The Red Hats Declare War (Not Really)
The Red Hats know on some level that their guy is guilty, hence the loudness of their blind defense of a crook.
by Bob Cesca
WASHINGTON, DC – You know how the Rocky movies usually begin with footage from the final bout in the previous movie? Here’s the last thing I wrote for The Banter two weeks ago:
We’re entering a new paradigm for the presidency – one in which, no, the president is not above the law. In a democracy, we’re all participants in the process of justice being served against a cruel, reckless, political monster. Merrick Garland appears to be doing his job, and we have an obligation to do ours, otherwise Trump will never be punished for his myriad crimes.
This was obviously before the FBI searched Donald Trump’s home at Mar-a-lago on Monday. Federal agents apparently seized 10 boxes of documents, according to The Wall Street Journal. In the same newsletter, I wrote this:
The entirety of the Red Hat entertainment complex and the Trump machine are about to deploy their radioactive orcs against Garland and Graves. And it's going to be next level violence against decency and facts.
So far, they’re ignoring Matthew Graves, the U.S. attorney in D.C., but the aforementioned radioactive orcs are on the warpath against Garland, and especially the judge who presumably signed the search warrant in this case. Vice News documented some of the threats:
“This is the piece of shit judge who approved FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago,” a user wrote on the pro-Trump message board formerly known as TheDonald. “I see a rope around his neck.”
“[I don’t give a fuck] anymore. Name? Address? Put that shit all up on here.” Moments later, a different member replied with what appears to be Reinhart’s current address, phone numbers, previous addresses, and names of possible relatives.In another post on the same message board, one user commented, “Let's find out if he has children....where they go to school, where they live...EVERYTHING.”
And, naturally, the entire rogues gallery of weirdos and flimflam artists who run the show – Don Junior, Rudy Giuliani, Sean Hannity, Jesse Watters, Jack Posobiec, Tucker Carlson, Trump himself, among others – are busily inciting suckers and incel lost boys to make threats like these. In classic Republican form, they’re engaged in eliminationist rhetoric designed to intimidate law enforcement officials while convincing cable news pundits to urge the Justice Department to ease up for the good of the nation.
It’s all meant to subvert the rule of law. Trump, they’re all saying, is clearly above the law, according to the usual sycophants – in other words, the law doesn’t rule at all. It’s at least third on the list below the ex-president and the inchoate rage of his disciples.
Sideshow freaks like Steven Crowder announced, “Sleep well. Tomorrow is war.” Jack Posobiec wrote: “The federal security state has declared war on Donald J Trump and his supporters.” Monica Crowley blurted, “This is the hill to die on.” Marjorie Taylor Greene said, “These are the type of things that happen in countries during civil war.” There are dozens more like this, not from rank-and-file supporters, but from the so-called “influencers” on the right. This is the message. A lawful search warrant issued against the host of the Celebrity Apprentice means it’s time for war.
One of the most popular and ominous warnings from the Red Hat entertainment complex is this, tweeted by Junior’s girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle among others: “If Biden and the FBI can do this to President Trump, imagine what they can do to you.” It’s difficult to find an adjective that sufficiently describes how ludicrous this is. They’re making it seem as though now that they’ve legally searched Trump’s resort, presumably with probable cause to do so, they’re coming for regular law-abiding Republican voters next.
19,598.
That’s how many search warrants were granted by federal judges in 2021 alone. 19,598 warrants were issued and searches were conducted against regular people in 2021 – we can assume an even mix of Republicans, Democrats, independents, and miscellaneous.
But we’re told by Trump and his lackeys that he’s above all that. He’s too important to be subject to the rule of law, even though all 320 million Americans absolutely are.
It goes without saying, too, that if I was accused of stealing classified documents and, when caught, only gave some of them back, I assure you, they would – and should – do the same to me. In fact, if I did something that illegal, I don’t think the Feds would give me eight months of wiggle room to play games and hide evidence (allegedly). I’d be in prison already.
All things considered, Garland, Christopher Wray, and the FBI are actually going easy on Trump, knowing the precedent this establishes. The FBI wasn’t even this hands-off with Michael Cohen or Paul Manafort or Jeffrey Clark who famously whined about being forced to wait on his driveway in his underwear while agents searched his house. Once again, Trump was handled with kid gloves then whined about how unfairly he’s treated. I don’t see any underwear photos, do you?
The Red Hats know on some level that their guy is guilty, hence the loudness of their blind defense of a crook. It could end up that Trump sold national defense secrets to the Saudis or worse. We don’t know, and neither do they, yet they’re wrapping their arms and legs around their messiah anyway, like idiots, while threatening violence against federal officials. These are the self-identified law and order people, right?
If Trump supporters decide to go to war in some fashion, they’ll quickly join the January 6 insurrectionists in federal prison. And it won’t be some minimum security country-club prison like where Trump could potentially spend some time when all is said and done.
Read the latest for Banter Members:
Audio Post: Trump Gets Raided. What Does This Mean?
Trump and the GOP are freaking out about this new, extraordinary development in the criminal investigations into the former president.
by Ben Cohen
Our newsletter platform Substack has just released a very neat way of recording audio files and uploading them directly into posts, so please take a listen to our very first “podcast post” (or “podcast article”?).
The raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last night was extremely significant. I discuss the GOP’s freakout, what this says about Merrick Garland, and what it could mean for the former president:
To listen, go here (and get your free trial!).
“If Trump supporters decide to go to war in some fashion, they’ll quickly join the January 6 insurrectionists in federal prison.”
Not if Republicans get control of either side of Congress.
The mentioned sideshow freaks better pay attention to the Jan 6 Committee and how the DOJ proceeds after that. If they can cite Donnie for inspiring violence imagine what a similar committee could to them...and they're not an ex-president.