This is what winning looks like
This week notorious criminals Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro each pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Donald Trump and all of his remaining co-defendants. Powell and Chesebro each managed to avoid prison (for now) by doing so. No one likes the idea of criminals getting off lightly. But these plea deals were a huge win for the good guys, because it helps make certain that Trump – a far more important criminal – is going to prison. This is what winning looks like.
This week extremist scumbag Jim Jordan came within twenty votes of becoming Speaker of the House, but ended up failing. Humiliatingly. This was a huge win for the good guys, not only because it keeps Jordan’s power from being elevated, it actually knocks his influence down a peg now that he’s alienated so many members of Congress in his own party. This is also what winning looks like.
This week a judge held Donald Trump in contempt of court, for what appeared to be a mistaken failure to take down a syndicated version of a social media post that he’d already deleted. This was the most minor of accidental infractions, yet Trump was held in contempt anyway. The fine was small, but Trump was still help in contempt. Judges escalate contempt penalties based on a pattern of misbehavior, not a single incident, and Trump just stupidly established that pattern in the judge’s eyes. He’s now likely one strike away from being in a cell. This is, once again, what winning looks like.
It’s important to remember that in politics and the criminal justice system, even the biggest of victories still end up looking like a battlefield, not a playground. If Sidney Powell has to get probation in order to ensure that Donald Trump goes to prison for the rest of his life, you take the win. If Jim Jordan has to come that close to becoming Speaker in order for his fellow Republicans to turn on him and diminish his power, you take the win. And if Trump did something to get himself held in contempt of court, that’s also a win.
There’s never a “perfect” outcome in any of this. We’re talking about arenas as dirty as politics and criminal justice, after all. But there are days, ugly as the details of it may be, where the good guys win. We’ve had multiple days this week that have fit that description. Let’s use this as an opportunity to remember what a win looks like. Because in politics you have to seize upon the wins any time you can get them, and build momentum from there. You can’t afford to take wins and spin them into losses by looking for the specifics of the win that you don’t like. If at the end of that day you’d rather be your side than the other side, then you won the day. Take the win and go from there.
