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Nevilledog

(55,096 posts) Tue Aug 1, 2023, 11:19 PM Aug 2023

David Corn: The New Trump Indictment Will Supercharge His War on American Democracy

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/08/trump-indictment-jack-smith-2024-election-democracy/

Even after all these years of Donald Trump’s extremist attacks on American democracy and decency itself, the four-count criminal indictment handed down by a federal grand jury on Tuesday that accused the former president of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election results still is a shocking development. It would be quite the capstone to the Trump era. Yet despite these criminal charges, the Trump era is not yet over. There are motions and presumably trials (in this case and others) to come, as well as the entire 2024 election. Trump has not left the building. And whatever happens in the various courtrooms, a key question remains: Will this latest—and most serious—indictment of Trump do anything to break his hold on the paranoid and irrational imagination of tens of millions of Americans?

Of all the Trump indictments—which also cover his payment of hush money to a porn star to cover up an alleged extramarital affair and his alleged theft of classified documents—this new set of charges addresses the most fundamental threat he has posed American democracy. He falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen from him. He schemed to overturn legitimate vote counts. And he riled up his followers to such an extent that thousands stormed the Capitol and violently tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power—a bedrock principle of American society.

But this alleged crime was not Trump’s doing alone. He had millions of accomplices: all those Americans who bought his bogus claims about the election.

Trump was only able to promote the biggest con of his career because there was an audience of Republican voters who believed his bunk. The GOP establishment did not oppose Trump’s disinformation operation—his assertions that he had actually won the election and his many unsubstantiated allegations of fraud—because it feared the party’s base. After the 2020 election, as Trump poisoned the national discourse with his conspiracy theories, Republican leaders did not counter his lies out of fear of alienating Trump’s voters. This afforded Trump the political space to mount assorted and overlapping plots to retain power. With this indictment, special counsel Jack Smith alleges these actions were crimes. And when those allegedly illegal schemes failed, Trump’s cultish loyalists provided the shock troops for the January 6 insurrectionist riot that nearly prevented the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.

*snip*

13 replies

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Highlight:

David Corn: The New Trump Indictment Will Supercharge His War on American Democracy (Original Post) Nevilledog Aug 2023 OP

Kick dalton99a Aug 2023 #1

This appears to be evidence that Fascist Oligarch eXtremists network is seditious. Hermit-The-Prog Aug 2023 #8

Super Charging Democracy Lovers Even Cha Aug 2023 #2

You nailed Cha!! PortTack Aug 2023 #4

Right, PT.. Mahalo! I almost Cha Aug 2023 #10

Mahalo back at ya Cha!! PortTack Aug 2023 #11

💙💙💙 Cha Aug 2023 #12

Trump lost the pot. OAITW r.2.0 Aug 2023 #3

What about the 14th Amendment? SleeplessinSoCal Aug 2023 #5

I believe you are right. But wouldn't he have to be found guilty first? PortTack Aug 2023 #6

Who planned the insurrection? Traitortrump is too stupid to have thought of it. Hermit-The-Prog Aug 2023 #7

It can't get anymore supercharged Johnny2X2X Aug 2023 #9

Well, he loves attention and 78 indictments so far and counting. Hortensis Aug 2023 #13

dalton99a

(94,745 posts)

1. Kick

Reply to Nevilledog (Original post)

Tue Aug 1, 2023, 11:46 PM

Aug 2023

Trump will turn this indictment, as he has done so with his previous indictments, into yet more proof that he is the target of a corrupt and nefarious cabal aiming to destroy the country. The Deep State, Democrats, the media, antifa, communists, Black radicals, and pedophiles—they are, in his BS narrative, arrayed against him and against real Americans. In Trump’s telling, the only way to thwart these evildoers was to declare the election rigged and foment the paranoia and outrage that led to the seditious January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

Trump had no evidence of this diabolical election-stealing plot; he had no rational argument. His claims were debunked again and again. (His own consigliere, Rudy Giuliani, has admitted to making false allegations of election theft.) Nevertheless, millions of Americans accepted this false reality—and still do. They have been under a Trump trance, transfixed by his lies and false statements and impervious to actual facts. This latest indictment will confirm their irrational beliefs.

A recent poll found that zero percent—yes, zero percent—of MAGA Republicans think that Trump has committed serious federal crimes. Only 2 percent of his loyalists concede that he did “something wrong” regarding the handling of classified documents. More than 9 out of 10 of these people said Republicans must stand behind Trump in the face of the investigations. And three quarters of all likely Republicans voters said Trump, following the 2020 elections, was legitimately contesting the results. (That number went up to 83 percent for Republicans who are heavy viewers of Fox News.)

One survey after another shows that Republicans and conservatives are trapped in the muck of Trump conspiracism. Half of Republicans say that Trump did not keep classified documents at Mar-a-Lago—a sign of willful blindness. Eighteen million Americans believe the use of force to restore Trump to the White House would be justified—an uptick of about 50 percent over the past few months. About 90 percent of Trump’s most radical supporters see the federal government as run by a supposed Deep State full of immoral schemers. Twelve percent of Americans agreed with this statement: “A secret group of Satan-worshiping pedophiles is ruling the US government.” (A survey conducted last year found that half of Republicans and more than half of Trump 2020 voters believed prominent Democrats were involved in secret pedophilia rings.) A separate poll notes that two-thirds of Republicans still believe Trump’s bogus and debunked claim that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election by fraud.

Hermit-The-Prog

(36,631 posts)

8. This appears to be evidence that Fascist Oligarch eXtremists network is seditious.

Reply to dalton99a (Reply #1)

Wed Aug 2, 2023, 07:57 AM

Aug 2023

It would take a miracle to prove such a thing, even though we all know it's a propaganda machine.

Cha

(319,610 posts)

2. Super Charging Democracy Lovers Even

Reply to Nevilledog (Original post)

Tue Aug 1, 2023, 11:51 PM

Aug 2023

More!

Rule of Law.. not backing down from Wanting Justice!

Fuck the Gaslit Fascist Traitors.

PortTack

(35,820 posts)

4. You nailed Cha!!

Reply to Cha (Reply #2)

Wed Aug 2, 2023, 02:17 AM

Aug 2023

The fact that none of his cult showed up in NYC or Miami in answer to tfg calling for violence speaks volumes….about his waining power over his cult and the cult member’s unwillingness risk prison time.

I like David Corn, but I don’t think he got this one right.

His cult members % wise are less than 10% of the current republican party- around 7-8% of the voting populous if you do the math. That is not 10s of millions of voters.

Cha

(319,610 posts)

10. Right, PT.. Mahalo! I almost

Reply to PortTack (Reply #4)

Wed Aug 2, 2023, 06:22 PM

Aug 2023

missed your reply.

So many Dems are Super Charged NOW! Think about David Corn!

PortTack

(35,820 posts)

11. Mahalo back at ya Cha!!

Reply to Cha (Reply #10)

Fri Aug 4, 2023, 02:20 AM

Aug 2023

Cha

(319,610 posts)

12. 💙💙💙

Reply to PortTack (Reply #11)

Fri Aug 4, 2023, 02:46 AM

Aug 2023

OAITW r.2.0

(32,348 posts)

3. Trump lost the pot.

Reply to Nevilledog (Original post)

Tue Aug 1, 2023, 11:55 PM

Aug 2023

He bet that he could win by by starting a legal BS campaign with plenty of cult helping by getting violent. He lost the bet. USA prevails.

SleeplessinSoCal

(10,427 posts)

5. What about the 14th Amendment?

Reply to Nevilledog (Original post)

Wed Aug 2, 2023, 02:22 AM

Aug 2023

He should be forbidden to run. And use the fact that many in Congress can only be allowed to run again if they force the use of the 14th amendment in The Constitution of the United States to disassociate from the leader of their party, by whom they were misled

Section 3
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

After rereading this, I've no idea if that section helps.

PortTack

(35,820 posts)

6. I believe you are right. But wouldn't he have to be found guilty first?

Reply to SleeplessinSoCal (Reply #5)

Wed Aug 2, 2023, 04:06 AM

Aug 2023

The way I read it, the longer the gqp goes with tfg as their candidate the more screwed they are…like a total blow out for President Biden and the Dems in ‘24.

Hermit-The-Prog

(36,631 posts)

7. Who planned the insurrection? Traitortrump is too stupid to have thought of it.

Reply to Nevilledog (Original post)

Wed Aug 2, 2023, 07:51 AM

Aug 2023

Someone knows the dictator's playbook well enough, and knows the white supremacist groups well enough, and knows emergency powers well enough, and knows current GOP mentality well enough to have hoped it could all be brought together to keep traitortrump in power.

Wonder who that could be. Might be someone who needs help, or at least non-interference by the U.S., with some invasion somewhere in the world.

Johnny2X2X

(24,326 posts)

9. It can't get anymore supercharged

Reply to Nevilledog (Original post)

Wed Aug 2, 2023, 08:08 AM

Aug 2023

He is working as hard as he can to end our democracy. He's already giving 100% and his party supports him.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)

13. Well, he loves attention and 78 indictments so far and counting.

Reply to Nevilledog (Original post)

Fri Aug 4, 2023, 02:54 AM

Aug 2023

Even he may get tired of this kind of attention and his admirers of being hit up for endless donations to a billionaire who's proud of not paying his bills. This is projected to go on for another four years or so, appeals, etc.

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