Premature Discharge

The long saga of the Trump hush money case has come to this. Yes, he’s a felon. And no, he won’t be punished. “Judge Juan Merchan spoke to Trump for several minutes, telling the president-elect that it was the office of the presidency – and not the occupant – that was afforded extraordinary legal protections requiring him to impose a sentence of ‘unconditional discharge’ without any punishment.” The Unconditional Discharge leaves Trump unpunished and provides the title of the inevitable p-rn parody of this whole story.

+ “The presence of the disruptive once and future President alongside all four of his living predecessors was as discordant as any moment at an American state funeral, with its grand rituals meant to unify and salve, could be.” Susan Glasser in The New Yorker on the weird scenes from Jimmy Carter’s memorial. King Donald and the Presidents at the National Cathedral. (Given the social tension, Carter may have been the luckiest attendee.)