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Trump in court yesterday (Jabin Botsford-Pool/Getty Images)
Whatever you think of Donald Trump — and I for one think very little of him — his conviction as a felon for what would ordinarily be a minor misdemeanour by a biased jury is a grim day for democracy in America. Yesterday’s decision, the culmination of a vindictive prosecution, was less dramatic than the ransacking of the US Capitol by a pro-Trump mob after the 2020 election — but the long-term ramifications are likely to be far more serious.
Trump, of course, is no angel. In 2020, he attempted to suborn vice-president Mike Pence into delaying the congressional ratification of the election results, and pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, into finding enough votes to change the electoral college outcome in his favour in Georgia. In seven other states, Trump’s henchmen also plotted to use fake electors to swing the results. To their credit, Pence, Raffensperger and other senior Republicans stood up to Trump’s bullying. The rule of law in the United States was put to the test by Donald Trump — and it passed the test.
But now, anti-Trump Democrats have put the rule of law in America to the test again — and this time it has been bent to the point of breaking. In February, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of civil fraud in a case involving alleged overstatements of real estate values. And yesterday, following the prosecution of Democratic District Attorney Alvin Bragg, another Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of alleged violations in a case involving the reporting of hush money payments to the porn star Stormy Daniels. It was the first time a sitting or former US president has been convicted of a crime. It was also the first time that the allies of a president of one party have successfully weaponised the American judicial system in an attempt to destroy the presidential candidate of another.
In both of these cases, the partisan motives of the Democratic prosecutors and judges were evident. Campaigning as a Democrat for the office of Attorney General in New York State in 2018, Letitia James promised that she would selectively prosecute Trump, and find some excuse, any excuse, to do so: “I will never be afraid to challenge this illegitimate president,” she said. “I will be shining a bright light into every dark corner of his real estate dealings and every dealing.” The civil fraud case brought against Trump by James was presided over by Judge Arthur Engoron, an elected judge and a Democrat who was elected to the First Judicial District of New York in 2015 without any Republican opponent, so rare are Republicans in New York.
The partisanship of the Democratic officials in the hush-money case has been just as blatant. Charges like those brought against Trump in the hush money case were rejected as too weak by Cyrus Vance, the previous Manhattan district Attorney, and they were also rejected as too flimsy by Vance’s successor, Manhattan’s current DA, Alvin Bragg. Bragg only changed his mind and brought charges against Trump after two things happened. The first was the publication of a book — People vs. Donald Trump: An Inside Account — by Mark Pomerantz, a member of Bragg’s team who resigned in protest in 2022, claiming that Bragg was not doing enough to prosecute Trump. The second was the fact that, by 2023, it was becoming clear that Trump would be the Republican nominee for the presidency.
In the hush money case, Bragg turned what would ordinarily be a minor misdemeanour involving falsifying records into a felony, by claiming that it was somehow part of a nefarious scheme to interfere in the 2016 election. Yet even eminent legal experts find it hard to explain exactly why Trump was charged: last year, even the Left-wing website Vox described the case’s “legal theory” as “dubious”.
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SubscribeYou’re a banana republic and no longer leader of the free world.
Reapply to join the British Empire. Or something.
Are you sure that Britain is any better?
Boris and Rishi had cake and wine in the cabinet room, although Rishi won’t have imbibed since he’s teetotal. They got investigated by the Met, and got fixed penalty fines for breaking lockdown regs.
Sir Keir and some mates had curry and beer in a northern Miners’ Institute in a similar breach of lockdown. Both parties had resumed work after the refreshments were over. In Starmer’s example there was no case to answer.
How is this not politicised law?
The United Banana Kingdom
The United Kingdom is bananas.
Because Starmer and his team had been working together and took a short break for refreshment. Johnson and his team had a party. It’s up to the local police force to make decisions and in this instance they both probably correctly interpreted the law, stupid as it was.
I’m a Johnson supporter, but he made a serious error of judgement here, both in breaking a law he had sponsored, and giving ammunition to his opponents
Yes I mean, it’s not as if the Tories had been working together, the Cabinet room is clearly designed purely for socialising.
The rules were 6 persons could form a group to work on socialise together. Starmer did, Johnson did not. The location is irrelevant.
The rules once held that one human being could own another. The rules once held that certain people could not vote or could not marry or could not do things we take for granted today. The first rule of rules is that they have to make sense. When they do not, adherence is not very likely.
Hindsight is always 20/20.
Plenty knew it at the time.
Slavery still exists in the Muslim world.
The first rule of rules is that they must be applied across the board, or people grow contemptuous of them and feel that, since the game is rigged, the rules need not be respected.
I’m no fan of Rishi Sunak, but his only crime was to arrive early for a cabinet meeting. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer so this was his workplace. Did he even know that there’d be cake on the table?
Cabinet work would have been done after the birthday cake. How is that different to Starmer’s crowd resuming work after curry?
Numbers, numbers. The rules were ridiculous, but Starmer obeyed them, the Tory gathering didn’t. I quite agree that there are times when laws are oppressive and should be disobeyed. But that becomes a very serious matter when it is reached. Its certainly not worth it for cakes and ale (or prosecco)
However you slice it, it is either Cakegate or Currygate.
You can add to that Rayner’s miraculous escape from prosecution
She had committed no offence or breach. She may be a monster but it is the Conservatives who were stupid in blowing the thing up before it was investigated.
And then miss the open goal that she has spoken against sale of council houses but bought, effectively, two herself.
Over a supposed £1000 irregularity? I’m no fan of Ms Rayner, but big deal.
Is this commonly known? If not, why not:
Angela Rayner’s son, Ryan ‘Batty’, has starred in multiple porn films on the internet OnlyFans site with his wife, Rayner’s daughter-in-law. The porn account is well-publicised on Instagram & Twitter since 2022.
What does this have to do with Angela Rayner? She is only responsible for her own actions, not those of her adult son and daughter-in-law.
Perhaps we could both apply to rejoin the Roman Empire?
Maybe that latin I learnt at school would come in handy?
It’s run by Italians. You still sure?
“had cake and wine…” a crime against good taste? but how pitiful to be dragging this up years later
A crime against good taste? Not according to Withnail. “What do you want?” “Cake and wine… The finest wines available to humanity. We want them here and we want them now!”
Nobody is suggesting that the UK is perfect, but there’s no comparison with the politicisation of law in the United States.
Exactly. And further – who actually were the partygaters who partied in Downing Street’s Partygate Scandal??? It was not Boris and Rishi who danced on the tables and quaffed bottles. They – sorry dupes – attended standard civil service leaving do/farewells and sat im at a meeting with a cake sitting on a desk respectively. It was Sue’s Army; the 30 something civil servants who got the booze trollies and disgraced themselves. But manic non stop BBC propagandizing & the Cummings vendetta transformed the actions of largely progressive young civil servants into cynical law bendingTory politicos pulling V signs to the public. A v dark chapter showing how the total progressive capture of the state media can warp truth. What fools they were not to make use of the legitimate exemptions for a de facto national crisis HQ too!
The US has 25% of global GDP still; NVIDIA”s market valuation is now greater than the whole of the LSE. The US has 10 nuclear aircraft carriers, and in fact is continuously building one – when the next one is complete they retire the oldest one. That sounds to me like an immensely rich and powerful country to me. Why they can only find geriatrics to lead them is a hard question to answer.
But the truth is they work harder than we do (the British), and they have a more efficient market system – no secret why they are richer than we.
All that and, of course, they’re big. Scale matters.
If you spend $34,000,000,000,000 you don’t have it’s very easy to appear to be rich! That debt. btw is approx. $100,000 per American man, woman and child or a whopping $300,000 per US household..
With dollar decline, impoverishment of the middle class and inflation still high the US is I economic deep dudu.. we all know people who spend money they don’t have!
If the US is in deep dudu, what are we in?
“If the US is in deep dudu, what are we in?”
We’re in a place where politicians, bloggers, journalists, businessmen, etc., don’t continually live in dread of malicious prosecution. All in all, I think I’ll stay.
What about your MP who recently resigned his seat due to fears of Islamist violence? And the one actually murdered by Islamists? Don’t be naive, the rot is everywhere across the West.
I’m not sure they do work harder tbh; certainly if my experience of working for US financial organisations is anything to go by. There is more to productivity than being seen at your desk. It is a big country, with lots of resources, a large domestic market, with a single currency, a common language and a ready supply of immigrants, waiting to make their mark. Perhaps those are the characteristics that make a great economy.
I would say the USA is more open to new ideas and quicker to implement which maintains momentum of innovation. Britain has innovative people but there are too many who can obstruct , delay and slow down innovation. Speed to market is vital today.
And precisely how it the British Empire (to the extent that still exists) any better? You’re disintegrating from the inside out, just as we are – and at a faster rate, it seems to me.
“British Empire”. I can hardly speak for laughing so hard! “Leader of the free world” is likely a sobriquet the U.S. has lost but, if so, what country deserves the title? As an American, observing the failure of our political institutions saddens me. However, looking forward, I see a future for us that begins to resemble Mexico City, Buenos Aires, or Rio. For Europeans the future is to become versions of Beruit, Moscow, or Tehran. Maybe banana republic is not the worst after all.
The Senate is stuffed with old men and women. The military has been strategically defeated in Afghanistan and now the Middle East. The State Derpartment has spent the last decade actively trying to weaken the economies of its allies. US industry can longer mass produce its weapons of war and new weapons platforms are beset by delays measured in decades. The legal system is now a part of the political system and both obsess about phantom internal enemies.
A gerontocracy. A superpower confounded by far smaller enemies. An imperial power that seeks to weaken its satellite states. An industrial giant with industries that can’t compete abroad. A political establishment fearful of internal enemies using the legal system to squash opponents. The Soviet Union in the 70s and 80s.
The parallels with the last decades of the Soviet Union are astounding. These are hardly the signs of a healthy, strong imperial power.
This does not bode well for any western democracy.
Either one believes in the USA or
one believes D Trump ?
He turned into Benedict Arnold.
What is “United” about “the USA?” For that matter, IS there a “USA” anymore?
Sounds like Rome post 350 AD.
While I agree with much of this, the case about the top-secret documents should be prosecuted. Not only did Trump store these with his typical incompetence, but he bragged about the theft, and used top-secret papers to “impress” party guests.
The article even shows that Biden did the same thing. These are minor matters, not illegal wars of invasion or corruption. This is no way to run a country.
For which he immediately apologised and returned the papers – and there is no sign he took them just for kicks.
This word ‘immediately’ – it doesn’t mean what you think.
The papers were from Biden’s time as VP – ie up to 2016.
And he apologised in 2023.
Immediately after the problem was identified and he was asked to return them. It seems likely that ex-presidents, veeps and and SofS taking home confidential docs after their term may not be that unusual. Only one person tried to cover this up and fight the return, and make pathetic accusations of witch hunts.
The papers were also from Joe’s time as Senator. In neither case was he authorized to have them. “He apologized.” So what? Would this go away if Trump did likewise?
Trump was asked repeatedly to return them, but did not. Biden complied immediately when asked (by the of course he knew what had happened to Trump)
This is true. Trump can be such an ahole, and legit should be charged with obstruction, but it doesn’t change the facts about actual possession of the documents and that Biden did the same thing, even though he had no protection because he wasn’t president. The facts are they all keep classified documents because everything jn Washington is stamped classified.
True
Biden took classified documents as a Senator which is illegal….and then he took documents as president which is not necessarily illegal, but at this point he is too daft to know much about anything.
Joe Biden knowingly kept classified documents for years. The only reason he wasn’t prosecuted was because no jury would convict him. Prosecutorial discretion saved him. That’s all.
….and what is the reason that no jury would convict him? He is not popular.
The jury would not convict him because he is a senile old man. Or so Robert Hur said.
Uh, no. Biden did not do ‘the same thing(s)’. He did not ignore official requests to return the materials, he did not shuffle the papers around his home or stick them behind a shower curtain to try to conceal them from investigators, and he did not reveal their contents to his buddies at the country club. That’s because he has a moral and ethical backbone and his opponent does not.
This is easily the most dimwitted comment on here.
It is.
The US legal system was politicised the minute it was decided to elect judges. Though there are merits to electing judges and police chiefs.
And the jury was biased. But was Mr T guilty, in both cases? Almost certainly
What exactly is he guilty of in this case?
On that, opinions differ. And that’s the problem.
He paid a bribe to buy silence, and tried to hide it. That’s a crime. An obvious crime
He didn’t pay a bribe. Michael Cohen paid off an individual spouting a salacious tabloid rumor and Trump paid Cohen back as a legal expense. This is not uncommon. Even if you believe Cohen (a serial liar) that Trump instructed Cohen him…at most this is a misdemeanor with an expired statute of limitations.
Even if you hate Trump…you can’t just overcharge people because you don’t like them. What kind of petty tyrant are you?
I love the “almost” certainly. Close enough for you, huh? God help the defendant in any trial on which you’re a juror.
I said “almost” because I was not in court nor have I read all the evidence, just newspaper reports. You are presuming him innocent, it seems, on the same or maybe less insight.
Why are yiu so supportive of this man? He is ruining the Republican party reputation for good honest government, a gift to the horrible lefties of the Democrat Party. They are short of good leaders, whilst tge Republicans have a number of good potential leaders. If they survive the Trumpian assault on their party
Canada has appointed judges who abuse their power
The civil government of any Western nation is built on laws which are supposed to be just. That means they must apply equally to everyone.
Yes, all humans are frail creatures who sin. The laws are not intended to prosecute all sins, otherwise we would all be in jail. Hence, there is distinction: there are misdemeanors in America and there are felonies.
When a political movement decides to destroy its opponent, by casting his sins as felonies, you end up with Trump’s trial for covering up hush money for a sin – a liaison with a prostitute, and making it a felony.
This is from the party who defended Bill Clinton for what he did in the Oval Office with Monica Lewinsky.
But this assault on democracy started in 2020, not on J6 when Trump “clumsily” tried to suspend the transfer of power, but earlier, when he was accused of insurrection for even trying to expose the cheating he was legally justified in believing had taken place. Justice must be overt and clear, otherwise it is not justice. Justice is what lost yesterday.
Trump is now a convicted rapist, convicted fraudster and convicted felon. But if course it’s the justice system that is all so wrong! Could it not be that actually he really is guilty? I sort of followed the cases from over here and it seems entirely plausible that he is guilty in all three cases, and there are more to come in which it also seems entirely plausible that he is guilty, but that doesn’t seem to stop him spreading his lies and poison across the media, and for so many Americans to actually think him worthy of being their leader, despite his statement that he wants to be a “dictator” of the “reich”.
Trump has an extraordinary ability to dement people – for or against him. It’s quite common effect of sociopaths/narcissists.
Even to the point of inventing crimes – “convicted rapist”.
The question is not whether Trump is guilty but instead how trivial and contrived the points of law used by Biden for the overriding reason of ruining or worsening the reputation of Trump to ensure he can’t win.
Do you remember the film “The Ugly American”? The title sequel is surely now just a matter of removing the letter “n”
Ugh. More TDS from someone who sorta followed the cases. He was never convicted of rape. He lost a civil case for defamation. The statute of limitations actually expired, but the state of New York granted a one-time exemption. Does this sound normal to you?
While it’s true he was never convicted of rape in a criminal court, a civil court jury did find him guilty of rape and defamation (twice). He said/she said cases are always questionable. But given the fact that he’s bragged about sexually assaulting women, and given the huge number of women who have accused him of sexual assault, it seems a little rich to assume the system is rigged against him.
No, a jury did NOT find him guilty of rape. Not even once. The civil jury found that it was probable that things happened with Jean Carroll, but not rape. And no, he did not brag about assaulting women. He said that women will let rich guys do things that the average man cannot. And he’s right. Just ask any rock star or professional athlete.
That is true, but is it a quality one would want in a president?
Going from history, it is a quality amply exemplified among presidents. Telling the truth about it, not so much.
Juanita Broderick has been fighting for her claim of rape by infamous womanizer Bill Clinton for decades, and the system has done nothing. Don’t act like the system is acting appropriately because it’s now Trump.
One day you may find yourself in a woke tribunal without any due process or semblance of impartiality. If and when that happens, I hope you remind yourself it’s the system you promoted.
Bingo – excellent point.
And the 12 jurors were they all corrupt?
No not at all. I don’t think you’re corrupt. I just don’t think you’re an open minded person. You see the world through a binary lens of good and evil and pre-determine your enemies based on politics.
This took place in Manhattan. Take a look at the percentage of Democrats in Manhattan. Even if one or two jurors wanted to object, was it really worth it for them personally? Probably not.
And they were instructed by the judge
He was guilty of being Donald Trump.
No-one complained before he entered politcs as a Republican. He was the toast of New York in the 1980s and 1990s.
What a partisan load of tosh. He broke the law and a jury found against him.
Cohen went to prison for similar.
No comparison on the Records case between Trump & Biden. Biden didn’t obstruct justice.
The contortions some Trump/MAGA supporters have to pull to justify this Grifter unbelievable.
That said he never sees prison. Either he pardons himself or Biden will post Nov 24.
He can’t pardon himself as it wasn’t a Federal case.
TDS has two flavours. Many on this site fail to see that.
What law did he break, dear Watson?
Read the Judges direction to the Jury TB. He’s outlines the law v clearly.
You’d think folks who are interested in this would have checked that out first, but hey you’re in denial and that is a powerful force.
Cohen went to jail for tax fraud – not reporting $4 mill in income. He also made false statements to a federally insured financial institution to obtain a $500,000 home equity loan. The charges for withholding info about hush money payments were tacked on at the end, in an obvious attempt to build a case against Trump.
Not so fast JV. He went to jail also for campaign violations.
Read the Sixth Amendment. Demands a fair trial; Impartial jury; A clear crime that you are accused of; Presumption of Innocence. The judge’s behavior will not stand inspection by Appeal. He refused to let the defense bring exculpatory evidence. There was never a felony crime brought forward. Throughout the trial the question was “but what is the crime?” The judge told the jury they did not need to agree on one.
Please read up on the case, and you will see this was not “Boo hoo he broke the law.” The NY DA made up a crime to fit the defendant.
You obviously read the propaganda before you read, line by line, the Judge’s direction to the Jury where he states clearly what is the law and what they have to find to come to a guilty verdict. It’s v clear.
What is the evidence he didn’t let them bring though our of interest? Given Trump’s missives after each day in Ct I’m intrigued as I don’t recollect him indicating they’d had evidence rejected?
Biden didn’t obstruct justice. — — Biden was not legally allowed to possess classified documents in the first place, so don’t whitewash what he did. A Senator or VP is not the same as a President. The latter can declassify almost anything; the two former posts have no such authority. Biden had documents he should not have had for years. He broke the law just by possession.
Oh dear another one who fires off before re-reading the point made and grasping the salient issue. Neither Trump, Biden or Clinton are/were allowed to retain classified documents/material. Trump wouldn’t have ended up in legal jeopardy if he’d just given them back. The difference is when it was found each had some only one of the 3 obstructed the return. Yep Trump. That same individual also had sheds more he taken/kept than the other two, and seemed to have discussed some of the contents with those without security clearance.
Presidents can declassify when still President but there is a process for it.
Even some of Trump closest aids in his last year of his Presidency on the record saying this was undefendable obstruction.
But you know you guys got so much invested in this Grifter it’s just too painful for you to see the truth.
Republicans, Trump would never stoop so low as to use the courts in politics.
He never has, but most certainly will going forward after being elected.
Let’s hope he won’t sink to their level.
After all, he threatened to lock Mrs Clinton up. But he didn’t, did he?
I will first say that my gut tells me that this is actually going to give Trump a major boost in fundraising and that he will likely get a bump in the polls.
Second, I suspect that the judge in Manhatten will likely not let Trump stay out on bail while his appeals work through.
Third, I have never been one for conspiracy theories or an evil deep state, but I am now convinced that the deep state exists and that it is conspiring.
Fourth, if Trump wins in November, no matter how large he wins by, the democrats will do everything they can to make sure he does not take office.
Fifth, the US constitution is dead and we are now a banana republic lead by corrupt and incompetent people.
I am a 5th generation veteran from a long line of West Point graduates who have served in every war this country has fought since the Civil War. I have told both my children to not serve. I tell every young person I know not to waste their time serving. Our national command authority will use you as the armed wing of a corrupt system and then fail you when you need them.
I am indifferent to Trump, Trump is not the point, the point is that our government has become the front for a corrupt and morally bankrupt oligarchy, that our constitution has been undermined to the point that it has failed. In that sense, I am not sure we still have a country.
If, you believe as I do, and as Shawn McGuire outlines perfectly in his X post, then either you have to support Trump or you have to concede that the oligarchy, the “elite”, have won. If they can do this to Trump, God help anyone else they decide to target.
https://x.com/shaunmmaguire/status/1796293774794268747
The deep state? It exists and has done since the early party of the last century, just when the US was becoming the dominant power. The recent book about the Dulles brothers – The Devil’s Chessboard – is most illuminating. Presidents who win the backing of the deep state (for example, Nixon) know the score upfront. Those who win despite the deep state (arguably Eisenhower) figure it out fast. Those who ‘rebel’ get taken care of (JFK). Trump’s problem is that he won’t listen. He almost certainly was offered the chance to get their support, but the cost (higher defence spending, overseas wars, etc) he rejected. That’s why he’s been targeted. The US has not been a force for good; what empire ever is?
If it is that easy to take over the US
then the system of government
was a failure from the beginning.
History shows great powers and empires collapse on average after about 250 years, the age the US is right now.
That’s a mad premise, America became a major power only after the first world war
Sure it was rich,very rich,before then but a world power? an empire before then ?
That’s a crazy Idea.
Well republics don’t age well, so you are probably correct. The current form of government is dead – my focus is on what comes next.
I recommend people take a closer look at the attack on Pearl Harbor, the subject of no fewer than nine Congressional investigation over many years. At the end the disgraced Navy and Army commanders got their names cleared. They had been the fall guys for the White House which knew the Imperial Japanese Fleet was on the way but kept it from them. FDR had said the US needed to get into the war before the British were beaten and Pearl Harbor was “the bloody nose” it would take. The two indispensible carriers put to sea before the attack, leaving the row of obsolete battleships to take the blow. Hidden conspiracies are the reason history has to be revised from time to time.
The attack on Pearl Harbor was also a natural and predictable result of the USA putting the squeeze on Japan through economic sanctions.
From “How U.S. Economic Warfare Provoked Japan’s Attack on Pearl Harbor” :
In 1939 the United States terminated the 1911 commercial treaty with Japan. “On July 2, 1940, Roosevelt signed the Export Control Act, authorizing the President to license or prohibit the export of essential defense materials.” Under this authority, “[o]n July 31, exports of aviation motor fuels and lubricants and No. 1 heavy melting iron and steel scrap were restricted.” Next, in a move aimed at Japan, Roosevelt slapped an embargo, effective October 16, “on all exports of scrap iron and steel to destinations other than Britain and the nations of the Western Hemisphere.” Finally, on July 26, 1941, Roosevelt “froze Japanese assets in the United States, thus bringing commercial relations between the nations to an effective end. One week later Roosevelt embargoed the export of such grades of oil as still were in commercial flow to Japan.”[2] The British and the Dutch followed suit, embargoing exports to Japan from their colonies in southeast Asia.
source: https://www.independent.org/news/article.asp?id=1930 (How U.S. Economic Warfare Provoked Japan’s Attack on Pearl Harbor, by Robert Higgs).
[2] Quotations are from George Morgenstern, “The Actual Road to Pearl Harbor,” in Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace, pp. 322–23, 327–28.
“Those who win despite the deep state (arguably Eisenhower) figure it out fast.”
VERY arguably Eisenhower. Steven Ambrose’s bio of Ike reveals a man who was buddy-buddy with both Dulles brothers and who was a big booster of the CIA early on (and its forerunner, the OSS).
The guy with zero institutional power is not the threat to democracy. All of the institutions – the media, the bureaucracy, big tech, academia, the arts, high finance etc. – all share radical, progressive ideology that threaten the freedom of us all.
He is the de facto head of the Republican Party, for all its troubles a major institutional power.
Cmon AJ. All the institutions are dominated by the left. You know this.
Wildly off the mark. Unless you pretend to include the military, FBI, CIA*, police, financial mega interests, churches, corporations, and Supreme Court in your Frankenstein’s monstrosity of the mind.
*Bear in mind that if, for example, a slight majority of CIA personnel oppose Trump (and with plenty of cause) that does not mean most of them are of the Left.
Are there some institutions that are conservative and support Trump
and the GOP? Of course there are, but they have a minuscule fraction of power that is wielded by other institutions.
Religious groups seem to support Trump. I would say most low ranking soldiers are conservative. The military leadership despises Trump, in particular, because he possibly maybe threatens the military industrial complex. I think it’s fair to say the police are more conservative. I’ve never seen any reporting on the political leaning of the FBI and CIA so I have no idea.
Corporations no longer lean right. The Dems have have support from almost all the big players and get the bulk of billion dollar donors. This is well known.
The important institutions, the ones that shape policy and ideas are almost all to the left. The regime media, education, academia, big tech, high finance, the arts, the bureaucracy – we know these are 80% left.
To say the right has any meaningful institutional power is gobsmacking.
You keep blurring the line between anti-Trump and of-the-Left with every third step. Trump ain’t conservative! He’s a trashy silver-spoon rogue who used to be a dirtbag Democrat and is now a dirtbag Republican.
What is both gobsmacking (good adjective by the way) and myopic is the notion that Right-identified forces–whether genuinely conservative, populist, or f a s c i s t–control or influence nothing in the world as you observe it.
More in sorrow than in anger, as a Briton who sincerely wishes your country well, I agree with you.
He knew the art of the Deal
Not when to Fold them !o!
Thanks for this interesting link…
Maguire is another Silicon Valley character out of Alex Garland’s cinema. J. Chait is spot on, and this is the kind of GOP spawn that derives from Mr.Lind’s literate victimhood for the King! https://x.com/jonathanchait/status/1796513380460806602
Chait is a journalist cog of the deep state.
Mr. Herd member, why do you even come to this website?
That judge, by the way, was hand-picked by the Powers That Be, not from a lottery (which is the way it’s supposed to be done.). To your larger point– that America is under the thumb of a “corrupt and morally bankrupt oligarchy”– the question becomes how we got to this point. I don’t have an answer to that question, though I do believe that the genesis may go back to America’s entry into The Great War. Whatever the case may be, it is becoming increasingly clear to me that as a country we are so riddled with what may be likened to a spreading cancer to the point where one has to wonder if this thing of ours…even works anymore.
“….either you have to support Trump or you have to concede that the oligarchy, the “elite”, have won.”
One word: Kennedy.
I agree with all you say. Your military service and the tradition of your family is a tremendous honor. Yes, we Americans are now citizens of a banana republic and, as such, will join the ranks of the many South, Central, and North American countries that swing regularly back and forth between authoritarian far left and far right “governments” none of which ever displace the massive endemic corruption and crime. Some of the European commenters display gleeful schadenfreude over our demise, ignoring that Europe too is hurtling toward its own unique abyss, eventually destined to become an outpost of “the Caliphate”, as evidenced in particular by the recent lawfare waged by the I.C.C. and in general by the demographic tsunami that will inevitably deliver control of most of its institutions to Islamists.
Well, it looks like I’ll be voting for a convicted felon. That is the bottom line, after all. And it is likely that this element of “lawfare” has not only galvanized and hardened me and his base, but may have turned Trump into a martyr and attracted some on the fence (Libertarians, I’m talking to you here) who might not have voted for him otherwise but now see the clear and present danger of elitism. To be sure, Trump is no saint. You sow the wind, you reap the whirlwind. My feeling is that while this is definitely partisan and undeniably political, it is in fact legal. He has brought this on himself by playing fast and loose in his business dealings. So a lot of this type of opinion piece is just plain bellyaching. Can we not please admit he’s guilty but that the punishment doesn’t fit the crime, let him appeal, and just vote for him in November if we think he’s the better choice?
I think this is fair assessment of Trump. He’s a narcissistic scumbag IMO and I have no doubt he’s shady and has broken the law many, many times. This case, however, is a sham and is a political perversion of justice.
I agree with you on that, Jim.
To your concluding sentence: exactly. At least admit to yourself who you’re voting for. The charges were in a quite literal sense trumped up–but they were not false. No one else would have faced the same scrutiny and vindictive prosecution.
But unless he rants and raves at Judge Merchan or his family without any restraint–which is entirely possible–he will not serve a day in jail. Nor will he for the (way oversized) 80-something million-dollar civil finding of sexual assault on E. Jean Carroll. Nor for his fake ass-university, phony charitable foundation, or anything else.
If you must and are an eligible citizen yourself, you’ll still get to vote for him: an angry, petty, self-absorbed dictator fanboy and wannabe, but a free man.
The thing is Biden and the Dems are much more awful in a more important way. Open borders, net zero, CRT/DEI, forever wars, etc. are a much bigger threat to the U.S. and its allies. Sucks that Trump is the only realistic option.
I think you underrate Donald Trump. It’s true that his tweets are often silly and mean. But that’s just an act. He has a wicked sense of humor, with timing like a stand-up comic. It’s no wonder his television show was a hit.
He’s said to be warm and engaging in person. He’s generous too. His ghostwriter, who is now a critic, marveled at what a generous contract Donald Trump gave him. All his wives and children are fans.
Some people, in fact many people, don’t like his shtick. They prefer someone more presidential in their president. I can understand that feeling.
But as a a president, I think Donald Trump was masterful. He is a master of the art of the deal. I’ve worked on billions of dollars of deals in my career, and he’s one of the best I have seen.
Look at what he tried to do with Russia. In 2018 he reinvigorated NATO, warned Germany of their foolishness in putting their neck in Russia’s noose, met with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, and tried to get Russia back in the G8. He could sense the problems coming.
North Korea was another example. Donald Trump made a masterful play at Kim Jong Un. He couldn’t close the deal, but even the best dealmakers don’t always win.
We’ve never had a president like Donald Trump before, and likely won’t again. For all his faults, and he has strong weaknesses, I hope he gets four more years. The nation needs him.
Being presidential is important. When Trump warned Germany in 2018 that it was addicted to Russian gas, they scoffed at him. They didn’t take him seriously.
I’m not saying Trump was a bad president. He did lots of great things. So did many presidents, like Clinton and Reagan. They did it while being presidential.
In some ways, Trump’s successes are magnified by the shear incompetence of Biden. I honestly can’t think of one accomplishment from Biden. This makes Trump’s record look better.
lowest unemployment rate in 50 years / important early 2021 vaccination effort that was well coordinated (given State Rights) / withdrew from Afghan forever war, however ugly the exit / took correct side in Ukraine-Russia War / isn’t Trump
[they wouldn’t let me do a bullet point or numbered list so why give the option(s)?]
How is every war that begins anywhere in the world, for any reason, the fault of the sitting U.S. President?
It was Obama and Biden who actually got us out of the George Bush Forever Wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan respectively. And most of the outspoken commenters on this platform support the scorched earth approach in Gaza. Biden doesn’t (though the blank check should be withheld). How about Trump?
I agree with you on some of the other stuff but it sucks that you and many others conclude that Trump is a less dangerous, more world-stabilizing option than Old Joe.
Given your overall clear-eyed view of the man, that is very disappointing.
Guilty of what, paying off a one night stans? FFS, the vacuous, hypocritical miralizing.
Indeed. This will give some a reason to vote against Trump, but others a reason to vote for him. Which will win out, who can say?
Before anyone downvotes I am far from a woke liberal. But Trump is a crook pure and simple – and a liar and a cheat – he even cheats at golf.
Right wing Americans should try and find someone else that represents them.
He’s such a crook that no court ever bothered with him until he ran for president, every politician that now claims to hate him eagerly sought out his campaign donations, and one of the major television networks paid him to run a reality show for 10+ years.
Not a liar or cheat either then I guess? My mistake. I can see now why this guy with orange skin, orange hair, a serial adulterer, with a limited grasp of the English language, and even more limited grasp of logic or common sense (does anyone remember his idea of injecting people with disinfectant to counter covid?), is so admired – by some. As I said my mistake.
He did not suggest injecting anyone with anything. Even the fact-checkers who are prone to oppose anything he says didn’t buy that claim: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/07/13/fact-check-did-trump-tell-people-to-drink-bleach-to-kill-coronavirus/113754708/
We have a sitting president whose personal wealth stems solely from using his son as a bagman in selling influence and a former president whose personal habits required a unit to police what his wife called ‘bimbo eruptions.’ But somehow, a misdemeanor offense that the feds passed on is an issue. When the man is re-elected, just remember that you asked for what follows.
Really, so I must have misheard what he said in that news conference then (even though I heard it more than once). OK, time for a hearing check then.
I’m not asking for anything (I live in the UK so don’t get to vote in the US) – I’m just stating the obvious.
FYI – direct quote from Youtube “I see that disinfectant that knocks it out in a minute – one minute – and is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside”.
I don’t care for the chap at all, but he did not suggest injecting people with disinfectant or bleach. Clumsily worded, yes, but blown out of proportion by media: https://www.wral.com/amp/21351899/
What do you not understand about the sentence I’ve just quoted? “do something like that” clearly refers to disinfectant in the earlier part of the sentence. Go back to the original news conference on Youtube. I didn’t say bleach btw.
Trump is hardly a great scientific intelligence, but he was asking a reasonably sane question about whether certain things known to kill Covid viruses could be leveraged as a treatment. He told nobody to inject bleach.
Just remember the US Media are about 99% the propaganda wing of the Dem Party. As they say, the difference between those who wrote for “Pravda” and those who write for the NY Times, Wash Post, et al., is Russians had a gun pointed at them, while the USA press gladly shills for their Dem Party masters.
The TDS is really strong in you. I would respectfully suggest you seek medical help…
Yes, orange hair. Good argument.
New York liked him before he entered politics as Republican. Why did the Clintons attend his wedding if he was so awful? The reality is that the Democrats have lost tough with the blue collar manual workers and Trump is a threat because he connects with them and increasingly African Americans and Hispanics. If he was not a threat he would be ignored. The number of state employees is increasing but does the USA get value for money? Trump is asking a basic question, does the USA get value for money from the state employees?
Totally agree with the Trump assessment. It doesn’t make this persecution, err prosecution, any more palatable.
Yes because you wouldn’t just do the same thing to DeSantis or whoever else ran. This is what you guys do. We understand that. There’s no need to rationalize your perspective. You hate Trump because he ran as a Republican change agent. You want control over both parties…a party that rules and a party that provides minimal performative resistance to that rule.
Enjoy your woke tribunals. Good luck getting any defense from common people when the Leftist blockade comes for you.
Bill Clinton cheated at golf too, and he and Hillary stole from millions from their Clinton Global Initiative, including money donated to help Haitians following the earthquake and hurricane – so where’s your outrage at what the Clintons have done, and Biden and his lucrative business connections with Ukraine, Uzbekistan, China, et al.?
But who? An establishment RINO? It’s more than just the man but a movement rejecting the ever more dangerous woke, race hustling, media loving system. Once the “ gay marriage” question was answered by SCOTUS overnight what replaced these campaign contributors? The 24/7 trans movement. Create a victim and weaponize it. Believe men can give birth or else. Promote men destroying women’s sports, or else.
Oh please. This is just a narrative opinion and not a representation of reality. The actual facts are far different. I usually like Lind’s work but this is knee-jerk garbage. There were specific laws broken by Trump. Cohen went to jail for the same things. A couple points:
1) Just because someone promises to prosecute Trump doesn’t mean it’s just partisan hack-work. If that person believes, based on evidence, he broke laws, it’s their job to prosecute and saying they’ll do that is saying ‘I’m going to do the job I was elected to do.’
2) Garland is, if anything, cautious to the point of favoring Trump. He took FOREVER to even put Jack Smith on the case that CLEARLY was a simple legal issue (the top secret documents). Trump’s case is TOTALLY DIFFERENT than Biden’s. The documents were far more sensitive and numerous, Trump lied, evaded, ignored requests, and attempted to keep the documents–and showed them to people, a clear breach of security. All of this is very simple to understand for anyone with common sense. LAWS WERE BROKEN BY TRUMP. It would be a travesty not to prosecute that. Biden’s case, nothing like that.
I love how Republicans (and btw, I’m not a Democrat, there’re things I loath about that party but right now the R’s live in crazy town) always scream persecution, but if someone is actually breaking (a lot) of laws it’s not persecution, it’s just people doing the f’ing jobs (even if they happen to be democrats).
***this comment doesn’t seem to be showing up. If UnHerd isn’t approving pretty mild comments like this you can cancel my subscription.
Trump’s case is TOTALLY DIFFERENT than Biden’s.
Indeed. As a former president, Trump is allowed some leeway regarding documents no matter their classification, along with the power to declassify them. It happens every time a president leaves office. As a Senator and then VP, Biden had neither rationale at his disposal. His possession of those docs alone is a crime. But not only did he have them, the papers were spread out haphazardly across an office at the University of Pennsylvania, his garage, and who knows where else.
Just because someone promises to prosecute Trump doesn’t mean it’s just partisan hack-work.
When someone runs an election campaign on that premise, like Leticia James did, it’s pretty much partisan hack work. NY has no shortage of crime, but it’s prosecutors are more focused on petty issues while the locals are robbed, assaulted, and on occasion, killed. That’s okay. To people on the left, I remind them that they asked for whatever follows, including Trump’s re-election. At this point, the ‘stop Trump’ crowd has one move left.
“Trump’s case is TOTALLY DIFFERENT than Biden’s.”
Lest we ignore the blatant faulty use of grammar… It’s”different From…”, not “than from”. Almost shocking to see this from a established Writer…
Biden returned the documents, Trump didn’t.
“Trump’s case is TOTALLY DIFFERENT than Biden’s.”
It’s different From, not different Than. Are you an English native speaker? It wouldn’t seem so…
Different than is perfectly respectable American English. Perhaps the OP is American?
‘Than’ is strictly speaking ungrammatical, simply by logic. But it is not uncommon, and therefore it is English.
[I will admit to saying it occasionally, though I would always take care not to write it.]
I noticed you provided zero analysis of the individual case facts, which is typical of petty tyrants.
In criminal law, the analysis is based on the specifics of an individual case; not a conglomeration of unrelated things that “add up.”
This was a garbage case. Any basic analysis shows that. That you think this is how the legal system should operate shows you’re voting on team that fits your character.
Like the monster in old sci-fi films, Trump grows stronger with each attempt to stop him. His campaign website crashed briefly last night from the stampede of people pouring in to make donations. Two things are clear: 1) whatever follows, the left asked for it, to include Trump’s re-election. The author is not alone among people who don’t like Orange McBadman but recognize a problem when they see it.
2) Dems and the fellow establishment travelers on the right are down to their last option. It’s one few people want to talk about, but when your goal is to stop someone, the parameters of ‘stop’ widen after every failed attempt.
Well stated.
Who are you people? Of all the articles and comments I have read in UnHerd over the years, this is certainly the most AbSurd. As a Liberal Democrat who dislikes so called progressive cancel culture and is judiciously open to conservative voices, this piece makes me reconsider my open-mindedness. E gads!
Well said, Judy.
An interesting account (and fairly balanced) of how the trial went can be found here. Their version is that the proof of the accounting fraud being to further a second crime was on the thin side, and that was a necessary part of the accusation. However the Trump team did not concentrate on making this point. Instead they tried to prove that Stormzy, Cohen etc. were lying and that the hush money payments never happened. And here they very much had the evidence against them. Which left the jury having to choose between the prosecutor’s story, and a team Trump version that was simply not believable.
I’ve heard various accounts of the failings of the Trump legal team, but I don’t think they denied that hush payments were actually made to Stormy. He denied sleeping with her, which was a huge mistake, but I don’t think he denied the hush money.
Yes he did, through his lawyers*, acting according his own wishes. The defense approach was a self-defeating, scattershot denial, which some will still treat as the inscrutable brilliance of the Orange Oracle,
He certainly can still win, but this won’t help him among those not already devoted to him.
Quite a few tradesmen, farmers, and small business owners will donate more to his campaign slush fund though.
*And on his own behalf too:
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/stormy-daniels-face-tough-questions-trump-lawyers-trial-2024-05-09/
Imagine claiming Trump is the danger to democracy yet manufacturing a complete nonsense case to convict and likely jail a political opponent. This is something I’d expect to read Putin doing to a Navalny figure. 3rd world banana republic type stuff. I was reluctantly going to vote for Trump before, no reluctance now.
Interesting article. However, I found it a surprise that in his discussion of the misuse of the Espionage Act he failed to mention Julian Assange.
Trump has the “MO” of a traditional American mobster. Not of the killer but of the grift variety. Check the history of the prosecution and conviction of such people in the US and you will find that the vast majority of them have used the particularities of American criminal law to insulate themselves from direct involvement in heir crimes. The same is true of the wealthy who insulate themselves from the “rule of law” in all sorts of ways. The few that are prosecuted successfully are charged with things like tax evasion, or with various types of attempts to cover-up their misdeeds, including lying to federal agents. These aren’t necessarily the originally committed crimes, but the crimes of trying to conceal them.
Trump has traditionally been a master “mobster” in this mold. His life and livelihood have been thoroughly characterized by all sorts of lying and cheating. He has said many times that people who don’t figure out how to do this are “losers.” He has proudly broken laws and cheated people all of his life without any real consequences.
But then he became president and brought his grifts to the White House where the whole world can see you. The fact is that Trump has been extremely stupid. He failed to adapt his grifts sufficiently to the office. He wasn’t prepared for the bright lights that illuminate someone in public office.
And so he just carried-on with his lying and grifting as usual and now he’s getting nailed for these things. He has been stupid. And he has been poorly served by a succession of people he hired to continue to insulate him from accountability.
This is nothing like a political persecution. It’s all about snaring a life-long grifter who finally got in over his head such that the law could catch-up with him. End of story.
“This is nothing like a political persecution. It’s all about snaring a life-long grifter who finally got in over his head such that the law could catch-up with him”.
Why can’t it be both?
I think it’s a targeted, politically-motivated, well-deserved comeuppance. Probably the first of many.
The nature and timing of all this could hasten our national march toward another civil war though.
It is a story that seems to belong more in Ancient Rome than in what we think of as the modern era, to be sure. Trump is not a sophisticated modern politician. But the world has changed, and it may be that the time of the sophisticates is over for now.
Its all part of Trumps ingenious plan to get elected.
The funny part is that Democrats’ are willing to play their role.
This article is far too dismissive of the charges, and belittles the attempted coup when Trump’s reality tv cast attacked the Capitol.
I am not an American, and this is not my fight. Moreover, I am not and never have been a Trump admirer – I think he is like an old-time snake-oil salesman, for whom pursuing the Presidency is a vanity project.
But, after this judgement, if I were an American, I would vote for Trump.
Wouldn’t you have done so prior to all this?
Nope.
I don’t understand this ever-more-popular casting of Trump as the persecuted victim, but fair enough and I believe you.
Have you looked at the details of the case against him? Trump is crass, and all the Stormy Daniels stuff is sleazy, and his business dealings are dubious, but none of that justifies going after him in this way. It’s nakedly political.
It does beg the question as to whether he’s fit for office though, don’t you think?
Let the electorate decide.
I don’t disagree with that as stated. But he claims unfair treatment about everything all the time, when he is one of the the most insulated and fortunate people who’s ever lived (but not in terms of the father he had in Fred Trump).To reward him with support for being the boy who at last cried wolf correctly or the stopped clock that is accidentally accurate is a mistake, in my view.
Trump’s criminal conviction and all round humiliation would convince you to vote for him?
That’s a novel way to choose your representatives but you do you, slick…
Unfortunately not so novel – it’s a trumpy trope I’ve heard many times – ‘He’s an awful man (or the only man who can save America), but you libs [insert complaint claim – persecution /false equivalency/whataboutery] that you make me vote for him’ – so much projection and acting out. And this from a group that makes loud pretensions to old-fashioned values of independence and grit, whilst decrying victim culture. You made me do it — waahhh. Wonder who taught them that it’s ok to be like this?
Just as framing and jailing political opponents, weaponizing the justice system, corrupting the CIA (51 lying), censoring the media, breaking state constitutional laws by changing electoral systems to aid Democrats in the run up to elections – strange way to win a democratic election. But you do you…..and vote for woke Labour….and it will bite you up the ass at some point
I am really hoping RFK, Jr. makes the debate stage in June, after which observers — American or international — can scarcely continue to ignore him.
Trump didn’t start any wars, got the Abraham Accords in the Middle East, was tackling our illegal immigration/border problems, engineered an economy that was thriving and producing rising wages for workers, particularly those at the lower economic strata that included many blacks, Asians, Hispanics, and women, engineering re-homing US industries, stood up to the PRC and its hegemonic agenda, got NATO countries to honor their financial commitments, had the USA energy independent, and was preventing Iran from going further with its nuclear enrichment. I’d say those are pretty good accomplishments. Yes, Trump’s a bit of a braggart and writes those “mean twits,” but I just switch TV channels and ignore those twits while enjoying economic prosperity, no new wars, and other positives his Administration produced. BTW, Trump was great admirer of Queen Elizabeth II and wanted a stronger US-UK trade alliance.
Trump also inaugurated the US Space Command to take responsibility for issues related to orbital offensive and defensive systems, which was derided at the time by Progressives and MSM but now appears prescient and vital in view of what the PRC and Putin have been up to in space. All of his negatives are easy to see but, in addition to the accomplishments cited, his greatest positive is that he isn’t afraid to say exactly what he thinks, an attribute Americans have not seen in our politicians in decades. Our choice is to have a crooked scumbag leader like Trump who tells you exactly what he intends and then does it or a crooked scumbag like Biden who lies to you, does little promised, and does much that he promised not to.
By the way: Biden didn’t start any wars either. Not one. Nor did he did declare war on his own political and cultural opponents– unlike your guy.
Clearly their is no honour amongst thieves.
“Yesterday’s decision, the culmination of a vindictive prosecution, was less dramatic than the ransacking of the US Capitol by a pro-Trump mob after the 2020 election”
Except that the Capitol wasn’t “ransacked”. The damage done was negligible. Apart from that, a good article.
It is pretty hilarious to watch the Trump cult tie themselves in knots trying to defend their moronic idol.
This is the guy you will go to any limit to defend? Wow…
Not until now!
That’s the biggest pile of donkey-doo I’ve read in this medium for some time. We watched Trump do everything possible to thwart the will of the people to hang on to power, up to and including fomenting an insurrection. That would probably disqualify him from running were it not for a Supreme Court he stacked in his favour. He would be convicted of suborning the election in Georgia but for one of his judges kicking the case into the long grass. There is not just the possibility but the likelihood that if he gets back into the White House he won’t leave in his lifetime because he will be much better organised this time. And why? Because he has a passion for fixing what’s broken in the US? Nah. Not a bit of it. Because he wants to be the boss of everything. End of.
Any means whatever that will stop this monstrous freak is OK by me and most of the right-thinking (or even thinking at all) population.
The Capitol was not ransacked, let’s get that straight. The disorder, which included a black policeman fatally shooting a white female Air Force veteran, was planned and orchestrated by the FBI. The “insurrection” baloney was pushed by another ally of the deep state, the disgusting and dishonest legacy media. The protesters were politely ushered around Congressional corridors by police as per the plan. The Democrat mayor of D.C. had declined Trump’s request to ask for National Guard help before the ruckus started and the city police were not even told something was up. Put it together and whatta you got — yup, the C word.
America.is finished.and whilst that leaves an uncertain world, they thoroughly deserve to fall. As a Brit I followed the ins and outs of this case as far as I could. It was an entirely political endeavour. It didn’t even seek a fig leaf.
And you were sanguine about American power and influence prior to all this?
Or maybe, he’s just a guilty, mendacious old creep?
This article is laughably simplistic. It cherry picks points of discussion and deep state conspiracy theories without any reference to the major dangers that Trump as President poses both to America and the world. I find it hard to believe that this author isn’t being cynical. The notion that democracy is threatened by a legal examination and judgement by 12 members of the public carefully agreed upon by both sides on what he terms a minor misdemeanor, is absurd. Comey’s announcement of further investigations into Clinton’s emails came at the worst possible moment for her election, and very probably changed its outcome. We now know Russia was an active participant in getting trump elected because he is so pathetically malleable – he has never really grown up. If DT’s philandering with a porn star while his wife was giving birth became public knowledge, how would that have played with the public? He knew very well, and chose not just to pay her off, but to disguise the payments to complete the cover up just in case. The real threat to democracy would be NOT prosecuting that case, and indeed all the cases. The man who advised drinking bleach for COVID, presided over the unnecessary deaths of tens of thousands, and encouraged Putin’s ambitions leading to the Ukraine war, must never be President again. I want a Republican government – the sooner the better – but not MAGA – it’s the stuff of nightmares. If you’re Ukrainian, it’s worse than the worst horror movie you can possibly imagine.
The article was about an indisputably stacked Manhattan trial where a political DA took a misdemeanor already expired under the statute of limitations and magically transformed it into a felony for the sole purpose of giving Democrats the ability to claim their opponent is a “convicted felon.” One of SIX trials conveniently timed right during the election cycle.
It wasn’t an evaluation of every gripe in the Neocon playbook, Morning Joe. It doesn’t take a PHD to recognize you’ve overplayed your hand. Luckily we no longer have to listen to your faux signaling about “Protecting Democracy.”
Thank you for that. I didn’t know where to begin.
That the American electorate has two such stellar candidates is shocking enough.
This author mixes falsehoods attacking Donald Trump with his stirring defense. Each of the points he raises have been previously refuted, but apparently, he never got the memo.
From my perspective, Michael Lind is exactly right. Trump is a loose cannon, rhetorically, but he ought not to be a match for American institutions. And he hasn’t been, not even throughout his presidential term nor in his tacit encouragement of that unruly mob on Jan 6.
But who will be a match for corrupt institutions, particularly that most important institution, the one that dispenses justice? The press lost what credibility it had with the Russian collusion story and the Kavanagh hearings. Now the justice department has sacrificed its sacred neutrality for political ends. It’s no wonder ordinary people have lost their faith, a matter of trust, in institutions. This loss of trust is unexplored territory. There be dragons.
I concur except in one respect: While indirect, his encouragement was not only tacit.
What a load of junk.
What has nearly been achieved in the West is The Iron Law of Oligarchy. The West is run for the Oligarchy by the Oligarchy. Unfortunately it is not an aristocracracy in the true Greek sense where the rule is by the best. Democracy should allow the best to rule but this requires rigorous selection and training in order to promote th best. What we have is selection and promotion of the mediocre whose function is to agree with the Oligarchy. Consequently there is a massive increase in recruitment of the mediocre by the State controlled by the Oligarchy because they will always receive their votes. If one introduces rigorous slection and training, then mediocre state employees would be sacked. Noone votes for a party which would sack them.
The collapse of Rome, Mughal and Chinese empires and then communism was because the State run by the Bureaucrats – The Oligarchs taxed at a rate more than can could be sustained and then were not willing to die defending it.
Iron law of oligarchy – Wikipedia
In summary, over taxation and lack of spirit by Oligarchs/ Bureaucrats leads to collapse of state. The lack of spirit leads to decline in ability to take risks, innovate and fight to defend oneself, family and country.
A comic historical novel dealing with exactly this situation.
https://www.amazon.com/Fortuna-Rudder-Curious-Adventures-Obsequens/dp/B0D4C5ZB9Q/ref=sr_1_1?crid=8IHN9A166X0N&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.-pRGfn_OoVwUP2SCH0AXhzefZemQVQN3EmT1Ttbwx1Q6yQSM6T-o_jnYs5BzNsmF40vv3zt1jhbVd1aHEH_4AQ.Mg3oaoxVMpGxMdB5mgFz83pKpjTXo_ogHD_Ch0LxCRw&dib_tag=se&keywords=fortuna+at+the+rudder&qid=1717258433&sprefix=Fortuna+at%2Caps%2C212&sr=8-1
Am I missing something here? I thought this case was decided by a jury not an elected judge or prosecutor. You can argue that the case was politically motivated and I am sure the author could find similar cases brought to court in Republican states were he minded to do so. However unless he is suggesting the jury has been suborned, how can you argue with the verdict?
What you are missing is the woeful state of political discourse in the US. Also, whilst pols of all colors, at any time, can be flexible with the truth, Trump largely dispenses with it alltogether. His speech and acts are riddles with primitive psychological defences – regression, denial, splitting, projection, fixation, delusion, passive aggression, reaction formation, idealization, and acting out. In many ways it’s a stretch to call him a politician – he is a salesman with one product, himself, sold not for cash but for adulation.
The indignation expressed here would be better directed at the biased, stacked and antidemocratic Supreme Court
In 2017 Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party were fined some $113,000:
Thisappears similar to the grounds on which Trump was convicted by the New York court – i.e. reporting a payment as legal expenses when in fact it was not. Ms Clinton was simply fined not only for this misrepresentation of accounts (a felony?), but also for orchestrating a campaign of manufactured falsehood against Trump in the 2016 presidential campaign. She was fined. Trump is convicted as a felon, possibly facing jail time.
The USA legal and political system is morally bankrupt and utterly corrupted by political lawfare.
😀 😀 😀 No it’s not an assault on democracy! What a joke! Trump is and always has been a crook, a charlatan, a con artist, a liar. he’s finally got done!