News bits: Leniency for traitors; Some Christofascist ideology; Etc.

The Intercept reports:

FEDERAL JUDGES HANDLING the criminal cases of hundreds of people charged in connection with the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol have overwhelmingly issued sentences far more lenient than Justice Department prosecutors sought, an analysis by The Intercept reveals.

In 82 percent of the 719 January 6-related cases that have been resolved, and in which the defendants have either pleaded guilty or been convicted, judges have issued lighter sentences than federal prosecutors requested, the analysis of Justice Department data through December 4, 2023, shows. They imposed the same sentences sought by prosecutors in just 95 cases and harsher sentences in only 37.

Nearly every one of the 24 federal judges handling the massive docket of January 6 cases has shown leniency toward the defendants, regardless of whether the judges were appointed by Democratic or Republican presidents, the data shows. 

Trump and his allies have repeatedly claimed that the federal judicial system has been unnecessarily punitive in its treatment of January 6 defendants, complaining that they are “political prisoners” who have been unfairly persecuted for trying to prevent the congressional certification of Biden’s 2020 election. One leading January 6 defendant compared himself to a Jew living in Nazi GermanyOpens in a new tab and saidOpens in a new tab that his “only crime is opposing those who are destroying our country.”

Why leniency for traitors? Because our legal and court system are political and corrupt. The rule of law is an ill-defined thing. Some observers call it an essentially contested concept because it is mostly subjective at least for white collar crimes, especially by rich or powerful elites. 

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Right Wing Watch reports:

Christian Nationalist Bill Cook Says God Will Start 

Killing FBI Agents for Arresting Jan. 6 Insurrectionists

Rev. Bill Cook is the founder of America’s Black Robe Regiment and an ardent Christian nationalist who wants to see “the government of God [established] throughout every square inch of the Earth.”

In November, Cook preached at On Fire Ministries in Spokane, Washington, which is run by far-right pastor Matt Shea, a former Washington state legislator who was stripped of his committee assignments and booted out of the Republican Party in 2019 in the wake of a report detailing how he had “participated in an act of domestic terrorism” and “planned, engaged in and promoted a total of three armed conflicts of political violence against the United States Government in three states outside the state of Washington over a three-year period.”

The remarks Cook delivered were a perfect match for the venue in which they were presented, as he used his time on stage to declare that the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol was a “psy op” carried out by the government and also to warn FBI agents who have been arresting insurrectionists that God will soon start killing them and sending them to Hell.

It’s good to know that God will be tidying up by murdering those evil 1/6 psy op FBI agents and sending them to Hell. 

This is just a reminder of the ongoing radicalization of at least some of American Christianity into some form of enraged, mentally deranged Christofascism.

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From the Salwart Patriot Entrepreneur Files: Axios reports:

There’s growing concern among some executives and board members at Tesla and SpaceX that Musk's drug use could be influencing his antics, The Wall Street Journal’s Emily Glazer and Kirsten Grind report. .... They fear Musk could hurt himself as well as the future of six companies he oversees. 

Musk has used LSD, cocaine, ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms, “often at private parties around the world, where attendees sign nondisclosure agreements or give up their phones to enter,” The Journal reports.

“People close to Musk, who is now 52, said his drug use is ongoing ... Illegal drug use would likely be a violation of federal policies that could jeopardize SpaceX’s billions of dollars in government contracts.”

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Meanwhile, there’s an 

insurrectionist at the bird feeder