and... it also can’t be bloodshed.
It has to be HARD guardrails...enforced law...and sustained civic pressure...that makes cowardice COSTLY again. That path is slower...but it’s the ONLY one that doesn’t end with the innocent....paying the highest price.
Yes...right now...I know full well that "enforced law" reads like fairy-tale bullshit. I understand that. However, we DO have control of the sustained civic pressure...and we must continue using that...for the purpose of increasing the likelihood of moving closer to "enforced law."
Thank YOU for being here!
-Jack
Thanks for calling to wipe me out off the face of the earth - one of those god-awful boomers who never did anything for the good of the country. Enjoying your phone? Perhaps you should consider that such a huge generation had assholes and geniuses, and regular people trying to live a life. Perhaps yours does too.
This is the day America was buried, gone forever, and Chump shat on its grave.
Frank....I felt every letter of your comment.
-Jack
I felt every one of yours like a bed of nails.
Prosecuting a sitting president can be dealt with; that’s one of the purposes for the 25th amendment. The president turns power over to the next person in line until the issue is resolved. Presidential immunity may become a factor, but denying an election and inciting a riot is nowhere near the official duties of the president. In fact, those duties come nowhere near elections, for a reason.
Scott, you’re drawing the line EXACTLY where it belongs. The Constitution ALREADY anticipates incapacity and abuse of power...that’s what the 25th Amendment is for.
And...you’re right: overturning an election...and inciting violence are not “official acts.” They’re the opposite of presidential duty. Treating them as such...is how accountability survives.
-Jack
That DOJ “understanding” is out of date and probably wrong. It did originate in the judiciary, but well before the 25th was added, so that stance can and should be argued in a court.
I remain an American resister!
I have not a SINGLE doubt about that, James. Not one.
-Jack
Thank you.
Deborah, you are welcome. Always.
-Jack
The difference between Jack Smith’s testimony and the whining of the Republican congressmen was stark. Listening to Smith restored some hope in the ‘idea’ that is our country .
Lynn, that contrast was EVERYTHING.
Smith spoke to the idea of the country as it’s supposed to work...law...restraint...accountability.
The whining exposed how far some have drifted from that idea. If there’s hope...it’s in recognizing the difference CLEARLY.... and refusing to pretend they’re the same.
Smith is about as clear-eyed and integrity driven as they come!
-Jack
I missed out on the testimony and the loony tune circus put on by the repubs. Thanks for the synopsis.
Sue
Sue, my pleasure. You're most welcome!
-Jack