Her, of course, our own greedy wrecking scum are on the loose
]]>As I said years ago in other words, the only things that HS2 was intended to run were gravy trains, and it always was intended to kill off investment in the railways. "Every penny saved, he says, will be reinvested in transport" means roads, of course - even if he keeps his promise, which is implausible.
]]>"•Strong suggestion that this NY state trial could actually finish Drumpf ... because his money supply is going to be cut off, if found guilty ( Don't laugh )*"
Erm, he’s been ruled guilty f fraud by the judge, because the evidence was so blatant, and the trial is over damages. It’s an unusual move, which makes me guess that the judge thinks it will stand up to appeals court scrutiny. No legal talking head I’ve heard is calling BS on the ruling yet.
The trial is also to determine his guilt/innocence in the OTHER six "causes for action" he faces.
However, it’s also been reported that the Saudis are piping him money. For example, their purchase of the PGA golf tour purportedly profited him substantially. I wouldn’t be surprised if Putin wasn’t supporting him too. He’s cheaper than terrorists for disrupting the current US government after all.
Well, if Trumpolini loses control of the "Trump Organization" he's going to have a hard time laundering those proceeds ... especially if he's barred from the real estate business for five years & can't hold any business licenses in the State of New York (even as a corporate entity).
My prediction is that he won’t crash due to lack of funds, but due to failure to con enough people. When you’re an entertainment figure and you stop entertaining even your stans…..bye bye.
I also won’t be surprised if a sudden diagnosis of dementia keeps him out of prison, assuming he gets convicted.
Shouldn't be a problem if he's convicted in either of his current FEDERAL indictments. He'll just serve his sentence at FMC Butner, NC ... that's where Madoff & the Unabomber served out their life sentences.
The civil case in New York won't result in any sentence of jail time, it's just going to cost him money ... a whole LOT of money.
If he's convicted of the State RICO charges in Georgia, I expect THEY will be able to find suitable accommodations. I'm sure they've had to deal with demented prisoners before and have the necessary experience.
Heteromeles @ 1105:
BTW I’m now reading that the NY fraud case is a bench trial, no jury, which makes more sense. Whichever, it’ll get appealed. Given that Trump’s lawyers got sanctioned by the judge for doing stupid stuff after he told them to knock it off, I won’t be surprised if the verdict is upheld.
It's a bench trial because that's what his lawyer asked for. There's a lot of nonsense being spouted that she "forgot" or "made a mistake" not asking for a jury trial, but the form she had to sign has TWO options - jury trial or bench trial. You can't complete the form without choosing one or the other. The clerk of court won't accept an incomplete form.
She (the lawyer) affirmatively CHOSE a bench trial - probably because Trumpolini thought he could bully the judge ... a misjudgement he's already come to regret.
Anyway, yes, fitness to be POTUS. The US Constitution has no test for capability to do the job, any more than becoming king did. For some reason, our founders thought voters would be the ones to vet candidates.
With regards to Trump, it’s conceivable that this is why the race to be his veep is so vicious. Once installed as his second in command, theoretically some of them may be contemplating pulling the 25th Amendment on him, under pretext of him being too demented to function, and using that as a springboard to becoming Republican dictator. I think this is unlikely to the level of batshit, but it’s conceivable.
The 25th Amendment just cannot be used to remove an unwilling occupant of the Oval Office. It was purposefully made MORE DIFFICULT than impeachment.
The 25th amendment is designed to do two things:
1. Provide a mechanism for continuity of government if the President dies in office or suffers a medical emergency (stroke, heart attack ...) and is hospitalized; TEMPORARILY unable to fulfill the duties of his/her office.
2. Replace the Vice President if for any reason he/she is unable to continue in that office (either because of death or resignation OR because the Vice President has succeeded to the Office of President).
The provisions of Section 4 are strictly to ensure the Vice President/Cabinet can act IF the President is unable to communicate - unconscious or in a coma.
There IS a possible argument that provisions of the 14th Amendment could be used to bar him from office, but (I think) only if he's convicted in the Jan 6 case ... and even then it's not certain. It would have to be settled in a lawsuit that would almost certainly go to the Supreme Court and who the hell knows what they'd do.
I think it’s slightly more possible that the small swell of stories about his mental incompetence might be setting the stage for Trump to use an incompetence defense to stay out of prison. Far more likely it’s a mix of copycat journalism and wishful thinking on the left flank. But I can see this notion being appropriated by the MAGAts, or by his lawyers, to excuse his actions somehow.
Whether it will work is another question. It’s even more plausible that what most Americans want to feel about Trump is a mix of schadenfreude and relief at his passing out of the spotlight for good. If this last holds, he won’t be allowed a dementia defense until he’s pulling the IV lines out of his arm at the prison hospital.
If he's found competent to stand trial (AND convicted) he'll be competent to serve his prison term, even if it is at a Federal Prison medical facility. It's highly unlikely he'd allow himself to be found incompetent to stand trial, because he wouldn't be able to campaign for President ... and likely he would be confined to some medical facility UNTIL he became competent to stand trial. FMC Butner, NC
Dementia, feigned or real, is NOT a route for him to escape accountability at this point.
]]>Two questions to the resident USians:
 • Other than this current New York trial, aren't the others expected to be trial by jury?
 • How large is the MAGAt population in the US?
The current New York trial is a CIVIL trial, but it COULD have been a jury trial like his previous trial in the E Jean Carroll lawsuit. The current trial is a bench trial because that's what Trump's lawyers CHOSE.
And now a follow-up question:
Isn't it likely that any jury will include one or two MAGAts who will vote "not guilty" no matter what, regardless of the evidence*? And isn't therefore an eventual acquittal (or at least a never ending series of mistrials) more or less guaranteed?
Funny thing about juries. They take an oath to decide their verdict on the basis of the evidence presented at the trial. And, oddly enough, appear to take that oath seriously despite partisan leanings. The jury in the E Jean Carroll trial had several Trump partisans ... and they still voted to find him liable (~ guilty).
]]>Apparently Trump asked for a bench trial rather than a jury trial in NY. He’ll probably regret that. AFAIK, his other trials are criminal. Also AFAIK, only civil trials can be without a jury.
By default (serious**) criminal cases require a Jury Trial, but there are circumstances where DEFENDANTS can request a bench trial; waiving the right to a jury.
**Only really stupid people or "sovereign citizens" (but I repeat myself) demand jury trials for petty misdemeanors [traffic offenses, etc] ... 'cause that kicks it up to Superior Court from District Court where the judge can impose much steeper penalties if the accused is convicted.
]]>NOW The US "House" has no "Speaker" & can do no business ....
To US residents - will the US guvmint's finances inplode, or will someone at leat temporarily fix this insanty?
Bets / Options?
My GUESS (since all bets are off at this point so to speak) is we'll have a government shutdown about a week before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, November 23, 2023. The GQP in the House of Representatives in the U.S. Congress have the crashers & trashers of the chaos caucus in command and they don't give a shit about governing, they just want to burn the fuckin house down.
The only reason McCarthy offered his last minute continuing resolution was he thought it was a poison pill the Democrats would have to reject so he could blame a government shutdown on House Democrats.
If it wasn't for BAD FAITH the GQP would have no faith at all!
But whatever dumb fuckin' son of a bitch the GQP is gonna' select as the new Speaker ain't even that smart. But he will be a bigger piece of shit!
]]>"Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease. Against stupidity we are defenseless. Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed - in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical – and when facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self-satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack."]]>
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer, hanged by Adolf Hitler in 1945.
When I first posted, I was listening to some news report that went on at length how unusual it was that the judge ruled from the bench blah blah blah. I wasn't paying much attention and assumed the reported knew what they were talking about, because it was a big station that normally fact checked. When the station later corrected the report with a lawyer interview, I did a head slap because I've been involved in civil environmental suits on the plaintiff's side, and I needed to correct my account here. So yes, I entirely agree with your what you wrote. Thank you for writing it!
And yes, I think the Trump team erred in not asking for a jury trial on the business fraud case. They can't delay it any more, and it's going to hurt his cash flow and reputation.
RE: Trumpian dementia.
I don't listen to him at all if I can help it (I've loathed him since the 1990s), but since when he was president, the mainstream media has been accused of making him sound more coherent than he is. I've dealt a bit with people with dementia, and they can go from functioning to completely dysfunctional with terrifying rapidity. About the only reason I can see for wanting to be his 2024 VP is a) in the hope that he wins, and b) in the hope that, if he does win, he'll collapse into incoherence and need to be replaced. So succeeding him is an easier route to power than trying to beat him. And if he is declining in coherence (no clue if this is true), then it's a plausible strategy.
]]>