All my comments are constructed with rich Corinthian leather

No, they’ll just say it’s only valid if they do it, like an annulment vs. a divorce

Blessed are the rich and powerful, for they fill God’s collection plate

I bet he would have treated it much better if it were upholstered

No, it will be easy. The law will be whatever President Donald Trump Jr. and Chief Justice Eric Trump say it is. Easy peasy!

“The Trump Administration seems hellbent on dismantling the system of checks and balances which are the pillars of a democratic society,” said Mandeep Tiwana, Interim Co-Secretary General of CIVICUS, in a press release. “Restrictive Executive Orders, unjustifiable institutional cutbacks, and intimidation tactics through threatening pronouncements by senior officials in the Administration are creating an atmosphere to chill democratic dissent, a cherished American ideal.”

Don’t give the Administration all the credit, Congress deserves some credit, also, for enabling this imperial Presidency and abdicating its role as a check on the Presidency just because of the ® after his name.

The Courts have bent over backwards, also, to find minor jurisdictional reasons to delay having to put out any firm rulings against the Administration.

Did any of the “reporters” there challenge them on this essential point?

I hope not. But if he was, there’s really no reason for El Salvador to keep him, is there?

I did say “might”…

"Who knew the global economy could be so complicated? :shrug: "

Two reasons. First, they’re not wrong: now that the man is in foreign custody, the US can do nothing more than ask for his release. The Administration cannot compel his release. They could ask forcefully, but El Salvador can still decline.

But second, the administration did this on purpose, because it can. They set up this foreign prison precisely so that people they sent there can never be forced to come back by any US court, in direct opposition to the US Constitution. And they are doing this publically, so everyone knows that people can be “disappeared” by this government. Any foreign national is at risk of being "administrative error"ed into non-existence. And let’s face it, that means any human in the US can be, because anyone who can’t prove their citizenship status on the spot will be presumed to be a non-citizen, and even people with documentation on their person can have it confiscated and “lost”. It is straight-up intimidation of people who the President doesn’t like.

Well, a third reason, too: if this guy ever comes back and tells his story to the press, that might be the thing that snaps all the MAGAs out of their trance. So it is not in the Administration’s interest to ever have him come back.

Donald Trump did not become President (Twice!) by listening to experts.

It got far enough that the judge made Trump secure a bond for the full amount in case he couldn’t pay. I assume he finally did pay up, in fact it might have forced him deeper into crypto once he realized people would pay for his shitty tokens.

Do you think they’re gonna want to come back after we cancel their Social Security Numbers?

He is objectively lighter now. Probably more than 20 pounds. He was probably well over 244 in 2020, though, so it tracks.

Judges have broad power to enforce civil settlements. Just look at all the shit that NY did to Trump to collect on the E Jean Carroll lawsuit. I’m not sure whether she actually collected, but I assume he sold enough $TRUMP to easy marks to pay for it all.

… He has the mind and attitude of someone seventy years younger!

They can always just keep paying and not use it, or let some of their American friends use it. But they are not impossible to get out of. There is an entire industry revolving around transferring timeshares. Like any other contract, it is more costly to get out of early, but it can be done if you are motivated enough.

Yup, I’m right there with you. There is a saying, “Never let the perfect be the enemy of the good”, which applies here. Everyone who was able to vote but withheld it because she wasn’t the perfect candidate will be judged the same in the history books as enablers of genocide and fascism.

I have a bit more grace for those who voted third party, but only a bit. It’s not their fault that the system is so fucked up that third parties don’t stand a chance. But every third-party vote was still, effectively, half a vote for genocide and fascism.

When both sides are bad, the lesser of two evils may be the best choice.