RON “CON” v MICKEY

Over the last 72-plus hours, there have been growing questions about Ron “Con” DeSantis’s own ability to win over the independent and suburban voters who delivered the White House to Joey Biden, and whether the hard-line stances the governor has taken, including on abortion, will repel the very voters he promises to win back.

Add on top of those issues his feuding with Disney – including an offhand remark this week suggesting he would put a state prison next to the entrance of Disney World – has raised alarms, even among would-be allies.

“DeSanctus is being absolutely destroyed by Disney,” Boy Orange wrote on Tuesday on Truth Social, his media site, using a dismissive nickname!!! for the governor.

Former Governor Chris “Bridgegate” Christie of New Jersey also took a shot, suggesting DeSantis’s talk of punishing a business defied principles about small government.

The criticism reflects a growing effort by Trump and other prospective candidates to try to undermine the core argument of DeSantis’s case for the nomination: that he is the Republican most likely to win a general election.

Advisers to Trump and other possible rivals believe moves like going after Disney will be damaging in a general election, if NOT necessarily in the GOP primary.

Just imagine what we might accomplish if our politicians focused on improving the lives of average Americans and expanding our proper influence around the world, rather than this nonsense that seems to have utterly sucked the oxygen from everything that actually matters.

DeSantis looks foolish going after the largest employer and taxpayer in Florida. There is a hubris emanating from DeSantis that will alienate voters across the country.

Generations of families have grown up with Mickey and Goofy. Picking a fight with them to win over the American voter is about the dumbest idea anyone’s ever had.

MIC…KEY…MICKEY MOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GETTING OFF EASY!

In a “last minute” settling with Dominion Voting Systems, FOX News has avoided an excruciating, drawn-out trial in which its founding chief, Rupert Murdoch, its top managers and its biggest stars would have had to face hostile grilling on an embarrassing question: Why did they allow a virulent and defamatory conspiracy theory about the ’20 election to spread across the network when so many of them knew it to be false??!

Yes, there’s $787.5 million settlement agreement – among the largest defamation settlements in history – and, FOX’s courthouse statement recognizing that the court had found “certain claims about Dominion” aired on its programming “to be false” at the very least amount to a rare, high-profile acknowledgment of informational wrongdoing by a powerhouse in conservative media and America’s most popular cable network…

But…

FOX won this case.

The payout is peanuts, compared to its profit margin. Their gasbag “talent” will NOT have to take the stand in open court and tell the truth. Beyond that, FOX‘s audience will hear NO retraction, apology, admission of the network peddling lies and dog poop.

FOX views this as a ‘cost of doing business,’ similar to big corporate owners paying a legal fee to defend themselves in court as opposed to actually following regulations and laws.

Watching the Dominion lawyers dance around when asked, directly, will FOX apologize on air, they talk about accountability as seen in FOX writing a check.

NOT really!!!!!!!!!!!!

Murdoch will happily write the check and then laugh ALL the way to the bank when considering what could have been had if this circus had gone to trial.

For the old Lobsterman the real accountability would have been to see MotherTucker Carlson, Boy Toy Sean Hannity, et al take the stand, under oath, and squirm, trying to rationalize their BIG LIES.

CLASSIFIED DOCS of the ‘FIVE EYES’

A new batch of classified documents that appear to detail American national security secrets from Ukraine to the Middle East to China surfaced on social media sites yesterday, setting off ‘bells and whistles’ at the Pentagon and adding turmoil to a situation that seemed to have caught the Biden administration off guard.

The latest documents were found on Twitter and other sites, a day after senior Biden administration officials said they were investigating a potential leak of classified Ukrainian war plans, include an alarming assessment of Ukraine’s faltering air defense capabilities.

One slide, dated Feb. 23rd, is labeled “Secret/NoForn,” meaning it was NOT meant to be shared with foreign countries.

The scale of the leak – analysts say more than 100 documents may have been obtained – along with the sensitivity of the documents themselves, could be hugely damaging, US officials said.

A senior intel official called the leak “a nightmare for the Five Eyes,” in a reference to the United States, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, the so-called Five Eyes nations that broadly share intelligence.

Allow me a dumb question: Why is classified intelligence NOT isolated from the internet??! It seems like sensitive records should NOT be online…period.

PROTECTION MUSIC by “THE JACKAL”

Representative Jimmy “Jackal” Jordan, Re’Trump’lican of Ohio and the Judiciary Committee chairman, has sent the order to compel a deposition from Mark Pomerantz, a former New York County special assistant district attorney, on April 20th.

The move was/is an escalation of the Re’Trump’licans’ bid to use its power in Congress to try to protect!!!!!!!! Donald John Trump, the first president and/or former president to be indicted in a criminal case, as he pushes forward with another run for the White House.

Pomerantz had led the investigation into Boy Orange‘s finances before resigning in protest in February after Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, appeared reluctant to move forward with a case against Trump.

Re’Trump’licans argue that Pomerantz’s public criticism of Trump and the fact that he wrote a memoir that disclosed details and deliberations about the investigation strengthen their case for why he should testify.

The New York district attorney’s office chastised Jordan, accusing him of attempting to interfere in a criminal case.

Based on “The Jackal’s” background, little Jimmy is ALL too familiar with running interference!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The old Lobsterman is serious doubts about Jordan ever wearing a clean shirt.

LIVING THE GOOD LIFE…

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas continues to bring dishonor on the Court.

Of course, it has been lost on most of us that during his tenure, through his opinions, he has worked to punish those perceived to disrespect him…while “living the good life.”

Over the 36-hours, a report from ProPublica has detailed how Thomas accompanied Harlan Crow, a real estate billionaire, on a series of vacations for nearly two decades!!!

The trips included extended stays on Crow’s yacht, flights on Crow’s private jet and visits to Crow’s all male private retreat in California.

These latest disclosures have renewed scrutiny! [one hopes?!!?] of Thomas, who has long faced questions over conflicts of interest in part because of the political activities of his wife, Ginni…Ginni, Ginni, won’t you dance with me…you ALL remember one of the infamous torch-bearer of 1/6??!

As things stand, there is NO formal code of conduct on the Supreme Court – specifically – which bars the justice from taking the trips mentioned in ProPublica’s reporting.

But…

Under the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, justices, like federal judges, must file a financial disclosure!!! each year that lists gifts of more than $415 in avoidance of even an ‘appearance of impropriety.’

The cost of one of the trips with Crow, according to ProPublica, may have exceeded $500,000.

Nice work if you can get it…

Crow claims he was just extending hospitality to a “dear friend.”

Is that NOT akin to the getaway driver in a bank robbery claiming is was simply helping a friend who needed a lift???!!!?!

Anita was right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

COMMON GROUND? none!!!

We’re roughly 10-plus months from the start of the ’24 primary season, in the lead-up to next year’s national election.

To say that events, in addition to the burgeoning collective madness, have started to occupy space throughout the media would be to minimize the torrent ALREADY before us: First Amendment rights; Second Amendment rights; the gun; local and state budgeting reallocations; abortion rights; closing of rural medical hospitals/healthcare facilities; looming crisis of regional banks; labor shortages; and, now possible real recession signs on the horizon.

And, that does NOT even touch on international issues: Ukraine/Russia conflict; China/Taiwan; Iran; North Korea; and, now, once again, the Middle East.

And if the aforementioned matters were NOT enough for your respective taste buds, the travesty and traveling act of the Trump investigations has placed Boy Orange right in the middle of the action – driving a crazed agenda dominated by vengeance and victimhood – diverting the GOP from the inflation and crime-centered messages/topics in desperate need of bi-partisan attention.

But…

Cooperative negotiations – at any level of governance – appears NOT to be!!!

Over the last 56-hours, the Tennessee House showcased where politics are in the country.

In the wake of a school shooting in Nashville that left six people dead, three Democratic lawmakers took to the floor of the Republican-controlled Tennessee House chamber last week to rally for stricter gun control.

Last night, two of the lawmakers, Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson [both black], were expelled!!! from the House, a dramatic act of political retribution. But the third lawmaker, Representative Gloria Johnson [white], survived, shocking some Democrats: The chamber voted 65 to 30 to remove her, falling one vote short of the two-thirds majority needed in the 99-seat chamber.

Last Thursday, Jones, Pearson and Johnson – whose districts are in Nashville, Knoxville and Memphis, the state’s three largest cities – interrupted the legislature by chanting “No action, no peace” on the House floor. Legislative proceedings were forced to a halt.

The speaker of the House responded by comparing the three lawmakers to the rioters who breached the US Capitol!!! on 1/6.

He called their actions “unacceptable” and a violation of House rules of decorum and procedure. This past Monday, he had revoked their ID access to the State Capitol building and had stripped two of the three lawmakers of their committee assignments.

The Re’Trump’licans who control state government, led by Governor Bill Lee, have rejected!!! the calls for tighter gun laws and have largely focused instead on toughening school security.

What in the name of heaven are we doing??!

The Re’Trump’licans have done what they set out to do – disenfranchise the voters of three Democratic Tennessee congressional districts for invoking their first amendment right to voice their wishes over the lack of sane gun legislation.

Under the guise of “insurrection,” the gerrymandered state legislature have overturned the legally elected!!!

A disgusting, vile and disgraceful abuse of power in expelling legally elected representatives over a minor procedural matter.

JUST THE BEGINNING…

Donald John Trump was finally arrested.

With the release of yesterday’s indictment and accompanying statement of facts, we can now say that there’s NOTHING novel or weak about this case.

The charge of creating false financial records is constantly brought by Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, and other New York DAs. In particular, the creation of phony documentation to cover up campaign finance violations!!! has been repeatedly prosecuted in New York…and that is exactly what Trump stands accused of.

The judge and jury will make the ultimate determination, but, based on New York case history, they will be far from the first to consider this question, and the answer has usually been a guilty verdict.

Just a quick note a note about the Manhattan DA’s office that will prosecute this case: It is hardly a typical local cog in the judicial system. Its jurisdiction is the financial capital of the world.

That means the office routinely prosecutes complex white-collar cases!!!

You will remember, that was proved most recently by the office’s conviction of the Trump Organization and the guilty plea of one of its top executives, Allen Weisselberg, on charges relating to an intricate yearslong tax fraud scheme.

But…

Showtime is just getting underway.

With evidence of election interference in Georgia, and federally with the fake electors, in addition to special counsel Jack Smith and his “in-progress” investigations, it’s the old Lobsterman’s hope that more detailed indictments for crimes will be coming soon.

Unsalted butter and popcorn, kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SHOWTIME

The inevitable spectacle began yesterday, when television helicopters tracked every inch of Boy Orange‘s motorcade from LaGuardia Airport to Manhattan, as if he were visiting royalty.

The courthouse area downtown will be closed, for the most part, to traffic most of today.

There are also police lines and TV trucks around Trump Tower, where “the former guy” stayed last night.

Meanwhile, Re’Trump’lican groups and Trump supporters are planning and/or sponsoring rallies nearby, one of which will be addressed by Representative Marjorie “Bell of the South “Greene, who will bring her destructive presence up from the illiterate hamlets of northern Georgia.

Of the four known criminal investigations Donald John Trump faces, the Manhattan case is seen by numerous legal experts as the least serious, in part because it may involve allegations of campaign finance violations before his presidency rather than attempts to abuse his office by overturning the results of the ’20 election or inciting supporters to effectively overthrow the US government.

A pattern of disregard for the law often leads to a criminal indictment, and that is the outcome Trump now faces. Federal and state prosecutors were right to set aside concerns about political fallout, or reverence for the presidency, and initiate thorough criminal investigations of Orange Lucifer‘s conduct.

Trump completely transformed the relationship between the presidency and the rule of law, often asserting that a president was above the law.

So it is appropriate that his actions as president and as a candidate should now be formally weighed!!! by judges and juries, with the possibility of criminal penalties on the line. Without a second of doubt, Trump badly damaged America’s political and legal institutions and threatened them again with vicious calls for widespread protests once he was indicted.

The old Lobsterman hopes that those institutions will prove to be strong enough to hold him accountable!!! for that harm.

The decision to prosecute a former president is a solemn task, particularly given the deep national divide that Trump will inevitably exacerbate as the ’24 campaign grows closer.

But…

The cost of failing to seek justice against a nauseous so-called leader who may have committed any number of these aforementioned crimes would be higher still.

Hope you have checked your popcorn supplies, and, just as importantly, your tubs of unsalted butter.

AWAITING TRUMP’S TACTICS

The details of Trump’s defense strategy are unclear because the specific charges in the indictment against him will stay under seal until his arraignment this coming Tuesday.

The judge, Juan Merchan, who in more than 16 years on the bench, has earned a reputation for being thoughtful and measured, keeps to a tight schedule in court and seeks to maintain a certain level of decorum there, despite the sometimes rough-and-tumble atmosphere in state criminal proceedings. He likely will have little patience for “the former guy’s” attack-and-delay strategy.

Trump’s intensely litigious nature has made his strategy more visible over the years than it might otherwise be.

Boy Orange has long used delay tactics in legal matters that emerged from business disputes, and since becoming a politician he has repeatedly tried to throw sand in the gears of the legal system, using the resulting slow pace of litigation to run out the clock until seismic events shifted the playing field.

Trump also has a lengthy history of conflating legal problems with public-relations problems, treating every matter as one that can be dealt with in terms of a media strategy.

For the past six-plus four years, the question keeps coming back to millions of Americans: Donald, if you are innocent, why do you always act so guilty?

Eight days ago, he, Trump, openly called for the Constitution to be suspended. Apparently, he didn’t realize that if it were suspended, he would lose the right to plead the 5th Amendment.

In his case(s), that might NOT be such a bad thing.

DANGER ‘ROUND THE CORNER??!

The news of Donald John Trump’s indictment seems slightly strange.

By that the old Lobsterman means: How could something so big – the first criminal indictment of an American president – seem so small?

The Orange Despot was NOT indicted for his efforts to overturn the results of the ’20 election or for engaging in egregious financial fraud to increase his wealth or even for allegedly obstructing the special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, which many once thought was the best avenue prosecutors had to ensnare “the former guy.”

NO, No, no…that was NOT to be…[yet some of us await such indictments in the near future].

Instead, the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, and his team of prosecutors have brought the country back six and a half years, to the final weeks of the ’16 election, when Trump paid an adult film star to prevent her from going public with a story about an affair she said they had while Trump was married [the details of what the indictment contains remain unknown – its contents will be unsealed after Boy Orange turns himself in].

NO matter what the precise charges are, the prosecution will raise unusual and arguably novel legal issues.

And, as we’ve ALL seen Re’Trump’licans are ALREADY mounting an effort to frame Bragg as a political hack who is ‘weaponizing’ his office to take down Trump on behalf of Dems.

ALL that being said, you can make book that Bragg may have been the first local prosecutor to do it, but he will probably NOT be the last.

In thinking about, as well as watching and listening to the maddening crowds over the last three days, I’m now more convinced than ever that every local prosecutor in the country will now feel that he/she has free rein to criminally investigate!!! and prosecute presidents after they leave office. 

It’ll become a political weapon of sorts!!!

The vast range, breadth and diversity of criminal laws throughout the country provide plenty of opportunity for mischief. 

As the attorney general and future justice Robert Jackson observed more than 80 years ago, “A prosecutor stands a fair chance of finding at least a technical violation of some act on the part of almost anyone.” He added, “It is not a question of discovering the commission of a crime and then looking for the man who has committed it; it is a question of picking the man and then searching the law books or putting investigators to work to pin some offense on him.”

There is probably NOT much that presidents can do to mitigate individual personal risks, except perhaps to try to limit as many of their unofficial activities – where they live, vacation and conduct business and/or nonprofit work – to states and localities that are safely and consistently run by the same party.

So-o-o, why is it wrong to hope, as well as expect, that our president is a moral upstanding citizen with NO skeletons in the closet to come back to haunt him/her?

h/t: Robert H. Jackson Center.