TRUMP INDICTED AGAIN: Now What?

[OPINION, ANALYSIS, some even serious & TUNES]

NOTES

Trump has been charged with 37 felonies relating to obstruction of justice and keeping classified documents. Most folks who at least semi-regularly watch the news are probably not surprised that he was charged with something, however 37 felonies is probably a surprise to most.

It is imperative that this country get away from viewing a hugely important and historically significant event like this through a partisan lens, otherwise this country risks being torn apart.

The legal process is clearly one of the best ways to restore some level of trust between the political left and right in this country. This is why the credibility of our courts and our judges is so vitally important.

The legal system in this country and its court system are designed to resolve disputes based on: (i) facts determined by on the basis of pre-established rules regarding the admissibility of evidence; (ii) laws previously and properly voted on and passed by the legislature (iii) in cases where jury trials are required, jurors drawn randomly from members of the relevant community where the events leading to the case took place; and (iv) duly appointed/elected judges who are neutral and who apply the facts determined by the judge or jury to be true, to the law that is applicable.

While no legal system is perfect, including our own, as a lawyer, I can say, that our legal system is generally very good at functioning the way it is supposed to. That is to say, neutrally, fairly and reliably.

Compared to court systems in totalitarian countries and in most of the rest of the world, ours is excellent. Even when the system goes awry from time to time, there are, more often than not, many avenues to appeal the case to correct any errors that occur. In short, our court system and its decisions deserve respect and are just in a very high percentage of the cases.

With respect to this last point, citizens should be wary of listening to politicians, elected leaders and even so-called news broadcasters criticizing the decisions of judges and/or jurors, unless they have at least read a court reporter transcript of the entire proceeding (including the judge’s jury instructions)—which, of course, they never do. In short, unless one was actually there and saw and heard what was said at trial under oath (and the risk of the penalty of perjury for lying), and then also heard what the judge told the jury what the applicable law was, one is not in a position to criticize the jury’s verdict or the court’s final judgment. Often cases turn one way or another on the credibility of the various witnesses and/or little details or slight inferences to be drawn from basic legal principles. But the main point is, that the court system is there to make sure that ours is a country where the rule of law and not of men prevails.

In this day and age where various news outlets often present biased and slanted versions of facts and present it as broadcast news, it is vital that the political left, middle and right have faith and confidence in the court system to determine who’s guilty of crimes, who’s liable, who’s right and who’s wrong in cases where the parties and various political factions cannot agree. After all, courts are in an infinitely better position to do this than any person or politician. In this regard, we all need some neutral person or institution that we can rely upon to make a fair decision that we all can trust so that we all can accept it and move on with our lives after a decision, determination, judgment or verdict is reached. (And this includes, the losers, who, though they’ve lost, must feel that at least the process of making the decision was in accordance with pre-established rules). Otherwise, nothing ever gets resolved, divisions deepen, social dysfunction, if not outright civil war, results.

In short, if we don’t trust the courts and their decision making processes we as a nation are sunk.

Are there one or two bad judges out there? Yes, however, the vast majority are very competent and do a good job. Do judges and juries make mistakes? Yes, occasionally. But the point is that in the vast majority of instances, judges, juries and courts make the correct decision and it’s imperative that we all agree at some point to abide by those decisions as being correct.

So, the bottom line is that we should give the court system a chance to operate as it was designed.

And after that process is finished, abide by the result. We, as a nation simply cannot have a repeat of what is still happening concerning the results of the 2020 election where 60 courts (more or less) with both Democratic and Republican judges, have held the results of the 2020 election to be valid and that the election was not, as Trump and his supporters continually allege, “stolen”. No court has held that the 2020 election results in any state were invalid. That should have ended that discussion a long time ago and the strong view here is that those who continue to press the “stolen” election claims are acting in a seditious manner.

Our legal system is not like those found in authoritarian countries, where the courts are nothing but another tool in the arsenal of those in power to control the masses. The general public in those countries are right not to trust the courts. But here, thankfully, ours is a legal system of laws and not of men. But the bottom line is, we, as a nation, must have trust in the legal system. So, let’s give it a chance and let it operate the way it was designed to operate. We cannot let the courts and our system of justice turn into another political football.

DDL 6/9/23

Now time for some fun, to-wit, tunes

TUNES

[For the uninitiated, in this portion of the post we usually pick up the broadcast of some unknown nutcase who has the unmitigated gall to call himself a “Guru”.]

I have to admit that I didn’t

Want to get too much into a 60s rut

When I was searchin’ for the next tune

In tonights post

But then….

I ran once again into a movie

And a tune done by our next artist

And when I viewed the video

And heard the song

It just stopped me in my tracks

Because this video and

This tune

really just grabbed me

we’re talkin total nostalgia here

And, a viola

Here we are

The video itself is from 1967

But it is of great quality

And June 7, 2023 (as I write this)

Is the 56^th anniversary

Of family Guru moving

From Yinzer town

to what

back then was called

the “city of the monuments” V….A…

I remember my parents allowing me to

See Thunderball the summer before our move

And that James Bond aura

Of the Sean Connery ilk

is evident

in this video as well

but with the appearance of more

notable big time stars

Just the way movies were filmed back then

And to get these kind of visual results

Without a lot of high tech gimmickry

Is really something

And the film stars

….they truly were magical

….just watching this

Made me feel

Very very lucky

To have experienced the

Movies

And

Especially

The music

Back then

Simply the best ever

I could go on about all that

But let’s talk about the tune

….and DS’s singing.

To me her singing

Is not only outstanding

In its own right

But it also more or less

Sets up the sax player’s solo

DS, being the true artist she is

intentionally “bends” the pitch

Of the notes she’s hitting, even going

Slightly flat

Or at least it sounds that way

(albeit intentionally)

To achieve the wistful

seductive effect she desires.

It all sets up what to me

is an amazing saxophone solo

Simply because the sax player duplicates that

Breathy Slight bending of notes

all with an airy

hint of slight flatness.

Which is just perfect

While guitar players

Routinely bend notes

As a former sax player

(albeit a very amateurish one)

But one who did it 6 or 7 years

I can’t say that I really know how

That breathy bending is done on the sax

(perhaps some serious cheek puffing..which is

Usually taught as a no no)

Let’s put it this way,

if I tried

What this sax player did

on my sax

That sax would be squealing like

freshly neutered pig

…..[they’re called “stags” for

all yinz city slickers out there]

In any event, it’s not just that DS

Has a wonderful voice

.. it’s that she also always brings

An attitude…usually a little rebelliousness

and/or something special to a tune

Anyway… I can’t totally put my finger

On what I’m tryin’ to say

So….I’ll quit blabbering

Here’s DS doing what only DS can do….

https://youtu.be/kDMT6uYuDvM

——————————————————–

[No artificially intelligent program was used in generating any part of the all too human work product found on this page or in this post.]

David Dixon Lentz June 9, 2023