Somehow, Donald Trump has found himself back on the 24-hour news circuit. Breathless coverage of the saga at Mar-A-Lago involving top secret documents and a disgraced former president who thinks he’s above the law makes for good TV, sure, but does it make for good civics?
How are you thinking about the legal and political questions surrounding the newest Trump imbroglio? Do you think this will finally bring him to justice? Do you think the Trump base will finally jettison their water-logged orange life raft? What questions do you have?
Our Democracy has been seriously and violently attacked. The former guy refused to accept electoral defeat and participate in the peaceful transfer of power. Now he is trying to get political right wing extremists elected to positions where they could control and undermine our free and fair elections. We MUST defend our Democracy or the rich, powerful and connected elements of our country will be in control. United we stand; divided we fall. Now is the time for all good and caring citizens to act, to do the right thing. This existential threat had to be defeated!
I agree with you Gene. Rule of law has to mean that the laws, not the men, rule. And right now, our failure to hold him accountable threatens that, both for him to exploit, or others.
At the same time, I worry a lot about the lengths he and his supporters will go to hold power.
Civil war is one of the possibilities they have considered and advocated. We live in a bizarre and dangerous time. We need your depth of understanding more than ever. Welcome home.
I have been preoccupied with Trump for some 5 years. Have authored Criminology on Trump, May 17, 2022, and I have continued writing viewpoints and op eds. Here is my piece from The Crime Report posted on Tuesday of this week and embedded within is my Salon piece from a week ago today.
You might see these positions as contradictory. They are and they aren’t and my positions are fluid.
So that is how I have been thinking about this politically and legally. I do think that justice will prevail. I also think that Trump is losing power and won’t run in 2024 despite a lot of noise to the contrary.
Here is a question to Abdul (who endorsed my first Trump book in the front matter of the book) and to others reading this: Do you think I should go ahead and write the sequel? Criminalizing Trump: After the Failed Coup and the Struggle to Save American Democracy. After all there are already more than 7000 Trump books and 10 new ones every month.
Quite candidly as an emeritus professor who retired two years ago, I want to kick back and enjoy the grandchildren. I was also hoping that the sequel proposal would be rejected because I am so tired of having to deal with Trump, his lawlessness, etc. and yet I can’t seem to resist chiming in with my two cents.
If you've got more to share, you should. History MUST document the man's flagrant disregard for the law, propriety, or truth. So please, I hope you will!!
And congrats on a great series of articles, and an important book.
If you believe that you have some different insights to add, go ahead and write it. When you do, please include some thoughts on how to open the minds of those people whose brains seem to be tied in a Gordian Knot.
Candidly, I believe the first book shed light on Trump from a criminological and historical perspective that was unique. The sequel would be more similar with rather than different from others writing serious as opposed to PR statements.
As for how to open the minds of the Trumpists other than Trump being criminally convicted and doing time or exiled from political society, I don’t know how to fix what ails those folks.
It makes for good civics to showcase that there are rules that have to be honored and a democratic process to make sure they're accountable for both the defense and prosecution.
It does of course need to be presented in a civil and not too drastic expression of these events.
If this was pre 1980s where the media is not as expansive where there will be outlets that can excuse the wrongful actions, then Drumpf would be brought to justice.
The diehards of Drumpf will stay strong and probably cause the most of violence but the ones that saw Drumpf as a cayatlist to get them to lower taxes and less regulation will drop out to go for someone like DeSantis or Cheney.
My question would be with how much of a message can the democratic party of all scales in this country portray ourselves as the true people that believe in law and order but not so much protray that it will do more harm than good for communities?
I never thought I would support the FBI but Merrick Garland has been doing a good job of speaking through court filings and it has had the effect of smashing the fantasies and conspiracy theories of the MAGA cult whether or not they know it. I I would be very shocked if Trump isn’t charged.
I'll be honest, I think Garland has handled this incredibly skillfully. In resisting the knee-jerk reflex to indict, he's allowed the facts to come out. He's also played chicken with Trump...and won.
Our Democracy has been seriously and violently attacked. The former guy refused to accept electoral defeat and participate in the peaceful transfer of power. Now he is trying to get political right wing extremists elected to positions where they could control and undermine our free and fair elections. We MUST defend our Democracy or the rich, powerful and connected elements of our country will be in control. United we stand; divided we fall. Now is the time for all good and caring citizens to act, to do the right thing. This existential threat had to be defeated!
I agree with you Gene. Rule of law has to mean that the laws, not the men, rule. And right now, our failure to hold him accountable threatens that, both for him to exploit, or others.
At the same time, I worry a lot about the lengths he and his supporters will go to hold power.
Civil war is one of the possibilities they have considered and advocated. We live in a bizarre and dangerous time. We need your depth of understanding more than ever. Welcome home.
All true, Gene, except that I’d write “…the rich, powerful and connect elements of our country will continue and tighten their control.”
I agree. If we don't persist, it's our own fault that Democracy failed.
I have been preoccupied with Trump for some 5 years. Have authored Criminology on Trump, May 17, 2022, and I have continued writing viewpoints and op eds. Here is my piece from The Crime Report posted on Tuesday of this week and embedded within is my Salon piece from a week ago today.
https://thecrimereport.org/2022/08/30/the-mar-a-lago-papers-could-trump-cut-a-deal/
You might see these positions as contradictory. They are and they aren’t and my positions are fluid.
So that is how I have been thinking about this politically and legally. I do think that justice will prevail. I also think that Trump is losing power and won’t run in 2024 despite a lot of noise to the contrary.
Here is a question to Abdul (who endorsed my first Trump book in the front matter of the book) and to others reading this: Do you think I should go ahead and write the sequel? Criminalizing Trump: After the Failed Coup and the Struggle to Save American Democracy. After all there are already more than 7000 Trump books and 10 new ones every month.
Quite candidly as an emeritus professor who retired two years ago, I want to kick back and enjoy the grandchildren. I was also hoping that the sequel proposal would be rejected because I am so tired of having to deal with Trump, his lawlessness, etc. and yet I can’t seem to resist chiming in with my two cents.
If you've got more to share, you should. History MUST document the man's flagrant disregard for the law, propriety, or truth. So please, I hope you will!!
And congrats on a great series of articles, and an important book.
Thanks for your support. It means a lot to me. I am just feeling a bit depressed about the whole thing.
If you believe that you have some different insights to add, go ahead and write it. When you do, please include some thoughts on how to open the minds of those people whose brains seem to be tied in a Gordian Knot.
Candidly, I believe the first book shed light on Trump from a criminological and historical perspective that was unique. The sequel would be more similar with rather than different from others writing serious as opposed to PR statements.
As for how to open the minds of the Trumpists other than Trump being criminally convicted and doing time or exiled from political society, I don’t know how to fix what ails those folks.
If more police like Biden and the Democrats and Republicans want means more safety against gun crimes; then how do they explain Uvalde?
It makes for good civics to showcase that there are rules that have to be honored and a democratic process to make sure they're accountable for both the defense and prosecution.
It does of course need to be presented in a civil and not too drastic expression of these events.
If this was pre 1980s where the media is not as expansive where there will be outlets that can excuse the wrongful actions, then Drumpf would be brought to justice.
The diehards of Drumpf will stay strong and probably cause the most of violence but the ones that saw Drumpf as a cayatlist to get them to lower taxes and less regulation will drop out to go for someone like DeSantis or Cheney.
My question would be with how much of a message can the democratic party of all scales in this country portray ourselves as the true people that believe in law and order but not so much protray that it will do more harm than good for communities?
I never thought I would support the FBI but Merrick Garland has been doing a good job of speaking through court filings and it has had the effect of smashing the fantasies and conspiracy theories of the MAGA cult whether or not they know it. I I would be very shocked if Trump isn’t charged.
I'll be honest, I think Garland has handled this incredibly skillfully. In resisting the knee-jerk reflex to indict, he's allowed the facts to come out. He's also played chicken with Trump...and won.
So much free publicity once again is adding fuel to the MAGA voters' fire to return their leader to power. Will it ever end?
That's EXACTLY my worry. They thrive off the controversy.
I hope you're wrong. But history certainly supports your prediction...