Conviction Politician
This morning, the president-elect was sentenced for his 34-count conviction on business fraud and other New York state felonies in connection with silencing a porn actress about their affair before the 2016 election. But despite his crimes, Donald Trump received no punishment.
It would be hard for a novelist to imagine a more telling scene in the larger story of our moment in which a privileged old man can’t say enough to be racist, can’t break enough laws to be incarcerated, can’t fail enough to be a failure and can’t be stupid enough to be stupid.
Van Lathan, Jr., wasn’t talking about the fact that impunity for pretty much everything is the point of Trump, but he may as well have been when he said in June that he’s “the whitest white man we’ve ever seen.”
With this sentencing, it’s official. Trump will be the first president to be a criminal president. This, of course, is only a minor accounting. Trump has been, in fact, a deviant and devious criminal mind for most of his adult life. He enriched himself when he was president the first time. He stole government secrets. He tried overthrowing an election.
With his third campaign, he and his allies, including a murder of billionaires and half a dozen justices on the US Supreme Court, set out to turn the republic against not only itself but against the rule of law.
They succeeded.
Civil institutions could not hold him accountable. The media failed. The law failed. The courts failed. The American people failed. Some still like to say no one is above the law, but it all sounds quaint to me.
The insurrection of January 6, 2021, has been institutionalized. It is now the establishment. It is now “the way things are.” Trump and his allies have achieved what historical figures like Joseph McCarthy, Robert Welch and George Wallace could only dream of: the restoration of “natural order of things” in America. Heads – I win. Tails – you lose.
Some deny it. They insist on the existence of some kind of immutable law, like the force of gravity, that will compel Trump to be presidential.
“There is one thing about being president-elect: You become president. And then you’re in charge. You’re responsible. You have to govern,” William Kristol said. “Beginning January 20, it will be Trump’s show. From the most trivial things to the most weighty, the power will emanate from and the buck will stop at Trump’s Oval Office.”
It would be hard for a novelist to imagine a more telling scene in the larger story of our moment in which a privileged old man can’t say enough to be racist, can’t break enough laws to be incarcerated, can’t fail enough to be a failure and can’t be stupid enough to be stupid.
Van Lathan, Jr., wasn’t talking about the fact that impunity for pretty much everything is the point of Trump, but he may as well have been when he said in June that he’s “the whitest white man we’ve ever seen.”
With this sentencing, it’s official. Trump will be the first president to be a criminal president. This, of course, is only a minor accounting. Trump has been, in fact, a deviant and devious criminal mind for most of his adult life. He enriched himself when he was president the first time. He stole government secrets. He tried overthrowing an election.
With his third campaign, he and his allies, including a murder of billionaires and half a dozen justices on the US Supreme Court, set out to turn the republic against not only itself but against the rule of law.
They succeeded.
Civil institutions could not hold him accountable. The media failed. The law failed. The courts failed. The American people failed. Some still like to say no one is above the law, but it all sounds quaint to me.
The insurrection of January 6, 2021, has been institutionalized. It is now the establishment. It is now “the way things are.” Trump and his allies have achieved what historical figures like Joseph McCarthy, Robert Welch and George Wallace could only dream of: the restoration of “natural order of things” in America. Heads – I win. Tails – you lose.
Some deny it. They insist on the existence of some kind of immutable law, like the force of gravity, that will compel Trump to be presidential.
“There is one thing about being president-elect: You become president. And then you’re in charge. You’re responsible. You have to govern,” William Kristol said. “Beginning January 20, it will be Trump’s show. From the most trivial things to the most weighty, the power will emanate from and the buck will stop at Trump’s Oval Office.”
