The great man of letters and compiler of the first English language dictionary, Samuel Johnson, is credited with proclaiming, “Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.”
That's the mindset of the entire Republican Party. Facing annihilation, Republicans have put aside their differences for the time being and are rallying behind the presumptive nominee of their party, Donald Trump, after his conviction in the hush money trial.
I'm not sure whether President Biden is using the powers of his office to try and destroy the Republican Party. He's talked about the Republicans being a "threat to democracy." When queried about it, Biden claims to only mean MAGA supporters.
Well, Mr. President. We are all MAGA today.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), no friend of Donald Trump's, said “These charges never should have been brought in the first place. I expect the conviction to be overturned on appeal.”
That remains to be seen. Any damage done to Trump's chances to win back the presidency pales in comparison to the damage done to our republic. "Holding Trump accountable" has morphed into what appears to be a vendetta. Democrats and Biden have talked themselves into making Trump an existential threat to democracy based on nothing but their own hysterical, paranoid fears. It's ripping the nation apart.
“This was certainly a hoax, a sham. This was devastating for the average American watching,” Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) told CNN’s Abby Phillip.
He added, “Even the ‘Never-Trumpers’ are now calling and joining the team. Donors who sat on the sidelines are now joining the team because November 5 is a day of reckoning.”
The former governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan, called for Americans to “respect the verdict and the legal process.”
“At this dangerously divided moment in our history, all leaders – regardless of party – must not pour fuel on the fire with more toxic partisanship,” Hogan said in a statement before the verdict was announced.
That didn't sit well with a "senior advisor" for Trump, Chris LaCivita:
You just ended your campaign https://t.co/LJDuQ4oj0A
— Chris LaCivita (@LaCivitaC) May 30, 2024
A senior Trump advisor should know that to win in Maryland in 2024, a Republican has to keep their distance from Trump.
The Biden campaign "poured fuel on the fire."
“The threat Trump poses to our democracy has never been greater. He is running an increasingly unhinged campaign of revenge and retribution,” Biden campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said. “A second Trump term means chaos, ripping away Americans’ freedoms and fomenting political violence – and the American people will reject it this November.”
Cats and dogs living together. Mass hysteria!
House Speaker Mike Johnson said it was a “shameful day in American history” and the charges were “purely political.” Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance said the verdict was a “disgrace to the judicial system.” And Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican, said that the decision was “a defeat for Americans who believe in the critical legal tenet that justice is blind.”
“This verdict says more about the system than the allegations,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
Indeed, it does. The prosecutor's gambit of piling 34 felonies on Trump when two or three felonies would have more than sufficed is indicative of a sick justice system. The prosecution invited the jury to convict Trump of something, anything, and the judge gave them a road map to do it.
It's a certainty that the 2024 election is going to be challenged by the apparent loser. Both Biden and Trump have boxed themselves into a rhetorical corner so that yielding on the election would be tantamount to surrendering the United States and putting the government in the hands of someone who will destroy "democracy" or "end the U.S. as we know it."
The end of great powers is always messy. Let's hope it doesn't get bloody as well.
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