The mobster takes the Fifth

"I am without doubt in the entire history of the world the person who has been the most persecuted."  

Who said it?  Actually it was Silvio Berlusconi, but Trump is a good guess.  Something they can debate at the next fascist summit.  Self-pity is essential when you get caught.  And Il Cavaliere was only convicted of tax fraud.  Nobody suggested he stole classified documents and gave or sold them to Italy's enemies.

Of course, Berlusconi is a better businessman than Trump and doesn't owe billions to banks and oligarchs in China and Russia.  Presumably he doesn't need Saud money to prop up his media empire, nor does he constantly beg supporters for contributions.  I'm not saying that's the reason stuff wound up in Trump's trophy room instead of the National Archives, but it's something to consider.  

Trump could also face charges of tax fraud.  The man who once said "Only the mob takes the Fifth" took it all day in the deposition he had to give in New York's investigation of his business practices.  And a federal appeals court says the House Ways and Means Committee can see his tax returns, which he claims have been "under audit" for about a decade.  When the walls close in, they all close in at once.

So where are we with the Great Raid?  This many Republicans with their hair on fire pose a serious risk, especially in the ultra-dry West.  May I respectfully suggest they go soak their heads?

Newsweek is reporting that "an FBI confidential human source" told them what documents Trump stole and where he was hiding them.  Didn't I read that Cassidy Hutchinson briefly worked in Florida after the retreat from Washington to the Palm Beach redoubt?  She may have to move from a safe house to a safer house.  

"Defund the FBI" remains a popular ranting point, along with "If they can do this to an important white man, just think what they can do to you!"  To recap:  A federal magistrate named Bruce Reinhart signed a search warrant and agents executed it.  It's what they do.  It's like screaming "Break up the post office!" because someone delivered an enormous phone bill.  (In a previous career Reinhart apparently represented some associates of Jeffrey Epstein, who are as entitled to lawyers -- and even the Fifth -- as Trump is.  Say...)

There is a story of Stalin addressing the Politburo and getting an ovation that went on and on and on, until everyone's hands were swollen and bloody, because the first to stop clapping was the first to be shot.  I always suspected it was apocryphal, but now that I see the mad rush to elevate Trump and demonize his "enemies" I believe it.  This is the totalitarian mind-set.  Rick Scott wins the rubber swastika for being first to invoke the Gestapo; while Joey Gilbert, who just lost the gubernatorial primary in Nevada, chimed in, "AG Garland is no better than Himmler."  Those who don't like the way Garland does his job should remember that he is supposed to be on the Supreme Court.  Thank McConnell and his "Constitution I just pulled out of my ass."  The one that says presidents can't appoint justices in their second term but if they've been impeached multiple times -- no problem. 

Naturally Hillary's emails got an airing, along with Hunter's laptop and Chip Carter sharing a joint with Willie Nelson on the White House roof.  (I could be wrong about the last one.)  Here's an interesting tweet from Garance Franke-Ruta:  "As a follow-through on his campaign promise to 'lock up' Hillary Clinton, Trump signed a law in 2018 stiffening penalties for improper removal of classified documents -- from one year in jail to five years, turning it into a felony offense."  That would be too sweet to digest, but I'd love to try.  

The lucky subscribers to Ministry of Truth Social have had a banquet of self-pity, dire predictions and pretzel logic.  It's hard to choose just one little dim sum, but how's this for what Woody Allen in a simpler time called "the zenith of mongoloid reasoning"?  "What is the difference between this and Watergate, when operatives broke into the Democrat [sic] National Committee?  Here, in reverse, Democrats broke into the home of the 45th President of the United States."  OK, I'll play:  G. Gordon Liddy and the boys were not "operatives," they were burglars, and they lacked a warrant signed by a judge.  Also, FBI agents are not "Democrats" and they called ahead to let the Secret Service know they were coming.  Other than that, a fine mind at work.  

After that it got a little nuts.  Steve Bannon dropped by Infowhores to cheer up Alex Jones and to assert that the Deep State plans to assassinate Trump and the FBI planted evidence while they "desecrated" his "beautiful home."  And then pretended to find it?  Why not just...never mind.  Desecrated?  What, it's the MAGA Mecca?  

On a visit to SpongeSean SquareFace, Eric Trump echoed Berlusconi:  "There's no family in American history that has taken more arrows in the back than the Trump family, every single time...hammada hammada Hunter Biden...hammada hammada planted evidence..."  Good policy to stress the family relationship, Eric, but he still doesn't love you.  Mrs. Eric (Lara) wants it known that her father-in-law loves to collect clippings, photos and "documents that he had every authority" to take.  In a gold-plated scrapbook, with Obama's real birth certificate and Melania's college diploma.

This is not the end, or even the end of the beginning.  It may never be over.  And there are other things happening.  For instance, Silvio Berlusconi has joined up with the neo-fascist Brothers of Italy and is running for the senate next month.  They never quit, and neither should we.  For now, though, I'm tired.

Meet the new principal of Fistula City High School, Florida:

See you tomorrow.