Sign In
0 Items (
Search
Comments (47)
Inmate number P01135809, Fulton County prison, is running for President—and he has a new portrait.
Donald Trump’s Georgia mugshot has been viewed more times than the 1969 moon landing, and maybe more times than the moon itself. Trump used it to herald his return to Twitter, with the motto of “Never Surrender!” at 9:38 pm New York time, and it was viewed 100 million times before dawn. Add to that the millions who saw it on other parts of the internet, on television news broadcasts, and on the front pages of their morning papers all over the world, and it is certain that no image in human history has been viewed by more people within 24 hours of its release than this particular photo of the once (and future?) President Donald J. Trump.
The iconic image of the twenty-first century will not be Barack Obama’s “Hope” poster, showing the young candidate looking to the clouds, quietly pensive, ears akimbo. That was 2008. This is now. Trump’s photo is heavy-browed, scowling, and mean. It’s a street-cred rapper photo, and it seems certain to solidify Trump’s support among an emerging Republican vote bloc: African-American men. If Trump can flip black 
men in 2024 like he flipped Hispanic men in 2020, he can win the presidency. His persecution at the hands of an out-of-control criminal justice system certainly won’t hurt him.
The contrast between the iconic Obama and Trump images is more telling than might appear at first glance. The Obama poster was designed by a left-wing activist artist named Shepard Fairey. He based the poster on a photograph shot by the (presumably) Hispanic-American photojournalist Mannie Garcia, but never gave credit. Worse, Fairey was later found guilty of fabricating and destroying evidence in an attempt to evade paying copyright to Garcia. That’s right: a white left-wing activist shot to fame and fortune by stealing the work of a minority journeyman artist, then got caught lying about it. Trump’s iconic image, by contrast, is the honest desert of a dishonest indictment, a memory not of perfidy but of good old-fashioned American defiance.
Donald Trump’s mugshot is an era-defining image that will go down in history as the shot seen round the world. The proverbial ‘shot heard round the world’ was the opening shot of the American Revolutionary War. The phrase was immortalised by Ralph Waldo Emerson in the opening stanza of his hymn to the memory of the Minute Men, the citizen farmers of Massachusetts who turned back the British redcoats in the 1775 Battle of Concord:
By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.
Today, the educated urbanites of New York and Boston remember the American Revolution through the rap lyrics of the Broadway musical Hamilton—or through the racialised hyperbole of the New York Times 1619 Project. But for the first 200 years of the republic, most Americans learned a decidedly more demotic version of their national origin story, focused on the Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty who orchestrated the Boston Tea Party, the midnight ride of Paul Revere, Patrick “Give me Liberty or Give Me Death” Henry, Nathan “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country” Hale, and the winter suffering of the soldiers at Valley Forge.
Americans have always idolised the Founding Fathers as an abstract and undifferentiated grouping, but until recently their children learned about the American Revolution primarily through such accounts of heroism and sacrifice. This suited conservatives and progressives alike: conservatives, because of the appeal to traditions of virtue and patriotism, and progressives, because of the emphasis on the agency of ordinary people. And indeed the crossover quality of America’s twenty-first century populist wave can be seen in the convergent popularity of Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. These two men may literally incarnate the urban elite of New York and Boston (respectively), but their popular support comes from the workaday world of Middle America.
The rich men north of Richmond, of course, will never vote for Donald Trump. But the amateur singer-songwriter Oliver Anthony’s protest anthem Rich Men North of Richmond has been played more than 40 million times on YouTube and streamed countless more times on a dozen other platforms. That’s not conclusive social science, but it is an interesting data point. Establishment political polls have Trump neck-and-neck for 2024—the same polls that had Biden up by 5-10 percentage points just before the 2020 election. And if social desirability biases dissuaded independents from admitting their support for Trump in 2020, how much more so must such biases be in operation amidst the current hysteria? The betting websites’ longer than 3-1 odds on a Trump victory are starting to look very attractive.
Salvatore Babones is The Philistine
Surely any American who is not blind must know that Biden is a corrupt pawn of a corrupt Deep State? Similarly, it must be obvious that Biden became President through a process of blatant election fraud. People are not completely stupid, even in the United States (Victoria of course is another matter, since a bullying, lying, communist hack can get elected legimately here without any trouble).
Assuming Trump runs for President in 2024,the race – if it is not rigged as before – will basically be determined by how many voters are prepared to vote for a corrupt totalitarian regime to pursue what they imagine to be in their best interests. However it is virtually certain that the election outcome will be determined on a Deep State computer in the Biden family basement. Trump will not win, even if the polls show he has overwhelming popular support. The American dream has morphed from “Give me librerty or give me death” to “Just take the money and leave me alone”. However Americans should have seen enough gangster movies by now to realise this is not how it works.
Pres. Trump’s profile looks like that of a man all set to hunt down and bring to justice the ornery varmints that done him wrong.
Pres. Biden’s upcoming one will just look like a confused grandpa.
(This comment rejected even in the accommodating H-S)
Iain, the reason your comment was rejected was probably due the censorship which
has kept ornery Americans captive to Stockholm Syndrome.
Where is the profile shot? Trump’s Mug Shot doesn’t look anything like what I’ve always understood a mug shot to be; monochrome, with the subject instructed to keep their face perpendicular to the camera, look straight ahead and not to affect any facial gestures. Oh, and the prisoner must be holding their own number up to view. That’s why I was wondering if what I believed should be the mug shot was going to be released to public view, as I perceived the photo, as displayed above, was just some media depiction.
It’s a long time until voting day. The “establishment” simply cannot allow Trump to win. The CIA, the Justice Department, the FBI, … all have skeletons in their closets that they just simply cannot allow out. Too many important people. Too much potential jail time. Somehow, a “fix” will be arranged, the way the USA establishment always arranges a fix. Maybe voter fraud wont work a second time? Somehow, they will have to come up with a stunt so provocative that the MGA supporters cannot ignore. Then the response can be called an “insurrection”, democracy can be declared to be threatened, and the elections deferred indefinitely. Biden – four more years. That’s my predicted option – the alternative, an assassination, is too awful to contemplate.
Probably the latter Alistair as horrendous as it might be, think of JFK in 1963 and the fix used to get him.
Tucker Carlson canvassed what you’re alluding to in his recent interview of President Trump. President Trump wouldn’t be drawn on it but you got the impression he thought it was a possibility. Carlson had implied it looked like the logical next step if the court approach failed. And I’d imagine the court approach is likely to fail.
.
The risks of such a development will increase as his polling increases against President Biden. President Trump is already neck-and-neck with President Biden as Salvatore says.
.
If President Trump establishes a clear lead in polls over President Biden ( and that’s a distinct possibility) he better make sure his security is as tight as it can be.
Charlie Sykes’ take on this worthy of consideration, particularly by ‘Conservatives’ interested in protecting the image of their brand and the human manifestation of their philosophy.
QUOTE BEGINS:
But it all comes back to the person in this mugshot.
It was always going to end this way, wasn’t it?
If you elect a serial liar and conman, a narcissist, bully, wannabe mobster, with the vocabulary of an emotionally insecure 9-year-old, you can’t really be shocked at how it turned out, can you?
This is what Trump wanted, because this is what he chose.
He could have accepted defeat and allowed the peaceful transfer of power. He could have behaved like every other president in American history.
Instead, he chose to lie about the election. He chose to orchestrate a coup.
He made the decision to defame election workers and attempt to intimidate officials into stealing the vote.
It was his choice to form a criminal enterprise, and conspire to defraud the government, to summon the mob, and sit back as they attacked the Capitol.
It was a conscious decision to steal classified documents — including war plans — and ignore a federal subpoena. It was his choice to try to obstruct and cover up his crime, just like it was his choice to pay hush money to a porn star before the 2016 election.
It was also the GOP’s choice.
Time and again, Republicans had a chance to draw the line, or at least take an off-ramp. They could have stood astride all the insanity and criminality and said no. They could have impeached and disqualified him forever.
Instead, they served up the now-familiar farrago of Faustian bargains, cowardice, magical thinking, and corruption that led us to what happened this week:
When the eight candidates at the GOP debate were asked whether they would support Trump even if he was a convicted felon, six of the eight raised their hands.
Don’t gloss over this extraordinary moment from the party of law and order.
QUOTE ENDS
The moral I suppose is ‘be careful what you wish for.’
NB: ‘Awaiting approval’ means by the censor at this purportedly ‘liberal’ site, whose ever-dwindling commentariat speaks volumes about the philosophical strength of its outlook and credibility.
Ian MacD. Is it TDS or just DSP(Deep State Propaganda? TDS most interesting symptom is blindness followed by irrationality and prejudice. DSP is just good old avaricious poltroonery.
Fully agree, Ian. I frankly cannot believe the mindless support for an overtly creepy sleazebag like Trump in these pages of Quadrant, but I fully support free speech, so here goes . . . Trump and his acolytes threatened, and continue to threaten, the very foundations of our democratic system. Surely that must be obvious to any intelligent reader? Don’t we believe in a separation of powers? Had a mere mortal, without an army of lawyers in his palm, committed only a fraction of the misdemeanours perpetrated by this narcissistic, psychopathic mob, they’d have been locked up long ago.
The opening of Fintan O’Toole’s “A Frame-Up in Georgia” in The NY Review (Aug 17) puts it very nicely (it just so happens that the innocent victim here, Ruby Freeman, is an African-American woman, and we’re dealing with a state, not federal, judiciary in this case):
“If the ninety-eight-page indictment by Fani T. Willis, district attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, of Donald Trump, Rudolph Giuliani, and seventeen other people is ever made into a movie, it should be called The Framing of Ruby Freeman. Willis gives names to, and levels charges at, some of the people who appear anonymously in Jack Smith’s federal indictment of Trump. She brings more characters into her cast of racketeers. But her plot follows the same contours. The methods used to try to overturn the election of Joe Biden as president of the United States in November 2020 are by now familiar: making claims of electoral fraud that were themselves knowingly fraudulent, leaning on election officials to “find” votes for Trump, creating fake electors, pressuring the vice president Mike Pence not to certify the results. What makes the Willis indictment different is that its story is not only a grand narrative of what Smith characterizes as an attempt to defraud the United States. It is also the tale of a frame-up, a grotesque travesty of justice in which the power of government was used to traduce and attempt to destroy an innocent and defenseless citizen.
As such, it tells us not just what Trump did to try to hold onto power, but also what he will do if he ever gets hold of it again. There are big constitutional, political, and policy matters at stake in his campaign to return to the White House. But the kind of authoritarian rule he is trying to establish always comes down in the end to what happens to small, inconvenient people, those who become what Freeman was called in the Trump campaign against her: “a loose end.” They are lied about, criminalized, terrorized, threatened, and smeared—not by private gangs but by a gangsterized government. These are the things that happened to Ruby Freeman. What is at stake in the Georgia indictment is whether those who inflicted these intimate cruelties can get away with it and, therefore, be free to do it again.”
PMProciv your projection is more revealing than your arguments. Fintan O’Toole may know a little about soccer but that is his limit. But I too support Free Speech so keep going every word you utter makes those you label unintelligent appear very smart indeed.
Given a choice between Trump and his NYRoB critic, Fintan O’Toole, the former seems a moral exemplar.
O’Toole was a prominent de-platformer in the pile-on that saw Kevin Myers, a Quadrant contributor, banished from the Irish Times for the sort of notional anti-semitism that can only be discerned by standing on one’s head, closing one eye (the right one) and squinting hard. Strange, too, that the “greatest champion of Israel in the Irish press” is suddenly presented by the Left’s universal ‘aye’ as a hater of Jews. Backgrounder here:
https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/april-2021/cancelled-irish-style/
As for the NYRoB, it is Upper West Side liberal to its Hillary-smitten core. Its greatest contribution to public debate is providing Phillip Adams with other people’s words to plagiarise.
Yes, Trump is a vulgarian and, yes, were he to turn up at my door to take a daughter on a date, well I wouldn’t be happy. But I’m even less happy about seeing the things I love about the US — First, Second and Fourth amendments in particular — being trashed by a corrupt president, a media that reports from bended knee the Left’s attack on traditional liberties, and the Justice Department/IRS/Commerce/FCC/etc apparatchiks building careers upon foundations of depraved expedience and corruption.
In a perfect world I’d prefer to see De Santis in the Oval Office. But given the abuse to which Trump has been subjected, and the justice system with him, the only appropriate response is to hope a man so much wronged wins in 2024. America needs to make a formal, mass gesture of disgust with Biden and his peddlers of the Russiagate hoax, the two ludicrous impeachments and, of course, the antics of the January 6 committee.
Restoring Trump to the White House is the only way to send that message with the full force and emphasis it deserves.
Well, given you prefer to attack the man (O’Toole, Biden etc.) rather than address his argument, would Troy Bramston, of The Oz, satisfy your selection criteria? Here’s his piece from today (“US, world should fear new Trump presidency”, 29/8/23), put very lucidly: https://todayspaper.theaustralian.com.au/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=384013dd-6d70-4a43-8335-0b6c4cda2b4d
I don’t think anyone could question Trump’s determined and sustained attempt to subvert a functioning democracy, with all the subsequent risks that would bring.
Tell you what, wait until next year, when I plan to spend much of it on the road in the US. Perhaps, on the ground, I’ll discover that Biden is actually an honest, accute, upright servant of the citizenry, that the Justice Department is above reproach and Big Tech cares for nothing else but the preservation of free speech.
Perhaps.
Roger, I’m not sticking up for Biden — know nothing about his possibly corrupt behaviour (it seems almost a sine qua non for those entering high-level politics, and, even with a son who’s a huge embarrassment, doesn’t compare with the way the Trump clan has capitalised on Daddy Donald’s sojourn at the White House), and just expressing incredulity at the support here for Trump. For me, it’s impossible not to criticise the man without engaging in ad hominem attacks, for he presents no intellectual or even ideological framework with which to engage — he’s an empty vessel, proudly boasting of never reading a book, and spending his time either watching tabloid TV, on the golf course, or on twitter (or whatever it is now). He’s a big mouth that represents voracious consumerism and sprays vitriol over anyone who dares cross his path — not really the sort of person we want leading the world’s most powerful nation. Further, he’s directly attacked and eroded major institutions that are the foundations of the pinnacle (for some of us at least) of Western culture and democracy. It’s such a shame that the once-great Republican Party could be reduced to such a slavering rabble of Trump worshippers.
I’m relieved to see maybe some hopeful young contenders finally starting to emerge –and I very much look forwards to your reports of travels in the USA next year, which I hope you thoroughly enjoy. As always, time will tell. One thing I’m sure we do agree upon: we certainly live in interesting times.
Well said pmprociv. Lots of things may need fixing in the US, but the answer is not to fall for a lying narcissist like Trump.
Charlie Sykes is at https://morningshots.thebulwark.com/p/the-mugshot?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
‘This pursuit of Trump is very dangerous for the Americans and their constitutional republic. It is a betrayal of the political system and will come back not only to bite the Democrats but to tear their nation apart.
rosross
A most insightful comment.
I keep recollecting the viral video of hundreds of main stream media presenters repeating the same line “This is very dangerous to our democracy” which they were clearly all fed by a higher authority.
The totalitarians in control of the USA won’t risk a fair election.
Allowing an opposition a fair vote is clearly dangerous to THEIR democracy.
The question is how long will the populace remain compliant? and if the probable fight-back will once again play into the hands of the oligarchs.
Couldn’t disagree with you more on this, rosrosss — see my reply to Ian MacDougall’s first comment, above.
Trump is a menace, and a sociopath, albeit immune to any legal restraints thanks to his ill-gotten wealth. Sure, it’s a pity we don’t have good alternatives, but that’s no excuse for seeing a criminal in power as desirable. In fact, it’s having people like Trump running “the system” that discourages good people from even thinking of getting involved. How could you possibly begin to debate a puff of vindictive hot air?
A sure sign of someone unable to present coherent arguments is to resort to ad hominem arguments.
pmprociv,
Totally baseless accusations. Trump made his what you refer to as “Ill gotten gains” outside of politics in contrast to Biden, Obama and the Clintons. All the Democrats legal, politically motivated witch hunts into his finances have failed but they rely on repetition to convince their easily deceived supporters.
They do so with the support of a controlled, biased and increasingly irrelevant legacy media.
Clearly someone as popular and engaged with his base as Trump is can not be a sociopath.
A sociopath would have hidden in his basement during the election rather than rallied his supporters in record numbers.
Some people get a little snooty because of his plain speaking but they miss the point that he is simply a larrikin who mocks the powerful elites and is an endless source of entertainment for those who despise him as well as those who adore him.
I personnally enjoy watching leftists melt down like demons hit by holy water at the mere mention of his name.
Well, let’s tone it down to narcissistic psychopath. And his wealth is largely derived from dodgy real estate deals interspersed with repetitive “correctional” bankruptcies, admittedly maybe legal in their system. I wouldn’t go as far as saying the only “leftists” are not enamoured of Trump, nor would I compare his case (as others do here) with that of Cardinal Pell — which I instantly recognised as a gross travesty of justice as soon as it was broadcast.
While Trump kept ranting about “draining the swamp”, all he ended up doing was replacing its lowlife with his own bottom-feeders, while at the same time undermining the fundamental institutions of US democracy.
Good one Salvatore.
I’m for ex and future President Trump, to save the great U.S. ship of state from foundering, get the bilge pumps going again, & hopefully some of it can rub off on us as well. The bilges in our little ship of state are rapidly approaching engine room flooding level as well, and the stench is starting to waft up to us on deck….to me anyway.
This is a sad, nay, a frightening day for the USA as a unique experiment in freedom and the priority of the individual over the state. It is rapidly turning Lewis’ “It Can’t Happen Here’ novel into prediction.
Daffy
“Sad” and “frightening” are good words for it.
.
The Democrats and the mainstream media seem too busy gleefully attacking President Trump to realise just how dangerous this situation is … for them as much as everyone else.
The worst aspect of the famous Obama shot is the conscious attempt to imitate Jim Fitzpatrick’s iconic painting of Che Guevara. The one that adorns countless dorm rooms and t-shirts in Commie infested colleges. The one that was used as a backdrop to pictures of Obama’s visit to Cuba.
Che’s version of “revolutionary justice” is coming to America. The kind of justice that shoots political enemies by the hundreds. Putin-style justice.
They said: “it can’t happen here”. Well, it is happening here and for the same reasons it happened in Cuba. Totalitarians cannot tolerate dissent.
Too true. USA self-destructing.
Thanks Salvatore Babones for an excellent article.
.
Like so many actions of the anti Trump forces this could turn out to be another example of an own goal.
.
Apparently there was no legal requirement to take this mug shot nor release it. There was certainly no practical requirement – everyone knows who President Donald Trump is and there’s absolutely no chance of his absconding.
.
He’s taking on the courts front on and completely openly. He’s not going to slither away like a criminal might. He’s no criminal. He’s a former President of the United States and has a good chance of being the next US President.
.
This was apparently done to humiliate President Trump but humiliation can only occur where a person submits to it. President Trump is too powerful a human being to submit to this vile attempt to humiliate him.
.
I agree with Salavatore – there’s likely to be quite a backlash to this.
.
I felt Donald Trump had a good chance of winning the 2016 election despite what all the “experts” and what the Democrat candidate was saying herself that Hilary Clinton had it in the bag. In 2020 I had more doubts. But once again I think Donald Trump has a good chance of winning in 2024.
.
We all better hope he does. The world will be a lot less safe with another term of President Biden. And US democracy may well be in tatters unless President Trump is able to save it.
Complacency, the fight to retain the establishment hold on power and hate-filled political tribalism have allowed this incredibly dangerous situation to occur.
.
Complacency: the Democrats and those supporting them in this seem blissfully unaware of the dangerous power keg being set up here. If it explodes it could destroy US democracy and a lot of people on both sides along with it.
.
The establishment: it seems impossible that this could happen without the support of the US establishment. By ” this” I mean the unprecedented avalanche of enquiries and prosecutions launched against President Trump from the time he was first elected President in 2016. This is not just recent. Such actions have involved an equally unprecedented level of resources and co-operation between government agencies.
.
Hate-filled political tribalism: without this there would almost certainly have been a significant number of Democrats and their supporters who would have cried foul to this totalitarian state approach to politics where the prosecution and or worse of political foes is the order of the day. Where the ballot box plays a very minor role in political outcomes.
I live in the U. S. and all the histrionics about the Justice Dept being weaponized ring hollow when you consider Trump is the Jeffrey Epstein of politics, someone who thought his money protected him. May he rot in jail for decades.
Trump still lives rent-free in the heads of some. Trump Derangement Syndrome will go nuclear after 2024.
And Obama , Shrillary and the Biden crime family just to get richer eh ? Good for you , Ms Swift .
Negative proof- when you on the left despise something or someone other than Lenin or Stalin or Putin it confirms the idea that righteousness means something altogether different in the atheist unmind (unlearned),con-sec-rated mind. Atheistic truths have never and will never give the discerning consumer good bang for their buck.
If the left hate or despise someone(a sinner) that has to be an omen for goodness,right.
Funny isn’t it. We always thought the Yanks were light years ahead of us on so many levels. But it looks like the US criminal justice system is only just catching up with that of the People’s Republic of Victoria, right here in little old Australia. The US Justice Department has obviously studied the George Pell case closely and seen how President Dan and the Victorian Police and majority of the Victorian Court of Criminal Appeal did it. Trump will do to this indictment what Pell did to his, and demonstrate that it too is a “thing writ with water.”
Don’t forget the Queensland gaoling of Pauline Hanson and Ettridge for 13 weeks for alleged electoral fraud and the subsequent quashing by the Queensland Court of Appeal.
Exactly , Bruce – only conservatives do jail time , despite the egregious facts surrounding leftys .
Nice post , Simon .
I love that image of President Trump! It is an image of a determined fighter for the rights and freedoms of all Americans; that is the Face America needs now! Make America FREE, SAFE and GREAT again!
But where are the mug shots of all the following:-
Bill Barr – Not once did he say that Hillary Clinton’s destruction of 3000 subpoenaed emails and the hammering of telephones was unlawful. Not once did he say that the Crossfire Hurricane, Russia Russia Russia investigation into President Trump was disgraceful. Not once did he say that the Fusion GPS, the fabricated Steele Dossier, the Mueller investigation were disgraceful.
Joseph Biden (alias Robert L Peter, Robin Ware, JRB Ware), Alejandro Mayorkas, Merrick Garland, Chuck Schumer, Adam Schiff, Nancy Pelosi – Impeachment Inquiries should be held NOW into all of their activities. There is numerous evidence to justify an impeachment inquiry in each case especially Joe Biden and his money laundering into that complicated web of Shell companies. The rule of law MUST be restored.
Mike Pence – All that Pence had to do that fateful day on J6 in the Capitol was to follow the constitution and REFUSE TO CERTIFY the results in the States where there were very serious questions about election fraud e.g. in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona. The fact that the Biden administration has NOW made it law that the leader of Congress can no longer do this, is evidence that Pence could have done it on J6 2021.
The FBI (especially those on the 7th floor) and all those involved in the fake Trump investigations, impeachments and indictments especially Jack Smith, Fani T. Willis, David Weiss – (a) Crossfire Hurricane (b) Fusion GPS (c) Steele Dossier (d) Mueller Investigation, (e) President Trump Impeachments, indictments etc etc.
Yes, when will we see the Mug Shots of all the above?
Also, a very interesting legal discussion by Mark Levin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QAa7AIswFk
Life, Liberty & Levin 27.8.2023 – half hour program.
Excellent post , MCJ , you’re all over it ! What an upside down world we live in (terrifying) with so many koolaid drinkers (some on this site) going with the media/dem narrative -“Orange man bad” , when the Russia lie , and cover up , laptop etc , on top of Shrillary’s malfeasance is there waiting, waiting to be dealt with by the law . For those to say the election was fair defies belief , and that Trump somehow orchestrated a coup (remember those non-violent protestors – one unarmed woman shot dead by a black cop with no punishment? ) is ridiculous. Hillary herself has refused to concede she lost to Trump and this is the nub – everything that’s happened since , all the attacks on Trump , the worst rioting in US history over a false narrative , driven and encouraged by the Dem/media complex are because he dared to beat shoe-in Hillary , upsetting their succession and plans to destroy America . Now the worst President (and VP) is doubling down while we watch the west implode with so many battle fronts against a committed and power hungry global elite . Was never a Trump fan until he ran , and beat Hillary , then witnessed the greatest dummy spit ever from the left and 8 years of demonising an admittedly flawed man , one we knew all about , yet still elected . They cannot allow him to win , thus the kangaroo court farce now playing out .
Thank you for your kind comments john mac. Yes, no humans are perfect but some are far more decent, capable and honest than others. History has taught us that there are very few leaders who truly and honestly care about their country and its people. There is no doubt about it, President Donald Trump is one of those very capable leaders who cares about America and its people.
It is you who is the fool, consonant boy . If you can’t see what’s happening to the west in your kneejerk , media driven opinion of Trump , then perhaps the Guardian is a better fit for you . Your arguments are an inch deep , while Creepy Joe does irreparable damage to the US and the west , but stick to your delusions by all means . I guess everyone here at QOL are too polite to call you out .
Cognitive dissonance , anyone ? Your post has more holes than Bonnie and Clyde’s last ride . You and mcbot should get a room . No thoughts on the immense wealth while in govt from the Clintons, Obamas and Bidens – been living under a rock , ignoring the malfeasance ? Trump was a “Known known” when elected . Everyone knew of his life , marriages and peccadilloes , yet saw him as the necessary outsider . His policies alone should have been celebrated by all , yet he had the audacity to beat the anointed Shrillary , a serial , sociopathic liar if ever there was one . I myself was not a Trump fan at all , till he was elected , and the pile on from the media for the past eight years , unrelenting , vindictive , partisan , should have given even a lefty pause for thought , but apparently not you , consonant boy .
There’s reason for hope that their healthy scepticism of government will wake the US people up to this use of the justice system across America to target the Democrat’s main political opponent.
.
There’s little doubt it’s already the case among Republicans when you look at polling associated with the Republican primaries’ race. President Trump has an unassailable lead in the primaries. He’s on over 50% and his nearest rival is on 16%.
.
Although Democrats are so far obviously less affected than Republicans the fact President Trump is already neck-and-neck with President Biden in polls for the presidency – despite the extraordinary and unprecedented level of prosecutions being waged against him – tends to indicate it’s started having an impact with traditional Democrat voters too and they’re beginning to question what’s going on.
.
More is sure to be revealed when the Biden – Trump election race takes off in full about the astounding level of government resources used against President Trump on enquiries and prosecutions that started way back when he was first elected in 2016. The Trump campaign will probably list all these in detail and that will likely shock the US people when they see the immensity of it all in one place.
.
Traditionally a healthy distrust of the establishment has been a common theme in US politics. It has reflected part of the American psyche going way back in US history.
.
We see it for example in the deliberate division of power between the legislature and the executive arm of government. Quite the opposite approach to our Westminster system where the executive government derives its power from the legislature … in the US the executive government derives its power in a completely separate election from the legislature. It’s known as a system of checks and balances.
.
I think recent polls which directly address the issue of trust in today’s US justice system tend to confirm what I’m saying.
.
The Wall Street Journal reported : “A Marquette University poll in July found nearly 60% of Republicans said they had little or no confidence in the Justice Department … about 40% of Americans overall did.”
.
As more is learnt when the the presidential election campaign gets into full swing about the astounding level of government resources used against President Trump since way back in 2016 similar polls are likely to reflect even less confidence in the justice system.
.
Hopefully that translates into even stronger support for President Trump ( he’s already next-and-neck with Biden now in presidential polls). Arguably the health of US democracy depends on that happening.
First of all, Salvatore, I love your noting of Obama with ‘ears akimbo’. Sometimes little things can make one’s day.
What can’t ever make my day is the Trump Derangement Syndrome on offer above. I am fair-minded enough to find nothing particularly objectionable in Trump’s persona, he’s somewhat brash but not grossly impolite in proper company, he has huge patriotism, understands this in other nations, and has good insights into how economies actually work. You can use ‘street smarts’ for that, call it experience in deal-making if you need to dress it up; no ‘intellectual’ certification needed. Seeing Troy Brampston of The Australian held up in a comment above as a paragon of objective virtue in his biased analyses of matters concerning Donald Trump is truly risible. For goodness sakes, read what the man writes, bias from start to end. Many dislike Trump because of his very solid ego, but that comes with the political territory. At least in Trump it is visible.
For a while there I started to favour a new broom, DeSantis being the man, after we returned from experiencing the mid-terms in a blossoming Florida, even though I was one who definitely thought on the night that the 2020 election was rigged. I still hold that it was right at the very least to be highly suspicious of some of the ‘late’ ballots I had seen rolling in on video, regarding this late ballot surge for Biden in need of further examination. That Donald Trump called for more time for an examination is NOT undermining democracy; it is usual practice, done by many in a Presidential contest. There was protest on January 6th but NO insurrection, which Brampson is still banging on about today. ‘Insurrection’ is a Democrat fabrication.
And now, more recently, events pushed by Democrats that really do subvert faith in the Justice system, and the Rule of Law, have changed my mind and drawn me back to favor Trump for 2024. I believe the US won’t get over this period of blatant anti-democratic behaviour by a political party calling itself the Democrats until a fair election brings a fair result for Donald Trump – a win or a believable loss.
Currently, the country is being torn apart by the behaviour of the TDS Democrats and people who will tell you that ‘Trump lies’. When you ask for a genuine example though, they are stumped. Go figure. Here’s an example of a non-genuine event pushed as a Trump ‘lie’: when the media reported that Trump said to ‘use bleach’ on Covid the beat-up was clear. President Trump used ‘like bleach’ as a metaphor (or simile) for something that would kill the new virus when discussing his fast-track on a vaccine (relying on bad scientific advice is not his fault; the whole world was deceived). The MSM had a field day on this, and the line of ‘Trump was stupid enough to tell people to swallow bleach’ became the catch-cry of the day. Multiply this sort of constant media beat up and sheer misinformation on any small aspect of President Trump’s normal behaviour and you get TDS.
Meanwhile, creepy Uncle Jo Biden is an undercover Big Man selling the US for thirty pieces of silver.
Looking forward to The Franklin Report from the US next year, RF.
Nice analysis, EB. The squishes on this site will never countenance a balanced observation on Trump. A man who loves his country, and whose policies were spot on, but apparently not acceptable in polite company of virtue signallers. The fact that he got elected , when all in the US knew of his life and flaws and still voted for him should have been enough. As he has said ” They’re not after me , they’re after you”.