He even said on camera that he’s not concerned about the American people. There must be some powerful spin put on this type of comment to keep tens of millions of people believing it’s all right and good…
His base will never hear the comment. If somehow they do, they'll assume it was taken out of context by the liberal media. Their media outlets will explain it all away or never report it at all.
I'm honestly trying not to be, John. Not because feeling anger about this is wrong, but because I want the people who are responsible for this -- the voters -- to fully experience the consequences of their votes. I think 2026 will go down as the year where the voters got their comeuppance. And I find that particularly satisfying.
Honestly, I think this is too complicated for the MAGA mind to understand or even try to understand. All they will hear on Fox News is "Trump fund created for victims of left-wing weaponization" and not get any more context than that. The bubble is strong. And purely from a financial standpoint, $2bil is a drop in the bucket, so they are not going to directly "feel" it.
I just want people to wrap their MF ing heads around what this is. Donald Trump has stolen $5 from every man, woman and child in the United States to pay off his insurrectionist buddies.
He’s surely more interested in his own share than that of his buddies. He’s not really much of a “buddy” kind of guy, and Donnie Two Scoops always wets his beak.
And to secure their votes. And to have them available should he need them again. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if having these cretins on retainer, available to riot, isn’t one of the reasons why he is doing this.
To create his army. It was the U.S. Army that stopped McCarthy and Coen undoubtedly passed that on to his #1 client. So Trump will amass his own army for the revolution enabling him to take total charge and hand the former USA over to Putin for his birthday as long as Trump gets to move himself and Melania into the winter palace forever. I assume the republican reps are happy with their roll in destroying this country. I just wish I knew what they are getting in return.
To each and every new stunt introduced by DJT I say; Bring it on! Let s get his numbers below the Bush line. Currently Democrats lead the generic poll by 11 - 12 points.
Sure. Trump has hampered the economy he inherited from Joe Biden. Between tariffs and his ill-considered war in Iran, even the MAGAe are paying more for gas, groceries, and other goods. Perhaps most important is the yield on the 30 year bond was at its highest level in 19 years earlier today, which doesn't bode well for any of us. All while Trump is looting the treasury and his allies are making a fortune.
Mind you I don't expect the people you describe will cop to Trump fucking them economically, but that doesn't mean it's not happening.
First off, I always start from the premise that there is no amount of financial ruin or pain that could cause a MAGA voter to question his vote or his devotion to Trump. They will happily lose it all: money, relationships with friends and family, health, their children's health, their businesses and farms. They'll lose all of it and if they blame anyone, it will be some Democrat that hasn't been in office in years.
That said, by my math, if the 1,500 convicted and then pardoned J6'ers put in for this cash, that's $1,184,000 each. You can buy a lotta gas and groceries with that. If someone just dropped a cool $1.2 million in my checking account, no strings attached, I'd be pretty happy and if someone gave me some grief about it, I'd say, "Look, do you really think the government would cut me a check for that amount of money if they didn't think they did anything wrong and I wasn't entitled to compensation?"
My outrage-o-meter hit 11 a long time ago, and has been stuck there since Jan 6, 2021.
Trump's petty, puerile behavior is tiresome -- and tiring -- but I am beginning to realize that its effect on me is almost rejuvenating.
I get up every morning, listen to the news, read the paper, scroll my news feeds, and the resultant surge of disgust, disappointment and anger energizes me to get on with the slow and rather boring work of pushing back against the darkness infecting our government.
When we eventually give the boot to Trump and the scoundrels who join him in shitting on the Constitution and established norms of political behavior, I hope our best and brightest will take advantage of the opportunity to rectify all the loopholes and legal lacunae which have come to light, and which have given his SCOTUS allies various weasel-worded rationales to pervert law and custom and allow this abomination of a man-administration to continue its evil work.
Andrew usually writes with a pretty healthy contempt for Trump and Trumpers. He is closer to that world than most of the Bulwark staff, so I think it hits pretty close to home .
“The right to vote without fear of armed government agents at the polls is not negotiable, and it is not subject to the whims of a president,” Hennepin County District Attorney Moriarty said. “Federal law makes voter intimidation a crime. Minnesota law makes voter intimidation a crime. If ICE officers are dispatched to polling places in Hennepin County to frighten voters away from the ballot box, my office will investigate, and we will charge. Every prosecutor in this coalition is preparing for that possibility now, before November, so there is no ambiguity about the consequences.”
I was heading straight to the comments after Andrew’s piece to comment on “impeach the son of a bitch today” ending and this comment was at the top. It got my HEART! Andrew with the singing voice of an angel.
They should show that video clip of people saying Kill him! over Michael Fanone as he is being beaten. Then a screen that says: Those attempted cop killers are getting a million dollars each from Donald Trump. For trying to kill a cop.
I think the child predators should get the same treatment. In whatever Congressional Districts those people live, those ads should go up non-stop.
"This guy is a child predator. He stormed the Capitol on January 6. He got pardoned. He assaulted more children. He got arrested ... again. Donald Trump just sent him a million dollars to buy the best lawyers around to keep him out of jail. Congressman so-and-so is completely alright with this."
Key word is "should." Sometimes I think Democrats don't know what really appeals to every-day voters. The message you propose is direct and powerful without any tweaking from political message managers.
Maybe reaching out to our representatives and senators could help get these messages across? If congress members are inundated with emails and calls from constituents maybe it will break through. Honestly, I’m at my wits end with all this…
Yes, all ads and stump speeches need to underscore this is funded by tax-payers. The word "fleecing" comes to mind. I see images of the taxpayers as sheep being sheared.🐑
I had this thought too. With the first payout of this slush fund, the January 6 insurrectionists will go from "allowed to commit violence in service to Trump" to "paid to commit violence in service of Trump".
How can anyone - with even a shred of a moral compass - find themselves in anything other than a state of white hot rage over the staggering corruption we are witnessing . . .
Sure. At the same time, however, this is what a plurality of the electorate wanted. Well, now they're getting it, and I must admit it's very satisfying to be proven right about what Trump 2.0 would bring.
Or how much cultural damage was being wrought by that one trans kid playing girl's high school volleyball in Minnesota school district [insert number here].
and Champlin Park High School winning the girls Mn state softball tournament with a trans gender pitcher. ( My two son's High school, and damn proud of it!)
I wonder what the nativists in England think since a man of Indian descent just won the PGA Championship at Aronimink this past weekend? Does it not count since he's not white?
I watched the PGA. Rai had a fantastic final 10 holes and won going away. I did see where England had a large turnout protesting immigrants. Was in England last year. They hate Trump.
I comfort myself with the thought that, if Europe can snap out of its torpor and stand up for itself, some good may come of this. I think we can endure some righteous face slaps for our transgressions, and learn from the experience.
Enorider, in answer to your rhetorical question...just join the MAGA cult and see everything in a different light. Ahh, the RED PILL makes all this perfectly clear, like turning shit into perfume. "Magic!"
That would be only Democrats. Fox News will make sure Republican voters don't see a shred of evidence about Trump's corruption. Maybe that will work in our favor as our white hot rage motivates mass turnout while Republicans sit complacently at home.
I'm a water system engineer. I have quite a few clients who are spending big bucks to comply with the PFOS/PFAS regulations. Now, just saying "nevermind" is a huge kick in the teeth to the entities who are trying to do the right thing. It's almost like MAGA has no interest in stable responsible governance.
Like Trump, a lot of them believe government and EPA regs, etc., are a scam or a grift - because they don’t understand it, or because that’s how they’d run it themselves. We don’t teach government and culturally, huge swathes are actively disinterested or skeptical. Where do roads come from? Power infrastructure? Vaccines? I dunno - witches?
Like the utilities whose solar and wind energy projects have been put on hold or cancelled by the reckless, heedless bunch of drunken incompetents running the government under His Serene Flatulence, King Don the First (or is it "Don one"?)
This latest Trump ploy is unreal. I have no doubt the committee will find it necessary to award 90% of the 1.776 billion to Biden's biggest 'weaponized victim' Donald J Trump. The little people will get to split the rest.
Speaking of DHHS messes, it's not surprising that the Ebola outbreak in the Congo spread as quietly and as fast as it has because of our withdrawal from the WHO and the gutting of USAID. The communication channels and personnel just weren't there anymore.
If anyone still wonders if Trump is a malignant narcissist on a par with a serial killer they just don't want to see a rich white man as capable of that kind of evil...and this particular rich white man is also a serial pedophile to boot.
Exactly what I’m thinking - this isn’t for J6 ers as everyone keeps gasping about. This is a way to feed the MAGA base - look at what Trump is doing for us! And then to make the payout to himself and his entire family. Maybe he’ll throw a million or two to a few he wants to reward or keep close. The real dupes are as usual his base!
Until we recognize that true evil exists, and is taking over our government, we are not overtly facing the real problem. An administration that revels in killing people in boats and civilians in Iran (maximum lethality), that enjoys causing trauma to thousands of children separated from their immigrant parents, that sides with murderous dictators over our democratic allies, and one that treats taxpayer money like a personal ATM while addressing high gas prices that are truly hurting people as "peanuts" obviously has no moral compass. When it comes to choosing between what is moral and what is evil, Trump will choose evil every single time. He is a willing tool of Satan, plain and simple. What fools evangelical "Christians" have been to not see through this awful con man.
Honestly, I hope that he and his family keep 100% of the money, since a MASSIVE skewed incentive structure is created by the signal of these payouts - do bad, illegal things at the behest of the president, get both a pardon AND a payout.
Bah - I think it’ll mostly go to those true patriots who invest heavily in Trump coin, pacs, and other grifts. With a few high payouts set aside for the most media friendly and influencer darlings.
From what I've read, "settlement" is a misnomer. A settlement would have had to be approved by a judge. Trump moved to withdraw the case, which does not require any approval, then paid himself $1776 million dollars. Once his suit was withdrawn, he had no more right to the money than I do. He's stealing the money.
In similar cases, plaintiffs have received an apology from the IRS and settlements in the low four-figure dollar range. There was one at $50,000. A plaintiff whose entire business was destroyed as a result of the IRS disclosure received $4 million-something in damages. Trump has not even presented evidence as to harm to him or to his reputation.* In fact, he has thrived since the disclosure.
Then there is the supposed "weaponization" of the DoJ. Of the cases concluded before Trump issued pardons, the vast majority involved guilty pleas. of the small number of cases that went to trial, there were just 3 acquittals. More than a few lawyers have been disbarred or suspended from practicing law relative to the 1/6 scheme.
The way his demented self sees it, HE IS America, so its money is his (You can’t steal what’s yours). If he wants to give it away to vandals and cop-beaters who did it for him, or blow it on a ballroom we don’t need, or a war he promised he wouldn’t start, it’s his to do.
We are a nation of laws. I grew up and grew old believing that. So, how is it that a phony, two-bit, TV tough guy has turned that nation of laws into a lawless nation and its 50 states into nothing more than the phony tough guy’s territory? How is it that the world’s most-admired legal system, carefully constructed over 250 years, can be rendered all but impotent in a matter of months by a small-time grifter? How can it be that the world’s best and brightest are no match for a man widely regarded to be a cretin by those who have worked with him and for him? How is it that a man so vile, so dishonest, so disreputable and corrupt, can be deified by so many? How can it be that we now find ourselves living in a world so unmoored, so devoid of the rules of physics, that it feels as if it were created by Lewis Carroll? Alice, at least, wakes up with her head in her sister’s lap and realizes her adventure was just a dream. Will we wake up? Rise up? Will there come a day when we look back at this dark time and remember it as nothing more than a bad dream? Or is the bad dream no dream at all, but simply our past, present and future.
As an attorney since 1983, I can tell you I’ve learned the hard way that the nation of laws and the Constitution have been turned into somewhat of a charade. The Supreme Court could have allowed the criminal prosecution of Trump instead of effectively granting him immunity. Congress could have done its fundamental job of checking an out of control administration. The founders set up a system of checks and balances where each branch of government would guard their prerogatives and block another branch from usurping their powers. It has failed miserably. I think we are in for a long period of coming to grips with what has occurred and how to fix it.
The Founders' error was in trusting voters to select only honest men of good character, who cared enough about protecting their reputations to eschew unprincipled actions.
I’m not sure what the founders thought about voting by the average person. I believe they thought “wise” men voting in the Electoral College would prevent charlatans and grifters from becoming President. Well here we are and the Electoral College is not a firewall.
That's true. We are simply not set up for unlawful acts by a president. Impeachment became nothing more than an exercise in showing fealty to the sitting president. No one agrees on anything anymore if there are political points to be scored. Morality is not a political point that is valued, nor is complying with the law if there is something to be gained by not complying.
I’m not religious, but if I had to identify an Antichrist in my lifetime, Trump would be it. “A charismatic deceiver who fools Christians into worshipping him and turning away from Christ.” He also seems to have a malevolent power to get his supporters to do evil on his behalf while completely and miraculously escaping all accountability.
Dear Oracle, all this came about because we are, as you said, "a nation of laws." To the criminal mind of a sociopath, "laws" are just specks of ink on a piece of paper -- they have no relevance to him unless they provide a path around or through the thicket of regulations.
And Trump, as we all know, has Roy Cohn as his "spirit guide" to lead him.
Today I am ashamed to be an American. Sadly, it is not the first time. And clearly it will not be the last. But, here and now, I have reached my breaking point.
As if there really needed to be a last-straw moment with this administration, this is it. This is the occasion where the friends and family plan officially has become its backbone, shamelessly right out in the open, and both the rule of law and any sense that our federal government exists for any purpose other than to service the wants and feelings of one man lie dead in the dust.
I never again want to hear that America is the Greatest County on Earth. It clearly is not, and our ability to bomb things to smithereens and buy almost anything we want with corporate cash and massive federal debt does not obscure the fact that we are spending down that title that our forefathers gifted us through their hard work and dedication to principles bigger than the self. This America is the future generation that squanders the fortune as if a gift that will be there forever no matter what they do. In reality they are bankrupting our national soul no less than our treasury, simply because they can get away with it. Good times, for those without a conscience or a sense of collective purpose.
Also I never again want to hear that this GOP is the party of law and order, or that the Congress under its control is a coequal branch of the government. Their fate is now sealed as criminal organizations, in on the take both figuratively and literally, as they choose their side, and it is not ours, nor is it one that ever will have our best interests at heart. They exist only for their own gains and self-preservation, and we will never have a seat at the table despite picking up the tab for it all. It is the ultimate sucker deal, and the clearest sign yet that the 2016 and 2024 presidential elections have become the most significant ones in the history of our nation. Both times we failed, massively and egregiously. History will tell us after the fact what it cost us, and the world, when we willingly surrendered our moral compass, and our collective heart and soul, as we cast our lot with demonstrably the worst people in American history without stopping to consider the consequences. Each day a little (or a lot) more, we are learning. But we are not better off for knowing, as long as our government stretches the boundaries of corruption and abuse of power with impunity a little more each day and we increasingly have no say in the matter.
That’s a lot of words to write our President is a criminal who is stealing taxpayer money. From top to bottom the Administration and the Republican Party is nothing but a criminal enterprise. Stop talking about them like this is normal politics - the Republican Party has become a criminal organization and has taken control of the government.
You omitted something: it is a criminal organization that is operating with the blessing of 30% of the electorate. They're only getting away with this because the base lets them get away with it.
That just tells you that 30% of the electorate would be committing crimes against their fellow Americans if they could get away with it too. MAGA is the projection party after all.
Now imagine the Mafia had control of the Department of Justice and was getting a billion dollars of your tax money to recompense it for time its members spent in prison.
As Lee Atwater once said: "We are going to make the son of a bitch his VP". Likewise, make Republicans run on their support of this in November and beyond.
The unfortunate truth is the massed have been so brainwashed, they just say, “both sides are bad.” No thought beyond that enters their brain. They are predisposed to give Republicans the benefit of the doubt and Dems the assumption of guilt. Most Americans cannot actually think for themselves and are nothing more than parrots.
This morning I visited these websites: Fox News, AP, Reuters, Drudge. The only one that led with the slush fund was Dredge ! Of course I expected that Fox wouldn’t mention it anywhere on its landing page but I didn’t expect that from AP and Reuters. I didn’t expect Drudge to be the only one who did. This is one of the biggest reasons Americans aren’t more upset about it. They don’t know about it!
I did the same, actually I was surprised that in a couple of stories Newsmax has mentioned it along with critical quotes from some people. Today: "John Koskinen, who served as IRS commissioner under the Obama administration, told Politico the expanded settlement set a "terrible precedent."
The fund created by the settlement wasn't motivated primarily by a desire to give $$ to Trump or his allies. It had to be settled before the DOJ would be forced to take a position in its brief that was due tomorrow on whether the case had two parties that were in fact adverse. To argue that there were would contradict the Unitary Executive theory, which is much more important to the regime than whether Trump or the J6ers get some money. To uphold the Unitary Executive theory would permit the Judge to dismiss the case anyway on those grounds, with unknown future effects on the next Trump self-dealing grift. The money and the mechanism to pay it out were clearly secondary considerations.
"If they had a shred of dignity left, they’d impeach the son of a bitch today."
When you've radicalized Andrew Egger . . . . .
Trump has a simple 2 part agenda:
1. Hate filled retribution against "enemies".
2. Grifting the American taxpayer.
There is no part of his agenda that shows he cares for the American people, the job of the president.
For this reason alone he should be impeached and his MAGA supporters should be thrown out of power.
That is it in a nutshell.
He even said on camera that he’s not concerned about the American people. There must be some powerful spin put on this type of comment to keep tens of millions of people believing it’s all right and good…
Spin not even necessary when those tens of millions of people are in a cult.
They think he doesn’t care about everyone else.
His base will never hear the comment. If somehow they do, they'll assume it was taken out of context by the liberal media. Their media outlets will explain it all away or never report it at all.
#3 Destroy the Epstein files and #4 make Putin happy.
I'd like his MAGA supports to be thrown into the immigration detention camps.
Or just thrown out of the country.
I know, right? Andrew's always calm and a voice of reason. It goes to show that even the most level-headed of men have a breaking point.
I think I'm a pretty level-headed man and I'm muthaf#*cking fuming this morning...
I'm honestly trying not to be, John. Not because feeling anger about this is wrong, but because I want the people who are responsible for this -- the voters -- to fully experience the consequences of their votes. I think 2026 will go down as the year where the voters got their comeuppance. And I find that particularly satisfying.
Honestly, I think this is too complicated for the MAGA mind to understand or even try to understand. All they will hear on Fox News is "Trump fund created for victims of left-wing weaponization" and not get any more context than that. The bubble is strong. And purely from a financial standpoint, $2bil is a drop in the bucket, so they are not going to directly "feel" it.
yeah. It's hopeless with the Fox News Crowd. But I imagine this could register with the Massie/MTG crowd.
Might it work with the WSJ crowd? They're slightly more reality-based.
The bubble is impermeable !
Impermabubble.
Even the WSJ editorial board has a piece condemning it.
I just want people to wrap their MF ing heads around what this is. Donald Trump has stolen $5 from every man, woman and child in the United States to pay off his insurrectionist buddies.
He’s surely more interested in his own share than that of his buddies. He’s not really much of a “buddy” kind of guy, and Donnie Two Scoops always wets his beak.
He cares to know if he pays them off, he can call them to action at least once again.
I think he will use it to fund his ballroom and arch.
And to secure their votes. And to have them available should he need them again. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if having these cretins on retainer, available to riot, isn’t one of the reasons why he is doing this.
That is why he pardoned them all, to have them on retainer (on ice) and in ICE.
Ben, comports with my math, too. Although we should probably delete the Felon and his band of non-income tax paying oligarchs....
To create his army. It was the U.S. Army that stopped McCarthy and Coen undoubtedly passed that on to his #1 client. So Trump will amass his own army for the revolution enabling him to take total charge and hand the former USA over to Putin for his birthday as long as Trump gets to move himself and Melania into the winter palace forever. I assume the republican reps are happy with their roll in destroying this country. I just wish I knew what they are getting in return.
To each and every new stunt introduced by DJT I say; Bring it on! Let s get his numbers below the Bush line. Currently Democrats lead the generic poll by 11 - 12 points.
Trump is well past any caring-about-the-polls stage and is well into the "secret weapons (cheating) will keep me in power" stage.
I wish I weren’t afraid that are correct.
Yes, IF the Democrats use each one in their ads and stump speeches. 🤞🏻
Meeee too. And I know that I shouldn’t feel this way, but honestly, I want these dumbbells to touch the hot stove with both hands.
I'm quite a bit meaner than you .
AAAHHHHH ! ! !
Well, okay, but how, exactly, are those people going to suffer the consequences of their votes?
And for the most violent and committed among them, it's payday! Pretty nice consequence if you ask me.
Sure. Trump has hampered the economy he inherited from Joe Biden. Between tariffs and his ill-considered war in Iran, even the MAGAe are paying more for gas, groceries, and other goods. Perhaps most important is the yield on the 30 year bond was at its highest level in 19 years earlier today, which doesn't bode well for any of us. All while Trump is looting the treasury and his allies are making a fortune.
Mind you I don't expect the people you describe will cop to Trump fucking them economically, but that doesn't mean it's not happening.
First off, I always start from the premise that there is no amount of financial ruin or pain that could cause a MAGA voter to question his vote or his devotion to Trump. They will happily lose it all: money, relationships with friends and family, health, their children's health, their businesses and farms. They'll lose all of it and if they blame anyone, it will be some Democrat that hasn't been in office in years.
That said, by my math, if the 1,500 convicted and then pardoned J6'ers put in for this cash, that's $1,184,000 each. You can buy a lotta gas and groceries with that. If someone just dropped a cool $1.2 million in my checking account, no strings attached, I'd be pretty happy and if someone gave me some grief about it, I'd say, "Look, do you really think the government would cut me a check for that amount of money if they didn't think they did anything wrong and I wasn't entitled to compensation?"
I, too, want those who voted for him to feel the pain that he’s inflicting upon the American people—I just don’t want to feel too much of that pain.
My outrage-o-meter hit 11 a long time ago, and has been stuck there since Jan 6, 2021.
Trump's petty, puerile behavior is tiresome -- and tiring -- but I am beginning to realize that its effect on me is almost rejuvenating.
I get up every morning, listen to the news, read the paper, scroll my news feeds, and the resultant surge of disgust, disappointment and anger energizes me to get on with the slow and rather boring work of pushing back against the darkness infecting our government.
When we eventually give the boot to Trump and the scoundrels who join him in shitting on the Constitution and established norms of political behavior, I hope our best and brightest will take advantage of the opportunity to rectify all the loopholes and legal lacunae which have come to light, and which have given his SCOTUS allies various weasel-worded rationales to pervert law and custom and allow this abomination of a man-administration to continue its evil work.
Yeah, I haven't read or listened to Andrew for very long, but I wonder if he's ever been as fired up about something as he is about this slush fund?
Andrew usually writes with a pretty healthy contempt for Trump and Trumpers. He is closer to that world than most of the Bulwark staff, so I think it hits pretty close to home .
Cough cough, close to that world... Will Sommer burst into the room like the Kool-aid man.
I was pumping my fist for Andrew when I read that. 😄
Me too!
GREAT NEWS! This is what we needed! District Attorneys acts are pledginng to arrest ICE officers who interfere with voting in 2026.
https://www.defiance.news/p/local-prosecutors-warn-trump-if-you
“The right to vote without fear of armed government agents at the polls is not negotiable, and it is not subject to the whims of a president,” Hennepin County District Attorney Moriarty said. “Federal law makes voter intimidation a crime. Minnesota law makes voter intimidation a crime. If ICE officers are dispatched to polling places in Hennepin County to frighten voters away from the ballot box, my office will investigate, and we will charge. Every prosecutor in this coalition is preparing for that possibility now, before November, so there is no ambiguity about the consequences.”
Now if Moriarity would just do her job and arrest the murderers of Renee Good and Alex Pretti!
I like Angry Andrew. If you’re not angry, then you are either illiterate, a Trumper-or both.
. . . .and left him cursing . . .
More than anything else, this level of corruption is enraging. Every one of us is feeling it.
I know! I don’t think I’ve ever seen Andrew this angry. The corruption has gotten mind boggling this past week, though, and not a peep from the GOP.
Amen
That sentence woke me right up!
I was heading straight to the comments after Andrew’s piece to comment on “impeach the son of a bitch today” ending and this comment was at the top. It got my HEART! Andrew with the singing voice of an angel.
I wish I weren’t afraid that you are correct.
Such language from a devout Christian, no less!
With his theft of the $1.776 billion, Trump has begun the funding of his own, personal mercenary army.
Dems need to call it what it is: "a tax-payer reparations fund for J6th cop-beaters"
Because it's not like Jim Comey is going to get a payout from this fund right?
They should show that video clip of people saying Kill him! over Michael Fanone as he is being beaten. Then a screen that says: Those attempted cop killers are getting a million dollars each from Donald Trump. For trying to kill a cop.
I think the child predators should get the same treatment. In whatever Congressional Districts those people live, those ads should go up non-stop.
"This guy is a child predator. He stormed the Capitol on January 6. He got pardoned. He assaulted more children. He got arrested ... again. Donald Trump just sent him a million dollars to buy the best lawyers around to keep him out of jail. Congressman so-and-so is completely alright with this."
Key word is "should." Sometimes I think Democrats don't know what really appeals to every-day voters. The message you propose is direct and powerful without any tweaking from political message managers.
Maybe reaching out to our representatives and senators could help get these messages across? If congress members are inundated with emails and calls from constituents maybe it will break through. Honestly, I’m at my wits end with all this…
Time for our own Willie Horton ads like Bush did in the 80s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm3XTansvTs
Yes, all ads and stump speeches need to underscore this is funded by tax-payers. The word "fleecing" comes to mind. I see images of the taxpayers as sheep being sheared.🐑
And ICE protestors in sheep costumes!
ICE dressed up as wolves in camouflage, flack vests, and masks.
Dems don't give a shit. Some might, most don't. Did the Washington Generals give a shit? No. Just show up and get paid for a performance.
And, as he has done with every company he has run, bankrupting the country.
With the faltering economy, there is no new revenue coming in to cover the extortion.
Next up; bankrupting US. Hey, King of debt! He loves spending other s money
That's good.
I had this thought too. With the first payout of this slush fund, the January 6 insurrectionists will go from "allowed to commit violence in service to Trump" to "paid to commit violence in service of Trump".
That is why he has ICE and a budget for them higher than the Marines.
I was thinking of that too. Ready for election day.
sigh
Andrew: "If they had a shred of dignity left, they’d impeach the son of a bitch today."
< Tim falls off his chair laughing hysterically >
Is Senator McConnell available for comment? Senator Grassley? How about "Constitutionalist" Senators Cruz and Lee?
No?
Well, fuck you guys, too.
Susan Collins has concerns!
"...but her EMAILS!"
🤣😂
Lindsey Graham believes he’s “Churchillian.”
I great and heartfelt "Amen" to what you said, Tim Coffey!
Your congressman/woman (insert name here) allowed Trump to steal $1.8 billion from the US Treasury. Seems like a relevant ad for the coming elections.
Kim - my new sign for street side rally this week! Thank you
Suitable for framing! (in November)
How can anyone - with even a shred of a moral compass - find themselves in anything other than a state of white hot rage over the staggering corruption we are witnessing . . .
Sure. At the same time, however, this is what a plurality of the electorate wanted. Well, now they're getting it, and I must admit it's very satisfying to be proven right about what Trump 2.0 would bring.
You forget how crippling egg prices were on 2024! 😀
Or how much cultural damage was being wrought by that one trans kid playing girl's high school volleyball in Minnesota school district [insert number here].
and Champlin Park High School winning the girls Mn state softball tournament with a trans gender pitcher. ( My two son's High school, and damn proud of it!)
I wonder what the nativists in England think since a man of Indian descent just won the PGA Championship at Aronimink this past weekend? Does it not count since he's not white?
I watched the PGA. Rai had a fantastic final 10 holes and won going away. I did see where England had a large turnout protesting immigrants. Was in England last year. They hate Trump.
I wonder if the MAGAe are watching the 30 year bond yield this morning. As JVL would note, they did that.
Yeah that sleepy Joe Biden!
Except we are no longer trusted by anybody, being laughed at and are now a rogue country. Other than that, as DJT says; things are going swimmingly.
I comfort myself with the thought that, if Europe can snap out of its torpor and stand up for itself, some good may come of this. I think we can endure some righteous face slaps for our transgressions, and learn from the experience.
I well knew Trump 2.0 would be an absolute sh*tshow, but I'd say it's actually been worse than I imagined in every way possible.
I'm breathlessly waiting for our newly appointed Fraud Czar, JD Vance, to get all over this blatant fraud and put the perpetrators in prison.
JD could try, but Trump would just pardon them.
No. They will all be Democrats. So they deserve what they receive. /s
Which will never happen, I don’t need to add.
Look no further than so called religious revival stunt last weekend in DC.
Enorider, in answer to your rhetorical question...just join the MAGA cult and see everything in a different light. Ahh, the RED PILL makes all this perfectly clear, like turning shit into perfume. "Magic!"
That would be only Democrats. Fox News will make sure Republican voters don't see a shred of evidence about Trump's corruption. Maybe that will work in our favor as our white hot rage motivates mass turnout while Republicans sit complacently at home.
Actually that ridiculous pro-Trump, Christian Nationalist site reported it. The readers are thrilled. Top comment:
“That $1,776 DOJ fund needs to cut a large check to Tina Peters, stat.”
https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/running-rings-tuesday-may-19-2026/comments?utm_source=post&comments=true&utm_medium=web
Wow, I just can’t with these people.
Fox isn’t mentioning it but is reporting about a trans athlete.
https://www.foxnews.com/
I'm a water system engineer. I have quite a few clients who are spending big bucks to comply with the PFOS/PFAS regulations. Now, just saying "nevermind" is a huge kick in the teeth to the entities who are trying to do the right thing. It's almost like MAGA has no interest in stable responsible governance.
Stable gov't doesn't ship cash directly to Trump. So it wouldn't be a priority for sure.
Touche! 😀
Like Trump, a lot of them believe government and EPA regs, etc., are a scam or a grift - because they don’t understand it, or because that’s how they’d run it themselves. We don’t teach government and culturally, huge swathes are actively disinterested or skeptical. Where do roads come from? Power infrastructure? Vaccines? I dunno - witches?
The government and regulations are bad, according to Republicans.
Like the utilities whose solar and wind energy projects have been put on hold or cancelled by the reckless, heedless bunch of drunken incompetents running the government under His Serene Flatulence, King Don the First (or is it "Don one"?)
On a related note, I don't know why this isn't being more widely publicized. Trump just OK'd the use of cyanide bombs to kill wildlife again. CYANIDE. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/cyanide-bombs-return-to-public-lands-as-donald-trump-reverses-biden-era-wildlife-ban/ar-AA23ytTZ
Make America Healthy Again!
A capitulation of the entire Republican Party. Every time a criminal January 6er gets paid, it should be a story. Being em down with the truth!
Trouble is: it will all be secret. So how will we know?
Who are the administrators of this fund? I wonder if the next administration will have access to that information, or whether it will disappear.
Likely disappear.
Maybe to MAL. 🤔
Do most of the J6ers seem like the type who can keep their mouths shut?
They will this time, I predict.
Don't count on the main stream media to write any stories about this. They have let us down by not covering the Trump corruption vigorously.
There are stories about it, but if the payouts are secret, how can anyone know the details?
If only. Several J6ers have committed MORE crimes. At best, they’re one-day stories.
This latest Trump ploy is unreal. I have no doubt the committee will find it necessary to award 90% of the 1.776 billion to Biden's biggest 'weaponized victim' Donald J Trump. The little people will get to split the rest.
Speaking of DHHS messes, it's not surprising that the Ebola outbreak in the Congo spread as quietly and as fast as it has because of our withdrawal from the WHO and the gutting of USAID. The communication channels and personnel just weren't there anymore.
If anyone still wonders if Trump is a malignant narcissist on a par with a serial killer they just don't want to see a rich white man as capable of that kind of evil...and this particular rich white man is also a serial pedophile to boot.
Exactly what I’m thinking - this isn’t for J6 ers as everyone keeps gasping about. This is a way to feed the MAGA base - look at what Trump is doing for us! And then to make the payout to himself and his entire family. Maybe he’ll throw a million or two to a few he wants to reward or keep close. The real dupes are as usual his base!
And always has been.
Until we recognize that true evil exists, and is taking over our government, we are not overtly facing the real problem. An administration that revels in killing people in boats and civilians in Iran (maximum lethality), that enjoys causing trauma to thousands of children separated from their immigrant parents, that sides with murderous dictators over our democratic allies, and one that treats taxpayer money like a personal ATM while addressing high gas prices that are truly hurting people as "peanuts" obviously has no moral compass. When it comes to choosing between what is moral and what is evil, Trump will choose evil every single time. He is a willing tool of Satan, plain and simple. What fools evangelical "Christians" have been to not see through this awful con man.
Honestly, I hope that he and his family keep 100% of the money, since a MASSIVE skewed incentive structure is created by the signal of these payouts - do bad, illegal things at the behest of the president, get both a pardon AND a payout.
Bah - I think it’ll mostly go to those true patriots who invest heavily in Trump coin, pacs, and other grifts. With a few high payouts set aside for the most media friendly and influencer darlings.
From what I've read, "settlement" is a misnomer. A settlement would have had to be approved by a judge. Trump moved to withdraw the case, which does not require any approval, then paid himself $1776 million dollars. Once his suit was withdrawn, he had no more right to the money than I do. He's stealing the money.
In similar cases, plaintiffs have received an apology from the IRS and settlements in the low four-figure dollar range. There was one at $50,000. A plaintiff whose entire business was destroyed as a result of the IRS disclosure received $4 million-something in damages. Trump has not even presented evidence as to harm to him or to his reputation.* In fact, he has thrived since the disclosure.
Then there is the supposed "weaponization" of the DoJ. Of the cases concluded before Trump issued pardons, the vast majority involved guilty pleas. of the small number of cases that went to trial, there were just 3 acquittals. More than a few lawyers have been disbarred or suspended from practicing law relative to the 1/6 scheme.
* So-called.
The way his demented self sees it, HE IS America, so its money is his (You can’t steal what’s yours). If he wants to give it away to vandals and cop-beaters who did it for him, or blow it on a ballroom we don’t need, or a war he promised he wouldn’t start, it’s his to do.
Like Louis 14.
Can I mention how angry I am that news outlets are referring to it as a “settlement”???
Infuriating!
“If they had a shred of dignity left, they’d impeach the son of a bitch today.”
It’s a terrible thing that this statement elicits feelings of both laughter and rage. Because, sadly: It’s true. And they do not.
We are a nation of laws. I grew up and grew old believing that. So, how is it that a phony, two-bit, TV tough guy has turned that nation of laws into a lawless nation and its 50 states into nothing more than the phony tough guy’s territory? How is it that the world’s most-admired legal system, carefully constructed over 250 years, can be rendered all but impotent in a matter of months by a small-time grifter? How can it be that the world’s best and brightest are no match for a man widely regarded to be a cretin by those who have worked with him and for him? How is it that a man so vile, so dishonest, so disreputable and corrupt, can be deified by so many? How can it be that we now find ourselves living in a world so unmoored, so devoid of the rules of physics, that it feels as if it were created by Lewis Carroll? Alice, at least, wakes up with her head in her sister’s lap and realizes her adventure was just a dream. Will we wake up? Rise up? Will there come a day when we look back at this dark time and remember it as nothing more than a bad dream? Or is the bad dream no dream at all, but simply our past, present and future.
As an attorney since 1983, I can tell you I’ve learned the hard way that the nation of laws and the Constitution have been turned into somewhat of a charade. The Supreme Court could have allowed the criminal prosecution of Trump instead of effectively granting him immunity. Congress could have done its fundamental job of checking an out of control administration. The founders set up a system of checks and balances where each branch of government would guard their prerogatives and block another branch from usurping their powers. It has failed miserably. I think we are in for a long period of coming to grips with what has occurred and how to fix it.
The Founders' error was in trusting voters to select only honest men of good character, who cared enough about protecting their reputations to eschew unprincipled actions.
I’m not sure what the founders thought about voting by the average person. I believe they thought “wise” men voting in the Electoral College would prevent charlatans and grifters from becoming President. Well here we are and the Electoral College is not a firewall.
A hippy dude once told me, " No matter where you go, there you are."
Of course he also said, "Just gotta do whatever turns you on, man."
(I'll give this guy a name and attribute these pearls of wisdom to the semi-mythical 'Captain Obvious')
Apparently, the US erred when it didn't pass a law that says the president has to obey all the laws and not exceed the purview of his office.
The Founders probably thought that was perfectly obvious and didn't need to be stated. Ooops.
That's true. We are simply not set up for unlawful acts by a president. Impeachment became nothing more than an exercise in showing fealty to the sitting president. No one agrees on anything anymore if there are political points to be scored. Morality is not a political point that is valued, nor is complying with the law if there is something to be gained by not complying.
I’m not religious, but if I had to identify an Antichrist in my lifetime, Trump would be it. “A charismatic deceiver who fools Christians into worshipping him and turning away from Christ.” He also seems to have a malevolent power to get his supporters to do evil on his behalf while completely and miraculously escaping all accountability.
"rendered all but impotent in a matter of months by a small-time grifter"
Now now, don't forget to give due credit to the gang of cockroaches he picked to scuttle around him and carry out his dirty work.
Dear Oracle, all this came about because we are, as you said, "a nation of laws." To the criminal mind of a sociopath, "laws" are just specks of ink on a piece of paper -- they have no relevance to him unless they provide a path around or through the thicket of regulations.
And Trump, as we all know, has Roy Cohn as his "spirit guide" to lead him.
Well said.
I ask myself these questions every single day.
Today I am ashamed to be an American. Sadly, it is not the first time. And clearly it will not be the last. But, here and now, I have reached my breaking point.
As if there really needed to be a last-straw moment with this administration, this is it. This is the occasion where the friends and family plan officially has become its backbone, shamelessly right out in the open, and both the rule of law and any sense that our federal government exists for any purpose other than to service the wants and feelings of one man lie dead in the dust.
I never again want to hear that America is the Greatest County on Earth. It clearly is not, and our ability to bomb things to smithereens and buy almost anything we want with corporate cash and massive federal debt does not obscure the fact that we are spending down that title that our forefathers gifted us through their hard work and dedication to principles bigger than the self. This America is the future generation that squanders the fortune as if a gift that will be there forever no matter what they do. In reality they are bankrupting our national soul no less than our treasury, simply because they can get away with it. Good times, for those without a conscience or a sense of collective purpose.
Also I never again want to hear that this GOP is the party of law and order, or that the Congress under its control is a coequal branch of the government. Their fate is now sealed as criminal organizations, in on the take both figuratively and literally, as they choose their side, and it is not ours, nor is it one that ever will have our best interests at heart. They exist only for their own gains and self-preservation, and we will never have a seat at the table despite picking up the tab for it all. It is the ultimate sucker deal, and the clearest sign yet that the 2016 and 2024 presidential elections have become the most significant ones in the history of our nation. Both times we failed, massively and egregiously. History will tell us after the fact what it cost us, and the world, when we willingly surrendered our moral compass, and our collective heart and soul, as we cast our lot with demonstrably the worst people in American history without stopping to consider the consequences. Each day a little (or a lot) more, we are learning. But we are not better off for knowing, as long as our government stretches the boundaries of corruption and abuse of power with impunity a little more each day and we increasingly have no say in the matter.
That’s a lot of words to write our President is a criminal who is stealing taxpayer money. From top to bottom the Administration and the Republican Party is nothing but a criminal enterprise. Stop talking about them like this is normal politics - the Republican Party has become a criminal organization and has taken control of the government.
You omitted something: it is a criminal organization that is operating with the blessing of 30% of the electorate. They're only getting away with this because the base lets them get away with it.
That just tells you that 30% of the electorate would be committing crimes against their fellow Americans if they could get away with it too. MAGA is the projection party after all.
Now imagine the Mafia had control of the Department of Justice and was getting a billion dollars of your tax money to recompense it for time its members spent in prison.
Yeah, there's that. Yikes.
I don't have to imagine that.
And the Republican Senate & House are totally on board with it.
As Lee Atwater once said: "We are going to make the son of a bitch his VP". Likewise, make Republicans run on their support of this in November and beyond.
I believe it is Rick Wilson who has long referred to the Trump Regime as "gangster government". Apt description.
"Everything Trump touches, dies". That will happen to Republicans in November.
Elect a crook, expect crime. Great job voters, just really well done. *Slow clap*
The corruption and graft is so brazen it's like no one knows how to react. It's demoralizing.
The unfortunate truth is the massed have been so brainwashed, they just say, “both sides are bad.” No thought beyond that enters their brain. They are predisposed to give Republicans the benefit of the doubt and Dems the assumption of guilt. Most Americans cannot actually think for themselves and are nothing more than parrots.
They believe the 2020 election was stolen by evil Dems and Trump is making restitution. Read these comments.
https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/running-rings-tuesday-may-19-2026/comments?utm_source=post&comments=true&utm_medium=web
What new hell did you send me to?
It’s a horror show but I check it now and then to get a feel for things.
This morning I visited these websites: Fox News, AP, Reuters, Drudge. The only one that led with the slush fund was Dredge ! Of course I expected that Fox wouldn’t mention it anywhere on its landing page but I didn’t expect that from AP and Reuters. I didn’t expect Drudge to be the only one who did. This is one of the biggest reasons Americans aren’t more upset about it. They don’t know about it!
I did the same, actually I was surprised that in a couple of stories Newsmax has mentioned it along with critical quotes from some people. Today: "John Koskinen, who served as IRS commissioner under the Obama administration, told Politico the expanded settlement set a "terrible precedent."
"It makes you wonder what the President has to hide in those tax returns. He's apparently been actively trading in the stock market and, since he knows a lot more about situations than the average investor, he's probably generated significant taxable earnings," Koskinen said." https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/irs-department-of-justice-donald-trump/2026/05/19/id/1256837/
That’s pretty amazing coming from Newsmax.
The fund created by the settlement wasn't motivated primarily by a desire to give $$ to Trump or his allies. It had to be settled before the DOJ would be forced to take a position in its brief that was due tomorrow on whether the case had two parties that were in fact adverse. To argue that there were would contradict the Unitary Executive theory, which is much more important to the regime than whether Trump or the J6ers get some money. To uphold the Unitary Executive theory would permit the Judge to dismiss the case anyway on those grounds, with unknown future effects on the next Trump self-dealing grift. The money and the mechanism to pay it out were clearly secondary considerations.
Bingo. Got it in under the wire to stop that.