144 Comments

I am more worried about the Electoral College. Had the election depended on the popular vote, Trump would never have been president.

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I'll never forgive Ralph Nader for his "Independent" 2000 run for President. In Florida he got 95,000 votes. Since, at that time, I cannot imagine many Florida Republicans would vote for a real left-winger like Nader, those 95,000 votes should have been Gore's, and there would have been no voting dispute about Gore winning the Electoral College.

The anti-democratic Electoral College is destroying this country!

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I don't like it either, but on the other hand, saying it's unfair is no different than Trump and the Republicans saying that Trump's guilty verdict was rigged. It the law of the land. Fair or unfair, it needs to be changed LEGALLY in order to change the system. Right now, it's the system we have and we must work harder and smarter to defeat the enemy.

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True. A part of the problem lies with our courts. If enough doubt is thrown onto the results of a Biden win (and you know there will be), we need to worry about the Congress throwing the election to the loser. If it's up to the crooked Supreme Court, we're in trouble.

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Totally different matters. The Electoral College problem is a Constitutional issue. Trump's was a normal criminal prosecution under New York criminal law, the only thing abnormal about it was Trump.

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You're missing my point. They may be totally different issues but the idea is that we follow the law and the processes that the law sets up. If you don't like something you go through the LEGAL process to get it changed.

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Rich, I feel the same about what Nader did in 2000. He put his own ego above the country, and bears much of the responsibility for the way things have gotten progressively worse since Bush was handed the Presidency by the Supreme Court.

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Totally agree. Nader nationally siphoned off over 4,000,000 votes from Gore. And Biden could get EVERY vote in California, Illinois, and New York yet lose in the Electoral College. That is not democracy.

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Maybe the lunatic Kennedy will siphon off enough votes from the orange traitor.

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Or RFKveryJr gets old Democrats who want to pay homage to the K brothers.

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ya think? with the whole rest of the family against him?

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I used to be in nutjob Rep. Paul Gosar's district here in Prescott, AZ. His large Mormon family had ads in 2020 saying "He is our brother. We know him best. DO NOT VOTE FOR HIM!". Result: Gosar got more votes in 2020 than he did in 2018. Gosar moved to an even stronger GOP/MAGA district in 2022. The jerk was unopposed. I am now blessed with a younger nutjob: Rep. Eli Crane.

Our National electorate is almost half moron; expect little from it.

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The original purpose of the EC was to prevent unsuitables like Trump from ever being president.

Now that's irony!

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it is indeed. we're stuck with the EC. if, however, the bullshit winner-take-all policy that exists in most states were legally switched to a proportional one, the EC might actually be FAIR. of course, that would probably make it irrelevant to the people who are so married to it.

our current system doesn't work. it never did work very well at all. I'm a parliamentary guy myself. and yes, I know...the standard reply is "good luck with that." but can't an old man dream?

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I too worry about the Electoral College, but to get close Dump needs to win in states like WI,MI,PA, AZ and maybe another. If poll responses are to be believed (HA!) Dump could lose from 2 - 10% of Republicans now that he is a convicted felon. That puts most, if not all, of the battle ground states out of reach for him. And may, along with Dobbs, SCOTUS corruption, IVF and Republican plans to take away contraception, put some red states in play for Biden. It's not going to be easy, but I'd rather be a Democrat going into the election that a Republican.

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The Electoral College today is nothing but a big loophole encouraging oligarch schemers to plot, connive, and swindle a national election in a way that would simply not be possible had we a simple majority-vote election.

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I easily foresee Trumpista mobs attacking state capitols to prevent vote certification and even more slates of phony electors in states that vote Democratic in November. A mass movement will be orchestrated to overturn elections in key states, allow state legislatures to impose their own electors, and throw the election into the House so the GOP lackeys can install the felonious toad into the White House.

What are the rest of us gonna do about it? That is the question we should be anticipating.

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Scary times ahead.

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very plausible, alas.

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His “speech” a few minutes ago was the equivalent of Dusty Rhodes screaming out the window of his New York apartment. The crowd outside Trmp Tower just heard a disconnected rambling stream of no consciousness by a failing old man. Certainly Judge Merchan will factor his combative lack of remorse into the presentencing report.

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Good reference! ;-)

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One of my favorite movies!

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I had only been thinking of the great New York Mets home run hitter! There should never be more than one Dusty Rhodes every 100 years.

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I didn’t know about the Mets player. The first Dusty Rhodes I ever knew about was a fiddle player on a Saturday country music program in Memphis. His brother was Slim Rhodes. if you haven’t seen A Face in the Crowd, you should watch it.

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It's far, far grittier and raucous than the vibe most people later associated with Andy Griffith, that's for sure! It is Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes, though.

Reminds me of the first time I saw Grace Kelly's Best Actress winning performance in The Country Girl, that's another one where the actor's later film roles tended to head in a noticeably different direction.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Face_in_the_Crowd_(film)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Country_Girl_(1954_film)

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Lonesome Rhodes - the "American Scream"

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Seems to me, he peppers his word salads with key words that reinforce his bigger narrative.

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Oh yesssssss…and it’s so smart to piss off the Umpire before the opening pitch! Judge Merchan is remarkable…I’m thinking Supreme Court material when we increase the numbers of Justices!

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I agree. Trmp has no sense when it comes to social behavior. Judge Merchan would make a fine Justice!

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Thank you for that ray of sunshine! It is entirely possible that Trump's poor health (physical and mental) may change his plans. Losing an election AND a criminal trial - a double whammy, may be the nail in his political (if not corporeal) coffin. He looks like hell.

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I was thinking the same. His bad diet history and Adderall addiction plus being so out of shape have to already put him at risk. The only exercise he ever gets is playing golf (not the walking but the club swinging). I know he survives on stress but at some point we all reach a point. Also just the idea that he no longer has free movement....that he's constrained. All in all this has to tear at him. And yes, he looks like hell!

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Has anyone checked with Las Vegas yet? What odds are they giving?

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Won't be able to associate with convicted felons? That cuts down his entourage significantly.

O/T but interesting: Merchan will be presiding over the trial of Steve Pigsty Bannon.

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Well, that should be interesting. I sincerely hope he is sentenced to prison. That would do a lot to help America heal.

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OMG!!!! Really? Pigpen/Pigsty in Merchan's courtroom? That is almost too good to be true! I wonder if, on the first day, the judge will order the defendant to clean up his act before appearing in court the following day? Or can't a judge issue any order concerning the defendant's personal hygiene?

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GI shower!😆😆

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I heard a great quote yesterday that is worth repeating. Trump’s attacks on Merchan are like a pitcher saying an umpire sucks before he throws the first pitch. Priceless!

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Oh, you “baseball guys . . .”⚾️

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Hmm, I hadn't thought about the drug testing.

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Will Trump have to stop snorting Adderall?

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I would love to see him go cold-turkey—it would kill him at his age. But I suspect they have been weaning him for some time. There haven’t been “sniffles” and his schedule has been pared back significantly. Instead, we glimpse actual dementia, which could be part of withdrawal, or part of long-term addiction. . . .

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So, as Donny Dumbass’ dementia worsens, who will really be running the country? Stephen Miller? Steve Bannon? Empty G?

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Does he have a prescription or does he buy it off the internet?

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I'm sure he has his own "doctors", as always.

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This is how he probably gets his drugs along with many other members of his Administration at the time.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/01/25/trump-white-house-medical-unit-drugs-improper/

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Probably gets it from his crackhead son.

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"Trump will appeal the verdict, of course, pushing any potential execution of the sentence far into the future. "

It's my understanding that trump can be jailed as soon as the sentence is imposed whether he appeals the verdict or not. There are plenty of convicts who are appealing their verdict while behind bars.

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It's up to the judge, if the defendant was poor and it was a violent offense he would be jailed pending the appeal. For a rich, elderly white defendant not very likely. It's ironic, the public is at much greater risk from this defendant than from a random violent mugger.

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Again, I remind everyone that t-Rump is a Perfect Seven: Powerful, rich, old, white, gentile, heterosexual and male. Those who check all seven boxes never spend time in prison.

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Most if not all those under Perfect Seven express remorse. Not only is trump not remorseful, he has violated 10 gag orders, threatened the judge's daughter and the judge himself as well as intimidated jurors. And continues to do so up to today. The judge might make an exception to trump's Perfect Seven.

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It would be wonderful if the judge ignored the defendant’s Perfect Seven, but I doubt that he will. However….one never knows. Some things never happen, until they happen—like what happened yesterday.

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And…he would never show remorse for something he didn’t do. Because it is a rigged trial. “Rigged” is his FAVORITE word.

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Regardless, he is now under the long arm of the state of New York.

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Lucian, your last paragraph is what we all need to take away from what went down yesterday. Time to man the barricades and redouble our efforts to elect not just Joe Biden but as many Democrats as possible in the House and Senate. Trump may be wounded but the MAGA movement is alive and well and it is it as much as Trump which must be defeated.

Give to Democrats particualarly in key swing districts and states. Holding the Senate and winning back the House would give Biden a second term to reverse some of the damage done particularly in making Roe the law of the land again. And, in beginning to recapture some of the voting rights lost for minorities.

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I think we are now going to see the cult of Trump’s victimhood elevated to a sacrament by the MAGA worthies, such as they are. Everything that happens to him that he doesn’t like is ‘unfair’. Therefore, his guilt doesn’t matter. I don’t see or hear anyone saying that he isn’t guilty or that no crimes were committed. Only that it’s political persecution by a corrupt justice system. Claiming that the whole process, including the trial, was rigged, which is abject nonsense, rigged as was the 2020 election, and the coming 2024 election too. This lie becomes the justification for *Rump, and his ilk, to say “they’re not playing by rules so we don’t have to either.” It’s a total attack on the justice system, the rule of law as we know it, and the institutions of our democracy. How very fascist. But what would we expect. A democracy requires a high level of trust in its institutions by the public in order to function, thrive, and survive. *Rump and his fascist mob have managed to erode that trust almost to the point of causing our system to collapse, which is what they want to happen. Using this unanimous, and correct verdict to further erode that trust is exactly what we’re witnessing. Will it resonate? We’ll know soon enough.

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Thank You LT for Your frank and concise observations and listing of facts.

It is refreshing today, Friday, that We as a People, a Nation, have 12 citizen jurists that have helped to restore the faith of this Nation, in it's laws and courts, State and Federal.

To separate and differentiate between State & Federal powers, the Founding Fathers set the standard for recourse.

All powers not explicitly noted in this Constitution resolve to the States.

This is the True Separation of Powers.

I sense a hope for Our Country, Our Future, that I haven't experienced in years.

Thanks Again Master Lucian, both for Your Voco here, and giving Us Citizens

a Voice to be heard.

Alan South of Boston

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"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Be careful how you paraphrase. The two sentences don't really have the same meaning......especially when left to lawyers and judges.

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wouldn't it be cool if the meeting to evaluate him came back with "he is so far gone in dementia that he should be put in a safe environment and given memory care treatment?"

Ah, we can dream, can't we.

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Biden should refuse to share classified information when and if Trump is the actual nominee. (That is if republicans come to their senses). Based on the grounds that he is a convicted felon. Then he can give Trump an out by fast forwarding the documents case so the voting public can hear those facts and decide before the election.

This presents a wonderful opportunity for Biden to remind the public we potentially will be trusting a convicted felon with classified secrets. (In addition to the ones he had stolen already.)

Just my 2¢.

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Even if the documents case is not fast forwarded, perhaps Biden can refuse to share classified documents on the basis of an unresolved court case involving stolen classified documents. Surely that would be enough?

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From what was said about Trump’s behavior during briefings, I doubt he paid attention. He probably saw classified document’s for their resale potential.

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More good news is that Trump will be back out on the campaign trail, making a fool of himself and acting like a lunatic.

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I think the fact that he will now have freedom of movement constraints may only serve to enrage him even more.

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Good. Maybe he will do us all a favor and pop a vein. Lord, hear our prayer.

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Reference to wishing death of a person is verging on my prohibition on advocacy of violence or killing. Do not post similar comments again, I don't care how much you despise him.

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The one veritable aspect of his performance is that he’s not acting like a lunatic!

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Siena Polls are skewed to the right. They don’t have random sampling and the interpretation is done by Dominionists at a tiny, religious college 3 hours north of NYC. Notice how the NYTimes chooses this school when they have Ivy League, prestigious schools at their doorstep with serious, applied statistics programs. That speaks volumes to their lack of credibility.

That said, too many “martyr” Goons are eager to step into the place or P1135809. Too many fascist puppets are firmly entrenched into the system. They already threaten the Electoral College. Ohio plans to bar the President from the ballot, FFS.

The Billionaire Gang of Fascist Puppet Masters holds the reins for the RNC—it is no longer a political party; it is an organized crime syndicate running a shadow government AND shadow foreign policy. They have their “citizens united”; they have their tax breaks; they have control of energy, food supplies and even their own currencies (crypto and cyber) . . . They have their own militias and the NRA serves to arm and destabilize people in Central, South America and the Caribbean. I have posted articles detailing all of this. Few seem to connect the dots. Hilary had it right: There is a WIDESPREAD right-wing conspiracy seeking to overthrow democracies worldwide. Russia, Saudi and the US are at the head of the Monster.

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I'm glad you factored in the Supreme Court “Citizens United”, which was bought and paid for thanks to Trump, Mitch McConnell, the Federalist Society, and the Bush family.

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Your analysis makes me very hopeful but the "fact" that polling is so close after everything that has happened since The Melon Felon (The MF) came down that escalator is almost beyond my comprehension. So sad for America.

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Information from these polls only represents a trend among the categories of people they polled who answered that may or may not represent sufficient number of actual voters.

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Agreed! That's why I put "facts" in quotes. Still, what will historians looking back from the future say about this period in history? Some form of mass delusion? The effect of propaganda and mis- disinformation? How can anyone look at The MF and think - this is what a leader acts like. It's staggering.

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Painful. We're seeing the results of the lost twenty five years of NCLB education---controlled by standardized tests and curriculum.

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So sad! No critical thinking skills!

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They basically banned critical thinking in content. Logical reasoning disappeared.

Always are some hold outs and new starts.

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Contrary to what many pundits are claiming, this is very bad for both tangeranus and all gop. And it's only going to get worse.

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