Say what?
The persistent internet headlines declare, “Judge issues gag order in Trump hush-money case.”
Somehow, I cannot read that statement with a straight face: “Judge issues gag order in Trump hush-money case.”
The first time I saw it last week, I had to stop and read it again: “Judge issues gag order in Trump hush-money case.”
Without really thinking about it, my simple, literal mind still rebelled at the whole thing; something is fundamentally wrong there – “Judge issues gag order in Trump hush-money case.”
Then I stopped to parse it all, trying to analyze what I’d just read, looking for the real sense of the thing – “Judge issues gag order in Trump hush-money case.”
And that’s when the illogic, the irony, the idiocy, the stupidity of the whole thing suddenly became apparent to me. Now, I confess, I’m a mechanical engineer, a physical scientist, and no way a political scientist, etc. Plus, I know nothing about the ‘Trump hush-money case.’ But I can infer some things from that bare phrase, ‘Trump hush-money case’ – evidently Mr. Trump is charged with giving (or at least offering to give) some money to someone to get them to keep quiet about something.
The real irony arises in the ‘Judge issues gag order’ business – because it sure sounds like the judge is ordering Mr. Trump himself to keep quiet about something, right? Apparently the judge thinks it is quite reasonable for him in his exalted and immune position to order Mr. Trump to keep his own mouth shut – under the threat of law, with the threat of punishment, a threat with real teeth in it – all the while prosecuting Mr. Trump for offering someone else money to keep his mouth shut.
Maybe it’s the irony of the thing, maybe it’s the weird perverted symmetry, maybe it’s the blatant stupidity of the whole business that grabs my attention. Or maybe it’s just the ongoing hatred and hubris and insolent hypocrisy of a lot of people doing their best to ostracize and silence Mr. Trump; I don’t know.
Whatever it is, though, I still cannot see the headline, “Judge issues gag order in Trump hush-money case,” without doing a double-take, without stopping to stare at it yet again, and without trying to make sense of it. That's when I remind myself yet again that not everything going on around me makes sense. All I can do is to shake my head and wonder – this is still America, isn’t it?
As we children used to say, it’s enough to gag a maggot.
Larry Cloud
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The real answer to that question seems to be, "barely". It's evident to most of us that Trump has more freedom of speech than most people.
FYI (1), the judge is responding to Trump putting out wrong, intimidating and threatening rhetoric that could unduly affect the upcoming trial or cause harm to people he can target.
FYI (2), this former president is targeting the judge's daughter. How can anyone defend that? Can you defend that? Trump did the same thing to the wife of the judge in the E. Jean Carroll case.
Trump is a coward. Why would he even want to put either of these women in harm's way with the obviously, erroneous "dog whistles" that could do real damage to them. For some reason, Trump doesn't care--don't you? Are these the actions of an innocent man?
Let's get a little more information on the situation before we question or doubt the soundness of America or the actions of the judge. If this country were anything other than America, Trump would probably already be in jail. Think about it. The more "truth that rises" on this former president, the worse he looks; and the more we find out about ourselves.
Renee Smith
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Mr. Cloud, if Joe Biden gets re-elected, it won’t be the America we’ve known for the last 200 years. Trump’s bond was set at an astounding $474 million with no loss to anyone from his alleged crime.
Put into context, the crypto-currency dude, Sam Bankman-Fried, convicted of stealing $8 billion (NYTimes 3/28/24) from approximately 1 million customers (Slate 10/4/23) had a bond set at $250 million. His parents put up 10 percent which satisfied the terms of his bond. Bernie Madoff, convicted of defrauding thousands in the largest Ponzi scheme in history, had his bond set at $10 million.
Keep in mind, both Madoff and SBF were huge Democrat donors and Trump is, well, Trump, the man Democrats fear more than COVID-19.
The Biden DOJ argued in the US Appeals Court that terrorists at Gitmo had constitutional rights (WashPo 9/30/21) but with Donald Trump and the 8th Amendment (excessive bail and excessive fines are unconstitutional) Democrat Judges and DAs suddenly go ignorant.
If they can ignore the constitution with a presidential candidate and impose a gag order on him during a campaign, they can do worse to you and me and the America you’ve known is gone along with our southern border and Joe Biden’s mind.
Ralph Miller