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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMissing the Point on Stormy
Amidst all of the lurid details and hopefulness that TFG will get his due, I fear that people are missing the significant underlying point.
Yes, he is a scumbag. We know that.
Yes, he manipulated the system to try and buy silence to effect an election. We know that.
But the underlying problem here is far more fundamental than that.
He had something to hide. Something that was worth a lot to hide. People with secrets are compromised and can be extorted .
She could have asked him for anything...state secrets, pardons, a high ranking position, green cards. She had him by the ballsack and could have demanded things a lot more damaging than money.
People who have secrets are dangerous because they will do unethical things to keep them a secret.
To be honest, I was pissed at Bill Clinton for this too. I didn't care that he was getting blown in the Oval Office. I cared that he was compromising himself in ways that made him vulnerable to extortion.

unblock
(55,116 posts)This is *exactly* the kind of red flag they look for in deciding who can be trusted with classified information and who can't. Donnie cares intensely about his image *and* constantly puts himself in situations that would damage his image if they were made public.
This makes him easily manipulated (completely aside from the obvious ego-based manipulation) and readily extorted. You cannot trust someone like that with classified information, never mind the powers of the presidency.
erronis
(19,699 posts)Every candidate for president, vice-president, top administration officials, and congress should have to have at least a SECRET clearance.
That would quickly rid us of many of the qanon/repuglicons and some of the democrats who act more like the little greedy bastards.
unblock
(55,116 posts)Can't have a few bureaucrats vetoing who can be president.
Now, candidates should be required to do things take certain tests, make certain disclosures, etc., and the results should be published widely.
But then, Donnie made it clear who he was by refusing to release his taxes, and the media just said wow what a bold norm-breaker now let's move on instead of saying hey, fraud alarm bells.... and shocker, now he's on trial for fraud.
Tree Lady
(12,385 posts)out info when my son n law was working at Pentagon.
I think we need to change qualifications for president that you must pass security for classified info and at least two years in some type of elected office so you know what its all about. Not rich or famous only.
Ilsa
(62,768 posts)BWdem4life
(2,508 posts)That's not exactly having him by the balls
H2O Man
(76,750 posts)BWdem4life
(2,508 posts)Her words. She wanted a paper trail so he couldn't have her killed.
Frasier Balzov
(4,356 posts)What a rude and stupid thing to keep doing.
johnnyfins
(2,070 posts)Frasier Balzov
(4,356 posts)The prosecutor must've have made her read his earlier comment about her out loud on the stand.
Not a new incident.
Response to genxlib (Original post)
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Response to genxlib (Original post)
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AverageOldGuy
(2,584 posts). . . figured that out years ago. He is what the intell community calls an "unwitting asset" -- and they are the most dangerous.
DENVERPOPS
(12,180 posts)that Putin was grooming and collecting Kompromat on Trump and Many other Republican Politicians for decades.
Truth is that the U.S. Government rejected (For major causes) Top Secret Clearances for Ivanka, Jared, etc etc etc and they got them anyway.....
The Intelligence community, even before Trump was out of office, no longer provided their daily intel briefings to Trump, nor his spawn.
Former Presidents customarily continue to get the intel for a year? after they leave office, and the Intel Community said NO WAY.....What do you think they knew, that the citizens of the U.S didn't know, about what was going on with the Intel by Trump and his spawn/??????
I would love to know what Putin has on Trump, (and also Lindsay Graham, as well as other top Republicans).......I will bet it is juicy and way way way way beyond despicable or deplorable............. Certainly something soooo sickening that it would turn off his 70 Million supporters.......
His supporters could care less about whore mongering, infidelity, homosexuality, so what does Putin have that they would be scared to death he might reveal.........Think about it.........
erronis
(19,699 posts)Obviously we are an easy mark. Perhaps because we no longer are required to study history.
IronLionZion
(48,840 posts)which is why they had to shut him up permanently.
Trump could easily have been extorted already by foreign adversaries. His administration was full of leaks, he would verbally spill classified info to Mar-A-Lago guests, keep classified documents unsecured, etc. The Trump years saw an unprecedented amount of cyberattacks successfully hit US government institutions and a effing insurrection at the Capitol. Let's not forget his first impeachment over Ukraine. And everyone in his orbit is apparently crooked and corrupt.
But yes, we can always trust the twice impeached porn star hush money dude with countless bankruptcies and indictments.
Captain Zero
(7,862 posts)The only way he would get those would be from Trump and MaraLoco. Walt Nauta is a Russian Agent. Or a flunky waiting to grift. He is with Trump constantly.
58Sunliner
(5,760 posts)And Clinton had poor judgment. Should have known better.
johnnyfins
(2,070 posts)Little head a lot...
niyad
(123,726 posts)a demand for money? That is something I have never seen addressed. Did she ask for money, or did RAPIST-TRAITOR** voluntarily offer it to her to cover up his actions?
Same question about Karen McDougall.
panfluteman
(2,174 posts)Caliman73
(11,767 posts)All politicians have "something to hide". One of the reasons I have been hesitant to run for office locally is concern for dirt that might be dredged up or made up. Not that I have tons of skeletons in my closet, but the intrusion into people's private lives is horrible.
Trump likes to think that he is unique, as in special and gifted. He isn't. The only thing that sets him apart in any positive way in his life, was that he was born to wealth. He is unique however, in that he is SO DAMAGED and SO NEEDY that he us uniquely susceptible to being compromised. It doesn't even really stem from all the horrible shit that he has done either. Most people know he is a scumbag and has likely done worse that what is being exposed. The problem is that to Trump, his IMAGE is his only concern. Trump doesn't require blackmail to give up state secrets, the only thing he would really need would be for something to benefit him in some big way. Putin was able to play him easily and the Chinese had him begging and trying to exhort the Congress to take one of the tech companies off the bad list because they (the Chinese) buttered him up and probably offered to spend bunches of money at Trump properties.
Like I said, people have secrets. What Trump lacks is what makes him unique. He lacks any integrity or ethics.
ecstatic
(34,771 posts)with someone who reminds them of their child? That is really disgusting.
johnnyfins
(2,070 posts)For the control
TBF
(35,111 posts)elleng
(139,449 posts)Silent3
(15,909 posts)
so they can only go by the particulars of the case as related to the charges at hand in the trial, for which Trumps exposure to blackmail is irrelevant.
Theres plenty to pick from to when it comes to clear signals Trump should never be, and should never have been, in a position of great power.
elleng
(139,449 posts)GUILTY, imo.
The judge's instructions will be critical.