Trump: "Isn't it amazing?Trump: "This thing just came up. This was him. [General Mark Milley] This was the Defense Department and him."Woman: "Wow."Trump: "Isn't that incredible?"Trump: "It's so cool."
It helps to listen to the tape, not just read a transcript. It is two minutes long.
If for some reason that link doesn't work for you, here is a link to a CBS site with the audio.
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The tape helps explain Trump's motive. What in the world was Trump thinking when he collected documents to take home, hide from the National Archives, lie about, get lawyers to lie about? In an earlier blog post I suggested we did not need to overthink this. He collected souvenirs. Once things were "his," he didn't want to let go. It is a human emotion. It explains two-car garages with no room to park a car. You can never tell when something might come in handy.
One also hears the pride of possession and one-upmanship. I am reminded of a boy with a new bike. He has something special. It is secret, and his. I can show it to you, so you can see I have it and wish you could see it, but you can't. It is so juvenile. So show-off.
The woman's "Wow" must have been music to Trump's ears.
I suspect Democrats think this is a knockout blow to Trump. It should be. I consider the audio tape devastating to Trump. He establishes the elements of a serious felony. Trump's defense is to ignore the content of the tape. He asserts he is totally innocent and that it vindicates him. Look at Anthony Weiner, he says. Trump is giving Republicans a reason to hear what they want to hear. He isn't documenting criminality. He is documenting that he is a change-agent unconcerned about constraints, willing to break eggs to make omelettes, and appoint Federalist Society judges. He doesn't care about legal nitpicks. A great many voters hear and like that.
The law overlaps with the election season. The relevant jury will be the voters even if he is tried and found guilty. A guilty verdict will be somewhere in appeal. Trump will be out campaigning, saying he is the guy picked on for being an innocent American. The real jury is the American people. Who would they rather have as president, Trump or Biden? The choice is between the self-confident promoter, the swashbuckling Republican shake-things-up agent of change, or the old normal guy who will keep the status quo going. Biden talks about the "rule of law" as if it is a good thing.
I am not at all sure people won't take another chance on crazy, so long as it is "strong." The 2024 election will be a "change" election. I hear the voice of a needy child in that tape; Trump is the opposite of "strong." But others hear a man who is unrestrained by laws, facts, restraints, and norms. They want change, and are indiscriminate about how they get it. Again, the poll I described two days ago:
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23 comments:
I'm reminded of the meeting with Russians where he bragged about Israeli secrets.
It makes one wonder what happened that wasn't taped. Who and how many else? I would suspect prosecutors know more, a lot more.
That you suggest it's simply hoarding ignores the fact that it's illegal. I'm still waiting for indictments of those who aided and abetted, aside from the valet.
They have moved the trial date to December and my guess is that between now and then the leaks will become a torrent, the strategy being to force a plea.
Peter said: “I consider the audio tape devastating to Trump. He establishes the elements of a serious felony.”
Some call that ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ – that is, being so blinded by hatred of Trump that one thinks he should be subject to the rule of law. The good news is most Americans have that syndrome – 51% according to the latest poll. The bad news is that it’s only 51%. God help America.
This is why I do not want Trump to become president. The presidency is a serious position with immense power, and Trump doesn’t notice any of it, because it’s all about him.
My problem is that I also don’t want Biden to be president. As Henry Kissinger once said about the Iran/Iraq War, “I hope they both lose“.
One good way to try to keep Trump from becoming president again would be a donation to the Chris Christie campaign, so that he can meet the threshold of 40,000 individual contributors and participate in the upcoming Republican debate.
https://secure.winred.com/chris-christie-for-president/donate-today/?gclid=CjwKCAjwkeqkBhAnEiwA5U-uM2unnt0YFAoWrLEExqo2B8TDdyFLwRvKCerj1Lh8v350vO9nOAXkhhoCs5MQAvD_BwE
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The legal peril of Donald J. Trump is evident in the indictments we can read. The full force of justice requires a trial where, in a court of law (not public opinion) will determine innocence or guilt.
Unfolding as it does in the 24/7 news cycle, and the MAGA echo chamber of fringe followers of Trump, we see the perils we face as a nation when confronted with malfeasance and criminality in the charging documents. No star chamber, or kangaroo court common in totalitarian regimes rather the slow and ponderous wheels of our justice system are on full display. The problem of justice moving so slowly is a counter narrative and spin with the full-throated denials by Trump over take the rulings by the courts. Take for example the failed court cases claiming the 2020 election was stolen. HIs own lawyers took the case to court in the various swing state where Trump lost claiming fraud, but lacking evidence the courts ruled against each claim. But no matter they left the courthouse, waving papers, saying the ruling is "proof" of a conspiracy all the while lacking evidence of same.
Trump will take us back into the funhouse hall of mirrors leading us as a carnival barker. Hoping the courts render a decision that shakes our citizenry to the core as they confront the peril our nation faces with another Trump presidency seems foolhardy, but I still have faith in both the American form of justice and of our republic. I'm simply hoping enough voters feel as I do, Trump must not be president again.
Perhaps you should run for the office?
I think the Democrats are in a very strong position. Remember, the GOPee frontrunner barely won the Electoral College in 2016, and Democrats are much better positioned thanks to attacks one women's rights.
Trump can not be trusted with state secrets or anything else for that matter. Does America want to elect someone so untrustworthy? Trump thinks like a criminal and behaves like a criminal. My experience is you can’t trust criminals, but I guess republicans think you can. We would be better off having a lottery pool of inmates from maximum security prisons and just pull a name out of a hat. I think there would be a good chance that person would be a better president than Donald.
The closest thing I’ve heard to a believable explanation for so many Republicans remaining so devoted to someone as lawless and repugnant as Trump was given by Lindsey Graham in 2016 when he heard Trump was the Republican nominee: “My party’s gone batshit crazy!”
That’s more obvious now than ever, but crazy doesn’t mean stupid. We should never underestimate their capacity for treachery and contempt for democratic values.
I think that by November, 2024, trump will be in the crossbar hotel (luxury unit, but oh well), or possibly out on Own Recognizance. The Justice Department ain’t full of timid prosecutors.
The thought that something like 40% of the electorate is “batshit crazy” might be emotionally satisfying, but is unlikely to lead to a politically effective strategy. It would be better to actually try to understand and empathize with those people just saying…
For some reason, I find myself totally lacking in any empathy for people so contemptuous of our republic's founding principles. Just saying...
Maybe a better descriptor than bat shut crazy (tho that's pretty real) is PSYCHOTIC.
No empathy? So then what’s the political strategy? Hope to come out on the winning side of the blue vs red civil war? Seems like an iffy strategy for the side that dislikes firearms. Just saying… 🤷♂️
The batshit crazies may like to flaunt their firearms and talk tough, but the few who actually use them prefer soft targets like schools, churches and supermarkets. They aren't likely to try and take on the U.S. military but if they do, they won't be missed.
If it ever did come down to a civil war, which I hope it does not, I wouldn’t want to bet on the mostly rural US military coming down uniformly on the blue side.
I am trying to avoid that war by convincing the blue side that demonizing the red side is a political dead end. I understand that some people are committed to fighting that war.
The far-White demonize themselves by their own behavior. The "blue side" could simply ignore it if we didn't care about our Republic, but we do.
Spewing epithets and playing the race card can be emotionally satisfying; it tends not to be politically effective. I guess it depends what your priorities are.
I am attempting to be politically effective by donating $5 to the Christie campaign and encouraging everyone I know to do the same: I’ve convinced two that I know of so far.
Observing that some people are racist and/or crazy isn't "spewing epithets" but stating the facts based on their behavior. Contributing to Christie does exactly nothing to keep Trump from being the Republican nominee. The question is, how many MAGA minds have you changed with all your empathy? Maybe you should contribute to the DOJ.
Contributing to Christie helps him get into the August Republican debate, where there is a reasonable chance he might take down Donald Trump. Stating “facts based on their behavior“ may be personally satisfying to you, but I don’t see how it contributes to keeping Trump out of the White House, which was the topic of Peter‘s essay.
Do you seriously believe Christie will be able to do what Liz Cheney couldn't? The only thing that will keep Trump out of the White House is pointing out the obvious to independents: The GOP has become a White nationalist Bedlam.
Who knows? It could happen. Christie has a quick mind and a Jersey mouth.
I doubt that accusations of “white nationalism” will resonate with independents (i.e. low-information voters). They won’t know what is meant, and will be repelled by the sound of it.
"I doubt that accusations of “white nationalism” will resonate with independents (i.e. low-information voters)."
I don't think independents are necessarily "low-information voters." I think you're projecting.
If we put it to a test, I’m confident that I would be shown to have plenty of information, maybe even as much as you.
I’ve been trying recently to talk to you without tossing insults in your direction. Are you willing to operate in that same mode?
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