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Do you find it strange that to get cheaper groceries you had to vote for a convicted criminal?

Can I even work in America with a criminal record?

How do people look past this, I'm really having a bit of a moral crisis today about why I even bother paying taxes or obeying any laws since this whole thing happened.

Do I just tell my kids to be successful, jut be like Trump?



The groceries won't get cheaper--deflation is arguably worse than inflation.


deflation in computers, cars, apparel, materials and other technologically manufactured goods has been consistent for generations ... is this bad?

would it be bad if the cost of college education, housing, or healthcare decreased?

why would it be bad if the cost of groceries fell to what it used to be (deflation)?


> How do people look past this

Why should we discriminate against justice impacted individuals?


A very large number of Americans (100 million+?) dont see Trump as a convicted criminal. They see a govt that weaponized the justice system to target their political opponent. It's a reason to vote for Trump, not against him.


He was convicted by a Jury not any left leaning judge or whatever.


Yes, for the crime of the century of... classifying hush payments to a porn star (which is legal) as a legal expense instead of a campaign expense. And then they made each time he signed a check a separate count, so they could make a big deal of “34 fElOnIeS!!!” Not weaponized, indeed.

It’s the most mundane thing that has been “Trumped up” to the extent that anti-Trumpers act like he murdered someone. Everyone else thinks “oh wow, improperly classifying an expense, who cares.”


It was an election interference case; not mundane. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/dont-call-it-the-hush-mon...


Yes, based on the tortuous logic that he would’ve lost the election if voters knew that a famous playboy had had an affair with a porn star. Of all the gaffes and scandals he had during his campaign, that would’ve been the one to sink his election chances. Sure thing.

And still at the end of it, it boiled down to “you should’ve classified the hush money as a campaign expense instead of a legal expense.” Do you seriously not understand why no one really cares?


The campaign obviously had that concern and acted on it; it’s irrelevant if you think it’s “tortuous logic”. When did the affair occur? When did the payment occur, and what was the surrounding context? — https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stormy_Daniels–Donald_Trump_...

Then, read this again — https://robertreich.substack.com/p/dont-call-it-the-hush-mon... “This case alleges that in 2016 Trump arranged to pay off an adult entertainer in order to hide his affair with her from the public. The important thing to keep in mind is that the money was given to protect Trump’s campaign for the presidency — not to protect his marriage or protect him from personal embarrassment.”


Should have also mentioned (can’t edit my last reply) — many really care because they don’t agree that entities exceeding legal limits on political contributions and attempting to conceal it by committing financial crimes is not a big deal, is not election interference, and doesn’t weaken our democracy.


Agreed....this case is the lamest of lame and would not have been brought against anyone other than Trump and only because he was running for election. It is quite obviously a politicization of the justice system to anyone who is not a partisan ideologue. Dems can try to deny this but it really doesn't matter. They are just shooting themselves in the foot and losing support as a result.


You’re saying that entities exceeding legal limits on political contributions and attempting to conceal it by committing financial crimes is not a big deal, is not election interference, and doesn’t weaken our democracy. Thankfully, the jury, selected by both sides, that unanimously agreed on the 34 federal felony counts, disagrees with you.


Lol...selected by "both sides" in one of the most left-wing jurisdictions in America.


Considering when the affair occurred, when the payment occurred and surrounding context [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stormy_Daniels–Donald_Trump_...], and the strength of the evidence [Wapo article — https://archive.is/kmFCs], do you actually think “financial crimes occurred in order to conceal campaign finance crimes” is a far-fetched verdict that was made up by a unanimous 12-member left-wing jury?


Yes. Absolutely.


If we are talking about election interference what should we say about the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story just prior to the 2020 election. This include the politicization of the CIA/FBI to suppress the story by influencing social media companies, then getting 50 intel officers to all lie in unison that it had "has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation".

By any measure this is way worse than some stupid accounting classification with regard to hush money for a porn star? How come no charges were brought on this very serious charge?

People are nowhere near as stupid as the Democratic party likes to believe.


I’d like to learn more about all of the Hunter Biden laptop-related details that you’ve mentioned. Do you have a link to a reputable and credible source?

What happened was not an “accounting classification” issue. The jury, selected by both sides, unanimously agreed on the 34 federal felony counts because after hearing and seeing arguments, testimony, and evidence from both sides, they found it clear that this was not an “accounting classification” issue, but rather an issue of an entity exceeding legal limits on political contributions and attempting to conceal it by committing financial crimes.


Honestly the amount of info on the Hunter Biden laptop story is abundant so it puzzles me you'd even have to ask.

Zuckerberg talking about warning prompted Biden laptop story censorship https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62688532

Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo, dozens of former intel officials say https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/19/hunter-biden-story-...

NY Times https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/16/us/politics/republicans-h...

NY Times and Washington Post finally admit laptop is real https://nypost.com/2022/04/01/new-york-times-finally-admit-h...

And the 34 felony was about 34 payments for the one thing so in reality was just the one "crime" beefed up by a weaponized justice system to look worse than it was.

Again, it is obviously and emphatically true that this kind of govt election interference is way worse than whatever Trump did. So again why was there no charge over this?

And I'm just going to repeat, people are not nearly as stupid as the Democrat party thinks they are.


>>It’s the most mundane thing

If it's so mundane, why is it a felony then.


Because of the Democrat weaponization of the justice system, of course.


Wasn't it already a felony long before all this?


nice circular logic you got going on there.


I guess reality can sometimes be circular then....


He is technically convicted by a jury. It will be interesting to see how they get around that, it doesn't go away just because he was elected president, and he can't pardon himself from a state charge.


In the most left-wing jurisdiction in America by a DA that campaigned on "getting Trump", who was famous for reducing felonies to misdemeanors, but in the case of Trump raised a misdemeanor to a felony. And this was for a charge for which there was no precedent, and nor was there any victim. And the judges daughter had connections to the Democrat party too. People arent stupid.


It was a serious election interference case —- https://robertreich.substack.com/p/dont-call-it-the-hush-mon...


Just to make sure you have all the legal facts: https://youtu.be/KnapsSRptqg?si=7C_tqLO9UGlGxYQA


Well, if they want to use conspiracy theories in their appeals, they are welcome to, and the Supreme court is basically in Trump's pockets, so they could always just make a "because we say so" ruling that annuls the state jury verdict.


What conspiracy theories?


The ones you stated in your comment.


Those are facts though.


You implied a bias with the prosecutor, judge and jury that caused a criminal conspiracy.


Just for the record...

Judge Marchand's daughter has worked for a marketing firm since 2003 that has the DNC, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as clients https://www.nationalreview.com/news/house-judiciary-investig...

Here is DA Bragg campaigning on how he will go after Trump if elected as DA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQLflgGxUrU

Bragg downgraded 50% of felonies to misdemeanors https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2023/apr/08/ron-desant...

Some discussion of the convoluted logic used by Bragg to upgrade a misdemeanor (intent to defraud) to a felony (intent to defraud in the commission of another crime) https://news.syr.edu/blog/2024/05/07/law-professor-the-manha...

This is such a lame case, that should never have been brought and is clearly an abuse of the justice system for political ends.


Yes thats right.


Yeah, I do see that side of it too, I think it was incredibly stupid to try him for anything if he wouldn't be jailed.


It was monumentally stupid to convict Trump for a "crime" that was basically someone else filling his taxes wrong. Something most USA people would feel is unfair and could happen to them.

Also I am not from USA and very happy I don't have to deal with TurboTax lobbying and shenanigans thar make the USA tax code to be just crazy.

Also the "bank fraud" trial is also monumentally stupid when they wanted to convict him and close his companies (thus making people lose their jobs) for doing something that resulted in profits for the supposed victim. Victim in fact that explained multiple times they were pleased with the business and would do it again.

The message in the second case was: we will take your jobs because your boss made a good deal, don't vote for him!

And of course this is just idiotic.


You have some misunderstandings on these cases —-

How to understand next week’s Trump criminal felony trial https://robertreich.substack.com/p/dont-call-it-the-hush-mon...

How Trump is liable for fraud even though no one was hurt https://robertreich.substack.com/p/how-trump-is-liable-for-f...


For anyone seeing this, these links are a waste of time. They don’t demonstrate a misunderstanding or provide a better one.

> Many people I speak with are worried that this is the weakest of Trump’s four pending criminal trials because it has to do with an illicit affair.

> Wrong.

No this was the weakest case. The fact that this is the one to get across the finish line, rather than say the Georgia interference case, demonstrates raw political incompetence by the democrats.


Not a waste of time —

1. ‘for a "crime" that was basically someone else filling his taxes wrong.’ — utterly false

2. Getting lucky is no excuse for fraud.

See aforementioned posts for actual, well-reasoned arguments from world-renowned UC Berkeley professor and former Cabinet Secretary Robert Reich, which Redoubts hasn’t refuted.

The case that resulted in Trump being convicted of 34 federal felony counts wasn’t the weakest case; that’s demonstrated by the jury, selected by both sides, having deliberated over the available evidence and both sides’ arguments, and having reached a unanimous verdict.

The Georgia case had been going much more slowly because it’s a much more complex case, for obvious reasons. Its current stalled status has to do with the conflict of interest that Willis created. If the case somehow resumes, the jury, selected by both sides, will decide the case.

The speed and outcomes of these cases are not “political competence or incompetence” matters on the part of Democrats.


You are experiencing Lincoln's Lyceum Address in action.


Absolutely! You are not alone. We have elected a convict as a president. The person who instigated a mob in attacking the Capital. The person who misled his base about 2020 election. Got impeached... the Trump saga goes on.


> Do I just tell my kids to be successful, jut be like Trump?

Trump is a failed real estate tycoon, his companies went bankrupt three times; banks won't lend him money anymore because he always shafts them. He got a big inheritance and lucky that he had some charisma so could make it on TV. He is not successful role model (well, con-man maybe).




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