Today in Supreme Court History: October 30, 1735

10/30/1735: President John Adams's birthday.

President John Adams

Comments

[apedad]

Here's a short, easy read on Adams' decision to defend the British soldiers who shot at colonists during the Boston Massacre.

https://www.history.com/news/boston-massacre-trial-john-adams-dan-abrams

[Mr. Bumble]

If it occurred today, how long would it take to have him prosecuted and disbarred?

[apedad]

Not sure of your point.

Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Timothy McVeigh, and all the mass shooters (who lived), have had defense council - with no apparent, negative consequences to council (AFAIK).

[Drewski]

If it happened today, Trump would call for their release, call King George a "perfect king, a good friend," and write angry letters to newspapers about the French.

[jdgalt1]

If he were a Democrat, forever. If he were a Republican, he would be quickly railroaded.

[Frank Drackman]

So was that the Julian date or Gregorian?, there's a difference.

[Magister]

Gregorian.

[Frank Drackman]

Talk about your "Spring Forward" they advanced the Calendar 11 days.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Jones v. Meehan, 175 U.S. 1 (decided October 30, 1899): language of treaty, and rights of inheritance as to Indian property, are construed as members of the tribe would understand them, not by looking to law of the state (at issue was a 10-foot wide strip of land along the shore of Red Lake in Minnesota)

Tuggle v. Netherland, 516 U.S. 10 (decided October 30, 1995): failure of state to provide independent psychiatrist to possibly rebut state showing of future dangerousness (required by Ake v. Oklahoma, 1985) resulted in vacatur of death sentence even though other aggravating factors were validly shown

[apedad]

Tuggle was still executed in 1996.

His infamy began as a teen-ager, when he committed his first murder at age 19. In 1971, he befriended Shirley Mullins Brickey at an American Legion dance in his hometown of Smyth County, accompanied her to a deserted house near Seven Mile Ford and choked her to death.

For that crime he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was released on parole in 1983. Four months into his freedom he killed again. Once more, he attended the American Legion dance in Smyth County and lured away a woman.

In 1984, Tuggle's first year on death row, he escaped with five other inmates in the largest death row breakout in U.S. history. He was recaptured nine days later in Vermont. His accomplices have since been executed.

https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1996/rt9612/961213/12130100.htm

[Dan Schiavetta]

Thanks.

Sounds like a psychiatrist would have said, “Of course he’ll kill again! Fry him!! (BTW I’m billing $5000 for this opinion.)"

[Frank Drackman]

Speaking of Dead Presidents, looks like Parkinsonian Joe just made an "Own Goal" (not a Soccer/Hockey Fan, I think I'm using the term correctly) referring to 1/2 the country as "Garbage",
Way to go Joe!

Frank "Joe!, where are you going with that gun in your hand? it's Hunter's!"

[bernard11]

No, Frank. He didn't.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Whatever Frank said (I muted him a long time ago), you're probably correcting some obvious misstatement of fact.

[apedad]

. . . some obvious misstatement of fact - or just plain gibberish.

[Bob from Ohio]

"No, Frank. He didn’t."

Yes, bernard, he did.

Post asked why people vote for Trump, part of it is that Democrats hate us. Biden just reinforced it. Deplorables or garbage, the mere fact you vote for Trump makes you a bad person.

[Sarcastr0]

Brett, he misspoke. It's clear he misspoke if you watch the video.
He said me misspoke
Harris has distanced herself from the comment.

This is *nothing* except to Frank, who is a moron, and you, who will believe anything about the Dems hating conservatives and plotting against them.

[JoeFromtheBronx]

Is “Brett” a placeholder? You are replying to Bob.

I know people who voted for Trump, btw, and I think it’s bad to do it. But, the people aren’t bad people. I don't "hate" them.

[Sarcastr0]

I do have an issue with names that start with the same letter, yeah.

Yeah, I play D&D with some Trump supporters. The people who say *Sever from the evildoers* for that stuff are the terminally online.

[Bob from Ohio]

"he misspoke"

You would never accept that BS if it was Trump.

I believe it is called a Kinsley Gaffe.

"Harris has distanced herself from the comment."

No doubt. The Trump campaign distanced itself from the rally joke as well. I don't see a lot of people on your side accepting that.
.

[Sarcastr0]

I'm sure Trump's mispoken like that - everyone does. And I'm sure I've not cared.

The issue with the Trump campaign trying to distance himself from the rally joke is his people approved it first.

And, finally, if all you have is speculative hypocricy, you aren't really defending your 'Biden just reinforced it. Deplorables or garbage, the mere fact you vote for Trump makes you a bad person.'

[Bob from Ohio]

"his people"

Oh, so if some unknown staffer doesn't catch a bad joke, its a big "issue " but the President of the United States calling 74 million [or more] Americans garbage is NBD.

Got it!

[Sarcastr0]

So your defense is to speculate that Trump doesn't have good people working for him.

Meanwhile, you're STILL standing behind the Biden thinks Trump supporters are garbage people take?

I know I know, consistency and truth aren't your thing, but this is a shameful performance.

[Bob from Ohio]

"take"

Its on video! Its reality, you are just trying to spin.

"shameful performance"

Yes, your BS is!

[Magister]

The video is consistent with the only garbage being the supporter's. Show us a video that actually captures an apostrophe.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Apparently only Republicans are allowed to call the opposition names like "vermin".

[David Nieporent]

No doubt. The Trump campaign distanced itself from the rally joke as well. I don’t see a lot of people on your side accepting that.

Vance didn't. He said that he didn't see it (snicker, and also, as if that were relevant), but that people have to stop getting so offended at stuff.

In any case, assuming Biden meant it, I think you should respond by not voting for him.

[not guilty]

A video does not include punctuation, which here might make a difference:

“The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter’s — his — his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American. It’s totally contrary to everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been,” read the White House transcript, which included an apostrophe in “supporter’s” as Republicans accused Biden of saying “supporters.”

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/10/30/2024-elections-live-coverage-updates-analysis/harris-response-biden-garbage-comments-00186236

President Biden could have been referring to Tony Hinchcliffe's -- a Trump supporter's -- individual demonization of Latinos as garbage.

[Bob from Ohio]

Secret apostrophe!

[Magister]

Not secret at all, since it’s been in most of the news media, even some that are most dedicated to distorting things that Democrats say to score a few fake outrage points.

And very rude of you to pick on a man who stutters, even disregarding that Republicans foolishly insist he succumbed to dementia more than four years ago and have to keep pretending there are miraculous drugs that allow him to function normally when everybody sees him do so.

[Bob from Ohio]

"man who stutters"

A malady invented to hide his decline. Find me an article or video from before his VP days that shows or discusses his "stutter".

[Magister]

A lifelong struggle, even if he didn't publicize it in his Senate days, until the movie The King's Speech. You've got to admire the amount of planning ahead for something that hasn't even happened yet!

Here's an account from someone who went to school with him:

But Biden did not have an easy time in the beginning. His small frame and stutter made him a target. Bill Bowden, who had a locker right next to Biden, remembers his classmate often being the punchline to a joke.

“It was pronounced and he was teased," the Media, Pennsylvania, resident said of Biden's stutter, "there was no doubt about that. Maybe that’s what made him stronger.”

[Frank Drackman]

He said "Me Misspoke"??
so he's Tarzan now? "Me Demented, You Jane!"
like Barry Hussain said,
"Never underestimate the ability of Joe to Fuck stuff up"

Frank

[David Nieporent]

Post asked why people vote for Trump, part of it is that Democrats hate us. Biden just reinforced it. Deplorables or garbage, the mere fact you vote for Trump makes you a bad person.

I guess Biden should have just described Trump supporters as "enemies from within" or "vermin," and then Bob would be celebrating his statements.

[Bob from Ohio]

"enemies from within”

Said about specific opposition politicians. Harris has called Trump a "fascist" many times, you cheer that on.

“vermin,”

Biden is as bad as Trump! I guess I can sign off on that.

[Magister]

“enemies from within”

Said about specific opposition politicians.

Another blatant lie by Bob from Ohio; you would hardly need the military to deal with the few specific opposition politicians.

Moreover, Bob from Ohio believes that Biden's one statement must be interpreted to mean everyone who supports Trump, and that Trump's much more frequent and broad statements must be interpreted as only a few politicians. Motivated reasoning at its most blatant.

[JoeFromtheBronx]

John Adams was a character.

Dr. Lindsay M. Chervinsky in her new book argues John Adams truly "made the presidency" but setting precedents that stuck. He started by keeping Washington's Cabinet but later showed his independence by replacing members who was more loyal to Hamilton than to him.

He was an imperfect man, no surprise given humanity, but as a whole was a good fit for the country. For instance, his moderation regarding France had a good result in the end.

I found the book too detailed and drawn out though it has some fascinating details. Her book on Washington's Cabinet was more approachable.

[Sarcastr0]

I've not done a deep dive into Adams. He always seemed insufferable, and a prig.

I mean, props for being the main Founder abolitionist, and his wife was great. But he seemed like someone I wouldn't want to know.

[JoeFromtheBronx]

He himself knew his reputation as suggested by that song from 1776 where he didn’t want to write the Declaration:

Is that so? Well, if I’m the one to do it
They’ll run their quill pens through it
I’m obnoxious and disliked, you know that, sir

But, he had various admirable qualities, sometimes that put him in good comparison to people like Jefferson and Hamilton.

He is also fun to read, including when he has a sense of humor about himself.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Reconciling with Jefferson late in life, exchanging numerous friendly letters, and both dying on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration that Jefferson wrote and Adams pushed through Congress -- sounds like the stuff of a corny old movie, with the audience rolling their eyes at the purple scriptwriting.

[Sarcastr0]

The Chernow Washington bio has a pretty choice quote from him in a letter to his wife upon arriving in NYC being offended by how scandalous the latest fashions were, and really judgmental about it.

But is it that much a surprise that our most moral founder was our most moralistic founder?

[Frank Drackman]

The HBO series was great, if you can get over "Pig Virus" from Howard Stern's Private Parts in the title role

[Ridgeway]

That's "Pig Vomit" to you, sir!

[Frank Drackman]

Don't want to be that guy who points out that there were 2 MLB All Star games a year from 1959-1963, but it's actually "Pig Virus"

[Commenter_XY]

His Rotundity, as he was referred to by news pamphlets at the time, was punctiliously virtuous. It drove his adversaries, and not a few of his allies, absolutely batshit angry, lol.

I've read some accounts regarding his time in France with Franklin and it sounds like Adams was a judgmental stick in the mud. For a 'man about town' like Franklin, it was doomed to fail. It did. Adams was sent home.

Still though, I think Adams was the right man at the right time to take over after Washington.

[Mr. Bumble]

Today in Supreme Court History:
The Supreme Court allowed Virginia on Wednesday to remove individuals identified as noncitizens from the voter rolls.

The justices paused a lower court order preventing officials from removing around 1,600 individuals who the state said “self-identified” as noncitizens.

Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan would not have granted Virginia’s request, according to the order.

[Frank Drackman]

Breaking News!!!!!!!!
Oscar the Grouch just endorsed "45"