{"id":7071,"date":"2024-04-25T08:53:56","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T12:53:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=7071"},"modified":"2024-04-25T08:53:59","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T12:53:59","slug":"a-common-criminal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2024\/04\/25\/a-common-criminal\/","title":{"rendered":"A Common Criminal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sorry it’s been a few days. Of course there’s track meets,<\/em> but we also had an awesome family reunion, and the kids were in from California. Now, it’s back to commentary!!!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Equal in the Eyes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States\u2019 Constitution states it best:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026(N)or deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we are all \u201cequally protected\u201d, then we are also all \u201cequally responsible\u201d to the laws of the United States.\u00a0\u00a0There is no individual immune from those laws (at least not this week, the Supreme Court could change that).\u00a0\u00a0And while the \u201cwheels of justice\u201d seem intolerably slow, they do ultimately reach a conclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, we see a reaffirmation of the success of the American experiment.\u00a0\u00a0If we are all equally responsible to the law, then even the most powerful should be held accountable.\u00a0\u00a0In New York City, the powerful; the former President of the United States, still politically viable with millions of supporters, is \u201cbefore the bar\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Whether the jury of twelve New Yorkers find him guilty or not guilty really doesn\u2019t matter.\u00a0\u00a0The sole fact that a former President can be so held accountable is a victory for America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are drowned in minutiae.\u00a0Trump fell asleep in court.\u00a0\u00a0He told he lawyers what to do?\u00a0\u00a0He posted on \u201cTruth Social\u201d? And, OMG \u2013 Trump farted in Court!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But don\u2019t forget the underlying fact.  The former President of the United States is not above the law.  He is, like every other citizen, from crypto-pirate Sam Bankman-Fried in New York to plucked from the local paper common thief Josh Creager in Newark, Ohio; subject to trial, and potentially jail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Difference<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But, even after all of that, certainly the trial of Donald J. Trump is  different.   If any other criminal defendant did the things that Trump does, he would be in jail.  So why are judges hesitant to hold the ex-President to the same standard that Bankman-Fried and Creager were forced to meet?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practically there\u2019s the issue that Americans have been skirting for over a year:  how to jail a former President.   Do the Secret Service agents go in with Trump?  Are they now \u201cbunkees\u201d as well as bodyguards (surely Trump goes on the bottom<\/em>)?  Or does the former President get a separate area, maybe a bed in an office with a restroom, a lock on the door and his cell phone.  Or doe the Court \u201cLOCK HIM UP\u201d in the penthouse of some local five-star hotel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then there\u2019s the second question:  what does MAGA-world do if their leader is jailed?  Is there the possibility of violence?  Will Appellate Courts allow a former President to stay in jail, or will they emasculate the trial Judge with upper Court rulings?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of Course, Money<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

And finally, the odd reasoning that Trump may want to be in jail.  Donald Trump is campaigning, every day he\u2019s in Court.  His fundraising machine goes to work each time he steps to the microphones outside the Courtroom door, garnering millions out of each rant and claim to victimhood.   How much money could Trump raise if he was actually \u201cjailed\u201d (though I highly doubt it would be in Rikers)?  He\u2019s already drawn the parallel (I wish I\u2019d stayed awake in geometry, I\u2019d know the term for the opposite of parallel<\/em>!).  Donald Trump is in jail, Martin Luther King Junior was in jail, Donald Trump is like MLK. It\u2019s a \u201ctheorem\u201d, right? Will there be a \u201cLetter from the New York Jail, (or a New York hotel)<\/em>\u201d, read by future scholars and students?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t think so.\u00a0\u00a0But I do think he\u2019ll raise millions more as the small handcuffs are applied, and the former President, flanked by his Secret Service cellmates, is escorted away.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s what he wants to be:\u00a0\u00a0a victim, a martyr for MAGAdom, a fundraising machine.\u00a0\u00a0Somebody\u2019s got to pay the bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

$1400 a Night<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It all makes sense, except for one thing.  We know Donald Trump, he\u2019s a germophobe.  We know he has to have his burgers and Pepsi just right, his tie at the right length, his pants pressed even while he\u2019s wearing them.  Does this sound like a man who would voluntarily be incarcerated, even if it was in a Five Star Hotel on New York\u2019s Fifth Avenue?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judge Juan Merchan is still pondering what to do about Trump.\u00a0\u00a0As the trial goes on, and the unfortunately named David Pecker outlines the conspiracy to defraud the American electorate, Trump is speaking, tweeting (Truth Social-ing) and behaving like a defendant with no fear.\u00a0\u00a0To really be \u201cequal in the eyes of the law\u201d, the Court must enforce it\u2019s own rules.\u00a0\u00a0And we know, even though his resources are limited, Trump just isn\u2019t afraid of fines.\u00a0\u00a0If $175 million won\u2019t stop him, any amount Merchan levies won\u2019t be enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump Secret Service agents better come to work with an overnight bag. Ultimately, Merchan will have no choice \u2013 Trump will go to jail,\u00a0even if it\u2019s the only the Ritz-Carlton, with rooms starting at $1400 a\u00a0\u00a0night.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justice will be served.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Equal in the Eyes The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States\u2019 Constitution states it best: \u201c\u2026(N)or deny to any person within its jurisdiction the … Continue reading “A Common Criminal”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nA Common Criminal : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2024\/04\/25\/a-common-criminal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Common Criminal : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sorry it’s been a few days. 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