Well, if you’ve been living under a rock on Mars with your eyes closed and your fingers in your ears for the last 48 hours, you’ve probably heard the news that former President Donald J. Trump was convicted by a New York City jury in a “hush money” case. Now, as June 1 has begun, we still have to wait about six weeks to find out what the sentence will be.
One thing I’ve learned is that there are a lot of legal and election experts out there. Well, someone had to fill the void left when William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal passed away. Unfortunately, they don’t have the wisdom in one fiber of a sock that either might have wore. If anything else, this shows just how uninformed the U.S. public is and they can’t handle that truth.
This wasn’t a political attack by President Joe Biden, his administration and/or his re-election campaign. They have basically spent months distancing themselves as much as they can from the court case. This was conducted by the state of New York under the direction of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Remember state’s rights? Well, that really only matters to some degree. I hate to veer off on a tangent subject, but states in the north had freed enslaved people. However, this meant visitors from the south couldn’t travel in these states with their enslaved people.
But it has a lot to say about Trump’s policies as well as the Republican Party over the last 50-60 years. It’s do as I say, not as I do course of action. Trump was convicted on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to payments he made to Stephanie Gregory Clifford, aka Stormy Daniels as she is known in her role as an adult film actress and director. This was prior to the 2016 election.
Trump had reportedly had sex with Clifford in 2006. As she has recalled, the sex was more coerced by Trump. To keep the story from being released prior to the 2016 election, each payment check was processed by the Trump Organization and illegally disguised as a payment for legal services rendered pursuant to a non-existent retainer agreement. Total payments were $130,000 to Clifford.
As news spreads of the guilty verdict, people were divisive. This is the first time ever that a former American President has been convicted in a criminal trial. It’s also the first time that a former President has even been indicted in a criminal trial. Trump faces other unrelated charges in the Washington D.C. area for his alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection coup attempt, as well as having classified documents at Mar-a-Lago on allegations of espionage and charges of election interference in Georgia with the 2020 election. Trump along with 18 others were charged in August of 2023. Others have pleaded but it has been reported his case is unlikely to go to trial before the election.
While I can understand why some people might think this is targeting Trump in a political move, the facts of the case are harder to defend. And many are choosing not to defend them arguing the old adage of “Others have done the same or worse.” Yes, Joseph James DeAngelo, the Golden State Killer, shouldn’t have been convicted because Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer, did a lot worse. I mean, you can always just pick some previous crime out of the history books to defend why you shouldn’t be convicted by that analogy that others have done worse.
Hilariously, some Trump supporters argued that Trump and Clifford never had sex. But that he was meeting with her to discuss Christianity and the Bible. That’s even more outrageous. But people believe it as Clifford was making adult movies and Trump was the game-show host of a reality TV show. People are going to believe whatever they want. That’s the main problem. Truth and facts don’t matter if they don’t adhere with their thoughts.
When I was covering courts and crime, you wouldn’t believe how many people would support murderers, rapists and violent people. I think it all comes down to their own egos, which is fitting for Trump, because they care more about how they’re portrayed. I can understand someone voting for Trump in 2016 and then seeing how bad a President he was not voting for him in 2020 thus casting their votes for Biden. That’s a good reason why Biden received more votes.
But the ones who still voted for him a second time are now seeing the actions of a selfish man who is doing everything to stay out of prison and get revenge on those who he feels wronged him. Yet, they don’t want to admit it. They don’t want to admit they made a bad choice. I will say some are just so gone they’ll believe whatever shit he’s peddling and calling it Beluga caviar. Mostly, it’s because Trump in his earlier speeches came off as a racist and a bigot and they liked that.
I’ve said it before, there are three types of voters. You have those who mostly or always vote. You have those who hardly ever vote. And you have those who shouldn’t vote. Trump has bought out the people who shouldn’t vote – ever. They’re the ones who never paid attention in school and only listen to what they wanted to. There are 77 counties in Oklahoma but I had one guy trying to argue with me that Wagoner County (outside Tulsa) was the only one in which voters have to just vote for the Commissioners in their districts. No that’s every county.
Maybe it was the rise of social media that led to people believing everything they saw online and spreading it. But it has gotten out of hand since 2016. That’s why even Facebook changed some things. However, before social media, we had talk radio and people spewing conspiracy theorists and outrageous lies. All these hosts needed was someone to hear. Call it a crazy line but there is some truth behind when Homer Simpsons says, “It takes two to lie. One to lie and one to listen.”
Trump lies and people listen. The irony is the people who mostly support him he wouldn’t ever associate with. In 1989, when Trisha Meili, was jogging through Central Park, she was attacked and raped. Five young black men were all charged and convicted of the case despite questions about the evidence. Trump vehemently claimed they were still guilty and took out newspaper ads calling their deaths by execution. When they were all finally exonerated, he never apologized for calling for their deaths.
That’s because Trump is a bigot, racist and a liar. He doesn’t want to admit he said the wrong thing. Like his supporters, he can’t handle the truth. This is about ego. In a twist of poetic justice, the same Manhattan court building where they were convicted, so was he. Yet, this time, the evidence is there. Trump thinks the rules shouldn’t apply to him.
Trump has never thought the rules didn’t apply to him. But it came from years of people like Richard M. Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, all using the Presidency as their own way to change and pervert the law. Filmmaker Michael Moore might have some credence arguing that Trump ran initially to negotiate a better contract with NBC for The Apprentice, but soon found he could make more money running for President. He grifted American taxpayers and he wants to do it again. Only this time he wants to make sure he can do a lot more.
Trump’s campaign said it raised closed to $53 million within 24 hours of the verdict. But I’m sure it’s going to go to his legal defense as he appeals this verdict. It’s very likely he won’t be sentenced until after the appeal. And since it’s a non-violent crime, aka a white collar case, will he ever serve prison time is a question still left to answer. But there’s also another great line spoken by Obi-Won Kenobi “Who’s more foolish – the fool or the fool who follows?”
Trump wasn’t the first to make people believe the system is rigged. Most Republicans do it all the time. That’s the only way they’re can accept the results is by not believing them. No joke, I covered an election back in 2012 at the county level for court clerk. It was the primaries. The incumbent only received about 25 percent of the vote. She, more than likely by the insistence of her husband who used to be a county commissioners, called for a recount. The county election board did that recount. Guess what? It was the same. I can understand with the numbers are so close, but it doesn’t take a mathematician to deduce that there is a wide range between 25 and 75.
Needless to say the husband who was the former county commissioner would always scream foul when he didn’t get his way. One time a bail bonds office across the street from the county courthouse had a campaign sign on their private property. He tried to argue that was within 100 feet since the county election board office was on a side street behind the courthouse. It was nowhere near 100 feet. And that’s not really a long distance when you start measuring it.
But it seems the Republicans always do it. In 2008, the Republican who was running for the county commissioner seat on the ballot claimed the election boxes had been tampered with. However, there was no evidence. No one bothered to take a photo. Cameras on phones were a thing by that time. And what’s so crazy is this is a very conservative county in a very conservative state.
You can’t always scream “Fraud!” because you didn’t win. This is how elections work. You put your name and face out there, you take what happens. It’s like sports. One side wins. One side doesn’t. For a political party that always screams about the dangers of “Participation Trophies,” they obviously behave like they should always win even with the numbers tell a different story.
But maybe part of the problem is you the voters. I’ve been voting in every election I can since 1996. There’s been two times I haven’t voted. Once was the 1998 general elections because I was at college and didn’t get the absentee ballot sent to me in time. It wasn’t my fault. The second time was in 2002 because I waited too long to change my address. But I’ve tried every election since then to vote. Sometimes, I didn’t agree with the results, but I accepted them. I’ve accepted the fact that more people believed in another candidate than I did. I’ve accepted the fact that more people were concerned over a ballot question a different way than I was.
That is the greatest thing about our voting system. We’re not always right but we’re not always wrong. And elected officials are supposed to serve all the people, especially the ones who didn’t vote for them. Trump and the Republican Party want loyalty. I’d argue they also want records to see who the Democrats or Libertarians are. Trump was booed and jeered at the Libertarian convention on May 25. Don’t think he won’t forget that if he’s re-elected.
But like I said earlier, too many people are afraid that they may have made a decision that the majority of Americans didn’t like. They can’t accept being in the wrong not once, not twice and now, not three times. But at this point, they have to take some responsibility. This is the first time a convicted felon is seeking the Presidency. So, you have to ask them how much longer are they going to continue to support him?
And here’s the kicker, the Republican National Convention doesn’t start until July 15. Trump is scheduled to be sentenced July 10. If he is sentenced, will the Republicans still nominate him? It’s not really a done deal. Even if the appeals delay the sentencing, the guilty verdict on all 34 counts could send a message that would divide the Republican Party. They’ve not had a contended convention since 1976 and people were upset over President Gerald Ford pardoning Nixon.
I would say Republicans should just sit this one out but this year’s Presidential election is crucial to their survival. The repeal of Roe v. Wade didn’t have the effect they thought it would. Women’s rights and especially reproduction is going to be a hot button issue especially with how the U.S. Supreme Court is aligned. Yes, the Republicans are getting money through Trump now but will that still be the case in another month?
I don’t think they’re going to have a great weekend as Republican leaders ponder what the next step is. Those saying more people will vote for Trump now only further shows their hypocrisy as the party of “Law and Order.” Even worse, more Republicans are realizing that a Trump endorsement is become a kiss of death. And they may be out of the job come January.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 