By Berl Falbaum
Minutes after the historic verdict in the Donald Trump case was announced — shortly before 5 p.m. (EST) May 30, 2024 — I watched the coverage on television and saw anti-Trumpites celebrate the jury’s decision.
They danced, shouted with joy, hugged each other, and proudly performed before the TV cameras.
But sitting on my couch watching the joyous reactions, while I understood their jubilation, I felt none of that “happiness” even though, for some eight years, I have written tens of thousands of words criticizing the man.
No, just the opposite.
No, I don’t feel any exhilaration. I am sad, dismayed, anguished, depressed that we have come to this.
Yes, we can be glad that the rule of law was enforced and that this man was finally held accountable, but, for me, this is not a moment for glee.
Never in my imagination did I believe that I would ever write a piece on a president or former president prosecuted for one felony charge, let alone 34 counts.
No, that would never happen in the greatest democracy the world has ever experienced.
No, never in a country that prided itself in the principle that no one is above the law and expected its president (and the leader of the free world) to set the example of the country’s commitment to morality, integrity, and honesty.
No, I never believed that my children would have to explain to their children how they had been forsaken by a man who held their futures in his hands, a man who was supposed to exemplify the embodiment of unquestioned character.
This man was convicted by 12 Americans, ordinary folks who, I am confident, regret having to make such a difficult decision that leaves an indelible black stain on the country.
I have no doubts that the jurors took no comfort in finding Trump guilty of 34 felony charges. I am glad I was not charged with that obligation.
And if the above is not bad enough, more is yet to come.
This man also faces very serious charges in three other cases (Florida, Washington, D.C., and Georgia), cases which probably will not even be heard before the November 5 election.
The major question which will be debated and examined endlessly in the coming days and weeks is how Trump’s conviction will impact the presidential campaign.
Just posing the question is deeply disturbing. It implies that eight years of Trump’s corruption, lying, sexual perversion, anti-Semitism, racism, misogyny, trying to steal an election, inciting an insurrection, etc., was somehow acceptable behavior.
I am hesitant to get into that issue so soon after the traumatic verdict which I, along with tens of millions of Americans, will have to process. That will take a little time.
But the first signs, as premature as they may be, are not reassuring or comforting.
Unfortunately, I am not confident that we will respond accordingly, not when I read a poll that reported that 25 percent of Republican voters were more likely to vote for Trump if he were convicted.
I sincerely hope that the poll is wrong and/or that these voters will have second thoughts after more reflection. I cannot even fathom nominating let alone electing a felon.
Then consider the rush to embrace Trump by influential Republicans: Pence (yes, Pence), Johnson, McConnell, Collins, Rubio, Vance, Graham, Cruz, Scott, Paul, Stefanik, Scalise, Greene, Gaetz and others couldn’t run fast enough to media microphones to pledge their support for Trump and condemn the verdict as “a tragedy of justice.”
Trump attended a fund-raiser on the Upper East Side of Manhattan minutes after the decision was announced. His campaign reported it took in a record-breaking $53 million in a mere 24 hours after the jury found Trump guilty of 34 felony charges.
The former president will be sentenced July 11, four days before the Republican Convention in Milwaukee where he will be officially named the GOP presidential nominee and, we can be sure, will be welcomed like a conquering hero.
No, the political future does not shine bright for those who value the rule of law, decency, character, integrity, and truth.
The shameless, brazen attacks on our justice system undermine our 247-year-old democracy and will prove calamitous for years to come.
They may even deliver a fatal blow to our democracy because like a stool cannot stand if one of its legs is broken, our system may not survive when one of the three branches of government is undermined.
Agreed and we should be grateful: our institutions held in the so-called hush-money case (it was really a cooking the books case) and the 34 guilty verdicts were a much-needed first step — a painful step — to reinforce our commitment to the rule of law.
But it will take more than these 34 convictions or even a prison sentence to remove the deadly Trumpian poison flowing through the country’s political veins.
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