The Donald Trump Score Card

Trump is in an awkward situation with the Supreme Court. Cases can arise where a president or former president tries to use executive privilege related to an investigation that entailed a military operation in an effort to keep information confidential so as to not compromise the military or national security.

In Trump's case, he was the national security threat with his insurrection. It's a tall wall for him to climb, especially as a former president, to convince the courts that he is somehow protecting the country by invoking belated, residual executive privilege for a threat that (similar to Nixon) he himself imposed.

It's similar to U.S. House member Mo Brooks, who gave a fiery speech at Trump's rally just before the riot, petitioning (unsuccessfully) the U.S. DOJ to protect him in court cases against him, as a member of Congress, that stemmed from his speech that was performed in his personal capacity on the Ellipse outside the grounds of the White House and Congress.

 

I think this case, or similar, which has already been adjudicated, i.e. the Nixon case, should automatically be thrown out. Unfortunately, the SCOTUS is much more political than it was fifty years ago.

 

To all the MAGA rioters and left-behinders who have been left behind by Trump.

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The expansion of truther narratives from obscure forum rooms to the mainstream political system.


https://www.rochester.edu/newscente...conspiracies-can-the-cycle-be-broken-483542/\

excerpt:

"According to Tyson, it’s this growing belief in conspiracist narratives that has led to the increased radicalization of average Americans.

“In order for people to commit violent acts you have to make it seem as if there’s some greater cause,” says Tyson. You have to convince people that the political opposition is “in cahoots as part of some crazy cabal, and that the greater cause is to overturn that cabal,” which justifies extreme actions, including violence and breaking the law.

In a recent study, “Sowing the Seeds: Radicalization as a Political Tool” published in the American Journal of Political Science, Tyson—together with University of Michigan coauthor Todd Lehmann—looks at two common policy interventions—economic and psychological—designed to counter the growing radicalization among the US population. The duo finds that improving economic conditions reduces both radicalization efforts and dissent. However, the duo also finds that trying to render people psychologically less susceptible to radicalization can backfire and instead increase the efforts by radical leaders to influence and radicalize more followers.

While radical assertions of a “deep state” and “stolen elections” have long bubbled quietly underneath public discourse, Tyson says during the last five years, the ideas have moved into the mainstream discourse. That shift—from fringe to center stage—Tyson argues, happened during the Trump presidency.

The January 6 storming of the US Capitol, Tyson says, was driven by such conspiratorial misinformation, as hundreds of American citizens attacked the seat of American democracy in order to reverse what they were led falsely to believe was an “undemocratic election”—despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary."

 

Radicalized and believing in conspiracies: can the cycle be broken?

excerpt:

"Why were conspiracies able to enter the American mainstream so pervasively?

Trump was incredibly important in giving a megaphone to conspiracists who had been on the fringe beforehand until he became a political force and essentially weaponized a lot of those ideas. When Trump unleashed all these conspiracies on the public—many people didn’t know that they were really fringe ideas. One other reason they were able to spread so quickly is our so-called “media ecosystem.” We have media outlets like Fox News, OAN, and Newsmax who are perfectly willing to spout conspiracies. When it all started back in 2015, the mainstream media wasn’t ready to deal with this kind of weaponization. That’s why conspiracists were able to misuse the mainstream media to essentially launder their claims: the conspiracists would make a bunch of unfounded assertions and accusations, which the mainstream media would pick up in turn to report on. Part of the debunking, however, was retelling the untrue story. That way a lot of these conspiracy narratives ended up reaching a much larger audience."

 

Mother and father took their 14-year-old son to Trump's insurrection.


Mom who brought son into Capitol during riot gets 3 months in prison
By Michael Kunzelman
Associated Press
Published January 7, 2022 5:44PM
Updated 6:02PM

Mom who brought son into Capitol during riot gets 3 months in prison

excerpt:

"A North Carolina woman who brought her 14-year-old son into the U.S. Capitol during last year's riot was sentenced Friday to three months imprisonment.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said she finds it "very hard to comprehend" why Virginia Marie Spencer and her husband took their child into the building during a violent insurrection. Spencer's husband, Christopher Raphael Spencer, also was arrested. He has pleaded not guilty to riot-related charges.

"It must have been a traumatic experience to witness this kind of violence," the judge said. "It’s a complete lack of judgment on your part."

Spencer must report to prison to begin serving her 90-day sentence by Feb. 25. The judge also sentenced her to three years of probation.

Spencer and her husband pressed forward toward the Capitol building with their 14-year-old son "in tow" despite seeing police shooting tear gas on the crowd, a federal prosecutor wrote in a court filing. The Spencers joined other rioters who overwhelmed a line of police officers, invaded House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office suite and demanded entry to the House chamber, the filing says.

Virginia Spencer pleaded guilty in September to parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building, a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of 6 months imprisonment."

 

A case related to the racial culture war atmosphere that Trump has promoted.

All three were sentenced to life in prison. They won't be appearing at the White House with Trump like Rittenhouse did, unless Trump is reelected and pardons them.


Ahmaud Arbery's killers get life sentences; no possibility of parole for Travis and Gregory McMichael
By Sophie Reardon, Alex Sundby, Analisa Novak
CBS News
Updated on: January 7, 2022 / 6:59 PM

Ahmaud Arbery's killers get life sentences; no possibility of parole for Travis and Gregory McMichael

excerpt:

"The three men convicted in Ahmaud Arbery's murder were sentenced Friday to life in prison. Travis McMichael, 35, and his father Gregory McMichael, 66, were sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Their neighbor William "Roddie" Bryan, 52, will have to serve 30 years of his life sentence before he's eligible for parole. The three men, all of whom are White, were convicted in November for the killing of Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, in Georgia in February 2020.

Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley noted how the McMichaels went after Arbery after Gregory McMichael saw him running in a street and said, "Let's go." The judge said, "Ahmaud Arbery was then hunted down and shot, and he was killed because individuals here in this courtroom took the law into their own hands.""

 

I don’t understand why she didn’t get the full six months, if not more. What did her dumb ass husband get?

 

Trump fumes over Jan. 6 commemoration.


Trump rips Democrats, media over Jan. 6 anniversary

excerpt:

"Former President Trump on Friday delivered a forceful rebuke of Democrats and the media a day after the anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, accusing his critics of using the assault as a political wedge, while downplaying the significance of the most violent day at the Capitol in centuries.

In a lengthy statement issued through his leadership PAC, Trump sought to tap into the grievances of his conservative base of voters, casting Democrats and the “media establishment” as nothing less than a sinister force that had “driven our country into the ground.”

“These radical leftists in Washington care NOTHING for American Democracy,” Trump said. “All they care about is control over you, and wealth and riches for themselves.”

“But they are failing. No one believes them anymore,” he added. “And the day is quickly coming when they will be overwhelmingly voted out of power.”

The remarks came a day after lawmakers, led by Democrats, gathered in Washington to commemorate the anniversary of Jan. 6, 2020, when a mob of Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol as Congress met to certify President Biden’s Electoral College victory."

 

MAGA rioter may be returning to jail after telling CNN he'd storm the Capitol again.


'Do it again? I want to say yes': Defiant MAGA rioter tells CNN he didn't do 'anything wrong'

 

Diaper Donny haz a sad....


Sad...

 

That kid should be in Child Protective Services.

fixed

 

Not a rocket scientist.

 

In an affidavit, Mo Brooks incorrectly stated the election date as December 3, 2020.


Mo Brooks: 2020 election stolen from Trump, 'kick ass' speech distorted

excerpt;

"In the affidavit, Brooks incorrectly lists the date of the election as Dec. 3, 2020. The election occurred on Nov. 3, 2020.

“In my judgment, the evidence is overwhelming and compelling that the Dec. 3, 2020 elections were the most voter fraud and election theft riddled of any election in United States history,” Brooks said in the affidavit. Brooks does not elaborate on any of the “evidence” he referred to in his statement."

 

Yeah.... Fraud was so bad there was no election that day, you fucking moron.

 

Mo Brooks isn't quite as bad as Rick Perry.

In 2012, GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry stated the wrong date for the upcoming November presidential election and mistakenly thought that the minimum voting age was 21.

During a debate, Perry couldn't remember which federal government agencies he wanted to scrap.

Perry dropped out of the 2012 race in January.


Rick Perry flubs voting age and election date, Twitter cleans up after him

 

Knowing Perry, he would say he dropped out in March.

...and wouldn't be able to remember which race he dropped out of.

 

More excuses from Cyber Ninjas. It's now saying it's too costly for them to produce the court-ordered documents.

It's costing them $50,000 per day to not produce them.


MAGA Audit Fans Turn on Cyber Ninjas After Court Ruling

excerpt:

"Wilenchick told the AP that the group would not produce the documents because it could no longer afford to retrieve them. Hannah, however, warned that the $50,000 sanctions would begin on Friday, and were applicable to individuals, not just the now-defunct company.

Some Cyber Ninjas fans expressed confusion over the group’s lack of transparency.

“Why won’t they release their documents?” one wrote on Telegram, when others bemoaned the $50,000-a-day sanction.

Another audit-watcher noted that the money Cyber Ninjas supposedly needs to retrieve the documents would be “a drop in the bucket compared to the amount they've spent fighting having to produce these records, in court. But then, ‘give us more money to show you how we spent your other money’, is an entirely predictable grift.”"

 

Trump operates the same way.

 

Thanks, Trump! Stacey Abrams Has Early Advantages in Georgia

excerpt:

"Political challengers rarely get a jump on incumbent, who start most races with the competitive advantage of name recognition, fundraising and ready-made campaign infrastructures.

Most challengers aren’t Stacey Abrams. She’s pretty much washed everyone in Georgia–if not the country–at raising money and building a powerful voter registration org since narrowly losing the Georgia governor’s race in 2018. There might not be another non-elected official with better name recognition, unless they score touchdowns or spit lyrics. All of that is allowing Abrams to jump out of the gate in her bid to unseat Gov. Brian Kemp, and she’s hitting the ground running."