politics

The judge needs to calmly and patiently explain to Trump that he will be jailed for contempt if he doesn't follow the rules and act in good faith, and then dispassionately follow through with that consequence.

Don't threaten him, don't cajole his lawyers to constrain him, don't complain about his behavior. Just give him a time-out, like the petulant toddler he is, until he gets it through his skull that his bullshit won't be tolerated.

Once he comes back, if he won't agree to behave or if he does promise to behave and then breaks that promise, simply immediately put him back in the cell for another round.

Trump needs to see the inside of a holding cell for a while in order to act right.

I don't think it's a strategy, it's just a happy potential by-product, albeit an unlikely one.

Sure it's possible that a judge might make mistakes that may form the basis for a successful appeal. Is Engoron more likely to make mistakes because of Trump's antics? Not necessarily. Most people do their best work under pressure.

Trump's behavior is focused as always on his supporters. The more he appears to be persecuted the more his supporters will throw money at him - it's that simple. He's intentionally pushing the judge as far as he can without crossing the line into actual consequences.

Edit: as an aside the photos of these idiots always makes me think about how much time they've spent practicing their facial expressions in a mirror.

This judge already ruled that the Trump enterprise in NY is dead and for all business licenses to be pulled. That has been stayed pending appeal. They will not win the appeal.

This trial is purely for damages to see just how much of Trump's assets will have to be liquidated once Judge Engoron determines an amount based on this ridiculous "testimony."

Hint: it's going to be a metric fuckload

Sure I've punched people, but sometimes I hurt myself so that means I'm innocent of the times I hurt others.

You underestimate the electoral power of making rural white folks feel like they can say the N-word without being looked down on as racist trash

These are the rat fuckers who think the president will make their families come back for thanksgiving again even though they have done no work to address that they all left because they tried to force some poor young girl onto cousin Maury with his husband right fucking there.

I've definitely seen a lot of backfire effect going on. If you voted for Trump because, for example, you thought that a political outsider would fix everything and you ignored all the bad shit in hopes that it would work out, then it's hard now to admit that you were wrong. Admitting that Trump sucks is also, for those people, admitting that they were foolish to ever believe in him, which is a difficult and intolerable admission. Better to just ignore evidence and move forward blindly in support.

At least, I've seen a lot of that in my mostly purple area where the divide is only getting worse and stronger.

This free book from 1951 about mass movements explains what is going on. They feel their lives are spoiled and maga gives them hope. Logic doesn't matter.

The True Believer - Eric Hoffer https://www.academia.edu/21464682/The_True_Believer_Eric_Hoffer

lock 'im up already...

It'll be the first time he's ever finished a full sentence without rambling about fly paper or injecting disinfectant.