I wrote at the end of the last post, which is puzzling over why the prosecution has called Stormy Daniels to the witness stand. The desire to humiliate others is a very low form of self-gratification. It's a big theme in porn — or so I've read — but I won't further expound on the parallels between porn and politics.
I'm just starting a new post on this theme because the very next thing I read was a display of the desire to humiliate Trump. It's Jennifer Rubin, at The Washington Post, in "The New York trial is wearing down Trump — and it shows/His nodding off in court is a sign that he is weaker and more vulnerable than ever":
The trial is aggravating Trump’s lifelong fear of humiliation and his insistence on being the toughest bully on the block.... Any objective observer would acknowledge that things have not been going his way, to put it mildly....
Trump cannot afford to lose the aura of power, control and defiance he wields to keep his supporters entranced. A weak, sleepy and docile Trump is not what drew them to the cult. You can understand why Trump might prefer to saw logs than to confront his worst nightmare.
Welcome to Trump's nightmare. I do not think the millions of Trump supporters — those people Rubin calls a "cult" — see Trump in that trial as weak, sleepy, and docile. I think they see him manifesting heroic fortitude. Rubin can't see it — or pretends not to see it — because — I suspect — she's slavering — along with her cult — at the idea of humiliation politics.
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Stick with your Above the law crook - Loyalist hivemind Jen Rubin(D).
Corruption excuser and hack.
Or - stick with me here, Jen - nodding off in court is a sign he’s bored and doesn’t give a shit.
- Rafe
It's nice that Democrats now openly admit to using the courts simply as an attempt to humiliate instead of promoting justice.
Trump slept with Karen McDougal. That's humiliating?
Shit. If I slept with Karen McDougal I'd tell all my friends.
"Rubin can't see it"
It's what happens when you Other the Other, a prog specialty.
When you have the real power to conduct lawfare at will, and media power to assert your hegemony, you can afford the blinkers.
"I won't further expound on the parallels between porn and politics."
Someone really ought to though. That's not just a book, that's a series.
"Any objective observer would acknowledge that things have not been going his way..."
Their readers love this shit. Lap it up like labradors lapping stagnant water on a hot Summer day. They lie as they draw breath. Such epic horseshit.
Stormy Daniels is a phony. I watched the first 20 minutes of “Dirty Cowgirls” and I don’t think she even knows how to ride a horse!
Rubin and all these opinion writers have been writing the exact same columns, the same shallow, and dishonest soothsaying of "reading", what President Trump is thinking, and the "true" meaning of his actions.
I am not a writer, but even in these comments, I strive not to repeat myself, or others. A different perspective yes, but the exact same themes? Pathetic. Hard to believe editors keep their jobs, by allowing such massive repetitive and boring content.
Trump broke so many people in the MSM and politics, turning them into ghouls and monsters. Actually, maybe they were already monsters and Trump just drew it out of them.
No wonder the Jeff-Bezos-owned Washington Post is in financial trouble. Jennifer Rubin's prose precisely duplicates fringe propaganda media sites. Paid propagandists routinely tell their customers what they want to hear. How is this strategy new versus the 2017 era? How likely is it to backfire by either making Trump sympathetic a la Ken Starr's Bill Clinton or backfire by setting up future Democrats for similar treatment?
The WP and MSNBC would disappear in a flash if they didn't serve to deflect potential anti-trust lawsuits against Amazon and Microsoft.
Your two posts today were clarifying for me. For almost 8 years I believed Trump had sex with Stormy Daniels. Why would someone try to extort unless they had a reason to? But I actually just think Stormy saw a quick payoff because of an incriminating picture. She might do that sort of thing a lot. Later after operatives came around looking for Trump's version of Anita Hill, she realized she could make more by joining the Resistance. Flew too close to the sun though. Hitching her wagon to Michael Avenatti was a mistake.
ah jen rubin don't ever change,
If their object is to humiliate Trump they're going about it the wrong way. The only way to humiliate Trump is to out Trump Trump.
Why do we still entertain the idea that Jen Rubin is (a) objective or (b) insightful?
Netflix is streaming a roast of Tom Brady, originally shown live and unedited, and it apparently includes a lot of rude jokes and put-downs, not just of Tom Brady but of others as well. For example, tom Brady himself quipped that Kim Kardashian was eager to get back home because she'd left (ex-husband) Kanye West alone with the kids. Kim, who was booed by the audience when she got up to do her own bit -- was not super amused by this based on her reaction. Plus apparently there were jokes about Tom's now former marriage to super model Gisele Bundchen that weren't very nice. Tom or Kim or Gisele, were they humiliated by all this?
This has nothing to do with Donald Trump except that Tom Brady is supposedly a friend of his. And to point out that humiliation really can't be imposed by others. It's along the lines of what Eleanor Roosevelt said, "no one can make you feel inferior without your consent" so I think that no one can humiliate you unless you accept it. Maybe it's the definition of"shameless" or should be, refusing to be humiliated.
Donald Trump is shameless. He cannot be humiliated.
The New York trial is wearing down Trump — and it shows/His nodding off in court is a sign that he is weaker and more vulnerable than ever":
No, you stupid twit (Rubin, not Althouse), Trump nodding off in court is the ultimate statement of contempt for this kangaroo court and "trial"
"Any objective observer would acknowledge that things have not been going his way, to put it mildly...."
The walls are closing in, I'm told.
Iman: It only looked liked Stormy couldn’t ride a horse because she was doing Reverse cowgirl.
I read things such as what Rubin peddles and just think "Projection"
Or - stick with me here, Jen - nodding off in court is a sign he’s bored and doesn’t give a shit.
I think Rafe is right. If Trump is nodding off, it’s because he’s bored out of his gourd.
Jen Rubin is what passes for a good conservative at the Post. What a joke.
They will give this up as soon as today's youngsters put the porn down and ask the cute redhead out on a serious date.
It's just too good this way. The subculture that feeds on this is enormous, wealthy, credentialed, and unashamed. They are tuned in from Mika and Joe at wakeup to the end of the Daily Show at night. I know people with advanced degrees who go to The View for talking points and expect to be taken seriously.
Like us, they are terrified of what is to come next.
Rubin is very much like Whoopie Goldberg to me, only less fuckable. Who knew that could be possible? I mean, other than Rich.
Yes, it is all about humiliation, bankrupting and shutting Trump up. Just look at all the flatulence memes being spread by the anti-Trumpers. His opponents are mental three-year-olds with the interests too match.
I wrote about this in the previous post. Yes, they want to LARP as the worst kind of witch hunting Puritans you ever saw. Yes, they want to humiliate Trump. They've trying to do that with all the minutia that being reported about how he's falling asleep or farting in court. This is the most extreme pettiness you will ever see, perpetrated by those who consider themselves our moral superiors.
And if the defense tries to go after Daniels on character you will also be a witness to the greatest display of hypocrisy in the history of mankind. She will be defended, with much hand wringing, as an empowered, liberated woman who is a victim of the evil Trump.
Civil War cannot come to this country quickly enough!
Birches said...
Your two posts today were clarifying for me. For almost 8 years I believed Trump had sex with Stormy Daniels. Why would someone try to extort unless they had a reason to? But I actually just think Stormy saw a quick payoff because of an incriminating picture. She might do that sort of thing a lot. Later after operatives came around looking for Trump's version of Anita Hill, she realized she could make more by joining the Resistance. Flew too close to the sun though. Hitching her wagon to Michael Avenatti was a mistake.
Millions of people are coming to this realization.
Nevertrumps hardest hit.
People like J Rubin wem to drive an almost sexual pleasure from this trial.
Riders on the Storm
Riders on the Storm
Into the world of porn
This Harridan was born
If she gave this man a ride
Teh jurors will decide
h/t James Morrison
Whenever I read a piece that includes words like "cult," "1/6 insurrection," or couches a description of the Trump legal cases as his "crimes," I immediately stop reading.
...because I already know what the piece is going to say and its conclusions, as it's already loudly proclaimed its unquestioning bias.
If the jury miraculously decides they can't go along with this farce of a criminal trial, I am going to enjoy the whining of people like Chuck, Rich, and Jennifer Rubin.
Trigger sniggers, Lucien!
Prosecutorial fetish and the judges who join in the parade.
Trouble is.. Stormy has told the story so many ways over the years it will not be hard for Trump's lawyers to bring in rebuttal witnesses. And the rebuttal witnesses do not have to be on the witness list.. they can be announced right after Stormy walks off the witness stand!
Yes it is gonna be great entertainment!!
They call it stormy Monday … But Tuesday's just as bad
Lord, and Wednesday's worse ….And Thursday's all so bad
T-Bone Walker
The truth will come out in court, and the court will speak. Most testimony under oath is done by his own GOP party members and those he hired as staff. He is long past citizens believing him to be a credible candidate, honest and truthful in his political, business and personal life.
Rubin makes a good living telling her readers what they want to hear. Can you imagine the cut in pay and prestige if she was reduced to being an honest journalist? She can’t either.
Hmmm....Trump nodding off after days of endless lying, crap and junk tossed at him.
---- LOSING HIS FOLLOWERS
Biden nodding of WHILE hosting someone in the oval office.
------ Thinking very,very hard.
Rubin is a complete and utter joke. And so is the NYTimes for hiring her.
I don’t know what Trump is doing, because all we, the public, have is the word of about 6 selected pool reporters to tell us what is happening in the courtroom, and they all seem to have the same bias because they are diverse, equitable, and inclusive of other viewpoints. Since it is clear the Judge and Prosecutor are corrupt, the case outcome is predictable and that makes this trial quite boring unless you enjoy Trump being attacked in this way. The only interesting thing is seeing who enjoys this bastardizing of justice. Jen Rubin is not a surprise.
They probably think this is tit for tat. They think Trump enjoys humiliating specific individuals. I think this has generally been exaggerated. Recently he has taken to doing an impression of Biden, weak, shuffling and cognitively lost. This is a new low. Of course it was wrong for anyone who cares about Biden to let him run this time.
In four years as Pres, Trump never used the courts or the agencies of government to hurt someone's career, much less to humiliate them. The possible exception would be J6, depending on what exactly Trump did.
The preamble to the Nebraska Code of Professional Responsibility states that a lawyer "shall not" use the law to harass or intimidate people.
The Dems use of lawfare against Trump is a fucking disgrace to the legal profession.
Is Trump sleeping?
I don't know because I can't see it. Last time I checked it's not being broadcast.
If he is sleeping it could be on purpose.
It shows disinterest and disdain.
Most of the Progressive agenda only succeeds within a culture of humiliation and shame.
Once that wears off, what is "left"?
Humiliation backfires in a NYC jury.
His nodding off in court is a sign that he is weaker and more vulnerable than ever...
Or he is bored out of his mind at this ridiculous shit-show and demonstrating that it is not important enough for him to expand the energy to focus on. At this point it does NOT matter, the appeals are already being written and they will succeed due to the nature of this kangaroo court and the jester DA.
I've seen the video evidence of Biden nodding off at several different State functions. So far, I have not seen any video evidence of Trump doing so at his trial.
I realize the trial does not have video coverage. I'm noting that those that are accusing him of sleeping are from the same team that commonly attribute words to Trump that he hasn't said, commonly edit and misinterpret videos of Trump in the worst possible way, and also attribute things to Trump that he hasn't done.
My mother told me that when you have nothing nice to say about people, you shouldn't say anything at all, so for the avoidance of doubt, I'm declaring here that I'm not saying anything at all.
FWIW here is the photo of Jen Rubin scowling in front of a painting of Jen Rubin scowling, done when Althouse mentioned it as a joke a few months ago.
[Original Jen Rubin artwork in background by MJB Wolf]
Shit. If I slept with Karen McDougal I'd tell all my friends.
And your wife?
The Dems use of lawfare against Trump is a fucking disgrace to the legal profession.
And Trump's abuse (and his lawyers') of the legal system is not a disgrace to the profession?
Trump to Daniels: "You remind me of my daughter."
She reminded him of his daughter.
https://clip.cafe/braveheart-1995/you-remind-of-daughter-back-home-s1/
Is Trump sleeping?
===========
is he snoring or farting? do they sound different? smell different?
"it will not be hard for Trump's lawyers to bring in rebuttal witnesses."
In a normal trial with a fair judge, this would be true. This trial does not have a fair judge. He already ruled that a former FEC chair can not offer opinion testimony about whether the payments in question violated federal laws.
Lloyd W. Robertson said...
They probably think this is tit for tat. They think Trump enjoys humiliating specific individuals. I think this has generally been exaggerated. Recently he has taken to doing an impression of Biden, weak, shuffling and cognitively lost. This is a new low.
The "new low" is Biden not being booted via the 25th Amendment
Telling the truth about your political opponent is not a "low", Lloyd. Whining about it, however, is
CNN is live blogging the trial here https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-hush-money-trial-05-07-24/index.html
Just now Stormy Daniels (She asks to be called that on the stand) has come out of the bathroom in DJT's hotel suite to find him on the bed in "a boxer and t-shirts" (From the blog but not sure if they are quoting Daniels directly)
Stormy Daniels says she was not threatened but Donald Trump was physically larger.
"There was an imbalance of power for sure. He was bigger and blocking the way. I was not threatened verbally or physically," Daniels said.
Daniels estimated Trump was "definitely several inches taller, and much larger," putting her hand above her head to measure.
oooooh.... the por widdle girl. The big man scared her. I find it hard to believe that a woman with Daniel's background and could be intimidated by any man. I suspect she has learned to hold her own even if she were physically or verbally threatened. I think she is lying, though I obviously can't read her mind.
Remember the other day when some of our brighter richards here were saying that DJT could not read a book much less write one. The prosecution had someone on the stand from the publisher of 2 of his books and was trying to show that DJT actually wrote them and all the ghostwriter did was as some commas and the like.
John Henry
Stormy Daniels is describing what happened next in the hotel room.
"I had my clothes and my shoes off. I removed my bra. We were in missionary position," Daniels says.
Asked if she remembers how her clothes came off, she says no. "Next thing I know I was on the bed," she testifies.
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger is trying to elicit more details, but the objections are sustained.
From this entry we go to one describing how she got dressed and had trouble getting her shoes on because she was shaking so bad.
I think I could infer that she is claiming they had sex by her reference to the missionary position.
But I notice that she never actually says they had sex.
Is that just keeping details out as the judge instructed? Or is it cautious wording?
John Henry
Freder Frederson said...
"The Dems use of lawfare against Trump is a fucking disgrace to the legal profession.
And Trump's abuse (and his lawyers') of the legal system is not a disgrace to the profession?"
Now, Freder, that's Inga level thick.
I was curious what the comment section for a piece like this would look like. Wow. I do not understand taking the time to make a comment when you really have nothing substantive to say. It makes Reddit seem like a forum of calm reasonable people. I lost count of the number of comments referring to him as a convicted rapist. That is enough self-abuse for me today.
The clownish judge looks annoyed, as he repeatedly sustains the defense’s objections.
Never forget that Jen Rubin lied for years about being a Conservative and a Republican. for years she was wagging her finger and telling us "You cant do that, "We" will never win if you do that" Or "We cant have purity tests, "We" republicans will always lose if we do that. We need to be pragmatic and elect Republicans".
And then Trump came and she dropped the mask. SHe's now a liberal democrat. Which is what she always was.
"Trump to Daniels: "You remind me of my daughter.""
That's what you're going with, when in the words of Biden's actual daughter, he was naked with her in the shower and she thinks she may have been abused.
He own hand-written words.
How has this never been asked of Joe?
DID YOU TAKE SHOWERS WITH YOUR DAUGHTER? IF SO, HOW OLD WAS SHE?
Even a low-IQ liberal like you should grasp the hypocrisy...
Daniels describes hotel room, sex positions
Defense’s objects repeatedly, judge sustains
Daniels describes position that would be unsatisfying for both parties, defense objects but teh judge overrules!
What happened last time Trump was publicly humiliated? I recall something about Obama and a White House correspondents dinner, a couple jokes... A few years later, Trump is sworn in as POTUS.
Careful what you wish for.
Blogger Mike (MJB Wolf) said...
FWIW here is the photo of Jen Rubin scowling in front of a painting of Jen Rubin scowling, done when Althouse mentioned it as a joke a few months ago.
[Original Jen Rubin artwork in background by MJB Wolf]
5/7/24, 11:00 AM
That account is now locked. Guess he's (?) too embarrassed to let the general public see his posts.
This "judge" has banned testimony from the FEC about how this hush money payment was not a campaign expense. I look forward to the defense calling these witnesses and the judge's meltdown. It'll be glorious, to quote Warf.
Rubin can't admit that Trump would have to be in a coma to fall to Biden's levels of weakness.
I'm going to guess that Stormy has fucked (for money) at least a thousand men (maybe women too...haven't seen her artistic videos), often 5 or 10 at a time.
And she's 'shaky' after this boring encounter?
She wasn't splattered enough per usual?
Nobody brought in a dog or pony?
JFC...
The only way to humiliate Trump is to pretend that he doesn't exist. He is an attention whore. The Democrats insist on doing the exact opposite thereby making him more powerful credible electable. Everyone knows that fanatics love martyrs. Donald wants to be fitted for an orange jumpsuit so bad he can taste it.
Is there any rule on how a defendent dresses? Could our president emeritus show up in jeans and a t-shirt, for example? "Sorry for my appearance, your honor. I was painting the garage and didn't have time to change"
Could he show up in pajamas, lean back in his chair and go to sleep.
I'd like to see him go on a diet of cabbage and beans. Every time the judge says something "BRRRRAAAAPPP!!!" "Sorry your honor. I'm a bit gassy today. Must have been that taco bowl I had for breakfast. Come by the hotel sometime and try it. My chef is the best in the business!"
I really really don't think he is giving this court the respect it deserves.
John Henry
Was Alexander Navalny guilty? Or Nelson Mandela? Tell me what you think and we'll go on from there.
News for Ms. Rubin: a wise man once said "Never interrupt your enemy while he is destroying himself." Trump is lurking; he will be heard from in due time.
Shit. If I slept with Karen McDougal I'd tell all my friends.
And your wife?
So, Freder - you're suggesting that if a man sleeps with a woman who isn't his wife, he might want to hide that fact from her? Gosh.
WHY is Daniels on the stand? What is the relevance of her testimony, unless Trump, while shtupping her (if he did), was muttering, "Gee, I hope the voting public doesn't get wind of this - I'd better get my lawyers to draft up an NDA for you - what was your name again? And then they ought to pull some accounting shenanigans so it doesn't look like I'm being blackmailed for your silence"?
Yes, Althouse!
This is a point that I have been trying to make for months. In the face of TrumpWing claims in the months leading up to the trial, that the New York prosecution was weak and fatally flawed, and in the face of claims that the trial would only help Trump in the eyes of the voting public, I was pushing back…
My contention all along was that irrespective of differing views on the merits of the prosecution (or the eventual verdict), this was a trial that would dominate the national conversation. All of the sordid Trump details would be examined in, uh, intimate detail, and the net effect would be profoundly harmful to Trump. It’s the kind of thing that someone like Trump (a master negotiator, right?) would take into account in trying to negotiate a favorable plea deal.
Not for a moment have I conceded that the New York hush money prosecution was anything other than valid and righteous. I still think so, more than ever. And yet, I know that plenty of people disagree, and they think that it is a political persecution. I know that we disagree. I acknowledge all of that, and still say that in the end, it’s a profound — profound in a way that was predicted by me — negative which will hurt Trump. Trump could have and should have understood all of this, going way back to (and before) the time that Trump turned up as "Individual 1" on the Michael Cohen charging document and plea deal.
The people who MOST want this trial to be conducted without error:
1A. Judge Merchan.
1B. DA Alvin Bragg and the prosecution team.
2. Trump-haters like me, who look forward to seeing Trump convicted in a fair trial.
The people who would LOVE to see some reversible error taint this trial and invalidate any conviction:
1A. The Trump defense lawyers.
1B. Donald Trump.
2. TrumpWingers.
As a very well-trained lawyer with vast experience in observing trials and appeals, Professor Emerita Althouse knows all of this.
RCOCEAN II said...
And then Trump came and she dropped the mask. SHe's now a liberal democrat. Which is what she always was.
5/7/24, 11:47 AM
Now, now. Like many of her kind, Jennifer Rubin is a sink the ships, blood and soil nationalist. For Israel.
I don't know why the neocon right has such a compulsion to "humiliate" their enemies, but it's the kind of charm which historically precedes expulsion.
The people who MOST want this trial to be conducted without error:
1A. Judge Merchan.
1B. DA Alvin Bragg and the prosecution team.
2. Trump-haters like me, who look forward to seeing Trump convicted in a fair trial.
The people who would LOVE to see some reversible error taint this trial and invalidate any conviction:
1A. The Trump defense lawyers.
1B. Donald Trump.
2. TrumpWingers.
As a very well-trained lawyer with vast experience in observing trials and appeals, Professor Emerita Althouse knows all of this.
If Bragg and Marchan want a trial that is conducted without error, they would have done vastly different things. Based on their behavior (unconstitutional prior restraint, allowance of a bunch of irrelevant testimony as to bad character just days after the Weinstein verdict was thrown out on the very same grounds, disallowal of expert opinion on whether the accounting at issue was a campaign finance violation, etc.), it seems very likely that they do not want a fair trial.
As to your desires, you may ideally want to see Trump convicted after a fair trial, but your options at present are (a) Trump convicted after a clearly unfair trial, or (b) charges thrown out on procedural grounds or a mistrial declared, should Marchan come to his senses. Which of these two options do you prefer?
As to our host, do not assume a law professor observes a lot of trials - most law as taught does not involve litigation or criminal charges.
They don’t give one fuck Chuck and you know it. That why you’re a piece of shit.
'He is an attention whore.'
Attention whore meets real whore.
Perfect...
'2. Trump-haters like me, who look forward to seeing Trump convicted in a fair trial.'
If you think this is anywhere near a 'fair trial' then you are dumber than I think you are, which is pretty dumb.
For communist democrats, the process is the punishment. They don't care if it's 'fair,' they only want to keep him off the campaign trail and make him spend money.
I may have spoke too soon. Chuck has arrived. My apologies Freder.
Wink, wink
nod, nod, Know what I mean?
Reverse Cowgirl.
Say no more. Know What I mean?
APB for Chuck, check your passwords because somebody hacked your account and is posting stuff that makes you look like an idiot.
Trump-haters like me, who look forward to seeing Trump convicted in a fair trial.
Well this sure as hell isn't that.
Not allowed to call the actual officials that said this is not a crime. Not allowed to say anything when everyone else gets to flap their gums like a dog with his head out of a car window. The very fact this went to trial after the Feds said "no crime here". Sure, this is fair. Fair like a mob run numbers game.
The court is taking a short afternoon break. Stormy Daniels is expected to resume her testimony soon.
Donald Trump pursed his lips and exhaled as he walked down the aisle.
Sure am glad of that. With all this bullshit I was worried he might forget how to breathe.
John Henry
The people who would LOVE to see some reversible error taint this trial and invalidate any conviction:
There are many reversible errors.
Allowing Daniels testimony is just the most recent.
What question did the Prosecution ask, that had any probative value to prove the Charge of fraudulent bookkeeping entry?
Because thats the crime. Bookkeeping error
Chuck. I have not been following this too closely but I wonder when we get to the crime part?
Chuck said...
Yes, Althouse!
Clean-up on aisle Chuck.
"Donald is not Nelson Mandela. He is not constitutionally capable of going to jail as a martyr and believing in principles he's somehow defending. He's an empty vessel. In many ways, he's a 13-year-old boy in a 77-year-old man's body," said former Donald Trump biographer David Cay Johnston, author of "The Making of Donald Trump" in 2016.
On Monday, a boring document examination and questioning of Trump employees before the court proved that Donald Trump violated the law 34 times. Today, Stormy Daniels was required to testify to present details surrounding Trump's $130K bribe. Trump lawyer Susan Necheles has blown up any issues with nasty unprovable accusations after the defense failed to object to any Daniels' long answers.
Incidentally, the E. Jean Carroll case was not declared to be porn by the NY jury and Trump wouldn't even testify in his own defense which cost him $100M - nor will he take the stand in this trial. He cannot defend his actions, so making him the next president is somehow only fair? Then again, thanks to Stormy, we know that Melania never slept in his bed even though The Donald wears Hefner-like satin PJs.
I stopped reading at "It's Jennifer Rubin".
wildswan said...
"Was Alexander Navalny guilty? Or Nelson Mandela? Tell me what you think and we'll go on from there."
Our system has degenerated to the point that criminal defendants are gaged by a judge. The Constitution is dead.
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