Listen, I get it, Steve Schmidt has made some questionable choices in life, not the least of which are becoming a Republican in the first place and helping to elevate an utter joke to the status of contender for a national office, and those boneheaded missteps should absolutely be taken into account whenever he offers an opinion on anything.
But like Liz Cheney, when Steve is right, he is right, even if only on the one imperative exigency of our time – the need to lock Donald Trump up in a federal jail cell and end his existential threat to American Democracy.
Writing on Substack Schmidt hones in, as good writers are wont to do, on the central premise of his essay, that not only is Trump’s criminality already proven beyond any reasonable doubt, it merits a long stay in federal prison:
“There were a million corrupt acts that occurred during the rancid Trump era, and probably thousands of offences that are indictable. The fact that the Saudis gave Jared Kushner $2 billion for his “investment fund” shortly after leaving the White House should have instigated a criminal investigation – one against the son of a felon, who strode the world like America’s dauphin with his plastic wife setting unbreakable records of crudity, nepotism, entitlement and arrogance that even the British Royal family couldn’t touch on their best day.
All of this was disgusting and awful. Much of it was criminal, but there is one great crime that stands alone. It is singular. There is no doubt whatsoever about what happened and how. There was intent, motive, a plan and co-conspirators. Donald Trump attacked the United States on January 6th, 2021, for the purposes of remaining in political power. He led a coup. The facts are clear.
He must be arrested and charged by the Government of the United States. He must face criminal trial. The era of special treatment for the Queens hustler must come to an end. His appalling dispensations have helped shatter trust and confidence in the American justice system at a moment in which the collapse of faith, trust and belief in American institutions has reached such a dangerous low that extremism has been embraced as an answer. The extremism led to the greatest crime against democracy since the firing on Fort Sumter.“
Steve is not only one hundred percent correct in the title of his piece, but also in his unspoken but strongly implied contention that the DOJ must act with all due alacrity and dispatch to make it happen soon.
For Trump is, as we speak, breathe, and try to live our lives in some kind of peace, taking, as is his method, a wrecking ball to The Overton Window of accountability for criminal behavior, and seeking to sell the proposition – like it is one of his shoe-leather steaks or vinegar and sugar wines – that by standing once again for the office of the President he is somehow granted immunity from prosecution.
And the longer he flogs this ridiculous idea, the more his supporters in the Congress and State Legislatures will magpie his words, to the point that many in the press will hear this misbegotten clangor and mistake it for an idea that merits serious debate. At which point we will no doubt be whisked away to rural diners in red pockets of our fractious union to hear the opinion of those whose one true pole star is only to bring fascism and religious oppression to our shores.
And what of the fear that prosecuting Trump will lead to political violence from Trump’s mob?
Well, Mr. Schmidt has something to say about that also…
“The American people must not live at the point of the militia’s gun. We won’t.”
Hear, hear.
Preaching to the choir there Mr. Schmidt however until Garland gets off his ass and does something, anything F.F.S., besides sit on his thumbs nothing will be done to the most criminal pr*sident this country has ever had.
More to the point, if Garland does not get his ass moving on former guy, there will be no democracy, no rights, NOTHING worth having in this country. It is disappearing in the rear view and for all intents and purposes it looks like Garland is quite content to wave good-bye to it all.
Please do not come back with the old wheeze “he’s got stuff in the works” or whatever. We do not know if he actually IS doing anything until he provides proof–a criminal indictment. Until one of those show up we can safely assume he’s not doing one g_d-damned thing.
BULL. SHIT. Spike, get the hell off your high horse. You have NO idea what Garland may be planning but the fact is that he has the LEGAL BACKGROUND, including working AS A PROSECUTOR, to know when to keep quiet and do his job OUT OF THE PUBLIC EYE and when to make the necessary noise.
A good prosecutor knows better than to make everything public.
But, your final paragraph shows your own stupidity. Yes. “We do not know . . . until he provides proof.” But therein lies YOUR stupidity. Good prosecutors do NOT reveal criminal indictments UNTIL THEY’RE SURE THEY CAN MAKE THE CASE. It’s easy as pie to go before the cameras and say, “We’re indicting so-and-so” but it’s a hell of a lot tougher to get THAT indictment to stick and actually send the person to jail.
So, how about you just chill out and let the grown-ups do their jobs? If you don’t like it, well, tough. You’re not the Attorney General; you’re not in the loop about how their job is going.
Do you want the criminal to go to jail and serve time or do you just want a feel-good moment that winds up with the criminal getting off scot-free because the case was full of holes? You’ll get the former if you just shut up and let Garland and his people do their jobs; you’ll get the latter if you display the patience of Donald Trump eating a hamburger.
Remember too, we’ve already got a sizable chunk of the country that thinks the January 6 Committee is little more than a political hatchet job and that thought the impeachment hearings were nothing more than hatchet jobs. If Garland comes out with an indictment before dotting all the i’s and crossing all the t’s, then getting a conviction may be downright impossible. But, hey–if a speedy but screwed-up case is what you REALLY want, just tell us all right now. Because all your whining about Garland’s “inaction” is getting really REALLY old. It would be a far different matter if you were in the AG’s office and had some inside RELIABLE knowledge but you don’t–you’re just a slob like the rest of us.
Joseph: How do you explain then the news item on CNN stating that DOJ was surprised at some of the witnesses and facts uncovered by the Jan/06 committee? I wouldn’t be too sure about Garland and I don’t see how spike comes off looking “stupid” for being skeptical of Mr. Garland’s motives in his slow, slow, slow progress?
Yes, stop dillydallying and lock IT up.
If only those killer cops had given some young black drivers half of the benefit of the doubt as they are providing the marmalade king, may be they would at least be alive.
It’s very irritating that the aristocracy gets to be scott free and the serfs get the instant death penalty.
I’m sick of being on an emotional roller coaster, wondering will he or won’t he be held accountable for trying to destroy our country.
Think of the ego that that entails!
Joe, ur right in that we don’t know. Steve & spike are correct that years of obvious crimes have gone without prosecution ON ANY LEVEL. Just one example is being caught with boxes of documents, some maybe classified, down in Florida. Ur post proves he DOES get special treatment, as we average citizens get pulled into danger WITHOUT anyone having a certain conviction. WE just have to be suspected of a crime & WE’RE ARRESTED while the DA figures it out. Fact.
Lock Trump Up !
Alright, people, yank back the throttle on your outrage engines and THINK for a minute, would you? Specifically, I want you to think about the only relevant question in politics: cui bono (who benefits)? Specifically, how does Schmidt benefit from calling for Trump’s arrest at this stage?
My answer: he’s advertising his availability to the Liz Cheney faction of Republicans. And he’s showing his qualifications for employment by actively engaging your lizard brains with the right words, the defacto skillset for any competent political consultant. NEVER forget who these people are. As I once told my mom when we were watching The Pelican Brief, “Just because they shoot the bad guy does not automatically make them the good guy.”
I believe he genuinely hates Trump.
“Dauphin”? Really?!
I think Steve is taking a swipe at his lack of body hair.
On the off chance Trump is indicted, and I’m not holding my breath, and somehow Jesus is a real person (he’s not) and Trump is actually convicted, he won’t spend a day a prison. The best we can hope for is that Trump spends the rest of his life doing the semi-Epstein version of Florida prison for the uber wealthy. But at least Epstein spent most nights in jail. Trump will spend his nights in MaraLago in winter, Bedminster in summer and his days will be spent in his ‘office’ or golf course on ‘work release’ under his secret service protection. Given that there was such concern about Trump loyalists in the secret service harming Biden that they actually had to find a completely new team (can you imagine if a GOP president had to have the entire Presidential protection detail restaffed due to concerns Re: rogue agents ‘loyal’ to the Democrat? The 5 year Bill Clinton investigation wouldn’t even be considered an investigation compared to the GOP response toward that corruption in the secret service). My guess is Trumps life post conviction would be indiscernible from his life right now.
If a black kid can get shot 46 times by 8 cops who are not charged because of a farce called “qualified immunity” then fat ass and his “family” must suffer a fate similar to that of the American black kid for conspiring with russia to overthrow our “government”.
Yep, the moron should spend the rest of his life behind bars. You got to give Steve some credit thou. He was instrumental in taking down Trump. But like Steve, what’s the freaking hold up.
I think the evidence is being carefully filtered so as to arrive for public perusal at the most opportune time for the 2022 mid term elections. Should the Rep’s lose control of the Senate in Nov. the Dems would have a heavy stick to beat the Rep’s with in 2024. Opinions everyone?
Trump needs to go down, there’s no doubt he’s as crooked as a dog’s hind leg. But…..congress seems lax in making new laws for potus’s, and we need those or the repubs would go after any small infraction that a potus may or may not do. It’s kind of scary that they may be as vindictive as Trump is? We definitely need laws that lets a potus know what they can and cannot get away with, in case we ever get another one as power hungry and mentally ill as Trump. It’s truly scary.