What Der Furor Wants

It's long been common knowledge that Der Furor does exactly what he wants, regardless of any advice to the contrary. Facts don't matter, truth doesn't matter, the decorum and gravitas we expect of our leaders don't matter ... he'll do exactly what he wants.

The latest example of his gleefully immature and self-destructive behavior came less than 24 hours after the judge in his latest indictment warned him against witness intimidation and jury tampering ... ignoring the judge's admonition, Der Furor sent the following message (in all caps, of course) on his "Truth Social" digital megaphone:

"IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I'M COMING AFTER YOU!"

Now, most rational people would view this as a blatant threat, and the Department of Justice has asked the judge to lower the boom on Der Furor for his action.

But this may well be just what he wants.

I read an interesting thread on Twitter (I refuse to call it "X") over the weekend, in which the writer suggested that Der Furor is actually trying to get the judge to jail him for ignoring her orders. As I think about it, it makes perfect sense ... Der Furor is always trying to play the victim, relentlessly stoking outrage among his gullible supporters in search of support and - especially - "campaign donations*."

In this case, though, he may be crazy as a fox. At the risk of being accused of the logical fallacy of Reductio ad Hitlerum, one could argue that Der Furor is playing a bad hand well, as Adolf Hitler did when he turned his imprisonment after the disastrous Beer Hall Putsch to his advantage. Sentenced to five years of "fortress confinement" (of which he served a mere eight months in relatively comfortable conditions), he used the time to write "Mein Kampf" and plan for his subsequent political career. He later turned his arrest, trial, and imprisonment to his advantage, demonstrating to his followers how he had willingly suffered for the sake of the Nazi movement. 

This is exactly what Der Furor appears to be trying to do. He is daring the judge to impose a gag order or (at best, in his fevered political mind) put him in jail. Dishonestly playing the "free speech" card for actions that would have had you or I in jail in a heartbeat plays to his crowds of deluded followers - and the Republican members of Congress who blindly support him out of fear of those crowds - who can't see his actions for what they are.

I absolutely believe Der Furor deserves to go to jail for what he has done to the nation and the world. But he doesn't deserve the ratings boost he would get from a threat his lawyers and enablers will earnestly spin as "protected free political speech." He's guilty of a lot worse.

Have a good day. Don't take the bait.

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* It would be uncharacteristically honest of him to admit he's milking the sheep for money to pay his lawyers. Or not, if history is any judge.