The Phone Call
Written by Nick Carraway
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“Keith Olbermann made a keen observation on Twitter that I had not previously considered when thinking about Donald Trump’s phone call to the Georgia Secretary of State. It seems that the audio on his end of the call was much clearer than on the other end. While that fact alone is not proof, it seems more likely than not that the phone call was recorded on the White House end. If that is in fact true then it creates two distinct possibilities that must be considered as this story develops.
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First, the call was recorded as all calls are and someone close to the president released the audio to act as a kind of whistleblower. I would think this would be the most likely scenario. It would be somewhat similar to the Ukraine call. This would also be the least intriguing of the two possibilities. It simply means that there is less deniability on the White House end and that the MAGA population also have no leg to stand on in terms of denying the existence or veracity of the call.
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The second possibility is that the president could have leaked the call himself. From there, it is really anyone’s best guess as to why he would do such a thing. My personal belief is that he subscribes to a P.T. Barnum philosophy that no publicity is bad publicity. It could also be hubris in that maybe he really believes that his phone calls are perfect. He has never really been punished for anything, so I guess there is some basis to back up his belief here. At any rate, it does achieve the goal of keeping him in the news.
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In either scenario, it is impossible not to deal with this situation either after January 6th or January 20th. The only question is how. When going through our classroom discipline training we were always told that redirection was always best when the negative reinforcement was something the kid didn’t want. So, if a kid craves attention then you isolate them and take away their attention. Some kids are ten and some kids are 74. I don’t know you go through a prosecution without attention, but the least amount you can give him is what he deserves while still putting him away for a long time. I’m not a legal expert, so maybe someone else will have a better idea of how to do that.”
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I don’t think there’s any doubt that the WH recorded the call and leaked it. The timing has everything to do with the Georgia runoff election and expect that today Trumpf will amplify the lies he told on the call and the “leak” to get the magats riled up. In his mind and their minds, it was a perfect call and the democrats sabotaged his election.
1I only hope this scheme backfires and brings out even more democrats that haven’t already voted.
As much as I’d love to see him get in more legal trouble over this, I’m doubtful.
Could be, I guess. The part about promising more and better numbers is the Joe McCarthy technique of calling a press conference to announce he will shortly release damning accusations.
But what do I know? Dick Cheney’s signature on the secretaries of defense letter puts him firmly on the moderate wing of the Republican Party.
I did not see that coming.
Y’all feel free to ignore anything I write about politics from here on out.
2I must be an idiot. I honestly thought some Republicans would jump ship this morning. There might be a Goldwater-Scott-Rhodes meet with Nixon moment, with current Republican leaders telling Trump they can no longer support his actions.
But no. Republicans instead have circled the wagons, defending Trump’s indefensible actions.
We’re not in the 20th century anymore Toto.
3Didn’t Rappensperger say on TV that he himself made the recording and gave it to the media?
4The most telling line in this analysis is –
“He has never really been punished for anything…”
When dealing with a sociopath (a/k/a psychopath…same thing, just a different name), the only therapy one can do is to show that person how their actions are not in their own best interests. i.e. show them that they WILL have negative consequences for their actions. That’s it. Any other therapy – trying to teach him/her empathy, reinforcing rule-based behavior, showing the effect of their actions on others – just makes him/her a better sociopath.
5Of course, Opinionated, that gets to the heart of the question over crime and punishment. Is the goal to protect the public from a dangerous person and rehabilitate if possible or to simply punish? Obviously there is a lot of overlap there, but it brings two questions as we would ask in any situation. First, can the president be reformed? I think we’d all agree the answer is no on that front. The second question is whether there is any point in which he won’t be a danger to society? I’m guessing no on that front. So, if the goal is protect society from a dangerous actor then the obvious answer is a life sentence given that he can’t be rehabilitated and will likely always be a danger to society. Now, whether that is house arrest or prison is anyone’s best guess but either way he cannot have access to the media. That’s a key part of the punishment.
6Harry @ 2:
7It’s disconcerting to think of Darth cheney as middle of the road. What really pisses me off about it is how much nefarious gratification that douchebag is getting out of it.
Although he might be pissed that anybody else is more right wing authoritarian than he is.
Don’t know how to feel about that
Hussy @ 5: That’s a helluva great Opinion!
The faux patriots in Trump’s far-right base cannot fathom losing this election He boasted “We’re going to win so much that you’re going to be sick and tired of winning.” They aren’t going to concede because they regard this as an admission that their delusions have been rejected. In their sick and twisted minds, they are always winners.
8Also, John Pavlovitz (Brother John) has a new one today.
https://johnpavlovitz.com/
9@BarbinDC—Yes, Raffensperger did say he and his team had recorded the call and were holding it back as insurance against any lies that Trump would say about it. That’s why, after Trump’s untruthful tweet about it, Raffensperger tweeted that “the truth will come out.” He said after Lindsey Graham’s call (which they hadn’t recorded) they thought it would be a good idea to start doing that. Amen to that.
10“Likely Mark Meadows”
Here are the technical aspects of “The Phone Call” as analyzed by an old friend of mine who is still in the business, and writes about it from time to time [ID G2Geek on Daily Kos].
The following two links will sometimes get quite technical, but contain important information that you should be able to filter.
The first link is his article of a detailed analysis, observations, interpretations, and conclusions of ‘the call’ [he likely had some technical assistance from ‘the team’]. The second link is an earlier [Sunday] comment he made about the very technical aspects of a voice telephone call.
Don’t be daunted by the ‘tech’, the core meaning will be apparent. G2 mentions an instrument called a “spectrum analyzer”, it simply displays on a screen a visible representation of sound and/or radio waves, you’ve probably seen similar things on many TV shows [I have one in my collection of tech gear, and am expert at it].
G2Geek sometimes writes in a ‘dense pendantic’ style [as moi], just plow ahead, it’ll be worth it. BTW, G2Geek is credited with coining the term “stochastic terrorism”.
1- Trump recording: analysis of audio. Likely Mark Meadows.:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/1/4/2005722/-Trump-recording-analysis-of-audio-Likely-Mark-Meadows
2- “Here’s how to tell which end of the phone call made and presumably released the recording.” :
https://www.dailykos.com/comments/2005640/79787953#comment_79787953
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11Interesting that a Trumpf DOJ appointed US attorney in Georgia abruptly resigned due to “unforeseen” circumstances. Maybe he was fearful of being forced involved to go after his favorite president. He didn’t hide his partisan leanings in the past. Hmmm
12I love that the Sec’y made a point to have his Gen’l Counsel in on the call; evidently he heard Trump’s bankruptcy lawyer Patrick T. McGhan testify that “it’s always been our practice to make sure two people are present, and we don’t have a problem of people lying.”
13In his majesty’s mind, he’s going to pardon himself so he doesn’t care what anyone finds out anymore. Then he’s going to make a getaway out of the country, and try to have a few weeks of “where’s Donny”. Anything for attention. Twitter, Facebook – please ban him!
14As I understand it, there are multiple sources — WAPO and AJC got recordings.
Technical analysis indicates a DC recording. Raffensperger said there was a release after the DC folks went public about the call.
There is no dispute about what was said. So far, I’ve read of referrals to the FBI, Georgia state investigators, and the Fulton County DA. Ought to be interesting to see how quickly there is an analysis and announced outcomes.
15I don’t if this is true but I heard one expert say it’d only be a crime if you could prove Orange Clown (“OC) knew that he did not win the election and was trying to change the outcome. He said, “C’mon, give me a break”. Wouldn’t the fact that he needed “a break” infer the truth was not on his side?
16tRump will be dealing with someone who is positing a mental breakdown excuse for him. He won’t like it, but it will be a better bet for him than living out his life in a gated Federal community.
17If the WH recorded the conversation, wouldn’t there be other calls that they recorded? Certainly many more calls were made to Georgia and the other swing states. This would be BIG!
18Ray, I have to admit I am confused that other states personnel have not come forward. Trump cannot possibly think just turning Georgia around will win him the election, so he must have tried similar calls with other states.
It is unusual to have victims stay silent once the initial story starts gaining ground. Even if they do not have recorded calls, I would think someone would speak out.
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