I sure hope so.We have all felt like Linus trying to kick that football that Lucy is holding thinking ,yes, this is it only to be on our backs once again.Truly hoping for a holiday miracle this time.
In law, as in military matters, victory rests on having a well-conceived plan of action that covers all of the essentials, followed by vigorous execution.
Over the past two years, the January 6 committee assembled the evidence against Trump and his allies, and laid it out before the American people in a compelling narrative that confirmed our worst suspicions about Republicans behavior before and after the 2020 election. Monday comes the summation, and the prosecutor's argument to the jury. This is not really a trial because there is no defense counsel, and the audience is the Department of Justice and their boss, Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The next step is the Grand Jury indictment, with the prosecutors having developed the evidence that trial juries will hear and decide guilt or innocence. Trump's allies would be told they have a clear, but difficult (for them) choice --- throw Donald Trump under the bus and escape draconian punishment that would otherwise follow them, or share Trump's fate with him. Common sense and a sense of self-preservation should have informed them that their lives will change irrevocably for the worse, should their fears of Trump's retribution persuade them not to cooperate with the prosecutors. Their choice is fairly simple: Testify, and take their lumps , but, on the upside, keep their exposure to extended jail time lower than it would have been otherwise.
As form follows function, most will take the deal, so much so that the prosecutors will be second-guessing themselves about whether they gave away too much. For me, the killer argument is, Trump could die tomorrow and escape punishment entirely, but the person who refuses to testify against Trump might end up serving a prison sentence years longer than he might have served, had he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
Arthur, your post is, as always, lengthy but highly informative. I'm encouraged and even optimistic that the Dumpster (and his allies) will ultimately be tried, convicted, & sentenced by the DOJ & Mr. Smith (unless nature takes its course on TFG first).
Brevity is preferred if details don't matter. In the case of the Former Guy, the details do matter, because they end up supporting a criminal indictment; they are described and attested to by trial witnesses; and as physical evidence, the end up as trial exhibits. The law is drawn to particularities, especially when the evidence centers on the defendant's motives or state of mind at particular times in order to attribute criminal purpose to particular acts, or omissions, that the defendant is alleged to have done. Ofttimes, criminal intent is relatively easy to show, as when defendants falsify business records, write checks on nonsufficient funds, are recorded as making threats or offering bribes. This stuff is easy to prove because it is quite out of the ordinary, and an unlawful purpose is the only persuasive explanation for otherwise inexplicable conduct. The defendant who runs an illegal criminal enterprise, like Donald Trump, will always operate within the penumbra, i.e., the area of shadow, that separates ostensibly legitimate activities from their criminal analogues. In the case of Trump, his businessman's mentality, and lifetime history of abusing his commercial relationships with other businessmen made him a tough quarry to pursue and run to earth. Context is everything; the man ran a campaign of disinformation and deception throughout his entire public life. Latent criminality was part and parcel of whatever Trump did or said over his entire adult lifetime.
In a criminal trial, represented by shrewd and experienced defense counsel, prosecutors bear the burden of convincing a jury of twelve individuals winnowed out from a jury pool of perhaps thousands to hear and decide the case against the defendant. In white-collar cases, trials can go on, literally for months, before the case is presented to the jury. Dozens of witnesses have testified, and thousands of documents may have been offered into evidence; and the salient portion of all of those trial testimonies and exhibits might actually occupy a relatively small amount of the evidence presented. The rest of it is used to lay a foundation for the prosecution to make its case, and to provide context from which those twelve jurors can connect the dots leading either to conviction, or to an acquittal based upon the insufficiency of the evidence presented.
There is no question that Donald Trump is a rogue, and a charlatan, and a man of low moral character. But that is not why he is on trial, or soon will be. He is accused of the most serious crimes an individual can be charged with, organizing and encouraging a seditious conspiracy to overthrow the government to which he swore an oath of loyalty and fealty, but which he then chose to disregard in its entirety.
Having watched the January 6 committee go about its business collecting documents and taking the testimony of relevant witnesses, most of us tend to think that the case is done and over with; he's been proven guilty. Not so fast. Compared to an actual trial, the January 6 committee presented and artfully constructed, well orchestrated, set of compelling arguments based upon relevant evidence which, when taken as a whole, argue forcefully for criminal conviction. That's the movie version of the story. The general public has neither the time nor the interest, nor the staying power, of a prosecution team determined to put someone in jail for perhaps the rest of his life. The purpose of the January 6 committee was political, to show, in plain language, through a series of vignettes, what the former president and his political allies had done, using selected testimony from a variety of individuals whose truthfulness and veracity is assumed.
A criminal trial is all of that, and much, much more. In these cases, former political allies and close associates of the defendant will be persuaded to testify on behalf of the Government against their former friend and benefactor. They will incur the wrath of the defendant's numerous allies, both in the press and in the public at large; and the essence of their testimony is that it was procured as part of the plea deal in which the witness admits to his participation in the defendant's crimes, and is looking for leniency when his own case comes before the sentencing judge. Prosecutors sometimes spend years building their cases against powerful defendants who have the resources to fight for their freedom and their reputation. Politically charged cases have a success rate substantially lower than garden-variety thieves and grifters, even if those thieves and grifters happen to be senators and congressmen. The former president might be indicted tomorrow, and yet the case might not go to trial for another year. Something to think about.
Arthur, thank you for this expanded explanation on what may lie ahead for TFG. Let me assure you that my earlier comment which mentioned your "lengthy" responses was not meant as criticism in any way. In fact, of all the folks with legal backgrounds/experience who comment in this forum, yours are the ones I look forward to reading the most as they are so detailed, clearly written, and easily understood by laypersons such as myself. Thanks again for responding.
Best assessment I’ve seen. Thank you. Do you think this entire case will end up with SCOTUS deciding Trump’s fate? They’ll argue it would set a precedent. The conservative judges have no trouble with breaking precedents.
Trump is radioactive. SCOTUS won't go anywhere near it. The court has alread signaled that they're not going to help Trump escape his fate. Trump's been a loose cannon all along and the court wants to be rid of him. They would put him in jail and throw away the key if they could. Trump keeps coming to them for favors that remind people who appointed all those conservatives to the bench. Trump wants to believe that they owe him favors; they don't, and wouldn't help him even if they felt some sense of obligation to him for their appointments. Besides, outrageous ingratitude for their good fortune is the salient characteristic of American Conservatism today. What could be more striking than to throw Trump under the bus, with the rest of us cheering wildly. He's done and soon to be gone.
Now this really is good news!! I was a bit concerned that the Extremes would somehow get involved in the Dumpster's upcoming trials & tribulations. Your comments on this topic have put my mind at ease, Arthur.
Ever since Epstein was found dead in prison, I have wondered if Donald doesn't have something on all those Reps and threatened them with exposure if they show disloyalty to him. I'm not a betting person, but in this case I'll make an exception and bet a nickel that everyone of those Reps would give anything for a way out of the mess he's gotten them into.
C'mon, really. For Trump's acolytes in Congress, being a Republican is essentially a license to print money. It's the easiest job they can ever have, short of being the night watchman in a cemetery. $175K a year, inside work, and no heavy lifting. Sure, a number of them want to get off the merry-go-round, because not all of them are irretrievably stupid, but their voters are all brainwashed, and so they are stuck. They know that what they are doing is wrong, but the money is too good to pass up. Besides, they're useless for anything else.
Those who think t-Rump is the bottom of the moral barrel don’t seem to realize how much more deadly-dangerous DeSantis is! In DeSantis we are faced with a ruthless, cruel, fanatic who believes god has anointed him to ram his religious views down our nation’s collective throat. And unlike tRump, he is intelligent, highly organized and totally focused on his goal of destroying everything of value in this country. Elect him president and he’ll issue an executive order making the Covid vaccines illegal and anyone caught administering or receiving them subject to arrest. Exaggeration? Maybe, but maybe not.
I do not disagree with you on DeSantis; however, I think we will see an all out war by TFG. Malignant narcissists do not go down quietly. He is going to viciously attack his opponent. Remember, TFG says he has kompromat on DeSantis and says he will use it. Get your popcorn ready. This should be quite extraordinary!
The consensus of the pundits interviewed on cable news is that if Trump loses the 2024 Republican presidential primary, he will run as an independent, taking his MAGA base with him and denying the Republican candidate a win. DeSantis is more dangerous because he is not a narcissistic buffoon, but he is not the orator Trump is, and does not have that ability to fire up a crowd TFG does. Note that while everyone was laughing at the tacky "trading cards", Trump sold all of them in less than 24 hours, raking in $4.5 million..... He still does have his base with him and that makes him a player.
Drumpy SAYS he sold out...who really knows if he did or did not? Also, who is to say that some of Putin's oligarchs (the few still alive who haven't yet "fallen" out of some high window) didn't create a couple dozen shell companies and "lend" Drumpy money in the time-honored laundered way.
yes, as soon as I heard about the "cards" selling out, I suspected it was an inside job of some kind. it even occurred to me that TFF wouldn't necessarily have KNOWN it was an inside job. I can even imagine the people around him arranging to have them sold out just to keep him quiet, knowing what he's like when he senses that anything could make him look like a "loser." in fact, I don't think that at this point, he could pass a simple mental status exam, especially the standard "who's the president?" question. that was half a joke, but only half.
lest anyone doubt how dangerous DeSantis is, check out the New Yorker profile that was published a few months back...unlike TFF, who is his own kind of dangerous (really the only unique--therefore, potentially "interesting"--thing about him), DeSantis is a lot more of an ordinary, garden variety fascist. what might cause him to self-destruct is his complete lack of any charisma and his very thin skin. a few weeks ago, I heard someone on MSNBC say that "DeSantis has a glass jaw." based on the way he was squirming and grinding his teeth during that "debate," it looks to me like that's true.
MSNBC has a never ending B roll of DeSantis praising vaccines and urging Floridians to get the shots. So, what he is going to face when, not if, he runs is a campaign of "Hey, Ron, what is your real position on vaccine?" but with the brain dead GOP base it won't register at all. They have become so dumbed down over the past six years truth no longer matters to them. And, it is that reality, no matter who the GOP candidate is which should scare us to death. A real world Borg against which resistance and truth are futile. Just imagine walking int a room where one out of three people in it have taken mind altering drugs and are no longer functionally there?
When I read about Trump's superhero trading cards, I knew right then that he probably realizes he's eventually going to go down in flames. Even Trump can't possibly be stupid enough to embrace such self parody and expect people to vote for him.
It's not Trump fans who bought those cards. Shrewd collectors snapped them up because in 20 years, or when Trump goes to prison or dies, they'll be worth a fortune. Kind of like a set of old Pyrex mixing bowls LOL
Trump does not know the meaning of "self parody" and cannot see himself as the buffoon the cards depict. He commissioned the cards; his MAGA denizens bought them. He wins in dollars.
His real win is in the amount of airtime over the incredibly tacky "trading cards" that he received because of the stupid things--parody or not. To Drumpf, there is no such thing as bad publicity.
We really don't know WHO bought the cards...it may have been his MAGA cult worshipers--although I'd have said they must be pretty well tapped out--my opinion is that it's a money laundering (and tax avoidance) scheme.
Hey, those old Pyrex mixing bowls are useful! Unlike the flaming orange Dumpster. I am having great difficulty being patient, waiting for someone, anyone, to nail his ass to the wall.
It will take some time to make sure his ass does not slip off the nails and let him get away. I'm a lawyer's kid and building even a slam-dunk case takes time and this is the biggest case in our nation's history. Jack Smith seems to be running at near-warp speed, and our host mentioned, the lawyers joining in the fun are not the ambulance chasers you see on TV - these are powerhouse attorneys who would not leave their lucrative practices unless the case was absolutely serious. They ARE coming for him, and they will get him.....
Have I got the math right? Roughly 45,000 people have bought these cards? Although that’s assuming one per purchaser and not multiple purchases by collectors/speculators, which would considerably lower the number. I am not clear if these are even real, paper cards, or some kind of bitcoin/card that you can’t actually hold in your sweaty little trumpian paw.
They are not paper cards. What people bought was a fractional share of a digital picture on the server of the company that produced them. Like all NFTs there is no tangible item.
I suspect the MAGA devotees have dived into the swamp of angst about poor pitiful Trump needs our meager dollars. Poor pitiful trump, debasing himself with cartoon candy for his strange base of misfits.
First of all, I suspect that a few cynical people bought as many as they could, hoping that they would cash in on a pumped-up resale value. So far, I don‘t believe that that is panning out very well, as the ones that are available for resale on OpenSea are offered at $105, not a good profit margin over $99. (Would even be surprised if some of the bulk buyers were not even Trump supporters, but mere speculators. And they may have miscalculated how soggy this project is, even for many die-hard Maggots.) Plus it‘s not clear who owns them the project that initiated the NFTs, it may not even be Trump.
I'll take digital bitcoin card for $800, Alex..... You really get nothing but some bytes in your computer or phone - no physical card at all. No sweaty little Trumpian paws need apply.
So vast are the criminal activities by the sociopathic orange loser and still he continues to grift and grift and grift. He is at the top of the heap of horrible embarrassments this country has ever seen. If only we can redeem ourselves with an excellent winning indictment against the clown faced gasbag. Or even multiple indictments!
He can sell a million of his grotesque trading cards, but any lawyer with experience and savvy in this rarified arena would not throw his or her reputation away to defend this asshole against the DOJ.
If Rudy doesn’t lose his DC law license (currently in danger of losing it), I bet he’d represent Traitor Tot (thank you to the clever member on this site who created that nickname). He probably needs the money.
Mr. T. reports: "At least two former DOJ prosecutors have left other jobs to take positions on Smith’s staff." This is wonderful news, because it suggests two heavy hitters have left their law firms to be part of the fun wherein Lardass winds up in the jug. We also learned that those goofy photoshopped trading cards reportedly made the inmate-in-waiting some $4.5 mil. I beg to differ with the estimable Mr. T about even more sales being needed "to hire the kinds of lawyers he’ll need when Special Counsel Smith weighs in." I believe, from talking to some, that there are no decent white shoe lawyers who would deign to represent him for ANY amount of money ... which is how he's wound up with Rudy, Eastman, and the bunch of rummies who've seen to it he hasn't won in court since the general public learned his name.
Lucian, thanks a bunch for all of the info. Jack Smith is on a roll and Trump’s covered wagon is now being surrounded by trained prosecutors. This is called “backing a rat into a corner”. It’s such a pleasure for us to witness. Monday should be a revealing day with the conclusion of the J6’s findings and I can’t wait for that! Also, can’t wait for to read about all of the evidence they were able to investigate. Let’s hear it for JUSTICE!
I've been reading the Talking Points Memo story about Mark Meadows' email exchanges with assorted Republican congressmen and others. I'm astonished by how constitutionally stupid and how besotted with Trump these guys were -- Christian guys, all of them. They need to read up on idolatry and the Golden Calf, but maybe first they should take a course on the Constitution. At the same time I'm reading David Rothkopf's new book, _American Resistance,_ which deals with how civil servants and others in or close to the Trump administration intervened to mitigate some of its worst excesses. I'm glad I didn't know how very bad things were while they were happening.
The two are not mutually exclusive. ;-) Any group can spawn groupies, and the bigger the group, the more inevitable it becomes that groupies will be spawned.
I know the focus here is the wish for a perp walk. But I am stunned that 4.5mil was paid for “nothing” from the world’s biggest “nobody.” The late night talk show hosts had a field day with the “Gropee-mon” non items. Let’s hope that he doesn’t wield that magic wand for long.
Just the thought of a former President of the United States doing EVERYTHING he does is astounding.
OOOH, I was rubbing my hands with absolute glee when I read this title in my email, Lucian! I could hardly wait to sit down, have a glass of wine, and enjoy the news! Once again, you do not disappoint. Thank you for making this a most excellent Friday night!
Glory Halleluiah! Tis the season to be jolly. In more ways than one. And looking forward to a Happy New Year! Thank you, Lucien Truscott, for brightening up our holiday season with such good news.
I don't have a background in law so I don't know what the rules and regs are about the so called NFT fund raising (if there even are any rules) but in addition to everything else you have so clearly laid out here I think an investigation into "money laundering" might be in order
Agreed! But what if a lot of this money is actually being funneled in from foreign agencies or governments to get around campaign finance rules? Would there be a way to tell? That's what I'm wondering.....
According to what I have read... there is a "blockchain" of provenance for these fractional shares of NFTs. However, anybody could create a shell company or two, or three and use them to hide the real purchaser...so yeah, this sort of thing is ripe for money laundering and that was my question. Who is assuming that only MAGAs and collectors are the purchasers? It could be a few Russian oligarchs (presuming there are still some alive) hiding a transfer of $$$ in this fashion. Another thing...was it drumpf who is claiming they are sold out? If drumpf is sayin git...maybe the the NFT's are sold out ; maybe they are not. These are digitally created images--infinitely reproducible from the original file. Is drumpf lying about it or not? How would we even know for sure?
Yes! This my question as well. I admit I have no idea what a "Blockchain of provenance" means but if these transactions aren't transparent to financial authorities then this would be a perfect way for the Saudis or Russians (North Korea???) to be putting dark money into his little pocketses .
Basically, it means that the purchasers of these intangible pieces of mist and vapor (the NFTs) are listed in a chain (I have no idea why it is called a block chain other than to make it sound "cool").
The purchasers ARE listed, but if they are purchased by shell companies and then traded or sold to another shell company etc. that would be nearly as good as anonymity.
Mister Smith Goes to Washington. ❤️🤍💙
We’ve been disappointed so many times before when it comes to T****.
Maybe this will be a Christmas Miracle that will lead us into a bright and shiny New Year.
I sure hope so.We have all felt like Linus trying to kick that football that Lucy is holding thinking ,yes, this is it only to be on our backs once again.Truly hoping for a holiday miracle this time.
In law, as in military matters, victory rests on having a well-conceived plan of action that covers all of the essentials, followed by vigorous execution.
Over the past two years, the January 6 committee assembled the evidence against Trump and his allies, and laid it out before the American people in a compelling narrative that confirmed our worst suspicions about Republicans behavior before and after the 2020 election. Monday comes the summation, and the prosecutor's argument to the jury. This is not really a trial because there is no defense counsel, and the audience is the Department of Justice and their boss, Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The next step is the Grand Jury indictment, with the prosecutors having developed the evidence that trial juries will hear and decide guilt or innocence. Trump's allies would be told they have a clear, but difficult (for them) choice --- throw Donald Trump under the bus and escape draconian punishment that would otherwise follow them, or share Trump's fate with him. Common sense and a sense of self-preservation should have informed them that their lives will change irrevocably for the worse, should their fears of Trump's retribution persuade them not to cooperate with the prosecutors. Their choice is fairly simple: Testify, and take their lumps , but, on the upside, keep their exposure to extended jail time lower than it would have been otherwise.
As form follows function, most will take the deal, so much so that the prosecutors will be second-guessing themselves about whether they gave away too much. For me, the killer argument is, Trump could die tomorrow and escape punishment entirely, but the person who refuses to testify against Trump might end up serving a prison sentence years longer than he might have served, had he agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
Arthur, your post is, as always, lengthy but highly informative. I'm encouraged and even optimistic that the Dumpster (and his allies) will ultimately be tried, convicted, & sentenced by the DOJ & Mr. Smith (unless nature takes its course on TFG first).
Brevity is preferred if details don't matter. In the case of the Former Guy, the details do matter, because they end up supporting a criminal indictment; they are described and attested to by trial witnesses; and as physical evidence, the end up as trial exhibits. The law is drawn to particularities, especially when the evidence centers on the defendant's motives or state of mind at particular times in order to attribute criminal purpose to particular acts, or omissions, that the defendant is alleged to have done. Ofttimes, criminal intent is relatively easy to show, as when defendants falsify business records, write checks on nonsufficient funds, are recorded as making threats or offering bribes. This stuff is easy to prove because it is quite out of the ordinary, and an unlawful purpose is the only persuasive explanation for otherwise inexplicable conduct. The defendant who runs an illegal criminal enterprise, like Donald Trump, will always operate within the penumbra, i.e., the area of shadow, that separates ostensibly legitimate activities from their criminal analogues. In the case of Trump, his businessman's mentality, and lifetime history of abusing his commercial relationships with other businessmen made him a tough quarry to pursue and run to earth. Context is everything; the man ran a campaign of disinformation and deception throughout his entire public life. Latent criminality was part and parcel of whatever Trump did or said over his entire adult lifetime.
In a criminal trial, represented by shrewd and experienced defense counsel, prosecutors bear the burden of convincing a jury of twelve individuals winnowed out from a jury pool of perhaps thousands to hear and decide the case against the defendant. In white-collar cases, trials can go on, literally for months, before the case is presented to the jury. Dozens of witnesses have testified, and thousands of documents may have been offered into evidence; and the salient portion of all of those trial testimonies and exhibits might actually occupy a relatively small amount of the evidence presented. The rest of it is used to lay a foundation for the prosecution to make its case, and to provide context from which those twelve jurors can connect the dots leading either to conviction, or to an acquittal based upon the insufficiency of the evidence presented.
There is no question that Donald Trump is a rogue, and a charlatan, and a man of low moral character. But that is not why he is on trial, or soon will be. He is accused of the most serious crimes an individual can be charged with, organizing and encouraging a seditious conspiracy to overthrow the government to which he swore an oath of loyalty and fealty, but which he then chose to disregard in its entirety.
Having watched the January 6 committee go about its business collecting documents and taking the testimony of relevant witnesses, most of us tend to think that the case is done and over with; he's been proven guilty. Not so fast. Compared to an actual trial, the January 6 committee presented and artfully constructed, well orchestrated, set of compelling arguments based upon relevant evidence which, when taken as a whole, argue forcefully for criminal conviction. That's the movie version of the story. The general public has neither the time nor the interest, nor the staying power, of a prosecution team determined to put someone in jail for perhaps the rest of his life. The purpose of the January 6 committee was political, to show, in plain language, through a series of vignettes, what the former president and his political allies had done, using selected testimony from a variety of individuals whose truthfulness and veracity is assumed.
A criminal trial is all of that, and much, much more. In these cases, former political allies and close associates of the defendant will be persuaded to testify on behalf of the Government against their former friend and benefactor. They will incur the wrath of the defendant's numerous allies, both in the press and in the public at large; and the essence of their testimony is that it was procured as part of the plea deal in which the witness admits to his participation in the defendant's crimes, and is looking for leniency when his own case comes before the sentencing judge. Prosecutors sometimes spend years building their cases against powerful defendants who have the resources to fight for their freedom and their reputation. Politically charged cases have a success rate substantially lower than garden-variety thieves and grifters, even if those thieves and grifters happen to be senators and congressmen. The former president might be indicted tomorrow, and yet the case might not go to trial for another year. Something to think about.
Arthur, thank you for this expanded explanation on what may lie ahead for TFG. Let me assure you that my earlier comment which mentioned your "lengthy" responses was not meant as criticism in any way. In fact, of all the folks with legal backgrounds/experience who comment in this forum, yours are the ones I look forward to reading the most as they are so detailed, clearly written, and easily understood by laypersons such as myself. Thanks again for responding.
Thank you.
Yes. Thank You Arthur.
You're welcome.
Best assessment I’ve seen. Thank you. Do you think this entire case will end up with SCOTUS deciding Trump’s fate? They’ll argue it would set a precedent. The conservative judges have no trouble with breaking precedents.
Trump is radioactive. SCOTUS won't go anywhere near it. The court has alread signaled that they're not going to help Trump escape his fate. Trump's been a loose cannon all along and the court wants to be rid of him. They would put him in jail and throw away the key if they could. Trump keeps coming to them for favors that remind people who appointed all those conservatives to the bench. Trump wants to believe that they owe him favors; they don't, and wouldn't help him even if they felt some sense of obligation to him for their appointments. Besides, outrageous ingratitude for their good fortune is the salient characteristic of American Conservatism today. What could be more striking than to throw Trump under the bus, with the rest of us cheering wildly. He's done and soon to be gone.
Now this really is good news!! I was a bit concerned that the Extremes would somehow get involved in the Dumpster's upcoming trials & tribulations. Your comments on this topic have put my mind at ease, Arthur.
Ever since Epstein was found dead in prison, I have wondered if Donald doesn't have something on all those Reps and threatened them with exposure if they show disloyalty to him. I'm not a betting person, but in this case I'll make an exception and bet a nickel that everyone of those Reps would give anything for a way out of the mess he's gotten them into.
C'mon, really. For Trump's acolytes in Congress, being a Republican is essentially a license to print money. It's the easiest job they can ever have, short of being the night watchman in a cemetery. $175K a year, inside work, and no heavy lifting. Sure, a number of them want to get off the merry-go-round, because not all of them are irretrievably stupid, but their voters are all brainwashed, and so they are stuck. They know that what they are doing is wrong, but the money is too good to pass up. Besides, they're useless for anything else.
That too.
Unfortunately, what you say is altogether too true
Thank You Arthur! Will sleep better tonight.
Only TFG wins, as usual.
Well, we'll see about that.
This pathetic old man has been irrelevant since
11/8. GOP rats won't tolerate a loser; period.
Time to focus on the biggest scumbag from Fla., and he's
coming on strong.
Those who think t-Rump is the bottom of the moral barrel don’t seem to realize how much more deadly-dangerous DeSantis is! In DeSantis we are faced with a ruthless, cruel, fanatic who believes god has anointed him to ram his religious views down our nation’s collective throat. And unlike tRump, he is intelligent, highly organized and totally focused on his goal of destroying everything of value in this country. Elect him president and he’ll issue an executive order making the Covid vaccines illegal and anyone caught administering or receiving them subject to arrest. Exaggeration? Maybe, but maybe not.
I do not disagree with you on DeSantis; however, I think we will see an all out war by TFG. Malignant narcissists do not go down quietly. He is going to viciously attack his opponent. Remember, TFG says he has kompromat on DeSantis and says he will use it. Get your popcorn ready. This should be quite extraordinary!
The consensus of the pundits interviewed on cable news is that if Trump loses the 2024 Republican presidential primary, he will run as an independent, taking his MAGA base with him and denying the Republican candidate a win. DeSantis is more dangerous because he is not a narcissistic buffoon, but he is not the orator Trump is, and does not have that ability to fire up a crowd TFG does. Note that while everyone was laughing at the tacky "trading cards", Trump sold all of them in less than 24 hours, raking in $4.5 million..... He still does have his base with him and that makes him a player.
Drumpy SAYS he sold out...who really knows if he did or did not? Also, who is to say that some of Putin's oligarchs (the few still alive who haven't yet "fallen" out of some high window) didn't create a couple dozen shell companies and "lend" Drumpy money in the time-honored laundered way.
yes, as soon as I heard about the "cards" selling out, I suspected it was an inside job of some kind. it even occurred to me that TFF wouldn't necessarily have KNOWN it was an inside job. I can even imagine the people around him arranging to have them sold out just to keep him quiet, knowing what he's like when he senses that anything could make him look like a "loser." in fact, I don't think that at this point, he could pass a simple mental status exam, especially the standard "who's the president?" question. that was half a joke, but only half.
Yeah it's clearly a lie. Even MAGATs aren't that stupid. Are they?
100%
I had to Google TFG.
❤️ tfg to me stands for “the f*cking guy” 😂😂😂. I like it better!
TFG is The F*cking Grifter to me .lol
I love your version!
TFFG
Stick with us, Beth. I, too, had difficulty understanding the plethora of acronyms used in this forum when I first subscribed. The Former Guy, TFG.
We here in DeSantistan know how evil he is.
Imagine TFG with a functioning brain.
lest anyone doubt how dangerous DeSantis is, check out the New Yorker profile that was published a few months back...unlike TFF, who is his own kind of dangerous (really the only unique--therefore, potentially "interesting"--thing about him), DeSantis is a lot more of an ordinary, garden variety fascist. what might cause him to self-destruct is his complete lack of any charisma and his very thin skin. a few weeks ago, I heard someone on MSNBC say that "DeSantis has a glass jaw." based on the way he was squirming and grinding his teeth during that "debate," it looks to me like that's true.
Wonderfully said. You’re so right.
Very well stated, Judith!! I agree with you 100%.
Nailed it.
The COVID-19 reversals are stunning.
MSNBC has a never ending B roll of DeSantis praising vaccines and urging Floridians to get the shots. So, what he is going to face when, not if, he runs is a campaign of "Hey, Ron, what is your real position on vaccine?" but with the brain dead GOP base it won't register at all. They have become so dumbed down over the past six years truth no longer matters to them. And, it is that reality, no matter who the GOP candidate is which should scare us to death. A real world Borg against which resistance and truth are futile. Just imagine walking int a room where one out of three people in it have taken mind altering drugs and are no longer functionally there?
When I read about Trump's superhero trading cards, I knew right then that he probably realizes he's eventually going to go down in flames. Even Trump can't possibly be stupid enough to embrace such self parody and expect people to vote for him.
It's not Trump fans who bought those cards. Shrewd collectors snapped them up because in 20 years, or when Trump goes to prison or dies, they'll be worth a fortune. Kind of like a set of old Pyrex mixing bowls LOL
Trump does not know the meaning of "self parody" and cannot see himself as the buffoon the cards depict. He commissioned the cards; his MAGA denizens bought them. He wins in dollars.
He has no shame.
isn't it remarkable how being born without the shame gene practically guarantees that it's going to be much, much easier to make a fortune?
If one is a grifter/scammer, yeah.
His real win is in the amount of airtime over the incredibly tacky "trading cards" that he received because of the stupid things--parody or not. To Drumpf, there is no such thing as bad publicity.
We really don't know WHO bought the cards...it may have been his MAGA cult worshipers--although I'd have said they must be pretty well tapped out--my opinion is that it's a money laundering (and tax avoidance) scheme.
Hey, those old Pyrex mixing bowls are useful! Unlike the flaming orange Dumpster. I am having great difficulty being patient, waiting for someone, anyone, to nail his ass to the wall.
It will take some time to make sure his ass does not slip off the nails and let him get away. I'm a lawyer's kid and building even a slam-dunk case takes time and this is the biggest case in our nation's history. Jack Smith seems to be running at near-warp speed, and our host mentioned, the lawyers joining in the fun are not the ambulance chasers you see on TV - these are powerhouse attorneys who would not leave their lucrative practices unless the case was absolutely serious. They ARE coming for him, and they will get him.....
We have a set of those, too! Heh! Good bowls, why did they disappear??
Dunno. You can still find them at second hand stores. They’re indestructible.
I thought of the Irsn/Contra cards.
1988: The Iran-Contra Scandal Trading Cards – Total Eclipse
9Ohttps://totaleclipse.blog/2018/07/30/1988-the-iran-contra-scandal-trading-cards/
Haha! I never saw those back then! Wild.
Have I got the math right? Roughly 45,000 people have bought these cards? Although that’s assuming one per purchaser and not multiple purchases by collectors/speculators, which would considerably lower the number. I am not clear if these are even real, paper cards, or some kind of bitcoin/card that you can’t actually hold in your sweaty little trumpian paw.
They are not paper cards. What people bought was a fractional share of a digital picture on the server of the company that produced them. Like all NFTs there is no tangible item.
Trump grifted them again!
The Grift that keeps on Grifting.
I cannot imagine anything so foolish. Buying a piece of something that isn't real is just plain bonkers.
Well, they bought into “candidate Trump” and voted him into the Presidency. He’s the biggest grifter of them all.
Yes, more made-up garbage from the schlockmeister.
I suspect the MAGA devotees have dived into the swamp of angst about poor pitiful Trump needs our meager dollars. Poor pitiful trump, debasing himself with cartoon candy for his strange base of misfits.
First of all, I suspect that a few cynical people bought as many as they could, hoping that they would cash in on a pumped-up resale value. So far, I don‘t believe that that is panning out very well, as the ones that are available for resale on OpenSea are offered at $105, not a good profit margin over $99. (Would even be surprised if some of the bulk buyers were not even Trump supporters, but mere speculators. And they may have miscalculated how soggy this project is, even for many die-hard Maggots.) Plus it‘s not clear who owns them the project that initiated the NFTs, it may not even be Trump.
I'll take digital bitcoin card for $800, Alex..... You really get nothing but some bytes in your computer or phone - no physical card at all. No sweaty little Trumpian paws need apply.
I thought of the Iran/Contra cards.
Or the terrorist cards that were issued after 9/11. Not America's classiest hour.
The ketchup is flooding off the walls at MaraLardo…
It’d be a nice Hanukkah present
So vast are the criminal activities by the sociopathic orange loser and still he continues to grift and grift and grift. He is at the top of the heap of horrible embarrassments this country has ever seen. If only we can redeem ourselves with an excellent winning indictment against the clown faced gasbag. Or even multiple indictments!
I imagine those photos of Mussolini hanging upside down. A fitting finale to the national nightmare.
He can sell a million of his grotesque trading cards, but any lawyer with experience and savvy in this rarified arena would not throw his or her reputation away to defend this asshole against the DOJ.
If Rudy doesn’t lose his DC law license (currently in danger of losing it), I bet he’d represent Traitor Tot (thank you to the clever member on this site who created that nickname). He probably needs the money.
One can hope that to be true.
Mr. T. reports: "At least two former DOJ prosecutors have left other jobs to take positions on Smith’s staff." This is wonderful news, because it suggests two heavy hitters have left their law firms to be part of the fun wherein Lardass winds up in the jug. We also learned that those goofy photoshopped trading cards reportedly made the inmate-in-waiting some $4.5 mil. I beg to differ with the estimable Mr. T about even more sales being needed "to hire the kinds of lawyers he’ll need when Special Counsel Smith weighs in." I believe, from talking to some, that there are no decent white shoe lawyers who would deign to represent him for ANY amount of money ... which is how he's wound up with Rudy, Eastman, and the bunch of rummies who've seen to it he hasn't won in court since the general public learned his name.
Lucian, thanks a bunch for all of the info. Jack Smith is on a roll and Trump’s covered wagon is now being surrounded by trained prosecutors. This is called “backing a rat into a corner”. It’s such a pleasure for us to witness. Monday should be a revealing day with the conclusion of the J6’s findings and I can’t wait for that! Also, can’t wait for to read about all of the evidence they were able to investigate. Let’s hear it for JUSTICE!
I've been reading the Talking Points Memo story about Mark Meadows' email exchanges with assorted Republican congressmen and others. I'm astonished by how constitutionally stupid and how besotted with Trump these guys were -- Christian guys, all of them. They need to read up on idolatry and the Golden Calf, but maybe first they should take a course on the Constitution. At the same time I'm reading David Rothkopf's new book, _American Resistance,_ which deals with how civil servants and others in or close to the Trump administration intervened to mitigate some of its worst excesses. I'm glad I didn't know how very bad things were while they were happening.
Christians? Nah...groupies!
Christians In Name Only
Cinos.
Chinos? Just asking for a friend.
They're all kind of beige . . . ?
The two are not mutually exclusive. ;-) Any group can spawn groupies, and the bigger the group, the more inevitable it becomes that groupies will be spawned.
Nat C's.
I know the focus here is the wish for a perp walk. But I am stunned that 4.5mil was paid for “nothing” from the world’s biggest “nobody.” The late night talk show hosts had a field day with the “Gropee-mon” non items. Let’s hope that he doesn’t wield that magic wand for long.
Just the thought of a former President of the United States doing EVERYTHING he does is astounding.
Nightmarish...BIGLY.
OOOH, I was rubbing my hands with absolute glee when I read this title in my email, Lucian! I could hardly wait to sit down, have a glass of wine, and enjoy the news! Once again, you do not disappoint. Thank you for making this a most excellent Friday night!
Glory Halleluiah! Tis the season to be jolly. In more ways than one. And looking forward to a Happy New Year! Thank you, Lucien Truscott, for brightening up our holiday season with such good news.
I don't have a background in law so I don't know what the rules and regs are about the so called NFT fund raising (if there even are any rules) but in addition to everything else you have so clearly laid out here I think an investigation into "money laundering" might be in order
Remember, no one ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the American public.
Agreed! But what if a lot of this money is actually being funneled in from foreign agencies or governments to get around campaign finance rules? Would there be a way to tell? That's what I'm wondering.....
According to what I have read... there is a "blockchain" of provenance for these fractional shares of NFTs. However, anybody could create a shell company or two, or three and use them to hide the real purchaser...so yeah, this sort of thing is ripe for money laundering and that was my question. Who is assuming that only MAGAs and collectors are the purchasers? It could be a few Russian oligarchs (presuming there are still some alive) hiding a transfer of $$$ in this fashion. Another thing...was it drumpf who is claiming they are sold out? If drumpf is sayin git...maybe the the NFT's are sold out ; maybe they are not. These are digitally created images--infinitely reproducible from the original file. Is drumpf lying about it or not? How would we even know for sure?
Yes! This my question as well. I admit I have no idea what a "Blockchain of provenance" means but if these transactions aren't transparent to financial authorities then this would be a perfect way for the Saudis or Russians (North Korea???) to be putting dark money into his little pocketses .
Basically, it means that the purchasers of these intangible pieces of mist and vapor (the NFTs) are listed in a chain (I have no idea why it is called a block chain other than to make it sound "cool").
The purchasers ARE listed, but if they are purchased by shell companies and then traded or sold to another shell company etc. that would be nearly as good as anonymity.
But yes, exactly so.
Thanks for that explanation!