Post AWn1g1PZIz4eSnmZUW by Devilstower@mstdn.social
(DIR) More posts by Devilstower@mstdn.social
(DIR) Post #AWn1fmsnK2XVP6LCSm by Devilstower@mstdn.social
2023-06-17T17:19:59Z
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From the time he made the most ridiculous entrance in political history, riding down a golden escalator to spew an almost unbroken stream of anti-immigrant rhetoric, one part Donald Trump’s appeal has been obvious: He’s a racist. A misogynist. An unfettered narcissist whose wealth and connections have allowed him to cheat contractors, defraud investors, insult whoever he chooses, endanger workers, and sexually assault women. …
(DIR) Post #AWn1fnrPgf1qR6hbwu by Devilstower@mstdn.social
2023-06-17T17:21:39Z
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Trump is so crude he’ll talk about the size of his daughter’s breasts in a radio interview. So heartless he’ll make his disdain for prisoners of war and Gold Star parents into a campaign plank. So brazen he’ll tell obvious lies, tell a different lie five minutes later, then deny what he said on camera in front of an audience. His ego is infinite. His self-awareness nonexistent. …
(DIR) Post #AWn1foXx8V3YZ2baFs by Devilstower@mstdn.social
2023-06-17T17:22:57Z
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Trump is an unrepentant bully. That alone is enough to make him appealing to many, for the same reason high school bullies have henchmen.But it’s not Trump’s biggest appeal. The big pull, the thing that turned Trump from a clown on a gaudy yellow staircase into a nightmare in the White House, is that he holds out the same offer to his followers that he enjoys: the promise of cruelty without consequence. …
(DIR) Post #AWn1fpFCXheQjAq7fM by Devilstower@mstdn.social
2023-06-17T17:26:42Z
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Over the course of Trump’s time in the big chair, he pardoned Steve Bannon for defrauding fans out of $25 million to pay for a fictional border wall. He gave racist Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio a pass on contempt of court. George Papadopoulos was given a gold star after lying to federal investigators. Conservative talk show host Conrad Black was forgiven for obstruction. Roger Stone was convicted of seven felonies with direct connections to Trump’s campaign. Just like that, Trump set him free. …
(DIR) Post #AWn1fq4bSalfIatAmm by Devilstower@mstdn.social
2023-06-17T17:29:17Z
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Trump may as well have put up a sign declaring any friend of his could do as they pleased, without concern about morality or legality. In fact, anyone on the team was also up for this Get Out of Jail Free card.Trump didn’t just brush away laws like cobwebs when it came to his friends. He made it abundantly clear that he was there for those who would swear allegiance, like a trio of Republican ex-congressmen who were given passes on everything from securities fraud to money laundering. …
(DIR) Post #AWn1fqrAY1cFjDbxU8 by Devilstower@mstdn.social
2023-06-17T17:30:32Z
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The franchise was also extended to those who did things that Trump and his fan base admired. That included giving full pardons to Dwight and Steven Hammond, a pair of Oregon ranchers and serial arsonists who were part of Ammon Bundy’s anti-government uprising. …
(DIR) Post #AWn1frVE95etjSLwvI by Devilstower@mstdn.social
2023-06-17T17:33:34Z
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Then Trump topped himself by pardoning Clint Lorance for casually ordering the murder of two civilians in Afghanistan. And pardoning Mathew Golsteyn for murdering a civilian. And he pardoned Edward Gallagher, who not only murdered a prisoner by slowly sticking a knife into his neck, but went on to desecrate the man’s body before posing for a few pictures. Gallagher’s own squad testified against him. …
(DIR) Post #AWn1fsEbQNxG0BaBeK by Devilstower@mstdn.social
2023-06-17T17:34:30Z
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All of the above were found guilty in military courts before officers and men who had served in the same areas. All of them had their convictions reversed, and their crimes blessed, by Trump. …
(DIR) Post #AWn1ftPz1YeVflun1k by Devilstower@mstdn.social
2023-06-17T17:35:43Z
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If there’s any doubt that this trend would continue, Trump has already declared he would pardon a “large portion” of those convicted in the Jan. 6 insurgency. He’s also announced his support for Daniel Penny, who choked homeless man Jordan Neely to death in front of multiple witnesses and cameras on the New York subway. (Trump’s far from alone in this one. Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley have both promised to pardon Penny, too.) …
(DIR) Post #AWn1fuUH35g8zMvjM0 by Devilstower@mstdn.social
2023-06-17T17:36:27Z
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It’s been said many times that in the modern Republican Party, cruelty is the point, But Donald Trump’s real promise is that those who follow his path get to be cruel—and never pay for it. …
(DIR) Post #AWn1fvRTUz29wyd0d6 by Devilstower@mstdn.social
2023-06-17T17:39:52Z
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Trump is the exemplar of this system. He’s weathered over 3,000 lawsuits, most from his refusal to pay debts. He’s walked away from charges of racial discrimination with nothing more than a promise to be good next time. He’s faced down 106 charges of money laundering, charitable theft, and fraud. The worst thing that ever happened to him was that he wrote a check. Even a jury trial finding that Trump sexually assaulted writer E. Jean Carroll cost him less than he can grift in a week. …
(DIR) Post #AWn1fwHwLv08ZhAuPI by Devilstower@mstdn.social
2023-06-17T17:40:50Z
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All of this is why it’s vitally important that Trump not just be indicted, not just be found guilty, but that he PAY by serving a serious, lengthy prison sentence. Otherwise, his supporters will receive exactly the message Trump has been sending them all along: Special people, people like Trump, can always walk away. …
(DIR) Post #AWn1fxBwzfnvNPNdi4 by Devilstower@mstdn.social
2023-06-17T17:42:00Z
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Even the courtesies that the FBI and Department of Justice have been providing Trump so far—the courtesy warnings before indictments are produced, the waving of mugshots, the failure to impose any bail or travel restrictions—only serve to reinforce the message that, even when caught, nothing bad really happens. His followers see that. They internalize it. They live it. …
(DIR) Post #AWn1fy37nyL42KG6am by fcktheworld587@social.linux.pizza
2023-06-17T17:49:32Z
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@Devilstower they're already seeing that for years. The J6 people are being handed out clown-ass sentences for trying to overthrow the government. Black kids get worse sentences for petty theft, every day, than these cousin-fucking terrorists are getting for literally storming the capitol. And let's be real - had it been the other side trying to storm the capitol, the police would have opened fire, with live ammo, in a heartbeat. It would have been a massacre.
(DIR) Post #AWn1fzN0tVqG8IZVEO by Devilstower@mstdn.social
2023-06-17T17:43:01Z
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Trump himself keeps complaining that if the government can come after him, they can come after anyone, and in a way that's true: If Trump has to pay, then his promise to his supporters falls apart. Only by seeing that Trump receives punishment on the scale of anyone else charged with the same crimes can his supporters be convinced that their bully can’t protect them. That the next pardon won’t have their name on it. That eventually, everyone has to pay for their actions. …
(DIR) Post #AWn1g1PZIz4eSnmZUW by Devilstower@mstdn.social
2023-06-17T17:43:56Z
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That lesson had better be taught. It had better be clear. And it had better be soon.