Stormy Daniels and "grab 'em by the pussy"

Fuck that "lewd" description, and fuck you if you object to my use of the word, "fuck."  Assault isn't "lewd."  It is criminal sexual assault.  Focus on the act, not the language, you pearl-clutching nitwits.

Still, it is important to remind everyone, once in a while, of this recording.  After its release, Trump's numbers in the 2016 election dropped several points.  They didn't crater, though.  Clinton looked like she had a lock on the presidency (hi, former FBI Director Comey!), but Trump's numbers didn't crater.  Why not?  Same reason Roy Moore had a base of support, even though he's a child-raping sack of shit.  Mindless partisanship can convince people to disregard damn near anything.

The big Stormy Daniels interview aired last night.  What did we learn?  Not much, really.  Trump denies the affair, but who's more believable-- a porn star whose job is to fake orgasms, or the President of the United States of America?

Let that one sink in.

Then, there's the possibility of threats against Daniels.  Did they happen?  Here's the basic problem.  I... don't know.  I wouldn't be surprised if they did, but Daniels has every incentive to exaggerate.  In a Trump vs. Daniels credibility-off, Daniels will have more credibility with me because literally every person on the planet has more credibility with me than Donald Trump, and I hate it when people misuse the word, "literally."

Will this matter, though?

Politically, no.  Trump lost a few points in the polls when pussygate broke.  His party has stronger incentives now to back him because of the growing Mueller threats.  They need to worry about a partywide catastrophe at this point.  Legally...

Threats against Daniels would be serious business if she had evidence.  So far, it doesn't look like she does.  So, it's just a very plausible accusation floating around.  It will be denied by all Republicans, and it won't affect Trump.

The hush money payments to Daniels by Trump's lawyer are potential legal trouble.  Who's going to go after this, though?  The legal issues are technically in the realm of campaign finance law, and the most likely avenue for pursuing sanctions are through the FEC.  The FEC is generally called a "paper tiger."  It has almost no real enforcement power, and it is generally deadlocked because there are six commissioners by structure-- three Democrats, and three Republicans.  A majority is necessary for a sanction to be imposed.  Partisanship generally prevents the FEC from doing what little it is empowered to do anyway.

Unless some zealous prosecutor goes after Trump's lawyer on RICO for that hush money payment, they're safe, and, um... that ain't happenin'.  Have you noticed what Trump is doing to the DoJ?

So, we've got a sex scandal, a payoff, and a campaign finance scandal.  Sex scandals go away when a politician's party backs him, and the GOP will never turn on Trump.  (SDLKfH:OIDHGfliu)  That parenthetical was me attempting to type the sound of a broken record skipping.  The campaign finance scandal is as irrelevant as any campaign finance scandal because of the inability of the FEC to act.

The payoff... nothing will happen because of it.  It is simply a reminder that Trump is susceptible to blackmail.  He has already paid hush money.

And the first thing he did when he met the Russians in the Oval Office was hand over national security secrets.

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