We probably won't be seeing the Flaming Bush of Mar-a-Lago behind bars anytime soon, but this was an important first step. New York didn't back down in issuing an indictment against Trump despite the many threats against Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, including a photoshopped image Trump posted of himself wielding a baseball bat against the chief prosecutor on Truth Social. The Chosen One didn't hide his contempt against the judge either in his first speech after the indictment, none of which will hold him in good stead before the bench.
It's too bad no mugshot was taken. We could have found out how tall he really is. His campaign made him even taller in the fake mug shot they are peddling on their website - a whopping 6'-5"! Other fake mug shots have been less flattering.
It doesn't really matter in his followers eyes, who believe all these charges (34 counts in all) are just part of a great conspiracy against their "Moses," who has been leading them around the wilderness in circles for 8 years and counting. They remain committed to him come hell or high water. Theirs is an Old Testament Christianity firmly resting on the Pentateuch or Five Books of Moses. It's "eye for an eye" not "turn the other cheek" in their addled minds.
This is what worries Republican stalwarts the most. There appears to be no way to get rid of Trump. Even if he was found guilty and committed to prison, he could probably still win the nomination from behind bars. In this crazy country you can't vote from prison but you can run for public office. If the Republicans had followed through with the second impeachment trial, Trump could have been barred from ever running for public office again, but they were too worried about the backlash from their religious conservative base. They now face the consequences for their lack of action, a demented septuagenarian who won't let go of his grass roots following.
Already political pundits are conceding the 2024 nomination to him as they think this indictment only serves to bolster his support. Indeed, his poll numbers have surged in the days following his "walk of shame," temporarily freezing any other presidential bids. Yet, many prominent Republicans have said they would never vote for Trump again. So, where does that leave the Chosen One in a general election?
We are now getting a lot of talk of third party candidates. Even Joe Manchin has broached the idea, claiming the Democrats have drifted too far left for him in a CNN interview. However, all this would do is turn the 2024 general election into a free-for-all, giving Trump a path toward victory, as tenuous as it might be. If a third party candidate were too emerge, he or she would have to be strong enough to pull the bulk of the votes away from the middle, leaving Biden (assuming he runs) and Trump at the two ends. So far, no such candidate has emerged.
But that's thinking too far down the road. Trump will face a lot of questioning between now and his December 4 hearing, and may even face more indictments in between. He has tax fraud, rape and election interference cases all pending against him, not to mention that little matter about the January 6, 2021 insurrection, which Merrick Garland continues to drag his heels on.
Personally, I don't think his new found popularity will hold up. There has to be a limit to how much persons will tolerate, even if he has done a pretty good job of framing the charges brought against him as a personal vendetta. We are talking about a deeply flawed man, not someone who slew an Egyptian in defense of a Jewish slave.
If the Republican Party really wants to save itself, it can do more to reveal these many flaws so that religious conservative voters at least start to question the man they seem to believe was anointed by God to lead them out of the wilderness. The problem is too many conservatives are cashing in on Trump's notoriety, the veritable golden calf or in this case golden ass, and want to retain this highly gullible audience. No less than 300 Republican candidates for state and federal offices supported his "Big Lie" in 2022 as they were able to raise massive campaign funds off it, even if many of them ended up losing in the general elections.
Once again, it is left up to our court system to carry out some form of justice in a time of great peril. Our Democracy may very well be on the line in the 2024 elections.
I wish there was some way to get that SOB in an orange suit behind bars for life. But it ain't likely to happen. In fact he still leads Biden in the popularity numbers:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/shock-poll-trump-crushing-biden-by-7-points-in-stunning-new-abc-washington-post-survey/ar-AA1aRa7k?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=da30dcb7cd924a20b4732be3110e7c1c&ei=74
Democrats have done NOTHING to build up his numbers. Instead they are stupidly gloating over tRump's troubles none of which have amounted to anything thus far.
Interesting to see that Trump was indeed found guilt of sexual assault and battery. It is a civil suit so he won't face any jail time, but he is now branded a sexual predator. I doubt it will make a dent in the eyes of his devotees. However, one really has to wonder what they see in him. This is a guy who claimed he would defend himself but chose to play golf instead. As my wife says, he is a coward. It's been clear from the start but for some strange reason he has cultivated a devoted following that defies any understanding other than this deep seated sense of aggrievement that these Trumpists share.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Democrats, what can they do? They try to move the country forward with progressive legislation that would have a net positive effect on everyone, yet Republicans fight it kicking and screaming and managed to drag Manchin and Sinema in with them. So, we are stuck once again, with the general public blaming the Biden administration for the impasse, as if he can wave a magic wand and make everything work. Basically, we have a deeply dysfunctional government incapable of addressing the pressing issues of today.