Now we’re getting to the fun part
Politics shouldn’t be such a cesspool that someone like Donald Trump can even be a character in it, let alone a major character. But it is what it is. The most misguided of citizens have been propping up the most deranged of monsters for as long as America has existed. Just think about McCarthyism, or the Civil War before that. It’s a never-ending battle.
But if we are stuck fending off a monster like Trump while trying to keep our democracy intact, we should at least be able to have a good laugh at how badly he keeps losing. Yesterday Trump filed a last ditch dead end appeal, and once the Supreme Court finishes once again reminding Trump that it’s too busy with its own agenda to save him, his criminal trial will get underway.
Then last night Trump began obsessively ranting about the judge and prosecutor in his New York civil fraud trial, tipping off that he thinks the final verdict is imminent. That’ll take a quarter billion dollars or more out of Trump’s pocket, at a time when Trump doesn’t have much in his pocket.
Trump is also just a few weeks away from having to either put up the massive bond required to appeal his E. Jean Carroll verdict, or give up the fight and let the process begin of $83 million of his assets being taken from him. Given that Trump is days or hours from losing another quarter billion in the other case, it would be incredibly tricky for him to come up with the bond in the Carroll case.
We’re watching Donald Trump being dismantled from all sides, in real time, in a way that he more than deserves, and is very cathartic to watch. This doesn’t mean we can rest easy. Someone will be the 2024 Republican nominee for President, whether it’s a zombified version of Trump or someone else they try to slip into the race. But it sure is fun watching the legal system beating the living crap out of Trump on his way down. When you’re waging a tough and often dark battle, it’s important to celebrate your victories and build upon them. Trump’s ongoing losses are victories for us. This is, for better or worse, what winning looks like in politics.
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report