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The Trump Tapes


 Bob Woodward has put out a new audiobook, The Trump Tapes. It gives you open access to the former president's mind in a way that little else that is now out there can do. 

Unfortunately, this is not yet a historical matter. A big chunk of the electorate looks to Donald Trump as its champion against tyranny, and believes that he is playing some version of multi-dimensional chess. My own guess is that the big chunk will not be big enough to make him President again. Even his Republican flunkies are unlikely to sign up for another ride, and some of them -- his former Vice President chief among them -- have been candid about that. 

Of course there is something about becoming the potential lynchee that may well have turned Pence against a lynch mob of which he had once been fond. Together with the Democratic Party in this though in little else, he and others similarly situated will likely prevent a re-run, whatever happens in next week's vote. 

Yet Trump will remain a force, and he skews our politics in a vicious way. It is a force that requires resistance.

I will leave further discussion to this source:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/interactive/2022/trump-tapes-bob-woodward-interviews-audiobook/


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  1. HenryNovember 1, 2022 at 6:59 AM

    I am not as optimistic as you are. For one thing, I believe that Pence has absolutely no influence, even combined with others, to prevent a rerun. For another, although Trump would lose the popular vote by even more than he did in 2016 and 2020, we still have to contend with the Electoral College and with the Republicans' increased ability to steal the election by state legislatures overriding the popular vote in some states.

    Our best preventative measure against this may be to invoke section 3 of the 14th Amendment. It provides that no one may hold federal or state office who has engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the United States. The problem with invoking this provision is that the current Supreme Court, which does not consider itself bound by the Constitution, might hold the provision inapplicable to Trump.

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