The Islamic State's Moscow Massacre

Plus: Donald Trump's financial woes, Andrew Huberman's lady issues, and more...

137 dead: Over the weekend, gunmen affiliated with Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K)—an offshoot founded in 2015, mostly comprised of malcontent Taliban militants—opened fire on a Moscow concert hall where the band Picnic was playing. They killed 137 people and injured 180 more, and they also set the concert hall on fire. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack; Russian news media immediately started blaming Ukraine, claiming the West was lying about who is responsible.

The four suspects, who have been arrested, are men from Tajikistan who were in Russia as migrant workers. Russian President Vladimir Putin alleged the men "were heading toward Ukraine" to seek refuge after carrying out their attack.

"During the U.S. military withdrawal from the country, ISIS-K carried out a suicide bombing at the international airport in Kabul in August 2021 that killed 13 U.S. service members and as many as 170 civilians," reports The New York Times. ISIS-K has, up until now, been widely regarded as ineffective; the group has plotted several attacks in Europe—notably one on the cathedral in Köln, Germany, for New Years Eve 2023—yet has mostly been thwarted before they've had the opportunity to carry them out.

Trump goes to court (again): Former President Donald Trump will appear in a Manhattan court today to "seek another delay of his criminal trial on charges that he covered up a sex scandal that could have derailed his stunning victory in the 2016 presidential election," per The New York Times.

There was a recent delay in this case, after new evidence was made available and the judge decided that Trump's lawyers needed a 30-day extension to review it. (Trump asked for either a 90-day extension or a thrown-out case.)

But Trump is also facing imminent financial trouble, from needing to either settle up in the civil fraud case—also in New York—or go the appeals route, which would require him to secure a half-billion-dollar bond. If Trump does not secure that bond, the state attorney general, Letitia James, will most likely start freezing Trump's bank accounts and seizing some of his assets. (He already secured a $91.6 million bond needed for another case—the defamation suit brought by E. Jean Carroll—but is struggling to do so for this much larger amount.)

Appeal bonds, like the one Trump is seeking, are "document[s] in which a company guarantees the. judgment, plus interest, should [a client] lose his appeal and fail to pay," says the Times. "Mr. Trump would need to pledge significant collateral to a bond company—about $557 million, his lawyers said—including as much cash as possible, as well as stocks and bonds he could sell quickly." He would also incur a roughly $20 million fee owed to the bond company.

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Scenes from New York: The story of comedian Pete Davidson getting kinda stoned and buying a decommissioned Staten Island ferry.

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QUICK HITS

• Another day, another "RFK Jr. considers running on Libertarian ticket" piece, this time from Politico. (FWIW, I do not think this is very likely to happen, but that doesn't mean the mainstream media will stop writing pieces about it.)
• Investors approved the Truth Social/Digital World merger I mentioned in Friday's newsletter, which will line Donald Trump's pockets with a bit more cash.
• Inside the Aurora Borealis tourism industry in Iceland.
• What you don't know about Andrew Huberman.
• Yes:

Weird era we are living in when trying to be "valuable to others" is considered a bad thing. pic.twitter.com/QhSSTDB9hy

— Diana S. Fleischman (@sentientist) March 25, 2024

• Transit system assaults in New York City really are rising. Zach Weissmueller and I talked about this (and more) with Peter Moskos on last week's Just Asking Questions:

Transit assaults 2006-2023. It's not just a "perception" issue. Reported assaults have tripled over the past decade. That's not good. https://t.co/4t2imulhBb

— Peter Moskos (@PeterMoskos) March 25, 2024

• "The Wisconsin attorney general's attempt to find a right to abortion in the Wisconsin Constitution is unprecedented, and wrong," write Christine File, Heather Weininger, and Dan Miller in National Review.
• Belmopan: the city of bureaucrats, totally centrally planned, made boring as a result, with a population of only 25,000 despite being Belize's capital city.

Comments

[Idaho-Bob]

I was told only mass shootings happen in America.

[Mike Parsons]

weird, didnt the gunmen consult Russia's laws and determine its illegal for them to have/use those kind of firearms?

I was certain gun laws against this sort of thing would totes work...

[Social Justice is neither]

I blame Indiana gun laws on the local availability.

[HorseConch]

That's the most likely conclusion. Do they even gun law in the Hoosier State?

[rbike]

What about us Iowans? 2 hrs to the border.

[Rev Arthur L kuckland]

Didn't the CIA fund is is?

[R Mac]

Yes.

[Rev Arthur L kuckland]

That combined with the new Ukraine general who said he would favor insurgency. This was planned, and not by isis

[Sometimes a Great Notion]

Right, followers of Islam, the religion of peace, would never attack anyone like this.

[Mother's Lament]

Ever since it was essentially proven the CIA blew up the underwater natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, I don't know what to think anymore.

[rbike]

I believe nothing reported on Ukraine/ Russia. It has been impossible to discern truth. I just know that the fighting should have stopped years ago.

[TheReEncogitationer]

C’mon! It’s the damn Information Age. Nothing has to be a mystery forever with the effort of the human faculty of Reason.

Too often, people who say what you said really don’t want to know and fear taking a stand. Even “both sides” is acceptable if based on evidence.

[Mother's Lament]

"human faculty of Reason"

Did you mean to capitalize "Reason"? If so, KMW might have a hug for you.

[Rev Arthur L kuckland]

Exactly, there is no scenario you can propose where an honest person would say that's too far the US gov wouldn't do that

[Sometimes a Great Notion]

Ok, but there really isn't a scenario that a honest person would claim the CIA did this over ISIS without any actual evidence. And unless you think Chechnya was a CIA funded op too, there are plenty of reasons to believe this is just Muslims killing Rus for their own reasons apart from any Western or Ukrainian actions. In fact the USA warned Russia of a mass attack just a few weeks ago.

[TheReEncogitationer]

I'm in the habit of capitalizing philosophical terms such as worldviews, religions, non-religions, and faculties such as Volition and Reason.

So, KMW would be like Brandy to my Marty in the song by Looking Glass. To paraphrase the lyrics: "My life, my love, and my lady, is my thoughts."

[jimc5499]

Proven by who?

[soldiermedic76]

There's definitely some strong circumstantial evidence that the Ukrainian intelligence's fifth directorate had a hand in this (and they're paid for and trained by the CIA). Putin announced afterwards that Russia has ended it's special military operation and now considers itself in a proxy war with NATO? Also, there's increasing warnings that Ukraine's military is on the verge of collapse, which may require actual NATO troops to stabilize the situation, or write off Ukraine (I'll take the latter)? Ukraine did launch massive artillery attacks into Russian Territory a couple days before the attack, mainly aimed at civilian targets.

[soldiermedic76]

Strong might be overstating it, some circumstantial evidence.

[Gaear Grimsrud]

I think it's logical to suspect CIA involvement in pretty much any assassination, coup or massacre. It's their area of expertise. It's what they do. Of course they have competitors, mostly on the same team, but occasionally Russia, China and those wacky Muslims. It's a crapshoot but overall you can't lose by betting on our own IC.

[R Mac]

To overthrow Bashar al-Assad, who Russia supports. Really trying to start a nuclear war.

[Idaho-Bob]

What really worked was nobody returned fire. That is the real goal of gun control.

[TheReEncogitationer]

*DING! DING! DING! DING!*. Winner, Winner! Chicken Kiiv Dinner!
🙂
😉

[JesseAz]

The 4 captured are now on Joe's red flag law database though. So victory.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

We're all Americans now.

[TheReEncogitationer]

Waiting for Nardz and Goldie's bullshit blaming this on Ukraine instead of the Islamofascists that Putin likes to suck up to when necessary:

Putin Condemns Qu’ran Burning During Dagestan Mosque Visit
https://www.newarab.com/news/putin-condemns-quran-burning-during-dagestan-mosque-visit

[JesseAz]

When have nardz or GG done that?

[TheReEncogitationer]

When haven't they done that?

To them, Putin turned water into vodka, fed 5000 Russians with a few pieces of black bread and luttefisk and rode into Moscow on a fucking donkey.

[JesseAz]

If they do it all the time you could provide one instance.

Saying the US should not fund the Ukraine war isn't calling Russia Jesus.

Just a stupid statement.

[TheReEncogitationer]

Roll back the footsge on every story about Russia and Ukraine. .

You'll find them not only opposing U.S. involvement, but also waxing and lubed up over Putin and Mother Russian Revanchism.

And Nardz always said: "There are no rules, only tools." For him, that's not only a "Might Makes Right" credo, but a confession of his own toolery.

[JesseAz]

It is a war. Ukraine has done as many violations of war practices as Russia has. Understanding that wars aren't cotton candy parties isnt cheering a side on.

Again. If you had an example to use you could use it.

[Gaear Grimsrud]

I have no idea who's at fault. What I do know is that a narrative is being crafted by the Biden regime that will be repeated by the media until it becomes the conventional wisdom. In the meantime countervailing facts will be reported and either censored or ignored. At some point I will find myself inclined to accept what I find to be the most logical theory knowing that I may be wrong.

[Quo Usque Tandem]

Like the origin of COVID being the WIV.

[soldiermedic76]

It could be both. There is some circumstantial evidence that Ukraine's fifth directorate helped organize this attack, but it was to be timed with the Russian election (Russian security did say they were alerted and did delay but not stop the attack). Additionally, Ukraine did launch massive artillery attacks on targets in the border region (on the Russian side) that had minimal military value but happened to be in the region the terrorist were supposedly headed to cross into Ukrainian territory on the day of the Russian Elections. The fifth directorate (which is CIA trained and supported) has been implicated in assassinations and sabotage activities deep in Russian Territory, and Ukraine's military has increasingly targeted civilian population centers in occupied Ukrainian territory. Additionally, ISIS-K generally goes in for suicide attacks, rarely do their operatives try to survive their attacks, largely so they cannot be captured, as they were here. So, it doesn't fit ISIS-K MO. Also, they haven't been able to successfully launch an attack of this size until now and the suicide bombing during the Afghanistan withdrawal. Note the difference in their two largest attacks. Additionally, ISIS-K has a long history of claiming credit for attacks that they weren't involved in. So there is some room to be skeptical of the rush to blame it on ISIS-k, despite their laying claim to it.

[TheReEncogitationer]

If Ukraine did use ISIS-K fighters, it would be just as dumb as Putin using Muslim fighters as part of his forces, and for all the same reasons.

Islam has it's own plans for the Planet and Muslims of every Sect have their own vision of their place in those plans.

Unless Putin converts to Islam or submits as a Dhimmi and pays the Jizyat (Head-Tax or "protection" money,) then Putin's plans are not theirs. And the same would go for Zelenskyy and Ukraine.

I hope when all this is over, Ukraine has a cleaning-out and a re-strengthening of it's defense, so it no longer has either Azov or Islamic riff-raff in it's ranks.

[soldiermedic76]

Russia is using Muslims, and Buddhists and a bunch of other foreign nationals.

[soldiermedic76]

Also, both countries have a history of using Muslims against the other. In the past, when Ukraine was part of the Polish-Lithuanian union, it was Crimean Tartars.

[soldiermedic76]

And the Ottoman Turks.

[TheReEncogitationer]

And it is a dumb move to use Muslim fighters in every instance.

Practitioners of “The Religion of Peace and Compassion”™ just use those wars as reconnaissance, scouting and dress rehearsal for their own wars against the Kuffir and the ultimate takeover and destruction of Dar Al-Harb by Dar Al-Islam and the End Times when Al-Qu'ran proclaims that the trees will speak and say: “There is a Jew behind me. Come slay him!”

Having fighters like that in your ranks is damn dangerous!

Nowhere is that more evident than when the PLO held sway over Lebanon until the Israelis kicked them out in 1982. Every terrorist group in the world including Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad was drawn into the maelstrom and used Lebanon as it’s shooting range. What was once called “The Switzerland of The Middle East” turned into a slaughterhouse.

Some excellent reading on this is Jillian Becker’s The PLO: The Rise and Fall of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

[rbike]

You need to go there and lead them. Sounds like you have the knowledge, plan and desire. I suspect many here would encourage you positively.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

If Ukraine did use ISIS-K fighters, it would be just as dumb as Putin using Muslim fighters as part of his forces, and for all the same reasons.

Here’s the problem–ISIS-K is a Pashtun group that mostly operates along the Pakistan/Afghanistan border against the Taliban. They were the ones who suicide-bombed the Kabul airport during the US pullout.

Their concerns are almost entirely tribal and local. They have absolutely zero reason to wander all the way to Moscow and carry out a tactical, organized massacre. Secondly, these are fucking ISIS jihadis, why did they act with such a sense of self-preservation? Why did the four the Russians captured run instead of taking out as many infidels as possible before going out in a blaze of glory against the Russian cops and military?

This is why the whole thing is suspicious as hell, and I wouldn’t put it past the CIA to play glowgames by blatantly telling Russia that their operatives were going to attack them somewhere, knowing Russia would probably dismiss it.

[Fist of Etiquette]

FWIW, I do not think this is very likely to happen, but that doesn't mean the mainstream media will stop writing pieces about it.

Does this mean him doing so they think will help Joe?

[JesseAz]

Of course. They want to split his vote. Right now majority if his vote is from dems in polling.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Anything to prevent the return of the Evil Orange Man. Do you really want sensitive diverse young journalist heads to literally explode?

[Idaho-Bob]

Yes

[Gaear Grimsrud]

That would take us a long way towards Making America Great Again.

[Fist of Etiquette]

If Trump does not secure that bond, the state attorney general, Letitia James, will most likely start freezing Trump's bank accounts and seizing some of his assets.

I'm beginning to wonder if maybe that might be the whole point of this.

[sarcasmic]

My thought is that Trump is going to let that happen to further solidify his status as a martyr.

[Mike Parsons]

he doesn't need to do anything, the left has all but solidified that for him

[sarcasmic]

By allowing his assets to be seized his followers will have yet another thing to cry about.

[damikesc]

So, you really do not mind government violating Constitutional rights as long as the guy it is being done to deserved it in your eyes?

[sarcasmic]

I've said from the beginning that the case and judgment were absurd. I'm not going to cry about it because I'm not personally invested in politicians. Never have been, never will be.

[R Mac]

Sure thing. Everyone believes you.

[JesseAz]

Yet you’ll cry about violent summer of love protestors and unmarked vans. Lol.

You won’t cry over it because you don’t care about state abuses. This is one of the largest in Americans jurisprudence. And you don’t care. Because again you aren’t a libertarian.

Just like you mock 5 years for feet on desk or Babbitt being shot.

Why pretend you're libertarian at this point?

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Like a battered spouse, Sarc craves the only attention he can get.

[sarcasmic]

That explains why I've got the twits you're responding to on mute. Because I crave their attention. Fucking idiot.

[JesseAz]

Right. At this point you're seeking head pats from Jeff and shrike.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Not his head he wants patted.

[Don't look at me!]

POST THE LIST!

[Ron]

YOU should be invested whenever out government over reaches wether it be a subject or a person you have little interest in since when they see no one care they just get worse and eventually go after everyone and they even said so during the pandemic. If you don't take the vaxx you can't work you can't leave home you may even go to jail

[sarcasmic]

I see nothing to be gained by getting worked up over things that are completely out of my control.

[Don't look at me!]

Like when people say things you don’t like?

[JesseAz]

Then why come to a comment board to talk about things out of your control?

[HorseConch]

Allowing his assets to be siezed? I guess this is all his fault, and the fact that he got fined $450M+ for repaying loans to banks that would like to lend to him again is totally normal.

[sarcasmic]

If he is able to post bond, but does not, that will be allowing his assets to be seized.

I don't know if that's what he's going to do. But as I said I suspect he will because it will stew up even more anger and hatred among his followers.

[JesseAz]

Youre justifying abuse of the law with claims it will rile up the base. What a piece of shit lol.

[R Mac]

You really think he’s got half a billion in cash sitting around? He could post the bond but won’t so his properties get seized?

Retard.

[Ron]

it is illegal to requires bond so high to someone, anyone such that it can ruin them.

[sarcasmic]

If he's worth the billions that he claims he is worth, then half of one isn't going to ruin him.

[Don't look at me!]

Completely missing the difference between wealth and liquidity.

[R Mac]

He’s dumb.

[VinniUSMC]

The only liquidity sarc knows is measured in proof.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

Totally.

He's not doing too good on this subject.

Seems to understand it's a targeted prosecution. But doesn't want to complain too much about it because it's Trump.

Btw
"If he’s worth the billions that he claims he is worth, then half of one isn’t going to ruin him.""

That's totally not a defense of the prosecution. (sarc) He believes it's targeted and wrong, but Trump should pay up anyway.

[JesseAz]

Just take more from those rich people. They can afford it. Said every leftist in history.

[InsaneTrollLogic]

So you’re a socialist here then?

[sarcasmic]

Does it take effort to come up with such ridiculously stupid conclusions, or does it come naturally?

[Rev Arthur L kuckland]

Who was the dem that suggested he could sell Mar-a-Lago because that would get him $240 mil

[Outlaw Josey Wales]

CNN - Another fine analysis

[TrickyVic (old school)]

I believe this is obvious selective prosecution.

The issue is Trump profited on a deal where sq footage was inflated on paperwork. Trump wasn't the only one that profited from that inflated paperwork. The banks profited too. Therefore if this is a question of ill-gotten gains due to the misrepresentation, then the banks should be charged too since they also profited from the ill-gotten gains.

[JesseAz]

It needs to be called targeted prosecution. Selectivr prosecution is too light and can be justified in some cases.

[sarcasmic]

If the banks hadn't loaned the money to Trump they would have loaned it to someone else and still profited.

[Don't look at me!]

Cuz they can only do one loan at a time?

[JesseAz]

You are such an economic moron. Lol.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

But with the Trump loan, the bank profited from his fraud.

It doesn't matter who else could have received money. If the claim is the paperwork was fraudulent then anyone who profited from that received ill-gotten gains. If Trump can't keep them, neither should the bank. If the civil law goes after the entities keeping the ill-gotten gains then NYS must go after the banks involved too.

[sarcasmic]

I could agree if they knowingly participated in the fraud, but I've seen nothing to indicate that's the case.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

They benefited from the fraud, then they received ill-gotten gains. Doesn't matter if you did so willingly or not, the ill-gotten gains should be recovered.

[JesseAz]

What fraud occurred sarc? The banks did their own evaluations for fucks sake.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

They received interest from the money they loaned after extensively reviewing the paperwork with the inflated sq footage. They knew what they were getting into and agreed to it.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

If there was fraud, there is no scenario in which the banks were not in breach of their fiduciary duty. They either knowingly participated or they failed to perform due diligence as required by law. The only way the banks are not guilty of something is if there was no fraud.

[JesseAz]

Look how sarc ignores the state abuse and claims those pointing it out are crying over it.

It is amazing he claims to be a libertarian.

[Anomalous]

And it will work. LeTIT's hard-on for Trump doesn't let her see the higher-order effects of her actions.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Or does it? Why doubt that she, and her sponsors, want a more authoritarian one-party state?

[R Mac]

She’s in NY, they basically already have one.

[damikesc]

Well, is he not one here?

He is having an Eighth Amendment violation against him not being a problem for people like you.

Real estate investors need to flee NYC post haste.

[Social Justice is neither]

Not just real estate, the same logic used against DJT works for every single financial instrument transaction making Wall Street execs the biggest criminals on the planet if this logic were consistently applied.

[sarcasmic]

But it's not consistently applied, and it's not going to be. The DA who ran for office on prosecuting Trump made a public statement that others need not worry.

[damikesc]

Which, of course, is WILDLY illegal.

[sarcasmic]

No, actually. It's not. Winning office with promises to target one individual is not illegal. If anything it's a statement about voters that he can do that and win. As far as selective prosecution goes, DAs have prosecutorial discretion as well as complete immunity. They can do whatever they want.

[JesseAz]

It is legal to use prosecutorial power in a political manner you statist fuck.

[JesseAz]

Illegal

[Quicktown Brix]

I believe that's WILDLY immoral, but perfectly legal.

[damikesc]

Doubt SCOTUS will not see a problem with blatantly and proudly specifically targeted prosecution.

Violation of rights and all.

[Quicktown Brix]

Maybe. They'd have to overcome this precedent.

"A selective prosecution claim is not a defense on the merits to the criminal charge itself, but an independent assertion that the prosecutor has brought the charge for reasons forbidden by the Constitution."

United States v. Armstrong

[damikesc]

This is not a criminal charge. It is an exceptionally novel civil charge. Seeking to damage him beyond repair even if he is found innocent on all charges (if they sell Trump Tower and the state was wrong, Trump will not get it back)

And that everybody is fully aware it is (for now) ONLY being done to Trump should raise red flags.

[Sevo]

"And that everybody is fully aware it is (for now) ONLY being done to Trump should raise red flags."

The NY governor is making it clear that it's aimed ONLY at Trump to keep others from moving assets out of NY:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gHz0i45mac

[Quicktown Brix]

This is not a criminal charge.

Good point. I'm not sure how this changes things. The courts have been very unfriendly to selective enforcement cases, but you leave me with enough doubt to drop my argument.

[sarcasmic]

What rights are being violated?

Say you're driving on the highway with a pack of speeders, and you're the only one who gets pulled over. Were your rights violated? Do you think the judge will give a shit when you say "But they did it too and didn't get a ticket! That means what I did is ok!"?

[damikesc]

Eighth Amendment.

"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."

This should easily qualify.

Again, if this stands, you will REALLY not like what follows.

[sarcasmic]

I agree that the judgement is absurd. Whether or not it qualifies as “excessive” is up to the courts.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""Say you’re driving on the highway with a pack of speeders, and you’re the only one who gets pulled over""

This isn't the scenario you laid out. You clearly understand this is about Trump and no one else. A more apt analogy would be that a county sheriff was elected on a platform saying he would give YOU tickets, then ignore other speeder because it's not you.

[sarcasmic]

Saying "They did it first!" or "They do it too!" isn't a defense against the law. Quite the opposite. It's admitting guilt.

[JesseAz]

Sarc. Stop rationalizing why this is fine.

A) novel construction of the law
B) targets and individual, not a crime
C) no use of equal application.

You keep defending this shit while claiming you aren’t defending it. You are supporting state legal abuses because you hate Trump.

Youre literally justifying unequal application of the fucking law. Just like you continue to make excuses for Joe regarding classified documents to defend him.

[damikesc]

If I say my house is worth $500,000 and you say it is worth $400,000 and that is what you will pay --- per this lawsuit, I defrauded you.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""If I say my house is worth $500,000 and you say it is worth $400,000 and that is what you will pay — per this lawsuit, I defrauded you.""

A more apt analogy would be you told me you had a 30,000 sqft home and it was really 10,000 sqft.

But let's say you wanted to borrow some money against that home. And I as the bank didn't really care about the footage and gave you the $500,000 anyway because I was going to profit off the interest.

The issue is about the sqft claimed on the paperwork. It has not been about the valuation. The state is going after "ill-gotten" gains claiming Trump misrepresented the amount of space. However, if neither party had an issue with it, I don't see the civil violation and the state should butt out. Nor do I see how the gains were ill-gotten if both parties agreed. If the bank(s) came to NYS to said hey, this guy just ripped us off, then I would see an issue.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

It violates stare decisis. If Trump is found guilty of an obscure violation where nobody else is ever prosecuted for doing exactly the same thing, a court cannot let the ruling stand. If a prosecutor tried to charge someone under a sodomy statute for consensual sex anywhere in the US today, it would get overturned for the exact same reason.

Your example is an obvious fallacy. Only one speeder in a group gets pulled over, but many speeders in different groups get pulled over. It is not even remotely similar.

[Jefferson Paul]

TrickyVic. If the case was just about listing the wrong square footage on the one penthouse property, I would see you point. But that was just one of many claims by the prosecution of "fraud." Letitia James also claimed he inflated the value of Mara Lago and other properties based on her, and the judge's, subjective assessment of the properties' values. To me it seems clear this was just to punish Trump for being someone they don't like as well as making it extremely difficult for Trump to campaign in his attempt to be elected this November.

Would the judgement of around $450 million have been this high if the "fraud" Trump "committed" only consisted of listing the wrong square footage of one property put up as collateral?

Well, in this case in New York with partisan actors, it probably would, but not because that would be a reasonable penalty for fraud, but because this is about getting Trump with whatever means are available, damn the law.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

Hi Jefferson,

NYS has been very clear about this. It's why there was a summary judgement. The $450M is about profits from the misrepresentation of the sqft. The $450M should absolutely be challenged. The NYS court of appeals should question the math the DA is using to determine ill-gotten gains. Show your work is something the DAs office probably doesn't want to hear or do.

I'm not betting on the court of appeals to call it for what it really is. A political use of a novel law not intended for this purpose.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

I understand the state's position. And it's bullshit.

[markm23]

"A more apt analogy would be that a county sheriff was elected on a platform saying he would give YOU tickets, then ignore other speeder because it’s not you." An even better analogy would be if the Sheriff found a way to read the law so the speed limit was 1 mph even though it was posted 55 and gave you a ticket for driving 56. Then a biased judge fined you half a billion dollars for driving 55mph over the limit.

[JesseAz]

The Supreme Court has had rulings on targeted and selective prosecutions based on politics. USSC just picked up another.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/20/us/politics/supreme-court-politically-motivated-arrests.html

This type of action is not in fact legal and is a basis to overturn verdicts.

[Commenter_XY]

Do you believe that? = The others need not worry

If this is done to POTUS Trump, it will absolutely be done to everyone, without any compunction.

[sarcasmic]

Do you believe that? = The others need not worry

Yes. This guy ran for office promising to dig up something to prosecute Trump for, and he kept his promise. He’s not going after other investors because he’s not upholding the law, he’s targeting one man.

[Zeb]

Still I would think that the fact that they are willing to do it to anyone should make others uncomfortable. Me today, you tomorrow and all that.

[R Mac]

Hate is a powerful tool for authoritarians.

[JesseAz]

And you have no issues with this while claiming to be libertarian.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Still no TDS vaccine.

[Commenter_XY]

I hope you are right sarcasmic, that the rest of us do not need to worry. My experience has been when people get away with it once, they'll do it again and again and again.

[Don't look at me!]

Too much money in it not to try again.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

It's all about going after the unfavored. Trump today, Pepsico tomorrow, meat packers after that. Who's next?

[JesseAz]

So this justifies it even more in your eyes? Targeted persecution?? Lol.

Bookmarked.

[EISTAU Gree-Vance]

Might as well dump the bookmarks. Sarc is apparently more than willing to come here and get stomped every day, but he ain’t paying 25 bucks for it.

That’s just a bridge too far.

[JesseAz]

I will keep them for the lulz

[Social Justice is neither]

So you're just cheering abuses by the State and malicious prosecution that you yourself admit won't be applied to others. Glad to see you marxist cheerleaders so openly outing yourselves.

[sarcasmic]

I’m not cheering anything. I've always said this case and judgement were absurd. Try reading what I write instead of the stupid lies and inferences spread by liars and morons.

[JesseAz]

Yet spend far more posts defending the rationalizations behind it and attacking those against it.

[sarcasmic]

Well, is he not one here?

Here as in in these comments, he sure is. He’s practically a religious figure.

He is having an Eighth Amendment violation against him not being a problem for people like you.

From the very beginning I’ve said that that civil case and judgement were absurd. But don’t let the truth get in the way. You never do.

Real estate investors need to flee NYC post haste.

No they don’t. The DA made a point of telling other investors that this is a targeted prosecution and they have nothing to worry about.

[damikesc]

Yes. Because no chance anybody else will make an inept AG in NY pissy abouty something.

Any claim you make in regards to supporting the Constitution dies when you do not like the person being victimized.

[sarcasmic]

Any claim you make in regards to supporting rule of law die when you say it's ok for someone you like to break the law because someone you don't like did it first.

[damikesc]

This law has never --- not once ever --- been used like this.

Fraud requires an aggrieved party.

There is not one.

[sarcasmic]

Welllllllll, that depends on how you look at it. Trump getting inflated loans based upon fraudulent numbers meant others did not get loans. So there's an opportunity cost. Same with reduced insurance rates. Others paid more to make up the difference. So there potentially are aggrieved parties, though it would be impossible to identify them because they're unseen not seen.
I'm not defending his prosecution, just giving the reasoning behind the law.

[damikesc]

"Welllllllll, that depends on how you look at it. Trump getting inflated loans based upon fraudulent numbers meant others did not get loans. So there’s an opportunity cost. Same with reduced insurance rates. Others paid more to make up the difference. So there potentially are aggrieved parties, though it would be impossible to identify them because they’re unseen not seen.
I’m not defending his prosecution, just giving the reasoning behind the law."

Evidence of that ACTUALLY being the case was never once produced. So, Constitutional violations are A-OK if...well, you really do not like a person. Bad people do not deserve protections, amirite?

And you do not see how they could do that to LITERALLY anybody who ran afoul of Democrats in NYC?

[sarcasmic]

What part of "I’m not defending his prosecution" do you not understand?

[sarcasmic]

Evidence of that ACTUALLY being the case was never once produced.

What part of “though it would be impossible to identify them because they’re unseen not seen” do you not understand?

[JesseAz]

Sarc, every post here is defending the fucking action.

You defend state abuses and absence of harm in fraud. You defend targeted political use of law. You attack those against this prosecution as crying.

Fuck off with your bullshit lies.

[damikesc]

"What part of “though it would be impossible to identify them because they’re unseen not seen” do you not understand?"

...then how would that qualify as a justification for a punishment?

[sarcasmic]

…then how would that qualify as a justification for a punishment?

Do you understand what opportunity cost is?

Try reading some Bastiat.

http://bastiat.org/en/twisatwins.html

[JesseAz]

Links to an economic paper he hasn't read to justify a criminal and political prosecution of someone he hates.

Can you make an actual intelligent defense of this?

As for the unseen, the fear of working with Trump or using the same methods they targeted him with is an unseen market effect.

Stop linking to shit you haven't read.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""Do you understand what opportunity cost is?""

Where is this in law?

Was it cited in the case?

[sarcasmic]

So you don’t understand opportunity cost and apparently like it that way. That’s fine. But it means there's no point in continuing the conversation.

[JesseAz]

Lol. The one who doesn't understand opportunity cost is you sarc.

The opportunity is the opportunity to make profit on a loan. Banks deny loans all the time. Those who are not given loans are not being denied opportunity costs. Rates are set based on risk profiles. Sure you can make more on risky loans, but also more likely to have the loan defaulted on.

Youre justifying state abuses on such a misunderstanding of economics as to look like a partisan retard.

[JesseAz]

And here sarc shows actual facts don’t matter. He will just push the left talking points.

The banks did their own valuations. They wanted to do MORE business with him.

Stop justifying state abuses dumbass.

And in the next thread you will warn everyone of what Trump might do given these same avenues of power if elected.

Youre a statist hypocrite.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""Trump getting inflated loans based upon fraudulent numbers meant others did not get loans. ""

Prove it. Who did not get a loan because of Trump?

[sarcasmic]

What part of “So there potentially are aggrieved parties, though it would be impossible to identify them because they’re unseen not seen.” did you not understand?

Do you know what opportunity cost is?

http://bastiat.org/en/twisatwins.html

In the department of economy, an act, a habit, an institution, a law, gives birth not only to an effect, but to a series of effects. Of these effects, the first only is immediate; it manifests itself simultaneously with its cause — it is seen. The others unfold in succession — they are not seen: it is well for us, if they are foreseen. Between a good and a bad economist this constitutes the whole difference — the one takes account of the visible effect; the other takes account both of the effects which are seen, and also of those which it is necessary to foresee.

If a person is given huge loans based upon fraudulent numbers, then a good economist foresees that others will not receive loans because that money is already loaned out. He would call you a bad economist.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""What part of “So there potentially are aggrieved parties, though it would be impossible to identify them because they’re unseen not seen.” did you not understand?"

This type of argument should be nowhere near the judicial system.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""If a person is given huge loans based upon fraudulent numbers, then a good economist foresees that others will not receive loans because that money is already loaned out.""

Why would that only apply to fraudulent numbers?

[sarcasmic]

This type of argument should be nowhere near the judicial system.

You think creating opportunity cost for others through fraudulent acts is ok?

[sarcasmic]

Why would that only apply to fraudulent numbers?

Of course any loan will create opportunity costs. The issue is amplifying those opportunity costs through fraud.

Let me be clear here, I'm explaining the reasoning behind the law, not defending the selective prosecution of it.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

The law cannot penalize you for potential victims. Period.

[sarcasmic]

The law cannot penalize you for potential victims. Period.

Potential implies that they might not exist. They do exist. They just can't be identified.

Take Affirmative Action for example. Does that cause qualified applicants to be denied? Of course it does. Is that wrong? Of course it is. Can they be identified? No, they cannot.

[JesseAz]

Let me be clear here, I’m explaining the reasoning behind the law

That is not the reasoning behind the law. It is the bullshit justification you found to defend the novel construction and use of the actual law at hand.

Try again.

[JesseAz]

Take Affirmative Action for example. Does that cause qualified applicants to be denied? Of course it does. Is that wrong? Of course it is. Can they be identified? No, they cannot.

Sarc, in every case that has been made against Affirmative Action they have had someone who was effected by those policies as a plaintiff.

How dumb are you? It is the entire issue of standing.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""You think creating opportunity cost for others through fraudulent acts is ok?""

So you are defending the prosecution.

Unless it is written in law, economic theory is irrelevant in this case.

[sarcasmic]

So you are defending the prosecution.

No, I’m explaining the reasoning behind the law. I’m not defending the prosecution. Why is that so difficult to understand?

If this law was widely enforced, and if the judgement wasn't around 20% of Trump's stated net worth, then I'd be singing a different tune.

Again, why is that so difficult to understand?

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""Potential implies that they might not exist. They do exist. They just can’t be identified.""

I'm going to penalize you for crimes against people who we say exists but will not or cannot identify.

Do you not understand how fascist that is if applied to the rule of law?

[sarcasmic]

I'll continue this conversation when you learn what opportunity cost is. Until then there's no point.

[JesseAz]

Sarc, you haven't proven you understand opportunity cost at all. You just keep screaming that word to justify the prosecution lol.

Any use of resources has winners or lovers. The law was not meant to optimize this distribution. The claims of such is a rationalization not found in the law at all. Youre making shit up to defend these attacks.

Fucking stop.

[markm23]

" Trump getting inflated loans based upon fraudulent numbers" is bull. Trump would have got just about the same loan terms no matter what numbers he claimed, because the banks did their own valuation of the properties and based the loan terms on _their_ numbers. You can stop looking for that theoretical person who didn't get a loan because the bank had loaned all it had; Trump's exaggerations didn't cause that.

[JesseAz]

Watching you rationalize these acts has been amazing to see.

[Social Justice is neither]

You're the ignorant cunt saying you get to prosecute your enemies for non-crime because you don't like their policies. You're literally basing whether someone committed a crime on their unrelated policy positions or political party and you think you're the one supporting the rule of law? JFC just when I thought leftists couldn't get stupider or more dishonest you prove it's only an overabundance of optimism to think that.

[sarcasmic]

That's a great rehearsed counterargument to something I've never claimed. Why don't you try responding to what I actually say? Jeez, you're as bad as Jesse.

[Social Justice is neither]

Your every argument is a defense of political prosecutions of things you yourself claim won't be pursued against others. JFC you're so disgustingly dishonest you cannot even keep your lies straight inca single thread.

[sarcasmic]

I repeatedly said I think this prosecution and judgment are absurd.

From that you claim I'm defending the prosecution, then you call me disgustingly dishonest.

Sure dude.

[JesseAz]

You've repeatedly defended, rationalized, and justified this attack. Even calling those against it as crying.

80% of posts are you defending the political use of the law against your opponents. 10% is you claiming the 80% of your posts don't exist. Lol.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

“”I repeatedly said I think this prosecution and judgment are absurd.””

Then why do you think he should have to pay?

[sarcasmic]

Then why do you think he should have to pay?

When did I say that?

I can understand stupid people like Jesse believing that agreement with the principle behind a law equals support for selective enforcement and absurd judgements. But he’s not very bright.

You’re smarter than that. Aren't you?

[TrickyVic (old school)]

Then why do you think he should have to pay?

“”When did I say that?””

People who think he shouldn’t have to pay have been very outspoken about how Trump should not have to. On the other hand you say things like if he claims to have the money it shouldn’t be a problem.

[sarcasmic]

People who think he shouldn’t have to pay have been very outspoken about how Trump should not have to.

You’re calling me a liar because I’m not shouting and using all caps? Fuck off.

On the other hand you say things like if he claims to have the money it shouldn’t be a problem.

You’re basing that on a reply to a comment claiming the judgement will break him. Being left with a net worth of one and a half billion dollars is hardly broke. That’s not a defense of the judgement. That’s disagreeing with the claim that the judgement will break him. Those are two different things.

Are you being daft or dishonest? I’m trying to give you the benefit of the doubt here, but you’re sounding more and more like Jesse which makes me question your honesty.

[JesseAz]

that agreement with the principle behind a law

The principle you made up, or stole from the left, that does not exist.

Again. 80% of your posts here are defending at least the novel construction of this law which even the NYT says was not the intended use of the law. Then you proceed to attack others for pointing out the flaws of your defense.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

People who think he shouldn’t have to pay have been very outspoken about how Trump should not have to.

""You’re calling me a liar because I’m not shouting and using all caps? Fuck off.""

No, I have hard time believing you really think this is absurd. Pretty much everyone who thinks it's absurd believes Trump shouldn't have to pay. It shouldn't be well Trump has the cash or not. It's fuck James for pulling this bullshit.

Agree to this and I'll shut up. The charges against Trump should be dismissed on appeal.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

""Real estate investors need to flee NYC post haste.""

The ruling has them scared. They will freakout if seizures start.

[JesseAz]

And you'll continue to cheer it on laughing at the abuse by the state of your enemy.

[JesseAz]

Take Affirmative Action for example. Does that cause qualified applicants to be denied? Of course it does. Is that wrong? Of course it is. Can they be identified? No, they cannot.

I'm sorry this happened to you sarc. Even the liberal NY courts see this as abusive and reduce/extended the bond.

When the NY courts are more aware of how this looks than you are, maybe time to reevaluate.

[JesseAz]

Whoops. Wrong paste.

Jonathan Turley
@JonathanTurley
The NY Court of Appeals has finally intervened to offer a modicum of restraint in the Trump case. It has A has given former President Donald Trump 10 more days to post a bond of $175 million. That is likely doable and avoids the cliff drop set up by Engoron and James.

[rbike]

Still bad. He should not have to pay

[mad.casual]

I’m beginning to wonder if maybe that might be the whole point of this.

I was just thinking the other day that Trump should just let them. Watch NYC real estate deflate as property can be seized for (not) violating arbitrary codes or squatters' rights or whatever.

[markm23]

If Trump was the evil man his enemies claim, he’d be waiting for the bottom to fall out of the NYC real estate market so he could buy back his and many other properties _cheap_, then demolish them.

[Idaho-Bob]

are men from Tajikistan who were in Russia as migrant workers.

Hmmm...

[Fist of Etiquette]

How dare you.

[Don't look at me!]

It could never happen here!

[Gaear Grimsrud]

Wouldn't surprise me to find out that the Biden Regime is flying in Tajikistani asylum seekers to Milwaukee or someplace.

[Idaho-Bob]

All male 19-28 year old asylum seekers.

[Dillinger]

What could possibly go wrong?

[MasterThief]

Seems like a point worth discussing. Doubt they will do so until the spin is ironed out

[Fist of Etiquette]

The story of comedian Pete Davidson getting kinda stoned and buying a decommissioned Staten Island ferry.

It must be turned into immigrant housing.

[Social Justice is neither]

Didn't know a ferry could make it out into international waters to unload and back.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Perfect, since it would then be housing that migrates.

[Fist of Etiquette]

...which will line Donald Trump's pockets with a bit more cash.

Sounds like it will line Letitia's pockets.

[Mother's Lament]

Because the banks she claimed he defrauded certainly aren't getting any money.

This is robbery pure and simple, by a crooked judge and a defrauding prosecutor. They both deserve to be in prison.

Meanwhile, there are reports that potential issuers for a court bond are being threatened by Democratic Party agents and the FBI which is why this is happening:

"He already secured a $91.6 million bond needed for another case—the defamation suit brought by E. Jean Carroll—but is struggling to do so for this much larger amount."

This is so sinister and lawless. A thousand times more an assault on democracy and the American constitution than any J6 protest.

But "libertarian" magazines like Reason fiddle while Rome burns.

[damikesc]

They had zero issues with Fani Willis going after Trump lawyers for...providing legal advice.

[Don't look at me!]

which will line Donald Trump’s pockets with a bit more cash.

Not really. He gets stock that is locked up for a time.

[Sandra (formerly OBL)]

"The Wisconsin attorney general's attempt to find a right to abortion in the Wisconsin Constitution is unprecedented, and wrong"

Keep looking. You'll find it in the emanations and penumbras.

[Randy Sax]

Unprecedented? Not saying I agree with it but, 1973-2022 seems like a precedent to me.

[Mother's Lament]

That was in the Wisconsin Constitution? It's the attempt to find a right in the Wisconsin Constitution that is unprecedented. Not abortion.

[Zeb]

But the attempt to find a right to abortion in a constitution that doesn't explicitly mention such a right is precedented.

[Randy Sax]

^

[sarcasmic]

I thought the Constitution was a document of enumerated powers and unenumerated rights. Powers need to be found. Rights do not.

Saying that a right must be found in the Constitution for it to be valid is conceding the argument that the government has powers limited only by the rights enumerated in the document.

[Zeb]

Yes, that's how it should be viewed (aside from the handful of rights are are enumerated). Doesn't stop people from viewing it the other way.

[Mother's Lament]

Well said, Sarcasmic. Not even being facetious.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

It definitely sounded correct, but you missed the motte and bailey aspect. It is not the US Constitution being considered and the state and the people have the right to pass whatever law they want that is not prohibited in the US Constitution, per the US Constitution.

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

Pro tip: if I find myself agreeing with Sarc, I always check to make sure the original premise still applies.

Spoiler alert: it never does.

[Mother's Lament]

You're right. Mea culpa.

[Social Justice is neither]

And that is why dumb leftists like you call everything a "right". Sorry, but murdering inconvenient others isn't a "right" no matter how much you stomp your feet.

[Rev Arthur L kuckland]

Legalize and mandate abortion for all dem voters up to and including the 140th trimester

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

If we gave them eternal proxy voting rights, the DNC elite might agree to reduce the herd.

[soldiermedic76]

That seems low, that would stop it at 34.3 years of age.

[Vernon Depner]

If there were more emanations and penumbras we'd have fewer unwanted pregnancies.

[damikesc]

From the "Well, there is no such thing as election fraud, really" file:

"I am in Chicago right now seeing my new grandson. While here, they had a primary election. The State’s Attorney’s race was the one to watch. It pitted a traditional liberal Democrat, Eileen Burke with a Chicago Teacher’s Union/Toni Preckwinkle socialist/communist Democrat Clayton Harris.

Fortunately, the mansion tax the communist mayor proposed failed and the margin was so big, the CTU Machine couldn’t steal it.

Only about 20% of eligible voters voted, and it’s taking them at least six days past the election to count all the votes. Every single one of these people is responsible for making fraud easier.

But, the State’s Attorney’s race was closer. Lo and behold after all the ballots were practically counted they “found” another mail-in ballot dropbox full of 10,000 ballots that were not postmarked or dated. They are counting them now.

Amazingly, the lead that Eileen Burke had has shrunk to 1.8%, or 2000 votes. There are still enough ballots left to count to put her rival over the top.
https://jeffreycarter.substack.com/p/stealing-it"

Nothing suspicious there. At all.

[Mother's Lament]

coNspiRAcY tHeOrY

[Rev Arthur L kuckland]

Forget it Jake it’s chinatown*
*read as chi-natown

[Longtobefree]

Everything old is new again - - - - - - -
The runoff vote count, handled by the Democratic State Central Committee, took a week. Johnson was announced the winner by 87 votes out of 988,295, an extremely narrow margin of victory. However, Johnson's victory was based on 200 "patently fraudulent"  ballots reported six days after the election from Box 13 in Jim Wells County, in an area dominated by political boss George Parr. The added names were in alphabetical order and written with the same pen and handwriting, following at the end of the list of voters.

[InsaneTrollLogic]

It’s par for the course for Chicago. They’ve been doing this shit since Cermak.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Just warming up for November.

[TheReEncogitationer]

Insert Dexy's Midnight Runners quote here.
🙂
😉

[Don't look at me!]

No widespread fraud.

[damikesc]

Kinda funny watching "former" long-term Dem staffer Chuck Todd (who replaced ANOTHER long-term Dem staffer Tim Russert --- and who ALSO held fundraisers for Hillary in his home in 2016)) whining about the apparently temporary hire of former RNC head Ronna McDaniel.

[Red Rocks White Privilege]

To be fair, Russert would at least tamp down his partisanship enough on Meet the Press that you could get a balanced discussion of the issues.

Chuck Todd has always been a political hack for the DNC, and literally nothing he says should be taken at face value.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Weird era we are living in when trying to be "valuable to others" is considered a bad thing.

Can calling it white supremacy be far behind?

[Rev Arthur L kuckland]

A few years ago
My father "your sis broke the drywall, go patch it"
Me "can someone else do it"
My father "yes, as soon as you have a son like I did"

[Gaear Grimsrud]

Ha!

[markm23]

I'm getting a mental picture of the old man expecting his newborn grandson to patch the drywall. He did say "as soon as"...

[Mother's Lament]

It's because the Western clerisy has spent the last 60 years trying to teach people to behave like devils, and kindness, compassion and social responsibility gets in the way.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Well, do I get to decide what is valuable to others, or do they?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Reported assaults have tripled over the past decade.

Can't this be dismissed? Like VAERS?

[Knutsack]

"Scenes from New York: The story of comedian Pete Davidson getting kinda stoned and buying a decommissioned Staten Island ferry."

These stories are neat, but let's be honest: Florida does these things way better.

[Sandra (formerly OBL)]

Trump dead-enders are the stupidest people on the planet, Exhibit #541

Fear and visual persuasion are the most powerful tools of influence. That's why all the videos of squatters taking homes suggests Trump will win in a landslide. You can't top that for visual and scary. Trump is competing with a sitting government that is actively trying to hurt its own citizens in a variety of entirely obvious ways. You'd have to be in a coma to not pick up on the pattern. Anything could happen between now and election day, but if you straightline the current situation, Trump will have the largest landslide in American history.

Largest landslide in American history! Larger than the blowouts of 1972 and 1984!

Ah, but then again maybe not:

"That's not a prediction because we know there are big hoaxes coming. We might be in the middle of one."

LOL

#DilbertStillMilking2016

[Social Justice is neither]

We get it, you hate Trump so much you're fine with destroying the legal system and turning the US into a 3rd world shithole through an immigration invasion and rampant inflation/job loss just to be vindicated in your hatred.

[Sandra (formerly OBL)]

I guess that's one way to look at it.

Another interpretation is that I despise the modern Democratic Party and its refusal to enforce a border, and I think it would be nice if the other party wasn't full of self-sabotaging morons who do what Democrats want them to do.

[Mother's Lament]

If Trump was self-sabotaging there wouldn't be hundreds of Soros lawyers inventing phony charges, FBI agents astroturfing, and journalists colluding to do that job for him.

[Mother's Lament]

I get it, Sandra.
Acknowledging that this stuff is happening would mean acknowledging that American justice and American governing institutions are now no different than Venezuela, Russia or any other third world banana republic.
That's a hard pill to swallow for people who still want to believe it's exceptional, a shining city on a hill. So it's easier to believe that Trump is the problem.

[Zeb]

It's possible that both are problems.

[Sevo]

How is Trump a problem?

[Zeb]

You really can't see anything he did as president or anything about his personality and style that is less than desirable?
I've said many times that he is the preferable option. That doesn't mean we have to pretend he's perfect. Being arguably the best president since Coolidge still leaves a lot of room for him being a piece of shit since all the presidents of the past 100 years sucked.

[Mother's Lament]

His personality is garbage, but it's also typical New Yorker and many folks seem to like that. I personally think the whole east coast from south of New England to north of the Carolinas is full of unlikable people. If they aren't pretentious they are full of braggadocio.

[Sevo]

"...Being arguably the best president since Coolidge still leaves a lot of room for him being a piece of shit since all the presidents of the past 100 years sucked..."

I'll just leave this here as a monument of making "perfect" the enemy of "good".

[Zeb]

I'm not making anything anything. I'm just saying what I think. Acknowledging that someone has flaws is not making the perfect the enemy of the good. It's really closer to the opposite of that. Trump is highly flawed. I'm not saying that that means no one should vote for him or support him.

[Sevo]

"...Trump is highly flawed..."

Compared to? Citation(s) missing.

[Zeb]

I'm not making a comparison, I'm stating my opinion about him. I and plenty of others here have stated many times many ways in which Trump is flawed and bad things he did as president. Some people come to different conclusions about things than you do. Get over it. There are reasons other than derangement why people might disagree.

[Sevo]

"...I and plenty of others here have stated many times many ways in which Trump is flawed and bad things he did as president...
There are reasons other than derangement why people might disagree."

And yet citing such seems beyond the capabilities of TDS-addled piles of shit.

[Zeb]

TDS goes both ways.

[Sevo]

"TDS goes both ways."

That's been the claim of steaming piles of TDS-addled shits for years, steaming pile of TDS-addled shits. And still has no evidence at all.
Eat shit and die, asshole.

[R Mac]

He’s not being persecuted for any of the things I think he’s done wrong.

[Zeb]

No, but I'm responding to someone who acts as if he's being persecuted by anyone who points out things he has done wrong or suggests that he could change anything in his behavior to improve his chances in the election.

[JesseAz]

I can honestly say personality and style don't matter to me one bit.

The president executes the laws as written. He isnt a father figure or a role model for children. Not part of the job.

I only care how his job actions effect me, not how he executes them.

[Zeb]

I pretty much agree. But all else being equal, wouldn't it be better to have a president who doesn't turn off a ton of people with his personality (including many people who might otherwise more enthusiastically support him)?

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

I can honestly say personality and style don’t matter to me one bit.

Trump's inability to stick to facts and otherwise keep his fucking mouth shut during press conferences in April/May 2020 were a big problem. It is irresponsible to make uninformed or off-the-cuff comments in the middle of a public health scare, and he does not seem to possess the ability to stop himself. There could have been a lot more focus on exactly what was wrong about what Fauci and the CDC were spewing if Trump hadn't been inadvertently running interference.

Those errors in execution had long lasting repercussions.

Trump's personality is what lead to him being the Republican candidate hand-picked by the MSM in 2016 and nothing has changed in 2024. Nobody wanted Trump to run again more than the media and they guaranteed it by refusing to cover any Republican except in direct comparison to Trump.

[Sevo]

Still waiting to read how Trump is a "problem".

[Sevo]

Ooops

[Sandra (formerly OBL)]

Joe Biden's Fundraising is Blowing Donald Trump Out of the Water

This isn't a serious political party. Nominating Trump demonstrates they're not even trying to win.

[Sevo]

Oh, oh, look! Political theorizing from TDS-addled pile of shit!
Fuck off and die, asshole.

[Commenter_XY]

So OBL, what would you do. You're stuck with POTUS Trump as the nominee. Your job is to win the election.

So what would you do?

[Sandra (formerly OBL)]

Now that Republicans have basically forfeited the election, how can they still win the election?

OK. I'll play along.

I suppose I'd instruct Trump to keep his message simple: hammer Democrats on inflation and the border. Under no circumstances should he whine about 2020. Oh, and pick a legit VP, not some clown like Kari Lake.

Then I'd pray Biden has to step aside for health reasons and Dems are forced to go with Harris. Trump *might* be able to beat her if increased exposure proves she's as disliked as Hillary.

[Quicktown Brix]

I suppose I’d instruct Trump...

You just lost...

[Sevo]

If only Trump were but one more swamp scum, you'd be perfectly happy!

[Commenter_XY]

You never know, POTUS Trump might see your advice - and take it.

[XM]

"I suppose I’d instruct Trump to keep his message simple: hammer Democrats on inflation and the border. Under no circumstances should he whine about 2020. Oh, and pick a legit VP, not some clown like Kari Lake.

Then I’d pray Biden has to step aside for health reasons and Dems are forced to go with Harris. Trump *might* be able to beat her if increased exposure proves she’s as disliked as Hillary."

Not a bad idea. But I think Harris is more viable than Biden, because she might encourage black voters to turn out.

People might forget that Andrew Cuomo was forced out due to Metoo allegations. Once Harris is the nominee, the MSM will make sure that we forget Joe Biden ever existed.

[Don't look at me!]

Remember when Hillary spent way more money than trump did?

[Mother's Lament]

"Joe Biden’s Fundraising is Blowing Donald Trump Out of the Water"

Oh Sandra, it's not still 1992.
The Democrats have blown past Trump in spending several times before and still lost. And look at the last presidential election. Poor Bloomberg blew a billion dollars on traditional election spending and got zero traction. And the Dems own fundraising wouldn't have mattered a jot, if guys like Zuckerberg hadn't spent a quarter of a billion on "non-traditional" methods like bussing in potential Democrat voters and ballot harvesting on the sly.

If the Republican's want to win in the days of mail-in ballots they're going to have to forget about amassing fruitless payoffs to useless campaign teams and less-than-useless TV ad buys, and start emulating what the Democrats did last time (as long as they can keep out of jail while doing it).

[JesseAz]

Billionaires and illegal donations don't mean much to me.

Have you see the Act Blue fraud going on?

[Gaear Grimsrud]

The problem is Trump gets endless free media exposure. If he's not in the headlines he trolls the MSM and he makes the next edition. They just can't help themselves.

[Sevo]

He's broken a LOT of swamp scum, and that makes him more popular to those who despise them.

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

He’s broken a LOT of swamp scum

He caused a lot of them to reveal themselves, but the executive agencies were still riddled with them going into 2021. I don't think he broke anywhere near enough to stop them from preventing his reelection. All it would take is 1 or 2 sleepers on his Secret Service crew for him to be dead in October if he is still in the race, leaving no alternative unless he selects a helluva running mate.

[Gaear Grimsrud]

And all of the cameras will mysteriously fail.

[Sevo]

See Zeb, Somtimes a great notion, and other TDS-addled shit piles who claim to be 'libertarian'.

[EISTAU Gree-Vance]

“He’s smarter than we are.”
- fat socialist weasel Michael Moore.

[Dillinger]

and I think it would be nice died in 1996 sorry.

[Sometimes a Great Notion]

But you are fine with Trump doing that?

He signed the trillion dollars cares act that funded the lockdowns that caused inflation and put people out of work. He allowed his CDC to administratively declare they had the power to stop landowners from evicting tenants.

[damikesc]

The alternative is re-electing the guy who did it again after the problems were obvious and SCOTUS ruled it was not legal but was ending soon.

There is no perfect alternative.

[Sometimes a Great Notion]

Sure, and if you or anyone else, votes for Trump, fair enough. But don't act like the man's shit don't stink and don't act like he's some standard-bearer for the rule of law - he isn't either of those; he's a politician.

[Sevo]

He also happens to be the best POTUS we've had for something like 100 years, so if you act like he's just one of both sides, stuff your TDS up your ass.

[Sometimes a Great Notion]

And I disagree, that Trump was the greatest in 100 years. You don't spend trillions so states can lockdown and come away as the greatest. He is the worst, not named Joe Biden.

[JesseAz]

The trillion spent was in reaction to states already shutting down, not so they could shut down. He was very vocal and was castigated for telling states to reopen. Then he was openly against the follow on spending.

[Sometimes a Great Notion]

Now that is 100% bullshit. He attacked DeSantis for opening "early" and his words were on signing the Cares Act:

I’ll sign the single-biggest economic relief package in American history and, I must say, or any other package, by the way. It’s twice as large as any relief ever signed. It’s $2.2 billion, but it actually goes up to 6.2 — potentially — billion dollars — trillion dollars. So you’re talking about 6.2 trillion-dollar bill. Nothing like that. And this will deliver urgently needed relief to our nation’s families, workers, and businesses. And that’s what this is all about.

[Zeb]

Yeah, if he was against it then he should have said so. Seems plain stupid to pretend like he only signed it because he had no choice.

[EISTAU Gree-Vance]

Sure, that sucks. But I don’t think he bailed out blue state pension funds, funded green energy boondoggles, forgave student loans or sent a quarter trillion dollars to Ukraine with his emergency spending.

There is no comparison. Just stop.

[Sevo]

Now this is 100% bullshit from a TDS-addled lying pile of shit.
Fuck off and die, asshole

[Zeb]

The spending enabled them to stay shutdown for a year. Without that it could never have continued, people simply wouldn't have put up with it. Trump probably couldn't have stopped it anyway, but if he was opposed he should still have vetoed it. It's not as if they weren't going to smear him on the news any way they could no matter what he did.

[Sevo]

"...Without that it could never have continued, people simply wouldn’t have put up with it..."

Does it take tiny hands to grasp at such fine straws?

[Zeb]

Yeah, the greatest assault on human freedom in my lifetime is no bog deal and he should totally get a pass for it.

What the fuck is your problem? You should vote for Trump. You should support him. I'm not telling anyone otherwise. Let's just be honest about what we're dealing with here. You are acting like some random dudes bullshitting on the internet is going to sink Trump's campaign or something. Get a grip.

[Sevo]

"Yeah, the greatest assault on human freedom in my lifetime is no bog deal and he should totally get a pass for it."

After hours of TDS-addled bullshitting, you finally come up with this lie?!
Fuck you with a running, rusty chainsaw, you pathetic piece of TDS addled steaming pile of shit.

[Sevo]

You should really seek treatment. And cancel your CNN feed.

[This Is The Zodiac Speaking]

I wonder how long it will be until that truth is accepted. Change his name to John Doe and objectively speaking, he was a successful centrist

[Zeb]

There is no perfect alternative. There never is. I'm quite convinced that Trump is the better option of the candidates who could conceivably win. That doesn't mean we all have to shut up about his many failures and shortcomings. That's what irritates me about some of the reflexive responses to anyone who is more critical of Trump. We're not here to do PR for Trump. We're here to bullshit about politics and current events.

[Sarah Palin's Buttplug 2]

He signed the trillion dollars cares act that funded the lockdowns that caused inflation and put people out of work.

Nancy tricked Donnie into that. Or put a spell on him.*

*ML actually believes that bullshit

[Sevo]

turd, the ass-clown of the commentariat, lies; it’s all he ever does. turd is a kiddie diddler, and a pathological liar, entirely too stupid to remember which lies he posted even minutes ago, and also too stupid to understand we all know he’s a liar.
If anything he posts isn’t a lie, it’s totally accidental.
turd lies; it’s what he does. turd is a lying pile of lefty shit.

[Mother's Lament]

I never said she tricked him.
I said that Nancy and your Democrats in the House, conceived, proposed, wrote, presented, advanced and voted for the spending bills that you are pretending that Trump created.

[Sevo]

TDS-addled piles of shit are the stupidest people on the planet, Exhibit #541.
Fuck off and die, asshole.

[BYODB]

Scott Adams has been unhinged for quite some time. I've read quite a few of his books, not just the comic strip ones, and he really believes he's some kind of master persuader that can alter space-time with his beliefs.

In essence, he's kind of a crank. I can't say with certainty that he's wrong, but that's because I don't read anything he puts out these days. I watched his little video's on his site for a while, but I noticed some serious Alex Jones vibes and had to stop.

[Mother's Lament]

I can't stand his overweening self-regard, but he is prescient and usually right.

[Mother's Lament]

Oh, and I thought Alex Jones was a total and complete nutter until the last four years happened which he essentially called a decade earlier.

[Commenter_XY]

Why did POTUS Trump seek a 90-day extension in the NYC trial?

Oh, the DOJ dumped thousands of documents at the 11th hour, which they should have disclosed months earlier during discovery. That was an intentional, purposeful action.

[damikesc]

And the Court provided 30 days instead.

Because...justice.

[Mother's Lament]

Nothing to see there. Certainly not election interference.

[damikesc]

Correction --- the DA offered 30 days.

Court offered less than that.

[JesseAz]

Believe the count was 100k documents the Trump team had been asking for for months.

[Ajsloss]

That was an intentional, purposeful action.

That shit never happens, just ask the magistrate in my custody case. My ex provided over 70 pages of tax information (for each of three years) that were in no particular order. Some pages had been scanned in upside down, some had corners folded over important dollar amounts, some very clearly had their sequence numbers whited out and some pages were missing. The magistrate chalked that up to ("issues that occur with transferring documents digitally... did not appear intentional or grievous").

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

How good is your ex at blow jobs?

[Ajsloss]

Underwhelming.

[windycityattorney]

The documents are all about the fed investigation into Michael Cohen and many of them are part of the Mueller investigation. Since Michael Cohen is a witness for the prosecution, the defense is entitled to the info since they can cross examine him. Most of the information is not relevant to Cohen paying storming daniels on behalf of Trump and Trump paying him back through false legal invoices.

Trump's attorneys subpoened the information from DOJ in January. The argument is over whether the State had an obligation to turn all the documents over (which were not in their possession rather in possession of DOJ). So Trump is arguing that the State did have the obligation and didn't turn it over in a timely fashion so should be sanctioned/charges dismissed. That is unlikely. Its a separate sovereign. Guess we will see what the Judge does today.

[Rev Arthur L kuckland]

"The Wisconsin attorney general's attempt to find a right to abortion"

No concer about the creation of a positive right from the people pushing this?

[Zeb]

I couldn't read it all because of a paywall. Are they trying to create a positive right (i.e. an entitlement to be provided with an abortion) or a negative one (abortion can't be banned)?

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

But according to Gary Kasparov, the entire attack was a KGB false flag op and the US should therefore immediate invade the USSR, er, Russian Empire and smite the evil Sauron, er, Putin for all time.

[Mother's Lament]

It makes me nervous when establishmentarians start accusing others of false flag operations that massacre the citizenry. Especially since layering almost a hundred false charges hasn't affected Trump's popularity and they're starting to get desperate.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

'Former President Donald Trump will appear in a Manhattan court today to "seek another delay of his criminal trial on charges that he covered up a sex scandal that could have derailed his stunning victory in the 2016 presidential election," per The New York Times.'

Ah, the New York Times, which totally never ever covered up anything even remotely related to political scandal in order to achieve election success, is still hoping for a propaganda time machine, in order to curate dis/mis/mal/spin-information to the needy people of past decades.

[Rev Arthur L kuckland]

Wait are you telling me Poland didn't invade Germany in the 30's?

[Roberta]

Oh, Poland. I first read that as Portland.

[Mother's Lament]

That would have been something, especially if it were today's Portland.

[soldiermedic76]

Maine or Oregon? Or is Maine as bad as Oregon?

[Stuck in California]

Maine is basically North Boston.

Still not nearly as bad as Portland, Oregon.

[soldiermedic76]

Yeah, Portland today... But in the 1940s Portland was a pretty blue collar timber and shipping town. Actually was until the 1980s.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

'Transit system assaults in New York City really are rising.'

More Bidenomics?

[Rev Arthur L kuckland]

Really it depends on the race. If the oppressed blacks attack the oppressor whites then it's not assault

[mad.casual]

IDK, NYC raised the number of assaults on their transit lines and all it cost them was one Penny.

[Jefferson Paul]

That's a good one.

[TheReEncogitationer]

Belmopan: the city of bureaucrats, totally centrally planned, made boring as a result, with a population of only 25,000 despite being Belize's capital city.

Never hoid of it. Small wonder why.

[mtrueman]

A charming place. A bit of England in central America.

[TheReEncogitationer]

Yikes! Welfare Surveillance State meets Third World Shit-Pit!

Since it gets such a glowing review from Mtrueman's Watermelon Rickshaw Nazi Boy Travel Guide, I'll pass.

[mtrueman]

The place has a sizable presence of Chinese immigrants and is one of the few countries that recognize RoC (aka Taiwan, Formosa) over PRC (China). There are more people descended from Africans, Mayans and pirates. Granted, it may be a little too exotic and jungly for the prevailing tastes here.

[Sevo]

Or it may be totally irrelevant and mentioned only by bullshitters like you.

[markm23]

As for Belmopan being a small town: about 1 in 20 Belizeans live in it. About 1 in 470 Americans live in our capital.

[Sevo]

"Berkeley agrees to repeal its first-in-the-nation ban on new gas appliances"
[...]
"Berkeley has agreed to repeal its first-in-the-nation ban on installing natural gas appliances in new buildings after a U.S. appeals court agreed with restaurant owners and business groups that the ordinance conflicts with federal energy regulation. The case could also invalidate similar laws in San Francisco, Los Angeles and other cities..."
https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/berkeley-gas-ban-settlement-19364031.php

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

Sure, you can buy a gas stove. But the city office that issues gas line permits is only open 2:00-2:10 am on the 5th Tuesday of months ending in B.

[I, Woodchipper]

that's basically how the county handles carry permits post Bruen.

[Ron]

not just the county the state of California for years has had only one person to handle all carry permits in the state.

[Sevo]

It's possible they'll try some BS like that, but even the 9th didn't let Berkeley keep the ban.

[Earth-based Human Skeptic]

So how about a 300% climate sadness tax?

[Dillinger]

I would pay 300% if the climate sad get punched in the face.

[Brandybuck]

> "RFK Jr. considers running on Libertarian ticket"

RFK Jr. has not idea what libertarianism even in. If he did it would shock him to his core.

"Wat? Gub'ment without it's fingers in everything? Inconceivable!"

On the other hand, RFK Jr. is in desperate need for conspiracy wackos to join his cult. So maybe he's going after the New MC LP.

[Randy Sax]

I think he does know what it is. And he also knows he isn't one.

[I, Woodchipper]

The more I hear Kamala Harris and CNN protesting that there's no evidence it was Ukraine, the more I think it was probably Ukraine.

[This Is The Zodiac Speaking]

Quite

[Dillinger]

>>Trump goes to court (again):

this place should be on fire about it.

[VULGAR MADMAN]

You expected principles from this goofy webzine?

[Dillinger]

>>The story of comedian Pete Davidson

Nobody Told Me I Wasn't Funny.

[Sevo]

The market did; you didn't listen.

[Dillinger]

>>"RFK Jr. considers running on Libertarian ticket"

said out loud to an audience "I am a Democrat" just last week.

[Dillinger]

>>Transit system assaults in New York City really are rising.

two obvious avoidance practices in this sentence.

[Dillinger]

>>Weird era we are living in when trying to be "valuable to others" is considered a bad thing.

so don't let it be?

[TheReEncogitationer]

Or don't be "valuable to others" and let those who don't like you being "valuable to others" live in their own filth, squalor, and misery. Who Is John Galt?
🙂
😉

[Gaear Grimsrud]

Turns out the NY appellate court has reduced Trump's bond amount to 175 million and given him 10 days to comply. He says no problem.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/trump-bond-reduced-175-million-11th-hour

[Sevo]

Engoron and James have a sad!

[Commenter_XY]

Its like the process is the punishment.

[mad.casual]

No fair. I wanted to watch James (further) destroy property values in NY.

[Uomo Del Ghiaccio]

Tajikistan is 90% Muslim and shares a border with Afghanistan. Russia has pissed off many Muslims, so it's very plausible that the claims of ISIS-K are real.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

Do you know who else pissed off Muslims?

[Chuck P. (The Artist formerly known as CTSP)]

Ferdinand V?

[TheReEncogitationer]

Israel, by merely existing?

[TheReEncogitationer]

One thing's for sure, Muslims weren't pissed off by You Know Who Else, nor was the pissed-offed-ness (is that a word?) reciprocated.
🙂
😉

[XM]

"The four suspects, who have been arrested, are men from Tajikistan who were in Russia as migrant workers."

Oh.