Crime

Details, Details…

by MyBaconPress

Well, the Republicans failed – again – in their ongoing quest to find somebody to impeach. The problem seems to be, they have no evidence of a crime from any of their potential “impeachees.” (That’s not really a word…) They see that as a detail to be handled later.

They tried to get Joe Biden for…reasons. Pretty much, they managed to post some revenge porn on the floor of Congress and then…crickets. This after they had repeatedly promised they had the evidence. You know what would have been good? It’s just my opinion, mind you, but I think they should have shown somebody the evidence they claimed to have. I suspect that would have been a huge step on their path to glory. I wonder why they didn’t try THAT tactic?

But they didn’t and the effort fizzled. So they turned their attention to Alejandro Mayorkas, the Secretary of Homeland Security. They at least got THAT effort to a floor vote, but then? Ooh, they lost the floor vote. Even some Republicans said, “What, are you stupid or something?” Yes, by the way. The answer to that is yes. MAGA is working hard to make “stupid” an art form. But it’s a dedicated stupid and dedicated stupid can be a very dangerous thing.

I wonder who their next impeachee is going to be? Hey, I had to sit at a red light a little longer than I wanted to the other day. How about they go after Pete Buttigieg, the Secretary of Transportation? After all, red lights DO impede my freedom of movement. Buttigieg is trying to take my freedom! I mean, what more evidence do we need?

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

So, Donny is running about – no, Donny doesn’t run – okay, Donny is lumbering about snarling that if we don’t suddenly grant full and absolute immunity for all Presidents (but mostly him) every President will, naturally, be indicted when they leave office. Someone pat that bloated monster on the head, would you? He got VERY close to a truth – which is a momentous event for him.

What he meant to say is that every President who commits the kinds of crimes HE committed while in office will be indicted – and that’s true! It’s also good. I’m not only okay with that, I’m a staunch supporter…

Oh, but instead of upholding Donny’s dumb position, the court made a good ruling. I mean, the President doesn’t have perfect immunity. It would be stupid to think otherwise. Even Donny doesn’t believe the President has perfect immunity. What he believes is that he needs more time before the election or he’s very likely going to jail so he needs to stall, stall, stall.

My guess is that his plan was to appeal the oh-so-stupid position to the DC Court of Appeals, where he would get a three judge panel. He did that and it took about a month. THEN, he planned to appeal to the full panel – a move that he wanted to take at least another month. Then, when THEY agreed no President has perfect immunity, he would take it to the Supreme Court, you know…eventually.

But the three judge panel saw the same legal strategy playing out. I’m of the opinion that courts don’t like to be trifled with and they REALLY do not want to the be the instrument of someone’s obstruction of justice – pretty much the exact definition of Donny’s plan. So the three court panel, in addition to slapping him down on his ridiculous claim, ALSO ruled that even if he asked the full court to review the case, it would still go back to Chutkin and be active again, essentially cutting out the second step of the stall plan. More, they told him he had until February 12th to file an appeal with the Kangaroos, if that is what he is going to do.

It’s no minor detail that there’s no known basis for Donny’s argument. He just wants it. Roberts Kangaroos should refuse to review the case. The three judge panel got it right. There’s nothing left to consider. They may not refuse it, though. They’re loyalists. Although they can’t rule a president enjoys perfect immunity, they CAN take a bunch of time before saying no, helping Donny that way.

So now the only remaining question in this matter is whether the Roberts Supremely Kangaroo Court will go ahead and trash whatever remaining credibility they might enjoy in order to play lapdog toady to their precious – or will they do the right thing? I’ll tell you this: it’s a national embarrassment that nobody can say, one way or the other, for sure…

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

Today, though, the Most High and Corrupt Court will be hearing the question of whether a known traitor should be handed the levers of power once again. It’s mind-boggling that such a question is being treated as a real question. The whole thing hinges on whether the President of the United States is an Officer of the United States. If yes, section 3 of the 14th amendment applies. If no, coups by a president are a-okay.

I’ve made the point that references to the president as an Officer were in the original Constitution (Section II, Article 1) but were (probably inadvertently) amended out by a less detailed writer. But the 14th Amendment was passed in 1868. The Amendment that changed the language, the 25th Amendment, was passed in 1913, meaning that when the 14th was passed, the Constitution clearly considered the President of the United States an Officer of the United States.

It seems a hair-splitting detail, but I also see a difference in an office and an Office, the difference being the capital ‘O.’ An office is a room one works in. An Office is a job one does, a rank one holds. Commonly, an Officer works in an office. As written, the Presidential oath says that the president will “…faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States…” See the capital ‘O’ in “Office?” In my mind, that capital ‘O’ indicates the founders understanding that the president is, indeed, an Officer of the country. They weren’t talking about the room he worked in. They were talking about the role he was taking on.

I’ll tell you this: My mind is STILL having difficulty accepting that so many “Americans” would WANT him in the Oval again, after what he did. I still don’t know how stupid this country actually is, but I have a healthy concern that we might all be about to find out…

The Trials…

by MyBaconPress

A quick look at Donny’s trials. In the NY fraud trial – no, the civil one, not the criminal one – Judge Engoron said he wanted to issue his ruling by the end of the last month. Clearly, he missed his target. But there’s a reason. Just before he handed down his ruling, he received an update from the independent monitor appointed by the court, former Federal judge Barbara Jones. Tucked into a footnote was a little tidbit that seems to have caught Engoron’s eye.

She found what was claimed to be a loan Donny owed to one of his companies to the tune of $48 million dollars. She asked about it. At first, she was told there were no loan documents available for that loan. Apparently, she was told, no loan documents ever even existed. THEN, the Trump Crime Family finally admitted there was no loan. It was just a way to avoid paying taxes on $48 million dollars. A fraudulent way. More specifically, a criminal way.

My guess is conservative media will spin it as a “minor” error, without mentioning the $48 million dollar part. Donny has already started with that lie. But it wasn’t. Minor, I mean. So, now Engoron has to re-think his ruling. Any rational person must, by now, believe that more fraud will be uncovered the longer people look. Engoron doesn’t want to have to keep going back and resetting his trial every time more evidence comes up and he wants to get the ruling out so I think he has to construct some kind of order that allows him to simply add to the damages as more fraud is uncovered.

Meanwhile, in the Florida stolen files case, prosecutor Jack Smith has reportedly uncovered the existence of a secret room at Mar-a-Lago. Apparently, when the FBI was executing their perfectly legal and proper search warrant in an effort to uncover the files Donny stole, they missed a locked closet AND a “secret” room. Overlooking the locked closet apparently happened because of the deference they were showing while executing their warrant.

This is, after all, an ex-President. NO ex-President has ever committed the crimes Donny has and the need to execute a warrant was unprecedented. They had to make up a proper protocol as they went along and they included deference. So, when they asked about the locked closet, they were told it was an old staircase that wasn’t used anymore and didn’t go anywhere – and the FBI chose to accept that statement at face value! But the information I have is that Donny had the lock changed on that closet January 22, 2021 and he’s the only person with a key.

In fairness to the FBI, they didn’t know about the secret room. It isn’t just a secret room. It’s a hidden, secret room. It’s made to blend in to the room seamlessly and there is a dresser in front of it. My guess is, it’s a panic room, built originally to protect the residents from a home-invasion robbery. They were all the rage among rich people for awhile and I don’t think they’re a bad idea. But a panic room would explain why it didn’t show on the architectural drawings the FBI likely looked at when they did their preparatory briefings before serving the warrant.

Donny has apparently converted his to a documents storage area. Now it gets a bit sticky. The original warrant is stale, for sure. Unless, that is, witnesses testify that more stolen documents exist in that space – and nobody knows what the witnesses are saying about that, yet. Either way, Donny has very likely already shared all the good stuff with Putin so it’s not like we’re going to avoid the national security risks by getting the papers back but it would be nice to know exactly what the traitor breached so any holes could be plugged.

For MY part, I’m enjoying the idea that the room might be where Donny has all the goods on all the MAGAGOPCORP toadies who claim to stand against trump but also snuggle up to him and bend the knee. As an example, after J6, Kevin McCarthy was angry and pointed his crooked little finger directly, and properly, at Donny. THEN, McCarthy went down to Mar-a-Lago, and immediately changed his tune. Why? Kevin was right about J6 and how Donny put his life at risk. Why just back down after a quick visit with Donny? It’s a least possible Donny showed Kevin what he keeps in that locked room about Kevin.

Finally, the DC Federal election interference trial date has been postponed. It was supposed to start March 5 but now we have to wait. Donny filed an appeal before the trial even started! He claims to have perfect immunity in all things because he was President. It’s a very stupid idea and it’s totally wrong. Sooner or later, the court will say so but they’re dragging their feet for some reason. Worse, right now it’s a three member panel of the appellate court. After their ruling, he can ask the entire court to review the decision, which will take more time. After the full court says no, he can ask the High Kangaroo Court what they want.

He’s not likely to win that argument in court. Hell, he’s not likely to win ANY of his arguments in court. But he doesn’t make them to win them. He makes them to buy time. And this stupid argument is buying him months.

I’ll tell you this: there’s a very real risk Donny’s going to beat the clock on these trials. Benjamin Franklin’s words just keep looping through my head. ”…a Republic…IF you can keep it.” There’s a very real possibility we can’t…

Positioning…

by MyBaconPress

I think Nikki Haley is making a smart play by staying in the GOP primary. She doesn’t NEED a win. She only needs to stay. As Donny’s troubles pile up, she’ll be in the best position to stand up, should he fall down…

His recent mental lapses (yes, he can still recognize an elephant!) are an excellent opportunity for her, as well. She can attack HIM and his current failings without ever attacking MAGA or his pretend record. She can say, “Yeah, he WAS great, but he’s failing now.” Hang in there, Nikki. Stay in his head. Highlight his decline…

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

Have you heard? I’m sure you have by now. Taylor Swift is not a young woman superstar pop singer in love with a young man rising star (and not bad actor) football player. Not at all. She’s a “Psyop!” Which, I guess, makes him her “Psyde kick.” MAGA just loves using words they think make them sound smart and “Psyop” fits the bill while also sounding like they’ve got some super-de-duper inside information, so they MUST be in the know. See? Secretly, they’re the smart ones. (It’s a VERY well-kept secret…)

Hey, maybe you’re a normal person so…a “Psyop” is a ‘Psychological Operation’ used to disseminate information the government wants spread and/or suppress information the government does NOT want spread. MAGA thinks rational Americans need the government to tell them Donald Trump is a bad man, a threat to the nation, and that people shouldn’t vote for him. Funny, I figured it out all by myself.

So, to that end, if you’re MAGA, the Stupor Bowl is already rigged for the Chiefs to win – I guess because Taylor Swift doesn’t already have a large enough stage from which to spread her message. AFTER the Chiefs rigged win, see, THEN ‘Tay/Trav’ (okay, that mashup needs a bit of work) can announce that Donny’s a dumbass and people should vote for Biden. (No word on why they couldn’t make that announcement if the Chiefs lose.)

That’s some elaborate insanity, right there…

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

In court, where facts matter, Donny isn’t even trying to make a case that he might be innocent of any of the charges brought against him. Instead, he’s looking for technicalities and loopholes. He stalls, disrupts the court, and tries to aggravate judges into over-reactions that can lead to mistrials or work as a basis for an appeal. He never even tries to introduce evidence that might indicate innocence. That part, at least, makes sense. He’s guilty (allegedly). How could he show innocence? He has no choice but to rely on “work-arounds.”

So now he’s filing anything and everything he can think of. Some of it is way out there. So far out there, other lawyers laugh at him and his “team” for even making the filing. His primary “lawyer” is taking a lot of mockery from her fellows. ”Why would she even file that?” ”Doesn’t she know better?” With her, I couldn’t possibly say if she knows better BUT…

Each of those filings gets ruled on. Each one causes a delay. Each one buys Donny a little bit of time. As an example, Donny doesn’t have to part with the $83 million dollar judgement until the case is settled. He even has to put the money up if he wants to appeal so he needs this case to not close yet. The only tool he has to that end is insane filings. ”I can’t be tried by someone with blue eyes!” or whatever. Yeah, he’s going to lose those, too, but he wins a bit of time. And what does he want to DO with that time?

He’s actively looking, right now, for somebody rich enough to help him pay off the judgement. They’re called “mega-donors.” They’re the super rich people now allowed to buy our government thanks to the High Kangaroo Court’s corrupt Citizen United decision. But I’ll tell you this: I find myself wondering why the stable genius billionaire needs help paying what, to him, should be a mere $83.3 million dollar tab. I mean, if you’re a billionaire, isn’t $83 million dollars pocket change?

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

Hey, it cuts both ways, though, yes? He filed a defamation case in the England about the Steele Dossier. In keeping with his true calling and maintaining his seemingly endless string, he lost. BUT – and this is kind of fun – the court there never even considered the merits of the case. He lost because he brought it too late. He lost on a technicality…

Fights, Good and Bad…

by MyBaconPress

Wow, what a game. TWICE, now, the Niners have come out and started slow, to say the least. I doubt they’re intentionally spotting their opponents points but it sure looks like they’re spotting their opponents points. Can we please put the “Purdy is a pretender” talk to bed, now? The naysayers can still have “Purdy is less accurate in the rain.” That one, at least, seems to be true. But all the rest? You’re just being stubborn. He’s a very good player. That whole team is loaded but there’s no negative narrative going on about any of the other players. Just Purdy. So just stop, okay?

Detroit played very well. After all these years, it was nice to see Detroit enjoying a bit of success. Not so nice I wanted them to enjoy success over my Niners but still… That’s a team that has suffered for a long, long time. At this rate, I have little doubt they’ll make the leap, here, soon. They played some very good football. In truth, they, THEN played some not so good football but they deserve props. They’ve come a long way in a short time…

I’m not sure what happened to the Ravens. Well, yes, I know the Chiefs happened to the Ravens but the Ravens played badly, all on their own. They started flat, like the Niners did, but never managed to turn things around. Lamar Jackson is something else. This was a very good team, all season long. To fall apart like that in the Championship? There’s going to be some disappointment in the clubhouse for a while.

For the Chiefs it just seemed like business as usual, just another game to be played. Mahomes is still Mahomes, which means a very good football player. Andy Reid is still among the best coaches coaching, these days, and still a better bet than Belichick for GOAT. Of course, one can never overstate the contributions of the vaunted Taylor Swift, either. Normally, when a player on the field does something wonderful/amazing/glorious (or even bad/embarrassing/disastrous), the camera focuses on the player, who gets an extra moment of screen time. When poor Travis Kelce does something great, the camera pans straight to Taylor Swift, for her reaction shot. (Spoiler alert: she’s happy for her boyfriend.)

Hopefully, we’ll all get to see how Taylor looks when she’s sad because her boyfriend is about to lose the Stupor Bowl on February 11. The camera will absolutely grab that screenshot, just like they do when she’s celebrating. She has asked them to tone it down, a bit – they just don’t comply. Why would they? They get free celebrity endorsement from Swift every game and they don’t even have to pay her.

I expect a heck of a game. I HOPE the Niners win but I wouldn’t BET the Niners will win. These are two very good teams. Sadly, I think one of the most glaring problems for either team is the Niners Defensive Coordinator, Steve Wilkes. That guy just doesn’t understand the Niner defense. Last year the Niners defense was top-of-the-charts under DeMeco Ryans, as it was the year before that under Robert Saleh. They’re pretty porous with Wilkes at the helm. That could prove to be the difference in the big, dumb game this year…

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

Can somebody help me out, here, please? I’ve been looking for information about how HAMAS is fighting back against Israel. I can’t find anything. Whenever I go looking, all is get is references to the oh-so-stupid HAMAS attack on Oct 7. I DID see a story about how some HAMAS fighters used a rocket to kill three Israeli soldiers preparing to blow up a building but there’s precious little else.

Netanyahu says he isn’t stopping until all of HAMAS is wiped out. It’s hard to blame him for feeling that way, but he ALSO seems to think that every Palestinian is HAMAS. He also seems to be trying to expand the fight from just Gaza to the West Bank. To me? He seems to think this is his chance, once and for all, to get rid of the Palestinians. ALL of the Palestinians. The whole world has asked him to stand down. He just thumbs his nose.

I’ll tell you this: Netanyahu may not be saying ‘from the river to the sea’ but he sure seems to be doing ‘from the river to the sea.’

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

There’s a guy running against Putin in the upcoming Russian “elections.” That’s some guts. He will either end up in some Russian prison (“Say ‘hello’ to Nalvany for me…”) or dead, having committed suicide by drinking poison, chopping off his own head, and then throwing his own body out one window and the head out another. And THIS is the system MAGA wants to see in America?

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

There’s a weird “analysis” of dissolving Donny’s businesses in AP, this morning. It takes the position that shutting down Donny’s fraudulent business will only empower the state to shut down other fraudulent businesses, and, after all, how fraudulent WAS Donny’s fraud? Oh, and he stopped some of his fraud – right after he got sued for providing fraudulent statements, so, what’s the problem? The “analysis” suggests that most of the time, when a business DID get shut down, the case was able to demonstrate who got hurt.

But THEN, it acknowledges that NY law doesn’t require showing damages, only an ongoing pattern of fraud. It acknowledges that not every business shut down showed damages. Despite the fact that the “analysis” seems to arguing against shutting down trump businesses, the article points out these things have been going on for at least eleven years and says, “Trump exaggerated the size of his Manhattan penthouse apartment by three times. He listed unfinished buildings as if they were complete, and apartments under rent-control as if they were free of such rules. He showed restricted funds as if they were liquid cash. And he portrayed Mar-a-Lago as if it could be converted to a residence even though that is prohibited in its deed.”

I’ll tell you this: When the “analysis” says, “Yeah he did all those things but we should just give the guy a break?” I suspect it was written by MAGA…

The Defame Game…

by MyBaconPress

It’s always his mouth, isn’t it? Well, no. Apparently, sometimes it’s his fingers but MOST of the time, it’s his own, awful mouth that gets him in trouble. This one has a ‘coming-home-to-roost’ feel, though. In the NY fraud case in which Donny inflates and deflates values depending on how his answers affect him financially, one of the things that seems to bother him the most (weirdly, really) is that, officially, his Florida not-a-home-because-he-swore-it-wouldn’t-be is worth $18- to $21-million dollars. That’s in the record.

He is SO obsessed with that one point, it caused him to write one of his biggest hits, the classic, ‘Mar-a-Lago Worth A Lot!’ He does it at every show, without fail. Of course, like many of his standards, it’s an epic and wandering bit. By now, we all know the chorus:
  ’Mar-a-Lago, worth ten times!
  I be hassled by those Slimes!
  It sell fast, 1 point 8 billion!
  Who knows? Maybe more, a trillion?’

Yeah, catchy. The thing is, the value of Mar-a-Lago is set by the county assessor’s office based on, you know, an assessment… and, apparently, a bit of negotiation between the county and the property owner – Donny – who actually got the county to lower their original assessment. It lowered his property tax, you see. EXACTLY what he’s being charged with in New York. The point is, Mar-a-Lago is officially valued at $18 – $21 million dollars but he keeps insisting, based on his muse, I guess, that it’s worth $1.8 Billion, minimum.

But that’s not the story I wanted to tell you…

The story I wanted to tell you involves his OTHER New York civil trial, in which he’s already been found responsible for raping Ms. Carroll. THAT one inspired an entire concept album that gave us a string of hits, including ‘E. Jean is Not My Lover,’ ‘I Never Even Knew Her’, ‘Not My Type,’ and ‘Isn’t That Marla?’ Of course, ‘Isn’t That Marla?’ isn’t as well known outside certain circles. For MY money, though, it was the ‘B’ side, ‘Unfortunately…or Fortunately,’ that sold that record. But I digress.

As you no doubt recall, the ruling in the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial was made a long, long time ago. He was ordered to pay $5 million dollars in damages. His minions coughed that up in about 20 minutes, though, so he didn’t give two figs. ”Please support Trump. He needs your help to win back the White House. Stop Joe Biden! MAGA! (Please make your checks out to the New York State Unified Court System, Attn: E. Jean Carroll.”)

Of course, he ran right out and started in on her again. So, she sued him again. Now the court is trying to decide how much is enough to shut this guy’s vicious, flapping maw once and for all. Donny’s team tried to downplay the damages and pretend she wasn’t harmed, so everybody should just forget the whole thing and go home. E. Jean Carroll’s team made their case that this guy is worth a LOT so the disgorgement needed to be substantial or he won’t even feel it and, therefore, won’t stop. TO that end, they presented, to the jury, Donny’s claims that Mar-a-Lago is worth $1.8 billion dollars. This is for deciding punitive damages, the “punishment” part.

Frankly I enjoyed watching Carroll’s team use Donny’s own lying words against him. I enjoyed seeing his braggadocio come back to bite him, rather than impressing everyone with how rich he is. I once wrote in these pages that I would like to see the county assessor’s office send him a letter telling him they’ve decided to use HIS valuation so here is the new property tax amount along with the back taxes he owes for shortfalls in the past. Mine was just a fantasy. Carroll’s team made it real. I laughed out loud.

When all is said and done, Donny has been ordered to pay $83.3 million dollars in damages. No, that’s wrong. The minions need to cough up $83.3 million dollars. Donny can’t be expected to pay. He’s got a writer to defame…

MAGA Kneels…

by MyBaconPress

Okay, I kind of love this. Donny sued the NY Times over a story they did that he didn’t like. He thought he’d hit them hard in order to show what a brilliant tough guy he is. The Times published a story about the trumpster “wealth” and tax practices. Donny didn’t like it. So, he sued the NY Times, the reporters who wrote the story, and the story’s source, estranged niece Mary Trump for $100 million dollars. (Hey, a guy has to get money somehow…and he certainly isn’t going to earn it honestly…)

First the reporters, then the paper itself, were dismissed from the case. Of course, it was a complex case and, again, he was asking for $100 million. The problem? The story was essentially correct and laws protecting the free press kicked in. Now DONNY has to pay the NY Times and the reporters $400,000 in restitution over his frivolous lawsuit! (They’re still pursuing Mary – for now…) File a frivolous lawsuit in an attempt to get $100 million dollars and end up having to PAY $400,000? Priceless!

At this point, MAGA is going to have to start selling their cars to pay Donny’s penalties. He seems to be racking up punishments faster than MAGA can refill his coffers. If they don’t get busy, he might have to pay out some of his own money. (Heaven forfend!) Then, MAGA can sit around complaining that they don’t have any money and blaming Joe Biden for it. That’s not right, MAGA. You voluntarily gave your money to a con man and you keep doing it. You know what they say, ‘A fool and his money are soon parted.’ Excellent demonstration of the concept, I’ll give you that.

So, that’s $400,000 to the NY Times, $370 million to the state of New York, and maybe $150 million more to E. Jean Carroll. Remember, that’s just January. MAGA keeps whining about what the national debt will do to our kids. I think they’d better start paying attention to what their god-on-earth is doing to THEM…

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

They won’t, though, pay attention to what he’s doing to them, I mean. The Iowa Caucus is coming up. Stinky Donny has a huge lead, despite the fact that he hasn’t campaigned as much as the others because he’s been choosing to go to court, trying to defend his indefensible criminal activities.

MAGA knows they’re voting for a criminal. They just don’t care. MAGA is in full-on delusional mode these days and the more evidence that comes out showing what a useless puke Donny is, the harder they fight to defend him. That’s some serious “irrational,” right there…

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

In the hearing in the ‘House Committee to Harass Hunter Biden,’ Democrat Jared Moskowitz said, “You come up here and talk about Hunter Biden’s behavior, and you’re so disgusted, but the guy that you all kneel to associates himself with a pedophile.” (He’s talking about trump’s loyalty and devotion to Jeffery Epstein.) MAGA pretended to get angry at the suggestion that they “kneel” to trump. Snowflake Clay Higgins interrupted, “I kneel to Christ!” Uh-huh. Somehow, I doubt that. What I do NOT doubt, is that if Donny told you to kneel before him, you would.

And you might as well. You ALL kneel before him, metaphorically, all day, every day. Why pretend to be offended by something we all watch you do on a daily basis?

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

I got scolded in social media for the way I think of MAGA. The person wrote, “…thank you for characterizing me and all MAGA the way you’ve been taught.” It’s true. I HAVE been taught how to think about MAGA – by MAGA!

MAGA pays Donny’s bills – because, they insist, the courts, and not the criminal, are corrupt. MAGA stays loyal to Donny despite his absolute, complete, and easily proven failures as President and the piles of evidence and charges against the guy. They insist upon their delusions and pretend to get furious with those who refuse to delude themselves along with them. I see them as abused wives explaining why they shouldn’t have “made him to do that.” NOBODY questions the idea that MAGA, any MAGA, any time, would kneel before Donny upon command, but to be outside MAGA and say so out loud? Oh, the huMANity!

Dear MAGA: if you don’t want to be lumped in with MAGA, don’t be such an effing MAGA. It’s pretty simple, really…

Take A Stand…

by MyBaconPress

I read an article on Tuesday from ‘The Hill’ quoting Stinky Donny saying the economy is going to crash and he hopes it crashes in the next year because he doesn’t want to be Herbert Hoover. Too late, Donny. You’re already worse than Herbert Hoover. In fact, in every measurable way, you’re the worst President the United States ever suffered. Don’t you remember your woeful mishandling of the Covid crisis? Most Americans do. Most of the world does. Had YOU done better, the economy would have done better. Sadly, we had an incompetent at the wheel in that moment and you drove us into a ditch. Dumbass.

Of course and like always, he’s taking credit for the current good economy. No, really. He says the only reason there’s any good at all is because it’s “running on the fumes” of what he did. Sorry, Donny, wrong again. Those “fumes” you sense are the smell of death from all the Americans you killed. On the up side, the current economy is SO strong these days, cons are hoping for failure as the best hope of winning in November. Leave it to cons to hope for harm and failure in the United States because of how they perceive it will help them…

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

Donny’s out there promising he’s going to testify in his trial. No, not that one. No, the other one. No, not that one, either. This is the civil business fraud trial, in New York. I guess he plans to try to save whatever money his loyal acolytes have left, since they so kindly pay his fines. They’re going to need whatever money they have left. Donny has a BIG loss facing him in the E. Jean Carroll trial. MAGA is going to have to rent out their children as laborers to help pay his fines.

Donny wants to present the closing arguments. This part of the trial is about – and ONLY about – disgorgement. How much does Donny have to pay? There has already been a finding that he’s only ever been smoke and mirrors and his business model is fraud, fraud, fraud so he has to dissolve ALL of his business interests in the state of New York. Now the question is, how much will he pay?

The original filing was asking for $250 Million dollars but since then, the independent monitor has “noted” (caught) a few other elements that should be included. The adjusted number now stands at $370 million.

This month, he’s still looking at his next round in the E Jean Carroll case, too. He’s been found responsible for sexual assault. He defamed Carroll over that and lost his case. He was ordered to pay $5 million as a penalty. Then he went outside and doubled down, so she re-filed. Meanwhile Rudy Giuliani was found responsible in HIS defamation case and ordered to pay $148 million dollars. THAT set the new standard. This is trump’s follow-up defamation case. The one that suggests he didn’t get the message at $5 million. Maybe $150 million more will help him understand. (I made that number up based on the Giuliani ruling. It could be less, it could be more…)

Frankly, I doubt ANY monetary damages will convince him to stand down. HE doesn’t pay them. His loyal, and oh-so-gullible followers pay them, so why should he care?

Update: I wrote that bit Wednesday morning. By Wednesday night, trump had decided (surprise!) he wasn’t going to speak, after all. The cons will pretend the evil gubmint kept him from talking but, for clarity, Engoron, in fact, said Donny could speak but he had to limit himself to the issues at hand. He couldn’t give a campaign speech and he couldn’t just attack people he doesn’t like. That left Stinky Donny with nothing to say so he demurred, then declined. What kind of life do you live if you’re stuck in “If I can’t whine and cry, ‘poor me!’ I have nothing to say?”

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

I saw a story that irritated me. The Headline suggested a Catholic priest got defrocked after marrying a woman. That paints a picture that fits into a larger, already established narrative about abusive priests in the Catholic church and I was all prepared to write about it. He was 29 when they met and she was 17! They married a year later. An element of the story is that the two had “fled” to Italy. I actually DID start writing about it, but wanted some details – why did he “flee?” – so searched out other articles on the topic. Turns out, that headline was technically true, he did leave the church after marrying a women, but not accurate.

The truth is, two people dated for a year, then got married but he had to quit his job because of that choice. See, this happened in Alabama. In Alabama, the age of consent is 16. He didn’t break any laws. He didn’t “flee” to Italy. They moved there. The church didn’t defrock him – technically, called ‘Laicization’ – as punishment for marrying the woman (though they would have). The priest in question started the process and made no effort to fight it. The church defrocked him for abandoning his post at his church – with his cooperation.

Corporate media sucks in this country. One must be VERY careful when reading even the most minor of stories. They just want the clicks and they’ll say nearly anything…

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

The NFL, never short on greed, has decided to air one of their playoff games on a streaming service station only. If you don’t have ‘Peacock,’ you don’t watch the game, except in the local markets where NFL rules require them to air the game on a local channel. It’s the Chiefs/Dolphins game so they can watch it in Kansas City and Miami without paying. But everyone else? Pay up, suckers. The NFL made $12 BILLION dollars in 2020, and that was DOWN from $18 Billion because of the pandemic. Now the NFL is trying to squeeze out a little bit more. The ONLY way to protect ourselves from this ever-encroaching greed is to shut our wallets.

I’m asking you to avoid THAT game. It’s for our own protection. If they make money on this move, we’ll see more and more of it until football is an entirely pay-per-view event. If the game loses money, they’ll be LESS likely to push this as quickly. (Note that they WILL keep trying. Greed is a disease that does not go away on it’s own.) We, the fans, need to ensure the game loses money, or we’d better prepare to pay out lots and lots more. ”Oh, c’mon, they’ll say, it’s only $5.00 dollars.”

Yeah, today. But if it “works,” soon we’ll have to subscribe to ALL the streaming services just to watch a game or worse, the NFL will move all of their games to their own streaming service and charge hundreds of dollars a year. (That’s not hyperbole. Have you checked the price of their ‘Season Ticket’?) Soon, after that, I wouldn’t be surprised if we had to buy ‘Personal Viewer Licenses’ ($300.00) to obtain the right to subscribe to their service ($300.00 MORE). THAT part might be hyperbole. But even that is only a ‘maybe.’ The greed of the NFL is legendary and inexorable. I say again, the ONLY way to protect ourselves from this ever-encroaching greed is to shut our wallets.

Yeah, I’d rather see the game, too. But I’ll catch the highlights later, maybe. Let’s make pay-per-view-only football a failed test…for our own protection. Please, don’t watch the game…

Not Working…

by MyBaconPress

Conservatives, even some MAGA, are starting to realize that this Congress, specifically, this House of Representatives has accomplished precious little during their recent period of control. I hear them talking in their media from time to time. They know it. Their only real concern is how the voters might perceive their do-nothing time in Congress. But they’re trying to do something now.

Help the poor? Educate the young? Address the homeless issue? Fund Ukraine? Why, don’t be ridiculous! They’re not going to get involved in any of those things. Instead, they want a pay raise. Yeah, you might want to read that again. The cons in Congress want more money for all that nothing they’re accomplishing. These lifeless pricks make $174,000 a year. That’s about $100,000 a year MORE than most Americans make. I’m referring, here, to Americans who work. Oh, and this is important. The Americans who DO work, are expected to accomplish things WHILE they work, or they are granted the “opportunity” to NOT work – permanently. Of course, the pay stops, as well.

Cons started the radical pay escalations of Congress a long, long time ago. They came up with a story: if you want the best people in Congress, you have to pay them accordingly. The money started going up, the quality of our Congress critters started going down. Turns out, maybe quality people go where the money is, but scoundrels ALWAYS go where the money is, and I think we can all agree, Congress sure has a LOT of scoundrels in it, these days.

That’s still their story, though. Better pay equals better people. The FIRST Congress of this once-great nation, the one that worked for Per Diem only (that is, no salary), set up the country and the economy. That was quite the accomplishment and, I’m guessing, a lot of work. THIS Congress, the highest paid in American history, does nothing useful. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero. Zip. Diddly-squat.

Okay, in fairness, the Senate WOULD do things if the House would, but the House is focused on harassing a private citizen for political reasons as “retribution” for the legal troubles of their most recent and most criminal President. (Dear MAGA minds: The Democrats didn’t “do this” to Trump. Trump did this to Trump. You guys are (mostly) old. You remember Sammy Davis Jr singing, “Don’t do the crime, if you can’t do the time.” (You even filled in the rest in your minds, didn’t you?) All Donny had to do was run an honest business, not sexually assault women, not steal from charities, not steal government documents, accept electoral reality, and NOT try to overthrow the government, and he’d be fine…)

Anyway, that’s the same story they’re trying to float in order to get THIS raise as well. It’s the story they’ll tell. Nobody will buy it. They’ll vote for their own raise anyway. One of the things I changed when I re-wrote the Constitution was that Congress’ salary should be tied directly to the fortunes of the American people. First, they shouldn’t get to set their own pay. It should be tied to the median American income. If THEY want more money, they have to do better by the American people. Pretty simple really.

I’ll tell you this: if there was some way to stop them, I’d suggest it, but once they decide they want more and feel they can get away with it, politically, nothing can stop them…

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

All right, I guess I’m obligated to note that this is the anniversary of Donny’s attempted coup, January 6th. I think we might want to mark this day on an annual basis, like the Brits do with Guy Fawkes Day. Fawkes was part of a crew that tried to assassinate King James I. The Brits celebrate the survival of the monarchy and we should celebrate the survival of the Constitution.

Meanwhile, MAGA is out there, trying to turn January 6th into their version of July 4th and they’ve done everything they can to downplay the assault on Congress. (That means they’ve lied about it a LOT!) Oh, it never happened. It was just an unauthorized tour of the Capitol building. It was just a peaceful gathering. Nobody died. The people who died killed themselves. There wasn’t a riot. The rioters were Antifa/BLM/crisis actors. But mostly, it never happened.

So…it never happened but when it did, it was somebody else? It was totally peaceful but the violence was caused by somebody else? Nice work, there, ‘party of personal responsibility…’

We, the people, absolutely have to remember January 6th, the day an underdeveloped megalomaniac tried to overthrow our government and install himself as dictator – and the evil weasel came FAR too close to succeeding…

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

Here’s something to remember:

Talking to a baby is the same as walking into a spider web in this way: anyone who catches you doing it immediately knows what’s happening, and anyone who catches you doing it understands…

Maroons…

by MyBaconPress

Okay, raise your hand if you’re shocked. The Epstein papers everyone made such a big deal about were finally released and, OMG, was it ever nothing. It was the greatest nothing. The nothingist nothing. Big, strong men come up to me with tears in their eyes and say, “Sir, that was really nothing.” Let’s just agree, it was bigly nothing. (My spell check hates this bit…)

What people WANT is his client list. That’s not what we got. The cons want to prove that Bill Clinton is a pervert who has sex with underage women and they need the information to smear him more effectively than they can do with their current “Hey, just make it up!” technique. Bill’s name was mentioned. Then again, so was Stinky Donny’s. But these were NOT reported as clients. These were people somehow associated with the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell.

The whole hullabaloo got me thinking, though, so I did something. Apropos of nothing – and I really mean nothing – I searched for photos of Clinton and Epstein. There are a couple, one at what looks like a White House function and the other looks…odd, like it might not be real. But then I did the same with Trump and Epstein. There are more. Lots more. And in party situations, hanging out. Even going out as couples, Stinky Donny and Melania, and Jeffery and Ghislaine.

I’ll tell you this: I’m not sure it’s a good idea for MAGA to try for political gain by slamming Bill’s association with Epstein when it’s so easy to link Donny and Jeffery, as well…

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

There was this defendant being sentenced for battery in a Las Vegas courtroom when he rushed the judge, leapt over her bench, and attacked her. It was, simultaneously, a very stupid move and a very impressive jump. I’m guessing that, particular, Einstein enhanced his sentence, somewhat – and that’s before the new trial for new charges of assault and battery get filed for THIS attack. To quote Bugs: “What a maroon…”

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

MAN the lies get old. No, they never go away. They just get old. Donny trotted out his “I tried to send 10,000 troops to defend the Capitol but Pelosi said no.” story again. THIS time, the story is to smack Liz Cheney, of all people. Donny insists he can’t prove he tried to send the troops because “Liz Cheney deleted it.” MAGA hates Liz, now that she did a right thing, so, of course it’s all her fault… Donny is trying to claim he “can’t defend himself” because of her meanie-pants behavior. Interestingly, I think Donny “can’t defend himself” because his behavior is indefensible.

Quibbles, right? Still, if the story is true, at all, in any way, it kind of creates more questions than it answers. So I’m going to ask the questions.

The United States had successfully enjoyed 44 (maybe 43, depending on how you count Grover Cleveland) peaceful transfers of power since the founding of our now MAGA-damaged nation. Why, pray tell, should Nancy have had concerns about the security at the Capitol? That is, what was the specific danger she was supposed to protect against? That question, alone, is usually enough to earn an epithet or two from MAGA as they slink back into the darkness.

For the rest of us, we know the answer because we’re not caught up in a web of delusions and stories. The danger that faced the Capitol building that day came from Trump and his attempt to steal the election. Why, oh why, would Trump try to send an army to quell the insurrection he was ALSO scheming to send?

Take your time, MAGA…

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

Now that the traitor-in-Chief, Stinky Donny, has filed his appeal to the Supremely Kangaroo Court, I, for one, am holding my breath. On the one hand, I don’t trust this clearly corrupted court. On the other, the ruling in this case could affect the entire Presidential race. The appeal in this case is about Colorado declaring Donny ineligible to run based on his insurrection and attempt to overthrow the government but if the court upholds Colorado’s decision, they’re basically declaring Donny ineligible in every state.

CAN you try to overthrow the government and then be allowed back to the levers of power for a second run at it? It’s a very big, very important, and very stupid question. ANY rational person would say, “No!” MAGA says, “Look, a shiny thing!” What’s important is what the court says. It will be important forever, either because they protect the nation and the Constitution or because they don’t, and he tears the thing up and starts making his own rules.

It’s a concern because of the makeup of this court. Clarence Thomas’ wife is, allegedly, a co-conspirator and participant in the attempted coup. I’m guessing his vote is already cast. Protecting Donny protects his wife. He should recuse himself but then he couldn’t protect his beloveds, so he won’t. So that’s one vote for ‘Dictator.’ Roberts himself, has said he doesn’t buy the argument that the 14th Amendment applies to the President. If that remains true (people sometimes change their minds) that’s TWO votes for ‘Dictator.’

Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan will all vote for the Constitution, of course. But after those three, “smart” runs out in this court and devolves to political loyalty. Sometimes. How will the last five decide, Constitution or Dictator?

I’ll tell you this: that’s not a question I ever thought would exist in this country…

Deceiver Denied…

by MyBaconPress

Well, Donny’s got a new deception working. I know, he’s nothing BUT deception. This one, though, is likely to fool MAGA (I mean, what doesn’t?) but nobody else. Worse, he’s kind of mapping a route for MAGA to escape the cult. There are three women who worked in the Trump White House. Okay, there were a LOT of women who worked in the Trump white House but these three women both testified to the J6 committee AND went on network television together to warn Americans about the dangers of sending Trump back to the Oval.

In an interview with Jonathan Karl, Cassidy Hutchinson, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Sarah Matthews appeared on ABC’s This Week on Sunday to caution America about the dangers a second Trump presidency could bring. They said things like, “Fundamentally, a second Trump term could mean the end of American democracy as we know it, and I don’t say that lightly” and that a second Trump term could mean “the end of American democracy as we know it.”

Trump, being the thin-skinned, man-baby he is, retaliated, or tried to. He started posting comments each of the women made in support of him and his Presidency. It seems like he’s going for, “Hey, they loved me, now they’re stabbing me in the back.” Except, no. The comments he posted ALL come from before J6. Ever since? The scales have fallen from their eyes and they’re trying to warn other believers that this guy is a false prophet to be avoided.

You see, they DID love him, just like everyone else in the cult. The difference? They saw him, up close and personal, in action on J6. They loved Donny but they love America more. (An unacceptable quality in a MAGA.) When Trump tried to overthrow the election, they were forced to re-evaluate their opinions and their newly updated assessments were not good. MAGA is trying to smear them as RINO (Republicans In Name Only) but they’re REALLY just good Americans, unlike MAGA.

In short, people who loved Trump and would have followed him blindly nearly anywhere now despise and fear him. They worry for their country if he gets back. They worry for the rule of law and the continuing existence of the Constitution. These aren’t lefty “libtards.” These are STILL Republicans who once loved Trump, only to discover he’s not who they thought he was. He’s far, FAR worse.

You see MAGA? You CAN break free. I mean, I don’t blame you for not listening to, say, me. I’m a pretty well established anti-Trump guy. But the people who loved him? The people who worked for him and did his bidding? People who, just like you, WANTED to believe and then just…couldn’t anymore – specifically because of what they saw of him behind closed doors?

I’ll tell you this: You should listen to them. They have no political axe to grind. They just know better now. And you can, too. It’s okay…

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

Donny’s been arguing that he has absolute, perfect immunity for anything and everything he does if he’s still the President, even if he’s just a lame-duck President. He’s taking that insane argument to courts and asking them to agree. He’s trying it in most of his cases so everything is on hold while courts go through the formality of saying, “No, Dumbass, NO American citizen has absolute, perfect immunity and the President is an American citizen, first and foremost.” And now? It has started.

The first appeal to come back with a ruling of, “Don’t be an idiot!” (I’m probably paraphrasing) comes from a three-judge panel at the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in the civil suits filed by the cops on scene at the Capitol on the day of Donny’s failed insurrection. Now the cops (or their families) can move forward with their cases. This is only the FIRST test that will affirm the President is NOT immune from prosecution for anything he does. But it won’t be the last. His “I’m immune” claim will buy him some time, but, long term, not a reprieve…

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

This is funny. In a 2004 interview, Donny is quoted as saying the economy does better under Democrats than under Republicans. Wolf Blitzer asked him if he was a Republican or a Democrat. His answer? ”Well, you’d be shocked if I said that in many cases I probably identify more as Democrat,” Trump replied. THEN he added, “You know, it’s interesting, I’ve been now around long — you know, I think of myself as a young guy, but I’m not so young anymore. And I’ve been around for a long time. And it just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats than the Republicans.” (Did you notice? He was doing the word-salad thing even back then…)

He’s right, too. Republicans consistently add more to the national debt than Democrats. LOTS more. After Donny’s complete collapse as President (MAGA pretends it was utopia), the economy tanked in a big way, the biggest way. A record way. No one has EVER tanked the economy like Trump. (The Trump maladministration lost 22 million jobs. The Great Depression only lost 15 million.) After only three years on the job, Biden has the economy humming along at a record-setting pace. (MAGA pretends they live in a Mad Max-style, dystopian hell hole. That must be hard to maintain every time they step outside…)

It has been this way since Reagan. Republicans crash the economy, Democrats come in a fix it. I’ll tell you this: why we ever bother with Republicans in the first place remains a mystery to me…