Teflon Gone
Let’s not bury the lede. Trump said something true. In a rambling press conference the day after being found guilty on 34 felony counts, Trump explained that, “If they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone.” Fact check: True. And that’s exactly the point. No one is above the law. Twelve ordinary New Yorkers established that America has no king. (Maybe it’s time for the Supreme Court to come to the same conclusion.) We’ll have to wait until July 11 to find out what sentence Judge Merchan will apply, but the political reactions were much more immediate. The only thing easier to predict than Trump’s guilt is the way his cultish enablers have rushed to support him, and attack America’s justice system. As the verdict was read, MSNBC probably induced more orgasms than P-rnhub. But as justice is served, it’s also being damaged. WaPo (Gift Article): Even as Trump is found guilty, his attacks take toll on judicial system. “What’s notable here … is that the entire Republican Party is marching in lockstep, along with right-wing media, claiming that the legal process has been weaponized, and therefore eroding public trust in a really vital institution.”
+ House Speaker Mike Johnson predicted that SCOTUS would step in and overturn the conviction. “I think that the Justices on the court – I know many of them personally – I think they are deeply concerned about that, as we are. So I think they’ll set this straight.” These folks aren’t satisfied with flipping our flags upside down. They want to do the same to our core institutions.
+ If they really want to set things straight, it would be more appropriate for the Supreme Court to step aside and let the more serious cases against Trump proceed. David Frum in The Atlantic (Gift Article): Wrong Case, Right Verdict. “It says something dark about the American legal system that it cannot deal promptly and effectively with a coup d’état. But it says something bright and hopeful that even an ex-president must face justice for ordinary crimes under the laws of the state in which he chose to live and operate his business.”
+ What we don’t know, and probably won’t know for quite a while, is how this verdict will play out in the election—and that will come down to how the so-called low information voters in swing states react to these felonies. (On news days like this, I’m convinced America’s low information voters are also its happiest citizens.) David Remnick in The New Yorker: Trump Is Guilty, but Voters Will Be the Final Judge. “Following the devastating judgment against Trump in Manhattan Criminal Court, voters will now decide to what extent they care. The question is whether any who remain undecided—particularly in the most critical precincts of Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, and Arizona—will be convinced that a felony conviction disqualifies Trump from a second term as Commander-in-Chief, or whether this most recent badge of dishonor is, in the end, of no greater concern than his well-documented history as a bigot, a fabulist, and an authoritarian intent on pursuing a second term inflamed by a spirit of vengeance.”
Indeed, the case of Donald Trump now goes to a broader jury on November 5. In the end, this will be a story less about Trump’s convictions and more about America’s.
