Salon: Folks the Wait was Worth it, Donald Trump is Going to Prison
Thank you for the optimism, Brian Karem. It is encouraging to read such an upbeat piece. I share some of the optimism of this piece, and I would be really happy if it all turns out this way. There are always naysayers and Debbie Downers, right? And they turned out to be wrong about whether or not he was ever going to be indicted. Through all the long wait, while the Department of Justice was admittedly and deliberately dragging its feet, after being practically handed its case and evidence by Congress, we finally saw the indictments.
I expected that the indictments in Fulton County, Georgia would take longer. They had to gather evidence, question witnesses and operate with a governor and secretary of state who are Republicans, and who, in spite of their being treated as Trump enemies, still can't pull away from partisan loyalty or be realistic and rational enough to understand that standing up for a free and fair election, whihc is the cornerstone of democracy and the bedrock of American patriotism, would be the right thing to do.
Why I Share at Least Some of This Optimism
My optimism is supported by the competence of the prosecution. Clearly, Jack Smith and Fani Willis know exactly what they are doing, and at least two of the judges appear to understand the need to expidite these trials, in part to protect people from potential violence. Trump himself, with his inability to keep his mouth shut, is going to help guarantee that these trial dates are expitited, and happen well before the 2024 election.
It's possible, but not likely, that a rogue juror could throw a monkey wrench in all of this. Not likely, I think, because the prosecution has the resources to check the backgrounds of potential jurors, including things like social media posts, and the expertise to tell whether they're getting someone honest or not. Attempts to intimidate, bribe or otherwise tamper with potential jurors, which are already happening and already being handled, will ensure that these trials are secure and completely fair based on the evidence. Those attempts will only make a conviction more certain.
There are multiple witnesses, and mountains of damning evidence. The Congressional investigation, which, along with public pressure, very likely prompted the Justice Department's appointment of a special prosecutor and got the ball rolling on the January 6th indictments, was anything but a partisan witch-hunt, and it presented an overwhelming amount of irrefutable evidence, much of it from Republican sources. The only disappointment in the January 6th indictments was the fact that the Justice Department took so long to get a special prosecutor and convene a grand jury, to which they admitted, but offered no explanation.
I'm almost disappointed that Trump cancelled his Monday press conference which would have been the "big reveal" of his alleged "irrefutable" evidence of election fraud in Georgia. It's kind of funny that we haven't seen this "evidence" until now, after he's been indicted himself. Up to this point, their definition of "irrefutable evidence" has been nothing more than conspiracy theories and speculation without any factual evidence to show that anything actually occurred. Trump apparently thinks that the jury will be made up of people who are just as ignorant of the way elections are conducted and ballots counted and accounted for as his own followers appear to be. The fact that his lawyers got him to back off is an indication that they are aware at how bad things look for them.
But I will interject a measure of caution with my optimism. The system has held up so far against this onslaught of conspiracy theories and lies, and I don't have any reason to believe it won't continue to do so. But this has created the sharpest political divisiveness that I've seen in my lifetime in this country. And the pressure that creates can cause distored thinking when it comes to our sense of right and wrong. Continuous probing and pushing often leads to the discovery of weak links, and that's always a danger in situations like this. Our past history on the rule of law is not 100% favorable when it comes to rich, powerful defendants.
Confidence in the Will of the People Through the Ballot Box
The divisive nature of American politics right now is bringing incredible pressure to bear on the electorate. When it comes to choosing a President, and selecting the members of the House of Representatives, our democracy has some screwy quirks that open the door to failure in elections that truly represent the will of the people. If it weren't for unenforced laws and court orders regarding gerrymandering, and the antiquated monstrosity of the electoral college, there never would have been a Trump. And the shrill voices of screechers like Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and other extremist radicals would be minor annoyances in the far distance.
In spite of tilting the playing field in their direction, the voters are swinging back the other way. Four years of a Trump Presidency resulted in an eight million vote victory for Joe Biden, and the after effects of Trump were felt in the mid-term elections, the worst performance for the party not in power in the White House in decades. What's happened since then, including a series of special elections and ballot initiatives, has gone almost completely to the left.
Media coverage keeps focusing on polling data which they say isn't really moving as a result of all of these indictments. But on two different occasions, following the Mar-a-Lago indictments and then again after the January 6th indictments came down, the polling data cited by at least two networks, CNN and CBS, was from dates too soon to have factored in the effects of the indictments. The more recent data shows a significant majority of voters favoring prosecuting the former failed President, an increasing percentage of voters saying they do not approve of him and definitely will not vote for him. Both of those figures are now well into the upper 60% range in credible, higher rated polls.
It's anecdotal, but I have noticed much less discussion of politics and much less mention of anything conservative, right wing, or "Trumpie" from the conservatives in my workplace and who I can still see and with whom I still interact on social media. There's one in particular, the son of a prominent, well-known, late Baptist pastor and author, who blogs mostly on theology and doctrine, but occasionally gets into politics, who recently declared he would not be supporting Trump for the GOP nomination. I'm not really surprised that he's announced this publicly, since he was never really openly supported Trump and I suspect he never voted for him.
What surprised me was that the comments from those who follow him overwhelmingly echoed and supported his announcement. Back around the mid-term elections, that wasn't the case. The discussion has clearly shifted. Most of those who comment on his site are obviously Republican and Evangelical. The number of Biden supporters hasn't grown by much, though I've seen a few more positive posts that are left without attacks or comments from conservatives. But what has clearly changed is that Trump support is evaporating, and the shift has been to discussions about which GOP candidate currently in the race is the best to support, and the most likely to win.
That's not hard, scientific polling data, but it is certainly evidence of a shift in thinking that has been obviously affected by these indictments. It is an indication that some conservative Republicans are thinking that if their party wants to have a chance to win the White House, someone other than Trump needs to be its nominee.
With the Media Reporting we Get Now, Something Positive is a Good Thing
Salon is, by their own admission, a tabloid style presentation of opinion on a limited range of topics. What I like about their political writers in particular is that they don't hold anything back and their approach to dealing with the far right is every bit as confrontational and "in your face" as the stuff that the far right puts out. It uses facts for credibility, and for shock values, which is somewhat different from the conspiracy theories and speculative outcomes of far right propaganda. On days when I have my doubts, it's what I want to read. I include a few links and references here, depending on the subject matter, because I have some conservative readers who argue with me via email, or occasionally in the comments, and they are an accurate source.
I really want to believe that justice will be done and that the work of preserving and protecting American democracy is achieving its ends. I'd really like for us all to wake up one morning and this nightmare is over, we've learned from our mistakes, it won't happen again, and where we go from here makes us stronger. But the struggle to protect and defend democracy will never end, because democracy is a higher order development, and humanity isn't really geared toward natural acceptance of freedom of conscience for all people. We don't seem to be completely comfortable when there's not a mechanism or system in place to control the behavior of those who are different.
Have a nice day!
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