third time's the charm?

image via: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/2/trump-indictment-tracker-where-do-cases-against-former-us-president-stand

We've been waiting for Trump to be indicted for J6 for so long that when it finally came it was...not a let down but I expected it to have a greater emotional impact. I was more excited by the indictment over the stolen classified and super secret documents and his cavalier manner of handling them and his possible sale of their contents to our enemies. Not that I think that case is more important. It's not. I guess what I really felt was sad, sad that an ex-president not only conspired to overthrow the most secure election in our history but actively participated in the conspiracy and then finally, when all their previous efforts to change the outcome of the election failed, sent an angry armed mob to the Capitol in a last ditch effort to stop the peaceful transfer of power that this country has been known for and proud of, to capture and hold at the very least, or murder at the very worst, Vice President Pence and speaker Pelosi to allow Chuck Grassley to call the election for Trump all because he lost, because he is a spoiled petulant bully of a manboy who has always been able to buy, lie, threaten, cheat, steal, or sue for whatever he wanted and get away with it and if destroying this 250+ year old experiment in self determination would get him what he wanted, sobeit.

I read the entire 45 page indictment on Wednesday. There wasn't much new that I hadn't already read about or has been speculated about, his and his 6 co-conspirators efforts through lies and lawsuits and fake elector schemes and pressure on fellow republicans and threats and ruined lives, but it was all laid out in a timeline with evidence and receipts. Five of the unnamed, and un-indicted for now, six co-conspirators are fairly easily identified, all lawyers, all knowingly acting outside the law. Several names are being bounced around for co-conspirator #6 but we don't really know who that is for sure.

And here's the really scary part, twice in the indictment when warned about the consequences of their stunt, the co-conspirators shrugged it off. First instance: when a 'senior advisor' (thought to be Mark Meadows) told co-conspirator 2 (thought to be John Eastman) “you're going to cause riots in the streets”, Eastman replied that there had been times in the nation's history when violence was necessary to protect the republic. Second instance: when a deputy White House counsel (also thought to be Mark Meadows) told co-conspirator 4 (considered to be Jeffery Clark) that “there would be riots in every major city in the United States” if their stunt to throw out a free and fair election and install Trump as president worked, Clark responded “that's what the Insurrection Act is for”. Let that sink in. They were fully prepared to call in the armed forces on American soil with live ammunition, to declare martial law to put down any protest against Trump's instatement and the destruction of our democracy, fully completing their coup just like every third world dictator does. And you know those are the men Trump admires...Putin, Kim Jon Un, Erdogan, Xi Jinping, the Saudi's...those men who rule with an iron hand who jail or murder their opponents.

Once in total control, Trump plans, if re-elected, to not only pardon himself, his co-conspirators, and all the insurrectionists charged and jailed for their part in storming the Capitol but also to stop any remaining investigations, as does every other republican running for president with one or two exceptions. DeSantis has said he's ready to slit throats on day one if elected. I've already referred in a previous post to the republican plans for the government and our country if they get back in power, already accumulating a list of loyalists they plan to install in every other position of power. You can learn more about that by researching Project 2025.

But back to this indictment. Only Trump was indicted and the belief is that Jack Smith wanted to get Trump to trial as soon as possible since he is a past and present danger to the republic and in fact has said he wants a speedy trial. Smith, in his press conference announcing the indictment, reiterated that the investigations are continuing and he's not done yet so we can expect more indictments, obviously the 6 co-conspirators but hopefully those members of congress who also participated in the planning and execution of the attack on the Capitol and the attempt to illegally install Trump as president.

Trump, of course, pled not guilty at his arraignment as he has every accusation and indictment against him. He's on his social media platform making the same old accusations against Biden who prudently has stayed away from and silent about the investigations, letting his independent DOJ take care of their business. Trump is continuing his assault on truth and liberty, that these investigations are politically motivated solely because Biden is afraid of Trump, that Biden has weaponized the DOJ (and here I want to insert that Smith has 86 witnesses and every. single. one. is a republican), that it's a hoax, a witch hunt, that if they can come after me, they can come after you. Well, yes, break the law and the law will come after you. Which, really, what else would you expect from Trump. As usual the republican party is silent except for those participants in Congress who were fully behind Trump's attempt to overturn the election and who continue to vocally support him and do his bidding. And of course the MAGAts who are so far down the rabbit hole of cult worship that they will vote for him even if he's in prison.

This was a sad day indeed for this country. There is no charm. Even if Trump does end up in prison he has divided and will continue to divide this nation, to make violence an acceptable response, to make it OK to lie, cheat, steal, intimidate, and threaten, to refuse to accept a clear defeat, to make it acceptable to be their worst self in public and to feel proud of that, to be openly hateful and racist and to go out of their way to make life harder for the vulnerable. This is his legacy. And this is why a third of the population of this country will never ever desert him. They will believe his lies and absurdities, they will absolve him of all wrongdoing because he gives them permission to be their worst selves.