That was a moment, wasn’t it?
Watching MSNBC’s Guilty/Not Guilty counter click its way up to 34 Trump guilty verdicts was a moment I won’t forget. I heard about the 9/11 attack in New York from a colleague who’d heard of it in a phone call from home. I thought it must have been an internet rumor. Then I couldn’t even connect to the internet to check. It wasn’t a rumor. Neither was yesterday’s verdict.
So. What does it mean?
Well, Donald John Trump is a felon 34 times over. His cult is pissed (Reuters):
Supporters of former President Donald Trump, enraged by his conviction on 34 felony counts by a New York jury, flooded pro-Trump websites with calls for riots, revolution and violent retribution.
After Trump became the first U.S. president to be convicted of a crime, his supporters responded with dozens of violent online posts, according to a Reuters review of comments on three Trump-aligned websites: the former president’s own Truth Social platform, Patriots.Win and the Gateway Pundit.
Some called for attacks on jurors, the execution of the judge, Justice Juan Merchan, or outright civil war and armed insurrection.
Friends in the Democratic Party last night began receiving threats via phone messages and emails.
We’re seeing here the latest operation of a foundational rule of the Trump era: If you’re a Trump supporter, you will sooner or later be called to jettison any and every principle you ever purported to hold. Republicans in Donald Trump’s adopted state of Florida oppose voting by felons. They used their legislative power to gut a state referendum restoring the voting rights of persons convicted of a crime. But as fiercely as Florida Republicans oppose voting by felons, they feel entirely differently about voting for felons. That’s now apparently fine, provided the felon is Donald Trump.
Freedom’s just a MAGA word for no principles left to lose.
WASHINGTON — Texas Republicans rallied to former President Donald Trump’s defense Thursday after a Manhattan jury convicted him on 34 felony charges related to falsifying business records to cover a sex scandal.
“This was a sham show trial. The Kangaroo Court will never stand on appeal. Americans deserve better than a sitting U.S. President weaponizing our justice system against a political opponent— all to win an election,” Gov. Greg Abbott said on social media. “We must FIRE Joe Biden in November.”
- Anyone who showed enough curiosity to learn how the somewhat obscure law Trump violated works, and how broadly it’s applied, has known for a long time now that this prosecution was well-predicated. The fact that Trump’s purpose in forging business documents was to gain an illegal leg-up in the election made the prosecution civically righteous.
- Alvin Bragg’s liberal critics should acknowledge their mistakes, even if they believe their initial instinct to be skeptical of his case was well-intended.
- Other people who should acknowledge their mistakes: The many, many prosecutors, judges, congressmen, and senators who have shown far less courage than Bragg, Judge Juan Merchan, and the 12 jurors who rendered this verdict, knowing it has put them at somewhat greater risk of retribution.
- Donald Trump isn’t just a felon, he’s also a disgrace. Like basically all politicians who get convicted of felonies he should withdraw from politics. If it were a Democratic presidential nominee, his career would be over. It won’t happen, but that’s what would be proper. Democrats should say so freely.
- Because he won’t withdraw from the race, Democrats and the rest of us should follow the logic of his conviction wherever it leads. Trump should be denied classified candidate briefings, just as felons are disqualified from classified clearance. Trump should be denied the right to vote in his home state of Florida, and if Ron DeSantis and Florida Republicans try to create a special exception for him, Democrats should challenge it. They should feel free to demand he be punished to the full extent of the law.
- Speaking of which, Juan Merchan should give Trump a stiff sentence. Trump behaved lawlessly, the impact of his crimes was vast, and he was extraordinarily contemptuous during trial. However, Merchan went on record to acknowledge that he was reluctant to jail Trump. He should set that aside and treat Trump like any other defendant. If 12 random New Yorkers had the courage to do what they did, he should show similar mettle.
You can have Trump or you can have America, MAGAstan. Your choice,
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