The lie that demands Donald Trump’s prosecution

benfell

Pennsylvania

2022 election


Fig. 1. There’s much too much of this kind of thing to be seen around Pittsburgh. Photograph taken by author through his windshield, May 17, 2022, just outside Braddock, Pennsylvania.

Ryan Deto, “Pennsylvania’s high-stakes U.S. Senate race between Oz, Fetterman tightens,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, September 16, 2022, https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/pennsylvanias-high-stakes-u-s-senate-race-between-oz-fetterman-tightens/

Andrew Goldstein, “Analysis from Pa. teachers group shows ‘terrifying’ results from Mastriano education funding plan,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 16, 2022, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-state/2022/09/16/analysis-pa-teachers-mastriano-education-funding-plan-results/stories/202209160136

Holly Otterbein, “He Could Be Our First Jewish President. But First He Needs to Beat a Christian Nationalist,” Politico, September 16, 2022, https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/09/16/josh-shapiro-faith-campaign-00056846

Gilead

Donald Trump

Coup attempt


Fig. 2. Department of Justice photograph of seized materials, reportedly partially redacted, via the Washington Post, August 31, 2022, public domain.[1]

It says something that we have to ask the question in Jennifer Rubin’s headline, “If [Merrick] Garland sincerely believes in the rule of law, Trump is in deep trouble.”[2] I do agree we need to ask it. And y’all know I want Donald Trump prosecuted, the sooner the better, and that I am deeply suspicious of the seemingly endless litany of excuses for “delaying” his prosecution.[3]

But Rubin’s column relies on a premise that there is one law, equally applicable regardless of a person’s socioeconomic status.[4] People of color knew this was a lie long before Donald Trump even ran for president. Poor people knew this was a lie long before Trump even ran for president. And Jeffrey Reiman documented that this was a lie long before Trump even ran for president.[5] Neither Rubin nor anybody else advances their argument by repeating that lie.

Jennifer Rubin, “If Garland sincerely believes in the rule of law, Trump is in deep trouble,” Washington Post, September 19, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/19/garland-trump-cannon-ruling-appeal/

Evangelical Protestants


Fig. 3. “You shall have no other gods before me.”[6] Photograph posted to Twitter by Antonia Lee Donnelly, February 16, 2020,[7] fair use.

Pittsburgh

Unauthorized violence


Fig. 4. “A woman reacts at a makeshift memorial outside the Tree of Life synagogue following Saturday’s shooting at the synagogue in Pittsburgh, Oct. 29, 2018,” photograph by Cathal McNaughton for Reuters, via ABC News, October 29, 2018,[8] fair use.

Nick Matoney, “Delivery driver shot during robbery and attempted carjacking in Pittsburgh,” WTAE, September 20, 2022, https://www.wtae.com/article/delivery-driver-shot-during-robbery-and-attempted-carjacking-in-pittsburgh/41288585

Ukraine


Fig. 5. “Destroyed Russian military vehicles located on the main street Khreshchatyk are seen as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine in Kyiv, August 24.” Photograph by Gleb Garanich for Reuters, August 24, 2022,[9] fair use.

CBS News, “President Biden warns Vladimir Putin not to use nuclear weapons: ‘Don’t. Don’t. Don’t,’” September 16, 2022, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/president-joe-biden-vladimir-putin-60-minutes-2022-09-16/

Mary Ilyushina, “Ukrainian strikes into Russia’s border towns compound Putin’s troubles,” Washington Post, September 17, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/17/ukraine-belgorod-putin/

Isabelle Khurshudyan and Kamila Hrabchuk, “‘Look, these are our boys’: Ukrainian troops drive Russian tanks on new front line,” Washington Post, September 17, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/09/17/look-these-are-our-boys-ukrainian-troops-drive-russian-tanks-new-front-line/

Laurence Peter, “Ukraine war: Russian pop megastar Alla Pugacheva condemns conflict,” British Broadcasting Corporation, September 18, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62948146

Steve Rosenberg, “Megastar speaks out,” British Broadcasting Corporation, September 18, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62948146

Gabriel Gavin, “Putin’s push for a new USSR reawakens the bloody chaos of Soviet collapse,” Politico, September 19, 2022, https://www.politico.eu/article/vladimir-putin-fall-russia-empire-ukraine-war-armenia-azerbaijan/

Thomas Bolton, “Russian forces ‘palpably panicking’ in Kharkiv region, says Zelenskyy,” EuroNews, September 20, 2022, https://www.euronews.com/2022/09/20/russian-forces-palpably-panicking-in-kharkiv-region-says-zelenskyy

John Gambrell, “Ukraine, using captured Russian tanks, firms up its lines,” Associated Press, September 20, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-kyiv-kharkiv-3351d15af41ddde4176cb7cf72e74ac4

  1. [1]Devlin Barrett, “Justice Dept. says Trump team may have hidden, moved classified papers,” Washington Post, August 31, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/08/31/trump-documents-removed-storage-room/↩
  2. [2]Jennifer Rubin, “If Garland sincerely believes in the rule of law, Trump is in deep trouble,” Washington Post, September 19, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/19/garland-trump-cannon-ruling-appeal/↩
  3. [3]David Benfell, “It is now even more urgently orange jumpsuit time,” Not Housebroken, September 6, 2022, https://disunitedstates.org/2022/08/24/it-is-now-even-more-urgently-orange-jumpsuit-time/↩
  4. [4]Jennifer Rubin, “If Garland sincerely believes in the rule of law, Trump is in deep trouble,” Washington Post, September 19, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/19/garland-trump-cannon-ruling-appeal/↩
  5. [5]Jeffrey Reiman, The Rich Get Richer and The Poor Get Prison, 7th ed. (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2004).↩
  6. [6]Exod. 20:3.↩
  7. [7]Antonia Lee Donnelly, “Now I've seen everything,” Twitter, February 17, 2020, https://twitter.com/DonnellyAntonia/status/1229227422836559873↩
  8. [8]Bill Hutchinson et al., “Pittsburgh synagogue-shooting suspect wheeled into courtroom; Trump to visit city Tuesday,” ABC News, October 29, 2019, https://abcnews.go.com/US/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-suspect-discharged-hospital-set-make/story?id=58825389↩
  9. [9]Reuters, “Ukraine puts destroyed Russian tanks on display in Kyiv,” August 25, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/ukraine-puts-destroyed-russian-tanks-on-idUSRTSALV9Q↩

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