And “grossest assets ever” would work especially well in Trump’s case, given his taste for ridiculous grandiosity (combined I guess with his taste for emetic fast food).
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If Nixon got his pardon as part of a deal with his own party when he resigned, well that was smart of him
Trump isn’t making any deals, he’s not admitting anything, he’s not even cooperating with the transition
He doesn’t get any goddamned pardons 
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But American democracy can and should tolerate the prosecution of criminals.
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what happened is that elites protect their own even when “their own” are the bitter enders across the aisle. because of asymmetrical escalation, especially because they are the bitter enders across the aisle.
consider, robert bork is opposed as a supreme court nominee because of his actual views. again, because of his actual views. this becomes enmeshed into the republican mythos as a betrayal of comity. so does, some years later, the questioning of clarence thomas about reported instances of sexual harassment in the workplace. twenty years later the republican majority refuse to even hear merrick garland because “payback’s a bitch” don’t you know.
indeed, if hilary had won in 2016 i expect the republican senate would not have allowed a vote on any hilary nominee to the court and by now we’d have a seven member court awaiting either a republican president or a democratic majority in the senate. or possibly even a six member court if anthony kennedy had stepped down during a hilary presidency. the fact that kavanaugh was opposed because of accusations that he sexually assaulted women when he was in college and because he lied about it to the senate is being incorporated into the republican mythos as the democrats “destruction of a good man for no other reason than because they could” even as we wring our hands over the difficulty or even the futility of holding actual criminals to account.
progressives have their own types of blind spots but, as a group, we are somewhat more concerned with the texture of reality than republicans. teddy kennedy didn’t make up robert bork’s stated views on abortion or the e.p.a. or any of the other elements of bork’s jurisprudential writings and statements but by using them to exclude him from the supreme court he and the other democrats “broke faith” with the unspoken rules that said that republican presidents get to appoint the people they want as judges and democrats get to appoint who they want as long as they self-censor and nominate centrists only. and yes, even in times of peace it was still asymmetrical.
elites gotta elite. even when they hate each other. especially when they hate each other. that’s assuredly the only reason a republican majority with a republican president did not seek to prosecute obama or members of his administration during the period of 2017-18. i don’t expect to see many prosecutions over the next four years, even if we manage to get a democratic senator from georgia, even if we get a democratic majority in the senate in the 2022 elections while maintaining a majority in the house.
sadly, i expect the republicans in the senate to strangle everything the biden administration tries to do and create massive gridlock which will result in our low-information electorate collectively shrugging their shoulders and putting republicans in control of house and senate in 2022 because “biden couldn’t get anything done.” it will be like the 2010 election cycle all over again.
edited for syntax and grammar.
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Putin’s sure getting his money’s worth.
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Bingo!
I mean, by that logic, every act of law enforcement would have to be seen as a partisan attack. It’s ridiculous.
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I don’t know why more of these people aren’t standing up. You’re losing your job in a few weeks anyway. You’re in appointed positions.
But unlike this guy - no one will hire you afterwards. Him - sure.
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He’s hearing “fake news”, but she’s saying “lugenpresse”.
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The “one word” was “f—- you” though.
Even in German, that’s 2.
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At the same time “now’s not a good time” is why we have been at war with Afghanistan for a generation. A massive chunk of Trump’s popularity is based on his perceived anti-war stance (the truth is that it is as performative as his other stances), so he this move is calculated to maintain his base after leaving office. When the Democrats make this a thing it will hurt them, and if goes against the popular opinion of the people.
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Disagree. They tried like hell to find something, anything that could lead to prosecution. but came up empty. If Trump and his cronies get off scot free after looting the public wallet and destroying faith and trust in government, the signal is that the president is truly above the law. His criminality was so overt and proud that there is no question whatsoever that he broke multiple laws and absolutely should face criminal charges.
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i agree with most of what you say, but i will be surprised to the point of astonishment if anyone above the level of an assistant to the undersecretary of . . . ever sees an indictment much less a prison.
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Sadly, that is true.
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Yeah - or it’s also his responding to pressure from Putin. Regardless- it really is the wrong time when you’re in the middle of a transition and he hasn’t considered what the effect of an immediate withdrawal would mean to the safety of the people there and here. Or brought the incoming administration up to speed.
Let it wait for the new administration. Trump probably won’t be able to do this before he leaves anyway.
He’s Trump - whatever he does will be done in a way to fuck over the greatest number of people.
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in my opinion, the most probable way of convicting trump of any crime is going to be in the courts of a state where he is charged with criminal activity. the new york state attorney general and the new york city district attorney’s office both have criminal proceedings going on that represent the best hope along those lines.
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Bastard will probably have a fatal heart attack the day after he leaves office.
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I agree other than I feel he is doing this to make himself richer and not because of Putin dirt. We know his next move is a right-wing media “empire” where he will be a victim until he dies and his kids take over floating conspiracies of how the US deep state leftists killed him. Maybe he will finally be enough of a not-rich-person that consequences catch up to him but it’s not looking great.
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His financial health may rely on Putin’s good graces as leinholder.
ERIC TRUMP: “WE HAVE ALL THE FUNDING WE NEED OUT OF RUSSIA”
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