What Goes Around Comes Around. Right Now Trump Would Rather Be A Convicted Felon

A con man’s best mark is always himself

That is true for two reasons. First, any con man considers himself mentally superior to his marks, so they’re never going to catch on. And second, even if he is caught, his mark will be so embarrassed by his own stupidity that he’ll just slink off in shame.

And nowhere is the conceited cluelessness of the con man more apparent than in the delusional, One more time, sucker activities of Donald Trump in the follow up to his two civil judgements.

During Trump’s New York civil fraud trial brought by NY AG Letitia James, Trump turned the trial into a circus like street carnival political rally on demand. Showing up when he wanted to, belittling the judge, and defying him in court. Not only did Trump turn his cheap mouthpiece loose to disrespect the judge, normally a nice way to earn a slap from the state bar, he personally disrespected the judge by storming to his feel, turning his back to the judge, and leaving the courtroom before the judge had exited, a cardinal sin of courtroom etiquette.

What could go wrong? Well, how about this? Two days ago Trump’s legal lice showed up in court in front of Judge Engoron to demand a stay on his ruling for some minor procedural issue covering the ruling having been condensed by the AG’s clerk for the record. The only condensing was making it single spaced to save room.

Obviously Engoron isn’t a Shakespeare fan, since he served his revenge steaming hot. First he told the Trump lawyers basically to Get that lame sh*t outta here, and insinuating that the best thing about the trial being over is that he didn’t have to deal with these imbecilic motions anymore. NO STAY! Then today he gleefully advised the Trump lawyers that the clerk had signed the verdict, so the 30 day clock was running for him to file an appeal. Oh, and by the way, you’re on the hook for regular payments of the $111,999 a day interest. Math For Dummies, it’s about a cool million every 8 days. Some dudes have no sense of humor.

Then Trump hit the daily double. Today he had his ambulance chasers appear in front of judge Lewis Kaplan, who ran his two civil trials in the E Jean Carroll affair to ask for a stay on paying the $83.5 million. Here’s the McGuffin. From the filing, it doesn’t appear that there’s any pressing legal reason or precedent in granting the stay. Either Trump just doesn’t feel like ponying up, or he’s having trouble raising the cash. This is the same judge that El Pendejo Presidente pissed off so bad that the judge threatened to throw his fat ass out of his courtroom. I wonder how the judge’s deliberations on that one are going?

Trump’s board certified clinical psychologist niece Mary did her usual excellent job of mentally slicing-and-dicing Trump’s psyche. She summed it up succinctly, Right now Donald is terrified. Just not for the reasons you think. At this point, given a choice between being a convicted felon and a pauper, Donald will take the criminal conviction every time.

For several good reasons, especially for an utterly transactional psychopath. Being a convicted felon by itself isn’t going to cost much cash. And Traitor Tot has that con man’s confidence that he’ll never spend a minute behind bars. That may or may not be true, but hell, right now it gets Trump through the night.

But these civil judgements are an immediate, existential threat. Forbes estimates his total worth at some $2.4 billion. Which means that he should be able to pony up fairly easily. But that estimate may or may not include the amount of debt on the assets he would have to sell to pay up. The fact that he’s asking for a stay on settling the tab with E Jean Carroll may just tell you that there’s frigging in the rigging.

Besides, the appeals for a criminal conviction could take years, and these civil judgements are right now! If Trump actually has to cough it over, he’s in desperate straits. What with a two year ban on operating any business in New York, and a ban on even applying for a loan from a bank that’s chartered in New York, once that cash is gone, there’s no way to replenish it. There’s a good reason why I keep referring to the Trump Organization as a Mom and Pop bodega operation. When you look at the structure, the Trump Organization runs on a paycheck-to-paycheck razors edge that 80% of American families do. With no revenue coming in, the company may have to shed assets to remain solvent. But those sales will go to the court, and not into Trump’s pockets. 

The second reason is purely political. Even in prison there’s a pecking order among criminals. A man who murdered the dude sleeping with his wife is held in much higher esteem than a pedophile who abuses children. And never is this more true than in Trump’s current legal and political situation.

And you can tell all you need to know from Trump’s campaign rhetoric, both in rallies as well as fundraising blasts when he discusses his legal travails.

When Trump is talking about his criminal trials, he can portray himself ss both a political martyr as well as the last desperate line of defense between his supporters and the Biden weaponized deep state. Trump can portray himself as their champion, but only if they chip in to keep him strong and weaponized to beat them back in court. 

But when he’s talking abut E Jean Carroll and the NY fraud case, it’s different. Why? Because somehow or other there’s an intellectual difference, even with Trump’s dim bulbs, between fighting to defend them from the Biden DOJ, and being accused of sexually abusing some old broad he never met, and running a real estate Ponzi scam for 30 years. His cheap plea then is help Trump defend himself, not so much to defend them.

And it’s showing. MSNBC reported today that according to FRC filing paperwork, Trump has some 220,000 LESS donors in January of 2024 than he had in January of 2023. Trump fatigue is finally hitting the Trump donor base, and just when he needs them the most.

I’ll close with this prediction. If you want to see real Trump batsh*t crazy Eefcon-5 stuff, just wait a month. Up until now, Trump has shown up for his civil trials when he felt like it, and it’s obvious he didn’t care for the experience very much, storming out when he was derided by prosecutors. But starting on March 27th, Trump doesn’t have a choice anymore. He will have to sit there day after day and listen while the prosecution shows the jury just how hard they have him wrapped up. And his lawyers will constantly be warning him that overt theatrical displays will only hurt him in front of the jury. The Bullsh*t Social posts and rally tirades are going to pure Berlin bunker, 1945. Don’t touch that dial.

I thank you for the privilege of your time.