Apropós of something else entirely, It occurred to me that Vice-President Pence, when presiding over the US Senate, is NOT acting as a member of the Executive Branch (arguably subject to the will of the President), but is, IN FACT, acting as a member of the LEGISLATIVE Branch! He may get that role and title because he incidentally won the Vice-Presidency, but he is wearing a LEGISLATIVE "hat" and not an Executive "hat"!
NO one has commented in my hearing on that point!
THEREFORE, the President's attempt to control what the "President of the Senate" is doing (vis-a-vis the Electoral College) is a possible violation of the Separation of Powers! A President should never have any direct control over a Senate President, regardless of what other offices the latter may hold! Leveling threats is, arguably, an impeachable offense (maybe even a crime!) for a President to try to exert such direct control!
I also doubt that Rudy Giuliani will go to a "Club Fed" for his Georgia problems. He just MIGHT wind up in the Ga. State Pen w/no Secret Service to run interference for him! From racket-buster to racketeer in SUCH a short time!
I'll bet there are some guys in there who can REALLY make the hair dye run down his face!
NOT A MINIMUM SECURITY RISK 60 Minutes ran a report in 1980-something about cushy federal prisons for white collar criminals. The prison for Watergate convicts thereafter closed: "Pa. prison camp once called a 'country club' for notable inmates goes on the market," PennLive.com, 7-24-21. See also "White Collar Cons Say Goodbye to Club Fed," ABC News, 7-1-03. I would be satisfied if President Trump were sentenced to home confinement until after the election, with no media access or coverage. But restricting his freedom of speech would be legally impossible, especially because thus far he is not being prosecuted for treason.
Unfortunately, I do not share Mr. Alter’s optimism. He cites the apparently prodigious legal cannons aiming their fire on Trump, and of course I am glad that prosecutors have the sense to assert claims against Trump.
But then again, I was optimistic in 2017, when it appeared to me, and to a lot of people, that Mueller had Trump by the nuts. After all, we learned that Trump’s first national security advisor had taken money from Russia, that Trump’s campaign manager, Paul Monaforte, had taken millions from Russia, that Jared Kushner and others had lied to the FBI about their conversations with high-placed Russians and that Russians, posing as American blacks, disseminated a lot of dirt about Hillary Clinton in Detroit, the black vote in Detroit plummeted, and that dip in the black vote gave Michigan to Trump. But, somehow, Mueller’s investigation came and went and died.
I can remember in 2018 or 2019 we had Trump on tape saying to leading Ukrainians that he would not give them weaponry unless they gave him dirt on the Bidens. Most people have forgotten that. Indeed, MSNBC and CNN, allegedly “liberal” news programs, are talking about Hunter Biden’s alleged misdeeds without mentioning the poison at the heart of the story: Trump is looking for dirt, is planting dirt, and will sabotage our foreign policy in search of his greatest love, everlasting dirt.
And a couple of weeks ago, a poll commissioned by the New York Times showed Trump and Biden tied at 43 percent; during the 2016 campaign, Hillary had always been ahead of Trump.
For six years, we have been investigating Trump and that scoundrel still walks the streets. This makes the American people think that either the claims of the anti-Trumpers are invalid or that the anti-Trumpers are just such a bunch of disorganized wet behind the ears sophomoric socialists that they are too stupid to deserve to take power. (There is another possibility which I raised in some posts: Trump has threatened prosecutors or fact finders or key witnesses with trips to the bottom of the Hudson River courtesy of his mafioso cement shoes)
And this reminds me of something that HANNAH ARENDT SAID ABOUT THE NAZI EXTERMINATIO OF THE JEWS.
ARENDT SAID that hatred of the Jews soared among gentiles because gentiles had contempt for the Jews for what they perceived as the Jewish inability to use their money to obtain political power or safety from the mob. (Footnote 1)
THE PARALLEL between European Jewry and the American Liberal Chattering Class:
Trumpers have contempt for intellectuals, litigators, and those who know the constitution because of what Trumpers perceive as the inability of these intellectuals, litigator and liberals to spout anything more than language, to wield power, to use their fists to give the Trumpers a black eye. The perceived weakness, or even rank effeminacy, of the liberal chattering classes incites a desire to eliminate the chattering classes
And to top it all off, consider the possibility of a recession. If a recession develops, which is a distinct possibility because higher interest rates normally induce recessionary contractions, Trump will no longer be tied with Biden; he’ll be 5 to 10 points ahead.
Ringing in on your suggestion that it’d be better to see Trump work in a soup kitchen than do time in a “country club” prison. As a public defender for 38 years and counting… I am here to tell you that no such prison exists which could fairly be considered a country club. You shouldn’t suggest such a thing. It’s your lack of knowledge that allowed you to play into a very dangerous idea that some prisons are not so bad - instead, cushy. Please don’t do make that mistake again - your readers might believe you.
Prison would decimate Trump - because there are no cameras allowed and he would, literally, become invisible. (One of the worst aspects of our prisons). He would, by the way, be wildly popular with most inmates because he would be powerful inside - he’s celebrity - secret service would not need to do much protecting. Most prison staff voted for him. But he’d by 100% out of the public eye - worst possible punishment for him.
Soup kitchen? Each appearance would be a campaign event for him - would draw press coverage galore… it’d be nauseating to watch him continue to rail against his treatment and delight the fan base.
After viewing a photo of a cell at Lewisburg, a minimum security prison with many white collar inmates, I take your point that there are no country club penitentiaries. I’d love to see Trump on that narrow bunk next to a toilet with no seat.
But having said that, I don’t agree that Trump would be silenced in prison. He would just have someone else post his screeds on Truth Social. Hitler, as you know, wrote Mein Kampf while in prison.
If Trump had to ladle soup all day for years, the media would quickly tire of seeing him come and go and he would be left to put out the macaroni in silence. God knows, the people who work in the soup kitchen would not be charmed by him.
After he is convicted (and I am convinced he will be), he will be out on appeal for years before his sentence begins. That would put him in his mid-eighties—too old to be breaking rocks on a chain gang in prison. So they’d have him pretending to teach business skills to other inmates or something, while charming the pro-Trump guards. I don’t want to see that. I want to see him with compassionate people he despises and who despise him, doing something he has no interest in—service.
It’s a great question. I think not, but he might do surprisingly well among Democrats who, like him, admire Biden and think he has been a good president but want to turn the page. If Biden gets shocked in SC, he could take a leaf from LBJ in 1968 after Gene McCarthy did surprisingly well in NH and drop out.
I hope you’re right, Jonathan. I’ll be following the Dean Phillips move with interest, but is it really possible that a stand-in will get any traction? And I guess the assumption is that any Midwest governor would do better than Biden. We shall see.
I should have mentioned in my piece that I see Phillips like the “favorite sons” of old. Favorite sons were politicians—usually though not always governors— who had their names entered on the ballot to preserve options on the road to the convention.
I believe I actually met him last year at the Minnesota State Fair. Very willing to break from orthodoxy on a number of topics. As for governors, I have believed for many years that governors are often the most qualified people for the Presidency because of their executive branch experience. Senators always strike me as a bit too removed from the nitty gritty and a bit clubby. I'm all for a governor running place of JB. But then, of course we live in the age when qualifications are being dispensed with entirely.
The supreme fallacy of the Trump candidacy is that Trump believes that the shrieks and squeals he hears from MAGA rodents at campaign rallies indicate love and affection. He fails to realize, however, that shrieks and squeals are defense mechanisms by rodents when they become agitated. He's on the express train to Loser Tucky.
Biden will never dump Harris. Not gonna happen. But if Biden withdraws, Klobuchar, who has experience as a presidential candidate, would get a serious look from primary voters.
Having taught in the Chicago Public Schools as an educator of students with special learning needs, I believe Trump should be sentenced to full time teacher assistant status to include but not limited to such tasks as photocopying
I don’t think that’s a good idea. He might have to interact a bit with children. But thanks for the suggestion. Do any of you have other community service options for the Orange Menace?
I sure do have community service programs that I want that pig, with the orange Tiara, to be forced to tackle
UNDER HIS PRESIDENCY (OR SHOULD I SAY rEIGN), he let corps use consruction materials which western European nations consider oncogenic, carcinogenic
MAKE TRUMP CLEAN ASBESTOS OUT OF APARTMENT BUILDINGS, ETC., WITHOUT PROTECTIVE GEAR. Hell , he already said that he thinks environmentalism is bs for tree huggers. If he things its all bs, let him get down and dirty and make him scrub floors like a char woman.
I disagree somewhat. Like all Americans, Trump should benefit from our environmental laws and should thus be afforded the protection of the cumbersome sweaty gear, which he should be required to wear in all weather during his 9-5 shift on the asbestos removal site.
When I said that he should be deprived of protection from asbestos, I was JOKING AROUND
I was prompted to joke around because you, in an apparently jocular vein, called upon us to dream up demeaning public service jobs that Trump would be compelled to do while in prison.
I agree with your comment. Knowing how difficult and challenging working with students with disabilities is, I thought (only theoretically) that it would be a good community service task for "Felonious Trump." Reality? He shouldn't be trusted to interact with any members of the human race.
Thanks Jon, for lifting our spirits during the these very hot Dog Days. And thanks for the shout out to Congressman Dean Phillips for actually doing something besides talking about the elephant(this one NOT a Republican) in the middle of the Democratic Party’s room. Finally thanks for the perspective on the Hunter Biden matter. Maureen Dowd was roasted by a lot of the Times’ readers for mentioning his case in the same column as Trump and Thomas. “How dare you compare them…!”
But comparison or “whataboutism” was certainly not her point. Nor should it be ours if Democrats and independents want to beat the Right(Trump or no Trump).
To borrow from James Carville: “ It’s the DISTRACTION” stupid!
Add the potential of more good news this upcoming week in Atlanta! Maybe the chances are getting better for us to survive the fiasco that keeps us on the edge of our seats!
Apropós of something else entirely, It occurred to me that Vice-President Pence, when presiding over the US Senate, is NOT acting as a member of the Executive Branch (arguably subject to the will of the President), but is, IN FACT, acting as a member of the LEGISLATIVE Branch! He may get that role and title because he incidentally won the Vice-Presidency, but he is wearing a LEGISLATIVE "hat" and not an Executive "hat"!
NO one has commented in my hearing on that point!
THEREFORE, the President's attempt to control what the "President of the Senate" is doing (vis-a-vis the Electoral College) is a possible violation of the Separation of Powers! A President should never have any direct control over a Senate President, regardless of what other offices the latter may hold! Leveling threats is, arguably, an impeachable offense (maybe even a crime!) for a President to try to exert such direct control!
I also doubt that Rudy Giuliani will go to a "Club Fed" for his Georgia problems. He just MIGHT wind up in the Ga. State Pen w/no Secret Service to run interference for him! From racket-buster to racketeer in SUCH a short time!
I'll bet there are some guys in there who can REALLY make the hair dye run down his face!
Hoosier Daddy!
I didn't know Giuliani was from Indiana! I thought he was from New York!
NOT A MINIMUM SECURITY RISK 60 Minutes ran a report in 1980-something about cushy federal prisons for white collar criminals. The prison for Watergate convicts thereafter closed: "Pa. prison camp once called a 'country club' for notable inmates goes on the market," PennLive.com, 7-24-21. See also "White Collar Cons Say Goodbye to Club Fed," ABC News, 7-1-03. I would be satisfied if President Trump were sentenced to home confinement until after the election, with no media access or coverage. But restricting his freedom of speech would be legally impossible, especially because thus far he is not being prosecuted for treason.
Unfortunately, I do not share Mr. Alter’s optimism. He cites the apparently prodigious legal cannons aiming their fire on Trump, and of course I am glad that prosecutors have the sense to assert claims against Trump.
But then again, I was optimistic in 2017, when it appeared to me, and to a lot of people, that Mueller had Trump by the nuts. After all, we learned that Trump’s first national security advisor had taken money from Russia, that Trump’s campaign manager, Paul Monaforte, had taken millions from Russia, that Jared Kushner and others had lied to the FBI about their conversations with high-placed Russians and that Russians, posing as American blacks, disseminated a lot of dirt about Hillary Clinton in Detroit, the black vote in Detroit plummeted, and that dip in the black vote gave Michigan to Trump. But, somehow, Mueller’s investigation came and went and died.
I can remember in 2018 or 2019 we had Trump on tape saying to leading Ukrainians that he would not give them weaponry unless they gave him dirt on the Bidens. Most people have forgotten that. Indeed, MSNBC and CNN, allegedly “liberal” news programs, are talking about Hunter Biden’s alleged misdeeds without mentioning the poison at the heart of the story: Trump is looking for dirt, is planting dirt, and will sabotage our foreign policy in search of his greatest love, everlasting dirt.
And a couple of weeks ago, a poll commissioned by the New York Times showed Trump and Biden tied at 43 percent; during the 2016 campaign, Hillary had always been ahead of Trump.
For six years, we have been investigating Trump and that scoundrel still walks the streets. This makes the American people think that either the claims of the anti-Trumpers are invalid or that the anti-Trumpers are just such a bunch of disorganized wet behind the ears sophomoric socialists that they are too stupid to deserve to take power. (There is another possibility which I raised in some posts: Trump has threatened prosecutors or fact finders or key witnesses with trips to the bottom of the Hudson River courtesy of his mafioso cement shoes)
And this reminds me of something that HANNAH ARENDT SAID ABOUT THE NAZI EXTERMINATIO OF THE JEWS.
ARENDT SAID that hatred of the Jews soared among gentiles because gentiles had contempt for the Jews for what they perceived as the Jewish inability to use their money to obtain political power or safety from the mob. (Footnote 1)
THE PARALLEL between European Jewry and the American Liberal Chattering Class:
Trumpers have contempt for intellectuals, litigators, and those who know the constitution because of what Trumpers perceive as the inability of these intellectuals, litigator and liberals to spout anything more than language, to wield power, to use their fists to give the Trumpers a black eye. The perceived weakness, or even rank effeminacy, of the liberal chattering classes incites a desire to eliminate the chattering classes
And to top it all off, consider the possibility of a recession. If a recession develops, which is a distinct possibility because higher interest rates normally induce recessionary contractions, Trump will no longer be tied with Biden; he’ll be 5 to 10 points ahead.
Footnote 1: See https://davidgottfried.substack.com/p/how-todays-anti-trump-left-and-european
Ringing in on your suggestion that it’d be better to see Trump work in a soup kitchen than do time in a “country club” prison. As a public defender for 38 years and counting… I am here to tell you that no such prison exists which could fairly be considered a country club. You shouldn’t suggest such a thing. It’s your lack of knowledge that allowed you to play into a very dangerous idea that some prisons are not so bad - instead, cushy. Please don’t do make that mistake again - your readers might believe you.
Prison would decimate Trump - because there are no cameras allowed and he would, literally, become invisible. (One of the worst aspects of our prisons). He would, by the way, be wildly popular with most inmates because he would be powerful inside - he’s celebrity - secret service would not need to do much protecting. Most prison staff voted for him. But he’d by 100% out of the public eye - worst possible punishment for him.
Soup kitchen? Each appearance would be a campaign event for him - would draw press coverage galore… it’d be nauseating to watch him continue to rail against his treatment and delight the fan base.
Hi, Helen:
After viewing a photo of a cell at Lewisburg, a minimum security prison with many white collar inmates, I take your point that there are no country club penitentiaries. I’d love to see Trump on that narrow bunk next to a toilet with no seat.
But having said that, I don’t agree that Trump would be silenced in prison. He would just have someone else post his screeds on Truth Social. Hitler, as you know, wrote Mein Kampf while in prison.
If Trump had to ladle soup all day for years, the media would quickly tire of seeing him come and go and he would be left to put out the macaroni in silence. God knows, the people who work in the soup kitchen would not be charmed by him.
After he is convicted (and I am convinced he will be), he will be out on appeal for years before his sentence begins. That would put him in his mid-eighties—too old to be breaking rocks on a chain gang in prison. So they’d have him pretending to teach business skills to other inmates or something, while charming the pro-Trump guards. I don’t want to see that. I want to see him with compassionate people he despises and who despise him, doing something he has no interest in—service.
I'd sentence this guy to one year living in silent monastery with Cistercian monks
Audio feed could actually be better than video of trial proceedings. Might decrease the latitude for showboating and still leave a stark record.
you think Dean Phillips could beat Biden/Harris in the South Carolina primary?
It’s a great question. I think not, but he might do surprisingly well among Democrats who, like him, admire Biden and think he has been a good president but want to turn the page. If Biden gets shocked in SC, he could take a leaf from LBJ in 1968 after Gene McCarthy did surprisingly well in NH and drop out.
I hope you’re right, Jonathan. I’ll be following the Dean Phillips move with interest, but is it really possible that a stand-in will get any traction? And I guess the assumption is that any Midwest governor would do better than Biden. We shall see.
I should have mentioned in my piece that I see Phillips like the “favorite sons” of old. Favorite sons were politicians—usually though not always governors— who had their names entered on the ballot to preserve options on the road to the convention.
I believe I actually met him last year at the Minnesota State Fair. Very willing to break from orthodoxy on a number of topics. As for governors, I have believed for many years that governors are often the most qualified people for the Presidency because of their executive branch experience. Senators always strike me as a bit too removed from the nitty gritty and a bit clubby. I'm all for a governor running place of JB. But then, of course we live in the age when qualifications are being dispensed with entirely.
The supreme fallacy of the Trump candidacy is that Trump believes that the shrieks and squeals he hears from MAGA rodents at campaign rallies indicate love and affection. He fails to realize, however, that shrieks and squeals are defense mechanisms by rodents when they become agitated. He's on the express train to Loser Tucky.
I hope you’re right, JoAnne!
🤞🏻
Would you approve of Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar as a replacement vice-presidential candidate? She has charisma. Even rural voters like her.
Biden will never dump Harris. Not gonna happen. But if Biden withdraws, Klobuchar, who has experience as a presidential candidate, would get a serious look from primary voters.
Having taught in the Chicago Public Schools as an educator of students with special learning needs, I believe Trump should be sentenced to full time teacher assistant status to include but not limited to such tasks as photocopying
Great Humor. Keep it up.
I don’t think that’s a good idea. He might have to interact a bit with children. But thanks for the suggestion. Do any of you have other community service options for the Orange Menace?
I sure do have community service programs that I want that pig, with the orange Tiara, to be forced to tackle
UNDER HIS PRESIDENCY (OR SHOULD I SAY rEIGN), he let corps use consruction materials which western European nations consider oncogenic, carcinogenic
MAKE TRUMP CLEAN ASBESTOS OUT OF APARTMENT BUILDINGS, ETC., WITHOUT PROTECTIVE GEAR. Hell , he already said that he thinks environmentalism is bs for tree huggers. If he things its all bs, let him get down and dirty and make him scrub floors like a char woman.
I disagree somewhat. Like all Americans, Trump should benefit from our environmental laws and should thus be afforded the protection of the cumbersome sweaty gear, which he should be required to wear in all weather during his 9-5 shift on the asbestos removal site.
When I said that he should be deprived of protection from asbestos, I was JOKING AROUND
I was prompted to joke around because you, in an apparently jocular vein, called upon us to dream up demeaning public service jobs that Trump would be compelled to do while in prison.
Yep, and my reply was joking, too.
I agree with your comment. Knowing how difficult and challenging working with students with disabilities is, I thought (only theoretically) that it would be a good community service task for "Felonious Trump." Reality? He shouldn't be trusted to interact with any members of the human race.
Thanks Jon, for lifting our spirits during the these very hot Dog Days. And thanks for the shout out to Congressman Dean Phillips for actually doing something besides talking about the elephant(this one NOT a Republican) in the middle of the Democratic Party’s room. Finally thanks for the perspective on the Hunter Biden matter. Maureen Dowd was roasted by a lot of the Times’ readers for mentioning his case in the same column as Trump and Thomas. “How dare you compare them…!”
But comparison or “whataboutism” was certainly not her point. Nor should it be ours if Democrats and independents want to beat the Right(Trump or no Trump).
To borrow from James Carville: “ It’s the DISTRACTION” stupid!
On to September with a new commitment to FOCUS.
Thanks, Scotty. You’re right that Dems should not be in the position of defending Hunter Biden beyond pointing out that his dad did nothing illegal.
👍🤞
Add the potential of more good news this upcoming week in Atlanta! Maybe the chances are getting better for us to survive the fiasco that keeps us on the edge of our seats!
Absolutely!
Well done, Mr. Alter!
Thanks, Watkins
Thank you for lifting my spirits, John! For now…
Thanks, Michael!