Trump: Set to declare 2024 presidential bid tonight; will indictments follow soon?

[Frank Dixon]

Dilip: Donald Trump has been a con man for decades. For clarity on this, one should read 'Confidence Man', by Maggie Haberman, New York Times reporter. That book is the single best resource I have seen on what he is really all about. The amount of lies and incorrect claims he made while president has been tabulated at more than 30,000, in four years. It was the first post-truth presidency. Every lie hurts every American.

No one can really seriously believe Trump should get away with leading an insurrection to storm the seat of government, while he was president, on Jan. 6, 2021. In many nations, he would have been shot on the spot. Even Brazil blocked its former president Bolsonaro for eight years, already, from running again for office, for pulling a similar stunt. If Trump gets away with it and becomes president again in 2024, the U.S. doesn't have a country.

The American system of governance has worked pretty well, from 1789, when George Washington became the first president, to the time when Trump arrived in 2016 -- that is 227 years. It was always realized by everyone that it was 'the American experiment'. The reality is, for Trump, becoming president again is nothing less than the existential outcome. If he loses at any stage, he will never see the end of investigations into his past, as long as he lives.

The really striking aspect of the Georgia indictments, recently announced, is the RICO aspect covering all 19 defendants. RICO is the acronym for 'Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization', as the state level in Georgia. RICO began at the federal level in 1970, to deal with organized crime. Conviction on that means automatic jail time on a state sentence, which can't be pardoned away at the federal level through presidential pardon privilege.

[Dilip Panjwani]

Dilip: Donald Trump has been a con man for decades. For clarity on this, one should read 'Confidence Man', by Maggie Haberman, New York Times reporter. That book is the single best resource I have seen on what he is really all about. The amount of lies and incorrect claims he made while president has been tabulated at more than 30,000, in four years. It was the first post-truth presidency. Every lie hurts every American.

No one can really seriously believe Trump should get away with leading an insurrection to storm the seat of government, while he was president, on Jan. 6, 2021. In many nations, he would have been shot on the spot. Even Brazil blocked its former president Bolsonaro for eight years, already, from running again for office, for pulling a similar stunt. If Trump gets away with it and becomes president again in 2024, the U.S. doesn't have a country.

The American system of governance has worked pretty well, from 1789, when George Washington became the first president, to the time when Trump arrived in 2016 -- that is 227 years. It was always realized by everyone that it was 'the American experiment'. The reality is, for Trump, becoming president again is nothing less than the existential outcome. If he loses at any stage, he will never see the end of investigations into his past, as long as he lives.

The really striking aspect of the Georgia indictments, recently announced, is the RICO aspect covering all 19 defendants. RICO is the acronym for 'Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization', as the state level in Georgia. RICO began at the federal level in 1970, to deal with organized crime. Conviction on that means automatic jail time on a state sentence, which can't be pardoned away at the federal level through presidential pardon privilege.

Hi Frank,
Trump is a small-time crook, just a corrupt businessman, who tried to play the game of the biggest criminals in the world (politicians) … obviously he couldn't play it well … he himself has said that his biggest mistake was to enter politics.
If a true philanthropist like Imran Khan can be put in jail by the petty Pak army politicians for allegedly stealing some gifts, it is easy to imagine what the disgustingly crooked Bidens and other crooks in the democratic party can do to a foolish republican like Trump … Get it?

[Frank Dixon]

Hi Dilip:

I agree that the jailing of Imhan Khan is a tragedy; I am hoping that all works out well, but in Pakistan, one never knows.

I too am concerned about Hunter Biden; certainly a Special Counsel is needed; there has never been a child of a president in so much trouble. It will hurt his father. I am waiting on the evidence for Joe.

I think however that Donald Trump went into politics to do his best to avoid jail; there had never been a president indicted until him, and he probably assumed he was safe. In 2015, outsiders did not know about the illegal wealth transfers ffor hundreds of millions of dollars within the Trump family, going back decades; that came out in 2017 in the New York Times, after he was elected president. And that isn't even among the felonies he has been indicted for! He also didn't pay dozens of contractors for work done for him, and bragged about it in Golf Digest, February 2017. Pretty disgusting; he hasn't been charged on that yet, either.

[Peter McKillop]

.... disgustingly crooked Bidens ....

Dilip, shouldn't there be an "allegedly" in there somewhere?

[Dilip Panjwani]

Dilip, shouldn't there be an "allegedly" in there somewhere?

Not really, Peter. Crooked Joe himself bragged about interfering in the fair legal process of another country, Ukraine, and disgustingly crooked Hunter is on record refusing to support his own genetically proven child born of a prostitute...

[Frank Dixon]

On Hunter Biden:

This topic needs to be of exceptional concern for everyone. Hunter has become the 'Hunted', with the appointment of a Special Counsel last week -- David Weiss of Delaware -- by the Attorney General of the USA, Merrick Garland. Weiss had been investigating Hunter for several years; he is a Trump appointee as U.S. Attorney for Delaware, who could have been legally dismissed by President Biden, who, however, kept him on. An announced plea agreement for Hunter in July broke down in GOP charges of over-leniency; there is now apparently more years of Hunter's tax delinquency being investigated than those previously acknowledged by Hunter. The gun charge against him -- previously dropped -- may be back on the table. Disputes are to be heard in court next week, according to the New York Times. Hunter was taken to court in Arkansas recently on a paternity / child support case; losing; and he has now acknowledged his paternity of the young girl, after medical DNA tests confirmed it; he is making arrangements for child support; the mother, now living in Arkansas, once worked for Hunter in Washington in an office job, around the time of their relationship. President Biden has also now acknowledged this grandchild.

[Frank Dixon]

According to the New York Times this week, Donald Trump has confided to close associates recently that he hopes to solve his legal woes by winning the 2024 presidential election, and then, as the new president, moving to cancel federal charges against himself, and / or pardon himself. Just shows how flawed their system has become. Ideally, he seeks a Global, For All Time, 'Get Out Of Jail Free' card, like in the 'Monopoly' board game, which was a youth favorite of Donald!

Also announced recently -- Trump WON'T participate in the first Republican presidential nominees' contest debate, set for Milwaukee on Wed. Aug. 23. At the same time, he will instead be interviewed by Tucker Carlson, formerly his buddy from FOX News, now dismissed but still a broadcaster. It will be fascinating to watch debaters attempt to compete and waltz around Trump's indictments!!

Trump has a busy week; he has to turn himself in to Atlanta authorities by noon Friday Aug. 25th, for formal arrest, arraignment, finger-printing, etc, for his recent indictment on 13 Georgia state felony charges, including racketeering. Despite Atlanta legal authorities' claims to the contrary, he WILL NOT be treated the same at the Jail as every other person (18 more) charged in the case.

[Frank Dixon]

Donald Trump was arraigned in Atlanta yesterday, producing the first mug shot of a former U.S. president, now published around the world (both The Globe and Mail and Toronto Star of today have it). He had to post $200,000 (U.S.) bond [first time for any of his indictments], was finger-printed, and logged as a defendant, P01135809, and then left, all in about 20 minutes, apparently, from the Fulton County Jail. His nearly 20 co-defendants in the Georgia criminal case have also now all turned themselves in, by the deadline of noon today (at least one of them remains in custody there).
The case gives the former president a set of four major cities (New York, Washington, Atlanta, and Miami) where he is facing multiple indictments.
The Atlanta jail has a long-standing reputation as a very rough place, and is itself the subject of a current federal investigation focusing on inmate rights and safety. Joe Valachi's confession in the early 1960s, while in custody there, opened the window on American organized crime to authorities. Valachi was a 40-year Mafia soldier and hit man, who feared, justifiably, being murdered in jail in Atlanta. His story was published in the best-seller 'The Valachi Papers', by Peter Maas. Valachi entered the federal Witness Protection Program, then a relatively new creation.
The Fulton County District Attorney, Fani Willis, is aiming for an October, 2023 court date for the case, where she wants all defendants to be tried together. That early date will be tough to arrange, many experts say. At least one defendant has requested an early trial. Jury selection alone could take months. Mr. Trump has now hired a well-known Atlanta criminal lawyer, Steven Sadow, with experience in racketeering cases. Wonder how much money Mr. Sadow requested up-front from Mr. Trump, who has a reputation for not paying people who work for him (see Rudy Giuliani, a co-defendant in Atlanta). The case has attracted comment as the biggest trial in North American history.
What's next on the legal front for Mr. Trump? Federal Special Counsel Jack Smith stated that his investigation into the Capitol riot case is still in progress. My opinion is that Mr. Smith will, within the next couple of months, add a 'sedition' charge to his Washington list for 'The Donald', and potentially identify him as a flight risk, entailing a request for custody / massive bail (half a billion dollars, perhaps). Nearly 100 felony charges in total, against one person, would seem enough to justify this move. If that happens, IT will become the new 'biggest trial'!

[Dilip Panjwani]

Donald Trump was arraigned in Atlanta yesterday, producing the first mug shot of a former U.S. president, now published around the world (both The Globe and Mail and Toronto Star of today have it). He had to post $200,000 (U.S.) bond [first time for any of his indictments], was finger-printed, and logged as a defendant, P01135809, and then left, all in about 20 minutes, apparently, from the Fulton County Jail. His nearly 20 co-defendants in the Georgia criminal case have also now all turned themselves in, by the deadline of noon today (at least one of them remains in custody there).
The case gives the former president a set of four major cities (New York, Washington, Atlanta, and Miami) where he is facing multiple indictments.
The Atlanta jail has a long-standing reputation as a very rough place, and is itself the subject of a current federal investigation focusing on inmate rights and safety. Joe Valachi's confession in the early 1960s, while in custody there, opened the window on American organized crime to authorities. Valachi was a 40-year Mafia soldier and hit man, who feared, justifiably, being murdered in jail in Atlanta. His story was published in the best-seller 'The Valachi Papers', by Peter Maas. Valachi entered the federal Witness Protection Program, then a relatively new creation.
The Fulton County District Attorney, Fani Willis, is aiming for an October, 2023 court date for the case, where she wants all defendants to be tried together. That early date will be tough to arrange, many experts say. At least one defendant has requested an early trial. Jury selection alone could take months. Mr. Trump has now hired a well-known Atlanta criminal lawyer, Steven Sadow, with experience in racketeering cases. Wonder how much money Mr. Sadow requested up-front from Mr. Trump, who has a reputation for not paying people who work for him (see Rudy Giuliani, a co-defendant in Atlanta). The case has attracted comment as the biggest trial in North American history.
What's next on the legal front for Mr. Trump? Federal Special Counsel Jack Smith stated that his investigation into the Capitol riot case is still in progress. My opinion is that Mr. Smith will, within the next couple of months, add a 'sedition' charge to his Washington list for 'The Donald', and potentially identify him as a flight risk, entailing a request for custody / massive bail (half a billion dollars, perhaps). Nearly 100 felony charges in total, against one person, would seem enough to justify this move. If that happens, IT will become the new 'biggest trial'!

Hi Frank,
Donny amassed his wealth doing stuff which was wrong, but legal (a sad commentary on our legal system). Trying (post-election) to prevent crooked Biden and co. from destroying the nation's economy was something which the 'Racketeering Republicans' did, which was illegal, though right! Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Mahatma Gandhi and scores of others had their mug-shots taken for doing the right thing, which was illegal. In Capitalism, exploiting the ones without capital is legal, though we all know that it is wrong. Similarly, stealing a hard-earning worker's money by taxes to support a lazy bum who is skillfully unemployed is legal, though definitely wrong.
So let us concentrate not on Trump's fate, but on the systems which we have been employing...

[Bob Armstrong]

Unfortunately, the majority does not acknowledge holding a wrong position very easily.

Thus those trying to change the law to a correct rendition often face stonewalling and downright attack.

It is sometimes justified to engage in non-violent civil disobedience of a minor nature, to move the "reform the law" position forward, and to have people, slowly, realize the error of their ways. Eventually truth wins out, the majority opinion becomes that espoused for years by the minority, and the Parliament revises the obnoxious law.

[Dilip Panjwani]

Unfortunately, the majority does not acknowledge holding a wrong position very easily.

Thus those trying to change the law to a correct rendition often face stonewalling and downright attack.

It is sometimes justified to engage in non-violent civil disobedience of a minor nature, to move the "reform the law" position forward, and to have people, slowly, realize the error of their ways. Eventually truth wins out, the majority opinion becomes that espoused for years by the minority, and the Parliament revises the obnoxious law.

Well said.
It seems you agree that making Marxism democratic does not make it any better than that in Russia, as the majority opinion does not mean the right opinion. The only thing that ALL (not only a majority) can agree upon is: THOU SHALT NOT HARM OTHERS, EXCEPT IN FAIR COMPETITION !

[Pargat Perrer]

Well said.
It seems you agree that making Marxism democratic does not make it any better than that in Russia, as the majority opinion does not mean the right opinion. The only thing that ALL (not only a majority) can agree upon is: THOU SHALT NOT HARM OTHERS, EXCEPT IN FAIR COMPETITION !

So if Dilip and Donald Trump both have lemonade stands on the same street corner, Trump is ok to flatten Dilip's lemonade stand with a steamroller.

Fair competition. Trump had the resources and the creative intelligence to rent the steamroller and hire someone to drive it to flatten Dilip's stand. And if Dilip got in the way of the steamroller and was injured, he did the harm to himself.

I am eager to hear your objections, Dilip.

[Dilip Panjwani]

So if Dilip and Donald Trump both have lemonade stands on the same street corner, Trump is ok to flatten Dilip's lemonade stand with a steamroller.

Fair competition. Trump had the resources and the creative intelligence to rent the steamroller and hire someone to drive it to flatten Dilip's stand. And if Dilip got in the way of the steamroller and was injured, he did the harm to himself.

I am eager to hear your objections, Dilip.

Shut up, you nasty troll. There is nothing fair about steam-rolling your competition, you nasty troll.

[Sid Belzberg]

So if Dilip and Donald Trump both have lemonade stands on the same street corner, Trump is ok to flatten Dilip's lemonade stand with a steamroller.

Fair competition. Trump had the resources and the creative intelligence to rent the steamroller and hire someone to drive it to flatten Dilip's stand. And if Dilip got in the way of the steamroller and was injured, he did the harm to himself.

I am eager to hear your objections, Dilip.

Paragat, allow me to lay bare this grotesque caricature of a counter-argument. The pitiful thrust of its point, a disheveled hedgehog of thought rolled up in what it imagines invincibility, is as unconvincing as a stewed prune served as a delicacy.

"Fair competition," it claims, the term sullied and marred by its application. How can one term, so nobly conceived, be dragged through the mud of illogicality and emerge, in this sorry instance, disrobed of its original sinlessness? You know, fair competition: the ballet of free markets, a waltz in equilibrium, not an artillery blast at close quarters.

To bring a steamroller into this Eden of lemonade stands is not unlike introducing a wolf into a creche of innocent lambs. One can almost hear the clattering machinery of this flawed philosophy, grinding gears drowning out the sweet symphony of genuine competition. No it is not "creative intelligence" to deploy a steamroller, any more than it is artistry to slash a canvas with a knife and declare it improved.

And what of this hypothetical lemonade entrepreneur, Dillip? Must he stand accused of self-inflicted wounds, merely for daring to exist within the trajectory of his rival's rampaging vehicle? That is victim-blaming rendered as farce, a dark comedy where the punchline is a bruise.

No, if we allow this garish interpretation to stand, we hollow out the golden core of Libertarian ideals, leaving a gilded shell. Natural law, perverted thus, becomes unnatural farce. The cherished principle, "Thou shalt not harm others," is not a fragile vase to be shattered by the brute force of mercenary tactics; it is, rather, the firmament above us, unyielding and unchangeable, under which the intricate ballet of human interaction occurs.

So, let us not tarnish these lofty ideals with the soot of faulty reasoning. For, to do so would be to dance willingly into the gaping jaw of absurdity, and, my dear Paragat, that is a dance in which I refuse to partake.

[Pargat Perrer]

Shut up, you nasty troll. There is nothing fair about steam-rolling your competition, you nasty troll.

Pay attention, everyone, this is how Dilip will apply "consensus" on Natural Law. It won't be "consensus", it will be decree.

Meanwhile....

Do you think, Dilip, that I chose this Trump scenario by pure accident?

Trump ascended to prominence in NY City real estate by effectively "steamrolling" his competition.

He refused to make payments to his building contractors, and when accused of that in the 2016 primaries, he responded "That makes me smart". Most of the contractors ended up bankrupt. Their lemonade stands had been effectively steamrolled.