Spot on, once again, Greg. Could it be that we are being hoisted by our own petard? We are tripping over all the laws we have put in place as we see to it that the many guilty go free lest one innocent be punished. A sticky wicket, for sure.
Greg's telling is a reversal of the "It's a Wonderful Life" story where, instead of what evil would have been unleashed if George had not lived to stop it, we can see what good could have flourished by the elimination of the evil in our midst.
James L. Swanson's "Manhunt" is a riveting account of "The 12-day chase for Lincoln's killer." This super summary will give you a "super summary," but the book itself is "Grade: A."
*waves & man hugs, steps back, coughs, spits, farts*
Throughout his obscene life, Trump has had parents, friends, mobsters, a plethora of small and large criminals, the FBI and the CIA and Putin protecting him because, basically, he is a tool. A latrine tool, to be sure. He still has far too many protecting themselves by protecting him. You can bet that when the shit hits the fan, #MangoWanker is going to dump all of them into the fire, even to shave one day off his prison time.
What worries me is the takeover of the House by 150+ traitors to the constitution. They know that if ANYONE gets convicted, they will likely follow. So, the best outcome for justice and America is not likely. America stuck its hand and arm into the fire, got badly burned, and then went half into denial (73 million), and half into rage.
How do I cope? I remember daily throwing my shoe at W when he came on TV. And let's be real; W was not really a bad fellow, it was Darth Cheney pulling his idiot strings, mostly.
So.
So.....
Here is what I say to myself and my friends:
When I am king of the world, things are going to be different...
I can only hope the vetting process will be fortified so tRump and tRumpian maggots like Santos be put in place so we the public doesn’t have to pay the price for the bullshit that has been dished out from them. Let’s hope it’s turned into law that all presidential candidates will have to turn over tax returns and a proper vetting will take place and people wanting to be in the house and senate as well. I hope the AG of NY steps in and squelches Santos as a fraud and a phony and is stopped in his lying tracks. And the entire cast of tRump’s family and cabinet and maggots are all put in jail for their crimes. God save the queen
I enjoyed this rerun. I had not seen it previously. I believe that most folks are prepared to forgive or give someone who is caught in a crime a pass as described in this illustration.
I have a retired friend who became a district court judge. He’d been a good prosecutor, public defender, private attorney, local politician and eventually he was appointed as a judge. When he went onto the bench, I telephoned him and congratulated him, and asked how he found his new job. He told me he was bored and had trouble staying awake on the bench. When I asked him why, he told me it was because he knew in almost every case how he planned to rule. He said, “Unless they have struck a woman or abused a child, and it’s a first offense, I’m giving them probation.” That was a majority of his district court cases.
When I asked him why he’d made that decision, he told me it was because he or a relative or a friend whom had not been caught doing a similar crime had usually done what the defendants were charged with doing or worse. The defendants had been caught, shamed and they had a criminal arrest record, so from him, they were getting probation. Our national Christian values are based on forgiveness, so I believe that is why in a majority of situations the guilty are not punished or their crimes are ignored unless they are not white. Then, they are screwed.
I was with you then, and now. I watched him destroy any illusions I had of a just political America. And the past two years have about destroyed any illusions I had for the American electorate. May this be the year.
I, like you, I imagine, probably drove my spouse, family & friends mad over trump's 4 years in office; attempting to sound that alarm, about the persistent threat to our democracy. Some friends had claims that I shouldn't be so concerned. The rule of law, checks & balances would keep him on the straight & narrow; but my come back was always that if the people around you, didnt believe in checks & balances, they'd be inclined to hold you accountable for nothing. And this bizarre reverence & idea that trump could do no wrong, by some of his fan base, was too disturbing to me, unlike anything I'd seen with respect to a president in my lifetime. During this 4 plus years, I literally read thousands of current & prior articles & news stories, which overall simply reinforced my concerns about Donald J Trump being elected to the office of the presidency.
Having been born in Staten Island & having many family from there, you were aware of him, his family & their dealings. It was almost laughable, a bit of a joke. When I visited, news of his business " exploits" were often in the papers. His constant grandstanding & patting himself on the back about his business acumen, his intelligence. The " me,me,my,my, was laughable to some degree, especially after 1990-1991, as began his serious financial decline & his divorce; of which the treatment by him. of his wife & children was simply another sad chapter. There'd been that interesting article, not particularly kind, in Vanity Fair in September of 1991; which flashed a spotlight onto some other unsavory bits.
But, he was a businessman then. Not the president of our nation. Yet prior to him even assuming office, you sensed given the inflamatory things he was saying & what I'd been reading about his syncophants, Stone, Bannon, Flynn & Manafort, we'd be in for a "Mr.Toads Wild Ride" and not in a good, amusement park, fun kind of ride. And as we've seen; those of us who weren't looking for a dictator as president ( emphasize the dick) & who were increasingly alarmed by his posture on the world stage, his catering & cozying up to dictators like Putin etc, alienating our old allies & the various negative, bigoted & racist comments on the home front, you became simply scared. The either lockstep attitude of republican legislative syncophants or the fear you felt from other legislators, who'd quietly one by one, declined to run again for office. I started thinking, if in a few years, he's voted in again; what country can we move to, to avoid another 4 years or more..of a trump presidency. So, I like you & so many others, held the same grave fears, while others went blithely along. And then our greatest fears confirmed on January 6th, 2021. I like so many others, eyes riveted in horror towards the TV screen. And you JUST knew HE WAS BEHIND IT.
Thank you, for sounding the alarm & continuing to do so again & again. We need journalists who are brave, fearless & willing to tell the hard truths, to keep Democracy
alive. This tradition of truth telling needs to continue in journalism, so that the best parts of our governance, the best parts of our Constitution & rule of law, can continue to live in the hearts of those who will protect her & remain a beacon of hope for the free & not so free world. We can always do better & we must.
Oooh, your foreknowledge is impressive! So glad you reposted, I haven't seen this before now. How damn frustrating is that? Justice is creaking along, too slow and bloodless for my taste. Speaking of justice, in the meantime a Michigan judge sentenced one of the kidnapping plotters of Gov. Whitmer to only 16 years instead of life, because basically he was a poor, dumb bumblefuk who was mislead by that mean ole FBI infiltrator. The guy was pissed because he had to wear a mask and the gubment was going to take away his warm gun, and we'll have to let that cockwomble out while he's still able to harm another woman in power. Sheesh! One can always conjure up some hope that next year will be the year.
The constant outrage I've felt since June 15, 2015, which, without looking, I believe was the day that Trump first announced his run for president AND also the day of the murder of nine people in the Abenezer Baptist Church in Georgia by a virulent Confederate flag waving racist, had begun to affect my health. I thought, after Jan. 20th, 2021, we could start the process of moving on, healing, recovering, INDICTING, and all that happy horseshit. But no. And here we are, 720 days after 01/06/21, and plenty of peons have been charged and convicted, but the top dogs are still free.
I guess one would need to actually be working in the DOJ to know how long it takes to bring a case against the ringleader of an insurrection, that being only ONE of the things for which Trump should be in a Supermax prison. And where are we? Jack Smith. I absolutely WILL NOT go down the same road I did with Robert Mueller, for although Mueller conducted a fine investigation and proved beyond much doubt that Russia was deeply involved in the 2016 election, nothing came of it. So, I wait, and I wait as if nothing will happen again. On the one hand I think that if anyone will find the goods on Trump, Smith will. On the other hand, I have to assume, as is our history, that nothing will come of it.
As evidenced throughout our history, we are a shitty country when it comes to serving justice. Black people and other people of color STILL serve more time for lesser crimes than do white people for the same or worse crimes. A Black person can be stopped for going one mile over the speed limit or simply for having an evergreen air freshener hanging from their rearview mirror. Maybe they'll get a warning. Maybe they'll get shot and killed. Out here in white suburbia, I'm still a little shocked when I hear of Black parents having to have "the talk" with their kids -- not about sex, but about how to BEHAVE around law enforcement, so they can continue breathing! Meanwhile, several pick-up trucks in Texas, flying Trump flags, can almost run a Biden/Harris campaign bus off the road, and nobody pays any price for it. Were there even tickets issued? So, how shitty is our system of justice? Pretty fucking shitty!
I'm currently reading the January 6th Report, and it brings it all back. There are STILL people trying to minimize Jan 6th even though, at least for me, I still remember what I was doing when I came upon the scene on TV -- I had just come in from walking the dog and my mom had MSNBC on and they were covering it. When 9/11 happened, I was getting ready for work when a friend of mine called me and said to turn on the TV. When the Challenger exploded, I was a manager in a pizza restaurant, getting ready to open for the day and I had just turned on the TV in the game room of the restaurant, and witnessed the launch. Jan 6th is one of those days that is remembered like that. It was an affront to our very way of life. In a perfect world, the terrorists who planned it MUST be brought to justice. We don't live in a perfect world, but I still have hope, and I also hope that one day, before I die, I can stop metaphorically weeping for the state of this country. What would truly "make America great again" is justice served on the people that would attack it and try to take it away from the rest of us. The traitors are truly easy to spot.
One has to pray that the gift of insight comes with a padded room filled with patience; referring to your first interest in, and second your grasp of the usefulness of history. Memory. If Memory does not serve reflection, wow, what use is it except to remember what channel the Kardashians are on.
DAMN this is a great piece. I’m printing it out…sometimes there are multiple affects of a piece… for me, this is one of those. Much to understand here. Not least thank god for the proportion of dumb people in our genetics so plots don’t succeed.
Thanks for revisiting! Relevant-- A wake up call.
You are a great journalist, Greg! I hung on every word of this piece and read your plea from 2020. Your observations were and are completely accurate.
I hope you never have to post it again, either. Happy 2023.
The ghostly finale of Patton's poetry on the Parthegenian plain
nibbles at my memory as justice flashes a sad smile of disdain
"[W]e wait for Jack Smith to shit or get off the pot..."
May I suggest a Fleet enema.
Spot on, once again, Greg. Could it be that we are being hoisted by our own petard? We are tripping over all the laws we have put in place as we see to it that the many guilty go free lest one innocent be punished. A sticky wicket, for sure.
Greg's telling is a reversal of the "It's a Wonderful Life" story where, instead of what evil would have been unleashed if George had not lived to stop it, we can see what good could have flourished by the elimination of the evil in our midst.
James L. Swanson's "Manhunt" is a riveting account of "The 12-day chase for Lincoln's killer." This super summary will give you a "super summary," but the book itself is "Grade: A."
https://www.supersummary.com/manhunt/summary/
Thank you, Greg
*waves & man hugs, steps back, coughs, spits, farts*
Throughout his obscene life, Trump has had parents, friends, mobsters, a plethora of small and large criminals, the FBI and the CIA and Putin protecting him because, basically, he is a tool. A latrine tool, to be sure. He still has far too many protecting themselves by protecting him. You can bet that when the shit hits the fan, #MangoWanker is going to dump all of them into the fire, even to shave one day off his prison time.
What worries me is the takeover of the House by 150+ traitors to the constitution. They know that if ANYONE gets convicted, they will likely follow. So, the best outcome for justice and America is not likely. America stuck its hand and arm into the fire, got badly burned, and then went half into denial (73 million), and half into rage.
How do I cope? I remember daily throwing my shoe at W when he came on TV. And let's be real; W was not really a bad fellow, it was Darth Cheney pulling his idiot strings, mostly.
So.
So.....
Here is what I say to myself and my friends:
When I am king of the world, things are going to be different...
(Not necessarily better, just different.)
After all, I am a realist.
I can only hope the vetting process will be fortified so tRump and tRumpian maggots like Santos be put in place so we the public doesn’t have to pay the price for the bullshit that has been dished out from them. Let’s hope it’s turned into law that all presidential candidates will have to turn over tax returns and a proper vetting will take place and people wanting to be in the house and senate as well. I hope the AG of NY steps in and squelches Santos as a fraud and a phony and is stopped in his lying tracks. And the entire cast of tRump’s family and cabinet and maggots are all put in jail for their crimes. God save the queen
Greg,
I enjoyed this rerun. I had not seen it previously. I believe that most folks are prepared to forgive or give someone who is caught in a crime a pass as described in this illustration.
I have a retired friend who became a district court judge. He’d been a good prosecutor, public defender, private attorney, local politician and eventually he was appointed as a judge. When he went onto the bench, I telephoned him and congratulated him, and asked how he found his new job. He told me he was bored and had trouble staying awake on the bench. When I asked him why, he told me it was because he knew in almost every case how he planned to rule. He said, “Unless they have struck a woman or abused a child, and it’s a first offense, I’m giving them probation.” That was a majority of his district court cases.
When I asked him why he’d made that decision, he told me it was because he or a relative or a friend whom had not been caught doing a similar crime had usually done what the defendants were charged with doing or worse. The defendants had been caught, shamed and they had a criminal arrest record, so from him, they were getting probation. Our national Christian values are based on forgiveness, so I believe that is why in a majority of situations the guilty are not punished or their crimes are ignored unless they are not white. Then, they are screwed.
I was with you then, and now. I watched him destroy any illusions I had of a just political America. And the past two years have about destroyed any illusions I had for the American electorate. May this be the year.
I, like you, I imagine, probably drove my spouse, family & friends mad over trump's 4 years in office; attempting to sound that alarm, about the persistent threat to our democracy. Some friends had claims that I shouldn't be so concerned. The rule of law, checks & balances would keep him on the straight & narrow; but my come back was always that if the people around you, didnt believe in checks & balances, they'd be inclined to hold you accountable for nothing. And this bizarre reverence & idea that trump could do no wrong, by some of his fan base, was too disturbing to me, unlike anything I'd seen with respect to a president in my lifetime. During this 4 plus years, I literally read thousands of current & prior articles & news stories, which overall simply reinforced my concerns about Donald J Trump being elected to the office of the presidency.
Having been born in Staten Island & having many family from there, you were aware of him, his family & their dealings. It was almost laughable, a bit of a joke. When I visited, news of his business " exploits" were often in the papers. His constant grandstanding & patting himself on the back about his business acumen, his intelligence. The " me,me,my,my, was laughable to some degree, especially after 1990-1991, as began his serious financial decline & his divorce; of which the treatment by him. of his wife & children was simply another sad chapter. There'd been that interesting article, not particularly kind, in Vanity Fair in September of 1991; which flashed a spotlight onto some other unsavory bits.
But, he was a businessman then. Not the president of our nation. Yet prior to him even assuming office, you sensed given the inflamatory things he was saying & what I'd been reading about his syncophants, Stone, Bannon, Flynn & Manafort, we'd be in for a "Mr.Toads Wild Ride" and not in a good, amusement park, fun kind of ride. And as we've seen; those of us who weren't looking for a dictator as president ( emphasize the dick) & who were increasingly alarmed by his posture on the world stage, his catering & cozying up to dictators like Putin etc, alienating our old allies & the various negative, bigoted & racist comments on the home front, you became simply scared. The either lockstep attitude of republican legislative syncophants or the fear you felt from other legislators, who'd quietly one by one, declined to run again for office. I started thinking, if in a few years, he's voted in again; what country can we move to, to avoid another 4 years or more..of a trump presidency. So, I like you & so many others, held the same grave fears, while others went blithely along. And then our greatest fears confirmed on January 6th, 2021. I like so many others, eyes riveted in horror towards the TV screen. And you JUST knew HE WAS BEHIND IT.
Thank you, for sounding the alarm & continuing to do so again & again. We need journalists who are brave, fearless & willing to tell the hard truths, to keep Democracy
alive. This tradition of truth telling needs to continue in journalism, so that the best parts of our governance, the best parts of our Constitution & rule of law, can continue to live in the hearts of those who will protect her & remain a beacon of hope for the free & not so free world. We can always do better & we must.
Talk about prescience!
Oooh, your foreknowledge is impressive! So glad you reposted, I haven't seen this before now. How damn frustrating is that? Justice is creaking along, too slow and bloodless for my taste. Speaking of justice, in the meantime a Michigan judge sentenced one of the kidnapping plotters of Gov. Whitmer to only 16 years instead of life, because basically he was a poor, dumb bumblefuk who was mislead by that mean ole FBI infiltrator. The guy was pissed because he had to wear a mask and the gubment was going to take away his warm gun, and we'll have to let that cockwomble out while he's still able to harm another woman in power. Sheesh! One can always conjure up some hope that next year will be the year.
It’s my wish too. Jack does good Twitter. Let’s give him a month.
The constant outrage I've felt since June 15, 2015, which, without looking, I believe was the day that Trump first announced his run for president AND also the day of the murder of nine people in the Abenezer Baptist Church in Georgia by a virulent Confederate flag waving racist, had begun to affect my health. I thought, after Jan. 20th, 2021, we could start the process of moving on, healing, recovering, INDICTING, and all that happy horseshit. But no. And here we are, 720 days after 01/06/21, and plenty of peons have been charged and convicted, but the top dogs are still free.
I guess one would need to actually be working in the DOJ to know how long it takes to bring a case against the ringleader of an insurrection, that being only ONE of the things for which Trump should be in a Supermax prison. And where are we? Jack Smith. I absolutely WILL NOT go down the same road I did with Robert Mueller, for although Mueller conducted a fine investigation and proved beyond much doubt that Russia was deeply involved in the 2016 election, nothing came of it. So, I wait, and I wait as if nothing will happen again. On the one hand I think that if anyone will find the goods on Trump, Smith will. On the other hand, I have to assume, as is our history, that nothing will come of it.
As evidenced throughout our history, we are a shitty country when it comes to serving justice. Black people and other people of color STILL serve more time for lesser crimes than do white people for the same or worse crimes. A Black person can be stopped for going one mile over the speed limit or simply for having an evergreen air freshener hanging from their rearview mirror. Maybe they'll get a warning. Maybe they'll get shot and killed. Out here in white suburbia, I'm still a little shocked when I hear of Black parents having to have "the talk" with their kids -- not about sex, but about how to BEHAVE around law enforcement, so they can continue breathing! Meanwhile, several pick-up trucks in Texas, flying Trump flags, can almost run a Biden/Harris campaign bus off the road, and nobody pays any price for it. Were there even tickets issued? So, how shitty is our system of justice? Pretty fucking shitty!
I'm currently reading the January 6th Report, and it brings it all back. There are STILL people trying to minimize Jan 6th even though, at least for me, I still remember what I was doing when I came upon the scene on TV -- I had just come in from walking the dog and my mom had MSNBC on and they were covering it. When 9/11 happened, I was getting ready for work when a friend of mine called me and said to turn on the TV. When the Challenger exploded, I was a manager in a pizza restaurant, getting ready to open for the day and I had just turned on the TV in the game room of the restaurant, and witnessed the launch. Jan 6th is one of those days that is remembered like that. It was an affront to our very way of life. In a perfect world, the terrorists who planned it MUST be brought to justice. We don't live in a perfect world, but I still have hope, and I also hope that one day, before I die, I can stop metaphorically weeping for the state of this country. What would truly "make America great again" is justice served on the people that would attack it and try to take it away from the rest of us. The traitors are truly easy to spot.
Greg,
A great Harangue!
Defintely worth a repeat.
How did You feel when you hit send?
One has to pray that the gift of insight comes with a padded room filled with patience; referring to your first interest in, and second your grasp of the usefulness of history. Memory. If Memory does not serve reflection, wow, what use is it except to remember what channel the Kardashians are on.
DAMN this is a great piece. I’m printing it out…sometimes there are multiple affects of a piece… for me, this is one of those. Much to understand here. Not least thank god for the proportion of dumb people in our genetics so plots don’t succeed.