"Who's going to stop you?" - the root of Trump's power?

[goaded]

We all know “Just say it was corrupt and leave the rest to me and the Republican congressmen,” from Trump on Dec. 27, 2020.

Now we have audio of Trump trying to get the GA House Speaker to recall the legislature to overturn the election results despite clearly knowing there wasn't any way he'd won.

https://bsky.app/profile/thetnholler.bsky.social/post/3macudluigc2d

Then, of course, there was the impeachment phone call, foreshadowed by another: "Giuliani repeatedly told Yermak that Zelensky should publicly announce investigations into possible corruption by Biden in Ukraine, and into claims that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election to hurt Trump. (These separate claims are both untrue.) "

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/07/politics/rudy-giuliani-ukraine-call-investigate-biden/index.html

And the East Wing.

"“They had a meeting and they said, ‘Listen, it really would be much cheaper and faster just to tear down the East Wing,’” Wolff said, citing a source familiar with the matter.

“[Trump] said—this was given to me as a quote—he said, ‘F---. But can we do the demolition at night?,’“ Wolff told co-host Joanna Coles."

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220757656

I think most people have come across people whose creed is "how much can I get away with", they're not generally liked.

Trump and the demolishment of the East Wing of the People's House

[msc545]

Exactly! Trump is a bully and a bully is the kind of guy who walks up to you and says, "Give me your wallet or I'll beat the crap out of you," and there is nobody to stop him. Likewise, there's nobody to stop Trump, at least not now. He can do anything he wants, and nobody's going to arrest him or restrain him in any fashion. The fact that our federal courts literally have no enforcement mechanisms that are not controlled by the executive branch and therefore by Trump was a grave oversight by the founders. I don't think that they ever foresaw that we would have a president who didn't follow the law and refused to leave office and yet couldn't be removed by anyone - and that is what we have now.

[DryGermanGuy]

Ultimately, it's going to have to be the American voters in the 2026 midterms.

[goaded]

They failed miserably in 2024.

[DryGermanGuy]

Very true, but let me bring up this historical quote:

“You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing, after they have exhausted all other possibilities.”
- Winston Churchill

[goaded]

There's a reasonable chance, but Dominion voting systems is now owned by a Trump supporter. Every accusation is a confession with those people.

[DryGermanGuy]

I missed that news. Better to keep a close eye on them, anyway, I guess.

[msc545]

@DryGermanGuy I don't understand why people keep assuming that there are going to be any 2026 midterm elections. Trump knows, even now, that he is going to get totally roasted if those elections occur. He himself will not be up for election, but the message will be written on the wall in blazing red letters if those elections are held. So he's not going to hold the elections. If necessary, he'll declare martial law. In any event, he will be sure to tell us that the reason that we're not having the elections is for "national security." He will invent a national security incident, or maybe even stage something like blowing up a building or God knows what, and he will point to that and say, "If it wasn't for that, we could hold the election, but since that happened, we can't." Half the country will agree with him. The thugs that work for ICE and other government agencies will enforce his orders. We aren't going to have any midterm elections in 2026. We'll be lucky if we still have a country.

[DryGermanGuy]

@msc545
I doubt he could sell something that grotesque to the American public. Elections were held during the world wars, the war of independence, even the civil war. As general observation, even his former allies are walking away from him:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ds2p-GHd-E

[msc545]

@DryGermanGuy, he doesn't have to sell it. He just has to do it. Nobody is going to stop him from doing it, nobody is going to do anything about it after it's over with.

He has done this repeatedly in terms of violating the law up to and including the Bill of Rights. Nobody has done anything to stop him. Nobody will do anything to stop him going forward short of serious violence directed toward him which his Secret Service guards will not permit.

[msc545]

Remember, this is the guy who has murdered people in the Caribbean and continues to do that with impunity.

[goaded]

@msc545 The states run the elections, not the federal government. But I share your concerns.

[WindAtMyBack]

"Trump trying to get the GA House Speaker to recall the legislature to overturn the election results"

So? Nothing wrong with that. It's up to Georgia how they cast their votes. They don't even have to let the people vote on it. If they do let people vote, they don't have to pay any attention to it. The Constitution requires states to cast their votes, but there is no mention how they go about deciding.

I won't go through one at a time, but the bottom line is that no matter how bad you libs think Trump is, he's not a damn Democrat. If libs don't want Trump then they shouldn't have put him in office, because they are responsible for doing it.

The more bullshit I hear from libs, the more I know I will NEVER vote for a fucking Democrat. Twenty years ago I would have allowed for that possibility under extreme circumstances, but not now. Libs have proven themselves to be totally fucking crazy.

[goaded]

It's crazy to expect lawmakers to obey their oaths of office and the law? Get lost.

[WindAtMyBack]

Show me in the Constitution where I am wrong.

Georgia and every other state can do it any way they want. There is NOTHING wrong with asking them to do it differently.

I think states should stop letting people vote for presidents altogether. The more I've seen of this cluster fuck called presidential elections, the more strongly I feel that way.

[goaded]

Do you understand oaths of office at all? Georgia and every other state have to do it by the laws of Georgia and every other state. Go troll someone else.

[WindAtMyBack]

But they don't HAVE to do it that way. They do it by choice, and can change it by choice. There is NOTHING wrong with asking them to. That's especially true when the results are questionable.

Do you know the meaning of trolling? Being completely serious is not trolling.

[goaded]

Yes, they do, it's this strange thing called the LAW. I know you and yours don't like it (one in five cases are thrown out in DC at the moment, up from one in 200 with sensible prosecutors). The results were not "questionable", they were counted by Republicans, FFS.

You're not serious, you're a joke.

[WindAtMyBack]

"The results were not "questionable","

They sure as hell are.

But you are not listening, so whatever.

[goaded]

No, they were not questionable, otherwise Trump wouldn't have had to tell someone to question them and say "who's going to stop you"? (The answer he got was "a federal judge", by the way, because the person he was talking to wasn't another crook.)

You're just trolling and lying. Or maybe just incredibly misinformed.

[WindAtMyBack]

I probably watched that election a lot more closely than most. It was most definitely questionable.

[goaded]

In Georgia, the election was run by Republicans, counted by Republicans, confirmed by Republicans, accepted by a Republican governor, and the margin wasn't a couple of hundred, it was over 11,000 (which Trump illegally tried to get someone to lie about).

[OddBeMe]

Being elected president is basically a jury saying they dont care Trump is guilty of any of this

[goaded]

Jack Smith testified under oath that his team had built a case beyond a reasonable doubt in both the federal indictments against Trump. I don't see Trump suing him or having him tried for perjury.

[OddBeMe]

No because jack would get to testify. And depose trump

[goaded]

Wouldn't that be nice. Me, I'd like to see him prosecute the Senate trial for Trump's third impeachment on multiple counts, starting Jan 2027. Let the whole world see the evidence and see how many Republican Senators vote to acquit this time.

[OddBeMe]

That would happen in an Sorkin show. Not the real world where we need two responsible political parties.

The repubs have basically said "fck the constitution"

[exitseven]

So when a Ukraine energy company offered Hunter Biden a seat on the board for a million bucks a year it was because of his expertise in oil exploration and his extensive knowledge of geo politics.

[goaded]

Nope, it's because they thought he could influence the president of the united states. He couldn't, he was conning them.

[exitseven]

Yeah, by the way. Would you like to invest in SevenCoin? It a new crypto currency based on levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. ⁴

[goaded]

You know you're describing what Trump's doing with crypto, right?

[exitseven]

No, Trump is using gravity

[msc545]

This is not about Hunter Biden. You ought to stop trying to use that as an excuse.

[exitseven]

@msc545 It is about the kickback scheme with ten percent for the Big Guy. Why else did the US spend 300 billion dollars to bankroll Zelensky?

[msc545]

This is minor league stuff compared to Trump's grifting stuff that nobody cares about, except perhaps you.

[exitseven]

@msc545 300 billion is not minor league stuff and the influence peddling went further that just Ukraine. china is involved and Biden let a spy balloon travel across the country saying it was too dangerous to shoot it down. The BCF should be indicted for treason.

[goaded]

LMAO! Where on Earth did you get 300 billion from? That's ridiculous!

[msc545]

It is still minor league compared to the $1 trillion/year the defense industry rips off from taxpayers.

[exitseven]

@msc545 A strong America is a safe America, however I was disappointed when Elon Musk timed out of his government service just before DOGE was to investigate the Pentagon.

[goaded]

I just love the amount of inflation! $5 million! (Accuser, name of Smirnov, convicted of lying to the FBI about it, pardoned by Trump, of course.) Now it's $300 billion?

Or is exit talking about the money Biden withheld unless Ukraine fired a corrupt "prosecutor" who wasn't doing the job, with the full knowledge and support of the EU, central banks, and the US diplomatic corps?

[NathanDavis]

Trump is just a puppet... those in control and testing these kind of waters... have no political side...

and they're all together in this... and he only gets away with what he is allowed to get away with

[msc545]

Who are" those in control"?

[NathanDavis]

@msc545 mostly... lobbyists, inside traders...

whoever the 20 people besides Trump, who are and have been on the FBI radar for decades with pending prosecution and which all of the documents mentioning them, were not released, not found or heavily redacted

these, and others... who are obviously able to influence and control decide what happens or doesn't happen...

if that is not CONTROL, then what is it?

[msc545]

Since you don't name these people, I'm wondering if they exist. If they do exist, please name them.

[NathanDavis]

how can I name them... if they were all redacted out, lmao

even the lawyers are tied and gagged and they won't name them

that's literally the point, they're using all of their power and influence to keep their names out of this

[msc545]

So what it comes down to is you don't know who they are and you don't even know whether or not they exist, correct?

[NathanDavis]

@msc545 they are known to exist... but the names are not specified

because, of course.. the DoJ is breaking the law, as expected

I just can't read through black ink... that's what I'm saying... and I wasn't part of the committee either... but I am sure as everyone else that these people exist, they are just not named yet

[NathanDavis]

so, a better word would be... "confirmed"

[msc545]

Well, yeah, I know the DOJ is breaking a law. That's obvious. I also realize you can't read through black ink, and you weren't part of the committee or the meeting. But when you say these people are known to exist but the names are not specified, you're saying that unspecified people are known to exist by who exactly?

[NathanDavis]

@msc545 by the FBI, the DoJ... the Congress, the judges, courts and lawyers involved in the trials regarding the many victims

the law dictated for ALL of the names to be released (and confirmed) but of course... the "mandate" by the puppets was to protect these individuals

[Sal_Monella]

Two more pies thrown at the wall. Hating Trump is hard work, isn't it?

[goaded]

It comes naturally to normal people who care about laws.

[noohair]

You are a German you are not "we"!

[goaded]

The whole world knows what a crook he is.

[noohair]

He is our crook... you can pound sand... piss off as the Brits would say...

[goaded]

Why don't you care that you elected a crook?

[noohair]

Better than the kam...

[goaded]

Better a known, convicted felon, than a competent black woman?

[noohair]

in you opinion... lol... lol...

[goaded]

Would she have put a vaccine denier in charge of Health?

Would she have put a Major (the most junior of the senior officer ranks) in charge of the entire US military?

Would her pick for AG in DC led the department to go from having one in 200 cases thrown out of court to more than one in 5?

Would she have had acting officials stay past their legally allowed time, leading to cases being thrown out of court.

Would she have demanded her name should be placed on buildings she had no right to rename?

Would she have let Jack Smith prosecute his cases against Trump? The ones he testified under oath were beyond a reasonable doubt. I notice Trump hasn't sued him for defamation or had him indicted for perjury.