Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s vorpal blade went snicker-snack yesterday. He may not have slain the Jabberwock, but I’m gyring and gimbling in the wabe nonetheless. I have been chortling in my joy ever since I heard the news.
No one knows much about the details of this indictment yet. It appears to be on multiple counts – somewhere north of 30 – and a combination of misdemeanor and felony counts having to do with business fraud. The mome raths are predictably outgrabe. TFG provided them the template when he floated the possibility of indictments a week ago and said it was a witch hunt, weaponization of the judicial system, Soros-funded, corrupt Democrats, yadda yadda yadda.
It appears that TFG will surrender to the criminal court in Manhattan on Tuesday of next week, when he’ll be fingerprinted, pose for a mug shot, and be assigned bail as a condition of his release pending trial.
He will be told that he has the right to remain silent.
Have they never met the man?
The judge may impose some restrictions on his pre-trial release, but we don’t know about that yet. In an earlier case, the judge put Roger Stone under a partial gag order because he posted a picture of the judge with a target superimposed on her head. TFG has already posted a picture of him poised to swing a bat at Alvin Bragg’s head, so it’s not too much of a stretch to think that the judge could restrict TFG’s freedom to post anything about his case on social media. TFG has shown no evidence that he would be able to abide by such a restriction, in which case the judge could rescind his bail altogether and put him in the slammer until his trial.
Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida came to TFG’s defense in a statement from Florida tonight, saying that the state of Florida will not participate in any extradition effort by New York City law enforcement. Fine, Ron. You might want to read “Article IV, Section 2: Interstate Extradition” of the Constitution sometime. They must have skipped this in your Con Law class at Harvard.
So, cups and lips and slips between. The denouement of this long national nightmare is at least months away, and may be longer than that. Meanwhile, we await Fani Willis in Atlanta and Jack Smith in DC to pile on with further indictments.
TFG will continue his campaign for the presidency, although he and everyone else knows that he will be a loser for yet a third time. After the initial outrage, his party and supporters will lose interest in him. The GOP is in a fine pickle, and I couldn’t wish it on a more reprehensible group of human beings. They have cast their lot with this miserable waste of protoplasm and, without knowing anything about the charges or evidence, have climbed on the “witch hunt” and “weaponization” bandwagon. As Lindsay Graham said in 2016, “If we nominate [TFG], we will be destroyed . . . and we will deserve it.”
Pass the popcorn.
People have said that an indictment like this would “tear the country apart.” Have they not seen the country TFG enabled? We are already “torn apart” by the narcissism, greed, and corruption TFG has modeled and encouraged his entire life. Depositing TFG on the ash heap of history (to quote Reagan’s diagnosis of the end of the Soviet Union) is Step One in healing. Some of his acolytes will never abandon them. Too bad for them. The rest of us are moving on.
Some talking heads are piously reminding us tonight that “this is not an occasion for rejoicing; it is a solemn moment in American history, the criminal indictment of a former President of the United States.” Yeah, they can go be solemn if they want. I’m dancing.
I'm late in reading this column, Karen, and I'm glad I waited. What a wonderful way to begin this week. I haven't laughed with such gusto in several days. Thank you for the belly chuckle and reinforcement of my personal opinions. You're a wonder!
And all of this in our lifetime...