Sorry Lawrence O’Donnell, Trump CAN Be Locked Up

Lawrence O’Donnell is smarter than I am. He’s also more accomplished in many ways and when he talks I pay attention. He knows of what he speaks and he knows more than most. However, I find myself in serious disagreement with him tonight. Earlier on MSNBC he took part in a panel discussion where the subject of what judge Merchan will do as Trump continues to violate the judge’s orders. Criminal Contempt of Court can carry with it penalties not just in fines but being locked up. O’Donnell (and some others on the panel agreed) said Trump will never spend a single day in prison.  I beg to differ.

Now, O’Donnell might be right but not for the reason he and others gave. There was all this talk about the logistics. How can a jail or prison handle a Secret Service detail seems to be a big “problem.” I call bullshit. Details can be worked out. And it’s not all that complicated. I’ve written about a couple of practical options here on Poitizoom in the past in fact.

However let’s start with this trial. Any other defendant that crossed the line would be ordered to at a minimum spend the night in a cell. Ok, so treating Trump like any other defendant and taking him over to Riker’s Island, even in the section for high profile folks might indeed be impractical. However it wouldn’t be that hard to create something that for Trump would be almost as bad. Consider this:

A small bare room, not too far from a men’s room. (Just in case of “emergency” a chemical toilet can sit over in a corner) A small table with lamp. A fold out bed like the one in the title pic. Maybe a cheap bedside nightstand or small shelve set for clean skivvies or adult diapers. A chair with one of those standing lamps. I’d say a chair like from a hotel like a Holiday Inn or something similar (not exactly comfy but ok) or maybe even a not so great recliner.  And that’s it. No cell phone allowed. Metal chairs and one of those card tables with folding legs for his lawyers if they want to come in and consult. A cooler with bottled water (no, no Diet Coke Donald!) Dinner and breakfast (he loves his fast food so give him that) and because he’s “special” maybe an evening snack. A pack of Graham Crackers or a pack or two of those crackers with peanut butter centers I sometimes keep on hand.  Oh, and his fat ass can be ordered to change into a jail/prison jumpsuit and his court suit will be cleaned and pressed and give back to him in the morning.

One night of THAT and I suspect Trump will flip the f**k out. But he’ll also ratchet down the rhetoric and misbehavior if the judge tells him that’s going to be how it is every night after a day of acting up in court. From the court to him little bare bones room. NO press conferences out on the courthouse steps. Just whatever he can shout at the press gaggle that gets to follow him down the hall from the courtroom before they are blocked by guards to prevent everyone from knowing where his special little room is.  His Secret Service detail can keep watch in the corridors, monitored by court bailiffs to make sure they aren’t slipping Trump Diet Cokes and other goodies.

That’s PRACTICAL. It’s also DOABLE and could be ready to go in less than a day.

As for actual prison again, that would be doable too. I’ve suggested the Brig at Quantico could undergo a quick bit of construction for a small “Trump Wing.” A nice, big secure Marine Base and it’s Brig. Trump can get the same meals Marines locked up there get. I’d even go for building a small cinder block place for Trump and his Secret Service detail on the edge of the FBI Academy at Quantico.  There are other options that are workable other than a Brig at Quantico or another military base. The federal prison at Marion Illinois was built to take the place of Alcatraz and house our worst criminals. It was the “bigliets” max security prison for a long time. It’s now medium security but it wouldn’t take much to seal off a wing for Trump and other high profile detainees. If there was any justice folks like Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, Mike Flynn and others could keep him company! (I’ve been to it multiple times as I lived nearby for the first quarter of my life. Why I was in the place sometimes is a story I won’t bore you with)

My point is that incarcerating Trump, whether in a “sort of” manner during trial such as I laid out or actual prison creates a few logistical challenges but hardly the kind that can’t be relatively easily (and not all that costly) to address. So for once I have to vehemently disagree with one of my personal heroes Lawrence O’Donnell. It IS possible to lock Trump up, both in the short term and the long term.

So I say LOCK HIM UP! (say it with me) LOCK HIM UP!  LOCK HIM UP!  LOCK HIM UP!!!!!