We’ve Seen This Play Before

It is very obvious that the Democrats want to see President Trump in a jail cell. He is their strongest opponent in 2024, whether or not they run Joe Biden. They only need to put him out of action for a little more than a year–after that it won’t matter if any verdict is overturned in court. So it really doesn’t matter how strong the case is, if the prosecution leaked information to the media, or if surveillance laws were broken. All they need is a year and a half without President Trump as a candidate. We have seen this play before.

On Sunday, Clarice Feldman posted an article at The American Thinker reminding us of some past legal cases against candidates.

The article notes:

Just as Hollywood seems stuck on the notion of releasing new versions of once-popular films using new actors, the corrupt Department of Justice seems to be using the same tattered playbook once again in the preposterous and ill-considered indictment of President Trump. Only if you saw the originals, you know the plot tricks this time.

I refer you to the Lewis “Scooter” Libby and Senator Ted Stevens cases I’ve written about here. In particular, the detailed account of the former case in the now defunct Weekly Standard.  It was written in 2006 and is now in the Washington Examiner archives. If it is difficult for you to access, this more recent and less detailed article may help refresh your recollection.

Here are some of the common features: Count Stacking — that is, separating a single matter into multiple counts for the purpose of poisoning the public, sensationalizing the case, and persuading a jury that there’s a pony in all that dung. (In this case, I’d add, dissuading voters from continuing to support Trump.) Cherry picking statements out of context, sometimes relying on both hearsay and misrepresentations. Leaking to the press even information which is false. Allegations aren’t evidence, and with this corrupt Department of Justice, you’d be wise to remember that.

The article also notes:

Here are some examples: The indictment shows many boxes stacked in a bathroom and ballroom at Mar-a-Lago, but most of those seem to be simply memorabilia that Trump saved, like presidents before him. In fact, the government claims that of the 13,000 documents they seized at Trump’s residence, only 102 had “classified markings” and only 31 are in issue, of which only 21 are claimed to be related to “national defense.” The President retains his secret clearance after leaving office. Why show all those boxes stored unsecured? Certainly, to create a certain impression of massive amounts of secret materials. The indictment indicates just six top-secret and 18 secret documents were in his office. The other 11 top-secret and 36 secret documents were in a storage facility onsite, which had a lock and key that was specified by the government in a security audit weeks before the raid in the midst of a discussion over which documents were to be kept by Trump, a fact omitted from the indictment.

Please follow the link above to read the entire article. No matter what the outcome of this, it is a sad day for America when laws are only applied when it is politically advantageous.

Welcome To Alice In Wonderland’s America

John Podhoretz posted an article yesterday at the New York Post contrasting the press coverage of the Obama Administration with the press coverage of the Bush Administration. He cites specific instances of how similar stories were covered and how many stories were written about similar incidents. I admit–I assume bias on the part of the press, but to see the details listed was amazing to me.

The article reminds us:

To take just one example: Scooter Libby was accused, though not charged or convicted, of revealing the name of a covert CIA operative, thus potentially endangering her life. In the case of “Fast and Furious,” a federal agent was in fact murdered by a gun that was effectively sold to a Mexican cartel by the Justice Department.

The thing that always amazed me about the ‘covert CIA operative’ was that she drove to CIA headquarters every day. Didn’t anyone ever think that if anyone wanted to find out what she did for a living all they had to do was follow her to work?

The article reminds us:

But the issue isn’t whether the Times or any other media organization has done some stories. What was present during the Bush years scandals but isn’t in the Obama years is “the drumbeat.”

The drumbeat happens when a story reaches critical mass in all media sectors. The New York Times and The Washington Post assign reporters to focus on it full-time. Their stories appear daily, often on the front page or in prominent locations on their Web sites.

The questions raised by those stories dominate the White House press briefing at midday. The answers at the press briefing, combined with new details, are the focus of NPR’s “All Things Considered” and the network-news programs. The reports here are strengthened by reaction from Congress members.

All that, in turn, provide the Times and the Post with more stories, and the hearings they set up and the political machinations that follow create more stories in affiliated media.

None of this is managed, manipulated or directed communally. It’s organic, the way the media business works.

Except it really hasn’t worked this way with coverage of the Obama campaign in 2008 or the Obama administration in the years since.

I remember BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome). Generally speaking, the press would have had their toenails pulled out rather than say anything nice about George Bush or the people around him. I didn’t necessarily agree with everything George Bush did, but I believe he was a good man who loved America. The press treated him very shabbily. It is my hope that if Mitt Romney is elected, the press will do its job, but not set out to destroy his administration as they have attempted to do with Republican administrations in the past.

Finally, I should thank the major media for their bias–it has created a demand for alternative media, of which I am a part. Thank you, you have made a little old retired lady feel useful!

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