You Bet Your Life

​I made a bet with my friend Bill yesterday.  It’s the over/under on when Trump will break Judge Juan Merchan’s protective order of what Trump is not allowed to talk about publicly.  It’s an order the state judge felt compelled to make out of concern of the safety of jurors and the release of private information.  (Keep in mind, of course, that we’re talking about a former U.S. president!)  And the judge insisted that Trump be present for the issuing of the order, so that he could speak to Trump directly, to be absolutely sure Trump understood.
 
Again, keep in mind that we’re talking about a former U.S. president.
 
The order states, among other things, that "any person who receives the Covered Materials shall not copy, disseminate, or disclose the Covered Materials, in any form or by any means, to any third party including, but not limited to, by disseminating or posting the Covered Materials to any news or social media platforms, including, but not limited, to Truth Social, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, Snapchat, or YouTube, without prior approval from the Court."
 
Most people grasp all that really easily and don’t need to be in court to have the judge treat them like a petulant child.  Trump does. 
 
And, yes, keep in mind that we’re talking about a former U.S. president.
 
To be clear, our bet is not if Trump will break the order.  Just when.  Further, the over/under is only 24 hours.  Bill guessed under.  I guessed within 48 hours.
 
The “Of course, he’ll break the order” is a given, since Trump has no self-control and can’t help himself.  Which is another cool thing to keep in mind about a former U.S. president.  After all, after just losing a court case for sexual assault and defamation, he had a live national television event on CNN only two days later and not only repeated the defamation but ratcheted it up.  And to make matters worse – because this is Trump after all, and that’s on brand – after E. Jean Carroll amended her suit in a second defamation suit because of that Trump rant, Trump went on yet another rant the very next day, writing two posts on his social media service.  The first one being –
 
"I don’t know E. Jean Carroll, I never met her or touched her (except on a celebrity line with her African American husband who she disgustingly called the 'Ape,). I wouldn’t want to know or touch her, I never abused her or raped her or took her to a dressing room 25 years ago in a crowded department store where the doors are LOCKED, she has no idea when, or did anything else to her, except deny her Fake, Made Up Story, that she wrote in a book. IT NEVER HAPPENED, IS A TOTAL SCAM, UNFAIR TRIAL!"
 
It should be amusingly noted, when reading the above, that in his national TV rant on CNN (after held guilty of sexual assault and defamation) Trump claimed as he always does that “I don't know her, I never met her!!” – despite there being an actual photo of them actually together, laughing.  Clearly, someone subsequently pointed out to Trump that this photographic reality made him look deeply idiotic, and he had to change what he was saying.   So, as an afterthought, he added that parenthetical in his post about, well, yes, okay, he did meet her.
 
(By the way, there’s also something notable about Trump throwing in his repugnant, pointless comment about E. Jean Carroll’s husband – which, being Trump, it’s fair to question its validity.  The way Trump phrases it in his social media post reads like she called her husband a “disgusting” name at that very event in front of that group.  But it’s more likely all Trump meant is that it’s merely gossip he heard which supposedly, maybe happened, that he states as fact.  Which means he’s just passing along a nasty far-right rumor to smear her, and it was probably never said.  Which means, of course, if that, it’s a very Trumpian, problematic thing to say when you’ve been already found liable in a defamation lawsuit, and there’s another defamation suit already upcoming.)

Anyway, back to my bet with Bill.
 
It was touch-and-go yesterday, when Trump actually came close to winning the bet for my friend within only a matter of hours.  After receiving the protective order, he almost immediately wrote two posts on his social media site, the most pointed of which said  --
 
"Just had New York County Supreme Court hearing where I believe my First Amendment Rights, 'Freedom of Speech,' have been violated, and they forced upon us a trial date of March 25th, right in the middle of Primary season. Very unfair, but this is exactly what the Radical Left Democrats wanted. It’s called ELECTION INTERFERENCE, and nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before!!!"
 
But I’ve asked the judges (of which I’m one, who is the judge I asked) and I’m still safe.  Trump was ordered not to reveal any of the evidence he and his lawyers received, and he doesn’t do that here.  He only goes on a personal rant about being a poor, forlorn victim, yet again,
 
Trump still has a full night to sleep on his sense of victimization, so there’s time today to get in under the 24-hour deadline for the bet.  But, fingers crossed, I think I’m going to win…!
 
I will say that Trump is right about one thing.  Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before.
 
We have never had a former president be convicted as a sexual abuser and commit so many problematic acts that he’s had to be indicted and under a multitude of investigations for what are believed to be his illegal and criminal activities.