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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It’s fun to watch the corporate media work themselves up into a lather over having our first felon president.
This felony will be overturned on appeal, if there is any justice left. The NY AG and judge made up a crime just to convict Trump. Now, Trump is a scoundrel, no doubt about it, however, not in this particular regard. If this conviction is overturned, I can’t wait to see the rivers of tears pouring out of the media about Trump’s influence on the judicial system, how rule of law is dead, etc.
We’re living in interesting times.
Not that these will succeed, but efforts such as these should be fully supported:
https://boebert.house.gov/media/press-releases/reps-boebert-burlison-introduce-legislation-abolish-atf
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/450
Abolish the ATF and repeal the NFA. As said by others, the DEA should quickly follow, and the FDA, the Department of Edumacation, and many others.
As demonstrated by the Commiefornia fires, the only person who truly cares about saving you is yourself.
All the laws, bureaucrats, building codes, inspectors, licenses and astronomical taxation practices will do nothing but cause you ruin and heartache in the name of “saaaaaafety”. But what it all really is, of course, is an illusion.
That would be the illusion that anything has changed since the days of King George III.
Your Feudal Lords just changed titles.
Jury nullification involves “judging the law” itself in determining whether to convict or acquit a defendant. It is legal in all 50 states, but will not be disclosed to you. In fact, it you bring up jury nullification during voir dire (jury selection) you will be dismissed. If you bring it up as a reason for acquittal, depending on the court, you may be charged with contempt for refusing to base your decision on the defendant’s actions. Although jury nullification is legal, many jurisdictions will attempt to make it “illegal”.
The key to successful jury nullification is to “keep your mouth shut” and tell NO ONE of your intent, especially other jurors.
As firearms, environmental and civil-rights laws are technically unconstitutional and illegal, I would be reluctant to convict someone for merely “not having a piece of paper”, “digging a ditch on one’s own land” or “refusing to bake a cake for a homosexual wedding”.
These are but three examples of when “jury nullification” MUST be used. It only takes ONE juror who refuses to convict to either declare a “mistrial” or “acquittal”.
The one holdout juror (you) will probably be lectured by the “judge” who wants to dispose of the case, but you must stand your ground. The “judge” may threaten you with “contempt of court” but that is also highly illegal. You do not have to explain yourself beyond stating that “reasonable doubt” exists in your mind and that you cannot convict. In every case, do not mention jury nullification.
In the land of ‘Show me the man, I’ll show you the crime,’ We are all potential or actual felons now. YMMV, act accordingly.
The cars we drive, the supplements/plants we use, the memes and narratives we spew, the guns we shoot, the cash we use, the wrong think we posit, all just just a good crisis away from being outlawed.
Would have been better off with Kumswallaa. At least the majority population could have more or less coalesced around the idea of ‘I Do Not Consent.’ Her level of utter incompetence would have only served to wake up more people. Now we’ll get the die hard, bitter clingers who still think Trump might fix this, when all he can do is fiddle around the edges as our chickens come home to roost. Anyone who can do basic math can see the trajectory of the US is death spiral terminal. The axiom TINVOWOOT was as true six months ago as it is today.
The King of Corona, who despite being abused by the legal system at every turn, won’t give a fat shit when it happens to his supporters. Think I’m full of shit, just watch the fate of the J6’s. All of whom should be immediately freed after four years time served. Instead, its lifetime incarceration, for at worst, class B misdemeanors/vandalism.
Its the hate crime enhancements for hurting the feelings of Marxist/Bolshevik apparatchiks that get you in the end.
J6 gulagers will be “released” case by case based on political expediency. Same for the rest of F² promises.
Like fat trophy pic catch and release bass.
Why did that horned clown get out long ago holding TCs hand?
Has F² sworn his ass to the enemy ? Damn right IT has.
FEDERAL felony conviction while doing absoutely zero harm is always political bullshit in action. All political theatre in case of Trump, not so frivilous for us goy.
How the filthy mob operates.
“King of the Jews” nailed.
Now over 7 billion of us humans KNOW EXACTLY WHO this enemy is.
No debates, no gaslight, no shite
The rest of us in denial for political favor. Chicken shit bible thumpers, unfortunates, flametard gays and die hard Democrats will soon learn the error of thier ways.
Ah . . . But The Orange Fail IS a criminal. Has been for a long time.
He’s a criminal if by no other deed than having previously held office as President.
Murder by drone – yup, he’s done it
Corruption and bribery – yup, he’s done it.
Violation of the oath of his office – yup.
I could go on.
It’s just fitting that he was found guilty by the very same system of lawfare that the Government has been waging on its own citizens for over a hundred years.
‘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. 🙁
His [Newscum] lackadaisical concern for his job has cost multiple lives and billions of shekel dollars in property damage. Worse, he won’t be held responsible and ejected from his post,,, hell, he’ll likely be re-elected.
Meanwhile, King Biden and culprits say money to fix it all up [ Southern Cal] is no problema while many in North Carolina sleep in tents heated by portable propane heaters with a $700 dollar loan.
We seem to have multiple tiers of citizens. The cost of replacing one home in Palisades would likely cover many homes in NC.
Don’t believe for a minute that this was not intentional. The only thing that the celebrities and wealthy are going to find out…they are just like the rest of us. They hold no power. They hold no position. Welcome to the dark side boys and girls. It sucks, doesn’t it?
https://ita.lacity.gov/smartla2028
So true.
Just watch how CA is already being pitted against NC. They will both be sorely disappointed when the Federal Government fails to come to the rescue.
Hi BID,
Federal government is the least of their concerns. Wait until the people of LA want to rebuild. They will be wrapped in red tape, bureaucracy, and stifling codes. The only way out…sell your property. I wonder who will show up to purchase it? State Street, Vanguard, BlackRock???
This fire was not incompetence or DEI hiring this was sabotage.
“Multi-Family Housing” bonanza, Raider Girl. You can count on it.
…And a fat lot of good the copious building codes, inspections and astronomical property taxation has done there. They would’ve done much better if someone told them that no one was coming to save them from the very beginning and they got to keep their money and dignity along the way.
Hi BaDnOn,
“They would’ve done much better if someone told them that no one was coming to save them from the very beginning and they got to keep their money and dignity along the way.”
I believe there is a small section of America (about 20%) that is fully aware of this. The other 80% are (albeit, slowly) starting to wake up. Unfortunately, warning people does little good and usually falls on deaf ears. Some need to experience it to actually believe it.
As devastating wildfires once again consume California’s landscapes, a growing number of skeptics are pointing to an eerie coincidence: the fires are burning in regions earmarked for major redevelopment under the controversial “SmartLA 2028” initiative.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/01/california-wildfires-ignite-shocking-theories-claiming-fires-were/
Hi anon,
Isn’t that convenient? How do you get rid of a bunch of R-1 housing with pretty views to build condos and skyscrapers…well, a fire with next to no water, should do the trick.
>build condos and skyscrapers…
I doubt it. Maybe in Pasadena/Altadena area, but Malibu/Pacific Palisades is home to filthy rich “celebrities,” mostly from the “enta-tainment” industry. These people aren’t going to give up their multi million dollar mansions, such as:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/01/mel-gibson-reveals-14-5m-malibu-mansion-burned/
to go live in a clowndominium somewhere.
I consider it more likely that Newscum & cronies will push through a “disaster relief” package for these poor dears, at the expense of those of us of modest means who live in, so to speak, BFE.
Hi Adi,
You mean like the “entertainment” industry that rebuilt after the 2018 Woolsey Fire? I believe they all left town (Cyrus is in TN, Michaels is in FL, etc.) Just under 2000 structures were burned down (which is less than 20% of the current structures under the Pacific Palisades and Eaton fires). Note: That doesn’t make it any less devastating. It is just a fact.
Do you think the majority of these people have 2-3 years to wait to build another home in CA and that is if CA doesn’t tie them up waiting for permits and new building codes?
Very much like Maui, the rich will take the insurance payout, sell the land, and buy a bigger property somewhere in Jupiter, Florida. Everyone else gets $700 and a FEMA tent.
Could be wrong, but I think Newskum is term limited out. That wont stop him from being the uni-parties preferred candidate in four years. It will be the perfect storm of unintended consequences. After Trump presides over the destruction of any remaining ‘conservative’ ideals, it’ll be fertile ground for making omelettes.
Property mismanager Gel guys chinese employer has no need for massive decadent displays south of its new border fka the grapevine. Or on Maui.
It EMPTIED the reservoir and CANCELLED thier fire insurance.
Get a huge clue.
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.
[How do you spell relief? S-E-C-E-D-E. Same as it ever was.]
They did that back in the day,,, called revolt,,, then created the monster we enjoy today.
Most humans are incapable of learning.
“Would you tell me. Please, Mr. Howard, Why I should trade one tyrant three thousand miles away for three thousand tyrants one mile away.
An elected legislature can trample a man’s right as easily as a King can. ”
Benjamin Martin
That’s not the world’s worst idea but it is not a panacea either.
Most state governments would just as soon assume all of the powers the feds claim, and then some.
Blue states are about 99.9% totalitarian, and red states are about 95% totalitarian. The “great reset” we actually need, looks nothing at all like the one that will be imposed. I am confident that will fail, but I have no confidence in what comes after that and I am certain it will get very, very ugly in the meantime.
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.
Hi Mike,
Speaking of DEA, was it Richard Nixon who created that government agency as part of his “War on Drugs” in the early 1970s?
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.
All “controlled substance” possession and use felony convictions are unconstitutional or need to be reclassified as such. As this activity caused ZERO HARM to anyone this nonsense needs overturned, expunged and only remembered as tyranny.
It will NEVER HAPPEN. Lawyers and the criminal grift they build support and HARM INNOCENT HUMANS with this psychopathic game they undeniaby ENJOY. Like fithy fn MD,
% Lawyers who are the ENEMY ?
Yes YOU sheister quacks. Garbage.
Humans dont NEED you. Go away.
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.
Day one 11 thousand pipeline workers outa work. Downhill from there. FJillB. Psychopath.
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.
The problem is that suing Stormy Daniel’s for breach of contract and slander and libel, is that she has everything to gain, and will benefit grossly from all the free publicity provided by the communist propaganda outlets.
A sensible man, and a practical, amoral one, would just discreetly put out a contract on the whore. Unfortunately, Trump is not an amoral man. For all his myriad failings, he doesn’t back down and proceeds with the blessings of a clean conscience.
People like to point out his (ab)uses of eminent domain, but the flip side of this is people who would stop a multi million or billion dollar project by turning down extraordinarily generous offers and trying to extort vastly more.
Yes, it is their property to sell, but somewhere there is a limit. Very little in this world is black and white. I know I’ve said this inexactly, but the principle is the same as denying a man dying of thirst a drink from your well. It is your water, but part of owning things is being ready to let them go.
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?
Bourla, Quack feeder psychopath.