Glenn Greenwald
Politics • Writing • Culture
Trump Disqualified From Colorado Ballot by 4-3 Judicial Ruling [Part 1 of 2]
Video Transcript
December 21, 2023
post photo preview

Watch the full episode here: 

placeholder
 

Podcast: Apple - Spotify 

Rumble App: Apple - Google


Good evening. It's Wednesday, December 20th. 

Tonight, the establishment effort to avoid facing Donald Trump before the electorate at the ballot box saw one of its gravest and most unprecedented escalations yet. Just as Trump rises to his highest point yet in polling for 2024 and as Biden sings to his worst level of disapproval yet, a state court in Colorado full of Democratic Party-appointed judges just decided yesterday by a 4 to 3 ruling that Trump is ineligible to appear on the Colorado Republican presidential primary ballot. In the view of these four judges, he is guilty of being an insurrectionist and thus ineligible to run for the presidency under the 14th Amendment. 

There are so many grave and glaring flaws in the legal reasoning of this decision, which we will show you, but one need not have a law degree to detect its most significant error: Donald Trump, despite being indicted in four separate jurisdictions, has never once been charged with, let alone convicted of the crime of insurrection. Both DOJ special prosecutor Jack Smith, as well as the Democratic Party prosecutor in Atlanta, charged Trump with multiple felonies relating to his conduct regarding the 2020 election. And yet both of them, despite being able to do so, opted not to charge Trump with engaging in an insurrection or even inciting an insurrection. But no matter these four state court judges, without any of the due process required for judging someone guilty of a crime, have decreed that he is nonetheless guilty of that crime, one with which he has never even been charged and thus never had the opportunity to claim all of the constitutional safeguards guaranteed to someone when charged with a crime. 

As this court itself recognized, this ruling will almost certainly now be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. That's why they stayed the order until January 4 to give the court time to say whether it will rule on it or not. This is especially so since the same liberal advocacy groups that spearheaded this case in Colorado have done the same in at least 14 other states where they're trying to block the presidential frontrunner, meaning the person who more Americans say they want to be president next year, from even appearing on the ballot. Yet again, what we have here are the very same people, in politics and media, who endlessly glorify themselves as the Sole Guardians of American Democracy, relying on classically anti-democratic weapons to try to cling to political power. Beyond this ruling, Trump has been charged with felony counts in four other cases, the first one brought by a liberal prosecutor in Manhattan; the other state case brought by the Democratic Party machine prosecutor in Atlanta and then, the two federal cases brought by a special prosecutor under the auspices of the Biden Justice Department. 

Regardless of one's views on January 6 and Trump's conduct concerning it, it is beyond dispute now that the primary tactic of the Democratic Party and their media allies for winning in 2024 is not to convince voters to vote for them, but instead to imprison their chief political opponent and to prevent American citizens forcibly from voting for him. Whatever else this is, “saving democracy” most definitely has nothing to do with it. Quite the contrary: on top of the ongoing attempts to impose increasing levels of constraints on the expression of political speech, it is genuinely hard to imagine a more glaring and more dangerous full frontal assault on democratic values than what American liberals in the Democratic Party is doing to prevent Trump from running or even remaining free. 

We will spend tonight's episode examining this ruling and showing you the legal components of it. We'll show you the critical political context and the legal context in which it has arisen, and we'll examine the implications. Suffice it to say, liberals and Democrats are really playing with fire in this country, trifling with the fundamentals of American Democratic life, and other than their most ardent followers, it's hard to believe that anyone is failing to see right through this. That's almost certainly one of the reasons that every time they abuse it and weaponize the justice system, the United States is against Trump, further, his candidacy only seems to get stronger. 

For now, welcome to a new episode of System Update, starting right now.

Only for Supporters
To read the rest of this article and access other paid content, you must be a supporter
8
What else you may like…
Videos
Podcasts
Posts
Articles
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis says Kamala Harris Would Combat "Rampant Antisemitism" on College Campuses

Colorado Governor Jared Polis tells Michael Tracey that Kamala Harris has been a staunch supporter of Israel and that she would rein in the "rampant antisemitism" he says exists on college campuses.

00:04:18
Michael Tracey Interviews Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) in "Spin Room"

Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) tells Michael Tracey that it makes sense for Kamala Harris to welcome Dick Cheney's endorsement because this election is about supporting someone who "respects the rule of law." He then avoids answering whether Dick Cheney respected the Constitution...

00:01:35
Michael Tracey interviews Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA)

Michael interviews Rep. Ted Lieu about Dick Cheney endorsing Kamala and whether he still believes Trump colluded with Russia:

00:03:00
Listen to this Article: Reflecting New U.S. Control of TikTok's Censorship, Our Report Criticizing Zelensky Was Deleted

For years, U.S. officials and their media allies accused Russia, China and Iran of tyranny for demanding censorship as a condition for Big Tech access. Now, the U.S. is doing the same to TikTok. Listen below.

Listen to this Article: Reflecting New U.S. Control of TikTok's Censorship, Our Report Criticizing Zelensky Was Deleted

Link to aftershow please

Great interviews with Tucker and Dave Smith! I noticed Tucker did not want to go down the Israel rabbit hole. Nonetheless, it was great, especially Tucker’s reaction to you telling him that it had speaker Johnson on your show and how steadfast he was in voting against FISA. It’s unfathomable how quickly things turned when he became speaker. What do you suppose it is that makes politicians change on a dime? You’re right in that smart people aren’t easily persuaded, so do you believe it’s blackmail? You did say that with what you learned from the Snowden files that the government collects data against its citizens. And you did also say that they spay on people and know what you’re texting and viewing on your phone. Is that the blackmail? What do they have on Geaetz? If it was paying prostitues, why not just admit it and ride out the senate hearings? I think people need to not give a fuck anymore and just own it… kinda like trump. He made out ok.

The House just passed a bill that permits the Treasury Secretary to unilaterally strip a non-profit of their federal tax status if, in their sole judgment, that non-profit aided terrorism.

This is an obvious horror show and quick slide into Orwellian plagiarism.

But the rot is even grosser.

Dems largely voted against the bill this time, citing potential abuse by Trump, but had overwhelmingly supported it five minutes before the election.

Either the Executive Branch can be trusted with this power or it can't. A Trump presidency was entirely foreseeable, either actually or metaphorically, so you could only vote for it if you thought it wise even in his hands.

Unless you're a Democrat. Not only have they relinquished any ability to critique Mitch McConnell's hypocrisy, from now until the end of time, but they have proven themselves disqualifyingly unethical and/or stupid beyond repair. Probably both but impossibly neither.

Story here: ...

Biden Admin Pledges Every Last Penny To Ukraine; Russia Hysteria Explodes After Tulsi Nomination; Biden's Fraudulent Israel Ultimatum
System Update #366 - Video Transcript

post photo preview

 

  1. The American people delivered a resounding message last Tuesday at the polls. Their grievances were as clear as they were valid. Namely, we can't afford groceries, our communities are falling apart and in general, Washington seems to have abandoned us, caring about everybody except the American middle and working classes. The Biden administration today showed how clearly they heard and cared about this message: Secretary of State Anthony Blinken boasted of the $8 billion they sent again to Ukraine on top of the 140 billion already sent and then he announced earlier today that, and I quote, “Every dollar we have at our disposal will be pushed to Ukraine before President Biden leaves office.” 

  2.  The reaction to the choice of Tulsi Gabbard has been more unhinged than we can possibly describe, though not necessarily more unhinged than we would have predicted.   

  3. The Biden State Department sent the Israeli government what purported to be a “ultimatum.” The letter said, “Unless you show dramatic improvement in the availability of humanitarian aid into Gaza, including food, clean water and medicine, then the U.S. government would consider cutting off further transfers of arms to Israel,” given that U.S. law actually bars the arming of any government that is using those weapons to violate international law and human rights. It was very clear from the start how insultingly cynical and fraudulent that letter was. It was issued just a little more than two weeks before the election. Now, this 30-day limit from the State Department given to Israel magically expired, and – surprise, surprise – the United States would not be cutting off any weapons to Israel at this time. 

Welcome to a new episode of System Update

Only for Supporters
To read the rest of this article and access other paid content, you must be a supporter
Read full Article
post photo preview
The Weekly Update
From November 11 to November 15

And… we’re back!

As we begin this new week, we understand that some of you were not able to tune in to some of last week’s episodes, and so we’re back with another Weekly Update, here to give you all the links to all of Glenn’s best moments from Monday to Friday. A lot happened in the news. Let’s start updating!

 

First, a bit about Locals:

Some of you were wondering why we decided to show our Thursday after show on Friday, and the answer’s pretty simple: From time to time, we want to show the rest of our viewers what perks are offered to our loyal subscribers! If you’re here from that episode, welcome; if you’re here from before, don’t even think about leaving. Glenn is watching.

 

Second, a reminder for those who might not have caught our first two (new) Weekly Updates:

Let’s be real: we cover a lot of ground in a given week. When we started, the shows were supposed to be 60 minutes long. Now, they're running closer to 90 or even longer.

We also understand that you’re all very busy — and so are we. Some of you live in California and can’t see the full show before you get away from work, while others are in the United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, and myriad other places. Maybe we air too late for you, or maybe we’re on a little earlier than you’d like. That’s fine!

Introducing our revamped Weekly Roundup, within which you’ll find some of our key clips and moments. That being said, we always encourage our loyal viewers and listeners to watch our full show on Rumble or listen to it on all of your favorite podcasting platforms 12 hours after airing.

 

Daily Updates

MONDAY: The Democratic Blame Game & Trump’s Cabinet

In this episode, we talked about…

  1. Democrats refusing to accept even a modicum of political responsibility;

  2. Trump banning Pompeo and Haley from his future administration;

TUESDAY: Glenn Suffers from the Plague

WEDNESDAY: Biden Welcomes ‘Hitler,’ While System Update Talks to an Israeli-Detained American Journalist

In this episode, we discussed…

 3. Biden welcoming Hitler (Trump) back to the Reichstag (White House);

  1. Analyzing Trump’s latest appointments;

  2. Jeremy Loffredo and his harrowing imprisonment in the West Bank by Israeli forces;

THURSDAY: Biden Promises All the Pennies to Ukraine as Tulsi Gets Smeared

In this episode, we talked about…

 6. Biden pledging to give our wallets, and any remaining pocket change, to the Ukrainian war effort;

  1. How Tulsi Gabbard is being slandered (again) as a Russian-Syrian toady;

  2. Why Blinken’s letter to Israel proves farcical;

FRIDAY: Glenn Talks to the Locals Community Post-Election

In this episode, we answered…

 10. All of your invaluable questions. Keep asking them, and watch his answers here!

 

Third, live question submissions:

Stay tuned — and tune in LIVE! This week, we’re debuting a feature that allows you, should you choose, to send videos or audio messages to the team for our Locals after show. 

 

Fourth, publication recommendations:

It dawned on our team that some of our ‘favorite’ publications are worth sharing, not because they are better than those not mentioned or because we even like them. Rather, we’re of the mindset that you should know how we prep for the show — and what certain publications mean to our process. Here are five or, we guess, six that are worth paying attention to, either for their journalistic or comedic value.

The New York Times

This one’s obvious: pure comedic value. We have to read the Gray Lady for so many things. Chief among them are little nuggets like this that come as the paper’s heralded minds attempt to debunk the healthful musings of RFK Jr. and his new M.A.H.A. cadre:

Image

 

The Washington Post

Really, outlets like the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal fall under a similar umbrella. But the Washington Post’s Bezos-related blowup a couple of weeks before the election was truly a sight to behold. Comedy gold, again.

At the same time, these three papers do claim to represent the establishment. And it’s worth paying attention — vigilantly — to the alleged center of this country’s news and opinion distribution.

Politico and Punchbowl 

It’s likely that you’ve heard of Politico, but some of that publication’s founders and editors left a few years back to found Punchbowl in their ever-feverish endeavor to stay hip and relevant. If you want gossip from and about Capitol Hill, these are the places we frequently go.

Current Affairs

Shoutout to Nathan Robinson, who we just recently interviewed. They think out of the box over there. We appreciate that. 

Haaretz

Other Israeli outlets (really, most of them) report on developments in the Middle East, particularly as they relate to Israel, are more forthcoming about the crimes committed by the government since and before October 7, 2023. Here’s just one recent example from the aforementioned publication that is deserving of some praise, in contrast to the mainstream American consensus that Israel has not done anything to deliberately stymie aid to Gaza:

Image

 

 

That’s it for this edition of the Weekly Update! 

We’ll see you next week…

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because the Weekly Update happened.”

— Dr. Seuss, if he read the Weekly Update

Read full Article
post photo preview
Biden Welcomes "Hitler" Back To The White House; Trump's Latest Appointments: What Do They Mean?; Jeremy Loffredo On Imprisonment In Israel
Video Transcript

Watch the full episode HERE

Podcast: Apple - Spotify 

Rumble App: Apple - Google


Good evening. It's Wednesday, November 13.

Tonight: The principal liberal and media theme of the 2024 campaign was that Donald Trump does not merely have a bad ideology, and is not merely a bad person, but he is a fascist threat to American democracy: a literal Hitler figure who intends to impose violence and permanent dictatorship on our nation. How odd, then, to see the American Hitler invited today to the White House, where he met with the sitting President Joe Biden, who warmly shook his hand, expressed fondness for him, and vowed to provide him all the assistance he wants in facilitating his path back to power. 

If Democrats actually believed anything they had been saying about Trump and the singular threat he poses, all of this should seem bizarre and should never happen. But it did, precisely because few in the media or politics actually believed the fears they were trying to gin up about what a Trump re-election would entail. Obviously: you don't invite and embrace Hitler to the White House.

Then: Donald Trump announced a spate of appointees for key positions in his cabinet since we evaluated his initial choices last week. Today alone, he chose Marco Rubio to be his Secretary of State, Tulsi Gabbard to be his Director of National Intelligence, and – in perhaps the most surprising choice of all – announced Matt Gaetz as his pick for Attorney General. Yesterday – in another major surprise – he announced combat veteran and Fox News host Pete Hegseth to be his Secretary of Defense, and Mike Huckabee to be his Ambassador to Israel: obviously, Israel is the first country to which he appointed an ambassador because, in American politics, Israel comes first.

Understandably, people seek to read into every choice certainty about what Trump's new administration will do and be. But did anyone watch Trump's first administration? The reason so many people left with such bitterness and rage – from John Bolton to John Kelley and countless others – is because Trump so often rejected their advice and refused to follow their preferred policies. Whether Trump will rely on Marco Rubio, JD Vance, or Matt Gaetz – or just Trump himself or whoever he is listening to – is very difficult to ascertain, let alone with certainty.  

There is clearly a lot in common with Trump's national security choices in particular. They are almost all fanatically, almost religiously loyal to the Israeli state, far more than many Israeli citizens are. And at one point or another, all of them, or most of them express views that one could easily describe as classic establishment Bush-Cheney foreign policy views or even outright neoconservatism. 

There is clearly a lot in common with Trump's national security choices – they are all fanatically, almost religiously, loyal to the Israeli state – far more than many Israelis themselves are – and, at one point or another, expressed views that one could easily describe as classic establishment, Bush-Cheney foreign policy views and even outright neoconservatism. Marco Rubio is probably the pick that most vividly exemplifies that, and there are many others.

Perhaps it is true, as many are arguing, that these appointments signify that Trump will be just a standard adherent to the DC foreign policy blob, and will pursue policies of confrontation, militarism, and war in his new administration. I understand why that conclusion is tempting – I certainly am far from a fan of all these choices, to put that mildly – though I am a fan of several – but I think the picture is far more nuanced and ambiguous and uncertain about who will wield power in this administration and how. And so, we want to devote the bulk of our show to digging into these choices and what they likely do, and do not, signify.

Finally: Jeremy Loffredo is an outstanding independent journalist whose work we have featured on our show previously. Loffredo is an American citizen whose reporting has been primarily done with Grayzone. He has spent the last year focused on critically scrutinizing the Israeli destruction of Gaza and the role of the U.S. and extremist ideologies in that. Agree or not with each one of his views, that is the work of a journalist.

Yet last month, Loffredo was arrested at a West Bank checkpoint by IDF soldiers, blindfolded, and put into solitary confinement. His crime? Reporting on the damage done in Israel by Iranian cruise missiles after Israeli officials falsely claimed that none of those missiles landed and did damage. Despite the fact that Loffredo's reporting was cited and divulged by Israeli outlets, his arrest was clearly punitive retaliation for the critical reporting he's done of Israeli occupation and war. We'll talk to him about what he endured and what it means about Israel's attitude toward journalists and whether “the region's only democracy” still deserves that term.

Only for Supporters
To read the rest of this article and access other paid content, you must be a supporter
Read full Article
See More
Available on mobile and TV devices
google store google store app store app store
google store google store app tv store app tv store amazon store amazon store roku store roku store
Powered by Locals