He’s actually selling Bibles. Did someone say Christian nationalism? Update:
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He’s got problems. Big ones. Rudy Giuliani is trapped in a living “nightmare,” and the former New York City Mayor can’t believe it’s real, he was overheard telling pals at Donald Trump’s private club, Mar-a-Lago last week. Source exclusively tell Page Six that Giuliani was spotted at the Palm Beach club as he’s facing bankruptcy stemming from a spate of debts. An attendee told us they heard the former Trump attorney saying he’s in a “nightmare world,” and “he wakes up everyday and can’t believe it’s real.” The onetime pol was hit with a whopping $148 million claim after being found guilty by a Georgia court of falsely accusing two poll workers of committing voter in Fulton County during the 2020 election. Feds are also reportedly targeting Giuliani’s own $3.5 million Florida condominium, as Giuliani contends he lacks the finances to settle his debts. Giuliani was at Mar-a-Lago attending an event in support of Arizona Republican congressional hopeful Abe Hamadeh, we hear.
There are rules here? The Biden-Harris campaign has taken off the gloves. That was clear from Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. But that night was not a one-off. Donald “91 Counts” Trump is overwhelmed with so many legal fights and threats to his liquidity (and freedom) that he has nearly run out of bandwidth for campaigning for president. Biden-Harris means to increase the pressure and prod Trump’s delicate ego at every opportunity. “This is the campaign I’ve been waiting for,” Ron Filipkowski posted in response to a bruising press statement from the Biden-Harris campaign (CNBC): A court ruling that slashed Donald Trump’s civil fraud appeal bond was a financial win for the former president. But the campaign of his rival, President Joe Biden, found a way to capitalize on the news. “Donald Trump is weak and desperate – both as a man and a candidate for President,” the Biden campaign said in a searing statement Monday afternoon.
[C]onservatives should gratefully celebrate the greatest pro-family winin a generation: overturning Roe v. Wade, a decision that for five decades made amockery of our Constitution and facilitated the deaths of tens of millions of unbornchildren. But the Dobbs decision is just the beginning. Conservatives in the statesand in Washington, including in the next conservative Administration, shouldpush as hard as possible to protect the unborn in every jurisdiction in America. Inparticular, the next conservative President should work with Congress to enact themost robust protections for the unborn that Congress will support while deployingexisting federal powers to protect innocent life and vigorously complying withstatutory bans on the federal funding of abortion. Conservatives should ardentlypursue these pro-life and pro-family policies while recognizing the many womenwho find themselves in immensely difficult and often tragic situations and the heroism of every choice to become a mother. Alternative options to abortion, especiallyadoption, should receive federal and state support.
Amanda Marcotte on the whiner-in-chief: As anyone who listens to him can attest, Donald Trump may be the most self-pitying person on planet Earth. Pretty much all the man does is whine and cry about how he’s the victim of an imaginary “witch hunt.” In reality, his list of transgressions is staggering. If he were any other person, he would have been sentenced to prison many times over with no real hope of release: Sexual assault. Decades of fraud. Attempted extortation of a foreign leader. Stealing classified documents. Flagrant acceptance of what very much looks like bribes. Attempting to overthrow democracy. Inciting a violent riot that got people killed. I’m sure readers can list a dozen more, but let’s get to the point: It’s absolutely bananas that Trump isn’t in prison yet. On Monday, right before Trump finally got the tiniest taste of the justice he deserves for committing decades of criminal fraud in New York, he got bailed out by the state’s appeals court.
Following up on a previous post, here’s Jamelle Bouie on Trump’s impunity” At no point during his long career as a celebrity real estate mogul and businessman has Trump faced any meaningful consequences for his fraudulent, even criminal, behavior. He has operated, for decades, with a shield of impunity crafted from his shamelessness, his celebrity and his craven willingness to intimidate critics with litigation or even just the threat of litigation. What is striking is the extent to which this shield of impunity has only been strengthened by the political and legal institutions of the United States. First and foremost among these is the Republican Party, which has never wasted a chance to thrust itself between Trump and the consequences of his actions. When it was the “Access Hollywood” tape, Republicans were there for Trump. They were there for Trump when it was his callous reaction to the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville.
Murkowski eyes the exit door The Cook Political Report rates three Democrat-held Senate seats in the 2024 toss-up category: Arizona, Montana, and Ohio. Republican-held seats rate solid-R or likely-R. Lose any one of its races and Democrats lose control of the Senate. Maybe. What will Lisa do? (CNN): Sen. Lisa Murkowski, aghast at Donald Trump’s candidacy and the direction of her party, won’t rule out bolting from the GOP. The veteran Alaska Republican, one of seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial amid the aftermath of January 6, 2021, is done with the former president and said she “absolutely” would not vote for him. “I wish that as Republicans, we had … a nominee that I could get behind,” Murkowski told CNN. “I certainly can’t get behind Donald Trump.” The party’s shift toward Trump has caused Murkowski to consider her future within the GOP. In the interview, she would not say if she would remain a Republican.
Never forget This was a common refrain: How about this nonsense? You can’t make this stuff up: This is ridiculous. I don’t know if Pompeo has a larger agenda. They do seem to be looking for a confrontation with China out of this whole thing but it’s unclear exactly what they think they’ll get out of it. But first and foremost, this is being done to appease Little Lord Fauntleroy in the White House who constantly needs to be reassured that his juvenile, re-election “branding” is being carried out at the highest levels of government. I guess it doesn’t matter if they can issue a joint statement. But you would think that international cooperation would be a top priority during a global pandemic. Apparently not. This response was catastrophic. It divided the nation even more than it already was and resulted in a massive number of unnecessary deaths and ongoing trauma which he is making worse each day by refusing to go the fuck away.
Jonathan Chait with an elegant analysis of what Trump’s doing with his valoriztion of the insurrectionists: “Joe Biden’s team has elevated the ‘threat to democracy’ posed by Trump and his movement to a place of prominence in its appeals to voters,” complained National Review’s Noah Rothman, who has written elsewhere that Trump is no more a threat to democracy than Biden. “Making the cause of the January 6 rioters into a central feature of Trump’s campaign plays directly into Biden’s hands.” This is the extent of the Republican concern: Trump is alienating swing voters who might be receptive to messages about high grocery prices but respond nervously to blood-soaked vows to redeem his martyrs and purify the fatherland. But there is a perfectly cogent reason why Trump continues to press his most extreme demands, even at the cost of repulsing potential voters. He is no longer willing to accept the alliance of convenience with reluctant partners that held traditional Republicans like Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, and Reince Priebus by his side during his first term.
Two of Trump’s worst nightmares are happening right now, he’s broke and people are laughing at him. It’s glorious! I told people I enjoyed 24 hours of knowing Donald’s squirming. In this clip you can see how Eric Trump is personally experiencing his Dad’s humiliation at the hands of bankers and bond companies.Eric Trump Sunday interview on Fox News, host Maria Bartiromo “When I came to them saying, ‘Hey, can I get a 1/2 billion dollar bond?’ Maria they were laughing!” -Eric Trump to Maria Bartiromo on Fox 3-24-2024 It’s interesting that Eric was doing the calling, and they laughed in his face. Why not Daddy? Because they know Donald always get revenge against people who laugh at him and don’t do what he wants. On Monday we learned Trump got the bond amount reduced to $175 million and a Double Secret Special Extension that kicks the can down the road 10 days.