For Fact’s Sake
“All These Court Cases Are Just Helping Trump,” Whined a Democrat
And that sent me into an apoplectic rage that almost caused me a brain aneurysm
Yes, boys and girls, in the interest of bipartisanship, I am throwing some rage at a Democrat.
He is a Democrat you have likely never heard of unless you are a resident of Nevada, but he got his ridiculous opinion piece published on CNN.com, and that infuriates me.
His composition was entitled “Opinion: Don’t misread Trump’s loss in his civil trial.” The genius author was David Orentlicher, a Democrat in the Nevada Assembly (which, I think, maybe goes a long way to explain why Democrats do so poorly in Nevada these days if he is the caliber of people they have).
He is also the Judge Jack and Lulu Lehman Professor at the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
I don’t know — and don’t want to know — who in the heck “Jack and Lulu” are. All I want to know is why CNN.com published this. Yeah, CNN put a disclaimer on there that reads “The views expressed in this commentary are his own.” However, CNN, you have a responsibility as an entity that claims to have high standards to exercise a little quality control.
Democrats — and the media — too often let Trump frame the issue, and thus we lose before the fight even starts
Mr. Orentlicher notes, correctly, that among the MAGA base, all these court cases are strengthening support for Trump. True. However, he then states this:
It is essential to hold Trump accountable for his misconduct, and he may ultimately serve time in prison once courts decide his four criminal cases. But so far, public officials have done more damage to the law than to Trump, pushing too far in their efforts to punish the former president. Instead of leading many voters to distrust Trump, the legal cases are leading voters to distrust the legal system. (emphasis added)
I think my systolic blood pressure probably shot up to near 200 when I read that. I wonder, had I suffered a stroke, could I have sued this Democrat in court and collected damages? Probably not.
Sometimes Democrats do piss me off, though, and this guy is a classic illustration of why.
Here is the problem, dude: You are parroting Trump’s talking points and letting him frame the issue!
You refer to “efforts to punish the former president.” That is too much of an echo of Trump’s talking point of how people are vindictively out to harm him. The courts, the prosecutors, the special counsel, and the judges are all engaged in one thing and one thing only: upholding and enforcing the laws of this country. It is not about “punishing” Trump. It is about accountability. There is a difference and the difference matters.
Pushing too far? What is “pushing too far?” I don’t even know what that is supposed to mean.
If there is any legitimate criticism to be made it is that they have not been pushing hard and far enough. Some of these cases should have been brought on January 7, 2021, or at the very latest January 21, 2021, and the delay in filing them is the only mistake here, not “pushing too far.”
Why were they delayed? Because, most likely, they were thinking like you! They wanted to tip-toe around Trump and were afraid of upsetting his followers too much. Boo hoo. Merrick Garland’s DOJ was spineless.
Obsessed with “appearing” fair, Garland and the FBI pursued the small fish for Jan 6th, and let the big kahuna off the hook for too long. Then, when they finally got around to him, that effort to “appear” fair instead made it possible for Trump to frame it as politically motivated and going after a candidate.
Too many Democrats (Biden included) have been too obsessed for too long about “appearing” fair and need to instead bite down and fight for fairness tooth and nail. Pushing too far? Push further and harder, I say.
The only way to ensure trust in the legal system is to stop heckling from the cheap seats
You state the legal cases “are leading voters to distrust the legal system.” Bullshit, pardon my French. Trump is leading people to distrust the legal system. You are blaming the victim, dude, when you flip that upside down.
Even more infuriating, news outlets are helping Trump with his efforts to undercut the legal system. They play snippets of his propaganda tirades and imbecilic blather outside each courtroom and do so without giving the necessary contextual commentary to viewers that “Oh, by the way, everything Trump just said is bullshit.” Yes, I know they can’t use that word on the news, but I am paraphrasing. Surely they could come up with a more eloquent way to convey that fact. Instead, they just blandly introduce the segment as “Trump responded to today’s events with the following statement.”
Again, this is them stuck in this BS mindset of “fairness” that they think compels them to treat Trump as though he is a sane, ordinary, legitimate candidate when he is none of those things!
Any Democrat wringing their hands over these court cases, these rulings, and fretting over how they increase Trump’s MAGA support, are helping Trump undercut our legal system!
News flash to you, Mr. Orentlicher, and everyone else wringing their hands: Politics is no consideration in court cases (outside of SCOTUS). If you find out that a judge is receiving a bribe under the table from a political operative, then by all means, talk politics about that court case. Otherwise, shut the bleep up.
Polls? We are supposed to care about polls in a courtroom? Since when?
Mr. Orentlicher cites several polls and what the American public thinks about the various charges against Trump to which I say who gives a bleep? Polls are irrelevant in a courtroom. The day they become relevant, we can kiss our democracy goodbye and say hello to a fascist dictatorship. Cases are decided based on facts, evidence, the law, and the deliberations of a jury and/or judge. I wouldn’t care if a Trump trial jumps him to 90% favorability in the polls. I only care that the law is being followed and enforced, there is a fair trial, and a verdict is rendered based on the law. F the polls.
The fraud case is a problem because…?
As to the New York fraud case, Mr. Orentlicher says Judge Engoron had gone beyond his authority under the law back in September when the judge ordered that some of Trump’s New York companies were to be dissolved. That initial ruling of dissolving the companies was paused by an appeals court. That is not evidence of a problem, but rather evidence of the court system working, Mr. Orentlicher.
Democrats underestimate Alvin Bragg and have from the beginning
Mr. Orentlicher states:
Other cases also are troubling. In the hush money prosecution, Trump would be the first candidate ever convicted for such payments if Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg prevails.
That is troubling? He would be the first? Well, it is also a first in American history to have a lying, porn star-hushing, business-fraud perpetrating, amoral, mob-boss-wanna-be as an ex-president and candidate to be president again.
In a separate previous article calling the “hush money” case “weak,” Mr. Orentlicher said, “The public has a legitimate interest in the health and finances of candidates, but not their sex lives.” Bullshit. We are not talking about your garden variety politician having an affair (which is not a news flash, unfortunately). We are talking about a proudly misogynistic pussy-grabber-in-chief who has already elsewhere been found liable for sexual assault. His sex life — and the financial fraud committed to hide it — damn well does matter.
I will also add here my prediction (and I will go up against the predictions of Mr. Orentlicher any day of the week). I predict Alvin Bragg will get a conviction of Trump. I say it is an open-and-shut case. So, we will have a convicted felon as the GOP candidate for president. Are you going to comment, Mr. Orentlicher, upon how horrible that conviction will be as it will further motivate his MAGA cult members even more to vote for him?
A “family” affair
He complains Fani Willis is using a “racketeering law designed to dismantle organized crime groups like the Mafia.” Yeah. So? Seems right on the money to me as the appropriate law to use. Trump is running a “family” business. Why do you think he wants Lara Trump to be co-chair of the RNC? Lara said it herself on Fox News: to make sure “every penny” goes to Trump. A family business, you see. Hell yes, it is appropriate to use a racketeering law against Trump and his election-stealing co-conspirators.
Why enforce the Constitution when that will make MAGA super mad?
He and other Democrats complain about the Colorado Supreme Court decision disqualifying Trump from the ballot. Really? What do you suggest? Do we simply pretend we never noticed Section 3 of the 14th Amendment? All because we don’t want MAGAites to get mad cuz the guy they want is disqualified as an insurrectionist?
The cowardice of a Democrat complaining about that case is staggering to me. I understand why MAGAites complain about it. However, if the “rule of law” means anything, then a court must address the issue. A court did, in Colorado, and now it is in the hands of SCOTUS. Even if SCOTUS overturns it, as they likely will, this is still evidence of a legal system working because at least it wasn’t a case of cowards saying, “Oh dear me, heavens to Betsy, let’s not dare raise this issue! Trump’s voters will be so mad!”
Spineless Democrats, y’all aren’t helping
Mr. Orentlicher’s concluding paragraph in his “opinion” piece states:
To be sure, law enforcement officials should not stay their hands just because Trump might exploit efforts to hold him accountable. But officials need to act much more scrupulously in their efforts.
That is the opinion of a Democrat, which epitomizes the cowardice in some Democratic Party circles that drives me batshit crazy and raises my blood pressure.
Act scrupulously? Damn right. They are being scrupulously detailed, ethical, and above board, acting according to the letter of the law against a cult leader whose followers are going to worship their anointed-of-God candidate no matter what happens in any courtroom.
If I may give my opinion, we need people with the courage and the spine to combat MAGA and do so fearlessly.
Thank goodness we do have such people: Alvin Bragg, Tish James, Fani Willis, Judge Engoron, Judge Chutkan, and Jack Smith to name a few. All of them are getting death threats. All of them are being harassed. All of them have to be looking over their shoulder as a “brown shirt” might be coming for them. All of these people have courage, integrity, and devotion to the rule of law.
They deserve our respect and praise, not heckling from the peanut gallery.