Out of idle curiosity, who would our US based fans rather stand at the next election? Mr Orange or Mr Florida and separate question, if one of them does win, which would you prefer?
I appreciate it’s another “which foot do you wish to cut off “ question.
Jesus. 
On the one hand, Trump’s ability to instigate his followers and generally corrosive impact on the country is unmatched. He’s like Beyonce, he tells MAGA jump and they say how high — and he’s made clear that a second term would be no-holds-barred. Still, the amount of baggage that he’s carrying makes him untenable for indepdendents and even some Republicans who think he’s a political liability; note the number of rats who jumped the ship given the GOP’s underperformance in the fall (same rats stayed with him through his presidency and 1/6). In that way, it feels like Trump standing would be preferable, since this is a flagging Trump, not Trump of 2016. Plus he’s obese and not particularly healthy.
On the other, DeSantis does not have the same natural charisma that Trump does, but seems more stealthy in getting things done. He’s a giant jerk but smart enough to know to not be completely corrupt out in the open like Trump — also not cognitively declining like Trump. In some ways, I would rather anyone than Trump, but I also don’t think DeSantis is any more appealing to independents and will never have fans backing him with the same fervor. I certainly would not want either in office but feel like DeSantis is only slightly less worse.
It’s a decision between whether they want to win or to be ideologically pure. I saw a poll the other day that ~40% of Republicans want someone who stands with their values vs. someone who will actually win…and that suggests to me that Trump is still alive and kicking with his supporters, even if they think he might lose (again).
The second question is easier to answer for me. DeSantis over Trump for me. I can’t stand him, but I think Trump is even worse. DeSantis will run the ideological playbook, and the phony culture war will grate enormously. But Trump is altogether more corrupt and dangerous. I think if Trump gets in as President again, he will have learned from his first go, and will have learned how to do significantly more damage next time round, hard as it is to imagine.
As for the first question, who would I rather stand? That’s tough, because in a choice between Trump and DeSantis for President, reluctantly I would choose the latter. However, if I were to consider who is more likely to lose to Biden, I think Trump is more likely to lose.
He has already been beat, comprehensively, by Biden. And even though most Republicans still burn a candle for Trump, there is still a decent sized group that doesn’t like him (most do not speak up) and have concluded that Trump is bad for their prospects of winning.
If more of the legal jeopardy Trump currently faces gains traction in the coming months, it will hopefully be even more damaging to his prospects of beating Biden, should he gain the nomination.
It’s laughable that Trump is trying to head off any indictments by claiming that the Democrats want to take him out of the game , when in fact there is no-one they actually fear less up against Biden than him.
I actually find it disorientating when I try and grapple with how fucking simple this cunt is.
The problem here is that he NEEDS publicity to fuel his re-election. Without media talking about everytrhing he does he would never have gotten elected and would be unlikely to be re-elected.
I usually think it an effort in vain to try to find any strategy behind what he does beyond him scratching an emotional itch, but I did hear something yesterday that kind of made sense. The MAGA movement has such stark generational lines and has resulted in lots of intrafamily conflict. In response that that, Trump is telling his people that it’s ok if your kids hate you and if they do its their fault. You’re excused to think its your kids who are shit not you.
To the surprise of no one (maybe in timing)… 
My dad and I agree that a lot of his speech is comprised of filler words/phrases looking to keep it together long enough to get to his next coherent thought. If those bewitched by him had any interest in reality, they’d quickly realize that his whole persona is built on a house of cards, but they are not and thus they don’t care.
Do we change it to the Perp Walking Eagle Thread now?
How about the ‘Lock Him Up’ thread instead ?
Don Jr says that this criminal indictment would make Mao, Stalin and Pol Pot blush.
I’m not sure Jr is fully across what those three scallywags got up to.
Compared to Don Snr, I would rather take my chances with any of those 3 scallywags
Jesus how fucking thick is he!!
So if this trial is, as many republicans claim a witch-hunt, then does that mean after he is found quilty he can be burnt at the stake?
Kimberly Guilfoyle might have something to contribute, but I’m not sure I want to know.
Some polymer resins can give off cyanide gas when burnt you know
In a year or two the thread title will have to be changed…
The Walking Jail Bird Thread … maybe
I’m a bit torn on this. He is obviously guilty as hell, and he should be in jail.
However, this is not the most serious thing he should be facing. He should be prosecuted for January 6th, but my concern is he might beat the rap for this, and then the impetus for bringing an indictment for a far more serious case will be gone.
He is already raising millions off this, and his base is already saying it’s a witch hunt.
Will the stomach exist to charge him with far more serious crimes around the events of January 6th?
I’d suggest The Perp Walking Eagle Thread.
Fuck what his base says. Trump broke our politics as far back as the summer of 16 when he ran his nomination constantly accusing his opponents of illegal tactics to steal it from him. From that point on he created a series of no good option forks in the road. At every step since people have been faced with decisions of what to do and been too cute in trying to play sort of game theory scenario, but its against people who are not playing. There is no war-gaming out good solutions with smart tactics. The outcome is going to be shit because his people will ensure that. So people need to stop with the galaxy brain approaches of thinking there is a way of getting the right outcome without doing the right thing, and just do the fucking right thing and let the chips fall where they will. In this case, the right thing is holding him accountable for crimes that were directly related to his ability to win the fucking thing in the first place.
As for the more serious crimes. I dont think Jack Smith would have taken the appointment without full knowledge of what was facing him should he end up indicting Trump. I dont see how his perspective or calculations will be altered by bad reactions to this completely unrelated indictment outside of his jurisdiction.