Category Archives: Random Thoughts

Ready on Day 90?

In a Thursday post on his Truth Social platform, former President Donald Trump argued that Vice President Kamala Harris “should be investigated and forced off the Campaign,” thereby allowing President Joe Biden “to take back his rightful place” at the top of the Democratic ticket. Trump did not specify what he believes Harris — who became the Republican’s rival in the White House race after Biden dropped his reelection bid this summer — should be investigated for.

~HUFFPOST.COM/October 17, 2024

Life is easy when everything goes exactly as planned.  The alarm goes off on time.  There is still enough hot water for your morning shower.  There is another box of your favorite breakfast cereal.  Traffic is lighter than normal.  The boss thanks you for getting him the information she needed for the board meeting.  The Dow hits another new high.  You celebrate by taking your spouse out for dinner.  And Netflix finally dropped Season 4 of “Stranger Things.”

Most of us know there is no such thing as a perfect day.  That is where planning comes in.  If you live in hurricane alley, you have a standing evacuation plan, bought a generator and stocked the pantry with non-perishable items.  If the Wall Street Journal reports your company is struggling and planning layoffs, you do not wait until you get your pink slip to start looking for alternative employment.  If your doctor recommends a life-style change to prevent a second heart attack, you start Googling tasty, salt-free meals and explore memberships at an area health club.

Donald J. Trump is not “most of us.”  As a right-brained thinker who traffics in metaphors, I wondered, “What is the best way to make people understand the consequences?”  As is always the case, the answer emerges in the most unexpected ways.  This time it was dinner at the Fish Market in Boca Raton with my wife, my mother and two close friends.  I do not remember how we got there, but the conservation turned to, “What is your favorite version of Dicken’s Christmas Carol?”  For the record, my favorite is “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol.”

Therefore, I am proud to present a Dr. ESP production of “Mr. Trump’s Christmas Carol.”  My goal?  No different than Charles Dickens’ as he wrote in the preface of the original:

I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.


A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Stave 1: The First of the Three Spirits

Trump pulls back the curtains of his poster bed and comes face to face with an old man viewed through some supernatural medium.  “Who are you?” he asks.  “I am the Ghost of administrations past.  Let’s take a walk.”

The first stop is the Oval Office on January 28, 2020.  A younger Trump is sitting behind the Resolute Desk.  Advisors bring him news the coronavirus has arrived in America, it is air borne, and could rival the pandemic of 1918.  They suggest, “Maybe we need to re-establish the NSC pandemic unit you disbanded in 2018.”  His response?  “Bah, humbug.”

The second stop is the admissions desk at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City on May 7, 2020.  The line extends outside the door and around the block.  A reporter asks the hospital administrator, “What is the problem?  Why is the line so long?”  “Because we do not have enough testing devices.  We’ve requested more from CDC but they tell us they have exhausted their supply,” she replies.

The specter turns and asks, “Donald, do you remember where you were that day?”  An image appears of the then-president on the phone with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.  You can only hear Trump’s side of the conversation.  “Yes, Vlad.  I know it’s bad.  I’m just as scared as you are of catching the virus.  Let me send you some testing devices…You’re welcome, I owed you one anyway.”

“Bah, humbug.  I’ve seen enough,” Trump says.  “Those people didn’t vote for me.  And then they expected me to come to their rescue.”  He falls back to sleep.

Stave 2:  The Second of the Three Spirits

Trump is awakened by a second visitor, a younger spirit who again invites the former president to go with him.  Trump asks, “Who are you?”  “The Ghost of elections present.”

This time the first stop is the Baird Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 18, 2024, the last night of the Republican National Convention.  A confident Trump, having recently survived an assassination attempt and leading his presumed opponent in the polls, is jubilant.  Aware of the increasing pressure on incumbent Joe Biden to drop out of the race, Trump’s campaign staff urge him to have a contingency plan just in case.  “Bah, humbug,” he again replies.

The second stop is Trump’s bedroom on the night of October 17. 2024.  He is posting on Truth Social.  “Why are you showing me this?”  Trump asks.  “Because you did not listen to your advisors.  Biden withdrew from the race 90 days ago.  And you still can’t deal with it.  Here’s what you posted.”

60 MINUTES SHOULD BE IMMEDIATELY TAKEN OFF THE AIR – ELECTION INTERFERENCE. CBS SHOULD LOSE ITS LICENSE. THIS IS THE BIGGEST SCANDAL IN BROADCAST HISTORY. Kamala should be investigated and forced off the Campaign, and Joe Biden allowed to take back his rightful place (He got 14 Million Primary Votes, she got none!). THIS WHOLE SORDID AND FRAUDULENT EVENT IS A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY!

The spirit continues, “Don’t you understand how small and petty you sound?  And it only confirms everything Harris said about you last night on Fox News.”

“It doesn’t matter.  The base loves this stuff,”  Trump pushes back.  “Ghost, you’re wrong.  I’m done with you.”

Stave 3:  The Last of the Spirits

Trump had barely dozed off again, when he was awakened by a third spirit who uncannily resembled Liz Cheney.  “And who are you?”  Trump asked.  “I am the Ghost of inaugurations future,”  she replies. 

Trump watches as Kamala Harris takes the oath of office as the first female president of the United States.  “How could this happen?  How did they steal the election?” he asks.  “No one stole anything, Donald.  No one to blame but yourself.  You expected everything to simply fall into place.  But that’s not how life works.  Americans understood if a candidate cannot adapt to an unanticipated challenge during the campaign, it was clear to them you learned nothing from the mistakes you made during the pandemic or following your loss to Joe Biden.”

“So where am I on January 20, 2025?” he asks.  The third Ghost conjures up an image of Trump at the omelet bar at Mar-a-Lago.  “I guess it could be worse,” he surmises.  “Oh, it is,” she informs him.  “See those guys on the perimeter.  They used to be your Secret Service detail.  Now they are federal prison guards.  You were sentenced to five years house arrest after being convicted of interfering with the 2020 transfer of power and mishandling classified documents.”

“Bah, f***ing humbug”

Stave 4: The End of It

No, not everyone lived happily ever after, but democracy was saved and Americans continue the quest to form a more perfect union, just as those oldest of ghosts, the Founding Fathers, planned.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

The Day After

The following are some random thoughts on the Democratic National Convention.

A ROLLING STONE LOSES SOME GLOSS

You don’t always get what you want!

~Mick Jagger

If, as I have on occasion, hate it when I am right, today I find myself loving it when I’m wrong.  There was no Beyonce or Taylor Swift last night.  Because they were not needed.  There were enough “rock stars” to fill the arena.  Comma-la’s grand nieces.  The “Exonerated Five.”  The “Liberated Five,”  former Congressman Adam Kinzinger, former Georgia Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan, former Trump press secretary Stephanie Grisham, former Trump national security official Olivia Troye and Mesa, Arizona mayor John Giles. And headliner Kamala Harris. 

I still think not including Jimmy Carter in the “parade of presidents” was a lost opportunity to remind voters a post-defeat president can accept the voters’ choice and still serve America in any number of ways.

SHORT ONE ABE

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.

~President Abraham Lincoln

One would think Honest Abe covered all the bases.  But someone in the right-wing echo chamber proved him wrong.  Please add, “Some people are fools any chance they get.”  In this case, a representative of the media made the following observation as Kamala Harris walked out on the stage to accept her party’s nomination.  “The campaign told women to wear white yet she wore black.”  First of all, these are the same people who thought the world ended when President Obama wore a tan suit.  It did not.

Second, imagine the uproar if she, like Hillary Clinton in 2016, had worn white.  Fox News hosts would  accuse her  of playing identity politics pandering to women.   Or suggest anything but a tailored dark suit is unpresidential.  The Hollywood Reporter  provided the best explanation of her choice of attire, but of course, had to drop the designer’s name, something they never do when covering male politicians. “She bucked the night’s trend by wearing a custom navy power suit and matching silk blouse by French fashion house Chloé, a choice that seemed to say history has been made, now let’s get down to business.”

My only disappointment was that Donald Trump did not post the following on Truth Social.  “I’ve known Ka-MAH-la for a long time, not directly, and she always preferred white.  And then, all of a sudden, she turned navy blue.”

AS THE BRAIN WORM TURNS

No post-convention analysis would be complete without acknowledging Robert F. Kennedy, Jr’s suspending his independent campaign and endorsing Trump.  Some “conservative” media outlets label this a “game changer,” and they may be right.  But not for the reasons they believe. 

There is one undeniable axiom in politics.  When the opposition is trying to define you, do not give them more ammunition.  Ask Mitt Romney who, as the Obama campaign portrayed him as insensitive to working Americans, said, “My job is not to worry about those people (referring to the 47 percent of voters he called ‘the taker class.’)  I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”  Which explains why the Harris campaign should welcome Bobby, Jr. as the perfect surrogate for Trump.

  • If you thought Trump and J.D. Vance were weird before, now they have added the guy who dumped a dead bear in Central Park to their ticket.  A trifecta of weird.
  • Have you ever noticed Trump is surrounding himself with people who hated him?  His VP choice once called him “America’s Hitler,” and now his latest sidekick once described him as a “sociopath.”
  • More evidence that Trump puts himself above country offering RFK, Jr. a job in his administration in hopes of pandering to Kennedy supporters.
  • Like Trump, Bobby Jr. is a forum shopper who puts self above country.  Trump was a Democrat until he realized his message of grievance and chaos played better with Republicans.  RFK Jr. has gone from seeking the Democratic nomination to being an independent candidate to asking Harris for a job in return for his endorsement to getting that offer from Trump.
  • One more Trump surrogate who has no moral compass.  Kennedy claims to be an environmentalist yet supports the candidate who just promised the oil industry he would take care of them in exchange for a $1 billion donation to his campaign.
  • One more Trump surrogate whose family thinks he has betrayed his heritage, unlike Harris and Tim Walz, who feel obligated to honor their own parents.

Thursday night, Adam Kinzinger told DNC convention, “I belong here.”  Likewise, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is right where HE belongs.

MICK JAGGER REDUX

Sometimes, people get what they want and wish they had not.  Such is the case with the Trump and MAGA state legislators pushing for paper ballots.  One result is that the extended time needed to print and distribute paper ballots forced states to wrap up that process earlier than in previous election cycles.  Remember, Democrats had to schedule an on-line roll call to meet Ohio’s ballot requirement.

According to Newsweek,  RFK Jr.’s name may still be on ballots in 23 states where he qualified as an independent candidate.  One of those states is Michigan.  ABC News reports, “A spokesperson for Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said that Kennedy’s name would remain on the state’s ballots in November due to his status as a ‘minor party’ candidate.”  Do not forget, when her name appeared on primary ballots even after she  suspended her campaign, 15-20 percent of Republicans still voted for Nikki Haley.  Do not be surprised if something similar happens among Kennedy supporters.


Scottish-born Craig Ferguson, a naturalized U.S. citizen, would open every episode of his late night talk show with, “It’s a great day for America.”  Friday was one more.  But remember, the one that matters most is November 5th.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

All Medals Are Not Alike

I watched Sheldon sitting so proud in the White House when we gave Miriam the Presidential Medal of Freedom. That’s the highest award you can get as a civilian. It’s the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor, but civilian version.  It’s actually much better because everyone gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, they’re soldiers. They’re either in very bad shape because they’ve been hit so many times by bullets or they are dead. She gets it and she’s a healthy, beautiful woman. And they’re rated equal, but she got the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

~Draft Dodger and Convicted Felon Donald Trump

Al Lipphardt, national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) responded to the above quote as follows.

These asinine comments not only diminish the significance of our nation’s highest award for valor, but also crassly characterizes the sacrifices of those who have risked their lives above and beyond the call of duty.

To understand Lipphardt’s outrage, one need only look at three elements associated with each of these awards:  the eligibility criteria, process by which the medal is awarded and the benefits accrued by recipients.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Congressional Medal of Honor (Public Law 88-77)

Recipients must distinguish themselves conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity, risking a loss of life above and beyond the call of duty.

The act of valor must occur during one of three circumstances:

    • While engaged in action against an enemy of the United States.
    • While engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing force.
    • While serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.

Presidential Medal of Freedom (Executive Order 11085)

Especially meritorious contribution to:

    • the security or national interests of the United States, 
    • world peace, or
    • cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.

PROCESS

Congressional Medal of Honor (U.S. Department of Defense)

Presidential Medal of Freedom (Executive Order 11515)

Bestowed by decision of the president of the United States to any person recommended to the President for award of the Medal or any person selected by the President upon their own initiative.

BENEFITS

Congressional Medal of Honor (U.S. Department of Defense)

  • A monthly $1,406.73 pension from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
  • A 10-percent increase in retired pay, not to exceed the 75 percent maximum, for enlisted recipients who retire with 20 or more years of Military Service.
  • A special Medal of Honor travel and identification card signed by the Secretary of the Army. This entitles recipients who are not on active duty and not military retirees to utilize space-available military air transportation.
  • Uniform privileges which allow recipients to wear their uniforms at any time or place they choose, unlike other military personnel or retirees.
  • An issued Department of Defense identification card for recipients and their eligible dependents who are not on active duty and military retirees. The card authorizes military commissary, Post Exchange, and theater privileges. All of the services, consistent with Department of Defense policy, authorize use of morale, welfare, and recreation activities, including honorary club membership without dues.
  • Children of Medal of Honor recipients are not subject to quotas if they are qualified and desire to attend the U.S. military academies.
  • Invitations to attend Presidential inaugurations and accompanying festivities. Military recipients and those who are civil servants have traditionally been authorized administrative absence instead of chargeable leave to attend.
  • A special engraved headstone for deceased recipients of the Medal of Honor (provided by VA).
  • Accorded on base billeting commensurate with the prestige associated with the Medal of Honor.

Presidential Medal of Freedom (Tradition)

  • All-expense paid trip to the White House induction ceremony.
  • Unless, if awarded by Donald Trump, one free trip to the Mar-a-Lago omelet bar.

Based on the awardees during his term in office, Donald Trump knows he is lying when he says the Presidential Medal of Freedom is better than the Congressional Medal of Honor.   On September 11, 2020, Trump awarded a well-vetted and deserved Medal of Honor to Sergeant Major Thomas Payne.  After his company liberated 38 hostages being held in Kirkuk Province, Iraq, Payne left his secure position and entered the compound multiple times resulting in the release of 37 additional hostage.  In contrast, five days following the January 6, 2011 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Trump presented the Medal of Freedom to Congressman Jim Jordan, whose contribution to a public endeavor was his ability to outrun many of his colleagues during the armed insurrection.

A medal ceremony nine days before leaving the Oval Office suggests Trump considered a second career in TV, this time as the host of a game show.  However, counter to the tradition on shows such as “The Price is Right,”  on Trump’s “It’s Not a Lie If You Believe It,” the host giving the “parting gift” (probably labeled the Your Favorite President’s Medal of Whatever) is a bigger loser than any unsuccessful contestant.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

Maybe They Are Right

I continue to be surprised how many people who have read my book In the National Interest ask me, “Do you believe it was possible that Kennedy ordered his own assassination?”  I even had one reader ask me, “How did you, of all people, get possession of that journal?”  On Facebook and Reddit sites dedicated to the assassination, I constantly have to remind commenters who want to poke holes in the narrative that it is a work of fiction, not intended to solve the crime of the 20th century.

This morning, based on efforts by the MAGAverse to put the brakes on Kamala Harris’ game-changing entry into the 2024 presidential sweepstakes, I wondered if there was room for one more work of conspiratorial fiction.  Was this mastermind Joe Biden’s last act, eclipsing his rigging the outcome of Super Bowl LVIII?  Another saga in which the mystery is not “who dunnit” but “how dunnit?”

I, therefore, offer for your imagination In the National Interest Redux by Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr.  President Biden has only forwarded the preface to me, but promises to send the complete story to be offered as a serial.


PREFACE
Wednesday, November 6, 2024

Dare I say, “Mission Accomplished!”  On January 20, 2025, Kamala Harris will take the oath as 47th president of the United States.  The first woman and second person of color to occupy the Oval Office.  No surprise, Donald Trump has yet to concede even though the final vote tally represents a larger Democratic margin of victory than 2020.  And the MAGA conspiracy machine is in fifth gear.  Of course, their malarky theories cover all the usual bases.  Corrupted voting machines.  Fake Harris and destroyed Trump ballots.  Foreign interference.

If only they knew the truth.  They are half right.  There was a conspiracy, a grand one in fact.  It was launched years before the election and had nothing to do with when and how people voted.  That is the beauty of a truly great conspiracy.  Get the victim to focus on the wrong things, especially when he fancies himself as a master of misdirection.  I laughed when Trump, immediately following my announcement that I would withdraw from the race, threatened to sue the DNC.  He claimed his campaign had wasted millions of dollars running against me when I had always planned to step aside.  A classic case of the fraud calling the bluffer black.  Donald, you’re getting warmer than you imagine.

Let me take you back to the beginning, January 20, 2021.  When Donald and Melania Trump never invited Jill and me to the White House and said he would not attend the inauguration, I knew he would not ride off into the sunset.  If you are someone who picked up this book, you already know that is who he is.  Therefore, 2020 was not a one-off.  We would have to defeat him again, and this time, he would up his game of fear, lies and misinformation.  He would have four years to build a case against me and my record, regardless of our success or failure.  We, too, needed a four-year strategy.

Now, you may find this hard to believe, but back in 2020, at age 77, I knew I was old.  And I knew if I wanted to run again in 2024 at 81, I would be even older.  That is why I suggested on several occasions, one term was enough to do the things I hoped to do.  Save the country from a second Trump term.  Bring us back from the pandemic.  Restore the United States’ reputation as leader of the free world.  And lay the foundation for the next generation of American leaders, hopefully Democratic ones.

I also knew, to defeat Trump again, we needed to rely on the same coalition of minority voters, progressives and educated suburban voters to counter any increase in my predecessor’s recruitment of cult followers and believers who wished for a return to their delusional memories of a “simpler time.”

One more thing you might find hard to believe.  I did not pick Kamala Harris to be my running mate.  Donald Trump did, unwittingly of course, but that’s a given.  Although she did not win the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton had been right about what a Trump administration would mean.  Especially, appointments to the Supreme Court and the danger to women’s rights, years before the Dobbs decision.  By putting Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Coney Barrett on the Court, it was Trump who created the backlash that assured time had come for a female chief executive.

Then I had to do my part.  Which is why, on August 11, 2020, I announced the Biden/Harris ticket.  Thus began the journey which brought us to this moment.  However, before I share the details, I need to correct something I wrote previously.  This may have been a grand scheme, but it was no conspiracy.  A conspiracy requires the collaboration of two or more people.  Prior to this account, no one, not family, close advisors or even Kamala, knew this was the plan from day one.  I may be old,  but I can still protect a secret, classified or not.

TO BE CONTINUED
Dr. ESP

In the National Interest II

Based on the success of my first novel In the National  Interest, I wondered if there was room for a new fictional genre, implausible conspiracy theories in which the motive and participants were unimaginable.  However, as with my account of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, making the implausible possible depended on the use of the public record to back up the story.  In the National Interest, the counter-intuitive narrative that Kennedy’s death was engineered, not by enemies, but a close advisor at the request of the president himself.  The details are laid out in a contemporaneous journal maintained by one of the individuals tasked with planning and carrying out the events in Dallas on November 22, 1963.

Following last Thursday conviction of Donald Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business documents to coverup a sexual encounter with an adult film actress right before the 2016 presidential election, I wondered if this format that worked once, might work again.  The premise was simple.  Was there something not quite kosher about the relative ease with which the jury so quickly came to a unanimous verdict on all counts?  If so, had someone who put a thumb on the scale kept a journal of the process he or she used?  And who might that be, especially if it was someone least expected to want to see the ex-president go down?

NOTE:  The following is an abridged version of a fictional account of the behind the scenes conspiracy to ensure Donald Trump would be convicted using the public record including transcripts of the trial.

My first clue something was afoot came when, the evening after Donald Trump’s conviction, CNN anchor Kaitlin Collins asked lead defense attorney Todd Blanche whether he or his client was responsible for the defense strategy.  In response Blanche told Collins he and Trump made decisions as a team, adding the following justification which was contrary to everything I had ever heard about the attorney/client relationship in a criminal trial.

It was both of us.  If there’s a lawyer that comes in and says that they’re in charge of their defense strategy, they’re not doing a service to their client.

Todd Blanche is no Rudy Giuliani or Jenna Ellis, both of whom have lost their licenses to practice law for malpractice in the service of Trump.  He had experience as a prosecutor and was well thought of in New York legal circles.  Moreover, he had resigned as a partner in one of Wall Street’s most prestigious firms, moved to Florida, bought a home near Mar-a-Lago and started his own firm where Donald Trump would become his primary client.  According to the New York Times, Blanche’s former colleagues during his tenure as prosecutor in the U.S. attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York are baffled by “a striking career move–forfeiting a lucrative law firm partnership to represent a man notorious for cycling through lawyers and ignoring their bills.”

The New York trial is only one of three in which Blanche Law (his new firm) is representing Trump including the Mar-a-Lago documents and the federal January 6 cases.  In these cases, Blanche and his team have focused on ensuring neither goes to trial before the November 5, 2024 election.  One can only imagine why a lawyer who had to deal with Trump’s in-court and out-of-court behavior in a case he had the best chance of winning would want to risk becoming known as a three time loser if the Supreme Court and Aileen Cannon ever let the either two go to trial.  UNLESS, having played in Trump’s legal sandbox for years before the current spate of indictments–he also represented Paul Manafort–he decides, in the national interest, maybe I should help take down this narcissistic psychopath.

If so, he then had to ask, how could I do this?  To see the answer, all you have to do follow the New York falsified business records trial.  Consider the following lists of behaviors and arguments which certainly contributed the jury’s guilty verdict.

  1. Involve Trump in decisions related to his defense knowing he will “direct” you to focus on messaging rather than the evidence and the law.
  2. Let Trump think that Juror #2’s presence on the panel, because he included Truth Social as one of his news sources, made a hung jury a slam dunk.  On that assumption, Trump was convinced he could now use the trial for political messaging without fear of a conviction.
  3. Unleash Trump to attack the judge, judge’s staff, witnesses and jury knowing it would result in a gag order his client would violate, irritating the judge.  All the while, standing stoically beside him to cover his complicity in Trump’s self-destructive behavior.
  4. In your opening statement, tell the jury Trump did not have sex with Stormy Daniels.  The jury would know it was a lie, and therefore could not trust anything else Blanche said.
  5. When Trump, for some reason, does not demand that his defense team challenge the accounts offered by David Pecker and Hope Hicks, let him have his way.  Was Trump afraid they, especially Pecker, had even more dirt on him?
  6. Obviously, vendetta-seeking Trump wanted to use the trial to destroy Stormy Daniels?  Instead, Blanche and his co-counsel Susan Necheles decided to slut-shame her, making her more of a sympathetic witness than she deserved to be.
  7. Trump’s motive for dealing with Michael Cohen was the same.  How could Blanche make this backfire?  First, bore the jury to sleep with hours of cross-examination that achieved nothing except to have Cohen simply confirm everything he had admitted during direct questioning.  Second, set up a “gotcha” moment which, maybe just maybe, Blanche suspected the prosecution could undercut with a time-synced video of Trump and his “bag man” Keith Shiller.
  8. Trump tells the defense team they have to call Robert Costello to bury Cohen, based on Costello fiery testimony before House Republicans accusing the Biden Administration (without evidence) of weaponizing the Department of Justice.  Blanche knows it will be a disaster based on the emails and text messages provided by the DA’s office during discovery.  But he gives Trump his wish anyway.
  9. In his final summation, Blanche continues to tell the jury the payments are for legitimate legal services, something he knows is not true and nobody on the jury will believe.
  10. Still unsure if he has convinced the jurors that Trump should be found guilty, Blanche hammers the final nail into his client’s coffin.  In his closing he says, “You cannot send someone to prison, you cannot convict somebody based upon the words of Michael Cohen.”  Blanche knew this inappropriate behavior, referencing sentencing when the juror has no role in that process, would infuriate Judge Merchan.  And Merchan would give the jury curative instructions which would telegraph his displeasure.

One or two unintentional mistakes by a legal team are understandable during a seven week trial.  But ten suggests a strategy.  And there are only two explanations.  Knowing they could not win on the evidence, Blanche risked his reputation so Trump’s appeal lawyers could point to these “errors” and suggest Blanche and his team were guilty of malpractice.  Or, having become frustrated with Trump’s trying to play lawyer, Blanche decided, “I’ll show this know-it-all SOB just how stupid he is.  And I dare him to accuse us of misrepresenting him.”

Where is Occam and his razor when we really need them.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP