democracy

Just Doing Their Jobs?

by MyBaconPress

Keeping it classy, I guess. By now, you’ve seen the AI generated video of Cadet Bone Spurs pretending to be a real life pilot – wearing a Burger King crown, of course – and dumping a load of, um, poop on Americans. Nice, right?

It’s so…juvenile. FAR beneath what anybody expects from a President of the United States. This is only Donny, though, so… keep it in perspective. Unsurprisingly, there’s now a “response” video, too – an American Bald Eagle pooping on Donny. I like that one better…

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Erik Siebert was the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. 47 appointed him after seizing power. 47 wanted Siebert to file charges against James Comey and Letitia James. 47 didn’t care that there we no legitimate charges, but Siebert did. Seibert wouldn’t do it. So, 47 pitched a fit and Siebert resigned. (The Drumpfster insists he fired Siebert, but The Drumpfster lies about everything.)

So Donny tried to make a second interim appointment as US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, a wholly unqualified toady known as Lindsay Halligan. Halligan filed the charges against Comey and James in “Yes, sir! Right away, sir!” fashion. She faces two burdens before she ever GETS to an actual trial. One, Donny publicly ordered the vindictive prosecution in writing, and, two, it wasn’t legal for Team Evil to appoint Halligan at all.

See, The First Felon keeps naming incompetent fools to high level positions. He knows the unqualified bootlickers can’t get through a Congressional hearing – his appointees really, really suck – so they have been appointing many of their people on an interim basis. That way, see, they get to skip the confirmation part.

Section 546 of Title 28 of the United States Code authorizes an Attorney General to appoint an interim United States Attorney for a term of 120 days. Under section 546(d), once the 120-day term expires, “the district court for such district may appoint a United States attorney to serve until the vacancy is filled.”

Acting Attorney General James McHenry (a temp) appointed Erik Siebert (another temp) as interim United States Attorney on January 21, 2025. After his 120-day term expired, the judges of the Eastern District of Virginia appointed him to continue to serve. So, clearly, he wasn’t doing a bad job of it.

On May 6, 2025 Donny nominated Siebert to be US Attorney. His nomination had advanced to the Senate floor when Trump learned that Siebert had told senior Justice Department officials that he wasn’t going to prosecute James or Comey because there wasn’t any evidence of a crime. Donny had a tantrum and Siebert was out as United States Attorney.

So Halligan represents an attempt by the DOJ to appoint a second interim US Attorney and the law says they can’t do that. Since Halligan isn’t appointed legally, Comey argues, none of her indictments are legal, either. That’s the law and it SHOULD hold up. No one can say for certain what will happen in this Bizarro America.

Comey’s team cited an opinion written by a legal counsel for the Reagan administration right after that law passed, interpreting it just that way: only one interim appointment. That legal counsel? Samuel Alito! That makes it doubly interesting as to what will happen when it reaches the way high court. If they intend to issue one of their “Whatever the Precious wants” rulings, Alito will first have to overcome the opinion written by Alito…

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I really hate watching that madman tear down the White House, but you’ve got to admit, it’s the perfect metaphor for the disaster that is Donald Trump…

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The story so far: a woman named Adelita Grijalva was elected in Arizona to serve in the House of Representatives. Grijalva is a Democrat. Grijalva has promised to be the 218th signature on Republican Thomas Massie’s Petition to Discharge the Epstein Files. You remember the Epstein Files, right? The so-called ‘Epstein Files’ are a collection of evidence taken when Donald Trump’s best friend Jeffrey Epstein was arrested for trafficking in child prostitutes.

The information contained in that evidence implicates a LOT of rich, powerful men and Donny is definitely among those names. It appears Donny considered it among his special privileges as a rich man to rape children – and he really seemed to like doing that a lot. MAGA Mike, the Johnson has been ordered by his not-his-boss “boss” to never expose those files under any circumstances. You know, because of how innocent the files make 47 look.

There wasn’t much The Johnson could do to quell the surprise effort from his flank to get the files released. So, he cleverly – at least I assume he thinks it’s clever – shut down the House. Then he did it again. And again. It’s shut down right now, by choice of the Speaker and for no other reason. In short, he’s keeping the House closed with no business being done – most especially swearing in Adelita Grijalva so she can sign that petition.

Meanwhile, they’re not doing anything else, either. NO House business is being conducted with the exception of the occasional vote to advance the Continuing Resolution (CR) that re-opens the government, but does nothing for the millions of Americans who will start signing up to significantly higher prices for health insurance this November 1 or lose their insurance entirely.

The Johnson keeps pretending that 1) he can’t possibly swear in Grijalva during a shut-down (he can) and 2) Grijalva should just hunker down and do her job anyway. I guess we’re just supposed to ignore the fact that it would be illegal for Grijalva to ACT as a Representative when she hasn’t been sworn in, not to mention that fact that her computers and such don’t work until she’s sworn in. But I digress.

Tuesday, The State of Arizona and Grijalva filed a lawsuit against The Johnson for being, well, a Johnson. They’re making the obvious argument that not swearing in Grijalva is ‘taxation without representation’ for Grijalva’s district. A Speaker does not have the authority to simply refuse to swear in a duly elected or appointed member.

Here’s the hitch: yes, MAGA Mike, the Johnson is in violation of the US Constitution, BUT… pretty much everything this evil, criminal, corrupt and hate-filled regime has done and is doing violates the US Constitution. I know how it would play out in our constitutional republic. I have no idea how it plays out under a moronic dictator…

Closing In?

by MyBaconPress

Ro Khanna (D) says he and Thomas Massie (R) have the votes they need to try and force the release of the Epstein files. Well, okay, WILL have the votes they need by the end of September. There are special elections coming up. There are currently four vacant seats in the House, three of them from deep blue districts. Two of THOSE have already committed to signing the petition so Khanna and Massie have the 218 they need – or they will.

This is just a first step. A discharge petition is a tool to bypass a committee report that might be held up for political reasons, thereby holding up a floor vote. The petition forces the floor vote. Donny and MAGA Mike the Johnson are working overtime trying to keep the Epstein files secret – as one does when one knows how innocent one is. Like, exactly how “innocent” one is.

47, of course, is pretending the whole thing is a democrat hoax and is willing to prove that by keeping the files completely secret (except the parts that were previously known anyway) and shoving them down into a deep, dark vault. Everyone knows, the best disinfectant is deep darkness and further coverup. That never elicits questions. No wonder it’s working so predictably for Donny, et al.

Sometimes, I wonder what he’s worried about. MAGA morality is SO disrupted, Donny could show Polaroids of himself with young girls and MAGA would find a way to justify the photos. Would he lose any support? I doubt it. Those of us who oppose pedophilia would continue to oppose pedophilia and those who defend pedophiles would continue to defend pedophiles – just like what’s happening now – so why all the concern?

In the past, he has embraced whichever of the seven deadly sins he stands accused of committing and MAGA just admires his “honesty.” I’m pretty sure they would extend the same grace to him raping kids…

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Judges are pushing back against the regime’s illegal agenda. Many of the things the First Felon have done are, not surprisingly, crimes. Judges keep saying so. The White House blasts the judges in conservative media as “judicial activists.” MAGA knows to hate “judicial activists” – except when the judicial activism benefits conservatives.

The reason MAGA is so easily deceived by the details? MAGA media isn’t reporting on the lower court rulings at all. That means the faithful don’t get the details. They only get the bluster from the White House and that’s bluster they WANT to believe, so they do.

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As this redistricting battle heats up and degrades the US, it remains possible that Republicans who still love OG America might turn on the party. Just because a district has been gerrymandered to benefit one party or the other doesn’t mean the district will necessarily go in that direction. The benefited party has to come out for the election. If they’re unhappy and they don’t come out? The other party can win – even in a gerrymandered district.

I know that every single downturn of the economy or the society or the law in this bizarro America will be met with excuses by MAGA media. Somehow, everything bad that happens will trace back to Joe Biden or even Barack Obama. All they have to do is ignore the actions Donny took to bring about each day’s new disaster – and ignorance is easy for a MAGA.

But a year from now, even a MAGA might figure out that Donny has been playing them for gullible fools. He has lied to them, tricked them, and stolen from them. If they figure it out, they might just sit out an election. Key phrase? “IF they figure it out.” Odds are long…

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Well, the Niners won. It wasn’t pretty. In fact, it was just lucky – but they won, and a W is a W. They started off with a bunch of injuries, then TE George Kittle got injured during the game. The team held together. The defense looked good. The offense has looked better. Special Teams? The headline this morning should have been about Jake Moody looking for work. Apparently, the guy was money in college. Apparently, he hits like a machine in practice. Clearly, he is – at best – “undependable” during an actual game.

He doesn’t have a preference. He pulls them left and he pulls them right. He has demonstrated a rather remarkable collection of ways to miss, in fact. He can miss Field Goals. He can miss Extra Points. He can miss from any distance. But when Moody takes the field to add points, one expects the score to remain the same.

I’ve seen this before, a coach who takes on a ‘less-than’ player as a project. Head Coach Kyle Shanahan seems to have done exactly that with Moody. I can NOT figure out why Shanahan stays so loyal to that guy. Moody’s job is to kick the ball through the uprights. Moody kicks the ball everywhere BUT through the uprights. Moody keeps his job anyway. Moody cost the Niners games last season and he’ll cost the Niners games again THIS season if he sticks around…

What Dictators Do…

by MyBaconPress

I want to say something. It’s been bothering me. Maybe it bothers you, too. All we hear in the media about that stupid Big Ugly Bill is that it was a tax cut and a spending cut. That’s not right. It IS a tax cut. A tiny, temporary tax cut if you work for a living, and a lovely and large, permanent tax cut if your primary income is in Capital Gains. So, really more of a tax shift in the long run. Rich people don’t want to pay but they’re happy to let the working class pick up the tab.

It wasn’t a spending cut, either. Donny is out there spending money like a drunken sailor. It was, rather, a spending shift. America stopped spending money intended to help people but we’ve been spending on 47’s pet projects and other wasteful pursuits like it’s a sacred obligation. Turning one’s back on the needs of one’s people and instead, looting the treasury as fast as one can? Well, that’s just what dictators do…

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Okay, so I loved this: “DONALD ‘TACO’ TRUMP, AS MANY CALL HIM, ‘MISSED’ THE DEADLINE!!! CALIFORNIA WILL NOW DRAW NEW, MORE ‘BEAUTIFUL MAPS,’ THEY WILL BE HISTORIC AS THEY WILL END THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY (DEMS TAKE BACK THE HOUSE!).

BIG PRESS CONFERENCE THIS WEEK WITH POWERFUL DEMS AND GAVIN NEWSOM — YOUR FAVORITE GOVERNOR — THAT WILL BE DEVASTATING FOR ‘MAGA.’ THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! — GN”

That’s a post made by Gavin Newsom’s office. I think it captured Donny’s tone beautifully. The all-caps bit was a nice touch…

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OMG, he’s federalizing Washington, DC! Uh-huh. He’s taking over the Kennedy Center! Yep. OMG, he’s taking control of the Smithsonian’s exhibits! Well, sure. He’s putting back statues of confederate traitors, too! Of course he is.

Donny is just doing what dictators do. It’s only a matter of time until he commissions a “glorious” statue of himself. If you didn’t want a dictator, the time to stop him was before he had control over the levers of power. Now? Oh, it’s FAR too late.

Oh, sure, people are pissed off about it – NOW. Not pissed off enough to do anything effective about it, but they’re angry. So they’re going to town halls and yelling at useless Republicans infesting congress. The most recent I’ve heard about is the town hall held by Doug LaMalfa, who is, according to the Guardian, “a fourth-generation rice farmer who has represented his northern California district since 2013.” That sounds like he’s not so much a farmer as a politician but, whatever.

When people started shouting at him over the Epstein files, he tried to shift the blame in that way the GOP always does when they get caught red-handed in some grift, graft, or lie. “It’s interesting the Epstein situation was not an issue during the Biden administration,” LaMalfa noted earlier in the town hall. The crowd booed and jeered in response. Biden should have released the files, too, but he never promised he would. That was Donny. Donny promised, but Donny lied. Of course, that’s just what dictators do…

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Speaking of taking over Washington, DC, he’s just lying, you know, but, really, that’s just part of dictator shtick. It’s just what dictators do. He comes out and describes DC as some kind of crime riddled, dystopian hell-hole. He makes it sound like people can’t even open their curtains, let alone go outside, for fear they’ll be victimized by all of that crime. Of course, then, people who do know what they’re talking about come back with facts and details and it turns out, Donny’s just lying about crime in DC. IS there crime in DC? Sure. Pick a city, any city. You’ll find crime.

It tends to be worse in red states. Did you know that? It does. As it happens most red states are poor states. I’m certain there’s a correlation but the red hats never see things like that. Anyway, poverty leads to crime. There’s a genuine aspect of “What choice?” So it’s not a surprise that crime is higher in red states, but 47 isn’t talking about sending troops in to red states. He’s talking about sending troops into blue states.

Sending in troops. In America. Even though I know, it’s just what dictators do, I’m having difficulty accepting that we all just acquiesed so easily. That’s not blame or finger-pointing. It’s just an observation…

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I think it’s funny that a common refrain from Americans when talking about the impending Putin/Drumpfster meeting expresses the hope that Donny isn’t duped out of Alaska by Putin. It’s being expressed as a joke, but I suspect genuine concern drives the humor.

I, for one, don’t expect much from this meeting. Really, I think Donny’s just checking in with his Russian handler. He’ll pass along whatever secrets Russia has requested and update old Vlad on things he’s heard that are going on. Then he’ll suggest Russia stop bombing Ukraine and “old Vlad” will tell him no, because that’s what dictators do. That should be the end of it.

But I’ll tell you this: I’m concerned Donny is going to come out and announce that Putin has “agreed to a twelve-hour cease fire in exchange for Alaska. It’s a great deal, a wonderful deal. It’s a deal only I could have worked out. Oh, yeah, now anybody living in Alaska is a Russian citizen so don’t you DARE try to come back to the United States.” Or something to that effect…

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Okay, thanks to 47’s incredibly fragile ego, coupled with his incredibly thick skull, official numbers from US collection agencies should now be disregarded in general. When the jobs numbers weren’t where Donny wanted them, he fired the person responsible for collecting the numbers, not the idiot who did all of the damage to the jobs market. That’s the fragile ego part.

But he’s also eliminating information on subjects he doesn’t like, like climate change. The guy is so dumb, he seems to really believe that if people just stop tracking and reporting on climate change, it just goes away. That was his oh-so-stupid attitude about Covid, too, but all that “went away” were over a million lives that didn’t need to be lost.

Perhaps one can still trust the weather report – so long as it doesn’t mention climate change, of course. But pretty much, US government numbers are now a patchwork of lies intended to salve one discontented, insatiable ego. I know, trying to force reality into one’s own delusions is really just something dictators do, but he’s just… such an embarrassment…

MONEY Corrupted – Absolutely…

by MyBaconPress

Elon is out buying votes again. He says he’s not buying votes. He’s just giving a million dollars to certain individuals so they’ll vote a certain way. TOTALLY different. To be clear, both sides are pouring money into this race. It’s just the Elon is the only one out there, actually handing checks to potential voters. This is in Wisconsin. There’s an election to replace an outgoing state supreme court justice. The cons want to do to Wisconsin what they did to the SKCOTUS – corrupt it.

If they can get their con on the court, they can eliminate abortion rights and gerrymander districts to keep Wisconsin red. That will help in the US House of “Representatives,” too. (I mean, they still “represent.” The question is, for whom? It certainly is NOT Joe Six-pack.)

This should be illegal. It USED to be illegal. When I rewrote the Constitution, I added a bit that restricted political donations to the constituents of the candidate. If you don’t live in the state, you don’t get to donate to state issues, even on the Federal level. Wisconsin’s choice for, say, Senator, should be a decision of the people of Wisconsin. Nobody else should have a say.

When he went there to buy votes, he said, “And if the [Wisconsin] supreme court is able to redraw the districts, they will gerrymander the district and deprive Wisconsin of two seats on the Republican side,” Musk claimed. “Then they will try to stop all the government reforms we are getting done for you, the American people.”

Classic MAGA. When the facts ain’t on your side, lie, lie, lie. Who gerrymanders districts to keep artificial control over their government? Republicans! Oh, and all the government “reforms” we are getting done for you, the American people?” Yep, he’s “reforming” you right out of health insurance and your Social Security. The sometimes richest man in the world is “reforming” the American people right into poverty and reforming our position on scientific and technological advancement – all the way to the back of the bus. These are NOT “reformations,” they’re “deformations.” It’s just that MAGA lacks the moral clarity to understand…

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Oh, do you need to SEE what the cons plan to do once they successfully deport EVERY brown person in the country? NOW who do they get to do that back-breaking work? Well, in Floriduh, the “solution” they’ve chosen is (wait for it) – CHILDREN! There you go. Floriduh is trying to rewrite child labor laws to allow children as young as 14 to work overnight shifts – even on school nights. They want to be able to classify children as “interns” and “apprentices.” AND, I’m sure there’s no connection, they want to pass a law allowing employers to pay interns and apprentices less than the minimum wage. Rather despicable, wouldn’t you say?

Obviously, Ron DeSantis is trying to sell the proposal by (checks notes) right, lying. He said, “Why do we say we need to import foreigners, even import them illegally, when teenagers used to work at these resorts? College students should be doing all this stuff.” Yep, that WILL sell it to the moral defectives. “These resorts.” Oh, is it the “resorts” that can’t get the crops in from the fields? Does Floriduh have a LOT of “college students” aged 14? Because 14 is the entry level the cons are looking for while DeSantis speaks of “college students.”

The cons are fluffing the outcome. It’s classic ‘lipstick on a pig’ stuff. They just want to get kids out there, working, producing for wealthy people. I mean, why wait? We can get them used to the idea that THEIR labor should fund someone ELSE’S opulent lifestyle at a young age.

Fortunately, there’s some push-back. A spokesperson for a group called, ‘the Florida Immigrant Coalition,’ Thomas Kennedy, said, “To recap, they made the state hostile to immigrants. They deported a bunch of people, or scared people into not coming, or moving out of the state. They exacerbated worker shortages, so now they’re trying to gut child labor protection standards, while at the same time passing a law that would allow them to classify these children and other workers as interns.”

“It’s insane, right?” Yes, Mr. Kennedy, it is. Totally insane. But welcome to Bizarro America, the America of MAGA dreams…

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I have to confess, I’ve been pessimistic about America’s chances, recently. I honestly believe the fascists have won, Better America is yesterday’s news, and it will take bloodshed to eliminate this Bizarro America. See? Pessimistic. When I hear people talking about voting strategies for the next election? I kind of throw up in my mouth a little. I wonder how people can be so self-deluded as to see this America-hating crowd illegally trample on people’s rights, illegally destroy the social safety net, illegally destroy people’s lives, and use the US Constitution to clean themselves in the bathroom, yet STILL think we’re going to have free and fair elections. Where in the F**K is the disconnect?

Oh, but hope springs eternal. Every day I wake up, hoping the headlines read “Trump Dead at 78,” even though I KNOW Satan takes care of his own and the Drumpfster ain’t goin’ nowhere. Hope. It can be VERY disappointing. Still, are you aware there are special elections taking place tomorrow? Recently, voters in Pennsylvania stood for the country and elected the Democratic candidate over the America-hating con. Apparently, it was something of a surprise.

There are TWO seats up for grabs in Floriduh. One is the seat vacated by the ever-clever Mike Waltz, he of the “let’s invite my journalist friend to sit in on our secret bombing mission” Waltz’s. The other seat is the seat abandoned by alleged statutory rapist Matt Gaetz. I mean, it really IS the best and the brightest who stand for The First Felon, isn’t it?

The other two seats are in Texas and Arizona, two states not known for “election integrity” or, hell, any kind of integrity, whatsoever. BOTH of those seats are available because the Democrats who held them died. (These seats are in addition to the “election” Musk is corrupting with his money in Wisconsin.)

One of the two Floriduh seats looks vulnerable to being flipped to Democratic and the other two were already Democrats in red states. Who KNOWS how it will turn out, but I find myself hoping. Despite my pessimism, eternally, hoping…

…And So It Begins…

by MyBaconPress

Well, he’s starting already. I know, it can be hard to tell when his whining about the election being rigged “starts” since he never stopped lying about the LAST election. So, I’ll draw an imaginary line and say it “started” with his Mar-a-Lardo presser a few days ago. He OPENED with this, “I want to start by saying it’s going very well. Uh, there’s some bad spots in Pennsylvania where, uh, some serious things have been caught or in the process of being caught…” So there it is. We’ll just agree, that’s the opening salvo in THIS year’s coup attempt.

You see, it’s a lie. How can you know? His “reports” will always be generalized. He CAN’T present any details because details can be followed up. He wants to stir up his base so they’ll make all the right noise when he tells them to, so he lies. But if he provides specifics, there’s a risk – an infinitesimally small risk, but a risk nonetheless – that some MAGA might realize he’s lying.

So, he’ll tell you all about the problems (“…some serious things”). But he will NEVER define the problems in detail. He’ll mention a general region, even a whole state, but he’ll NEVER specify exactly where. That’s because he’s lying. There haven’t been any problems with voting in Pennsylvania. In fact, I’d say that the people kicking Donald to the curb are exercising excellent judgement and should be commended.

This kind of ambiguous lie is the same tactic the GOP has been using to deceive and terrify MAGA since long before MAGA was an identifier. Remember when they told the story about illegals coming across the border and cutting off farmer’s heads? That was a good, scary story until they got too specific about where. THEN, a reporter checked the facts (dammit!) and found the whole story was… wait for it… a lie!

So, cons get “Pennsylvania” instead of a detailed location. Pennsylvania is a big place. It’s hard to pin down “some serious things in Pennsylvania.” But I’d bet his supporters have already started to feel the outrage they’ve nurtured for so long. They’ve been training for this moment for years. They can summon up fear, anger, or outrage on demand the way an advanced Yogi can stop and start his own heart. It takes focus and years of training. They’re about to get outraged over something that’s not even happening – and calling the LEFT “delusional” and “deranged” the whole time…

I mentioned the “risk – an infinitesimally small risk, but a risk nonetheless – that some MAGA might realize he’s lying.” I say it that way because I’ve come to realize the most MAGA simply don’t believe Donald Trump when he says the things he says. They think he’s just riffing. They laugh and cheer because they can’t imagine he might actually do the things he’s promising to do but, they wonder, wouldn’t it be great if he did? (It wouldn’t. And the lower one is on the economic ladder, the less great is going to be.)

But it DOES happen. There are a LOT of Republicans out there who once supported Trump but have turned their backs on the guy and in most cases, it’s because something happened that caused the scales to fall from those people’s eyes. They, too, had been laughing and cheering at rallies – and then something like J6 happened and, despite their best efforts, they were just unable to pretend it was something else. For some reason, they saw what really happened and suddenly, they knew. This guy isn’t kidding. These aren’t jokes. He’s unstable. He’s dangerous to democracy.

Truthfully? I was kind of struck by the number of people. (They’ve formed a club.) I have long-since believed that one thing MAGA has in common is that, as a group, they’re deceived. Then I see all these Republicans who are STILL Republicans but intend to vote Harris because they see how dangerous Trump is. THESE, I believe, are true Americans. People who put country over party. It tells me that people can recover from MAGA. Yes, it’s a serious, life-threatening condition, but people CAN recover.

Unfortunately, there are still FAR too many people suffering from MAGA these days and he’ll get lots and lots of help from them in spreading his lies. Ask your infected MAGA for details. Demand details. Point out that they can’t provide details because there ARE no details. Keep pressing. Try to break through the delusion. If it’s true, there MUST be evidence that will hold up in court.

It’s going to be unpleasant. MAGA damages perspective. You’ll be seen, and treated, like the enemy. But they MUST see the lies to be freed. If you can make them understand that he’s NOT just riffing, he’s serious, and you can make them understand that the threats he’s issuing are real, you might succeed in purging the MAGA from their minds. Become a lifeline back to reality for MAGA. Help them see what they cannot see for themselves…