Donald Trump Indicted. Let the Trump Show Begin

I published the podcast episode “The Fate of Democracy” on June 12, 2021. In it, I declared that, by Election Day 2024, Trump would be either dead, indicted, or in prison.

The first is up to God.  Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg has seen to the second. And a jury will see to the third in due course.

But another Black prosecutor is giving Bragg a run for his money. After all, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis plans to indict Trump too…

Donald Trump Indicted

Bragg joined New York Attorney General Letitia James to prosecute the Trump Organization on a battery of fraud charges. And a judge sentenced his longtime CFO Allen Weisselberg to prison for five months.

That dress rehearsal played out last December. Now it’s show time! Trump is already projecting in vain to deflect from the legal jeopardy he’s facing.

On the eve of his arraignment, Trump has taken to social media to level a frantic attack against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. …

Trump responded to a Yahoo News report that his indictment would include 34 class Class E felony counts of falsification of business records with a furious rant on Truth Social. … He added, “If he wants to really clean up his reputation, he will do the honorable thing and, as District Attorney, INDICT HIMSELF.”

(Rolling Stone, April 3, 2023)

Trump’s indictment means chickens are coming home to roost

Trump has blustered, projected, and gaslighted his way through all kinds of crimes. This indictment means it’s all finally coming home to roost. That’s why he’s lashing out like a chicken with its head cut off.

Embed from Getty ImagesHe’s even glorifying the Jan 6 insurrectionists. And he has convinced gullible MAGA Republicans that those insurrectionists are heroes. So he could convince a jury he’s a hero too. This, despite being a twice-impeached, coup-plotting, indicted, gilded-tower grifter.

Of course, prospective jurors might find glorifying insurrectionists incriminating. But Trump is too myopic and petulant to see that.

Trump raising millions off indictment

I suppose one should never let an indictment go to waste. That’s why Trump is using his to play the victim and ask for money.

But this is nothing new. He has been milking MAGA Republicans like cash cows from day one. Trump even turned his election loss into a fundraising bonanza. Now he’s turning his indictment into one too.

That includes peddling merchandise emblazoned with his “mugshot.” He’s even boasting that they will sell more than Disney merchandise. But MAGA suckers might prove him right.

Frankly, MAGA Republicans are in the death throes of a mercenary form of Stockholm Syndrome. Trump has corrupted their minds to serve his dystopian ambitions. And they are now like cultists who value loyalty to Trump over the rule of law, their own safety, and even the almighty God.

Republicans keep sacrificing their principles at the altar of Trump’s autocratic ambitions. So they are condemning DA Bragg for daring to arrest Trump. That is, instead of condemning Trump for inciting violence to prevent his arrest. That echoes how he incited violence to prevent the peaceful transfer of presidential power on Jan 6.

The media…

No doubt, the indictment of a former president is unprecedented. But so much about Trump’s behavior as president was unprecedented. Frankly, watching the things Trump does is like rubbernecking trainwrecks every day. And the only reason reporters wag their tails and report everything he does is that it’s good for ratings.

Call it ‘Trump Cam.’ Trump, Trump, Trump. And more Trump. …

The war in Ukraine, the unveiling by NASA of its future Moon crew, a speech by the actual president, Joe Biden, in Minnesota — good luck finding any of that.

(Yahoo! News, April 3, 2023)

Sick!

Trump called on his MAGA supporters to line the streets and protest in front of the court to show their support. They are suckers. But they are not stupid. That’s why news crews outnumbered his supporters 100 to 1 at every turn. That speaks volumes.

Sure enough, his arrest is getting wall-to-wall coverage. But that’s because Trump is playing the media like a fiddle on a string. Put another way, he’s playing them like Pavlovian dogs chasing his shiny balls.