How Guilty Is He?
Here’s hopefully the last piece that has to mention him, a follow-up/review of the previous post listing some of Trump’s many misdeeds.
As Trump’s trials slowly unfold and the election looms, his penchant for speaking publicly with no filter is bringing ever more numerous episodes of cognitive decline, dementia and criminal implications though his own anecdotes. This is after being convicted for 34 of 88 felony charges.
In fact, he’s still campaigning and fundraising on the ‘unfairness’ of the ‘witch hunt’ against him and ‘how awful’ the Democrats are. But, still, mainly on how the election is already rigged if he loses.
And the Republican party is still pushing hard for him, idiot word salads and all. They don’t really care what shape he’s in, as long as he wins and they get to enact their agenda. (Well, sinister plot is more like it.)
Trump’s got red hands like nobody’s business. Incitement to insurrection- on video. Thousands of docs seized- on video. Constant defamation- online and on video. Bragging about his power- on video. Admitting to violating the Logan Act by bragging about talking to Putin about Ukraine.
Now, do I think he’s guilty?
Yes!
Do I believe he’s entitled to due process?
Yes!
Do I understand that he’s presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law?
Yes!
Do I realize that he’s entitled to provide an exculpatory defense?
Yes!
Doesn’t that make me want to reserve judgement until the verdict is in?
No!
He is entitled, and I want him to have due process- because it’s not a one-sided coin. Due process isn’t just the right of defense for the accused, but also, the right to bring formal charges, evidence and testimony by the government.
That is a bedrock of America- the fairness inherent in our system that regards one as innocent until criminal acts are formally and materially proven ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ in a court of law to incur punishment. Everyone should be all for the charges against Trump being held to that high standard.
He must stand and face the charges and the evidence against him, and he may produce evidence that exonerates him.
And, if Smith fails to prove it, or if Trump can prove he didn’t do these things, then he’s acquitted and that’s okay.
By all appearances, Special Counsel Jack Smith is holding himself to an even higher standard, with evidence that is of a verity and volume that is irreproachable.
And that includes a massive amount of publicly witnessed actions, statements and social media posts.
So, why do I pre-judge Trump as guilty? Am I just ‘out to get’ him? Do I want him prosecuted to keep him out of office?
No. Of course not. Well, okay, maybe that last one… a bit.
But, it’s not because he’s Republican, but kinda, and not because he’s conservative, but, kinda, and not because he’s old and psychopathic, but, oh, well, that one, a lot.
It’s because if he were a ten-year-old accused of stealing a cake, he’d still have the damn frosting on his face and a lump of cake behind his back while he cried “I didn’t do it!”
Trump; “You can’t prove I stole the cake. (wipes face) What frosting?”
Smith; “We have security cam video.”
Trump; “It’s lying.”
Smith; “The cook saw you take it.”
Trump; “He’s lying.”
Smith “ There was a trail of cake crumbs to your room.”
Trump; “You’re lying.”
Smith; “The rest of the cake was still there.”
Yes, folks when it comes to crooked former presidents, yes, I’ll say it, you may groan if you’d like, but, yea, Trump really takes the cake. (Sorry. Really. It couldn’t be helped. ‘Cake’ was invoked. Vaudeville has rules, you know.)
Is he really that guilty? Well, let me put it this way- A Perry Mason episode about it would open up with the guilty verdict and his sentencing. The balance of the show would be Mason trying to collect his fees.
And, frankly, the ten-year-old analogy is being kind. (Though, not to the ten-year old.)
As far as red-handed criminals go, and, considering people died in his insurrection, he almost reaches the ‘Jack Ruby’ level. Millions of people saw Ruby shoot JFK’s assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, on live TV. And millions watched both Trump’s inciting rally and the resulting Jan 6 violence on live TV, as well.
The crimes Trump’s committed are all at that broadest level of public knowledge. We all saw him do all of these things. We have much more evidence than normal- we have the statements or docs from many of the closest people in Trump’s circle during these events and that will all come out in trial- we heard much of it already from the January 6th Committee. And we’ve heard a great deal of evidence from the court documents that have been made public.
And, even with the Supreme Court hampering the case with their ‘presumptive immunity’ ruling, only one count and one likely additional defendant were dropped from Smith’s DC case.
So, we know Trump, at the very least, did these things, out loud, in real time. Not to mention, every witness is a Republican. Not a single Democrat is testifying.
Now, every president has had naysayers- opponents criticizing them, even accusing them of impropriety. And, on some occasions, it’s been true. On most, it’s not. Rarer though, is a visible transgression in real time by a president. Before Trump, only Nixon had been caught visibly behaving corruptly.
And even that was discovered after the fact, as opposed to Trump actions, which were live and recorded.
In the past, any single one of his questionable actions, and really, anything minor by comparison, would have been reason enough to remove any president. A point of fact; both the previous impeachments of Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson were dramatically less criminal in nature. They both failed, Andrew by a nose, Clinton by a lot, because they were considered political.
Here we had a president impeached twice for publicly displayed blatantly criminal conduct- extortion, election tampering, attempted election fraud and insurrection. Both times, acquitted out out of hand in advance by Republicans out of nothing more than loyalty to Trump.
Loyalty is, ideally, a virtue. Loyalty to your spouse, your family, your friends, your employer, to your country, even to your ideals, are normal emotions that should inspire you to protect them, to not do them harm. It’s simple, it’s noble and it’s common.
But, loyalty to an evil person, or a wicked ideal, is itself loyalty to evil. Even if you don’t realize it- evil does and wants you to think you’re doing something good. Though it may comfort some to think they’re standing up for their country and their God by supporting Trump, in truth, he only serves himself, and he speaks only to fool people into enriching or empowering him.
And the Republicans have become no better since he came on. Their policies are just as damaging and abhorrent as Trump’s crimes and public behavior.
It is a truly dystopian time in American politics. A con man has taken over the GOP. And, of course, he’s just capering through them. Guilty, out loud, on video. (And they like it!)
It’s not just beyond a reasonable doubt.
He’s astonishingly guilty.
That’s why his defense isn’t ‘I didn’t do it’. We all saw him do it.
Instead, it’s ‘it wasn’t a crime’. ‘It was all official acts’. ‘I’m allowed to keep whatever I want’. ‘It’s all a witch hunt’. ‘Election interference’.
“What frosting? I don’t have frosting on my face! Even if I do, I can have as much cake as I want! I didn’t steal the cake! It was mine! It was my cake! You’re all just against me! You want my cake because there’s never been a great cake like that before and you’re jealous but it’s my cake and you can’t have any.”
C. 2024 Cousin B
