Hmmm, once the political chess game begins does it ever really end?
I have for the most part avoided wading into the continuous circle of controversy around Donald Trump. I did pen one post in the lead-up to his election as president primarily to purge my mind of the irritation. I am choosing to do so again for the same purpose.
If you have been living under a rock and have not heard, Trump has been indicted on 34 felony criminal changes of falsifying business records. Prosecutors allege he undermined the integrity of the 2016 election through hush money payments relating to extramarital affairs.
I would like to issue four warnings about the Trump indictment.
Warning #1: Do not expect the trial to start anytime soon. Trump’s legal team has until August 8 to file motions. The prosecution will then respond by September 8. The next in-person hearing is scheduled for December 8. The earliest the trial could start is January 2024. But it is a safe bet that his legal team will get that date pushed forward several times.
Warning #2: Do not expect the trial to be quick. The principal defense tactic is such cases is stall, stall and stall again. The wheels of justice grind slowly at the best of times. Trumps high-priced legal team is quite capable of slowing the process down to a crawl to frustrate all involved until they just want it to end whatever the outcome.
Warning #3: Do not expect a definitive outcome. Trump’s lawyers will employ every legal trick in their repertoire to muddy the waters and bury the truth beneath layers of rhetoric. In the end, there will be no verdict of guilty or innocent. After endless posturing on both sides, they will arrive at a slap-on-the-wrist agreement to make the whole thing go away.
Warning #4: Do not expect the indictment to hamper Trump’s bid for another term in the Oval Office. Based on what little I have read, polling suggests that the Manhattan allegations have made Trump even more popular with his base. His selection as the Republican contender in the next year’s presidential race is all but assured.
Donald Trump is the ultimate polarizing figure. There is no middle ground where public sentiment is concerned. You either idolize him or despise him. Either way he stays forever in the public eye which is always his end game.
The real indictment in the whole affair lands on the political and justice systems that permit and enable this circus to happen. It must be said that this is not unique to the United States. Canada is less inclined to public spectacle but equally inclined to play the never-ending chess game of politics where the rules are made up as you go along.
Now that I have had my say on the matter, I will step away and watch from a distance. The media will no doubt provide you with hourly updates as the chess game unfolds.
~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet
~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .
~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.
Tags: Donald Trump · Manhattan allegations · metaphor · Michael Robert DyetNo Comments