Turn and face the strange . . .
It's the Satyr's day … beautiful heavy fog surrounded the mailbox this morning, making The Way more felt than seen.
So . . . now what? What happens as the dust settles will be a great test of American democracy.
Judge Marchan has a lot on his contemplative plate between now and July 11th. There'll be a s**t pile of pundit speculation between now and then. Among the tempering considerations:
> Trump is a first time convicted felon.
> Only one of the 34 convictions actually rises to the level of a felony and it is the lowest on the rung of the criminal latter at a category “E” in New York.
> Previous offenders of this ilk have rarely, if ever, been jailed. Usually fined. Occasionally paroled.
That said,
> Judges usually look for some contrition – mea culpa apology, owning the mis-do-in, and usually an expression of a desire to “do better” in the – and Trump has insisted on just the opposite, posing not only as a victim, but a proud one.
> Trump has violated a Marchan gag order 10 times, each one as serious as the one before.
> Trump's gag orders have included attacks by him on Marchan's family and, perhaps more importantly for the judge, threats to the jury.
> Trump does not fit the “first time offender” statistic.
> Finding balance in a circumstance with no historic precedent would keep any one of us up at night, regardless of how much dust settles. That much dust likely will meet the EPA measurements for years.
Trump will double down... hands down winner of every logical fallacy form starting with his preferred “straw man”... From here on out he will no longer be running against Biden but against the rule of law and democracy. Media will still try to make it a “horse race” – the duality of “let's you and him fight while we watch” – creating a false equivalency with post-card-snap-shot polling data already out of date.
On a lighter note … Today is Alanis Morissette's birthday. She was born 50 years ago on this day in 1974, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada… And why some of us admire her genius.
Our dilemma:
Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. – James Baldwin