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🇺🇸 Four for Four

🇺🇸 Four for Four

Plus, 17 sets of twins head to class.

Good morning, and happy Wednesday. Some researchers believe they may have found a way to help build cartilage damaged by osteopartharaits by studying this animal’s regenerative abilities.

Plus, a Scottish local authority colloquially known as "Twinverclyde" is bracing itself for 17 sets of twins starting primary school next week. Believe it or not, this is actually not the most twins they’ve had!

Also, did you know #VanLife can be #VeryLucrative?

QUICK CLICKS

Hunter’s Lawyer Withdraws, New Heatwave, Taliban Celebrate

US: Hunter Biden lawyer withdraws from case ahead of expected witness testimony on 'sweetheart' plea deal (FOX News)

US: Former high-level FBI official pleads guilty in connection to scheme working for sanctioned Russian oligarch (CNN)

US: Pacific Northwest heat wave could break temperature records through Thursday (NPR)

US: McCarthy floats stopgap to prevent government shutdown (Axios)

World: Afghan Taliban celebrate return to power two years on amid erosion of women's rights (Reuters)

World: South Korea president calls for deeper security cooperation with US ahead of summit (The Hill)

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The Airbnb of RVs

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Just how easy? Go ahead and find out.

TRUMP

Four for Four

CC BY-SA 3.0 Gage Skidmore

Late on Monday night, a Georgia grand jury charged former president and 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump with racketeering and election interference in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.

Reporting from the Right: Donald Trump indicted: Georgia grand jury charges ex-president, 18 others in sweeping RICO case (Washington Examiner)

Reporting from the Left: Trump and 18 allies charged in Georgia election meddling as former president faces 4th criminal case (AP)

From The Flag: The indictment states, “Trump and the other Defendants charged in this Indictment refused to accept that Trump lost, and they knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump.” In addition to Trump, the indictment includes charges against the former mayor of New York City and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and others. Here’s what both sides are saying.

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

The Witch-Hunt Continues

Willis’ sham indictment is nothing more than a blatant, Democrat-backed attempt to criminalize Americans’ First Amendment right.
It is clear that these indictments are politically motivated, but Willis has better ground to stand on as she makes her case against Trump.
The tactics of the Trump team were neither more nor less than what Democrats had done in claiming the 2000 election had been stolen from Al Gore by Republicans pushing for George W. Bush.

Fulton County’s Bogus Trump Indictment Is Democrats’ Latest Attempt To Criminalize Free Speech Shawn Fleetwood, The Federalist: “While a cursory reading of the melodramatic accusations made at the indictment’s outset will undoubtedly give America’s regime-approved media the vapors, a deep dive into the full filing reveals just how egregious the charges really are. To justify her claim that Trump and his associates engaged in a ‘conspiracy’ to overturn the 2020 election results, Willis cites numerous acts of indictees engaging in lawful free speech that she asserts helped further this so-called conspiracy. In Act 22, for example, Willis cites a Dec. 3, 2020, tweet from Trump telling his followers to tune into One America News Network (OANN) to watch state legislative hearings on Georgia’s elections. According to Willis, this constitutes ‘an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.’ …Willis’ charges are just a preview of what leftist politicians across the country want to do to everyday Americans. If they can do it to him and other notable Republicans, they can — and will — do it to you.”

Out of all indictments, Georgia is the most perilous threat to Trump Andrew C. McCarthy, The New York Post: “The special counsel [Jack Smith] will have to stretch the law and get favorable court rulings to make the charges stick. I am not convinced that he can (or at least that he should) prevail, but it’s a serious case. By contrast, Willis could have smoother sailing. That’s because the federalist system designed by our Constitution gives the states primary responsibility to conduct and police elections. Ergo, the states have laws that are tailored specifically to election irregularities and attempts to subvert state processes for tabulating and certifying votes. Unlike Smith, Willis can invoke laws that are specifically designed to deal with election-interference conduct of the kind Trump engaged in. That is not to say she won’t make some heads turn, particularly because she indicted Trump under Georgia’s anti-racketeering law. … But the basic idea behind anti-racketeering is to group a set of disparate criminal schemes under one conspiratorial arrangement.”

One more opinion piece from the Right: Georgia Indicted Trump for Doing What Democrats Did for Gore in 2000 Joel B. Pollak, Breitbart

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Things Are Getting Real for Trump

District Attorney Fani Willis has made a unique case, including a range of conspirators and compelling evidence of election interference.
This particular indictment in Georgia has the potential to derail Trump’s 2024 bid because of Georgia’s status as a swing state.
Many have credited Trump’s growing lead in the race to be the GOP’s 2024 presidential nominee to the indictments; however, there’s been no similar spike in general election polls.

This Indictment of Trump Does Something Ingenious Norman Eisen and Amy Lee Copeland, The New York Times: “In contrast to the special counsel Jack Smith’s latest laser-focused federal indictment of Mr. Trump, [Fani Willis] charges a wide range of conspirators, from people in the Oval Office to low-level Georgia G.O.P. functionaries… Her case also provides other important complements to the federal matter: Unlike Mr. Smith’s case, which will almost certainly not be broadcast because of federal standards, hers will almost certainly be televised, and should Mr. Trump or another Republican win the White House, Ms. Willis’s case cannot be immediately pardoned away. It offers transparency and accountability insurance. … But the indictment stands out, above all, because Georgia offers uniquely compelling evidence of election interference — and a set of state criminal statutes tailor-made for the sprawling, loosely organized wrongdoing that Mr. Trump and his co-conspirators are accused of engaging in. It is a reminder of the genius of American federalism: When our democracy is threatened, states have an indispensable part to play in protecting it.

Why Trump's Indictment in Georgia Might Just Cost Him the Presidency David Faris, Roosevelt University: “If Biden wins Georgia, Trump could pull it out in Florida, Arizona, Nevada, and Wisconsin and still fall short of victory. And if there's one thing you'd rather not see in a must-win battleground state, it's your candidate on trial for election subversion and racketeering. …Trump is a diminished man inside of a courtroom. These trials aren't going to be Trump rallies—they will be deadly serious affairs where this sad, bitter old man will have to sit quietly for hours as prosecutors lay the cases against him out, one painstaking detail at a time. This is what he'll be doing instead of campaigning… Trump also won't have Georgia Republicans to save him or launder the facts like House Republicans did during his 2019 impeachment. … Every indictment is another piece of evidence for the small but potentially critical bloc of wavering Republicans that Trump is unfit to lead the country, lowering his electoral ceiling inch by inch.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: Trump’s indictment bounce may well be a ‘sugar high’ Dean Obeidallah, CNN

FLAG THIS

Trump Safe in GOP Primaries, Not So Much in General

According to FiveThirtyEight’s national polling average of the primary, Trump has a near record-high advantage of 38.7 percentage points over his nearest competitor, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. That’s up from a lead of 15 to 20 points in late March, prior to his first indictment in New York state.

Outside of just his party, however, a CBS/YouGov poll conducted Aug. 2-4 found a majority of adults said the indictments against Trump were “upholding the rule of law” (57 percent) and an effort to “defend democracy” (52 percent), which indicates Trump may have a more difficult time in the lead up to the general election should he win his party’s nomination (FiveThirtyEight).

Do you agree or disagree with the charges levied against Trump in this most recent indictment?

FLAG FINDS

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WATERCOOLER

Gold Rush Sparked, Mystery Genes, Vanishing 727

Klondikers carrying supplies ascending the Chilkoot Pass, 1898

On This Day in 1896: While salmon fishing near the Klondike River in Canada’s Yukon Territory, George Carmack reportedly spots nuggets of gold in a creek bed. His lucky discovery sparks the last great gold rush in the American West.

WIRED: The Mystery Genes That Are Keeping You Alive

The Walrus: Should Computers Decide How Much Things Cost?

The Conversation: Here’s How Your Metabolism Influences How Many Calories You Burn Each Day

Today I learned in 2003, two men stole and flew a Boeing 727-223 parked at Angola’s Luanda International Airport, and neither of them was qualified to fly the plane. The plane and the men are missing to date.

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