Dateline February 26

GRAB ‘EM BY THE PROPERTY!

The Democrats, and President Biden, are growing increasingly frustrated with his portrayal in the media with their concerns about the 81-year-old’s age and his ability to execute another four years in the Oval Office. During the 2020 presidential election run-up, Donald Trump was unrelenting in his criticism that Biden was “too old” yet is unconcerned that he himself has reached that same “old” age. Reporters are quick to fixate on Biden’s verbal slips, while soft-pedaling Trump’s slips, outright lies, and non-sensical ramblings, while waiting for the rabbit to pop out of a hat. It’s show-time! Democratic strategist, Jon Reinish, says, “The more this campaign and the more this White House takes the gloves off and gets aggressive, the better off they are. There have been many instances on many tough issues where they’ve been behind the ball and have not been nearly as sharp, nearly as persuasive or nearly as aggressive as they could have been.” In light of Biden’s poor approval ratings and concerns about his ability to serve, a dramatic pushback from the president’s team against the negativity might help build up a sense of Biden’s strength, Reinish said, adding that he hopes “it’s not too late” to start such maneuvers.

In the DOJ’s investigation of Biden’s purloined classified documents case, Special Counsel Robert Hur released a tedious and lengthy summation that concluded the President would face no charges for the mishandled items from his senatorial and vice-presidential years. But Hur felt that he had to color outside the lines, devoting what he thought important by covering Biden’s struggle to remember during his questioning, which the White House immediately took issue with, especially since there were no charges. Senior adviser for the Biden campaign, TJ Ducklo, criticized the media for “gratuitous and sensationalist attacks on the President’s age” after Trump suggested he’d be fine with Russian invasions of NATO countries who failed to contribute their share to cover defense obligations. Americans deserve “a press corps who cover his candidacy, his comments, and his policy positions with the seriousness and ferocity this moment requires,” Ducklo responded.

The President held a press conference following Robert Hur’s stinging judgement that Biden was a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” to defend his age and ability at recall. He fired back with, “I’m well-meaning, and I’m an elderly man, and I know what the hell I’m doing.” But he then went on to confuse the Egyptian President as the “president of Mexico,” which let some air out of his balloon, with the verbal slip drawing even more scrutiny. Todd Belt, director of George Washington University’s graduate political management program says, “I think the president overestimates his ability to handle the press at times.” Biden’s news conferences stand at an average of 11 per year, while Trump’s averaged 22, during which he confronted and harangued reporters about releasing “fake news.” The current administration has attempted to build a press relationship, avoiding aggressive criticism of the coverage. As a side note, President Obama averaged about 20 press outings per year during his terms in office.

Esquire’s Charlie Pierce confesses that he has been willing to grant Attorney General Merrick Garland a bit of latitude, but the Robert Hur hatchet job on the president was the final straw, and he must go, he concludes. Talk radio, Fox News, and any MAGA monster will rant about Biden’s politicization of the Department of Justice, how it’s prosecuting/persecuting honest, God-fearing citizens, and making a complete mockery of the Constitution; but, the AG in his timidity and determination to be “apolitical” has failed to do the very thing he was appointed to do – pursue justice and accountability charges The Nation magazine. The former president should have been prosecuted years ago, right out of the gate following the swearing-in ceremonies in 2021, but hesitation has brought us to the current dilemmas.

Pierce believes Special Counsel Jack Smith shouldn’t have been a solution, that the Attorney General and the FBI should have been on the case the minute Garland walked into his office…a crisis is a terrible thing to waste. Pierce asks us to imagine quick actions and investigations which would have found many in DC the objects of 14th Amendment prosecution. He compares this laxity to the rapid response of the Republican administration after 9/11 to absolve George W. Bush and his lackeys of blame for ignoring the attack warnings they had received, blindly forcing the country to get behind the war footing because ‘terrorists‘ were on the loose. Charlie calls out Democrats for being “the adults in the room” while allowing Republicans to act like privileged children. “They need to express genuine outrage when the situation merits it, in contrast to the staged hissy fits Republicans do by reflex,” he contends. Further, he thinks, “It is long past time to stop giving the GOP the benefit of the doubt on anything. Don’t appeal to their better nature – they may not have one.”

As for Garland, if he steps down now, imagine the circus that would be initiated in the halls of government, with Republicans shouting “lawfare!” to amplify accusations of weaponization of the DOJ, their term for warring against political opponents using the law. Of course, the GOP would launch their own campaign to preemptively neutralize any nominee, with the press corps meekly calling any move to hold Republicans to account as ‘divisive.’ Pierce goes on, “Bending over backwards to be seen as reasonable when dealing with unreasonable people is not an effective strategy. We need to do better. A DEMOCRATIC attorney general prepared to take some heat from the press at the risk of being seen as partisan would be a nice change – and can we find someone besides a Republican to head up the FBI while we are at it?”

Marjorie Taylor Greene would gladly head up any ‘neutralization campaign,’ which she would designate as ‘eradication’ no doubt. Steve Schmidt on his ‘The Warning’ blog calls her out for using the term in her menacing statement about candidate Nikki Haley, “Not only do [Republicans] support President Trump, we support his policies. And any Republican that isn’t willing to adapt these policies, we’re completely eradicating from the party. So, it’s up to Nikki Haley what she does.” Steve says, “Eradication is a word typically applied to vermin, like rats or an infestation of termites or bedbugs. Certainly, it doesn’t seem particularly tolerant of different points of view. Does it seem strange that Marjorie Taylor Greene wants to shrink the party into a smaller, purer instrument of loyalty to Donald Trump for Trump in the name of Trump? Shouldn’t there be a question asked about intention to the people who have become completely hostile to freedom of conscience, speech and expression what they might do with power? Might they seek to stifle speech and intimidate? Might they threaten retribution? Might they act in the threat? How would they act? These question is matter a great deal in this moment. Americans have a great deal of time to ponder our way of life, which is deeply attached to several core precepts. Among them, that ‘we the people’ pick our leaders, and not the other way around. Eradication. It’s an unusual choice. It seems ominous.” A quote from H.L. Mencken is certainly ominous – “As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their hearts’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”

Jimmy Kimmel, on one of his shows last fall says of Trump and his gang, “The Chicken McNuggets are coming home to roost, aren’t they? The rats are jumping off the Spray-tanic. The big beautiful walls are closing in – somewhere up there, I have to believe John McCain is smiling. You know. he likes people who don’t get caught.” Kimmel couldn’t hold back after Trump’s recent $355M civil fraud ruling, saying, “It will be a refreshing to see a woman grabbing his assets for a change. I’ll tell you something. When you’re attorney general they let you do it. You don’t even ask. You just seize. You grab ’em by the property.” Immediately, Trump having nothing better to do, attacked Kimmel as a “loser.” On Truth Social he posted, “They could get a far more talented person, who would also get better ratings, for 5% of what they are paying this Loser.” Kimmel then expressed his delight that he had “caught the attention of America’s most famous tangerine. I got to say that is a hell of a way to find out you’re not going to be somebody’s running mate. He has no idea how delighted I am by something like this. I’m going to try to enjoy it, because he probably won’t be able to do this when they take away his phone in prison, so I’m going to really, like, soak it in.”

Trump and his two fraud-prince sons are appealing Judge Arthur Engoron’s decision in the New York civil fraud case, which fined the three heavily and barred them from leadership roles, with independent officials monitoring their companies. Alina Habba, the Trump attorney in the case, issued a statement, “We trust that the Appellate Division will overturn this egregious fine and take the necessary steps to restore the public faith in New York’s legal system.” The appeal is headed for the First Judicial Department Appellate Division, where the Trump Crime Family hopes to see their sins justified, after Judge Engoron declined to delay enforcement of his decision. “You have failed to explain, much less justify, any basis for a stay. I am confident that the Appellate Division will protect your appellate rights,” Engoron responded. The Don is responsible for paying additional interest on the fine if it is upheld, and New York attorney, Letitia James, updates the amount each day on Xwitter. Ka-ching, ka-ching!

Bad news from Trump’s hometown newspaper, The Palm Beach Post…they endorsed Joe Biden in a recent editorial. They expressed to readers their grave concern about the prospect of a second Trump term, asserting that the “nation would have much to fear,” urging undecided voters to reassess events involving Trump with a fresh perspective, as they cited Newsweek’s reporting on Friday, February 23. Highlighted were the two New York cases: the civil fraud suit, and the E. Jean Carroll defamation case. The P.B. Post’s Biden endorsement brings to the fore, the extent to which the ex-president’s standing has eroded in his own Mar–a-Lago neighborhood…time to vacate for E. Jean Carroll’s occupancy?

Jackie Calmes in her LA Times column, pinpoints her observations of changes in Trump’s rallies, where once they consisted of “brash rowdiness” but have now dissolved into self-pity. “These aren’t rallies anymore. They’re pity-parties.” she maintains. Poor, poor, pitiful Trump. Lord, have mercy! Calmes says where once spectators showed up to hear about “a better future,” now there’s only a gaggle of Trumpers who emit “constant catcalls, boos, and their own favorite profanities.” Trump is trolling for pity, and dollars, as he spreads his gloom and doom, as he “saps the crowd’s energy.” His ramblings and verbal garbage are hard to follow, and he has become a constant embarrassment to the larger audiences he once attracted, yet the GOP holds his banner high! Pity!

If you vote for a man who said windmills cause cancer, used a Sharpie to change the track of a hurricane, asked to nuke hurricanes, autographed Bibles, saluted a North Korean general, stared at the sun twice, believed there were airplanes in the Revolutionary War, and suggested that bleach was a COVID cure, your opinion of Joe Biden’s sanity is laughably irrelevant. And remember, the same people who think Obama is a Muslim, think Trump is a Christian!

Dateline February 19

SNITCHING SWIFTIES SELLOUT SNEAKERS

The Washington Post’s Rick Reilly writes, “Are you bummed you weren’t around when the Stasi ruled? Do you wish you could’ve been one of Mao Zedong’s millions of neighborhood snitches? Maybe watch the Red Guards drag off your least favorite aunt? Not to worry, the bad old days are back – thanks to Nextdoor.com.” Rick says all you gotta do is sign up, log in and start profiling everyone on your block…Black guy on the corner with a backpack…call the cops! Girl going door-to-door selling cookies to raise money for a high school trip? Alert the snitches! Fiftyish White man driving a luxury car, doesn’t go to work? Call the IRS…and stay vigilant! Trifling Halloween candy hand-outs? Alert, alert, alert! Rick reports reading of a vegan couple complaining about the smell of their neighbor’s barbecue invading their “meat-free radius,” and asks, “Is there a kale-free radius?” He says there’s no butting-out, only butting-in, as he tells of a post about a “slow moving vehicle following the school bus every morning.” Only a newspaper carrier following the same route…can never be certain that the carrier won’t bounce the daily off of some kid’s head, but with sparsity of pages in today’s tabloids who would notice? Rick concludes that entertainment ends and lunacy begins if we don’t take notice that we live in a country with more guns than people, and pulling into the wrong driveway can put a bullet through a windshield, and the person to fear is not the guy in the hoodie but the person behind the keyboard of a computer or tablet. Douglas Adams wrote in ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,’ “In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.” Now is the time to cheer up those individuals!

“Your Honor, in an effort to insure a fair trial, we move for a change of venue to the defendant’s imagination,” said Trump’s attorneys and most of the GOP. Needless to say, that hasn’t worked in any of the former president’s cases, so last week he got another shot across the bow in Judge Arthur Engoron’s 92-page decision dealing a blow to the Trump Crime Family’s business operation. New York Attorney General Letitia James brought the suit against Trump in 2022 for falsely altering his net worth on key financial statements for tax and insurance advantages. The fraudulent documents were used in securing loans and making deals, and the final decision was Engoron’s since there was no jury involved. The $354M in penalties was below what the AG had initially sought, but both Trump sons were also fined over $4M each, and former CFO Allen Weisellberg was dinged for a mil. Donald Trump will owe over a half-billion big ones with interest added to the fine, and the meter is still running at the rate of one million per week…try to change venue on that one, Donny-boy! The meter is still running on the E. Jean Carroll case with no appeal being filed, so somebody needs to start making some decisions on disposition of properties on this runaway train.

Stories abound of the cavalry coming to the rescue with a crowdfunding setup, but the reality is that Trump’s MAGA base throughout the election cycle has not pitched in an amount that would pay off more than just a fraction of these gigantic court penalties, just barely staying above the bills for payouts to those legal teams who are getting some payment. Liar Trump, being deeply in debt, likely never had the $400M in cash that he once claimed, at least for any length of time, since the money comes in and goes right out the door at month’s end. Some have speculated that he might borrow against his properties to avoid asset forfeiture, but he has no equity in them, so what bank is going to sink more money into Trump’s empire, especially in light of his current status? With no money, he can’t write checks to cover his debts; consequently, he won’t be able to put money in escrow accounts to appeal the court decisions, so seizure of assets seems to be on the table. Besides, meals in prison are pretty inexpensive, along with the free room. After the fraud verdict was out, the MAGA base actually started a GoFundMe account to bail their Golden Boy out of trouble, which led to questions of whether the GFM terms of service would permit such an endeavor. Putting that concern aside, the loyalists managed to raise $84K within 24 hours…about .01% of Trump’s court debts to date, and only 6,547+ more days to make it all go away.

But, wait! Trump probably thinks he has an ace in the hole with this one…becoming a Sneakerhead! He showed up at Philadelphia’s Sneaker Con to hawk a pair of gold, custom, Trump-branded, limited edition high-top sneakers for only $399 a pair, and it’s reported that an autographed pair went to a winning bidder for only $9000. The high-top, branded as the “Never Surrender High Top Sneaker” is part of the line which includes the white and gold athletic fit, “POTUS 45” for $199, and the red athletic “T-Red Wave,” also for $199. The Gettrumpsneakers.com website announced early on that the 1,000 pairs of “Never Surrender” kicks were sold out, with “at least 10” bearing the former prez’s autograph. A licensing agreement with 45Footwear/CIC Ventures gives the company the right to use his name, image, and likeness, with no money going to his presidential campaign. Alas, we’re probably too late to own a pair since the site claimed they were to be available for only three days with a limit to buyers of three pairs. But, they may still have 45Footwear’s Trump branded fragrances – ‘Victory 47 Cologne’ and ‘Victory 47 Perfume’, with a price tag of $99.

Trump was mostly oblivious to the boos amid the mixed and emotional reactions from the attendees when he came on stage, saying, “Wow, lot of emotion. There’s a lot of emotion in this room.” Speaking for about ten minutes, he said, “They have lines going all around the block. They’ve never seen anything like this one.” Yeah, probably in the entire history of the planet…you could check Wikipedia! Chants of “USA, USA, USA” could be heard by a small group, and Sneaker Con later faced a lot of backlash for giving the candidate a venue for his remarks. The organization addressed the controversy with a post on social media saying, “Sneaker Con’s mission is to support and promote sneaker culture through our worldwide live events and digital platforms. We are thankful and appreciative of the sneaker community, and recognize individuals who generate awareness and authentic sneaker related engagement toward our community.” And they will never find a sneakier sneakerhead than Donald J. Trump. It should be noted that CIC Ventures is the same company that made the Trump NFT trading cards, but we all know with certainty that his only successful business is selling hats to morons.

Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, raises a red flag in light of his former boss’ growing debts, saying he’s “for sale,” in his need to raise loads of cash over a short period of time. The cash-strapped ex-president would be willing to sell sensitive government information to which he had access, both before and after his term was over, according to Cohen. “He doesn’t care about America, and I say this not to be hyperbolic. I say this as fact, knowing him for as long as I’ve known him. He will sell that information to anyone, because he doesn’t care about anyone or anything other than himself,” Cohen explains. Trump’s onetime national security advisor, John Bolton, believes foreign autocrats could take advantage of him in this situation, which demonstrates “why he is not fit for office.”

Trucker, Chicago Ray, is organizing his fellow-trucking buddies to start refusing loads destined for New York City in a protest over the court’s ruling handed down last week in Trump’s fraud case. He claims to have “at least” ten drivers who will join him in this action, and Trump is raising a fist toward their efforts. “Such an honor to have so many Great Patriots on the side of FREEDOM!” was posted to Truth Social media platform, along with Trump’s whine, “Joe Biden’s Unfair and Dangerous Weaponization of Law Enforcement is a serious threat to Democracy. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Canadian truckers in 2022 organized a “People’s Convoy” when they converged on Washington, DC to voice opposition to COVID-19 mandates, but that turned out to be a bust. Early in February, “God’s Army Truck Convoy/The Take Our Border Back Convoy,” began its drive though the southern states to rally in several border cities, but it was a slow starter, failing to pick up any significant numbers on the journey. The organizers claimed at least 700,000 people would attend, after the publicity on Tucker Carlson’s podcast and Alex Jone’s InfoWars, however, it was reported only about fifty cars, trucks, and RVs arrived at destination Dripping Springs, Texas. The group did manage to raise $157,000 online, with no explanation or plan for distribution. The orange-hued blonde in the back is waving his hand energetically, if you hadn’t noticed!

Trump attorney, Alina Habba, is no longer involved in the E. Jean Carroll case, having been a total disaster for her client who will bring on a new legal team to appeal his $83.3M defeat. Morning Joe Scarborough and co-host, Mika Brzesinski, discussed this change on their show, with Joe in quasi-seriousness asking, “Wonder why?” which brought forth laughter from Mika and the crew. Mika cautioned, “Try to keep a straight face,” with Joe’s counter, “No, I mean, she’s very angry. They took away her coloring books! There was a color-by-number thing on how to be a lawyer when you grow up, and the judge took them away!” The panel wondered why she was ever on the case, since Trump historically had bad lawyers who at least knew their way around a courtroom; ironically, she is still in the employ of Trump, being a voice for his reelection. She was simply a cut-out in the courtroom where The Donald basically was his own defense, proving the old adage that one who represents himself has a fool for a client.

Aldous J. Pennyfarthing says, “If you ever find yourself in legal peril, you might want to consider hiring Alina Habba as your attorney, but only if you’re on trial for dropping a house on a witch, otherwise you will be in for a rude awakening. With Trump facing loads of legal peril, Habba’s job was to go on TV to convince millions of people who are already sure he’s innocent, and the heap of criminal and civil accusations against him were all meticulously curated by a sitting president who’s nothing but a listless amalgam of advanced dementia symptoms. If somehow she had managed to score him a hard-bristled toothbrush for his weekly prison urinal cleanings, that would have been gravy.” Aldous J. adds, “Trump has exhausted every listing in the ‘law’ section of the Yellow Pages and was forced to move on to the ‘lawn and garden’ section. Hey, if anyone still uses the Yellow Pages, it’s Trump.”

On HBO’s ‘Real Time,’ host Bill Maher joked, “Taylor Swift won the Super Bowl. Swift drives MAGA Nation crazy because one thing they cannot stand is a blonde billionaire with a cult following. Trump is running around the country trying to balance his busy schedule with all the primaries and four trials going…today he had to do his makeup in the car.” Referencing the upcoming trial involving hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, Maher quipped, “Only Trump could pay hush money to someone who was too embarrassed to talk about it to begin with.” The Don’s efforts to stall and delay his court appearances, according to Maher, is the same tactic Melania uses in the bedroom, and he criticizes Trump for sending her a valentine message in a fundraising letter to his supporters. Maher deplores this election cycle with, “This is going to be a long and grueling and mostly pointless campaign since everyone knows which of the two elderly candidates they prefer to barely tolerate…the one who can’t walk upstairs, or the one who can’t walk down ramps. That’s where we are. Can we please not make it even more tedious than it already is? I don’t want to hear any more about how somehow Joe Biden has the energy to completely destroy America, even though the can’t open a package of nuts with his teeth.”