Will RICO "Ratso" Trump have a midnight ride to Mar-a-Lago?

 

Joe Buck played by John Voight, Hoffman as Rico "Ratso" Rizo

By Hal Brown

By now everyone should now that RICO stands for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations.

Cinema fans probably remember the character played by Dustin  Hofman in 1969's best picture Oscar winning Midnight Cowboy as Ratso Rizzo. I was going to write that Trump's new name should be Ratso RICO Trump, but then when I checked Wikipedia I saw that his real name was Rico Rizzo and Ratso was his nickname.

Of course in the book and movie Ratso was a complex character and a torutured soul. Trump is only complex from a psychiatric perspective but you can't say he's a tortured soul because he has no soul by any defintion of the word.

Perhaps ironically Joe Buck was played by John Voight who has been a vocal supporter of Donad Trump (link).

Hoffman is a staunch liberal who has offered his financial support to a long list of Democratic presidential hopefuls, from Joe Biden's run in 2020 all the way back to former Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey's 1992 bid (Reference)

Those who read the book or saw the movie remember the powerful and tragic ending.  The pair are on a bus enroute to make a new life in Florida. Ratso tells Joe he doesn't want to be called Ratso anymore. He askes to be called Rico. Rico's heatlh had been deteriorating and he dies on the bus never making it to Florida.

This is the last nine minutes of the movie:

I don't need to spell what the midnight ride to Mar-a-Lago would symbolize for RICO "Ratso" Trump. Unlike Rico, he isn't literally terminally ill. However his days as the self-crowned king of the world may be numbered.

bviously if he is convicted of RICO crimes it is is very relevant to his future.

We were sitting next to a "Let's Go Brandon" Trumper at a small town parade

 

By Hal Brown

My partner and I went to one of our favorite towns, Aurora, Oregon to watch their summer festival parade and have lunch at our favorite pub. It happens to be  next to a small pot store:

Aurora is a town which is on the National Historic Register and is known for it's many antique shops all in old homes which are clustered together in the center of town. It's population is 1,133 in 336 households. Read more here.

Politically the Aurora leans conservative unlike where we live in a decidely liberal Portland suburb so we never bring up politics when we meet people there. (More about politics in Aurora.)

We managed to snag a perfect parking spot on the street along the parade route just before it was closed to traffic. 

Across the street from our car was a shady spot at the end of a driveway where a man and woman were already sitting. We had folding chairs in the car and asked if we could sit with them. They said we could and they moved their own chairs so we'd have more room.

The plastic hat was handed out by fire fighters in the parade.
I wore it just for the photo.

It turned out that this was the end of the driveway to their house. 

I sat next to the man and we chatted throughout the parade. 

He told me that he lived around the country but 10 years ago settled in Aurora. I learned that he was a Vietnam War veteran and grew up on a farm, and had a number of blue colar type jobs through his life. He asked what we did and I told him I'd been a therapist and my partner was a nurse. He said that one of his daughters was also a therapist. It occurred to me afterwards that I could have lied and told him we'd worked in jobs that didn't label us as being most probably liberal. I eventually did tell him I'd been a reserve police officer for 20 years since this usually gives me some conservative creds.

We engaged in friendly chit-chat throughout the parade. 

Sitting next to the man having already revealed I'd been a therapist I decided I'd throw into the conversation something that wouldn't lead him to think I was a flaming liberal. I told him that I'd watched many other local parades since I'd helped direct traffic at them when I was a reserve police officer before moving to Oregon.

I was much younger then. Mason, Michigan parade.

During the entire conversation I didn't know for sure what the man's political view was until we were leaving and I saw his "Let's Go Brandon" cap (top of page). If you don't know what this means click here. I consider this hat and flags and banners saying this to be far more objectionable than any of the MAGA hats and pro-Trump flags because people expressing this sentiment are saying f**k Joe Biden. 

Trump enabled the Jan. 6th attack on the Capital. He's been the poster boy for gutter politics hurling vulgar insults like a schoolyard bully. No wonder people feel comfortable with this slogan.

I couldn't find the exact cap among the many for sale on Amazon. This is the closest one which I found.

On the same Amazon search I found this:

It's a good thing wasn't wearing it. A more ambiguous message is on this cap if "let's go" is shorthand for the f-word rather than meant to cheer him on.

I could have worn one of these:

Update: Just found this...

This parade really did celebrate traditional small town values and old fashion pre-fascist patriotism from the days when displaying an American flag didn't suggest you might believe in the MAGA America First agenda. Click images below to enlarge them.

There's some new MAGA merch more to my liking:

You can find these items on Amazon.

Trump Should Beware the Kings or Queens of the Courtroom

 Above sign is available for $25 on eBay

By Hal Brown

About the title: So far only two judges have been assigned to preside over Trump trials, Tanya Chutkan and Aileen Cannon, but it is possible he will have a male judge in Atlanta and in his New York cases. Correction: Alvin. Bragg's case is due to be heard by  New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan , "At a hearing in June, an irascible U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein rebuffed Trump’s plans, with the judge becoming increasingly exasperated the more he detailed the weird business arrangement between Trump and [former Trump attorney Michael] Cohen." (read article)

To state the obvious, Trump is used to being the king of whichever domain he holds court over. Whether he was actually the king of Manhattan real estate remians to be seen. You can make the case that he was at least one of the kings of reality TV. Once he began his run for president his cult gelled quickly so it numbered in the millions. 

The power he exerted over them has remained so high it would be envied by Jim Jones whose cult only numbered about 900 and David Koresh had about a 100 willing to fight to the death for him at Waco.

The average courtroom measures around 2,000 square feet with smaller rooms for the judge's chamber and jury deliberation rooms, but while you can say that this is the judge's domain the power exerted from the bench is represented by the fact that this is always the highest point in the room. It is elevated two or three steps above the floor of the courtroom.

There are practical reasons for the judge to sit higher but the main one is symbolic:

The elevation of the judge’s bench is also a symbol of authority. Important decisions take place in courtrooms and the judge must oversee and manage the proceedings to ensure the fair and effective administration of justice. Sitting in an elevated position, wearing a black robe, and being backed by flags or official seals promotes the judge as the central authoritative figure in the courtroom. Reference.

You've seen enough trials on TV dramas to know that the judge in a case has substantial power which can influence the outcome of a trial and the fate of the defendant. For example they can rule on what evidence can be presented and whether objections from lawyers on both sides are accepted, the can hold partcipants in contempt, and in some courts can decide on sentences.

  You can read much more about how courts function on the ABA website here.

Trump only had judgelike power when he was actually president. Of course it hasn't completely sunk in that he isn't president. Having a cult in thrall to you doesn't give you the power to keep you out of legal jeopardy or even prison. 

A real judge does have that power.

Blog Bonus:

Bonus Number Two:

The picture of imprisoned Trump (lower left) is used in lots of articles. Here's my version. I may use itand the one above for a blog in the future.

The only way judges can give Trump lockjaw is to lock his jaws

 

DonkeyHotey, lock added by Hal Brown

By Hal Brown

Read on single page

This is what Trump posted:

I hear that RACIST Fulton County (Atlanta) District Attorney “Phoney”Fani Willis, who weakly presides over one of the deadliest communities in the U.S., with thousands of murderers, violent criminals & gang members roaming the streets while going untried, free, & are treated with “kid gloves,” is using a potential Indictment of me, and other innocent people, as a campaign and fundraising CON JOB, all based on a PERFECT PHONE CALL, AS PRESIDENT, CHALLENGING ELECTION FRAUD - MY DUTY & RIGHT!

So far Trump hasn't been attacking Judge Tanya Chutkan or ranting about his DC case. It appears that for the present he has been hesitiating to vent his rage in his usual way because he isn't certain how much he can get away with before Chutkan moves to the next level. I doubt he believes she'll actually hold him in contempt and put him in jail but he may have been told that she could schedule the trial to begin sooner (see article)

He also doesn't want her to score anything that may be construed as a victory against him. This is a better safe than sorry strategy that is, to state the obvious, very un-Trumplike. 

Yet he can't shut up (it's not in his nature, blah, blah, blah) so he does the next best thing and attacks Fani Willis. He's a pressure cooker and he has to vent or he'll blow his lid off.

While these  attacks are not aimed at the DC case is he so stupid to think that since Judge Chutkan is monitoring all his Truth Social posts she won't see these and know what he is doing in the Georgia case? He isn't violating her order but he is demonstrating why she issued the order. 

A judge hasn't been selected to try the case in Atlanta, but when one is posts like these could (and probably will) prompt Fani Willis to ask for some kind of gag order because they are an attempt to influence the jury pool at the least.

The only sure way to lock Trump's jaws or his manic Truth Social typing fingers is to literally make sure that he's sitting in a cell behind a literally padlocked door.

Recent blog posts here

Trump's aspirational defense rests on his being either an imbecile, delusional, or both

Top: A man's head seen from the front and back showing large ears and a deformed scalp by George Edward Shuttleworth, 1842-1928. Both images public domain

By Hal Brown, MSW, Retired psychotherapist

It should be becoming clear to Trump's lawyers that the First Amendment defense just won't fly. This seems to leave him with two viable defenses.

Consider this from 

Not just the coup: Trump used the "aspirational" defense in the E. Jean Carroll rape lawsuit by Amanda Marcotte

There was no conspiracy to overturn the government. Trump is just a delusional old man babbling at people! And empty chatter ain't no crime! 

Trump himself is leaning hard into the argument that he's too big of an imbecile to take seriously as a threat.

There are two words above, delusional and imbecile, which alone or together can be used and indeed have been used successfully to keep people either from being tried for a crime or on being convicted from being sent to a regular prison.

This has to do with laws about competency to stand trial:

It is a denial of due process to try or sentence a defendant who is “insane” or incompetent to stand trial.1 When it becomes evident during the trial that a defendant is or has become “insane” or incompetent to stand trial, the court on its own initiative must conduct a hearing on the issue.2Although there is no constitutional requirement that the state assume the burden of proving a defendant competent, the state must provide the defendant with a chance to prove that he is incompetent to stand trial. Thus, a statutory presumption that a criminal defendant is competent to stand trial or a requirement that the defendant bear the burden of proving incompetence by a preponderance of the evidence does not violate due process

 You can more read about the relevant laws here.

The term imbecile was once used to denote a category of people with moderate to severe intellectual disability as well as a type of criminal.^[1][2] The meaning was further refined into mental and moral imbecility.^{[7][8]  (Wikipedia)}

We all remember stories like "Tensions escalate after Tillerson calls Trump ‘moron’" from 2017 using another old medical term now slang for to insult someone either with low intelligence or who may be smart but who does something stupid. 

Trump's bet is to avoid being tried at all with the claim that he's too incompetent to particpate in his own defense.  If found guilty of felonies and sentenced to incarceration The Federal Bureau of Prisons can accommodate him and provide apropriate treatment and programs:

This Program Statement provides policy, procedures, standards, and guidelines for the delivery of mental health services to inmates with mental illness in all Federal Bureau of Prisons (Bureau) correctional facilities.

For the purpose of this Program Statement, mental illness is defined as in the most current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders:

“A mental disorder is a syndrome characterized by clinical significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning. Mental disorders are usually associated with significant distress or disability in social, occupational, or other important activities.”

Classification of an inmate as seriously mentally ill requires consideration of his/her diagnoses; the severity and duration of his/her symptoms; the degree of functional impairment associated with the illness; and his/her treatment history and current treatment needs. Mental illnesses not listed below may be classified as seriously mentally ill on a case-by-case basis if they result in significant functional impairment. Reference.

Trump could go down in history as the most famous felon who ever served his time in a prison psychiatric hosptial. He'd be on the list with John Hinkley (who tried to assassinate Presdient Reagan and spent 34 years as a prisoner being treated at St. Elizabeth's Psychiatric Hospital) and Boston Strangler Alberto DeSalvo who spend years in the DOC psychiatric facility Bridgewater State Hospital before he escaped and was sent to the maximum secutiry Walpole Prison.

Addendum:

Recommended reading for Trump if this happens to him:

What Life Is Like for the 'Criminally Insane' at a Maximum-Security Psychiatric Hospital

by SARAH KUTA

Excerpt:

How and why do people end up in forensic psychiatric hospitals? 

All the patients have committed crimes and have been sent there by a judge, but they’re not actually criminals—they’ve been judged not responsible for their crimes.

Some are there because they’ve committed serious felonies and are being held for competency evaluations, to see if they have the capacity to stand trial. Some are inmates who come from other state psychiatric facilities because their behavior has been violent or aggressive and they meet the criteria for involuntary commitment. Most, however, have been found incompetent to stand trial or convicted of a crime that was committed when they were under the influence of a mental illness, like Brian.

Can they ever get out? 

They’re sent there until they have recovered or are considered stable enough to gradually return to the community—no matter how long that takes. For some of them, this never happens, and they stay in the hospital until they die. There’s no federal agency charged with monitoring them and no registry or organization that tracks how long they’ve been incarcerated or why.