Whispers in the ear of the chunky Orange Caesar grow increasingly urgent, imploring him to begin a campaign to reclaim his imperium immediately if he is to escape the feared Praetor Merricus Decimus Meridius Garlandum and his Venator Christophus Gaius Wrayton, the Guardian reports.

Or, without the fake Roman bullshit, Trumpus Fatticus’s minions are telling him he “has to” announce a campaign within the next week or two if he wants to avoid indictment. Since this isn’t real legal advice at all, we probably can dismiss the possibility that this source is also somehow informed that an indictment is imminent within that timeframe. Still the die is cast, as they say, and Orange Caesar pretty much let Garland cast it first with the raid. But Trump really probably should cross the Rubicon and finally launch a 2024 campaign already. We don’t want him to be president again, no. But in his own interest, from a neutral perspective, he absolutely should do it. It would fire up his fans and give him a morale boost personally, even though it won’t mean shit legally. And in our interest, from a non-neutral perspective, he still should do it because it’ll fuck things up for the Republicans in the Midterms (though the raid has definitely already helped do that anyway).

The Bulwark’s Paul Rosenzweig summed it up nicely on Monday: “If Trump had chosen to retire to Mar-a-Lago and play golf or even if he had retreated to his resort and continued to exercise influence over the Republican party but chosen not to run again for office, I suspect that Attorney General Merrick Garland would have welcomed the excuse to forgo a prosecution of Trump (whether for the alleged records violations that lie behind the search or for other offenses related to January 6th). Garland would likely have judged the precedent be too significant and the risks to civil society too extreme. But by seriously considering running for office, and repeatedly teasing that he will run during his campaign-rally-like speeches, Trump increasingly takes the option of forbearance off the table… By refusing to forswear ambition, he exacerbates the conditions of social conflict that make it almost mandatory for the attorney general to exercise his discretion in favor of charging Trump. Without the benefit of civil peace, the rule of law must prevail.”