How NOT to respond to posts expressing extreme frustration and anger over the ruling reducing Trump's bond

[markpkessinger]

A lot of people are making comments today borne of frustration and perfectly understandable anger. But responding to them with lectures on how they are hurting Biden or helping Trump is perhaps the least helpful way to respond, even if you believe that to be true.

Look, these posts are coming out of raw emotion. Many of the people who post them will cool down after they've had a chance to work through those emotions. People are entitled to their emotions, and are entitled to express them. We should all respect that. But to respond to posts expressing legitimate emotions with a kind of cool, detached rationality does nothing to help them process those emotions in a productive way. And in some cases, it may only serve to entrench them in their initial emotional response.

Just my two cents, but please consider refraining from the need to "correct" the people who are making these postings, at least until after they've had a reasonable opportunity to fully grapple with the emotions they are experiencing!

[MOMFUDSKI]

1. Thank you for this. We are all so over this

happening time and time again. I got the spiel this morning. But I understood why. We will proceed. Thanks again!!!

[Think. Again.]

2. Thank you.

[bdamomma]

3. Thanks for your post

This is not the 1st time we have gone through this sort of thing. And we did get through it.

[bigtree]

4. there are a few repeat doomcasters in that flurry of resignations of hope today

...they really do need responding to with some forcefulness, if they're just full of shit.

I don't see any value in coddling people coming on to discourage people based on bullshit takes about the Trump prosecutions.

Your mileage may vary.

[maptap22]

5. I agree.

My first response to the news today was to say “thats it I quit”! But now I am back to “no way am I giving up MY COUNTRY for that criminal piece of shit!” 💩 I will fight until my last breath.
We are all emotional about it because so much is at stake so give people a little break. No one wants a lecture when they are venting. It’s like telling a woman to calm down. 🙄😂

[ArkansasDemocrat1]

22. My wife and I decided we will stay where we are and fight

[anciano]

6. Excellent post.

When you have a choice between being right or being kind, be kind. You never know what someone may be going through. And the only way to win an argument is to avoid having one in the first place.
🙏

[edisdead]

7. Baloney.

There is no time for negativity.

Anger? Sure. Absolutely. As long as it is motivational anger. But the “What is the point” attitude? Baloney. That shouldn’t be allowed here.

[markpkessinger]

8. I'm glad you don't make the rules. n/t

[birdographer]

15. No kidding! n/t

[FakeNoose]

9. Let's remind ourselves that Chump didn't "win" his appeal

The only thing he "won" is the right to make the appeal. Instead of having to pay the entire fine in full up front, now he's paying about 1/3 of the fine upfront. So if the appeal goes south and the appellate court judge decides that the original ruling is correct, Chump still has to pay the original fine, plus interest on what is owed. This could well happen, but we don't know at this point.

If the appellate judge makes a different ruling - say for example Chump's fine might be lowered - well maybe that would have happened anyway. We don't know. Until we hear otherwise, Judge Engoren's original ruling stands.

Either way, we need to remember that none of this affects the other trials involving Chump. None of this means he's going to win the election in November. He will lose in November, mark my words. Chump will not be our next President.

The Democrats and Independents will get out the vote, and we will see a BLUE WAVE like never before.

[markpkessinger]

10. I'm well aware of that . . .

. . . But I'm also aware that the fact that there were five appellate justices who signed the order suggests that there is significant sympathy for Trump's argument that the underlying judgment itself is also too large.

[FakeNoose]

12. Between you and me, I think Judge Engoren gave a little wiggle room

... if you know what I mean. The ruling will stand but the number might come down a little.

[birdographer]

16. OR.....

That Russian courier that showed up recently promised some major death threats to judges, attorneys, and anyone else bothering trump in exchange for first dibs on the new classified info he will soon be receiving. Maybe that's not sympathy for trump but a desire to not be thrown out a 10th floor window.

[Ocelot II]

27. These are the five judges on the appeal panel that reduced the bond:

Five Democrats, all appointed by Democratic governors.

Presiding Judge Dianne Renwick, a Black jurist who previously served as a staff attorney for the Legal Aid Society.

Anil Singh, a judge born in India who immigrated to the US, went to Antioch Law School, and prior to becoming a judge worked for another judge who started out representing criminal defendants for the Legal Aid Society.

Lizbeth Gonzalez, a Latina judge who previously served as Visiting attorney for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense & Education Fund and as a senior attorney for MFY Legal Services (aka Mobilization for Justice, an organization providing legal services to low-income New Yorkers).

Bahaati Pitt-Burke, a Black jurist who previously worked for the Legal Aid Society.

Kelly O'Neill Levy, previously served as a principal law clerk to the late Judge Rose Rubin, one of the first women to become a New York judge and also served on the Board of Directors of the Women’s Bar Association and the Board of Trustees of the Community Service Society of New York.

You can make whatever assumptions you want about whether they would do Trump any favors - even assuming any of these same judges are on the panel that hears the appeal.

[dalton99a]

33. And the five of them couldn't produce a sentence to explain what they did?

I don't care what color they are. Being Black or Indian does not mean anti-Trump

Did they not read AG James' court filing

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/20/dont-trust-trump-impossible-appeal-bond-claims-attorney-general-tells-judges.html

The attorney, Dennis Fan, argued that Trump had not provided any evidence this week to support his claim that it was “impossible” to obtain an appeal bond using his real estate holdings as collateral.

“Defendants supply no documentary evidence that demonstrates precisely what real property they offered” to potential insurers, wrote Fan, in the filing to Manhattan appeals court judges.

Nor did they report “on what terms that property was offered, or precisely why” bond insurers “were unwilling to accept the assets,” according to the filing.

The account of Trump’s struggle to obtain a bond came entirely from two people who, Fan alleged, have serious conflicts of interest and credibility problems.

...

[orangecrush]

34. THIS

There is fuckery afoot.

[usonian]

11. I've been using these posts to make the point that we have no control over these things, but there are things we can do.

Control/influence what you can.

The rest is like sports talk radio. Anything said before a game is meaningless, and anything said after it is pointless.

By the way, this applies to a LOT of things in life, not just sports and the courts.
And I am not a psychologist. This is a just great advice.

Courts have repeatedly failed but the ballot box has succeeded. They're the only power we have, which we can influence.

There are many ways we can help, even out of state.

https://democrats.org/take-action/

[Raven123]

13. Perhaps we need a forum labeled "Rants and Vents"

[msongs]

14. one persons rants and vents are perfectly reasonable responses to other persons nt

[emulatorloo]

26. Or "Dooming and Premature Surrender"

Something that would be easy to hide.

[bluesbassman]

17. Solid advice. People may not realize it, but for some of our members this is the only safe haven they have to vent.

Some may be in a relationship or in a family that is rightwing, or they work with a bunch of MAGA cult members, or live in a deep red area like I do. Whatever their circumstances, coming here and expressing frustration can be a godsend. Might be nice to extend them that courtesy, you never know when you might need it yourself.

[FHRRK]

18. Exactly!

Sometimes it is best to just STFU, especially on day 1.

Just saw one that was over the top, other than that, RANT!!!!

[barbtries]

19. i recommend watching this video.

?si=WLeMUGsBmpMfY9_0

trump got relief on the amount of the bond. that's it. every other ruling stands. i know we would all like to see everything stripped from the sick fuck but the pressure on him essentially has not changed except for the amount of the bond.

MTN talks me down with their videos all day every day. It's about all I watch anymore because corporate media frustrates me so much. My tolerance for frustration has only grown with age.

[PatSeg]

20. We are living in unprecedented times

and our frustrations are understandable. It is okay to vent. We've been through this quite a few times already, but if we step back and look at the big picture, we have made considerable progress and things are getting better.

[Orrex]

21. There is A Certan Group among us

that takes it upon itself to "correct" wrong thinking at every opportunity, and generally in the most condescending, belittling way possible. It's been happening for years, and they are well-practiced in their tactics. They're also good at skimming the edge of the TOS while apparently hoping to drive their targets to violate the rules in response.

If we're lucky, maybe we'll get to see one (or a few) in response to this very post!

[ArkansasDemocrat1]

23. Ah, shit stirrers and trolls are everywhere

[DoBW]

24. And don't get snowed in

?itemid=14809789

[RobertDevereaux]

25. Bravo. Well spoken.

[Tom of Temecula]

28. Two weeks from now none of this will matter

You got to put it all into perspective. We're in a political war. There are going to be ups and downs.

If you stop fighting now you've surrendered to the enemy.

[All Mixed Up]

32. It will matter, tho. Every day it's another freakout.

Whether it's freaking out about Canon or Fani Willis or now this. DU does not have the stomach for these trials.

[Tom of Temecula]

41. My hope is Biden has some really gnarly shit on Orange Boy ...

... and he has it all saved up for when the citizens of our fine nation are actually focused on the future of our nation.

I suspect he does.

[H2O Man]

29. I prefer

"a kind of cool, detached rationality."

[Xavier Breath]

30. That's good advice for many of the threads that are posted here.

Let people blow off steam, for Pete's sake. If that's a bridge too far, then trash the thread and move on.

[All Mixed Up]

31. How about everyone just pick a thread and do their bellyaching there?

There's dozens of threads right now on the main page from posters throwing in the towel.

You know what? I'm glad some of these trials are going to be potentially delayed because DU does not have the stomach to handle the process. It would be a complete shit-show going through every moment with the absolute panic some people experience whenever something doesn't go slightly their way.

We have a presidential election in a few months and 90% of the topic here (and not just this day - but for the last few months) is related to Trump's trials. Then people complain about how Trump is getting wall-to-wall coverage...and how people are completely disengaged from the election.

It's maddening.

[Hope22]

36. Don't worry we are down for updates tonight.

You don’t have long to suffer!

[All Mixed Up]

38. I'm sure by the time it's back up, we'll have something new to freak out about.

Maybe Judge Cannon will do something.

[Hope22]

40. It's always something! 🤣😂n/t

[Orrex]

42. How many DUers do you imagine will withhold their votes in protest?

I'm guessing that the number is close to zero, so your complaint about their complaint seems rather off the mark. They're venting because this is a nominally safe space where they can air their concerns without fear of blowback from coworkers or family or neighbors. But it's foolish to infer from their complaints that they're disengaged. The opposite seems closer to the truth, in fact.

And it's hard to believe that the electorate at large will be influenced by some DUer's frustrated rant.

So your best bet is to seek some method of, you know, scrolling past disagreeable threads without clicking on the and reading them. And if they appear on the front page, well that's too bad. The front page is typically clogged with videos that I won't watch and pet updates that I won't read, but I wouldn't presume to tell people that they can't post these. I simply don't click on them.

Is that option not available for you?

[All Mixed Up]

43. What nonsense.

This place complains over and over how Trump is all over the news and yet that's all this site can talk about. Go look for the Biden threads and compare how they're dwarfed by people discussing Trump, throwing in the towel over Trump, whining about Trump, freaking out about Trump.

I don't know how any of you all aren't plain exhausted. It's freaking March. We haven't even gotten into the heat of the campaign and there's thread after thread where people are losing their shit or talking about Trump.

Is Biden even running? You wouldn't know it by looking at the topics just on the first page of GD.

At the time of this posting there is one thread where the title mentions Biden (about an event with Obama and Clinton) showing on page one of GD. That's it.

Threads with Trump in the title? 15.

One with TFG.

One referring to him as orange (about a woman's husband who is ultra-liberal and voting for him).

Two that mentions MAGA

Two referring to him as DonPoorLeone

One referring to him as Donnie.

That's just a quick look. 22 posts at least on Trump.

So, again I ask: is Biden even a candidate? You wouldn't know it by visiting a DEMOCRATIC forum.

But whatever.

[Orrex]

45. If one neighbor was shitting on your porch and another wasn't, which would you discuss?

You should check with the admins, be sure clearly some algorithm is funneling objectionable content to your device and rendering you incapable of avoiding it.

What nonsense indeed.

I’m sorry that it’s so inconvenient for you that people don’t ask you to screen their posts prior to submitting them.

[All Mixed Up]

46. Huh?

I'm not asking anyone screen their posts. The irony here is that you're the one doing exactly that. Which isn't a surprise since the topic is hipocracy and how so many people on this forum will bemoan how much media Trump gets and yet he dominates the entire forum all day every day.

I think it's ridiculous and I'll happily call it out. Might as well change this to Trump Underground because it's all many of you talk about.

[Orrex]

47. Far be it from me to call out a longstanding DUer

But perhaps you might brush up on the TOS before you accuse fellow DUers of supporting Trump.

Thereafter we can discuss your self righteous silliness in presuming to call anyone out for hypocrisy. DU has no shortage of gatekeeping busybodies, so we can easily do without another.

[All Mixed Up]

50. I never said anyone is supporting Trump.

You can be anti-Trump and still obsess over him to the point that it dominates every facet of the conversation.

Again: I've seen multiple threads critical of the media's constant coverage of Trump and yet that's all everyone here seems to talk about.

The only reprieve it seems came from that awful bridge collapse.

It's called pointing out a level of hypocrisy. Why do you think so many DUers talk about Trump - even more than the Democratic ticket? It's not out of support but likely tied to the exact same reason the media talks about Trump: he elicits a lot of emotion.

Good. Bad. Angry. Frustration. It doesn't matter. The emotion is there.

And we saw it on full display with the ruling yesterday.

I don't know about you - but it absolutely is exhausting. I come to DU to talk about Biden and get updates on the campaign. I understand Trump will get mentions but it's every other thread it seems.

If I didn't have twitter, I wouldn't even know Biden spoke to the country today.

But I sure would know about that Trump bible because there's three posts on it.

Again, people are free to post what they want. But yeah, I find it exhausting seeing all the Trump posts on a Democratic board.

And I think I'm free to communicate that frustration. I'm not personally attacking anyone - or as you say claiming they're supporting Trump. But pointing out that this place can get a bit overzealous in their Trump discussion.

[Orrex]

52. I look forward to your many years of positive contributions to this site.

[All Mixed Up]

53. Hopefully by that point every other thread isn't about Trump.

[orangecrush]

35. A rule against venting?

How about a rule against turd polishing?

I like that idea a lot better

[gab13by13]

51. You nailed it, short and sweet

The sad part of this thread is that the doom and gloomers as people like myself are called, have been spot on for the past 5 years.

IMO the doom and gloomers, knee knockers, are the truth tellers.

As far as GOTV, we did that once and we will have to do it once more and maybe twice more because Trump has yet to be held accountable. I just called my county election official because I haven't received my absentee ballot yet for the Pa. primary and was given an explanation why.

My enthusiasm for voting for President Biden and my state officials has nothing to do with my criticism of how Trump has been treated with kid gloves. I'm not even going to debate anyone about that fact, it's too obvious.

I think it depends where one gets his/her news.

President Biden wins overwhelmingly in a fair election, but this election won't be fair so we need to over-perform, I get that.

I would have never guessed that it may be Alvin Bragg who is responsible for making Trump a felon, this trial should be over by now had AG Garland made the decision to prosecute Trump, Mueller had the ducks all lined up. 3..2..1... I am bashing Garland, or am I just truth telling?

[Shoonra]

37. Just a small bump.

The judge's discount of the bond that Trump must put up is a small bump in this saga. Trump still has to win on appeal. If Trump loses the appeal his $175M bond vanishes instantly and - this is important - the rest of the $453M will be taken from him as well although that process might be a bit slower and more complicated.

Trump's decision to use Republican Party money to pay his legal expenses (I don't know if this means just paying his lawyers, or if it means paying the judgments and fines as well) means (a) his campaign is operating on approximately the same financial level as RFK Jr's campaign, and (b) when this is all over the Republican Party may be as hollow and threadbare as the Reform Party was after Pat Buchanan plundered it.

[Just_Vote_Dem]

39. Thank you for this kind and understanding post

Sometimes we forget that our brothers and sisters might be suffering and need to lash out now and then.

[SYFROYH]

44. People get called out for saying stupid things, not for being emotional.

There is a difference.

[Orrex]

48. Would that this were so

But reality shows us that a throng of cheerleaders is more than happy to call out anything that contradicts their own assessment of events, and they do it in a pointedly belligerent and condescending way.

It’s not up to them to police the site’s content, nor are they demonstrated any authority to declare others’ comments stupid, yet they certainly take it upon themselves to do so.

[AKwannabe]

49. Rec