Hi james,
A wise man, facing sentencing after a felony conviction, goes out of his way to avoid any behavior or rhetoric that might cause the judge to cast an unfavorable eye on him. He understands that remorse goes a long way towards tilting the court towards leniency and that his future is well served by demonstrating an ability to exist as a model citizen. In case it wasn’t abundantly clear by now, Donald Trump is decidedly not a wise man.
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After receiving thirty-four felony convictions in his falsification of business records case, Trump has displayed the same pathological inability to accept responsibility that has defined his entire adult life. He blamed the judge, baselessly alleged that the entire case was masterminded by President Biden (a ludicrous narrative since it was a state rather than federal prosecution), and ranted more broadly about how the nation is in a state of decline. A ceaseless torrent of lies, attacks, and paranoid ravings have issued forth from the former president and, not surprisingly, MAGA supporters are lapping it up.
Republicans — the very same people who pride themselves on being guardians of “law and order” policies — are incensed that their cult leader is being held accountable for his crimes and online right-wing spheres are bubbling with fantasies of civil war. Trump supporters are working ceaselessly in their efforts to dox the jurors and expose their addresses so that they can be identified, shamed, and perhaps even killed. Rather than attempting to calm down these dangerous supporters, Trump is pouring gasoline on the fire by spewing even more apocalyptic lies.
To tell Judge Merchan to send Trump to jail for his 34 felonies, sign here
Unfortunately for the would-be king, all of this posturing and propagandizing might end up sinking him in the end. Judge Juan Merchan is watching all of this play out while he decides Trump’s sentencing and what he’s seeing can’t be instilling a lot of sympathy for the GOP nominee. The former president is making it abundantly clear that he desires even more political chaos and violence and that the conviction has done nothing to temper his worst instincts. He’s daring Merchan to do something.
And while there’s still a strong possibility that Trump will be let off with a light sentence that does’t include prison time, every time he opens his mouth he chips away at that possibility. Allowing him off with little more than a glorified warning after he’s spent so much time trashing our judicial norms directly encourages him to commit more crimes. Merchan knows that.
The simple fact is that Donald Trump deserves prison time. Not only did he commit these crimes, he then used his conviction as justification to escalate a propaganda war against the court trying to hold him accountable. By refusing the respect the court’s ruling in such bombastic fashion he’s declaring loudly and proudly that he stands opposed to the idea of justice itself. Failing to take that into account during his sentencing does a grave and perhaps even fatal disservice to our democracy. Hopefully, Judge Merchan does the right thing. Lock. Him. Up.
Stay focused, stay energized.
Brian
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