Although the case against Donald Trump, which was about falsifying business records in pursuit of a political aim, featured the testimony of an adult movie star and a legal fixer, the case boiled down in the public and press to infidelity. For weeks, the media and, therefore, the public ignored the fact that a then-would-be future President worked to set up shell companies, lied to the public, and hid his infidelity from the electorate, all to be the leader of the free world. The irony is that everything he did is precisely why such a person should never—ever—sit at the Resolute desk in the Oval Office of the White House. Most discouraging is that the man who wants to return to a job that requires humility, reflection, and truth could not admit an imperfection that sunk him. Had Mr. Trump, as many pols before him had done, admitted he cheated on his wife, tried to hide it, and MADE A MISTAKE, he may not be a convicted felon today.
… the famed words of the late former mayor of Washington, D.C., Marion S. Barry, echoed in my mind today. When caught in a hotel room with a woman who was not his wife while lighting a crack pipe, he made those words famous. Gary Hart, the 1988 front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination and darling of the young left, dared the press to prove he was a philanderer. “Follow me around,”he said. Arrogantly adding, “I don't care. I'm serious. If anybody wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. They'd be very bored.” Almost comically, he was caught with his paramour [Donna Rice] sitting on his lap wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with Monkey Business Crew, named after the party boat that sealed his fate. Of course, you have Bill Clinton and, infamously, John Edwards, who eventually admitted to his affair, which also included campaign fund violations.
Unlike Mr. Trump, Edwards beat the wrap because he was forced to come clean. Of the six felony charges, he was found not guilty on one, and the judge declared a mistrial on the remaining charges. Although Marion Barry served a prison sentence and never ascended to the mayorship of DC again, he served on the city council and died forgiven and quietly. John Edwards, it seems, decided a quiet life in a private law practice away from politics was both proper and preferential. To no one’s surprise, Donald Trump will not go away for the sake of the country and will instead work to ruin the world’s most revered justice system. Unfortunately, around Mr. Trump, his sycophants, enablers, and cohorts will offer their backs to carry Donald Trump’s water.
Mr. Trump claimed the trial was “rigged” and that he could not represent himself as an innocent man due to a “conflicted judge,” as he has repeatedly said. Look at his recent legal history objectively. He declined to testify in the Mueller Russia investigation (after saying he would), the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial (after saying he would), and now his New York documents case (after saying he would). Yesterday (stop me if you have heard this before), he decried the venue and declared the trial a “disgrace.” Before his victory in 2016, he told his followers that the election was rigged if he lost. He lost in 2020; of course, it was rigged again. It is only fair if he wins and only legitimate if it favors him. It is expected that a megalomaniac will exhibit narcissistic behavior, but when you take half the political structure with you, it pulls us all into that morass.
The former President, reminiscent of Marion Barry, claimed Biden set me up, of course, without one iota of proof. Trump’s minions, I guarantee, are now on the hunt to identify, disparage, threaten, and disavow the jurors. Hopefully, the media, the police, and the law will protect them better than they did Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss.
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