So let’s begin with a quick caveat, followed by a minimum of one, two or potentially more deep, hopefully calming breaths.
The Intramuralist is not a fan of Donald Trump. The Intramuralist is also not a fan of Joe Biden. We are not attempting to invoke any “bothism,” so to speak. It’s simply that each man, in my opinion, lacks significant core competencies necessary to lead our country consistently, effectively. I’ve heard the raucous crowds, seemingly fewer in number and louder in voice, demonstratively vocalizing why one is clearly better than the other. The rise in volume, however, fails to nix the substantiality of the individual, glaring, lacking competency.
For those who are fans of one — haters, too, I suppose — it would be easier; we could then converse about “The Trial of the Century of the Week”1 with a less objective retort along either the lines of “finally!” Or “take that!” Or “woe is he.” But something about that feels incomplete. It omits — in Harvey-esque fashion — the rest of the story. Here we ask: what relevant questions do the simple retorts omit?
Deep breath time. Truly. One of the complicating factors of this discussion is what I respectfully refer to as “Trump’s Law,” meaning when Donald J. Trump’s name is invoked, negatively or positively, it becomes inevitable that someone will lose all objectivity within less than 3 minutes, shutting the conversation down, regardless of the original topic.
I understand. It gets emotional. And with a massive segment of our media furtively focused more on rage2 than on understanding, it makes sense that our emotions would be fully fueled.
(Hence, one more deep breath…)
In last week’s verdict in New York State Unified Court, the former president was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with hush money payments to pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels. Two objective questions linger:
(1) Was the trial fair?
And (2) was any part of it politically motivated?
If the first answer is a resounding “yes” and the second, an equally resounding “no,” then I am all for finding a just way to assign appropriate consequence. If either of those answers are the contrary, what I wish or want doesn’t matter. I can’t defend a lack of due process.
The challenge is that there are many on all sides who adamantly aver that the trial wasn’t fair and that it was politically motivated.
One seemingly objective voice came from CNN legal analyst Elie Honig in the New York Magazine: “the charges against Trump aren’t just unusual. They’re bespoke, seemingly crafted individually for the former president and nobody else.” Not a conservative, Honig called the charges “inventive” and “inflated.” “Here,” Honig wrote, “prosecutors got their man, for now at least — but they also contorted the law in an unprecedented manner in their quest to snare their prey.”
Liberal Nellie Bowles in the Free Press wrote more: “Now, I’m all for jailing politicians. But the idea that counting hush-money payments as a business expense should lead to 34 felonies? This is the big crime? Of all the various legal efforts that might lock Trump up or bankrupt him before the election, the New York endeavors always seemed like the weirdest and most obviously political. Even cable news analysts are baffled when it comes to the specifics…”
And from NewsNation host Chris Cuomo, one who has openly spoken about his disgust for the former president, talks about the legitimacy of this trial: “It’s certainly not justice. That would be shame; that would be vengeance. That’s not what our system’s supposed to be about. And that’s what has bothered me about this case from jump…”
Friends, I have no definitive answers on guilt or innocence. I wasn’t in the courtroom, and I am not here to defend any candidate or party. But I do believe wisdom dictates we ask appropriate, objective questions… and to not allow fandom, hatred, or emotion to get in the way.
Respectfully… always…
AR
1The Free Press, Nellie Bowles, “TGIF: The Trial of the Century of the Week,” May 31, 2024.
2Them: Why We Hate Each Other — and How to Heal, Ben Sasse, October 2018.