More than a year after Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump in the popular vote for President, he still can't move past her. I think it's because he knows he didn't win the popular vote and his entire presence in the oval office is a fraud on the country. There's really no other explanation. Unless it's that he's turned his tweeting device over to Bannon or Scaramucci (yes, that one, who told some paper Donald and Princess Ivanka want him back.)

Welcome to 2018. It's going to be just as awful as 2017. Maybe instead of watching and taking advice from Fox News, Donald should listen to music more. Like the Rolling Stones, "You Better Move On."

Update 1/1/ 3:15 pm MT: The Douglas County Sheriffs Office provides this official timeline. It omits one critical time element: When the officers entered the apartment and how long they interacted with suspect Riehl before he began shooting.

According to the timeline, the officers were shot at 5:56 a.m. The timeline says they got the key and permission from the roommate, who had left the scene but returned, prior to the last officer's arrival at 5:35 a.m. So it was sometime between 5:17 a.m, when the first officer arrived, and 5:35 a.m. when the 4th officer arrived, that they got the key and permission. Did they enter the apartment as soon as the fourth officer arrived? If so, and assuming it took them a minute to open the door and announce their presence, that means they engaged with the suspect inside his apartment for 20 minutes (5:36 a.m. until 5:56 a.m., when they were shot. That would mean they weren't shot as soon as they arrived, and that something may have set him off during the engagement.

Deputies cleared the scene at 3:44 a.m., no crime had been committed at that time. Deputies were called back to the scene at 5:14 a.m. and the first officer arrived on scene at 5:17a.m. Three additional officers also arrived on scene, the last one arriving at 5:35am. One male had left the scene prior to officer’s arrival. The male returned to the scene and gave officers a key and permission to enter the apartment, but then left the scene prior to the shooting. At 5:56 a.m., four officers were hit by rifle rounds from the suspect’s bedroom. Three of the deputies were able to get to safety, however, the fourth officer, Deputy Parrish, was not able to retreat.

Update 9 pm MT: The dead suspect is Matthew Riehl, 37, an Iraq vet with a law degree from the University of Wyoming. [More...]

Happy New Year's Eve Everyone!

I took the week off from blogging because I was so busy at work -- and I can't stand to write about Donald Trump. This has been the worst year to be an American. There is good news: Only 1,116 days left until the 2020 election.

It's a sunny morning here in Denver, but according to to Accuweather, in 50 minutes, at 10:53 a.m., the snow will start falling.

It's crazy that people would venture out to Times Square. They are probably mostly young tourists, but where is their common sense? No bathrooms, no backpacks, no food vendors....what for? To see the same thing you can see inside your warm and toasty home or at any bar? (Which reminds me, the DUI cops will be out in force, so for those of you venturing out, don't drink and drive.)

Does anyone here have any fun plans tonight? I am staying in, writing two sentencing briefs due Tuesday and cooking a big steamy pot of chicken soup with matzoh balls.

Happy New Year Everyone! This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

As Donald Trump golfs in Florida, claiming credit for defeating ISIS, ISIS is gaining ground in Afghanistan and increasing media communications to its supporters urging them to make lone attacks in their home countries.

Their English spelling skills aren't as good as those who created older posters, but they get the point across.

A few other messages posted today by ISIS' official news agency Nashir News (hat tip to ISIS researcher Pieter in Belgium):

ISIS claimed responsibility for today's suicide attack in Kabul outside an intelligence agency. Only civilian passersby were killed.

The blast comes a week after the group claimed responsibility for an attack on a training facility of the same agency, the National Directorate for Security, in Kabul that ended when the attackers were killed before causing significant casualties.

It was an attack by ISIS' newly formed Wilayat Kashmir. The group announced its presence with a 13 minute video. The version I saw was on a Russian website and had English translation at the bottom. [More...]

Merry Christmas everyone!

I'm spending the day at Ms. TL kids' parents, with the TL kids and my new grandaughter Karter (now 6 weeks old, she sends her best regards)

Please fill us in on your day and your thoughts. What was your favorite gift?

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

I wish all of our readers a happy holiday eve. May it be free of thoughts about Donald Trump.

If you are looking for TV, I'll suggest El Cartel I and II (called "Cartel de los Sapos")-- both seasons are now available with subtitles on Amazon Prime. It's the story of the Norte del Valle cartel in Colombia and its takedown and prosecution in the U.S., written by a former member of the cartel while in prison in Miami. It really launched the whole narco-drama series phenomenon and has terrific, now well-known actors. I've probably watched the full series three times or more. The Norte del Valle cartel was the successor to the Cali Cartel. The series is a far more accurate portrayal of real life characters and events and much better done in my opinion than American shows like Narcos which pay DEA agents to be consultants. It focuses on the corruption as well as the drug dealing.

Two Twitter feeds I'm recently added: Calorie Fixes and Tasty. Check out Tasty's five best egg hacks, you'll be a fan.

Again, Happy Xmas Eve, and please let us know what you're cooking and how you are celebrating and anything else on your mind.

Donald Trump wants to end "chain migration".

This strikes me as hypocritical. How did Melania's parents get here if not by relying on her immigration status?

Donald Trump's grandfather emigrated to the U.S. and then wanted to return to Bavaria. He was ordered deported and wrote a pleading letter to the Prince Regent on how devastating it would be to the family to deport him. [More...]

MSNBC Loses, CNN gains. Within 24 hours of MSNBC announcing it would not renew veteran journalist Joan Walsh's contract, CNN has hired her.

I'm glad CNN acted so quickly in hiring Joan. I've always liked her. In the early days of blogging, Salon, along with Newsweek and the Washington Examiner, were among the few media organizations that would actually pay bloggers to write articles. Joan was the editor of Salon at the time. (See, “McCain and Palin go to Dobsonville”.)
[More...]

The AARP says the Tax Bill jeopardizes Medicare and Medicaid.

In addition to spending cuts, there are these problems:

• The cuts for individuals are temporary
• The cuts for corporations are permanent
• By changing the way the inflation index works, people may reach higher income brackets sooner than before, and the the increase in the standard deduction will slow over time, according to the Tax Policy Center.
• The bill "limits the state and local tax deduction -- which could hurt those in high-tax states like New York, New Jersey and California."

Also, the AARP says, because there's no longer a penalty for not getting health insurance, more people will be uninsured which will raise insurance premiums for the rest of us.

As to future cuts: bq. "The large increase in the deficit will inevitably lead to calls for greater spending cuts, which are likely to include dramatic cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and other important programs serving older Americans," it said. [More...]

I've got clients this afternoon, the jail tomorrow and court on Friday-- then some Xmas shopping.

I'll be online periodically, but for right now, it's time for a new open thread, all topics welcome.

On T.J. Miller, I'm on his side. I've known him since he was 5 years old. I drove him to school for many years on my carpool days. He's always been friends with the TL kid. His parents are the most gracious, generous couple with a beautiful home they always opened up on holidays for parties for the entire class or group. The alleged incident is totally out of character for the T.J. I knew.

Here's TJ and his wife Kate's statement. [More...]

The Republican tax bill will pass today, even without John McCain. Trump and the wealthy individuals and corporations that benefit from the bill will celebrate. Most Americans, when they realize not only aren't they benefiting, but the cuts will be paid for by future cost-cutting to social programs like Medicare, Medicaid, etc. will cry in their coffee.

What goes up, must come down. Trump will leave office with thud. All charlatans ultimately get exposed. Trump is no wizard and there is no Oz.

The NY Times has this calculator for you to use to determine whether your taxes will go up or down.