The insults don't bother me--probably because I have my own equally potentially upsetting list--plus I know Shakespeare. You want some killer insults, Shakespeare is your guy. Brush up on your Elizabethan English first though.
(If people actually understood some of the stuff going on in Shakespeare there would be a great wailing and gnashing of teeth--but he gets a pass because people don't understand it and it's Great Literature).
Most of the rest of the stuff he wrote I kinda said in one of my earlier posts (my rant about conservatism)... so I am on board there.
Instead of being liberal or conservative, how about we just be reasonably smart and sane? Wouldn't THAT be a change? Maybe we should start a Smart and Sane Party.
Republican government as practiced in the US has become a mess. Yes, it is necessary to protect the rights of the minority (but somehow there were a lot of American minorities who didn't get protected under the traditional system that everybody touts as protecting the minority).
But there has to be balance. You DO have to be able to do things at some point.
Yes, the Imperial Presidency is too powerful. Whose fault is that (I am looking at YOU Congress). You could try returning power to Congress but the reality is that they would just give it away again, for the same reasons they gave it away the first time.
The Administrative State is too powerful. The problem is that i cannot think of a better way to run a diverse nation of 330+ million people spread across more than a continent.
Unmediated democracy is a grave danger. But to counteract it, you need leadership that possesses both courage and principles (and virtue). We do not elect those people. Those people do not run for office ITFP.
If only the people valued virtue and rewarded it (and I am not talking about the faux virtues espoused by the Right or the Left).
Hang on a minute on the FFS re. the free at-home tests. I'm pretty impressed about how easy it was to order the 4 free in-home tests that are going to be mailed to me. I am one of the over-65, Medicare people, and I am not worried or outraged at all--quite the opposite. I think it will take me quite a while to use up the 4 free tests, since, like most people my age, I am retired and don't spend time in situations where I am likely to be exposed.
What I learned from Donald Trump is that anything is possible. He was elected President. I never expected that. Not a billion billion calculations per second could have predicted that. The confluence of events (celebrity, rhetorical prowess, yokels, foreign influence, opposition turned to acquiescence, two polarizing candidates vying for the presidency, James Comey's well-intentioned but ill-timed announcement, etc) that lead to the 2016 election seem impossible yet all aligned and coagulated to form President Trump. Are civil / criminal charges possible? Are plea deals possible? Are jury trials possible? Anything is possible!
Are convictions and meaning consequences possible? No. That's not possible.
One of the major problems that I see coming is that now that the Pandora's Box of the election was stolen/illegitimate has been opened wide, EVERYBODY and their uncle is going to be using it. I already see signs of this on the Left--and it is full blown on the Right.
Soon, NO election will be legitimate for the losing side. NO public appointment. NO law. This is the path we tread and it leads to Perdition.
You cannot shatter the illusion for momentary advantage or selfishness and then expect it to hold afterwards.
The loss of social trust is the root cause. You cannot paint your fellow citizens as evil deviants for a few decades and expect things to hold together.
The late Republic and early Principate are full of lessons about how to destroy (or possibly to save) a Republic. The Founders understood some of these lessons (but could not put them all into practice ITL).
It is too bad that the vast majority of the people are unfamiliar with anything other than the mythological history of Rome... or the sexy/violent parts that make good TV/movies.
Full Disclosure: I am absolutely aware of my personal tendency toward verbosity at times. How could I not be with my darling (and keenly observant) wife often reminding me of that fact. That said...
Re: Quick Hits #1...The position Lowry is advocating for here is one that if he were to be more economical with his words, I expect he would present as simply "pragmatic". Charlie is much more economical with his..."a common rationalization" that is "circular". Let me attempt to squeeze out all the surplus words here and focus on the only two descriptors that I believe relevant to what Lowry is talking about. Pragmatism. Hypocrisy.
Pragmatism at times can be a useful position. Sorry, can't say the same for hypocrisy. At least I myself can't. And by my lights that is what Lowry is promoting, however much he wishes to see it as "maneuvering". Or anything else. Sadly, there's an extreme overabundance of this particular political (and human) commodity. If nothing else, at least Cheney is trimming that oversupply just a bit.
Also, Re: QH #2...I love language. Probably why I use too much of it sometimes. And I love the descriptions Tim often conjures up of #45. Pure gold, language-wise. But in keeping with my above theme of economy of words, let me give mine: Trump Bad.
Your point: "So much losing, you almost have to feel sorry for the former guy," would be true for truly righteous monks and nuns, naïve people, and those drawing a paycheck from his business cartels.
For the rest of us, who have been mentally tortured by the Secessionist-In-Chief's outrageous behavior and statements, there is schadenfreude. We hope that at last retribution will come for this sociopathic, shallow, intellectually lazy huckster.
During his "career" Trump cut corners, and gambled that his outright illegal actions would never come to court. He is not stupid and knows many of his actions are wrong, yet rationalizes ALL other people are the same.
He lacks empathy, the ability to stand in someone else's shoes and understand how they feel. His statements about being sad when "friends" die, is genuine, but not empathetic. His self-centered sadness wells up because that person who helped grow his cartel's profits will not be there to continue that role.
That point is key: Trump has no sense of guilt, similar to a wild animal being unable to conceptualize good or bad. But there is a difference. He has a skewed concept of good and bad. Since his decisions are always self-centered, any words or actions that further his wants are good, and those that block his desired outcomes are bad, evil, and criminal.
I wish the former guy good health during his current legal issues.
But I cannot be a hypocrite. I also hope that after the legal processes he has a long illness, unable to speak and write, so he can reflect on an afterlife and Psalm 10:13 “Why does the wicked man revile God and His ways? Why does he say to himself, 'I won’t call me to account?'"
My Trump Leaving This World Fantasy goes like this: Whenever and however his departure comes, I hope it comes in a way that allows him awareness of all as he's drawing his very last breath, and his mind has just enough time to form and ponder ever so briefly the thought: "Oh, shit. What if there really is a God?"
Snowflake, I did check and Forbes (that famous liberal economics periodical) states that Uncle Joe has been caught in lies/innuendo of falsehoods 32% of the time, while the Secessionist-In-Chief was busting records at 63%.
Let me help you with the math...almost 2/3rds of the utterances by the former guy were either lies or innuendo of falsehoods, while Uncle Joe was less than a third.
sorry for delay - definitely search Bill Kristol's twitter but his podcast is "Conversations with Bill Kristol" wherever you normally get your podcasts. Think you can also search YouTube and find there
People have to understand this: even if Trump is charged with a felony and convicted, even if gets a several year prison sentence, he can still be a candidate for President of the United States and be elected. Federal courts have ruled that the only qualifications for President or any federal elected position are those outlined in the Constitution. Regarding the Presidency, those qualifications are 35 years of age, natural born citizen, 14 years a resident of the United States).
That you don't have a felony conviction is not mentioned in the Constitution. If you have a felony, you can run for President or Congress. Many, if not most states, disqualify people from running for state office if they have a felony. But they can't stop felons from running or being elected to federal office.
Of course, some will chime in that if Trump's convicted of a felony he will be so damaged politically he won't be able to run. I don't buy that for a second. His political supporters have proven they will overlook ANYTHING. He will still be running the GOP and in line to get the nomination if he wants. I think if Trump's prosecuted, he's more likely to run because that will give him the most political cover from the prosecution.
But there is a way to disqualification. The Insurrection Clause of the 14th Amendment needs to be dusted off and used to take Trump out of the running in 2024 and for any federal election thereafter. That's what they should have used instead of the much more difficult alternative of impeachment. Now though they have even more evidence of the conspiracy and Trump's role. Use the Insurrection Clause. Don't assume criminal convictions will deter Trump from running.
Hell, if the guy got an actual rap sheet with his name on it, that would probably really firm up his support with a lot of his victims, er...I mean supporters, since they could better identify with him as a genuine victim of government oppression and the Deep State. After all, who could actually get Trump other than the Deep State, since the everyday garden variety justice system institutions haven't laid a glove on him to date?
I can see campaign posters with his mug shot on 'em sellin' like hotcakes. And then there are all those media possibilities for new programs a la Life After Lockup, Criminal Minds, etc.
Interesting to note that MAGA "federal government haters" hail from states in which 8 of the top 10 are sucking at the federal trough are Trump/Red states, as are 16 of the top 25.
Appreciate your points, but if such reality takes place (I doubt any prison time), a larger segment of Independents and a small sliver of ReTrumplican'ts will never be able to support another befouled presidency.
It depends upon what he is tried for and convicted of.:
Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.
18 USC 2383
But yes, you could be a convicted murderer serving hard time and run for President and be elected (theoretically).
Point taken. The crucial thing is to continue to hammer at Trump's reputation. My fondest hope is that Bill Barr, under questioning from Liz Cheney, will repeat publicly what he told Jonathon Karl: Trump's claims of election fraud are all bullshit. Get people to recognize The Big Lie is a lie, and Trump is instantly transformed into a pathetic figure.
I think you may be overestimating people's wilingness to admit their ability to be conned. If you are still with Trump, you are not capable of being convinced of anything other than what he says is true.
There is NOTHING, literally NOTHING--no data, no argument, that will convince these people that the election was not stolen. Trying to convince these people of that is a fools errand.
You CAN convince more reasonable people--but there is a segment of the population that MUST believe this in order for the universe to work for them. It becomes the equivalent of a crisis of religious faith.
The hope is that there are enough reasonable people to understand this and vote accordingly in the future.
And remember that a number of these reasonable people will go along with this BS because it serves their own ambition (IOW, a lot of the current GoP politicians).
Live testimony in prime time before a congressional committee could have an impact. It's a numbers game - keep chipping away.
I was surprised by a 19 year old neighbor kid a few days ago. He's studying to be an electrician and grew up in a MAGA household. A couple years ago in high school shop he made a "Trump 2020" sign. But he asked me, "Is that asshole(Trump) really going to run again?"
It's just astonishing that someone like Trump could never be hired for a position requiring a security clearance, yet he's totally cleared to be President. And, as President, he's positioned to make nepotistic White House appointments and override flags in their clearance checks. If there is any silver lining in the Trump presidency, it is the extent to which he exposed flaws in our system just by his very corrupt nature. But, nothing will be done to address those flaws, so there goes the silver lining.
I don't think the cult of anti-Trump has the brainpower to note that their continued crusade against him with breathtaking abuses of power are sending more voters to his corner.
They focused on the swing states. And they harvested ballots to win as much as they could. And in the end, even with DJT derangement syndrome fed to the public for four years prior, the Democrats could barely muster most slim majority ever in the history of our Great Experiment.
The good news it is only 2 years of hell. 2022 will start the Great Repair.
To increase voter participation, various organizations in multiple states have made active and coordinated efforts to collect absentee voters' ballots during elections. Then they drop them off at polling places or election offices.
This practice, known as ballot harvesting, has been effective and, unsurprisingly, has generated controversy.
Some see the practice of ballot harvesting as a voter service that has long-assisted elderly voters and Native American voters living on remote reservations. Others see it is a political tool that can easily lend itself to fraud.
So Trump's own Attorney General testifies to Trump's claims of voter fraud being "all bullshit." I could refer you to a library shelf of books of other things Never-Trumpers "have." But we all know nothing will penetrate.
And I have an Ivy League PhD. So what? I've seen enough of your comments to understand that you have no interest in good faith discussion. You let on how well read you are. But all we get from you are hackneyed concepts like Trump Derangement Syndrome.
That explains quite a bit. I know many, many people with prestigious academic awards, and very few of them do I consider strong critical thinkers. Most of them are myopic in their thought patterns and miss the big picture. That makes sense since they had delayed their launch into the real world to focus on generally one academic discipline. They end up working for me. I hire and fire PhDs from Ivy League schools more often than you probably do any work with your hands.
JVL asked his readers yesterday to meditate on "hope and grit." Most of us here at The Bulwark hope Trump gets his comeuppance and pray that Merrick Garland has grit. At first glance we may think these "hopes" of a much lower order than those JVL included in his piece. But on second thought, our hopes of a Trumpian demise are really about the restoration of the Ideals around which American civilization was constructed, when we have been at our best. Let's have some grit in service of that goal.
The reality is that it is often the little things that get you in the end, not the grand movements of the universe. The things that aren't important enough to pay attention to at the time. Small hopes sometimes pay off big.
I suspect that, when all is said and done, Rudy and several fellow travelers will be facing some serious charges, but TFG, whose interests they were facilitating, will remain untouched, further cementing his infallibility in the minds of his cultist supporters.
RE: The FFS comment that Medicare A/B won't cover at home tests. "The rules-heavy program bills enrolled providers like hospitals, doctors, labs and pharmacies directly for expenses. It doesn’t reimburse patients the way a flexible spending account or a commercial insurer sometimes does." So if a person does not choose to pay the premiums to have an Advantage Plan there are many other things they have to pay for out of pocket also. That is a choice they make. Are there Advantage plans that will heed the "encouragement" to cover these tests? Maybe. But I think we still struggle with the most logical use of these tests. The article says so 65 year olds can decide if they can safely gather. Wasn't this an issue even with trump - rapid tests being used as a "free to gather" card and then the next day people in the "safe" gathering ended up sick anyway. Not a epidemiologist and don't play one on TV either - but have a family with people in late 80s to young great grandchildren. Christmas day we planned a get together. We had purchased at home tests and everyone except the 2 in their late 80s took a test. One great grandchild tested positive - even tho no symptoms. That whole family stayed away from the party. Her symptoms started the following day - so really glad we did this. But I still took both elders to the drive through covid testing site 5 days after the party - because a negative at home test is not a guarantee. So realistically - can Biden sign an executive order and magically make tests reimbursable with medicare? A cumbersome government program that is not easily adjusted? Not likely - but he can make free tests available - which he has - and maybe needs to look lifting the cap of 4 per household if this continues. Also would be interested in knowing how many of those medicare recipients are republicans who don't give a rats ass about testing anyway.
You know what bothers me? It's that Trump has led a life of crime, destruction, and pathologically selfish decisions. He is now seventy-what? And his diet and lifestyle make me incredulous that he has lived this long. He will run out his own clock and escape justice. Unless, of course, there is some kind of afterlife accountability. I doubt it, but many others don't. I hope they are right.
The montages about walls closing in and turning points are indeed depressing, especially when, if each claim were examined in context, I imagine most of them were regarding some pretty egregious conduct that really should have brought some significant consequences down on Trump. The man has been engaged in criminal conduct since before I was born, and has never really faced any serious consequences, which of course has led to five decades of steadily emboldened behavior. Not really the ideal profile for a US President.
As far as the Russel Moore piece exhorting his Christian brethren to ask WWJD, I feel compelled to share something that was just recently brought to my attention:
Apparently, in 2019, 19 of the top 20 Christian Facebook pages were run by Eastern European troll farms, like the folks out of Macedonia. These are a gullible lot, and it's not a huge surprise that they're total suckers for an amoral, shameless conman. I'm not optimistic they'll be coming around. And the more entrenched you become in these fantasies, the harder and more painful it becomes to admit you and your entire worldview were wrong.
You use the word "gullible" in your comment, which I agree with. But I would prefer a phrase Charlie has used: willfully gullible. I don't think the problem is merely being to dim to recognize a conman. There is something in the phenomenon that smells of wanting to be fooled.
This is essentially correct. You will often see me use terms like willful stupidity or willful ignorance in the same context.
The vast majority of these people are NOT fooled--in the sense that they have somehow been persuaded or convinced by external means to a belief. They believe because they WISH to believe. It fits in with their desires and their understanding of the world and their place in it.
Narrative. We are creatures of narrative, not of rationality or logic. This is why you can persuade people more effectively with an anecdote than with reams of actual hard data. They understand the story. They FEEL the story. They can put themselves in the story.
People want to believe that the Universe makes sense. That there is purpose and intentionality. That good and evil are not subjective or contextual (and that they are things separate and above human existence).
It makes them feel better. Feel secure. Know their place in the scheme of things. Reality has purpose and is controllable.
This is kind of beside the point, but have you noticed that many mysteries aren't actually solvable on the basis of the information provided? I always enjoyed reading Sherlock Holmes stories, but never really considered them mysteries... because you never got the necessary info to actually solve the crime until Holmes did his thing at the end.
Confirmation bias wouldn't be nearly the problem it is if confirming our biases weren't so satisfying. I agree they are willful, since there is plenty of good information out there, as well as bad, but too many of us aren't interested in the quality of information; we're interested in the information that tells us how right we are. And cultures that value faith above reason are ripe for exploitation by snake oil salesmen.
It's hard to believe the ex-president will ever wind up behind bars. He's pretty much poisoned the jury pool.
WRT Miller's piece...
The insults don't bother me--probably because I have my own equally potentially upsetting list--plus I know Shakespeare. You want some killer insults, Shakespeare is your guy. Brush up on your Elizabethan English first though.
(If people actually understood some of the stuff going on in Shakespeare there would be a great wailing and gnashing of teeth--but he gets a pass because people don't understand it and it's Great Literature).
Most of the rest of the stuff he wrote I kinda said in one of my earlier posts (my rant about conservatism)... so I am on board there.
Instead of being liberal or conservative, how about we just be reasonably smart and sane? Wouldn't THAT be a change? Maybe we should start a Smart and Sane Party.
Republican government as practiced in the US has become a mess. Yes, it is necessary to protect the rights of the minority (but somehow there were a lot of American minorities who didn't get protected under the traditional system that everybody touts as protecting the minority).
But there has to be balance. You DO have to be able to do things at some point.
Yes, the Imperial Presidency is too powerful. Whose fault is that (I am looking at YOU Congress). You could try returning power to Congress but the reality is that they would just give it away again, for the same reasons they gave it away the first time.
The Administrative State is too powerful. The problem is that i cannot think of a better way to run a diverse nation of 330+ million people spread across more than a continent.
Unmediated democracy is a grave danger. But to counteract it, you need leadership that possesses both courage and principles (and virtue). We do not elect those people. Those people do not run for office ITFP.
If only the people valued virtue and rewarded it (and I am not talking about the faux virtues espoused by the Right or the Left).
Hang on a minute on the FFS re. the free at-home tests. I'm pretty impressed about how easy it was to order the 4 free in-home tests that are going to be mailed to me. I am one of the over-65, Medicare people, and I am not worried or outraged at all--quite the opposite. I think it will take me quite a while to use up the 4 free tests, since, like most people my age, I am retired and don't spend time in situations where I am likely to be exposed.
What I learned from Donald Trump is that anything is possible. He was elected President. I never expected that. Not a billion billion calculations per second could have predicted that. The confluence of events (celebrity, rhetorical prowess, yokels, foreign influence, opposition turned to acquiescence, two polarizing candidates vying for the presidency, James Comey's well-intentioned but ill-timed announcement, etc) that lead to the 2016 election seem impossible yet all aligned and coagulated to form President Trump. Are civil / criminal charges possible? Are plea deals possible? Are jury trials possible? Anything is possible!
Are convictions and meaning consequences possible? No. That's not possible.
One of the major problems that I see coming is that now that the Pandora's Box of the election was stolen/illegitimate has been opened wide, EVERYBODY and their uncle is going to be using it. I already see signs of this on the Left--and it is full blown on the Right.
Soon, NO election will be legitimate for the losing side. NO public appointment. NO law. This is the path we tread and it leads to Perdition.
You cannot shatter the illusion for momentary advantage or selfishness and then expect it to hold afterwards.
The larger problem is the breakdown of social trust. The bull market in lies continues.
The loss of social trust is the root cause. You cannot paint your fellow citizens as evil deviants for a few decades and expect things to hold together.
The late Republic and early Principate are full of lessons about how to destroy (or possibly to save) a Republic. The Founders understood some of these lessons (but could not put them all into practice ITL).
It is too bad that the vast majority of the people are unfamiliar with anything other than the mythological history of Rome... or the sexy/violent parts that make good TV/movies.
Full Disclosure: I am absolutely aware of my personal tendency toward verbosity at times. How could I not be with my darling (and keenly observant) wife often reminding me of that fact. That said...
Re: Quick Hits #1...The position Lowry is advocating for here is one that if he were to be more economical with his words, I expect he would present as simply "pragmatic". Charlie is much more economical with his..."a common rationalization" that is "circular". Let me attempt to squeeze out all the surplus words here and focus on the only two descriptors that I believe relevant to what Lowry is talking about. Pragmatism. Hypocrisy.
Pragmatism at times can be a useful position. Sorry, can't say the same for hypocrisy. At least I myself can't. And by my lights that is what Lowry is promoting, however much he wishes to see it as "maneuvering". Or anything else. Sadly, there's an extreme overabundance of this particular political (and human) commodity. If nothing else, at least Cheney is trimming that oversupply just a bit.
Also, Re: QH #2...I love language. Probably why I use too much of it sometimes. And I love the descriptions Tim often conjures up of #45. Pure gold, language-wise. But in keeping with my above theme of economy of words, let me give mine: Trump Bad.
OK. Enough of that crap. Back over to you, Tim.
Hypocrisy is the homage vice pays to virtue.
Hypocrisy at least lets virtue stand as virtue. Trumpism upends things: Vice is now virtue, and vice versa.
Good point.
Trumpism is a direct descendant of The Anti-Masonic Party. We've always had these nutters and sadly always will
Your point: "So much losing, you almost have to feel sorry for the former guy," would be true for truly righteous monks and nuns, naïve people, and those drawing a paycheck from his business cartels.
For the rest of us, who have been mentally tortured by the Secessionist-In-Chief's outrageous behavior and statements, there is schadenfreude. We hope that at last retribution will come for this sociopathic, shallow, intellectually lazy huckster.
During his "career" Trump cut corners, and gambled that his outright illegal actions would never come to court. He is not stupid and knows many of his actions are wrong, yet rationalizes ALL other people are the same.
He lacks empathy, the ability to stand in someone else's shoes and understand how they feel. His statements about being sad when "friends" die, is genuine, but not empathetic. His self-centered sadness wells up because that person who helped grow his cartel's profits will not be there to continue that role.
That point is key: Trump has no sense of guilt, similar to a wild animal being unable to conceptualize good or bad. But there is a difference. He has a skewed concept of good and bad. Since his decisions are always self-centered, any words or actions that further his wants are good, and those that block his desired outcomes are bad, evil, and criminal.
I wish the former guy good health during his current legal issues.
But I cannot be a hypocrite. I also hope that after the legal processes he has a long illness, unable to speak and write, so he can reflect on an afterlife and Psalm 10:13 “Why does the wicked man revile God and His ways? Why does he say to himself, 'I won’t call me to account?'"
My Trump Leaving This World Fantasy goes like this: Whenever and however his departure comes, I hope it comes in a way that allows him awareness of all as he's drawing his very last breath, and his mind has just enough time to form and ponder ever so briefly the thought: "Oh, shit. What if there really is a God?"
Great!! He'd never know about Pascal's Wager --- which is now used in gambling.
https://jboone.substack.com/p/unhinged-hate-of-left
Dear Snowflake, learn about your cult leader's constant insulting of people who question his reality.
https://www.theatlantic.com/notes/all/2016/05/the-daily-trump/484064/
Dear campus clone of no critical thinking ability. There is nothing from the Atlantic worth reading related to Trump.
And check Old Joe for how he responds when challenged.
Snowflake, I did check and Forbes (that famous liberal economics periodical) states that Uncle Joe has been caught in lies/innuendo of falsehoods 32% of the time, while the Secessionist-In-Chief was busting records at 63%.
Let me help you with the math...almost 2/3rds of the utterances by the former guy were either lies or innuendo of falsehoods, while Uncle Joe was less than a third.
Bill's conversation with Jonathan Karl is excellent. Worth it to listen.
I can't find it, Kelly, please give me some breadcrumbs.
sorry for delay - definitely search Bill Kristol's twitter but his podcast is "Conversations with Bill Kristol" wherever you normally get your podcasts. Think you can also search YouTube and find there
I found it in Bill Kristol's twitter feed. Kelly's review is dead on.
People have to understand this: even if Trump is charged with a felony and convicted, even if gets a several year prison sentence, he can still be a candidate for President of the United States and be elected. Federal courts have ruled that the only qualifications for President or any federal elected position are those outlined in the Constitution. Regarding the Presidency, those qualifications are 35 years of age, natural born citizen, 14 years a resident of the United States).
That you don't have a felony conviction is not mentioned in the Constitution. If you have a felony, you can run for President or Congress. Many, if not most states, disqualify people from running for state office if they have a felony. But they can't stop felons from running or being elected to federal office.
Of course, some will chime in that if Trump's convicted of a felony he will be so damaged politically he won't be able to run. I don't buy that for a second. His political supporters have proven they will overlook ANYTHING. He will still be running the GOP and in line to get the nomination if he wants. I think if Trump's prosecuted, he's more likely to run because that will give him the most political cover from the prosecution.
But there is a way to disqualification. The Insurrection Clause of the 14th Amendment needs to be dusted off and used to take Trump out of the running in 2024 and for any federal election thereafter. That's what they should have used instead of the much more difficult alternative of impeachment. Now though they have even more evidence of the conspiracy and Trump's role. Use the Insurrection Clause. Don't assume criminal convictions will deter Trump from running.
Hell, if the guy got an actual rap sheet with his name on it, that would probably really firm up his support with a lot of his victims, er...I mean supporters, since they could better identify with him as a genuine victim of government oppression and the Deep State. After all, who could actually get Trump other than the Deep State, since the everyday garden variety justice system institutions haven't laid a glove on him to date?
I can see campaign posters with his mug shot on 'em sellin' like hotcakes. And then there are all those media possibilities for new programs a la Life After Lockup, Criminal Minds, etc.
Interesting to note that MAGA "federal government haters" hail from states in which 8 of the top 10 are sucking at the federal trough are Trump/Red states, as are 16 of the top 25.
Appreciate your points, but if such reality takes place (I doubt any prison time), a larger segment of Independents and a small sliver of ReTrumplican'ts will never be able to support another befouled presidency.
It depends upon what he is tried for and convicted of.:
Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.
18 USC 2383
But yes, you could be a convicted murderer serving hard time and run for President and be elected (theoretically).
Point taken. The crucial thing is to continue to hammer at Trump's reputation. My fondest hope is that Bill Barr, under questioning from Liz Cheney, will repeat publicly what he told Jonathon Karl: Trump's claims of election fraud are all bullshit. Get people to recognize The Big Lie is a lie, and Trump is instantly transformed into a pathetic figure.
I think you may be overestimating people's wilingness to admit their ability to be conned. If you are still with Trump, you are not capable of being convinced of anything other than what he says is true.
There is NOTHING, literally NOTHING--no data, no argument, that will convince these people that the election was not stolen. Trying to convince these people of that is a fools errand.
You CAN convince more reasonable people--but there is a segment of the population that MUST believe this in order for the universe to work for them. It becomes the equivalent of a crisis of religious faith.
The hope is that there are enough reasonable people to understand this and vote accordingly in the future.
And remember that a number of these reasonable people will go along with this BS because it serves their own ambition (IOW, a lot of the current GoP politicians).
Barr has already said as much publicly. Speaking the truth just makes you another pawn of the Deep State to these people.
Live testimony in prime time before a congressional committee could have an impact. It's a numbers game - keep chipping away.
I was surprised by a 19 year old neighbor kid a few days ago. He's studying to be an electrician and grew up in a MAGA household. A couple years ago in high school shop he made a "Trump 2020" sign. But he asked me, "Is that asshole(Trump) really going to run again?"
Let's hope if that asshole does run again your young neighbor will cast a ballot for his Democratic opponent.
It's just astonishing that someone like Trump could never be hired for a position requiring a security clearance, yet he's totally cleared to be President. And, as President, he's positioned to make nepotistic White House appointments and override flags in their clearance checks. If there is any silver lining in the Trump presidency, it is the extent to which he exposed flaws in our system just by his very corrupt nature. But, nothing will be done to address those flaws, so there goes the silver lining.
I don't think the cult of anti-Trump has the brainpower to note that their continued crusade against him with breathtaking abuses of power are sending more voters to his corner.
Ah, the troll returns. Don't feed the troll, folks.
Which is why he got throttled and lost states no Republican has lost in generations
"Throttled"? Hyperbole does not communicate credibility.
He lost by ballot harvesting. That won't happen again.
So, the Dems harvested ballots to beat Trump, but not to win more House seats and state leg seats? That certainly is a take
They focused on the swing states. And they harvested ballots to win as much as they could. And in the end, even with DJT derangement syndrome fed to the public for four years prior, the Democrats could barely muster most slim majority ever in the history of our Great Experiment.
The good news it is only 2 years of hell. 2022 will start the Great Repair.
Define ballot harvesting
To increase voter participation, various organizations in multiple states have made active and coordinated efforts to collect absentee voters' ballots during elections. Then they drop them off at polling places or election offices.
This practice, known as ballot harvesting, has been effective and, unsurprisingly, has generated controversy.
Some see the practice of ballot harvesting as a voter service that has long-assisted elderly voters and Native American voters living on remote reservations. Others see it is a political tool that can easily lend itself to fraud.
You guys are deranged in regard to Trump. That's the one true thing you wrote
Sure. I have a relative who has severe mental health issues and he thinks the other people are crazy.
Sure, Jan
We all missed you.
The quality of your thought are matched only by the quality of your grammar.
The cult of anti-Trump always go personal first as they have nothing else.
So Trump's own Attorney General testifies to Trump's claims of voter fraud being "all bullshit." I could refer you to a library shelf of books of other things Never-Trumpers "have." But we all know nothing will penetrate.
I am going to guess that you have read none of these books that are my most recent on my Kindle...
Woke Racism – John McWhorter
Hate Inc. – Matt Taibbi
Merchants of Doubt – Naomi Oreskes & Erik M. Conway
The Big Picture – Sean Carroll
Lying – Sam Harris
Clock Work – Mike Michalowisz
The Four Agreements – Don Miguel Ruiz
San Fran-sicko – Michael Shellenberger
The Real Antony Fauci – Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Leading with Gratitude – Adrian Gostick & Chester Alton
The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho
Pandemia – Alex Berenson
Cynical Theories – Helen Pluckrose & James Lindsay
Liberalism in Dark Times – Joshua L. Cherniss
The Righteous Mind – Jonathan Haidt
The Roots of American Order – Russell Kirk
The Parasitic Mind – Gad Saad
Nudge – Richard H. Thaler & Cass R. Sunstein
And I have an Ivy League PhD. So what? I've seen enough of your comments to understand that you have no interest in good faith discussion. You let on how well read you are. But all we get from you are hackneyed concepts like Trump Derangement Syndrome.
That explains quite a bit. I know many, many people with prestigious academic awards, and very few of them do I consider strong critical thinkers. Most of them are myopic in their thought patterns and miss the big picture. That makes sense since they had delayed their launch into the real world to focus on generally one academic discipline. They end up working for me. I hire and fire PhDs from Ivy League schools more often than you probably do any work with your hands.
I’ve read or listened to about half of those. You actually read Lying by Harris?
Not yet. Just downloaded a few days ago.
Also forgot to include Coming Apart - Charles Murray
Wow, a Trumper talking about a lack of brain power. The irony.
We know reason will not work with this guy. Good luck with being an irritant.
Once again... nothing intelligent nor interesting posted. At least you are consistent.
JVL asked his readers yesterday to meditate on "hope and grit." Most of us here at The Bulwark hope Trump gets his comeuppance and pray that Merrick Garland has grit. At first glance we may think these "hopes" of a much lower order than those JVL included in his piece. But on second thought, our hopes of a Trumpian demise are really about the restoration of the Ideals around which American civilization was constructed, when we have been at our best. Let's have some grit in service of that goal.
The reality is that it is often the little things that get you in the end, not the grand movements of the universe. The things that aren't important enough to pay attention to at the time. Small hopes sometimes pay off big.
I suspect that, when all is said and done, Rudy and several fellow travelers will be facing some serious charges, but TFG, whose interests they were facilitating, will remain untouched, further cementing his infallibility in the minds of his cultist supporters.
RE: The FFS comment that Medicare A/B won't cover at home tests. "The rules-heavy program bills enrolled providers like hospitals, doctors, labs and pharmacies directly for expenses. It doesn’t reimburse patients the way a flexible spending account or a commercial insurer sometimes does." So if a person does not choose to pay the premiums to have an Advantage Plan there are many other things they have to pay for out of pocket also. That is a choice they make. Are there Advantage plans that will heed the "encouragement" to cover these tests? Maybe. But I think we still struggle with the most logical use of these tests. The article says so 65 year olds can decide if they can safely gather. Wasn't this an issue even with trump - rapid tests being used as a "free to gather" card and then the next day people in the "safe" gathering ended up sick anyway. Not a epidemiologist and don't play one on TV either - but have a family with people in late 80s to young great grandchildren. Christmas day we planned a get together. We had purchased at home tests and everyone except the 2 in their late 80s took a test. One great grandchild tested positive - even tho no symptoms. That whole family stayed away from the party. Her symptoms started the following day - so really glad we did this. But I still took both elders to the drive through covid testing site 5 days after the party - because a negative at home test is not a guarantee. So realistically - can Biden sign an executive order and magically make tests reimbursable with medicare? A cumbersome government program that is not easily adjusted? Not likely - but he can make free tests available - which he has - and maybe needs to look lifting the cap of 4 per household if this continues. Also would be interested in knowing how many of those medicare recipients are republicans who don't give a rats ass about testing anyway.
You know what bothers me? It's that Trump has led a life of crime, destruction, and pathologically selfish decisions. He is now seventy-what? And his diet and lifestyle make me incredulous that he has lived this long. He will run out his own clock and escape justice. Unless, of course, there is some kind of afterlife accountability. I doubt it, but many others don't. I hope they are right.
Only the good die young, the scumbags hang on forever.
The montages about walls closing in and turning points are indeed depressing, especially when, if each claim were examined in context, I imagine most of them were regarding some pretty egregious conduct that really should have brought some significant consequences down on Trump. The man has been engaged in criminal conduct since before I was born, and has never really faced any serious consequences, which of course has led to five decades of steadily emboldened behavior. Not really the ideal profile for a US President.
As far as the Russel Moore piece exhorting his Christian brethren to ask WWJD, I feel compelled to share something that was just recently brought to my attention:
https://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/report-19-top-christian-pages-on-facebook-were-run-by-eastern-european-troll-farms.html
Apparently, in 2019, 19 of the top 20 Christian Facebook pages were run by Eastern European troll farms, like the folks out of Macedonia. These are a gullible lot, and it's not a huge surprise that they're total suckers for an amoral, shameless conman. I'm not optimistic they'll be coming around. And the more entrenched you become in these fantasies, the harder and more painful it becomes to admit you and your entire worldview were wrong.
You use the word "gullible" in your comment, which I agree with. But I would prefer a phrase Charlie has used: willfully gullible. I don't think the problem is merely being to dim to recognize a conman. There is something in the phenomenon that smells of wanting to be fooled.
This is essentially correct. You will often see me use terms like willful stupidity or willful ignorance in the same context.
The vast majority of these people are NOT fooled--in the sense that they have somehow been persuaded or convinced by external means to a belief. They believe because they WISH to believe. It fits in with their desires and their understanding of the world and their place in it.
Narrative. We are creatures of narrative, not of rationality or logic. This is why you can persuade people more effectively with an anecdote than with reams of actual hard data. They understand the story. They FEEL the story. They can put themselves in the story.
People want to believe that the Universe makes sense. That there is purpose and intentionality. That good and evil are not subjective or contextual (and that they are things separate and above human existence).
It makes them feel better. Feel secure. Know their place in the scheme of things. Reality has purpose and is controllable.
This is kind of beside the point, but have you noticed that many mysteries aren't actually solvable on the basis of the information provided? I always enjoyed reading Sherlock Holmes stories, but never really considered them mysteries... because you never got the necessary info to actually solve the crime until Holmes did his thing at the end.
Confirmation bias wouldn't be nearly the problem it is if confirming our biases weren't so satisfying. I agree they are willful, since there is plenty of good information out there, as well as bad, but too many of us aren't interested in the quality of information; we're interested in the information that tells us how right we are. And cultures that value faith above reason are ripe for exploitation by snake oil salesmen.