by Rod Williams, June 6, 2024- One can hold two thoughts at the same time and they not be contradictory. Here are my thoughts on the recent Trump trial and conviction.
The jury delivered a correct verdict. There was amble evidence to convict Trump of the crimes for which he was charged. The prosecution proved its case. The jury is not to judge whether or not the case should have been brought in the first place but judge the facts before it.
This case should have never gone to trial. The prosecution took a case of bad bookkeeping and turned a misdemeanor into a felony. This was politically motivated prosecution. If the accused had of been anyone but Donald Trump, this would have never gone to trial.
Trump's offence was no worse than Hillary Clinton's paying for the Steele dossier out of campaign funds. Trumps offence was no worse than Bill Clinton paying off Paula Jones or lying under oath about sex with an intern. Believing the jury delivered a correct verdict and believing the case should have never been prosecuted are not in conflict; one can believe both.
While this prosecution was politically motivated, Trump defenders need to can the rhetoric calling this a kangaroo court, or saying it is the equivalent of a Stalinist show trial or puts the U. S. in the same class as a third world country. This belittles the horrors on the Stalinist show trials and shows lack of knowledge of how the judiciary functions in much of the world. I suspect most saying those things, don't really believe it and are just engaging in hyperbole. Unfortunately, there are a lot of ignorant, uneducated people who really will believe what they hear. Destroying faith in our institutions endangers our democracy.
I suspect this case will be overturned on appeal. However, I am not a lawyer or legal scholar and could be wrong. However, it looks like there are several grounds for an appeal, the first being the failure of the judge to grant a change of venue.
For those who claim to believe that the judicial system is totally rigged and weaponized, why would you even want to waste time on an appeal? If the Deep State rigged this trial, why do you expect the results of an appeal to not already be determined? For those who believe the judiciary is in the pocket of Joe Biden, please explain why Joe Biden is prosecuting his son?
It is unfortunate for our democracy and fortunate for Trumpinistas that this was the first Trump case to go to trial. This was a case over a relatively trivial matter. This will lead many to simply ignore the facts of the other much more serious cases and many will conclude that the other cases are also based on trumped up charges to get Trump.
I expect this trial and conviction to have little political impact. Initial polls show some minor loss of Trump support, but that loss will be short lived. We already knew of Trump's character. Americans just do not seem to care about a politician's sex life anymore. Morality, and fidelity are no longer political issues. It has been 37 years since a Gary Hart had to end a winning presidential campaign over womanizing and affairs and a lot has changed since then. After Bill Clintons "bimbo eruptions" and the revelations of getting a blowjob in the Oval Office, Trump's banging a porn star is just not that disturbing. Trumps morality is already backed into the equation. When even uptight moralistic evangelicals are sticking with Trump no matter the revelations of immorality, don't expect some salacious details of Trump's porn star sexual encounter to move the needle.
While some say that Trump being a convicted felon will make them less likely to vote for him. I think after milking this conviction for all it is worth, pounding home the "weaponized judiciary" theme, and Trump playing the victim card, that those few Trump supporters who may have initially wavered will be back in the Trump camp. Unfortunately, in the end, this could actually help Trump.
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