On Jan. 6, 2021, if you told me that we'd be where we are today, I wouldn't have believed you. Well, maybe I would since our current political mess derives from the gullibility and blindness of a big swatch of the American voting public. About 30 percent still believes Trump's huge lies about the 2020 presidential election being rigged against him and that he did absolutely nothing wrong, legally, ethically, or morally in its aftermath.
But here we are with the very real possibility that the Cheeto Julius Caesar could return to office in 2024. It's not impossible. Biden's age, voter indifference and whatever the shiny object of the moment will be next November could combine to propel Trumpy back into the White House. Hopefully that won't happen, but it's not out of the question.
What is inevitable or more than likely is Trump becoming the GOP nominee despite his multiple court cases and lawsuits. (See the calendar above handily provided by Morning Joe.) What's even sadder is than the wide field of Republican challengers with only the exception of Chris Christie and Asa Hutchison rose their hand at the debate in Milwaukee when asked if they would support Trump even if he is convicted of any of his many alleged transgressions.
Based on excerpts and recaps--I didn't have the stomach to watch the whole thing--Nikki Halley came across as the least objectionable to me. Even though she raised her hand when asked if she'd support a convicted Trump, she sounded pretty reasonable most of the time. She dared to tell the truth about Trump being the most unpopular politician in America, his driving up the national debt rather than lowering it and Dems asking for fewer millions in earmarks. I also loved that she chided Vavek Ramaswamy--or as I call him Rama-scam-y--on Urkaine and other issues. That guy's a nut. Never mind that he thinks Trump was the greatest prez of the 21st century, he thinks climate change is a hoax.
The big take-away is if Haley, Christie or even Pence were President, I wouldn't fear that our democracy was in peril. But even after a Trump-less debate they are all still polling in the single digits, so it unlikely Trump will lose the nomination, even if he is tried and convicted in any or all of the four cases. 2024 is not a matter of Dems vs. Repubs, but Trump vs. Democracy. Even if he loses, he going to say he won and we'll never hear the end of it.
Trump is basically running for prez to stay out of jail either by pardoning himself of all wrongdoing or have his stooge AG dismiss the charges (he's said as much to aides). But there would still be the Georgia case which is a state case rather than federal and therefore he could not be pardoned from it. Friends and Rachel Maddow have said if he wins, he aims to stay there even past 2028 to avoid any retribution. How would he accomplish that? It would mean amending the constitution and I don't see that happening.
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