Gilead
Donald Trump
Coup attempt
I already had the impression that Liz Cheney was in trouble in her re-election effort.[1] That hasn’t changed.[2] And what of her efforts and the efforts of the other folks on the January 6 committee? William Cohan found a couple lawyers who say Donald Trump should be indicted and one who wasn’t so sure.[3] Merrick Garland seems not to want to indict Trump;[4] I still think he’ll find a lawyerly way to weasel out of it, which, if your goal is saving what little semblance of an electoral representative system we have, means she’ll have sacrificed her seat for nothing. If, however, the committee’s report is preserved, historians might benefit.
Natalie Andrews, “Liz Cheney Goes All In on Jan. 6 Probe as GOP Primary Looms,” Wall Street Journal, July 3, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/liz-cheney-goes-all-in-on-jan-6-probe-as-gop-primary-looms-11656766802
William D. Cohan, “Will Trump Get Indicted?” Puck News, July 3, 2022, https://puck.news/will-trump-get-indicted/
Pittsburgh
Unauthorized violence
Even the police white supremacist gangsters[5] are outrageously bad drivers around Pittsburgh. Aggressive off-duty driving got an Oakdale gangster killed Sunday night:[6]
A camera mounted in [Kevin] McSwiggen’s truck showed him driving north on Freeport Road. A red Ford Taurus was seen in the video passing McSwiggen’s truck on the left. McSwiggen honked his horn and said, “Aw (expletive) it. I’ll just put the high beams on, I don’t care,” according to court papers.[7]
In Blawnox, where the incident occurred, Freeport Road is, as in most places, a two-lane road, I’m pretty sure with a double yellow line. Ramps to and from Pennsylvania Route 28, where people routinely drive twenty or more miles over the speed limit, are just outside the borough limits, to the south (towards Pittsburgh).
The Taurus, driven by Stipetich, the gangster, apparently cut Kevin McSwiggen off in what was likely an illegal and certainly an unsafe maneuver. Both McSwiggen and the gangster, Charles Stipetich, were armed; both were wounded, presumably by each other, the latter fatally.[8] With all the gun nuttery around Pittsburgh, I’m frankly surprised this kind of thing doesn’t happen more often.
But what I find interesting in this coverage is a complete absence of attention to the fact that Stipetich’s reckless driving provoked the incident.[9] This kind of driving is completely normalized around Pittsburgh.
John Hayes, “Off-duty Oakdale police officer killed in Blawnox; man charged,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 4, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/07/04/police-shooting-in-blawnox-leaves-off-duty-officer-dead-another-man-injured/stories/202207040045
Megan Tomasic, “Off-duty police officer killed in Blawnox shooting in road rage incident,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, July 4, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/fox-chapel/allegheny-police-off-duty-police-officer-killed-in-blawnox-shooting/
- [1]David Montgomery, “What Wyoming Really Thinks of Liz Cheney,” Washington Post, October 7, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2021/10/07/wyoming-voters-liz-cheney/↩
- [2]Natalie Andrews, “Liz Cheney Goes All In on Jan. 6 Probe as GOP Primary Looms,” Wall Street Journal, July 3, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/liz-cheney-goes-all-in-on-jan-6-probe-as-gop-primary-looms-11656766802↩
- [3]William D. Cohan, “Will Trump Get Indicted?” Puck News, July 3, 2022, https://puck.news/will-trump-get-indicted/↩
- [4]Farnoush Amiri and Michael Balsamo, “Jan. 6 panel puts Garland in ‘precarious’ spot, ups pressure,” Associated Press, April 1, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-merrick-garland-donald-trump-f70143880cb9be8a0610edcad1ed18e8↩
- [5]David Benfell, “Stephen Zappala’s resignation would be nowhere near enough,” Not Housebroken, January 4, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2021/06/03/stephen-zappalas-resignation-would-be-nowhere-near-enough/↩
- [6]Megan Tomasic, “Off-duty police officer killed in Blawnox shooting in road rage incident,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, July 4, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/fox-chapel/allegheny-police-off-duty-police-officer-killed-in-blawnox-shooting/↩
- [7]Megan Tomasic, “Off-duty police officer killed in Blawnox shooting in road rage incident,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, July 4, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/fox-chapel/allegheny-police-off-duty-police-officer-killed-in-blawnox-shooting/↩
- [8]John Hayes, “Off-duty Oakdale police officer killed in Blawnox; man charged,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 4, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/07/04/police-shooting-in-blawnox-leaves-off-duty-officer-dead-another-man-injured/stories/202207040045; Megan Tomasic, “Off-duty police officer killed in Blawnox shooting in road rage incident,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, July 4, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/fox-chapel/allegheny-police-off-duty-police-officer-killed-in-blawnox-shooting/↩
- [9]John Hayes, “Off-duty Oakdale police officer killed in Blawnox; man charged,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 4, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/07/04/police-shooting-in-blawnox-leaves-off-duty-officer-dead-another-man-injured/stories/202207040045; Megan Tomasic, “Off-duty police officer killed in Blawnox shooting in road rage incident,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, July 4, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/fox-chapel/allegheny-police-off-duty-police-officer-killed-in-blawnox-shooting/↩