Look, I'm not exactly one who jumps to defend Trump, but before all the liberals on this site start bashing him for the indictment, I’d like to remind you of John 8:7: And Jesus said unto them, let he who has not used illegal hush money payments to cover up cheating on their third wife by raw-dogging a porn star cast the first stone.
Trump deserves all the bashing, stomping, kicking for being a lowlife, crook, theif,racist, hypocrite, Traitor, insurrectionist, Cheater. I guess I could go on and on but you get the picture. Millions of people don't want to see his face or hear him talk. He is just another crook and should be treated like one.
and deprive him of his covfefe berders . . and he'll go Ketchup Geyser . .or Clavicle Lunge . .maybe not Alright Up There! . .as in We got em, why not use em, but weak ass generals refused him . . and the P-word Traitor probably deserved hanging ..at least The Abnormal Team appreciated him .. The Stolen From Chosen One
I'm ok with Trump screwing around on his pregnant wife and then paying big money to cover it up, but I'm not ok with someone of such poor character seeking political office. Donald is being publicly stoned not for his sins but for his aspirations.
He’s indicted for f**king fraud, claiming the money was some legitimate legal expense and not campaign shenanigans. Cohen fronted the money [a campaign contribution] and Trump reimbursed him as a “legal expense” [a fraud]. No biggie, right? We all do it all the time.
Cohen lied about the number of contacts he had with Russia re Trump Moscow. At that time he was, according to the Mueller Report, induced to do it by Individual 1.
He wasn't tried, pled out.
This case involves business documents and tax fraud. Not the same as SDNY case against Cohen. Trump signed 7 checks.
If I were Garland, I'd call Barr to determine whether Trump intimidated Cohen. To determine also whether Trump retaliated against him for writing a tell all book. But, then, Garland is a wuss.
The word on the street seems to point to political motivation spurring on the indictment of Donald Trump. Who cares! The Republican cry babies making all the noise fail to realize when a crime has been committed, no matter how insignificant it may seem, the rule of law demands legal proceedings are to follow regardless of who committed the act. If Trump is innocent he has nothing to fear. If I were in his shoes, they would be running.
I can see how it helps him in the Republican primary, since most Republicans support lawbreaking politicians, but not in the general election, since most Americans don't support lawbreaking politicians.
Jaime--Trump lost the 2016 election by almost 3.5 million votes. He lost the 2020 election by almost 7 million votes. Because of his childish antics his base has continued to shrink. He'll probably get the Republican nomination but he'll lose the 2024 election by a landslide. I don't see how his base will continue to support him with the same numbers he has had in the past. It seems they aren't as stupid as Trump has anticipated.
They do know what they are doing. But what they are doing is immensely transparent. It’s up to the Left now to see to it that they don’t get away with it. Easier said than done, but not undoable.
Actually, Michael, imo he didn't SEEK political office. What he said (paraphrasing) is "The nomination process is so screwed up I could get nominated if I wanted." Nobody took him seriously, so he went ahead. Because for all his faults (which far, FAR outweigh his virtues), he doesn't back down from a challenge. And he was nominated.
Nobody took him seriously (I'm not sure he did either), but what the heck, his aspirations were free publicity, ad space, and room to game the system. Then he got elected and continued to do all 3.
You can't put him on trial for being a pos. You can put him on trial for breaking laws.
Exactly. And that’s why I’m so glad they finally arrested the POS. Because he has spent a lotta years getting away with breaking laws and playing the system to avoid a comeuppance. It’s time…
Jan Churchwell—Reading your comment was an uncanny experience. A subscriber in another Substack forum made pretty much the same point in completely different language. The concept deserves expansion (probably as fiction). I offer you the same reply I posted for him:
You put your finger on it! It all turned into a cosmic irony for the ages. Who knew that "America" was out there, just waiting to be gamed? They hadn't even been able to keep his reality tv show ratings high enough to stay on the air.
Not that it matters, but I have to wonder why everyone keeps making this mistake. Is something worse about a husband cheating on a pregnant wife than on the mother of his four-month-old youngest son? That was the point when djt took up with Ms Daniels, no matter how often it's written that Melaria was pregnant when he did that.
But, I think people just don’t know the facts specifically — they know Melania, a baby, Don the Cheat. That’s what they care about. Who knows how many others there were that we’ll never hear about, or when he engaged in sex with them. I would not bet anything important that Stormy was the one and only, but I would bet she’s not the last.
Why are you OK with a husband cheating on his wife shortly after giving birth? I agree not everyone is made for marriage. I don’t have a problem with people who do not choose monogamy as long as everyone involved has agreed. I have a big problem with people who are deceitful. Why make promises you don’t keep. How can there. e any trust over any part of the relationship. If a person changes, don’t you think the grown up thing to do is to try and work it out and if you can’t,get divorces. At least then, you have still maintained your own integrity which is one of the few thing that can’t. e taken form you. You have to give it away.
Linda????????????Where did you get the idea that I was OK with cheating? Do you understand sarcasm? Trump is a pig. His behavior is unacceptable on every level and I don't agree with anything Trump stands for. End of story.
Follow the thread lines, please, Donald. I think if you do you will realize that Linda was responding to Mike F. Walling (not to you), who was responding to Ian. It was Mike F. Walling who doesn't care if DJT cheated on Melanie.
IMO, they indent a response to a comment but we have to follow the long lines if we want to see just who the response is meant for. It would be so much easier to follow along if the name of the person we are responding to appeared at the beginning of our indented response comment...or if we added the name at the beginning of our indented response comment. Such unnecessary confusion!
If people would start their posts with the name of the person they wanted to address there would be no confusion, as for the meat of my post, it was hanging on by a thread.
In a previous discussion I said I'd liked to have seen all indictments be handed down simultaneously. At the end of this clip, Maddow suggests the next best thing could happen:
As an afterthought, if a prostitute >is< one who takes money for providing sexual favors, what >is< an actor who takes money for being filmed in the act of providing sexual favors? Just wonderin' ! Sometimes, English is a like foreign language to me!
I prefer these two SEPERATE court dates so Bunkerboy has to sweat his burger grease TWICE. He deserves at least as much for being a career criminal like his daddy before him.
The judge is PISSED at him, so HE wants Bunkerboy to do the same. I imagine seperating the dates also helps keep things in order as well.
Exactly right. And that's >exactly< the kind of thing that could lead to any guilty verdict being overturned because of bias. Just sayin'. I have no doubt that anyone on this forum who might be called to jury duty for ol' Tweety would be told to get lost in screening. Worse, torn apart for bias on an appealed guilty verdict. I know I couldn't serve.
Beau's not a lawyer. We don't know what's in the indictment but IMHO Trump has already tied his shoelaces, stewed himself in his own juice, hoisted himself on his own petard (which to Shakespeare had a sexual connotation) by attacking the judge in this case.
If I were the judge, I'd start as soon as the plea is taken ordering Trump to show cause why he is not in contempt. Trump has been before the grand jury, in fact, he was formally asked to appear and sent Robert Costello as a witness. Criminal contempt in the second degree (NY PENAL § 215.50: Criminal Contempt in the Second Degree) refers to a variety of disruptions to the normal workings of a court. This can include disrupting a court proceeding such as a trial, but it also applies to court orders and representations of proceedings. Trump knew or had reason to know that as a party, the statute applied to him.
Thank you, Daniel, for this great legal explanation. Can all this hate mail surrounding DA Bragg be used in impending indictments as proof of the trumpster's malice?
so I if were a "common" citizen and threatened a judge and/or his wife, would that be ok? would any legal authority come looking for me? just wondering.
As the reigning monarch in every situation since he was an infant, trump will go rabid in court. Any NYC criminal court judge can manage that. It's not always pretty, but nobody's more effective at crowd control than NYPD. Some have wondered ab where the department's loyalty lies. Newsman Errol Lewis, who comes from an NYPD family, answers, Overtime. Bring it on.
Thank you for your legal opinions and facts Daniel Solomon. I read this column because of Dr. Reich's experienced commentary and your measured insight. I sleep better knowing blasphemous, arrogant Trump will likely be his own worst enemy in the several court appearances which seem imminent. I can't wait to see justice served for all the damage he has done to America.
"CONTRITE" ?? - he does not know the meaning of such a word - he lives in his own world of megalomania - he developed it as a child with parents who did not give a shit about him - which is not an excuse!
Imo every teeny thing that can be done to make TFG toe a line should be done. He's a spoiled baby who thinks bullying and tantrums will get him whatever he wants because they usually have. If DA Bragg can break that mindset by refusing to let ANYTHING slide -- and doing so publicly -- he should.
I think I can live with water torture. If everything were thrown at him at once, he could cherry pick, and so could his lawyers. One at a time gives him no peace, and he won't know what's next. Yes, he thrives on chaos, but he's been the cause. Maybe he won't thrive well when someone else controls the narrative.
TFG doesn't think laws/rules apply to him. Show him he's wrong. As long as it takes, whatever it takes. He won't stop; neither can we.
With respect, I don't see you saying Beau's wrong about anything in particular - only that he's not a lawyer. True. So what? Most of us on this forum aren't lawyers, and I don't see how suggesting we keep our powder dry until the DA presents his case requires a law degree. Indeed, he seems to grant he's not a lawyer speaking to non-lawyers - like most of us do on this forum. He was stating his opinion per a viewer request. Buckley never impressed me with his memorized stats that usually served to distract, either. Consider: https://youtu.be/9js6LdkRE6Y Pay close attention starting about 6 minutes in to the end.
And then, please kindly explain. Which of Beau's legal points is/are unsound? Please quote and discuss.
A distinction with scant difference - an exhibitionist vs anonymous. Not that I have any particular issue with it all. That's the personal hell >they< must live in.
It wasn't so much the act of paying hush money to Stormy Daniels; it was more that he did so to mislead the public and cover up his bad behavior while he was campaigning for president. Otherwise, I doubt if he would have bothered to cover his tracks.
One indication of good satire is that, even with an intelligent group such as this, there are still a few who take you at your word & manifest the appropriate outrage.
Or how about Matthew 8;6- thou shalt not place false Russian loans before you, just because you scammed every bank in America and filed bankruptcy on your town in Atlantic City?
Is this really what you think of men? You think they are all lying, cheating, narcissistic predators. I would agree probably 1 out of 5 is, but there are honorable, kind, honest, and moral men who do not lie or cheat
Ian, I sincerely try to remain cogently stoned, but for the "stoning" you have in mind, I'll need more than a metaphor, and more than my grand-daughter's irreplaceable pet rock. If you have a supply of stones, I lean toward conglomerate. Granite is my preference if beggars are permitted to choose.
Are you freaking kidding or are you just another Magat Moron? I'll lead the stone throwing line and will want multiple stones. I was a pretty good baseball pitcher back in the day with a good fastball and control. Been married and faithful for 43 years, you know, some people honor their vows. tRump doesn't know what honor or vows are!
I think Ian was being sarcastic. Please read the comment again, specifically the part where he says, "...let he who has not used illegal hush money payments to cover up cheating on their third wife by raw-dogging a porn star cast the first stone." That probably allows the majority of us to cast the first stone at Trump because most of us have not "used illegal hush money payments to cover up cheating on their third wife by raw-dogging a porn star cast the first stone." Get it?
You are a good man, Chuck, to have honored your marriage vows by being faithful to your wife for 43 years. Congratulations! I hope your wife and you celebrate many more wedding anniversaries together!
He will be indicted in other cases, convicted in all and spend years under house arrest. The rule of law will be vindicated. Meanwhile Fox will be bankrupt by the Dominion lawsuit. We’ll have a great end of the decade
House arrest? In his palatial home? Reilly? How much would that differ from now? He has caused harm to so many people. Nearly destroyed Democracy. Is in essence a traitor. He said traitors should be hanged. In fact he suggested Pence should be hanged. Is this really a just punishment? Think of all the crimes against humanity that he has perpetrated throughout his life in the name of greed and self-aggrandizement, for which he will never be prosecuted. No wonder he thinks he is above the law. No slap on the hand will suffice. He must spend some time in prison. Otherwise, where is the just punishment?
Putin will be dead and Ukraine will win their war with NATO’s help. I’m just hoping the R party dissolves itself and a newer, more even-handed party emerges.
He Touches, It Dies . .has very likely done in The Grand Old . .like the tens of thousands of unnecessarily dead anti mask/vaxxers . .Tried his best with Nato .. and the planet. for that matter, with the Chinese climate hoax .. worthy of the Damien franchise . .
Trump has a trial date April 26 in the Jean Carroll defamation/rape case and Oct. 2 in the $250,000 tax fraud case, both civil cases. His lawyers blew most of the discovery time periods and Trump has been making statements that can hang him. Could be that his conduct will permit judges to rule that all inferences should be held against him in the civil cases.
The measure in these cases could he huge. He's also the defendant in about 20 other viable cases.
Garland has been a putz, but I expect many other criminal case will be filed "imminently." I can think of another 20 or so claims for relief that the media don't address -- like the charges the Italian CIA made during the Durham non-investigation.
Wish I could believe this. I think everyone will throw him under that proverbial bus. Let them shiver in their boots. M so sick of their reign of terror.
NO to house arrest. Prison and not a damn country club prison either. His top guy Weisselburg is in Rikers if I'm not mistaken. This is where trump belongs. Or Gitmo. Ron can visit and relieve his glory days of torturing prisoners.
What I find frightening is all the people talking about a civil war, on Twitter. Y’all are willing to die for Donald trump? They don’t care about us, not me, or the rubes who send their hard earned wages to him. Am I willing to die, so other women can access abortion? Maybe, but that’s not what the end result of a civil war will be. It’s like political divisions are so bad, they want to have live combat with people that don’t agree with them. I’m trying to raise my kid and become a welder, I don’t have time to fight for rights my grandmothers fought for and won, 50 years ago. I live in Florida and they are working really hard to put in a 6 week ban. (I got an iud when they put in the 15 week ban, by the time it is no longer effective my fertility will be a fart in the wind) But I come from addiction and real poverty, I know how much harder life is when you have children you aren’t ready for. You end up putting yourself in situations, like staying with a bad boyfriend, or if you’re very lucky, living with parents and grandparents. I survived by sugar daddies, men with money, that will give me some money for my “time”. Luckily, one took a real interest in me and financed my recovery. One thing we need to talk about is the price of Suboxone. Some pharmacies charge between 4-6$ for a single 8mg dose. Getting clean is very difficult, it’s painful, you have to be in so much pain as a junkie that the pain of not changing has to be greater than that of the change itself. Most clinics want your system to be clean of opiates and still display withdrawal symptoms, before they will give you Suboxone. It’s a rough 7 days. And you have to have your money together, because it’s $ 100s for the appointment, and then the script can be expensive. I already had a valid script when I quit my job (and lost my fantastic insurance)to go to welding school, and the healthcare exchange plans all completely cover the price of the drs visit and the script. Thank you, Obama. The affordable care act also provides no cost birth control, I didn’t pay a dime for my iud, and I strongly urge all childbearing age women in Florida, to run to their birth control providers, and get something permanent, like tubal ligation, your insurance has to cover it, it doesn’t matter what method you choose. That is something they will take aim at next, is insurance covered birth control. They want us all barefoot and pregnant. Fuck them, and fuck you if you agree with them. Women in Florida need to just stop. Stop cooking, stop cleaning, stop fucking your husband, and if you can, stop working. And tell your husband to call their state senator if they want their partner back! Im doing it to my boyfriend...
It's great to have someone who explains clearly how American doesn't give a shit about. 1/2 of it's citizens. Hang-in there Angela. You seem to have the energy to take care of yourself. I hope you find a few people who can support you through all of this.
See that’s the thing is I’m doing great personally. It really was the drugs and other selfish behavior. I could see the writing on the wall as a laborer at a construction company, and quit and go to welding school. Because the most important thing is being self sufficient. Of course civil society falls apart when I come late to the party of real life. I have an obligation to other junkie moms, to do for them what someone did for me. Show them the way to get their shit together and stop making excuses. But now we have to fight for reproductive rights, and I have other shit to do!
Being in Florida gives you a lot to work on. The governor went to Yale to learn how to become Mussolini. I know the crazies who live in The Villages love him, but I don’t understand everyone else. If you dress like “a man” when you go to work, will you get arrested?
You are exceptionally aware. The cost of what you are suggesting is nickles and dimes to the wealthy. The Prophets of the Old Testament would call us out for our meanness and hard hearts. But the prophets in America tread a lonely road.
I use a slightly different order, I think Georgia will be next and before May 1. Trump's lawyers ask the judge to throw out the case and the Judge ordered the DA to response by May 1. DA responded that her reply would be actions by the DA's office.
I also have a feeling that there is a lot more in NY case's 34 charges than hush money and ONE false business record. Maybe Trump will be charged with many false business records and hush money just opened the pandora's box.
I hate to correct people, but yes, NY DA's 34 indictments are all related to the hush money payments, but there's more than "ONE false business record."
Every time Cohen submitted an invoice, "three false business records" were created for that one invoice by the Trump Org or the Donald Trump Revocable Trust, as follows: 1) accepted and approved Cohen's invoice for payment, 2) created a General Ledger entry for it, and 3) issued a check for it. The process was repeated 11 times. But, the first Cohen invoice was divided into two separate General Ledger entries, which accounts for one more indictment for a total of 34.
If the documents case includes evidence that classified information was given or sold to international adversaries such as Russia or Saudi Arabia as I suspect happened, that would greatly enhance the significance of that case.
I am absolutely certain that Trump has colluded with Putin (also likely MBS & perhaps other dictators) against American interests in multiple ways that would overshadow any convicted spy or traitor in US history, & that it involves many Republicans in Congress & the Trump administration (some probably lingering in the Biden administration), & Fox could well be in on it, & I hope that 1 or more of these investigations uncovers this unprecedented treachery against US democracy & sovereignty.
I’ve had my bottle of champagne out all week. The good stuff too. Getting ready to light off some fireworks and dancing in the dark. Hooray for ole lady Justice. I’m rooting for her.
The worst thing about the Trump indictment will be that we will be flooded with having to hear, see or read about Trump for the next two years. He will dominate the news while the rest of the world will continue to fall apart. The war in Ukraine, the destruction of the climate, inflation, toxic spills, the worsening of the wealth gap — nada. All of those issues will be vastly overshadowed by the ravings of a lunatic and his sycophantic followers. I doubt there will be much physical violence. Even Trumpers don’t like to be on the receiving end of a bullet. There may be more crazies who try to attack the DAs, the courts, drag queens or kids in schools. But that is the culture they have brought to the fore in America.
"He will dominate the news while the rest of the world will continue to fall apart. The war in Ukraine, the destruction of the climate, inflation, toxic spills, the worsening of the wealth gap — nada. All of those issues will be vastly overshadowed by the ravings of a lunatic and his sycophantic followers."
This has bothered me for years now. News networks should limit incessant Trump talk and spend more time the issues Oldandintheway outlines.
From what I've read, there are between 30-34 charges that trump will face. If people remember Michael Cohen's testimony, trump did quite a bit of criminal activity in his real estate business. Cohen said trump had no problem over and under valuing property to get the "best deals" with loans and insurances. These charges are bigger than paying off Stormy for a quick one.
GA sounds like they're ready or very close to being ready to indict trump on multiple charges.
The real biggie is Jack Smith. I can only imagine the charges.
Come on, Mr Reich say the word; " Dictator. " Minority rule, whether by one or many, is dictatorship, and that is what has been described and what Trump and his cult are all in for. Your parents can be authoritarian, but this way beyond that. The end of the American democracy is the goal of Trump and his minions, its past time to speak plainly when describing the threat that they represent.
Charlie Chaplin rules! Rocking ole lady Justice too. She will kick that little grifters ass to the curb and come out bruised but smiling. Don’t give up on her yet! My bets are on the ole lady not that two bit mobster.
Or as he calls himself on this site: "Robert Reich." The point is that tip toeing around Trump's plans and his supporters willingness to use violence to help achieve them, is an issue that is more important than titles.
An excerpt:” men can delude themselves into the commission of crimes so vast and heinous that they beggar the imagination. No one who has sat through the trial can ever forget them: men sterilized because of political belief; a mockery made of friendship and faith; the murder of children. How easily it can happen.
There are those in our own country too who today speak of the "protection of country" -- of "survival." A decision must be made in the life of every nation at the very moment when the grasp of the enemy is at its throat. Then, it seems that the only way to survive is to use the means of the enemy, to rest survival upon what is expedient -- to look the other way.
Well, the answer to that is "survival as what?" A country isn't a rock. It's not an extension of one's self. It's what it stands for. It's what it stands for when standing for something is the most difficult.”
You have to hold Trump accountable. It’s the only thing that has affected his power. The problem has been that his followers didn’t always watch the media that held him accountable. I remember when Watergate was on main stream TV. And we did not have cable or Internet. Everybody was informed.
It wasn’t until it was easy to watch the January 6 trials on broadcast television.(its whereabouts was buried at the beginning even for those of us who wanted to watch it. We had to really search the Web.) but eventually showed up on the 5 o’clock news and it could be found on channel 2 with excerpts of people talking about it in real video. Finally the independents saw it for what it was. There will always be evil people, but if they don’t have followers, they won’t have any power. We need to expose him consistently, and clearly in the 5 o’clock news. There are no longer two sides to climate change and there’s no longer two sides to January 6 in the 5 o’clock news.
Until there was a video about George Floyd in main stream broadcast news, many white people did not know that there was an every day problem of racism. We need to keep holding people accountable in the main stream news. They can’t vote intelligently if they only have fake news. Ironically, while the Republicans were massively, creating fake news, they created the concept of fake news to cover themselves and blamed it on the Democrats. We have to get the truth out in the media.
Corruption is baked into our modern system. 100 years ago, the country had the Teapot Dome scandal - and never created any checks on the Executive, then Nixon’s Vice Presidential follies in Cuba, led to his corruption (war crimes) with Anna Chenault and secret bombings, and $$millions in bribes. Which directly brought us Iran/Contra and $$ billions in secret funds. On to Iraq - a war for profit with pallettes of money “disappearing”. ALL REPUBLICANS.
Are we still so sure we want to fix that party? They were never Loyal Opposition. Trump is just the most obviously corrupt. But he must be aggressively prosecuted, and finally the party needs to collapse under the weight of its avarice and racism.
No matter what anyone would have preferred, even those doing the actual legal work, I do not think there was a choice. Do we believe in some kind of logical accountability in this country or not? Do we believe in the sense and purpose of the law or not? Ignore it at our peril and accept the consequences.
The result of many justified indictments: momentary social platform nonsense and gatherings of no import led and populated by American red neck ignorant fearful racists and a total collapse of the present Republican Party..
I post my thoughts and interact with a number of people from all around our country. What puzzles me is the separation that exists between reason from reaction. Almost without exception the Republicans who oppose what I have to say do so in a reactionary manner, often expressing anger on one level or another. In contrast, the responses from Democrats show at least a rudimentary attempt at reason. The two camps are in direct opposition to one another and they shouldn't be. What we have is an example of "oil and water" and what we need to meld the two is an active blender that takes no sides but combines our agendas into a common goal. Unity.
As a student (once) of rhetoric, one learns you can't communicate with crazy, emotional, immoral people. Necessary elements of Rhetorical argument are: Ethos-ethics; Pathos-emotion; Logos-logic. It takes balance to facilitate the art of persuasion. Clearly Christofacists kowtowing to x45 are not capable of balance.
The Republican Party (and the democrats to a lesser extent) campaigns on emotions. It is difficult to discern when your emotions are being titillated but with practice it can be done. If we teach our fellow voters to recognize emotional manipulation we might turn them into responsible voters.
In other words “critical thinking skills.” A very religious conservative once told me that “critical thinking” is liberal code for challenging your parents and the church.
Look, I'm not exactly one who jumps to defend Trump, but before all the liberals on this site start bashing him for the indictment, I’d like to remind you of John 8:7: And Jesus said unto them, let he who has not used illegal hush money payments to cover up cheating on their third wife by raw-dogging a porn star cast the first stone.
Trump deserves all the bashing, stomping, kicking for being a lowlife, crook, theif,racist, hypocrite, Traitor, insurrectionist, Cheater. I guess I could go on and on but you get the picture. Millions of people don't want to see his face or hear him talk. He is just another crook and should be treated like one.
and deprive him of his covfefe berders . . and he'll go Ketchup Geyser . .or Clavicle Lunge . .maybe not Alright Up There! . .as in We got em, why not use em, but weak ass generals refused him . . and the P-word Traitor probably deserved hanging ..at least The Abnormal Team appreciated him .. The Stolen From Chosen One
I'm ok with Trump screwing around on his pregnant wife and then paying big money to cover it up, but I'm not ok with someone of such poor character seeking political office. Donald is being publicly stoned not for his sins but for his aspirations.
He’s indicted for f**king fraud, claiming the money was some legitimate legal expense and not campaign shenanigans. Cohen fronted the money [a campaign contribution] and Trump reimbursed him as a “legal expense” [a fraud]. No biggie, right? We all do it all the time.
Michael Cohen his fixer went to jail for his participation in Trump's criminal process.
How come there is any question about Trump also facing consequences for this and his many other crimes.
Cohen was jailed for lying to Congress. Most adults have learned that it's the cover-up. not the crime, that will get you.
Cohen lied about the number of contacts he had with Russia re Trump Moscow. At that time he was, according to the Mueller Report, induced to do it by Individual 1.
He wasn't tried, pled out.
This case involves business documents and tax fraud. Not the same as SDNY case against Cohen. Trump signed 7 checks.
If I were Garland, I'd call Barr to determine whether Trump intimidated Cohen. To determine also whether Trump retaliated against him for writing a tell all book. But, then, Garland is a wuss.
Daniel, if you were Garland, you might have found a way to indict TFG 2 years ago.
Laid out in the Mueller Report.
which one, the original or the one edited by Barr?
Is “Fu**ing Fraud” a sub-category in the NY State Penile Code?”
It should be.
It’s very penile.
If *I* was popped for EVERY illegal campaign contribution, Lord knows *I* would have only a few minutes a day onli
The word on the street seems to point to political motivation spurring on the indictment of Donald Trump. Who cares! The Republican cry babies making all the noise fail to realize when a crime has been committed, no matter how insignificant it may seem, the rule of law demands legal proceedings are to follow regardless of who committed the act. If Trump is innocent he has nothing to fear. If I were in his shoes, they would be running.
Whether the indictment helps or hinders Trump’s fortunes in politics is, after all, not the point. Sigh.
I can see how it helps him in the Republican primary, since most Republicans support lawbreaking politicians, but not in the general election, since most Americans don't support lawbreaking politicians.
Jaime--Trump lost the 2016 election by almost 3.5 million votes. He lost the 2020 election by almost 7 million votes. Because of his childish antics his base has continued to shrink. He'll probably get the Republican nomination but he'll lose the 2024 election by a landslide. I don't see how his base will continue to support him with the same numbers he has had in the past. It seems they aren't as stupid as Trump has anticipated.
Pat--You are sarcastically correct.
If he uses that 'Trump' plane,let's see what air traffic control does!
Red-- What does crash and burn mean?
What pilot is that stupid ?
H Ron--How about the guy that piloted flight 370.
GOP knows what it is doing: Obfuscation (on a massive scale) of the crimes.
They do know what they are doing. But what they are doing is immensely transparent. It’s up to the Left now to see to it that they don’t get away with it. Easier said than done, but not undoable.
Run Forest, run Forest, run trump run.
🙄
Actually, Michael, imo he didn't SEEK political office. What he said (paraphrasing) is "The nomination process is so screwed up I could get nominated if I wanted." Nobody took him seriously, so he went ahead. Because for all his faults (which far, FAR outweigh his virtues), he doesn't back down from a challenge. And he was nominated.
Nobody took him seriously (I'm not sure he did either), but what the heck, his aspirations were free publicity, ad space, and room to game the system. Then he got elected and continued to do all 3.
You can't put him on trial for being a pos. You can put him on trial for breaking laws.
Exactly. And that’s why I’m so glad they finally arrested the POS. Because he has spent a lotta years getting away with breaking laws and playing the system to avoid a comeuppance. It’s time…
Jan Churchwell—Reading your comment was an uncanny experience. A subscriber in another Substack forum made pretty much the same point in completely different language. The concept deserves expansion (probably as fiction). I offer you the same reply I posted for him:
You put your finger on it! It all turned into a cosmic irony for the ages. Who knew that "America" was out there, just waiting to be gamed? They hadn't even been able to keep his reality tv show ratings high enough to stay on the air.
Not that it matters, but I have to wonder why everyone keeps making this mistake. Is something worse about a husband cheating on a pregnant wife than on the mother of his four-month-old youngest son? That was the point when djt took up with Ms Daniels, no matter how often it's written that Melaria was pregnant when he did that.
difny--I personally don't think it had anything to do with his wife's condition, marriage to Trump was a license to cheat.
He’s been a serial cheater, so…
But, I think people just don’t know the facts specifically — they know Melania, a baby, Don the Cheat. That’s what they care about. Who knows how many others there were that we’ll never hear about, or when he engaged in sex with them. I would not bet anything important that Stormy was the one and only, but I would bet she’s not the last.
Pat--The moral codes normal people live by are just another set of laws Trump feels he's above.
For sure
Pat--The real numbers would probably shock us.
Pat--Trump was born prevailed. He sees no reason to follow our laws when to him all the fun is in breaking them.
I doubt fidelity is a concept he can relate to, Donald. And I agree, Pat—I shouldn't be surprised that erroneous cliché keeps being repeated.
I am not ok with any man who assaults women. Being pushed against a wall and violated is assault. His arrogance! I want to make NOT HIS TYPE shirts.
Why are you OK with a husband cheating on his wife shortly after giving birth? I agree not everyone is made for marriage. I don’t have a problem with people who do not choose monogamy as long as everyone involved has agreed. I have a big problem with people who are deceitful. Why make promises you don’t keep. How can there. e any trust over any part of the relationship. If a person changes, don’t you think the grown up thing to do is to try and work it out and if you can’t,get divorces. At least then, you have still maintained your own integrity which is one of the few thing that can’t. e taken form you. You have to give it away.
Linda????????????Where did you get the idea that I was OK with cheating? Do you understand sarcasm? Trump is a pig. His behavior is unacceptable on every level and I don't agree with anything Trump stands for. End of story.
Follow the thread lines, please, Donald. I think if you do you will realize that Linda was responding to Mike F. Walling (not to you), who was responding to Ian. It was Mike F. Walling who doesn't care if DJT cheated on Melanie.
IMO, they indent a response to a comment but we have to follow the long lines if we want to see just who the response is meant for. It would be so much easier to follow along if the name of the person we are responding to appeared at the beginning of our indented response comment...or if we added the name at the beginning of our indented response comment. Such unnecessary confusion!
If people would start their posts with the name of the person they wanted to address there would be no confusion, as for the meat of my post, it was hanging on by a thread.
I agree, Donald. I don't get Linda Querry's point either. Who in this thread is endorsing marital infidelity at any time?
Difny--If you find out keep it a secret, women have scared my life enough.
Ridiculous. Why should married wife matter? The nominal issue here is the money chase.
And cover-up. And falsification of records.
In a previous discussion I said I'd liked to have seen all indictments be handed down simultaneously. At the end of this clip, Maddow suggests the next best thing could happen:
https://youtu.be/nLISKSU0aec
If this proceeding drags on, other indictments could be handed down throughout the process - like water torture!
In all this, keep ol' Beau's level-headed advice always in mind: https://youtu.be/qhOWOxV3hVE
I think Ian would agree.
As an afterthought, if a prostitute >is< one who takes money for providing sexual favors, what >is< an actor who takes money for being filmed in the act of providing sexual favors? Just wonderin' ! Sometimes, English is a like foreign language to me!
I believe Rachel Maddow is terrific and spot on with her commentaries and reporting the news. Water torture would be interesting.
I prefer these two SEPERATE court dates so Bunkerboy has to sweat his burger grease TWICE. He deserves at least as much for being a career criminal like his daddy before him.
The judge is PISSED at him, so HE wants Bunkerboy to do the same. I imagine seperating the dates also helps keep things in order as well.
Exactly right. And that's >exactly< the kind of thing that could lead to any guilty verdict being overturned because of bias. Just sayin'. I have no doubt that anyone on this forum who might be called to jury duty for ol' Tweety would be told to get lost in screening. Worse, torn apart for bias on an appealed guilty verdict. I know I couldn't serve.
Thank you for introducing me to "Beau!" Best coverage of this issue yet.
Beau's not a lawyer. We don't know what's in the indictment but IMHO Trump has already tied his shoelaces, stewed himself in his own juice, hoisted himself on his own petard (which to Shakespeare had a sexual connotation) by attacking the judge in this case.
If I were the judge, I'd start as soon as the plea is taken ordering Trump to show cause why he is not in contempt. Trump has been before the grand jury, in fact, he was formally asked to appear and sent Robert Costello as a witness. Criminal contempt in the second degree (NY PENAL § 215.50: Criminal Contempt in the Second Degree) refers to a variety of disruptions to the normal workings of a court. This can include disrupting a court proceeding such as a trial, but it also applies to court orders and representations of proceedings. Trump knew or had reason to know that as a party, the statute applied to him.
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg has been inundated with racist emails, death threats amid Trump indictment; ‘We are everywhere and we have guns’ https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/ny-dany-bragg-trump-indictment-racist-emails-violent-threats-20230401-vimpdgvbrnfe5bq5d6wdw4g7ty-story.html
Trump threatened Bragg's wife and even the judge.
Thank you, Daniel, for this great legal explanation. Can all this hate mail surrounding DA Bragg be used in impending indictments as proof of the trumpster's malice?
Can be a separate charge. May require a separate trial.
so I if were a "common" citizen and threatened a judge and/or his wife, would that be ok? would any legal authority come looking for me? just wondering.
As the reigning monarch in every situation since he was an infant, trump will go rabid in court. Any NYC criminal court judge can manage that. It's not always pretty, but nobody's more effective at crowd control than NYPD. Some have wondered ab where the department's loyalty lies. Newsman Errol Lewis, who comes from an NYPD family, answers, Overtime. Bring it on.
I don't think you get the full import. He has the right to purge himself of contempt, that's why I would issue an order to show cause.
If he is not contrite, can be a separate felony.
Thank you for your legal opinions and facts Daniel Solomon. I read this column because of Dr. Reich's experienced commentary and your measured insight. I sleep better knowing blasphemous, arrogant Trump will likely be his own worst enemy in the several court appearances which seem imminent. I can't wait to see justice served for all the damage he has done to America.
"CONTRITE" ?? - he does not know the meaning of such a word - he lives in his own world of megalomania - he developed it as a child with parents who did not give a shit about him - which is not an excuse!
In what way don't I get it? He doesn't plead till Tuesday. How do you know what actions the court will or will not take then?
Thanks, Daniel.
Imo every teeny thing that can be done to make TFG toe a line should be done. He's a spoiled baby who thinks bullying and tantrums will get him whatever he wants because they usually have. If DA Bragg can break that mindset by refusing to let ANYTHING slide -- and doing so publicly -- he should.
I think I can live with water torture. If everything were thrown at him at once, he could cherry pick, and so could his lawyers. One at a time gives him no peace, and he won't know what's next. Yes, he thrives on chaos, but he's been the cause. Maybe he won't thrive well when someone else controls the narrative.
TFG doesn't think laws/rules apply to him. Show him he's wrong. As long as it takes, whatever it takes. He won't stop; neither can we.
Total agreement, Jan
With respect, I don't see you saying Beau's wrong about anything in particular - only that he's not a lawyer. True. So what? Most of us on this forum aren't lawyers, and I don't see how suggesting we keep our powder dry until the DA presents his case requires a law degree. Indeed, he seems to grant he's not a lawyer speaking to non-lawyers - like most of us do on this forum. He was stating his opinion per a viewer request. Buckley never impressed me with his memorized stats that usually served to distract, either. Consider: https://youtu.be/9js6LdkRE6Y Pay close attention starting about 6 minutes in to the end.
And then, please kindly explain. Which of Beau's legal points is/are unsound? Please quote and discuss.
Who is Beau
Who are you? Who am I? Who is anyone in this forum? Did you see the clip? That's who Beau is. What's your point?
Beau is outstanding at accurately analyzing a situation in simple, straightforward, logical terms.
Who is beau
Not a lawyer. And apparently, you aren't also.
I confess I'm not a lawyer. It doesn't mean our opinions are invalid.
“Porn star”
A distinction with scant difference - an exhibitionist vs anonymous. Not that I have any particular issue with it all. That's the personal hell >they< must live in.
It wasn't so much the act of paying hush money to Stormy Daniels; it was more that he did so to mislead the public and cover up his bad behavior while he was campaigning for president. Otherwise, I doubt if he would have bothered to cover his tracks.
And funds diverted from his campaign funds, don’t forget.
Is that a Roger Stone?
godzero, In my wildest fantasies, I want to see Stone and Flynn indicted in the Jan 6 insurrection.
Mark Meadows should be a the top of the list, right behind Trump.
And let's not forget the dapper one- Bannon
We need Flynn gone. Now THERE is the dangerous man.
One indication of good satire is that, even with an intelligent group such as this, there are still a few who take you at your word & manifest the appropriate outrage.
Or gets them thinking about what was said in a fresh way.
Lots of rocks coming his way.
Ian ; but what about election fraud ? "Thou shalt not game an election by trying to appear moral" or something like that.
Or how about Matthew 8;6- thou shalt not place false Russian loans before you, just because you scammed every bank in America and filed bankruptcy on your town in Atlantic City?
Is this really what you think of men? You think they are all lying, cheating, narcissistic predators. I would agree probably 1 out of 5 is, but there are honorable, kind, honest, and moral men who do not lie or cheat
Lol..
Ian, I sincerely try to remain cogently stoned, but for the "stoning" you have in mind, I'll need more than a metaphor, and more than my grand-daughter's irreplaceable pet rock. If you have a supply of stones, I lean toward conglomerate. Granite is my preference if beggars are permitted to choose.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Very funny.
Agree : we need a sitcom for all this, I promise you it will ne riveting!
I'm warming up my throwing arm.
Are you freaking kidding or are you just another Magat Moron? I'll lead the stone throwing line and will want multiple stones. I was a pretty good baseball pitcher back in the day with a good fastball and control. Been married and faithful for 43 years, you know, some people honor their vows. tRump doesn't know what honor or vows are!
I think Ian was being sarcastic. Please read the comment again, specifically the part where he says, "...let he who has not used illegal hush money payments to cover up cheating on their third wife by raw-dogging a porn star cast the first stone." That probably allows the majority of us to cast the first stone at Trump because most of us have not "used illegal hush money payments to cover up cheating on their third wife by raw-dogging a porn star cast the first stone." Get it?
You are a good man, Chuck, to have honored your marriage vows by being faithful to your wife for 43 years. Congratulations! I hope your wife and you celebrate many more wedding anniversaries together!
He will be indicted in other cases, convicted in all and spend years under house arrest. The rule of law will be vindicated. Meanwhile Fox will be bankrupt by the Dominion lawsuit. We’ll have a great end of the decade
House arrest? In his palatial home? Reilly? How much would that differ from now? He has caused harm to so many people. Nearly destroyed Democracy. Is in essence a traitor. He said traitors should be hanged. In fact he suggested Pence should be hanged. Is this really a just punishment? Think of all the crimes against humanity that he has perpetrated throughout his life in the name of greed and self-aggrandizement, for which he will never be prosecuted. No wonder he thinks he is above the law. No slap on the hand will suffice. He must spend some time in prison. Otherwise, where is the just punishment?
The Almighty will be his greatest judge !
Not all believe in magical thinking.
Great question. What’s incarceration FOR?
Putin will be dead and Ukraine will win their war with NATO’s help. I’m just hoping the R party dissolves itself and a newer, more even-handed party emerges.
He Touches, It Dies . .has very likely done in The Grand Old . .like the tens of thousands of unnecessarily dead anti mask/vaxxers . .Tried his best with Nato .. and the planet. for that matter, with the Chinese climate hoax .. worthy of the Damien franchise . .
George Bush told them'keep this stuff up and you'll be extinct.
Trump has a trial date April 26 in the Jean Carroll defamation/rape case and Oct. 2 in the $250,000 tax fraud case, both civil cases. His lawyers blew most of the discovery time periods and Trump has been making statements that can hang him. Could be that his conduct will permit judges to rule that all inferences should be held against him in the civil cases.
The measure in these cases could he huge. He's also the defendant in about 20 other viable cases.
Garland has been a putz, but I expect many other criminal case will be filed "imminently." I can think of another 20 or so claims for relief that the media don't address -- like the charges the Italian CIA made during the Durham non-investigation.
This is why I think Trump will skip. Exile to UAE. Every day new revelations are reported. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/30/us/politics/jared-kushner-qatar-united-arab-emirates.html
That certainly crossed my mind.
He has that big plane with a rather large TRUMP on it.
The once was a flight to Venezuela .. that got turned around, engine failure .. his Service detail, after all, not jailers . . . #Karma Shave
Wish I could believe this. I think everyone will throw him under that proverbial bus. Let them shiver in their boots. M so sick of their reign of terror.
NO to house arrest. Prison and not a damn country club prison either. His top guy Weisselburg is in Rikers if I'm not mistaken. This is where trump belongs. Or Gitmo. Ron can visit and relieve his glory days of torturing prisoners.
Scared shitless already in Bolsanaro Lite Land . .isn't half bad . .for starters . . ..
He's already under house arrest, more or less .. down at Merry Lardo . .
Don’t be April Fooling us with such a rosy future.
And that is how we will get our country back and save our democracy from fascism.
I don’t like the “house arrest” part, but otherwise
it works for me.
Wouldn’t that be nice for a change!
Optimist.
In a perfect world..
Which song. Try this https://youtu.be/Qvep3Vsv_uQ
I promoted Supertramp. In another life.
What I find frightening is all the people talking about a civil war, on Twitter. Y’all are willing to die for Donald trump? They don’t care about us, not me, or the rubes who send their hard earned wages to him. Am I willing to die, so other women can access abortion? Maybe, but that’s not what the end result of a civil war will be. It’s like political divisions are so bad, they want to have live combat with people that don’t agree with them. I’m trying to raise my kid and become a welder, I don’t have time to fight for rights my grandmothers fought for and won, 50 years ago. I live in Florida and they are working really hard to put in a 6 week ban. (I got an iud when they put in the 15 week ban, by the time it is no longer effective my fertility will be a fart in the wind) But I come from addiction and real poverty, I know how much harder life is when you have children you aren’t ready for. You end up putting yourself in situations, like staying with a bad boyfriend, or if you’re very lucky, living with parents and grandparents. I survived by sugar daddies, men with money, that will give me some money for my “time”. Luckily, one took a real interest in me and financed my recovery. One thing we need to talk about is the price of Suboxone. Some pharmacies charge between 4-6$ for a single 8mg dose. Getting clean is very difficult, it’s painful, you have to be in so much pain as a junkie that the pain of not changing has to be greater than that of the change itself. Most clinics want your system to be clean of opiates and still display withdrawal symptoms, before they will give you Suboxone. It’s a rough 7 days. And you have to have your money together, because it’s $ 100s for the appointment, and then the script can be expensive. I already had a valid script when I quit my job (and lost my fantastic insurance)to go to welding school, and the healthcare exchange plans all completely cover the price of the drs visit and the script. Thank you, Obama. The affordable care act also provides no cost birth control, I didn’t pay a dime for my iud, and I strongly urge all childbearing age women in Florida, to run to their birth control providers, and get something permanent, like tubal ligation, your insurance has to cover it, it doesn’t matter what method you choose. That is something they will take aim at next, is insurance covered birth control. They want us all barefoot and pregnant. Fuck them, and fuck you if you agree with them. Women in Florida need to just stop. Stop cooking, stop cleaning, stop fucking your husband, and if you can, stop working. And tell your husband to call their state senator if they want their partner back! Im doing it to my boyfriend...
It's great to have someone who explains clearly how American doesn't give a shit about. 1/2 of it's citizens. Hang-in there Angela. You seem to have the energy to take care of yourself. I hope you find a few people who can support you through all of this.
See that’s the thing is I’m doing great personally. It really was the drugs and other selfish behavior. I could see the writing on the wall as a laborer at a construction company, and quit and go to welding school. Because the most important thing is being self sufficient. Of course civil society falls apart when I come late to the party of real life. I have an obligation to other junkie moms, to do for them what someone did for me. Show them the way to get their shit together and stop making excuses. But now we have to fight for reproductive rights, and I have other shit to do!
Being in Florida gives you a lot to work on. The governor went to Yale to learn how to become Mussolini. I know the crazies who live in The Villages love him, but I don’t understand everyone else. If you dress like “a man” when you go to work, will you get arrested?
The idea is ridiculous. From the party of freedom! More like the Freedom to be poor with few professional skills/ opportunities and too many children.
You are exceptionally aware. The cost of what you are suggesting is nickles and dimes to the wealthy. The Prophets of the Old Testament would call us out for our meanness and hard hearts. But the prophets in America tread a lonely road.
It’s like a novel building up to a climax.
1st: NY hush money
2nd: Mar-A-Lago document hording
3rd: Georgia election tampering
4th: January 6th Insurrection
Each case is more significant and involves more co-conspirators.
Maybe this can restore a little bit of faith in the Criminal Justice System.
I use a slightly different order, I think Georgia will be next and before May 1. Trump's lawyers ask the judge to throw out the case and the Judge ordered the DA to response by May 1. DA responded that her reply would be actions by the DA's office.
I also have a feeling that there is a lot more in NY case's 34 charges than hush money and ONE false business record. Maybe Trump will be charged with many false business records and hush money just opened the pandora's box.
I hate to correct people, but yes, NY DA's 34 indictments are all related to the hush money payments, but there's more than "ONE false business record."
Every time Cohen submitted an invoice, "three false business records" were created for that one invoice by the Trump Org or the Donald Trump Revocable Trust, as follows: 1) accepted and approved Cohen's invoice for payment, 2) created a General Ledger entry for it, and 3) issued a check for it. The process was repeated 11 times. But, the first Cohen invoice was divided into two separate General Ledger entries, which accounts for one more indictment for a total of 34.
Your order is likely correct. I'm thinking of the order of apparent significance. Most likely the state cases is the preferred political order.
If the documents case includes evidence that classified information was given or sold to international adversaries such as Russia or Saudi Arabia as I suspect happened, that would greatly enhance the significance of that case.
I am absolutely certain that Trump has colluded with Putin (also likely MBS & perhaps other dictators) against American interests in multiple ways that would overshadow any convicted spy or traitor in US history, & that it involves many Republicans in Congress & the Trump administration (some probably lingering in the Biden administration), & Fox could well be in on it, & I hope that 1 or more of these investigations uncovers this unprecedented treachery against US democracy & sovereignty.
Jaime Ramirez : Fox's Tucker Carlson has his own propaganda show on Russian state TV. It's not promoting Democracy as I understand it.
Pecker/Karen MacDougal “Catch and Kill” helps with the Cohen factor.
Dickens himself would laugh at the character name “David Pecker.” Up there with “Dick Trickle” the Formula 1 driver.
You cannot make this stuff up 🤣
I’ve had my bottle of champagne out all week. The good stuff too. Getting ready to light off some fireworks and dancing in the dark. Hooray for ole lady Justice. I’m rooting for her.
God willing!
The worst thing about the Trump indictment will be that we will be flooded with having to hear, see or read about Trump for the next two years. He will dominate the news while the rest of the world will continue to fall apart. The war in Ukraine, the destruction of the climate, inflation, toxic spills, the worsening of the wealth gap — nada. All of those issues will be vastly overshadowed by the ravings of a lunatic and his sycophantic followers. I doubt there will be much physical violence. Even Trumpers don’t like to be on the receiving end of a bullet. There may be more crazies who try to attack the DAs, the courts, drag queens or kids in schools. But that is the culture they have brought to the fore in America.
"He will dominate the news while the rest of the world will continue to fall apart. The war in Ukraine, the destruction of the climate, inflation, toxic spills, the worsening of the wealth gap — nada. All of those issues will be vastly overshadowed by the ravings of a lunatic and his sycophantic followers."
This has bothered me for years now. News networks should limit incessant Trump talk and spend more time the issues Oldandintheway outlines.
Very true re the news networks but NOT HOLDING MY BREATH. Cronkite must be rolling over in his grave.
Robert ; yes. Just the facts about tfg. He is indicted, indicted and indicted some more. Even under gag orders!
From what I've read, there are between 30-34 charges that trump will face. If people remember Michael Cohen's testimony, trump did quite a bit of criminal activity in his real estate business. Cohen said trump had no problem over and under valuing property to get the "best deals" with loans and insurances. These charges are bigger than paying off Stormy for a quick one.
GA sounds like they're ready or very close to being ready to indict trump on multiple charges.
The real biggie is Jack Smith. I can only imagine the charges.
Let justice prevail!
Will be deluscious!
Come on, Mr Reich say the word; " Dictator. " Minority rule, whether by one or many, is dictatorship, and that is what has been described and what Trump and his cult are all in for. Your parents can be authoritarian, but this way beyond that. The end of the American democracy is the goal of Trump and his minions, its past time to speak plainly when describing the threat that they represent.
Absolutely! I completely agree.
Charlie Chaplin rules! Rocking ole lady Justice too. She will kick that little grifters ass to the curb and come out bruised but smiling. Don’t give up on her yet! My bets are on the ole lady not that two bit mobster.
Dr Reich; using his earned credentials might make for a better dialogue. ❤️
Or Professor Reich.
Or as he calls himself on this site: "Robert Reich." The point is that tip toeing around Trump's plans and his supporters willingness to use violence to help achieve them, is an issue that is more important than titles.
Yeah
Hear the evil at the heart of this, movie Judgment at Nuremberg. https://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechjudgmentatnuremberg3.html
An excerpt:” men can delude themselves into the commission of crimes so vast and heinous that they beggar the imagination. No one who has sat through the trial can ever forget them: men sterilized because of political belief; a mockery made of friendship and faith; the murder of children. How easily it can happen.
There are those in our own country too who today speak of the "protection of country" -- of "survival." A decision must be made in the life of every nation at the very moment when the grasp of the enemy is at its throat. Then, it seems that the only way to survive is to use the means of the enemy, to rest survival upon what is expedient -- to look the other way.
Well, the answer to that is "survival as what?" A country isn't a rock. It's not an extension of one's self. It's what it stands for. It's what it stands for when standing for something is the most difficult.”
You have to hold Trump accountable. It’s the only thing that has affected his power. The problem has been that his followers didn’t always watch the media that held him accountable. I remember when Watergate was on main stream TV. And we did not have cable or Internet. Everybody was informed.
It wasn’t until it was easy to watch the January 6 trials on broadcast television.(its whereabouts was buried at the beginning even for those of us who wanted to watch it. We had to really search the Web.) but eventually showed up on the 5 o’clock news and it could be found on channel 2 with excerpts of people talking about it in real video. Finally the independents saw it for what it was. There will always be evil people, but if they don’t have followers, they won’t have any power. We need to expose him consistently, and clearly in the 5 o’clock news. There are no longer two sides to climate change and there’s no longer two sides to January 6 in the 5 o’clock news.
Until there was a video about George Floyd in main stream broadcast news, many white people did not know that there was an every day problem of racism. We need to keep holding people accountable in the main stream news. They can’t vote intelligently if they only have fake news. Ironically, while the Republicans were massively, creating fake news, they created the concept of fake news to cover themselves and blamed it on the Democrats. We have to get the truth out in the media.
Essential for justice to demonstrate no one is above the law
We've only just begun.
Corruption is baked into our modern system. 100 years ago, the country had the Teapot Dome scandal - and never created any checks on the Executive, then Nixon’s Vice Presidential follies in Cuba, led to his corruption (war crimes) with Anna Chenault and secret bombings, and $$millions in bribes. Which directly brought us Iran/Contra and $$ billions in secret funds. On to Iraq - a war for profit with pallettes of money “disappearing”. ALL REPUBLICANS.
Are we still so sure we want to fix that party? They were never Loyal Opposition. Trump is just the most obviously corrupt. But he must be aggressively prosecuted, and finally the party needs to collapse under the weight of its avarice and racism.
Indict him period. Let the chips fall. Let true accountability reign supreme.
The indictment of Trump restores some faith in the hope that everyone is equal under the law.
Nothing will happen. The courts and prisons only exist for the poor and the average American. The wealthy but their way out one way or another.
Sincerely hope you're wrong Paulen. There's so many people waiting to see justice.
No matter what anyone would have preferred, even those doing the actual legal work, I do not think there was a choice. Do we believe in some kind of logical accountability in this country or not? Do we believe in the sense and purpose of the law or not? Ignore it at our peril and accept the consequences.
It strengthens democracy and the rule of law. The disgusting GOP response clearly shows they want neither of both so Democracy remains under threat
The result of many justified indictments: momentary social platform nonsense and gatherings of no import led and populated by American red neck ignorant fearful racists and a total collapse of the present Republican Party..
An act of "Reason."
Donald Hodgins <silencenotbad@gmail.com>
10:13 AM (2 minutes ago)
I post my thoughts and interact with a number of people from all around our country. What puzzles me is the separation that exists between reason from reaction. Almost without exception the Republicans who oppose what I have to say do so in a reactionary manner, often expressing anger on one level or another. In contrast, the responses from Democrats show at least a rudimentary attempt at reason. The two camps are in direct opposition to one another and they shouldn't be. What we have is an example of "oil and water" and what we need to meld the two is an active blender that takes no sides but combines our agendas into a common goal. Unity.
As a student (once) of rhetoric, one learns you can't communicate with crazy, emotional, immoral people. Necessary elements of Rhetorical argument are: Ethos-ethics; Pathos-emotion; Logos-logic. It takes balance to facilitate the art of persuasion. Clearly Christofacists kowtowing to x45 are not capable of balance.
The Republican Party (and the democrats to a lesser extent) campaigns on emotions. It is difficult to discern when your emotions are being titillated but with practice it can be done. If we teach our fellow voters to recognize emotional manipulation we might turn them into responsible voters.
In other words “critical thinking skills.” A very religious conservative once told me that “critical thinking” is liberal code for challenging your parents and the church.
Lol and so children should feel safe doing that!
As it should be, as part of challenging authority in general.
Didn't one of the Gospels quote Jesus saying he had come to set children against their parents.
Did this record my comment to this — basically saying, yes, it did, but in a context that matters?
Essentially, those who don’t want their kids to “challenge” authority should read Matthew’s Gospel!!