Did Maxine Waters finally go too far? Plus: Dan Bongino WaPo profile. And RIP, Walter Mondale

By Gary Abernathy

Maxine Waters finally goes too far

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) has long said outrageous things promoting confrontations with those who disagree with her. She may have finally gone too far. USA Today reports:

The judge presiding over the murder trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin said "disrespectful" statements made by Rep. Maxine Waters Saturday may give the defense grounds to appeal and overturn the trial. Attorneys for the prosecution and the defense delivered closing arguments on Monday. Waters, D-Calif., joined protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota on April 17, where she told the press "we are looking for a guilty verdict" in Chauvin's trial… (Judge Peter) Cahill said protesters influenced by Waters could get more confrontational if there is no guilty verdict. Congresswoman Waters may have given you something on appeal that may result in this whole trial being overturned,” Cahill told Chauvin's attorney. “I wish elected officials would stop talking about this case, especially in a manner that is disrespectful to the rule of law and to the judicial branch,” the judge later said.

Waters should have been called out long ago by the mainstream media, which worried itself sleepless over every tweet sent by Donald Trump. Waters has arguably often been worse than Trump in her history of troubling comments and exhortations.

WaPo has an interesting profile of Dan Bongino

The Washington Post has a very interesting and, I think, balanced profile of conservative commentator and entrepreneur Dan Bongino. Here’s a sample:

He was the fulminating, one-man conglomerate presiding over a mini-empire of words that included a booming website, a highly rated podcast, a regular Fox News gig, a Facebook page that routinely registered an astonishing slice of the top 10 shared posts, best-selling books, and a thriving YouTube channel. He was doing more than raging against Democrats and the mainstream media. He was also setting in motion his grand aspiration to create a parallel digital economy in which the right wing builds its own digital infrastructure, separate from large tech companies he believes are anti-conservative, by acquiring its own “pipes” that ferry information on the Internet…

…He’s called continued restrictions recommended by health officials, even as more and more people are vaccinated, “witch-doctorism,” and blasted experts who say vaccinated people should wear masks outside, a stance that has lately been taken up by some on the left. 

Read the whole, lengthy profile here. Subscription may be required.

Rest in peace, Walter Mondale

Sad to hear of the passing of former Vice President Walter Mondale, who served in that post with President Jimmy Carter from 1977-81, and then later ran unsuccessfully for president against Ronald Reagan in 1984.

The New York Times reports: A son of a minister of modest means, Fritz Mondale, as he was widely known, led a rich public life that began in Minnesota under the tutelage of his state’s progressive pathfinder, Hubert H. Humphrey. He achieved his own historic firsts, especially with his selection of Representative Geraldine A. Ferraro of New York as his running mate in 1984, the first woman to seek the vice presidency on a major national ticket. Under President Carter, from 1977 to 1981, Mr. Mondale was the first vice president to serve as a genuine partner of a president, with full access to intelligence briefings, a weekly lunch with Mr. Carter, his own office near the president’s and his own staff integrated with Mr. Carter’s.

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