Tag: The Durham Investigation

I Have To Vent About The Durham Investigation

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I have Traditionalist relatives — whom I love dearly — who were all-in with the MAGA Republican talking points about the initial stages of the fishing expedition known as the Durham Investigation. They really believed that Durham found some sort of wide spread Deep State conspiracy against the Trump Administration guided by Hillary Clinton. Or something equally annoying.

John Durham

Anyway, now that it seems as though the Durham Investigation is wrapping up pretty much having found nothing and having wasted a lot of money, I think the whole shitshow is a window into how much trouble the United States is in. People who should otherwise know better — educated, angry white men — have succumb to the siren call of the MAGA New Right. If you lose your Traditionalists to fascism, your democracy is on its last legs.

But here we are, that’s exactly what’s happened.

So, as I keep saying, as part of the 2024 presidential election cycle the United States faces the existential choice of autocracy or civil war. There is no middle ground other, than, say, a military junta maybe. I say this because, by definition, a Republican president means autocracy. It doesn’t matter if it’s Trump, DeSantis or Youngkin.

The spectrum whereby Republicans operate on a policy basis has shifted so far to the Right and is so natively undemocratic that it’s just not possible for American democracy to survive if we have a Republican president. This is just a more extreme version of how George W. Bush ran as a “compassionate conservative,” but, in general, on a practical basis far more conservative than that.

Of course, if someone as bland and vacuous as Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin becomes POTUS, the transition to autocracy will probably be a lot more gradual — but it will happen. The Republican Party, on an institutional basis has grown so radical and hates democracy so much that, lulz, even someone as ostensibly moderate and mediocre as Youngkin would ultimately become America’s first autocrat given any power.

But let me be clear — in the end, America’s fate rests in Trump’s tiny, tiny little hands. He could, unto himself, on a personal basis cause a civil war in a number of different ways. Yet I still wonder if I’m over estimating him — again. He’s just so stupid and so lazy that anything is possible.

Jesus Christ Durham Report Star


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

When it comes to The Durham Report, the Far Right nutjobs of Twitter have made it something of a totem as to everything they want to change about America. The amount of hope that MAGA New Right cocksuckers pin on The Durham Report is identical to what the comically naïve “Resistance” of the Trump Era thought The Mueller Report would be.

As I understand it, Twitter MAGA New Right people believe The Durham Report is going to be bring down the entire “Deep State” so completely, so totally that Trump will be reinstated by Jesus H. Christ when he comes down from heaven and anoints Trump his replacement as The Son Of Man.

I wish I was joking. I’m not. From what I can tell of the MAGA New Right Twitter cesspool, that’s pretty much what they think. It’s reached Waiting For Gadot levels of asperation. All of their problems will be washed away like sin by the Blood of the Lamb if only The Durham Report would come out and “prove” that evil liberals really were, well, evil.

It makes you wonder what they’re going to do when, well, it doesn’t do just that but instead is, at best, a somewhat smug legal attack on some of the people who hurt Trump’s feelings.

Second American Civil War Scenario #2: Waiting For The Durham Report


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Though the American political system is very, very fragile at the moment, there would need to be some sort of outside pressure for anything close to a “civil war” to happen. One possible origin of such a pressure is some combination of The Durham Report and / or the Arizona Audit “proving” Trump was right / really won the 2020 election.

I troll the Arizona Audit echo chamber a lot these days. The prospect of the Arizona Audit has fused with the prospect of The Durham Report coming out so your typical MAGA New Right person assumed Durham has the Arizona Audit on his desk, ready to release it with his report.

The whole thing makes me ashamed to be an American.

But that’s what the MAGA New Right base is fixated on even at this late date. It’s both pathetic and comical how they have all their hopes of Trump being “re-instated” on some mixture of The Report and the Arizona Audit. They won’t come out and say it, of course, but what they want is a violent overthrow the American government if either — or both — of these reports give them the results they want, need and expect.

So, it is possible that THIS is how we’ll endup having a civil war. Sooner or later Cyber Ninjas “proves” Trump “won’t the election and there’s a sudden push to nullify the 2020 election. Then, lulz, there a secessionist conventions and we have a civil war.

Or something like this.

I’m king of growing tired of ranting about all of this. We’re kind of treading water at the moment. We’re drifting towards a January 2025 existential choice of autocracy or civil war — but for the time being it seems we’re ok. Things aren’t getting better, but they’re really not getting worse on a tactical level. On a macro level — we’re fucked.

Anyway.

Durham Becomes A ‘Starr’


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

So, that’s how it’s going to happen. When the House flips in January 2023, within six months Special Prosecutor Durham will release a report on the origins of the TrumpRussia investigation that gives House Republicans the cover they need to impeach Biden.

Then, ex post facto, MAGA Republicans will crow about how every modern presidents impeached, it’s no big deal that Trump was impeached and so Trump is cool to win in 2024.

You heard it here first, folks.

Potential Upcoming ‘October Surprises’


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

  1. The Full Mueller Report Is Released
    Because of a deranged tweet on the part of Trump, it’s possible that an emergency FOIA request by BuzzFeed might actually get us the entire Mueller Report right before the election. Or not. Given that we’re now an autocratic managed democracy, Barr could simply shrug and say either “fuck you” or “wait until after the election.”
  2. Trump’s Taxes A Leaked
    Even though the NYT apparently has gotten Trump’s taxes, it’s possible that at least on a criminal level, the authorities might actually get them as well. It would happen mid-October or so. They might leak in their entirety and they might show Trump is doing his foreign policy directly because of his finances.
  3. A Durham Investigation “Preliminary Summary”
    Even though we’ve been told “not to expect any indictments before the election” when it comes to the Durham Investigation, that doesn’t mean Barr won’t pop out and lay out what he thinks the investigation will show at some point after the election. Given how absolutely deranged Trump is about indicting someone, anyone he doesn’t like, this could be a way for Barr to square the circle on that one
  4. Trump Finally Snaps
    Given that Trump constantly acts as though he has already snapped, how we would know the difference, I don’t know. But I guess it would be a matter of degree. Trump would do something so insane that in some sort of transational fashion that it finally gets people’s attention.
  5. COVID19
    Someone REALLY IMPORTANT shuffles off this mortal coil and suddenly everything is throw up in the air in a big, big way. I really don’t want this type of thing to happen.
  6. Political Violence
    This would happen in such a way as to either cause people to “rally round the flag” right before the election or pretty much cause the country to implode in some fashion.
  7. Geopolitical Saber Rattling
    In real terms, both the DPRK and Iran have been very quiet. I could see Little Rocket Man trying to help his BFF Trump by scaring the shit out of us. Then everything goes out of control and we’re fucked.

    Bonus Post Election Surprises
    Even if there’s a huge landslide in Biden’s favor, Barr STILL tries to steal the election and all bets are off. Or, even worse, the Russians steal the election for Trump and we find out sooner rather than later.

Why I think The Durham Investigation Is Going To Indict Obama (And Maybe Biden) Before Election Day


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

First, if you’re a MAGA-Qanon fuckhead who’s stumbled across this looking for Durham porn to stroke one off to, fuck you, you piece of shit. Just because my worst nightmare is your fucking dream, doesn’t mean I want you around. Please fuck off. I’m serious. FUCK OFF.

Anyway, Trump is never leaving office for any reason. He would rather destroy the whole country, burn it to the ground, then risk any type of personal criminal liability after he leaves office. Despite what Maria “Money Honey” Bartiromo has reported, Barr is going to pop out of his lair and either say some sort of criminal referral has been done for Obama (and / or Biden) or at least give out some sort of “preliminary summary” that highly suggests this. How prosecutors could actually get a jury to indict Obama given that the whole thing is bullshit is beyond me, but I guess it’s at least possible.

But the point of it all would be this — to hurt Biden fatally on a political level. If that didn’t work, then Trump would use the firestorm around frogwalking Obama as proof that you could never do it to HIM. He would get the racist satisfaction of seeing Obama indicted and protection against his own criminal problems after leaving office.

Of course, Barr might surprise us all and somehow really pull some shit out of his ass and indict Hillary Clinton as well. That would be interesting.

Anyway, I’m going to be shocked if this doesn’t happen very, very soon.

My Current Durham Investigation Predictions


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It seems to me that this is going to happen: Barr is going to come out and announce with great fanfare sometime in October that Durham’s “preliminary” findings are that Obama and Biden were directly involved in criminal spying on the Trump Campaign in 2016.

The implication will be that “for the sake of the country” they will hold off on actually indicting them until after the election.

Now, that’s the most logical outcome of this bullshit investigation into what was a legitimate and normal investigation into shenanigans on the part of the Trump Campaign.

But there is another option.

Trump / Barr might get REALLY GREEDY and they don’t do something as benign — but important — as doing something with the political potency of the Second Comey Letter.

No, they give the craven MAGA-Qanon hoards what they want — to see Obama and Biden frogwalked.

Now, none of this would happen in a political vacuum. Such an abuse of power on the part of the Trump Administration would likely cause rage in a lot of unexpected quarters. But Trump wouldn’t care — he gets the twofer of finally seeing Obama in “jail” and shaving off enough points of Biden’s lead due to the confusion right before the election that Trump can win just like he did and go about consolidating power.

I can’t predict the future. I don’t know what’s going to happen. But there is, at least, something of a spectrum to think about. I think a lot of my angst is for nothing because Barr is going to give Trump all the legal justification he needs to steal the election and do whatever the fuck he wants.

Ugh.

Trump’s October Surprise: The Durham Investigation




by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It is an immutable law of nature that one of the many ways Trump is going to steal the 2020 Election is the outcome of the bullshit Durham investigation into the origins of the Mueller investigation.

Really, the only question at this point is how close are they going to get to Biden himself?

Given how deranged Trump is, I would probably guess they’ll do something a tick or two more potent than the Second Comey Letter. Something whereby at just the right moment, they can plant a seed of doubt in the minds of the electorate so Trump wins.

And, by the way, if you’re reading this because you’re a MAGA piece of shit stroking one off to the idea of this very thing happening — eat shit you fucking fascist.

But maybe I’m not looking at this right. Maybe Trump will be so desperate by October that he’ll indict Biden himself. That would probably be enough to end Biden’s campaign and Trump would actually “win” the election even without his fucking with the post office or getting Russians to directly hack into our election systems.

It won’t matter that the entire thing is bullshit and we’ll figure it out eventually. All that will matter Trump is he “won” the election and he can go in for the final consolidation of power. That’s it. That’s all he will care about. You can protest all you like. You can rant about it all you want to on Facebook and Twitter. But Trump will still be in power and fuck you.

The darkness is here politically. House Trump has established Trumplandia. The Thousand Year Trump is the be all end and end all of American politics.

Absolutely nothing indicates to me that I’m wrong. Durham may not indict Biden directly, but somehow, someway, the Durham investigation is going to help Trump “win” the election.

Trump Is Playing With Fire With The Bogus Durham Investigation



by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Trump was supposed to lose the popular vote and win the Electoral College just like in 2016. Just after his acquittal by callow Senate Republicans he was giving a very loud standing ovation by these same Republicans in a private meeting.

Trump knew all he had to do was absolutely placate the MAGA base and the rest would take care of itself.

Then COVID19 happened.

Now things are a bit more tricky. Trump’s natural inculcation is to use the bullshit Durham Investigation into the origins of the TrumpRussia investigation to indict Joe Biden and be done with it. He would kill two birds with one stone — he would “prove” that TrumpRussia was a “hoax” and he would knock out Biden so he easily wins re-election.

I am fully prepared to state that this may still work. In fact, it will work. If we’ve gotten this far down the road to tyranny, then something as simple as brazenly indicting Joe Biden for political gain is a lulz. All they have to do is indict Biden a just the right moment so there’s some confusion about it all as people go to the polls. By the time everything gets straightened out, Trump will be ranting about the need for a Constitutional Convention and MAGA will simply dismiss people people’s rage at what happened as the usual “Orange Man Bad” liberals being “triggered.”

As an aside, I think we might be willing to think outside the box a little bit — what if Durham waits until AFTER the election to indict Biden and the whole thing is used as a negotiating tactic to make sure TRUMP isn’t indicted after he leaves office? The only reason why I’m not prepared to accept this as a possibility is Trump is a fucking moron and his actual personal political skill is little more than a grunt.

Anyway, there is a least a tiny chance that while indicting Biden as the “October Surprise” gets the job done, it might also be something so outrageous and on the nose that even people who otherwise “don’t have time for politics” might, at last sit up and take notice. It’s not likely, but it’s possible — I mean, if you’re cool with “tender care facilities” what’s a little election theft between fascists?

But it is possible that some pretty unexpected things might happen if Trump gets too greedy and indicts Biden directly. If he was smart — which he is not — he would get really close to Biden, but not indict Biden himself. But MAGA people are so absolute in their bloodlust when it comes to the Durham Investigation that I could totally see them lulzing this and making a significant strategic error.

I’m not prepared to get my hopes up, though. More likely than not, the country is simply too divided. And, if anything, history books will count the indictment of Biden as the moment the United States, for intents and purposes, finally became a fascist state.

I keep trying to come up with solutions or what people can do on a practical level to combat this, but I guess I’m not smart enough. Everything I can think of involves getting at least 3.5% of the population to participate in mass protests and general strikes.

The United States simply has no political history of something so big — we’re not France, after all, so lulz.

The Durham Investigation, My #Novel & The Need To Do Political Triage


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

As suspected, if you want to get the attention of fucking MAGA cocksucking fascists, put the “Durham Investigation” in the title of a Webpost. So, with that in mind, I’d like to tell any MAGA person reading this to please fuck off and eat shit you fucking racist, misogynistic piece of shit.

Anyway, I could spend all day simply putting the “Durham Investigation” in the title of Web posts and screaming at MAGA people or, I could be productive and work on my novel. In the interest of not coming off like a lunatic, I’m going to work on my novel.

But the Durham Investigation pretty much sums up why we live in a fascist state now. There are people who actually WANT the entire Obama Administrator to be frogwalked to Gitmo because they’re fucking racist, misogynistic fucktards. The Durham Investigation is one of about a dozen ways Trump is going to steal the election in a rather brazen, bold way. If he doesn’t indict Biden himself, he’ll indict Hunter Biden. If he doesn’t do that, he’ll use his Little Green Men to prevent any necessary recounts. The list goes on.

And the fucking dipshit shitheads who coo at this point about America is a “constitutional republic” not a democracy can go to hell. Since 1800 we’ve had the peaceful transition of power under that constitution and suddenly you think being a “constitutional republic” is a catch-all that lets you own the moment. What you’re really saying is you don’t believe in democracy now that Trump is in power and you WANT the very thing everyone else is afraid of — a fascist “managed democracy” like they have in Russia.

It’s this kind of thing that makes one realize people who ACTUALLY love America when it was “great” need to stop worrying about what fucking fascists think. The entire system has collapsed because of the ineffectual “resistance” on the part of the center-Left in the United States and so we move to triage –what can we save?

I doubt very much.

You’re not going to change any MAGA fascists mind. You need to start thinking about either leaving the country or doing something in the real world to at least, I don’t know, make the world a better place? I’m working on a novel that pretty much is just me using all the powerless frustration I feel about the rise of fascism in the United States to tell a great yarn.

But I’m assuming I’m going to die in an ICE camp at this point.