THE TRIALS OF DONALD TRUMP

Rationality and logic has mainly prevailed through most of our lives.  Every so often you meet someone, or face a circumstance, that makes no sense at all.  Some you'll never understand, some you'll rationalize to satisfaction.  I've long wondered why so many believe in fables from the past that formed religion.  But I'm in the minority.  Then there is this continual support for Donald Trump that defy rationality.  I can almost understand why he still is by far the leading Republican candidate, but how can Trump and Biden be tied for the upcoming presidential election in latest polls when Independents and Democrats are also included?

About Trump, support comes in various ways:

• You work for him.
• You are in the same family.

• 
  The Democracy Fund Voter Study Group in 2017 reported that these group supported Trump:
• American Preservationists 20%
• Staunch Conservatives 31%
• Anti-Elites 19%
• Free Marketeers 25%
• Disengaged 5%

But that was six years ago. A more recent poll says:

A majority of Americans say the multiple criminal investigations into former President Donald Trump's conduct are fair, despite Trump's continued efforts claiming they are conspiracies against him, the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll finds.

The survey of more than 1,300 adults also found that despite the love for him among Republicans, Trump remains highly disliked, continues to struggle mightily with independents — and 6 in 10 Americans don't want him to be president again.

As expected, there's a huge partisan divide — 9 in 10 Democrats say they are fair, while 8 in 10 Republicans call them a witch hunt. A slim majority of independents call them fair, but they are closely split, 51% to 47%.

Republicans?

• 45% say he has done nothing wrong.
• 43% say something unethical but not illegal.
• 75% want Trump to be president again.

Independents?  

• 37% have a positive view of Trump.  
• 67% don't want Trump to be president.
• Most Republicans will vote for Trump.  Most Democrats will vote for Biden.  Most Independents will vote for Biden.  Biden should win if there is not a serious third party candidate.

More specifically, who are these pro-Trump people?

• White men without degrees, white evangelical Christians, and those who live in small towns.
• However 75% say he has done something illegal (46%) or unethical (29%).
• Only 23% think he's done nothing wrong.

Knowing all the above, here is the current Trump situation:

• Is the first U.S. president to be indicted in our 234-year history.  And he has now been indicted in three criminal cases, with a fourth coming from Georgia.

• 
  34 felony counts in New York that he falsified business records to conceal hush-money payments to a porn star Stormy Daniels.  Trial date is scheduled for 25 March 2024.
• 40 felony counts in Florida for hoarding classified documents and obstructing government efforts to retrieve them.  Trial could start on May 20, 2024.  Why?  This a compromise date, for Trump requested to delay until after the 2024 election and the Justice Department wanted December 2023.

• 
  4 counts in Washington, DC to overturn the 2020 election.  
• Trump appeared in court yesterday, August 3, to be charged.
• Judge Moxila Upadhyaya...

...warned Trump: “It is a crime to try to influence a juror or to threaten or attempt to bribe a witness or any other person who may have information about your case, or to retaliate against anyone for providing information about your case to the prosecution, or to otherwise obstruct the administration of justice. Do you understand these warnings and consequences, sir?” 

"Yes," Trump replied.

• 
  Next court appearance scheduled for August 28 when U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan will preside.  She expects a trial date to be announced.

Regarding Georgia:  Trump issued what appeared to be a taunting message to Willis on Truth Social on Thursday. "I need one more indictment to ensure my election!" the post said.

Crank in the Republican primaries/caucuses, and there is an overload problem:

• 2023
• August 23  First GOP presidential primary debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• September 27  Second GOP presidential debate in Simi Valley, California
• 2024
• January 15   Iowa caucus (40 delegates).
• January or February  New Hampshire (date still not determined....they want to be first, 22 delegates).
• February into March  (182 delegates from Nevada, South Carolina, Michigan, Idaho and DC).
• March 5   15 states with 865 delegates.
• March 12   3 states with 141 delegates.
• July 15-18  Republican National Convention will be held in Milwaukee from July 15-18.
• 5November2024  Presidential Election Day.

Noticed something glaringly obvious?  All of Trump nemeses are women.  So appropriate for a world class misogynist.

Kind of a digression, but something about Joe Biden from Quora:

David W. Rudlin

 · 

Follow

Author of the Inspector McLean Mystery series Updated 8mo

Initial inflation was 1.5% when Trump left office. Can Democrats share what happened?

Not a Democrat, but happy to help.

In January 2021 when trump left office, 77,400 Americans died of COVID.

The vaccines were out, but trump didn’t have a distribution plan, saying that was up to the states.

Schools, restaurants, and stores were closed. Few people went away for Xmas. Life was essentially on Pause.

GDP shrank by 3.5%, making it pretty remarkable there was any inflation at all. No demand = no shortages.

Biden came in and immediately went to work putting jabs in arms. Confidence returned, more quickly than anyone expecting. The shutters were lifted, and people began to return to normal life.

Meaning they wanted the stuff they were consuming before the pandemic began. Except COVID didn’t affect just the demand side of the equation, it also slammed supply. Other countries had done some version of what we’d done, meaning lots of stuff didn’t get made or harvested or shipped, and suddenly we had close to the usual level of demand, PLUS a need to build up inventory that had disappeared or rotted during the shutdowns.

For the past few decades businessmen around the globe had been adopting Toyota’s “just in time” approach to supply chains. That saves lots of money (at least for the companies on the buying end) when everything is working normally. But it left everyone standing naked when adult swim ended.

For example, right now in Japan there’s a four-year wait for a new Lexus. Which is made in Japan. But it uses chips made in China, and China is still in lockdown. The same thing is happening in the US; have a look at what it costs to rent a car these days.

None of this should be surprising. You can’t expect the world to stop and then suddenly pick up where it left off. So anyone paying attention would have known that a period of sustained inflation FOR THE WORLD was inevitable.

Then Putin, Ukraine, wheat shortage, etc.

I can hear you asking, “Isn’t it Joe Biden’s job to deal with all of that?” It is, and if you look at the US inflation rate compared with, say, the UK (10.4% headed for a forecast 18%), you’d have to conclude he’s outperforming his peer group.

None of this is to suggest the current inflation isn’t anything other than tremendously painful. And it’s made worse by companies seeing an opportunity to jack up prices under cover of widespread inflation.

But the one thing it’s not is surprising. The same thing would have happened to trump if he hadn’t lost.

Last point, and again, I am NOT a Democrat:

If the Republicans have a better idea for how to handle the current nightmare, let’s hear it. I’ve heard endless criticism of Biden, but only for not giving everyone a bike for Xmas. I can’t think of a single GOP leader who has said, “He should stop doing X, and start doing Y.”

Note Rudlin's disdain when he did not even capitalize Trump.

Hurricane Dora was up to 140 MPH yesterday, but has slightly weakened to 130 MPH today.  The projected path, though, will take her sufficiently south of Hawaii that we might see some moisture around mid-week.

Typhoon Khanun, instead of heading for China, made a right turn, weakened, but will soon shift to the north, re-become a typhoon, but probably make landfall over Kyushu as a tropical storm.

-