But despite all this, he WILL be acquitted. We all know that. He still has most GOP Senators in his pocket, and he knows they will NEVER vote to convict him. He's laughing at the Dems by hiring the most clownish, incompetent lawyers he can find, because he knows he doesn't need any defense lawyers; the cowering, terrified GOP Senators are all the defense he needs. Just watch him crow and sneer and gloat when he's again acquitted.
Hi Judith, I just have to say I think it will turn out differently than you say.
I know that in the moment it looks this way, can't argue your point. But reading the tea leaves, already change is in the air. I have seen articles on the subject of DT himself being concerned about criminal prosecution. Fani Willis in Georgia has opened a criminal investigation. Then there's the D.C. district attorney's office, which have been considering doing the same since Jan. 6.
The impeachment trial presentation is shedding light on the Jan. 6 crime in a big way. I wouldn't be surprised if Fani Willis is just the beginning of the floodgates opening. What about the district attorneys in the counties in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Arizona where DT pressured and coerced Senators, election officials, legislatures, and on and on?
I think the impeachment trial is Trump's worst nightmare. No Win situation for him, and the outcome of (acquit)-(do not acquit), while critical symbolically, is not important in the long run with regard to criminal prosecution.
We don't know if DT will go to jail. If he does go to jail, we don't know if it will be for sex crimes, financial and/or tax crime and fraud, election crimes, working in partnership with a foreign dictator (Putin), or any of the other thousands of crimes which will fill his Predidential Library to overflowing. But it's adding big-time to the overhead. At some point, the sheer weight of lawsuits and criminal legal proceedings is going to crush him. Anything that adds to the sheer mass of pressure is a good thing, and this trial added tons.
This week is my first week away from work since last summer. Looks like it was meant to be, having some free time while this trial is going down. And perhaps my ramblings in my journal this morning are the reason for the co-incidence of events, vacation and impeachment trial.
The central story of today, for me, is the mob lawyers and mob defendant and mob boss in the shadows who are running the show. The fix is in. Between Putin controlling the Republican Senators who are voting for acquittal against the evidence, and Trump being Putin’s enforcer by threatening damage to their livelihood (primary fights to threaten their careers) and their safety (sic-ing rabid Trumpsters on them to threaten them and their families), the Bad Guys look like they’re going to win this vote. But the news is out. The impeachment managers and their staffs have done the important job of exposing the crime of Putin, through his partner Donald Trump, of attacking the American democracy.
We all realize how very, very limited conventional news reports are. What the conventional media decides to highlight is rarely more than a sliver of the full story. Our job is to see into the core of the problem, to see the heart of the issue. We need insight into the critical portions of the full story that perhaps are being neglected.
Can you see how mob lawyers working for a mob boss might not need to be competent trial lawyers, since their job is to intimidate and threaten? Their job is not to convince and persuade, unless it's through bribery of the jury.
Oh how naive we all are when we refuse to believe that crime is real, that crime is the foundation of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin and their partnership. How naive we are when we avoid seeing that criminal threat is what can turn people like Mitch McConnell and Jim Jordan and Lindsay Graham into simpering sycophants.
Remember, the essence of crime is to prey upon a person’s weaknesses, with no regard for humanity or morality. You threaten to harm a person. You threaten to harm others the person cares about, close family and friends. You threaten their livelihood. You threaten their financial security. You wheedle and cajole, using flattery. You bribe, attempting to use money and material gifts. You blackmail, using coercion and threats of exposure of sensitive secrets.
Putin and Trump are criminals. Remember that. Criminals do not play by the rules that you and I play by. They play by a different set of rules. Look at this entire story through their eyes.
Let's suppose that we are justice officials viewing this entire story from the criminal point of view.
Imagine being a Senator in this predicament. If you are being supported financially with big bucks by a mob boss in Russia, if you are being blackmailed, or if you have threats against yourself and your family, how do you get out of that pickle?
How to deal with having Trump, mob enforcer, threaten to make you and your family the target of whacko Trumpster fans.
That's how we should be looking at this. Look at this trial through the eyes of the jurors who are victims under criminal threat, who are the victim of jury tampering.
Look at this trial through the eyes of Putin, the mob boss who has been pissed off at America ever since Hillary as Secretary of State put him in his place. Look through the eyes of Tя☭mp, the mob enforcer, who has his own sordid reasons for attacking our democratic institutions aside from his partnership with Putin.
I've always been of the rather obvious opinion that Putin's very public murders and attempted murders are blatant attempts to intimidate those who oppose the global kleptocracy. Different rules, indeed.
I want to thank everyone for indulging me while I sound out what I am thinking. Obviously it's raw, first draft-level material and needs refinement. David Schoen worked briefly for Jeffrey Epstein, so his mob lawyer credentials are limited. Bruce Castor is a former official working in a Pennsylvania county D.A.'s office, proving that any idiot can work in that Montgomery County office. He has near-zero trial lawyer experience. Those are not mob lawyer credentials either, although this guy might have the stuff to be one. But if we avoid looking at the deep criminal foundation of Trump's behavior and long mob experience, we miss the full picture. Greg Olear has documented that Trump is a money launderer for mob contacts in NYC, I believe, and of course he is linked to Putin, absolutely no doubt about that. No one can forget the spectacle of Trump and Putin in Helsinki. That was a press conference of mob bosses. When I say that Trump is the most corrupt president in U.S. history, that is no exaggeration. I haven't done the research, but you could line up Trump's crimes against all the crimes committed by all the other presidents in history. So his entire criminal history needs to be given serious consideration.
The GOP, it’s Billionaire Club, will give tRump his free pass. This democracy is in its death throes, thanks to “Citizens United” author, Charles Koch. Those are also the people who know what dire shape the environment and climate are in—read The Shock Doctrine.
What I don’t get: WTF is the FBI DOING? Isn’t it their mandate to protect this nation from enemies both within and without? And why did Mueller role over for these traitors?
That's why people come here and to HCR, TC. It's a classroom. Sources of information galore. Ask a question about something, or drop some info here, forget to include a link, someone tags your post with the link. Dawna was stating a position instead of phrasing as a question, but when she drops that message here, she is looking to learn and to modify her understanding. At least I think so, maybe I'm wrong about Dawna. She did make a rather definitive statement. But if she didn't want feedback and other opinions and to learn, and take advantage of people like you who have knowledge to shed light, she would never show up here. You are providing a valuable service. We learn from you. And you learn here as well. That's what a supportive community is all about. Your knowledge is a gift you are sharing and trust me, there are plenty of people who appreciate it. Not everyone here is an author, or a professor, or a person who is super well educated.
“Now we’ll see how many Republicans in the Senate are willing to recognize the corpse at their feet and finally put him in the ground.”
We have our answer. Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania). Mitt Romney (Utah). Susan Collins (Maine). Lisa Murkowski (Alaska). Bill Cassidy (Louisiana). Ben Sasse (Nebraska). Richard Burr (North Carolina). The only one I didn’t know and had to look up is Burr. I may not like their politics, but I believe this vote is the most important vote all these Senators will make in their entire careers. The others are on my shit list.
But despite all this, he WILL be acquitted. We all know that. He still has most GOP Senators in his pocket, and he knows they will NEVER vote to convict him. He's laughing at the Dems by hiring the most clownish, incompetent lawyers he can find, because he knows he doesn't need any defense lawyers; the cowering, terrified GOP Senators are all the defense he needs. Just watch him crow and sneer and gloat when he's again acquitted.
Yeah, but fuck him. We are the future. He'll not just be relegated to the ash heap of history. He'll be burned there.
From your lips . . .
Hi Judith, I just have to say I think it will turn out differently than you say.
I know that in the moment it looks this way, can't argue your point. But reading the tea leaves, already change is in the air. I have seen articles on the subject of DT himself being concerned about criminal prosecution. Fani Willis in Georgia has opened a criminal investigation. Then there's the D.C. district attorney's office, which have been considering doing the same since Jan. 6.
The impeachment trial presentation is shedding light on the Jan. 6 crime in a big way. I wouldn't be surprised if Fani Willis is just the beginning of the floodgates opening. What about the district attorneys in the counties in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Arizona where DT pressured and coerced Senators, election officials, legislatures, and on and on?
I think the impeachment trial is Trump's worst nightmare. No Win situation for him, and the outcome of (acquit)-(do not acquit), while critical symbolically, is not important in the long run with regard to criminal prosecution.
We don't know if DT will go to jail. If he does go to jail, we don't know if it will be for sex crimes, financial and/or tax crime and fraud, election crimes, working in partnership with a foreign dictator (Putin), or any of the other thousands of crimes which will fill his Predidential Library to overflowing. But it's adding big-time to the overhead. At some point, the sheer weight of lawsuits and criminal legal proceedings is going to crush him. Anything that adds to the sheer mass of pressure is a good thing, and this trial added tons.
True. He’s up to Zydecki in the phone book. Actually an old Philly saying.
I'm going to nick that. What a great saying.
I usually get blank stares when I use it, so thank you!
Truly, their loss, in more ways than one!
This week is my first week away from work since last summer. Looks like it was meant to be, having some free time while this trial is going down. And perhaps my ramblings in my journal this morning are the reason for the co-incidence of events, vacation and impeachment trial.
The central story of today, for me, is the mob lawyers and mob defendant and mob boss in the shadows who are running the show. The fix is in. Between Putin controlling the Republican Senators who are voting for acquittal against the evidence, and Trump being Putin’s enforcer by threatening damage to their livelihood (primary fights to threaten their careers) and their safety (sic-ing rabid Trumpsters on them to threaten them and their families), the Bad Guys look like they’re going to win this vote. But the news is out. The impeachment managers and their staffs have done the important job of exposing the crime of Putin, through his partner Donald Trump, of attacking the American democracy.
We all realize how very, very limited conventional news reports are. What the conventional media decides to highlight is rarely more than a sliver of the full story. Our job is to see into the core of the problem, to see the heart of the issue. We need insight into the critical portions of the full story that perhaps are being neglected.
Can you see how mob lawyers working for a mob boss might not need to be competent trial lawyers, since their job is to intimidate and threaten? Their job is not to convince and persuade, unless it's through bribery of the jury.
Oh how naive we all are when we refuse to believe that crime is real, that crime is the foundation of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin and their partnership. How naive we are when we avoid seeing that criminal threat is what can turn people like Mitch McConnell and Jim Jordan and Lindsay Graham into simpering sycophants.
Remember, the essence of crime is to prey upon a person’s weaknesses, with no regard for humanity or morality. You threaten to harm a person. You threaten to harm others the person cares about, close family and friends. You threaten their livelihood. You threaten their financial security. You wheedle and cajole, using flattery. You bribe, attempting to use money and material gifts. You blackmail, using coercion and threats of exposure of sensitive secrets.
Putin and Trump are criminals. Remember that. Criminals do not play by the rules that you and I play by. They play by a different set of rules. Look at this entire story through their eyes.
Let's suppose that we are justice officials viewing this entire story from the criminal point of view.
Imagine being a Senator in this predicament. If you are being supported financially with big bucks by a mob boss in Russia, if you are being blackmailed, or if you have threats against yourself and your family, how do you get out of that pickle?
How to deal with having Trump, mob enforcer, threaten to make you and your family the target of whacko Trumpster fans.
That's how we should be looking at this. Look at this trial through the eyes of the jurors who are victims under criminal threat, who are the victim of jury tampering.
Look at this trial through the eyes of Putin, the mob boss who has been pissed off at America ever since Hillary as Secretary of State put him in his place. Look through the eyes of Tя☭mp, the mob enforcer, who has his own sordid reasons for attacking our democratic institutions aside from his partnership with Putin.
I've always been of the rather obvious opinion that Putin's very public murders and attempted murders are blatant attempts to intimidate those who oppose the global kleptocracy. Different rules, indeed.
I want to thank everyone for indulging me while I sound out what I am thinking. Obviously it's raw, first draft-level material and needs refinement. David Schoen worked briefly for Jeffrey Epstein, so his mob lawyer credentials are limited. Bruce Castor is a former official working in a Pennsylvania county D.A.'s office, proving that any idiot can work in that Montgomery County office. He has near-zero trial lawyer experience. Those are not mob lawyer credentials either, although this guy might have the stuff to be one. But if we avoid looking at the deep criminal foundation of Trump's behavior and long mob experience, we miss the full picture. Greg Olear has documented that Trump is a money launderer for mob contacts in NYC, I believe, and of course he is linked to Putin, absolutely no doubt about that. No one can forget the spectacle of Trump and Putin in Helsinki. That was a press conference of mob bosses. When I say that Trump is the most corrupt president in U.S. history, that is no exaggeration. I haven't done the research, but you could line up Trump's crimes against all the crimes committed by all the other presidents in history. So his entire criminal history needs to be given serious consideration.
The GOP, it’s Billionaire Club, will give tRump his free pass. This democracy is in its death throes, thanks to “Citizens United” author, Charles Koch. Those are also the people who know what dire shape the environment and climate are in—read The Shock Doctrine.
What I don’t get: WTF is the FBI DOING? Isn’t it their mandate to protect this nation from enemies both within and without? And why did Mueller role over for these traitors?
That's why people come here and to HCR, TC. It's a classroom. Sources of information galore. Ask a question about something, or drop some info here, forget to include a link, someone tags your post with the link. Dawna was stating a position instead of phrasing as a question, but when she drops that message here, she is looking to learn and to modify her understanding. At least I think so, maybe I'm wrong about Dawna. She did make a rather definitive statement. But if she didn't want feedback and other opinions and to learn, and take advantage of people like you who have knowledge to shed light, she would never show up here. You are providing a valuable service. We learn from you. And you learn here as well. That's what a supportive community is all about. Your knowledge is a gift you are sharing and trust me, there are plenty of people who appreciate it. Not everyone here is an author, or a professor, or a person who is super well educated.
“Now we’ll see how many Republicans in the Senate are willing to recognize the corpse at their feet and finally put him in the ground.”
We have our answer. Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania). Mitt Romney (Utah). Susan Collins (Maine). Lisa Murkowski (Alaska). Bill Cassidy (Louisiana). Ben Sasse (Nebraska). Richard Burr (North Carolina). The only one I didn’t know and had to look up is Burr. I may not like their politics, but I believe this vote is the most important vote all these Senators will make in their entire careers. The others are on my shit list.