I'm convinced that only serious criminal charges and guilty verdicts against Trump, reached after the presentation of overwhelming evidence, will break the diabolical spell he has cast upon millions of people. A majority of them must be persuaded that he is the cheating, conniving crook that we here know him to be. Will this happen? I th…
I'm convinced that only serious criminal charges and guilty verdicts against Trump, reached after the presentation of overwhelming evidence, will break the diabolical spell he has cast upon millions of people. A majority of them must be persuaded that he is the cheating, conniving crook that we here know him to be. Will this happen? I think it will, though not overnight.
Republican leaders will end up having no choice but to stop their bootlicking and ignore him, or even begin denouncing him. Trump's rabid supporters will slowly turn away. And for Trump, the sting of irrelevance will be a worthy emotional warmup for life behind bars.
Another key factor could be if the Justice Department unearths smoking-gun evidence that Trump, as we suspect, engineered the events of Jan. 6, including preventing a robust police response.
Sure, I could be guilty of wishful thinking. If right-wing media persuades the cult that the charges are drummed up by "the socialists" and Trump has been railroaded, the threat of violence could intensify. But that would be a tough sell if the evidence is irrefutable.
Most Americans don't like cheaters. How many cult members actually know that Trump has spent a lifetime cheating, cheating by not paying vendors, cheating on his taxes, cheating on his wives, and even cheating at golf? And no doubt there's more cheating waiting to be revealed.
Michael, I appreciate your optimism and wish I could share it. Normally, I would.
I even agree that most Americans don't like cheaters, though plenty of Americans are cheaters and are envious of cheaters who have been more successful at it than they have. I have lived out in the world a bit and could certainly say the same about Italians and Nigerians and Ethiopians, and ven Eritreans have been known to cheat and even to lie upon occasion, though some might deny it. Human nature appears to embrace all humans, for better or for worse.
The real problem is that we who have not been sucked into the Trump-cult sewer attribute too much importance to Trump the man, imagining that if we could just put him behind bars and humiliate him that his followers would undergo a great awakening, see the error of their ways, become normal citizens again and finally blame the GOP for all this stinkin' mess.
But because this has notably not happened at all following the Mueller Report, two impeachments, a Trump-inspired attempted insurrection and his loss of Twitter and Facebook privileges, I think we have no choice but to attribute the Trump phenomenon to some larger defect (or defects) in ourselves, our history, our Constitution, our prejudices, our beliefs and our conception of personal freedom as it conflicts with the possibility of social justice (to mention several).
To put it bluntly, the plumber's helper, Drano and repeated flushing have not done the trick. It is now time for ROTO-ROOTER.
You hit the nail on the head. The cultists will not see any "great awakening" as this iDJT has fed all of their amygdalae with the white/male/cisgendered/Christian/heterosexual threat that an inclusive democracy poses to them and their "sincerely held beliefs" that their way of life is threatened when those "others" get to come to the table.
Not only is democracy frail, we as humans are also. We are deluded, acting out old grievances, seeking revenge, hearing only what confirms, fearful, and mistrusting. In small villages the darkness of humans is "managed" by community. In a large sprawling nation, managing the complexities of human interactions and beliefs is nearly impossible. It requires a basic sense of unity, something that has purposely been manipulated.
Active traitors in high places have knowingly joined the Deluded Deluder in his continuing assault on America, her people, the most basic human values.
The fact that they are still walking free feeds the mass delusion.
Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation.
This is no time for partisanship.
Regardless of their differences, all those who can see Evil when it is staring them in the face must stand together. If you don't, you will be serving the Great Evil.
Lesser evils can be addressed later, if we survive to face them when they come, as they surely will. That's everyday life. Today's crisis is of another order.
Today's crisis is fundamental, it his all the crises of your country's history bundled together.
"The fact that they are still walking free feeds the mass delusion."
I've counseled patience on prosecutions since Jan 6, but even I am anxious to see some filthy insurrectionist hides nailed to the wall. Not just the rabble that stormed the Capitol -- Iet's see DOJ start landing some of the big fish!
I'm with you, TPJ. The DOJ is carefully building their case(s) as fast as they can within the constraints of making certain that they are airtight and will result in guilty pleas for the lower level combatants who then turn "states evidence" in exchange for a bit of leniency in sentencing. It is my fervent hope that the "Sedition Caucus" is charged, and ultimately, the ringleaders.
One of the things that the internet has provoked is this belief that everything should happen quickly. There has been only four months since the insurrection at our Capitol. There are hundreds of possible cases. It takes time to build a case, bring it to court, and prove it. In my city, when a homicide happens, people are on Nextdoor, Facebook, and Twitter, only a few days after the crime was committed, asking, "Why haven't they caught someone!" "What are the donut-eating cops doing?" "Why am I paying taxes?" People expect an immediate resolution. One of my hunches was that Trump answered the desire for "immediacy." He had an immediate answer to anything. And, apparently, that's what voters are seeking. Answers. Now. Not later. It's a phenomenal distortion of reality, but a growing, manipulated part of the human frailty.
I'm patient, very aware of legal niceties, but scared to see leading conspirators moving around freely and continuing their seditious activities after an event substantially more grave than the 1923 Munich Beer Hall Putsch.
These sentiments of country over party were espoused two times in the last 4 years at both impeachment hearings. The weasels failed to hear them then, don't hold your breath they'll suddenly come to their senses now.
I also think that there may well be more rightwing political violence, but not enough to genuinely threaten the government. And the majority of us do not like cheaters, despite the Ijdt asserting "that makes me smart" in 2016.
As for golf, Idjt only plays on his own courses, to enable cheating. If he's still allowed to play in minimum security, let's see how his golf numbers look with the warden keeping score.
The members of the cult are fully aware that he cheats and admire him for it. But I think Cheney's calculation is that those die-hard cultists are actually a much smaller minority (and shrinking) than is mostly portrayed. I still think your vision is correct; she and her ilk will slowly peel away those who question whether or not backing Trump is wise. But his criminal conviction would only harden support from the cultists, who will see it as persecution. The real question is their numbers. I hope Cheney is right that they are few. I fear otherwise.
I believe the evidence is irrefutable, and that eventually, the majority of the cult will come to their senses and realize that what they have done has put our democracy on death's door. As to what his cult followers "actually know" is (I hope) a great deal, and that at some point, the evidence will win out over their "sincerely held beliefs".
I'm convinced that only serious criminal charges and guilty verdicts against Trump, reached after the presentation of overwhelming evidence, will break the diabolical spell he has cast upon millions of people. A majority of them must be persuaded that he is the cheating, conniving crook that we here know him to be. Will this happen? I think it will, though not overnight.
Republican leaders will end up having no choice but to stop their bootlicking and ignore him, or even begin denouncing him. Trump's rabid supporters will slowly turn away. And for Trump, the sting of irrelevance will be a worthy emotional warmup for life behind bars.
Another key factor could be if the Justice Department unearths smoking-gun evidence that Trump, as we suspect, engineered the events of Jan. 6, including preventing a robust police response.
Sure, I could be guilty of wishful thinking. If right-wing media persuades the cult that the charges are drummed up by "the socialists" and Trump has been railroaded, the threat of violence could intensify. But that would be a tough sell if the evidence is irrefutable.
Most Americans don't like cheaters. How many cult members actually know that Trump has spent a lifetime cheating, cheating by not paying vendors, cheating on his taxes, cheating on his wives, and even cheating at golf? And no doubt there's more cheating waiting to be revealed.
Michael, I appreciate your optimism and wish I could share it. Normally, I would.
I even agree that most Americans don't like cheaters, though plenty of Americans are cheaters and are envious of cheaters who have been more successful at it than they have. I have lived out in the world a bit and could certainly say the same about Italians and Nigerians and Ethiopians, and ven Eritreans have been known to cheat and even to lie upon occasion, though some might deny it. Human nature appears to embrace all humans, for better or for worse.
The real problem is that we who have not been sucked into the Trump-cult sewer attribute too much importance to Trump the man, imagining that if we could just put him behind bars and humiliate him that his followers would undergo a great awakening, see the error of their ways, become normal citizens again and finally blame the GOP for all this stinkin' mess.
But because this has notably not happened at all following the Mueller Report, two impeachments, a Trump-inspired attempted insurrection and his loss of Twitter and Facebook privileges, I think we have no choice but to attribute the Trump phenomenon to some larger defect (or defects) in ourselves, our history, our Constitution, our prejudices, our beliefs and our conception of personal freedom as it conflicts with the possibility of social justice (to mention several).
To put it bluntly, the plumber's helper, Drano and repeated flushing have not done the trick. It is now time for ROTO-ROOTER.
You hit the nail on the head. The cultists will not see any "great awakening" as this iDJT has fed all of their amygdalae with the white/male/cisgendered/Christian/heterosexual threat that an inclusive democracy poses to them and their "sincerely held beliefs" that their way of life is threatened when those "others" get to come to the table.
Not only is democracy frail, we as humans are also. We are deluded, acting out old grievances, seeking revenge, hearing only what confirms, fearful, and mistrusting. In small villages the darkness of humans is "managed" by community. In a large sprawling nation, managing the complexities of human interactions and beliefs is nearly impossible. It requires a basic sense of unity, something that has purposely been manipulated.
Active traitors in high places have knowingly joined the Deluded Deluder in his continuing assault on America, her people, the most basic human values.
The fact that they are still walking free feeds the mass delusion.
Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation.
This is no time for partisanship.
Regardless of their differences, all those who can see Evil when it is staring them in the face must stand together. If you don't, you will be serving the Great Evil.
Lesser evils can be addressed later, if we survive to face them when they come, as they surely will. That's everyday life. Today's crisis is of another order.
Today's crisis is fundamental, it his all the crises of your country's history bundled together.
Time to take a stand.
TOGETHER.
"The fact that they are still walking free feeds the mass delusion."
I've counseled patience on prosecutions since Jan 6, but even I am anxious to see some filthy insurrectionist hides nailed to the wall. Not just the rabble that stormed the Capitol -- Iet's see DOJ start landing some of the big fish!
I'm with you, TPJ. The DOJ is carefully building their case(s) as fast as they can within the constraints of making certain that they are airtight and will result in guilty pleas for the lower level combatants who then turn "states evidence" in exchange for a bit of leniency in sentencing. It is my fervent hope that the "Sedition Caucus" is charged, and ultimately, the ringleaders.
One of the things that the internet has provoked is this belief that everything should happen quickly. There has been only four months since the insurrection at our Capitol. There are hundreds of possible cases. It takes time to build a case, bring it to court, and prove it. In my city, when a homicide happens, people are on Nextdoor, Facebook, and Twitter, only a few days after the crime was committed, asking, "Why haven't they caught someone!" "What are the donut-eating cops doing?" "Why am I paying taxes?" People expect an immediate resolution. One of my hunches was that Trump answered the desire for "immediacy." He had an immediate answer to anything. And, apparently, that's what voters are seeking. Answers. Now. Not later. It's a phenomenal distortion of reality, but a growing, manipulated part of the human frailty.
Agree 100%, jan.
So there you are, Lynell. Aftermorning!!
Morning, TPJ!! Trying to catch up with information overload!
Very good points.
Patience to be sure cases are built, and most of the fish are retained in the net, please.
I'm patient, very aware of legal niceties, but scared to see leading conspirators moving around freely and continuing their seditious activities after an event substantially more grave than the 1923 Munich Beer Hall Putsch.
These sentiments of country over party were espoused two times in the last 4 years at both impeachment hearings. The weasels failed to hear them then, don't hold your breath they'll suddenly come to their senses now.
Imagine a weeping emoji
😭
TY
Here’s one for you...
Precisely.
Exactly so.
It IS all the crises of your country's history bundled together.
Michael Bales 100%.
I also think that there may well be more rightwing political violence, but not enough to genuinely threaten the government. And the majority of us do not like cheaters, despite the Ijdt asserting "that makes me smart" in 2016.
As for golf, Idjt only plays on his own courses, to enable cheating. If he's still allowed to play in minimum security, let's see how his golf numbers look with the warden keeping score.
a thousand likes for this one!
please, could we have an idjt warden really soon?
🎉 Felon45 🙏
You can have your heart's desire, Kim!
🥰
We should clone TPJ
Been there, done that -- I'm a twin. Honest!
Excellent
Or, at least, start a fan club!
You’re a upposing he doesn’t pay off the warden...
hahahahaha
The members of the cult are fully aware that he cheats and admire him for it. But I think Cheney's calculation is that those die-hard cultists are actually a much smaller minority (and shrinking) than is mostly portrayed. I still think your vision is correct; she and her ilk will slowly peel away those who question whether or not backing Trump is wise. But his criminal conviction would only harden support from the cultists, who will see it as persecution. The real question is their numbers. I hope Cheney is right that they are few. I fear otherwise.
I believe the evidence is irrefutable, and that eventually, the majority of the cult will come to their senses and realize that what they have done has put our democracy on death's door. As to what his cult followers "actually know" is (I hope) a great deal, and that at some point, the evidence will win out over their "sincerely held beliefs".
Precisely!
I hope you're right.