The taint of criminality
Maggie Haberman underlines what a bad day Trump had.
First came the events in the city where he was born and raised.
Translation: his own NYC bit him in the ass.
In New York, the jury that heard the case brought by the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, deliberated over two days before returning guilty verdicts on all 17 counts related to a tax-fraud scheme, a sweeping condemnation of the company that bears Mr. Trump’s name.
…
The company will face a seven-figure fine, and the verdict could hinder its future endeavors. While convicting a company is not convicting a person — Mr. Trump himself was not charged in connection with the case — the taint of criminality is something that the former real-estate developer and promoter has sought to avoid for decades.
He’s sought to avoid the taint of criminality while engaging in criminality with enthusiasm and zeal.
On Tuesday night, as the trial’s impact sank in, attention turned to Georgia. Herschel Walker, a former professional football player who was a member of the New Jersey Generals, a United States Football League team owned by Mr. Trump in the early 1980s, was waging an uphill battle in the state’s Senate runoff against incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat. In the end Mr. Warnock prevailed in a tight election.
Mr. Trump endorsed Mr. Walker early in the campaign, even as some Republicans in Washington were squeamish about a personal history that included allegations of abuse. Yet Mr. Trump was adamant that Mr. Walker would not face consequences with voters for his history, appearing to see the athlete as living proof that the ex-president himself, who survived one scandal after another, had changed the alchemy of campaigns.
Because in Trumpworld and Trumpbrain, abuse doesn’t matter, it’s only the allegations that matter. If you can hide or laugh off the allegations then there’s no problem. It doesn’t matter at all that the dude you want to see elected to the Senate has a long history of abusing women, because women don’t matter and abusing them is a perk of being a famous rich guy. Trump was sure Walker wouldn’t face consequences for his history, and he didn’t give a rat’s ass about the history itself.
In 2016, EMAILZ was of course the major Clinton “scandal.” But let’s not forget that a considerable amount of coverage was given to “asking questions” about the Clinton Foundation. As I recall, the sum total of Clinton Foundation “shadiness” consisted of: (1) the possibility that maybe some people might be donating to the CF in the hopes of getting political favors someday (which is no different from the risk posed by campaign contributions); and (2) the fact that one time the CF was asked to help someone get a special passport, a request that was duly ignored.
I trust that the criminal conviction of the namesake organization of a declared presidential candidate (and presumed front-runner for the GOP nomination) will be treated appropriately. (No, I don’t actually trust that at all.)
And yet again the stable genius who chooses only the best people is let down by all those around him. No pattern there; just an incredible coincidence.
Sounds like exactly the sort of person who should be elected to a job where one of the key functions is to appoint capable, ethical people to positions of power!
Well given a choice between a party swapped Walker and Ron DeSantis, what would you do? That’s why it was so close…
Mind you, being a brain-damaged caricature of what post-Reconstruction whites thought of black people is just a layer of extra baggage.