We’ve never been here before.
We’ve come close, on January 6th with its jumble of violence and confusion, hopelessness and misdirected patriotism, but that was an organic explosion of anger that came from a sense that something had been taken away, and we couldn’t figure out how. So we rioted, and that was a deep fissure in the body politic. It was a riot and it was wrong. But despite what Liz Cheney and her backup singers have been crooning, it wasn’t a plot to seize America.
Yesterday’s guilty verdicts against Donald Trump were also, very likely, not a plot to seize America. They came to us dressed up as “the voice of twelve ordinary people, deliberate and sober.” It was not the tumult of angry citizens storming the capitol. It was not mayhem of a physical sort. But it was worse for so many of us who refuse to be gaslit into believing that what happened in that courtroom in Manhattan yesterday afternoon was normal.
Riots can be quelled, injuries can be sutured and bruises rubbed with balm. People can be thrown in jail for their misconduct, and commissions can be convened in front of the cameras to point fingers at those foolish. Gullible Americans who transgressed.
But what do you do when the system in which you invested the better part of your life, your money and your confidence is used to reroute the ordered workings of government? How do you react when you see a former president who likely committed nothing more than document fraud and clerical errors convicted of felonies that can keep him off of the ballot, or from serving in office if he wins an election?
These things happen in Ecuador, and I know that because I have represented people from Ecuador who have fled their despotic state. They happen in Argentina and Venezuela, in Cuba and Mali, in Somalia and Yemen, in Honduras and Guatemala. These things happen in other places around the world, and the refugees walk through forests and across deserts with their children strapped to their backs, in order to make it to one of the few countries on earth where those things don’t happen: here, us. The United States.
And now, what do we say to them? Do we pretend that the verdict of those twelve ordinary people, deliberate and sober, was the best representation of our essence as a nation? Do we assure them that this was the symbol of a functioning government where petty crimes can be made into felonies, and where a person who must be kept away from the gates of power is being distanced by artifice and manipulated laws?
Or do we have the honesty to express the truth, that we have initiated a process to impact an election, and keep what the current president’s wife calls “evil” away from those gates. Do we have the courage to admit that this was orchestrated for the sole purpose of neutralizing the last president? At the very least, can we admit that if Donald Trump had faded from view and entered a quiet retirement, Alvin Bragg would have ignored his dirty little personal secrets?
I don’t think that we can. I listen for some who support the verdict to acknowledge exactly why the cases were brought, to change an election, and all I hear is “it was a good verdict, it was based on facts, how dare you attack the system.” I see people pointing fingers at those who question the ethics of the judge, and I read suggestions that any critique of the verdicts is endangering the lives of the jurors.
And I see women who are paid to have sex, or film other women having sex, held up as heroines.
And that fills me with shame, and I have no answers for those who came to meet Lady Liberty at the horizon’s edge, and found instead 34 verdicts of guilty and a gaslighting campaign.
Christine Flowers is an attorney and lifelong Philadelphian. @flowerlady61
Extremely well said. We have passed a rubicon. The Rule of Law has taken a severe blow.
Alvin Bragg has interfered with the 2024 election by prosecuting Donald Trump for interfering with the 2016 election.
Ms. Flowers is an immigration attorney and not a trial attorney. January 6th was not a riot, it was an insurrection, an attempt to overthrow the government and the peaceful transition of power. Organized by Trump, his staff, and supporters including the wife of a Supreme Court Justice. It didn’t happen organically as the “rally” was the lynchpin. Along with 60 lawsuits, none of which presented any actual evidence, just specious claims.
I have no doubt that Ms. Flowers has worked with many people who have fled despotic countries. Trump is a despot. From the way he talks about people from other countries who have come to America legally and illegally, using faith as a way to manipulate people, his personal attacks on anyone he disagrees with, his attempt to shut down the media, or stating that Jews who do not vote Republicans are traitors.
Mr. Trump got a jury trail which his lawyers helped select, he had a revolving door of attorneys and instead of letting them do their job he wanted them to perform like trained animals, There was evidence and witness testimony, and he chose not to take the stand to defend himself. As for Ms. Flowers issue with Stormy Daniels and how she makes a living this is no different when rape victims were accused of dressing privatively including underwear and perfume.
In America no one is above the law and that includes former elected officials, no matter what office they held.
A biased venue, a biased jury pool, a biased and conflicted judge, star witness testimony from a convicted liar and thief, plus a washed up porn star, no opportunity to mount a defense, legally flawed judge’s instructions to the jury, and democrats will say that this was a perfect example of the American justice system, where no one is above the law. This is what dictator run countries do to eliminate political rivals. The rest of the free world also recognize what has happened here. Go ahead leftists – take your victory lap, but this isn’t over. This will be overturned on appeal, plus the real verdict will be rendered on the first Tuesday of this November.
Trump broke the law in New York City so that is where the trial had to take place. Trump’s lawyers are legally allowed to help select the jury. If anyone other than Trump had violated a gag order as often as he did they would be in a jail cell for contempt of court. Judge Merchan showed exceptional patience during the trial in order to avoid even the hint of bias, unlike Trump appointed Judge Cannon who has shown far to much bias favoring Trump.
The only “free world leaders” who consider this a travesty are Viktor Orban and others like him.
The state was bringing the suit, not NYC. The venue of NYC is deeply blue and biased against Trump, and it did not have to be held there. Change of venue was denied by an associate justice at the appeals court (appointed by Fredo’s disgraced brother Groper Cuomo) without merit to biased publicity and voting data for NYC by Trump’s lawyers. Potential jurists’ questionnaire asked the following: (From CNN, no less) where in the city they live, to where they get their news, to whether they’ve ever attended a rally for the former president or had any affiliations with groups like the Proud Boys or with the QAnon movement. Prospective jurors would be quizzed on their feelings about Trump and asked if they or anyone in their circle have ever been to a Trump rally or worked or volunteered for a Trump presidential campaign, the Trump presidential administration, or any other political entity affiliated with Trump. They’ll also be asked if they’ve ever participated in any anti-Trump groups or event. But they won’t be asked explicitly what political party they belong to, who they’ve voted for or who they have made political contributions to. Seems one-sided to me regarding jury nullification. The gag order was based on a request by Bragg, and was allowed by Merchan based on citing SC “Landmark” case 1978 which found that grand jury testimony and records cannot be discussed inside or outside of the courtroom – which had nothing to do with what Trump was speaking of when being interviewed outside the courtroom. Your opinion is 180 degrees out from how Merchan acted during the trial, sustaining several prosecution objections and limiting testimony from expert defense witnesses on campaign finance ‘that may confuse the jury’. Really? He means ‘confuse them between lawful acts versus Merchan’s interpretation of campaign finance. Again, you’re a pigeon playing chess, making half baked statements that only highlight your TDS-infected acorn. I’m only replying to you because you decided to reply to my general post. Why you’re front and center in the discussions on this ‘rag’ of a website (your words, not mine) is mystifying. Keep the Cannonballs flying.
FedUp,
Many schools were unable to accommodate six feet of space between students’ desks and forced to rely on virtual education for more than a year. Most complaints at the time by qualified doctors, researcher and scientists, and even were actively censored by the F.B.I. and those that “knew better.” Years later: “It sort of just appeared, that six feet is going to be the distance,” Fauci testified to Congress in a January closed-door hearing, according to a transcribed interview released Friday, 5/31. Fauci characterized the recommendation as “an empiric decision that wasn’t based on data.” Not too long ago, all we had to fear was “fear itself.” These days we are bombarded by propaganda to be very afraid. Do you know what happened to the “Red Wave” in 2022? The same thing that will likely happen on the first Tuesday of this November.
All the very reasonable and nice people voted for Gov. Shapiro – and he stuck it to the children in PA again at his very first opportunity. So where is the hard evidence that PA software differentiates between all lawfully present non-U.S. citizens vs U.S. citizens? Where is the evidence for that claim? It is very likely a specious claim – seeming to be right or true, but really wrong or false. Just like the “six feet policy” which kept the poorest children out of schools for too long.
A direct quote from the MainWire.com addressing possible voter roll problems currently in Maine:
“It’s unclear exactly how individuals without valid social security numbers are obtaining Maine driver’s licenses — or whether they are being registered to vote.”
Good luck, FedUp, but prepare yourself that swings states – Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania – are already stacking the deck for this November vote.
Hello Michael – another point to make regarding the “six foot social distancing” requirement from the CDC is that the World Health Organization specified one-meter for social distancing and never wavered in this point. There was no science behind the six-foot requirement that effectively prevented the operation of public schools in the US.
Hello Michael. I’m hopeful that enough light has been directed on the fraud of mail-ins, etc. over the last 4 years, plus the disaster that is Biden, that the voting safeguards and shifting voter sentiment will minimize the stacking of the decks. We’ll see. I don’t think we can count on JudAH’s vote, though.
I love how Flowers completely glosses over January 6th. Then President Trump planned it, his family was involved. Justice Clarence Thomas was involved. His wife called state lawmakers to demand they overturn the results of our election. Hundreds of police officers were hurt during the insurrection. Americans died that day. Countless Americans were arrested for doing what Trump told them to do. Trump pardoned none of them. Flowers writes that she despises Pope Francis, but she blindly follows Trump over a cliff. I will never understand the cult she’s in. I’m grateful that I could see Trump’s con game from a mile away and never wavered. No big fan of Biden and I don’t support the far left, but will vote for Biden over Trump – the crazy lunatic who hates America and only loves himself.
For people, like me, with no formal legal training we think what it Looks Like, and smells like
IS WHAT IT IS.
Just heard a technical explanation about how that Hush Money Payments to someone who sells her body was legal. In fact in the awkward way it was paid the Fed got more tax money than required.
This weaponization of Our Blind Lady Justice seems to suggest she is suffering from the same mental problems as Our President. Is Lady Justice also deaf and Dumb as well as Blind.
This is a Sad Day for Sgt Mike who thought he was in the Army to protect our country and the constitution. That’s Me by the way