By Vuqar @Adobe Stock
The End Justifies the Means
Alvin Bragg and Judge Juan Merchan have set a new standard for rigging, argues Rich Lowry in National Review. “Nothing good will come of it.” “It” being that Donald Trump has become the first former president convicted of a crime by use of the blatant weaponization of what was once looked upon as the world’s fairest justice system.
Show Me the Man, I’ll Show You the Crime
On Wednesday morning, prior to the jury’s decision on the Alvin Bragg case, Donald Trump made his statement to reporters. He repeatedly used the word “rigged.” In this case, Mr. Lowry assures readers, former President Trump was “absolutely right.”
Bragg ran on the campaign platform of going after Donald Trump. “Not going after a crime, going after a person.” Charles Lipson reminds readers in The Spectator.“ Fundamentally, this contradicts the basic principles of Anglo-American law and justice.”
A Political Prisoner
“The charges were rigged, the prosecution’s presentation of the case was rigged, the judge’s management of the case was rigged, the gag order was rigged, and the instructions to the jury were rigged,” continues Mr. Lowry.
(Adversaries) threw out the rule book beginning in 2016 and have pursued Trump according to the ethic that the ends justify the means, and that consistency, reason, and fairness are for suckers.
Undermining Faith in System
… the alluring idea that there’s a shortcut to diminishing or defeating Trump has so far proved illusory.
The Warm Bath of Righteousness
Peggy Noonan sums it up, perhaps best, in the WSJ:
Democrats see Trump voters as toothless, smelly Walmart shoppers. The left does look down, sometimes from a privileged economic position, which makes it the more shameful.
How to Knock Out a Political Opponent
In the WSJ, the EB laments the folly of setting a precedent of using legal cases, no matter how sketchy, to try to knock out political opponents:
Mr. Trump has already vowed to return the favor. If Democrats felt like cheering Thursday when the guilty verdict was read, they should think again. Mr. Bragg might have opened a new destabilizing era of American politics, and no one can say how it will end.
Charles Lipson is the Peter B. Ritzma professor of political science emeritus at the University of Chicago.
Rich Lowry is editor-in-chief of National Review.
Full Disclosure:
About eight years ago, Dick and I met Mr. Lowry, along with Jay Nordlinger, Jonah Goldberg and a number of NRO speakers, on a National Review/River Danube cruise.
We were to have met Ms. Noonan at a special Cato event, where she had been invited as guest speaker. Alas, we were unable to attend that event.
We have not yet met the Spectator’s Mr. Lipson.
And yes, like millions (three) of other businesses, our company is a subscriber of the WSJ.
