How to gett tuffer
Legal types on Twitter are pointing out that Trump damaged the government’s ability to prosecute Saipov by barfing out his stupid murderous thoughts on Twitter. The Times explains.
A day after an immigrant from Uzbekistan was arrested on suspicion of plowing a pickup truck along a crowded bicycle path in Manhattan, killing eight people, Mr. Trump denounced the American criminal justice system as “a joke” and “a laughingstock,” adding that he was open to sending “this animal” instead to the American military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
Shortly before midnight, the president took it a step further, posting a message on Twitter declaring that the suspect, Sayfullo Saipov, should be executed. “NYC terrorist was happy as he asked to hang ISIS flag in his hospital room,” he wrote, referring to the driver’s reported interest in the Islamic State extremist group. “He killed 8 people, badly injured 12. SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY!”
Presidents are typically advised never to weigh in on pending criminal cases because such comments can be used by defense lawyers to argue that their clients cannot get a fair trial — especially when the head of the executive branch that will prosecute the charges advocates the ultimate punishment before a judge has heard a single shred of evidence at trial. But Mr. Trump has disregarded such advice in other instances, as well.
Of course he has – because he’s stupid, reckless, out of control, childish, undisciplined, self-involved, and obstinate.
While the White House deemed it unseemly to have a policy debate on gun control immediately after the massacre in Las Vegas last month, Mr. Trump was eager on Wednesday to have a policy debate on immigration. He pressed Congress to cancel a visa lottery program that allowed the driver into the country, attributing it to Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, and called Democrats “obstructionists” who “don’t want to do what’s right for our country.”
“We have to get much tougher,” the president told reporters. “We have to get much smarter. And we have to get much less politically correct. We’re so politically correct that we’re afraid to do anything.”
“Politically correct” there means simply humane, decent, not racist, not sadistic. It means respectful of human rights and the law – and he vulgarly pushes it away like a child throwing cabbage on the floor. Hours later he puts the whole prosecution in jeopardy.
“We have to get much smarter.” Just like him.
” And we have to get much less politically correct.” Again, just like him.
“We’re so politically correct that we’re afraid to do anything.” Okay, not much like him at all.This probably can be translated into “I just found out I don’t get to do everything I want, I’m not the boss of everyone. Because of this we are turning into losers. MAGA”
Trump is a singularity of American exceptionalism, a black hole of narcissism. But he can only operate in an environment where there is only one raging asshole. Two raging assholes would quickly self destruct as each tried to get the other to bow to their will and concede that they are the best, the most, the greatest. His UN speech in which he said that every country should put its own interests first, just like the US, would quickly lead to utter disaster.
YNnB; re. the two assholes: I think you’ve just cleared up why Bannon had to go.
Those may be his good points. But what are his bad ones?
I’m certainly no lawyer but that’s the second reaction I had when I saw the tweet, the first being the almost overwhelming urge to vomit. A lot of potential jurors are going to see that as an order from the president to convict the man regardless of evidence, which would seem to mean a fair trial is all but impossible.
As for the Guantánamo Bay thing, I’m very hazy on the details. By considering sending the guy there, is Trump saying he should be held indefinitely without trial?
In past presidential news, weighing in on pending trials:
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1970/8/4/nixon-calls-manson-guilty-attorneys-move/
“In Los Angeles, defense attorney Paul Fitzgerald told reporters, “If we’re going to have the chief executive of this nation categorically or uncategorically speculate on people’s guilt, we ought to abandon this court system. Maybe President Nixon in a news conference ought to determine whether these people are guilty.”
Trump thinks he can do this already. He’s certainly acting like it.
Worse than Nixon.