Well, they did it. They convicted a former President of the United States on 34 felony counts of a, dare I say it, trumped up charge. A misdemeanor state charge of “falsifying business records,” whose statute of limitations had expired; which both state and federal lawyers had declined to prosecute on the grounds that it had no merit, was resurrected and elevated to multiple felony counts by a district attorney based on the very dubious grounds that Trump had done so to cover up some unspecified crime that he may have committed in conjunction with the 2016 election. A crime that was alleged but never specified.

I can’t say I am surprised. I expected this to happen. But I am dismayed. And I grieve for the future of my country.

This miscarriage of justice was brought to us by a district attorney who ran for his office on the singular platform of putting Donald Trump in jail. Who, despite his elevation of a misdemeanor charge of “falsifying business records,” to felony status, also has a record of dismissing 90% of the misdemeanor cases brought before him; even cases involving assaults on police officers! This convoluted legal theory seems to have sprung from the Enron case; a totally unrelated branch of law grafted together by the mother of necessity; necessity being to keep Trump out of the White House.

Then we have a judge, who refused to recuse himself despite not only contributing money to the aforementioned DA’s election campaign, but who also contributed to Biden’s presidential campaign as well as a PAC called “Stop Republicans”; a PAC which, according to its website is “a grassroots-funded effort dedicated to resisting the Republican Party and Donald Trump’s radical right-wing legacy.” (Italics mine). So – the judge trying the case is one of the “grassroots” dedicated to stopping Trump. Brilliant!

A judge who decided that Trump was not allowed to speak about the trial and slapped a gag order on him to that effect, but allowed the defense to say whatever they wanted about the case, including, of course, the judge’s daughter on her social media site. A judge who overruled the defense whenever they objected, and sustained the prosecution whenever they objected to the defense.

A judge that ruled that Trump had to be in court whenever it was in session (which is not the norm), who set the court break on Wednesday, the middle of the week, when normally it is on a Friday in conjunction with the weekend, making it more difficult for Trump to be on the campaign trail.

We could surmise the judge was engaging in “election interference,” but I would suppose the media would file that under “right-wing conspiracy theory.” I am sure he was just “doing his job.”

And we mustn’t forget, a judge who decided that it was not necessary for the jury to come to a unanimous decision on exactly what crime Trump had conspired to cover-up in order to convict; it was just necessary to think of some crime that might apply.

“Show me the man and I will show you the crime.” Hey – it’s Donald Trump for crying out loud, right? He has to be guilty of something…

Oh yes, and, perhaps a minor point in view of the others above, a judge whose daughter posted pictures of Trump in jail on her social media site, and who has been making bank off of the trial. Speaking of making bank, does anyone think there won’t be a book deal for the judge? Or perhaps other payoffs from other sources that will never be investigated by the press?

All this, setting the stage for this kangaroo court, in a venue hostile to Trump, with a DA, Judge, and jury hand-picked with the mission to ensure his conviction.

Of course, now that the conviction has occurred, this judge, who has rushed this case to trial, decides to take his time in announcing the sentencing, which will occur on 11 July – 6 weeks from now. Why the wait? Well, why did they wait three years to bring this case in the first place? Well, as they say, timing is everything.

I am sure it was sheer coincidence that they waited until Trump announced he was running and campaign season began. Just as I am sure the sentencing date has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Republican National Convention will be convening just 4 days later on 15 July. I doubt there is any intent here to influence the Republicans on who to nominate (or not nominate) as their candidate for President, nor any intent to subvert the news cycle, making it all about the “convicted felon Donald Trump” and suppressing any bounce the Republicans might get from their convention.

Can you say “election interference”? I bet you can.

But hey, we all know that it is only election interference when it happens to Democrats. When it happens to Republicans, especially Donald Trump, it is known as “saving our Democracy.” Well, I am not interested in “their Democracy.” It seems pretty autocratic and authoritarian to me. Sort of like the kind of “Democracy” they practice in countries like China, or Cuba, or North Korea, or Venezuela. Besides, last I checked, we are supposed to be living in a Constitutional Republic, not a “Democracy.”

In any event, the actions taken in this case against Donald Trump, not because he has committed any heinous crimes, but simply because he has the temerity to run for President again has done more to destroy this Constitutional Republic than anything else I can think of in my lifetime. All my life I have been told, and believed, that the United States was better than many of the countries in the world that purport to be “Democracies,” because we don’t lock up or kill the opposition party running against those in power. We may have disagreements, but we have a genuine, fair election and the loser congratulates the winner who then assumes power. And when they lose, they go back to wherever they came from and the new guy takes over. That is the way we have done it for 248 years.

But apparently, we can’t do that in 2024. Apparently, Donald Trump is an existential threat to the Democrat’s “our Democracy.” Apparently Donald Trump is such a threat that he must not even be allowed to run, and every measure possible must be taken to ensure that result.

Evidently, Joe Biden not running the country for the next four years is an existential threat to the Democrat’s “Democracy.” Evidently we have reached the point in the “evolution” of “our Democracy” where one party rule is the only way we as a nation can survive.

So what is next? Are they going to put Trump in jail? My guess would be yes. I expect them to do the whole handcuffs, shackles, and orange jumpsuit routine. Orange man in orange suit. I expect all the major media to be there, and to run video clips for the rest of the campaign. And if he wins, throughout his entire Presidency.

I expect the media from now on to refer to Trump not as “former President Trump,” but rather as “Convicted Felon Donald Trump.” Even if somehow he manages to get the convictions overturned on appeal, I don’t expect that either the video clips or the references to change. I expect that we will be reminded of this at every turn.

I would not be a bit surprised if President Biden signs an executive order stripping Trump of his secret service protection. After all, he has not allowed RFK Jr to have secret service protection, even if by law he is required to. As part of the Executive Branch, the Secret Service works for Biden. The danger here of course is that if Trump enters jail without secret service protection, I would not give good odds on him emerging under his own power. There are all sorts of unfortunate things that could happen when no one was looking. The strange and unfortunate case of Jeffrey Epstein comes to mind.

I also now understand why Biden challenged Trump to a debate, albeit one where he set all the rules in his favor. That debate will never happen. After all, it would be beneath the dignity of the President of the United States to debate a convicted felon. And having first extended the invitation, he can say that he was willing to debate Trump, but “unfortunately” that can’t happen now. And if Trump tries to get him to debate anyway, the press can hammer him on his “desperation” to “force” a debate.

It would be ludicrous for Trump to debate Biden now anyway, as the entire thing would be strewn with references to him being a felon. And it wouldn’t just be Biden; you can bet the “moderators” would get in on the act as well. There is no upside for Trump to debate Biden now. That path has been very neatly foreclosed.

And what if somehow, Trump manages to win the election from his jail cell, or house arrest, or whatever punishment they decide to contrive to keep him off the campaign trail? We still have six months for the propaganda campaign to bludgeon him. But let’s say the American people decide enough is enough. That they somehow, in numbers large enough, decide to vote for Trump anyway, overriding the ballot stuffing, illegals voting, and all the other shenanigans planned by the Democrats for this election (all unproven “conspiracy theories” mind you; remember, “there is no evidence of wide-spread voter fraud” – at least during the 2020 election, and anyone who says different is a threat to “our democracy”)… What then?

Well, I expect the legal brief have already been written and are just waiting to be filed, following such an outcome. That if Donald J. Trump is declared the winner of the election, on the very next day we will see the campaign start to keep him from being sworn in on the 20th of January, 2025. Just as we did when he was elected in 2016. We will have lawsuits, alleged malfeasance, wide-spread voter fraud (on the part of the Republicans) allegations, and whatever else they can dream up and the media will run with. And should he be sworn in anyway, I am sure the articles of impeachment have already been written as well.

Even if the Republicans somehow manage to keep the House, I would expect Democrats to immediately file articles of impeachment. Likely they will lead off by declaring that conviction of a Felony is grounds for removing a President from office; that it not only meets but exceeds the threshold for “high crimes and misdemeanors.” The media, of course, will gravely agree. Can’t have a convicted criminal as President. Only unconvicted criminals can hold that high office in the 21st century.

I also expect that as much trouble as he had in his first term with lawsuits and intransigence on the part of the Democrats, it will pale in comparison to what will happen in a second Trump term. Heaven help us if the Democrats somehow manage to take the Senate. I doubt Trump will get any of his nominees through the confirmation process, unless for some reason Trump nominates flaming leftists.

It is a given that they will try to block anything and everything he does. There will, as with the first term, be no “honeymoon” period. They will foment unrest, as they did before. The objective of course will to make things so bad that the American people will beg the Democrats to retake the reins of power in 2028. Because it isn’t about the welfare of the American people. It is about power and the furthering of the “fundamental transformation” of America from a Constitutional Republic to a single party socialist worker’s paradise, with an entrenched elitist class ruling over a working class that exists to keep them in power; and how dare we try to do otherwise.

I can hardly wait until the end of October, the traditional time of the “October surprise.” I wonder what they will have in store for us then? Something interesting I am sure, as in the old Chinese curse “may you live in interesting times.”

In any event, it should be noted that this country tends to run on precedent. Once a line is crossed, once something happens for the first time, it quickly becomes the norm and it is very hard to go back. An example would be the filibuster rule in the Senate, which Harry Reid suspended for purposes of getting judges through the nomination process without the Republicans being able to block them by forcing a cloture vote. Republicans told Democrats when they crossed that line that they would regret it. And indeed, this allowed President Trump to nominate and confirm three Supreme Court judges during his Presidency when Republicans widened the “Reid rule” to include Supreme Court judges. The result was a 6-3 conservative majority, and the eventual overturning of Roe v Wade.

Well, a line has been crossed. It is now “OK” to go after political opponents in a court of law. It is now OK to indict, try, and convict former Presidents of the United States. We shall see if it is also OK to throw them in jail and strip them of their secret service protection. It is now OK to use the law to go after your political opponents who are running against you in a political campaign. Political prisoners are also something we now do in the US; witness the J6 protesters rotting in jail, many who have yet to go to trial. People who attended the rally, who didn’t go to the capitol building are now being arrested, harassed, and jailed. Democrats on the floor of Congress have likened MAGA supporters to Nazis. And it doesn't stop there.

They have done this to Donald J. Trump; billionaire and former President of the United States. Does anyone believe that if they wanted to, they couldn’t do the same thing to you? Do you still have rights in these United States? Do you still have protection under the Constitution? Does the Constitution still truly exist as the supreme law of the land? Perhaps. Depending on which side you are on today, what causes you support today, and assuming that you haven’t said something in the past to get you crosswise of the thought police of the future.

Is this the America you grew up in? Is this the America you want to live in today?