The $10 million-a-day Trump court circus will create a new Manhattan traffic tie-up amid the December Christmas shopping season when Trump returns to Manhattan on December 4 for his next hearing. Shut down Fifth Avenue and the FDR Drive. Close 56th Street and Fifth Avenue on the first Sunday after the big tree lighting. Oh my.
New York is a glutton for punishment. The message from the court is: Rockefeller Center be jammed. In Florida, you can do procedural hearings on the phone if warranted. The defendant need not be present for a series of motions. Of course, New York still does many court filings on paper and not online. Jarndyce and Jarndyce, the Dickens characters who litigated a case until all the money was gone lives on in New York judicial circles. The Three Stooges would feel right at home in District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s new legal Fun House.
New York City security for this circus cost an estimated $10 million for one day in court. A few weeks of this trial will cost $100 to $200 million in a dispute over $280K. You have to love New York taxpayers. They are giving the country a free Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey ticket to the lamest show on earth.
This show will now ensure seven or eight years of wall-to-wall coverage of Trump on CNN, etc. As for “no one being above the law,” there were 17,000 arrests in the George Floyd riots. Seven thousand people were injured and went to the hospital. Two people went to prison. They firebombed a New York City police car and pleaded a ten-year sentence down to 18 to 24 months. The 16,998 others arrested were above the law in that fiasco, which added $2 billion in damage claims to your insurance bills.
Clearly, the arrest of Trump is a stupid mistake, but in a way, it is a relief to have this out of the way. Good will come of it. When Hillary Clinton destroyed evidence that would be subject to a subpoena, she skated because of her position and who she was. It was deemed to be for “the greater good.”
The greater good has now been redefined. It is now open season on prosecuting politicians during a political campaign. This will keep the public informed. It will also further convince outspoken supporters of the Red team not to live in Blue jurisdictions. Too much legal risk.
Consider that both New York Govs. Andrew Cuomo and Kathy Hochul warned those who disagreed with them on family values and other issues to move out of their state. Trump should have listened before announcing for president. When politicians threaten their citizens this way, it is wise to take them seriously. The brain drain from Blue states was already pretty profound during the pandemic. In the long run, the migration of people may stabilize the country, creating new power centers unthinkable in the old pre-pandemic world.
Australian observer Gray Connolly said of this indictment, “A Rubicon, once crossed, cannot be uncrossed…the line of march from the Rubicon simply leads to new constitutional and political settlements.” This refers to Julius Ceaser crossing the Rubicon River to take over the Roman Empire.
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Legal action against candidates may become the new norm. The idea of not prosecuting candidates running for office until after the election, or ex-presidents out of office, is dead. So many crooks and so little time. Lawfare will make attorneys rich and politicians squirm. No doubt Republicans are waking up, and political operatives are already lining up to go after the Bidens and the Clintons.
The new era of what goes around comes around has begun. It is like gravity. Lament it if you like, but the facts on the ground are beyond dispute. As in New York, taxpayers in Blue jurisdictions are willing to pay huge taxes to use the judicial system to prosecute political opponents instead of violent criminals. New York taxpayers clearly will pay a boatload of money to feel morally superior to their opponents. Add this to the $5 million a day they are currently paying to house illegal immigrants, and the picture comes into focus. In Blue states, taxpayer dollars are there to make people feel good about themselves.
Where they will get the money to keep this circus running is another question. President Biden is already floating a Blue state bailout. Republicans in Washington need to say no. Let local taxpayers pay for their own circuses.
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