Everything Changed on Saturday
On Saturday evening at 6:11 pm local time, the 2024 campaign effectively ended. When a 20 year old gunman took potshots (literally) at TFG which grazed him, wounded two others, and killed another, the ground shifted under our feet, swinging the election in his direction. Since that moment, TFG has pivoted to a laughable “unity” message and has uncharacteristically embargoed all communication coming from the campaign to tightly control that message. He’s fund raising on the assassination attempt and claims he’s rewriting his speech to emphasized “unity”. His talking heads are blaming political rhetoric from Biden and Democrats for the violence, completely ignoring the open sewer of hate speech and incitement to violence that has spewed out of TFG’s mouth for well over a decade.
To add to his strength in the polls, his handpicked judge in the Mar a Lago documents case DISMISSED the entire case a few hours ago, ruling that special prosecutor Jack Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional. Once again, her ruling flies in the face of decades of judicial precedence, clearly and openly violating her oath of office to defend the Constitution and the rule of law in order to protect her benefactor. This final ruling by Cannon is certainly a nice flourish to complete her audition as TFG’s next SCOTUS nominee.
I have to say that Failed Assassination Attempt at an Outdoor Rally was not on my 2024 election year Bingo card. TFG is the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet. While he has amassed a tsunami of evil transgressions including fraudulent business practices, racists policies, sexual assault, self aggrandizement, violations of state and federal election laws, insurrection, incitement to violence, extortion, and bribery, nothing has ever really stuck to him. Now he’s survived an assassination attempt, and even Aileen Cannon timed her dismissal of the felony charges for stealing classified documents to coincide with the opening of the Republican Convention Coronation in Milwaukee today.
I say all this as background for my conclusion that this election is over. Biden was, and still is, in serious trouble. His negatives are terrible and he’s trailing TFG in all of the battleground states. Like it our not, he’s been boxed in, and every measure is going TFG’s way. I know that I’ve pissed off a lot of Salon customers in the last week calling for Biden to step aside, but now I believe that even doing that won’t help. All of the momentum is in TFG’s direction, and this election now feels a lot like 2004 and 2016. In 2004 GWB/Cheney started a war to get re-elected after 9/11 sinking Kerry’s bid. In 2016 TFG fabricated a dark dystopian image of a crime-ridden country in decline being overrun by dark-skinned terrorists pouring over the border. He’s banged on the this drum for almost 10 years now, and the assassination attempt has played right into his mythology to great effect. Those not paying attention to the facts will be swept up in his new assassination attempt “unification” message and fall for it, not realizing the fact that TFG and his screaming heads are the ones who created this mythology that has been tearing the country apart for over a decade. The false “both sides do it” argument has become embedded in our political DNA now for years.
I believe the 2024 election result will not be good. Not only do we stand to lose the White House, which is terrifying, but we also stand to lose both the House and the Senate. With the SCOTUS already lost, we’re entering into a dark future that threatens the very fabric of our country. With no guardrails or rule of law to stop him, I predict TFG’s “unification” message will go down the shitter right after the election when the convicted felon and his goons will take over.
This is not good.
I’d suggest channeling your inner Galaxyquest character, and start saying “Never give up! Never surrender!”
Yes, we have a fight on our hands. Yes, it would have been nice to have a younger candidate. However, just saying “all is lost” merely ensures defeat.
To quote Sun Tsu: “On desperate ground -fight!”
1RepubAnon,
Sticking with the sci-fi theme, from Star Trek:
“Resistance is futile.”
But it wasn’t.
2Cannon did not dismiss ‘the entire case.’ As she said herself, she did not even bother to rule on the second of trump’s demands.
She said nothing about the substance of the government case and did nothing to damage the admissibility of evidence. Her ruling was purely procedural.
3I agree with El Jefe but I also need to do as RepubAnon says. Otherwise I’ll go craz(ier).
If TFFG is going to be the NFG (for 4 years???), we are in for some very dark times. I worry about my kids and grandkids having to put up with the results of the 2024 election for years. Getting the pendulum to swing back to the left will be the result of things being so bad even magats will be sorry.
In case you missed it, I copied Jeff Tiedrich earlier today. It’s an interesting read-
4https://open.substack.com/pub/jefftiedrich/p/connecting-some-weird-dots-did-the?r=2di6n7&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Harry @ 3 – What do you think the word “dismissed” means? She didn’t rule on anything else because in her court the case is now moot. It doesn’t exist. And it wasn’t procedural; it was tactical to make sure the case has no chance of being heard before the election. She’s the ONLY judge to rule in this way since Clinton. She’ll be reversed and the case will likely be refiled, but it’s useless because when TFG gets reelected he’ll order all cases against him be dismissed. She’s simply auditioning for TFG’s next SCOTUS nomination, plain and simple. Here’s her order:
For the reasons set forth above, it is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED as follows:
1. Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Superseding Indictment Based on Unlawful Appointment
and Funding of Special Counsel Jack Smith is GRANTED in accordance with this Order
[ECF No. 326].
2. The Superseding Indictment [ECF No. 85] is DISMISSED.
3. This Order is confined to this proceeding. The Court decides no other legal rights or claims. 4. This Order shall not affect or weaken any of the protections for classified information
imposed in this case or any protective orders pertaining to classified information.
5. The Clerk is directed to CLOSE this case. Any scheduled hearings are CANCELLED.
Any pending motions are DENIED AS MOOT, and any pending deadlines are TERMINATED.
DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers at Fort Pierce, Florida, this 15th day of July 2024.
Cases don’t get any more dismissed than this.
Bolding is mine to make a point.
5I said this on Saturday night, that the election went to Trump, no matter what the Democrats do. Even if it comes out that Trump’s campaign or his allies had a hand in this, he will still win. I hate to say it, but as a gay man, I have to seriously think of an exit strategy for this nation will not be safe for those of us in the LGBTQ community.
6Untwist your panties, people. You are leaving out the very, very graceful responses by Biden, which seem to have caught people unawares. The man’s level of empathy is simply breathtaking. He hasn’t put a foot wrong since this happened. We’ll see how his sit-down with Lester Holt goes tonight.
Cannon just upended 50 years of SCOTUS rulings on Special Prosecutors. I can’t wait to see what her fellow jurists have to say about this, not to mention the way she has slow-walked the entire case.
As for the Orange Felon’s newly discovered pivot toward “unity”: did you see his post after the Cannon decision came down? Same ol’, same ol’.
7Its a rePUKEian plot. They did this so they can blame everyone. The shooter was aiming to miss to just cause controversy. And draw attention to the not harmed orange Trumpkin so as to make him look brave.
8They have sown the wind; they shall reap the whirlwind. Hosea 8:7
9I’m somewhat with BarbinDC and RepubAnon and Steve, but I still effin’ HATE the feeling that we (Dems) are so helpless right now. And since I have to blame someone, anyone, for feeling the way I do, I blame the Dems establishment (they should have seen it coming!) and RBG (she should have stepped down instead of dying behind her desk in Supreme Court!) and… and…
But I HAVE TO stay hopeful, otherwise I will go nuts. Though I do not think that undecided voters give a rat’s ass about Biden’s empathy, I would still like to think that people will go and vote AGAINST Trump in November.
But the bottom line (no pun intended) is: Democrats HAVE TO get their sh#t together. HAVE TO come up with a new set of capable and charismatic politicians. Hand wringing and Trump blaming won’t get us anywhere.
10@ Barb – Unfortunately, nobody cares about Biden’s empathy and Cannon’s corruption made sure the voters will never have a chance to hear the facts of the case. The criminal cases are dead. Trump survived an assassination attempt. His bullshit unity pivot is just that, bullshit. The problem is that none of that matters. This is all about momentum.
11Ya, this “unity” BS is from his handlers to get independents and undecided voters. They’ll have to put a muzzle on him. Highly unlikely he can keep from doing his same old same old vengeance whining. Hope the democrats with the purse of cash are getting something together to counter his “unity” call with his own words and deeds. Needs to start asap.
12El Jefe,
Actually, we have seen the facts of the case. Secret documents and Top Secret documents spread across the floor of Lar-a-Margo photographed by the FBI after Trump’s lawyers filed paperwork saying all the documents have been returned. Security camera footage of Trump’s stooges moving the boxes. It goes on and on.
Trump can’t win on the facts of this case. He can only win on corrupt judges. And I include Thomas and Cannon in that category.
13Mamma mia.
14https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13637217/donald-trump-convention-rnc.html
“Bill Kolo, 56, a delegate from Connecticut said no ‘mere mortal’ could bounce back as Trump had done on Saturday. “He’s been persecuted more than, in my opinion, any person since Jesus Christ, he said. “And somehow he gets back up every day, when everything’s being thrown at him from every level, and still he stays and talks and fights for us.”
@Slipstream – no, we haven’t. The facts need to be laid out in a court of law before a jury of our peers to judge guilt or innocence based on those facts. We have not seen that. Trump’s loudspeaker has dominated the airwaves and we have not seen the evidence laid out before the public. That’s what we need in every case and that has been denied by corrupt judges.
15Please don’t be defeatist! I feel like after a hit, Republicans rally, but Democrats (at least recently) just give up. As part of our local Dem outreach, I called several Dem voters today, (folks who have applied for ballots by mail in the past) and reminded them of the deadlines. Five out of seven requested applications for ballot by mail and were so appreciative that our group would mail them out. It’s going to take a lot of work, but we can do this! Si se puede!
16Come on people, get a grip. So the shooting by a deranged kid was immediately politicized. Shocking. So the orange guy’s base is now louder and more amped up but they were always going to turn out on election day. So Biden botched the debate. Even if he had been on fire that day, he was still just counting off a list of accomplishments and statistics that Democrats love and nobody listens to. People are voting with their emotions.
Make no mistake. This is and always has been a referendum on Trump. This election will be decided by turnout. If too many registered voters sit on their asses this time, the republic is lost.
17So its all going tRump’s way now. That can pivot in a second, and he’s the guy to do it. Just watch and listen to what he says and does from here on in on issues like abortion, Social Security, etc. His leopard spots will not change, only dig himself in deeper. Yup, you bet he’s going to use the attempt as part of his campaign. The minute he puts himself akin to Abe Lincoln and Jack Kennedy he may as well give up. He is just not anywhere akin to them.
And what if it had been Joe who was very slightly wounded? Trump would have compounded a story that would still have put him the victim! And I ain’t kidding!
18@El Jefe, I usually enjoy reading your entries in this blog. Lately, though, I find the defeatism to be a gray cloud in my blue sky.
To quote Moira from The Handmaid’s Tale: Hey, that shit is contagious… you need to keep your f@cking shit together.
I refuse to be defeated before we even try.
19@ Malarkey – I’m not a political operative or a dreamer. I’m driven by numbers and calls ‘em as I sees ‘em. I’m not here to comfort you or give you hope. I try to bring some hard objectivity to magical thinking and partisanship.
20@El Jefe, fine. I refuse to let my parade get rained on until it’s parade day.
As I said, the defeatism is contagious. My fear is that someone – or many someones – will read what you’ve written and *give up*. That is not an option when the future of this country is at stake.
Please continue to call them as you see them, but maybe not as loudly, please?
21Don’t give up. Get to work!
22I miss ‘Juanita’.
23