Trump: The Art of the Deal

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Once Donald Trump accepts the inevitable and grasps that he has lost the election, there will be two mortal dangers to the Republic. The first is that he will resort to extralegal means, including exhorting supporters to violence, to hold on to office.

The second is that, as a wounded lame duck, he will become even more crazy and reckless. Let’s hope the military has a contingency plan to prevent him from starting World War III as a final, narcissistic “F-You” gesture to all who scorned him.

But as reality sinks in, the survivor part of Trump’s twisted psyche will be focused on saving his own sorry ass. Jane Mayer has the definitive piece on all the prosecutions Trump will face as he leaves office. It’s quite a list.

So Trump, the ultimate deal-maker, will be looking for the ultimate deal. He resigns, is pardoned by Pence, and is somehow spared further prosecution even by state officials not bound by a federal presidential pardon.

As much as we might like to see Trump in a dungeon for all of eternity with reptiles gnawing at his vital organs, this is a deal worth brokering. Nothing is more important than getting a crazed lame-duck Trump out of office ASAP.

The lawyers will have to figure out how it might be possible to bring in state prosecutors who have spent decades trying to send Trump to the slam. Maybe New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo could also pardon him for state crimes.

Some might reject this as a corrupt deal. But these are not ordinary times.

Get him out well before January 20. Trump has been talking about fleeing the country. Great! There are few pleasant places that would take him, but doubtless Viktor Orban or Rodrigo Duterte would be happy to have him.

He can move Mar-a-Lago to Manila, start his own network, and get even richer. Swell. Just get him out of the White House before he blows us all up.

A second Trump administration will cement a right-wing majority on the Supreme Court for a generation, and put our collective future in the hands of someone who will be virtually unchecked by our institutions. The country has shifted rightward, and the reverberations will ensue for potentially the next few decades. In this climate, a robust independent media ecosystem will be more important than ever. We're committed to bringing you the latest news on how Trump's agenda will actually affect the American people, shining a light on the stories corporate media overlooks and keeping the public informed about how power really works in this country.

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