You\u2019ve heard of a \u201cthree time\u201d loser? That\u2019s a criminal who\u2019s been convicted so many times that additional crime brings \u201cenhanced\u201d punishments \u2013 longer sentences in jail. So what about a twice-impeached, four-times indicted, facing ninety-one charges; candidate for President of the United States? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Woah \u2013 I hear all of my Trump-leaning friends calling out. You\u2019re right: he was impeached (twice) but not convicted. He is indicted on all of those charges, but time will tell whether he\u2019s guilty. I guess we\u2019ll find out if this is all \u201cjust a Democrat-Prosecutor Plot\u201d, or if the former President of the United States will end up in some kind of incarceration. I\u2019m not a betting man, but if I was, I\u2019d put money on Trump standing before the bar, sentenced for a crime. Out of ninety-one charges, something will stick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump is using all the Rights tools. He claims that his First Amendment right to Freedom of Speech is violated. In particular, his political freedom to run for office (and make speeches) is restricted by \u2013 \u201cDemocrat, Racist, Biased, Judges\u201d. Of course when he says that, he makes the point for the Judge. You really can\u2019t call your trial judge racist and biased, at least not in the \u201creal world\u201d of American Justice. And he even goes farther with the Prosecutors; they’re demented. If you or I did that, we\u2019d be getting a close-up view of the inside of a jail cell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And maybe that\u2019s the point. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the \u201creal world\u201d, a candidate facing ninety-one charges, Federal and State, would probably drop out and find some way to defend themselves in court. A real billionaire might look for some safe foreign nation without an extradition treaty (I hear there\u2019s some nice beachfront property for sale in Russian Crimea). But we aren\u2019t in the \u201creal world\u201d. We are still, unfortunately, in \u201cTrump World\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From a legal standpoint, Trump\u2019s best way out is to win the election and become President again. He can then require the Department of Justice to drop the charges. He can fire any Federal Prosecutor who won\u2019t stop prosecuting him (or fire the person who can fire them until he gets someone who will, shades of the Saturday Night Massacre of 1973). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And he\u2019ll be able to go to Georgia and New York and accuse them of interfering with the Presidency. It might work. Do you really think the actual President of the United States could “serve while serving” from the Washington State Prison (minimum security) in Davisboro, Georgia or the Queensboro Correctional Facility on Long Island? (We are sorry, Mr. President, the Cabinet meeting can only be held during visiting hours). <\/em> Is the current US Supreme Court going to allow that? <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTrump World\u201d depends on the absolute loyalty of his supporters. And what better way to \u201cRally the Troops\u201d than prosecution twisted into persecution. In fact, they don\u2019t need to hear or even see Trump himself to get even more riled up. They\u2019ll show up in mass for the primaries, they\u2019ll heckle and disrupt the efforts of other Republicans (ask DeSantis at the Iowa State Fair). And those \u201ctroops\u201d will be at the height of their energy, if\u2026if Donald Trump goes to jail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Being indicted for a crime means that you are already under Court supervision. The Court has three goals for defendants: show up for trial, don\u2019t commit more crimes, and don\u2019t taint the legal process. Trump might already be committing crimes \u2013 intimidating witnesses (the former Lieutenant Governor of Georgia for one). And he definitely is \u201ctainting\u201d the legal process, claiming that the Court officers from Judges to Prosecutors are corrupt. All of that gets to the prospective Jury Pool. What he says does matter in the Judicial process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you or I did this, we\u2019d be \u201cinside looking out\u201d, for sure. Trump is literally daring the Judges in his cases, from New York to Washington to Miami and soon Atlanta, to try it. In fact, he\u2019s going so far, it makes me wonder: is this a political calculation? Trump\u2019s formula seems to be: either I say what I want and get what I want, or \u201cthey\u201d put me in jail, and all of MAGA\u2019Dom goes nuts in my support. Other than being incarcerated, what\u2019s the down side?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Donald Trump is no Martin Luther King. I don\u2019t expect a \u201cletter from the DC Jail\u201d if he\u2019s locked away (though I bet his campaign tries). And he\u2019s no Alexi Navalny, willing to risk death and return to Russia to be jailed. In fact, it\u2019s hard to imagine that a man so used to getting anything he wants would allow himself to be incarcerated. But maybe it\u2019s a short-term pain, long-term gain kind of thing. Getting jailed while awaiting trial is short term. If it could help him win the Presidency, the long-term gain is avoiding what essentially would be a life sentence for the seventy seven year-old man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At least, then there would be some logic to what he\u2019s doing. Otherwise he\u2019s just a man so self-indulgent (and self-deluded) that he doesn\u2019t think a judge would dare jail him. The question is: which Judge accepts the dare, and proves him wrong? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MAGA Loyalists<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Go to Jail<\/h3>\n\n\n\n