politics

People Leave…

by MyBaconPress

If you live in California, you have, no doubt, noticed gas prices on the rise again. This happens here every year. Why? Greed. We’re never told that, of course. Each year, we’re offered an “explanation.” The explanation is reused, year after year. In part of it’s efforts to combat air pollution, California requires a special summer gasoline blend. It’s actually an EPA program but California embraced it right away. Every year, the refiners act as though the whole thing came as a surprise that caught them off guard. And why wouldn’t it? It’s only been happening since 1989. They’ve only had 35 years to plan for the switch and prepare for it.

There’s also “refinery maintenance.” Please note: local news commonly reports stories of refineries having threatening emergencies of various kinds due to “maintenance issues.” They’re clearly NOT maintaining the bits that need maintaining. I think what they’re maintaining is the highest prices at the pump they can get away with.

I just saw the story again, ‘Why gas prices in California “have gone ballistic.”‘ Go ahead. Guess why. Oh, refinery maintenance. And, at least this article mentioned the “normal penchant for speculative buying in the second quarter.” Oh, okay. THAT probably explains how gas prices can go up .23 cents in one week – while only going up .04 cents nationwide.

I’ve been listening to these same excuses for 35 years. They don’t hold up under scrutiny but with today’s corporate owned media, there won’t BE much scrutiny. Still, I wish they would at least try to come up with new excuses. Or better yet, they could just speak the truth. “Screw you! We can, so we do!”

It’s one of the very best reasons to leave gasoline powered vehicles behind and embrace electric cars…

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Campaign season. Again? Isn’t it always campaign season in the United States? Biden seems to be focusing on how well the economy is doing right now. MAGA thinks it’s all “fake.” Of course, they think the economy was buzzing along under Donny. They just don’t seem to understand numbers.

I know MAGA gives Donny a pass on destroying the economy. Mostly, that’s because he’s Donny and they give him a pass for everything – the advantage of being a cult leader. Biden took over a completely wrecked economy, also because of Covid-19, but MAGA disses Biden’s success at recovering the economy after Donny’s failures. In truth, though, anybody trying to be fair would have to acknowledge that Covid-19 did damage, so maybe MAGA overlooking the crash is at least partially warranted.

Of course, if we’re REALLY trying to be fair, one would ALSO have to acknowledge that it was Donny who dismantled the team America had in place for just such an eventuality in the first place. He had applied his mini MAGA mind and decided that the program was just more government “wasteful spending.” So he dismantled it. Then, Covid-19 hit, as if to demonstrate “dumb” in real time. Most of the world got the message. MAGA made excuses.

Of course, Donny doesn’t give two figs about the national economy. Mostly, he’s focused, these days, on his very own, personal “economy” – and how he can get more money from his rubes, er, supporters to prop it up a little while longer. He will, too. Cult members are a trip, aren’t they?

We’ve seen cult members commit murder for their glorious leader with Manson’s cult. More often, we see them commit suicide for their glorious leaders, like in Waco or the People’s Temple. With Heaven’s Gate, they killed themselves in an effort to hitch a ride on a comet. I hope they got there. Otherwise, they just look real, real stupid.

MOSTLY, these days, Cult 45 is good for money for Donny. They DID do some of that killing on J6 and they’re being primed to be ready to do more if needs be in the very near future but, for now, it’s mostly about money. From time to time, I find myself wondering how many MAGAS fall out over time.

There is a commonality around cults we don’t hear about as much. People leave. The more extreme the demands of the cult leader, the more questions are generated and people leave. This happens commonly once the leader announces God has told him he has to have sex with the underage girls of the “community.” But even then, FAR too many members just hand their daughters over.

You can find living, one-time People’s Temple members. Or Branch Davidian members. There are even living, one-time Heaven’s Gate members. They’re still living because they left the cult before the final implosions. That’s not an easy thing to do, leave a cult.

It’s no easier for Cult 45 but we all know it’s happening. People DO get the courage to leave and I’m hopeful more and more of them will follow suit in the coming months. Donny’s rants are getting crazier and crazier. His financial demands could bankrupt huge swaths of America and he’s working as hard as he can to dismantle the American system.

Even some MAGA will see (eventually) how bad that will be for them, personally, and fall away. When that happens, let’s not punish them for having been MAGA, okay? People get sucked into things they shouldn’t. It’s an emotional thing, not intellectual. If they can manage to pull themselves out, we should welcome them back to reality with open arms. I think that’s important to say because MAGA loses die-hard members every day.

So let’s not abandon all hope, shall we? As disappointed as we are that Donny isn’t going to face justice before the election, he still has to win the election and that’s not going to be automatic. In fact, I’d say the odds are getting longer every day. Ever since his successful trumpery in 2016, his shtick is wearing thin – boring, even – and his losses mount. And those losses are everywhere – elections, money, AND supporters. Given a chance, the law WILL eventually catch up to him.

It might even be fair to say he’s adding a new reason to vote against him in November. Like thinking Americans needed another reason to vote against him in November, right? His goal is to stall until the elections. If he wins the election, he misuses his powers as President to protect himself by removing those legal problems – and ends America. But if he loses the election? Well, all he did was stall until November. THEN, the trials proceed as they should. THEN he faces jail.

So I’ll tell you this: If YOU think Donny should, at a minimum, be tried for the crimes of which he stands accused, vote against him. That means voting Biden, like it or not…

I Thought Of A Buyer…

by MyBaconPress

Now that we know we have an ex-president for sale (damaged, as is) I have a tremendous concern over exactly who might end up buying him. I doubt it well be Putin. Clearly, Putin already has complete control over Donny so there’s no incentive. But it most likely won’t be anybody we would want controlling an active President, should the very worst occur. So that’s been on my mind. Then? Well, I figured out the best person to buy Donny: Chuck Schumer!

Okay, maybe $175 million is too big of a bite for a Senator. (Then again?) So how about the DNC? They could count it an investment. They end up controlling Biden as a Democrat AND Donny as a debtor. Their control over 45 only lasts until the case is over and the money surrendered (or returned, the less likely scenario). But Donny dances as he’s told to when he has no choice. We’ve SEEN it with Putin. Could you imagine him running a campaign and NOT being allowed to hurl mean, nasty, paranoid, terrified, little slurs and insults at anybody – because the DNC ordered him not to?

Do you think Donny would reject the lifeline because it came from Democrats? Don’t be ridiculous. That would require an ethical position and Donny’s lack of ethics is one of MAGA’S favorite features of the guy. C’mon, Dems. Buy Donny. You know you want to. Just do it. And then? FORCE him to behave like a human being…

Yeah, I know. But it would be fun…

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Coupla new frauds. Of course. They just never end with this guy. It seems Mr. Hankey, who tried to post Donny’s $175 million dollar bond, ALSO offered to post Donny’s original $464 million dollar bond. The thing is, if one has secured the money one needs to pay a bond, and then walks into court and says they don’t have the money? Why, that’s fraud on the court. It’s an ethics violation that could get his lawyers in trouble. This one won’t matter much. It’s too hard to prove exactly when the lawyers discovered that Hankey had offered to post Donny’s bond. Besides, it’s looking like Hankey can’t even cover the $175 million dollar bond, let alone $464 million. I’m just struck by the idea that even as he loses in court over fraud, he STILL engages in fraud. It’s easier to train a puppy! (Hey, has anyone tried a rolled up newspaper?)

Hankey’s company, Knight Specialty Insurance Company, has a net worth of $138 million dollars. If I remember my basic math, $138 million is LESS than the $175 million they’ve just promised to cover. If they haven’t fully collateralized the loan, that would wipe them out. Because Knight isn’t registered in New York, they have to prove they can cover the bond amount – and how they’ll cover it. They filed some of the paper needed but not all, so the bond was rejected. They quickly filed an amendment but it, too, falls short. They have 10 days from that day (April 4) to get this right or the bond will be “without effect.” The thing that gets me? Knight would STILL have to put the money up until Donny finds another bond. Knight could STILL lose the money – and it wouldn’t even help Donny.

Also, he’s trying to pump up his social media site. He claims it’s awesome, growing, and very popular. By any real measure, it’s none of the above. He’s hemorrhaging money. It already has comparatively low membership and many of those people are leaving the site. Those who stay are choir members, preaching to each other. (BOR-ing!) He’s hemorrhaging money. He’s locked up in legal battles with his co-founders. He’s hemorrhaging money. People who know stocks are betting against Donny’s company by short-selling the stock. They expect further losses. Oh, did I mention, he’s hemorrhaging money?

As much as MAGA might ask you to believe his company is great because it’s associated with Donny, it turns out, the only thing that matters to smart investors is the possibility of profit. Smart investors don’t see that at TMTG. They see leadership in-fighting and huge financial losses, with nothing suggesting a turn-around. In short, an unstable, non-viable organization destined for bankruptcy. You know, a Trump Company. You know who else thinks Trump is lying about ‘Truth Social’ in an effort to bump up the stock? The SEC. That’s the Securities and Exchange Commission.

It turns out, when one goes public, there are rules one must follow. The SEC has a rule barring “manipulative and deceptive devices” to pump up stocks. Lying about the success of the site is definitely ‘manipulative and deceptive.’ The SEC will be looking into this. It could cost the company even more money – the very last thing TMTG needs. MAGA is already out there, working three jobs to try to maintain the lifestyle Donny prefers. Maybe it’s time to mortgage the house, too. It’s looking like Donny is going to need more of their money soon. They should just cut to the chase, send him every last dime and move into the streets. He’s not going to be happy with anything less…

For Sale: Former President, as is…

by MyBaconPress

So now Netanyahu has attacked a non-profit charity trying to supply humanitarian aid to Gaza, killing seven of it’s members. I’ve heard Israel knew the timing of the delivery of the humanitarian aid. They knew the route the group was taking to and from the drop-off location. So how do they “accidentally” blow the thing up in an “unfortunate incident?”

Actions speak louder than words. I believe now more than ever before, Netanyahu has a goal: elimination of ALL Palestinians in Gaza – and he has provided NO path for escape, so “elimination” MUST mean something else, yes?

I’ll tell you this: I know Biden may not be able to stop Netanyahu. That guy has a single-minded, dedicated goal. But Biden can sure as hell stop providing the weapons Netanyahu is using to do his dirty work. I believe Netanyahu is DEEP into the world of war crimes, now, and because the US is providing many of his weapons, we’re complicit. I don’t WANT to be complicit in war crimes…

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Nor would I want to be complicit in any of Donny’s crimes, either. People around him go to jail. He keeps slithering away. But did you hear that the $175 million “discount” bond he posted got rejected? The judge said the filing lacked important details – including a current financial statement. That dude seems unable to tell the truth, even when it’s in his own interest. The bond was “returned for correction,” and that’s all it should be. It SHOULD be nothing, a “clerical error” kind of thing. But this is Donny the Trumpery, here.

He got his bond from a subprime lender in the first place, meaning he paid extra high fees (if he paid any at all to his sycophantic “lender”), and now they “fail” to supply the required financial information along with the filing? Okay, it should be made clear, it’s the bonding company that needs to include it’s financial statements, not Donny. It’s not enough to claim they have the $175 million. They have to show it.

Letitia James still has to cool her heels, though. She can’t start the collection proceedings right away. Donny gets a chance to re-file and, if he can, he will.

But, hey, now’s your chance! If YOU would like to own and operate Donald J. Trump, give him the $175 million dollars he needs now. Think of how cool it would be to order Trump to do something, and watch him hop to it, like Reek in Game of Thrones. He’d still spit his hateful rhetoric at the world, except you. He’d have to be nice to you, no matter what.

You could get your hands on strategic goals of the United States. You could order him to give you military secrets. You could get the nuclear codes. (You could probably get his nude photos of Ivanka, too, ’cause when you own him, he’ll let you do it. What choice does he have?) Oh, hey, wait a minute. Doesn’t that mean that some foreign person or power could get the SAME control the same way? Hey, is THAT why Donny never – EVER – has a negative word to say about Putin?

You know what? I think it might be a bad idea to put a person bound and beholding to others into the most powerful office on Earth. Especially if the “others” are from adversarial nations. I, for one, don’t WANT a President who answers, first and foremost, to Vladimir Putin…

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I saw this headline from Fox Not News: “Former teacher opens up after OnlyFans gig led to her resignation…'” It seems, to me, that girl “opened up” before her resignation. “Here, let me open up my top for you.” That’s what led to her resignation! She was put on administrative leave for “conduct unbecoming of a professional educator.” What?!? Professional educators don’t have sex? My FATHER was a professional educator! How did I get here? (Stow it. I look too much like him…)

To me, it says a LOT about teacher pay in Ohio, where this happened. She tried other side gigs first but they took too much time with not enough return. I know that teachers take a lot of guff about “not working” because of the summers thing. But during the school year? A decent teacher works their ass off. Between class time, homework corrections, and lesson plans, there’s a LOT going on – and they NEVER get the resources they need, so they dip into their own pockets – which, clearly, already don’t sustain them.

I get the conundrum. On the one hand, participating in adult fare offends the puritanical sensibilities of many Americans. On the other hand, it might be difficult for some of her students to separate her in-class activities from her after-hours activities. In a perfect world, of course, children are “protected” from seeing such dirty, dirty stuff. But we all know this world ain’t perfect. Kids have the advantage when it comes to technology. And, really, how smart does one have to be to click ‘yes’ to the question, ‘Are you 21?’ Well, that was easy…

I’ll tell you this: the answer, along with that woman’s breasts, seems to be right in our faces: pay the teachers a living wage. How about we DON’T force our teachers to publicly display their “ends meeting” in order to make ends meet? Of course, we’d likely have to tax rich people to cover it and we can’t have that so I guess we’d better get used to the ‘teacher by day, dominatrix by night’ paradigm. You can’t have it both ways.

Well, you can, but it costs extra…

It’s the Guilt, Stupid…

by MyBaconPress

I saw Mark Esper, one of 45’s many Secretaries of Defense, on Bill Maher this weekend. Esper has the advantage of having witnessed, first hand, Donny in action. He’s SEEN the man operate. Not to put too fine a point on it, Esper knows Trump better than any of the campaign attendees who sing Donny’s praises. Esper isn’t operating on how he imagines Donny does things. Esper doesn’t have delusional hopes about how Donny does things. Esper’s knowledge isn’t theoretical, nor is it driven by sycophancy. Also, it doesn’t come from slanted news outlets. Esper knows.

He described Trump the same way most of Donny’s one-time staffers describe Trump – as a clear and present danger to the United States of America. (Remember, this guy’s JOB was identifying clear and present dangers to America.) He maintains that America should not, CAN not, put Donny back in the White House. He stated flatly, he would not vote for Trump again. Lots of the people who worked most closely with Donny have said the same thing. They won’t vote for the guy again because of the threat he represents to America.

So, Maher asks the obvious followup question: then will you vote for Biden? Esper hems. Esper haws. He hesitates. As it happens, he’s not ready to go that far. He knows he’s not voting for Trump but he’s not sure who he will vote for. Maher seemed to find that answer just as frustrating as I do. He kind of blurted out that he needed Esper to explain that. Maher asked him, straight up, “What is it intelligent people don’t understand about binary?”

It’s a fair question. If you don’t cast a ballot for Biden, you’re helping Trump, whether you mean to be or not. It’s a one or it’s a zero. There are no other choices. Binary. Those of us who could not be convinced in 2016 can be excused for 2016. NOBODY knew, for sure, the danger Trump is. But EVERYBODY knows now. There’s ONE vote to stop Trump, and that’s to vote Biden. Period. Full stop.

Now, understand: I’m a life-long third party ready voter. I’ve always voted my conscience and that, sometimes, has meant voting outside the mainstream. I didn’t care. I didn’t see it as “throwing away my vote.” I saw it – see it – as making a commentary on the often less-than choices thrust upon me by the parties. Sure, perhaps just “tinkering around the edges,” but I thought the commentary important. I despise the binary choice I face. I think of it as a failure of the system. But if we don’t vote Biden in November, there won’t BE any edges to tinker around.

I’ve seen interviewers from lefty websites go to rallies for his competitors, like Nikki Haley, when she was relevant, RFK, Jr now. Over and over, the attendees say they won’t vote Trump because he’s too dangerous or too chaotic. When asked what they’d do if their alternative conservative isn’t the candidate, though, several of them say that in that case, they’d probably vote for Trump.

Obviously, I have to acknowledge the possibility that they just don’t want to say, out loud, in public, and certainly not on video, that they would vote for Biden. Maybe, they’ll get into the booth, hold their nose, and press the Biden button but tell everybody they voted some other way. That’s possible. And, listen, MAGA is SO rabid, these days, it’s hard to blame them. Who the hell wants a barrage of invective dumped on them?

But sooner or later, the people who stand against Donny need to get to the point where they can state flatly that they oppose Donny. Cult 45 isn’t going to go away easily. It’s going to take a strong stance by people who know if it’s going to happen at all…

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Oh, you want an example? Donny has a new target in his latest criminal case: Judge Merchan’s daughter. No, she’s not a child. Neither is she in any way, shape, or form related to the charges Donny faces. She’s just the offspring of the judge. A “civilian.” I’m not in a position to know, for sure, but it’s my understanding that even the mafia won’t attack family. They’re understood “non-combatants.”

But not for Donny. He knows he can’t win his case on the merits. Hell, everybody knows that. So he’s trying to intimidate the judge by threatening his family. I can hear MAGA now, “What threat did he make?” All they have to do is pretend that they don’t understand Donny has an intention when he points out innocent bystanders and attacks.

There’s a word for a person who attacks like that: coward. Donald J. Trump is a coward. At least when he was attacking Engoron’s law clerk, she was related to the case, however distantly. Now it’s the daughter of the judge. It’s a straight up attempt at intimidation. But did you catch the other bit, there? What do these two women in Donny’s crosshairs have in common? What, oh, what could it be? Wait a minute. I think I see it. Ah, there it is. They’re women. Donny attacks women.

I’m not sure it was obvious before. When he attacked Letitia James and Fani Willis, well, they were/are the prosecutors going after him. Judge Engoron’s law clerk was helping Judge Engoron keep facts straight in Donny’s civil case. At least she was directly related to the events taking place. But Judge Merchan’s daughter’s only relationship to this case is her relationship to her father.

I think Donny should stop with all the threats and intimidation and all the stomping and stalling. You know what he SHOULD do? He should strut right into that courtroom and show all the lovely evidence he claims he has that proves his innocence. I guess he’s waiting for the right moment. Or something. Why, it’s almost as if he can’t prove his innocence at all.

The easiest solution for him would be to just win his cases. He claims he can. So do it! He doesn’t need to attack anyone. He doesn’t need to grandstand. He doesn’t need to lie about his situation. All he needs to do is provide the evidence the proves his innocence. Easy. IF you have the evidence. But if you CAN’T prove your innocence? Well, then, I guess you have to stall – and attack women – and call your cases “witch hunts.” Oh, AND fleece your supporters into poverty.

I’ll tell you this: Actions speak louder than words. Donny’s actions indicate guilt, not persecution…

Objectives…

by MyBaconPress

Okay, I don’t know if this qualifies as a correction, per se. I think it’s more like an update. Word I’m hearing now is that it’s most likely the Appellate court in the NY fraud civil trial, the one that lowered Donny’s bond amount, thinks the lower court made mistakes in valuations. I wrote Thursday, “It was just math.” That’s still true, but you’ve got to do your math correctly. If you don’t carry the one (or whatever) when you’re supposed to, you’re going to get the wrong answer.

The thinking is, the court probably used assessed values to arrive at it’s number, not resell value, which is usually higher – but, I would add, more subjective. THAT thinking, in turn, means that, on appeal, the higher court will lower the amount of the disgorgement, in addition to having lowered the amount of the bond. The two will again align, just at the lower number.

The thing is, there’s this problem with that I’ll call “The Problem of the Toos” but only just this once and then never again because that’s kinda dumb. The appellate court says using the old appraisals was inaccurate because appraisals were too old, but clearly, using the resell values is FAR too subjective. True, appraised values don’t keep up with resell values. But if the appellate court tries to go with resell value, they’re opening up a can of worms that can play out forevermore.

I think Engoron was right to use the objective number, but I can understand how that same, objective number is outdated. So, the solution presents itself, doesn’t it? The court should order an immediate reappraisal of all trump properties, and then use THAT number. I like that solution for two reasons: one, it’s the most fair and, two it’s a double-edged sword for both sides.

On the one hand, the court would have a current, objective number to work with, but Donny would get a break on the crimes he committed at the earliest date of the frauds in question. (Because the appraised value goes up, the extent of his earliest frauds goes down.) On Donny’s side, he gets that break (and so pays a lower fine than he otherwise might), but now has to pay taxes on the new values going forward.

It’s a win/win or a lose/lose, depending upon how one looks at it. But it solves the problem in an objective way and removes all the subjective valuation possibilities. I don’t know what they’ll do, but I hope they do that…

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I find myself amazed at what happened in Baltimore. A ship hits a bridge and the bridge falls down? It’s going to cause havoc for awhile. Some 8,000 workers are out of work until the port opens again. (That’s millions out of the local economy.) Trucks pulling hazardous materials were required to use THAT bridge to move their cargo. Now what? It’s an economic disaster. It’s also amazing only six people lost their lives. That bridge is a major thoroughfare. It COULD have had hundreds, maybe thousands of people on it. A disaster – that could have been far worse.

Of course, MAGA media did it’s level best to MAKE it worse – by adding the stink of conspiracy theories. MAGA spends it’s days – and nights – searching, desperately for someone to blame and/or fear. No incident is too small but this one? This is a big one. It needed big lies. Lying Alex Jones suggested it was a cyber attack on the ship. “WW3 has already started!”

Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo suggested it was somehow related to the chaos on the southern border. Other’s tried to blame the crash on Obama. Some said they saw explosions. All fake. All fictions. Oh, of course, there was also the inevitable, ‘medical emergency caused by a Covid-19 vaccination.’ YEARS later, and MAGA STILL doesn’t understand science. Okay, so, none of the above.

The ship lost power for reasons still being investigated. Then, it drifted. It turns out, water has currents and those currents can move a ship, especially since it was already under way. Who knew? (Okay, everybody but MAGA.) I DO have one question: why weren’t the supports for that bridge better protected for such an event? I mean, that’s an important lifeline in Baltimore. I know, some things are inconceivable but it was somebody’s job to conceive of something like that. It’s not like it was ever absolutely impossible.

But that’s hindsight, and not a conspiracy. I’ll bet the new bridge has better protection. First, though, they’ve got to get that channel open, thereby opening the port again. Then they have to clear the rest of the debris. That’s going to take a long time before they can even start thinking about rebuilding, which will also take a long time.

I’ll tell you this: This thing is going to fade from the national news pretty quickly but in Baltimore, they’re going to be struggling with this for years to come…

Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied…

by MyBaconPress

I was fully in the ‘Trump-is-going-to-jail’ camp. I debated it with people. I wrote as much in these pages. I don’t think so as much anymore. Not only do I NOT think Donny is going to jail, anymore, I’ll be amazed if he ever even sees any of his criminal trials start. My mistake? I had faith in the American criminal justice system. I mean, I knew it wasn’t perfect, but, overall, I feel like it does a pretty good job, or did, anyway. But now? Whatever happens with that guy, someone swoops in and saves him.

In the New York civil fraud trial he lost, the judge didn’t just pull a number out of thin air. Because of the statute of limitations, that trial only covered a small portion of the time Donny’s trumpery has gone on . During that time, the judge was able to determine that Donny had stolen something like $355 million dollars through his schemes and manipulations. He added in the interest and – voila! – he had a number. It was just math.

New York law says that if you want to appeal a finding, you have to post a bond equal to the amount you owe. Donny claimed, in court, he didn’t have the money – while simultaneously claiming, in social media, he DID have the money. (He’s lying to someone.) A three judge panel on the appeals court said Donny could just post a smaller amount and it would be okay. To be clear, he still owes the full amount should the appeal fail, but he only has to post 38% of the total amount owed because of…reasons. (Think ‘Special Treatment.’)

Yet again, Donny beats the system. Do you know what happens to a normal (meaning “not rich”) person who can’t pay his fine? They have their assets seized. No one simply reduces the amount you owe. The fine is the fine and if you can’t pay in cash, you can “pay” in other ways. I’m tempted to repeat, the devil takes care of his own. Sadly, this is less metaphysical. Rich people take care of their own – even when “their own” is Donny.

If Donny’s good at anything, it’s undermining people’s faith in institutions. I’m feeling that way right now. I’ve lost faith in America’s legal system. Oh, they set a date for the New York criminal fraud trial? April 15? Whoopee. Do you know what that means to me? It means some other judge better step in by April 14 and save his snowflake ass – and someone will. I don’t know who and I don’t know how. I know it shouldn’t be. But they will.

Set a trial date, BFD. Donny is facing four criminal trials. One of them is overseen by a full-blown MAGA and she resists setting a trial date at all. Between the other three, April 15 is something like the sixth trial date he has faced, but never faces. At this point, I’ll believe Donny faces justice when he actually meets justice – and not one second sooner.

I’ll tell you this: A system of law enforcement that doesn’t apply equally to everyone is NOT a system of justice. It’s a system of oppression…

Now I’m going to pull this thread a little bit and connect a couple of dots, thereby mixing my metaphors. (Please prepare your tin-foil hats.) Getting to the election is important to Donny. He’s not going to win. Not honestly, anyway. But… when is the last time you heard of Donny doing ANYTHING honestly? It doesn’t matter either way, though, because MAGA has a plan to simply install Donny, win or lose, so all he has to do is get to the election.

So, why do I think Donny will lose in November? He lost by 7 million votes in 2020. Since then, which voting group do you see that he might have picked up? I see several he has likely lost. Women, for example. No, not EVERY woman, obviously, don’t be obnoxious. But the GOP ought to see Marilyn Lands’ victory in Alabama as a harbinger. She ran a pro-choice, pro-IVF campaign and won – by 25 points – in Alabama. Apparently, women don’t LIKE being reduced to incubators. They KNOW that was the GOP. They KNOW that hasn’t stopped or even slowed. In fact, the GOP is ramping up efforts to make absolutely certain women suffer even more. Women are voting accordingly.

Latinos? Really? Why, because the border is a mess? Do you remember what Donny did at the border? They separated families. Not just while the families were being processed. Permanently. And they did such a poor job of keeping track, they were unable to reunite children with parents. The Biden administration has managed to reunite some 700 of those families but they STILL have nearly 1,000 to go! Did you forget? I’ll bet the Latino community hasn’t forgotten. Sure, the border is a mess and Biden hasn’t fixed it, but the Dumbass was hardly better and actively destroyed families in order to “discourage” immigration.

Who else? What I see is conservatives snuggling up to alternatives. They tried Haley. Now they’re looking at RFK, Jr. I suspect there are many cons out there who, if asked, will tell you Donny’s their boy but when they actually step into the booth, will vote the straight Republican ticket – and just…skip the ‘President’ box. So I can see several places where he’s lost support but I don’t see that he’s gained support, anywhere. You can’t judge by the primaries. The GOP primaries have been corrupted and controlled by MAGA but MAGA isn’t enough to carry him through a general election. Crazy, stupid, and incompetent was great for the primaries. It won’t be so great later.

Thus, the MAGA plan. (“If you can’t win, cheat!”) The thing about the MAGA plan is that, except for the initial big lie – “abnormalities with the election”- every step would be “legal.” Absolutely wrong and unethical in every conceivable way, but technically, legal. The current breakdown in the House? Dems have 213 seats. The GOP has 218. That’s a five seat spread. There are currently four vacancies, all to be decided by pending special elections.

In what I hope is a helpful move by the GOP, they’ve decided that all donations will be diverted to defending their Presidential candidate through all of his criminal trials. THAT means that none of the down ticket candidates can expect help from the national party, and many of the local parties are in disarray, leaving Dems a money advantage. Still, some of the vacancies are in bright red districts so they may not need help. Worst case? One of the vacancies goes Democrat, three go GOP.

That would leave a seven person advantage for the GOP in the House, and that’s enough to pull off their evil deeds. Get this: if that happens, it would mean the ONLY path the United States of America has toward NOT failing, is if there are at least seven Republican congressmen with integrity who love America more than their party or dear leader. SEVEN Republican Congressmen with integrity? Better get out the torches and pitchforks. I think we’re going to need them…

Burning and Crashing, Crashing and Burning…

by MyBaconPress

So, Putin runs for “re-election” saying he’s the guy to count on for security. He “wins.” Not a month later, four armed men start shooting up a concert. Then, in the chaos, as the crowd flees in panic, the shooters reportedly set the building on fire. There’s a possibility it wasn’t them intentionally. But they’re still responsible. All of this happened IN Moscow. 137 dead. More than 180 injured. The four men who did it have been arrested. They showed up in court, already beaten. One had to be brought in from intensive care. I presume, no matter HOW long they’re sentenced to serve, they’ll “serve” only a short time. Then, they’ll die. Maybe, “out walking.”

The shooters say they’re Islamic State. The Islamic State has claimed both the shooters AND responsibility for the attack. (On non-combatant civilians, it should be noted.) Putin? He goes on state TV (Foxacova Newsinski?) and blames… Ukraine! Well, kind of. There was a heavy implication that the shooters were escaping to Ukraine using a prepared escape route, leaving open the possibility that it was a Ukrainian attack without actually blaming Kyiv for orchestrating the attack. For their part, Kyiv has denied any knowledge of, and all responsibility for, the attack.

The attack was carried out by a group of people associated with a known terrorist group called Isis-k. (Now with more vitamins?) They’ve been critical of Putin and his policies for years. They think he does things to harm Islam. Peculiar, isn’t it, that they DON’T think killing a bunch of civilians – who don’t have any more control over policy than the shooters to – doesn’t harm Islam in any way? It might just be me, but I think killing innocents “in the name of Islam” gives Muhammad something of a black eye.

In a completely unrelated side note: how come all these tough guys with guns always attack unarmed, unprepared civilians and never – and I do mean never – attack the actual people who set the policies they’re mad about? No, I’m not calling for political assassinations but, really, if you’re pissed off at the government for something, don’t attack civilians. Attack the government you’re pissed off at. If you’re angry with Putin and really need to kill someone over it, kill Putin. Yeah, it’s going to be harder than killing a bunch of concert-goers. But it will be FAR more direct in expressing your outrage.

I don’t think we’ll ever know much more than that. Officially, the Kremlin will work to protect Putin, making sure he continues to look like the strong, resolute leader he isn’t. Russia will continue, I believe, to pretend it has something to do with Ukraine so they can try to create some support for Putin’s war. But I don’t think much trustworthy news will be forthcoming…

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Hey, Boing’s, no Boeing’s CEO, Dave Calhoun, is “stepping down.” That’s usually corporate speak for “fired,” but he’s not leaving until the end of the year so, maybe. Calhoun came into the job in 2020, after Boeing’s 737 Max airplanes started falling out of the sky. Technically, I guess he DID improve things. Now, only pieces of 737’s are falling out of the sky.

In fairness, this is 21st century, “free-market” Capitalism America. It wasn’t Calhoun’s job to keep the planes (and all of it’s pieces) in the air. His job was to shore up the stock price, which he did, by making lots of noise about keeping the planes in the air. Then, when plane parts and the stock price started falling, Calhoun had to go. Hey, don’t let the door hit you, Dave. No, not in the ass. The one that just fell from one of your planes…

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Speaking of crashing and burning, Donny has a SPAC set to go public sometime this week. A SPAC is a ‘Special Purpose Acquisition Company.’ It doesn’t DO anything of it’s own. It just buys some private company someplace, and then takes it public. A SPAC does it faster than an IPO because it doesn’t have the same oversight. It’s not a perfect statement, but it’s safe to say that if you have a company that can’t meet the stringent requirements of an IPO, use a SPAC. They’re often instruments of, well, trumpery. (Ergo, Trump.)

The company going public is Donny’s social media company. The company will be called ‘Digital World’ and it’s stock symbol is going to be ‘DJT.’ MAGA is running up the stock price. Think Gamestop. Remember when Gamestop’s share price suddenly shot through the roof? The financial fundamentals of Gamestop couldn’t support such pricing but people liked Gamestop and tried to help. The thing is, early investors “trying to help” started running up the stock price and, pretty soon, people who shouldn’t be in the market at all were buying and the whole thing became a feeding frenzy – with nothing real to feed on.

IF you get in early on such a run and then get the hell out, you can make some money. It’s the later investors who are going to take it in the shorts. But these are MAGA people investing, not in some company, but in their glorious dear leader. They’re already in and they won’t get out. That would be disloyal to Donny. There are a LOT of red flags, but these guys only see red hats. Soon? They’re likely to be seeing only red ink.

First, it’s a Trump company. I don’t know a single Trump company Donny has started that has succeeded. In truth, I think he uses them as fleecing vehicles. He never even intends to run a going concern. He just wants the short-term income. His last public offering (also trading as ‘DJT’) was his casino. The casino found itself in worse and worse financial condition and all the while Donny was raking in millions in “compensation.” That’s his standard model.

He starts a company, pays himself a substantial wage for his “services” (privatizing all the revenues), then bankrupts the company and starts another somewhere. It’s harmful to whatever industry it is, it’s harmful to the community it happens in, it’s harmful to investors. But Donny makes money so, I guess it’s just business?

Truth Social had revenues in the first nine months of 2023 of $3.4 million dollars. Yeah, that’s a lot. But not as much as it spent, so they lost $10.6 million. It is keeping itself afloat by taking out loans. In total, since it started, Trump Media is $49 million dollars in the hole, after only nine months of operation! Spending more than it is bringing in AND getting deeper and deeper into debt? Yeah, that sounds exactly like a trump company. HE takes his cash up front. The investors have to wait for theirs. So far, ALL of his investors in ALL of his companies are still waiting to see a penny of return.

It’s not going to be any better for any of his investors in this venture, either. I don’t know if Donny really knows HOW to run a going concern. He has never even tried. It’s yet another part of the MAGA mania sweeping large parts of the country that fascinates me. I wonder how long MAGA can keep this guy living the lifestyle of a wanna-be Billionaire. Should this stock crash and burn, as expected, MAGA is going to have a LOT less money to give…

Two Tales of Trumpery…

by MyBaconPress

There’s an actual, English word; ‘Trumpery.’ It means – and you can look this up – “Nonsense, rubbish, deception, trickery, fraud.” These two bits are about about MAGA trumpery. It seems when Donny’s grandpa had to change his name because he had brought such shame and disgrace through cowardice to the original family name, Drumpf, he chose well. These people are the personifications of deceit…

Early on in Donny’s political career, I read a story in the news about a guy who supplied pianos for Donny’s eventually bankrupt casino. Five pianos were ordered. A price was agreed to. Five pianos were delivered. Then? Donny told the piano supplier he wasn’t going to pay the agreed upon price. He would pay them significantly less, or they could go to court. The guy who supplied the pianos was a small business owner and faced a significant loss if he took what was being offered – but he took it.

Apparently, he took it because he simply didn’t have the resources to fight a rich guy in court for what Donny had promised would be years and years of litigation. FINALLY, something Donny said that turned out to be true. Donny is a MASTER of legal delay. No, I don’t like the guy, either, but we have to hand it to him, NOBODY can slime up the legal process better than Donald J. Trump. And he’s doing it again.

His New York criminal trial over the hush money he paid Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about their sex rendezvous while he was married to a very pregnant Melania was supposed to start Monday, March 25 – tomorrow. Instead, the Dumbass Team will seek, no, don’t get ahead of me, here, they’ll seek delay (ah, you guessed it) while they thumb through some “discovery.”

This is a master class in legal manipulation and I’ve learned a lot! One DOES have to have lawyers willing to be cast as completely incompetent morons in order to take it to the level he takes it to. I WANT to say one must be rich, too, but there’s no promise Donny will ever actually PAY anybody over all of this. I mean, sure, he’s supposed to but he has a long, long trail of non-payment and when one is dealing with a trump, it’s ALWAYS a risk. (Maybe, “probability?”) So, one doesn’t actually have to be rich, but your lawyers have to believe you’re rich and that they’ll get their money or they wouldn’t file such frivolous motions.

Over and over I see stories about someone opining that Alina Habba is a big dummy because she did this silly thing or filed that completely erroneous claim no rational human would believe. Over and over, those “dumb” filings have bought Donny time, the most precious commodity in the world to him, right now. The expression ‘Crazy like a fox’ springs to mind.

In the latest I know of, he’s going to request a delay to review a bunch of papers he claims he “just received” from the prosecution. He claims the prosecution “dragged it’s feet” in delivering the goods. For their part, the prosecution points out that the request was only made in January and that the documents requested were not in the possession of the DA Bragg. (They had to do with the investigation of Michael Cohen, Donny’s long time “fixer,” who delivered the actual money to Daniels.)

It doesn’t matter, and Donny doesn’t care that there’s no “there,” there. The papers weren’t the point, the delay was. So his team will ask for at least 90 days to review the documents and, failing that, maybe just drop the whole thing, since the prosecution was slow to deliver.

They won’t get the dismissal, since the prosecution was NOT slow to deliver. Even a MAGA judge would see that requesting documents in January might take a bit of time to collect – especially since DA Bragg didn’t have them – but the “review” part seems very likely. The only bit that might help justice is if the judge holds them to the idea that they KNEW these files existed in the first place and shouldn’t have taken so long to make the request. But everybody, everybody, EVERYBODY is treating this scumbag like he’s something special and they baby him and fawn over him and give him delay after delay after delay.

Look, I’m no lawyer but I DO know that it’s a common tactic of defense attorneys to try and delay trials. I just had NO idea how many different tricks and techniques exist to do that, especially if you’re rich – or pretend to be.

I’ll tell you this: Donny is right when he says there’s a two-tiered justice system. He just leaves out the part where he’s the beneficiary, not the victim of such a system…

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Did you see the video of the Dems handing the GOP “impeachment inquiry” their asses? I mean, there’s no other way to describe it. The Dems came out on the offensive (for once) and just took to Comer and his sidekicks.

I think we all know the game, by now. The Dems impeached Donny. So, the GOP thinks THEY have to impeach Biden. It’s only fair. The fact that there were specific crimes attributable to Donny – crimes that became known to law enforcement, nobody had to “go looking” – and none pointed at Biden is only a minor point. Give them some time. They’ll find something.

What they hoped they had found, though, turned out to be smoke and mirrors. No, that’s wrong. It turned out to be Russian misinformation, transmitted by a Russian agent. (It sometimes seems the entire GOP is closely aligned with Russians – against America. Lovely.) The GOP Russian agent is now under arrest and, needless to say, the GOP “case” against Biden has… well, there’s no other way to put it, the case is closed.

Oh, but that didn’t stop the GOP, did it? They don’t need no stinkin’ charges to hold hearings. It seems good enough just to smear Biden. Sure, it’s a bit fraudulent, but that’s the GOP way. Oh, by the way, these “hearings” cost the American taxpayer dearly. I think it’s totally worth it when one needs to figure out if a President worked with the Russians to get elected or when the President organizes an insurrection to try to overturn an election. Less so – FAR less so, when it’s a fishing expedition in search of… something.

So I was very happy to see the Dems come out swinging. AOC came out and challenged GOP storyteller Tony Bobulinski to name the specific crime Biden should be charged with. She said, “Is it your testimony today that you personally witnessed President Joe Biden commit a crime?” Bobulinski began his song and dance. AOC interrupted, “Did you witness the President commit a crime?” So, feeling trapped, Bobulinski pitched out a “yes.”

AOC did the follow-up cons dare not do. “And what crime have you witnessed?” Bobulinski is certainly a team player. He tried not to answer while maintaining the fiction. “How much time do I have to go through it?” But AOC was ready. “It is simple. You name the crime.” Bobulinski started naming areas of crimes, not crimes themselves. AOC repeated, “What IS the crime?” He didn’t have an answer, so AOC reminded the GOP that they’re supposed to have a charge to open an inquiry, not open the inquiry to find a charge.

My favorite part, though, was when Rep. Jared Moskowitz had his turn. First, he asked Bobulinski if he thought Comer had proven Biden committed crimes. Bobulinski said he did. So Moskowitz followed up, “So I assume you believe Joe Biden should be impeached?” Bobulinski said he did. Moskowitz pointed out that the inquiry has been going on for 15 months. The GOP has steadfastly contended they have the evidence (they’re just not showing it), they know the crime (but, no, they won’t tell you), and they’re GOING to get Biden (you know, eventually. Really!)

So, Moskowitz called their bluff. “Why continue to waste millions of dollars of taxpayers money if we’re going to impeach because you believe you’ve shown he’s committed a high crime and misdemeanor? What are you waiting on? Let’s just do it.” Moskowitz taunted the GOP leadership for a bit longer. Jim Jordan thought he came up with a clever response, “We don’t do snap impeachments like you guys.” So, Moskowitz just brought it, “You’re never going to call for it.” After a bit of back and forth, he said, “If you believe you can’t call for the impeachment now, what you’re admitting is that you haven’t yet proven that he’s committed a high crime or misdemeanor.”

Moskowitz, dripping with sarcasm, said he was just there to help the GOP chairman out, so he would. He told Comer to call for the vote and he, (Moskowitz) would second. Comer refused, so Moskowitz volunteered to call for the vote and allow Comer to second. “No. Nothing. Okay, we got nothing.”

I’d say Moskowitz and AOC won the day. They have pretty clearly indicated the GOP has nothing, is wasting money, and is lying to it’s base, making claims that are simply, provably, at this point, not true. Liar, liar, and all that.

Sadly, I don’t believe for a moment that the GOP will stand down just because they have nothing. Their game is to smear Biden, not convict him of anything, and for a smear, one doesn’t need evidence. They only need innuendo, which is good because that’s all they’ve got.

A Photo-Shopped Picture (redux)…

by MyBaconPress

Okay, then. More on the SAME two bits I wrote about just this last Thursday. That’s never happened to me before…

I’m sorry to hear that Princess Catherine has cancer. It’s still none of my business but now she can have the whole world hold good thoughts for her during her fight and, hopefully, eventual recovery…

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The second thing? Donny has a legal team out arguing to a judge that he just doesn’t have the money to pay his $454 million dollar (and climbing) bond. Donny, himself, is simultaneously out there claiming he has $500 million in cash and he plans to use “most of it” on his campaign. When it comes to trump, it’s possible those two sentences contain three lies. Maybe he has the money, maybe he doesn’t. That’s the first sentence. AND, from the second sentence, maybe he has THAT money and maybe he doesn’t, but since he has been directing more and more money to his legal defense, I doubt he has suddenly decided to focus on his campaign. Three lies in two sentences…

He used his popularity in “Ze Party” to install Lara Trump, his daughter-in-law, as the new head of the GOP and the first thing SHE did was re-vamp the revenue sharing arrangement of the GOP. If you give to the GOP, for any campaign, some of that money (say, $.99 cents of every dollar) is being funneled directly to Donny for his legal defense and expenditures. Some of it never even reaches the GOP. It goes straight into Donny’s PAC, which he’s using to pay lawyers.

I’m guessing that GOP candidates across the land and up and down the ticket are going to be greatly underfunded so Donny has enough to cover he legal debts. The truth is, it’s hard for me to get my head around that. This dude is fleecing his flock to the tune of millions of dollars every month. They seem to know it, yet they KEEP giving to him from their Social Security checks so HE doesn’t have to touch any of his personal wealth. They won’t give a dollar to a homeless person but they’ll hand their entire Social Security check over to a self-proclaimed “Billionaire.” ‘A fool and his money…’ Indeed…

Oh, I’ve ALSO learned that, no, in fact, the bond companies don’t want his buildings as collateral. They’re not set up to handle hard assets. Of course, I ALSO learned that that’s not the way it’s done, anyway. See, Donny goes to a bank (which he’s allowed to do now) and gets a Guaranteed Letter of Credit, secured by some or all of his buildings as collateral, and takes that to the bond agencies.

The bond guys get cash, the banks get the buildings, should that need arise. Banks, at least, have the capability of dealing with Real Estate in ways bond companies don’t. Neat and tidy. Also, he doesn’t have to get all the money from one bond agent. He can go to several. The thing is, each bond agency is going to want their own fee. Donny doesn’t want to pay ONE fee, let alone several.

So NOW all he has to do is find a bank willing to guarantee $500 million dollars to a person literally JUST found liable for defrauding banks and he’s good. I know, that sounds silly but I’d bet there are banks out there that will do that deal, assuming New York Real Estate is the collateral. The problem is, they don’t have time to get the buildings independently valued and they’re greedy, not stupid. The one thing every rational (and probably MAGA) American knows, by now, is that if Donny is talking, he’s lying. So you would need independent valuations.

One avenue we know Donny could take is to turn to Putin or one of his Saudi buddies. Under normal circumstances, I would have said that taking such a drastic step would harm his attempts to re-gain the White House. But we don’t live in normal circumstances, now, do we? We live in bizarro America, where ‘crazy’ bends the knee to ‘stupid’ and ‘stupid’ rules the day! Who, I wonder, would vote for an American leader completely – and rather desperately – beholden to a foreign power? MAGA, that’s who.

So, we’ll see but I’ll tell you this: For now, I’m sticking to my story. I think he’ll post that bond as close to the last minute as he can. But I think he’ll post the bond…

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Okay, let’s lighten this up a bit. I heard, recently, that the castaways on ‘Gilligan’s Island’ (see? Lighter!) each represented one of the Seven Deadly Sins. (MY, that darkened up quickly.)

I’m not buying. Granted, the case starts off strong. Mr. Howell clearly represents Avarice. That was easy. The Skipper is a big guy, suggesting he might be Gluttony. One could make a case that Ginger represented Pride. After that, though, it falls apart pretty quickly. The suggestion was that Gilligan represented Sloth, but Gilligan wasn’t lazy, he was stupid.

So who was Envy? Mary Ann? Envious of, I presume, Ginger? No. There’s the immortal (but only for Boomers, apparently) question, “Ginger or Mary Ann?” I’m a Mary Ann guy. Ginger had NOTHING on Mary Ann and Mary Ann was too down to earth to spend time being envious of Ginger.

Nobody was Wrath. Yes, the Skipper got frustrated from time to time but that was always after Gilligan had done something stupid. He wasn’t walking around angry all the time. Hell, the Skipper was a pretty chill guy. Besides, he’s already Gluttony.

That leaves Lust. Right. On this “family show?” We’ve just covered the Ginger/Mary Ann thing but they were the objects of lust, not Lust itself. In fact, the inhabitant of Gilligan’s Island all seemed pretty asexual, to me. I was just a boy when that show ran originally and even I wondered why we never saw either Ginger nor Mary Ann (or, what the hell, maybe both!) sneaking out of the Professor’s hut from time to time. They were on that island for years. Really? Never once?

So if you want to see the personification of the Seven Deadly Sins, don’t bother with ‘Gilligan’s Island.’ Watch Donald J. Trump. He’s ALL of them; Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Avarice, Wrath, AND Sloth. At this point, all we have to do is strand him on a tropical island, somewhere, and leave him there. Now THAT’S a show I’d watch…

A Photo-shopped Picture…

by MyBaconPress

Wouldn’t it be great if the biggest problem we had in this country was a Photo-shopped picture of a happy family? As nearly as I can tell through the hub-bub, Princess Catherine and her three kids sat for a series of photos, then did what a lot of people do; she picked the best photo, replaced, say, the young Charlotte’s closed-eye photo with one in which her eyes are open and, after wondering what the hell Louis was looking at, replaced his head with one from a different photo, taken that day and in the same sitting, with the lad looking at the camera.

A touch here, a tweak there. The result? A nice, happy photograph of a mom and her three young children, all looking happy AND looking at the camera. Oh, the horrors. The young Prince George is 10. Princess Charlotte is 8. Prince Louie? 5. YOU try taking a photo, in one shot, of three young children, all smiling on cue AND looking where they’re supposed to look. I’m not saying it’s impossible. But, experience suggests, odds are against.

While the world debates whether or not “photo-gate” is a horrible scandal or the worst scandal ever, I see that Kate’s medical records may have been breached. Apparently, the Princess had “abdominal surgery” a few months ago, and has dropped out of public life for a time. Like most, I don’t know what’s going on with her or why she needed surgery. Like, apparently few, I don’t count it any of my business.

The palace has been tight-lipped about what’s going on with her health and the country has gone nuts. Some intrepid scumbag finally took matters to hand and had a peak at the “notes” of her treatment at the hospital. Soon, perhaps, we’ll all know exactly what ails the Princess, whether she likes it or not. If you think about it, there are a LOT of bits in a woman’s “abdominal area” that are quite private and the loss of which often leave women reeling for a time. I don’t know what her issue is but I KNOW she might want – or need – a little time to adjust to her new paradigm. I’ll tell you what, let’s just leave them alone and let them get through this in their own way, shall we?

MAN, I wish a Photo-shopped picture was the worst problem facing the world today…

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Speaking of problems, Donny is out there whining and moaning – as only he can – that he just doesn’t have the money to put up a $454 million dollar bond he has to post in New York. He claims he went to a number of surety companies, none of whom would help him. THAT part doesn’t surprise me. The guy lies all the time. I’d say compulsively. He’s just been convicted of business fraud. Now he wants some company to do business with him? You’d have to be dumb as a trump to do business with Donny at this point.

Donny also says they don’t want his buildings so he can’t use them as collateral. THAT does surprise me. Why wouldn’t they want to own buildings in New York city, at least long enough to sell them? Oh, wait, how do they value those buildings, take Donny’s word for it? There’s another possibility. Maybe they’re not Donny’s buildings, anymore. Or, at least, maybe they’re not solely Donny’s buildings anymore.

That’s pure speculation but the trumpery organization announced some time back they weren’t building anymore, just licensing the name and slapping it on buildings. Were interests in their buildings quietly sold in an effort to maintain the facade (and lifestyle) of the business “jenius” as he actually slides further and further into some financial abyss?

It doesn’t really surprise me that he might not have $454 million dollars (plus interest) just laying around ready to pay off judgements. Rich people are commonly “cash poor,” as compared to their overall wealth. Their money is tied up in investments. It takes time to convert those kinds of investments into hard cash. I just find it hard to believe a bond company wouldn’t help him out for the right collateral. He still has an interest in his social media site. I think it’s called ‘Lies for All’ or some such. I’m not certain of that, but since that’s what it is, that’s what they should call it.

Okay, that’s fun and all but if I remember correctly, he said pretty much the same thing about the E. Jean Carroll bond he had to post. “Oh, woe is me. Where EVER shall I get such a large amount of money? Oh, Mr. Court, would you please excuse my obligation? No? Oh, okay, here ya go. Can’t blame a guy for trying…”

“Some folks were born, silver spoon in hand,
Lord, don’t they help themselves?
But when the taxman come to the door,
Lord, the house look like a rummage sale.”
– Fortunate Son, Creedence Clearwater Revival

I’m not sure why that song just popped into my head, but there it is.

I’ll tell you this: I’m watching for Donny to post that bond, after all, just a few minutes before the deadline expires. I think he’s just trying to squeeze out whatever breaks he can in the deal and it already worked to a degree. A judge DID lift the part of the order blocking him from doing business with banks registered in New York.

MAN, I wish a Photo-shopped picture was the worst problem facing the world today…