President-elect Trump can be faulted for many things but the fact that he is a “convicted felon” doesn’t bother me at all – because I was almost one myself and on the basis of similarly trumped-up “charges.”
When I was about 20 years old and a sophomore in college, I was dumb enough (and who isn’t, at that age?) to grow pot plants in my dorm room. Naturally, almost everyone knew about it and for that reason, so did the cops. I was arrested, taken to jail and charged with a felony – for growing plants. Fast forward to now and it is legal to grow them in the same state – Virginia – where I came within a hair’s breadth of being sent to prison for possibly several years for growing them back in the ’80s.
So I feel for Trump – on this matter.
He ended up being convicted on the 26 trumped-charges that were brought against him that came down to one of his book-keepers not exactly correctly categorizing the Shut Up (and go away) money that Trump paid to get Stormy Daniels do just that. He paid her with his own money – and whatever the nature of the relationship between Trump and Daniels, no one (including Daniels herself) has ever suggested it was anything other than consensual and both of them were adults.
So who was wronged?
Put more directly, who was victimized by Trump’s paying Daniels a sum of his own money – for whatever reason?
This question begs more interesting inquiries into the nature of “crime.” What is it, exactly? Well, it can be – and is – whatever the government says is “criminal.” And that can be entirely arbitrary because it does not require that a victim be produced. It is enough that the authority of the government is affronted. This is what happened to me – and to Trump. And to countless millions of others, who caused no harm to anyone but were convicted of doing some thing the government says we may not.
It’s not even that – for “government” is not an entity. It is a mechanism. One controlled by a handful of people who somehow have legal power to persecute people who’ve not harmed anyone but who have not followed the rules, is what it comes down to. These rules – styled laws, to make them sound more substantial – serve as a kind of pen as well as a cudgel and both are used to keep people in line.
“The law” says you may not do this – or must do that.
It is generally accepted as legitimate, which is a very odd thing when you stop to ponder it. Why should it be a crime to do this – or not do that – when doing this (or not doing that) hasn’t resulted in harm done to anyone else? Shouldn’t it be necessary to prove that whatever was done – or not done – did harm someone else?
Is it not absurd to speak of the government as the aggrieved party – as in United States (or State of Virginia) vs. you or me?
If the harm has been done and it was inadvertent, recompense is certainly in order. But it is silly – it is vicious – to characterize inadvertent harms caused as “criminal.” So long as the person who inadvertently caused the harm makes whole the damage done. If he shirks the responsibility, that is arguably criminal.
If the harm done was deliberate and especially if it was physical (e.g., battery, rape, murder) then it is obvious there is both a victim and a crime. Once proved, it is case closed in that almost no one would deny that a crime was committed and whatever follows from that justified.
But where is the “crime” in not exactly-correctly filing the accounting paperwork regarding the disbursement of one’s own money to anyone one wishes to disburse it to? Where is the “crime” in growing plants or even for that matter selling their leaves and buds to consenting adults who wish to buy the material?
I hope that Trump’s recent kangaroo court experiences open his mind to the injustice of a system that can and is used to persecute people who’ve caused no harm to anyone. In particular, people who are not Trump and do not have the means to defend themselves against such “charges” and so often end up not merely “convicted felons” but prisoners.
How many lives have been ruined as a result of such “convictions”? For it is not just the time spent in prison. It is the rest of your life. Had I been convicted back in the ’80s – and sent to prison – it is doubtful I’d have been able to get other than menial work after getting out of prison. Because “convicted felon” doesn’t look good on one’s resume – nor that gap of several years when you were locked up.
I have empathy and sympathy for Trump as regards the ridiculous ordeal he was put through. But I worry he doesn’t have the same for others. Especially as regards arbitrarily illegal drugs – which is interesting when juxtaposed with the arbitrarily legal ones that are actually pushed on people.
That’s something I never did. Unlike, for instance, Albert Bourla of Pfizer – who made hundreds of millions (if not billions) at the expense of many people’s lives. He has yet to be charged with even a misdemeanor and is free to walk the streets.
Will Trump sic the law on him? Or will he sic it on people who’ve harmed no one but do (or don’t do) things that Trump doesn’t like? As for instance people who have the gall to criticize or even note the abhorrent policies and actions of the government of Israel and the latter’s alarming power to coerce both silence and grotesque hosannahs.
I think we know the answer to that already.
. . .
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‘Is it not absurd to speak of the government as the aggrieved party?’ — eric
Perfect example right here:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GhCqZ8IXoAAawr8?format=jpg&name=small
The oso [bear] on his jacket is a visual pun. It translates into the rhetorical question, Do bears shit in the woods?
LOL! But nobody’s laughing. 🙁
I find it utterly bizarre how many states are now legalizing dope. Seems that weed is now OK — as long as the government is the dealer! They will still send you to prison for growing dope, though if you grow enough that the State sees you as competition.
It’s also absurd that many of the same states that are now legalizing weed are simultaneously doing all they can to suppress the use of tobacco. Inhaling marijuana smoke is good for you, inhaling tobacco smoke is a horrible health risk?
WTF? Why no Surgeon General’s warnings on weed?
There’s also the extraordinary fact that weed remains illegal under federal law. States legalizing it are engaged in nullification. Putting aside the merits or demerits of weed itself for a moment, how can they get away with this? Why can’t they nullify federal gun laws?
The older I’ve gotten, the more I realize the truth of the saying “the law is an ass.” There’s no consistency or sanity to it. It’s just a fig leaf for political bullshit and brute force.
By they way… out next Ambassador to France will be Charles Kushner, a convicted Jewish felon, pardoned by Trump.
And unlike Trump, he committed REAL crimes.
It’s the Lawof Conservation if Permitted Substances.
One thing gets legalized, some other thing gets prohibited, everyone goes to prison.
‘Why can’t [states] nullify federal gun laws?’ — X
They could try. Trouble is, the fedgov’s ATF has a hammerlock on licensed gun dealers. ATF raids them whenever it feels like it, often with no state or local law enforcement present.
A nullifying state would have set up its own firearms dealer licensing — and then be prepared to engage in armed conflict to drive out the ATF usurpers.
How do you spell relief? S-E-C-E-D-E. Same as it ever was.
The Left got what they wanted with Trump being labeled a “convicted felon”. However, how many of the minorities they CLAIM to care about were also labeled “convicted felons” & sent to jail over BS over the years? I’ve read pieces over the past several months suggesting that was one of the reasons so many black people, particularly black men, were supporting Trump for President this past year.
Exactly John,
How many of those people were jailed simply for using a verboten substance due to the ‘war on drugs’? WTF business is it of Govco what I choose to ingest; where’s the “my body my choice” crowd now. The DEA should be the first of the many 3 letter agencies to get axed.
Eric wrote: How many lives have been ruined as a result of such “convictions”? For it is not just the time spent in prison. It is the rest of your life. Had I been convicted back in the ’80s – and sent to prison – it is doubtful I’d have been able to get other than menial work after getting out of prison. Because “convicted felon” doesn’t look good on one’s resume – nor that gap of several years when you were locked up.
Hillary Clinton tried to make this a campaign issue in 2016 as an appeal to the black community. Not by getting rid of stupid laws, oh no. She just wanted to make it illegal for businesses to inquire and do background checks on job candidates. Because the legal system depends on everyone being guilty of something, otherwise district attorneys and judges might have to actually do their jobs instead of plea bargain everyone into jail.
Imagine if that plumber you just hired a parolee murderer or hotel maid cleaning your room was a convict? Not someone like Eric who did something stupid, but a real criminal. You OK with not being able to know? Is their employer on the hook for anything they do if they’re not permitted to do a background check? More importantly, what if a sex offender “felt the call” to become schoolteacher?
I’m sure we all did stupid things we wish we hadn’t, that’s life. In the old days employers might check, then chalk it up to youth and stupidity. These days, the HR department isn’t about to let anyone slide who does’t fit their profile.
Thomas Massie is trying to expose the Congressional slush fund to cover up members’ sexual deviancy. Hell, it’s not like Trump left a poor innocent woman to drown…
The Stormy D. thing is/was just another example of the left and their media accomplices witch hunt.
Besides, speaking as a dirty old man, Trump coulda done a lot better than the Stormy D. skank.
Hi Mike,
Yup. Meanwhile, that creep Starmer is treated with respectful courtesy. Not only did he suppress (true) stories about rapes committed by “migrants,” he was a buddy of Jimmy Saville’s back in the day and apparently protected the pederast.
‘He paid her with his own money’ — eric
Which is not illegal, then or now. Legal commentator Jonathan Turley:
‘It is a case based on a non-crime. [New York DA Alvin] Bragg took a long-dead misdemeanor and zapped it back into life with a novel and unfounded theory. By using federal violations that were never charged, let alone tried, Bragg turned a misdemeanor into dozens of felonies and essentially tried Trump for federal offenses [in state court].’
Trump’s conviction may well be overturned by New York’s higher courts. But first he had to be convicted and sentenced before his appeal could proceed.
November’s presidential election was essentially the largest jury nullification ever. By a margin of 77.3 million to 75 million, a majority of Americans declared that Bragg’s ‘conviction’ was a tainted political railroading.
Another Trump tormentor, the Lincoln impersonator Jack Smith, has resigned. We’ll be able to track Smith’s greasy slime trail as he belly crawls back under his grotty rock.
One week until raccoon-faced ‘attorney general’ Merrick Beria ‘Garland’ [not his real name] surrenders his usurped office. “Biden’s” cabal remains capable of fresh f*ckery during this fraught period, with corrupt pardons and new Russian sanctions to spike oil prices into the inauguration.
‘Biden’ truly is a sneering, contemptuous vandal, spitefully wrecking the place on his way out the door. Hopefully he’ll be the last DemonRat.
Let me get this straight. A woman claims to have had an affair with a guy and will go public if he doesn’t pay her millions of dollars. Isn’t that extortion? She then takes the payoff and signs an agreement to keep her mouth shut. She cashes the check and starts yapping about it. Then, the guy that paid the extortion gets convicted of 34 felonies for paying her off. What am I missing here?
Yes, there was a felony involved, the video hooker is guilty of blackmail. Interesting, too, is that Trump is probably the only man to every pay her to shut her mouth…
As Stormy Daniels signed the NDA isn’t she in breach of contract? From what I’ve heard the courts do take the sort of thing seriously. It’s just a matter of suing her.
We sure do know the answer, Eric.
The charges against Trump were utter poppycock, and so were his convictions, but how many other people have been convicted of multiple felonies and sentenced to “unconditional release”?
How nice.
I’ll bet you were given a misdemeanor charge for your illicit horticultural activities, Eric, and sentenced to something more grievous than “unconditional release”.
So will Orange Man learn anything? Will he learn animosity for a system that will ruin your life for nothing? I was hopeful that would be the case, but I doubt it.
I’m afraid the burden falls upon us to dismantle these affronts to freedom and autonomy, and it won’t be easy.
Albert Bourla is going to retire with more money than all of us in this group could make in a life time put together. He is Big Pharma, after all, and they have enough money to bribe pretty much anyone. Or have them prosecuted or killed. It is sad that we have a bunch of whores running this place, instead of real men (and women) with balls and spines to stand up. TPTB will systematically prosecute anyone they want, because, well, they can. It helps keep everyone in check, should someone dare think for themselves. You, pleb, did not follow our rules, and who cares that growing a pot plant and smoking the weed for yourself in your living room (while you eat up half your ‘fridge & take a nap after) harmed no one. Meanwhile, the border is wide open, and God only knows how many sleeper cells we have in the country. But yes, go after the pot grower and the one who rolled through a stop sign in BFE when you were the only car in sight. I have to wonder, Eric: Now that weed is legal in Virginia, can you get such a rap removed from your record, or are you forever “tainted” with that behind your name?