“These measures are just the beginning,” Trump threatened in a post on Truth Social. “We will not allow the Colombian Government to violate its legal obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the Criminals they forced into the United States!”
President Trump – Rapacious Maximus – just punished Colombia for its failure to permit US military aircraft to land and offload our deported immigrants. Colombia’s sovereignty – although a foundational international foundation – was unsurprisingly ignored by Trump’s outburst of venom. He immediately impose a 25% tariff on all Colombian goods, and threatened to raise it to 50% within one week. He did not discuss the inflationary impact on U.S. consumers that this tariff will have on a number of consumer products. After often centering his campaign message on Biden’s inlation, it appears that is in his rear view mirror. . .
There’s much more to learn about this breaking news here and here, including other sanctions placed on Columbia, announcing at the end of his madman dictator’s message that this is only the beginning of U.S. disfavor, and stating that Colombia, by exercising its sovereignty, “violated its legal obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the Criminals they forced into the United States!” What legal obligations, indeed? We’ll see. . .
In any event, here are the top 10 Colombian imports for 2023 (to see the long list see here). Though a small proportion of these items when viewed on the basis of total dollar value of all foreign imports, for Colombia a 25% tariff (and possibly a 50% tariff) will hurt, and for U.S. consumers should the tariffs might cause price rises in certain items sourced exclusively by Colombia. Finally, how long can Colombia hold out?
“Great day with the #President. A gracious host. And, he shot a 68! My recommendation, try the Trump Burger!” Kevin O’Leary, Self described Chairman of O’Leary Ventures and Beanstox, 5 X Emmy Shark Tank’s Mr. Wonderful, Wine Maker, Watch, Crypto, AI & Guitar Guy, Photographer & Chef Twitter/X post, January 12, 2025.
Yesterday, Donald Trump enjoyed a round of golf with one of his biggest fans, Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank fame where he’s best known for treating contestants with rough handling disdain. Although O’Leary is only a cento-millionaire he’s a billionaire in self-satisfied narcissism and, as such, a self-satisfied MAGA enthusiast, particularly his enthusiasm for tax cuts, regulation decimation, banking regs in particular – basically anything that interferes with his pursuit of as many more cento-millions that are available.
In any event, O’Leary’s assertion that Trump shot a 68, on standard par 72 golf courses that would be four under par, a score that would be welcomed by most professional tour golfers. In truth, Trump is not a poor golfer, he has the ability to score in the mid-80s. As a former golfer I can attest that moving from scores in the mid-80s (roughly shooting 13 over par, on average) to a sub-par round of 68, especially Trump’s age (78) is spectacularly unlikely for all but the best players in that age range, for example, Gary Player or Lee Trevino. Trump is neither of those except in his delusional brain salad.
“Donald Trump is the worst cheat ever and he doesn’t care who knows,” Rick Reilly says as he describes a man he has known for 30 years. “I always say golf is like bicycle shorts. It reveals a lot about a man. And golf reveals a lot of ugliness in this president.
Rick Reilly, author Commander in Cheat, How Golf Explains Trump
It will not surprise Trump aficionados, of course, that Trump is a notorious golf cheat, known far and wide as among the most determined cheaters ever to don a polo shirt: simply google “notorious golf cheats.” His own hometown newspaper, The Palm Beach Post, ran a 2023 story, Donald Trump and golf: Fancy resorts, A-list partners, cheating at highest level, well worth reading. Among a wellspring of examples, he kicks errant shots back onto the fairway; he brazenly reports his scores on, for instance, a par five hole as a four although his golf partners counted at least nine shots; he tosses and kicks his shots out of sand traps; he improves his golf balls’ positions on the fairway; he also has his caddies cheat for him. How does he accomplish much of this? He has a supercharged golf cart so he can reach his shots before his partners!
In short, according to sportswriter and golfer, Rick Reilly, who came out of retirement to write Commander in Cheat, Trump cheats “like a Mafia accountant.” His misrepresentations go beyond just merely kicking a ball out of a sand trap, Reilly further reports: “I kept seeing on [Trump’s] Twitter feed: ‘I’m a champion. You should vote for me because I’ve won 18 club championships.’ Whoa! That’s a lie because [he] already told me how [he] did it. Whenever [I] open a new course, [I] play [the very first round] by [myself] and declare [myself] the first club champion.’”
Summing up, Donald Trump scoring a 68 would be a biblical miracle. And Kevin O’Leary telling the truth about it would be as well. . .
“Shortly after Donald Trump narrowly beat Kamala Harris, Politico, the all-politics-all-the-time news outlet, invited readers to participate in a contest: Predict Trump’s cabinet appointees. Whoever did best would walk away with assorted Politico swag. A convicted felon and deceitful demagogue who four years ago incited an attack on the Capitol and tried to overthrow American democracy—a man described as a “fascist” by retired generals who worked with him—is returning to power and bringing with him to the White House a fistful of threats, including vows to suppress the media. But we can have fun, right? Pin the tail on the Trump appointees and win prizes! This was a stupid and small move that received scant public attention. But it symbolizes a shift in the media, as news outfits figure out how to contend with the new order. Too many, I’m afraid, will either purposefully choose or drift toward an accommodationist stance.” David Corn, Mother Jones, The Media and Trump: Not Resistance, But Not Acceptance, Nov. 20, 2024.
Most of us saw it coming but I, for one, didn’t think the “preemptive knee bending” would happen so swiftly or so widely. Fairly quixk out of the gate we’ve watched Joe Scarborough and _____ Brezinski bend their knees for Trump by having a pleasant lunch with him at Mar A Lago, and this after years of ripping Trump the shreds on Morning Joe. Then there’s the craven Lindy Li, a member of DNC’s Finance Committee, who had this to say on FOX News, “People are dying for a change, so I think we’re about to embark on an entirely new era of prosperity, I certainly hope so. You can just feel it, even in the last couple weeks Americans are celebrating. . . [The Democratic party] has the stench of loser written all over [it].” Sounds like Ms. Li has switched parties, and now after having seen the light is auditioning for a job in the Trump administration. Many news outlets, have kissed Trump’s ring, with the LA Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong instructing staff to go easier on Trump. The list goes on.
Cozying up with a wannabe dictator is certainly an option, especially since the Democratic party has been consigned to the desert for who knows how many years. News outlets want access to the Trump administration, of course. But this much “anticipatory obedience” is painful to watch. . .
Better still, Democrats could create a simple test for Trump’s nominees, and insist they all clear it: Who will you work for, Trump, or the citizens of the United States?
Brian Beutler, Off Message substack, December 9, 2024
Cowering is not a good look . . .
Brian Beutler, formerly Crooked Media editor in chief, and a New Republic senior editor, has a way of concisely stating his messages. Yes, it’s a simple ask of a potential Trump cabinet candidate, “Who will you work for, Trump, or the citizens of the United States.” Nonetheless, getting GOP senators to ask that soft ball question has been a panic-inducing vision of a four alarm fire among those who have the “advise and consent” duty. Beutler’s quote above, however, did not have as its target the GOP, he’s calling out his own, the Democratic party. Their lack of a sense of the moment is appalling, so relatively silent have they been about the level of spirited, angry resistance that is demanded of them as Trump trots out his “best people” to run our government . . . into the ground.
That’s not just my imagination working overtime, it’s what his nominees for top positions themselves say; Nearly everyone is a demolition expert, Kash Patel, Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, John Ratcliffe, Pam Bondi, Elise Stefanik, Robert Kennedy Jr., and “woman bites dog and goat” Kristi Noem. And that’s merely a partial list, pick your favorite from this group of mugshots at the New York Times. They are a chorus line of wrecking balls, not to mention the obnoxious Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
At any rate, Beutler provides a surgical scalpel to the primary problem, a problem I’ve written about since 2008, spinelessness. In a New Republic interview, published today, he laid it out:
“What I’m concerned they’re going to do is what you alluded to, which is that they’re going to, in some sense, hector the most activist elements of the big D and small d democratic base in the country and say, Elections have consequences, more people should have voted, and take the wind out of the sails of any new resistance to Trump. What I think they should say is: Elections do have consequences, but they don’t entitle anybody to break the law. They don’t entitle anybody to violate the Constitution, and they don’t entitle anybody to encourage political violence against the opposition.
If that’s the attitude that they take, then the public at large will see them as natural allies to a ground level resistance to Trump. But it’s not just as simple as saying that. It’s acting like it. It’s acting like, Yes, you won the election, but that doesn’t mean that you get to appoint a fascist to run the FBI. I find it a little bit mystifying and a little bit concerning that they’re trying to let news cycles essentially defeat these nominees instead of trying to defeat them themselves.
If they want to see an energized electorate rise up against the incoming Trump administration, they need to act like there’s something to get energized about. They’re currently not really doing that . . .”
Unfortunately, but given Democratic party uber reticence, realistically, Beutler expresses little confidence that anything is on the near horizon:
“[We’re] in this transition period after Trump won the election outright. There’s some reason to suspect that that more stiff-spined opposition politics is just going to wait until we’re closer to confirmation votes, to Trump issuing executive orders that are clearly illegal or corrupt or immoral. That’ll be the moment when we know which way things are going to go.”
He’s suggesting that the next seven weeks will yield little in the spirited opposition column until Trump is inaugurated. Yet, if this interregnum is void of Democratic outrage, the Trumpists will continue to heap it on, solidifying their base further and wearing out the rest of us.
Yesterday, renowned historian Heather Cox Richardson reported:
“Late Friday night, Tennessee House Republican Caucus chair Jeremy Faison posted ‘President Biden has finally approved [Tennessee governor Bill Lee’s] state of emergency request,’ making it sound as if the delay in federal support for the state during the devastation of Hurricane Helene was Biden’s fault. In fact, while Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina all declared emergencies and requested and received federal approval of those declarations before the hurricane hit, Governor Lee did not.” [all emphasis added]
Here’s Governor Lee’s initial response to the emergency:
Despite Tennessee House Republican Caucus chair Jeremy Faison’s mendacity, strongly implying that the delayed federal emergency order was President Biden’s conscious choice, it was Governor Lee who delayed his request. However, as soon as the governor did so – after extensive to his state had already occurred – of course, President Biden acted immediately. It seems that, apparently, even after a day of Tennessean prayer, humility, and skipping meals, God takes her time…
Christian Theocracy Rules
Needless to say, the alleged “delay” in President Biden’s state of emergency order was entirely self-inflicted, courtesy of the condition of GOP governance in Tennessee which does not receive much national coverage of just how much a christian theocracy it has become.
For example, in July, the legislature declared the month as a time to “seek God’s hand of mercy and healing.” Below are two excerpts from the Joint Resolution, both of which facially violate the establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution, and Section 3 of Article 1 of Tennessee’s Constitution; i.e., “no preference shall ever be given, by law, to any religious establishment or mode of worship.” Note the salutation in the document below, “Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,” and the throughout the text that accompanied the joint resolution.
And here is the text of the joint resolution:
Humbling oneself before God is always good advice since failing to do so may cause you some retributive actions, like a biblical bit of flooding. Just ask Noah. Perhaps, gently, ask Governor Lee.
At a campaign rally yesterday in Pennsylvania, Trump tried to pander to women voters, disastrously, that he’s not a threat but will be their “protector” in abortion matters, and in general:
“I always thought women liked me. But the fake news keeps saying women don’t like me. [But] You will be protected, and I will be your protector. Women will be happy, healthy, confident and free. You will no longer be thinking about abortion.”
The president who ushered in the overturning of Roe v. Wade, bragged about sexually assaulting women, and was found liable for sexual abuse now realizes that the legacy of the Dobbs decision that his three Supreme Court nominees made possible isn’t polling well. So he’s on the reassurance grift. There is a mind-set demonstrated by his “soothing” words that shows a glaringly stupid lack of understanding of even the grade school basics of what women desire in all aspects of their lives, especially abortion.
For example, his “You will be protected, and I will be your protector”: women no longer accept (if they ever did) that their relationships with men be a “protector/protectee” paternalistic bargain, freighted with exceedingly onerous obligations. For example, Trump (of all men) telling them “Women will be happy, healthy, confident and free” indicates his belief that men (specifically himself) alone by their paternalistic largesse can make women happy, healthy, confident and free. This, from Trump, a serial sex assaulter, adulterer, adjudicated rapist, defamer, and “pussy grabber.” He and the MAGA crowd simply have no overall, historical, cultural, or conceptual understanding of feminist goals. And trying to fake it just digs them in deeper and rightly alienates millions of women, and men.
And there’s this:
More Reassurance from Ohio…
GOP Senate nominee Bernie Moreno (OH), at a town hall event last week but first reported yesterday by NBC4 in Columbus. As you’ll see, Moreno vocalizes the MAGA self-centered view that one’s vote ought to matter only when an issue DIRECTLY threatens one’sown life, not, for example, the lives of all women, including their daughters and granddaughters.
“You know, the left has a lot of single issue voters. Sadly, by the way, there’s a lot of suburban women, a lot of suburban women that are like, ‘Listen, abortion is it. If I can’t have an abortion in this country whenever I want, I will vote for anybody else.’ … OK. It’s a little crazy by the way, but — especially for women that are like past 50 — I’m thinking to myself, ‘I don’t think that’s an issue for you.'”
As for Trump’s conclusion, “[Women] will no longer be thinking about abortion,” the absurdity of that in every way spotlights his utter lack of understanding of women’s daily lives. Women walk through life with targets on their chests and backs, at all ages, placed there by men like Trump and Moreno.
“Market watchers have debated whether Trump would sell shares, with some suggesting an exit could indicate he is prioritizing personal profits and alienating loyal followers who have poured money into the stock.” Barron’s, Trump Media Shares Soar After Trump Says ‘I’m Not Selling’, September 13, 2024.
“No, I’m not selling… I don’t want to sell my shares. I don’t need money… I absolutely have no intention of selling.” Donald Trump, Twitter, September 13, 2024
Reporter: Trump Media shares are down about 75% from their peak in March. Your lockdown provision ends soon. Will you sell your shares?
Trump: No, I'm not selling… I don’t want to sell my shares. I don’t need money.. I absolutely have no intention of selling pic.twitter.com/zkQrbPKhE0
Trump’s assurances have a poor track record, as we know. This particular assurance to not sell shares in his Trump Media stock will be severely tested as of next Thursday, September 19. Here’s why.
Firstly, his assertion that he won’t sell his shares because he “doesn’t need money” is untrue. Trump always needs money; he’s always been raising money to, for example, fend off bankruptcy of his casinos in the 1990s. And now? Civil judgments against him, and tthe legal bills accompanying them are in the neighborhood of $600 million. In addition, financing his appeals of various legal actions against him by Special Prosecutor Jack Smith and others cost tens of millions of dollars. Many of these bills are being paid for not ot of his own pocket but by the RNC which is run by his daughter-is-law Lara Trump which has led to a short fall of donated funds available to his presidential campaign. So, yes, he needs money.
Secondly, he doesn’t care who he fleeces to raise money. In fact, he’s been trying to fleece the MAGA herd since day one. And, conveniently, they keep coming back for more. This is a guy who has sold his supporters digital trading cards, gold colored sneakers, and commemorative coins. So, despite the fact that a goodly number of those supporters have invested in DJT, he’ll not hesitate to fleece them by, for instance, selling large lots of shares and thereby causing the price to fall, perhaps causing a large drop from its present anemic price. Recall, he needs money.
Here’s his estimated DJT position:
Total Shares = 194,000,000; Trump owns 60%. = 116,400,000 shares; = 7,708,008,000 billion at its 2024 high $66.72/share, BUT that’s shrunk by more than 70% to 1,978,800,000 billion at today’s share price of $17/share. An on paper loss of some 5,730,000,000 billion. Trump is not pleased, we might suppose.
The Crucial “Lockup Period”
The trading debut of DJT initiated what’s known as a lock-up period, a standard procedure for newly public companies in which certain shareholders, like those who own 5% or more of shares or who serve in a high-level management role, mandating that they cannot sell shares until a predetermined date. At DJT these insiders include Trump himself; DJT board members (i.e., Donald Trump, Jr., David Nunes, and other Trump confidants); co-founders, Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss*, both former contestants on The Apprentice; and others.
The company’s latest prospectus filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission outlines three factors that would trigger the lock-up period to conclude:
The end of the first six months of DJT stock trading as its own entity on September 29, or
Trump Media shares trading above $12 for any 20 of 30 trading sessions on September 19, or
a transaction, like a merger, in which all shareholders have the opportunity to trade in their Trump Media holdings at the same price, or
an affirmative vote by DJT’s Board of Directors
That means the earliest possible date Trump can sell is Sept. 19 if Trump Media shares remain above the $12 threshold, otherwise his selling date will open is on Sept. 25. Note, however, that “”Insiders might still be prevented from selling their shares after the lock-up period expires. That can happen when an insider has access to material, nonpublic information, where the sale of shares would legally constitute insider trading.”
I expect that he will sell whenever he can do so legally, although should he sell large blocks of DJT over few days the stock price would likely fall precipitously. He might still make hundreds of millions at lower shre prices, as would other insiders, yet Trump would take a public relations hit, especially if his MAGA supporters took a beating on their own desperate sell orders. A better strategy would be to sell more slowly, or not sell at all and, instead, seek a loan or loans against his holdings, yet, who is eager to loan him money on any collateral. Poor Trump, he needs an intelligent strategy and tactics. And he’s remarkably stupid. We’ll see what happens after September 19th.
“Hardworking Americans are suffering because of the Harris-Biden administration’s dangerously liberal policies . . . Prices are excruciatingly high, and the cost of living has soared – leaving those on a fixed income unsure of how they are going to afford a basic standard of living in the future.” Trump campaign statement prior to tonight’s MAGA rally in Asheville, NC
Continuing his trailblazing record of lying per minute (L/M), Donald Trump will tonight convince his MAGA acolytes that inflation is running at high speed. This in the face of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report today that inflation is moderating as it has done for the past year. BLS sums it up:
“In July, the Consumer Price Index [CPI] rose 0.2 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 2.9 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted.”
Given the inflation panic afoot in the country, particularly among the always misinformed and generally undereducated MAGA crowd, the truth is clear: after peaking in 2022 and 2023 CPI has dropped over the past year to approximately 2.9%. Frankly, the inflation scare during the Biden administration was the result of unrelenting lying by the MAGA/GOP, and, of course, COVID’s negative economic impact, an extraneous and extraordinary event that has by and large worked its way through the economy as, for example, supply gluts diminish.
The COVID inflation 2-year “blip”
And below is CPI by sector, through July 2024 (note the overall trajectory and, apropos of this posting, the food sector, which, according to USDA’s Economic Research Service, peaked at 11.4% two years ago (year-over-year)(YOY), now sits at 2.2% YOY.
In fact, the overall CPI is nearing the Federal Reserve Board’s so-called “target rate” of 2%, and stock market mavens are so very pleased because inflation’s decreasing trend of late signals to them that the Fed next move may be to reduce interest rates, which – WHOOPEE! – will help reverse the equity markets’ recent swoon. Nonetheless, inflation hysteria haunts many American families, often at mealtime.
How did the now dissipated surge in overall food prices occur over the last few years (falling from August 2022’s 11.4% to today’s 2.1%)? The reasons, as with all food sector inflations, are familiar, although the COVID pandemic was an unusual event, and the principal driver of inflation throughout the economy. Food inflation factors, 2020-2024, include:
Supply chain issues due to COVID disruptions throughout the world
Economy-wide inflationary pressures, particularly in housing and services, and for a time, food
Wholesale food prices, as suppliers raised prices, controversially, many label this price gouging
Weather conditions, droughts reduce crop yields by causing crops to fail, and forced cow-calf producers to sell cows, which cause to tighter beef supplies and higher price; and extreme summer heat that damages crops, such as olive trees, soybeans, rice, potatoes and cocoa.
Supply disruptions in major food producing countries, particularly in war torn Ukraine, a European breadbasket
Rapid recovery of consumer demand, particularly in restaurant food
As we see, despite perceived food inflation causing gnashing of Americans’ teeth, their food costs have gone downhill, and the decline has occurred for long enough to have been noticeable to consumers. This is especially true for food at home, nonetheless, inflation remains troublesome at the businesses where food price inflation is the highest, restaurants of all kinds.
Let’s unpack this: where Americans eat is an personal and economic choice, and their choices are, according to especially right-wing economists, supposedly determined by price. Therefore, the “rational” economic choice would be to eat where one can eat most inexpensively, i.e., at home. And food at home prices have moderated since January 2023, with today’s BLS report revealing that food CPI is at 2.2% (YOY), with food at home inflation falling to 1.1% for July (YOY). Food away from home – a segment of the inflation-hot service economy – sits at 4.1%(YOY). The economically rational choice would be to eat at home, would it not? Indeed.
“The level of food price inflation varies depending on whether the food was purchased for consumption at home or away from home.
The food-at-home (grocery store or supermarket food purchases) CPI was unchanged from May 2024 to June 2024 and was 1.1 percent higher than June 2023; and
The food-away-from-home (restaurant purchases) CPI increased 0.4 percent in June 2024 and was 4.1 percent higher than June 2023.”
Note the significantly higher rate of inflation growth for food away from home.
The CPI discrepancy between the choice of home prepared meals and restaurant meals is large, and this was not always true. As the chart indicates, beginning in 2011, restaurants, including fast food entities, claimed a large and growing share of consumer spending, except for the period when COVID adversely affected restaurants and families ate at home. A USDA report also observed, “Food-away-from-home expenditures accounted for 58.5 percent of total food expenditures in 2023—their highest share of total food spending observed in the series.”
So, the right-wing economists argument that consumers will make rational choices when prices are high seems to come up short when applied to food choices. We have inclinations to rational thought, nonetheless, we have impulses as well, and we simply enjoy going out to eat, especially when we perceive economic hard times. This despite the fact that we are manifestly not in a swooning economy. Perceptions, though are important. Thus we do the non rational things as a way to soothe those perceptions, and, ironically, we feed the very price inflation we perceive. It doesn’t help that media and the MAGA crowd push false messages, particularly Trump and company. As for me, I’ve convinced myself that what I need is an inflatedly large rib eye steak, at an inflatedly expensive restaurant. Tonight.
“Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.” Satchel Paige
With Kamala Harris now the presumptive Democratic party presidential candidate, Trump has been loudly flailing attacking her in his old familiar ways: her biracial ethnicity, her laugh, her husband. All these dreadful assaults have fallen on mostly deaf ears, except from among the MAGA/GOP elites and his campaign staff. Of course, his rabid MAGA voting bloc loves it, and view his racist, bigoted, and nonsensical outbursts as grist for the mill. They love their right-wing magician-in-chief, the one who replaces complexity with ground level simplicity.
He’s rarely tried to engage her on substantive issues, lying about what she has done (for example, she did not lead a coup d’etat against President Biden), and for what she has not done (Harris was not the “immigration czar” of the Biden administration). Most importantly, he’s lost his “go to” attack tools he used so effectively against Biden, his age, his mental acuity, and his “sleepy Joe Biden” schtick. That has stripped him nearly naked before the force that is Kamala Harris.
A new poll by Morning Consult (pay wall) suggests that Trump’s ratings have significantly fallen since Harris entered the race. When asked a battery of questions respondents shone a spotlight on Trump’s favorite line of attack on Biden:
Health: “in good health,” Harris 71% – Trump 52%; importantly, Trump’s rating is 6 percent less than when Biden withdrew;
Mental Acuity: “mentally fit,” Harris 64% – Trump 48%; a 5 percent drop from before Biden withdrew;
Candidate’s Age: “too old,” Harris (59) 12% – Trump (78) 51%; 7 percent more from before Biden withdrew.
“Voters also said they were more concerned about Trump’s erratic behavior worsening with age should he retake the White House in November. Roughly 82 percent of polled voters said that Trump’s “poor decision making” and “erratic behavior” was a major concern, while roughly three-quarters of polled respondents listed his inability to communicate effectively with the American public, U.S. officials, and foreign officials, as well as a weakened perception of strength on the international stage, as other points of “major concern.” Another 49 percent and 44 percent of polled Americans described the potential onset of illness and death as major concerns, respectively.”
Markedly, Trump’s in trouble. Those single percentage point differences in a close race could flip the election to Harris. With Biden on the ticket, Trump polled across the board as the favorite, although by a few toss up percentages in the battleground states. With Harris, Trump, in a those states is now in a real horse race. And Harris has the momentum.
And note the irony here: the very same tactics Trump used against Biden may now be used by Harris against him, Trump’s age, his health, his mental acuity. Trump is arguably in a position where he may need to reach out to undecided and independent voters who have abandoned him since Harris entered the fray to bring them back into the MAGA fold. And that’s not to mention Nikki Haley’s coterie who can Harris can attract. And Trump’s bad news is America’s good news.
Trump’s Truth Social post following his very bad day started out well enough. If one was hoping for some jib to humanization, his first phrases hinted at something we’ve never witnessed before from his postings, a sense of the moment and a call for sincere unification: “As we move forward in Uniting our Nation after the horrific events on Saturday, this dismissal of the Lawless Indictment in Florida should be just the first step, followed quickly by . . .” He apparently exhausted himself with the effort:
As we move forward in Uniting our Nation after the horrific events on Saturday, this dismissal of the Lawless Indictment in Florida should be just the first step, followed quickly by the dismissal of ALL the Witch Hunts — The January 6th Hoax in Washington, D.C., the Manhattan D.A.’s Zombie Case, the New York A.G. Scam, Fake Claims about a woman I never met (a decades old photo in a line with her then husband does not count), and the Georgia “Perfect” Phone Call charges. The Democrat Justice Department coordinated ALL of these Political Attacks, which are an Election Interference conspiracy against Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, ME. Let us come together to END all Weaponization of our Justice System, and Make America Great Again!
@realDonaldTrump Donald Trump Truth Social 10:41 AM EST 07/15/24
We should not be surprised. He’s a singularity, an irresistible force, immune from everyday – decent – emotions. It would’ve been an apt time to follow up on his opening unification theme, but we learned that he’s immovable as he jumped immediately and immodestly from “move forward in Uniting our Nation” to hisidea of unification. His sense of national unification is self-referential only. His list of unifying prerequisites is entirely so, for example, his usual list, “dismissal of the Lawless Indictment in Florida should be just the first step, followed quickly by the dismissal of ALL the Witch Hunts — The January 6th Hoax in Washington, D.C.” and on and on. Being shot apparently doesn’t move him to self-examination, no sitting humbly before death. How empty must he be?
In a stunning irony, at the end of his cris de coeur he wrote, “Let us come together to END all Weaponization of our Justice System.” Yet, there is no mention of the weaponization of our society, and at a moment when he must still have felt the sting of the gunshot and the sensed the whizz of the bullet from one of those very real weapons. The only weaponization he cares about, deeply, is the judicial weapon aimed at himself in a land where accountability is still – if only barely – holding on.
