GUILTY: Does Anyone Care?
By
Leonard Zwelling
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/05/30/nyregion/trump-trial-verdict
I really think that both sides were essentially right in the first trial of an ex-US President. Yes, Mr. Trump committed fraud when labeling paybacks to Michael Cohen for Cohen’s payments to Stormy Daniels as legal fees when they were in furtherance of Mr. Trump’s pursuit of the White House in 2016. In other words, Trump essentially committed election fraud and it was you he defrauded.
And the defense was right, too. This is business as usual in the New York real estate market and my guess is that a number of big shot billionaires couldn’t stand up to this kind of scrutiny either if they ran for office. That’s probably why they don’t run.
However, that doesn’t mean that Donald Trump is not a felon. Now he officially is. The question is will it affect anything.
First, will be the sentencing. I doubt he will be sentenced to jail given that this is a first offense. I suspect he will get probation and a hefty fine.
Second, Trump’s team will undoubtedly appeal and this case is likely to remain unsettled for years.
Third, and most critical—will anyone’s mind be changed now that Trump is a convicted felon with regard to the November election?
I think not.
Any objective assessment of Trump’s behavior is that he is a huckster and showman with little to no substance or understanding of vital political events. His presidency was not really noteworthy at all except the economy was better before Covid than after.
However, (I’m saying that a lot), Mr. Trump’s rival is equally unappealing. Most non-wealthy people are far worse off now than they were in 2019 and the world is full of war. Would Putin have attacked Ukraine with Trump in the White House? Is there any doubt that the hounds of the IDF would be unleashed in Gaza if Trump were in the Oval Office? Would Iran be as bold with its proxies as it is if a President Trump was in office?
My fellow Americans, we are left with an even more horrible choice than we were a day ago.
Personally, I cannot vote for Mr. Trump because he is of such low character. I cannot vote for Mr. Biden now more than ever as he seems to have no idea how to handle foreign policy in Israel or Ukraine. Israel is in an existential struggle. Let them destroy the enemy the way we did in World War II. Ukraine is also fighting for its survival and deserves far more American help (like fighter jets and offensive missiles). Biden is a failed president. If you want to give him credit for this anemic economy, go ahead. I still think it was pumping of federal dollars into Covid aid by both men that caused the inflation from which we have yet to recover.
On the objectives of the accomplishments and intelligence and vitality and sechel (Yiddish for street smarts), neither of these guys is up to the job and I simply cannot sanction a vote for either.
That one’s a crook and the other frail and failing says it all. The United States will have to wade through a four-year swamp to get to a brighter tomorrow no matter which old guy wins.
