Coming soon to a television set near you, the story of the irresistible force meeting the immoveable object. Except here it’s the GOP and Donald Trump we’re talking about, so it’s more like the cowardly impotent force meeting the unstable neurotic object. Which would make for great comedy if the stakes weren’t so high, more wear and tear on democracy and the nation’s psyche. This is going to be a contest like no other is the only assurance we can make at this time.

Donald Trump was supposed to announce his candidacy for 2024 on July 4. He did not. The current timetable has him announcing in early fall, after Labor Day. The GOP doesn’t want him to announce at all before the midterms, because if he does, then the midterm becomes a referendum on Trump — which would devolve just fine to Joe Biden and the Democrats’ agenda. Bring it on, so say we all.

And Trump just might. Because his problem is time. Time is not his friend and the sands in the karmic hourglass are running out. And he’s starting to panic. The only way he can figure out to protect himself is to get back in the White House and appoint his own attorney general and defenestrate the Department of Justice before it defenestrates and incarcerates him. In our history there have been many runs for the Oval Office by many people. The men and women who have answered the call have proceeded from various drives and motivations. But nobody, so far at least, has run to avoid prison time. Rolling Stone:

In recent months, Trump has made clear to associates that the legal protections of occupying the Oval Office are front-of-mind for him, four people with knowledge of the situation tell Rolling Stone.

Trump has “spoken about how when you are the president of the United States, it is tough for politically motivated prosecutors to ‘get to you,” says one of the sources, who has discussed the issue with Trump this summer. “He says when [not if] he is president again, a new Republican administration will put a stop to the [Justice Department] investigation that he views as the Biden administration working to hit him with criminal charges — or even put him and his people in prison.”

Those are the parameters of the tug of war. The January 6 Committee grinds on, Fani Willis is down in Georgia subpoenaing Trump allies, Letitia James won’t let up and it’s all getting way too concerning. Ergo, the way to get that concern to abate is to announce a run for office and turn the entire situation into a political witch hunt.

And that is what Trump is dying to do, is frame all his illegalities and all his woes as a witch hunt, where the forces of evil seek to do him in, and seek to deprive reel Amurikkkans of their chosen leader. And that is what you will hear, when and if he runs. He’s gone along with the GOP so far, but don’t look for that to last. Trump will do what’s good for Trump. He has zero interest in the GOP as an institution, never has had.

In recent months, Trump has reluctantly agreed to hold off, only to return shortly thereafter with threats to make an early announcement, either out of self-interest, spite, or some combination of the two.

But as Trump talks about running, the four sources say, he’s leaving confidants with the impression that, as his criminal exposure has increased, so has his focus on the legal protections of the executive branch.

It’s not just liberal wish-casters or Trump critics who are acknowledging the former president’s legal jeopardy. Trump’s teams of lawyers and former senior administration officials speak about it commonly. “I do think criminal prosecutions are possible…for Trump and [former White House chief of staff Mark] Meadows certainly,” Ty Cobb, a former top lawyer in Trump’s White House, bluntly told Rolling Stone late last month.

Trump himself seems to acknowledge potential problems. He “said something like, ‘[prosecutors] couldn’t get away with this while I was president,’” another one of the four sources recalls. “It was during a larger discussion about the investigations, other possible 2024 [primary] candidates, and what people were saying about the Jan. 6 hearings … He went on for a couple minutes about how ‘some very corrupt’ people want to ‘put me in jail.’”

Bear in mind, search warrants were served on John Eastman and Jeffrey Clarke. Electronic devices were seized. The January 6 Committee’s next outing will focus on the events of January 6 and the three hours where Trump reportedly “gleefully watched television” and did nothing to stop the riot he incited. And don’t forget the Secret Service texts from that day have now been subpoenaed.

With each successive development from the January 6 Committee hearings, Trump looks worse and he feels more pressured to get protection, as any mobster would.

However, there is another wrinkle in the fabric. The GOP is not really all that crazy about another Trump ticket, if they can swing the GOP voters to a new and improved Trump, i.e. Ron DeSantis. And carrying DeSantis’ flag up he hill is none other than Fox News. Do not underestimate that. If Fox News wanted Trump on the 2024 ticket, they’d be saying so.

This is the lay of the land. Trump may feel forced to announce his campaign sooner rather than later to have the protection of screaming WITCH HUNT! as he is wont to cry.

Nobody knows what he’s going to do, exactly, but one thing you can depend on: whatever Trump does it will be because he’s decided that it will make him the most money and be the best television. That’s all he knows. That is who he is. And the GOP is left trying to control their Frankenstein’s monster. It’s their bed, they can lie in it.

 

 

 

Help keep the site running, consider supporting.

9 COMMENTS

  1. A) Let’s hope that like everything and everyone else, former guy ignores the gop’rs and B) let’s also hope garland doesn’t think former guy is off limits just because he throws his hat in the ring which is, as we know, complete bull-shit anyway. Do the pull this shit out of their asses F.F.S.?

  2. Could someone please explain to me just what ‘law’ says that anyone declaring that they will stand for election as president in two years time can’t be charged with a crime?

    • As far as I can suss this out, he believes that if he announces his candidacy, that will act as a magic shield, because for anyone to act then, it would be cast as a political witch hunt. That is his best thinking. And truthfully, he’s avoided accountability for so long, I don’t know. Maybe he is right. I am very cynical right now about the wheels of justice touching him.

  3. Since the election for president isn’t until Nov 2024, the DOJ has plenty of time to indict before they hit that 60 or 90 day unwritten rule preventing them from impacting an election. The Orange Menace may have convinced himself that running for office provides some immunity, but it does not. I hope that he announces before the midterms, they are already looking better than any pundit predicted, as that will seal the deal. The GQP knows that if he announces before the midterms, they will be decimated. After all the voter suppression, election “integrity” laws they’ve enacted to have Cheetolini pull the rug out from under them would be poetic justice.

    • I think the bottom line is that the minute he announces, whether it’s before or after the midterms, then the race becomes a referendum on him and his thievery. Biden used him as a good foil before, he’ll have twice the ammunition now.

  4. Yeah, no, none of this is real with Trump. He’s beginning to understand how screwed he actually is and is trying to rewrite reality to suit him. As it stands, he may well have cost them the Senate by endorsing losers like Walker, Oz and Vance.

    • I agree about the Senate. I disagree that Trump knows he’s screwed. I think he’s going to try to fly this political witch hunt theory of his. But what will be interesting is where he is in a few days after the J6 Committee does their thing on Thursday.

  5. The LAW has supported the genocide of the native Americans & breaking over 300 treaties with them. It supported slavery. It supported the criminals behind iran-contra, the criminalization of cannabis & secret coups to foreign governments. It has continued to ignore the most egregious criminal act in our history as Trump & his cadre of thugs are still walking around fermenting another coup. The LAW is on trial. Let these criminals walk while locking up over 2 million citizens makes it a tool of the rich. Pot smokers are wasting tax dollars being incarcerated for laws that can’t be justified, yet only a small fraction of rape kits are actually processed, letting rapists walk free. 1-2% of murders get solved. White boys can murder 19 4th graders & get arrested later peacefully while black boys get killed over skittles & taillights. Please tell me how the LAW stands for ‘justice’. It doesn’t. It’s just another lie. Until it stands for truth, for justice, & equal treatment, it will remain institutionalized evil. Fact. Cue up the excuses.

    6
    2

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

The maximum upload file size: 128 MB. You can upload: image, audio, video, document, spreadsheet, interactive, text, archive, code, other. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop files here