Trump 53: Orange Florida Man Awaiting Indictment

[GreyhoundFan]

Ricky made the pilgrimage to kiss the giant orange ass ring:

[church_of_dog]

1 hour ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Ricky made the pilgrimage to kiss the giant orange ass ring:

Former Guy's not looking so good there.  More of a painful grimace than his usual superior grin.

[GreyhoundFan]

10 hours ago, church_of_dog said:

Former Guy's not looking so good there.  More of a painful grimace than his usual superior grin.

I’d be grimacing too if I had to be near Ricky. 

[Cartmann99]

 

More details:

Spoiler

Spoiler

[fraurosena]

Trump ruined the GOP's brand. Now he's trying to keep it from using his.

Quote

Former President Donald Trump's legal antics continue, but this time it could cost his party millions of dollars and potentially its ability to regain control of the House and the Senate.

Trump is apparently still smarting because 10 Republicans in the House voted to impeach him and seven Republicans in the Senate voted to convict him based on his involvement with the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

This was made abundantly clear when he sent a cease-and-desist letter ordering the Republican National Committee and other GOP campaign committees to stop using his name or likeness in fundraising materials, including emails and merchandise. In essence, Trump told the three biggest fundraising arms of the Republican Party and some additional committees to stop referring to him when asking for campaign donations.

The RNC responded that it is well within its legal rights to use Trump's identity in fundraising materials. The committee argued that a request for a political donation is considered political speech and that the RNC and other campaign committees have the right to mention Trump, a public figure and arguably the standard-bearer of the party, as part of its political speech. Put another way, the RNC suggested that Trump shouldn't be able to trample on its First Amendment rights to mention him when raising money. Oh, the irony.

The RNC very likely has the better legal argument here. Trump, as the former president, is a public figure to end all public figures. This limits his ability to prevent people from using his name or likeness. Furthermore, he is almost by definition newsworthy, and therefore mentions of him will typically be protected under the First Amendment. In other words, it's hard to see how Trump can wrest away the RNC's First Amendment right to refer to him in fundraising materials.

While Trump seems not terribly concerned with the First Amendment rights of the RNC, he will use the First Amendment as a defense in the two civil cases pending against him for his role in inciting the Jan. 6 riot. Reps. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., have sued Trump for his involvement in the events of Jan. 6 — yes, the same event that led to his second impeachment. And yes, the same impeachment that garnered some Republican support and apparently led Trump to tell the RNC to stop using his name for fundraising.
Trump's approach to the First Amendment and whom it protects may be inconsistent, but his desire to control his name, likeness or brand is consistent with actions he has taken for years to zealously guard control over his identity.

Trump has a pattern of licensing the use of his name or brand for his own benefit; there is nothing improper about that, but the Republican Party isn't a hotel looking to cash in on his name. Technically it is looking to cash in on Trump's name, but as a political party, it's for different purposes. A hotel wants customers. The Republican Party wants money to help bolster its candidates. We can't treat those two situations as similar.
It was just last year that they jointly raised more than $350 million in the 2020 election. It may be that the Republican Party needs Trump more than he needs the Republican Party. Trump remains popular among Republican voters. And while at least in pandemic years it may feel like the midterms are eons away, the time to start fundraising is yesterday.

Trump is well aware of the time constraints when it comes to fundraising and how popular he continues to be with certain donors. Just recently, when he spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference, he told attendees that the only way to support Republicans who support him is through his political action committee, Save America.

Given all this strife, will the union between the Republican Party and Trump survive?

The Save America PAC has more than $80 million in the bank. Trump's calls to donate only to an entity controlled by him, and not to the traditional Republican Party committees, could divert millions to him in the lead-up to the 2022 midterm elections. In addition, the PAC allows Trump to raise unlimited sums and use that money to donate to other political activities or candidates. The PAC is, in other words, a flexible tool for Trump, and it gives him more control than if that money were given to the RNC.

In the end, while Trump's cease-and-desist letter is unlikely to be legally successful, it may already be a political win, at least for him. Trump has now put himself and his   PAC front and center in the minds of would-be political donors. The publicity is likely to serve him well as he continues to raise money and exert his control over the Republican Party.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

More charity money going in the big orange pockets:

 

[fraurosena]

Not only does he look terrible, as @GreyhoundFan pointed out earlier, but it looks like he lost a lot of weight in a very short time. Has losing his Twitter account, the elections and the rally adoration also made him lose his appetite, or is it the anxiety about the litigation he is facing that is eating away at him?

 

Edited March 14, 2021 by fraurosena
Riffle

[fraurosena]

I’m at a loss for words...

 

[onekidanddone]

5 hours ago, fraurosena said:

I’m at a loss for words...

 

 TiTWaTA
 This isTrump We are Taking About

[WiseGirl]

What the fuck are they Saving America from? We need to be saved from them!

Is he trying to look healthier, be healthier? Is it an image redo? Is something eating at him? Getting in shape for prison yard aerobics? 

If it looks like a OFM, talks like an OFM, it's still an insurrectionist, seditious OFM.

[Alisamer]

Wow. The former guy looks like he's aged 50 years in 2 months. Usually it's being president that ages people, not what happens afterward. 

If he was a decent person, I might be a little worried about him. But he's not, so... oh well!

(Also, note to the former guy - it generally works better if you change your appearance AFTER you go on the run. FYI.)

[47of74]

Fuck face and his groupies caused the flag to lose much of its meaning. 

Quote

When the postal worker slid the book of “forever” stamps through the opening of the bulletproof glass, I was caught off guard. They were American flag stamps.

When did the flag become such a symbol of pain and loathing to me?

When did that change? Was it when former President Donald Trump came to power and started using it as a prop to bolster his image as a patriot?

After the events of Jan. 6, I’m having an even more difficult time seeing the American flag as a symbol of “one nation under God.”

 

[front hugs > duggs]

4 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

Fuck face and his groupies caused the flag to lose much of its meaning. 

 

I've felt this way for a while. I'm terrified as wearing anything "Americana" because of the assumptions I make about others when I see them. This should not be the case with our country's flag .

[fraurosena]

As a foreigner I have never quite understood all the Americana, the flag waving and cries of patriotism. The fact that it's normal to hoist the flag in your front yard or from your house every day is really strange. Why is it, that Americans feel this need? 

In my country, the flag is only flown from government buildings every day. You will not see the flag flying from our houses other than on King's Day (the king's birthday on April 27) and Remembrance Day (on May 4, at half mast) and Liberation Day (May 5). And even then, not many people do it. The only time that the flag is flown without fail is when high school students pass their last exams, and the flag is hoisted with their school bag in the mast to signify they've graduated. 

We Dutch aren't much for patriotism. Except for soccer. Then we go nuts. 

Spoiler

 

[CTRLZero]

1 hour ago, front hugs > duggs said:

This should not be the case with our country's flag .

A neighbor stopped by after seeing our American flag and indicated that he thought it meant we were right wing conspiracy theorists (like him).  We have been acquainted with this guy for over 30 years, and we were just baffled by how he’s converted into a nut job.  We suspected after he was ranting about access to hydrochloroquinine (guessing at spelling), but chalked it up to fear and misinformation during the pandemic early days.  He keeps wanting to share Q sourced articles with us, but my husband has put him off saying he’s middle of the road in his politics.  
It is really sad that he’s taken this turn in his life.  He’s started alienating his adult children due to his politics, and now we try to avoid him except to say hello.  So difficult.  Anyway, we’re still flying our flag, but now I also want to get a rainbow flag.  ?

6 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

Why is it, that Americans feel this need?

Good question.  In our case, I think it’s because my husband retired after about 40 years of military duty, so we have quite the collection.  He’s pretty patriotic, but I’m saddened that post-tRump it’s somehow symbolic only of right wingedness. 

[47of74]

Most of my family are not the kind who have flags in their yards.  Even the military veterans in my family in my parents generation aren’t so much into flying the flag.

My dad has my grandpa’s flag in the house. It was either the one they used at his funeral or one he received as an honor of done sort. Otherwise my dad is not one of the flag waving set even though he served in Vietnam. 

I certainly don’t feel the need to have one up. Before it was just not feeling the need to prove anything to anyone. Now it’s that plus people might make the wrong assumptions about me. 

[47of74]

And on the Ides of March fuck face is not Julius Caesar

Quote

Both Trump’s supporters and his fiercest enemies, though, love to compare him to one man in particular: Julius Caesar. This obsession with equating Trump with figures from ancient history annoys me because it inevitably leads to the distortion of history to suit the needs of the present.

Donald Trump is not Julius Caesar. In fact, quite frankly, calling Donald Trump “the modern-day Julius Caesar” is an insult to Caesar. Caesar did some terrible things, but he was nonetheless extremely skilled general and strategist, a charismatic and competent leader, and an eloquent writer and speaker. He was known for showing clemency towards his political enemies, for doing things to help the poor at the expense of the rich, and for controversially extending Roman citizenship to members of many Gallic tribes. Caesar, in other words, may have been a tyrant, but he was at least a progressive tyrant.

Donald Trump, on the other hand, is none of these things; he is hopelessly incompetent at both political and military strategy; he is boorish; and he is so inept at speaking that half the time he is just spewing garbled nonsense and the other half of the time he is just throwing out random names, phrases, and epithets in desperate attempt to elicit some kind of reaction from his supporters. The very idea of extending citizenship to foreigners is utterly antithetical to Donald Trump’s worldview. Meanwhile, he literally campaigned on the idea that he would throw his political opponent in jail. Finally, as recent events reveal, he seems only capable of giving to charity when legally obligated to.

 

[church_of_dog]

For decades now I have felt that display of the American flag in front of buildings (other than Federal Office Buildings) indicates a partisan opinion, and not one I share.

The only time as a kid we put out a flag was on Independence Day. I was surprised my parents even owned a flag for that purpose.

As an adult, I have found two, and only two, situations in which I get emotional in a positive, "patriotic" way upon seeing my country's flag.

First, and this is conceptual because I don't see it in real life, is when ocean-going ships display their flag to identify where they are from.

And second is when displayed by the national contingent of athletes at the Olympics.

Rest of the time?  Bleah.  And I avoid flag stamps too when I can.

[AmericanRose]

Growing up, my family didn't have a flag. But shortly after Trump was inaugurated, one appeared on the front porch.

[front hugs > duggs]

3 hours ago, AmericanRose said:

Growing up, my family didn't have a flag. But shortly after Trump was inaugurated, one appeared on the front porch.

Someone who lives about 5 minutes down the road has had a trump sign since we moved to the area. After the election he took the flag down....

and replaced it with a confederate flag ?

[GreyhoundFan]

Snaps of the former guy:

 

Maybe Walmart is hiring...

[church_of_dog]

If Trump was a good guy, I might say he is looking better in that he seems to be losing unhealthy weight.  I've noticed that sometimes people look older as they lose weight, both because more wrinkles in the skin, and because a thinner face is often interpreted as  "gaunt" if it's a change we're not used to yet.  In my opinion, of course.

The other thing is he's got no orange makeup on, which I also think it a good thing.

But neither of those things makes him a good person.

[WiseGirl]

This is a joke,  right...right?

https://nypost.com/2021/03/16/trump-says-he-hopes-meghan-markle-runs-for-president-in-2024/

Why is it in several newspapers then? He thinks her run will return him to office? And they say Biden is delusional?  Wtf?

[thoughtful]

7 hours ago, WiseGirl said:

This is a joke,  right...right?

https://nypost.com/2021/03/16/trump-says-he-hopes-meghan-markle-runs-for-president-in-2024/

Why is it in several newspapers then? He thinks her run will return him to office? And they say Biden is delusional?  Wtf?

He wants her to be the nominee so she can lose to him.

Can we just have faux elections running concurrently with the real ones, in which people who have no government experience or skills can run against one another while the rest of us vote for people who can actually run a country?

I have no idea if Markle has any skills in this area, or whether she is actually thinking of entering politics. But I'd love to see Trump, MTG, Boebert, Hawley, Cruz, Gaetz, Ron the Racist Johnson, Jordan, and other "Look at me - I'm in office! Isn't it coooool?" people shifted over to a pageant/reality show version of elections, where they can do no harm.

Just persuade them they are actually running for something. A Truman Show-type environment may need to be built (where is the Star Trek holodeck when you really need it?).

I don't suppose MItch McConnell is stupid enough to fall for the ruse.

[GreyhoundFan]

More attempts to stuff the big orange pockets because he was so successful in running casinos in Atlantic City...: "Trump’s Florida resort touted as potential gambling destination"

Quote

Former president Donald Trump’s son Eric, who runs the family’s private company, touted the potential of transforming their Doral golf resort into a gambling destination amid a push among Florida Republicans to legalize casinos in areas of the state that have long opposed them.

Although Republican legislative leaders have not yet submitted a bill, word of a proposal has spread widely enough that supporters and opponents already are gearing up for a fight that they say could be more intense than in previous years, due to Donald Trump’s potential interest and his close relationship with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).

The bill would allow developers to transfer gambling licenses to properties in areas where casinos have long been prohibited and bar local municipal governments from intervening, according to a half-dozen policymakers, lobbyists and other stakeholders, some of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because the bill’s language has not yet been made public.

“My understanding is they are trying to take the gambling permits that are in South Florida and make them portable and preempt local governments from stopping them,” said Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber (D), a longtime opponent of gambling. The Miami Beach City Commission on Wednesday authorized the hiring of outside legal counsel to challenge the legality of such a move.

Eric Trump said in a statement to The Washington Post on Tuesday that the Doral property in Miami, which has suffered from a drop in business due to the pandemic and his father’s polarizing presidency, would be a natural choice.

The elder Trump famously built an Atlantic City casino empire that ended in bankruptcies in the early 1990s. He then repeatedly advocated for the expansion of casinos in Florida before entering politics.

“Many people consider Trump Doral to be unmatched from a gaming perspective — at 700 acres, properties just don’t exist of that size and quality in South Florida, let alone in the heart of Miami,” Eric Trump said in an email. He declined to say whether the company was pushing for the bill.

During Donald Trump’s presidency, revenue at the heavily indebted club dropped steeply, falling 44 percent last year as the pandemic struck, according to his government disclosure form.

Florida currently limits gambling mostly to tribal casinos and horse racing properties. A political battle over whether to expand gambling occurs almost annually in the state capital in Tallahassee, but people on different sides of the issue say this year’s proposal may be more likely to succeed.

“We’ve been trying to do this for eight years, and this is the closest we’ve gotten,” said one person familiar with the proposal.

Said Miami Beach’s Gelber: “When you hear that there’s support for it from both chambers and the governor’s office, it’s frightening.”

Two people familiar with the proposal said it is being shepherded by Senate President Wilton Simpson, a Republican from Trilby, and could be introduced later this week or early next.

Katie Betta, a Simpson spokeswoman, said in a statement that “gaming negotiations are extremely complicated, and while Simpson believes the efforts are worthy, it is also important to be realistic about where we are.”

Simpson “has been involved in these negotiations for years, and if they get to a place where he believes an agreement would benefit the State of Florida and have the support of his colleagues in the Legislature as well as the Governor, he would be happy to discuss further details,” she said. She said the senator had not discussed gambling with Trump.

Spokespeople for DeSantis and Trump did not immediately reply to requests for comment. DeSantis, who is widely considered to have national political ambitions, has worked since before his 2018 election to build a rapport with Trump and strongly supported his reelection.

Brian Ballard, a longtime Trump ally and powerful Florida lobbyist, is working to expand gaming in Florida, people familiar with his activities say. A person close to Ballard said he was not working on behalf of Trump for the venture but instead was working for sports leagues and other clients.

Although Republicans control the state House, Senate and executive branch, support for gambling expansion has not always fallen along partisan lines. Miami-area leaders of both parties have teamed up with Disney and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which operates tribal casinos, to defeat past proposals. The state constitution also requires that voters ultimately approve gambling through a ballot measure.

Republican real estate developer Armando Codina, who has built offices, homes, restaurants and a school in the Doral area, said he was aware of the proposal and was already working to fight it, particularly because the negotiations “have happened in a dark room,” he said.

He said he did not know whether the former president was involved in crafting the plan but said the legislation could make Trump’s Doral resort worth hundreds of millions of dollars more if a casino opened there.

“I think this would be bad for Florida, and I think it would be terrible for Miami-Dade County,” Codina said. “We’ve created a venue that is a family venue. If this was to happen in Doral, we would over time probably sell a bunch of our interests.”

South Florida billionaire and philanthropist Norman Braman said the Miami area had no need for casinos, particularly given that the area has become a hub for art galleries and tech start-ups in recent years.

“We don’t need it,” Braman said. “It’s nonsense that tourists will come here to gamble. It just doesn’t make sense. It will feed off the community.”

Braman said it was “without question” that Trump’s presence in the state was affecting the debate, whether he was actively participating in the effort or not.

“There’s no secret that Doral would be the perfect place,” he said.

Codina and Braman spoke with Miami Beach city commissioners Wednesday to affirm their opposition to the measure, as did state Rep. Michael Grieco (D), who represents the area. Grieco said he was closely watching for any gambling-related provisions to be submitted in the capital.

“I will be the tip of the spear when it comes to anything coming across the House floor,” he said.

Before he ran for political office, Trump spent years trying to persuade Florida legislators to approve new casino licenses. After buying the Doral resort for $150 million in 2012, Trump began his efforts anew, hiring a top Florida lobbyist to try to get gambling approved and telling the Miami Herald in 2013, “I think gambling is a good thing for Miami.”

During a 2015 GOP primary presidential debate, fellow candidate Jeb Bush, who opposed gambling as Florida governor from 1999 to 2007, accused Trump of trying to buy his support for new casino licenses through campaign donations, which Trump denied.

“I promise, if I wanted it, I would have gotten it,” Trump said.

Building a casino at Doral could reverse Trump’s fortunes at the property, which suffered alongside other elements of his brand from his divisive politics, including the loss of a PGA Tour event in 2016 that was moved to Mexico.

Doral took an additional hit when the pandemic shut down much of the country’s corporate and meeting business, the resort’s bread and butter. Trump has a $125 million loan on the property from Deutsche Bank, according to government records. The full extent of the losses is not known, but the resort had lost $162.3 million through 2018, according to the New York Times.

But Trump’s Doral resort is not the only site expected to pursue casino licenses if they become available. Developer Jeffrey Soffer, owner of the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel, has repeatedly pushed for casino approval and recently purchased a parimutuel casino and former dog track north of Miami, renaming it the Big Easy Casino.

A company controlled by Soffer recently sold National Football League star Tom Brady property on Indian Creek Island, near where Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the former president’s daughter and son-in-law, plan to move.

“You could move a casino to the Fontainebleau the next day with 1,500 machines” if the bill passes, said one person familiar with the proposal.

Two people familiar with the proposal said that in addition to allowing new casinos, the bill would probably introduce sports betting into the state and allow the Seminole tribe to control much of the sports betting market as part of a revised compact with the state.

The site of the former Miami Herald headquarters also has been considered as a potential casino location in the past. Representatives for Soffer and the Seminole tribe did not respond to requests for comment.

Florida Rep. Joseph Geller, a Democrat who tracks gambling issues, said he had not seen any details of the bill. “Usually the whole thing is done behind the scenes,” he said.

Geller said the oft-used argument that gambling was needed to shore up the state budget was inadequate now that President Biden has signed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus package with roughly $10 billion to be directed to Florida.

Despite Trump’s popularity among Republicans, Geller said he was not sure there would be wide interest in helping him open a gambling operation, particularly given the collapse of Trump-run casinos in Atlantic City decades ago.

“This guy has bankrupted every casino he’s ever run. How do you bankrupt a casino?” he said. “I don’t think we need a failed casino. We don’t want to be the next Atlantic City.”