The Conversation -- May 31, 2024
Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "Marian Robinson, Michelle Obama's mother and a linchpin of the Obama family who moved into the White House and provided stability and care for the family's two young daughters during a tumultuous time in Washington, died on Friday. She was 86. Her death was announced in a statement by Ms. Obama, former President Barack Obama and other members of the family."
Aamer Madhani & Darlene Superville of the AP: "President Joe Biden said Friday that Hamas is 'no longer capable' of carrying out another large-scale attack on Israel as he urged Israelis and Hamas to come to a deal to release remaining hostages for an extended cease-fire. Biden addressed the nearly 8-month-old Israel-Hamas war as the Israeli military confirmed on Friday that its forces are now operating in central parts of Rafah in its expanding offensive in the southern Gaza city. 'This is truly a decisive moment,' Biden said as he spoke of a three-phase deal that Israeli officials have offered Hamas. 'Israel has made their proposal. Hamas says it wants a cease-fire. This deal is an opportunity to prove whether they really mean it.'" ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in the Israel/Hamas war are here.
Lauren Irwin of the Hill: "West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat, officially filed as an independent Friday. 'My commitment to do everything I can to bring out country together has led me to register as an independent with no party affiliation,' Manchin posted on the social platform X. Manchin announced in November that he wouldn't be running for reelection this year, after serving in the Senate since 2010. Before coming to Congress, he served as the governor of West Virginia from 2005-10.... Manchin did not say what he plans to do after he leaves office at the end of this term.... The West Virginia senator, 76, had long toyed with the idea of a possible third-party bid for the White House but ruled it out this cycle...."
GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS
** President Biden on Donald Trump's conviction:
Zachary Leeman of Mediaite: "MSNBC's José Díaz-Balart declined to describe a speech before cameras by Donald Trump as a 'press conference' on Friday, dismissing it as a campaign event after the network cut away early to offer fact checks of the former president. 'Donald Trump was all over the place at the start of this press conference and throughout really. It would seem like stream of consciousness a little bit. He talked about coming across the border, he talked about how they want to take away your cars.[' ']That's a direct quote,' MSNBC anchor Ana Cabrera said when describing Trump's speech moments after MSNBC dumped out of the event.... MSNBC offered multiple fact checks of Trump, including his declaration at one point that he could be facing more than 120 years behind bars." Tim Miller, for his part, called Trump's remarks "a ramble" and "pretty incoherent."
Philip Nieto of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump claimed witnesses in his hush money trial were 'literally crucified' following his criminal conviction by a New York jury.... [Trump said,] 'You saw what happened to some of the witnesses that were on our side. They were literally crucified by this man [i.e., Justice Merchan] who looks like an angel. But he's really a devil.'" MB: Even though I oppose capital punishment, I would like to have seen those crucifictions Judge Merchan ordered. Definitely need cameras in the courtroom.
Michael Gold & Matthew Haag of the New York Times: On Friday, Donald "Trump, in a rambling and misleading 33-minute speech, derided the trial as 'rigged' and made numerous false statements about what had taken place in court.... Mr. Trump, who said he would appeal the verdict, continued to attack people who testified against him in the seven-week trial, specifically his former fixer, Michael D. Cohen, the star witness for the prosecution. He also admitted that he had gotten 'very upset' with his lawyers. He called the judge, Juan M. Merchan, the 'devil.'" This is currently (12:30 pm ET) the pinned item in a liveblog. Here are a few reporters' observations:
Gold: "Trump starts by claiming that 'if they can do this to me, they can do this to everyone' and calls the prosecutors in his trial 'bad' and 'sick' people. Then he immediately retreats to his dark rhetoric on immigration.... Trump is now complaining about the gag order in the case, which he falsely attributed to President Biden.... The court, he says, 'is in total conjunction with the White House and the D.O.J.,' a claim for which there is no evidence[.]"
Jonah Bromwich: "Prosecutors had asked that Trump be placed under a gag order for the duration of the trial, so it is not totally unsurprising that the former president has seemed to violate it here, lashing out his former fixer, Michael Cohen.... But this could be dangerous for Trump, who still has to undergo sentencing, where a judge often takes a defendant's post-verdict conduct into account."
Benjamin Protess: "Trump claims that Michael Cohen got into legal trouble not because of his affiliation with the former president, but because of his own crimes. While it's true that Cohen pleaded guilty to personal financial crimes, he was also charged with his role in paying hush money for Trump. And federal prosecutors concluded that Cohen did so at Trump's direction."
Jonathan Swan: "Trump claims, implausibly, that he never thought of Michael Cohen as a fixer. He says he thought of him purely as a lawyer. In reality, Trump assigned Cohen to do many jobs that had nothing to do with lawyering, such as threatening contractors and trying to rig an online CNBC poll to make Trump seem more popular than he really was."
Maggie Haberman: "Trump is now doing a sweeping rejection of all investigations into him, including the investigation into his efforts to thwart the transfer of power after he lost the 2020 election."
Gold: "Trump is now falling back on very familiar territory: his screed against migrants who are crossing the border illegally, who he broadly depicts as criminals, mentally ill people and terrorists. Border authorities have said most of those crossing are families fleeing poverty or conflict."
Bromwich: "Trump seemed to be seeking to draw a connection between his points about migrants and the judge in his case. Justice Merchan was born in Colombia but raised in Queens, the same borough as Trump. The former president's effort to tie Merchan's background to the migrant crisis may speak to some of his supporters."
Swan: "We're now in the phase of the speech when Trump is falsely claiming that kids can't have Little League games any more because undocumented immigrants are setting up too many tents."
Gold: "After 33 minutes, Trump walks away without answering questions from the dozens of reporters here."
Reid Epstein: "Michael Tyler, a spokesman for President Biden's campaign, said that Trump's remarks today showed that he was 'confused, desperate, and defeated' following his felony conviction. 'Trump is consumed by his own thirst for revenge and retribution,' Tyler said. 'He thinks this election is about him. But it's not. I's about the American people: lowering their costs, protecting their freedoms, defending their democracy.'"
[Marie: According to MSNBC, Trump said the judge might sentence him to 100 years in jail. (The maximum sentence for the crimes he committed is four years, and most experts speculate Trump won't be sentenced to any jail time.)]
Republicans Attack U.S. Justice System. Mary Jalonick of the AP: "Republican lawmakers reacted with immediate fury on Thursday as a New York jury convicted ... Donald Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records to influence the 2016 election, speaking out with near unanimity in questioning the legitimacy of the trial and how it was conducted. House Speaker Mike Johnson said it was a 'shameful day in American history' and the charges were 'purely political.' Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance said the verdict was a 'disgrace to the judicial system.' And Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican, said that the decision was 'a defeat for Americans who believe in the critical legal tenet that justice is blind.'" ~~~
~~~ Stephen Neukam of Axios: "A top Trump advisor warned Maryland Republican Larry Hogan that his Senate campaign in the state is over after the state's former governor told voters to 'respect the verdict.'... Former President Trump initially planned to refrain from attacking Hogan, despite their strained past.... [But] Hogan's call to respect the rule of law seems to have incensed at least one top Trump advisor. 'You just ended your campaign,' said Chris LaCivita, a senior Trump advisor, on X in response to Hogan's comments."
Brett Samuels of the Hill: "The Trump campaign brought in roughly $35 million after former President Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts in a New York hush money trial Thursday, as his campaign argues the verdict supercharged support among grassroots donors. 'From just minutes after the sham trial verdict was announced, our digital fundraising system was overwhelmed with support, and despite temporary delays online because of the amount of traffic, President Trump raised $34.8 million dollars from small dollar donors,' Trump campaign senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said in a joint statement Friday."
Brian Beutler has some thoughts on Trump's conviction. Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~
Marie: I have no idea what caused Donald Trump to decide to turn on Michael Cohen. But it was one of the biggest miscalculations of his ignominious career. It dwarfs the Trump "University" grift and other Trump scams. Cohen was a thug who would have continued to serve Trump. But Trump abandoned Cohen, so Cohen turned on Trump. Cohen met with investigators from the Manhattan D.A.'s office at least 20 times, providing the D.A. with the basic framework of the criminal case against Trump. And it was Cohen's Congressional testimony that caused New York Attorney General Letitia James to open an investigation into Trump's business practices. That investigation resulted in civil fraud charges and eventually a judgment against the Trump Organization in the amount of $454 million, plus other penalties. That is to say, if not for Michael Cohen, Trump might not yet be a convicted criminal and he would likely be half-a-billion dollars richer.
~~~~~~~~~~
Michael Sisak, et al., of the AP: "Donald Trump became the first former president to be convicted of felony crimes Thursday as a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying business records in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through hush money payments to a porn actor who said the two had sex. Jurors deliberated for 9.5 hours over two days before convicting Trump of all 34 counts he faced. Trump sat stone-faced while the verdict was read as cheering from the street below -- where supporters and detractors of the former president were gathered -- could be heard in the hallway on courthouse's 15th floor where the decision was revealed." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ "Queens Man Convicted." Jacob Kaye of the Queens Daily News: "Former Jamaica Estates resident Donald Trump was convicted by a Manhattan jury on Thursday of 34 counts of falsifying business records in an effort to cover up a sex scandal he feared would ruin his chances of winning the 2016 presidential election. The jury's verdict, which came after only two days of deliberations, makes Trump the first president from Queens -- or anywhere in the United States, for that matter -- to become a felon.... The trial was overseen by another man from the World's Borough, Justice Juan Merchan, who was raised in Jackson Heights. Despite their shared hometown, Trump had no love for his fellow Queens man following the trial's conclusion on Thursday. 'This was a disgrace,' Trump said. 'This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt.'... Trump was released on his own recognizance Thursday, being spared a trip to Rikers Island, the home of the city's notorious jail complex which happens to be part of the same borough the former president was raised in." ~~~
~~~ Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: "The guilty verdict in Manhattan -- across the board, on all 34 counts -- will reverberate throughout the nation and the world as it ushers in a new era of presidential politics. Mr. Trump will carry the stain of the verdict during his third run for the White House as voters now choose between an unpopular incumbent and a convicted criminal. While it was once unthinkable that Americans would elect a felon as their leader, Mr. Trump's insurgent behavior delights his supporters as he bulldozes the country's norms. Now, the man who refused to accept his 2020 election loss is already seeking to delegitimize his conviction, attempting to assert the primacy of his raw political power over the nation's rule of law.... The judge overseeing the case, Juan M. Merchan, released Mr. Trump on his own recognizance and set his sentencing for July 11, just days before the Republican National Convention convenes and anoints him as the presidential nominee. Alvin L. Bragg, the prosecutor who brought the case, declined to reveal Thursday whether he would seek a prison term."
New York Times reporters liveblogged yesterday's proceedings. For details, see yesterday's Conversation. The reporters' observations are divided into two parts, before and after the court announced that the jury had reached a verdict. (Also linked yesterday.)
Links to courtroom proceedings in the Trump criminal case, up through May 29, are here. Links to evidence are here. All via the New York courts system. (Also linked yesterday.)
Isaac Arnsdorf, et al., of the Washington Post: "The [Trump] campaign quickly responded to the verdict with a fundraising solicitation that declared, 'I'M A POLITICAL PRISONER!' -- adapting the term that Trump has been using to describe his supporters charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. [Trump] advisers said the verdict produced a spike in campaign contributions.... The Trump campaign is seeking to turn the verdict into a factor that hardens the intensity of his supporters.... Trump appeared flushed as he walked out [of the courtroom] grimacing. He stopped just outside the courtroom doors to huddle with his aides.... Then he approached the stakeout camera set up in the hallway to address reporters, as he did throughout the trial. His words were similar: criticizing the judge, the venue, the prosecutors. But this time he held his head a little lower, hissed a little more on the word 'disgrace,' spat a little more as he repeated the word 'rigged.' 'I'm a very innocent man,' he insisted."
New York Times Editors: "The jury's decision, and the facts presented at the trial, offer yet another reminder -- perhaps the starkest to date -- of the many reasons Donald Trump is unfit for office.... The greatest good to come out of this sordid case is the proof that the rule of law binds everyone, even former presidents.... That 12 Americans could sit in judgment of the former and potentially future president is a remarkable display of the democratic principles that Americans prize at work.... Justice Merchan was scrupulous in ensuring that Mr. Trump received a fair trial.... And yet throughout the trial, the judge was forced to deal with Mr. Trump's attempts to undermine the legal system.... Justice Merchan put a limit on what Mr. Trump could say to prevent him from attacking and threatening jurors, witnesses, court personnel and even the judge's family.... Only the threat of a jail sentence finally seemed to keep Mr. Trump in line." (Also linked yesterday.)
Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "False reports about the jury instructions in ... Donald Trump's hush money trial have been spreading across right-wing media, leading to threats against the judge overseeing the case. Several conservative news personalities, including some affiliated with Fox News, falsely claimed that Judge Juan Merchan, as one Fox News anchor put it in a viral post on X, 'told the jury that they do not need unanimity to convict' Trump. That's not true.... Jurors have to agree unanimously that Trump committed a crime by engaging in a criminal conspiracy to falsify records with the intent to commit one or more other crimes in order to convict him. But jurors can choose from three options about what those other crimes were...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Steve Benen of MSNBC: "'IT IS RIDICULOUS, UNCONSTITUTIONAL, AND UNAMERICAN that the highly Conflicted, Radical Left Judge is not requiring a unanimous decision on the fake charges against me,' [Donald] Trump wrote.... 'Judge in Trump case in NYC just told jury they don't have to unanimously agree on which crime was committed as long as they all at least pick one. And that among the crimes the [sic] can pick from are ones Trump WASN'T EVEN CHARGED WITH!!! This is exactly the kind of sham trial used against political opponents of the regime in the old Soviet Union [-- Sen. Marco Rubio].... Rubio is a lawyer. He went to law school. He practiced law before beginning a lengthy career as a lawmaker.... Rubio -- who ... really should've known better -- pushed a wildly misleading claim that both undermines public confidence in the judicial system and seems likely to increase threats against the judge who did nothing wrong.... No one should want to be vice president this badly." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Dana Milbank of the Washington Post relayed some other stuff Trump has been posting lately; e.g.: "On Sunday, he shared a video of a vulgarian shouting at Joe Scarborough, the former conservative Republican congressman who is now an MSNBC host: ''He'll get rid of all you f---ing liberals. You liberals are gone when he f---ing wins. You f---ing bl---job liberals are done. Uncle Donnie's gonna take this election. Landslide, coz. Landslide, you f---ing half a bl-- job. Landslide. Get the f--- out of here, you scumbag.' Scarborough's reply: 'He's your uncle?'"
Put Democrats in Prison or Shoot Them, Prominent Winger Urges. Isaac Schorr of Mediaite: "Sean Davis, the CEO and co-founder of the right-wing website The Federalist, called on Republicans to draw up lists of Democrats to 'put in prison' in a social media post reacting to Donald Trump's conviction.... 'In 2016, the presidential race was decided based on candidates releasing lists of potential Supreme Court nominees,' wrote Davis. 'In 2024, I want to see lists of which Democrat officials are going to be put in prison. This is what happens when you cross the Rubicon.'... 'Frederick Douglass wrote that three boxes were essential to American liberty: the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box...,' declared Davis in another post reacting to the verdict. 'Democrats stole the 2020 election, and then they ran a Soviet show trial with a rigged jury to throw their top political opponent in prison in 2024. Understand what they're coming for next, and why.'" Emphasis added. Thanks to RAS for the link.
Li Zhou of Vox: "An explosive new essay published in Slate on Thursday raises new allegations about ... Donald Trump's behavior on the set of The Apprentice, renewing focus on his history of racist comments and misconduct toward women. The piece, by Bill Pruitt, a former producer on the reality show, claims Trump used the n-word to describe a Black contestant named Kwame Jackson, and describes how he openly commented on women's appearances.... According to Pruitt, Carolyn Kepcher, one of Trump's employees who advised him on the show, argued that Jackson did a strong job with the season's final challenge, and he deserved to win. 'Yeah,' Trump allegedly said, 'but, I mean, would America buy a n-- winning?'... Pruitt's essay focuses on how Apprentice producers were able to make Trump appear like a successful and commanding businessperson despite his bumbling persona and well-established history of scamming those he worked with. Pruitt's Slate essay is here."
Marie: In case the Manhattan jury's verdict against Donald Trump is making you feel all dewy-eyed and optimistic about the U.S. system of justice, where "no man is above the law," let me point out that there are nine powerful people in this country who literally sit above the rest of us. Now their titular leader has declared in writing that the seating arrangement is more than symbolic: these nine have certain immunity from rules and laws that constrain the rest of us. ~~~
~~~ ** Supreme Court Chief Justice Gives Country the Finger. Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: "Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Thursday declined requests to have Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. recuse himself from cases related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack after provocative flags flew on the justice's properties. The justices make those calls on their own, Chief Justice Roberts wrote in a letter to Democratic senators.... The chief justice also rejected a request to meet with Democratic senators to discuss ethics at the Supreme Court, writing that doing so would raise concerns about separation of powers and judicial independence." (Also linked yesterday.) The AP's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Given the audacious authoritarian attitudes expressed by Roberts, Alito and Thomas, we should not be at all surprised if they rule that a Republican ex-president is immune from prosecution from ordinary and extraordinary crimes against the public. (I'll admit there is a good chance they and their fellow confederates will not immediately rule outright on the immunity case but instead will try to hide their opinion by sending the case through a long -- i.e., way past the election -- and winding road through the court system they control.)
Julie Weil of the Washington Post: "The IRS is making its free tax-filing platform permanent and open to all 50 states and D.C., the Biden administration announced Thursday, following the successful launch of the first-of-its-kind website. This tax season, more than 140,000 taxpayers in 12 eligible states made use of Direct File -- which allows users to submit simple tax returns directly to the government. Republicans have criticized it as a costly and unnecessary government alternative to private-sector offerings from Turbo Tax, H&R Block and others, while Democrats praise the effort as a cost-saver for consumers. 'Meeting your tax obligations and claiming the credits and deductions for which you're eligible should be easy,' Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said Thursday. 'We will make Direct File a permanent IRS service and invite all states to participate in Direct File starting next year.'" An Axios report is here.
Santul Nerkar of the New York Times: "The Labor Department on Thursday sued Hyundai over the use of child labor in Alabama, holding the car manufacturer liable for the employment of children in its supply chain, including a 13-year-old girl who worked up to 60 hours per week making car parts. In the suit, filed in a federal court in Montgomery, Ala., the department said Hyundai was responsible for the employment of children at a Smart Alabama factory in Luverne, Ala., which produces parts like body panels that are shipped to a Hyundai factory in Montgomery. The suit also claimed a staffing agency, Best Practice Service, recruited the children to work at the supplier's plant.... The suit comes after investigations by Reuters and The New York Times documented the use of child labor by the suppliers of car companies."
Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A Queens man pleaded guilty Thursday to threatening to kill a congressional aide and to making more than 12,000 harassing phone calls to members of Congress over an 18-month period in 2022 and 2023, federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C. announced." MB: Turns out it wasn't that Queens man, but given that Queens man's penchant for harassing politicians, one could be forgiven for suspecting he was the guy.
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NEW: Man with a suspended license joins court Zoom call while driving in his car.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 29, 2024
This is the funniest video I've seen in a long time.
Judge Cedric Simpson can be seen dumbfounded after defendant Corey Harris dialed into the meeting from his car.
Simpson: "Mr. Harris, are… pic.twitter.com/ydOKIMD7Ie
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Ukraine, et al. Edward Wong of the New York Times: "The Biden administration has decided to allow Ukraine to strike inside Russia with U.S.-made weapons with the aim of blunting Russia's attacks in the Kharkiv area, senior American officials said on Thursday. The decision follows weeks of discussion with the Ukrainians after Russia began a major assault on Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine. Because Kharkiv is near Russia, in the northeast of Ukraine, the Russian military has been hitting the area around the city with artillery and missiles fired or launched from inside Russian territory, and the Ukrainians have asked the Americans to give them greater leeway in defending Kharkiv, an American official said. The permission from President Biden is intended solely for Ukraine to strike military sites in Russia being used to attack the Kharkiv area, U.S. officials said." (Also linked yesterday.) Politico's report is here.
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The Trash
The New Yorker
“Some Of Them Are Psychopathic Cases”
Trying to be optimistic, but history:
https://youtu.be/xiKrWUoTq4s?si=xaOSxsgMcH5H819d
Brian Beutler
"15 Thoughts On The Conviction Of Donald Trump"
This morning's amusement calls my Irish grandmother to mind. She's been gone a long time now, but many of her wise sayings still speak to me. I'm sure she learned them from others, but because they are no longer in common use, some now seem newly minted, original even. The one that came to me with this morning's headlines would not, however. I believe the one we all know about the pot calling the kettle black is still used.
The Pretender thinks the trial was a "disgrace," and the judge "corrupt."
Before projection we had pots and kettles, and we still do.
Shocked! Shocked, I tell you: rule of law platitudes from the NYT editorial board where there should be a long-overdue and pointed analysis of the Republican Party’s nihilism. You know, the sort of thing the NYT editorial board would have ready to roll if a Dem candidate were at long-long-long last shown to be as fraudulent and self-serving and criminal as Orange Julius.
Imagine for a moment. How would the NYT front page read from now to the day after election with the shoe on the other foot? Very differently from the way it’s actually going to read, nicht wahr?
It's simple, really.
The all about me party will not accept any science, any election, any legal decision it does not like.
What it likes is all that matters.
Crybabies, all.
The IRS may be going to expand it's free Direct File program to all 50 states, but Florida CFO Patronis (R-natch) isn't having any of that. He calls it "just another way to get into Floridians pocketbooks".
Florida is one of almost two dozen states that have filed asking the IRS to discontinue the program. Must be a lot of Intuit and H&R Block in the state portfolio.
This from FloridaPolitics.com.
Marie,
Good question about Trump’s disassociation with Cohen. There were at least two moments at which the Orange Monster could have tried to put the kibosh on the whole thing. First, the initial search warrant needed to raid Cohen’s office required high level Justice Dept. approval. Rod Rosenstein gave the okay. We’ve seen subsequently that Rosenstein was just as much a sniveling toady as most in the Fatty domain so a word from Trump to deny the warrant could have stopped everything right there. But that would mean sticking his neck out for his attack dog lawyer, and Trump sticks his neck out for no one.
After the raid, Cohen tried to put the lid on the allee-allee outs in free search through all his papers by claiming attorney client privilege, especially those materials connected to the Stormy Daniels payoff. But Trump would have to have agreed that there was a payoff. He said he never heard of Stormy Daniels, so ixnay on privilege.
It was all downhill from there.
Fatty could never bring himself to admit he’d done something sleazy, even though he reveled in sleaze since popping out of the birth canal. His narcissism wouldn’t allow it. And his greed wouldn’t allow him to pay Cohen what he owed, which could have had at least a moderating effect on Cohen’s tongue. Once Cohen realized the boss had dropped him off the Cliff, there was no longer any reason to keep secrets.
But the real reason for all of this was, and is, Trump’s lifelong criminality, arrogance, and, let’s face it…stupidity.
The Feds went after Cohen while investigating Fatty’s Russian connections. The avalanche of bad shit perpetrated by Trump over a lifetime of crookedness made it impossible to ignore the possibility that he had worked out some kind of sleazy deal with the Russians. Plus, Cohen himself, whom Trump hired specifically because he was a chiseling toady who would do anything no matter how corrupt, offered a target rich environment for investigators.
Yeah, it would have been better for Fatty to keep Cohen close, but his own predilections for underhanded, sleazy deals with a rogues gallery of crooks made this comeuppance inevitable. The astounding thing is that it took so long.
But there’s still the possibility that an equally sleazy, crooked Supreme Court could come to his rescue.
The play is far from over.
You know how local TV, covering a dramatic event, likes to put the mike in front of a little kid who witnessed it? Makes a good 10-second clip, as the kid breathlessly regales the audience with a child's-eye version, comically disjointed and utterly improbable.
That's how the former president sounded today at his "press conference."
For 33 minutes.
Could not bring myself to watch or listen to the Orange Loser today. I assume it was more of the same: vitriol and threats and labeling and total bravado and vows of pure driven snow lily white purity, I suppose.
Not surprised Roberts the Doorstop is a-skeered to meet with those naughty Democrats to discuss the lack of ethics and morality and nonpartisanship in the ranks...34 felonies does not take away the general threat issued by all these people...
Ted Cruz is "heartbroken." I had no idea he had one-- And Marco: something-something Cuba... All the others, including some idiot woman on NPR BBC newshour-- "corruption" is the main word used, which is what I think also, but not for the people creepy Rs think...
Larry Hogan (usetawas MD R Guv) is running for MD Senator, primary is in about two weeks. He is a shoo-in to win the primary, was very popular and not crazy. But, the DiJiT dog-robber, LaCivita, says Hogan's dead meat now because he just said people should "respect the verdict."
His R primary opponents are nobodies. The Party of God would commit seppuku if Hogan dropped out. McConnell hisownself recruited him, seeking the Holy 51st Seat.
Hogan's WHOLE STRATEGY in blue Maryland is to persuade the weak-minded that he's not a Tr*mp MAGAt Crazy, so vote for him because you know him, you love him, he's a familiar friend. That strategy only has a chance in Maryland if his D opponent (Angela Alsobrooks) gets caught with a live girl or dead boy in her boudoir. McConnell's chances of having Hogan hand him that 51st seat are slim but not none. Anybody else's (R) chances are -- none.
But the DiJiT campaign does not give a rat's patootie about taking back the Senate, if that requires abiding a bit of short-term localized apostasy. If Hogan says one word which does not fully support the dogma of DiJiT, he is cast into the outer darkness, and if that loses the Senate, that is but the price of DiJiT worship.
On the paranoid side, if DiJiT anathematizes Hogan, that could help Hogan with the weak-minded in Maryland. But as Cong. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) noted, Hogan is a real Republican, not a fake Republican, so don't vote for him even if you think he's a nice guy.
People are afraid that DiJiT Campaign III is smarter and more professional than the previous iterations. Not in evidence so far.
Ahhh…the schadenfreude, she is good, yes?
Should, under normal circumstances, last at least a month, but nooooo…the traitors are all out there running around, hair afire, pants around the ankles, tripping over one another to see who can promise the most baroque denunciations of any who would bring accountability to the Orange Monster’s door, devising ever more painful deaths to all who refuse to acknowledge his saintliness.*
It would be one thing were these the vows of impotent, dirty-diapered douchebags, but, as we’ve already seen, promises of violence to all who oppose MAGAnuts and their Head Monkey are all too real.
Things are going to get bad, kids. The ratio of crazies able and willing to carry out the commands of the Big Monkey to those for whom ferocious fuming is the limit cannot be underestimated.
But meanwhile, this morning we have a perfect encapsulation of that orange hued putrid primate’s daily keening (for himself, of course), courtesy of our friend Jeanne:
“… vitriol and threats and labeling and total bravado and vows of pure driven snow lily white purity…”
Lily white purity, indeed.
Ha! Ain’t it da trute?
*In fact, when you think about it, the tsunami of fury, hatred, and proclamations of who needs to die, have all the earmarks of a war of religion, a kind of Spanish Inquisition unleashed on the infidels. You don’t believe as we do? You don’t worship the Great God Trump? You recant, or you die. This is serious shit.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and we mean it!
So okay, he’s a felon. Guilty on all counts. A bonafide crook, sez so right here. Hey, even the both-sides Times has a headline that doesn’t say “Trump found guilty BUT Biden still too old!”
But never mind all that now. Right now it’s BACK TO THE GRIFT!
Money, money, money, money, money.
And there’s also a stern warning from the Grifter in Chief to any sneaky PoT mini-grifters who think they can profit off Fatty’s legal loserdom:
hands off my conviction fundraising moolah!
Yup.
“Donald Trump’s campaign is sending a blunt message to down ballot Republicans who are looking to fundraise for themselves off of the ex-president’s conviction: Back off.
Trump’s political operation views the guilty verdict in the New York hush money trial as a small-dollar goldmine — so much so that they are warning other Republicans not to raise money off it and siphon off money that could otherwise go to the Trump campaign.”
And they’re taking names, so watch out! Only Fatty can scrounge off his own felonhood.
Same as it ever was.
Trump’s screeching whine “If they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone!” reflects his abiding belief that he is special and should be treated that way.
Donald, Donald, Donald…they CAN do this to anyone, if by “this” you mean find them guilty of breaking the law.
But in his mind, and that if his drooling sycophants, he is above the law and if he’s not treated that way, there’s something terribly corrupt going on.
Oh, wait. There is something terribly corrupt going on: Trump.
Just for exercise: I had a friend mail me about lack of high profile coverage of the verdict in smaller market media. The Athens Georgia news site had a small fingernail way down the site. I went looking and found the same thing here in Florida. Even the state capitol paper the story was in the opinion section. I Finally found some real coverage in the Gainesville Sun.
I bet you'll find the same thing in small market media in your state as well. It's not catch and kill but it's being treated as a non story.
Errata: up above I wrote that Larry Hogan's primary is in about two weeks. Wrong. He is the R Senate candidate, won his primary a few weeks ago. All else I wrote remains.
We have a TV market here that intersects Maryland, West Virginia and Northern Virginia. Virginia's primary is upcoming. For some reason* (not brain worm, as far as I know) I was thinking of Hogan as primary TBD rather than done.
* Probably the incessant ads in this hot political market, like water torture only you're in a recliner not a strapdown board. Hogan is already blasting ads in prime time.