144 Comments

Like all progressives, I want to lock him up. But my world doesn’t revolve around tfg and his retinue of clowns. It’s on legal authorities to take him down or not. I don’t want to give tfg any more media oxygen. My focus is on electing enough Democrats that MAGA becomes last year’s news.

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The rule of law isn’t a progressive or conservative domain. In point of fact, it was more often the conservatives who cared deeply about it. While I work at maintaining my mental health through all of this, it is essential that he be indicted, in all cases in which he is guilty. Otherwise, our democracy is fatally flawed. We can do all we want to move forward to elect the right people, but the precedent will have been set and all current and future presidents and elected officials and people of power will know that they are not bound by the law. Coups, overturning elections, stealing top-secret classified documents, etc… all ok.

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It is important that he be indicted and tried whether he ends up being found guilty or not, otherwise the rule of law has no meaning.

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Thank you for this. I agree. I refuse to give him any more of my life after the 4 years we endured under his Administration. Maggie Haberman and other media people get paid a lot more money than I do to watch his every move.

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I so agree!

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I understand but believe we must work actively to cut off the oxygen.

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By not reporting on it?

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My thought exactly. Report on what’s happening to him, not the BS that he blurts out all over the place

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founding

Excellent! Well stated.

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I'm not usually good at reading tea leaves, but it seems to me that if the Manhattan DA's office is discussing the logistics of an arrest and arraignment, and Trump's attorneys are discussing how he will appear, there must be some negotiations underway. Some time ago, I'd hoped Stormy Daniels would be the one to bring him down, but lost that hope when her attorney, Michael Avenatti, imploded. I'm rooting for DA Bragg to be the first of many to finally hold that POS accountable. I look forward to the day when the MAGAts' hair bursts into flames. Even more than that, I hope I live long enough to see the day when Trump's name is not mentioned in the news at all.

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IMO, Bob, being irrelevant would be more damaging to him than all the indictments.

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Yes, indeed. Which is why he will use his "perp walk" as a dramatic demonstration of how "out of control the witch hunt by the deep state" is. Talk about another chance to be the center of attention - for the whole planet. He will see this as the ultimate opportunity to steal the oxygen from everyone else. Playing the victim is a specialty for someone who has nothing constructive to offer. His recent focus has been darker and full of even wilder accusations. He is out "Qing" Q.

My great worry is that he will call for violence (again) and innocent folks may be hurt.

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He will use this as a way to continue his grift of people for whom he has always had nothing but disdain. EVERYONE is a "lesser than" to him. Just remember, he is and always has been a con man, a snake oil salesman. He is loving this - it's an ATM for him!

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He has already started this call to protest which we know will turn violent.

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He already has (indirectly as always) called for violence re calling for rallies to "take our country back".

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"perp walk" in through the back door and service hallway - and don't protect his precious coif getting in and out of the car 😈

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He can’t control who shows up to demonstrate at his arraignment. Dollars to donuts there are more people cheering the indictment. He is intensely disliked in NYC

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It might become one of those "ticker tape" parades. The town will drown in confetti!

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Times like this I am homesick for my hometown!

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founding

He will look like a crazy man (which he is) and when the metal doors cling shut his reality begins.

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Here’s a thought: If Trump is incarcerated, how will his Secret Service protection (as ex-president) be conducted?

This may be an amusing idea, but I’m also being serious.

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Mar 18, 2023·edited Mar 18, 2023

This cannot be stressed enough.

His cult will never believe anything negative about him and each well-publicized setback only energizes them.. and him.

But irrelevance?

That's the absolute worst thing that could ever happen to him.

Donald who?

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How about we start with "Trumpless Tuesdays," unless it's the day after a new indictment?

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True but I want him irrelevant from prison. The Stormy trial might not do it but MAL and Jack Smith certainly will.

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From your lips to God’s ear.

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But it would be so lovely for us!

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Irish Blessing

May the road rise to meet you,

May the wind be always at your back,

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

And rains fall soft upon your fields,

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

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May the good Lord Almighty hold you always in His everloving Presence Amen 🙏

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Writing postcards always helps while waiting! Combo cards were just launched to include a second super-important election in Wisconsin on April 4th-- volunteers are now writing for Judge Janet and Jodi Habush Sinykit!

Jodi's WI State Senate election is critical because a win for her far right Republican opponent would give the GOP a supermajority, which would remove veto power from Democratic Governor Tony Evers (disaster) and allow the GOP State Leg to launch impeachment proceedings against any statewide offices, including Democratic Gov, Lt. Gov, and AG, as well as against any progressives on the WI Supreme Court. We need to win both seats to restore choice, safer gun laws, voting rights, fair district lines, etc.-- and a secure 2024 presidential election.

PTV is working with WisDems. To join PostcardsToVoters.org, text “join” to 484-275-2229 or email join@tonythedemocrat.org. Or find a phone bank in the intro from last Sunday's UTA newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/2cbe8a24ae3b/weekly-actions-events-digest-13724057?e=faa6c38e3e

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Thanks, Sarah. Postcarded for Judge Protasiewicz early on (after so many cards, I can now spell her last name!) Didn't know about Judge Jodi.

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Judge Jodi wasn't an option early on.

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Aha, Dave. Very rarely am I early to these things!

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I know that feeling Lynell.

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Jodi Haybush Sinykit is running for State Senate. She's terrific. And she must win to block the GOP from getting a powerful supermajority. Scary!

Her campaign was added Friday and it's a combo card for Judge Janet too, but only going to Democrats in Jodi's district. Thanks for replying!!! These two races are so important!! And two really fine women running!

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Thanks Sarah. I'm on a bit of holiday, back to postcards on Tuesday.

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Sarah, spent a couple hours today writing postcards to Wis. voters with St. Paul (MN) Indivisible.

More volunteers showed up than they had seats for so they found more tables and chairs.

Everyone who volunteered via text showed up! They were gobsmacked. 30 out of thirty.

The Indivisible coordinator mentioned that he would be door knocking Sunday in Hudson, WI and would be happy to have a few trainees join him. 10 people volunteered!

The MAGAt judge may have just received $20M in campaign funds but we the people are showing up for Wisconsin! Let’s keep it up!

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Sheila, this is amazing. I am going to include your note in my weekly email!! So inspiring! Fantastic!!!!! GO WISCONSIN!!!!

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Sarah, 10 cards going out today for Jodi. Just simple USPS cards sent with conscious intent.

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Just received my 100 and will be churning them out in the coming days!

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Thanks for highlighting this new postcard. I will get some of these combo addresses from PostcardsToVoters.org

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Yay!!!

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Thanks for this relevant and important information. It’s today’s way to help change the course.

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This chain made my day. Thank you all for writing!! After reading about the abortion bans in Wyoming today, it makes me want to work harder for these Wisconsin races which will decide the future of the state. It's a purple state, statewide, but red in the statehouse where they will decide about abortion bans even though the majority of people in the state don't want them!! We can't let them get a supermajority! And let's get Judge Janet in!

If you haven't seen "Dress Rehearsal," a 15 minute film made during the April 2020 Supreme Court election, this will also inspire you to want to help! Incredible: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSSlxVMyKkk

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I think the ICC arrest warrants for Putin and his “child protection” administrator are quite significant. First, they effectively work as lifetime travel bans beyond the Russian borders (and those of Russian allies). Second, being indicted as a war criminal, especially for adversely affecting the lives of thousands of children, severely adversely affects one’s post government career. (This can make other Russian administrators think more than twice about acting as Putin’s foot soldiers.) In short, while actual arrests are unlikely in the immediate future, the warrants do immediately crimp the lifestyles and future opportunities of those subject to them. Bravo for the ICC!

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Tragically, too many countries have ‘heads’ who support him. He may not be able to stroll down rue de St Honore in Paris, but the Ayatollah would welcome him!

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I would hope witnesses are given protection, too. Trump and his crazy minions are all about “retribution”!

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All these good developments finally happening in all these cases, it reminded me of that Heinz ketchup commercial when I was a kid of the little boy waiting for the ketchup to come out. "Anticipation , it's making me wait " but can't wait to get the taste of real justice 😋 and accountability for all the misbegotten activities. Everybody keep your fingers crossed 🤞

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Loved that commercial

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The commercial AND Carly Simon's original

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Shake and shale the ketchup bottle,

None will come and then a lot'll!

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Don't believe for one second that he will surrender voluntarily without creating a circus of disrespect and vitriol. Trump is the devil incarnate, and his ability to camouflage that to his rotting constituency is part proof, as is the hypnotic effect he has had on our collective inability to arrest and prosecute him. We should pray that we're not too late.

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I am a professional worrier and I worry about the Stormy Daniels case being the first case. I would much prefer to see a 1/6 or election interference or related case go first. They are at the heart of his corruption. Undermining our democracy. Stormy is a bit of a sideshow and filled with impeachable witnesses. I wonder why Bragg wants to go first. Or perhaps I don’t wonder.

I hope the ICC charges against Putin cause Xi to step back from his apparent cozying up to Putin. Xi could be a force for good. To borrow a line from my favorite British PM I hope Biden doesn’t go wobbly on Ukraine. He needs to focus on his message to Americans. You can see the R message in development from the looney, wacko fringe.

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I think that Bragg first is just the way things are falling into place. Bragg, Willis and Smith are consummate professionals who are very carefully lining up their ducks. For the first two, it's about career survival. Talk about being under a microscope.

Smith has a deep background in ethics prosecutions. More than one of his solid cases have been neutered by technicalities or the twist of the law. He will dot every i and cross every t before moving to recommend indictment. But he is also known as an aggressive prosecutor. We will hear from him soon. My question is will he make his recommendation about both cases simultaneously - or one at a time. Seems like the Mar A Log crime is much easier to prove. Trump essentially confessed to the public.

We wait now....But soon our impatience and angst will be distant memories. It will be "everything all at once everywhere" any day now.

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Bill, I think you are right about the order of indictments and the care of these prosecutors. That being said, we should emphasize that worrying and waiting can find a measure of comfort in writing postcards and supporting the many efforts to push back the against the lies and good candidates. I’d start by denouncing the mouthpiece of these outrageous criminals- FOX must be accountable as well.

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founding

Trump has also confessed publicly to his orchestration of the coup attempt.

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Hi Sheila -

My son is in the MBA program in Ann Arbor after working in the cardiac medical devices area for Abbott Labs ( formerly St. Jude Medical) for seven years. He's planning to remain in healthcare, and I wonder if I could connect you with him in hope that you might share your thoughts and experience with him as he pursues his career. My email is sherzfeld88@gmail.com.

Best/Sandy

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And get the Ukrainians everything they need to fight this war successfully because the window of time for them to prevail is very short.

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I’m not so sure that having a Stormy Daniels trial go first would be a bad thing: it will demonstrate to the nation, and act as a reminder, that Donald Trump is a thoroughly depraved person.

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I’m wondering if we can do more about fighting to head off the possible judge’s decision to make abortion pills illegal. Need help thinking about how to do this mist effectively

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That's one where I am seriously hoping for a report of a single-car fatality in Amarillo.

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😈

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Kudos to those at the International court for citing Putin as the war criminal that he is!

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Trump should be taken to The Hague and tried for crimes against humanity for all the lies and total mismanagement of the pandemic. Millions of lives lost unnecessarily and some of those being MAGA people. Shouldn’t they be furious at losing loved ones to this POS and opportunist. The family made millions on the back of COVID victims!

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As usual the media is focused on the possible Trump indictments and have created expectations that will probably never be met. Whether Trump gets convicted and jailed is a whole other story but if indicted there is reason to believe that this will have a significant impact on his ability to raise necessary funds to support the outrageous one billion dollars required to run for President. Being associated with Trump will be radioactive for many major corporate and highly visible donors. Right wing media is already chanting let the people decide rather than a court of law forgetting that the jurors are “people “ also.

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deletedMar 18, 2023·edited Mar 18, 2023
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It’s the Independents and real Republicans voters not MAGNA who will abandon him and that is all it takes to win. Look for a dark horse to come forward in early summer

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The J6th convictions will stop most people from doing stupid things.

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It’s not going to happen because they don’t want to go to jail and they don’t trust him.

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The waiting has been, and continues to be, excruciating. I really can't imagine why Willis and Bragg and the rest don't seem to feel the urgency of this. I know. They want a waterproof case, but really!! How does it go?? "The wheels of justice turn slowly. But they DO turn. They have to.

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even lawrence tribe, garland's former professor, is expressing frustration and anger over the 2 year wait to even appoint a special counsel. Bragg whiffed when he could have indicted, what, a year ago, and Willis' "imminent" decision seems like a long time ago. many of us suspect grimly that we're being "muellered."

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s h I t they have it on tape in Georgia! Why hasn’t he been charged for that! What the h e l l. If I had been caught on tape with that bullying I would already be grey for having been imprisoned so quickly.

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Let’s not assume that Willis, Bragg, & Smith don’t see the urgency. Better to recognize they are doing their due diligence.

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They like garland , are afraid of trumps mob. It’s terrifying.

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They may not be afraid of Trump’s mob, but may be deeply concerned about the fact that, to convict, they need *unanimous* jury votes. Trump could claim “exoneration” if there’s a hung jury.

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Despite the subjects the links refer, this comment is about Friday’s “2022 Congressional Voting Record” by The Alliance of Retired Americans. It lists the voting record of all elected members of our Legislative Branch on Bills the alliance feels are pertinent to Seniors.

A 100% means the legislator is fully aligned on our side. A zero is…you get it.

In it I cannot find one Democrat who did not earn 100%; not one Republican who earned 100%; and many Republicans who earned a goose egg. The Alliance is supposed to be non-partisan but the figures cannot be disputed,

Interestingly are the number of Republicans in the report with goose eggs or near so who also are implicated in The January 6, 2022 Insurrection (my accurate capitalization). One example: Ohio’s Jordan, House. Parallels here?

Yet I cannot tell you how many registered senior voters I spoke with before the November elections who said they would never-ever vote again for a Democrat. Many on my list were registered Democrats.

I cannot afford nor have the time nor other resources to put this report into the hands of all potential voters. No one should be surprised that I live in Florida. My county has gone from blue to purple but more likely is now red.

So sad.

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Here is the link to the report:

https://retiredamericans.org/voting-record/

Annual Congressional Voting Record

Alliance for Retired Americans

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Did those seniors registered as Democrats but said they would never ever vote for a Democrat again give you their reasons?

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About Facebook/Twitter, they have promised to be alert if Trump foments violence, not just fund-raising. And it is 100% certain that he will indeed foment violent demonstrations when his many indictments arrive. Sure hope Facebook/Twitter follow through on their commitments.

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Of all the news referenced here, I believe the I.C.C. arrest warrant for both Putin and his Marie Lvova-Belova, the commissioner for children’s’ rights, is most important for the global community. Hopefully, it will impact his standing among Russians as well as leaders around the world.

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*IF* the Russian people even find out.

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