Crossing The Rubicon
In Ancient Rome, the Rubicon River marked the northern border of Italy; bringing armies into Italy was considered an act of insurrection. In January of 49 BC, Julius Caesar famously led his 13th Legion across the Rubicon, precipitating the civil war that eventually led to the end of the Roman Republic and Caesar becoming emperor. The phrase "crossing the Rubicon" has come to mean "passing a point of no return".
As news of Trump's 4th indictment broke, a couple of commenters alluded to Trump's rally on January 6th, 2001, during which he approached the proverbial Rubicon, but didn't actually cross it (asking his supporters to protest peacefully outside the Capitol).
The old adage about “strike at the king and you better not miss” comes to mind. Except here all he did was feint at the regime, yet they plan to grind him into powder and do a victory lap
— the last pirate (@corsair21c) August 15, 2023
The up and coming generation must be instructed on all of this. The current seems lost https://t.co/0drPM2kH2W
The moral of the story is don't go fishing in the Rubicon.
— James Kirkpatrick (@VDAREJamesK) August 15, 2023
Below are some of the other smart takes on Trump's 4th indictment.
Election Night In Georgia
When it all began.
Never forget - President Trump was leading Biden by 160,000+ votes on election night
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) August 15, 2023
Then a “water pipe burst” forcing GOP poll watchers out of the Atlanta counting center while Democrat criminals pulled out suitcases of ballots & ran them through the machines for hours… pic.twitter.com/f3PUuEiU1f
The Racial Angle
Michael Savage and Scott Greer note that this isn't the first indictment against Trump brought by a black prosecutor.
Black DA in NYC / Black DA in Georgia-soft on felons of color, both INDICTED FORMER PRES TRUMP! anyone see a RACIAL ELEMENT?
— Michael Savage (@ASavageNation) August 15, 2023
Maybe they were right that there's systemic racism in American justice pic.twitter.com/ow2ugcURus
— Scott Greer 6’2” IQ 187 (@ScottMGreer) August 15, 2023
Others have noted that the judges presiding over Trump's previous three indictments are all of immigrant and/or nonwhite backgrounds.
Shaky Legal Grounds
The jurisprudence of the indictment drew some sharp observations as well.
“Extremely substantive” https://t.co/tMRhehQM68 pic.twitter.com/iL48xg5rbG
— Rawdog Rapist (@Minamar54452314) August 15, 2023
All the legal cases against Donald Trump should fail under the principle that a President cannot be held liable in any way for an action he took while in office unless he is first convicted of impeachment. @NCLU_ORG's legal strategy memo is out now: https://t.co/i5nrbuIXkp
— Gavin Mario Wax 🇺🇸 🗽🍊 (@GavinWax) August 14, 2023
Lawfare As Fundraising
Others noted that the prosecutor, Fani Willis, has been raising money off of her indictment of Trump and associates.
WHAT? Fani Willis is raising money off this?👇
— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) August 14, 2023
‘We have an announcement’ | Fulton DA Willis launches fundraising website
“A local grand jury is continuing to hear from witnesses and decide whether to bring charges against former President Donald Trump.” https://t.co/ZP1CIVKS4T
The Ricky Vaughn Precedent
Readers may recall the meme-maker who Biden's DOJ went after a week into Biden's term.
Via @myth_pilot, an inside account of the trial that convicted Douglass Mackey (aka Ricky Vaughn), and a look at his appeal. https://t.co/LOtvTQotSy
— Portfolio Armor (@PortfolioArmor) July 5, 2023
Observers noted that the prosecution of Ricky Vaughn/Douglass Mackey for tweets set a precedent for prosecuting Trump for tweets.
The Ricky Vaughn case was the trial run. https://t.co/HABtQtRUks
— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) August 15, 2023
The Useless Establishment GOP
No additional comment is necessary here.
The inevitable 2024 GOP nominee - Donald Trump - is being indicted for the fourth time and the only thing the head of the Republican Party had to say today was announcing a GOTV effort to beat Joe Biden in….California 🤦🏼♀️ https://t.co/UbHPucxVdc
— Caroline Wren (@CarolineWren) August 15, 2023
This is why I’m always going after the GOP. These people are useless. They are worse than Democrats. https://t.co/LuUn6jP4sw pic.twitter.com/98pQeyBsor
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) August 15, 2023
It's Still Trump Or Bust
As we pointed out a couple of months ago, the choice for the GOP is Trump or bust. No other primary candidate comes close to Trump's popular support, and even if one did, if Republicans switched from Trump to that candidate, they'd simply be inviting the Democrats to indict their new candidate if they felt he threatened the establishment. And if they're going to let the Democrats decide who gets to run as a Republican, the might as well just close up shop.
Let's wrap this up with a brief trading note.
In Case You Missed It
Last week we placed a bullish bet on an under-the-radar domestic oil & gas company. Like our previous oil & gas bet, Evolution Petroleum (EPM), this one managed to turn a profit during the energy crash of 2020. Unlike EPM, this one is more natural gas focused, so it's positioned to do even better when natural gas finally rebounds. If you'd like a heads up when we place our next trade, feel free to subscribe to our trading Substack/occasional email list below.
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