Reading a Heather Cox blog post, I learned that a couple of days ago Trump posted on Truth Social a promise that next Monday, August 21, he will present “A Large, Complex, Detailed but Irrefutable REPORT on the Presidential Election Fraud which took place in Georgia,” saying the report “is almost complete.” He went on: “Based on the results of this CONCLUSIVE Report, all charges should be dropped against me & others—There will be a complete EXONERATION!” 

Well, this should be interesting. Trump will use this opportunity, not to prove his innocence, but to “prove” that the election was stolen by Biden and therefore all actions by Trump are justified. Will Trump never stop? And his hold on the Republican Party appears to be iron clad. It seems nothing will change the minds of his loyal base or a lot of formerly respectable Republicans in Congress like Lindsay Graham and many others.

While the polls show the presidential election of 2024 as a toss up if Biden and Trump were the only two candidates, Cornell West, a Progressive Democrat, has already declared his candidacy as a third party candidate. Joe Manchin is seriously considering heading up the No Labels ticket, and Robert Kennedy Jr. could also run. These actions would likely take more votes away from Biden than from Trump, giving the edge to Trump.

But there is a long way to go before the Fat Lady sings in this saga.

The big question is how the timing of the four trials will play out. Will any final verdicts be in and the appeals completed  before the Republican convention and before the national election? My guess is that Trump’s tactics will be delay, delay, delay and if convicted, appeal, appeal, appeal. It seems to me that without an aggressive schedule and pushback against Trump and his cronies, it is possible, if not likely, this will happen. We may not know the final outcome of these trials before election day.

Trump will be convicted. Every indictment in my view is strong. But indictments that have not resulted in convictions and been upheld on appeals before the election raise huge questions. While Trump has already told us what he will do, he can’t pardon himself in Georgia and in New York. That would be up to the governor of New York and would never happen. And in Georgia, a convicted felon cannot be pardoned by the governor but by a special commission and only after five years after serving the full term. Trump would have no options. To the slammer, baby!

But wait. If Trump should run and win, but the verdicts/appeals are not decided, he could be sworn as president, right? And how do you throw a sitting president of the United States in jail? The trials or appeals in progress would probably be delayed until after  Trump serves for four more years.

Aghhh! Our country can’t take it. The world can’t take it.

Bottom line: These four trials must happen soon.  Verdicts must be in and appeals exhausted before election day. Working this all out, however, is likely to be very challenging. And just imagine the chaos that will happen if Trump is running–and wins–and then is convicted before he is sworn in! Oh, my goodness!

Fasten your seat belts!

Interesting times, these times. But make no mistake: Trump is a dangerous man. Robert Reich in a recent blog post makes a good case that Trump is a fascist and that four more years of this narcissist  mob boss could mean the end of democracy in the United States of America.

God help us.