Not Necessarily Stoned, But Beautiful

The Heptones - Choice of Color (1970)

Can't miss with a Curtis Mayfield tune, and the Heptones' fantastic vocals.

Today I’m thinking of the America I’ve always admired: courageous, generous, open-minded, and built on the belief that freedom and democracy are promises to be renewed every day.

These may not be easy times, but maybe that makes this day even more meaningful. A country’s greatness is not measured by the loudest voices, but by the decency, humanity, and courage of those who still believe in its best ideals.

So today I celebrate you, and all the Americans who know that patriotism should never be about anger, but about responsibility, fairness, hope, and freedom.

CHUCK BERRY - Mad Lad - 1960

Are always on the TV

‘Cause killers in America work

Jack Smith broke his silence tonight, and he did not hold back.

The former special counsel sat down with our friend Nicolle Wallace on MS NOW and delivered one of the most direct warnings we've heard from anyone who served at the top of the Justice Department. Smith described what he's watching happen to the rule of law as "different in kind and scope to anything I've seen in my lifetime." He talked about prosecutors who have refused to go along with retribution cases even when it cost them their entire careers, about judges across the country who no longer trust the government attorneys standing in front of them, and about a Justice Department that he says has "jettisoned expertise" to the point where it can no longer function.

Smith also got personal. He explained that the moment he retained lawyers after resigning as special counsel, the Trump administration went after that law firm too, specifically, he said, because they didn't want him to have representation. He drew a sharp contrast between the investigations his team conducted and what he's watching now, pointing to James Comey, Letitia James, and Jerome Powell as cases where he says there is no real criminality, just a president "who has it out for these people" using former personal lawyers willing to act "regardless of the facts or law."

Asked point blank if he's afraid to speak out, Smith didn't flinch. "No, not at all," he said. "I am not going to be intimidated." He added that if the goal of going after him was to silence him or stop him from defending the agents and prosecutors under attack, "that is a grave miscalculation."

He says people still stop him on the street, and that most are grateful for his service. But make no mistake, Jack Smith is worried about what comes next, telling Wallace plainly that he is deeply concerned about the next election.

This is a former federal prosecutor, someone who spent his career avoiding the spotlight, now speaking out because he believes the moment demands it.