Donald J. Trump’s list of “firsts” to be included in his obituary already comprises an unbelievable litany of disgraceful episodes in this man’s truly bizarre life.
First president to be impeached twice by the House of Representatives.
First president to boast about his martial unfaithfulness.
First president to be accused of seeking to overthrow the government.
And now this: First president to enter his second non-consecutive term in office as a convicted felon.
New York District Judge Juan Merchan today issued a sentence that finalizes Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts of paying a porn actress $130,000 to keep quiet about a tryst the two of them had … but that Trump denies ever occurring. Merchan could have sent Trump to prison. He didn’t. He chose instead to issue what they call “unconditional discharge,” meaning that Donald Trump is free to take the oath of office in 10 days.
He will, though, be indelibly stained by the felony conviction on his record. Not that it matters a bit to this narcissistic sociopath who doesn’t exhibit a scintilla of contrition for the verdict delivered by a jury of his peers.
He plans to appeal the conviction.
I am going to accept the judge’s decision to take the action he took. I won’t do so gleefully. I am saddened by the reality that Trump was elected this past November after losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden. Voters “fired” Trump from his first job as president, only to send him back … even after he promised to pardon many of the Jan. 6 mobsters who stormed the Capitol that day to stop the certification of the election that Trump lost.
We have just witnessed a dark day in our nation’s rich and varied history.
I am glad the charges weren’t dropped. On appeal, it will be shown how corrupt this judge and prosecutors are. Not a single thing was of prosecutorial nature and virtually all legal analysts have stated as much. They’ve also stat d the judge was completely wrong with his jury instructions to the extent it’s possible he could be disbarred.
Right wing scholars are lining up as expected to say the case is DOA — dead on appeal. Other scholars say the opposite, that the judge did it by the book. We’ll see how it plays out.