Another domino falls.
Another corrupt Trump crony is disbarred for his criminal actions on Jan 6th.
Good.
![:smt023](./images/smilies/023.gif)
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The Shallow State
@OurShallowState
This tweet is for anyone feeling anxious over Trump's recent malice and psychosis, anyone feeling outrage over his attacks on the judge's daughter and the nasty Biden-in-trunk meme, and anyone feeling impatient about him being held to account. Stay focused on this:
Trump's cognitive decline continues to advance. He can barely hold it together for more than a couple minutes, if that.
It's being noticed more, talked about more, and his handlers have changed his schedule because of it.
These same handlers know they can't hide it forever, eventually not even from the cult, and they're frantically working on every possible way to keep it out of the narrative.
His schedule may change further - and without rallies, he has no narcissistic placation - that is torture for him, especially now, when he's so narcissistically battered.
He will NEVER debate - whatever reason they give, ignore; the REAL reason is that he CAN'T.
He's also fraying physically. He looks swollen, blotchy, ruddy, uneven, and his gait and posture are worsening.
The clock is ticking on $175M. He barely posted bond on $90M. Yeah, he'll get the $, but paying it still adds to his misery. And his legal costs continue to be stratospheric, every day!?
The RNC is broke and in shambles, and while the Democrats open field offices, the GOP closes them.
RW donors are concerned. The GOP will get crushed down-ballot without funds.
There are very few people coming out FOR Trump anymore, beyond the usual suspects. Only 4% of his cabinet has endorsed him.
Biden is doing fine, in good spirits, the campaign is using humor - you can do that when you have a $26M one-night haul.
Democrats themselves are unified. Bragg is moving forward. Fani is still on the case. You can bet Jack Smith is working. Navarro ... is in jail.
MAGA has been super-triggered lately, like angry locusts; remember that they get that way most when they're uncomfortable; cognitive dissonance is starting to set in for some of them, even though most are not yet self-aware of it.
So - bottom line - it's Saturday afternoon, a holiday weekend - go outside, breathe the fresh air, walk your dog, pet your cat, choose a bottle of wine to open later, hug a loved one, watch some comedy, and above all, keep a healthy and accurate perspective.
_____
I meant to also include that Democrats flipped a state seat in Alabama, Democratic support among women is super-high, economic metrics continue to rock, the markets continue to trade near all-time highs, and Biden had an uptick in the polls, overall and in battleground states.
10:28 AM · Mar 30, 2024
https://twitter.com/OurShallowState/status/1774126592706703515
NEWS
Our Trump reporting upsets some readers, but there aren’t two sides to facts: Letter from the Editor
Published: Mar. 30, 2024, 8:16 a.m.
Some readers complain that we have different standards involving Donald Trump and Joe Biden. (AP Photo, File)
By Chris Quinn, Editor, cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer
A more-than-occasional arrival in the email these days is a question expressed two ways, one with dripping condescension and the other with courtesy:
Why don’t our opinion platforms treat Donald Trump and other politicians exactly the same way. Some phrase it differently, asking why we demean the former president’s supporters in describing his behavior as monstrous, insurrectionist and authoritarian.
I feel for those who write. They believe in Trump and want their local news source to recognize what they see in him.
The angry writers denounce me for ignoring what they call the Biden family crime syndicate and criminality far beyond that of Trump. They quote news sources of no credibility as proof the mainstream media ignores evidence that Biden, not Trump, is the criminal dictator.
The courteous writers don’t go down that road. They politely ask how we can discount the passions and beliefs of the many people who believe in Trump.
This is a tough column to write, because I don’t want to demean or insult those who write me in good faith. I’ve started it a half dozen times since November but turned to other topics each time because this needle hard to thread. No matter how I present it, I’ll offend some thoughtful, decent people.
The north star here is truth. We tell the truth, even when it offends some of the people who pay us for information.
The truth is that Donald Trump undermined faith in our elections in his false bid to retain the presidency. He sparked an insurrection intended to overthrow our government and keep himself in power. No president in our history has done worse.
This is not subjective. We all saw it. Plenty of leaders today try to convince the masses we did not see what we saw, but our eyes don’t deceive. (If leaders began a yearslong campaign today to convince us that the Baltimore bridge did not collapse Tuesday morning, would you ever believe them?) Trust your eyes. Trump on Jan. 6 launched the most serious threat to our system of government since the Civil War. You know that. You saw it.
The facts involving Trump are crystal clear, and as news people, we cannot pretend otherwise, as unpopular as that might be with a segment of our readers. There aren’t two sides to facts. People who say the earth is flat don’t get space on our platforms. If that offends them, so be it.
As for those who equate Trump and Joe Biden, that’s false equivalency. Biden has done nothing remotely close to the egregious, anti-American acts of Trump. We can debate the success and mindset of our current president, as we have about most presidents in our lifetimes, but Biden was never a threat to our democracy. Trump is. He is unique among all American presidents for his efforts to keep power at any cost.
Personally, I find it hard to understand how Americans who take pride in our system of government support Trump. All those soldiers who died in World War II were fighting against the kind of regime Trump wants to create on our soil. How do they not see it?
The March 25 edition of the New Yorker magazine offers some insight. It includes a detailed review of a new book about Adolf Hitler, focused on the year 1932. It’s called “Takeover: Hitler’s Final Rise to Power” and is by historian Timothy W. Ryback. It explains how German leaders – including some in the media -- thought they could use Hitler as a means to get power for themselves and were willing to look past his obvious deficiencies to get where they wanted. In tolerating and using Hitler as a means to an end, they helped create the monstrous dictator responsible for millions of deaths.
How are those German leaders different from people in Congress saying the election was stolen or that Jan. 6 was not an insurrection aimed at destroying our government? They know the truth, but they deny it. They see Trump as a means to an end – power for themselves and their “team” – even if it means repeatedly telling lies.
Sadly, many believe the lies. They trust people in authority, without questioning the obvious discrepancies or relying on their own eyes. These are the people who take offense to the truths we tell about Trump. No one in our newsroom gets up in the morning wanting to make a segment of readers feel bad. No one seeks to demean anyone. We understand what a privilege it is to be welcomed into the lives of the millions of people who visit our platforms each month for news, sports and entertainment. But our duty is to the truth.
Our nation does seem to be slipping down the same slide that Germany did in the 1930s. Maybe the collapse of government in the hands of a madman is inevitable, given how the media landscape has been corrupted by partisans, as it was in 1930s Germany.
I hope not.
In our newsroom, we’ll do our part. Much as it offends some who read us, we will continue to tell the truth about Trump.
I’m at cquinn@cleveland.com
Thanks for reading.
https://www.cleveland.com/news/2024/03/our-trump-reporting-upsets-some-readers-but-there-arent-two-sides-to-facts-letter-from-the-editor.html
Donald Trump May Fire Legal Team in 'Desperate' Bid To Delay Trial—Attorney
Story by Kate Plummer • 4/1/2024
Donald Trump may fire his legal team to delay proceedings in his hush money trial due to begin soon, an attorney has suggested.
Joyce Vance, a former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, said the Republican wants to delay the trial, which concerns payments allegedly made to a former adult film star. Writing on her Substack blog, she suggested Trump may either attempt to seek Judge Juan Merchan's recusal from the case or fire his lawyers.
The trial will determine whether Trump falsified business records over hush money payments to former adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep an alleged affair secret before the 2016 election, as alleged in a criminal indictment. Prosecutors led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg allege the payments were part of a scheme to stop potentially damaging stories about the Republican from becoming public. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for 2024, has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to the 34 charges against him in the case.
"With trial only two weeks away, Trump is showing increasing signs of desperation," Vance wrote in her blog.
Newsweek contacted a representative for Trump by email to comment on this story.
"There are also the time-honored strategies of the desperate: getting sick or finding a sick or dying family member and firing your lawyers," she wrote.
"What happens if Trump fires his lawyers? This can be a difficult one because defendants are entitled to counsel of their choosing, and lawyers are entitled to sufficient time to prepare. But Trump has a lot of lawyers on his team and the Judge has to be prepared for this one. Trump would have to argue a significant issue has developed with his lawyers before the Judge would agree to let them out of the case, and it's going to be difficult to do that with all of them. The Judge could tell him to go ahead with the remaining lawyers, because if Trump does this at the eleventh hour, it's going to look manufactured. But it's still an issue the Judge has to be careful about to avoid problems on appeal, and so far, Judge Merchan has shown himself to be a careful, meticulous jurist."
On Tuesday, Judge Merchan, imposed a gag order against Trump after the former president made a series of public comments about Merchan and his daughter, Loren Merchan. Trump attacked Merchan's daughter for her work in Democratic political circles and called for the judge to be recused from the case.
Trump is facing three other criminal indictments, two concerning allegedly conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and another relating to keeping classified documents when he left office and allegedly obstructing attempts by law enforcement to retrieve them. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges across these cases.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/donald-trump-may-fire-legal-team-in-desperate-bid-to-delay-trial-attorney/ar-BB1kRPFr
Lock him up and throw away the key.drjohncarpenter wrote: ↑Mon Apr 01, 2024 9:25 pmViolent imagery from criminal ex-president.
Be vigilant.
America depends on it.
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You mean serial liar, conspiracy theorist, rapist Trump (Hitler) supporter, and racist Trump (Hitler) supporter RFK Jr?Jaime1234 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 02, 2024 9:37 pmRFK SAYS IT, AT CNN, FACING A TRUMP HATER, SO IT MUST BE TRUE
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/02/robert-f-kennedy-jr-cnn-interview-biden-trump