Commentary
Trump precedes his post about his imminent “arrest” with an ugly, dystopian screed about America.
I’m sure that by the time you read this, you’ll already be aware of the BIG NEWS on this normally sleepy news Saturday:
Donald Trump claimed today that he was going to be “arrested” by New York authorities. The potential indictment, not confirmed by the office of the Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg, is likely to stem from an alleged 2016 hush money payment to porn star, Stormy Daniels. Trump announced the arrest, which he claims will occur on Tuesday, in a communication on this social media platform, Truth Social. In the post Trump, as usual,played the victim being persecuted by the “CORRUPT & HIGHLY POLITICAL MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEYS OFFICE” who is funded by none other than “GEORGE SOROS,” in an “ON AN OLD & FULLY DEBUNKED (BY NUMEROUS OTHER [unnamed] PROSECUTORS) FAIRY TALE.”
While all that is standard Trump folderol, the part of the post that was far more ominous, as how he concluded his post, encouraging his supporters: “PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!”
Most of the news coverage displayed the above post which begins, “Page 2” without showing “Page 1.” Not good enough for Around the Block, I found “Page 1;” it is truly and typically Trump, typically dystopian and typically hysterical (and not in the humorous definition of the word).
If all this is not enough, guess who chimed in. The spineless, craven, impotent, ineffectual, emasculated “Speaker” of the House, Kevin McCarthy.
In a tweet that had to be co-authored by the crazed McCarthy puppeteer, Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga) and the unhinged, jacket-less, chairman of the new “Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of Federal Government,” Jim Jordan (R-Oh), McCarthy tweeted,
Think about McCarthy’s tweet. Here is a man who is only Speaker and, therefore, third in line to the presidency, because he kowtowed to the MAGA-wing of his caucus, kowtowing again by inserting himself in a legal procedure that has nothing to do with him, calling a duly-elected local DA an abuser of power in a Grand Jury investigation into which McCarthy has no insight. I doubt he, or any or the other Trump acolytes in Congress recognize the irony of McCarthy’s statement about “subvert[ing] our democracy.”
And then, of course, where would any story about this horror show be complete without a comment from the aforementioned MTG, who turned a potential Trump indictment into a victory, by tweeting, “If the Manhattan DA indicts President Trump, he will ultimately win even bigger than he is already going to win,” going on to say that “President Trump did nothing wrong…” as if she has some inside information that no one else has, including the Grand Jury, if he is indicted.
Let me finish with comments from someone who, while might be left-leaning, is, by virtue of his profession, objective – presidential historian, Michael Beschloss.
“This tweet that Kevin McCarthy put out is disgraceful, and I don’t use that word often to describe Speakers of the House. He’s interfering with the process of the rule of law. This is a duly elected DA in New York; we don’t even know what’s going to happen yet or what the Grand Jury is going to do. The Speaker of the house has absolutely no business interfering with this process siding with one side, the Donald Trump side, while also saying that he’s going to investigate the use of federal funds. It’s not his business to get involved in the legal process.
“And, not insignificantly, it also raises the question regarding Donald Trump’s calling on people to protest. You have an ex-president calling for a protest that we now know can turn into violence as it did on the 6th of January 2021. But at least as horrible as that day was, we had a Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, where we could be sure that she would do her best to try to protect the capital against violent attack. After this statement by Kevin McCarthy we have no such reassurance.”
I don’t know about you but on this Saturday in March, the NCAA’s “March Madness” has been “Trumped” (and “McCarthyed” and “Greened”)! In fact, on this Saturday in March we’ve entered into the new world of “March Malevolence.”
Around the Block 
Another great piece Ted, did you watch Bill Mayer last week. as he was his best. Looking forward to more “Around”,…..
Russ Pratt The Pratt Company 415.381-5000 x15 rpratt@prattcompany.com
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I can only take bits and pieces of Maher. His views are frustratingly inconsistent as is his humor.
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Does Trump truly not know the difference between a “boarder” and a “border”?
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I didn’t see that. Of course now we know why the wall was not completed. He was building it at the southern boarder, not the border.
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I heard it here first because I’ve been to deep
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Well, it sems you might have a hornet’s nest south of the “boarder” (sic). Congratulations may be in order — if Trump is arrested. This is long overdue. Hopefully his followers will remember how much money he forgot to pay to help the legal costs of the “J6 tourists,” whom he said he would protect. A bunch of them are already in jail. This is how he shows he “cares” about them. Not one whit!
As for his Truth Social proclamations, they pretty much sound like incitements to riot to me. I do believe that is a crime down there, is it not? March Madness! Couldn’t be a better name for what will happen if Trump gets arrested. 30% of your country will go crazy!
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A hornet’s nest is putting it mildly. You have it so much better north of the “boarder.” You are correct, incitement to riot is a crime but, for some, unpunishable. In my mind, the biggest issue, even if he is indicted for this and all the other crimes, I believe it will be impossible to get a jury of 12 to agree unanimously to a conviction. No matter how good the jury vetting is, some MAGA nutcase Trumpster will slip in. And he goes scott free!
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The down side of trial by jury. The thong is to arrest him and put him in Guantanamo for his protection, and then to forget about him.
Or they could use something similar to what the South African Police did to Stephen Biko. Transfer him him hundreds of miles in a black car under a hot sun, without water. (There was more to Biko’s death than that, but I am not suggesting such practices for Trump. He wouldn’t last a beatdown for even a few seconds!)
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I can always count on you to find a solution to the most difficult issues facing Pax Americana! Of the two, I’d opt for the transfer to Gitmo and forgetting about him. Can you imagine his trauma when he realizes no one cares about him anymore? And if his MAGA crowd wants to protest his treatment, we can provide courtesy planes to send them to Guantanamo. Or maybe, even better, leaky boats like the unfortunate Cuban refugees have to use to get here. A classic example of “killing two birds with one stone!”
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Now who’s going overboard! LMAO as I sink below the waves o consciouness…
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With the ICC issuing an arrest warrant for Putin and the Manhattan DA arresting Trump, the word “Cellmates” comes to mind.
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Couldn’t happen to better (or is it worse) people.
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Too long this Country, its citizens and, indeed the World, has had to be burdened by the madness of a wanna be dictator as is djt. Let the legal system go about their business, State, Federal and
World Court and hold the tyrants of everywhere accountable for their crimes against humanity.
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Did you see today’s NY Times article about the Iran hostages and Jimmy Carter’s re-election?
Sent from my iPhone
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I hadn’t yet…but thanks for directing me to it. It’s long been rumored that there was some Reagan duplicity involved in the inabilty for Carter to get the hostages out. But no surprise, the Nixon camp did the same thing, as I recall, in stalling peace talks with North Vietnam until after the election. I guess I can safely say: DIRTY TRICKS=GOP!
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