I am going with Bill Burr's take (which is not common for me; I never joined the trend of seeing comedians as journalists -- I'm looking at you Jon Stewart fans) on reactions to the Trump prosecution. Whether or not he should have been prosecuted on the hush money issue is a separate matter of which I do not know enough to have an opinio…
I am going with Bill Burr's take (which is not common for me; I never joined the trend of seeing comedians as journalists -- I'm looking at you Jon Stewart fans) on reactions to the Trump prosecution. Whether or not he should have been prosecuted on the hush money issue is a separate matter of which I do not know enough to have an opinion. But the celebratory reaction by liberals is not rational. The trial does not end his candidacy nor does it damage it. It only reinforces his narrative with his followers. On the other side, it makes no sense for those who believe that the 2020 election was stolen to celebrate Trump running again. If "they" stole the election in 2020 why do supporters think that it won't be stolen again in 2024?
Many of his supporters are already saying that if Trump loses in 2024 the election will have been rigged. He's been saying that about every election since 2012, including 2016 when he lost the popular vote. By now it's just the accepted worldview in that cult of conspiracy theories and grievances - anything not going completely their way must have been rigged, unfair, or "a disgrace".
Regarding celebrating his conviction - it's because he's gotten cleanly away with so much blatant and brazen wrongdoing over many years that it's a nice change to score even this victory, however little effect it may have on the election, it restores a smidgen of faith in our justice system.
Some of us 'celebrating' the conviction with the idea that TFG FINALLY got a bit of justice for his decades of criminal activity! -- Starting with his realty activity in New York which was filled with illegal racist discrimination. And continuing with his 'university' and his 'liquor' and the many suppliers that got stiffed when they submitted bills for their products. E.g. the grand piano supplier who was driven to bankruptcy by TFG who refused to pay for the many grand pianos ordered and delivered.
We are grateful that a fair justice system prevailed over the thousands of lies told by TFG about the process.
I am going with Bill Burr's take (which is not common for me; I never joined the trend of seeing comedians as journalists -- I'm looking at you Jon Stewart fans) on reactions to the Trump prosecution. Whether or not he should have been prosecuted on the hush money issue is a separate matter of which I do not know enough to have an opinion. But the celebratory reaction by liberals is not rational. The trial does not end his candidacy nor does it damage it. It only reinforces his narrative with his followers. On the other side, it makes no sense for those who believe that the 2020 election was stolen to celebrate Trump running again. If "they" stole the election in 2020 why do supporters think that it won't be stolen again in 2024?
Many of his supporters are already saying that if Trump loses in 2024 the election will have been rigged. He's been saying that about every election since 2012, including 2016 when he lost the popular vote. By now it's just the accepted worldview in that cult of conspiracy theories and grievances - anything not going completely their way must have been rigged, unfair, or "a disgrace".
Regarding celebrating his conviction - it's because he's gotten cleanly away with so much blatant and brazen wrongdoing over many years that it's a nice change to score even this victory, however little effect it may have on the election, it restores a smidgen of faith in our justice system.
Neil Steinberg had a great column on this yesterday titled “The Straw that Didn’t Break the Camel’s Back.”
Some of us 'celebrating' the conviction with the idea that TFG FINALLY got a bit of justice for his decades of criminal activity! -- Starting with his realty activity in New York which was filled with illegal racist discrimination. And continuing with his 'university' and his 'liquor' and the many suppliers that got stiffed when they submitted bills for their products. E.g. the grand piano supplier who was driven to bankruptcy by TFG who refused to pay for the many grand pianos ordered and delivered.
We are grateful that a fair justice system prevailed over the thousands of lies told by TFG about the process.