Crime

Feints, Frauds, and Flourishes…

by MyBaconPress

I think Donny thinks he’s losing votes to RFK, Jr. Kennedy was supposed to be a Biden spoiler but he’s a pretty conservative guy. He doesn’t appeal to the left. His own, very liberal family, has dismissed him. But he does seem to have an appeal on the right and that worries the trumpster. That explains why Donny used a few minutes at his Dallas rally to brand RFK, Jr a “radical left” guy.

The radical right likes to pretend there’s some, lurking radical left movement out there as the distraction to their radical right agenda. But “radical left” would mean communism. I don’t know any communists. I don’t know anyone seriously pushing for communism. The only people even thinking about communism belong to the radical right. These days, a middle-of-the road, mainstream liberal is viewed as “radical left” by the radical right. We live in a crazy world…

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Bill Maher has lost his objectivity when it comes to Israel, assuming he ever had any to begin with. He had a guest on his last show, Michael Eric Dyson. Dyson is a professor in the College of Arts and Science and in the Divinity School at Vanderbilt University. Dyson challenged Maher’s one-sided view of the war in Gaza. Maher seemed to lose it a bit and actually gave away his lack of balance with one exchange.

After slapping down efforts to turn criticism for the Israeli government into some kind of antisemitism, Dyson explained that the campus protests were mostly about the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Gaza. Maher thought he had Dyson there, “Tell me one war where civilians aren’t killed!” Wow!

So, setting aside the Geneva conventions rules about NOT killing non-combatants in war, and certainly NOT targeting non-combatants in war, Maher’s answer kind of waters down his own complaint about October 7, doesn’t it? Hamas launched rockets into Israel along with a simultaneous attack aimed at civilians. 1,200 Israelis died. That’s the basis for the actions Israel is taking in Gaza.

But couldn’t it be dismissed using Maher’s own “logic?” Oh, Hamas attacked civilians on October 7? Oh, well, tell me one war where civilians aren’t killed. I think old Bill would be apoplectic if someone said that to him about the Israeli civilians. I suspect he would answer that there was no war when Hamas attacked. I’m not sure I agree with that, either.

To my mind, that region has been at war since at least 1947. Sometimes the war is hot. Sometimes the war is cold. But the war continues. I wish they would ALL stop killing each other but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen any time soon, so my next best choice is that the US should NOT be an active participant in the killing. At the very least, we should stop supplying weapons…

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I’ve seen articles from both sides of the aisle in which the author tries to predict the outcome of Donny’s embezzlement trial, called the ‘Hush money to porn star’ trial because that’s more sensationalistic.

The right thinks the prosecution messed up by not bringing in Allen Weiselberg, Donny’s long-time CEO, to testify. They don’t think Michael Cohen carried the day and the prosecution needs just a little bit more if they want the conviction.

The left thinks Cohen comported himself well and landed enough blows to deal serious damage to Donny. The left thinks that because the prosecution basically proved everything Cohen had to say before Cohen even said it, Cohen’s testimony tied up the loose ends nicely.

The defense cross-examination of Cohen continues but that’s mostly because the defense wanted the jury to have the cross-examination they had done to that point to stay in the jury’s minds over the weekend. The defense is focused on the many terrible things Cohen did to people while he was serving as Donny’s “fixer.” I think the goal is to show Cohen’s unsavory past. But the jury already knows all about it because the prosecution told them.

I think pointing out immoral things Cohen did for trump is a risky move. Yes, Cohen did those things and that’s bad. But…the “for trump” part kind of shines a negative light on Donny, too. The cross-examination is expected to end soon. Word is, the trump team is not planning to put on a defense, but that’s not set in stone, yet. Donny keeps pretending he might testify. I doubt he will. I’m not sure how ranting about losing the 2020 election is going to help his case in any way.

The defense doesn’t have to present a case. The burden of proof is on the prosecution and if the defense feels the prosecution hasn’t made their case, THAT’S what they argue – and they don’t even need a defense. That’s very convenient, considering Donny HAS no defense in the matter.

Judge Merchan has said it has “become apparent that we’re not going to be able to sum up tomorrow.” He has said closing arguments will be next Tuesday, the 28th of May. Then we wait on the jury. How LONG we wait on the jury is strictly up to them…

A Cavalcade of Lies…

by MyBaconPress

Oh, Rudy. (Giuliani, of course.) He got just a little ahead of himself Friday. He posted in social media that if Arizona authorities couldn’t find him by midnight, they “must dismiss the indictment” and “concede they can’t count votes.” Ha, ha, zinger, right? He was at a celebration of his 80th birthday. I think he was having a good time and decided to show off a bit by sticking it to Arizona. What fun!

Then, as he was leaving the party? He was served. He is facing conspiracy, fraud, and forgery charges in connection with the fake elector scheme, one of the many lies in the MAGA cavalcade of lies. Shortly thereafter, his ‘taunt Arizona’ post was removed. He was the last to be served in the matter. Has he been hiding? Well, he’s served now. Of course, he looks “forward to full vindication soon,” which is the classic line criminals use after they’ve been caught but before they’re convicted…

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Everything every MAGA says about the 2020 election is a lie. Everything. All of them, from the very top to the lowest pustule, are lying. Donny, MAGA media, toadies, MAGA members of Congress, and rank-and-file base, all of them. They all know Biden won, fair and square. They don’t care. They keep pretending that if they don’t confess it, they might still pull it off.

People like me have been fighting back as we could, matching fact against fiction, fact against fiction, fact against fiction in a vain attempt to convince MAGA rank and file that they’ve been deceived. But the stories continue to flow. They WANT to preserve the lie, so they lie. (Some of them claim to be Christians. They’ll look you right in the eye and lie to your face. That’s a violation of God’s law, ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness.’ MAGA doesn’t hesitate to lie anyway, making clear they don’t give two figs about their God’s law.)

The reason it’s important is this: they’re already lying about the 2024 election and they’re not going to stop. They NEED the lie if they do plan to actually follow through with their January 3 coup attempt, and MAGA Mike Johnson showing up to publicly fluff Donny at Donny’s trial has resurrected my concern. (MAGA Mike is a key player in the scheme.) The rest of us need to take a page from 2020. We KNOW they’re lying. We need to call them out on it. No more trying to convince. Just a straight up challenge.

“Bring the evidence or I’ll know you’re lying.” Just that sentence. When they try to obfuscate, “Bring the evidence or I’ll know you’re lying.” When they try whataboutism, “Bring the evidence or I’ll know you’re lying.” When they call you names, “Bring the evidence or I’ll know you’re lying.” Stay on point. Don’t let them distract you.

Just know – and trust – they they are lying. This will be the most scrutinized election in history. Our biggest problem is going to be MAGA who managed to slither into positions of import regarding the elections and might interfere. But remember, the people caught trying to steal elections or tamper with machines or cast multiple votes are MAGA. Always MAGA. The only problems with the last election were caused by MAGA and the only problems with the next election will come from MAGA, too. But they’ll be lying…

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Donny is trying to slither out of the debates already. He has said he was going to insist on drug tests before the debate. This is yet another MAGA story. They tell themselves over and over that Biden is incompetent and can’t speak. Then, he gave the State of the Union address and it was a VERY well done, VERY articulate speech. Due to their own limitations, MAGA can only acknowledge it was a great speech with a backhand. “He must have been on drugs,” they say. The quiet part is, “…because he did a very good job.” So now it’s MAGA dogma that Biden used drugs to prop himself up in that effort so he’ll use drugs to prop himself up for the debates.

I think Biden should accept the challenge. Drug tests for BOTH candidates, with full screenings and a complete list of drugs found in BOTH candidates systems would be very enlightening, would it not? MAGA has rumors that maybe Biden was using drugs to up his game. Thinking Americans have records proving that Trump’s White House was awash in drugs.

I’ll tell you this: I think Trump is bluffing. It doesn’t even matter if Biden WAS using drugs to up his game. He’ll never have to follow through. When trump realizes that he, too, would be required to test, he’ll drop the whole thing…

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I saw video from a March 24 rally in Ohio the other day of Trump bitching about the teleprompter and how it wasn’t working well for him. “Don’t pay these suckers,” he said. (As if he pays anybody…) But wait. If I remember correctly, among MAGA claims of trump superiority is that Biden has to use a teleprompter and Donny doesn’t. But now, everyone knows Donny uses one, too! It begs the question, is there anything MAGA is honest about? Anything at all? I’ll wait…

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Donny got booed the other day. By MAGA. They booed him. He had taken the day off to attend his son’s graduation, which he did. Then, he had time for a couple of campaign events, one in Minnesota and the other at an NRA rally in Dallas. For reasons as yet unrevealed, he kept the NRA rally waiting for over two hours before taking the stage. What a Prima Donna, or in his case, a Prima Donny. The crowd didn’t like it, but they DID stay.

The reward for their patience? They got to witness Donny glitch out like Moscow Mitch does from time to time. He had been blathering his MAGA blather for about an hour when he suddenly stopped talking. He didn’t freeze. He just… stopped. He stood quietly for a little over thirty seconds. No one knows what was going on. He shook his head a little. It looked to me like the kind of head shake a pitcher gives a catcher when he’s shaking off a suggested pitch. It was weird.

To me, it suggests the possibility that Donny uses a hidden ear piece and he either wasn’t receiving, or he didn’t like what he was receiving. The other possibility is that he just… stalled. He’s not going to confess to either one, though. He doesn’t confess error and he certainly wouldn’t confess his failing mind.

MAGA will come up with an excuse for him. They’ve already called it a dramatic pause for the music but there was nothing special about the music and there was nothing dramatic about the pause. He just looked lost. So first he makes them wait, then he glitches and won’t explain. He’s disrespecting his own base but they don’t care – and neither does he.

He needs their money and their votes but mostly their money. After that, he doesn’t want to hear from them…

A Bit More Bizarre Every Day…

by MyBaconPress

So…no one believes trump is actually going to show up for those debates as agreed upon and as scheduled, right? Okay, sure, if he’s in jail, it’s out of his control. Fair enough. Otherwise? I just don’t see it from the guy. No audience AND the mic gets cut when your time is done? How could Donny pull any of his avoid-the-question shenanigans?

The conditions of the debate were laid out at the time of the challenge. Donny knew them. Donny accepted them. But my guess is that was just a Donny ploy. He wanted to look tough for his base. But he KNOWS he can’t debate in a real debate. If he can’t disrupt and stir a crowd to disruption, he’s got nothing. So, now Donny will start screaming about how the format is unfair. The whole thing is rigged. He just can’t participate in a rigged debate. Then, he’ll run away. Like usual…

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More and more MAGAGOP are showing up at trump’s trial. This isn’t the base. These are members of Congress. No, really. So many members went to New York, Thursday, to lick trump’s boots, business of the House had to be suspended. They’re so busy trying to fluff trump they’re not doing their jobs. I know, ‘not doing their jobs’ describes their entire tenure in Congress. This is just another excuse.

They’re playing proxy to Donny. As a result of the gag order he has earned with his big mouth, he can’t attack witnesses or other people not associated with the case. So he got his MAGA toadies to do it for him. Of course, that’s a violation of the gag order, too. The judge has already threatened jail time if trump keeps violating the order – and presumably, that includes having others violate it for him.

Of course, so what? Judge Engoron kept threatening, too. He never followed through. I don’t know if Merchan will follow through or not, but I wish he would. The fear seems to be, putting Donny in jail for a night or two would be just what he needs to motivate his base. I suspect the process of being booked into a jail cell would have a tempering effect on Donny. Yes, he would try to fire up the base but the base seems to be believing the charges, even as they scream about how unfair life has been to the pampered rich kid.

That’s just a suspicion. I base it on the fact that he can’t get anybody to fall out for him in New York in support. He called and called. A few showed up but not the fearsome army he seemed to be hoping for. THAT’S why he ordered his toady MAGAGOP minions to show up. So, how big of a threat are they?

MAGA already suspects the charges have more teeth to them than he’s saying. They’ve already seen him walk away from the J6 crowd after siccing them on Congress. (Oh, sure, he’ll pardon the J6 protestors NOW, he promises. He had from Jan 6 to Jan 20 to pardon them in 2021 so they could have avoided jail time altogether. Why didn’t he do it then? He could have. He didn’t.) MAGA isn’t going to say anything to thinking Americans about it. Donny’s their guy. But they’ve noticed. They’re still being frivolous with their words, but they’re being a bit more cautious with their actions. As they should be.

But we should ALL remember the politicians more loyal to trump than the Constitution of the United States. Matt Gaetz of Florida; Anna Paulina Luna of Florida; Lauren Boebert of Colorado; and Bob Good of Virginia, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Michael Cloud of Texas, and Mike Waltz of Florida. My second favorite moment of the day was when a thinking American held up a sign behind Gaetz that read ‘bootlicker’ as Gaetz spoke.

My favorite bit, though, was when Boebert leapt to the mic after the others had finished. I’m not sure she was expected to speak. As the others walked away, she pushed in to add her two cents, still only worth a half cent. But her crew walked away, anyway. She looked the fool.

But then, don’t they all, groveling for Donny’s praises? Maybe we should pass the hat. We could try to buy each of them a spine…

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So…now MAGA Samuel Alito is flying the US flag upside down in front of his home? At sea, a flag flown upside down is said to be a distress signal, a “Save Our Ship” kind of thing. People on land adopt the signal from time to time to indicate their displeasure at whatever the current political climate is. These days, MAGA has adopted it as a symbol of the “Stop the Steal” movement, particularly obnoxious since THEY are the only ones trying to steal elections.

But a member of the Roberts Kangaroo Court? Gee, do you think the Supremely Kangaroo Court might get involved in any matter regarding the 2024 election? Do you suppose, now that everyone knows Alito is all-in for Donny, that he would recuse himself, as any person of honor should do? HELL NO, he won’t recuse! He’ll sit up there with his crooked buddy “Cash-based Clarence” (who should also recuse, but I did say ‘person of honor…’) and rule however helps his preferred candidate – and the constitution be damned.

This bizarro America is a very strange, very unpleasant place…

Bribes and Bootlickers…

by MyBaconPress

So, Donny had a meeting at Mar-a-Lardo with all the oil barons in the country. He allegedly told them that if they give him $1 billion dollars, he’ll let THEM write energy policy, should he return to the White House. Quick question; how is that NOT bribery? Or, maybe, solicitation of bribery? I mean, the dude hasn’t even been elected and he’s ALREADY committing crimes from the Oval.

It’s hard to say how the oil guys will respond. It’s a good deal for them – but only if Donny gets elected (or corruptly installed). They have to part with $1 billion dollars up front. If he then loses, they’re still out the money AND they didn’t get to craft policy. Fortunately, his shady behavior has already caught some eyes. The watchdog group, ‘Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington’ or CREW, is “…taking a very serious look at whether Trump’s fundraising pitch to the oil executives for $1bn would merit some further action.”

From the Guardian, “Under the bribery statute, 18 USC 201(b), public officials are forbidden from seeking or receiving anything of value in return for carrying out an official act. Presidential candidates are allowed to solicit donations within the constraints of campaign finance laws, and they are also free to lay out their policy objectives to companies that might benefit from them.

They are not, however, allowed to ask for money directly in return for carrying out beneficial acts once in office.”

Democrats have noticed, too. Sure, Roepublicons have noticed, as well, but they’ve sold their souls by now. They wouldn’t say “poop” if they had a mouthful. So, it will be up to the Dems. The House Dems are already looking into it. On Monday, letters were sent from the House Oversight Committee to nine oil executives asking for details of their companies’ participation. The Senate is interested, too.

Here, let me save MAGA some trouble. “Ooh, it’s a political witch hunt. Oh, our poor, poor Donny. You want to punish him just because he committed crimes? You simply can’t. Why, that’s…that’s political interference and nobody (except us) should do THAT…”

I’m sick of MAGA and their childish ways…

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The left is having a lot of fun with the fact that trump can’t stay awake for his criminal trial. I’m not all that surprised. Remember “covfefe?” This guy was infamous for tweets at 3:oo am. He generally didn’t come down to pretend to do any “presidentin'” until after 11:00 am most of the time. Those two things suggest a guy who has insomnia. I suspect it’s his agitated brain. On top of all of that, he’s a pampered snowflake who never had to work a day in his life. He got used to sleeping in.

The trials start early (for him). He’s an old man, likely operating on too little sleep. Add in the drugs he reportedly takes, falling asleep seems inevitable. I’m guessing the prison schedule will be difficult for him, too, should he end up there. But he’ll get used to it…

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OMG, did you see the toady MAGA cons who came out to whine for Donny about how unfair life is to them? “All he did was commit a few crimes,” they cry. “Why should THAT be a problem?” They’re all vying to be Vice-President, which I can’t say I really understand. He made a very serious effort to get his last VP killed. You’d think that would cause a bit of…hesitation on the part of the next VP.

Of course, it turned out that when putsch came to shove, Donny had accidentally chosen someone with a modicum of ethics, someone who cared more about the country than “Zee Party” or even Donny himself. He won’t make that mistake again. But everything is about Donny, right? If you’re going to be his VP, you’ve got to show how willing you are to debase yourself in public for the trumpery. So, they’re lining up, dignity suppressed.

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Florida Reps. Byron Donalds and Cory Mills, and Florida Sen. Rick Scott, former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Sens. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and J. D. Vance (R-OH) have all made appearances. Oh, yeah, that lying creep MAGA Mike Johnson was there, too. I guess he needed to sully his reputation a little more. Done and done. As nearly as I can tell, they all even dressed like their guy. Dark suit, white shirt, red tie. It was almost precious. I doubt you could find a more coordinated ensemble in a gay bar.

The toadies are like the kid in class who knows the answer, thrusts their hand into the air and shouts “Oh! Oh! “I don’t have a shred of ethics! Pick ME!” They’re telling him who they are but they’re also telling the world who they are. Believe them…

Criminals, Right and Left…

by MyBaconPress

Now he loves cannibals? If I had made this up, you wouldn’t believe it. It’s too stupid. Donny made a campaign stop in New Jersey, where he referred to a notorious mob boss as “the great Alphonse Capone.” Al Capone? THAT’S who Donny admires? Maybe, but not as much as fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter, whom Donny referred to as a “wonderful man.”

The guy who played Hannibal Lecter in the TV version said Donny was like a wind of fresh air or something. Donny has a fragile ego. He thinks if someone says something nice about him, he should return the favor. Donny can’t remember that Lecter, the character, is played by an actor, so now he thinks Hannibal Lecter was a “wonderful man.” Either that, or he really DOES admire murderers and cannibals. Like Putin?

Actually, when it comes to Donny, I can’t rule out that he admires murderers and cannibals…

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Michael Cohen takes the stand today in the election interference case. Most people call it the hush money case, but the hush money was election interference in that it kept the electorate from knowing about his affairs before the election – and he embezzled from his company to do it. THAT, of course, is the basis for yet another of his lies, that the public responded to the charges in 2016 when they voted for him despite his being an unfaithful, dirty dog. But I digress.

Cohen is famous for being Trump’s fixer, the guy who helped Donny get away with so many things for so long. Cohen is ALSO famous for being a liar. These days, he’s making a name for himself on the left by calling Donny very bad names in public. (As a sidebar, I sure do wish the left would stop giving him a platform. Sure, it’s fun hearing a one-time Trump insider rip on Donny, but Cohen is an opportunist, not a source. He’s told his story. He has nothing new to add – except invective. His presence hurts the credibility of any organization that offers him a microphone…)

The prosecution is calling Cohen because Cohen knows, as the saying goes, “where the bodies are buried.” He was the inside guy. He knew a LOT. He’s likely to spill every detail and he’s likely to do so gleefully. But he’s no lock.

He really IS a well known, long established liar. The defense is likely to point that out – aggressively. Also, all that fun he’s having calling Donny bad names in the media? It clearly indicates Cohen has an agenda against Donny. Do you think the defense is going to leave that alone? Here’s the defense line: “This guy HATES Donald Trump AND is a well known, documented liar. Why WOULDN’T he make up harmful things to hurt our precious client?”

The prosecution will try to blunt that by exposing Cohen’s lying and criminal history early on. “Yeah, we know the guy’s no good. But rats run with rats. We weren’t likely to find an upstanding citizen who helped Donny commit crimes. THAT’S why we proved everything he’s going to say with corroborating evidence before we asked you good people to spend time listening to his story.”

It’s hard to say how that will play out but most people understand that’s how corruption is prosecuted, one rat turning on another. Stay tuned…

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Senator Bob Menendez starts HIS trial today, too. He’s a Democrat, up on charges of bribery and obstruction. His wife, Nadine, is charged, too, along with three businessmen, one of whom has already pleaded guilty.

Federal agents have built a pretty strong case against this guy. He should have taken a plea himself but, he’s “looking forward to proving his innocence,” as are ALL accused criminals on that level – just before their convictions. Good luck there, Bob. They found $480,000 dollars hidden around your house – all from questionable sources. Then the legal eagles found that you were taking all kinds of bribes for “favors” performed for foreign governments, which makes you a foreign agent, first for Egypt, then Qatar.

You’re likely going to jail, Bob. You’re likely going to…hey, wait a minute. How do we know this isn’t yet another political hit job by Joe Biden? Of course Biden is sitting in the Oval, tricking people into committing crimes so he can prosecute them and look strong. How he got Trump to cook his own books for decades before being caught is a great mystery and a testament to the powers of Joe Biden.

I’ll tell you this: if Biden has that kind of masterful control over criminal minds and criminal activities in this country, MAGA should just stand down. How could anyone compete?

“So Unfair…”

by MyBaconPress

Apparently, Donny is out there prepping the Deceived for a guilty verdict in his current felony trial. Obviously, NOT because of all that crime he actually did. Nor was it the meticulously presented case supported by physical evidence and/or witness testimony. No, Donny keeps suggesting he’s going to be found guilty (he will) because the whole thing is rigged (it’s not).

At a campaign rally in New Jersey, he was whining about the ongoing New York trial, Trump said “we haven’t had a decision here, but the decision here can probably only be one thing, I guess … ’cause … this whole thing – it’s a rigged deal; it’s a rigged deal.” Listen, putz, the decision will be the decision because YOU made choices – criminal choices. You shouldn’t have done that. SHAME on you, Donald J. Trump.

He hasn’t explicitly said he expects to be found guilty. Instead, he’s showing his belief in that outcome by whining about the process and the people involved. Normal, day-to-day events of criminal trials suddenly become outrageous affronts in Donny’s eyes. And, according to him, they’re all designed and intended to keep him from defending himself. He never clarifies how publicly calling people mean names and trying to intimidate witnesses is supposed to be a defense for him – but I think we all know.

According to the ‘USA Today’ yesterday, all of his whining, bloviating, blowhard, blather is intended to convince the Deceived that the system is rigged against him before the guilty verdict so voters will disregard the verdict in favor of the preferred, con victim status. As if MAGA needs help protecting his precious self. How DOES this whining, simpering, fragile little snowflake continue to convince his base he’s secretly a tough guy? Enquiring minds…

But, he’s not doing it for them, is he? MAGA already knows what they know and they’re not going to let any stinkin’ facts get in their way. According to the article, the trumpery is intended to gain favor with moderate conservatives and independents. But moderate conservatives and independents are not MAGA. They still have measurable brain function.

I’ll tell you this: I think moderate conservatives and independents are going to know that a guilty verdict most likely means he did the crime. It’s an Occam’s Razor thing: It’s just the simplest explanation…

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As Trump’s trial goes worse and worse for him, MAGA is getting madder and madder. I find I feel badly for them sometimes. Just think of the crash they’re due. If the scales ever fall from their eyes, and finally they see the trumpery for what it is, how epically disappointing, right? But right now, they’re fighting mad.

I got into a discussion with a MAGA who said to me, “This lawfare conspiracy with its unconstitutional manipulation that you all cheer for while you jeer Patriots Like MTG is a disgrace.” “Patriot?” “MTG?” “A patriot?!?” You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

I can help: Patriot /pā′trē-ət, -ŏt″/ (noun)
One who loves, supports, and defends one’s country.
One who loves his country, and zealously supports its authority and interests.

The only thing I could say about MTG is that she HATES America and desperately wishes it was more like an authoritarian dictatorship and not the messy Republic we enjoyed until MAGA came along. She tried to have the Speaker removed because he did something good for the country. She was angry that he was working with Democrats. I’d say he worked with his fellow Americans for the benefit of America – and MTG effing hated it.

I’ll tell you this: That ain’t no “patriot…”

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It looks like Steve Bannon is off to jail. He was convicted of two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena to appear before the J6 committee. He has been free to inveigh against America pending appeals but in his latest effort the appellate court upheld the law rather than his personal preference. So? Off he goes.

He’ll be out again by the election. He was only sentenced to four months. That’s a heck of a lot better than the outcome he faced for defrauding the Deceived out of millions of dollars in his “Build the wall” scheme. Bannon and his co-conspirators promised to finish building Donny’s wall and then, instead, used the money they raised for themselves and lived a lavish lifestyle on the dollars of the Deceived. Donny had to pardon him to get him out of that one, though he apparently still faces state charges in the matter and, last I knew, THAT trial is scheduled to start later this month.

If he reports to prison, say, June 1, AND serves all of his time, he would be out at the end of September. But he won’t serve all of that time. They give time off for good behavior. He’ll likely do around two months. So, he’ll spend his summer in prison, then get out and start lying for Donny again. Well, unless he IS convicted in the “Build the wall” scam.

Hey, maybe Donny will be convicted by then, too, and Steve and Donny can be “roomies!” They can sit in their cell together and cry and whine about how unfair life has been to them…

I Win, I’m Happy…

by MyBaconPress

“Well, if I win, the election was honest.” What kind of a position is that? No, he doesn’t say those words. He just says, “We’ll see” when someone asks him if he’ll accept the results. “If everything’s honest, I’ll gladly accept the results.” He DID say that. I’m saying he’s lying. Again. Thinking Americans across the land know that he means he’ll only accept a win as an honest election. How do we know?

2020. He lost that election, fair and square. His own people told him he lost the election. He has privately acknowledged he lost that election. Publicly, though? He keeps the Deceived inflamed by insisting the election was “rigged.” The only group even TRYING to rig the election was Donny and Team Traitor.

But again, because actions speak louder than words, Donny has made clear how he feels about it by his actions. He only accepts a win for himself as an honest election. That’s so easy to do, right? Okay, fair enough. I’d bet the left can do that, too. If Biden wins, it was a fair election. If Trump wins, it wasn’t. Period. Right? Isn’t that the way it works? We can’t face disappointment so we just insist we weren’t disappointed? Of course that’s Donny’s attitude.

Full disclosure, I actually DO have a tin-foil hat attitude about the 2016. I’ve noticed that Trump “won” amid hints and allegations of Russian assistance and interference when the machines – which I continue to consider as vulnerable – were used. He lost in 2020 when his feckless handling of Covid-19 forced most people to use mail-in ballots, although I acknowledge a wide variety of other possible reasons. (He was a terrible President!) Now, in 2024, we’ll be back to the machines, inviting more Russo-MAGA “assistance” and interference. That’s why I always encourage people to use paper ballots…

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The presumptive nominee for the Roepublican party is standing trial for crimes he committed leading up to the 2016 election. (A trial he couldn’t stall.) It seems to me the trial is going poorly for him. A parade of his own people have confirmed things in their testimony that will all be pulled together to prove he did exactly what he’s accused of doing. Of course, he stands outside the courtroom and confesses to the crime on a regular basis, too. That should help the prosecution.

“All I did was give money to a lawyer and then write it down as a legal expense. Well, I didn’t write it. A very good bookkeeper marked it as a legal expense but I was just giving money to a lawyer and put it down as a legal expense. What else was I supposed to do?” (<– That is NOT an exact quote…)

Here’s the thing: if one gives a lawyer some money for legal advice or services, that IS a legal expense. If one gives a lawyer some money to score some cocaine, that is NOT a legal expense. That’s because lawyers don’t generally provide cocaine as part of their practices and getting the cocaine is a crime. It’s NOT the act of handing a lawyer money that makes it a ‘legal expense.’

Trying to buy someone’s silence isn’t necessarily a crime. But cooking your books to hide it is. Doing so in order to prevent damage to your presidential campaign is ALSO a crime, making the combined acts a Felony. (Ironically, the specific crime constitutes election interference, once again pretending HE is the “victim” of the very crime HE committed. What a snowflake…)

Donny’s latest tactic is to move for mistrials. Stormy Daniels testified and she held her own. The courtroom got a little too far into the actual sex of the encounter in question. EVERYONE expected Donny’s legal team to object to some of the questions but they just sat there. It got so far afield, Judge Merchan stepped in more than once to stop the prosecution questions along that line. (The trial isn’t about the sex.)

Then Donny’s team tried to use their own feckless failures as the excuse for a mistrial. (“Hey, Judge, we really suck at this! Can we have a mistrial?”) The judge has rejected the motion. Twice. Judge Merchan even confessed surprise that Donny’s team hadn’t objected more – but they didn’t. If they allowed the testimony in, it was in.

The prosecution has already shown Donny was a principle in the plan, wrote the checks, micromanages everything in his world, and knew everything that was going on, step by step. They even proved the sex actually happened, although they didn’t have to. (The trial isn’t about the sex.)

In fairness, Donny hasn’t even started his defense, yet. It looks like he’s going to go with “Huh-uh!” I mean, what else has he got? He and MAGA are trying to apply the same standard to the trial they apply to elections: if Donny wins, it was fair. If he loses, it was not. It looks to me like they’re wrong on both counts. Donny looks very much like he’s going to lose and it sure looks like a fair trial to me…

Actions and Negotiations…

by MyBaconPress

Well, finally, Joe has done something I can get behind in Gaza. Mostly, because it’s exactly what I’ve been saying I thought he should do all along. He has told Israel he’s not sending any more American weapons if they move forward with their planned assault on Rafah. Israel has responded by moving forward with their planned assault on Rafah.

Biden doesn’t have much more leverage than that. Nobody does. Bibi is free to mow Rafah, using the “kill them all and let God sort them out” standard if he wants to – and it looks very much like he wants to. But he’ll have to do it without weapons stamped “USA” on the side.

At least, no new weapons. I’m sure they have a stockpile, although military conflicts have a tendency to burn through armaments at a very high rate, which is great for investors. Israel has declared Biden’s decision “disappointing.” Oh, boo-hoo. If stopping the weapons stops the genocide, I’m all for it.

Maybe now our college campuses can settle down. The main complaint of the anti-genocide students has been that their schools are invested in the companies that make the bombs that kill the people. They want their schools to divest from those companies. But if the bombs aren’t going there to kill more vicious, 5 day old “HAMAS,” perhaps they can just get back to class.

I’ll tell you this: Nobody is going to stop Netanyahu in what he wants to do. It would be easier with American weapons, but he’ll do it with bear skins and stone knives if he has to. He just wants the Palestinians dead, dead, dead. But at least Americans won’t be complicit anymore…

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Aileen “Loose” Cannon has finally relinquished May 20th trial date. She had been holding it so none of Donny’s many other criminal trials would be able to slip into the slot. She held it as long as she could but kept putting off the processes needed to get the trial going so everyone KNEW she would drop the trial date eventually. The only question was when.

You’ve got to admit, she’s done everything she could to help her beloved. She’s a terrible judge with zero ethics or credibility, but she’s a very effective member of Trump’s legal defense team. I mean, SHE stalled the case as long as she could, then used her own stalling as the excuse to move the trial date! That’s some effective team effort, there, Aileen. The only thing she did better for Donny? She didn’t bother even trying to set a new trial date.

Rational Americans are pretending there is a bright spot to her underhanded decision in that it opens a slot for Jack Smith to move forward with one of his other trials but that’s just empty hope. Donny’s OTHER legal team of Roberts, Alito, Thomas, Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, and Barrett (RATKG&B) have carefully coordinated THEIR part of the process and will NOT issue a ruling on whether or not Presidents have perfect immunity until it’s too late for Smith to do THAT, too.

Oh, hey, in what is likely a completely unrelated event, did you hear that Aileen “loose” Cannon has been found to be accepting lavish “gifts” without reporting them – at least until she was caught? These “gifts” come from conservatives with interests in the outcome of trials before her court. They seem to help guide her rulings…

Quick question: Are there ANY decent conservatives left in this once great nation?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Speaking of despicable conservatives, how angry do you suppose Melania is these days? Of COURSE Donny told her the stories of the affairs were lies. Naturally, she knew better. She didn’t believe him? She negotiated. She’s evil, not stupid. But because the story is that she stands by her man, she looks like a gullible fool and being willing to look the fool is very expensive.

With this trial, the details are coming out – drip by drip. Stormy makes clear Donny called her ‘Honey Bunch.’ Has Donny called Melania ‘Honey Bunch?’ Then she knows that’s a nickname he uses. She KNOWS. She doesn’t really care, of course. To her, this is an opportunity to make some money. So, she renegotiates. And then negotiates again.

“You want dutiful wife? How much you pay?”
“You ARE my wife. Why should I have to pay you anything?”
“Because you don’t pay, I no longer wife. And I remember…certain tings during interviews.”
“How much do you want?”
“Oh, I don’t know, really. How about $1.2 million, set up in a trust fun for Barron with me as controller?”
“Your English always gets so much better at the money part. For $1.2 million, you’d have to appear with me during the campaign and smile.”
“I make…four public appearances. No smile. No touch. I try not to vomit.”
“Okay, okay, four appearances…”
“Quick appearances. Show up, go home.”
“Okay, four quick appearances. After the campaign, I’ll get you the money.”
“Oh, Donald, you forget? I come to this country on genius visa. I make appearance AFTER you pay money.”
“Where am I supposed to get $1.2 million dollars?”
“From the same useful idiots who have been paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for someone to brush my hair. They pay.”
“I need that money to pay my legal expenses…”
“I go hide in New York.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll set it up.”

Every word Stormy utters increases the amount Donny has to pay to present the portrait of a happy marriage until the election…

Credibility Issues…

by MyBaconPress

Yesterday, I wrote that “virtually everybody associated with Donny has credibility issues.” To that point, the auditor, BF Borgers, for Donny’s media company, TMTG, has been charged with “massive” accounting fraud in their oversight of Donny’s company. Apparently, Borgers has filed over 1,500 fraudulent SEC filings on behalf of TMTG, the parent company of Donny’s lying ‘Truth Social’ site. BF Borgers has to pay $14 million dollars in damages and has been banned from accounting forever.

By now, I’ve gotten quite used to the fact that Donald Trump is a criminal surrounded by criminals in a vast web of criminal activity. But I continue to be impressed by the number of people willing to do his bidding – and they just keep coming back. Bill Barr is only the latest to switch from “He’s a criminal who has no business in the White House” to “Oh, yeah, I’ll vote for him.”

They go to jail for him or testify in order to avoid jail but for everyone who comes into contact with him, it seems, the threat or fact of jail is in their future. So why the hell do they keep signing on?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Speaking of signing on, or swallowing the Kool-Aid, Kellyanne Conway was on ‘Real Time with Bill Maher’ this weekend, all bubbly and energetic and mendacious. I presume she doesn’t think she’s lying. She likely thinks she’s merely advancing the Roepublican position. But she’s lying. MAGAS “positions” on anything are fluid, at best, and lying is required to keep up. The GOP KNOWS far too few people want to vote for their horrific true agenda so? They lie! Clever solution. EVERY second grader has come up with it and given it a try.

Personally, I hold that a position that requires a lie for support doesn’t deserve support. But I’m not a conservative. Since I dabble in reason, fact, verifiable evidence, and truth, it’s just easier to be progressive. But Kellyanne, obnoxious as she is in doing so, advances the GOP positions like a pro. She won’t acknowledge anything negative about cons. She just changes the subject and ducks into whataboutism. She’ll happily spew favorable statistics, which is easy for her since she just make them up as she goes along. Actually, she’s probably not just making them up as she goes along. I suspect she has a set list and plays it and plays it, so the pseudo-facts she presents become well known to her.

A woman’s right to choose looms, yet again, as a major factor in the upcoming elections. We’ve all seen state after state moving to out-do each other in cruelty to women. We’ve all heard various GOP members “suggesting” or calling outright for a national abortion ban at the Federal level. Kellyanne says I’m lying or playing ‘Chicken Little.’ The GOP won’t, she insists, try to institute a national abortion ban.

But Lindsay Graham actually introduced legislation trying to do exactly that – and he wasn’t first. Hey, Kellyanne, actions speak louder than words. You can tell me all day long that the GOP doesn’t want to implement a national abortion ban, but they have already tried. I’m going to remember what they did, not what you say.

I expect the GOP WILL implement a national abortion ban if they get the power to do so. That’s why I’ve taken to spelling their party name “Roepublicans.” I think it will help people remember which party did this to them in the first place. Smart people STILL have to come out and vote like their freedom depends upon it. Because freedom depends on it. (I know, they’re delivering the SAME message in conservative circles. Americans promote ‘freedom.’ MAGA promotes ‘freedumb.’ It’s VERY different.)

Kellyanne also claimed the economy was perfect under Donny. That was simply not true, even before Donny’s pandemic. The cons like to excuse Donny’s failed presidency by blaming Covid-19 but I, for one, continue to remember that if he hadn’t dismantled America’s “early warning system” because he was incapable of understanding it’s import, we and the world might not have suffered so mightily. That was ALL Donny, the Dumbass Don…

And, of course, she trotted out the old ‘Biden’s economy sucks’ bit. Cons LOVE to act like the Mad Max marauders are roaming our dystopian streets and that bread costs a wheelbarrow full of money. Inflation, inflation, inflation! Yes, things cost more. A LOT more. IS that systemic inflation? No. It’s not. It’s greed. And it’s greed brought to you by forty years of conservative practices and policies. It’s the inevitable result of deregulation. Once wealth controls a market, any market, they will squeeze that market as long and as hard as they can.

Yeah, yeah, economists can point to all kinds of charts and graphs and toss out a bunch of highfalutin words to make the economy sound mysterious and complex. But I can make it straightforward for you. Do you know how you can know, for sure, that current high prices are the result of greedy gouging and NOT systemic inflation? Profits. It really IS that easy.

If it really IS systemic inflation, prices go up as costs to the company go up, and the company’s overall profit position remains relatively unchanged. But that’s not what you’re hearing in profit reports, is it? Tell me, do the words “record profits” sound familiar to you? And aren’t you hearing the phrase “record profits” over and over and over again? Investors are starting to spook if companies don’t report record profits. It’s insane. Not as insane as investing in Donny’s criminal media company, but it’s pretty crazy.

The worst part is, these record profits hit us in the most vulnerable areas: housing, energy, and food. We need them all. But the drivers of the increases are just greed. The companies want more, there’s less competition (thanks to deregulation), so they take more. That’s not Biden’s fault. In fact, there’s very little he can do about it without Congress on his side.

Don’t vote against Biden because he’s having difficulty unwinding forty years of conservative destruction all by himself. He needs a Congress that will work with him and, as we all know, it’s the CONS who WILL NOT help, under any circumstances, lest they give Biden a “win.”

I’ll tell you this: If we give Biden a second term and give control of Congress to the Dems, we will see improvement. Sure, MAGA would choke on that notion. But MAGA thinks Trump is a genius and perhaps a god-on-earth. Why would rational people bother with input from people who can’t tell up from down and right from wrong?

Trends and Developments…

by MyBaconPress

I’ve noticed an interesting trend in our media. The students setting up camps protesting the genocide in Gaza are generally referred to as “Pro-Palestinian.” The people who object to those protests are called “Counter-Protestors.” I wonder why they’re not identified as “Pro-Israel?” Are there no “Pro-Israel” camps? Certainly none that have been rousted and made the news.

I think the so-called “Pro-Palestinian” factor should really be called the “anti-genocide” team, since that’s the true focus of their goal. I guess that won’t work with the American media’s choice of presentation, though, since it runs the risk of making the “Pro-Israel” faction the “Pro-Genocide” team. Still, “Pro-Palestine” vs “Counter Protestors” creates a false impression and I don’t much like it.

When a bunch of “Counter-Protestors” attacked a “Pro-Palestine” camp in the middle of the night at a college recently, it caused violent conflict but the masses were only told in passing that the violence started when “Counter-Protestors” (“Pro Israel?”) attacked the camp. Then the focus was ALL on the “Pro-Palestinian” factors fighting back. It seems to me that the message is rather heavily slanted in favor of one point of view.

Either way, I think the college kids (keyword: ‘kids’) have gone too far. Demonstrations of support are all well and good. Trying to get schools to divest from companies profiting from the death and destruction Israelis are inflicting could even be seen as honorable. But fighting over here is not going to change anything over there. Taking over buildings undermines their efforts. Running Palestinian flags up American flag poles isn’t convincing anyone of any thing.

It is the way of young people. Their passions regularly take them to extremes. As a movement gains popularity, more people not truly invested in the cause get involved and the newcomers often lack the detailed understanding of things. That’s when the racial slurs start. They don’t help anything, either.

So I find myself a bit ambivalent about the college actions. On the one hand, maybe added pressure from the public will result in something positive. On the other hand, the over-the-top actions we’re seeing threaten to undermine the whole effort as the “movement” gets too far afield from the base cause. If the “Counter Protestors” succeed in turning the understanding of the movement from “anti-genocide” to “anti-Jew,” the efforts of the “Pro-Peace” team will be fully defeated, despite their original intent.

I’ll tell you this: The best thing I can say about the college actions is that I believe the organizer’s hearts are in the right place. I support their cause – stop the violence – but I reject many of the tactics they have adopted as unhelpful…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Donny’s main defense in his current criminal trial, the hush money payment trial, is that he knew nothing about it. It was all, if you ask him, Michael Cohen. Cohen did this, Cohen did that. Donny didn’t even know. I guess the prosecution anticipated this. They played recordings in court of Donny and Cohen talking about the payments in detail, clearly indicating Donny had knowledge. The recordings were made in September, 2016.

Team Trump took the only avenue they have: they claimed the FBI planted the recordings. Uh-huh. But what are you going to do? The recordings put you right in the middle of things, dead to rights. Donny can tell the Deceived the recordings are AI and they’ll believe him because they WANT to believe him but in court he can’t say any such thing. Neither can his attorneys. Because it’s not true. He CAN lie on the campaign trail. He CAN’T lie in court. But his lawyers CAN “suggest.” So that’s what they did.

As the news of the payments became public in 2018, Donny tried to pretend even to those in his inner circle that Cohen had made the payments all by himself out of the goodness of his heart. Hope Hicks, one of the people Donny interacted with on a regular basis, says she never believed that story. On the stand, under oath, she testified that she never thought of Cohen as that kind of a selfless guy and she simply didn’t buy the story.

The main event is Michael Cohen on the stand (which will happen) vs Donny on the stand (which will NEVER happen). Cohen has some credibility issues, to say the very least. That’s what happens when you lie and lie and lie some more. But virtually everybody associated with Donny has credibility issues. Lawyers know how to deal with that and the prosecution is following the path, step by step.

One witness after another corroborates Cohen’s story even before he tells it. That way, when he DOES testify, the facts of his testimony will have been established well before he even takes the stand. That’s going to make it very difficult for Donny’s lawyers to paint him as lying.

The short version? The case isn’t going well for Donny. That’s the reason he has fought so hard to keep these trials from happening. NONE of them, if they actually get to trial, are going to go any better for him than this one is going. I think he’s going to lose this trial. That is to say, I think he’ll be convicted of a felony criminal offense.

MAGA won’t care. They’ve already dismissed the trials as fake news, despite the fact that we now KNOW Donny, himself, was the author of most of the fake news he was crying about. I don’t know if they’ll put him in jail. They should, in my view, if the evidence supports the charge but this really IS a special case.

MAGA is fond of whining that nothing like this has ever happened before and they’re correct, although for the wrong reasons. What had actually ‘never happened’ was that Americans had never been so stupid as to put such a low-level, whiny criminal into the most powerful office in the world before. But RussoMAGA got it done in 2016 and now the country has to clean up the mess.

I’ll tell you this: I think Donny should face the same punishment as anybody else convicted of such a crime, assuming a conviction is where it lands. No more, no less. But I suspect he’ll get a lenient sentence so I’ll just have to content myself with the fact that, as a convicted felon, he won’t be able to vote for himself. Even Trump won’t vote for Trump. I have to confess, I get a kick out of that…