315 Comments

America can't afford for him to run, that's for certain.

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ThankYou Mitch McConnell. Who abdicated Senate responsibility, threw accountability to the courts, and gave us this pig-mess of a campaign season. McConnell has probably done more damage to all three branches of government than any one person. (Leonard Leo focused on the courts, but with The Teneo Network - and Barre Seid's $1.6 billion - is branching out. So he might catch up to McConnell.)

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Moscow Mitch is horrible.

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MAGA Moscow Mitch.

Or is that redundant?

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I think Miserable Moscow Mitch is appropriate too.

Thank you

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Moscow

MkMitch

KkKonnell

(so statuesque!)

[god's little reward

for ruining Democracy]

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Not redundant..

Actually it's understated!

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So true, lin! McConnell gave us this Supreme Court & seemed to think trump deserved it! Now, I don’t think he has any idea what a pig-mess he has made & has no idea what to do—so he endorses trump! What a total jerk!!

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I think McConnell finds the angle which serves his self interest. Before that was power and money. Now it is money alone. McConnell is again hedging his bets that Trump will pay off. Literally.

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If so, that's gotta be the biggest miscalculation of Mitch's career.

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I wouldn't bet on it. In 2016, I was 99% sure Trump would win. In 2020 and now, it seems too close to call. If Trump wins, then people of McConnell's economic privilege will benefit. Especially if Republicans keep the House and win the Senate. Which could happen if we all do not unite to elect Democrats up and down the ballot.

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I simply don't think it's going to be that bad. I've been wrong before, but as I said further down, TFG lost by a lot in 2020, and I just can't believe he's gained that many voters, after all that's happened.

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Did McConnell have one of his stupid is as stupid does mental freezes before, during, or after he endorsed DJT? I

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Susan,

Do you know why Mitch gave us this court? Do you know why he planned the takeover of the court for 30 years? I bet you don't. I bet it would never occur to you that Democrats could also play games with the court.

Jack

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Roger,

You have no idea what I know—or what would occur to me! I didn’t vote for HRC in 2016 & Obama was a YUGE disappointment! I’ve been an environmental, civil rights & political activist since before I could vote, and I’m 74 now! I protested Vietnam & marched for Civil Justice. I’ve followed Bernie Sanders for over 40 years because he was the only politician who ANSWERED the questions asked! I live in California & could write in his name in 2016, as we weren’t a swing state!

Biden has taken Bernie’s lead in most of the good things that are happening now. I do think Democrats, in general, give a damn about helping working people more than Republicans, but these MAGA assholes, encouraged to come out of their holes when trump was “elected”, don’t give a damn about anyone but themselves! If you think actually allowing Orange Boy back in the White House isn’t a big deal—you’re wrong ‼️

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I’m replying to JACK! Sorry!

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There’s a special place in Hell waiting for Glitch. Hope he doesn’t make them wait too long.

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Back in Nov 2016, I questioned Mitch's act of denying Obama the right to appoint a replacement on the SCOTUS My question was this: How could McConnell possibly know in MARCH 2016 that Trump would win the election? McConnell's declaration that the NEXT president would choose the next judge. Hilary was predicted to be the winner in March, what did Moscow Mitch know at that time what was coming to America from Russia?

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Totally agree! Mitch is an evil little man, always has been. He's not a patriot, just a selfish old POS.

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We can afford even less for him to win.

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This seems like a golden opportunity for Putin, his oligarchs, Chinese and other tyrants, and global billionaires - like Elon Musk - to "lend" or give him millions for his legal and campaign expenses. Who will own him then? Scary, scary time for us and the world.

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Oh yes! Dark money to lead us further into a Dark New World.

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Wonder if Agent Orange will have to cash in on those offshore accounts where he stashed the money from selling classified info?.....

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That's what most people would do, but he's always had his father, banks, pals, GOP donors, and others to bail him out. I doubt he'd spend his own money unless there's absolutely no alternative. I imagine he's looking for a way to stiff the courts, just like he stiffed his contractors and employees.

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Oh, I don't doubt that if he can weasel his way out, he will. When all else fails, there's always a private jet to a non-extradition country.

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Oh I hadn't thought of that. And no doubt, it will be someone else's private jet so he doesn't have to pay. I wonder if he'll take Melania with him.

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The question is, would she GO with him? My guess is a resounding, "no!" She doesn't need him anymore, especially if he's broke, and lord knows, she can't want him. She'd have to be as perverse and perverted as he is, which I doubt. Moreover, I can't imagine she wants Barron around him, at this juncture.

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Denise, you've created a new puzzle. Who would Trump want to go with him, and who'd want to go?

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No pretty sure he will dip into the $60 million he stole from his inauguration fund in 2016 or the $600 million missing from the 2020 RNC election fund. It was wrong to not investigate these crimes when they occurred but hey republicans think poor fat Donny is a victim.

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Good points, Mike. He's a continual, unrepentant klepto, for sure, and his fellow Rethugs have let him get away with it.

But I wonder how far the collective RNC's sympathy will extend when they can't fund critical, competitive races (even with Lara and Mike as chairs). I mean, I'd love it if they couldn't pony up for the GOP Senate candidate here in Ohio, whose name doesn't bear mentioning. But I think there will be pushback from the membership. Not that they're ever gonna get all those funds back from donny, anyway. But they might object to his vacuuming up what little is left.

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Mike

How do you "know" these were crimes. Do you also "know" that the money China gave Clinton and Gore was also a crime? Or does your knowledge only go so far and not to Democrats. Has it ever occured to you that they are all dirty. That they could not run the campaigns they all do without breaking the law. Or does just one party do it.

Jack

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I did not say anything like that. I do not believe anything like what you are suggesting. Politics is a dirty business, I in no way believe only Republicans are all bad or that Democrats are all good. Geesch! I will suggest that the unprecedented blind support for Trump is beyond the pale. He is a criminal and was a criminal and will be a criminal. I would never support anyone D or R that is as foul as Trump. Please note that I said it was wrong not to investigate those issues. Republicans failure to hold him accountable is just not acceptable. Enjoy your day.

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Your posting displays cautious optimism. A psychologist friend of my brother's predicted a few months ago that Trump was going to implode between the stress of campaigning, his dementia and legal and financial woes. We can but hope.

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I keep hoping I will wake one morning and read that he has gone to another level outside our planet

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Hmmm those are interesting thoughts. It’s nice to know I’m not all alone in dreaming up wishful scenarios in which DJT goes away forever. My favorite daydream has him choking on a cheeseburger.

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Hahaha Do you think he'd stick around long enough to sue McDonald's?

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Haha - That may depend on whether Melania knows the Heimlich maneuver & decides to deploy it.

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And I keep hoping someone will have assassinated him. The only problem is that the psychopaths who would do something like that make up his base.

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And that would make him a "martyr" to his psycho followers.

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I think Dick Cheney could arrange that. Let’s hope.

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Exactly!

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Every morning as I go into the kitchen to make my tea, I ask my husband, "So, Trump's still alive, then?" And he always replies, "Sadly yes - but then, you know I would run upstairs and wake you up if it were otherwise!" And another day begins in the American South...

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maybe

El trumpsfter

& MUX might

Elope to Mars

in a Convertible.

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How about eloping to former planet now recognized as a gasbag. Pluto?

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I like this even better.

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'gasbag'? *

how Dare you!

poor Pluto got the

Boot for Smallishness

.

I Miss

Pluto.

.

but

yeah

it doesn't

even hafta

be this Solar

System. nor Galaxy

.

*speaking of gasbags

there's a[n] Uranus

joke in there

somewhere

but I'm not

gonna

touch

it.

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You're right! I best avoid mentioning Uranus 5hiugh the analogy is ripe!

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Overly!

.

surely there's a black

Hole close by they'd

find accomodating.

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I love this tread. And did you notice - All female!!!!

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Oh, brilliant way to put it, Penny!! Bravo!

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I agree that Dan Rather's post displays cautious optimism - a wise move. Trump is the all-time Teflon don; the original one also operated "business" in the same manner (but not nearly as dangerously). What worries me is that trump is the ultimate master of illusion, at least for those who are prone to delusion. What money from who/what/where will he pull out of a Black Hole? Will he slither his way out of this mess too?

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Jade, I agree, and your concern is well founded. And there seems to be no scarcity of so-called dark money: enough to fill those black holes. But if he miraculously manages to come up with the hundreds of millions of $$ he owes as a result, that still leaves campaign stress and dementia, the last having been publicly, if unofficially noted by any number of experts in psychiatric medicine. Don't give up hope yet. That we are even having to consider this sick criminal as a serious presidential candidate is in itself equally alarming.

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And his idiot supporters will still fund and vote for him

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I agree with your brother Margaret. There’s nothing

more important to Trump than money and his reputation as being rich. He still has criminal trials

pending as well and the stress will probably be too much.

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I personally think the cheeseburgers will be the tipping point.

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Yes, clog those arteries, Donald!

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Too bad the sociopath doesn’t get stressed at all the pain he causes. He will be beholden to anyone who gives him money which is a problem for our democracy.

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Note - this can be said for the majority of US politicians. Our system is broken. Private money has flooded in. Even SCOTUS vacancies are filled with money backing.

We need publicly funded campaigns. Enough PAC and Citizens United monies.

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Private money campaign donations have corrupted

our political system, our Supreme Court & the federal campaign commission. It’s only going to get worse if we don’t do something.

The only way out at this point is to make private campaign contributions illegal and funding campaigns for federal offices with public money.

Some people want to keep private donations for

funding campaigns and put more rules around it.

That won’t work, because if private money is a factor someone will eventually find a way to subvert the

system regardless of the rules.

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Federal Election Commission, not Federal Campaign Commission.

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it started with Citizens United.

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The only citizens that are united for this group are billionaires. It needs to go.

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There used to be a limit on how much money candidates could receive from public & private donors but no more & there lies the problem. If those candidates receive unlimited donations they can literally buy their way into office which is exactly what tfg did in 2016 (along with Putin’s help) & in 2020. It backfired on him in 2020 but that won’t stop that yellow haired monster from trying to buy his way into power again. We cannot be complacent about this because the freedom & security of our country is in jeopardy if he “buys” the presidency again.

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Vote blue to save our democracy!

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Fyi Monica—there’s documentation of many republicans taking campaign donations from

Russia. It’s illegal to accept campaign donations from foreign sources, but Super- pacs can accept

unlimited amounts of money without revealing

where it came from, so that’s how they’re getting around it. This info is on the internet for anyone to find.

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He bought an election but he siphoned money for himself at every opportunity. Even today what he charges his campaign for his plane and office space at maga-lado is likely staggering.

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Running for government office ought not depend on personal wealth.

Campaign Finance Reform Now!

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I'd rather running for government office included the Constitution and excluded insurrectionists.

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It does.

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not currently, or TFG would not be allowed by states or federal to run (on ballots) for an office that he was/is ineligible to serve.

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SCOTUS side-stepped the Constitution. Doesn't mean it doesn't still exclude insurrectionists.

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The Supreme Court decides whether

a case makes a constitutionally valid argument. Although some very conservative jurists and legal scholars (including Ilya Somin of the Scalia Law School) argued that Colorado did indeed make that case, none of the Supreme Court justices agreed. None of them wanted to set that legal precedent. The decision left key constitutional questions undecided. Kagan, Sotomayor, and Jackson only dissented that the Federalist Society claque had gone way outside the four corners of the case in their overstepping decision.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?533247-3/ilya-somin-josh-blackman-trump-14th-amendment-election-disqualification-case

https://www.law.gmu.edu/news/2024/ilya_somin%E2%80%99s_brief_explains_why_a_criminal_conviction_is_not_necessary_to_disqualify_donald_trump_under_section_3

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-719_19m2.pdf

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Have you noticed how many of American problems are rooted in a Supreme Court that isn't accountable to either of the others two branches of government? They don't even have to promise to stop taking bribes!

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Trump has never funded anything.

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Just about the only thing tRump learned in the 70's was the concept of OPM.

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Hear hear! I hate him with the energy of a thousand suns, but there’s a bigger problem we have to tackle at some point. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

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Trump has taken over the RNC and will be vacuuming every dollar out of it to pay for his legal bills. Apparently he has never used any of his own money to fund his campaigns, either. There is a very good chance his liabilities actually exceed the value of his assets and he can’t fund his appellate bonds or anything else.

Why does all that matter? It makes Trump an easy target for foreign interests if those interests will help pay for his appellate bonds directly or indirectly by buying or refinancing his properties.

This man will soon be getting foreign affairs briefings that are supposed to be confidential. I have no reason to doubt he will start to sell that information the minute he gets it, because he is that corrupt and unscrupulous in his reptilian drive to preserve himself.

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Trump made sure that daily presidential briefings were withheld from incoming President Biden. So why should he as a candidate receive such sensitive information?

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Good point! If the NSA, CIA & DOJ had any balls they would refuse to provide any sensitive information that could jeopardize our National Security, as he has already shown to have done more than once. Oh yes, I forgot, after 2 years, he’s still under investigation for treasonous actions against his employer, which would be us🤣🤪😵‍💫

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Boy, doesn’t our DOJ/Garland move fast?🤪

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They won’t give him any info he can use to hurt his country or our agents in the field. I wish they

hadn’t trusted him with info when he was president. It should have been obvious he would misuse it. The

national archives should have been more on top of

him keeping classified info for so long. Oh well,

hindsight is 2020. I just hope no one was killed

because of him selling classified info to out

enemies.

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It was all a part of his pretext of winning the election, or should we call it his delusion?

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In my opinion, the prospect of DJT getting national security briefings is the scariest thing! His desperation to come up with enough funds — through bonds or loans — make him extremely vulnerable to being manipulated by foreign entities.

#votebluetosaveamerica

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I have been writing posts on other blogs pleading with other readers to write President Biden to put the kibosh on any more National Security Briefings for the Orange Menace. Pleaseconsider sending your thoughts to Whitehouse.gov.

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He could fund bonds by mortgages (on what he, himself, owns)... but he wants to play the victim as usual, so other people will foot the bill.

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The interesting question is whether he actually has enough equity in anything to be able to use it for more collateral. If anyone knows the answer I’d love to see it.

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The 30 organizations he already approached for the half-billion NY bond all declined to consider his properties. That's not unusual, but what does it tell you?

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👍Bingo👍

Agreed!

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It tells us that none of the 30 organizations is gullible!

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And they value their money over the "opportunity" to help TFG. Unlike the small donors in his cult. Although I just read a figure somewhere that his small donors have dropped out to the tune of 62% since the last election cycle. Hmmmm....

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This fact is the most recent in a long line of things that keep me up at night.

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Ditto. I don't trust him to keep anything confidential.

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founding

Dan….i am so glad that you chose to write about the financial aspects of Trump’s campaign because I must admit I know little about the rules and regulations of election finance(have committed myself to get better educated soon). What I do know is the way to destroy a man is to tamper with his money. I believe this is killing him. I believe he is more afraid of being broke than going to jail. I will be gleaming when Ms. James starts putting liens on his properties and freezes his accounts. So whatever shenanigans he is up to, I hope that Leticia James, Fanni Willis, Jack Smith et al are one step ahead of him.

From braggart to beggar, sounds like a great title for a book.

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Why would you be thrilled with any ex-president of this country being attacked by so many politically motivated politicians attacking anyone? The degree of polarization that you manifest in your comment makes me worry that our representative democracy is at greater risk than I have seen since Vietnam

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Because he is a criminal and these are all legitimate steps that would be taken with any defendant. It has nothing to do with who he is, that is just the publicity part. He has performed more illegal acts than I can count and we can’t even punish the immorality.

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I just love it.Couldn't happen to a better louse.

I want to see him so broke that he can't even pay attention.

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I'm sure Trump feels he can't afford not to run, since he must be thinking that only becoming President can save him. After a lifetime of avoiding consequences he now faces a couple of folks with a great deal of support behind them and a grim determination to bring him to the bar. Likely he's never felt himself in such a position before. The stress must be daunting, and he's trying to bleed it out by ranting about his victimhood. Good luck with that, because alone in the dark at night I'm sure he's anything but as sure as he likes to sound in public. The crows are perched above his bed, Couldn't happen to a more deserving huckster.

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yes, that can he has been kicking is very near to the deadend of the road

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We can only hope he ends up in it!

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Very well put. Thank you.

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Dear lord that is not the point. He shouldn’t even be near the idea of running because of what he has done. It’s dragging out WAY too long.

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Perhaps the GOP has backed the wrong horse.

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Oh, ya think?? How can ANYONE back such a big oaf?

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Perhaps the GOP is backing not a horse but a relative of the horse...an ass.

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Even in his current fiscal adversity, Trump never fails to make my blood run cold. Now I am afraid of the Russian, Saudi, even Chinese, money waiting in the wings to buy this person who is always on sale to the highest bidder. We rely on journalists such as Mr. Rather to make clear to all who will listen when the foreign fix goes in, for how much, and to whom he is beholding. I won't rest easy until he runs off to an island without an extradition treaty and broken network connections.

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...Who knows himself a braggart,

Let him fear this, for it will come to pass

that every braggart shall be found an ass.

—Parolles, All's Well That Ends Well IV. iii

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If Saudi Arabia or Russia cover his debt, this possible POTUS will be owned lock, stock and barrel by foreign actors. It would be ironic if it was Saudi Arabia considering how Trump rails against Muslims.

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Wasn’t it unbelievable how quickly trump went to Saudi Arabia right after he was elected in 2016? Hmmm….

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sadly, he doesn't have to be owned by them, as he loves them & all the non-democracy they stand for. Mutual enablers.

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Mar 22·edited Mar 22

All his money problems have become our national security problems.

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founding

In my opinion, the question of "can" he afford to run is really moot. Even it if is true that ultimately he cannot afford to run, he will never pull out of the race because of financial difficulties. That would in essence be a major failure for him and he could never do it or admit to it. On this morning's talk shows the question was asked why still so many diehard MAGA republicans are still for him no matter what he has said or done. The answer came back saying that since 2015-16 and his early rallies, these people believed the lie that he was 'just like them.' There are millions of middle and working class Americans who to this day still struggle with financial issues and live paycheck to paycheck and they will identify with him in trying to get financial backing for his problems, and they do not care that he is the reason/cause of all this quagmire situation. The only way to get rid of him is to vote to remove him from public life one and for all and in such huge numbers that it is overwhelming to his view of himself. From my lips to all the deities' ears.

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