From the NYT live coverage of the Trump trial. Here's a free-access link.
This gets my rarely used "revenge" tag.
I delved into the topic most deeply back in July 2011, here. Quoting Wikipedia:
"Of the psychological, moral, and cultural foundation for revenge, philosopher Martha Nussbaum has written: 'The primitive sense of the just—remarkably constant from several ancient cultures to modern institutions ...—starts from the notion that a human life ... is a vulnerable thing, a thing that can be invaded, wounded, violated by another's act in many ways. For this penetration, the only remedy that seems appropriate is a counter invasion, equally deliberate, equally grave. And to right the balance truly, the retribution must be exactly, strictly proportional to the original encroachment.'"I said:
I think revenge asks for more. Nussbaum explains the moral aspect of revenge, not the passionate edge that wants more than justice. There is passion, but wait...Revenge is a dish best served cold.
That's the phrase Cohen used, talking about his hot desire to wreak revenge on Trump. In 2011, I wrote:
That is the saying about revenge. And it doesn't suggest becoming dispassionate. You're not using your measuring spoons and cups, preparing a dish "strictly proportional to the original encroachment." The cold dish that is the best revenge is not a calibrated diet dish.
Because revenge is a dish best served cold, Cohen speaks coolly — "calm and deliberate" — on the witness stand. But the courtroom is hearing the recording of his voice, and there the unseemly hot passion is audible... and experienced as "truly bizarre" — "giddy, high-pitched" and so fast it seems "artificially sped up."
How's that dish tasting for you?
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62 comments:
At least he is more measured and sane than the "Judge" in this case.
Judge Engoron made Cohen's podcast look tame too.
There is the law and the facts, and then there's the jury.
If you have 12 libtard New Yorkers, the facts and the law will make little difference. They will convict Trump because he's a Goddamn Republican.
Maggie Haberman is the worst. The whole point of the cross of Cohen is to destroy his credibility. Once that is done, the jury should realize all of his trial testimony is a lie.
My wife is from the Five Towns and you don't mess with the lady, nossir.
In 2006 - Trump may or may not have cheated on his wife.
Not illegal.
Prior to 2016 - Trump &/or his people paid her (and it looks like some sort of extortion on the part of Cohen and Daniels) to keep quiet.
Not illegal.
So far all the testimony points to the fact that this was not campaign fund related.
This is a sham trial - put on by corrupt Soviet a-holes.
Small man.
The NYT is preparing its TDS readers for a loss. The idea is to blame Cohen and Bragg.
Retributive change with hope and dreams of redistributive change.
Jonah Bromwich (NYT), May 16, 2024, 9:48 a.m. 52 minutes ago
Outside in the hallway, before entering the courtroom, Trump seemed to potentially violate the gag order that forbids him from talking about prosecutors in the case, other than Alvin Bragg. He made what sounded like a reference to Matthew Colangelo, one of the prosecutors here, saying, “a lead person from the D.O.J. is running the trial,” and baselessly adding, “So Biden’s office is running this trial.” Colangelo used to work at the Department of Justice, and Trump has used similar language to describe him in the past.
For context providing a basis, wasn't Colangelo appointed to the number three position at DOJ by Joe Biden before Colangelo, in an otherwise inexplicable career move, stepped-down to join Bragg's municipal DA office?
we can't let the cat out of the bag, and reveal the paws on the kangaroo,
Can someone please explain to me what Trump did to Cohen and his family? Seriously, what did Trump do? This is revenge for what exactly?
The NYT is preparing its TDS readers for a loss.
Respectfully, I disagree. Cynicism won't allow me to believe otherwise.
Revenge is a dish best served cold.
That's the phrase Cohen used...
But nobody has even delivered that phrase better than Ricardo Montablan.
So he needs money for all the cocaine?
The judge let them play a tape? It must be going bad for the prosecution that even the conflicted judge is letting a tape in.
Waiting for Merchan to claim presenting this evidence is putting Cohen and his family's life in danger and therefore Defense counsel must be gagged from presenting it.
"Can someone please explain to me what Trump did to Cohen and his family? Seriously, what did Trump do? This is revenge for what exactly?"
This one is easy to answer- Trump refused to pardon Cohen after Cohen got caught evading taxes on millions of dollars in undeclared income, even with Cohen publicly threatening to testify against Trump for the Mueller Inquisition. Even the Mueller Morons realized Cohen was full of shit and wouldn't serve any purpose in their Moby Dick quest to get Trump. It took even bigger morons like Alvin Bragg and his Idiot Posse of Prosecutors to take Cohen up on his offer and in front of Judge Mor......Merchan.
Unclebiffy: "Can someone please explain to me what Trump did to Cohen and his family? Seriously, what did Trump do? This is revenge for what exactly?"
Its more what Trump did not do.
Cohen was running around telling everyone he was going to be AG or CoS and when that didnt happen and Trump did not have any need of Cohen as a personal niche-y attorney, Cohen's gravy train was over and the little dude got caught up with tax problems from years earlier for which Trump did not pardon him.
And there you go.
It would be just if both Michael Cohen and Donald Trump go to prison. I suppose Michael Cohen has already served his time, we’ll see if that will have to do.
It is an American tradition, at least in my lifetime, that at least one person associated with a winning Presidential candidate has to go to jail. You would think by now that that associates of a Presidential candidate would consider the possibility that they are the person who will be jailed. It’s a little like sitting at a poker table, if you can’t identify who the mark is, it’s you.
Why don’t the marks wise up to that eventuality, and work to undermine their associate’s election? I kind of suspect that Bill Clinton did that to Hillary Clinton. Maybe that’s why Hunter Biden left his laptop at the repair shop. It would have been very easy for Michael Cohen to do that, all he had to do was fail to make the deal. Instead he got hoist with his own home equity loan, which had to hurt.
The mark going after the President is not an entirely new event. Jim McDougal turned on Bill Clinton. They don’t always take their punishment and slink off.
"baselessly added.."
Also: living well by taking only a few short cold showers using lye soap is the very best revenge. I’ve been told.
Imagine being a juror.
You heard from Cohen that he secretly recorded his client in 2016, before Trump became President. You heard Cohen claim he wanted to be AG and we know Trump never appointed him. So after Cohen treated his client unethically and then Trump didn’t give Cohen what he wanted, Cohen sought revenge against his client.
That is the prosecution’s key witness.
I wonder if even lefty Democrat jurors will buy this dog's breakfast of a case. Two of them are lawyers. They have to know it is all bullshit. Will they buy it?
All soap is essentially lye soap. Sodium Hydroxide is the usual base used for saponification. I've made soap out of bacon fat just for fun.
Whoops. I saw Meade's comment and thought I was on a different thread...
mindnumbrobot said...
"Revenge is a dish best served cold.
That's the phrase Cohen used...
But nobody has even delivered that phrase better than Ricardo Montablan.
And then later in Wrath of Kahn he follows it up with: "I've done far worse than kill you. I've hurt you and I wish to go on hurting you."
Kahn's character in that movie is totally motivated by revenge.
I wonder if Trump shouted, "Cooooooohen!"
Meade said...
“Also: living well by taking only a few short cold showers using lye soap is the very best revenge. I’ve been told.”
Pardon my bluntness, but whoever told you that is a lyer.
"Trump’s lawyers paint Michael Cohen as out for revenge in hush-money trial"
That's a bit rich coming from the vindictive Trump. But then again,Trump is all about committing a crime and then attributing that exact specific crime to his rival.
I do not understand what Trump's attorney’s are doing with this. If Michael Cohen is seeking revenge for being abandoned by Trump and taking all the blame, doesn't that suggest that Cohen was doing it for Trump? And if what Cohen did for Trump was illegal, doesn't that imply that Trump is guilty of doing something illegal himself?
Imagine you are a juror who hates Trump.
Left Bank of the Charles said...
It would be just if both Michael Cohen and Donald Trump go to prison. I suppose Michael Cohen has already served his time, we’ll see if that will have to do.
What would Trump go to jail for?
Be specific you fascist piece of shit.
"It would be just if both Michael Cohen and Donald Trump go to prison."
What crime did Trump commit here, Left Bank, for which he should go to prison?
If you have 12 libtard New Yorkers...
Ah, but all it takes is ONE to hang the jury.
“So Biden’s office is running this trial.” Colangelo used to work at the Department of Justice, and Trump has used similar language to describe him in the past.
Wait, what? We were specifically promised that all Trump would do is "run down Desantis" and that "Trump never talks about Biden." Yet here he is, day after day taking it to old Joe.
This trial really is confusing.
Revenge has been what the left has been about ever since Trump thoroughly beat HRC.
BTW, After denying executive privilege to Trump and his advisors, Biden had claimed executive privilege over the tapes of his interview with Hur.
Tony Soprano: “Revenge is like serving cold cuts.”
Daily Mail now claiming that Trump’s lawyers have caught Cohen lying on the stand. Take it with a grain of salt because this icon of journalism has misspellings along with melodramatic prose, but it seems the press pool can’t even believe Cohen.
it's porqueria, the nicer word for animal droppings,
cohen dodged a whole lot of tax on his medallion business, thats how they got him, kind of the way they got lawrence belfort through rocky aoki
Same question to Rich- what crime did Trump commit here that Cohen took the rap for? Speak up you coward.
“Biden had claimed executive privilege…”
The full transcript has been available for months.
These are the same chatter monkeys that think Trump has unlimited immunity right?
Revenge is a smoothie best served up in an enema.
Cohen gets "dog-walked" through lie after lie he has told."
CNN legal analyst: "I don't think I've never seen a star cooperating witness get his knees chopped out quite as clearly and dramatically as what just happened with Michael Cohen."
Even the CNN audience knows this case is total garbage at this point.
Anyone who supports this case is a fascist piece of shit.
Period.
Rep. Stefanik: "This is the same Michael Cohen who pled guilty to seven counts in an indictment that had absolutely nothing to do with President Trump and actually predated the first time he met President Trump, correct?"
Mr. Costello: "Absolutely true."
Rep. Stefanik: "And in fact, this is the same Michael Cohen who perjured himself to Congress. Isn't that true?"
Mr. Costello: "Yes."
Rep. Stefanik: "In fact, when called as a witness in this sham trial, Cohen was asked directly if he was honest during his testimony to Congress. He said no, admitting perjury. But it's not just Bragg's case that is a total sham and illegal political lawfare. Going after Joe Biden's top political opponent, Donald Trump, this rot goes deep all the way up to the top in the Oval Office, because when Congress referred this admission of Cohen's perjury to Joe Biden's DOJ, isn't it true that the DOJ has refused to prosecute?"
Mr. Costello: "That is true."
Rep. Stefanik: "Isn't it correct that Michael Colangelo, who was the third highest ranking official in Biden's DOJ, was transferred to Bragg's office to run this weaponized prosecution of President Trump? Isn't that true?"
Mr. Costello: "Not only true, but it's unheard of."
Rep. Stefanik: "Unheard of. It's a disgrace. Do you agree that this weaponization of lawfare goes straight to the top with the purpose of helping Joe Biden's failing presidential campaign?"
Mr. Costello: "The circumstantial evidence definitely supports that."
Rep. Stefanik: "And the unconstitutional gag order on President Trump from New York Judge Merchant is unprecedented lawfare as far as I know."
Mr. Costello: "Absolutely."
Rep. Stefanik: "And let's go to the daughter of the judge. Isn't it true that she is raising millions of dollars off of this sham case?"
Mr. Costello: "Well, I have to say I've read that in the media. I don't know it of my own knowledge."
Rep. Stefanik: "It is true."
Mr. Costello: "Thank you."
Rep. Stefanik: "One additional question. I want to talk about the rigged and unprecedented jury selection process. Isn't it true that Bragg's team asked the jurors if they followed Trump on social media?"
Mr. Costello: "Yes."
Rep. Stefanik: "And isn't it true that they did not ask any of the potential jurors if they followed Biden on social media or Michael Cohen?"
Mr. Costello: "Yes."
Rep. Stefanik: "And isn't it true that 87% of the jurors said they voted for Joe Biden?"
Mr. Costello: "That's true."
Rep. Stefanik: "Is this unprecedented and lawfared jury shopping?"
Mr. Costello: "Without a doubt."
Net up on the witness stand a two headed goat.
As I recall reading, I think in the NY Post last year, the problem with relying on Cohen is he “might be the only person in New York who’s a bigger liar than Trump”.
More crickets from Rich.
No you dont recall properly
Vivek Showing us why he should be VP.
Anyone who supports this case is a fascist piece of shit.
I would say Stalinist or Chekist, but, Fuck Yeah!
Anyone who supports this terrorist persecution is not to be considered a fellow American, but an enemy invader.
Anyone who did this in the days of our noble ancestors would have been horsewhipped by a mob and hanged from a stout oak tree, and deservedly so.
So Rich - tell us what lies are illegal here.
1:20
Achilles asks Left Back of the Leftist:
"What would Trump go to jail for?
Be specific you fascist piece of shit."
Good question. I'd like an answer as well.
I'd like to know w in specific detail - the crime here - according to all these leftist fascists
Still waiting for the collective hivemind anti-free speech liar fascist left to explain.
Rich:
"Biden had claimed executive privilege…”
The full transcript has been available for months.
These are the same chatter monkeys that think Trump has unlimited immunity right?
I don't think you grasp the situation. If the transcript has been available for months, then there is zero reason to withhold the tapes. The only reasons to withhold the tapes are either (a) the transcript is false or (b) Biden sounds like the confused dementia riddled idiot that he is. Given how the special prosecutor described our "president" it is almost certainly the latter.
Oh yeah, all you MAGA types demanding a crime be named, yet you spent 2016 saying Hillary should be "locked up"; what crime did she commit? Name the statute!
Care to bet whether the prosecutors who called Cohen as a fact witness in a criminal trial will be called to account for enabling an admitted perjurer to once again tell tall tales under oath? Didn’t think so.
look like Sir Kenneth Branagh is shoo-in to play Judge Merchan for the movie
Blogger Leland said...
"Oh yeah, all you MAGA types demanding a crime be named, yet you spent 2016 saying Hillary should be "locked up"; what crime did she commit? Name the statute!"
Mishandling classified information and destruction of evidence.
Again because Rich, Leftbank, and the rest of the leftists are cowards as well as fascist shitheads so lets spell it out:
The "crime" is that Trump used personal money to pay Cohen and did not use campaign funds.
Thus he did not report the payment of Cohen as an In Kind contribution to his campaign.
And everyone in the world knows that if Trump did use campaign funds they would have charged him with that instead.
They claim that there was no other possible motivation to pay for the NDA and that Trump knowingly broke campaign finance law when his accountant entered "For services rendered" in his ledger while paying the 11 invoices that Cohen delivered to him.
Thus the "incorrect" 11 journal entries, which the previous New York AG refused to prosecute and is now beyond the statute of limitations, become a felony because they were a part of breaking FEC regulations for illegally contributing to a campaign.
Rich said...
“Biden had claimed executive privilege…”
The full transcript has been available for months.
These are the same chatter monkeys that think Trump has unlimited immunity right?
Trump was President and Biden was a Senator. I know that difference is hard for someone as stupid as Rich to grasp. Leftists are just stupid people
Also nobody believes the transcripts are complete. The same people that lied about Russian collusion released those transcripts.
Biden has claimed that the audio tapes of his deposition for the criminal possession and illegal disposition of classified data while he was a senator are subject to executive privilege.
Besides the fact that the supreme court has already unanimously decided 8-0 that Nixon could not withhold similar audio tapes you also have to consider that none of these tapes were soliciting advice from aids. Even Nixon had a better case than Biden does and he lost 8-0.
These tapes were Biden answering questions about his stealing classified data and then giving access to the Chinese companies that were giving his family money.
But the DOJ decided they couldn't prosecute Biden because he is old and stupid.
Leland - Hillary set up and used a private Server to hide the fact she was filling her family coffers with... wait for it --- Russian money - among other things.
Very Biden family-esque.
Leland said...
Oh yeah, all you MAGA types demanding a crime be named, yet you spent 2016 saying Hillary should be "locked up"; what crime did she commit? Name the statute!
I know you are joking but just for fun.
18 U.S. Code § 793 - Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information"
Hillary did all 3 of those things several thousand times. If any of us grunts had done what she did we likely would have disappeared into a shipping container and been reported KIA rather than going to jail for thousands of years.
"yet you spent 2016 saying Hillary should be "locked up"; what crime did she commit? Name the statute!"
No reasonable prosecutor..
It gets even better.
Representative Dan Goldman, Democrat-NY, hired "Judge" Merchan's daughter and paid her to be a fundraiser for him.
But even Better Democrat Congressman Golden also coached Cohen and helped him practice his testimony.
Of course now everyone knows that Cohen was caught lying repeatedly on the stand during cross. Good coaching Representative Goldman D-NY. Good coaching.
At this point if you support this Democrat Regime you are just a terrible human being.
Blogger Achilles said...
I know you are joking but just for fun.
18 U.S. Code § 793 - Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information"
Yes, but see how easy it is to call out the particular crime. Let's see if the Marxist supporting the sham trial in New York can do it now.
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