You Democrats dreamed of convicting Donald Trump, and you got 34 felony convictions. You scored 34 on 45, but remember when Republicans celebrated the impeachment of Bill Clinton? America rejected the whole thing as a politically motivated effort—well, it seems, on balance, that is exactly how Americans are seeing this effort.
This brings me to the politics of vengeance—and the end result this November. So far, the polling has been mixed—with both sides claiming the 34 felony convictions were a win for their side.
Republicans point to the nearly $55 million raised by the Trump campaign in the 24 hours following the verdicts, and Democrats point to polls indicating those same verdicts may erode support for Trump, who has held a consistent albeit narrow lead in the race for President for months now.
In the end, nobody knows quite yet if these politically motivated charges will swing the race away from Trump or if the economy, the border, and the endless folly of foreign wars will still power Trump to victory as the 47th President of the United States.
Everyone knows all of these cases are political—and it depends on where you are politically as to whether or not you are ok with it.
Why do Democrats who oppose asymmetric warfare not practice what they preach?
Why do Democrats claim to hate war but love lawfare? Why do they want to level the playing field between Israel and Hamas while disarming Americans and destroying the United States? Why do they refuse to cease firing on Donald Trump?
Not content to prosecute Trump, Democrats want to persecute him instead—facts be damned!
Not content to have a jury convict him on 34 counts, Democrats want to condemn him instead. They want to destroy him because they fear him politically.
Not content to let the verdict speak for itself, Democrats want to silence and eliminate Donald Trump.
The discontent of this kind is not only unkind but un-democratic—and while it is happening and Democrats are attacking their chief political rival, they claim it is he and his followers that are the threat to Democracy.
Oh, the irony and the arrogance.
Now begins the summer of our discontent unless a Democrat of influence—a Democrat with power—puts America first—which I do not expect.
We do not need 100 or even 50 Democrats to stop this injustice.
We don’t even need a few.
We need one.
New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, has the power to act like a true “small d” democrat.
Hochul has the power to pardon Trump from these ridiculous charges. Hochul has the power to stop the persecution of Trump in the Empire State—an empire he helped to build over the last several decades.
Hochul has the power to stop the war against Trump, but let me be clear: she won’t!
If, as I predict, Hochul chooses not to restore Trump’s rights, if she chooses not to exercise wisdom and do what is right for her state and for America, if she commits an unpardonable wrong and refuses to pardon Trump, she will confirm our suspicions that she is a hack and an accidental governor who is unfit for office.
If Hochul chooses to wash her hands of this case and walk away, she will cause voters to flee in the opposite direction. She will inspire voters to oppose her more than they already do.
If Hochul chooses to pretend she is above politics, if she says justice is blind and Donald Trump is not above the law, if she resorts to rhetoric and calls Trump a criminal, she will confirm our fear that she hates Trump more than she loves justice.
If Hochul does not know what overkill is, perhaps another Democrat does.
A better Democrat does, as President John F. Kennedy said, “Sometimes party loyalty asks too much.”
Now is such a time.
Is it too much to ask Democrats to ask not? Is it too much to ask them to choose charity and forsake malice?
Is it too much to ask them to pursue peace and end their war against Donald Trump?
We ask Democrats to join those of us who remember history and want to repeat the virtues of great Americans in the history of our republic.
For those of us who study history and want to avoid repeating a crisis in the history of America, we ask Democrats to act like Republicans.
For those of us who understand the history of Watergate, we ask Democrats to act like Republicans such as Barry Goldwater, Hugh Scott of Pennsylvania, and John Rhodes of Arizona.
We ask Democrats to go to the White House like Goldwater, Scott, and Rhodes did with President Nixon and tell Joe Biden to stand down, but we don’t expect it to happen.
We ask Democrats to act like statesmen, but don’t think they will even consider it.
If Democrats cannot find three men to talk sense to Biden, if Democrats cannot find it in themselves to save America, the American people will find new leaders.
If Democrats do not save a Republican from malicious prosecution, the American people will demand new leaders.
If Democrats do not allow Donald Trump a fair shake, the American people will choose Donald Trump the martyr.
Do not expect Democrats to show mercy.
Do not expect Judge Merchan to be merciful. Do not expect liberal decency to get in the way of vengeance.
Expect Merchan to act like the Democrat he is.
Also, expect the sentencing report to be unfavorable toward Trump in the extreme.
No doubt the report will read like a piece from the New York Times or propaganda with a legal caption. The characterizations will be grotesque, the reasoning illogical, the conclusion absurd, and the outcome pre-determined.
Merchan has 38 days to learn decency between now and July 11, when he sentences Trump.
The judge has a chance to exercise prudence and prove himself capable of judging a fellow citizen. Do not expect him to exercise self-restraint, as it appears he has none.
Instead, expect him to punish Trump in the extreme.
That the punishment will not fit the crime, for there is no crime, but for now, that remains a moot point.
That there never was a crime to begin with is the point. Merchan is a partisan, but he is no fool. He knows he has a role to play, and he will deliver. He intends to play his role to the hilt, politicking from the bench in the most activist way possible.
He intends to speak without interruption, ruling with unlimited power, as he presides over his fiefdom of a courtroom.
His courtroom is no democracy with no hope for Republicans.
President Trump knows this. The court of public opinion, I believe, is against Merchan and the Democrats.
Merchan has 38 days to reconsider the 34 counts against Donald Trump.
Merchan should use the days ahead to learn justice.
Merchan should use the days ahead to read history.
The days ahead will either be a cooling-off period, a time for Democrats to say nothing that will further hurt America, or the days ahead will be the final days for equal justice under the law—if they are not already.
May decency trump partisanship. May Donald Trump receive justice. We must reverse the injustice done to Donald Trump either in the courtroom or at the ballot box.
And in the end, will this trial carry the weight Democrats are banking on? I don’t think so.