SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
trump indictment
Hey Trump, Who’s the Real Garbage?
On a telephone call-in to Fox & Friends, Trump said Vice President Kamala Harris was “real garbage.” It is now fair game for her to take it up and use it against him.
Jul 28, 2024
Former U.S. President Donald Trump just gave Vice President Kamala Harris what might prove to be the most effective line of attack for the entire presidential election campaign.
On a telephone call-in to Fox & Friends, Trump said Harris was “real garbage.” It was typical of Trump’s ad hominem attacks against all of his opponents.
But such attacks have never really been effectively parried, so he’s gotten away with them. They’ve worked. Everybody remembers “Crooked Hillary,” “Little Marco,” and other epithets.
But since it was Trump who uttered the line, it is now fair game for Harris to take it up and use it against him. It will be utterly devastating, throwing back into his face the truth about who he is.
“Who’s the real garbage,” curated to an epigram in the culture, can become the four-word death knell for Trump’s re-election bid, exposing in his own words, and illustrated by his own actions, just how unfit he is to be president.
First, let’s remember who Kamala Harris is.
She has a law degree from the University of California Hastings School of Law. In 2003, she was elected district attorney of San Francisco. From there, she was elected attorney general for the state of California. In 2016, she was elected to the U.S. Senate, the second African-American woman to serve in the Senate and the first Asian-American woman to serve.
In 2020, she was elected vice president of the United States, receiving over 81 million votes on the ticket with Joe Biden. That is almost 8 million more votes than were cast for Donald Trump. She is the first woman ever to hold that office, the highest elective office in the U.S. ever filled by a woman.
She has performed those duties for a president, Joe Biden, who is already ranked as the 14th best president in American history by 154 presidential scholars. In that same survey, Trump was voted the worst president in history.
This is the profile of one of the highest achieving women in the history of the country, and a double-minority one, to boot. In no world is it even close to “garbage.”
But since Trump offered the opening, Harris should make it a standard part of every appearance she makes—from rallies to debates—asking, “Who’s the real garbage?” And then, marching through the astonishing litany of Donald Trump’s character as revealed by his own actions.
For example…
Donald Trump has accused me of being “real garbage.” I’m serious! Let’s take a look at who’s the real garbage.
I’m not a convicted criminal. He is. Thirty-four times over! So, who’s the real garbage?
I never had an affair with a porn star and tried to hide it by buying her off to keep her quiet. He did. So, who’s the real garbage?
I don’t owe more than half a billion dollars(!) in legal judgements for things like tax evasion and defamation, but he does. So, who’s the real garbage?
The Washington Post says—and I’m quoting here—“Trump Was Found to Have Raped E. Jean Carroll.” Let me say that again. This is the headline. Quote: “Trump Was Found to Have Raped E. Jean Carroll.” RAPE! So, who’s the real garbage?
My boss wasn’t ranked the worst president in American history by a group of 154 presidential scholars. HE was. The worst president in American history. Look it up. So, who’s the real garbage?
I didn’t try to overturn a presidential election and steal the votes of 81 MILLION people who voted for Joe Biden and me. He did. So, who’s the real garbage?
And, I haven’t been lying about it for four years because I couldn’t admit that I was a loser. But he has. He’s not just a loser. He’s a sore loser, which everybody hates. So, who’s the real garbage?
I didn’t inherit $413 million from my daddy, and then pretend for decades that I was a self-made man. But, he did. So, who’s the real garbage?
I didn’t go bankrupt six times while stiffing thousands of workers of their rightful pay. All the while claiming to be a business genius. He did. So, who’s the real garbage?
I’m not a pathological liar, telling more than 30,000 DOCUMENTED lies during four years in office. THIRTY THOUSAND! But he did. So, who’s the real garbage?
Very quickly, the refrain will be taken up by everybody in the audience, in a question-response manner that will become a signature statement of the campaign. It will carry from rally to rally, through the convention, naming the lowlife for what he is, in a way that he will never be able to escape.
This is so important. We can already see that Trump is going to wage a vicious, scurrilous campaign. Harris cannot let him control the narrative, nor define her in his terms, as he’s trying to do with “real garbage.” Trump’s prior opponents have mistakenly allowed him to do that.
“Who’s the real garbage?” needs to become the “Lock her up” of Harris’ campaign. That is, the repeated, raucous, reflexive recitation of contempt for Trump that becomes embedded into the culture and, therefore, larger than life.
“Who’s the real garbage,” curated to an epigram in the culture, can become the four-word death knell for Trump’s re-election bid, exposing in his own words, and illustrated by his own actions, just how unfit he is to be president. Every American will know it.
The deliciousness of it comes from the fact that it’s all true, and that somebody, for the first time, is truly nailing Trump for who he is. It will make him the central figure in the campaign, as he’s always so desperate to be. He deserves no less. Nor do we.
Keep ReadingShow Less
No Trump, the President Is Not Above the Law
In a unanimous opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said it could not endorse Trump’s “contention that the Executive has carte blanche to violate the rights of individual citizens to vote and to have their votes count.”
Feb 07, 2024
A federal appeals court in Washington on Tuesday rejected Donald Trump’s assertion that he cannot be prosecuted for his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. This landmark ruling marks a significant step in efforts to hold the former president accountable, clearing the way for him to go to trial for his multi-pronged effort to thwart the peaceful transfer of power. All eyes now turn to the U.S. Supreme Court, whose potential review of the appeals court’s ruling could introduce additional delays.
In a unanimous opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said it could not endorse Trump’s “contention that the Executive has carte blanche to violate the rights of individual citizens to vote and to have their votes count.” The ruling stems from Trump’s criminal prosecution in federal district court in Washington. The August 2023 indictment in that case, United States v. Trump, alleges that Trump orchestrated and participated in a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results, a driving force behind the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
The federal government charges that Trump and his allies promoted false claims of election fraud, pushed state officials to ignore the results of the popular vote, organized slates of false Trump electors, pressured the Justice Department to conduct sham election-crime investigations, and tried to get Vice President Mike Pence to replace authentic electors with phony ones.
The court emphasized that Trump’s alleged crimes violated foundational democratic values that the president is sworn to uphold and represented too severe a threat to the continued functioning of our democratic system of government to be shielded from prosecution.
Seeking to derail the prosecution, Trump argued that his case should be dismissed because presidents enjoy immunity for any “official” acts they undertake while in office—a radical claim that would put presidents above the law. The trial court rejected this argument in December, and Trump appealed to the D.C. Circuit.
The appeals court’s unanimous affirmation of the trial court comes from three judges appointed by both Republican and Democratic presidents. Their opinion held that a president may be prosecuted for any criminal acts he undertook as president. Echoing the trial court, the three-judge panel rejected Trump’s “contention that he is entitled to categorical immunity from criminal liability for any assertedly ‘official’ action that he took as President—a contention that is unsupported by precedent, history, or the text and structure of the Constitution.”
The court’s opinion expressly refrained from comment on whether Trump did in fact commit the crimes he is charged with. But the court concluded that if federal prosecutors are able to prove them, Trump could not claim immunity to escape punishment. In other words, “former President Trump has become citizen Trump” since leaving office, subject to criminal prosecution like all other people. The court explained that ruling otherwise would create a “striking paradox” of allowing “the president, who alone is vested with the constitutional duty to ‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed,’” to be the “sole officer capable of defying those laws with impunity.”
The court emphasized that Trump’s alleged crimes violated foundational democratic values that the president is sworn to uphold and represented too severe a threat to the continued functioning of our democratic system of government to be shielded from prosecution. Noting that “[f]ormer President Trump’s alleged efforts to remain in power despite losing the 2020 election were, if proven, an unprecedented assault on the structure of our government,” the court refused to accept Trump’s “claim that a President has unbounded authority to commit crimes that would neutralize the most fundamental check on executive power—the recognition and implementation of election results.”
The court also concluded that Trump’s argument in favor of immunity, if accepted, would “collapse of our system of separated powers by placing the president beyond the reach of all three branches,” by stopping Congress from declaring certain acts illegal, preventing future presidents from holding lawbreakers accountable, and blocking courts from holding trials. The court underscored that while a former president has never been prosecuted federally, past presidents thought they could be—as evidenced by Gerald Ford offering, and Richard Nixon accepting, a pardon “to avoid Nixon’s post-resignation indictment,” and Bill Clinton “agree[ing] to a five-year suspension of his law license and a $25,000 fine” to avoid prosecution.
The district court’s preparations for Trump’s trial have been on hold since December while the D.C. Circuit has been considering his appeal on the question of immunity. The trial preparations can restart after February 12, unless Trump appeals his case to the Supreme Court or if a panel comprised of the whole D.C. Circuit decides to take it up.
Regardless of any further appeals, the significance of the D.C. Circuit’s decision cannot be overstated. The criminal case brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith remains a powerful tool for holding Trump accountable for his attempts to overthrow our democracy, with the potential of lengthy jail time for Trump. Today, the judiciary has made its voice clear: no one is above the law.
Keep ReadingShow Less
No, Donald, You’re Not Being Persecuted Like the Scottsboro Boys
The Scottsboro Boys were victims of racism; Trump, conversely, has long been known for his racism.
Sep 02, 2023
“War Is Peace, Freedom Is Slavery, Ignorance Is Strength.” So wrote George Orwell in 1984, his famous dystopian novel about authoritarianism. The book gave us the term “Orwellian,” describing situations where facts are ignored, truth is turned on its head, and 2+2=5. Now, almost 75 years after its publication, the United States is confronting its own brush with authoritarianism, by prosecuting former President Donald Trump for his attempt to seize power after losing the 2020 election.
One of Trump’s recent federal court filings is truly Orwellian. Trump was trying to delay his trial by almost three years. The filing compares Trump, a self-proclaimed billionaire, to the Scottsboro Boys, nine Black youths who suffered one of the most notoriously racist judicial persecutions in U.S. history,
On March 25, 1931, a freight train was passing through Alabama en route from Chattanooga to Memphis. Two white women on the train, 23-year-old Victoria Price and 17-year-old Ruby Bates, accused a group of Black youths of gang raping them. Aged 12 to 20, they were arrested and hauled to jail in nearby Scottsboro, Alabama. A mob formed outside the jail, hoping to lynch the accused. Fortunately for the prisoners, both the sheriff and Alabama’s governor were opposed to lynching. The governor ordered the Alabama National Guard to surround the jail.
Retired California Superior Court Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell called Trump’s failed comparison to the Scottsboro Boys “stunningly stupid” on CNN
While protected from the mob, the Scottsboro Boys had no defense against Alabama’s deeply racist justice system. The day after their arrest, all nine were indicted. Two weeks later, eight of the Scottsboro Boys had been tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death. Their ordeal continued for decades. Ruby Bates subsequently recanted her accusation and testified on behalf of the nine. Two appeals made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, resulting in remarkable rulings that set the standards for requiring effective counsel and adequate time to prepare a defense, and barring racist exclusion of people of color from juries.
Which brings us to Donald Trump. On August 1, Trump was indicted on four counts related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss—including the charge of conspiracy against rights, originally enacted in 1870 to prosecute the Ku Klux Klan for denying freed Black citizens their right to vote. Special Counsel Jack Smith asked for the trial to begin in January, 2024.
Trump’s lawyers countered with a request to delay his trial until April, 2026. In their court filing, they invoked the Scottsboro Boys’ Supreme Court decision, Powell v. Alabama, in which the Court ruled that the scandalously fast pace of their arrest and sentencing to death, along with the shoddy legal representation they received, were unconstitutional.
In rejecting Trump’s outlandish request, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said, “Many cases are unduly delayed because a defendant lacks adequate representation or cannot properly review discovery because they are detained. That is not the case here.”
Retired California Superior Court Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell called Trump’s failed comparison to the Scottsboro Boys “stunningly stupid” on CNN.
Anthony Michael Kreis, assistant professor of law at Georgia State University, said on the Democracy Now! news hour, “The important lesson from the Scottsboro Boys case is that in Alabama in the early 1930s, you had powers that be who used the criminal justice system in order to reinforce white supremacy—all-white juries, rushed sham trials, lack of criminal process and procedure. That’s just not what’s happening here in Washington, D.C., in the special counsel’s case at all. Donald Trump has been afforded every opportunity to have a robust defense.”
The Scottsboro Boys were victims of racism. Trump, conversely, has long been known for his racism, from discriminating against people of color as prospective tenants in the 1970s, to calling for the execution of the wrongfully accused Central Park Five in a full-page newspaper ad. Trump refused to apologize or retract his demand, despite their exoneration after spending years in prison. In 2017, he referred to the white supremacist mob in Charlottesville, Virginia, including Klansmen and neo-Nazis, as “very fine people.”
The Scottsboro Boys were falsely accused of rape, and had their lives ruined. Trump has been accused of sexual misconduct, sexual assault, or rape by no less than 26 women, and has so far avoided any consequences save a recent $5 million civil court verdict finding he had sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll.
Clarence Norris was the sole living Scottsboro Boy to receive a pardon, in 1976. He died in 1989. In 2013, the remaining Scottsboro Boys received posthumous pardons from the State of Alabama. Their story of justice denied and delayed belongs in every school curriculum, not purged with Black history as is happening in red states from Arkansas to Florida. The Scottsboro Boys have no place, however, in cynical, Orwellian court filings from criminal defendants like Donald Trump.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular