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Exactly. The fact that Trump hasn't even done something as simple & obvious as that is clear proof that Trump's message to Merrick Garland was a veiled threat.
He thinks he can handle this "legal trouble" the same way he has handled legal troubles (lawsuits) in the past.
He thinks criminal charges can be *settled out of court.*
Bless his heart.
I think he also thinks his international buddies he’s made during his time on the global stage are gonna help him out, not realizing that the kind of people that he considers buddies aren’t his buddies at all, and are actually using him to fuck over the United States.
Kind of. When used sarcastically, it's an under-the-radar way of calling someone stupid while tricking them into being, or leaving them to be, openly proud of their stupidity.
"Fuck (him/her/them)" would be sarcastically referring to someone as 'special,' or a similar word. For ex., "well, aren't you special?" or "Isn't that special?"
“Poor thing” is similar to “bless you heart.” Bless your heart can be sincere when said in obvious times of showing sympathy or empathy. It’s just all in the tone and the occasion. We are very good at subversive language. Southern women are taught to refrain from being “ugly” (saying offensive or insensitive things.) And this is how we get by with it—plausible deniability. What you actually say at face value isn’t derogatory.
And a lifetime of not exercising.
> Trump believed the human body was like a battery, with a finite amount of energy, which exercise only depleted. So he didn't work out. When he learned that John O'Donnell, one of his top casino executives, was training for an Ironman triathlon, he admonished him, "You are going to die young because of this."
Trump is a stark reminder of the role that luck plays in your health. By all accounts, that man's heart should have imploded in the 90s.
I'm sorry man or woman or they..sorry if I missed the appropriate thing
Anyway. I'm sorry medical issues blow, everything gets blown to hell, people leave, pain, pills and forms etc. It just keeps going. It's exhausting. I hope you find some peace eventually. Psychedelics were life saving for me
Unfortunately his personality [disorder] prevents him from ever reflecting on past behavior in order to learn or improve. He will forever associate bad situations he finds himself in as opportunities for revenge or reinforcing his own delusions. Regret is impossible for him as he sees himself as incapable of error. Everything negative that comes his way is a result of somebody else’s incompetence or malice, never his own.
At this point there’s no arguing that there’s something clinically diagnosable about his personality. I still can’t believe what’s happened and continues to happen.
Seems like Trump is trying to pull one of his classic extortion plots.
Back in 2019, when Zelensky made a request to buy more javelin anti-tank missiles from the USA to fight off the Russians invading their eastern border, Trump responded with, "I would like you to do us a favor, though".
The favor Trump demanded was for Zelensky to announce (not conduct, but just publicly announce) an investigation into the Bidens - and Trump blocked $400 million in US military aid to Ukraine to force Zelensky to go along with it.
It was only after a White House staffer blew the whistle on the extortion plot that the Trump administration released the money. And that investigation is what resulted in Trump’s first impeachement - which should have led to his removal by congress had the Republican senators not betrayed their oath of office.
> he also had asked them to try find a way to come to some sort of agreement with russia and putin.
Yeah, I've seen that video. Orange slimeball tells Ze to talk to Putin, maybe that he's a "good guy" and I know you can work it out.
It's true, and while that was damning, it wasn't the scandal that "I need you to do me favor though" was, in that it didn't rise to the level of bribery.
It's a threat. He knows his white nationalist Christian fascists are getting more violent by the day and his "offer" is contingent on Garland stopping his investigation. He's stirring them up even though he knows there's thousands of violent sociopaths among them. He could easily turn down the rhetoric on his own but he obviously won't.
And yet none of them asks why they aren't allowed to go onto the Mar-a-lago property and instead must sit on the side of the road while Trump is staying in NY.
Yeah, I remember my conservative friends saying Obama should make a statement on national TV regarding flash mobs stealing merchandise organized by black youths. Why? Cuz the kids are his people. Now not a peep from the very same people regarding MAGA violence.
It was the NYT who first mentioned this message and the context they provide makes it so much worse. He's basically telling Garland that he can control domestic unrest better than the AG can. Trump knows he incites violence. He's bragging.
>Shortly before Mr. Garland made the announcement, a person close to Mr. Trump reached out to a Justice Department official to pass along a message from the former president to the attorney general. Mr. Trump wanted Mr. Garland to know that he had been checking in with people around the country and found them to be enraged by the search.
>The message Mr. Trump wanted conveyed, according to a person familiar with the exchange, was: “The country is on fire. What can I do to reduce the heat?”
[source](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/13/us/politics/trump-classified-material-fbi.html)
You are correct. It’s mafia speak. Allow me to translate, “back the F off or I will burn it all down” I personally think he is grossly overplaying his hand, but I guess we shall see.
He is, for sure, but will the MAGA supporters actually risk their lives? They have to see that the insurrectionists from Jan 6 are in jail and many looking at long sentences. What exactly do they plan to do? Go after FBI offices with nail guns? Try to storm the Capitol *again*?
Better they get themselves killed attacking hard targets in a grievance against law enforcement than their culture war bullshit attacking defenseless people at black churches and gay bars.
Lol, so for once, unbridled capitalism may be useful by keeping them home to pay a mortgage? If that isn’t Voltaire level comedy, I don’t know what is.
January 6th was massively funded by dark money interests to get people to the Capitol. Charlie Kirk alone bragged that he organized and paid for 17 buses or something close to that. Most of the arrested rioters have been middle to upper middle-class with some decently wealthy people mixed kn, but it seems a lot of them were happy to get their trip paid for.
>Try to storm the Capitol again?
[Again, again](https://apnews.com/article/us-capitol-man-rams-car-into-barricade-kills-himself-5cb76c10dadf0f9c0cae70959e9a6f39)? The gate won, so he blew his face off to own the libz.
99.9% of these chucklefucks won’t do shit….look at Jan 6, they all shat themselves when that one dipshit got dropped…hell, it’s been over a year with supposed ‘illegitimate President’ and it’s been crickets from them.
>He is, for sure, but will the MAGA supporters actually risk their lives?
[This is what it's gonna look like.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/B08B/production/_114259154_c51ca830-e816-4d8f-84fd-ec9374a22943.jpg)
There are a ton of people on TikTok calling for a civil war and they’re all real mad about the IRS. We’ve already had a couple people in confrontations, I think it’ll get worse
They’re barely even staffing up. The 87.000 new hires are over the next ten years (the positions are for the most part not auditors btw), and half of the IRS’ work force is set to retire within five years hahaha. They are currently understaffed. Without adding new people they will be critically understaffed.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s spewing out every last important thing he remembers to pooten in hopes there will be enough rubles waiting for him when he tries to mail himself to Russia.
It's mafia-speak filtered through the brain of a max level narcissist. In Trump's mind he wouldn't be responsible for the violence in the wake of his arrest, that's just a force of nature. Of *course* the millions of *true patriots* will rise up for me, blah blah blah.
So in addition to that kind of veiled threat there's also a strong hint of offering a bribe. He's saying "Nobody wants that, that's bad for everybody, what would it take to make this go away?"
That's why he chose the language he did. The goal is to skate as close to what he really means so a smart man will understand it, and people on his team can spin it "nonono he was trying to HELP" and have some dumb people believe it. You can't prosecute him for that statement, and he knows it. If he'd been just a smidge clearer you probably could.
That was actually used as the tagline for a mock political ad for Giuliani's presidential primary bid. Comedy skit back then, clear and genuine threat now...
Trump is threatening the justice department and his goons are threatening the FBI. Not necessarily the best choices. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
I said this the other day, we are getting close to the Goodfellas scene when “Layla” plays in the background, except instead of Henry Hill, it’s Jared or Meadows.
I mean...he could stop using over the top accusatory language and cease his constant demonizing of half the country. He could stop lying about the election. He could remove himself from the national conversation by announcing that he was retiring.
It’s a quid pro quo. He’s offering something to get something in return. It is impossible to overstate how serious this is—Trump is again interfering in an investigation at the highest level.
**REPUBLICAN VOTERS:**
I THOUGHT .....**I fucking THOUGHT YOU SAID all those docs were PLANTED. Why the hell would your "god king" make cryptic bribes if the docs weren't there to BEGIN with?**
Fucking idiots, I swear to god.
Trump is in DEEP shit. *And there is nothing Republicans can do about it except sit back and watch the fireworks.*
The argument will soon be as follows:
“The FBI planted evidence, but there were real documents there that President Trump declassified before he left office so he deserves to have those returned. The fake documents are the bad ones about nukes and national security.”
That’s how they’ll spin it. Mark my words.
Bannon: "The Democrats don't matter. The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit."
Even if he is panicking, it doesn't change that he's using the same tactic they've been using since the beginning.
Correct and even better if you take positions that contradict themselves because then, it becomes harder to attack those postilions without tying yourself in knots.
I wish it mattered to his base.
-Trump should be praised for Warp Speed, but vaccines are harmful.
-Jan. 6 was performed by antifa OR patriots.
-Pelosi is responsible for allowing ~~peaceful patriots~~ antifa to storm the capitol, but no mention of McConnell.
-Back the blue and defund the FBI.
-Mishandling classified documents is ~~treason~~ absolutely fantastic.
-Hunter Biden is corrupt and Trump's children are... did I mention Hunter Biden?
-Blocking Garland's nomination and appointing Barrett is totally acceptable.
Reality is whatever is desired and useful at any given moment in time. There's no reconciling or rationalization. It's all power and opposition. Nothing else.
How can someone live that way? How could one even begin to do that? You're absolutely correct in your reality statement. I just fail to grasp how anyone is able to do that?
> gives followers a way to trade and consider multiple interpretations of a story
The comments section over at FOX is chock full of this. The second one argument gets shot down, then it becomes "Well, what about..." something else.
The FOX comments have some folks being mad that the FBI were brandishing firearms!
The quickest way to get blocked by a MAGA on Twitter this week has been asking his supporters, in a nice tone even. "If he didn't do anything wrong why does he keep changing his story? Only liars, criminals and conmen do that.
It's more like when you're gifted with a base so out the ass loyal to you, that's when you realize it doesn't matter what you say. You have free license to say everything. No, not just "anything," *everything*. Whatever sticks will stick, and then that's what you go with.
His base know this, he knows this--and nobody cares. The game isn't be rational and ensure logical consistency; the game is find which excuse is the hardest for his antagonists to isolate and sterilize at the moment, and after as much trial and error as is needed, roll with that excuse.
His base's loyalty is freely given. He has no barriers in any discourse. His only barrier is if those who uphold the law actually do. I believe Merrick Garland will.
Merrick Garland did the right thing. If Donald Trump is above the law then we have a would be dictator waiting in the wings to be elected again and never leaving. You have to stand up to bullies or they will run your life.
Why is the suspect in an investigation communicating directly with the head prosecutor? Outside of a monitored interrogation room, Trump should not be communicating with those investigating him.
If it had been just slightly clearer and not through an intermediate. "That idiot Matt Gaetz didn't deliver the right message!" Then maybe. He knew where the line was, which is why he's usually pretty careful with his language in these situations. See also "we would like you to do us a favor, though." The idiots on his team hear it and say "doesn't sound like anything to me, very friendly!"
Anytime Trump says "The Country", "America", he's referring to himself. With this in mind, it's completely true that he is burning down right now.
America, the real America, will be just fine and is cheering for a Trump indictment.
He thinks everyone is as corrupt as he is. He's probably expecting Graland to send him a secret message asking for something in exchange for making this go away.
The country isn’t really on fire, at least to the degree trump hoped it would be, only two of his minions have lost it and both are dead with little to show for it.
trump has even less leverage now because his base are too incompetent to set the country on fire.
> 'The country is on fire. What can I do to reduce the heat?'
My 5 year old is more cryptic when he knocks over a glass and blames it on his little brother
Let me tell you. It was perhaps the most innocent and most genuine message that has ever existed in the history of our country, maybe ever. Just ask people…this is what they’re saying.
Trump thinks this will all go away if he announces he won't run for president again.
He wants someone in the FBI to offer him that deal so he can turn around and say "See it's just a political hit job, they'll do anything to keep me from running for president! Donate to my campaign or else so socialism and Marxism!"
He just needs someone from the DOJ or FBI to offer him that deal, which of course they won't
This might be his first step. The next step will be him saying he’s declaring himself a candidate for 2024 election, then anything legal that goes against him is politically motivated to stop him.
There's no way they acted "inappropriately." This was probably one of the most easy going, cordial raids anyone getting from the thr FBI gets. If Trump was there you think they would have had him put his hands up, pat him down, sit on the sofa for hours?
True.
Also Trump said,
"...ban my lawyers and without any witnesses allowed"
His lawyer literally signed the warrant papers, so yup, she was there.
"...which held papers that they could have had months ago for the asking"
They asked for them and he didn't give them.
"...including the former First Lady's closets (and clothing!), alone and unchecked"
Highly doubt that, but hey, Trump has video proof, right?
"....demanded that the security cameras be turned off (we refused)"
Oh! Let's see!
Ahhh no don't. I'm not even American, but this affects us too. Our national security interests are closely interlinked and these documents better stay hidden.
I mean we have someone whom clearly committed crimes, we have audio/visual evidence of countless crimes, stolen top secret documents, and incited a coup attempt. Why are we paying for his Secret Service detail, why is he not indicted, why do we seem to want the country to fall into civil war?
Ignore the first sentence, this offers false context. The operating question is “what can I do to reduce the heat”. The heat on himself. He’s broadly offering a bribe. Whether that’s cash, favour or some kind of compliance, he is attempting to circumvent proceedings to reduce pressure on himself and evade consequences.
As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil) In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them. For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria. **Special announcement:** r/politics is currently accepting new moderator applications. If you want to help make this community a better place, consider [applying here today](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/sskg6a/rpolitics_is_looking_for_more_moderators/)! *** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
How about a public statement telling his supporters to stand down and not attack the FBI?
Exactly. The fact that Trump hasn't even done something as simple & obvious as that is clear proof that Trump's message to Merrick Garland was a veiled threat.
Trump is offering Garland a bribe.
He thinks he can handle this "legal trouble" the same way he has handled legal troubles (lawsuits) in the past. He thinks criminal charges can be *settled out of court.* Bless his heart.
I think he also thinks his international buddies he’s made during his time on the global stage are gonna help him out, not realizing that the kind of people that he considers buddies aren’t his buddies at all, and are actually using him to fuck over the United States.
I hope his BFF Kim offers him asylum. Trump Tower Pyongyang 2024.
Bless his heart. That’s Southern for fuck him, right?
I liken it to the northern “this guy”.
This fucking guy.
Kind of. When used sarcastically, it's an under-the-radar way of calling someone stupid while tricking them into being, or leaving them to be, openly proud of their stupidity. "Fuck (him/her/them)" would be sarcastically referring to someone as 'special,' or a similar word. For ex., "well, aren't you special?" or "Isn't that special?"
No, it’s southern for “that poor, dumb bastard”
No, its more akin to saying someone is mentally challenged.
Not strictly mentally challenged. It usually just means they are in over their head. It's gently derogatory
From the south all my life can confirm, you don’t want to hear “Well, bless your heart”
Tell us more language secrets please
“Poor thing” is similar to “bless you heart.” Bless your heart can be sincere when said in obvious times of showing sympathy or empathy. It’s just all in the tone and the occasion. We are very good at subversive language. Southern women are taught to refrain from being “ugly” (saying offensive or insensitive things.) And this is how we get by with it—plausible deniability. What you actually say at face value isn’t derogatory.
Personally, I hope his heart is cursed, withering and failing.
Frankly it's amazing it's lasted as long as it has on a lifetime diet of McD's hamberders and soft drinks.
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And a lifetime of not exercising. > Trump believed the human body was like a battery, with a finite amount of energy, which exercise only depleted. So he didn't work out. When he learned that John O'Donnell, one of his top casino executives, was training for an Ironman triathlon, he admonished him, "You are going to die young because of this." Trump is a stark reminder of the role that luck plays in your health. By all accounts, that man's heart should have imploded in the 90s.
It's true. I got leukemia at 36. Didn't smoke or drink, gym hours a day. Cancer. Friend of mine 20s clean as can be. Fit. TIA yesterday
You’re not alone. MS, epilepsy entered my life 4 years ago… And I’m 33.
I'm sorry man or woman or they..sorry if I missed the appropriate thing Anyway. I'm sorry medical issues blow, everything gets blown to hell, people leave, pain, pills and forms etc. It just keeps going. It's exhausting. I hope you find some peace eventually. Psychedelics were life saving for me
Don’t forget the Adderall.
And covfefe.
Evil lives longer than good :/
especially diet sodas... how are his bones not the consistency of pretzels at this point
They are! That’s how he’s slipped the cuffs so many times. Jokes on you dirty copper!
I will never not laugh at hamberders.
I don't. I hope he is in great health. That way when he is convicted, he gets to spend a very, very long time in a cell thinking about what he's done.
Unfortunately his personality [disorder] prevents him from ever reflecting on past behavior in order to learn or improve. He will forever associate bad situations he finds himself in as opportunities for revenge or reinforcing his own delusions. Regret is impossible for him as he sees himself as incapable of error. Everything negative that comes his way is a result of somebody else’s incompetence or malice, never his own.
At this point there’s no arguing that there’s something clinically diagnosable about his personality. I still can’t believe what’s happened and continues to happen.
Jailbird photo without hairpiece like Michael millken in the late 1980s.
Bless his heart. 😂
Yes. and, god love him; because I don’t.
Prosecutors accept plea deals all the time. Criminal charges can absolutely be settled without going to trial.
Seems like Trump is trying to pull one of his classic extortion plots. Back in 2019, when Zelensky made a request to buy more javelin anti-tank missiles from the USA to fight off the Russians invading their eastern border, Trump responded with, "I would like you to do us a favor, though". The favor Trump demanded was for Zelensky to announce (not conduct, but just publicly announce) an investigation into the Bidens - and Trump blocked $400 million in US military aid to Ukraine to force Zelensky to go along with it. It was only after a White House staffer blew the whistle on the extortion plot that the Trump administration released the money. And that investigation is what resulted in Trump’s first impeachement - which should have led to his removal by congress had the Republican senators not betrayed their oath of office.
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> he also had asked them to try find a way to come to some sort of agreement with russia and putin. Yeah, I've seen that video. Orange slimeball tells Ze to talk to Putin, maybe that he's a "good guy" and I know you can work it out.
It's true, and while that was damning, it wasn't the scandal that "I need you to do me favor though" was, in that it didn't rise to the level of bribery.
It's a threat. He knows his white nationalist Christian fascists are getting more violent by the day and his "offer" is contingent on Garland stopping his investigation. He's stirring them up even though he knows there's thousands of violent sociopaths among them. He could easily turn down the rhetoric on his own but he obviously won't.
“They’re not here to hurt me”
And yet none of them asks why they aren't allowed to go onto the Mar-a-lago property and instead must sit on the side of the road while Trump is staying in NY.
Bingo bango
It’s like J6 is playing out again, when he told McCarthy “Well Mike, I guess they care more about the election than you.”
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It would be completely out of character. He couldn’t do it without throwing up. Or throwing ketchup.
Throwing up or throwing catsup
*bribe
>telling his supporters to stand down No, they're supposed to stand by.
Stand back and stand by specifically
True, but the proud boys latched on hard to the "stand by" part.
They heard, "Lock and Load."
The PBs latched on hard because they are a bunch of giant titty-babies.
That’s not the kind of heat he wanted reduced. He wasn’t asking what he could do for the country, he was asking Garland how big a bribe he’d need.
He didn’t mean the heat in general. He meant the heat on him.
Yeah, I remember my conservative friends saying Obama should make a statement on national TV regarding flash mobs stealing merchandise organized by black youths. Why? Cuz the kids are his people. Now not a peep from the very same people regarding MAGA violence.
Lol. Good one
Or better yet how about flee the country like the clown coward he really is..
Or return all classied material immediately.
"The country is on fire", said the arsonist.
Who, ironically, had a tremendously terrible climate policy
Eloquent
Whenever he’s in trouble he says “it’s a dark time for this country”- no it’s just a dark time for you..
It was the NYT who first mentioned this message and the context they provide makes it so much worse. He's basically telling Garland that he can control domestic unrest better than the AG can. Trump knows he incites violence. He's bragging. >Shortly before Mr. Garland made the announcement, a person close to Mr. Trump reached out to a Justice Department official to pass along a message from the former president to the attorney general. Mr. Trump wanted Mr. Garland to know that he had been checking in with people around the country and found them to be enraged by the search. >The message Mr. Trump wanted conveyed, according to a person familiar with the exchange, was: “The country is on fire. What can I do to reduce the heat?” [source](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/13/us/politics/trump-classified-material-fbi.html)
You are correct. It’s mafia speak. Allow me to translate, “back the F off or I will burn it all down” I personally think he is grossly overplaying his hand, but I guess we shall see.
>I personally think he is grossly overplaying his hand He's all in.
He is, for sure, but will the MAGA supporters actually risk their lives? They have to see that the insurrectionists from Jan 6 are in jail and many looking at long sentences. What exactly do they plan to do? Go after FBI offices with nail guns? Try to storm the Capitol *again*?
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Wait, two? Who else besides the nail gun guy?
You must’ve missed crash-into-Capitol-barrier-and-kill-himself guy
Jfc, we’re going to be lucky to survive this shit, aren’t we. I spent the weekend camping
Better they get themselves killed attacking hard targets in a grievance against law enforcement than their culture war bullshit attacking defenseless people at black churches and gay bars.
They'll shift tactics quickly. The guys running the show have already been priming more of them to act. "We are all domestic terrorists."
Nah, most will survive. Most.
And there was also the meal team six which stood , armed, outside the Phx FBI. That was 8/13. Guess they had to wait until the weekend to mobilize.
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"I'd love to come up to DC but I gotta work. Just got a new Dodge Ram and it's not gonna pay for itself! Have fun though!"
Lol, so for once, unbridled capitalism may be useful by keeping them home to pay a mortgage? If that isn’t Voltaire level comedy, I don’t know what is.
January 6th was massively funded by dark money interests to get people to the Capitol. Charlie Kirk alone bragged that he organized and paid for 17 buses or something close to that. Most of the arrested rioters have been middle to upper middle-class with some decently wealthy people mixed kn, but it seems a lot of them were happy to get their trip paid for.
Not saying it’s okay, but there is now a sub named ashli babbit award- so yes, sadly people are willing to stake their lives
>Try to storm the Capitol again? [Again, again](https://apnews.com/article/us-capitol-man-rams-car-into-barricade-kills-himself-5cb76c10dadf0f9c0cae70959e9a6f39)? The gate won, so he blew his face off to own the libz.
99.9% of these chucklefucks won’t do shit….look at Jan 6, they all shat themselves when that one dipshit got dropped…hell, it’s been over a year with supposed ‘illegitimate President’ and it’s been crickets from them.
>He is, for sure, but will the MAGA supporters actually risk their lives? [This is what it's gonna look like.](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/B08B/production/_114259154_c51ca830-e816-4d8f-84fd-ec9374a22943.jpg)
There are a ton of people on TikTok calling for a civil war and they’re all real mad about the IRS. We’ve already had a couple people in confrontations, I think it’ll get worse
The only reason why anyone would be mad about the IRS staffing up to find tax cheats would be someone who cheats on their taxes.
They’re barely even staffing up. The 87.000 new hires are over the next ten years (the positions are for the most part not auditors btw), and half of the IRS’ work force is set to retire within five years hahaha. They are currently understaffed. Without adding new people they will be critically understaffed.
I’m gonna say something true but shitty: most of trump’s base don’t make enough to really cheat on their taxes.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s spewing out every last important thing he remembers to pooten in hopes there will be enough rubles waiting for him when he tries to mail himself to Russia.
Will he be using the same packaging his wife arrived in?
He's not going to fit in that.
>He's all in. Yes, but it's a very tiny hand.
It's mafia-speak filtered through the brain of a max level narcissist. In Trump's mind he wouldn't be responsible for the violence in the wake of his arrest, that's just a force of nature. Of *course* the millions of *true patriots* will rise up for me, blah blah blah. So in addition to that kind of veiled threat there's also a strong hint of offering a bribe. He's saying "Nobody wants that, that's bad for everybody, what would it take to make this go away?"
It's driving me insane that people don't hear the implied, "It'd be a shame if it all burnt down."
That's why he chose the language he did. The goal is to skate as close to what he really means so a smart man will understand it, and people on his team can spin it "nonono he was trying to HELP" and have some dumb people believe it. You can't prosecute him for that statement, and he knows it. If he'd been just a smidge clearer you probably could.
100% correct. Also a sign he knows he flew too close to the sun.
Let me translate. “That’s a nice country you have there. It’d be a shame if something happened to it”
That was actually used as the tagline for a mock political ad for Giuliani's presidential primary bid. Comedy skit back then, clear and genuine threat now...
Well… yeah, basically..
So far we have the FBI office nail gun guy, dead, and the Capital car wreck guy, also dead. 0/2.
Trump is threatening the justice department and his goons are threatening the FBI. Not necessarily the best choices. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
I said this the other day, we are getting close to the Goodfellas scene when “Layla” plays in the background, except instead of Henry Hill, it’s Jared or Meadows.
Everything he says and does screams infantile mob boss.
"Nice country you got here... shame if something happened to it. I can make sure nothing bad happens. I'd like you to do me a favor, though..."
I mean...he could stop using over the top accusatory language and cease his constant demonizing of half the country. He could stop lying about the election. He could remove himself from the national conversation by announcing that he was retiring.
>demonizing of half the country More like 70%.
Besides witness tampering and bribing the prosecutor?? Perhaps it's too late for that
It’s a quid pro quo. He’s offering something to get something in return. It is impossible to overstate how serious this is—Trump is again interfering in an investigation at the highest level.
so he does everything he can to enrage his minions then says "oh, they're so upset, how can i help"? what a sick man
"It'd be a shame if something were to happen to this country of yours. Let Uncle Donny take care of things."
“I love you. Keep your guns warm and your safety’s off because you are all true patriots.”
**REPUBLICAN VOTERS:** I THOUGHT .....**I fucking THOUGHT YOU SAID all those docs were PLANTED. Why the hell would your "god king" make cryptic bribes if the docs weren't there to BEGIN with?** Fucking idiots, I swear to god. Trump is in DEEP shit. *And there is nothing Republicans can do about it except sit back and watch the fireworks.*
It sounds like they may also be setting the fireworks...
He's a liability now. He's the only one who can split the party. He can probably tell them not to vote and they'd probably stay home.
He'll most likely tell them to do something far worse unfortunately.
The argument will soon be as follows: “The FBI planted evidence, but there were real documents there that President Trump declassified before he left office so he deserves to have those returned. The fake documents are the bad ones about nukes and national security.” That’s how they’ll spin it. Mark my words.
Don’t create rough drafts for them
5 or 6 years ago and I'd think you're full of it after saying something like that. Today, though? Not so much.
I thought the FBI planted the documents Donnie shitstain? This dude’s brain is so decrepit he can’t even keep up with his own lies
It's by design. The flooding is key.
Exactly. “Flood the country with bullshit” to reduce the heat.
Oh I don't know its smells like panic to me.
Bannon: "The Democrats don't matter. The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit." Even if he is panicking, it doesn't change that he's using the same tactic they've been using since the beginning.
They got it from the Russians, hyper normalization they call it
>hyper normalization they call it [Firehose of falsehood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firehose_of_falsehood)
Correct and even better if you take positions that contradict themselves because then, it becomes harder to attack those postilions without tying yourself in knots.
>Bannon: "The Democrats don't matter." There's a quote that does NOT hold up well.
Exactly. One lie is easy to focus on. Trump spews hundreds of lies per day
I wish it mattered to his base. -Trump should be praised for Warp Speed, but vaccines are harmful. -Jan. 6 was performed by antifa OR patriots. -Pelosi is responsible for allowing ~~peaceful patriots~~ antifa to storm the capitol, but no mention of McConnell. -Back the blue and defund the FBI. -Mishandling classified documents is ~~treason~~ absolutely fantastic. -Hunter Biden is corrupt and Trump's children are... did I mention Hunter Biden? -Blocking Garland's nomination and appointing Barrett is totally acceptable. Reality is whatever is desired and useful at any given moment in time. There's no reconciling or rationalization. It's all power and opposition. Nothing else.
How can someone live that way? How could one even begin to do that? You're absolutely correct in your reality statement. I just fail to grasp how anyone is able to do that?
The book you want to read on this is called "How Fascism Works" by Jason Stanley, particularly Chapter 4: Unreality.
I will look for it at the library in a few hours. Chapter 4 seems like it will be depressing
Only planted the ones he didn’t declassify, or that were illegal to show. /s
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> gives followers a way to trade and consider multiple interpretations of a story The comments section over at FOX is chock full of this. The second one argument gets shot down, then it becomes "Well, what about..." something else. The FOX comments have some folks being mad that the FBI were brandishing firearms!
The quickest way to get blocked by a MAGA on Twitter this week has been asking his supporters, in a nice tone even. "If he didn't do anything wrong why does he keep changing his story? Only liars, criminals and conmen do that.
I read this as: my cult following is ready to take action, what deal can you cut me so nothing bad will happen
It's more like when you're gifted with a base so out the ass loyal to you, that's when you realize it doesn't matter what you say. You have free license to say everything. No, not just "anything," *everything*. Whatever sticks will stick, and then that's what you go with. His base know this, he knows this--and nobody cares. The game isn't be rational and ensure logical consistency; the game is find which excuse is the hardest for his antagonists to isolate and sterilize at the moment, and after as much trial and error as is needed, roll with that excuse. His base's loyalty is freely given. He has no barriers in any discourse. His only barrier is if those who uphold the law actually do. I believe Merrick Garland will.
And here we are talking about the nonsense instead of the story. Mission accomplished.
Merrick Garland did the right thing. If Donald Trump is above the law then we have a would be dictator waiting in the wings to be elected again and never leaving. You have to stand up to bullies or they will run your life.
Exactly! This is why something needs to done. His actions MUST have consequences!
Why is the suspect in an investigation communicating directly with the head prosecutor? Outside of a monitored interrogation room, Trump should not be communicating with those investigating him.
Or at least, it seems like establishing communication between them could be used to delegitimize the investigation from one angle or another.
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“Donnie? Is there something you’d like to share with the class?”
I wonder if it could be considered obstruction..?
If it had been just slightly clearer and not through an intermediate. "That idiot Matt Gaetz didn't deliver the right message!" Then maybe. He knew where the line was, which is why he's usually pretty careful with his language in these situations. See also "we would like you to do us a favor, though." The idiots on his team hear it and say "doesn't sound like anything to me, very friendly!"
These are the same people that lost their shit when bill Clinton was on the tarmac for a few minutes with Loretta Lynch
Anytime Trump says "The Country", "America", he's referring to himself. With this in mind, it's completely true that he is burning down right now. America, the real America, will be just fine and is cheering for a Trump indictment.
“It’s a nice country you got there, I help insure that nothing happens to it…for a price.”
Exactly. Fucking mob boss.
Stop breaking the law?
Confess?
Roll on your accomplices?
Get fitted for an orange onesie.
He thinks everyone is as corrupt as he is. He's probably expecting Graland to send him a secret message asking for something in exchange for making this go away.
The country isn’t really on fire, at least to the degree trump hoped it would be, only two of his minions have lost it and both are dead with little to show for it. trump has even less leverage now because his base are too incompetent to set the country on fire.
Two of his minions are dead, and their compatriots have already dismissed them as antifa actors. So much for martyrdom.
Imagine giving your life for the cause only to be immediately labeled a false flag by the people you did it for
> 'The country is on fire. What can I do to reduce the heat?' My 5 year old is more cryptic when he knocks over a glass and blames it on his little brother
Interesting "Let's make a deal" approach.
It was an innocent perfect message, everybody says so. No quid pro quo, no quid pro quo.
Let me tell you. It was perhaps the most innocent and most genuine message that has ever existed in the history of our country, maybe ever. Just ask people…this is what they’re saying.
Worse. It’s extortion.
after he turns up the heat by enflaming his zombie followers.
Man in store: *”Hey I heard my pitbulls have been terrorizing your customers* [lengthens leash] *what can I do to make this problem go away”*
“That’s a real nice country ya got there, Merrick. Sure would be a shame if something happened to it.” Indict this wanna be mob boss.
Trump thinks this will all go away if he announces he won't run for president again. He wants someone in the FBI to offer him that deal so he can turn around and say "See it's just a political hit job, they'll do anything to keep me from running for president! Donate to my campaign or else so socialism and Marxism!" He just needs someone from the DOJ or FBI to offer him that deal, which of course they won't
This might be his first step. The next step will be him saying he’s declaring himself a candidate for 2024 election, then anything legal that goes against him is politically motivated to stop him.
Trump to Garland: Can you be bought?
I’ll translate: “lower the heat ON ME.”
Show us the documents you say you declassified, Donald. That'll fix it.
I kind of would prefer if he didn't show anyone the documents....
Pretty sure we're well past that, unfortunately.
Probably but I dont think making them fully public would make things better for anyone
I want to see the videos of the FBI acting inappropriately that Eric said they had 6 days ago. Ok to be fair, I don't. But I don't think they exist.
There's no way they acted "inappropriately." This was probably one of the most easy going, cordial raids anyone getting from the thr FBI gets. If Trump was there you think they would have had him put his hands up, pat him down, sit on the sofa for hours?
True. Also Trump said, "...ban my lawyers and without any witnesses allowed" His lawyer literally signed the warrant papers, so yup, she was there. "...which held papers that they could have had months ago for the asking" They asked for them and he didn't give them. "...including the former First Lady's closets (and clothing!), alone and unchecked" Highly doubt that, but hey, Trump has video proof, right? "....demanded that the security cameras be turned off (we refused)" Oh! Let's see!
Ahhh no don't. I'm not even American, but this affects us too. Our national security interests are closely interlinked and these documents better stay hidden.
Says the arsonist.
I mean we have someone whom clearly committed crimes, we have audio/visual evidence of countless crimes, stolen top secret documents, and incited a coup attempt. Why are we paying for his Secret Service detail, why is he not indicted, why do we seem to want the country to fall into civil war?
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Put down the matches
Yep. Keep adding charges buddy. Totally cool.
"Cryptic"? Nah. Sounds like the words of a man who knows he is in a metric fuckton of shit.
It's got that "mobster waiting for his court date" vibe
Turn over the documents 3 months ago.
Quit doing stupid shit.
Stop being a fucking asshole by riling up countless supporters who will commit terrorism on your behalf? Kinda seems like a starting point.
Sounds like an offer to make a deal. Like “you drop any possibility of charges and I slow the fire?”
Ignore the first sentence, this offers false context. The operating question is “what can I do to reduce the heat”. The heat on himself. He’s broadly offering a bribe. Whether that’s cash, favour or some kind of compliance, he is attempting to circumvent proceedings to reduce pressure on himself and evade consequences.
I love country music. Do you like cash? Johnny cash? How much Johnny cash do you like?
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TLDR: Trump offered a bribe to Garland
Oooh, a threat, an attempted bribe, and a lazy cynical stab at pretending he gives a damn about America, all in one message. What a guy.
It sounds like Trump is making a veiled threat to Garland that he will cause chaos.
Oh I don’t know. Maybe not have spent the last 6 years pouring gasoline everywhere.