Trump indicted by N.Y. grand jury, first ex-president charged with crime
washingtonpost.com
washingtonpost.com
Folks can assert that this charge is independent of his political career, but it will have vast implications and impact in that sector, and I'm worried what it'll mean for other Presidents and high-profile political individuals moving forward.
A case can be made that shutting these people down during their era and their 15 minutes of fame could have meant that the list wouldn't have been as long. I'm not sure. Either way, I recognize that this is an uncharted territory - and I'm weary of where it can lead in our discourse and political approach to our domestic political opponents in our already-fragile democratic system.
Which by many accounts we do, but that doesn't mean we should just accept it. The fact that Trump isn't still president demonstrates that some not entirely vestigial aspects of an actual functioning republic remain alive, riddled with squamous cancer though it is.
The Lost Cause Myth is taught to this day in schools across the U.S. The lie it tells, that the war was about states rights, not slavery. Except what isn't taught include the secession documents of those states expressly saying their secession was to preserve slavery; that the constitution of the Confederate States of America prohibits states from making slavery illegal, quite to the contrary of states' rights. Not taught in these schools is Alexander Stephens' Cornerstone Speech. Robert E. Lee's 15 minutes of fame continues for 158 years and counting.
I think it's reasonable to conclude Jim Crow era laws, and lynchings in America were the direct result of not prosecuting people at the top, middle or bottom of the violence for slavery food chain. Many ordinary citizens partook in those crimes. They brought their children to watch. Governors encouraged citizens to attend. The extent of the trauma goes way beyond just one trial that didn't happen.
Are you concerned that the allegations in the indictment are not even vaguely true or something like that?
We don't yet know what the charges are, but it is likely enough that they are in fact directly related to things that occurred during a political campaign.
---
Edit: Also see related submission currently on front page:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35379099 (20 comments)
Warning: Low Quality Discussion