Scott Bradford: Off on a Tangent

On President Biden

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President Biden
President Biden

In my political commentary, I focus on matters of law and policy. When I consider candidates for political office, I also consider their character. In either case, I avoid getting bogged-down with trivialities and distractions. I do not ridicule political figures when they make harmless gaffes, and I shy away from bringing things like age or medical condition into the discussion.

In my 2020 presidential election endorsement, I did not even mention that both then-President Donald Trump (R) and now-President Joe Biden (D) were quite elderly. I only briefly mentioned Trump’s “miscommunications, gaffes, flubs, and obnoxious Tweets,” and later described Biden as being “like America’s lovable, goofy uncle,” but I did not harp on their long histories of saying weird things in public.

Many Trump supporters attempted to paint Biden as a feeble, old man (even though he is only four years older than Trump). Some called him “Dementia Joe” and alleged that he was mentally unfit to serve as president. It was clear that Biden had slowed down with age—as most people do—but I saw no evidence of serious incapacity. This line of argument played no part in how I voted.

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Pancreases Sue Insulin Makers

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The International Association of Pancreases (IAP) today announced a lawsuit on behalf of its members against makers of artificial insulin, including Sanofi, Eli Lilly, and Novo Nordisk. The suit alleges that numerous manufacturers of insulin have refused to license the design of the peptide hormone from the organ that created it.

If successful, the suit could generate billions of dollars in damages, which would be distributed among claimants who can prove they have a pancreas that generated insulin at some point during their lifetime.

Pancreases are organs in the vertebrate digestive and endocrine systems. They are typically located in the abdomen near the stomach, and serve to regulate blood sugar levels. Human pancreases secrete multiple hormones including insulin, glucagon, somatostatin, and pancreatic polypeptides. They also secrete pancreatic juices into the duodenum, which assist in breaking down carbohydrates, proteins, and fats from food.

Off on a Tangent contacted IAP spokesman Alfred M. Yankovich via AOL Instant Messenger, but he was unable to respond to our questions. Yankovich sent a prepared statement saying, in part, “My pancreas attracts every other pancreas in the universe with a force proportional to the product of their masses, and inversely proportional to the distance between them, woo woo woo woo.”

Lady Justice and Trump's Mugshot
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In this series, I have provided a detailed written analysis of all the criminal charges currently faced by former President Donald Trump (R). These include thirty-four counts in the New York business records case, forty in the federal documents case, four in the federal election case, and thirteen in the Georgia election case—a grand total of ninety-one criminal charges.

As I explained in the brief overview at the beginning of the series, my goal was to “explain the facts as I understand them, then add some informed conjecture and my conclusions.” I have tried to be fair. I have my biases, but I strive to apply my principles, and the law, without favor. I will not hold politicians on “my side” to a lesser standard than those on the “other side.”

I (reluctantly) endorsed Trump in 2016 and again in 2020, and I generally tend more to the Republican side of the American political duopoly than the Democratic one. I am convinced that at least some of the legal mortars that have been fired at Trump during and after his presidency were launched by partisan figures for less-than-honorable reasons. “Russiagate” and the impeachments were mostly nonsense, and the overwhelming majority of charges in these four indictments are irreparably flawed—some are obviously unconstitutional, some are impermissibly vague, and some cannot be proved beyond a reasonable doubt without resorting to mind-reading.

And yet, buried in the fluff, there are accusations with merit . . . and it turns out that some of them warrant conviction. As is often the case, reality lies somewhere between the insistent pronouncements of the right-wing and the left. You cannot yell, “partisan hit job!” and throw everything out because you like Trump. Nor can you convict him on all counts, law and principles be damned, because you don’t like him. Justice, when practiced properly, is a search for the truth . . . and the truth is often complicated.

This post is a [relatively] brief summary of what I found when I did my “deep dive” analyses of every charge Trump is facing. If even this is too much, you can skip to the “Summary of Conclusions” near the end. And of course, for details about my reasoning you’ll have to follow the links to the more detailed article about each indictment.

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Trump and Co-Defendants
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The fourth (and, so far, final) of former President Donald Trump’s (R) indictments was issued by a Georgia grand jury on August 14, 2023. Trump appeared for booking in Fulton County, Georgia, on August 24 and filed a “not guilty” plea in writing on August 31.

The indictment lists forty-one charges against nineteen defendants—Trump and eighteen others connected with him or his 2020 presidential campaign. Thirteen charges are directed at Trump. Six charges alleging “solicitation of violation of oath by public officer,” three of which were directed at Trump, were dismissed on March 13, 2024, due to vagueness. Four defendants—Scott Hall, Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro, and Jenna Ellis—pleaded guilty under plea agreements that reduced the number or severity of charges and limited their sentences to probation and fines with no jail time. Three more charges relating to federal court filings, two of which were directed at Trump, were dismissed September 12, 2024, due to potential conflicts with federal law.

Prosecutors allege that the defendants conspired with one another and committed various other crimes to subvert the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Georgia. The charges against Trump include racketeering (i.e., RICO violations); conspiracies to impersonate, commit forgery, make false statements, and file false documents; filing a false document; and making false statements.

This article is based on the information that is publicly available at the time of its writing. It may need to be revised if new information becomes available. Any substantial changes will be described in the “Updates” section near the end of this post.

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Virginia Major Party Primaries, 2024

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Seal of Virginia
Seal of Virginia

Virginia’s major party primary elections will be held on Tuesday, June 18, 2024. Off on a Tangent makes recommendations to primary voters in state- and federal-level races in Virginia and local elections in Loudoun County whenever nominees will be chosen through a contested public primary.

Political parties are private organizations that should have no formal standing in our political system. As private organizations, they are free to choose their nominees through whichever process they wish—common methods include conventions, caucuses, private “firehouse primaries,” and direct nomination by party leaders. But in Virginia and many other states, the Democratic and Republican party duopoly has given itself permission to hold public primaries at the taxpayers’ expense.

Public primaries in Virginia are “open.” Any registered voter may vote in any single party primary held on a given day, regardless of whether they are an actual member of that party.

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Scott Bradford is a writer and technologist who has been putting his opinions online since 1995. He believes in three inviolable human rights: life, liberty, and property. He is a Catholic Christian who worships the trinitarian God described in the Nicene Creed. Scott is a husband, nerd, pet lover, and AMC/Jeep enthusiast with a B.S. degree in public administration from George Mason University.