The other day, I was where I am now, postured in front of my computer screen in the ManCave wrapping up another day in the salt mine when the news broke that the Trump jury in New York had reached a verdict.
You write: "between the act paying a prostitute (sorry, that’s what Stormy Daniels was in this transaction)," which is quite egregious and inappropriate. This payment was for her not to go public with the affair she and Trump had, not for sexual services. Since when does hush money make someone a prostitute?
Were you a hall monitor in junior high? You are not the arbiter of what is and isn’t offensive, what is and isn’t appropriate, nor any of the other breaches of decorum - real or imagined. I think that from this point forward we shall all refer to you as Karen. You’re most welcome, because we all know how you so relish being offended and I wouldn’t dream of disappointing you.
You don't know how to read English. Try again. She was being paid to be quiet but the author claims she was being paid for sex. But go ahead, resort to personal put-downs since your comprehension is poor and your ability to engage in a normal discussion even poorer.
Stormy Daniels is a prostitute and you’re a Karen. The agreement that she signed was an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement), by which she didn’t abide. That puts her in violation of the agreement and more closely aligns her as an extortionist and a prostitute. Bless your heart.
Normally I enjoy your columns and find them quite interesting. But this time,, you seem to be obsessed with labeling Daniels a prostitute (which you do more than once), when the payment in question was not for having sex but to keep quiet about having had sex. Strangely, you seem unable to distinguish between the two.
I can explain it to you, but I cannot understand it for you. I am uninterested in "the payment in question" and when I refer to her taking money for sex, it is exclusively for her work as an adult film actress. She was paid to have sex in over two hundred movies. The presence of cameras is a detail. I'd be happy to remove you from my list of subscribers if you desire, and if you continue in your self appointed role as propriety guard, I will remove you anyway.
Seems to me the judge was already bending over backwards to ensure that a guilty verdict was delivered. So why would he suddenly develop ethics and moral scruples over not giving Trump an excessive prison sentence?
(I suspect the powers that be have concluded that a prison sentence for Trump would be counter-productive and would not serve the needs of the Party, however, making the question moot.)
"While campaigning, Bragg said: "I have investigated Trump and his children and held them accountable for their misconduct with the Trump Foundation. I also sued the Trump administration more than 100 times for the travel ban, the separation of children from their families at the border. So I know that work. I know how to follow the facts and hold people in power accountable."
He also said that he would continue with Vance's investigation and hold Trump "accountable by following the facts where they go."
Bragg continued to make frequent reference to his legal experience with the Trump family throughout the campaign."
Serious question here…Are you a troll for Biden, a mindless Never Trumper, or just a regular partisan? Why don’t you reflect a little on the circumstances that led us here. The whole Russiagate investigation was tainted from the get-go. Even Obama, Biden and all of their Intel people knew it was a political dirty trick financed by their own party and the Clinton Campaign. The investigation, which could not substantiate any of the allegations, was staffed completely with democrat operatives and donors, and more thorough than any colonoscopy imaginable. Either Donald Trump is an evil genius as we are told. Or he is stupid, as we are told by the same people. Or, hope your head doesn’t explode, he was smarter and more acceptable than Hillary Clinton. My original choice would have been Ted Cruz, but I was forced to choose between the lesser of what I believe to be two Evils - Trump or Hillary. I think South Park had an episode put it into perspective with the choice being between a Giant Douche and a Turd Sandwich.
We need to do better. We need to be consistent. We need to call out the criminals on all sides. From Bribery Bob Menendez to Greasy Matt Goetz and his predilection for teenage girls. We need to go back and clean up the garbage from the past - the Clintons, Cheney, those agency appointees who abused their positions to influence elections, and their patrons who profited from their time in office.
The Founders would be aghast at what their Grand Idea has become. Until we stop being partisans and giving our allegiance to the parties and individuals, we are doomed to remain in this cycle of political and cultural disfunction.
TUS: I'm a lifelong Republican who voted for every Republican from Nixon in '72 to Romney in '12. I then voted for Gary Johnson in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020. I too supported Ted Cruz in 2016, but he turned out to be so much big talk and so little do. If you don't believe that the Russians have helped Trump, I don't know what to say. I'm not a Democrat, but I will not vote for a Republican again unless he/she explicitly rejects the Big Lie of the Stolen Election. I guess that makes me a Never Trumper. One who means it, unlike Ted Cruz and so many others who swore that he was a danger to the Republic back in 2016 but have since found ways to make their accommodations to the would-be dictator. I don't like Biden on policy (but then, I didn't like about half of Trump's policies) and I don't care for him as a politician in general. He's a small-state mediocrity who has generally flamed out in national campaigns. Right now, he's pissing away this election by trying to appease 5% of his base while ignoring the 15-20% of Republicans who would like to not vote for Trump. Serious point here, for someone aghast at partisanship, you provided very partisan arguments.
It would help if your initial remark didn't start with personal and offensive remarks. Kind of degrades the impact of what you might have been trying to say.
ANDREW WEISSMANN & MARY McCORD will Explain all the Legal Charges & Arguments & Laws & Theories to All of Us . https://open.spotify.com/show/1ThqNEZVsv7DlMxEn7TSP1?uid=beddea9397ae371463f4&uri=spotify%3Aepisode%3A5TYYhTpn9IC6VHfSQdZFM6 The Ongoing Issue will be What makes the Misdemeanors into FELONIES . TRUMP signed the Checks . The Prosecution Showed the Conspiracy with Documents & Connected them with Witnesses . TRUMP is Dead to Rights in Florida , butt CANNON is Stalling a Very Simple Case . D.C. is on Hold by SCOTUS as to whether POTUS has some MAGIC IMMUNITY . Multiple States are Prosecuting FAKE ELECTOR Schemes . I think MARCHANT will give him 6 Months to a Year ...as TRUMP shows ZERO Remorse , Campaigning on his Delusional Denial . We Shall C . BUILD A BETTER NAVY
I was reading the. comments to this Ward Carroll Youtube and was sort of aghast at the number of what appeared to be Trolls and Russian disinformation bots commenting.
I don't think the judge would be interfering in an election. Is he supposed to consider such things as the election and whether sentencing day falls on the four-leaf-clover holiday? If the overall judicial system actually worked, Trump would have been convicted on a few other charges many months ago. Actually, judging from several biographies of Trump, he should have been convicted on other charges such as laundering Russian mafia money through his condos decades ago. The dysfunction in the court system may be as bad as that in Congress.
I'm a long-time fan of Jonah Goldberg's writing. But I think that he's wrong here. It is simply not the case that New York has never prosecuted anyone for such actions as Trump committed in hiding campaign expenditures. Just like the feds getting Al Capone on income tax evasion rather than for murder, Alvin Bragg got Donald Trump on campaign-finance violations rather than on fomenting a coup and misusing Top Secret (SCI) documents. It leaves us not feeling satisfied. But Donald Trump got his day in court. He had his opportunity to make his case to the jury, not just to his armed and angry mob. He didn't make a case to the jury except to have his lawyers claim that the prosecution was nothing but lies. As far as Alvin Bragg having it out for Trump, well, I imagine that the prosecutor of Al Capone had it out for Mr. Scarface. And good for him.
In 2022 NY charged 39 people with the crime of falsifying business records - as the top count of the indictment - as it was here. It's also often included with other nominally more serious charges. It's not an extraordinary or special charge.
The top count. But was it the only count? My problem with the Trump prosecution is that the predicate crime--election interference--is a super duper stretch, and was not charged or tried. The judge just said Trump did it. If that's normal (as others elsewhere have said) then this law is long overdue for a date with the SCOTUS.
Don't hold out for the perfect prosecution at the expense of one that is good enough. Trump is convicted, and he will have his shot at an appeal. If his appeal reaches the SCOTUS, he'll be appealing before a 6-3 majority of Republican justices. And one of those Republicans is married to a woman who was actively involved in Trump's plot to overturn the 2020 election.
I'd argue that political violence asserted itself as a norm beginning in the summer of 2020. Not as a defense of OMB, whom I hold at least in the same amount of contempt as you and for the same and similar reasons, but as a better context for what has happened and will happen afterwards. His is a reactionary movement, not a revolutionary one.
And we face having to choose between the two. Last one out, get the lights.
The D.C. stuff was the PD over reacting Mostly . Most that got Arrested were Released . It was like NIXON'S Convention in MIAMI BEACH 1972 . PD was Aggresive . I was there with High School Friends to Watch the Show every Night .
It's tough being a moderate these days. Extremists are only attacked from one direction; moderates get it from both sides. It's worth the annoyance, though, and you get your Christmas card list pruned for you. Stay strong!
How did Joe, a life time suckler at the Public Teat, become a multimillionaire? I figure, conservatively, that 99.99998% of politicians end up crooks. Some less so than others. I think Harry Truman was the last President to get it right.
You write: "between the act paying a prostitute (sorry, that’s what Stormy Daniels was in this transaction)," which is quite egregious and inappropriate. This payment was for her not to go public with the affair she and Trump had, not for sexual services. Since when does hush money make someone a prostitute?
Lidia,
Were you a hall monitor in junior high? You are not the arbiter of what is and isn’t offensive, what is and isn’t appropriate, nor any of the other breaches of decorum - real or imagined. I think that from this point forward we shall all refer to you as Karen. You’re most welcome, because we all know how you so relish being offended and I wouldn’t dream of disappointing you.
You don't know how to read English. Try again. She was being paid to be quiet but the author claims she was being paid for sex. But go ahead, resort to personal put-downs since your comprehension is poor and your ability to engage in a normal discussion even poorer.
Stormy Daniels is a prostitute and you’re a Karen. The agreement that she signed was an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement), by which she didn’t abide. That puts her in violation of the agreement and more closely aligns her as an extortionist and a prostitute. Bless your heart.
Her JOB was having sex with people for money. My statement has nothing to do with the hush money.
Normally I enjoy your columns and find them quite interesting. But this time,, you seem to be obsessed with labeling Daniels a prostitute (which you do more than once), when the payment in question was not for having sex but to keep quiet about having had sex. Strangely, you seem unable to distinguish between the two.
I can explain it to you, but I cannot understand it for you. I am uninterested in "the payment in question" and when I refer to her taking money for sex, it is exclusively for her work as an adult film actress. She was paid to have sex in over two hundred movies. The presence of cameras is a detail. I'd be happy to remove you from my list of subscribers if you desire, and if you continue in your self appointed role as propriety guard, I will remove you anyway.
Seems to me the judge was already bending over backwards to ensure that a guilty verdict was delivered. So why would he suddenly develop ethics and moral scruples over not giving Trump an excessive prison sentence?
(I suspect the powers that be have concluded that a prison sentence for Trump would be counter-productive and would not serve the needs of the Party, however, making the question moot.)
You'll never fall off my Christmas card list, Bryan. :-)
And I better not fall off yours!!
Re: Alvin Bragg
From Newsweek:
"While campaigning, Bragg said: "I have investigated Trump and his children and held them accountable for their misconduct with the Trump Foundation. I also sued the Trump administration more than 100 times for the travel ban, the separation of children from their families at the border. So I know that work. I know how to follow the facts and hold people in power accountable."
He also said that he would continue with Vance's investigation and hold Trump "accountable by following the facts where they go."
Bragg continued to make frequent reference to his legal experience with the Trump family throughout the campaign."
Would you have condemned a prosecutor in 1930 Chicago who campaigned on a promise to prosecute Al Capone?
Randall,
Serious question here…Are you a troll for Biden, a mindless Never Trumper, or just a regular partisan? Why don’t you reflect a little on the circumstances that led us here. The whole Russiagate investigation was tainted from the get-go. Even Obama, Biden and all of their Intel people knew it was a political dirty trick financed by their own party and the Clinton Campaign. The investigation, which could not substantiate any of the allegations, was staffed completely with democrat operatives and donors, and more thorough than any colonoscopy imaginable. Either Donald Trump is an evil genius as we are told. Or he is stupid, as we are told by the same people. Or, hope your head doesn’t explode, he was smarter and more acceptable than Hillary Clinton. My original choice would have been Ted Cruz, but I was forced to choose between the lesser of what I believe to be two Evils - Trump or Hillary. I think South Park had an episode put it into perspective with the choice being between a Giant Douche and a Turd Sandwich.
We need to do better. We need to be consistent. We need to call out the criminals on all sides. From Bribery Bob Menendez to Greasy Matt Goetz and his predilection for teenage girls. We need to go back and clean up the garbage from the past - the Clintons, Cheney, those agency appointees who abused their positions to influence elections, and their patrons who profited from their time in office.
The Founders would be aghast at what their Grand Idea has become. Until we stop being partisans and giving our allegiance to the parties and individuals, we are doomed to remain in this cycle of political and cultural disfunction.
TUS: I'm a lifelong Republican who voted for every Republican from Nixon in '72 to Romney in '12. I then voted for Gary Johnson in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020. I too supported Ted Cruz in 2016, but he turned out to be so much big talk and so little do. If you don't believe that the Russians have helped Trump, I don't know what to say. I'm not a Democrat, but I will not vote for a Republican again unless he/she explicitly rejects the Big Lie of the Stolen Election. I guess that makes me a Never Trumper. One who means it, unlike Ted Cruz and so many others who swore that he was a danger to the Republic back in 2016 but have since found ways to make their accommodations to the would-be dictator. I don't like Biden on policy (but then, I didn't like about half of Trump's policies) and I don't care for him as a politician in general. He's a small-state mediocrity who has generally flamed out in national campaigns. Right now, he's pissing away this election by trying to appease 5% of his base while ignoring the 15-20% of Republicans who would like to not vote for Trump. Serious point here, for someone aghast at partisanship, you provided very partisan arguments.
Calling out both sides is partisan. That’s news to me.
It would help if your initial remark didn't start with personal and offensive remarks. Kind of degrades the impact of what you might have been trying to say.
?? I posted what Bragg said while campaigning. Not interested in 1930 and Capone. I did learn that Al's son lived in this little community for years.
Sorry about that. It seems that I misunderstood your post.
ANDREW WEISSMANN & MARY McCORD will Explain all the Legal Charges & Arguments & Laws & Theories to All of Us . https://open.spotify.com/show/1ThqNEZVsv7DlMxEn7TSP1?uid=beddea9397ae371463f4&uri=spotify%3Aepisode%3A5TYYhTpn9IC6VHfSQdZFM6 The Ongoing Issue will be What makes the Misdemeanors into FELONIES . TRUMP signed the Checks . The Prosecution Showed the Conspiracy with Documents & Connected them with Witnesses . TRUMP is Dead to Rights in Florida , butt CANNON is Stalling a Very Simple Case . D.C. is on Hold by SCOTUS as to whether POTUS has some MAGIC IMMUNITY . Multiple States are Prosecuting FAKE ELECTOR Schemes . I think MARCHANT will give him 6 Months to a Year ...as TRUMP shows ZERO Remorse , Campaigning on his Delusional Denial . We Shall C . BUILD A BETTER NAVY
Off topic;
I was reading the. comments to this Ward Carroll Youtube and was sort of aghast at the number of what appeared to be Trolls and Russian disinformation bots commenting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUta1L43wKM&t=11s
How do you handle trolls and disinformation commenters here???
I don't think the judge would be interfering in an election. Is he supposed to consider such things as the election and whether sentencing day falls on the four-leaf-clover holiday? If the overall judicial system actually worked, Trump would have been convicted on a few other charges many months ago. Actually, judging from several biographies of Trump, he should have been convicted on other charges such as laundering Russian mafia money through his condos decades ago. The dysfunction in the court system may be as bad as that in Congress.
I'm a long-time fan of Jonah Goldberg's writing. But I think that he's wrong here. It is simply not the case that New York has never prosecuted anyone for such actions as Trump committed in hiding campaign expenditures. Just like the feds getting Al Capone on income tax evasion rather than for murder, Alvin Bragg got Donald Trump on campaign-finance violations rather than on fomenting a coup and misusing Top Secret (SCI) documents. It leaves us not feeling satisfied. But Donald Trump got his day in court. He had his opportunity to make his case to the jury, not just to his armed and angry mob. He didn't make a case to the jury except to have his lawyers claim that the prosecution was nothing but lies. As far as Alvin Bragg having it out for Trump, well, I imagine that the prosecutor of Al Capone had it out for Mr. Scarface. And good for him.
In 2022 NY charged 39 people with the crime of falsifying business records - as the top count of the indictment - as it was here. It's also often included with other nominally more serious charges. It's not an extraordinary or special charge.
"New York State Has Issued Nearly 9,800 Felony Charges of Falsifying Business Records Since 2015" - https://www.law.com/newyorklawjournal/2023/04/06/new-york-state-has-issued-nearly-9800-felony-charges-of-falsifying-business-records-since-2015/?slreturn=20240503082121
"Survey of Past New York Felony Prosecutions for Falsifying Business Records" - https://www.justsecurity.org/85605/survey-of-past-new-york-felony-prosecutions-for-falsifying-business-records/
The top count. But was it the only count? My problem with the Trump prosecution is that the predicate crime--election interference--is a super duper stretch, and was not charged or tried. The judge just said Trump did it. If that's normal (as others elsewhere have said) then this law is long overdue for a date with the SCOTUS.
The judge didn't just say that Trump committed the predicate crime. He said they didn't need to agree on what it was.
Don't hold out for the perfect prosecution at the expense of one that is good enough. Trump is convicted, and he will have his shot at an appeal. If his appeal reaches the SCOTUS, he'll be appealing before a 6-3 majority of Republican justices. And one of those Republicans is married to a woman who was actively involved in Trump's plot to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump's crime was beating Hillary Clinton. It's that simple.
No, it's not. And you know that it is not.
It's his "original sin."
I'd argue that political violence asserted itself as a norm beginning in the summer of 2020. Not as a defense of OMB, whom I hold at least in the same amount of contempt as you and for the same and similar reasons, but as a better context for what has happened and will happen afterwards. His is a reactionary movement, not a revolutionary one.
And we face having to choose between the two. Last one out, get the lights.
It really started on Jan 17, 2017 when Trump was inaugurated and there was significant rioting in DC.
The D.C. stuff was the PD over reacting Mostly . Most that got Arrested were Released . It was like NIXON'S Convention in MIAMI BEACH 1972 . PD was Aggresive . I was there with High School Friends to Watch the Show every Night .
It's tough being a moderate these days. Extremists are only attacked from one direction; moderates get it from both sides. It's worth the annoyance, though, and you get your Christmas card list pruned for you. Stay strong!
Verbal Attacks are Not so Effective .
Good Summary. Question remains: Who does the average independent voter pull the lever for in November? The crook or the (also crooked) corpse?
Some dreamers still hold out hope that Dems will repeat a last minute switcheroo like the Clyburn-inspired move that propelled Biden into office.
COMER's Baloney Committee Fizzeled Out . ZERO Evidence of Criminality . It's sole purpose was to sow MisInformation . Must a Worked ???
How did Joe, a life time suckler at the Public Teat, become a multimillionaire? I figure, conservatively, that 99.99998% of politicians end up crooks. Some less so than others. I think Harry Truman was the last President to get it right.
Are we really saying Biden and Trump are equally criminal?
It seems like we are. Incorrectly.