Big night for CNN, out with a story about document boxes being loaded onto a Trump plane bound for Bedminster, New Jersey, on the same day the Department of Justice showed up to receive a folder of top secret documents from a Trump lawyer who certified they were the only secret documents she and lawyer Evan Corcoran could find.
Search Bedminster, empanel a grand jury in New Jersey, and indict Trump in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey, Newark Vicinage. That would be a kick in the teeth to both Trump and Judge Loose Cannon. In addition, Butler's testimony may put a crimp in Cannon's obvious desire to dismiss the Florida case. This is becoming highly entertaining.
We saw those photos in June 2022 or thereabouts, didn't we? At this point I wouldn't mind kicking AG Garland in the teeth as well as Trump and La Cannonade.
When it comes to Garland you clearly have no idea what you're talking about. Neither does anyone else outside the DOJ know, but many people have the good sense to remain mute about things of which they know not.
Lol. The question is WHY we "have no idea what [we]'re talking about." There really are ways to explain the WHYs. The DoJ hasn't make use of them. And, just for the record, "people who have the good sense to remain mute about things of which they know not" are generally not friends of democracy or the democratic process.
We don’t know if DOJ tried to get a search warrant. There may not have been sufficient evidence for grand jury or judge to grant (caveat: I’m not an expert in the process).
I can only imagine how much more will come out years from now; which, sadly, will be too late. Makes my head spin at the degree of constant bold lawlessness and cover up.
I agree except for the " entertaining" part. It is more frustrating that the "law" seems to bend over backwards for the treasonous Ex-President. I can't believe the FBI is this incompetent!
No doubt. Her unexplainably heavy coffin was buried at Bedminster in July 2022. The rest of the documents were flown there in June 2022. “How convenient”
Nazi gold is my guess, maybe stolen diamonds - the latter (of course you may have already worked this part out) is for bribing receptive reps of some dictatorship to let Trump and his entourage in, when they have to flee in an emergency, i.e., he gets convicted and sentenced to prison.
Funny, and I’ve seen similar comments, but Trump will never leave the USA for long. He is uncomfortable overseas anywhere but on his soon-to-be-sold golf course and Motel 8 properties. This country, with its unique combination of hero worship and knuckle-dragging stupidity and social media insanity, has created the perfect Petri dish for this noxious specimen to thrive. He’d have no audience in another land. Europeans would rapidly tire of him, and despite his cowardly sycophancy at Putin’s feet he’d hate living in Russia, were he offered a nice dacha outside Moscow. He’s not smart or curious. He doesn’t speak or write anything but 5th grade English. He’d be miserable anywhere else. He is a child of 20th and 21st century America, a perfect storm of noxious qualities that could only take root and thrive in this very strange country we inhabit.
All of that's fair and accurate, unfortunately it fails to meet the terms of the hypothetical as posed: Trump loses at trial, is convicted, appeals fail, is sentenced to prison, THEN he might well seek a desperate route overseas, expecting to be welcomed by Putin, for example, as Trump retains access to an entire network of subversive elements, far right domestic terrorists, and probably copies or portable HDs containing Pentagon secrets about attacking and /or defending Russian military assets, etc.
Do you see the difference? I agree with all you posted, it's simply beside the point! But for an imminent incarceration looming, he prefers to stay in the US, sure, we agree on that.
A plausible argument. I give your scenario less than 5% probability, however. I just don’t see him as an expat, no matter what the circumstances. He’s an American product, god help us—a Dodge Ram pickup, a Big Mac. Aside from the points I made about him (intelligence, language, lack of curiosity), his leaving the US for good would be too glaring and complete an admission of guilt and failure, something he will never ever do, no matter what the courts decide. He is incapable of even the tiniest bit of insight or honesty. His audience is here. He will continue to whine and complain and lie until he becomes a (more) pathetic ravening old man and finally, mercifully for America, he dies. This is King Lear writ large…. though Lear was a far more appealing character.
Ok Trump probably opts for some other plan if convicted, that's maybe more likely, but what?
As for the King Lear comparison, no way, yes Trump is on a safari into delirium, but where's Trump's stalwart advisor [Kent], where's The Fool on the blasted heath with incisive mocking jokes and songs? Where's Trump's Regan and Goneril, much less his Cordelia, a model of self-respect, with her self-possessed refusal to play along with Lear's goofy, disrespectful, public humiliation of her traditional right to some portion of his kingdom without having to mimic the hyperbolic phony protestations of her conniving sisters?
And this doesn't even bring Gloucester into the mix, or Edgar!
Trump has nothing of Shakespearean tragic grandeur about him, and "Nothing will come of nothing"! More like Macbeth's "tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing"!
Art you will want this, trust me! - Wait - I was looking for the DVD of Olivier playing Lear, with an all-star supporting case, but it looks like it's up on YOU TUBE "Remastered," and free free free! Jeez Looeeeeezzz there goes some portion of my morning in a good cause, to see if some barstewards interspersed ads, if not, just save this link and watch at your leisure! Just LOOK at that cast ,and it's brilliantly done all the way through...
King Lear - Laurence Olivier and John Hurt - Shakespeare - 1983 - TV - Remastered - 4K
Shakespeare Network
39.6K subscribers 104,431 views Jun 24, 2021
King Lear (1983 TV programme)
Laurence Olivier and John Hurt played respectively Lear and the Fool in this production to great acclaim, winning an Emmy for his performance. It was the last of Olivier's appearances in a Shakespeare play. At 75, he was one of the oldest actors to take on this enormously demanding role. (He had previously played Lear in 1946 at the Old Vic)
Anna Calder-Marshall — Cordelia, King Lear's daughter
Jeremy Kemp — Duke of Cornwall
Robert Lang — Duke of Albany
Robert Lindsay — Edmund, Gloucester's son
Leo McKern — Earl of Gloucester
David Threlfall — Edgar, Gloucester's son
Dorothy Tutin — Goneril, King Lear's daughter
John Hurt — Fool
Diana Rigg — Regan, King Lear's daughter
Brian Cox — Duke of Burgundy
Edward Petherbridge — King of France
Geoffrey Bateman — Oswald
*******
And today's your lucky day if you love mysteries, and exploring the biggest single taboo subject in English Lit-trah-chur:
Mark Twain's "Is Shakespeare Dead?" with Keir Cutler, PhD
55,492 views Nov 21, 2013
(Text of Keir Cutler's adaptation of "Is Shakespeare Dead?" available as ebook.
https://www.amazon.com/Mark-Twains-Sh...) Shakespeare Authorship Question has never been more fun! Mark Twain's hilarious (1909) debunking of the myth that William Shakespeare wrote the works of Shakespeare. Listing the handful of established facts of Shakespeare's life, Twain ridicules the fantasy that a largely uneducated youth could have wandered into London and, with virtually none of the necessary skills, become the greatest author in English literature. This video was filmed at the 2003 Winnipeg Fringe Festival.
This is beginning to sound like a gangster movie plot, where the ‘Feds’ dig up a coffin looking for stolen secret documents and discover the docs and a cache of items stolen from the White House. The plot thickens….
Don't be so sure. Cannon may try to dismiss with prejudice on the basis of some twisted theory. It may be time for Jack Smith to go to the 11th Circuit and get her booted off the case before she can act.
O/T but breaking: Robert Hur, the slimy little shit "Special Counsel" who authored the report on Biden and classified documents, resigned from the Justice Department today, the day before his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. He no longer needs the approval of DOJ and can lie to the Committee with impunity, The Democrats on the committee better be prepared to rip him to shreds.
There was too much foot-dragging over the years. These crimes should have been investigated immediately in all properties tRump used for pleasure or business. He had all the opportunities he needed to sell, trade, bargain away these documents critical to national security. His loyalties obviously lie with himself first and enemies of our country second. That he ever led this country is sickening and that he's attempting to finish what he started in his previous term is terrifying. And that he manages to manipulate the courts, right up to the 'supremes' is infuriating and mind boggling. Our last hope is voters...
Lucian has summed it up, now we wait for the next legal moves and judges to rule.
There's a background pattern Lucian has discussed numerous times over the last few years, here's another summary of some of that, taking into account very recent developments:
Donald Trump invited Hungarian authoritarian Viktor Orbán to visit Mar-a-Lago this past Friday. Trump’s campaign put out images of the event, saying that Orbán and Trump talked about “a wide range of issues,” including border security.
However, it appears the security of most importance to both Trump and Orbán concerns the border that belongs to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. As the BBC reported on Monday, Orbán explained Trump’s plan to end Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
"He will not give a penny in the Ukraine-Russia war,” said Orbán. “That is why the war will end.” In other words, Orbán and Trump are promising to starve Ukraine of any ability to defend itself, ensuring that a democratic nation of nearly 37 million (as of 2023) people falls to an authoritarian dictatorship.
"It is obvious that Ukraine cannot stand on its own feet," Orbán said on Hungary's M1 TV. “If the Americans don't give money and weapons, along with the Europeans, then the war is over. And if the Americans don't give money, the Europeans alone are unable to finance this war. And then the war is over." For Orbán, Putin, and Trump, this is a good thing.
Trump has long bragged that he could end the Russian invasion within 24 hours. Trump said as much to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins last May, then repeated the promise when speaking at a town hall last June.
Details of that plan have always been sketchy, but there has long been a suspicion that what Trump meant by “end the war” was forcing Ukraine to surrender. Now this has been confirmed by Orbán.
As The Washington Post reported, Trump bragged that Orbán is a “non-controversial” leader. Not because he has the respect and support of all parts of the Hungarian population, but because he has aggressively shattered Hungary’s democratic system and replaced it with one where he’s the unchallenged ruler.
“He’s a non-controversial figure because he says, ‘This is the way it’s going to be,’ and that’s the end of it,” said Trump.
As Vox reported in 2018, Orbán achieved that status in a way that should be controversial everywhere.
Over the course of his eight years in power, Prime Minister Orbán has chipped away at the foundations of Hungarian democracy. It has been replaced with an authoritarian regime that wields a cynical interpretation of the law as a weapon; the country is governed by rules … that can seem reasonable on their face but actually serve to undermine essential democratic freedoms.
However, a new report from CNN details how Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly explained Trump’s fondness for dictators and their unchecked power.
“He thought Putin was an OK guy and Kim was an OK guy — that we had pushed North Korea into a corner,” Kelly told CNN reporter Jim Sciutto. “To him, it was like we were goading these guys. ‘If we didn’t have NATO, then Putin wouldn’t be doing these things.’”
If only people didn’t try to uphold human rights, individual liberty, and free will, there wouldn’t be any conflict. Because then the dictators would have already won.
Kelly also told Sciutto that Trump called Orbán “fantastic” and Chinese dictator Xi Jinping “brilliant.” But according to Kelly, it wasn’t just present-day dictators who drew Trump’s admiration.
In a discussion about Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, Trump reportedly tried to defend the German dictator’s actions to Kelly.
“He said, ‘Well, but Hitler did some good things.’ I said, ‘Well, what?’ And he said, ‘Well, [Hitler] rebuilt the economy.’”
In a Republican Party where the racist “great replacement” conspiracy theory has gone mainstream, facing white Christian nationalist movement that has increasing power within the party, these ideas are extraordinarily dangerous.
Of course, Trump isn’t promising his rally crowds that he will execute millions of people. Yet. So far, Trump’s focused on mass deportations—human rights and international law be damned—to stop immigrants from “poisoning the blood” of the nation.
Trump’s Hitler praise and willingness to hand over a democratic nation to his authoritarian pal isn’t the first step along a path. America is already far down this road.
Trump wants absolute power. His friends have a plan to use that absolute power. They have a model to follow. And if the Ukrainian people are forced into a diaspora while Putin makes a tour of Kyiv, Orbán and Trump will be happy to ride along in the parade.
Of all the countries in the world, Trump has chosen to set Hungary as his exemplar of a properly governed country. He is joined in his admiration by the likes of Tucker Carlson and the Mar-el-Lago crowd. But I see Hungary's post-WW One history as disgraceful.
Hungary was created after WW One, almost immediately taken over by a dictator, Horthy, and was one of Hitler's allies before and during the war, enthusiastically turning over its Jews, Gypsies, and anti-fascists to the Nazis for extermination . Not much worthy of emulation, right? Then Stalin took it over. Finally, after the USSR collapsed, Hungary had a chance to become a democracy, and they blew it, by giving Orban power. Orban, who got ovations at Trump's hotel/home, is its dictator. Hungary now has meaningless elections.
Trump continues to openly admire Orban, almost in every one of his stupefying political events.
He should have a slogan: "We Hunger To Be Hungary".
I really doubt if MAGA people are capable of understanding the implications of Trump's admiration of Orban, Putin, Xi, and every other dictator. He aspires openly to be them, and his followers love it.
I can see him fleeing to Hungary, Russia or Saudi Arabia. Good riddance to bad rubbish! And take the rest of your family and all your fascist buddies with you!
Time to get the FBI and whoever else is needed down to Bedminster---but then that may have been only a temporary place on the way to ??????? The government would have been on this instantly with ANYONE ELSE. Time to get a move on.
It occurs to me that the fact Jack Smith left Bedminster out of the equation might be because he needed a backup plan in case Cannon (or another Florida "judge") threw out the stolen documents case or sabotaged it. It appears from reporting that Butler was referenced several times as #5 in the indictment, so Jack Smith has known of the Bedminster transfer the entire time. Now, if Cannon does what she has been signaling all along, maybe he CAN do what someone here has suggested: send the FBI to Bedminster. And as silly and conspiratorial as it may seem, find out what in blazes is in that grave that was so extremely heavy, whether it's boxes or other contraband. It certainly wasn't a container of ashes. I know how "heavy" those are from personal experience.
Come on! We have known for months from news reports that Trump moved boxes of documents to Bedminster. Where do you think he got the documents to wave in front of those writers? Why on earth hasn't the FBI raided Bedminster to find those documents?
Maybe they couldn't get a warrant. Maybe there is an active investigation in progress. The DOJ never let's the public in on what they are doing until they have no choice so everyone assumes the worst.
Yes, he's defamed E. Jean Carroll again, by again saying that he never met her and she fabricated her story. The first time he said it, it cost him $5 million. The second time, $83 million. I hope that Carroll has the fortitude to handle a third trial, because it would cost Trump hundreds of millions.
When you're incapable of learning your lesson, you get to be taught it again until you do --- or until you do something seriously crazy. Let us hope that E. Jean has top-quality security and isn't living in that upstate shack.
When money damages fail to deter recalcitrant offender, a court may decide to jail an offender as punishment for contempt of court and as a deterrant as to further contempts. Traditionally, courts of equity have exercised the power to seize the offender to compe compliance with a court's orders. We don't often see that happen, but the prospect of detention just might achieve the intended result.
As I said, detention iis available for recalitrant offenders. The predicate determination that the court must adopt is the notion that Trump will not be deterred by anything else. Simply piling on the monetary damages appears not to be a realistic alterative. Trump's lifetime of disregarding norms makes the case. This is who he is, and he's not going to change.Trump's track record make the best case for a finding that his promises count for nothing. The judge must be persuaded that promises are utterly worthless. At this juncture, given the evidence against him, that's a low bar to get over. The whole theory of equity jurisdiction is that it crafts remedies that the law is incapable of providing. The prospect of subjugation to multi-million dollars of indebtedness is a risk of liability, not a statement as to the probability of actual dollar-for-dollar forefeiture of Trump's assets. We're forever being told about sky's-the-limit risktaking when the probabilities that such draconian punishment will occur are actually nil. Some probabilities are statistical certainties, but relatively few are absolute statements of fact. If Donald Trump's seizable assets will bring no mre than a few million dollars at distress sale proceeds, the prospect of collecting more from other sources is an illusion. An uncollectable debt carries within it moral stigma, but that carries no water in a desert. People's memories are short. A Donald Trump-like character could not be imagined by Charles Dickins, because the whole point of Dickins' depiction of Ebeneezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol lies in the redemption of Scrooge on Christmas morning. Donald Trump is irredeemable, and he's shown us who he really is, time and again. We need to take him at his word when he tells us what he intends to do.
It would take a George Orwell, writing his distopian novel 1984 to envision a world in which Donald Trump succeeds. Orwell's point is not to allow Trump to succeed, and to stop those who conspire with Trump by any means necessary.
As he thinks he is the almighty, he can just keep doing it, saying it, and hanging out with other wickeds (weekend with Viktor) and be completely exonerated. Hoping he gets slapped with another defamation suit by E Jean Carroll. Because he just can’t shut his mouth. She seems to be the only lifeline for the rest of us.
So far, it’s working for him. He’s free, going wherever he wants, saying whatever he wants and those who won judgments against him have yet to receive a penny.
Yes. By now Trump is a living vindication of the poet's phrase, "No one ever became suddenly corrupt," he's been at it so many years there's no hope of any remorse, he'll just keep on until he is stopped.
Btw Just started Badenheim 1939, gripping from the jump, I LOVE allusive narrations that trust the reader to "fill in the gaps." It's also damn chilling and somehow heartbreaking right from the first few chapters, thanks for the tip on here awhile back that mentioned it, Jesse.
Maybe I haven't lived long enough, or read enough history, but the crooked crazy jerk who was potus is as twisted as an Eastern worm snake. His doings are like an ongoing punishment.
Oh my…Trump is the one of the plagues that wasn’t described in the bible. It’s the only rational explanation for why this despicable thing is allowed to walk the earth.
The most fascinating thing about Trump is that he was (as far as I know) the first person elected to the U.S. presidency who had zero idea what the presidency was about. IMO he is and was crooked to the core, but don't discount ignorance as a major factor in what he did and didn't do.
Although Reagan and George W. Bush didn't have any real idea either, just that they were able to help their wealthy cronies and do as much damage as possible.
But Reagan, though a relative newbie to politics, was governor of California for two terms. California is bigger and more complex than many countries. Bush II grew up in a political family. He was governor of Texas. His father was president. You may disagree with that they did in office (I sure do), but do you really believe they were as ignorant of what the presidency involves as Trump was (and still is)?
Eastern worm snake?! Of course I opened another tab and looked it up. Blind, non-venomous. Blind, as in lack of intelligence okay. But I'd say the Deranged Convincted Sex Offender Defendant is poisonous.
That’s more or less what I was going to say as I logged on here. Where does it end with this tawdry, cheap specimen? The fact that such a loathsome example of humanity is even a candidate (again) for POTUS says some really, really deeply disturbing things to me about this country. Really disturbing.
I don’t think the country is broken. It’s more that collectively we chose poorly in 2016. Part of this is the Electoral College problem. A lot of it was the Press that chased the “story” for headlines, giving TFG waaay too much publicity, tacitly approving his behavior instead of criticizing and challenging his language and behavior. The statement Comey released just before the election damaged Clinton by reminding us of the “e mails”. I never thought that a man of questionable morals with no experience in running a democracy should ever be a president of anything more than a bowling league. (Apologies to the bowlers. You’d have fired him. 😜)
TFG’s election freed the GOP, whose goals since Nixon and Reagan have been the dismantling of the educational and social networks that FDR, Truman, and Eisenhower created. This includes “trickle down” economics; increasing taxes on the middle class while reducing corporate rates; challenging curricula, banning books, and school vouchers.
Republicans want a return to a homogeneous, Christian, white nation that has never been a reality in this country, only in some misty dream that looks really nice on paper. Our reality, the one we live in on a day to day basis is multi ethnic, multi color, multi religious, multi abled.
TFG will get his just reward. Eventually.
Our only job between now and November is to deny him and his party the House, the Senate, and the Presidency.
I'm 74 and have been paying attention to politics since I was 15. I worked against the war in Vietnam and organized for civil liberties and civil rights. I worked for nonprofits and did lobbying, and I was a paralegal for a number of years. I'm about as political as it gets, and what I've seen over the last 60 years has convinced me that unless people wake up, we are headed for an American version of fascism - wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross. The level of viciousness, bigotry and cruelty in this country is astounding.
The only way we can heal, long term, is by amending the Constitution. An elegant document that needs to be tightened and redefined in several places. Too many citizens … mostly uneducated, sorry to say… have no stake in this country and only want to take, take, and take, and scream about their “rights” and entitlements.
Jesus H. Christ, let’s hope so. So far he, alone, one person, has managed to stave off and manipulate and insult the entire justice system of the Untied States.
Garland is a gentle, thoughtful, deeply intelligent jurist who would have been a magnificent SC justice. McConnell stymied that, may he rot in hell for it. Biden nominated him for AG to thumb his nose at McConnell. Unfortunately, what we need as AG these days is an aggressive, kick-ass guy like Jack Smith.
My thoughts exactly...one man has done all this damage to our country and our justice system and all because he couldn't admit that he lost an election!
It’s that but much more. He is a very very damaged person… a psychopath, a weak little man under all that bullshit and bluster… brimming full of anger and resentment. Men damaged by their fathers, as he was, can become the worst raging psychopaths in the world. Stalin and Hitler were both viciously abused by their abusive fathers, and look at what they did. We have our own home-grown Hitler. Whether our laws are strong enough to contain and punish him is an open question.
Our extradition treaty with Hungary, effective 1997, does not allow extradition for "political offenses". Orban could use that clause to refuse to extradite Trump by claiming he is being politically persecuted. I suspect that was one subject the two fascists may have discussed at Mar-a-Lago.
He's in luck! From Mickey D's (sorry Big Meki's) website...
"Big Tasty®. With Meki®'s largest beef patty*. A great favorite of many, it creates a lasting impression with 3 slices of bulk cheddar cheese and the smoky, spicy Big Tasty® sauce. We call this mass appeal. You can't resist him, right? If you are also caught up in the crowd, come and taste it!"
Maybe I'm misremembering but at the time this was all going down and I was still on the hellsite known as Twitter, a journalist had arrived at the airport because he knew Trump would be departing soon and he took a video of the men loading the boxes on Trump's plane. There was a lot of speculation at the time about what that was all about, so this doesn't feel like new information to me. Also I think you got a detail about the CNN story wrong, Lucian. Butler was best friends with DeOliviera, not Nauta.
I wonder what is buried in the casket of Ivana who is buried on one of his golf courses. It is rumored it took 10 pallbearers to carry the casket. As I said, it is all rumors. He wants so badly to be a mob boss…
Why would he put anything of value in a casket buried on his golf course? He can’t just dig it up without the whole world knowing about it, not that he would dig it up, he’s never done a day’s work in his life, so other people would have to do it, more about the whole world knowing. Can you picture his sons, who have also never done a days work, in all of the days they have polluted the air we breathe, digging up their mother’s coffin. I can’t. None of it makes sense to me. He does a lot of things that don’t make much sense, outside of covering his own ass, he’s actually quite good at that. If the justice department worked regarding the insipid clown, the way it would work for any of us, our system would put in the needed corrections, it’s not doing that which should be cause for grave concern. 🤷♂️ I loathe that bastard so much……💥
The plot twists & thickens. There is no word for the perfidy, unmitigated gall, wretched narcissism and deranged amorality of the motherfucker; suggestions for a word welcome. Dig up Ivana's coffin. It's all a neverending abomination I wish were over. (As usual, LKT IV is on top of the story.)
Hence in a shameless act of self-promotion, but also relevent to the plague of the... uh... I resist even calling him a man, I offer my thoughts in a Substack post from last fall that answers the adapted ages-old question asked by Henry II: Will no one rid me/us of this turbulent pestilence?
Garland is guilty of having done nothing regarding Trump for two years (for fear of seeming political) until the January 6 committee's findings embarrassed him into appointing Jack Smith. Trump could have been in prison by now if not for Garland's timidity.
How do you know what he did? Do you have any idea how long federal investigations take? You might want to educate yourself before speaking of things about which you know not. Just because the DOJ did not inform you personally of their progress and thus jeopardizing the investigation does not mean nothing was going on. Do you have any idea how hostile FBI agents have been toward investigations of Trump? Do you know anything at all?
Do you know when Jack Smith was appointed? 10 days after the GOP took back the House and Biden's agenda ended for all practical purposes. If you don't understand the cause and effect of that act I would be happy to explain it to you.
It may not be necessary, but I sure as hell understand it. So many USians who seem to have discovered politics yesterday think everything could have been fixed the day before that. Armchair politicos are right up there with armchair sports fans.
Shortly after Biden was inaugurated he publicly expressed his concern that criminal investigations of Trump would interfere with his agenda, so now you want Biden to fire the man who, according to you, did exactly what Biden signaled he wanted him to do?
Do you have any idea how long federal investigations take? You might want to investigate how long (6 years) a simple corruption investigation took of Gillam, who ran for governor against DeSantis.
Garland has had to deal with an extremely hostile FBI, which is composed mostly of Trump supporting special agents. Evidence of Trump's crimes was hidden or destroyed by his DOJ.
And don't forget that Garland has nothing to do with the current investigation Jack Smith is conducting. It's ridiculous and unnecessary but the AG has not interfered with Smith for political reasons. We don't really know what is going on in Bedminister. It is possible the investigation is ongoing and Smith has chosen to not share the circumstances with you.
It was hard for me to tell who you were replying to. It came in my email. I don't blame Biden. I blame everyone. We have leaders and institutions with access to money, training, and power which ordinary citizens do not have. Trump has manipulated them all. It's a gift.
From the indictment. Just seems to me that he should have been held accountable earlier for documents and January 6.
Maybe you have other information.
In May 2021, the National Archives began asking Trump and his staff to return all missing presidential records, according to email communications between the archives and Trump's lawyers that were later made public.
Two of Trump’s aides returned 15 boxes of records to the National Archives eight months later, in January 2022. The Archives soon determined that 14 of the boxes contained classified documents and referred their discovery to the Justice Department, the indictment says.
The FBI opened a criminal investigation in March 2022, and a grand jury issued a subpoena in May that required Trump to return all remaining classified documents in his possession, according to prosecutors.
The National Archives was trying to handle that situation without any criminal action for quite some time which seems completely reasonable in this instance. It wasn't until Trump started lying and hiding evidence that the FBI got involved, which also seems reasonable.
He only realized after leaving that his only hope was to become president again so he could stop all investigations. So he announced his intention. If not for that, our world would be a lot less insane.
Search Bedminster, empanel a grand jury in New Jersey, and indict Trump in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey, Newark Vicinage. That would be a kick in the teeth to both Trump and Judge Loose Cannon. In addition, Butler's testimony may put a crimp in Cannon's obvious desire to dismiss the Florida case. This is becoming highly entertaining.
We saw those photos in June 2022 or thereabouts, didn't we? At this point I wouldn't mind kicking AG Garland in the teeth as well as Trump and La Cannonade.
YES. YES. YES!
When it comes to Garland you clearly have no idea what you're talking about. Neither does anyone else outside the DOJ know, but many people have the good sense to remain mute about things of which they know not.
Lol. The question is WHY we "have no idea what [we]'re talking about." There really are ways to explain the WHYs. The DoJ hasn't make use of them. And, just for the record, "people who have the good sense to remain mute about things of which they know not" are generally not friends of democracy or the democratic process.
I can’t believe Bedminster wasn’t searched the same day the FBI searched Merde-a-Lardo. Dumb, dumber and dumbest!
Dumb, or deliberate.
Deliberate...
We don’t know if DOJ tried to get a search warrant. There may not have been sufficient evidence for grand jury or judge to grant (caveat: I’m not an expert in the process).
I can only imagine how much more will come out years from now; which, sadly, will be too late. Makes my head spin at the degree of constant bold lawlessness and cover up.
But you don't know why it wasn't searched and so you're really not in any position to be calling anyone dumb.
Brilliant! Different jurisdiction - No Cannons!!
Yes yes yes.
I agree except for the " entertaining" part. It is more frustrating that the "law" seems to bend over backwards for the treasonous Ex-President. I can't believe the FBI is this incompetent!
nice.
My guess also
Betting there may even be docs in Ivana’s coffin?
No doubt. Her unexplainably heavy coffin was buried at Bedminster in July 2022. The rest of the documents were flown there in June 2022. “How convenient”
Nazi gold is my guess, maybe stolen diamonds - the latter (of course you may have already worked this part out) is for bribing receptive reps of some dictatorship to let Trump and his entourage in, when they have to flee in an emergency, i.e., he gets convicted and sentenced to prison.
Funny, and I’ve seen similar comments, but Trump will never leave the USA for long. He is uncomfortable overseas anywhere but on his soon-to-be-sold golf course and Motel 8 properties. This country, with its unique combination of hero worship and knuckle-dragging stupidity and social media insanity, has created the perfect Petri dish for this noxious specimen to thrive. He’d have no audience in another land. Europeans would rapidly tire of him, and despite his cowardly sycophancy at Putin’s feet he’d hate living in Russia, were he offered a nice dacha outside Moscow. He’s not smart or curious. He doesn’t speak or write anything but 5th grade English. He’d be miserable anywhere else. He is a child of 20th and 21st century America, a perfect storm of noxious qualities that could only take root and thrive in this very strange country we inhabit.
I dunno, I think he takes a flyer soon.
All of that's fair and accurate, unfortunately it fails to meet the terms of the hypothetical as posed: Trump loses at trial, is convicted, appeals fail, is sentenced to prison, THEN he might well seek a desperate route overseas, expecting to be welcomed by Putin, for example, as Trump retains access to an entire network of subversive elements, far right domestic terrorists, and probably copies or portable HDs containing Pentagon secrets about attacking and /or defending Russian military assets, etc.
Do you see the difference? I agree with all you posted, it's simply beside the point! But for an imminent incarceration looming, he prefers to stay in the US, sure, we agree on that.
A plausible argument. I give your scenario less than 5% probability, however. I just don’t see him as an expat, no matter what the circumstances. He’s an American product, god help us—a Dodge Ram pickup, a Big Mac. Aside from the points I made about him (intelligence, language, lack of curiosity), his leaving the US for good would be too glaring and complete an admission of guilt and failure, something he will never ever do, no matter what the courts decide. He is incapable of even the tiniest bit of insight or honesty. His audience is here. He will continue to whine and complain and lie until he becomes a (more) pathetic ravening old man and finally, mercifully for America, he dies. This is King Lear writ large…. though Lear was a far more appealing character.
Ok Trump probably opts for some other plan if convicted, that's maybe more likely, but what?
As for the King Lear comparison, no way, yes Trump is on a safari into delirium, but where's Trump's stalwart advisor [Kent], where's The Fool on the blasted heath with incisive mocking jokes and songs? Where's Trump's Regan and Goneril, much less his Cordelia, a model of self-respect, with her self-possessed refusal to play along with Lear's goofy, disrespectful, public humiliation of her traditional right to some portion of his kingdom without having to mimic the hyperbolic phony protestations of her conniving sisters?
And this doesn't even bring Gloucester into the mix, or Edgar!
Trump has nothing of Shakespearean tragic grandeur about him, and "Nothing will come of nothing"! More like Macbeth's "tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing"!
Art you will want this, trust me! - Wait - I was looking for the DVD of Olivier playing Lear, with an all-star supporting case, but it looks like it's up on YOU TUBE "Remastered," and free free free! Jeez Looeeeeezzz there goes some portion of my morning in a good cause, to see if some barstewards interspersed ads, if not, just save this link and watch at your leisure! Just LOOK at that cast ,and it's brilliantly done all the way through...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdn07wgUrno
King Lear - Laurence Olivier and John Hurt - Shakespeare - 1983 - TV - Remastered - 4K
Shakespeare Network
39.6K subscribers 104,431 views Jun 24, 2021
King Lear (1983 TV programme)
Laurence Olivier and John Hurt played respectively Lear and the Fool in this production to great acclaim, winning an Emmy for his performance. It was the last of Olivier's appearances in a Shakespeare play. At 75, he was one of the oldest actors to take on this enormously demanding role. (He had previously played Lear in 1946 at the Old Vic)
Please consider subscribing to our channel for More Insights: https://www.youtube.com/user/
Directed by Michael Elliott
CAST
Laurence Olivier — King Lear
Colin Blakely — Earl of Кеnt
Anna Calder-Marshall — Cordelia, King Lear's daughter
Jeremy Kemp — Duke of Cornwall
Robert Lang — Duke of Albany
Robert Lindsay — Edmund, Gloucester's son
Leo McKern — Earl of Gloucester
David Threlfall — Edgar, Gloucester's son
Dorothy Tutin — Goneril, King Lear's daughter
John Hurt — Fool
Diana Rigg — Regan, King Lear's daughter
Brian Cox — Duke of Burgundy
Edward Petherbridge — King of France
Geoffrey Bateman — Oswald
*******
And today's your lucky day if you love mysteries, and exploring the biggest single taboo subject in English Lit-trah-chur:
Mark Twain's "Is Shakespeare Dead?" with Keir Cutler, PhD
55,492 views Nov 21, 2013
(Text of Keir Cutler's adaptation of "Is Shakespeare Dead?" available as ebook.
https://www.amazon.com/Mark-Twains-Sh...) Shakespeare Authorship Question has never been more fun! Mark Twain's hilarious (1909) debunking of the myth that William Shakespeare wrote the works of Shakespeare. Listing the handful of established facts of Shakespeare's life, Twain ridicules the fantasy that a largely uneducated youth could have wandered into London and, with virtually none of the necessary skills, become the greatest author in English literature. This video was filmed at the 2003 Winnipeg Fringe Festival.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ72Ew1ujlk
This is beginning to sound like a gangster movie plot, where the ‘Feds’ dig up a coffin looking for stolen secret documents and discover the docs and a cache of items stolen from the White House. The plot thickens….
At this point, I doubt that could be dismissed entirely.....
Don't be so sure. Cannon may try to dismiss with prejudice on the basis of some twisted theory. It may be time for Jack Smith to go to the 11th Circuit and get her booted off the case before she can act.
Tonight she gave Trump and his attys 10 more days to “research” documents. It’s all bullshit. Wish lightning would strike nearby…
Oh CRAP!
when people suggested this, I thought it was hyperbolic, but now...
this Butler guy is another several nails in the coffin, as it were.
My guess also
O/T but breaking: Robert Hur, the slimy little shit "Special Counsel" who authored the report on Biden and classified documents, resigned from the Justice Department today, the day before his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. He no longer needs the approval of DOJ and can lie to the Committee with impunity, The Democrats on the committee better be prepared to rip him to shreds.
First, no he cannot lie with impunity. Second, the worst he can say without contradicting his own report is that Biden is old and forgetful.
Oh my!
I think Swalwell, Raskin, and the wonderful Jasmine Crockett will come out swinging.
😡🤬🤬
There was too much foot-dragging over the years. These crimes should have been investigated immediately in all properties tRump used for pleasure or business. He had all the opportunities he needed to sell, trade, bargain away these documents critical to national security. His loyalties obviously lie with himself first and enemies of our country second. That he ever led this country is sickening and that he's attempting to finish what he started in his previous term is terrifying. And that he manages to manipulate the courts, right up to the 'supremes' is infuriating and mind boggling. Our last hope is voters...
Thank Donalds dad, Roy Cohn, Roger Stone and 74 million idiots.
So you know it wasn't investigated immediately how exactly?
b/c tRump would have been on his `propaganda x-copy site ranting about how he has been unfairly treated, etc, etc, etc,,,
I suppose this a reply to a comment I made but I don't know which one it was so I'm unable to reply.
Lucian has summed it up, now we wait for the next legal moves and judges to rule.
There's a background pattern Lucian has discussed numerous times over the last few years, here's another summary of some of that, taking into account very recent developments:
Source:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/3/11/2228838/-Trump-s-affection-for-dictators-is-at-the-heart-of-his-plans-for-America-And-Ukraine?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_8&pm_medium=web
By Mark Sumner for the Daily Kos Staff
Donald Trump invited Hungarian authoritarian Viktor Orbán to visit Mar-a-Lago this past Friday. Trump’s campaign put out images of the event, saying that Orbán and Trump talked about “a wide range of issues,” including border security.
However, it appears the security of most importance to both Trump and Orbán concerns the border that belongs to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. As the BBC reported on Monday, Orbán explained Trump’s plan to end Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
"He will not give a penny in the Ukraine-Russia war,” said Orbán. “That is why the war will end.” In other words, Orbán and Trump are promising to starve Ukraine of any ability to defend itself, ensuring that a democratic nation of nearly 37 million (as of 2023) people falls to an authoritarian dictatorship.
"It is obvious that Ukraine cannot stand on its own feet," Orbán said on Hungary's M1 TV. “If the Americans don't give money and weapons, along with the Europeans, then the war is over. And if the Americans don't give money, the Europeans alone are unable to finance this war. And then the war is over." For Orbán, Putin, and Trump, this is a good thing.
Trump has long bragged that he could end the Russian invasion within 24 hours. Trump said as much to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins last May, then repeated the promise when speaking at a town hall last June.
Details of that plan have always been sketchy, but there has long been a suspicion that what Trump meant by “end the war” was forcing Ukraine to surrender. Now this has been confirmed by Orbán.
As The Washington Post reported, Trump bragged that Orbán is a “non-controversial” leader. Not because he has the respect and support of all parts of the Hungarian population, but because he has aggressively shattered Hungary’s democratic system and replaced it with one where he’s the unchallenged ruler.
“He’s a non-controversial figure because he says, ‘This is the way it’s going to be,’ and that’s the end of it,” said Trump.
As Vox reported in 2018, Orbán achieved that status in a way that should be controversial everywhere.
Over the course of his eight years in power, Prime Minister Orbán has chipped away at the foundations of Hungarian democracy. It has been replaced with an authoritarian regime that wields a cynical interpretation of the law as a weapon; the country is governed by rules … that can seem reasonable on their face but actually serve to undermine essential democratic freedoms.
However, a new report from CNN details how Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly explained Trump’s fondness for dictators and their unchecked power.
“He thought Putin was an OK guy and Kim was an OK guy — that we had pushed North Korea into a corner,” Kelly told CNN reporter Jim Sciutto. “To him, it was like we were goading these guys. ‘If we didn’t have NATO, then Putin wouldn’t be doing these things.’”
If only people didn’t try to uphold human rights, individual liberty, and free will, there wouldn’t be any conflict. Because then the dictators would have already won.
Kelly also told Sciutto that Trump called Orbán “fantastic” and Chinese dictator Xi Jinping “brilliant.” But according to Kelly, it wasn’t just present-day dictators who drew Trump’s admiration.
In a discussion about Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, Trump reportedly tried to defend the German dictator’s actions to Kelly.
“He said, ‘Well, but Hitler did some good things.’ I said, ‘Well, what?’ And he said, ‘Well, [Hitler] rebuilt the economy.’”
In a Republican Party where the racist “great replacement” conspiracy theory has gone mainstream, facing white Christian nationalist movement that has increasing power within the party, these ideas are extraordinarily dangerous.
Of course, Trump isn’t promising his rally crowds that he will execute millions of people. Yet. So far, Trump’s focused on mass deportations—human rights and international law be damned—to stop immigrants from “poisoning the blood” of the nation.
Trump’s Hitler praise and willingness to hand over a democratic nation to his authoritarian pal isn’t the first step along a path. America is already far down this road.
Trump wants absolute power. His friends have a plan to use that absolute power. They have a model to follow. And if the Ukrainian people are forced into a diaspora while Putin makes a tour of Kyiv, Orbán and Trump will be happy to ride along in the parade.
Of all the countries in the world, Trump has chosen to set Hungary as his exemplar of a properly governed country. He is joined in his admiration by the likes of Tucker Carlson and the Mar-el-Lago crowd. But I see Hungary's post-WW One history as disgraceful.
Hungary was created after WW One, almost immediately taken over by a dictator, Horthy, and was one of Hitler's allies before and during the war, enthusiastically turning over its Jews, Gypsies, and anti-fascists to the Nazis for extermination . Not much worthy of emulation, right? Then Stalin took it over. Finally, after the USSR collapsed, Hungary had a chance to become a democracy, and they blew it, by giving Orban power. Orban, who got ovations at Trump's hotel/home, is its dictator. Hungary now has meaningless elections.
Trump continues to openly admire Orban, almost in every one of his stupefying political events.
He should have a slogan: "We Hunger To Be Hungary".
I really doubt if MAGA people are capable of understanding the implications of Trump's admiration of Orban, Putin, Xi, and every other dictator. He aspires openly to be them, and his followers love it.
Does the US have an extradition treaty with Hungary? Perhaps Trump is laying the groundwork to flee if he is ever really cornered.
I can see him fleeing to Hungary, Russia or Saudi Arabia. Good riddance to bad rubbish! And take the rest of your family and all your fascist buddies with you!
He’ll never be an expat. He’s an American, albeit a vile specimen of one, and he is only comfortable here. See my long comment above.
He’ll never be an expat. See my lengthy comment above (or wherever it lands).
🤬🤬🤬🤬
Time to get the FBI and whoever else is needed down to Bedminster---but then that may have been only a temporary place on the way to ??????? The government would have been on this instantly with ANYONE ELSE. Time to get a move on.
It occurs to me that the fact Jack Smith left Bedminster out of the equation might be because he needed a backup plan in case Cannon (or another Florida "judge") threw out the stolen documents case or sabotaged it. It appears from reporting that Butler was referenced several times as #5 in the indictment, so Jack Smith has known of the Bedminster transfer the entire time. Now, if Cannon does what she has been signaling all along, maybe he CAN do what someone here has suggested: send the FBI to Bedminster. And as silly and conspiratorial as it may seem, find out what in blazes is in that grave that was so extremely heavy, whether it's boxes or other contraband. It certainly wasn't a container of ashes. I know how "heavy" those are from personal experience.
Did you consider the possibility that an active investigation of Trump is ongoing at Bedminster? Do you remember ABSCAM?
Come on! We have known for months from news reports that Trump moved boxes of documents to Bedminster. Where do you think he got the documents to wave in front of those writers? Why on earth hasn't the FBI raided Bedminster to find those documents?
That is a mystery.
Maybe they couldn't get a warrant. Maybe there is an active investigation in progress. The DOJ never let's the public in on what they are doing until they have no choice so everyone assumes the worst.
The reassuring thing about Trump: he's a creature of habit.
Yes, he's defamed E. Jean Carroll again, by again saying that he never met her and she fabricated her story. The first time he said it, it cost him $5 million. The second time, $83 million. I hope that Carroll has the fortitude to handle a third trial, because it would cost Trump hundreds of millions.
When you're incapable of learning your lesson, you get to be taught it again until you do --- or until you do something seriously crazy. Let us hope that E. Jean has top-quality security and isn't living in that upstate shack.
Exactly
She can also request injunctive relief before she files again.
Yes, I hadn't thought of that. When Trump violates the injunction, it will cost him more, and Carroll won't have to sue.
If he violates an injunction he could also be subject to sanctions and possible jail time for contempt. What a lovely thought.
Let us kneel and pray…for that to happen!!
When money damages fail to deter recalcitrant offender, a court may decide to jail an offender as punishment for contempt of court and as a deterrant as to further contempts. Traditionally, courts of equity have exercised the power to seize the offender to compe compliance with a court's orders. We don't often see that happen, but the prospect of detention just might achieve the intended result.
I’d prefer if he were not deterred but were locked up.
As I said, detention iis available for recalitrant offenders. The predicate determination that the court must adopt is the notion that Trump will not be deterred by anything else. Simply piling on the monetary damages appears not to be a realistic alterative. Trump's lifetime of disregarding norms makes the case. This is who he is, and he's not going to change.Trump's track record make the best case for a finding that his promises count for nothing. The judge must be persuaded that promises are utterly worthless. At this juncture, given the evidence against him, that's a low bar to get over. The whole theory of equity jurisdiction is that it crafts remedies that the law is incapable of providing. The prospect of subjugation to multi-million dollars of indebtedness is a risk of liability, not a statement as to the probability of actual dollar-for-dollar forefeiture of Trump's assets. We're forever being told about sky's-the-limit risktaking when the probabilities that such draconian punishment will occur are actually nil. Some probabilities are statistical certainties, but relatively few are absolute statements of fact. If Donald Trump's seizable assets will bring no mre than a few million dollars at distress sale proceeds, the prospect of collecting more from other sources is an illusion. An uncollectable debt carries within it moral stigma, but that carries no water in a desert. People's memories are short. A Donald Trump-like character could not be imagined by Charles Dickins, because the whole point of Dickins' depiction of Ebeneezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol lies in the redemption of Scrooge on Christmas morning. Donald Trump is irredeemable, and he's shown us who he really is, time and again. We need to take him at his word when he tells us what he intends to do.
It would take a George Orwell, writing his distopian novel 1984 to envision a world in which Donald Trump succeeds. Orwell's point is not to allow Trump to succeed, and to stop those who conspire with Trump by any means necessary.
As he thinks he is the almighty, he can just keep doing it, saying it, and hanging out with other wickeds (weekend with Viktor) and be completely exonerated. Hoping he gets slapped with another defamation suit by E Jean Carroll. Because he just can’t shut his mouth. She seems to be the only lifeline for the rest of us.
So far, it’s working for him. He’s free, going wherever he wants, saying whatever he wants and those who won judgments against him have yet to receive a penny.
Can this get any more disturbing?
Yes. By now Trump is a living vindication of the poet's phrase, "No one ever became suddenly corrupt," he's been at it so many years there's no hope of any remorse, he'll just keep on until he is stopped.
Btw Just started Badenheim 1939, gripping from the jump, I LOVE allusive narrations that trust the reader to "fill in the gaps." It's also damn chilling and somehow heartbreaking right from the first few chapters, thanks for the tip on here awhile back that mentioned it, Jesse.
A great first novel by Ahron Appelfeld!
Maybe I haven't lived long enough, or read enough history, but the crooked crazy jerk who was potus is as twisted as an Eastern worm snake. His doings are like an ongoing punishment.
Oh my…Trump is the one of the plagues that wasn’t described in the bible. It’s the only rational explanation for why this despicable thing is allowed to walk the earth.
Perhaps human lice?
Eeewwww…nice one Margo! I keep thinking of him as a cockroach, but lice, even better.
Have you ever had a night terror accompanied by sleep paralysis? That's what this feels like.
more like a bedbug...
I was sticking to the Biblical plagues. No bedbugs there.
I thought of those as well.
Bedbugs
The most fascinating thing about Trump is that he was (as far as I know) the first person elected to the U.S. presidency who had zero idea what the presidency was about. IMO he is and was crooked to the core, but don't discount ignorance as a major factor in what he did and didn't do.
Agreed.
Although Reagan and George W. Bush didn't have any real idea either, just that they were able to help their wealthy cronies and do as much damage as possible.
But Reagan, though a relative newbie to politics, was governor of California for two terms. California is bigger and more complex than many countries. Bush II grew up in a political family. He was governor of Texas. His father was president. You may disagree with that they did in office (I sure do), but do you really believe they were as ignorant of what the presidency involves as Trump was (and still is)?
I don't discount ignorance--I just say it's no excuse. Besides, someone that slimy and lawyered up can in no way claim ignorance.
Definitely ignorant and still is!
Eastern worm snake?! Of course I opened another tab and looked it up. Blind, non-venomous. Blind, as in lack of intelligence okay. But I'd say the Deranged Convincted Sex Offender Defendant is poisonous.
But very twisted ...
Yes. I hesitate to bring up the Gordian Knot, since it was undone by brute force.
Unfortunately, “brute force” is a character trait that HE would love to possess. So…using it against him would be just!
Will it ever end?
That’s more or less what I was going to say as I logged on here. Where does it end with this tawdry, cheap specimen? The fact that such a loathsome example of humanity is even a candidate (again) for POTUS says some really, really deeply disturbing things to me about this country. Really disturbing.
This country is broken. I don't know how we heal it.
I don’t think the country is broken. It’s more that collectively we chose poorly in 2016. Part of this is the Electoral College problem. A lot of it was the Press that chased the “story” for headlines, giving TFG waaay too much publicity, tacitly approving his behavior instead of criticizing and challenging his language and behavior. The statement Comey released just before the election damaged Clinton by reminding us of the “e mails”. I never thought that a man of questionable morals with no experience in running a democracy should ever be a president of anything more than a bowling league. (Apologies to the bowlers. You’d have fired him. 😜)
TFG’s election freed the GOP, whose goals since Nixon and Reagan have been the dismantling of the educational and social networks that FDR, Truman, and Eisenhower created. This includes “trickle down” economics; increasing taxes on the middle class while reducing corporate rates; challenging curricula, banning books, and school vouchers.
Republicans want a return to a homogeneous, Christian, white nation that has never been a reality in this country, only in some misty dream that looks really nice on paper. Our reality, the one we live in on a day to day basis is multi ethnic, multi color, multi religious, multi abled.
TFG will get his just reward. Eventually.
Our only job between now and November is to deny him and his party the House, the Senate, and the Presidency.
Amen, Susan RN. Well said.
People keep saying that, but I don't know what they mean. What do you mean by it? When did you start paying attention to politics?
I'm 74 and have been paying attention to politics since I was 15. I worked against the war in Vietnam and organized for civil liberties and civil rights. I worked for nonprofits and did lobbying, and I was a paralegal for a number of years. I'm about as political as it gets, and what I've seen over the last 60 years has convinced me that unless people wake up, we are headed for an American version of fascism - wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross. The level of viciousness, bigotry and cruelty in this country is astounding.
SDS WEATHERWOMAN
Were you? What have you been doing since?
Yup. We’re in serious trouble.
I’ve been a student of both history and political science since 1965 at age 18. I’ve done politics since then as well.
T-Rump’s death by natural causes would be the essential start.
Natural…… or not
Hmmmm
Natural death?
Like no exploding cheeseburgers?
The Kennedys enemies had a different solution.
Life's dangerous when your enemies include the head of the FBI and the
Vice President.
Toss in the CIA and the Mafia. Natural death is not a likely solution.
How I REALLY wish he'd meet his end is not printable here.
However-- no matter how he finally dies, his worshipers will blame the Dems.
The only way we can heal, long term, is by amending the Constitution. An elegant document that needs to be tightened and redefined in several places. Too many citizens … mostly uneducated, sorry to say… have no stake in this country and only want to take, take, and take, and scream about their “rights” and entitlements.
Education also needs fixing. We are awash in ignorance and the public school system is partly responsible.
Not in my lifetime. Should he drop dead tomorrow, the shit he has done already will take 20 more years or longer to find.
And he will immediately become a martyr to his base. Oy vey
Every night I express my gratitude for my critical thinking skills which have kept me cult free for over 70 years….
At the rate this is going, Trump is headed for prison sooner rather than later.
Jesus H. Christ, let’s hope so. So far he, alone, one person, has managed to stave off and manipulate and insult the entire justice system of the Untied States.
That Federalist Society stooge Garland has to go, now. DOJ is protecting Trump and it has to stop.
Garland is a gentle, thoughtful, deeply intelligent jurist who would have been a magnificent SC justice. McConnell stymied that, may he rot in hell for it. Biden nominated him for AG to thumb his nose at McConnell. Unfortunately, what we need as AG these days is an aggressive, kick-ass guy like Jack Smith.
My thoughts exactly...one man has done all this damage to our country and our justice system and all because he couldn't admit that he lost an election!
It’s that but much more. He is a very very damaged person… a psychopath, a weak little man under all that bullshit and bluster… brimming full of anger and resentment. Men damaged by their fathers, as he was, can become the worst raging psychopaths in the world. Stalin and Hitler were both viciously abused by their abusive fathers, and look at what they did. We have our own home-grown Hitler. Whether our laws are strong enough to contain and punish him is an open question.
Absolutely! If he wasn't such a bastard doing so much damage to our country and the world, I might even feel sorry for him!
If not elected he will skip town. Some country with McDonald's and no likely chance of extradition. Its going get really shitty.
Our extradition treaty with Hungary, effective 1997, does not allow extradition for "political offenses". Orban could use that clause to refuse to extradite Trump by claiming he is being politically persecuted. I suspect that was one subject the two fascists may have discussed at Mar-a-Lago.
Of course.
He's in luck! From Mickey D's (sorry Big Meki's) website...
"Big Tasty®. With Meki®'s largest beef patty*. A great favorite of many, it creates a lasting impression with 3 slices of bulk cheddar cheese and the smoky, spicy Big Tasty® sauce. We call this mass appeal. You can't resist him, right? If you are also caught up in the crowd, come and taste it!"
He will never spend a nanosecond in prison.
https://gregolear.substack.com/p/the-maga-doom-loop?utm_campaign=email-post&r=7ygy0&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
No — not until t-Rump is DEAD! Nothing short of that will have any effect.
Maybe I'm misremembering but at the time this was all going down and I was still on the hellsite known as Twitter, a journalist had arrived at the airport because he knew Trump would be departing soon and he took a video of the men loading the boxes on Trump's plane. There was a lot of speculation at the time about what that was all about, so this doesn't feel like new information to me. Also I think you got a detail about the CNN story wrong, Lucian. Butler was best friends with DeOliviera, not Nauta.
Yes, I remember reading something about that, but can't remember the journalist's name.
It was first covered by The Daily Mail.
And I thought DeOliviera was turning states evidence, too?
I wonder what is buried in the casket of Ivana who is buried on one of his golf courses. It is rumored it took 10 pallbearers to carry the casket. As I said, it is all rumors. He wants so badly to be a mob boss…
Gold bars, probably a legacy of the 3rd Reich Nazi hoard, stolen diamonds, that's my first guess.
Aha! I wonder if Bob Menendez will ultimately plead that the gold bars in his closet were actually Trump’s. Wouldn’t that be fun!
Why would he put anything of value in a casket buried on his golf course? He can’t just dig it up without the whole world knowing about it, not that he would dig it up, he’s never done a day’s work in his life, so other people would have to do it, more about the whole world knowing. Can you picture his sons, who have also never done a days work, in all of the days they have polluted the air we breathe, digging up their mother’s coffin. I can’t. None of it makes sense to me. He does a lot of things that don’t make much sense, outside of covering his own ass, he’s actually quite good at that. If the justice department worked regarding the insipid clown, the way it would work for any of us, our system would put in the needed corrections, it’s not doing that which should be cause for grave concern. 🤷♂️ I loathe that bastard so much……💥
He may want folks to dig up Ivana. His way of instigating something do he can scream,
:Witch hunt."
Wasn’t she cremated? That’s what I understood, anyway.
This is a horror story.
The plot twists & thickens. There is no word for the perfidy, unmitigated gall, wretched narcissism and deranged amorality of the motherfucker; suggestions for a word welcome. Dig up Ivana's coffin. It's all a neverending abomination I wish were over. (As usual, LKT IV is on top of the story.)
Hence in a shameless act of self-promotion, but also relevent to the plague of the... uh... I resist even calling him a man, I offer my thoughts in a Substack post from last fall that answers the adapted ages-old question asked by Henry II: Will no one rid me/us of this turbulent pestilence?
https://rpatterson.substack.com/p/i-so-wish-donald-trump-would-just
How to do it???? VOTE is our only hope!
By the time he left the White House, Trump's behavior was quite predictable, so why was no action taken?
Ask Merrick Garland, who should be fired immediately before he does any more damage.
What are you talking about? Do you have any idea?
Garland is guilty of having done nothing regarding Trump for two years (for fear of seeming political) until the January 6 committee's findings embarrassed him into appointing Jack Smith. Trump could have been in prison by now if not for Garland's timidity.
How do you know what he did? Do you have any idea how long federal investigations take? You might want to educate yourself before speaking of things about which you know not. Just because the DOJ did not inform you personally of their progress and thus jeopardizing the investigation does not mean nothing was going on. Do you have any idea how hostile FBI agents have been toward investigations of Trump? Do you know anything at all?
Do you know when Jack Smith was appointed? 10 days after the GOP took back the House and Biden's agenda ended for all practical purposes. If you don't understand the cause and effect of that act I would be happy to explain it to you.
You make some plausible points, but is the sarcasm necessary?
It may not be necessary, but I sure as hell understand it. So many USians who seem to have discovered politics yesterday think everything could have been fixed the day before that. Armchair politicos are right up there with armchair sports fans.
There is zero sarcasm in that post.
ERIC:
As im not qualified to comment on Garland,
whats your thoughts on Garlands performances.
Cal Lash
Amen.
Here is another complaint that has been made against Garland: He appointed Robert Hur. See: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/03/robert-hur-testimony-merrick-garland-biden-lies.html?pay=1710291250589&support_journalism=please
Shortly after Biden was inaugurated he publicly expressed his concern that criminal investigations of Trump would interfere with his agenda, so now you want Biden to fire the man who, according to you, did exactly what Biden signaled he wanted him to do?
Do you have any idea how long federal investigations take? You might want to investigate how long (6 years) a simple corruption investigation took of Gillam, who ran for governor against DeSantis.
Garland has had to deal with an extremely hostile FBI, which is composed mostly of Trump supporting special agents. Evidence of Trump's crimes was hidden or destroyed by his DOJ.
And don't forget that Garland has nothing to do with the current investigation Jack Smith is conducting. It's ridiculous and unnecessary but the AG has not interfered with Smith for political reasons. We don't really know what is going on in Bedminister. It is possible the investigation is ongoing and Smith has chosen to not share the circumstances with you.
Who said anything about firing? I wish Trump had been taken out of commission. That was the point.
The first answer to your post said exactly that he should be fired.
It was hard for me to tell who you were replying to. It came in my email. I don't blame Biden. I blame everyone. We have leaders and institutions with access to money, training, and power which ordinary citizens do not have. Trump has manipulated them all. It's a gift.
GRIFT !
You know there was no action taken how exactly?
From the indictment. Just seems to me that he should have been held accountable earlier for documents and January 6.
Maybe you have other information.
In May 2021, the National Archives began asking Trump and his staff to return all missing presidential records, according to email communications between the archives and Trump's lawyers that were later made public.
Two of Trump’s aides returned 15 boxes of records to the National Archives eight months later, in January 2022. The Archives soon determined that 14 of the boxes contained classified documents and referred their discovery to the Justice Department, the indictment says.
The FBI opened a criminal investigation in March 2022, and a grand jury issued a subpoena in May that required Trump to return all remaining classified documents in his possession, according to prosecutors.
The National Archives was trying to handle that situation without any criminal action for quite some time which seems completely reasonable in this instance. It wasn't until Trump started lying and hiding evidence that the FBI got involved, which also seems reasonable.
He only realized after leaving that his only hope was to become president again so he could stop all investigations. So he announced his intention. If not for that, our world would be a lot less insane.
The guy is more dangerous and evil than I thought. What a crime boss. What a creep. Find those missing boxed, please before he sells their secrets.