TWGB: Been Caught Sleeping?

 

Maybe other things happened at Trump's first day of his first criminal trial, but the apparently most notable thing was that he appeared to nod off a few times. This prompted the ever-loving internet to change his nickname from Don Poorleone to Don Snoreleone (The Nodfather!), some wags to ponder if Trump wasn't loaded up with Xanax to keep from going ape, and Trump to give the stankeye to Maggie Haberman, who was the one who caught him whispering to his chest hairs. It's a pretty bad look for Trump, who once murdered Jeb Bush with the term "low-energy" and whose worst nickname for President Biden was, of all things, "Sleepy Joe".

The idea of a "sedated Trump" really doesn't seem too out of the realm of possibility to me--he's already skating on thin ice with multiple violations of his gag order and was apprised today that a courtroom outburst could result in a contempt arrest. His contempt hearing for the gag order violation is next week (between the $175 million bond hearing and the SCOTUS immunity argument). Trump's usual combativeness will NOT be an asset, here. (Buying popcorn for the Sandoval bit, tho'. As I understand it, that's where the court determines the kinds of Trump's shitty behavior that he can and can't be hit with in cross during the trial. I'm probably super-over-simplifying because IANAL.) 

I'm sure the Trump faithful will insist that, like Daniel in the lion's den. he was relying on the power of prayer. Or something. They are pretty good at making myths to deal with the paradoxes of TrumpWorld. 

Today brings me back to my observations of last week: his fans invent or choose to believe in an alternative Trump reality where he is not a fraud and they are certain he will win--at everything. Nothing has highlighted this more than his $DJT stock. It's been falling. It fell considerably today. The company is releasing more shares for sale which is a nice way for the company to try to inject more cash into it, but will dilute the value of the stock. Trump fans do not understand why the stock value is falling. It can't be anything to do with the company itself--that's Trump's business! How is it not literally shitting gold bullion? 

It's possibly headed to bankruptcy and a vehicle for money laundering--THAT'S what makes it a Trump business. They have fooled themselves. Or rather, they have been caught sleeping and dreaming. 

Now, Trump's shares are still locked up (for now). But why would he care if his stock is devalued? Look at it with the idea of a casino in mind--the DWAC merger basically handed Trump a shit ton of free chips. He's basically not losing "real money"--not of his own that he had to sweat for. He doesn't care--he didn't pay for the chips.

It's his fans that bought in at like $60 a share who are losing real money. In a way, they remind me of the COVID-19 deniers who became convinced it wasn't real, it was just the flu, go ahead, take ivermectin and lick doorknobs. I can feel bad for them, but my goodness! it is limited by knowing these are adults making these choices quite deliberately. 

So, here's the question--do they ever catch on he always knew he'd walk away with something and they get an empty sack? Well, look at Steve Bannon--he literally ripped off his podcast listeners with Build the Wall and didn't lose his whole fan club. Look at Alex Jones, a proven lying sack of shit--still has a fan club. Some pockets are easy to pick. Spite is a powerful incentive. And so is tribalism:

I don't think this level of nonsense swag ever existed with any other political figure: pic.twitter.com/3LdzEGWOgT

— Vixen Strangely (@VixenStrangely) April 16, 2024

Even weirder--I have a Trump Store that sells Trump hats and flags and so forth, in a strip mall just a mile and a half from my house. How much of this tat do these people need to own? Do they see it as having some collectible value like handpainted plates from the Franklin Mint or whatever? Or are they really trying to buy "belonging"? 

That "buy in" is a powerful incentive for keeping the Trump myth alive--a literal "investment". Trump "hodlers" see the Deep State holding down the stock value, but it's sure to go up if he wins. There's a metaphor in there. 

It's scary and sad.