There’s a new trial date in Manhattan—April 15 for the start of jury selection—and this one looks pretty firm. I say “pretty firm” because prosecutors know that for reluctant defendants (and I’ve never seen one more reluctant than Trump), there are all kinds of last-minute stunts to attempt. But Judge Juan Merchan seems to have taken the measure of the man. He was unpersuaded in court today, sometimes merely rejecting Trump’s bogus arguments, but at other times, seemingly angry that Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche, an alum of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, tried to insinuate that the situation was something it was not. More on that in a moment. But after today, even though we can expect Trump to try the predictable last-ditch efforts of the desperate, like firing his lawyer or sudden illness, we can also expect the Judge to be prepared.
Thank you for adding your voice to those of your MSNBC colleagues on the Ronna McDaniel hiring by NBC. Host after host starting on Morning Joe and throughout the evening tonight voiced solidarity with the notion that a conservative voice on the Network is fine, but a liar is not. A different political opinion is one thing but an accessory to election fraud is not OK. Not just unwelcome, she is unacceptable to the MSNBC team and, most importantly, to MSNBC viewers.
It was never going to be easy to watch Trump's trials unfold but it was good to hear Judge Merchan hold Trump and his attorney accountable. It's so reassuring to have you provide the facts and an analysis of the law that we can rely on.
He’s not unique in his stupid entitlement but he’s stepped a little closer than he should have to the edge of the cliff by trying to strip us of our democracy. Is he thinking as I hope - that running for president was the worst single decision of his lifetime?
Don Poorleone has experienced the chickens coming home to roost. In the early 1990s in Connecticut, Trump visited Hartford to try and receive approval to build a casino. But our then governor, Lowell Wicker and my friend and Hartford mayor, Carrie Saxon Perry, were already working an exclusive deal with our Native tribes to which Trump mused, “They don’t look like Indians to me.”
Well Donald Trump, you don’t look like a billionaire to me.
(I have my press credentials and intend to be in court writing about it.)
Thank you, Joyce for lining things up for us. Also, was very happy to see MSNBC newscasters call out Ronna Romney McDaniels over the air and in real time. She is not to be trusted and obviously, neither are the execs at NBC. They too, may be complicit for all we know. I loved it when Lawrence said if he had an opportunity to interview her, which he said he won’t, he would ask her why she succumbed to what Trump wanted. That was to remove her maiden name when she was RNC chair. Gotta love Lawrence!
Watching Morning Joe, Nicolle, Ari, Maddow (right now cause I nodded off before the end of Ari) flat out say No to having Rona on makes me realize just how much integrity the on air people really have unlike Fox or Newsmax. I don’t see Rona being around much longer cause we the viewers and the biggest names on MSNBC won’t allow it. I would even venture to say that the person that hired her is on shaky ground. Notice TFG hasn’t said anything about Rona? Cause she could promote the big lie for him. Everyone has stuck together and that’s what we need to defeat this scourge on our country of the party of Trump. The GOP died in 2017 and although a few stragglers are left it won’t rise out of the ashes like a phoenix. Those stragglers are without a party.
“We cannot let these people pretend it never happened.” This is exactly what NBC is doing..
"Nicolle Wallace, discussing NBC's hiring of Ronna McDaniel, reads on @MSNBC this except from Timothy Snyder's 'On Tyranny':
"Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do." NBC is practicing appeasing a Dictator with McDaniel..This must remain in the news cycle and continue to pressure NBC until they dump McDaniel..It is unacceptable!
Today a mid day NPR program played 45’s comments forever. We don’t need to hear all his ranting, his criticism of judges and how he’s being victimized. That just helps his lies become embedded in the air. They did point out some if the lies but nothing that justified giving him all that air time. That happens too often.
'...Judge Juan Merchan seems to have taken the measure of the man.'
'I moved on her, and I failed. I'll admit it. I did try and fuck her, she was married." (Trump)
'She wanted to get some furniture. I said I'll show you where they have some nice furniture. I moved on her like a bitch. I couldn't get there and she was married. Then all-of-a-sudden I see her, she's now got the big phony tits and everything. She's totally changed her look." (Trump)
Trump: "Look at you. You are a pussy."
'...I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything." (Trump)
Trump: "Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything."
'That’s why Trump was desperate to keep Stormy Daniels from going public about their sexual relationship before the election. The case is best understood as one about an effort by a candidate to conceal material information from voters ahead of an election—election interference.' (Joyce Vance)
This man was the president of the United States and is currently The Republican candidate running for a 2nd term as the country's president.
It is the United States of America that is on trial. Let the people decide.
Thank you Joyce for always giving us clear, understandable facts and explanations of the law. I end each night with your words of encouragement and resolve. We are truly in this together!
Whatever happens with the trial it distracts and alters his ability to campaign and he is always in the news for fraud and criminal activity. Remember after Vicksburg and Gettysburg is still took almost 2 years to end the civil war. The difference was the North was on the way to ending the war. We may not win right away but like the confederacy Trump is always on the defensive.
Ah, the grotesque spectacle unfolds again, a hideous ballet of privilege and power, dancing on the grave of what we once naively called justice. This scene, starring none other than the titan of American absurdity, Donald Trump, is nothing short of a depraved mockery of every principle we've been spoon-fed since birth. The courts, those supposed bastions of fairness, have twisted themselves into a grotesque shape, reducing a financial verdict for Trump as if it were a mere trifle, a plaything for the rich.
Hell, why not? Why shouldn't every battered soul drowning in debt scream into the void, demanding their dues be slashed to pennies on the dollar? "I owe what? Trim it down, judge! Didn’t you see the Trump discount? I’m as American as that bloated icon of excess!" It’s as if we’ve stumbled into a bizarro world where the scales of justice are not just blind but blithely snorting the cocaine of privilege off a golden blade.
The audacity is almost admirable in its naked villainy. This isn’t a mere court decision; it’s a flaming arrow shot into the heart of the concept of equality. It’s an open declaration that the rules are not just bent but obliterated for those with the right connections, the right bank accounts. The message is clear: In the eyes of a warped system, some animals are more equal than others.
And what does this tell the average Joe? It tells them that the game is rigged, that the house always wins, and that the notion of 'justice for all' is as mythical as unicorns and as extinct as dodos. It’s a carnival of madness where the rich and powerful ride the Ferris wheel of fortune, while the rest of us can barely afford a ticket to the sideshow.
This isn’t just a blow; it’s a loud and clear call to arms. A wake-up slap for every sleeping soul who thought maybe, just maybe, there was a shred of fairness left in this country. We need to rise, not in quiet despair, but in roaring defiance. To demand a system that doesn’t grovel at the feet of mammon and power. To reclaim the tattered remnants of our dignity and demand not just equality but justice – real justice, blind to wealth and status.
So let’s not just seethe in silent fury. Let’s take this travesty, this obscene perversion of justice, and use it as fuel. Fuel for change, for action. Because if we don’t stand up now, if we don’t scream from every rooftop that we’ve had enough of this farcical charade, then we might as well admit that the soul of America is not just sick, but on its deathbed.
This is our fight, not just against a ruling, but against the very forces that would have us believe that we are powerless. They’ve shown their hand, and it’s up to us to call their bluff. With the ferocity of a thunderstorm, with the unyielding force of a tidal wave, we must demand a return to sanity, to a world where justice isn’t just a plaything for the rich. It’s time to take back what’s ours.
Here's a wild idea: Rather than dutifully mailing our tax payments like the obedient American lambs we've been, how about we pen a defiant note to the IRS? "Dear IRS, the coffers are bare, and my wallet's as thin as political promises. So, here's a crisp $20 bill. Let's just square up and call it a day, shall we?"
NY Appeals Court offered no reason for cutting his bond by over 60%, and they stayed several key clauses in the judgment imposed by Judge Arthur Engeron, leaving only the Monitor and Compliance Director in place. Such a deal! How many judges does this guy own anyway? Just sickening, all of it.
I am reminded of the contest at the county fair in which the participants attempted to catch a greased pig. It was a hoot. This is not. I keep hoping though.
Thank you for adding your voice to those of your MSNBC colleagues on the Ronna McDaniel hiring by NBC. Host after host starting on Morning Joe and throughout the evening tonight voiced solidarity with the notion that a conservative voice on the Network is fine, but a liar is not. A different political opinion is one thing but an accessory to election fraud is not OK. Not just unwelcome, she is unacceptable to the MSNBC team and, most importantly, to MSNBC viewers.
It was never going to be easy to watch Trump's trials unfold but it was good to hear Judge Merchan hold Trump and his attorney accountable. It's so reassuring to have you provide the facts and an analysis of the law that we can rely on.
He’s not unique in his stupid entitlement but he’s stepped a little closer than he should have to the edge of the cliff by trying to strip us of our democracy. Is he thinking as I hope - that running for president was the worst single decision of his lifetime?
Don Poorleone has experienced the chickens coming home to roost. In the early 1990s in Connecticut, Trump visited Hartford to try and receive approval to build a casino. But our then governor, Lowell Wicker and my friend and Hartford mayor, Carrie Saxon Perry, were already working an exclusive deal with our Native tribes to which Trump mused, “They don’t look like Indians to me.”
Well Donald Trump, you don’t look like a billionaire to me.
(I have my press credentials and intend to be in court writing about it.)
Billkatz@substract.com
Thank you, Joyce for lining things up for us. Also, was very happy to see MSNBC newscasters call out Ronna Romney McDaniels over the air and in real time. She is not to be trusted and obviously, neither are the execs at NBC. They too, may be complicit for all we know. I loved it when Lawrence said if he had an opportunity to interview her, which he said he won’t, he would ask her why she succumbed to what Trump wanted. That was to remove her maiden name when she was RNC chair. Gotta love Lawrence!
Reading the verbatim of the Access tape leaves me shaking my head and wondering how did tfg get beyond that.
Watching Morning Joe, Nicolle, Ari, Maddow (right now cause I nodded off before the end of Ari) flat out say No to having Rona on makes me realize just how much integrity the on air people really have unlike Fox or Newsmax. I don’t see Rona being around much longer cause we the viewers and the biggest names on MSNBC won’t allow it. I would even venture to say that the person that hired her is on shaky ground. Notice TFG hasn’t said anything about Rona? Cause she could promote the big lie for him. Everyone has stuck together and that’s what we need to defeat this scourge on our country of the party of Trump. The GOP died in 2017 and although a few stragglers are left it won’t rise out of the ashes like a phoenix. Those stragglers are without a party.
“We cannot let these people pretend it never happened.” This is exactly what NBC is doing..
"Nicolle Wallace, discussing NBC's hiring of Ronna McDaniel, reads on @MSNBC this except from Timothy Snyder's 'On Tyranny':
"Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do." NBC is practicing appeasing a Dictator with McDaniel..This must remain in the news cycle and continue to pressure NBC until they dump McDaniel..It is unacceptable!
Today a mid day NPR program played 45’s comments forever. We don’t need to hear all his ranting, his criticism of judges and how he’s being victimized. That just helps his lies become embedded in the air. They did point out some if the lies but nothing that justified giving him all that air time. That happens too often.
'...Judge Juan Merchan seems to have taken the measure of the man.'
'I moved on her, and I failed. I'll admit it. I did try and fuck her, she was married." (Trump)
'She wanted to get some furniture. I said I'll show you where they have some nice furniture. I moved on her like a bitch. I couldn't get there and she was married. Then all-of-a-sudden I see her, she's now got the big phony tits and everything. She's totally changed her look." (Trump)
Trump: "Look at you. You are a pussy."
'...I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything." (Trump)
Trump: "Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything."
'That’s why Trump was desperate to keep Stormy Daniels from going public about their sexual relationship before the election. The case is best understood as one about an effort by a candidate to conceal material information from voters ahead of an election—election interference.' (Joyce Vance)
This man was the president of the United States and is currently The Republican candidate running for a 2nd term as the country's president.
It is the United States of America that is on trial. Let the people decide.
Thank you Joyce for always giving us clear, understandable facts and explanations of the law. I end each night with your words of encouragement and resolve. We are truly in this together!
Whatever happens with the trial it distracts and alters his ability to campaign and he is always in the news for fraud and criminal activity. Remember after Vicksburg and Gettysburg is still took almost 2 years to end the civil war. The difference was the North was on the way to ending the war. We may not win right away but like the confederacy Trump is always on the defensive.
Thanks Joyce!
Ah, the grotesque spectacle unfolds again, a hideous ballet of privilege and power, dancing on the grave of what we once naively called justice. This scene, starring none other than the titan of American absurdity, Donald Trump, is nothing short of a depraved mockery of every principle we've been spoon-fed since birth. The courts, those supposed bastions of fairness, have twisted themselves into a grotesque shape, reducing a financial verdict for Trump as if it were a mere trifle, a plaything for the rich.
Hell, why not? Why shouldn't every battered soul drowning in debt scream into the void, demanding their dues be slashed to pennies on the dollar? "I owe what? Trim it down, judge! Didn’t you see the Trump discount? I’m as American as that bloated icon of excess!" It’s as if we’ve stumbled into a bizarro world where the scales of justice are not just blind but blithely snorting the cocaine of privilege off a golden blade.
The audacity is almost admirable in its naked villainy. This isn’t a mere court decision; it’s a flaming arrow shot into the heart of the concept of equality. It’s an open declaration that the rules are not just bent but obliterated for those with the right connections, the right bank accounts. The message is clear: In the eyes of a warped system, some animals are more equal than others.
And what does this tell the average Joe? It tells them that the game is rigged, that the house always wins, and that the notion of 'justice for all' is as mythical as unicorns and as extinct as dodos. It’s a carnival of madness where the rich and powerful ride the Ferris wheel of fortune, while the rest of us can barely afford a ticket to the sideshow.
This isn’t just a blow; it’s a loud and clear call to arms. A wake-up slap for every sleeping soul who thought maybe, just maybe, there was a shred of fairness left in this country. We need to rise, not in quiet despair, but in roaring defiance. To demand a system that doesn’t grovel at the feet of mammon and power. To reclaim the tattered remnants of our dignity and demand not just equality but justice – real justice, blind to wealth and status.
So let’s not just seethe in silent fury. Let’s take this travesty, this obscene perversion of justice, and use it as fuel. Fuel for change, for action. Because if we don’t stand up now, if we don’t scream from every rooftop that we’ve had enough of this farcical charade, then we might as well admit that the soul of America is not just sick, but on its deathbed.
This is our fight, not just against a ruling, but against the very forces that would have us believe that we are powerless. They’ve shown their hand, and it’s up to us to call their bluff. With the ferocity of a thunderstorm, with the unyielding force of a tidal wave, we must demand a return to sanity, to a world where justice isn’t just a plaything for the rich. It’s time to take back what’s ours.
Here's a wild idea: Rather than dutifully mailing our tax payments like the obedient American lambs we've been, how about we pen a defiant note to the IRS? "Dear IRS, the coffers are bare, and my wallet's as thin as political promises. So, here's a crisp $20 bill. Let's just square up and call it a day, shall we?"
I feel angry and frustrated. It's infuriating.
NY Appeals Court offered no reason for cutting his bond by over 60%, and they stayed several key clauses in the judgment imposed by Judge Arthur Engeron, leaving only the Monitor and Compliance Director in place. Such a deal! How many judges does this guy own anyway? Just sickening, all of it.
I am reminded of the contest at the county fair in which the participants attempted to catch a greased pig. It was a hoot. This is not. I keep hoping though.