May 31, 2024

"This was never about justice — this is about plastering 'convicted felon' all over the airwaves. The only thing that Donald Trump is guilty of is being in the courtroom of a political sham trial."

Said J.D. Vance, quoted in "Trump’s Conviction Binds the G.O.P. Even Closer to Him/Prominent Republicans, including congressional leaders, ex-rivals and potential running mates, basked in the energy, and fund-raising, of an outraged base" (NYT).

Also: "Whether they were congressional leaders, potential running mates or onetime rivals, prominent Republicans’ [made a] speedy alignment behind Mr. Trump, with little dissent or discussion.... 'People now see Donald Trump as a symbol of something,' Speaker Mike Johnson said on Fox News on Friday. 'He’s more than just an individual. He’s a symbol of fighting back against this government corruption, the deep state, the bureaucracy and all the rest.'... Those few who offered even muted words of respect for 'the legal process' earned immediate rebukes.

69 comments:

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

Larry Hogan just shot his campaign for senate down in flames. He bought into the Dem talking point about how fair the trial was. He managed to move from RINO to Dem-lite. No one will vote for him.

Lance said...

From the article...
There were virtually no calls among prominent Republicans for Mr. Trump to step aside.

"Virtually"? How many "prominent Republicans" have called for Trump to exit the race since yesterday? Have there been any? Wouldn't Goldmacher and Broadwater have named them if there had?

robother said...

Yeah, well, it's not just MAGA or Republicans. You see people like Michael Lind, Carl Cannon and James Freeman saying the same thing. (As has Althouse.) To quote Tucker Carlson: "Anyone who defends this verdict is a danger to you and your family." Act and vote accordingly.

Dave Begley said...

And why wouldn't an American be outraged about that political show trial? Once we lose the Rule of Law, we are finished as a country. Every American better appreciate that fact.

The Babylon Bee said it best, "Trump convicted for being Trump."

Grandpa Publius said...

Okay Democrats, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, Judge Merchan and Judge Engoron have become the symbols of the Democratic Party . You can either embrace them — and lose in November, or repudiate them — and lose in November. Today starts the process of Dem’s looking for a third option.

G-Pub

Leland said...

Right now, "convicted felon" is a more profitable epithet than "New Yorker". Even Michael Cohen would agree.

tcrosse said...

No less a legal eagle than Alan Dershowitz (no Trump fan) has said that the whole business did more harm to the judicial system than it did to Trump.

Skeptical Voter said...

Well once you get past the swamp gas odor off this trial and courtroom, it's hard to have respect for the legal system. I'm a retired lawyer and I believe in the system---but I don't believe in a New York City kangaroo court.

tcrosse said...

The Watergate era nomenclature of Un-indicted Co-Conspirator reminds me that Hillary or Joe could be un-convicted felons.

RideSpaceMountain said...

"respect for 'the legal process'"

How dare they disrespect our precious Legal process! Don't you ever talk to us or our wive's boyfriend's sons ever again!

Chuck said...

What did Trump mean by calling the prosecution team "sick" people?

I thought this blog, and the blog commenters, would be a good source for an answer to that question.

wendybar said...


Kristina Wong 🇺🇸
@kristina_wong
·
Follow
As if everyone didn’t already think this was political, Soros weighs in to confirm it.
Alex Soros
@AlexanderSoros
Democrats should refer to Trump as a convicted felon at every opportunity. Repetition is the key to a successful message and we want people to wrestle with the notion of hiring a convicted felon for the most important job in the country! ⁦⁦ https://messageboxnews.com/p/how-to-run-against-a-convict
3:28 PM · May 31, 2024

Sebastian said...

"He’s a symbol of fighting back against this government corruption, the deep state, the bureaucracy and all the rest.'"

Has been, for a long time. I'm sorry about it, I would have preferred another martyr, but progs gave me no choice.

"Those few who offered even muted words of respect for 'the legal process' earned immediate rebukes."

As they should. "Law" had nothing to do with it. As half of America now realizes. But will it be one half plus 1%?

Terry said...

I prefer the terms "Opposition Leader" or "Leader of the Opposition" to "convicted felon. Let's embrace the world of the banana republic

imTay said...

I am sure that some of our commenters here are responding to “calls for action” on their favorite liberal blogs to search out conservative blogs and try to discourage giving to Trump to blunt the impact of the backlash

Vance said...

If there is any prominent Republican it might be Romney. But I think even he has kept his mouth shut, despite retiring this year.

Look at what John Hinderacker of Powerline wrote about the case. He's about as never-Trump squisy mainstream Republican as you can get... and he's calling it Fort Sumpter and Civil war time all over again. Saying Biden is an illegitimate president.

If John Hinderacker is saying this... I think this is backfiring bigly on the left.

On a related note, has anyone checked on Chuck to see if he pleasured himself to death yet?

RCOCEAN II said...

There's a letter signed by about 10 Senators - headed by Vance and Lee - attacking this Bannana Republic verdict. What about the other 38 R Senators?

Seems its "Not their concern". After if Biden gets four more years, they'll just help him pass more of the Biden agenda. Whats the difference between Coryn or McConnell and Schumer/Biden?

You tell me.

Dude1394 said...

Anyone who even attempts to defend this travesty is a fascist.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

The legal system is now a subsidiary of political elections.

A defining opportunity for upstart prosecutors to make a name for themselves.

With DE&I as their new constitution, not prosecuting real crimes, it’s not like they are busy these days.

wishfulthinking said...

The anger and backlash has been swift because half of this country has been blatantly disenfranchised.

Many who were willfully blind now see clearly what they plan to do to us if they get away with this injustice against Trump.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

The legal system is now a subsidiary of political elections.

A defining opportunity for upstart prosecutors to make a name for themselves.

With DE&I as their new constitution, not prosecuting real crimes, it’s not like they are busy these days.

Jupiter said...

"Those few who offered even muted words of respect for 'the legal process' earned immediate rebukes."

Heh. "earned". Also garnered. How do you respect Alvin Bragg? That's like respecting syphilis. Respecting a reeking turd on the dinner table. Respecting crime.

John henry said...

The other day I said here that by July Brandon would be denying that he is a fascist.

I may have spoken too soon. It's not Bandon yet) but in this interview with Wolf Blitzer, Wolf tried to deny that the US is fascist.

I think President emeritus Trump has put the fascists on their back feet even sooner way sooner than I had expected.

WEll played President Emeritus Trump, well played.

Next up, Blitzer denies he is a pig fucker. Lbj smiles up from hell.

John Henry

John henry said...

Wendybar,

I predict that pedjt will take the piss out of Soros by embracing the convicted felon tag.

Next rally he will be introduced as "ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome convicted felon, former and future president Donald J Trump!"

He did it with "fake news", he's doing it with "fascist", he'll do it with "convicted felon" too.

Embracing it, wearing the label with pride, takes away all it's negative power. It renders this whole kangaroo jamboree a waste of time.

John Henry

Yancey Ward said...

I thought of a way to describe this trial:

Imagine you are a suspect in a murder. The D.A. doesn't have any evidence you committed the murder, just a belief or hope that you did. They finally find a traffic cam with you driving with expired plates on the night of the murder, but in another town 60 miles away. So they scour the law and they find a clause that allows them turn the misdemeanor traffic violation into a felony traffic violation by claiming that you were driving in the car with expired plates in order to commit the murder. The prosecutors offer no proof that you committed the murder but in closing they claim you did it and you don't get a rebuttal. The judge then tells the jury that they can decide on their own whether or not you committed the murder and it is enough to prove the felony traffic violation.

Yes, the trial was even more ridiculous than my hypothetical.

Big Mike said...

The Trump campaign’s announcement on Friday morning that it had raised $34.8 million online in the hours after a jury found Mr. Trump guilty on all 34 felony charges was a reminder of how thoroughly he has persuaded Republican voters that his own legal threats are a proxy for attacks on them.

It doesn’t take much persuading to accept the obvious. In related news, I am “persuaded” that water is wet, fire is hot, and gravity exists.

Yancey Ward said...

Interesting that 20 comments in Rich and Chuck nowhere to be seen.

I think Trump should embrace "Convicted Felon" with relish and start selling t-shirts and covfefe cups with his mug shot with "Convicted Felon." No better to mock this shit show and the people supporting it

John henry said...

De senator joe Manchin renounced the Democrat Party today.

Who's next? John Fetterman publicly disassociated himself from his alma mater Thursday. He pulled off his Harvard hood and said he was ashamed to be associated with them.

He's crazy. We know that. Is he crazy enough to leave the party? Is he crazy enough to endorse pedjt?

What does he have to lose? He is not up for reelection until 28.How much does he care about reelection?

John Henry

imTay said...

What happened to our seminar posters? Are they rethinking their strategy of infuriating Republicans even more?

Probably not, probably on a coffee break.

Big Mike said...

suggesting the false theory that Mr. Biden was behind the prosecution.

Matthew Colangelo stepped down from a leadership position in the Biden DOJ to be just another face in the prosecution team because the Biden administration was not involved? The Times should have more respect for its readers.

Mason G said...

"Interesting that 20 comments in Rich and Chuck nowhere to be seen."

Still pleasuring each other?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

The Chi Com virus left want everyone in line.. jailed ... or dead.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

No one on the left can honestly articulate the crimes.

Joe Smith said...

'De senator joe Manchin renounced the Democrat Party today.'

Manchin doesn't give a fuck.

It's just for show so the people in W. Virginia don't spit in his food the rest of his life.

When it mattered he voted for the communists.

The left never breaks ranks while the idiot right goes on and on about civility and comity.

Fucking losers.

Joe said...

Convicted felon vs "elderly man with a poor memory"

Bob Boyd said...

So did we ever learn what the 2nd crime was? Did the jury pick one or did they divide on it?

Rocco said...

Alex Soros tweeted...
@AlexanderSoros
"Democrats should refer to Trump as a convicted felon at every opportunity. Repetition is the key to a successful message and we want people to wrestle with the notion of hiring a convicted felon for the most important job in the country!"

I take it these strategists are unaware of the panache a prison stint and being a convicted felon has amongst certain segments of popular music and culture for the last four decades.

effinayright said...

Gutfeld had a great idea on "The Five" today.

He proposed a poster with the Trump photo taken upon his indictment, with "WANTED by America" prominently displayed beneath.




Kakistocracy said...

That's not accurate. The law requires (i) falsifying a record (ii) with an intent to defraud (iii) in furtherance of or to conceal a crime. If the jury agrees those three elements are satisfied unanimously, then the jury can convict. Just because they don't agree on how they're met doesn't mean that they aren't unanimous that the elements of the charged crimes were met.

Yancy Ward:This is the denial stage of grief. Everything you wrote is incorrect. Read the indictment, which clearly states the crimes he was accused of:
https://manhattanda.org/district-attorney-bragg-announces-34-count-felony-indictment-of-former-president-donald-j-trump/

Yancey Ward said...

"No one on the left can honestly articulate the crimes."

I ask all our resident lefties and toads, and not a single one has actually replied. The way the instructions were written, the jurors could have picked anything, including removing tags from mattresses.

Michael The Magnificent said...

This isn't about labeling Trump a convicted felon. This is about putting Trump in prison. Do not underestimate what their intentions are.

Michael said...

Will all these progs preeni ng about their reverence for the “rule of law” feel the same when the verdictis reversed? Or cal for the head of the ruling judge?

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Amazing. Biden has managed to increase Trump’s stature and unify the notoriously prone to infighting Republican Party. Mr. Magoo really is an accidental uniter.

Marcus Bressler said...

Rich and Banned Chuck use their own sets of "facts" in their comments here. Pretty much all of them are easily disproved by a single click to Google. Even the biased press reported on the Biden administration's involvement in the prosecution, the amazing and tremendous contributions to the Trump campaign in the 24 hours after the election, and the correct reporting on Todd Blanche's challenges to the juror pool. Was it Rich or some other idiot thinking we are Rio Linda residents here and in capable or knowing or researching the ridiculous claims they made? Basically saying that Blanche let all or all but one juror in without challenge? Here is a CNN article text on the actual efforts and results of Todd's efforts: "Trump’s lawyers scrutinize jurors’ social media: Trump’s side asked the judge to remove five jurors for cause, pointing to alleged anti-Trump social media posts and trying to argue that the jurors were unfairly biased against the former president. When the former president’s attorney Todd Blanche was questioning the jurors, he asked them one by one what they thought of Trump, outside of the case. He then tried to argue before the judge that many of the jurors’ answers that they didn’t have an opinion of Trump did not align with their social media. Judge Juan Merchan was generally skeptical but he did agree on two counts that the jurors should be struck. As for the three jurors Merchan did not strike: Trump’s side used its preemptory challenges to remove all of them anyway. After Tuesday, both Trump’s team and the district attorney’s office have four peremptory challenges left." That day alone was a little. bit. more. than. zero. or one.

Mason G said...

"and we want people to wrestle with the notion of hiring a convicted felon for the most important job in the country!"

As opposed to rehiring a mean-spirited pervert with dementia?

Leora said...

Trump has been convicted of a payables clerk in an organization he no longer ran (since he was President at the time) classifying a series of invoices from a lawyer that said they were for legal services as Legal Expense. These bookkeeping entries were found after an extensive search after other crimes were charged against the said lawyer, who stole from the Trump Organization and some of his other clients, and his agreement to testify as part of a plea deal. It's an outrage that this case was every brought.

Achilles said...

This only gets better if they actually sentence Trump to prison time and he gives his convention speeches from Jail.

gadfly said...

Gosh, children, just think what a boost beyond his 6-point ratings boost and $50M overnight (for becoming the first former president to ever become a convicted felon) when he puts out the call to get Judge Merchan killed! But first, he has to wait for the Supremes to grant him this authority and when they do, of course, even Naval Academy grad Jimmy Carter can order a kill from his hospice bed.

"Regardless of the result, I urge all Americans to respect the verdict and the legal process. At this dangerously divided moment in our history, all leaders—regardless of party—must not pour fuel on the fire with more toxic partisanship. We must reaffirm what has made this nation great: the rule of law." ~former MD Governor Larry Hogan

NKP said...

I take it these strategists are unaware of the panache a prison stint and being a convicted felon has amongst certain segments of popular music and culture for the last four decades.

Let's get some loud Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard on intro soundtracks at Trump's public appearances.

Clyde said...

They earned those rebukes because there was nothing to respect about the perversion of the legal process here. Nothing.

Clyde said...

President Trump needs to add “Folsom Prison Blues” to the music playlist at his rallies.

wendybar said...

John henry said...
Wendybar,

I predict that pedjt will take the piss out of Soros by embracing the convicted felon tag.

Next rally he will be introduced as "ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome convicted felon, former and future president Donald J Trump!"

He did it with "fake news", he's doing it with "fascist", he'll do it with "convicted felon" too.

Embracing it, wearing the label with pride, takes away all it's negative power. It renders this whole kangaroo jamboree a waste of time.

John Henry

5/31/24, 7:06 PM


I agree,and it will piss off the Trump haters even more. I like it!!!

wendybar said...

Well, he joins a great bunch.
To really irritate a Progressive, reminded them that Nelson Mandela, Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Deitrich Bonhoffer were convicted felons.
And all the Tiananmen Square protestors were convicted felons.

Hell, even MLK Jr. was a felon. (they were trying to expunge his record in 2020)

Breezy said...

I agree, Bob Boyd. What’s the second crime? Apparently it was left to the jury to figure that out, lol, so what is it? We can’t accept this smoke and mirrors result.

imTay said...

"when he puts out the call to get Judge Merchan killed! "

Seems like you are the one putting that juju out into the air. I guess it's all part of the protocol with propaganda merchants like yourself though.

imTay said...

" in furtherance of or to conceal a crime."

So what was the "crime" that he then committed. What statute did he violate in the second case? "a crime" seems pretty broad, in furtherance of it seems even broader. Was it saying that "was a crime that Hillary lost the election" and if this non disclosure agreement cost her a single vote, then he should go to prison? This "crime" of which you speak, is the part that doesn't seem to be actually defined anywhere.

Kakistocracy said...

I'll start taking Vance more seriously when he starts boycotting all eyeliner and makeup products made in NY effective immediately.

imTay said...

More brilliant legal analysis from Rich.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Ocean, I read your comment accidentally and then again purposely. Let me be clear: I agree with all of it. You’re right.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

The left cannot argue shit. What they do is regurgitate narrative talking points and empty bromides.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Chuck thinks Trump's speech is illegal. You are such a natural Soviet, chuck.

stlcdr said...

Adds a new [positive] term to the 'anyone can be President' bucket...even a convicted felon!

Yancey Ward said...

Rich, I have read the indictments, the only crimes he was accused was the falsifying of the records, and all the crimes the prosecution accused him of specifically in the closing arguments were not proven by any evidence produced in the trial.

You are just a fucking idiot, Rich.

Yancey Ward said...

Rich can't even answer the question of why the secondary crimes weren't charged in the indictment. I know why they weren't charged, but Rich doesn't.

Kakistocracy said...

New Fonda film? “One Angry Man”.

The twelve did their duty.

DINKY DAU 45 said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Yancey Ward said...

When the conviction is overturned for the obvious errors, Rich will vanish like a fart in the wind.

Mason G said...

"When the conviction is overturned for the obvious errors, Rich will vanish like a fart in the wind."

No, he'll stay. He'll just ignore the topic and pretend it was never discussed.

traditionalguy said...

J D is the most feared type of man in American politics. He is a highly educated Scots Irish warrior and therefore he is also a Trump supporter. His words hit home hard.