It Begins. Let Slip The Blogs of Deplore(ables)

IT'S HAPPENING. AT LAST.

did the judge hold him in contempt yet?
did the judge hold him in contempt yet?
did the judge hold him in contempt yet?
did the judge hold him in contempt yet?
did the judge hold him in contempt yet?
did the judge hold him in contempt yet?
did the judge... #trumptrial

— Witty Librarian 2024 (@PaulWartenberg) April 15, 2024

Ahem.

Today is the pre-trial stuff, where the judge is setting out the parameters of what evidence will get presented, denying trump's attempts at recusal and delay, and setting the calendar so that the Wednesdays are off-days (awwwwww). Not sure if jury selection officially starts in the afternoon, so we'll see about that.

The whole thing is a media circus even without cameras allowed in the court - no surprise, this IS a Trial of the Century - and with any luck the chaos will settle down once the actual testimony begins.

But this is it. Finally. trump getting held accountable for all the shit he thought he could commit for the last 50 years.

Day One of 2024: the Prepping

 Just a reminder this first day of the new year, that this is the calendar keeping track of trump's various dooms.

from the Washington Post, obvs.

Not appearing on this calendar: the pending appeals court hearing this week on trump's Absolute Immunity claim that could overturn Special Counsel Jack Smith's March trial, and indeed any other criminal trial trump faces. In case trump's appeal fails - and it ought to, considering what trump suggests is a presidency that can abuse every right and ignore every law - then March 4th should see the start date on that.

The New York state civil trial wraps up next week, after which the judge's ruling is expected by early February. It won't end well for trump, but it will be a question how immediate some of the penalties will get imposed on trump and his sons for the things the court already deemed liable (the trial was to determine the extent of fines and damages).

While this calendar shows that the Classified Documents trial in South Florida is set for May, the experts fear Judge Cannon - already shown favor towards the guy who appointed her to the bench -  overseeing the trial will try to delay it into 2025. In which case, the Georgia RICO trial could move up from August to late May. Hmmmm. Or should I say Mmmmm.

The reason for Georgia's potential trial date for August is that the other trials could take weeks for testimony and jury deliberations to happen. The DC trial could go quickly as there's only four charges and the likelihood trump won't waste time testifying on his own behalf. I'm not sure how the New York City falsified records case would go, but given how it's pretty much the same thing repeated over and over, the prosecutors should wrap up their arguments quickly and again, trump won't put up much of a defense if he's not allowed to delay it.

It's the Classified Documents case that could take weeks even months, as there's a literal ballroom's worth of boxed top secret docs to go through.

So this is how we should be planning out the year 2024, alongside getting the campaign efforts out for Democrats to ensure trump won't fcking win this November.

Long year ahead.

The Year of Dread Incoming: 2024

It's a little hard to wish everybody I know a Happy New Year when I know damn well that the coming year 2024 is going to be the most stressful, anxiety-fueled year most of us will ever see.

We're going to be dealing with the most consequential Presidential election cycle since the Great Depression, the fate of the nation facing the reality that donald trump will be the Republican candidate for 2024: We are facing the reality trump is openly promising dictatorship and the end of every constitutional norm just so he can avoid felony convictions.

That trump is facing felony convictions is something we've never seen before in a candidate from one of the two major political parties. Sure, there was Eugene Debs in a jail cell back in 1920 but he was with a minor third party and never stood a snowball's chance in West Palm Beach. The most Debs could wrangle were 1 million voters. trump will claim the Republican voter base at 62 million at least.

And this is with trump facing state criminal charges in both New York (tax fraud) and Georgia (election interference and RICO), and then federal charges in DC (for insurrection) and South Florida (for stolen classified documents). This is the first presidential cycle where the primary elections between Feburary through May are intermixed with trial dates between March through May for a leading candidate. 

And that's not even touching on trump's many civil court cases including the wrap-up of the New York fraud case by mid-January, his second defamation trial with Carroll, and several others.

Remember the phrase "Trial of the Century" whenever a scandalous crime took place and a sordid circus of a trial would follow? Trials like the Stanford White murder, or the Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping and Death trial, or the Chicago Eight Seven, or the Manson Family murder sprees, or that whole OJ spectacle?

All of 2024 will be TRUMP TRIALS, every Trial of the Century in one year, on steroids. Unless trump succeeds in delaying all his criminal matters until after the election, which increases the horror that he may yet steal (not win) the November election and avoid any accountability as he abuses the legal immunity of the office to his whims.

Which leaves the other legal battle over trump's possible disqualification under the 14th Amendment on the table, as the Supreme Court may be forced to decide on that matter before November comes.

I once thought the 2012 election cycle was too stressful. Then 2016 happened. Now every presidential election is a nightmare while that con artist threatens to undo everything I've ever believed about America.

Gods help us.

2024 is two hours away.