"This is not America"
When you sue someone for $24 million and the jury awards you $83.3 million, I believe that's what the experts call a "FUCK YOU AND YOUR IDIOT LAWYER" verdict.
Roberta Kaplan and her colleagues did superior work, but they had help. Recall how Adam Kinzinger described the Trumpian bouquet: "armpits, ketchup, a butt and makeup." He was sitting close enough for the jury to hear his commentary during E. Jean Carroll's testimony, so they had to be able to smell him, too. Fifty dollars a day just doesn't cover it. I don't know what instructions the judge gave about avoiding television and social media but it's no secret that Alina Habba jerked them around, claiming she was too sick to work and then heading to New Hampshire to celebrate Trump's lackluster victory. Do not mess with New York juries.
Next week Judge Engoron will tell Trump how much he owes New York State in taxes and penalties. No jury in that case, just a judge who got a bomb threat on the last day of the trial, whose clerk was defamed for the offense of taking a picture with Chuck Schumer, not to mention the racist abuse flung at the attorney general. Popcorn, anyone?
No sooner had the jurors left the courthouse -- their names concealed even from one another -- than the Republican chum bucket began to writhe and heave with defenders. Matt "I Thought She Was Eighteen!" Gaetz: "A country where you cannot deny a fantastical, false allegation is not a free country!" Rudolph "I Didn't Know She Was My Cousin!" Giuliani: "It was sexual assault, not rape. And second, you can be guilty of rape and still a person can be a wacko." On second thought, maybe Habba is not his worst lawyer.
Trump the "billionaire" now has two options. He can pay Carroll the $83.3 million plus the $5 million she won in the first trial. Or he can appeal, which would require that he deposit $83.3 million with the court in the next thirty days. Given the state of their economy, I don't see any Chinese banks fronting him the money, which means, as one commenter remarked, "He'll need to sell a lot of red hats."
So what else is going on in "NOT AMERICA"?
Continuing the Republican outreach to women voters, Wisconsin state representative Joel Kitchens proclaimed himself an expert on abortion. It isn't health care, and he knows this because "I did thousands of ultrasounds on animals." That's right, he's a veterinarian. Last year a state rep in Idaho named Jack Nelsen made a similar claim to expertise, but he was only a dairy farmer. "I've milked a few cows, spent most of my time walking behind lines of cows, so if you want some ideas on repro and the women's health thing, I have some definite opinions." Like don't pull their tails, amirite?
Republican governors are also required to obey Trump, who ordered them to deploy their national guards to Texas "to prevent the entry of illegals, and to remove them back across the Border." Abbott is pretending that his "sovereign state" is under "invasion," which will be news to Mexico. Expect to hear a lot about John C. Calhoun and "nullification" in the coming days, which is what happens when Americans don't learn their own history.
But Abbott isn't only intent on re-enacting Fort Sumter -- he's willing to play the fool, too. He evidently doesn't know that social media posters frequently use noms de screen like Edith Prickly, MavenMaven, Schmannity and Frank Talk, Action Pundit! He thinks Irish superstar Liam Neeson has nothing better to do than teach ignorant Texans about immigration. Does that look like Liam Neeson, Greg? You deserve to have your guard nationalized, and so do all the clowns sending theirs to Texas.
Oh. I see you have.
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