Donald Trump may be miffed at the court sketch artist for depicting him as sleeping (which actual photos have as well) and having a floofy, pompadour hairstyle, but the fact is, whatever the artist sees and draws is far more merciful than the camera. The camera always lies, it’s just a question of whether it lies in your favor or not. The camera has always been Trump’s ally. It gives him a dimension that it does not give to everyone. The camera giveth and the camera taketh away. The late Barbara Bush went on record saying that George H.W. Bush looked “smaller” on TV. That is one of many tricks the camera plays.
In Trump’s case, the camera gives him a certain sort of credibility that anybody who has actually been around him and smelled the hairspray and seen the inch thick makeup first hand, finds hard to believe. But as Trump deteriorates, even his old friend the camera can only do so much.
And then there is Junior. What about Junior? He’s got a dark set and a Kari Lake-level soft focus lens but you can still see he’s higher than a kite. This reminds me of the 2020 Republican National Convention. Remember that one? Kimberly was shrieking at the top of her lungs, with arms outstretched, “the best is yet to come,” and Junior came onstage looking totally wasted. I well remember Rick Wilson’s take on it, as the image went viral on Twitter, “He is legit ramped out of his goddamn mind.” That was an understatement, if anything. And it looks like the more things change, the more they stay the same. Here’s Junior’s podcast tonight.
That’s the worst his eyes have looked in a video so far and that’s saying something 😂
— Andrew Mc Cormack (@phpfyi) April 22, 2024
Fifty-six years ago to the day. pic.twitter.com/UeHjX7TH7m
— Mickey Hines (@mickhines) April 22, 2024
Now there’s a stroll down memory. Jesus, I wasn’t expecting that. The Manson murders were the following year in August of 1969.
Junior looks wasted on a lot of levels. He’s very thin. His shirt is hanging on him. It probably is more filled out when it’s still on the hanger in the closet. If the shirt could talk it would probably ask how much longer before it can return to the closet. I’m sure it prefers the company of other shirts to this junkie individual.
— tajacu (@tajacu) April 22, 2024
What’s that you say? Why don’t Junior and Eric come to trial? Not to mention Ivanka and Jared, and of course, dear Melania? There is a method to that madness, we are told.
Speaking with legal experts on the value of the defendant’s family members showing in the courtroom, the appearance of the former president’s latest wife garnered varied responses with one analyst suggesting it would be a sign of support for the embattled former president who is faced with 34 felony charges related to paying off an adult film star.
However, in an interview with Business Insider, former federal prosecutor Justin Danilewitz also conceded, “Ordinarily, in a case like this, the appearance of a spouse may well send an important signal of support. But the defense strategy here is likely to signal that this trial is not worth the time of the defendant, and even less the time of his close family.”
“Attending could suggest a level of importance the defense does not want to give the case,” he added.
Criminal defense attorney Mark Bederow, a former prosecutor for the Manhattan district attorney’s office, was blunt in suggesting Don Trump Jr. and his brother Eric stay away because they will remind jurors of what they don’t like about the defendant.
“Let’s be honest, if Donald Jr. and Eric Trump showed up, is that going to make it any better? No. Probably, if anything, it potentially makes it worse,” he explained.
He added, “People who are inclined not to like Donald Trump probably view the sons in the same way just because they’re very vocal defenders of their father, which is natural and expected. But they’re also very involved in the political game and the media game that surrounds everything involving Trump.”
Bearing that in mind, all Junior is doing right now is mouthing the same tired talking points. It’s so obvious that he can’t do any of this without being totally wired on drugs. It’s been obvious for a number of years.
So how long can this go on? Beats the hell out of me. I expected somebody in that family to attempt an intervention years ago, or maybe he’ll just end up going to an ER. That is how these cases usually go.
And Junior may be among those drug addicts (assuming for the sake of argument that that’s what he is) for whom the detox is worse than the addiction. This happens. Anybody who has had a toxic drug in the system for years goes through a hell of a time withdrawing from that drug. Drugs are much worse than alcohol, in that scenario. The alcohol molecule is a much more unstable molecule than the Valium molecule, just to give you an example. Alcohol is much more easily metabolized and will burn itself out of the system. Valium, on the other hand, stores itself in the muscles and it comes out of the system very slowly.
Here’s a list of symptoms of cocaine use, just saying.
- Talkativeness
- Excitement
- Alertness
- Anxiety
- Overconfidence
Heart attacks or strokes claim the lives of people addicted to cocaine, again, just saying. Junior is still in his mid-forties, which is young. Let’s see how many more years he can do this. Mother Nature has a way of waking people up in rude and nasty ways.
As to Trump Senior, expect him to do the usual tomorrow:
- Show up in front of the courthouse and complain;
- Go into the “freezing” courtroom and complain, then doze off;
- Go outside to the reporters and complain some more.
America’s former First Family, folks, looking for a return engagement. Woe is us.
Steely Dan Pretzel Logic. you show up it hurts, you don’t show up it hurts. who the hell knows.
Haven’t heard this in years.
Junior and Eric are still showing up for Daddy. I hope Daddy shows up for them sometime.
it’s probably decades too late for that.
Sometimes I think on a “hunting” trip to Alaska Junior dropped some acid, and lived out for real the roles of both Na-Nook and the Trapper in this Frank Zappa tune. And is still living with the after effects. It would explain a lot…
Back in the day, when I spent time at daily kos there would sometimes be strings of videos of music, usually following some theme, I am not sure how to follow the late great frank Zappa.
That “Jukebox” was always something to look forward to an Saturday nights. I seldom go over there anymore, and but that was something worth checking out each week. Then there was Cameron Professor’s “what’s your favorite suck and such” topics that he’d pose not daily but multiple times a week. As his health declined and he had more trouble with finding a place to live (he required assisted living) there was less of it. Sadly he passed away. The lady who did the jukebox I gather was unable to keep that up and I don’t think someone stepped in on that either. I thought about doing so but by then my focus was here on PZ. Even before last summer when I started writing more articles (try to get at least one, preferably two each day) PZ kept me busy with admin related stuff. (Trying to give Ursula more time to write – she still has plenty of admins stuff to deal with but I try to lighten that load for her) Anyway it might be a fun change of pace to have something like the jukebox here on PZ. Or a favorite joke on a given theme/topic. It was said Lincoln had a physical and emotional need for laughter. At his darkest times (and surely the burden he bore was incredible) Gov. Seward would get him into an exchange of “stories” – long winded jokes, some of them even ribald. Seward was quite the storyteller himself after all. Anyway once he could provoke a full-on belly laugh, sometimes complete with tears (you know – those jokes/routines that have you laughing so hard you’re holdsing your sides and tears come from the corners of your eyes!) Lincoln was transformed and able to forge on. I think we all need that from time to time.