Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

“Alexa, change the president.”

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

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

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

Their shamelessness is their super power.

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

Innocent people do not delay justice.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

The National Guard is not Batman.

I desperately hope that, yet again, i am wrong.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Trump Crime Cartel / It’s All He Has

It’s All He Has

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Via the intertrons, I see that Trump testified today in court, and it went EXACTLY HOW YOU THOUGHT it would because the tangerine Palpatine is exactly who he has always been. I am sure he strode to the witness stand, sat down, and proceeded to defile the bible he was sworn in on, the seat he sat on, and then the law, common decency, and the truth.

I’m sure it was quite a spectacle, because that’s all he’s got. He sure as hell does not have the law or truth on his side, so he might as well pound the table and make a scene. And half the country will still vote for him.

Reader Interactions

124Comments

  2. 2.

    Josie

    The realization that so many people in our country are willing to put a mentally disturbed person into the presidency is the greatest disappointment of my life. (And I have lived long enough to have quite a few disappointments.)

  3. 3.

    John S.

    I’m not holding my breath, but all the headlines should be “Old Man Yells at Clouds; Smears Himself in Feces”.

  4. 4.

    KWDragon

    What I find most disappointing is the nagging feeling (backed by experience) that he will never enjoy a scintilla of an iota of consequence for his actions. He never has, and I sincerely doubt he ever will.

  6. 6.

    MattF

    It’s the Trump Brand. Comes right out of professional wrestling, which I loved as a kid. Haystacks Calhoun, et. al. Outgrew it.

  10. 10.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @KWDragon: This is the penalty phase of a trial in which his business organization has already been found to be base on fraud.  They judge is just deciding how many hundreds of millions they are going to pay in fines.  Trump is going to walk out of this broke.

  11. 11.

    Betty Cracker

    For my own peace of mind (living in 70+ Trump country), I’ve tried to nail down the approximate percentage of Trump voters in the U.S. I think it’s between 25% to 35% of the total population. Unfortunately for, well, everyone, they have outsize influence as swing state voters.

  12. 12.

    HinTN

    @MattF: Tojo Yammamoto, with a wrench in his trunks, promoted by Nick Goulas and Roy Welch right here in Chattanooga! Dear gawd.

  13. 13.

    Ruckus

    @KWDragon:

    Oh I think he’s doing that now. He’s always thought that he was above everything and everyone else. Now he’s being treated, well better than any one of us would be, acting like an extremely snotty 7 yr old. He’s had 70 years more than that to figure out being alive in a civilization and hasn’t made a millionth of an inch of progress in that 70 yrs.

  16. 16.

    Ruckus

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Trump is going to walk out of this broke.

    From your lips to the judge’s ears. I cannot think of a better penalty for him than to be stone cold broke.

  18. 18.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @Josie:

    Think of it as the inmates of an insane asylum picking a leader who might get to burn down the country. I hear our Founding Fathers are considered geniuses in designing our system of governing.

  19. 19.

    JaySinWA

    @Omnes Omnibus: I take it you are not in the “He’ll delay payment till after he is dead” school? What happens when the penalty is set and the appeals fly? Does Trump or the Trump org. have to put up a bond in case of loss? Or can the dissolution begin and cut off his business revenue?

    What’s the appeal endgame

    ETA I think this trial maybe more consequential than the others because a bankrupt Trump is less of threat than one who can use his finances to hold off going to jail.

  20. 20.

    Villago Delenda Est

    What TFG is doing right now is making an appeal pointless.  Engoron has been more than patient with this bawling three year old trapped in a 77 year old body, and the appeals court will duly notice all this.  The corporate death penalty depends on how the appeal goes, and it’s not going well.  TFG is giving them no reason to have the slightest sympathy.

  21. 21.

    gene108

    @Ruckus:

    The only thing he’s got on his side is the ability to lie, to the world and to himself.

    That and almost the entire Republican Party, their voters, their billionaire sugar daddies, Putin, and Lord knows how many members of law enforcement from federal agents to Secret Service to any small town deputy, as well as a bunch of judges he appointed that are extremely partisan and are willing to him a favor.

    As much as hope and pray he gets convicted and sent to prison, I think the odds are pretty low he’ll see the inside of cell. He’ll appeal any case he loses, post bail, and be free while the appeals process winds its way through the court system.

    Worst case he wins in 2024, pardons himself of all federal charges, and turns the DOJ on Willis, AG James, Engeron and his clerk.

  23. 23.

    kindness

    I heard the Bailiff was crying after Trump’s testimony

    @KWDragon: The eventual heart attack that does him in will be the only consequences I might get to see.

  25. 25.

    gene108

    @MattF:

    Trump is in the WWE Hall of Fame, for whatever that’s worth. He was involved with it a couple of decades ago.

    This is one reason he’s good at appealing to adult voters that are still pro-wrestling fans, NASCAR fans, etc. He’s worked on that schtick in the top tier of pro-wrestling.

  26. 26.

    Brachiator

    I’m sure it was quite a spectacle, because that’s all he’s got. He sure as hell does not have the law or truth on his side, so he might as well pound the table and make a scene. And half the country will still vote for him.

    Backed into a corner, it is both predictable and amazing to see the Orange Beast persist with bluster and bullshit. There is no perceptible difference between his actions and that of someone who is mentally ill. But his trump card (see what I did there) is the continued support of the GOP leadership, who back his lies that he won the election and keep his presidential bid alive.

    The Republicans learned from Watergate that they should stand by their man no matter what. Fuck democracy and the rule of law. The GOP is out for revenge. And they don’t care who gets hurt.

  27. 27.

    gene108

    @Betty Cracker:

    I’ve tried to nail down the approximate percentage of Trump voters in the U.S. I think it’s between 25% to 35% of the total population.

    Percentage of the population doesn’t reflect their percentage of actual voters. Non-voters, I think, make the largest chunk of the possible electorate.

  28. 28.

    Frank Wilhoit

    @Ruckus: ​
      But he always has been. The only pocket money he has ever had is what he was *just* given by someone who expected a quid-pro-quo. To pay this court’s judgment, he would have to go hat in hand to his old sources, but do any of them still think there is anything he can do for them?

  31. 31.

    gene108

    @Frank Wilhoit:

    To pay this court’s judgment, he would have to go hat in hand to his old sources, but do any of them still think there is anything he can do for them?

    1. The judgement will be paid from the sale of his assets by a court appointed trustee (or whatever the proper term is).

    2. He still has a legitimate chance to be the 47th President on the United States. I think that leaves a pretty big opportunity for favors to be paid back.

  32. 32.

    Captain C

    @MomSense:

    Tangerine Palpatine LOL

    I think this particular Palpatine was a clone that accidentally had a bunch of Phantom Menace-vintage Jar Jar Binks DNA added to it.

  33. 33.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @JaySinWA: Once the appeals court (hearing scheduled for a week from today) rules on the appeal of the directed verdict of fraud, that’s when things happen.  There are only two levels of appeals in New York.  TFG could appeal the first level’s call to the final level, but all that does is delay the inevitable.  Which is the only legal strategy he has.  Eventually, the receiver (who is already in control of the various Trump Org entities) will start selling properties off to fulfill the judgement, which will most likely be everything Willis is asking for.  Then there’s the corporate death penalty.

  39. 39.

    dmsilev

    tangerine Palpatine

    That’s a terribly unfair comparison. Palpatine was a careful planner who set wheels in motion years ahead of time, had multiple fallback options, and really was only undone at the end by his willful disregard of OSHA railing safety regulations(*). And can TFG shoot lightning bolts from his fingers? I rest my case.

    (*) Episode IX does not exist.

  41. 41.

    Captain C

    @dmsilev:

    (*) Episode IX does not exist.

    I think of it as Episode IX is completely noncanon contractual obligation fanservice

    ETA:  Or for Emerson, Lake, and Palmer fans, not quite, but perilously close to Love Beach.  Except that album wasn’t even fanservice.

  42. 42.

    brendancalling

    I would very much like to see TFG explode like Mr. Creosote in “Monty Python’s ‘Meaning of Life.’”

    I’ve been following the live blogging at WaPo and DK, and the general consensus is they’re trying to provoke the judge’s temper so they can move for mistrial, but it’s not working. IANAL, so I don’t know how this shit works but apparently it wasn’t a good day for Giant Orange Man Baby.

  43. 43.

    Urza

    @dmsilev: Episode IX is what we’ll get with all the orange Palpatine clones that come after this one trying to restore the Empire and doing as much damage as possible to the ‘current’ Republic as they can along the way.

  46. 46.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Betty Cracker:

    About a third of the population is, by nature, authoritarian and anti-democracy

    In the 1940s—when the world was reeling with shock over the rise of fascism that led to World War II and the devastating brutality of those regimes—German sociologist Theodor Adornobegan studying what came to be called the authoritarian personality. The authoritarian personality describes the people who fall in line behind an authoritarian leader (the rows of people dressed alike raising their hand in salute).

    The authoritarian personality is also called an anti-democratic personality.

    …

    Stenner and other political psychologists have concluded that about 33% of the population across cultures has this personality. We often see this number repeated. The Nazis came to power with 33% of the vote. Le Pen won 35% of the vote.

  48. 48.

    citizen dave

    I have concluded, based on traveling around the rural areas of my state, that the Orange Virus has mostly ended.  I see almost zero trump signs.  Meaning a couple.  Whereas they were all over the fucking place in 2016-2020.  True, large signs along northbound I-69 yesterday south of Fort Wayne, red letters, one with “Biden Stop Killing Americans” (wtf?); and one simply “Trump”.  Today drove along a U.S. highway east of where I live for 30 miles, and did not see one trump sign; nor any in/near the towns between me and rural Indiana.  So, I think the recent polls are bullshit.

    I also think trump will not be the nominee, as his health will decline and mental state will become more and more obviously deranged.

  49. 49.

    cain

    @JaySinWA:

    ETA I think this trial maybe more consequential than the others because a bankrupt Trump is less of threat than one who can use his finances to hold off going to jail.

    it’s a threat to Republican fundraising :

    ETA of course, he won’t be bankrupt – he’ll have to sell off his properties and the like to pay everything off. But he’s nothing without his businesses.

  50. 50.

    Chetan Murthy

    @UncleEbeneezer: I’ve read articles discussing the typical upbringing of authoritarian personalities.  It’s transmitted by parents to their children, typically via strict authoritarian parenting.  Like the kind of parenting that was common in Texas in the 1970s when I was a kid.  I don’t know if things have changed there, but kinda doubt it.  Stuff like fathers making sure their children addressed  them as “sir”, and liberal use of the paddle.  That sorta shit.

  52. 52.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @citizen dave: I think Trump will be the nominee. I think he will refuse to debate Biden, like he has with primary opponents. At some point, though his full speeches will get aired and normies will see the contrast. The media can’t fully cover for him. It won’t be possible to hide the deterioration.

  56. 56.

    Ruckus

    @Frank Wilhoit:

    Do remember that his dad left him 400 million. Now he surely may have wasted all of that on bullshit and big macs before now but people did give him money to run for office and are doing it again. Doesn’t mean that he isn’t skint, down to his last big mac or in debt over his ugly mug. He could sell his plane, I’m sure some idiot will give him $10,000, for it. He could sell a golf club or 2, or a hotel, or that shit hole place he kept the stolen government documents. Now I will bet that there are notes on all of those, but he has to have invested some of the cost of purchase, but then they also have his name on them so they may be worth less than his share.

  58. 58.

    patrick IIi

    Some rich republican will buy Mar a largo  for him at the auction. And maybe one of the golf courses.

  60. 60.

    cain

    @trollhattan: I would prefer a prison break and then him ending up in Argentina or something and then dying. If he dies here, they’ll martyr him and replace St. Ronnie.

  62. 62.

    West of the Rockies

    @Betty Cracker:

    Still, it’s a pisser that 25-35% of our fellow countrymen/women are so congenital stupid or willfully ignorant or plain vile and bigoted that they support such a heinous creature.

  64. 64.

    Ruckus

    @JaySinWA:

    I wonder how much overlap there is between the crazy and the authority friendly groups.

    I’d say pretty good. These groups always think that they will not suffer the wrath of their desires because they want that wrath directed at others. But their concepts usually end up affecting most everyone.

  67. 67.

    Splitting Image

    @Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony:

    I think Drumpf will be the nominee. I think he will refuse to debate Biden, like he has with primary opponents. At some point, though his full speeches will get aired and normies will see the contrast. The media can’t fully cover for him. It won’t be possible to hide the deterioration.

    At this point, it’s hard to see how Trump isn’t the nominee, unless the Iowa caucus rallies around somebody else at the last minute. I don’t think anybody’s mind has been changed because of Trump’s decline, and most of his supporters will trudge to the polls to support him come next November.

    I do think there may be a real decline in enthusiasm, though, and this may be turning up in the lack of signs. People like that crazy woman who got memed holding her baby out for Trump to lay his hands on may be realizing that her baby isn’t going to be a billionaire just because she was able to approach the Presence. If that fever is really lifting, Trump’s support may be back down to a more normal 60 million rather than the 70+ million he got last time. That would give the Democrats a lot more room to work with.

  68. 68.

    geg6

    @Ruckus:

    They are a part of his business and will be sold to pay his debts to society.  MaL, Trump Tower, Bedminster, Doral, all of it.  I believe even the Irish and UK courses, if what I read the other day is correct.

    I will die laughing when that happens.

  69. 69.

    citizen dave

    @prostratedragon: Sammy Davis Jr!  Our black cat’s name (after I pointed out my wife’s Sambo suggestion was problemmatic).

    It’s funny, I recall this bit on Rowan and Martin.  So he was comfortable doing that, but I’ve read he hated the Candy Man song because it was so silly/stupid.  Hey, it’s green green cash either way Sammy ( a talented man)

  70. 70.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @citizen dave:

    I also think trump will not be the nominee, as his health will decline and mental state will become more and more obviously deranged.

    Me too. I’ve been saying since he announced, or even earlier, that I don’t think he’ll get the nomination. At least, I won’t be the slightest bit surprised if he doesn’t.  Of course, given the possible alternatives, I’m not sure that’s ideal.

  73. 73.

    wjca

    @SiubhanDuinne:  I don’t think he’ll get the nomination. At least, I won’t be the slightest bit surprised if he doesn’t.  Of course, given the possible alternatives, I’m not sure that’s ideal.

    It offers the opportunity for a hell of a lottery: if Trump isn’t the nominee (for whatever reason), who gets it?

    DeSantis has shot his wad.  Halley has not one but two disqualifiers.  Etc., etc.

    My guess: somebody nobody ever heard of, who is assumed to be a “safe” choice, entirely because he’s never faced significant oppo research.  You know, like Johnson.

  75. 75.

    piratedan

    @wjca: I could see someone like Youngkin make a play, especially if the VA lege goes blue.

    If the J6 fallout is as extensive as thought (i.e. multiple Congresscritters, Senators, SCOTUS justices and spouses) and also providing the country has the stomach for it… I could see them offering up someone like Thune if the party collapses from the weight of its own racism/criming/corruption.

    The other possibility would be to see some coalescence around Christie.

    granted I’m just a dude on the couch, but that probably makes me just as qualified as any of the FTFNYT punditry.

  76. 76.

    japa21

    @piratedan: ​
     

    granted I’m just a dude on the couch, but that probably makes me just as qualified as any of the FTFNYT punditry.

    More qualified, not just as qualified.

  79. 79.

    Princess

    I really really really hope he has to sell the Trump building in Chicago so they can get his damned name off it. It is such an eyesore in a city he hates that hates him back. The building itself is ugly too but without his name, it will be better.

  81. 81.

    cmorenc

    @Josie:

    The realization that so many people in our country are willing to put a mentally disturbed person into the presidency is the greatest disappointment of my life.

    For me as well, at least insofar as events in the public and political sphere.

  82. 82.

    dmsilev

    @Princess: Are they still having trouble finding tenants to occupy the place? I remember that was an issue, not many people or businesses in the Chicago area wanted an address with his name on it.

    Can’t imagine why.

  83. 83.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @WaterGirl: Well, Omnes IS the actual law talkin’ guy.  If he sez it’s possible for TFG to appeal beyond the judiciary of New York State, well, I guess it is, but I’d love to know the circumstances that would allow it.  What Fed question would be up for review, for example.

  85. 85.

    Queen of Lurkers

    @trollhattan: I am no spring chicken, though quite a bit younger than the Tangerine Palpatine. My fervent wish is simply to outlive him and read his obituary. Preferably sooner rather than later. And it will be delicious if the event occurs while he is living rent free at a federal facility.

  86. 86.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Princess: I was on business in Chicago for a week a couple of years ago, working at an office in the Loop, and it seemed that every time I walked out his name was staring me in the face, giving me indigestion. Eyesore is right.

  87. 87.

    Eric S.

    @Princess:

    I don’t hate the look of the building. Once finished it was much nicer than while going up. I do agree removing those five letters would go a long ways to improving it.

  89. 89.

    coin operated

    @citizen dave: daughter and I took a motorcycle trip thru  Washington and Oregon at the beginning of September. The I-5 corridor (Seattle WA to Eugene OR) had some signs scattered here and there.  Go east, where Idaho borders both states, and you’ll find plenty of proud Trumpers. Our only blessing is that they are very much a minority.

  90. 90.

    Citizen Alan

    @Betty Cracker:

    For years, I have been troubled by the thought that a democracy cannot possibly survive if a sufficiently large percentage of the population would prefer to live under a fascist dictatorship. I don’t know what that percentage is, but I find it difficult to believe that 30% isn’t dangerously close to it.

  91. 91.

    Citizen Alan

    @JaySinWA:

    Does Trump or the Trump org. have to put up a bond in case of loss?

    In theory, any appeal of a civil verdict requires a supersedeas bond. But I have no idea how that works specifically in new york. IIRC, it was 125 percent of the judgment up to a maximum of 50 percent of the losing party’s net worth. Or something like that.

  92. 92.

    Citizen Alan

    @citizen dave:

    I don’t know. I was starting to feel complacent here in california, albeit Fresno. But then, two weeks ago I was in the dxl big and tall store and came across a surly bug guy with a goatee sporting a Let’s Go Brandon shirt.

  94. 94.

    Ken

    @Citizen Alan: IIRC, it was 125 percent of the judgment up to a maximum of 50 percent of the losing party’s net worth.

    This raises the amusing possibility of Trump suddenly reversing course and trying to claim a low net worth.

    There’s also the more amusing possibility he’s stupid enough to do that in legal filings, which become the basis for additional fraud charges and penalties.

  95. 95.

    Yarrow

    @Citizen Alan:

    came across a surly bug guy with a goatee sporting a Let’s Go Brandon shirt.

    A bug guy wearing a Let’s Go Brandon shirt seems kind of appropriate.

  96. 96.

    Anotherlurker

    @Citizen Alan: They are everywhere. However they are in the minority here in California.  Even in the blue blue blue Walnut Creek you occasionally see a  angry, grey goatee’d trumphumper sporting a t-shirt, exposing his hatred and ignorance for all to see

  97. 97.

    Ruckus

    @geg6:

    I would laugh my ass off at the most, I’m not losing any more than that on this POS. But my point was that he’s really not all that good with money so while he may say he’s worth a lot, I’d bet he’s in hock up to his shitty hair. And he is declining by the day so I’m wondering if he’ll be in any condition to make any kind of even close to rational moves or if he’ll just continue to think he’s the world’s greatest human, while they are locking him up.

  99. 99.

    dmsilev

    @Ken: Claiming a low net worth would be impossible for him, it’d break his ego. It’d be like one of those original-Star-Trek computers that goes up in flames when fed a logic paradox.

  101. 101.

    karen marie

    @brendancalling: I was not impressed by Wapo’s “live blog.” They didn’t provide any detail about questions or answers. Everything I read there was what I’d already seen from random people pointing and laughing.

  102. 102.

    Martin

    @dmsilev: Exactly. Trump compensates for his internal low self-esteem through this outward face of a Forbes 400 billionaire business genius, blah blah. When he feels bad about himself, he fixes it by inflating his net worth. That’s how certain narcissists function.

    This trial cuts to the heart of his own self-evaluation as a person. Even moreso than the trials that threaten to put him in prison.

  103. 103.

    206inKY

    @gene108: That last paragraph is exactly right and should strike terror into everybody who is finding stupid reasons to oppose Joe right now.

    I think it only seems close because it’s not in the nature of calm governance to be in perpetual campaign mode.

    When the time comes next summer, I suspect we’ll see an absolute firestorm hitting the GOP like what Beshear is doing in Kentucky. Mike Johnson is pretty much the perfect target on abortion, and Trump will be in the news 24/7 producing a trauma response from 2016.

    I think we take the House and Senate by a landslide on minimal ticket-splitting once everyone sobers up.

  104. 104.

    prostratedragon

    @Princess:
    @Gin & Tonic:
    It was a real disappointment to me when I heard it was being built. Chicago is of course big enough that no other reason was needed, but I’ve always wondered if his business history with the actually wealthy Pritzker family of Hyatt Hotels might have spurred him on. ( see the subsections under “Conversion to Grand Hyatt;” basically Hyatt eased Trump out over time. They dtill own the property, which is slated for redevelopment.)

  105. 105.

    lgerard

    I have the unsettling feeling that trump is going to go out like Howard Roark, dynamiting trump tower and then making a long, boring speech about the virtue of selfisness

  106. 106.

    Captain C

    @lgerard: Erik and Junior would fuck it up and ‘accidentally’ pull a repeat of the last scene of Caddyshack at one of Daddy’s golf courses.

  107. 107.

    Ruckus

    @Queen of Lurkers:

    I’m only 3 yrs younger than ShitForBrains and I have the same wish. He is such a disgusting human being and this once mental health counselor can easily state that this mentally far less than useless, deranged, depraved, deplorable, disgusting excuse for any kind of mammal, with the IQ and mental capacity of 2 day old shit, and the grace of a live grenade with the pin pulled is depriving actual human beings of oxygen and the ability to go an entire day with out throwing up over the stench.

  109. 109.

    jonas

    @Ruckus: I cannot think of a better penalty for him than to be stone cold broke.

    He’s been there. Many times. Of course he always had whatever remained of his tattered, albeit reorganized, real estate empire to restart the grift on — which is how he ended up here. What he’s going to restart the grift on this time is harder to say. He’ll probably just create something like “Revenge PAC” to fleece the rubes more and pay himself a $10 million/yr retainer to run it.

  110. 110.

    Ruckus

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Trump is going to walk out of this broke.

    It would be worth money to see and hear him dead broke. Worth at least one penny anyway. I remember reading about this dumb asshole decades ago in Forbes. He’s not better in any way He’s worse in every way and he wasn’t worth a shit then. He’s the dipshit that started on third base and is so ignorant he just walked back to first and parked his fat ass there. The only thing he’s gotten is louder.

  112. 112.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @jonas:

    If you mean his bankruptcies, no.  He wasn’t bankrupt, one of his businesses was.  As far as I know they weren’t golden parachute or vulture capitol type bankruptcies, but they still didn’t make a big dent in his fortune and he moved to the next project.

    This is the real thing.  His assets, his properties, his accumulated wealth sold off (by a court appointed agent, no less) to pay his penalties.

  113. 113.

    Geminid

    @Frankensteinbeck: There is a “Trump Vineyard” with a lot of land around it, 15 miles south of Charlottesville. I think will be one of the first properties to go if the Orange Churl has a choice in the matter. Which apparently he might not.

  114. 114.

    RaflW

    @dmsilev: Coverage of his testimony today had him acknowledge accurately that his prescious NYC apartment is 11,000 square feet. Then moments later, still on the stand he said 12,000, then 13,000.

    He’s got such ridiculous compulsions. If he were not the GOP presumptive nominee & a 4 year past wrecking ball to this nation, I’d feel sorry for being so fkd up.

    But he’s so damn horrible that his compulsions just revolt me.

  115. 115.

    EarthWindFire

    @piratedan: The other possibility would be to see some coalescence

    This is why I think Trump ultimately becomes the nominee. We’ve been waiting for the GOP to coalesce around an anti-Trumper for how long now? They can’t do it. Either the anti-Trump vote gets spread out among numerous candidates or it’s a Mike Johnson scenario where Trump has the final say. This party can’t collectively act unless forced by a strongman. That strongman, at least for now, is Trump.

    Could a Youngkin come out and take over that strongman role? Maybe. But I wouldn’t bet on it in Vegas.

  116. 116.

    Geminid

    @EarthWindFire: Youngkin strikes me as a cautious man. He’ll more likely position himself as a Vice Presidential pick. If Youngkin runs for President, he’ll have to go after Trump and that would hurt his chances for a 2028 run, which I think is Youngkin’s goal. We’ll know soon, as filing deadlines are coming up.

    Generally speaking, Youngkin stock will likely rise or fall with today’s Virginia General Assembly elections.

  117. 117.

    lowtechcyclist

    Could a Youngkin come out and take over that strongman role? Maybe. But I wouldn’t bet on it in Vegas.

    We’ll have a better idea of his prospects after tonight

    ETA: Beaten to it by Geminid, of course.

  119. 119.

    EarthWindFire

    @Geminid: Agreed that Youngkin’s stock depends on today’s elections. Not as certain what comes next with him. He just seems like the never Trumpers newest “he’ll bring the party together” fantasy candidate. Maybe it goes to his head, especially if the General Assembly election go his way today. I don’t know. I’ve given up trying to predict any individual Republican’s behavior.

  120. 120.

    Geminid

    @EarthWindFire: I think that even if Republicans do well today- and I don’t think they will- Youngkin won’t jump in the 2024 presidential race. Too risky. He’ll probably try to capitalize success for his 2028 run.

    If today’s results are negative, Youngkin will blame it on those pesky “Northern Virginia Liberals,” even if Republicans lose statewide.

  121. 121.

    SW

    Trump has been a public buffoon for at least forty years.  Nothing he does or says could surprise or shock me.  But what has really disappointed me in this bizarre period of US history is the number of people who support him and admire him.  Clearly he has made a conscious decision to cultivate and organize an underserved element of the electorate.  The assholes.  He found a constituency that no one ever before had considered as a voting block.  The staggering and sad element of this is how many of our fellow citizens are members of this now activated and organized voting block.

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