CAL THOMAS COMMENTARY MAY 23, 2024
THE TRIAL OF DONALD TRUMP ON VERY THIN CHARGES FEW PEOPLE UNDERSTAND IS OVER. NEXT COMES INSTRUCTIONS TO THE JURY FROM THE DEMOCRAT JUDGE WHO HAS A DEMOCRAT DAUGHTER RAISING FUNDS OFF THE TRIAL. AFTER THAT THE JURY WILL DELIVER A VERDICT, OR NOT. THIS PROCESS BEGINS NEXT WEEK.
BASED ON THE EVIDENCE PRESENTED AND THE CREDIBILITY OF THE WITNESSES, TRUMP SHOULD BE ACQUITTED. BUT THIS IS LIBERAL NEW YORK AND MOST OF THE JURORS SAY THEY GET THEIR NEWS FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES AND CNN.
YOU CAN HATE DONALD TRUMP AND THINK HE SHOULD NEVER AGAIN BE IN THE WHITE HOUSE, OR YOU CAN LOVE HIM AND HOPE HE IS RE-ELECTED. THAT’S NOT THE REAL POINT.
IF PEOPLE CAN RUN FOR OFFICE PROMISING TO GET TRUMP, THEY HAVE DEMONSTRATED BIAS. AND IF THEY WIN, WHAT IS PREVENTING OTHERS FROM DOING THE SAME THING, PERHAPS TO A POLITICIAN YOU LIKE OTHER THAN TRUMP?
ONE MORE QUESTION. SUPPOSE THERE IS A HUNG JURY? WILL ALVIN BRAGG AND COMPANY RE-TRY TRUMP, CAUSING HIM TO SPEND MORE MONEY ON LAWYERS, POSSIBLY BANKRUPTING HIM AND KEEPING HIM OFF THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL? I WOULDN’T PUT IT PAST THEM. I’M CAL THOMAS.
You are right in many respects on this case. It would surprise me not in the slightest that 90 percent of people who do what Trump is charged with would receive a misdemeanor conviction or nothing at all. The legal doctrine by which they are upgrading it to a felony is certainly creative to say the least. There is evidence that political motives factor into this prosecution. Clearly this the weakest of the cases against Trump.
However to say that this case was created ex nihilo is inaccurate. It is worth noting that this very event caused Michael Cohen to incur felony charges. It is difficult to believe he would be willing to incur criminal liability without direction from Trump, who was the intended beneficiary. It is also worth noting how numerous legal analysts considered Robert Costello (or was it Lou Costello?) a colossal blunder. Instead of a couple first downs and then running out the clock when many analysts thought Cohen’s testimony caused reasonable doubt, Costello ended up throwing a pick-six and making Cohen look good.
I find myself wondering if you are conflicted in regards to Trump. On one hand you frequently point out Trump’s obvious character flaws, using words like insurrection and how he has given prosecutors enough rope to hang him. That would suggest someone who is a better candidate for the Big House rather than the White House. On the other hand you demonize any efforts to rein him in, even by Republicans who supported him on policy (eg Adam Kinzinger) but voted for the most bipartisan impeachment in history. Could it be what you said in your article after January 6 about the conservative bad bargain with Trump, and the pain you felt in having enabled the Faustian bargain with the political devils? Could that explain why you can’t make a clear break from Trump? Could that explain why you have not made a clear statement on Liz Cheney? I think about Lot who was a righteous man and distressed by the sin he saw daily. However his inability to make a clean break with Sodom caused some of his children to perish in the fire, his wife turned into a pillar of salt, his surviving daughters cooked up a scheme to perpetuate the family line through incest, resulting in idolatrous nations at war against Israel. Any clarification you can make on that would be helpful.
Don’t like either one but everyone has to make a choice. Hopefully next time around we will get younger people withfar less baggage. Not a fan of Liz Cheney or Adam Kinsinger
Can you articulate your reason for not being a fan of Liz Cheney? Her voting record was one of the most solidly conservative, certainly better than Elise Stefanik. Her only problem came with January 6 when even you wondered if there was something at work that overrode policy differences. As she said
they swore an oath to the Constitution, not a man. You need to explain either that she is a profile in courage in trying to rescue us from a dictatorship; or else that she’s a subversive RINO whose stated concerns for the Constitution are merely a front to sell us out to the libs.
No alternative voices. All one sided. Sorry I don’t have time to respond to all of the people who want extra comments from me. Thanks for reading my columns. It is a dark political season on both sides.