"In the dock, he is a defendant required to submit to the proceedings of law. He is a courtroom sketch, rendered in two shaky dimensions, with hooded eyes and a glum look. But outside the court, he recasts himself as the defiant fighter. Appearing on camera at his own properties, arrayed in flags, he is in control. He is vested with authority. He is, the set dressing seems to suggest, still the president. His appearances may be inaccurate or irrelevant or unhelpful to his legal defense. But they are forceful, a perception he always sought...."
Writes James Poniewozik in "For Donald Trump, the Recriminations Will Be Televised/The former president’s trials aren’t being aired. That isn’t stopping him from turning them into a political reality show" (NYT).
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75 comments:
It would be something that Trump claims the election was stolen if Al Gore and Hillary Clinton didn’t exist. Because Al and Hillary do exist, it is a clear sign of a dumb worthless hack when they bring up Trumps claim.
Say anything to distract from the fact we just convicted a man of fraud who did not commit fraud and now nobody who has entered a real estate transaction with an appraisal is safe from politicized courts…
Today we are all less free.
…dumped on the friday night of what was once a holiday weekend…
This is all about the Jesusfication of Trump. He is being crucified for his peoples sins and then he will rise from the dead. Then all will be forgiven.
Anyone who thinks the 2020 election wasn't stolen has their eyes closed and hands over their ears going la la la la.
No wonder the sumbitch is crazy now. They stole it & his party was glad to see it.
… because the flag still stands for freedom, and they can't take that away....
It still did, back when that song was written. Tell me, Althouse, do you recognize the role you personally played in the change from those times?
They are not being aired for the same reason the house worked behind closed doors without Republican members present- they only want the verdicts and do not want rational people seeing the stunts the political freaks are pulling to get them…
Nice cynicism this morning. Is there critical self-reflection in Meadehouse for prior support of the Democrat Party that inflicts these abominations on the nation?
What? No link or tag to your deconstruction of Lee Gatlin’s song?
This election is doing a terrific job of bankrolling all Trump’s legal problems. To think elderly people in the midwest are writing checks for this.
Commenters need to read the Judge’s lengthy oppinion. This civil case could and should have been resolved years ago before the case was even filed. But when you have a person or defendant unrepentant and wrapped up in his superior thinking, too lazy to do self reflection, unwilling to accept criticism or legal advice, and too thin skinned and weak to face truths honestly, he morphs into a loser. The handwriting was on the wall early. Time to move on.
However, the MAGA cult of personality see the power structure as an imagined Deep State through a paranoid and conspiracy-tinged lens. Events are controlled by “they.” Regular politicians are just pawns of the “they” while Donald Trump is seen as some sort of tribune for the Average Joe’s, a champion beyond the reach of a corrupting “they.” One suspects that normal political argument and campaigning will not penetrate this deeply felt world view. One also suspects that for many Trump supporters “the baggage” is in fact an attraction, not a turnoff.
The charismatic connection between politics and these voters is through the news personalities of Fox News and other right-wing media outlets. These are the big retailers of “they.” It gets refreshed and energized every night. Self-interest is perpetually miscalculated. Regular politics doesn’t break through.
Trump is sort of a proof of the Marshal McLuhan phrase that “the message is the medium.” Trump’s very presence is the message. An unusual situation indeed.. There’s this twisted connection.
Lee Gatlin??
This is all about the Jesusfication of Trump. He is being crucified for his peoples sins and then he will rise from the dead. Then all will be forgiven.
Yes, Howard, this is correct. You could not have been more accurate. Thank you for stating it so succinctly. Trump is being martyred. If necessary, he will be assassinated.
Donald Trump could blow up the fraud case against him by selling just one of his “Mona Lisa” properties for a lot more than the value that was found to be fraudulent. Sure Putin’s money is all locked up, but you’d think Trump could at least find a Saudi that was willing to do that for him.
In the real world, everybody sees how corrupt the US Government has become. WE are a Banana Republic...I bet we keep it.
@Dave Begley, try Lee Greenwood.
Ann Althouse said...
Lee Gatlin??
Next he's going to tell us about the Germans bombing Pearl Harbor.
Before the election, there was one common thread on CNN, Fox, NPR, MSDNC, etc. All were worried that we would never know who really won the election because of the unprecedented expansion of drop off and mail in voting without a corresponding increase in security. I think that is exactly correct. Since President Biden was elected by the Electoral College, he is the legally elected president.
Due to the finding in some key states that actions which were taken in the name of COVID-19 were in fact illegal or unconstitutional under the state constitution, all of which benefited the Democrats, one can and perhaps should question whether he is the legitimately elected president.
https://althouse.blogspot.com/2017/07/yes-it-is-overwrought-and-jingoistic-it.html
The real world to the NYT is the subscription business.
The best part of Ann’s song deconstion.
“ The man who wrote the song — Lee Greenwood — was born in LA. I'm just reading his Wikipedia bio now. I see he's lived his life mostly in LA and Reno and Las Vegas. You might want to factor that into your understanding of the lyrics. As for how Tennessee got such pride of place in the song, Greenwood's wife is a former Miss Tennessee. She's his fourth wife. That makes me think of the first verse in a completely new way. My wondering is over. I think Greenwood would be just fine starting again even without his wife. Divorce still stands for freedom and they can't take that away.”
Take a hard look at the people on the front page(s) recently. Big Fani Willis, Nathan Wade, Letitia James, and Judge Arthur Engoron. These are faces of the blue state/ blue city legal system. Get out while you can.
Lefty Bank said: "Donald Trump could blow up the fraud case against him ... "
In Commie Pinko New York? Right.
Did you read the opinion, Rich?
John Henry
Well, maybe not Jesus, but at least Gulliver. The more all these Democrat Lilliputians try to tie him down and harass him, the bigger his legend grows. Yes, the more these gadflys and Riches and Howards flail away at him, the more they sound just like the leaders of Lilliput (seriously, go read it).
But yeah, the Jesus connection is starting to work too. He really is the focal point of their anger at those 1,000 or so J6 prisoners that they threw into jail as examples for the rest of us 70,000,000 who have sinned by not voting right and not believing that the voting was legit. So yeah, he is being crucified for our sins. And yeah, if he goes down, they are going to come after the rest of us. Nice catch on the metaphor. It's real.
NBC Rich and his Biden+Putin heroes want Trump destroyed and murdered.
I see that Rich is back to using AI to write "his" posts.
More lack of insight from the leftmedia. The political reality show is produced and presented by the mediaswine. Trump is merely a player.
"... the flag still stands for freedom, and they can't take that away...." More fiction from the leftmedia. The coup is nearly complete. Our children are indoctrinated. The regime's political opponents are prosecuted by Soros-style prosecutors. Corrupt federal law enforcement spies on and harasses pro-lifers, Catholics, concerned parents. The AFA ranks the US number one in gov't persecution of Christians. Democrats block election reform. The judiciary is characterized by corruption or cowardice. And on, and on.
If the corporate media disappeared tomorrow, there might be a chance for healing.
Not Lee greenwood either. My very first thought on seeing you can't take that away was Fred astaire or frank sinatra
The way you wear your hat
The way you sip your tea
The memory of all that
No, no, they can't take that away from me
That would be the red MAGA hat, of course.
Some prefer frank but with Fred you get ginger Rogers
https://youtu.be/fuufFgAMkGE?si=GYMt32dLXfCP_WbD
John Henry
Howard said...
This is all about the Jesusfication of Trump.
And they wonder how evangelicals can support Trump?
It's because they recognize the story.
Trump's persecutors are the ones doing all the Jesusifying.
Left Bank @7:11: Lefty comments are virtually always unabashedly riddled with hallucinatory assertions. It's like Nero fiddling.
“How dare he be telegenic!”
Rich (7:05): "Commenters need to read the Judge’s lengthy oppinion. This civil case could and should have been resolved years ago before the case was even filed."
This case, deemed by legal experts to be unique, couldn't be resolved until the ascension of Letty James. Anyone with a modicum of understanding of the development business or who was willing to pay attention to the expert testimony in the case understands that there were no victims of the "fraud" and that the "fraud" is actually common industry practice.
Does this mean that James and Judge Engoron have other developers in their sights? Of course not! It's all about lawfare against Trump. That and corrupt Democrats who think it's okay.
It will be interesting if Trump becomes president again and NYC comes begging, hat in hand, for a bailout. Trump might reprise the 1975 New York Daily News headline: (President) Ford to City: Drop Dead.
They would really like to memory hole pre-2015 Trump except for the birther bullshit they pretend he started. Lefties made his TV show number one. Lefties put him in their movies and solicited his donations to their campaigns. Lefties loved them some Trump! Built him up. Relentlessly promoted his campaign never for a second wondering about the unforeseen consequences. People like me who ignored or despised Trump grew to appreciate him. For what he accomplished. For how he caused them to expose themselves for the rotten cheating liars they are.
And now we’re supposed to care what they say? What they write? Go to hell. You convinced us your opinions are not worth shit, that all your arguments are hollow. That you are soulless chasers of power at any cost. Fuck those people.
The deeper they try burying him, the higher up my flag pole he goes.
Very glad Trump can speak again. Even so, I fear it is too late. Nothing has been done to correct the Democrat Jackels and their vote-gathering hijinks.
J6ers have been killing themselves in prison because American Law sold us out. (It disappoints me that Ms. Althouse has been too bland, aloof, mild against the obvious destruction by Democrats in these awful years.) I've said here before, our Civilizational Moment died jan.7 2021, when Global Corporate Media did their duty to The ObamaNation by removing a sitting American President from the public square, silencing him and his supporters, and coming as close as possible to chopping off his head.
The song is a relic now. our republic is done.
you didn't really help at all in the end, Ann.
A logical person might look at recent history and ask themselves if there is anything the anti-Trump people, in government and outside it, won’t do to destroy him, including disenfranchising tens of millions of American citizens. (This from a person who won’t be voting at all.)
"Blogger Rich said...
This election is doing a terrific job of bankrolling all Trump’s legal problems. To think elderly people in the midwest are writing checks for this."
Yup, just sent him some dough. If all of the people standing flabbergasted do not at least get off their arse and support Trump/Musk, then don't come crying when they come for you.
Commenters need to read the Judge’s lengthy oppinion. This civil case could and should have been resolved years ago before the case was even filed. But when you have a person or defendant unrepentant and wrapped up in his superior thinking, too lazy to do self reflection, unwilling to accept criticism or legal advice, and too thin skinned and weak to face truths honestly, he morphs into a loser. The handwriting was on the wall early. Time to move on.
"Rich" has no concept of the issues in this latest lawfare example. There was no fraud. the concept of a fraud with nobody losing anything is novel, certainly. It's possible that "Rich" is so stupid he doesn't understand this or he may simply be dishonest.
If tomorrow all the things were gone
I'd worked for all my life
Had I had to start again
With just my children and my wife
I'd thank my lucky stars to be livin' here today
Because the flag still stands for freedom
And they can't take that away
Sadly, Ann, Lee Greenwood's song lyrics don't work for Trump who loves only himself. Donald doesn't worship God. He has never defended the USA. Worse, he didn't work, he grifted all 50 years of his adult life.
@old &slow: Just by saying something hundreds and hundreds of times people believe it. Witch hunt, political prosecutions etc….
This is an excellent example of the Illusory Truth bias. Shows just how gullible people are.
Fortunately — Ivanka and Jared Kushner escaped with the $2 billion from the Saudis. Call it a wash….
It might interest Mr. I-can't-be-bothered-to-spell-his-lying-name-right to learn that when Mr. Trump's many, many admirers speak of him, we generally call him "President Trump". Now, some might suppose, that this is merely the courtesy, by which a person is referred to by the highest position he has held, like Colonel Sanders. And perhaps, for some, that is so. But I think I speak for many others when I say that Donald Trump was re-elected in 2020, and he is still the President of my country, whatever the Biden regime's flying monkeys may say about the matter.
Until 2016, I regarded Donald Trump as a rather amusing, if crude, rich New York asshole, with a contemptible fondness for seizing property by the corrupt abuse of eminent domain. Had his opponent been a human being, I might even have voted against him, or abstained. But given that his opponent was Sauron, I awoke the morning after that election with the feeling that a great weight of dread and horror had been lifted from my chest. I could go on. I could even enjoy going on. His conduct in office exceeded all expectations, and his courage, determination and defiance in the face of the 2020 coup and his ongoing persecution are a source of hope and inspiration to all honest Americans in a very dark time.
When the courts, the police, the prosecutors, and the judges, have all be corrupted, it is a system which has been tried before, in the Soviet Union, for example, it's a system in which only the most vicious, amoral, corrupt sociopath can rise to the top, and "son of a bitch," here we have President Biden.
They aren't "disappearing" people yet, for now they are simply content with making people invisible by "cancelling" them, but if there is no legal oversight of one particular political party, it won't be long before troublesome people start getting knocks on the door late at night. Of course they will have to take away our guns first.
Michael,
With Dick you should embrace the power of "and"
John Henry
"ust by saying something hundreds and hundreds of times people believe it."
That's Rich's motto. A credo he lives by.
"ust by saying something hundreds and hundreds of times people believe it."
That's Rich's motto. A credo he lives by.
"This is all about the Jesusfication of Trump."
So you admit you are taken in by a fairytale confidence game. Your basically boasting your gamma male status of useless eater.
"In the real world, Mr. Trump is a former president who lost an election and has been denying it ever since."
Is this an admission by the idiot writer that Trump does, actually believe the election was stolen?
'Worse, he didn't work, he grifted all 50 years of his adult life.'
You're right, those gigantic buildings all over the world just sprung up out of the ground like magic.
And the tens of thousands of people he's employed (and paid) never really existed.
You're always been a communist moron, but nobody, not even a democrat, could be this fucking stupid.
The purpose of Rich's repetitive comments, which seem to allude to the existence of evidence he never actually presents for discussion, is to normalize these kinds of abuses of power by the courts.
And sorry Howard, if you have managed to so successfully portray yourself as an idiot, that we take you at your word.
“You’re basically boasting your gamma male status of useless eater.”
“Howie! Goddamnit!… stop eating all the yellow moons outta the Lucky Charms!”
—- Howard’s mother
Howard said...
"So you admit you are taken in by a fairytale confidence game. Your basically boasting your gamma male status of useless eater."
At least they didn't vote for Biden.
The more you try and secure an alpha male status, the more beta male you come accross.
Rich said...
This election is doing a terrific job of bankrolling all Trump’s legal problems. To think elderly people in the midwest are writing checks for this.
=================
also nice plan by D machine lawfare to pauperize Trump supporters - would n't you say?
Rich said...
This election is doing a terrific job of bankrolling all Trump’s legal problems. To think elderly people in the midwest are writing checks for this.
=================
also nice plan by D machine lawfare to pauperize Trump supporters - would n't you say?
Worse, he didn't work, he grifted all 50 years of his adult life.
Biden? Obama? Who, bray (sic) tell.
A cynical interlude in our procession to the twilight fringe.
Worse, he didn't work, he grifted all 50 years of his adult life.
To the nearest order of magnitude, I wish it were possible to measure how many bags of groceries, mortgage payments, and college educations were funded by union-scale wages paid out to tens of thousands of employees by Mr. Trump in those 50 years, versus how many were secured by wages paid out by this "gadfly".
I'd bet a month's salary it's not even a calculable ratio, but a division by zero error. Grifting indeed. You witless parasite.
So the banks failed their fiduciary responsibilities?
What is the purpose of this column/Article except to attack Trump? Are these political witchhunts and Biden's lawfare against Trump good for the country? That never seems to be discussed. If the tables were turned, the pundits would be screeching to high heaven about the "Attack on democracy" and "Presidental/DOJ authoritarianism", but becasue Trump is the victim its A-ok.
I keep waiting for the Republican DC leadership class to get upset, but its becoming clear that Biden's enemies are their enemies. And like Biden, they don't really care about the country. Too bad, and sitting around waiting for them to be "reasonable" isn't going to work.
These prosecutions are keeping Trump popular among his loyal fanboys. In addition, these rulings against Jesus H Trump provide his obesity army with dopamine surges. "Thank you, Sir! May I have another?"
'I keep waiting for the Republican DC leadership class to get upset, but its becoming clear that Biden's enemies are their enemies. And like Biden, they don't really care about the country. Too bad, and sitting around waiting for them to be "reasonable" isn't going to work.'
It's a gigantic grift on both sides.
They're all getting rich in DC, are you?
Did you make 65% return on your portfolio in 2023 like Pelosi did?
Blogger rwnutjob said...
“Anyone who thinks the 2020 election wasn't stolen has their eyes closed and hands over their ears going la la la la.”
If only there was a word or phrase in English we could use to describe the people who deny this election evidence.
Then all will be forgiven.
You're delirious if you think we're forgiving you leftists for what you've done.
Happy Presidents Day.
This is the utter stupidity of the left: Donald Trump could blow up the fraud case against him by selling just one of his “Mona Lisa” properties for a lot more than the value that was found to be fraudulent.
Essentially Trump did when the bank accepted the value and gave him the loan. That is why the case and the judge’s ruling is idiotic.
So the banks failed their fiduciary responsibilities?
Considering they were paid back in full with and acceptable interest rate, no. But I guess you mean the incongruity that Trump some how committed fraud, but that the banks never noticed then they failed to do their basic fiduciary responsibility.
These Democrat corksoakers are a bunch of no good, sidewindin', bushwackin', hornswagglin', cracker croakin’ motherfuckers.
They need to be shown the door. They don’t belong in America:
These Democrat corksoakers are a bunch of no good, sidewindin', bushwackin', hornswagglin', cracker croakin’ motherfuckers.
They need to be shown the door. They don’t belong in America:
Joe Smith said...
'Worse, he didn't work, he grifted all 50 years of his adult life.'
You're right, those gigantic buildings all over the world just sprung up out of the ground like magic.
And the tens of thousands of people he's employed (and paid) never really existed.
You're always been a communist moron, but nobody, not even a democrat, could be this fucking stupid
I know that you cannot read, Joe, else you would know that Trump has lost almost every lawsuit since Jan 6, and he will lose them all once they get to trial. Name-calling of E. Jean Carroll is costing the not-so-brilliant Trump $100,000,000 with interest and abuse of business laws as well as misbehaving at trial in his NY Fraud verdict now exceeds $450,000,000
If you could read you would also know that I have said that I am a true conservative and registered Republican all my life. You have no basis to call me or anybody else a communist.
You would also know that Trump ripped off tenants. He forced regulated rent tenants to leave apartments by failing to do repairs. He caused rents to increase by falsifying investment costs.
Donald, the idiot, also ran through six bankruptcies and left his employees, his suppliers, and his investors in the lurch with nothing. Then there was the Trump University grift that ripped off its students and returned them about 25 cents on the dollar under court order. There was his violation of the Foreign Emoluments Clause that he violated every day of his presidency which cost taxpayers millions upon millions of dollars. He had his so-called Trump Charity purchase a huge painting of Donald Trump and other non-charitable items.
He brought Polish laborers to teardown the Bonwit Tower building where Trump Tower was built, underpaid them, and made them stay illegally inside the abandoned building. He hired mafia concrete contractors to build Trump Tower. He laundered money for the Russians and the Mafia through his casino operations. And of course, most of the buildings that used to have Trump's name on them were not owned by TFG and Trump Companies owe $1.1 billion in mortgages due within 10 years in which he has a stake.
All this and more. Here’s a name to remember: All County Building Supply & Maintenance.
You might not like it, but you ought to read:"Trump’s hubris has brought about the downfall of his family’s business empire".
Jesus gadfly, do you live in the real world! I was the general pm for a 300mm industrial project in Gary IN the union pithole of the us, and the unions fucked me even if it cost them. If Trump made money in NYC he is the best most compromising genius in the world. Take your anecdotes and stuff them.
Ya like anecdotes? My dad many years ago built a small industrial building on a small piece of land he bought in Cook County Illinois. He was his own contractor. He had the foundation dug and poured . Everthing was up to code but in order to get it approved by the county, the county building inspector had to be put on the payroll for six months. Same thing for the electrical inspector. My dad wasn't a specisl case. That is the way business is done in Cook County. Your kid want to be a Cook County Sheriffs Deputy? 1500 cash and they can make it happen.
I can't imagine what it's like building in NYC. Everybody gets paid.
So. Ya know. Take your prissy moral outrage and stick it where the sun don't shine.
"If you could read you would also know that I have said that I am a true conservative and registered Republican all my life."
OMFG, this is Gadfly, folks, not Chuck or Rich or one of those other GOPe stalwarts. Now I've been coming to the Althouse blog since the GarageMahal and Cedarford days(I appreciate you, ma'am), and I have never seen anything Gadfly has written that ever even hinted at conservative thought or principle, unless it was expressed with seething contempt and ridicule. I think Gaddy got himself a new job for the upcoming presidential election season. You'll be finding Gadfly in the comment sections of your conservative/republican blogs flogging support for whoever the Democrat Party selects to replace Biden: "...I'm a lifelong republican and severely conservative and I've never voted for a democrat ever, but this Deval Patrick fellow is saying some very interesting things..."
The hopeless gadfly: "If you could read you would also know that I have said that I am a true conservative and registered Republican all my life."
Michael Fitzgerald: "OMFG, this is Gadfly, folks, not Chuck or Rich or one of those other GOPe stalwarts."
gadfly is the Junior Varsity of fake "Life Long Republican" actually democratical (LLR-democratical). Never reaching the necessary performance level of the other LLR-democratical Brigade members Chuck, Rich and lonejustice.
He apparently is also a weird cat lady type who understands nothing and simply cuts and pastes to Althouse blog from the farthest reaches of insane leftist quadrants.
You might have missed it but gadfly's forays into anti-Musk posting included an hilarious riff where this dolt claimed SpaceX wasnt a real space company!
Good times with the JV laddie.
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