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January 6 Hearings Live

Is Trump Cracking Under the Weight of Losing? - POLITICO - "Getting the boot from the White House is an undeniable ego blow for a man who has never admitted defeat."
Donald Trump has never had a week like the week he just had. On the heels of the Supreme Court’s knock-back and the Electoral College’s knockout, some of his most reliable supporters—Mitch McConnell, Vladimir Putin, Newsmax—acknowledged and affirmed the actual fact of the matter. Trump is a loser.

Consequently, he is plainly out of sorts, say former close associates, longtime Trump watchers and mental health experts.

...
“He’s never been in a situation in which he has lost in a way he can’t escape from,” Mary Trump, his niece and the author of the fiercely critical and bestselling book about him and their family, told me. “We continue to wait for him to accept reality, for him to concede, and that is something he is not capable of doing,” added Bandy Lee, the forensic psychiatrist from Yale who’s spent the last four years trying to warn the world about Trump and the ways in which he’s disordered and dangerous. “Being a loser,” she said, for Trump is tantamount to “psychic death.”
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More from her:
“Psychological disorders are like anything else,” said Mary Trump, who’s also a psychologist. “If they’re unacknowledged and untreated over time, they get worse.”

In Lee’s estimation, it’s not something that could happen. It’s something that is happening, that’s been happening for the past four years—and will keep happening.

“His pathology has continued to grow, continued to cause him to decompensate, and so we’re at a stage now where his detachment from reality is pretty much complete and his symptoms are as severe as can be.” She likened Trump to “a car without functioning brakes.” Such a car, she explained, can look for a long time like it’s fine, and keep going, faster and faster, even outracing other cars. “But at the bottom of the hill,” Lee said, “it always crashes.”
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Will Trump have a nervous breakdown. Those who know him well have different opinions.

As to how he got that way,
Trump is who and how he is first and foremost because of his parents. His unwell mother couldn’t and didn’t give him the attention he wanted and needed, while his domineering father gave him attention but a wrong and warping kind—instilling in him a grim, zero-sum worldview with the dictate that the only option was to be “a winner.” Ever since, he responded so relentlessly to these harsh particulars of his loveless upbringing—the insatiable appetite for publicity, the crass, constant self-aggrandizement—that he became the president of the United States and arguably the most famous person alive. But from the time he was a boy, the way Trump has coped with the void he’s felt ultimately has been less a solution than a spotlight—it’s what’s made his most fundamental problem most manifest.
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That seems to be the conservative ideal of childrearing -- being authoritarian and punitive while demanding nothing less than extremely superior performance.

The closest that Trump got to this moment was in early 1990.
He was mired in a tabloid-catnip marital breakup on account of an affair with the B-movie actress who eventually would become the second of his three wives and the mother of the fourth of his five children. He also was a staggering $3.4 billion in debt—personally liable for nearly a billion of that—his business affairs in New York and with his casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in absolute shambles.
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He reportedly ordered lots of fast-food meals and looked for his name in news stories. But he kept going.
Trump was able to do that, of course, principally due to the sprawling, near-foolproof safety net his father’s wealth allowed. Lenders in New York and regulators in Atlantic City, too, let him skate, both groups as beholden to him as he was to them.

Still, en route to averting comeuppance, he proceeded to weave this self-inflicted calamity into a preferred tale of a certain toughness he possessed.
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There was a big difference, however. Back then, he got to keep Trump Tower and continue living in the building's penthouse, while he received a $450,000/month allowance.
This time, on the other hand, he’s getting kicked out. No more Oval Office photo ops. No more two-scoop nights watching Fox News in his room in the residence. In a month’s time, for most likely the last time, the door of the White House will close behind him.

...
“He’s looking down the barrel” of legal and financial difficulties, Mary Trump said. “But perhaps more troubling for him or more terrifying for him is the fact that he is in danger of losing his relevance.”

And that is not something Trump will ever be able to abide.
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crazyfingers said:
Don2 (Don1 Revised) said:
I'm going with now. Here's why.

Here's the Constitution on what treason is:
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
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The first sentence has the form:
Treason consists of A or B.
A = "in levying War against them [the United States]"
B = "in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort."

Here is my take on A:
An occupation by military to force them to overturn a legitimate election is an act of war against the persons. Doing so in several states so it effects the outcome of the whole election is an act of war against the United States.

The word "levy" itself does not even require occupation, but instead can minimally require preparation such as arming a National Guard and sending them orders for occupation. That itself would be levying war.

So, if Trump, followed through with the suggestion from Flynn by merely sending orders that would meet the criteria of A. Thus, it would in that case be Twitler committed treason and those persons with him by providing aid and comfort (B) such as Sydney Powell and Flynn would also be treasonous.

However, Trump did not follow through (yet?). So now, Flynn and Powell are probably guilty of conspiracy to commit treason, but no one is going to call them on this, save some people on the Internets, like us.

Here is my take on B:
As above, if Trump initiated an act of war against several states by sending in forces to redo an election which he lost, he'd be the Enemy, in this case a domestic enemy. Flynn and Powell would be adhering to his will to be an enemy and providing aid and comfort in the form of advise and presumably direction of underlings, if any.

However, if there is no martial law in those several states or no occupation to force a reelection, can we still call Trump an Enemy in the sense of the Constitution? If we could, it would appear that Flynn and Powell would be treasonous and so all we have left to prove is that Trump was an Enemy of the United States at the time of the meeting where a conspiracy to commit treason was discussed.

Is Trump an Enemy of the United States?

The short answer is yes.

The longer answer is that just like the framers had built up a list of grievances against King George in order to declare their independence, one could do the same against Trump. His negligence and abuse have resulted in hundreds of thousands dead. The complicated issue of being a terrible President distinguished from an Enemy of the United States probably always lingers in the background, which is why it may be important to also point out the following:

It's really Trump's undemocratic actions that make him an enemy of the Constitution and the United States. Since the election results have become clear, he's controlled a faction of undemocratic persons ordering them to fabricate evidence of fraud by his opponent. He's engaged in phone calls and communications to several states to try to convince them to overturn results in order to take illegitimate control of the future United States, ie. an attempted illegitimate coup d'etat of statesmen and propagandists. The victim is the people and the future United States administration as well as a military that would be controlled by someone who didn't win the democratic election.

What is more than that is he has prepared a paramilitary of brainwashed minions, both Qanon conspiracy theorists and Proud Boys, the latter of which he told to "Stand Back and Stand By." These are persons he knows are armed and willing to commit violence on his behalf. There is a distinction here: he did not tell them to Stand Down but instead to Stand By...i.e. to be used in the future, which means he has prepared an army for future war.

Even though I think we all know these are the reasons that Donald Trump is an Enemy of the United States, we also know it would not get anywhere in a court of law. There'd be too much difficulty in proving his connections to ordering things (versus, say, Steve Bannon). It would also come across as free speech as opposed to conspiracy to commit treason.

If and when something more material happens, the conclusion in a court of law could be different.
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I'd been largely thinking along those lines but not in so much detail. My summary would be that Powell and Flynn are conspiring to illegitimately overthrow the election thus the USA by placing an unelected, illegitimate leader in the place of the legitimate elected new leader and that is an an attack on the United States.
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There is a fine line between free speech and actually breaking the law. But as lpetrich has said, it truly is a matter of majority opinion. I've had some experience along these lines at a personal level but never at a state level, but I suppose they are the same.
 
My summary would be that Powell and Flynn are conspiring to illegitimately overthrow the election thus the USA by placing an unelected, illegitimate leader in the place of the legitimate elected new leader and that is an an attack on the United States.
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I'm less sure about Powell.
But to me Flynn is an open and shut case. He lied about conversations with Russian agents, while under oath.

Whether he also lied to Vice-president Pence is still a question. But Pence definitely repeated Flynn's claims that he hadn't spoken to the Russians, on TV. Whether Pence was lying for Trump, or repeating lies from Flynn, hasn't been determined, to the best of my knowledge. But it would be an interesting investigation. More interesting than Hillary's email server. Now that Flynn can be examined under oath, but can't invoke the 5th amendment, and be convicted of perjury if his statements are contradicted by other Trump administration officials.

Like Pence.
Tom
 
Trump will not have a nervous breakdown of any kind. To state it minimally, he has a healthy self-regard and has completely compartmentalized any doubts he had about the election results. He's the perfect example of the old Christian trope I used to read, in convert-yourself articles: If you want faith, ACT as though you have faith. Trump has speechified so much about Biden being a vote thief, and heard so many lusty, illiterate shouts of encouragement from his crowds, that he has gaslit himself. (I do suspect that sneaky little Ivanka doesn't believe it, for one second.) And Trump has used the power of projection. Who tried to keep the other side's votes from counting? True answer: Trump and the DeJoy Express. Trump's answer: The Dems. Who tried to steal the election? True answer: Trump and every single crooked Republican who signed on to the Texas lawsuit. Trump' s answer: The Dems. Who has assaulted the very basis of democracy and attempted to perpetrate the greatest Constitutional crime of all? True answer: the TGOP. Trump's answer: The Dems, stupid.
Chant this stuff long enough (and there is a great 2021 roadshow coming) and you believe your own horseshit.
 
It matters not what the shit the horse at the top shits. It only matters whether there will be anyone to direct scooping and applying the shit. Failing any volunteers of merit - ones that have authority and position - no shit is promulgated.

The good faerie says we win.
 
lpetrich said:
Will Trump have a nervous breakdown. Those who know him well have different opinions.

As to how he got that way,

That seems to be the conservative ideal of childrearing -- being authoritarian and punitive while demanding nothing less than extremely superior performance.

The closest that Trump got to this moment was in early 1990.

He reportedly ordered lots of fast-food meals and looked for his name in news stories. But he kept going.
Trump was able to do that, of course, principally due to the sprawling, near-foolproof safety net his father’s wealth allowed. Lenders in New York and regulators in Atlantic City, too, let him skate, both groups as beholden to him as he was to them.

Still, en route to averting comeuppance, he proceeded to weave this self-inflicted calamity into a preferred tale of a certain toughness he possessed.
Click to expand...
There was a big difference, however. Back then, he got to keep Trump Tower and continue living in the building's penthouse, while he received a $450,000/month allowance.
This time, on the other hand, he’s getting kicked out. No more Oval Office photo ops. No more two-scoop nights watching Fox News in his room in the residence. In a month’s time, for most likely the last time, the door of the White House will close behind him.

...
“He’s looking down the barrel” of legal and financial difficulties, Mary Trump said. “But perhaps more troubling for him or more terrifying for him is the fact that he is in danger of losing his relevance.”

And that is not something Trump will ever be able to abide.
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Poor Donald, getting evicted from public housing.
 
I thought this video best for the political humor section where I first posted it, but after this weekend’s news it really hits a little too close to home. So here it is again:

 
SLD said:
I thought this video best for the political humor section where I first posted it, but after this weekend’s news it really hits a little too close to home. So here it is again:

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Fucking hilarious. I hope Trumpy gets to see it.
 
Trump seems pretty hell bent on leaving the US more vulnerable than he has already made it for Biden to inherit. That he was meeting with Sidney Powell at all, in the White House (after she was alledgedly 'let go' by his campaign) is very disturbing.
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
Trump seems pretty hell bent on leaving the US more vulnerable than he has already made it for Biden to inherit. That he was meeting with Sidney Powell at all, in the White House (after she was alledgedly 'let go' by his campaign) is very disturbing.
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It's become a consistent pattern amongst the Republicans.

Leave the USA in a mess, then blame the Democrats for not waving a magic wand and repair all the damage in a month. Bush I did it. Bush II did it. Now Trump is about to do it.
Tom
 
TomC said:
Jimmy Higgins said:
Trump seems pretty hell bent on leaving the US more vulnerable than he has already made it for Biden to inherit. That he was meeting with Sidney Powell at all, in the White House (after she was alledgedly 'let go' by his campaign) is very disturbing.
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It's become a consistent pattern amongst the Republicans.

Leave the USA in a mess, then blame the Democrats for not waving a magic wand and repair all the damage in a month. Bush I did it. Bush II did it. Now Trump is about to do it.
Tom
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I'd definitely argue against that Bush I did that. The economy was already recovering when he lost his job. HW Bush was beaten as much by the GOP as he was by the Democrats. His loss was a vindication of those like Limbaugh, and a stepping stone to the Trump Presidency.

W? Again, there were two wings of the GOP, one that sought to deal with TARP and the Great Recession, and those that wanted the country to burn for the Dems. TARP was passed. No one has done to America post an election loss remotely like Trump has since Buchanan. Yes, the GOP has become poisoned, and McConnell sought to limit what Obama could do, but while in the White House, the GOP hadn't sabotaged the nation as Trump appears to be trying to do. But Gingrich, Hastert, McConnell, Ryan have definitely sought to destroy Democrat Presidencies.
 
lawtwitter has been having a lot of fun with these lawsuits, dunking on all their mistakes, large and small, and this is my favorite.

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/KlasfeldReports/status/1340310316329123845[/TWEET]

It wasn't just the Trump lawyers who were horrible, some judges were too. I mean the conservatives in the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the ones talked about in this thread.
 
Full doc is here.

I would have thought that text would have been boilerplate... and not needing to be typed every time. It is almost as if this entire thing is being orchestrated by Andy Kaufman.
 
Since our chief exec befouled the Oval Office by actually discussing a declaration of martial law to overturn the election, on the evening of 12/18....is it beyond the realm of the possible that zombie Thomas Jefferson and zombie Abraham Lincoln will appear at Trump's bedside and begin to feed on him, Jefferson starting on Trump's bountiful neck vagina and Lincoln homing in on his pumpkin pie-sized bosoms? I don't like to conjure this up because:
1) I'm an atheist, and this would be in some sense supernatural, and
2) Trump deserves a worse fate, and
3) It might turn Trump into a zombie, and, even though he might then launch himself on Don Jr. and Ivanka, I don't want to see zombie Trump on a rally stage.
 
The Trump White House has entered its final stage: complete meltdown | Donald Trump | The Guardian

Some White House advisers fear Trump's final days - CNNPolitics
)President Donald Trump has turned to a fringe group of advisers peddling increasingly dubious tactics to overturn the results of the election, creating a dire situation that multiple senior officials and people close to the President say has led to new levels of uncertainty at how Trump will resist the coming end to his tenure.

"No one is sure where this is heading," one official said on Monday. "He's still the President for another month."
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One has to wonder about the loss of presidential immunity driving more of the nuttery. it's dangerous enough to be nuts but when you're nuts and afraid it's obviously worse. And trumpo is definitely nuts. So he's going to toss about for whatever he can latch onto to stave off the inevitable. His sticking up for Russia is reasonable considering how much money he owes.

So it will be an interesting final month with Dangerous Diaper Donny Dumpo.
 
'Why bother?': Biden, Trump advisers see little value in White House meeting - POLITICO - "As of this weekend, President Trump has waited longer than any president in nearly a century to sit down with his successor."
And advisers to Trump say he and President-elect Joe Biden may never come face to face, even on Inauguration Day, blowing up another American political ritual.

But while Biden said in a CNN interview earlier this month that Trump’s presence at his inauguration would be symbolically important, neither side sees much value in the two men conversing … ever.

“In normal circumstances, it is one more indication of the peaceful transfer of power and the depth of our respect for democracy,” said John Podesta, who as President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff welcomed President-elect George W. Bush and his top aides to the White House on Dec. 19, 2000, a meeting that was delayed by the Florida recount and court challenges to the election results.
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What a sore loser Trump is.
 
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