I am pissed off
When the mainstream media “sanewashed” Donald Trump’s incoherent, creepy, word salad rubbish about tariffs by calling it a “major economic speech,” I was pissed off. They were making excuses for Trump’s rank stupidity. They were interfering with the election, and they knew exactly what they were doing.
When the Supreme Court decided that Donald Trump’s traitorous and criminal activities could be part of his “official duties” and he therefore could be immune from prosecution, I was pissed off. They were perverting the Constitution and betraying their oaths to defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic, and they were doing so in the name of an evil and stupid conman. They were interfering with the election, and they knew exactly what they were doing.
When Judge Juan Merchan delayed Donald Trump’s sentencing until November 26th, because the “verdict must be respected and addressed in a manner that is not diluted by the enormity of the upcoming presidential election,” I was pissed off. In ostensibly trying to avoid interfering with the election, Merchan is in fact interfering with the election, and he ought to know better.
It will have been nearly six months since a jury of his peers convicted Donald Trump of his felonies that Trump will finally be sentenced. If he is sentenced at all, of course. That is an unheard of delay, and it is made in the context of Trump’s lawyers having the gall to suggest that it’s STILL too early!
Recall, brothers and sisters, that Trump was originally supposed to be sentenced on July 11th! That sentencing was forestalled until 18 September. We were philosophical then, realising that, while it was justice delayed, it wasn’t entirely justice denied. After all, it was still inside the context of the 2024 election. The American people would still get to find out exactly what kind of criminal was on their ballot. They would still get to judge for themselves precisely how serious Trump’s crimes were by the extent of his criminal penalties.
In once again delaying the sentencing, this time beyond the scope of the election, Juan Merchan has robbed us of that right to know. In concerning himself about interfering with the election he is in fact interfering with the election. That’s not his job anyway. It’s not his job to worry about the election at all. That’s the defendant’s job. If Trump didn’t want the election interfered with by a criminal conviction and its accompanying criminal sentence, he shouldn’t have committed the crimes in the first place.
In fact, Donald Trump knew well in advance that there was a good chance he was going to be criminally indicted as soon as he lost the 2020 election. That’s why he announced his candidacy for the 2024 election nearly two years in advance. He saw the indictments coming and wanted to whine about election interference when they came. Now THAT’S election interference. Trump tied himself to those particular railroad tracks. (If it were up to me I’d show him some election interference!)
By concerning himself with the election and the consequence of a criminal conviction, judge Juan Merchan has betrayed an ancient maxim of jurisprudence. It is so old it was originally stated in Latin: Fiat justitia ruat caelum. Let justice be done though the heavens fall. It’s not his job to worry about timing.
The answer Trump should receive when he whines about election interference is the same one a single mother receives when asking the court not to sentence her to prison for the sake of her children. Like the poor single mother, Trump should have considered the possible consequences of his crimes before committing them. And like the single mother he should receive the full weight of justice irrespective of his circumstances.
The reason he doesn’t is because, in America, and I hate saying this, justice is not equal under the law. Trump has gotten nothing but special handling by dint of who he is from the very beginning. That is not fair and equal justice. And, frankly, I am pissed off. And I have a right to be. So do you. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.