Sometimes I like to imagine the Q team planning this whole operation.
What should we have Biden do or say next?
How about ‘I’m going to build a railroad across the Indian Ocean.’”
Too crazy.
How about ‘She was 12. I was 30.’
Eeeewww.
How about having him fall asleep during an important event?
How about making his chin look like it’s melting off his face?
How about ‘Repeat the line’ when he’s reading from the teleprompter.
Haha. Good one.
I know, let’s have him fist bump a Saudi prince!
Wait, wait! Let’s have him shake hands with thin air and then wander around like a deranged Roomba with a dying battery
I’ve got it. Let’s have him claim his uncle was eaten by cannibals!
What the heck. Let’s have him do all of these things. Let’s see how long it takes people to catch on!
https://www.coffeeandcovid.com
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..... “In other trial news, I found Maggie Haberman’s comment from the New York Times’ live stream to be professionally fascinating. Trump’s lawyers are creating a very detailed record of all Judge Merchan’s decisions, even small ones:
But legally speaking, Judge Merchan is wrong. There isn’t really any point where Trump must “accept his rulings.” The defense’s ability to draft motions for reconsideration is limited only by available time and available lawyers.
When a case is particularly important, and when the defendant is very well-funded, there will usually be two teams of lawyers in the courtroom at all times. The team we see is the litigation team. But the other team, a team of lawyers not seated at counsel table, is a team of appellate lawyers. Their job is to watch the case like hawks, and advise the litigation team in real time about how to help trap the judge into a legally fatal mistake, and about how to preserve any such errors for the appeal when they do happen.
The tobacco companies perfected this technique during the cigarette trials.
The reason a defendant might file motions challenging every little decision the judge makes would be to get the judge to talk more. Whenever a judge is officially talking, he might make an error. So the more a defendant can get the judge to talk and rule on things, the greater the chance he’ll make some kind of useful mistake.
Plus, all human beings are susceptible to a syndrome called “decision fatigue.” You’ve surely experienced it. The simple process of making repetitive decisions is mentally draining. Having to make many decisions in a row — like when you’re building a house, planning a wedding, or plotting a Ukrainian coup — can be taxing and exhausting.
Judges must make decisions all day long, every day. Often the decisions are important, hard, and contentious, and there are consequences for getting it wrong, because there’s an appellate court potentially peeking over the judge’s shoulder. By forcing the judge to reconsider every little decision, Trump’s lawyers are effectively doubling the normal decision fatigue the judge is experiencing. Being forced to make every decision twice doubles the odds he’ll make a mistake.
In light of these dynamics, I found Maggie’s next comment from the Times’ live stream to be a sign the judge may be starting to wear out a little:
Judge Merchan has a weekend to recover. But if this week was crazy, next week will be crazy times infinity.”
