Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.
Psalms 19:14 KJV
The Chauvin Verdict
By Mike Huckabee
I assume by now that you have heard about the verdict of former Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd approximately 10,000 times, and that you have had more than your fill of opinions about it. Even the stories labeled “news” are mostly about 80% opinion.
So I’m going to try something unique. Instead of pontificating, I’m going to tell you the facts, including some you might not have heard, and pass along commentary from people who actually know what they’re talking about. That way, when you inevitably run into someone spouting opinions, you can calmly reply with facts and reason. It won’t do any good, but we have to start somewhere.
First, the basic facts: the jury returned fairly quickly with a verdict of guilty on all three counts: second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter (I told you I’m not a legal expert so I won’t try to explain how you can be guilty of both intentional and unintentional murder for the same crime.) A guilty verdict was hardly unexpected, given the emotional power of that video of Floyd saying he couldn't breathe, but not necessarily on all counts.
Victoria Taft at PJ Media has a good round-up of other facts about the trial, such as the racial makeup of the jury, and reactions to the verdict, as well as some reasons why there is certain to be an appeal.
Among the many potential grounds for appeal are the denial of a change of venue from Minneapolis (a mistake that became more obvious with each passing day), President Biden pronouncing Chauvin guilty while the trial was ongoing, and the threats of street violence by Rep. Maxine Waters and the leftist mob if the jury didn't convict.
The judge said the jurors had been instructed to disregard media reports, but would any reasonable person not suspect that their verdict might have been influenced by fear if they knew there were threats of violence against a witness, police, the jurors, their families, their homes and businesses and their entire home town?
President Biden reacted to the verdict by presenting a dark vision of America (this is what the media said every time Trump spoke, so I feel that it’s fair to say that – also, in this case, it’s accurate.) He described the nation that elected him as a place of systemic racism where all black and brown people live in fear that the police will kill them or their children as they’re just walking home from the grocery, driving their cars or sleeping in their homes.
Bryan Preston notes that that description of all America more accurately sounds like big cities that have been run for decades by Democrats. Remember, Derek Chauvin was a member of the police force in Minneapolis, one of the most liberal cities in the country with not a single Republican on the city council.
While most of the questions about the rightness or wrongness of the verdict center on whether the jury was intimidated or unduly influenced, legal experts such as Harvard Law Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz spoke to Fox News about some costly mistakes the defense made. Among them: not being tough enough in cross-examining the prosecution’s forensic witnesses…making an erroneous statement about the law in the summation that forced the judge to pause the trial and instruct the jury to disregard (not something that impresses a jury)… and deciding not to put Chauvin on the stand. That prevented the prosecution from badgering him into making a costly slip, but it also kept the jury from hearing him defend himself in his own words, which might have humanized him after months of media demonization.
For some definitely biased but entertainingly expressed opinions, Stephen Kruiser looks at the reactions of leftists who got the verdict they demanded but are still angry and unsatisfied and complaining, because of course they are.
(By the way, to lift your spirits, scroll down in that article to the video of the heroic dog caught on a surveillance camera saving his little dog buddy who fell into a swimming pool and couldn’t get out. It might not restore your faith in humanity, but it will reinforce your faith in dogs.)
A reminder: there are three other officers still facing charges in George Floyd’s death. Here’s what’s happening with those cases.
While I hope this verdict will help calm some of the violence and overheated rhetoric for a while at least, and buy some time until the appeals start to begin a rational dialogue to address legitimate issues of police reform, I suspect it will be seen by the radical left as a win that only encourages more demands for mob rule.
Finally, while I understand the pain of George Floyd’s family, and why they held the press conference, I would offer them a suggestion in good faith: If you want to make the case to Americans that we must never tolerate demonizing an ethnic group in ways that lead to the deaths of innocents, or allowing false charges based on race to destroy people’s lives, or letting people who do those things face no accountability, then please reconsider making that argument with Al Sharpton standing next to you.
Shopping Tip
By Mike Huckabee
Leftwing activists are angry at Home Depot for refusing to condemn Georgia over the false statements they made about its election integrity laws and acting like they’re in business to sell home supplies instead of promoting fake Democrat political narratives. They’re calling for a boycott of Home Depot.
So good news: if you need anything to get your home or yard ready for spring and summer, you can now shop Home Depot without having to worry about running into any angry, irrational leftists whose arguments are undisturbed by facts. See you in the garden section!
A Fatal Shooting In Ohio
By Mike Huckabee
Last night, protests began to erupt in Columbus, Ohio, after police fatally shot a 15-year-old black girl. To make it clear what really happened, police released body cam footage showing that the girl was attacking two other young girls, and when shot was charging toward one of the other girls with what appeared to be a knife in her upraised hand.
The girl’s mother said her daughter “promoted peace,” and her aunt blamed the police, claiming that her niece picked up a knife to defend herself during a fight with other people in the neighborhood.
However, what the police saw was someone charging at an unarmed person with a deadly weapon, which didn’t look like a defensive posture. If they had failed to shoot to save the other girl, would they have been accused of not caring about the African-American girl being stabbed to death?
This is a developing story, but it is looking suspiciously like the Adam Toledo case, in which the original narrative failed to make clear that the 13-year-old boy had a gun in his hand just before police fired.
The Details: Mike Lindell Sues Dominion For $1.6 Billion
By Mike Huckabee
By now, you know that “the MyPillow guy,” Mike Lindell, has been sued by Dominion Voting Systems for defamation over his claims that their machines could be –- and were –- hacked and the vote changed in the 2020 election. They seek damages of $1.3 billion.
In this poker game, Lindell will see their $1.3 billion and raise them another $.3 billion. That’s right, he’s suing THEM for $1.6 billion. He filed his suit in the U.S. District Court in Minnesota, where his company is based. In case you didn’t see that story, it’s in THE EPOCH TIMES.
The complaint opens this way: “Freedom of speech, and free and fair elections, are two pillars of our constitutional order. Intersection of the two --- debate in the public square about elections --- is therefore a matter of grave constitutional concern. Discussion of election integrity must receive the highest protection under the First Amendment.”
Indeed. Now tell that to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media platforms that censor any questioning of the outcome of the 2020 election. It’s about time someone started defending the First Amendment, especially when it comes to elections.
“[Dominion has] engaged in a scorched earth campaign,” the suit says, “debasing the legal system through a practice that has become known as ‘lawfare.’ Dominion’s purpose is to silence debate; to eliminate any challenge to the 2020 election; and to cancel and destroy anyone who speaks out against Dominion’s work on behalf of the government in administering the election.”
“Dominion is using today’s cancel culture to eliminate dissent and to cover up the election issues that compromised the 2020 result.”
You can read the entire complaint here.
Lawyers for Dominion say Lindell is lying about links between them and alleged election fraud. As we’ve reported, they’re also suing attorney Sidney Powell and have sent threatening letters to dozens of others, who mostly issued groveling apologies and CYA statements devised by their attorneys. That’s the “lawfare” Lindell’s suit is talking about, and he will not back down.
Concerning Sidney Powell, recall that she recently corrected a report that said she was trying a novel defense: arguing that her claims against Dominion were so crazy, no one would believe them; hence, no damages. As we clarified, Powell is NOT using that line of argument as her defense. In fact, it was Dominion who characterized her claims as crazy and unbelievable; her attorneys apparently were just turning that argument around on them.
We haven’t seen proof that voting machines were hacked or that election fraud changed the outcome, but we believe anyone who professes knowledge of such proof should have their day in court and should not be censored.
In general, news outlets are reporting that Lindell has pushed “false conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.” According to BUSINESS INSIDER, the Dominion suit “alleged Lindell used those false theories to juice his company’s profits by integrating his pillow advertising into the right-wing media ecosystem.”
That claim seems ridiculous on its face. As a conservative Christian businessman, Lindell had already “integrated” into “the right-wing media ecosystem.” He didn’t have to do something like this. And as evidence that he really believes his allegations and isn’t just doing this to make money, Lindell claims that his business LOST $65 million in deals with retailers over this issue, and he says that business is not coming back. The lawsuit points to these. He’s talking about huge retailers like Bed, Bath & Beyond; Kohl’s; and Costco.
Mike Lindell is much too smart as a businessman to do something this controversial in the hope of making money. He had to know the opposition he would face. The man obviously loves his country and believes in what he is doing. Saying Lindell did this to make money, as Dominion’s lawsuit claims, is kind of like the left’s allegation that Donald Trump ran for President to make money. Look at what politics has done to complicate their businesses and do the math; it makes no sense.
Nevertheless, as reported in FORBES, Dominion accuses Lindell of lying about their voting machines “because the lie sells pillows.”
Figuring out how to make that case might be keeping their attorneys awake nights. I know a good cure for that: a MyPillow, a mattress topper and some soft Giza Dream Sheets.
Before Dominion sued him, Lindell made it clear he would welcome their lawsuit, as it would give him the opportunity to investigate the company. “I welcome Dominion to sue me,” he said in January. “I welcome it. Please.” And he hasn’t backtracked one bit on his claims, saying he plans to release several self-produced documentaries on the election. The announcement of his lawsuit was made during a livestream on his new alternative social media platform, “Frank,” at Frankspeech.com. At the time of this writing, very early Wednesday morning, there were still some glitches to be worked out on the site, with Lindell alleging a massive cyberattack.
On Monday, Lindell filed a motion to dismiss Dominion’s lawsuit against him, arguing that the CEO “knows that his statements regarding problems with the voting machines are true” and thus can’t show he was deliberately trying to defame them with false claims.
Lindell has got none other than Alan Dershowitz as an informal legal adviser. “I’ve been defending the First Amendment for 60 years,” Dershowitz said, “and I’m not going to stop now.” He said it was an important First Amendment case.
The NEW YORK POST has a story about Dershowitz getting involved.
Yes, the POST story does refer to Lindell’s claims of fraud as “baseless,” but never mind that, because dismissing them outright --- currently obligatory at most news outlets --- is premature. They're not proven, but they're not debunked, either. The point of election integrity for 2020 might be “moot,” as the Supreme Court is so fond of saying, but we have another election coming up in another year and a half, and if by then there’s any question about electronic voting left unresolved, we’ll have to go back to doing it the old fashioned way, with pen and paper in a contained system.
So if Dominion can prove they have a secure electronic system, they’d doggone well better do it, or else they need to be out. And that won't be Mike Lindell's fault.
The Governor Answers Reader On "Boneheaded" Capitol Hill Protest
By Mike Huckabee
On Monday, in the commentary about the cause of death of Officer Brian Sicknick, I referred to the breach of the Capitol Building on January 6 as “boneheaded,” and a reader had this to say...
From Sharon:
Mike,
If protesting Injustice and corruption (and fraud) are boneheaded, then what are you a Republican for?
Proud MAGA bonehead, that's me.
From the Gov:
It was extremely important in the aftermath of the election to protest injustice and corruption. And, yes, FRAUD. Peaceful protest was necessary and good –- the opposite of boneheaded. It’s wonderful that so many people turned out to offer support and hear the President speak. But the way to protest was to do as he asked, by showing up by the tens of thousands at his rally, as his supporters did, and following his directions to proceed “peacefully and patriotically” to the Capitol Building, as not all of his supporters did. (Of course, we now know that the boneheads who stormed the Capitol had not even heard his speech.)
I’ll say it again: breaking windows, storming the building and disrupting official business WAS boneheaded. What did those boneheads expect to accomplish by trooping in, entering the House chamber and taking selfies? Did they honestly think this was going to do some good? Or did it occur to them that it would be used against President Trump and all of us who supported him? Because, of course, it was, and will continue to be as long as Democrats can milk it.
The violent protest played right into leftists’ hands --- so much so that you know some Antifa types were working behind the scenes to ensure that it would happen. If they didn’t initiate it themselves, they infiltrated the group and were among the participants, urging them on and documenting the event. By getting caught up in this and going along, Trump supporters allowed themselves to be used.
Afterwards, the thousands of National Guard troops and tall fencing with razor wire that Nancy Pelosi ordered placed around the area were put there deliberately to paint Trump supporters as unhinged QAnon members and crazy white supremacists. We were all labeled “domestic terrorists.” Thanks, boneheads.
After this happened, the media had 3-1/2 months to build the false "deadly insurrection" narrative that accuses Trump supporters of causing the deaths of five people, including Capitol Hill police officer Brian Sicknick, even though they caused NOT ONE of those deaths. And since the double standard is worse than ever, we see these same media excusing horrid behavior on the left, such as Rep. Maxine Waters’ calls for confrontation in the streets. Her Democrat colleagues –- who unfortunately are in the majority and get to call the shots –- also have excused her. At the same time, they’re out to twist anything we say or do at every opportunity, and the Capitol Hill boneheads gave them one.
The behavior of a few hundred hyped-up people caused incalculable damage to the conservative cause. It helped the media portray all conservatives as a bunch of weirdos in face paint and animal horns. It detracted from the reality of election fraud. It even led to a second impeachment of President Trump.
Yes, we need to protest, but not this way. This one was a big, boneheaded mistake.
A Reader Writes Back...
Governor Huckabee, I deeply appreciate your expressed, honest viewpoints. Keep up the good work on behalf of America and God!
America The Beautiful
God's creation is all around us. To learn more about White Sands National Park, visit its website here.
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