President Trump: The NEW one and only politics thread

I’m not defending it. It was wrong to do.

It’s undignified, and should be beneath the him, and the office he holds.

But, it’s not evidence that he’s racist.

 

This is an honest question: so calling any black person stupid is racist? I understand the historical context you are referring to, but it still seems like a stretch and somewhat insulting to black people to say they should be protected from what is a pretty run-of-the-mill and weak insult.

 

Only the best people.

https://www.mediaite.com/tv/ex-trump-aide-seb-gorka-is-giving-out-fake-fox-news-business-cards/

 

As the below Olbermann bit noted, Trump has always had this weird thing about using the word "dog" as a pejorative. He seems to think it's a killer putdown, completely oblivious to the fact that most people love dogs.

 

Manafort's attorney rested without presenting a defense to the charges.

I guess he's expecting a full pardon?

 

The next administration is going to have to clean the White House with liquid nitrogen, to get rid of the Trump stench.

 

It's almost like you could value a friendship, and even pray for your friend, even if your friend sometimes disappoints you, you can't defend everything they say or do, and you are unwilling to support their candidacy for president -- which pretty much defines every friendship I have.

“The Apprentice” creator Mark Burnett has issued an unequivocal statement disavowing the “hatred, division and misogyny” that has become associated with the presidential campaign of his former “Apprentice” star Donald Trump.
...
“Given all of the false media reports, I feel compelled to clarify a few points. I am not now and have never been a supporter of Donald Trump’s candidacy. I am NOT “Pro-Trump,” Burnett said in a statement emailed by his personal PR rep. “Further, my wife and I reject the hatred, division and misogyny that has been a very unfortunate part of his campaign.”

Mark Burnett: ‘I Have Never Been a Supporter of Donald Trump’s Candidacy’

 

I'd say the context matters. When you're the President, it matters what you say and how you say it. When you're the President who repeatedly attacks people in this way, it matters more. When you're the President whose words give great comfort to and energize racists, it matters more. If he doesn't understand that going to Alabama and calling NFL players "sons of bitches" is out of bounds, he's either ignorant of history or so cruel he doesn't care.

 

It's more accurate to say he is not putting on any additional evidence in defense. He's already outlined a defense through cross examination.

It's a ballsy strategy. Some lawyers will argue that if you can get out everything you need during the government's case, then you shouldn't put on evidence and prolong the trial any further. The theory being that the longer a case goes, the crankier the jury gets.

It can backfire, though, if jurors start to wonder why the defense didn't put anybody up.

In some courts, not putting on evidence gives the defendant the strategic advantage of having the last closing arguments. That's not the case in fed criminal court though.

 

While I'm sure that press release is completely trustworthy, there seems to be some confusion on Mr. Burnett's part over what might constitute "support."

Mark Burnett Meets With Trump Over Inauguration Plans

Trump’s Inaugural Committee Paid $26 Million to Firm of First Lady’s Adviser

An inaugural committee official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the details publicly, said Ms. Winston Wolkoff’s firm also paid the team used by Mark Burnett, the creator of “The Apprentice,” whose involvement in the inaugural festivities was requested by Mr. Trump.

 

There was no way to refute 90% of it. Witnesses, documents, emails, all damning. If nothing else, he hid $30m from the IRS, and you don't get to walk away from that.

He knows that his only chance is to play the good soldier and hope that Trump is willing to take the blowback from that sort of pardon. He missed his best chance to roll over, so unless he sits in jail long enough to lose hope and cuts a deal that information is out of reach.

If Trump does pardon him, I'm thinking that it happens right after the mid-terms. Otherwise, the closer to the 2020 election he gets the more it will hurt him.

Unless Trump gives up on 2020, then who knows?


Roger Stone's turn in the barrel.

 

Isn’t that usually a sign that the defense doesn’t think the prosecution hasn’t proven its case, and doesn’t want to risk putting on a defense that could somehow backfire on them?