Mostly Monday Reads: More of the Same (Sigh)

Fartman arrives at the Manhattan Courthouse for another week of heroics battling the Deep State. John Buss, @repeat1968

Good Day, Sky Dancers!

What a rainy Monday this has become!  At least April is consistent, and we’re getting plenty of spring flowers here!  I hear the frogs and green anoles chirp.  Frogs are wonderful!  They can also whistle, croak, ribbit, peep, cluck, bark, and grunt. He has today off, but we will undoubtedly hear more weird sounds from Donald as he is once more confined to a cold courtroom with its hard chairs and people ruining his branding once again!

This is from Public Notice. The analysis is provided by Lisa Needham. “Trump’s criminal trial is off to a bad start for him. He’s low energy both inside and outside the courtroom.”  The Correspondent’s Dinner didn’t help his mood any either.  We’ll get to that.  I promise.

Thanks to New York’s relatively strict laws regarding media access to courtrooms, Trump’s trial has what is, for Trump, the precisely wrong level of exposure. New York doesn’t allow cameras or live audio, and it’s only because of the extraordinary nature of the proceedings that the court administration decided to make daily transcripts of the trial available for free on the court’s official website. Transcripts can run to thousands of dollars for a single day and are not usually turned around within 24 hours.

So, with the proceedings not entirely behind closed doors, Trump can’t outright lie about what transpired. But the lack of cameras and real-time coverage also means Trump can’t turn things into a circus by engaging in ridiculous behavior to distract media attention from the trial’s substance. When you combine this with the fact that the judge, not Trump, is wholly in control of the order of proceedings each day, this has to be one of the most maddening and humiliating experiences imaginable for him.

Trump can slake his thirst for attention and deploy his clumsy attempts to derail the narrative only a few times per day, when he is swarmed by media entering or exiting the courtroom. On those occasions, he goes on brief, highly repetitive rants that generate nothing but negative headlines for him.

Perhaps worst of all for Trump, even his most die-hard supporters don’t seem all that interested in trekking to Lower Manhattan. Trump is self-soothing over this, spinning an easily disprovable yarn that the courthouse is an “armed camp to keep people away” and that officials are turning around thousands of his supporters. Instead, CNN journalists attending the trial have said there have been days where the teeming number of MAGA faithful can be measured in single digits.

Needham says, “Trump is itching to get back on the campaign trail.”  I’m not sure he has enough energy for the golf course, even with his little cart. Maybe all that anger and outrage will get him off the sofa.  Chauncey Devega, writing for Salon, has this take on this day of peace and silence for everyone not on Truth Social. “The gag “trap” of Manhattan’s hush-money trial: “Trump will take the bait.” Will Donald Trump take the stand in his own defense? Experts weigh in on his first criminal trial”

In all, after only two weeks Donald Trump has, in short order, basically been reduced to being a mere mortal while in Judge Merchan’s courtroom. This reality is the opposite of the titan or God king messiah he presents himself as to his MAGA followers and the public more generally.

In an attempt to make better sense of the second week of Donald Trump’s hush-money trial, its implications for the 2024 Election and the larger democracy crisis, and what may happen next, I recently spoke with a range of experts.

I want to highlight this one.  There are more at the link.

Dr. John Gartner is a prominent psychologist and contributor to the bestselling book “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 27 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President.”

Trump’s trial in Manhattan is providing more evidence of his apparent cognitive decline. Trump fell asleep 4 out of 6 days of his own trial. Falling asleep is not in and of itself particularly specific to dementia. I fall asleep at dinner parties, because I’m old and work too hard. Bill Clinton was famous for it. But can you remember a criminal defendant repeatedly unable to stay awake at his own trial? I can’t. It’s obviously very rare. Most people are pumped full of adrenaline when they’re in the dock. Some have argued Trump’s just tired, or perhaps deprived of his stimulants. But lots of defendants are tired, and either on drugs, or missing their drugs, while in court, but they don’t repeatedly pass out at their own trials.

However, dementia patients frequently pass out during the day. And come to think of it, this may be the first criminal trial I’ve been aware of where the defendant appears, in my opinion, to have dementia. Is it a coincidence that it’s also the only one I’ve ever known where the defendant can’t remain awake most days? Trump appears to be losing control of his basic biological functions. One is sleep-wake. The other may be excretion. Twitter blew up when both Ben Meiselas and George Conway reported they had heard from multiple credible sources in the courtroom that Trump was loudly passing gas, and the smell was overpowering. This was judged by Snopes to be unconfirmed. But, personally, I happen to trust the people who reported it. I don’t believe they would make that up. There have been unconfirmed reports of Trump using adult diapers.

Normally, this would be a personal matter, but America really needs to know if Trump is incontinent. His apparent disease is progressing rapidly before our eyes and yet we’re being gaslit that this is “Trump being Trump.” That’s true, but it is also Trump appears to be dementing, and the mainstream media doesn’t seem to want to report on that story.

The trial is really a form of psychological torture for a malignant narcissist who needs to appear powerful. Instead, he appears small, confused, and helpless. Jenifer Rubin wrote in her Washington Post column: “Trump day by day has become smaller, more decrepit, and frankly, somewhat pathetic.” Thankfully, the Biden campaign is amplifying this winning message. Biden-Harris HQ, who describe themselves as “the official rapid response of the Biden-Harris campaign” on X/Twitter, wrote: “A feeble and tired Donald Trump once again falls asleep in court.” To fight back Trump must act out. He is defying Merchan’s gag order repeatedly, flagrantly and at a manic pace with no thought of the consequences—in lobby of the courthouse on a lunch break, on Newsmax in the evening, and then dozens of times at 3 AM on Truth Social.

Judge Juan Merchan will be unable to escape a show-down with Trump who will compulsively push him to the limit, and beyond, forcing an inevitable confrontation. Only one will emerge as dominant, and my money is on the judge, but that’s not a foregone conclusion. If Donald Trump is jailed, he’ll wear his incarceration like a martyr, like he’s Nelson Mandela or Alexei Navalny. While Fox News and his base will stoke right-wing outrage, I think sane people still like presidents who don’t get jailed.

There’s still much tea-reading on Donald’s case before the Supreme Court. This is from Business Insider. “A 15-year-old law review by Brett Kavanaugh offers a clue at how the Supreme Court Justice could rule in Trump’s immunity case.”  The analysis by Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert.

But one clue, hidden in a 2009 legal review written by Trump-appointed Justice Brett Kavanaugh, could indicate how the conservative judge may decide in this case. And as Kavanaugh is relatively moderate compared to the court’s other right-leaning justices, his 15-year-old analysis may offer insight into how the other Republican-appointed justices are looking at the matter before them.

In his article, published in the Minnesota Law Review in 2009, when he was working as a US Circuit Judge,Kavanaugh argues that the public grossly underestimates the difficulty of the President’s job and that anyone elected to hold the office should “be able to focus on his never-ending tasks with as few distractions as possible.”

That includes criminal prosecution — at least while in office.

“The point is not to put the President above the law or to eliminate checks on the President, but simply to defer litigation and investigations until the President is out of office,” Kavanaugh wrote, arguing in favor of deferring criminal and civil prosecutions against sitting presidents accused of wrongdoing to ensure they can efficiently carry out the responsibilities of office.

One might contend that the country needs a check against a bad-behaving or law-breaking president, Kavanaugh acknowledges, but “the Constitution already provides that check.”

“If the President does something dastardly, the impeachment process is available. No single prosecutor, judge, or jury should be able to accomplish what the Constitution assigns to the Congress,” Kavanaugh wrote.”Moreover, an impeached and removed President is still subject to criminal prosecution afterwards.”

 Above The Law. Editorial cartoon by John Darkow.

We hear this from retired Judge Lusttig speaking on MSNBC. “Judge Luttig blasts SCOTUS for avoiding ‘key question’ at the heart of Trump immunity case.”  This interview is with Ali Velshi.   You may watch the interview at the link.

Former federal Judge J. Michael Luttig joins Ali Velshi to discuss his takeaways from this week’s Supreme Court oral arguments on former President Donald Trump’s presidential immunity claim, which many believe will lead to more delays in Trump’s federal criminal cases, and potentially impact the future of the presidency itself. “That this absurd argument is even being made before the Supreme Court is an embarrassment to the Constitution and to our country,” Judge Luttig says. Judge Luttig also criticizes the Supreme Court for avoiding the “straightforward, key question” about the case itself, and explains what decision he believes the justices are most likely to make.

We need to ensure discussions on the Supreme Court’s arguments for this case and the abortion case in Idaho do not go into the darkness with time. This group likes to drag their feet along with their knuckles.

Senator Fetterman changed his attire just a bit but glitzy isn’t his thing.

The Correspondent’s Dinner really got to the Donald, who was likely flinging ketchup and farting poo while watching.   This, however, was Biden’s night.  This is from The Hill, as reported by Cate Martel. “12:30 Report — Glitzy Correspondent’s Dinner highlights. Nerd prom weekend!”

“Saturday Night Live” (“SNL”) comedian Colin Jost hosted the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner over the weekend.

Jost’s reviews: On one hand, Variety wrote that “Colin Jost Wins Over Tough White House Correspondents Dinner Crowd With Praise for ‘Decent’ Biden.” But on the other hand, The New York Times wrote that “On This Saturday Night, Colin Jost’s Jokes Fell Flat.”

Watch the full dinner, via CSPAN

Meanwhile, here are a few clips out there on the X site.  There were several moments of protest also. Protestors unfurled a Palestinian flag out of the window of the Washington Hilton.  That was the location of the event. 

Joe Biden had some great jokes and delivery.  Example:  ““My wife Jill was worried how I’d do. I told her, ‘Don’t worry, it’s just like riding a bike.’ She said, ‘that’s what I’m worried about.’”  Talk about the ability to laugh at yourself.

My favorite joke by Josh was this one.  “”Can we just acknowledge how refreshing it is to see a President of the United States at an event that doesn’t begin with a bailiff saying, ‘All rise?'”

Please have a great week!!!

What’s on your reading and blogging list today?