Won’t be sure until he makes it sure. So, when he stands up and tells us that an Arctic oil exploration deal with Russia is just the perfect thing to help the American coal miners…then you’ll know. Real horrorshow, viddy well, my droogies, viddy well…
Discussion. Is. Futile.
That, combined with our blindness in realizing that many people have become wealthy through highly unvirtuous means.
I would like to note that if this country were 1/10th as zealous in pursuing white collar crimes as we are in prosecuting the neighborhood weed dealer, we likely wouldn’t be in this mess.
God damn right.
If you steal a few dollars you are a thief and you go to jail.
If you steal several million, you are a “captain of industry” and get praised.
Steal a little and they throw you in jail/
Steal a lot and they make you king.
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- Bob Dylan, decades ago
To paraphrase Don Corleone, one man with a briefcase can steal more than 10 men with guns.
I finally realize just how poisonous that particular heresy really is.
Well part of the problem is that up until this point if Trump wanted someone bribed or strong armed he would call Cohen. So he may not be very good at doing these things for himself. I don’t think that in ever thought that Cohen could have a thought of his own and has taken him for granted. I imagine Cohen as the Trumps equivalent of Doug Stamper in “House of Cards” (Tim Stamper for those across the pond.)
I think it’s because Trump doesn’t have a moral compass and sincerely believes he hasn’t done anything wrong.
At this rate we’re going to run out of prosecutors.
I read this as Cohen making public noises about flipping in order to get those who have reason to fear what Cohen knows to make it worth his while not to (or at least cough up for his defense). If Cohen were seriously considering flipping, things would be much quieter.
I don’t know. He’s completely amoral; but if he didn’t think he’d done anything wrong, he wouldn’t have lied about how much he knew about the Stormy Daniels payment. It may be that he’s just incredibly stupid and arrogant, and thinks he can get away with everything he does. It’s worked so far…ie, he hasn’t done any jail time yet.
“I won’t do this because it is wrong” and “I won’t do this because it will get me in trouble” are two different philosophies which can lead to surprisingly similar outcomes. 
I think he lies about everything as a matter of course. He still sincerely believes he hasn’t done anything wrong, but he also believes that everyone is unfairly biased against him and out to get him even though he hasn’t done anything wrong.
And I also think he is “uncompromisable” in a weird sort of way. Don’t get me wrong, he’s totally corrupt because he will do anything that serves his personal interests without regard for legality or morality. But you can’t blackmail someone with no capacity for shame and you can’t bribe someone with no capacity for gratitude.
Judge OK’d Mueller’s request to delay Flynn sentencing in a court hearing which took all of 13 minutes:
I don’t agree with this.
Trump is eminently bribeable because beyond his amoral character, he is also ignorant of ethical standards in government, and would tend to think of shady dealings as par for the course. You don’t need a sense of gratitude for a bribe, you just need to understand the concept of a deal, which is very much Trump’s mindset.
And as for sense of shame, there’s less to that as well. Even assuming that Trump does not have a sense of shame (and I disagree with you about that) he very much understands bad PR, which would make him blackmail material. According to Comey, Trump was very agitated about the pee-tape story because he thought it would make his wife uncomfortable. He can relate to the concept that other people would look at him differently if certain stories came to light, and would not be happy about that prospect.
Yeah, he calls himself a “dealmaker,” but dealmaking means that each side gives something and each side gets something. His idea of a deal is that he gets what he wants and screw the other party.
Meaning no one is agitating for a quick sentencing hearing, including Flynn.
Interesting that the judge made a point of stating he is not pressuring anyone to wrap up the case quickly as some others are doing, notably Trump and his cohorts. He seems to be sending a signal that he agrees it’s more important to get it right than to get it quick.
It’s his idea of a deal because people keep letting him get away with it: whatever works, eh. It’s astounding to me that this man never got his ass kicked, physically, because of the shit he’s done.
Maybe he has mob connections that scare off the potential assaults.