Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

We will not go back.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

In my day, never was longer.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trump Indictments / Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV. Tapes. Espionage. Indictments. Convictions. Prison.

Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV. Tapes. Espionage. Indictments. Convictions. Prison.

by | 220 Comments

This post is in: , ,

It’s Friday, and it’s very quiet.  Hmm.

Open thread.

Update: the consensus seems to be that this is Thursday, dammit.

Reader Interactions

220Comments

  2. 2.

    FastEdD

    Can’t tell which indictment is which without a program. Get yer program right here!

  4. 4.

    JaySinWA

    It isn’t Friday yet, here at least

    Although I did have to double check earlier this morning

    ETA it is Friday in Japan and Australia.

  6. 6.

    Spanky

    It’s only Friday in Dave’s post downstairs. And who names an insurance company “Friday” anyway? It didn’t work for the restaurant either.

  7. 7.

    narya

    so, if he were convicted, how would they imprison him? I don’t think there’s a chance that he’ll go to an actual prison; the Secret Service wouldn’t be able to protect him adequately. But home confinement, sure. And my fantasy is that it’s home confinement, a requirement that he wear prison garb and not have access to the hair & makeup (like Manafort), and . . . . let’s see . . . no communications other than what would be available if he were behind bars. I’d be okay with that.

  8. 8.

    Jeffro

    @Alison Rose: that, or that there’s footage of him bawling like a baby at Jack Smith’s interrogation table and spilling his guts about Russia, Saudi Arabia, all of it.

    or both!

  10. 10.

    ...now I try to be amused

    @Alison Rose:

    I know it’s maybe only a possibility and not a probability, but God do I ever hope this fucker ends up in prison eventually.

    Trump has to win every criminal case, with a diminishing pool of lawyers. His prosecutors only have to win once. The odds are looking better and better.

  11. 11.

    Jeffro

    @narya: how about we drop him on a desert island with 40,000 veggie burgers and 100 of the world’s greatest novels?

    No TV, no golf, no Twitter Truth Social, no weddings to crash, no rallies.  Just good healthy food and lots of great books.  =)

  12. 12.

    dmsilev

    @narya: After WWII, the Allies maintained Spandau Prison for years and years for just a few high-ranking Nazi prisoners. Maybe we could restore Alcatraz?

  13. 13.

    Dr. Jakyll and Miss Deride

    @Alison Rose: Looking at it from a broad philosophical perspective, isn’t he in prison already–the prison of his insatiable cravings and incurable delusions?  But looking at it any other way, fuck yeah!  (The best part might be that they’d take away his ridiculously long red ties.)

  15. 15.

    narya

    @Jeffro: The lack of media is what would do him in. the narcissist in him needs attention like the rest of us need oxygen. But veggie burgers and great books is a very nice touch!

  19. 19.

    different-church-lady

    the consensus seems to be that this is Thursday

    You gonna just trust what people tell you on the internet?!?

  20. 20.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Jeffro: This is a good point, that Hair Drumpf needs to tell authorities who he gave our secrets to, but I don’t think it should be in open court.

    As to how he should be imprisoned, it seems to me that many federal prisons could house him safely. They may have to carve out extra space and resources for the secret service detail, but so what? He should be given no access to the internet, TV, or radio, and no phone or any other communication device. He for sure should not be allowed to run any of his “businesses,” nor should he be allowed to play golf, even alone.

  21. 21.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @narya: I don’t think there’s a chance that he’ll go to an actual prison; the Secret Service wouldn’t be able to protect him adequately.

    Hey, don’t rain on my fantasy. They could have adjoining cells. And he’d have to pay the Feds for the accommodations.

  26. 26.

    Anoniminous

    Young black kid caught with 3 grams of crack: life

    Old white man who was “an ongoing threat and peril to our democracy and the fabric of this country” who committed “a seditious conspiracy, when you take those two concepts and put it together, is among the most serious crimes an American can commit. It is an offense against the government to use force. It is an offense against the people of our country:” 18 years.  And if he serves 6 I’ll be astonished.

    I expect Trump to get 6 months suspended and a fine of at least $2.27, maybe as much as $12.95.

    Not just drug sentencing where Being White is a Get Out of Jail Free Card.

  28. 28.

    RaflW

    The tricky thing about Monday being a holiday in the US is that it makes Friday seem even closer. And yet, here we are still pining for it.

  29. 29.

    Jeffro

    @WaterGirl: it does indeed feel like a Friday – no idea why that is, but it does

    Thursday, Friday, whatever, I’ve got my trumpov indictment party shirt ready to go and a bottle of champagne chilling as always.  Just say the word, Mr. Smith sir!

  31. 31.

    Roger Moore

    @narya:

    I don’t think there’s a chance that he’ll go to an actual prison; the Secret Service wouldn’t be able to protect him adequately.

    Congress could always decide to pull the benefits of former presidents convicted of a felony.  They temporarily pulled Secret Service protection after 10 years, but they reversed themselves before the 10 year limit actually affected anyone, so it’s well within their power.

    That said, I’m sure Trump could get adequate protection in SuperMax detention.  The prisoners in SuperMax are severely limited in a lot of ways specifically to keep them safe from each other.

  32. 32.

    Chetan Murthy

    @narya: Any home confinement would be surrounded by dozens of helpers and minders: that’d be worse than his current state, but still nothing like “home confinement” for us hoi polloi.  No, he needs to be sent to a prison that can keep him safe.  Solitary confinement — continuous solitary confinement, with his SS detail as his guards, fits that bill, I would think.  A pity about the mental health aspects, but hey, can’t make a national security omelette without breaking some eggs.  They were rotten to begin with, so no loss.

  33. 33.

    cmorenc

    @WaterGirl:

    It’s Friday, and it’s very quiet.  Hmm.

    True, you corrected yourself further down, but as a retired person for whom every day is Saturday, I too sometimes lose track of whether today is actually Thursday or Friday.  Still seems like Saturday to me.

  34. 34.

    Ken

    @Roger Moore: The prisoners in SuperMax are severely limited in a lot of ways specifically to keep them safe from each other.

    STARLING: That sounds like something Miggs would say.

    LECTER: Not any more….

  35. 35.

    RaflW

    @narya: Endless CNN (judge should block OAN, Fox etc), cases of Diet Coke … and NO handheld devices or social media accounts? The 3rd circle of hell for him!

  37. 37.

    cain

    @Spanky: Well there is also Monday.com – we keep joking about Monday. Imagine if you had an insurance company called Friday. The jokes write themselves.

  38. 38.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Chief Oshkosh: Besides, it’s a tourist attraction.

    Just think of the draw an imprisoned trump would bring out. Why the line for the ferry would be miles long every day of the week. They could probably balance the budget off the ticket sales alone.

  39. 39.

    hells littlest angel

    @Alison Rose: It’s selfish of me, but I don’t want him found guilty until the day after he’s officially nominated at the Republican convention.

  40. 40.

    karen marie

    @narya: How would home confinement alter his life? He’d still be able to do everything he does now. It would only mean he couldn’t do in-person rallies.

  41. 41.

    Ruckus

    @Alison Rose:

    He’s in such great health that I sometimes wonder if the legal train heading for him sometimes slows down, wondering if they do, maybe they  won’t have to sit in a courtroom with him, listening to days of BS drivel and finally have to subject the rest of the prison population to his presence. I mean those guys are already in prison, wouldn’t having to be in there with that be unusually harsh treatment?

  42. 42.

    bbleh

    According to our trash pickup service, it’s Wednesday.  What’s a day more or less?

  43. 43.

    narya

    @karen marie: That’s why I specified prison garb, no hair/makeup. And no media, either–same limitations on radio, TV, etc. that other prisoners experience. And no visitors.

    I have to say, I’m impressed with the jackaltariat’s attempt to solve this problem! Many good ideas here!

  45. 45.

    Mai Naem mobile

    They could send him to gitmo.  He would be near his beloved Floriduh. It would make it easier for Ivanka and Jared to visit him because I am sure they’ll be visiting him every week. Or they could  stick him at Trump tower where he can be serenaded daily  by New Yorkers who we all know lurv him.

  46. 46.

    TriassicSands

    @Jeffro:

    Instead of veggie burgers, why not two-day old salads. No dressing.

    Oh, wait, we’re getting into cruel and unusual punishment here.

  48. 48.

    TriassicSands

    @narya:

    Solitary confinement. He’s protected and no one else has to put up with his endless whining.

  50. 50.

    Roger Moore

    @cain:

    Florida women decides to use the ramp of a tow truck and do her own imitation of Knight Rider and the Dukes of Hazzard.

    It’s not obvious that she intended to do this.  The truck was stopped in a traffic lane with its lights on, so it’s possible she was just distracted and didn’t notice.  I heartily approve that the body camera footage this is taken from includes the officer immediately sprinting to the car to give aid to the driver.

  52. 52.

    MattF

    I find it astonishing that Trump publishes daily unhinged, defamatory rants about the justice system while his minions just nod and bat away any doubts. There’s something very not-OK about this.

  53. 53.

    Bill Arnold

    @Jeffro:

    No TV, no golf,

    It’s a desert island. All that sand, no grass! I suggest 3 golf clubs, his choice, and one dozen balls. (He can name each one of them.)

  54. 54.

    Ruckus

    Every day is Thursday when you are retired.

    Or is it Wednesday?

    Damn it now I’m confused. Six decades of staying busy days on end and now every day is a day off.

    Oh well, whatever day it is, it isn’t a work day…….

  56. 56.

    TriassicSands

    @Roger Moore:

    It’s 2023, I guess I just assumed she was texting with occasional glances at the road. I hope she survives this and whatever the cause of this accident, she is more careful for the rest of her life. Of course, it’s also possible she had a legitimate health problem, but the likelihood of that is lessened by her age.

  58. 58.

    piratedan

    @narya: considering their performance over the past few years, I’m not sure the Secret Service shouldn’t be burnt to the ground and rebuilt from scratch….

  63. 63.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @WaterGirl: Oh sure here come the “woke” police infringing on your freedom to decide what day it is with their standardized gubmint calendars and days of the week! Said, I’m sure, in all seriousness, by some wingnut somewhere. Also, relatedly, who are THEY to tell ME what side of the road I should drive on?!?!

  64. 64.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: I laughed out loud.

    Not the most heartfelt term for that particular activity.  Where’s the romance?  But nice that they have it scheduled! :-)

    It’s like the old joke.  “You know what they consider foreplay in KY?”

    “Yo, bitch, you awake?”

  65. 65.

    geg6

    @Chief Oshkosh:

    Supermax would hold him just fine and no need for SS agents there.  No prisoners ever interact with other prisoners, so no problem.  In the cell something like 23 hours a day.

  66. 66.

    Ruckus

    But Friday is payday!

    It must be Friday.

    Oh wait, no day is pay day anymore. Oh well it’s still a day of no work, so there is that……

  68. 68.

    artem1s

    @narya: ​
     

    I don’t think there’s a chance that he’ll go to an actual prison

    Wherever they put Noriega. If it’s safe enough for him then it’s safe enough for TFG. Second choice, whatever shithole country protected Idi Amin, let them foot the bill to pay SS agents to keep him safe (every damn one of them who thought he was the best assignment ever should have to go with him) .

  69. 69.

    Evap

    Serious question:  is there anything to prevent a convicted felon from running for president?  Suppose he’s in prison?

  70. 70.

    JWR

    Kevin McCarthy don’t talk good, do he?

    “Tonight we all made history because this is the biggest cut in savings this Congress has ever voted for,” he said, adding that he’ll be seeking more budget cuts moving forward.

    Can’t keep his “savings” and his “spending” straight.

    ETA Axios link

  71. 71.

    narya

    @Evap: Nope. Of course, if he’s a FL resident, he can’t actually VOTE, but sure, he can run for President. (See Eugene Debs . . .)

  72. 72.

    Kelly

    As retirees the only day of the week we pay close attention to is Tuesday, trash pick up day. We sorta pay attention to weekends to avoid crowds.

  74. 74.

    artem1s

    @Evap: ​

    is there anything to prevent a convicted felon from running for president?

    The Bush Crime family thought it was enough of a problem that they bribed a TX judge to expunge W’s record of two felony cocaine possession charges.​ Maybe it’s one of those ‘you can run but you can’t hold office’ things?

  77. 77.

    RaflW

    @narya: Imagine that guy moving to Maine or Vermont so that he can vote for himself. Not outside the narcissist’s realm of possibility.

  79. 79.

    WaterGirl

    @Evap: The legal eagles all say that convicted or in prison, if they meet the criterion in the constitution – at least 35, born in the US, etc – they can serve as president even if convicted or in prison.

  80. 80.

    Sister Golden Bear

    Who’s the real groomers? Heart-breaking first-person story from a gay man who was relentlessly bullied at school by other kids who were taught to hate him.

    This should be played in every church and every school across America. Shame on those Christian Americans who have taught their children how to hate in the name of Jesus.

    pic.twitter.com/2ad0EQtf21
    — Jane of the North (@JaneotN) June 1, 2023

  81. 81.

    Rand Careaga

    Maybe we could restore Alcatraz?

    Scenic

    O when in San Francisco do
    As natives do; they sit and stare
    And smile and stare again. The view
    Is visible from anywhere.

    Here hills are white with houses whence,
    Across a multitude of sills,
    The owners, lucky residents,
    See other houses, other hills.

    The meanest San Franciscan knows,
    No matter what his past has been,
    There are a thousand patios
    Whose view he is included in.

    The Golden Gate, the cable cars,
    Twin Peaks, the Spreckels habitat.
    The local ocean, sun and stars–
    When fog falls, one admires that.

    Here homes are stacked in such a way
    That every picture window has
    An unmarred prospect of the Bay
    And, in its center, Alcatraz.

    —John Updike

  85. 85.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Evap:

    You’re allowed to run from prison.  It would cripple his campaign.  No rallies, very few interviews, no makeup, very few and brief meetings with his staff.  Probably many more restrictions that haven’t occurred to me.

  86. 86.

    JaySinWA

    @WaterGirl: We could see a test of whether or not a President can pardon himself.

    OTOH I really can’t see the legal argument that gets trotted out that claims you couldn’t imprison a president because they wouldn’t be able to fulfill their duties. What’s a VP for if not to stand in if the POTUS isn’t able, and they made provisions for T when he was hospitalized with Covid.

  87. 87.

    Cameron

    I don’t want him locked up all the time.  I want him outside with the rest of the crew cleaning up shit by the side of the road, so I can ride by and laugh at him.

  88. 88.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Maybe a judge can set the terms of house arrest. Given that Trump incited an insurrection and has been found guilty of defamation, his outgoing communications could be restricted. His visitors could be limited, including visitors who work for him at Mar-a-Lago. This could be justified by how dangerous he is to the country and how unable he is to restrain himself.

  92. 92.

    Obvious Russian Troll

    Thursday is the new Friday.

    (I only know it’s Thursday because that’s trash day here, and I’m fortunate my neighbors took out the trash because I forgot.)

  94. 94.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @dmsilev:

    It was the morning after the night before, the night of the great no-bard-holds orgy in the great hall of Valhalla. Inert forms of gods & goddesses, demigods and demigoddesses, flunkies and retainers etc. sprawled inert across the floor of the great hall.

    The God of War, head pounding, lifted himself up on an elbow & looked about. In the arch of a doorway stood a stunning statuesque blond Valkyrie surveying the wreckage. Hel’s bels, he thought, I’m not a god for nothing, here goes: “Hi there, I’m Thor.”

    She shot him a disgusted look and replied,

    You think you’re Thor? Today I’m tho thor I can’t even pith!

    (no comment)

     

    @WaterGirl:It’s like the old joke. “You know what they consider foreplay in KY?”

    “Yo, bitch, you awake?”

    Irish foreplay: Brrrrace yerself, Bridget!
    Italian foreplay: Ay! Wake up!
    Jewish foreplay: 3 hours of begging.

    I could go on…

  97. 97.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @cmorenc: I too, as a retired person, often loses track of what day it is, while usually knowing the date. Exact opposite of when I was working.  And people who are still working DO NOT want to hear about how we retired lose track of the day!

  100. 100.

    Ruckus

    @geg6:

    And it’s Supermax. He’ll likely think the super is about him. That’s how self-centered he is.

  101. 101.

    WendyBinFL

    Sister Golden Bear, thanks so much. Sitting here without socks because that impassioned speech knocked them off!

  102. 102.

    Ken

    @JWR: Even allowing that he meant “spending”, the agreement doesn’t cut much at all. It’s the usual Washington stance, that not increasing a program’s budget amounts to cutting it.

  103. 103.

    JMG

    I wouldn’t mind if an imprisoned Trump was allowed to play golf — as long as he wasn’t allowed to use a cart and had to walk the course, carrying his own bag. He wouldn’t get 200 yards down the first fairway.

  104. 104.

    gene108

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    very few interviews,

    CNN would hold a town hall from his prison cell. The media would trip over themselves to be the first to interview the first former President in prison.

  106. 106.

    Obvious Russian Troll

    @Matt McIrvin: They don’t let holidays get in the way here. When I had Monday collection, I think the only holidays they rescheduled for were Christmas and New Years Day.

    I think Toronto may still be a little sensitive about the garbage strike 10-15 years ago.

  109. 109.

    eversor

    Trump ain’t going to prison because nobody in the government or politics wants to open that can of worms.   It’s not happening and people need to accept that.  He’s also not going to another nation to live because of the national security clusterfuck that would create.  No president is going to prison and none of them are going to live in a foreign nation.

    The best we are going to get when it comes to the national security and corruption issues is a formal conviction, barred from running for or holding office, crushing of some underlings, and forcing some sort of voluntary exile to one of his properties.   With the catch that every single military and civilian intelligence organization is going to be (not known to the public) watching that shit like crazy.  Which means that nobody important, foreign or domestic, is going to want to be anywhere near it as that will draw attention to them from a lot of people who you don’t want paying attention to you.   It will bassically turn into a no-go-zone for anyone that matters on the planet.

    It will for all intents and purposes make him an unperson.  Where only truly deluded sychophants and maniac Christians and MAGAs will go.  It’s going to tank the value of his brand, his properties, and everything into the fucking ground and banks are going to come for his bills.   And eventually even most of the right, outside of the Christian portion of it, is going to lose interest in him because the oxygen is let out of the whole thing.   He will die broke (yet again), alone, humiliated, and nobody will give a flying fuck.

    Don’t get me wrong I want him jailed.   Hell I want him hanged for what he did.  Shit many things he did are hanging offenses.   I’d be over joyed if he was coated in boiling tar, feathered, hung, hung again just to be sure, and then burned at the steak.  We used to know how to deal with traitors, good and proper!  It is litterally the worst crime possible.  For the long list of those here who have served, sworn oaths, or been cleared, this entire situation is absurd.  But we aren’t going to get justice on this.   And we need to accept that.

  111. 111.

    Redshift

    @artem1s:

    The Bush Crime family thought it was enough of a problem that they bribed a TX judge to expunge W’s record of two felony cocaine possession charges. 

    They weren’t worried about him being able to serve, they were worried it would hurt his chances of winning.

  115. 115.

    Kristine

    Spent part of the morning at the car repair place. There’s a TV in the waiting area, and the TODAY show was on. They played a clip of McCarthy making the savings comment (I think–my ears shut down when I saw him). No clip of Pres Biden. Definitely felt the GOP Won slant.

    Is everyone on that show overcaffeinated? Damn.

  117. 117.

    bbleh

    @eversor: Unfortunately I think that’s about right.  Internal exile.  Napoleon on Elba.  Despite the nearly comical level of his (mostly petty) criming, and despite the fact that he always has shown nothing but contempt for the law, for democratic processes and norms, and pretty much any person or institution except himself, I would be very surprised indeed if the Powers That Be allowed the precedent to be set of a former U.S. President being jailed.

  120. 120.

    The Pale Scot

    @Roger Moore:

    The driver was 19y woman from Tallahassee. She was texting, I guarantee it. The video starts with a look up the road showing the cars a 1/4 of a mile and she never hit the brakes.

  121. 121.

    JoyceH

    @dmsilev: For something like twenty years Spandau Prison had exactly ONE prisoner, Rudolph Hess. Everyone else had either been released or died. The Americans were willing to parole Hess, but the Soviets were adamant that he complete his life sentence. He got quite old and eventually committed suicide.

    As for Trump, his own wing at Leavenworth would do the trick. Same food, same routine, and same visitor restrictions as the rest of the population, no better, no worse. A small Secret Service detail, just to supervise the guards.

  122. 122.

    Sean

    Trump will definitely never see the inside of a prison, much as he deserves to. But whatever the outcome, he’s unlikely to face conviction in the federal cases before the election, unless they REALLY speed up the process. He was indicted in NY over a month ago and the trial won’t even start until spring of next year. I don’t expect the federal cases will move any more swiftly.

    As a side note, Biden apparently fell onstage at the Air Force Academy event. So, I imagine we’ll get 24 hours wall to wall news coverage of that for a few weeks.

  123. 123.

    trollhattan

    If Meta is a-gin’ it, shouldn’t I be for it? In which I learn we have an assemblyperson named Buffy.

    Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has threatened to remove news posts from those social media platforms should Assembly Bill 886, dubbed the California Journalism Preservation Act, become law.

    The measure, authored by Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, would require social media companies, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, to pay a monthly “journalism usage fee” — to be determined through an arbitration process — based on the social media platform’s monthly ad revenue. The money would go into a fund for payments to the companies that produced the content.

    Media companies would be required, under the proposed law, to spend at least 70% of that money on journalists and support staff. Local newspapers have hemorrhaged advertising revenue and staff with the rise of the social media giants. The hollowing of local news outlets has weakened the civic fabric of many communities, proponents of the bill say, creating “news deserts.”

    Meta argued that news publishers chose to put their content on social media platforms, and that substantial consolidation in California’s local news industry largely predates [love the double-meaning here] the wide use of Facebook. Even now, the company said, news is not a significant portion of most users’ Facebook feeds, making up less than 3% of what people see.

    “If the Journalism Preservation Act passes, we will be forced to remove news from Facebook and Instagram rather than pay into a slush fund that primarily benefits big, out-of-state media companies under the guise of aiding California publishers,” according to a Meta statement shared with The Bee Wednesday morning.

    [Still trying to find a problem here.]

    The tech industry has rebelled against the bill, with the center-left, tech-funded Chamber of Progress releasing an analysis that showed that the biggest beneficiaries would be “disinformation giants,” such as Fox News, the New York Post and Newsmax, rather than small journalism outlets and ethnic media.

    Wicks rebutted that claim in a recent interview with The Bee. “The very people that they’re purporting to care about here … are all at the table either supporting the bill or in conversations with me,” Wicks said at the time. She responded Wednesday to Meta’s announcement on Twitter, calling it “a scare tactic that they’ve tried to deploy, unsuccessfully, in every country that’s attempted this.” “It is egregious that one of the wealthiest companies in the world would rather silence journalists than face regulation,” Wicks wrote.

    https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article275952421.html#storylink=cpy

  125. 125.

    The Pale Scot

    @geg6:

    no need for SS agents there.

    No need for any surveillance at all as long as you set up cameras and turn it into a reality show, a really boring reality show, charge people who use those pic filters on cellphones now and days

  126. 126.

    trollhattan

    @The Pale Scot: I won’t claim she “stuck the landing” but ending upright turned 180 degrees makes it 100% more awesome, and I award a 9.8 to the performance. Smoke is always a nice touch.

  127. 127.

    rikyrah

    @…now I try to be amused:

    Trump has to win every criminal case, with a diminishing pool of lawyers. His prosecutors only have to win once. The odds are looking better and better.

     

    That’s how I feel. All the difference charged Fanni and Jack will bring…..all they have to do is win ONE…they’ll all be FELONIES, which will mean JAIL TIME.

  130. 130.

    rikyrah

    @narya:

    so, if he were convicted, how would they imprison him? I don’t think there’s a chance that he’ll go to an actual prison;

     

    Guantanamo

  131. 131.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @WaterGirl:

    I think we have a lot of bad people in positions of authority in the military and in law enforcement.

    According to republicans, the real Americans and true patriots, you know, the ones that insurrect and steal classified info.

  132. 132.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @trollhattan:

    Ron Filipkowski @RonFilipkowski
    Sarah Palin and Guilfoyle think Michelle Obama is going to get into the race for president in 2024.

    you know those two and everyone around them fume about MRO’s media coverage

    DeSantis likes to whine about Tacky O not getting magazine covers. I honestly can’t tell if he/they are really mad, or someone is just tossing out chum for that extra bit of outrage and victimization points

  133. 133.

    karen marie

    @karen marie: My bad – it wasn’t reported in 2020. But still, it’s It’s not a “major scoop.” Raw Story is a bullshit site.

    The Marines reported on it in 2020.

  135. 135.

    rikyrah

    Kenny BooYah!  (@KwikWarren) tweeted at 10:14 AM on Wed, May 31, 2023:
    Dems gave us Obama.
    GOP gave us trump.

    Dems gave us Biden.
    GOP gave us Pence.

    Dems gave us Pelosi.
    GOP gave us McCarthy.

    Dems gave us Jones.
    GOP gave us Tuberville.

    Dems gave us Allred.
    GOP gave us Donalds.

    Dems gave us Lauren Underwood.
    GOP gave us Lauren Boebert

    I’ll stop https://t.co/C3WqHTxLYZ
    (https://twitter.com/KwikWarren/status/1663926864560128001?t=9XGYlkEkvV3DLTsWEohbsA&s=03)

  140. 140.

    Jackie

    @WaterGirl: Amendment 14.3 in The Constitution:
    Fourteenth Amendment  Equal Protection and Other Rights

    Section 3 Disqualification from Holding Office

    No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

    https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/amendment-14/section-3/

    So if found guilty of insurrection against the USA…

  142. 142.

    mrmoshpotato

    Update: the consensus seems to be that this is Thursday, dammit.

    Watergirl: Happy Friday!  I stole your Thursday!

    Everyone: What the supervillain, Batman?

  143. 143.

    Old School

    @Sean:

    As a side note, Biden apparently fell onstage at the Air Force Academy event. So, I imagine we’ll get 24 hours wall to wall news coverage of that for a few weeks.

    …

    A White House aide said that the president was “fine” and said there was a sandbag on stage that Biden had tripped over.

  144. 144.

    Jeffro

    @Baud: not a single luxury…

    LOL

    He’d keel over in 72 hours max from the lack of attention (as many others have noted)

  145. 145.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @narya:

    so, if he were convicted, how would they imprison him?

    There’s already methods of protecting inmates at high-risk of harm from other prisoners, e.g. cops. Essentially it’s a separate cellblocks with extremely limited access, plus limited contact between prisoners within it, separate yard time, etc. I’m sure the Secret Service would also work an arrangement to have a detail constantly near him. I.e. at least one agent in the cellblock when he’s in his cell, more whenever Trump is near other inmates (even within the high-security cellblock), when he’s in the yard, etc.

  151. 151.

    Alison Rose

    @Old School: Oh God, now I want the writers’ strike to keep going because if there’s video of this, as soon as the late night shows are back, Seth Meyers will use it every single night until the sun dies.

  153. 153.

    Ruckus

    @Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony:

    I’ve been to Gitmo. Yes it was a long, long time ago and all I got to see were the pier we were tied up to and the very tall fence and guard towers but that showed me that it would be a very secure location to store an almost 80 yr old shit for brains that most actual humans do not want to be within 100 miles of.

  156. 156.

    Amir Khalid

    @narya:

    If Trump is sentenced to prison, insha’Allah, someone in your federal Government will have figured out how to incarcerate him. Indeed,that person is probably working on it right now. I for one am not persuaded that there is no solution to the problem.

  157. 157.

    Jeffro

    The Post has up a piece about “eight right-leaning* pundits review the 2024 Republican presidential field” and it is a HOOT

    * “right-leaning” meaning far right, further right, and batshit right.

    Anyway, here’s the eight: Jim Gerhaghty, Henry Olsen, Gary (gag) Abernathy, McMegs, Jason Willick, Hugh F’n Hewitt, Ramesh Ponnuru, and god help me, Marc Thiessen.  It’s like a hack festival full of hacks!

    No need to read all their takes (in fact, you can probably guess most of them: McMegs is dumb, Hewitt avoids the question by sliming Biden, Abernathy is still SPEAKING FOR THE PEOPLE OF TEH HEARTLAND) but here’s a great section from near the end that sums it up well in terms of how deluded they are…and how willing to delude others as well:

    Jason Willick: Trump’s dominance of the race so far isn’t just about getting voters to overlook his flaws. It’s about his distinctive ability to alternate between a politics of “retribution” and cultural moderation. He’s pro-vaccine. He’s probably the most moderate candidate on abortion — and his Supreme Court appointments, far from discrediting his abortion position, probably make it easier for many conservative voters to forgive him for it.

    Trump has managed to be ideologically flexible without being perceived as squishy or moderate. Instead, his ideological unpredictability is perceived as authentic by his supporters — and I have to say, DeSantis’s scripted delivery on his Twitter launch didn’t give me confidence that he can compete on that level.

    Marc Thiessen: The polls show that the vast majority of Americans do not want a Trump-Biden rematch. If you take them both out of the picture and put our bench up against the Democrats’, the future is very bright. We have an embarrassment of riches. Unfortunately, our system seems poised to give the American people exactly what they don’t want.

    Marc, come on man, seriously?

    17 months to go, peeps!

  159. 159.

    mrmoshpotato

    @WaterGirl: Nope.  Partly cloudy on the shore of Lake Michigan.

    Are you trying to claim the rain is responsible for tomorrow  disappearing? :)

  160. 160.

    trollhattan

    @Jeffro: What did these morons say about President Trump running for reelection? Did they decry the fact America “did not get what they wanted” in 2020?

    Guessing polls would have showed more interest in Taylor Swift versus Tom Brady.

  163. 163.

    Craig

    @narya: easy. Close the museum at Alcatraz. Refurb a small wing. Put an ankle monitor on him. I’d take the Angel Island ferry from SF once a week to flip him off as I went by. Sell time on a webcam so people can watch him mope around with no makeup, or hairjob in an orange jumpsuit and playing electronic golf for exercise. Use the funds to pay for welfare projects for the poor. Park a Reaper over The Rock and if he tries to get some MAGATS to bust him out then pulp them all.

  164. 164.

    Jeffro

    @trollhattan:

    Jason Willick: If Trump had lost in 2020 like a normal president, leaving office uneventfully without inspiring a riot, there probably wouldn’t even be a 2024 primary of consequence. Republican voters loved Trump’s performance in office by huge margins. In retrospect, if Jan. 6 hadn’t happened, Trump’s pitch — who’s ready for round two? — would face little resistance

     

    But Trump’s conduct after the 2020 election — including his damage to the party in the 2022 midterms — has created the possibility of a competitive primary by damaging the former president’s standing with party elites and a segment of the conservative electorate. Trump is still favored, and I agree with Henry that only DeSantis is likely to be able to compete against him. (If he runs, Glenn Youngkin might be the next most plausible.)

    Ramesh Ponnuru: I suspect that Jason is wrong about what would have happened if Trump acknowledged his defeat in 2020. Modern parties are pretty unforgiving toward losers… If Trump had acted like a normal defeated candidate, the party’s conversation would have turned to why he lost — and the answers would have mostly had to do with his personal defects rather than bad luck or structural forces. If he wins in 2024, it will be because of his election lies and not despite of them.

  165. 165.

    Alison Rose

    @AliceBlue: Yeah, I mean…I get it, they’re gonna make fun of everyone regardless of party, but it’s such tired humor. “Ha ha he’s old get it it’s funny because he’s old”. Anyone of any age can trip and fall over something. Hell, I walked face first into a closed sliding glass door when I was like 17. (It didn’t break.) (Also I was super high at the time.)

  166. 166.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Jeffro:

    If you take them both out of the picture and put our bench up against the Democrats’, the future is very bright. We have an embarrassment of riches

    puts me in mind of this deathless gem from the Magick Dolphin Lady

    I do not know what the Democratic Party spent, in toto, on the 2004 election, but what they seem to have gotten for it is Barack Obama. Let us savor.

  168. 168.

    Scout211

    In case you didn’t know yet (it’s everywhere in the media and on social media) President Biden tripped and fell on the stage at the Air Force Academy graduation today.

    He recovered and is fine, but the effing media reports are everywhere and we will be hearing about it over and over. Maybe until after the election in 2024. 😠

  173. 173.

    Roberto el oso

    I personally don’t care what happens to him physically, but I would like to see him barred for life from ever running for anything again, some giganto fine which will require him to forfeit many of his assets, the inability to profit monetarily from anything he “writes”, etc. And he should also have to turn in his passport(s) and be forbidden to travel abroad. Oh, and a permanent asterisk beside his name in any governmental or official listings of presidents, etc., with a note indicating he is a convicted criminal.

    OTOH, if espionage or treason are among the convictions than something considerably more severe should be considered …

  175. 175.

    Joy in FL

    All day has felt like Friday to me. This morning when I saw the post by David Anderson, “Friday is Gone,” that was also a confusion factor, even though I had read his earlier post and I knew that in this case, Friday was not a day of the week.

    Still, it feels like Friday. I don’t work anymore, but when I did, I remember thinking that weeks with Monday holidays were more disorienting than weeks with Friday holidays. Maybe that’s part of what is messing with my sense of chronology.

    On every day of the week, may Justice be done and our democracy strengthened.

  176. 176.

    Other MJS

    @Roberto el oso:

    I would like to see him barred for life from ever running for anything again

    Does anyone know if there’s a legal option for doing this? Michael Steele said (Bulwark podcast) that there’s nothing to prevent him from being elected and presidenting from prison. Could he then pardon himself?

  178. 178.

    zhena gogolia

    Goddamn why does everything in this country have to involve people playing bad music that i have to listen to? I’m in a hotel in Manchester, NH, and they’re having some kind of goddamn road race so that I have to listen to the horrible music on the street. Nobody can tell me when it’s going to end. Goddamn it.

    Why do they need fucking bad music in order to run a race? Goddamn it.

  179. 179.

    Brachiator

    @narya:

    so, if he were convicted, how would they imprison him? I don’t think there’s a chance that he’ll go to an actual prison; the Secret Service wouldn’t be able to protect him adequately. But home confinement, sure. And my fantasy is that it’s home confinement, a requirement that he wear prison garb and not have access to the hair & makeup (like Manafort)…

    Trump home confinement. Now, there’s a reality TV show I might watch.

  180. 180.

    raven

    @Other MJS:

    There are no legal obstacles to running for president as a convicted felon or even from behind bars. And if Trump finds himself in that predicament, he’ll be following in the footsteps of another rabble-rousing populist and frequent presidential candidate: the avowed socialist Eugene V. Debs, who received nearly a million votes while in prison a century ago.

  181. 181.

    WaterGirl

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Are you trying to claim the rain is responsible for tomorrow  disappearing? :)

    No, but I might try to claim responsibility for the rain since I have been watering since I got home. :-)

  182. 182.

    Burnspbesq

    @Anoniminous:

    And if he serves 6 I’ll be astonished.

    Your ignorance is showing. There’s no parole in the Federal system. 18 = 18.

  183. 183.

    Lapassionara

    @Roberto el oso: I think that if he is found to be guilty of sedition or seditious conspiracy, he would be barred from public office by the 14th Amendment. It would not be automatic, but the DOJ could ask for that remedy. If applied, Trump could appeal.

    reason number two gazillion why he should have been impeached and found guilty in the Senate.

  184. 184.

    patrick II

    1. @mrmoshpotato: I know. I think it is worse than just being bald with the surgical scars.  That is why the haircut. It would be like cutting the hair of Samson once the public saw the pictures.The strength would be gone.
  186. 186.

    Old School

    @Other MJS:

    Could he then pardon himself?

    Not for non-federal crimes.  And different people will give you different opinions on whether he could pardon himself for federal crimes.

  187. 187.

    eversor

    @bbleh:

    The problem we have is that the office of the president inherently requires committing crimes.   So if you open the jar on jailing presidents all past presidents are going to jail and so will all future ones.

    We have avoided having to deal with this reality because most presidents did not commit crimes against the US but in service of it.   So it can be hand waved away.  Of course Republicans have violated this gentlemens agreement repeatedly because they aren’t gentlemen.

    The issue with Trump is not only was it violated, repeatedly, and the violation is still going on that there is a justified “do something” panic going on.  But it’s not clear what can be done that doesn’t open Pandora’s box on a whole slew of things and so the power that be are justifiably doing kabuki.

    There is no clean solution to this that doesn’t create all sorts of mass chaos and unfortold issues unfolding rapidly.   And ultimately there are ways to fuck someone into the ground without tossing them into jail.

    There’s a remote, distant, moonshot, we could actually get a treason conviction here where the conviction is constitutionaly mandated (and it’s the only thing that is mandated and death is on the list of options).  But a free society built around avoiding cruelty and smashing the shit out of people (even though it does still happen) simply is not capable of dealing with this level of insanity at the top level.

  188. 188.

    Burnspbesq

    @eversor:

    People who have no idea what they’re talking about should just STFU and stop embarrassing themselves.

  189. 189.

    Jay

    It’s not whether you fall down: it’s whether you get back up and wipe the floor with Republicans on the budget. – MuellerSheWrote tweet

  190. 190.

    Burnspbesq

    A whole lot of folks around here need to educate themselves about the Speedy Trial Act of 1974.

  191. 191.

    sab

    @Other MJS: Impeachment conviction keeps him fron running for office again. Problem is it’s doubtful Senate would ever convict him.

  194. 194.

    MomSense

    I was kidding all those months ago when I joked that they needed to check Ivana’s coffin.  Did we learn something about documents hidden at Bedminster?

  195. 195.

    Brachiator

    @Amir Khalid:

    If Trump is sentenced to prison, insha’Allah, someone in your federal Government will have figured out how to incarcerate him.

    The position of former president is a respected, almost revered position. The idea of a former president convicted of a crime, let alone imprisoned, is a wild notion.

    But Trump loves to break norms.

  196. 196.

    Roger Moore

    @Old School:

    And different people will give you different opinions on whether he could pardon himself for federal crimes.

    The truth is nobody knows.  It has never been litigated, so it would be up to the Supreme Court to decide.​
     
    ETA: If he wanted to be too clever by half, he could declare himself temporarily unable to carry out his office and have the VP pardon him. That might actually stand scrutiny against some of the legal criticisms of him pardoning himself.

  197. 197.

    eversor

    @Amir Khalid:

    Caging or killing the traitorus fuck isn’t the actual issue.  Either of those could be accomplished rapidly.

    The issue is political.  Is the government, are both political parties, are we as a nation going to uncork the issue of jailing presidents and ex presidents for crimes.   That’s when you get the record scratch and the music stops.

    I firmly believe the government, the political parties, the donors, business, and most Americans do not want to push that button and see what happens.  Let alone what starts to go down after.

    That’s really where we are.   I’d like to think we are able to do it.  But I don’t think we are.  I also firmly believe if we do go through with it we are letting loose a monster of a weapon we don’t fully grasp.

    So as much as I hate it.  I don’t have enough faith in my country or my countrymen to actually handle this properly.  That saddens me.

  198. 198.

    Mallard Filmore

    @Jackie: shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.

    I wonder if “aid or comfort” would include giving pardons to insurrectionists.

  200. 200.

    Roger Moore

    @eversor:

    The issue with Trump is not only was it violated, repeatedly, and the violation is still going on that there is a justified “do something” panic going on

    This could be a reasonable distinction between Trump and other presidents, though.  Other Presidents may have committed crimes as part of them doing their job, but at least some of the stuff Trump is accused of happened after he left office.  Nothing about the presidency requires you to steal documents and refuse to give them back.  That’s enough different from the misdeeds of other presidents that you can nail Trump for it without having to worry about setting a precedent that could back to haunt future presidents.

    ETA: I don’t think this is nearly the can of worms you do.  The stuff US Presidents all do that might plausibly be against the law are against the law of nations, e.g. crimes against peace.  It is entirely possible to be the US President and not violate US law, which is what the US justice system is designed to enforce.

  201. 201.

    NotMax

    @sab

    Not necessarily, unless such a stricture is specifically included as a condition of the conviction. Otherwise it’s only removal from current office with no bar to seeking any other (or the same one again if no other impediment to doing so).

    For example, see the impeachment and conviction of federal judge Alcee Hastings (and his subsequent election to Congress).

  204. 204.

    Jackie

    @MomSense: I don’t see TFG hiding documents in Ivana’s coffin – the documents he stole are only valuable to him if he can show them off – or sell them. Anything buried in her coffin can’t easily be recovered without a court order to be exhumed.

  206. 206.

    Brachiator

    @Burnspbesq:

    People who have no idea what they’re talking about should just STFU and stop embarrassing themselves.

    You would have to shut down the Internet and most bars and taverns.

  210. 210.

    Chris T.

    @trollhattan:

    In which I learn we have an assemblyperson named Buffy.

    I lived in that part of Oakland when she was running. Can’t remember who I actually voted for (if I remember right, we had several good candidates), I just remember that her very name annoyed me. 😀 As you can see, she won.

  211. 211.

    Ruckus

    @Jeffro:

    How high can we drop him from?

    Can we drop him and then the 40K veggie burgers and books?

    How about a big flat screen? It doesn’t have to work, he’d have zero idea what to do with it, how to hook it up, no electricity or service and if we dropped it properly…….

  215. 215.

    Chris T.

    @mrmoshpotato:

    The orange shitstain is b-a-l-d.

    He’s semi-bald, with a big bald spot in the back; he’s been on Propecia for years to keep it from spreading, and he had it moved to the side of his head, so that if you look for a bald spot in the usual places, it’s not there. This is why his hair grows in that weird pattern: the skin is all in the wrong places.

  216. 216.

    mrmoshpotato

    @karen marie: “Major scoop” my ass. That was in the fucking Daily Mail in 2020.

    I don’t even want to know who makes that ice cream flavor. :)

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