Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.
Welcome to Donald Trump’s hew world. Imagine how it must have felt to have to stand there for more than two minutes next to Todd Blanche, and listen to the jury foreman hammer another nail into your coffin. I can’t help but wonder how many mulligans Trump took in his rounds of golf over the weekend, since his concentration had to be sh*t.
But here’s the McGuffin. Trump made an educated risk decision that with friendly courts, he could avoid going on trial for any of the counts against him until after the November election. If he won, it was over. In January he would use his newly compliant DOJ to make the federal charges go away, and the state charges would have to be held in abeyance until after his second term.
To paraphrase the old Meat Loaf classic, Three out of four ain’t bad. Judge Chutkan was roaring to go in the DC trial, but the Supreme Court threw a monkey wrench in that motor, pending their decision on Trump’s Imperial Emperor Immunity claim. trump’s handpicked kindergarten judge Aileen wants to drag the documents trial out until she qualified for Social Security. And Fulton County DA Fani Willis committed the cardinal sin of deciding to have a personal life with another lawyer. Withy GA Governor Kemp cold to the idea of recusal, it’s highly likely that case will continue with Willis in charge, but not until well after the election.
Problem is that Trump needed a clean sweep, and he didn’t get it. Simply because constant delays in the proceedings meant, no long lasting media, and even more importantly, no convictions! A delayed Manhattan DA trial meant that Trump could fund raise off of the victimhood, and martyr himself with a witch hunt, but that dreaded word guilty, especially spoken 34 consecutive times, changed the paradigm, and not to his benefit.
because even with the guilty verdicts, this trial isn’t over. For the next five weeks, while Trump wants to concentrate on campaigning and preparing for the Republican National Convention, the media will be fixated on his sentencing on July 11th. And once he’s sentenced, the media will immediately swing into his doomed appeals process.Â
This is Trump’s nightmare scenario. In a delayed trial, Trump can claim victimhood and martyrdom. But now, while Trump tries to brush it off with bullsh*t and bluster, every time this case makes the news, it’s reporting on a convicted felon. And as the Master of The Big Lie, Trump knows only too well that the more that convicted felon label is broadcast, the more it will start to be believed. Time is against him.
At this point the calendar is Trump’s enemy, in more than one way. The timing of the convictions ensure that there will be a steady diet of Trump conviction news going all through the summer and fall. First it will be the sentencing, and after that, the appeal. My understanding is that post sentencing, Trump has a period of time to file a motion to stay his sentence pending appeal, and 3-4 months to actually file his appeal. This would take Trump safely past election day before any more damaging coverage kicks in. But considering the fact that every day that Trump carries the cross of convicted felon, it’s another drop of acid on his skin, Trump will whip his appellate attorneys to file as quickly as possible. Leading of course to half assed and poorly written briefs and filings. And of course, nore coverage of the appeals of convicted felon Trump.
But there’s another reason why the calendar is Trump’s enemy, and why it’s going to provide more grist for the media mill. With the media frenzy over the lead up to the Trump trial, the jury selection, and the Trump trial, nobody is paying any attention to the fact that this isn’t the only legal kerfuffle on Trump’s plate, with potentially devastating consequences that could bleed over into his campaign.
It was several months ago when a New York jury found Trump liable for defamation as well as being liable of sexual assault. Trump posetd his surety bond, and the case was appealed. But appeals don’t take forever, even in New York, cuz, ya know, the city never sleeps. recent reporting is indicating that a ruling on that appeal could come pretty much any time starting in the 3rd week of July. Beautiful. The week after the convention, and the media is in a feeding frenzy over the appellate court’s ruling upholding Trump’s civil guilt as a sexual predator. trump will immediately announce his appeal to the New York high court, which will only prolong the media agony.
But Wait! There’s MORE! Don’t forget, Trump’s $454 million civil verdict for rampant Trump Organization fraud is in the appellate process, and has been for a couple of months now. How about if sometime in late September or early to mid October an appellate ruling comes out upholding his civil liability in that case. And Trump will of course immediately appeal, once again prolonging the agony of media coverage of his financial problems, and allowing them to segue once again to his sexual assault case under its final review.
As they say on Madison Avenue, Image is everything. Trump’s goal was to have no trials before election day, allowing him to free wheel his persona as the The man standing between them and you. Instead he’s a convicted felon, and in these last five months, there is going to be stady dribble, if not stream of his various legal woes getting major air time in the media. And nothing sinks through like the constant drum beat of repetition. Trump knows that better than anybody.
I will leave you with this. A poll taken after Trump’s conviction showed that 50% felt the verdict was fair, and in the same poll a heavy plurality of 49% said that Trump should end his campaign. In another combo poll, 11% of GOP voters said that they would not vote for Trump following his conviction and 26% of independents agreed, Trump is dead meat to them. This is the headwind that Trump is sailing into heading for November. And it was a Manhattan DA, a professional prosecution team, a district court judge, and 12 ordinary Manhattan residents that braved threats, intimidation attempts, and bullsh*t to render a fair verdict. Don’t tell me that the American criminal justice system is broken.
I thank you for the privilege of your time.
And now for your musical entertainment: on the fiddle (his hands are too tiny for a piano) – Felonious Trump
And don’t forget Murf another group of citizens sat on the grand jury who decided he should be indicted. I believe that was another dozen bringing the total 24-0. That’s a shellacking. Maybe the average citizens, who aren’t cult members, are finally weary of his shit. Let’s pray the voters vote guilty on every republican running for office.
I lived in Brooklyn during Diaper Don’s heyday.Spend a lot of time in Manhattan. New Yorkers, except for the inner rich who would support Attila the Hun or Genghis Khan for tax cuts, universally despise him because we knew the truth it took the rest of America 4 years to find our. We knew he was rampantly unfaithful and not above ignoring lack of consent. We knew he stiffed his contractors. We knew he lied like a Shatner 2000 toupee ( obscure Night Court reference) and was a con man pretending to.be far more wealthy than he was. We laughed at his decorating style I call Early Trailer Trash Versailles. We saw him.all too.clearly,,which is why he only 19% of the vote in his own hometown.
Anyone know if any of the pre-sentencing hearing will be made public? That ought to be real entertaining.
Image may be everything when we’re talking about most people but image is nothing for Von Shitzinpants’ magats. I would bet good money that he could show up on stage at one of his klan rallies with his hands, face, and clothing soiled from changing his diaper and those morons would wear t-shirts saying how proud they’d be to smear feces all over themselves. Image is only going to matter to indies, dems, and if such a thing exists anymore moderate republicans.
I am pretty sure trump is toast (but always a little cautious since the shell shock of 2016). Anyway, I am wondering what the drag will be on down ballot people. Sure the suburban moms are done with trump, but will they be disgusted enough by the simpering sycophants to turn against the party in general. The pols in deep red districts can go all in on maga, but keep an eye on those republicon pols in purple districts to see if they start to distance themselves from trump. That will mean they know internal polling shows that trump is going down and they need to abandon ship to survive.
I wonder if a goodly portion of the rabid maggats are among the large percentage of citizens who historically do not vote.