Complete Failure of the Legal System

[angrychair]

With the latest ruling from New York in favor of not sentencing the convicted felon the final nail has been hammered down on the coffin lid of the legal system.
First we were told AG Garland was working on it. He wasn't.
Then we were told the special counsel would get him. He did not. Nothing happened.
Then we were told that state courts would hold him accountable. They will not.

Children across this country have been shown that wealth and privilege will, very literally, get you out of anything. That you can even rape woman and children and get convicted of crimes but not only will nothing happen to you but you can get elected POTUS.
I am continuing to try my best to be positive but some days are easier than others. Today is not a good day. My fear that we are a nation in decline is palpable. That the nation will crumble in my lifetime is now a very real possibility.
We are collapsing under our own weight and people are not even paying attention.
As a nation we have become lazy and ignorant and just assumed that other people will fix it for us.
We became so enamored with wealth and privilege we stopped caring how it was achieved. So obsessed with the ideal of the lifestyles of the rich and famous that we forgot to consider the costs of that lifestyle on ourselves.
We praised the Waltons and willfully ignored their gutting of small rural communities.
We idolized billionaires without any critical analysis of how their hoarding of wealth was tearing at the very fabric of our nation.

We are rapidly accelerating toward a brick wall. I hope we have the good sense to hit the brakes but fear it may already be to late.

[XanaDUer2]

1. He'll nvr be accountable

Nt

[NotHardly]

21. Wonder how much that cost Elon?

Bloody damn cowards and traitors to the "rule of law".

[Celerity]

40. Cost? Musk has exploded in net worth since he went full MAGAt.

Real-time top 30 billionaires' net worth

Musk is just surging, Ellison now a firm number two.

Arnault is now worth 60B or so less than his high, and Google co-founders (Page and Brin) are falling atm (and will probably continue to do so as the US likely rips Google apart over the next year or so).

https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/#591aee713d78

[Irish_Dem]

2. Yep rule of law and guardrails do not exist in the US.

At least for the rich and powerful.

But god forbid you are a pregnant woman in need of emergency care.
You will be killed on the spot.

[republianmushroom]

3. Waiting for justice, 46 months and counting

[Magoo48]

20. Bamboozled, hoodwinked, okey-doked, Mullered. Let's clog up the works. Resist.

[republianmushroom]

24. And those that said this case was going at a fast pace (from Texas),

well it looks like that pace is going to last more than eight years. Total. The evident (?) long gone.

[RandiFan1290]

50. They are now gloating celebrating their victory. nt

[cilla4progress]

4. We are a nation in decline.

Perhaps the loss of our "superpower" status will fare us well?

Africa rising.

Gonna be a whole lotta pain 1st, I'm afraid.

We missed our golden opportunity to put this thing away.

[Celerity]

41. Africa rising.

Obviously not African, but Guyana is exploding due to oil.

Guyana banks on future as a ‘new Qatar’ in high-stakes gamble over oil production

With newfound oil wealth reshaping the economy, can the country balance growth with sustainable development?

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/jul/08/guyana-banks-on-future-as-a-latin-qatar-in-high-stakes-gamble-over-oil-production

[MadameButterfly]

44. The solution to all this

may look different than we think.

I fear how much pain necessary for people to get it. But maybe more productive than Dems keeping things tolerable and always at risk for a Republican takeover.

[walkingman]

5. i agree and I don't see it changing. Our civil society is crumbling.

The gap between the haves and the have nots will grow, but by demonizing scapegoats (immigrants, non-Christians, Democrats, “elites,” women, etc.) many are distracted from that sad fact.

[angrychair]

6. Exactly their point

by demonizing scapegoats (immigrants, non-Christians, Democrats, “elites,” women, etc.) many are distracted from that sad fact.

That was the plan all along.

[MadameButterfly]

45. Yes, it's the Oligarchs, stupid

[RockRaven]

7. The legal system exists for the powerful to use the state's monopoly on violence

to control the powerless. Not the other way around. Any anecdotes or incidences of that reverse case occurring are a bug, not a feature, of how the system is designed and run.

[brush]

8. What did I miss? Did the NY judge decide not to sentence the orange criminal?

That's the case where he was convicted of 34 felonies, and now no sentencing?

Guess we all knew it would happen if trump won. All the other cases will also cease to exist as the dictator and his cabal won't allow them to proceed...him being a sitting president now.

Boy, Garland really knew how to drag his feet just enough.
Jack Smith did all he could.

[muriel_volestrangler]

28. He postponed sentencing indefinitely

The sentencing in Donald Trump’s Manhattan criminal hush-money case has been postponed indefinitely while attorneys on both sides argue over its future given his recent election victory.

Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing Trump’s case, did not provide a new sentencing date in his one-page scheduling order on Friday.

Merchan said in his decision that Trump’s lawyers had to file their argument for dismissal by end of business on 2 December. Prosecutors have one week to respond.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/22/trump-hush-money-case-sentencing

If the judge doesn't pass a sentence before the inauguration, then it won't happen while Trump is president (Trump and all his acolytes would certainly ignore it). If he did somehow decide to sentence after all, before then, Trump will appeal, and that will run out the clock to the inauguration, when the Supreme Court will allow him to ignore it "as part of his presidential duties".

[brush]

31. God! We've got a failed justice system in cases against the powerful and wealthy.

The orange turd slithered away.

[DallasNE]

37. Technically True

Because Trump had filed a motion to dismiss following Trump's election victory the Judge had to have a hearing. He gave Trump until December 2nd to respond as to why the motion to dismiss should be granted and the prosecution until December 9th to respond as to why the motion should be denied. After that, he will make a decision to either set a date for sentencing (likely around December 22nd) or grant the motion to dismiss. I am not going to speculate which way he will rule but I will say this, the tone in the motion to dismiss was disrespectful of the Judge and that will not go over well.

[Kid Berwyn]

9. If money trumps peace...

…it will trump the shit out of justice.

[David Boyle]

10. Case has not been dismissed yet

Just saying.

[AverageJoe]

11. If the health of the political and legal systems are any indication, America is a failed state

We impeached him. Nothing happened.
He tried to overthrow the government. Nothing happened.
We impeached him again. Nothing happened.
He was convicted of 34 felonies. Nothing happened.
He was indicted multiple times. Nothing happened.
The SCOTUS said he was 100 percent above the law. Nothing happened.

[Tickle]

12. stuff happened,

Somehow, the accumulation of these seemingly inconsequential events has elevated his popularity, surpassing previous levels. Frankly, I find it perplexing. November 5th plays on a loop in my mind—I was anxious about the potential of losing a segment of the "blue wall," though not its entirety.

Now, with the speculation of Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito resigning, there’s the looming possibility that Trump could appoint two young, ideologically conservative justices. Even more unsettling is the thought of him expanding the Supreme Court altogether.

The implications are staggering, and I can't help but wonder what lies ahead for us in this rapidly shifting landscape.

[AverageJoe]

17. I agree with everything you wrote, except

Your use of the word “conservative.” That’s the one thing these people are not.

Far right? Yes.
Reactionary? Yes.
Fascist? Yes.
Traitorous? Yes.

Conservative? Hell no.

[kelly1mm]

26. Add in the possibility of expanding the SOTUS to 13 justices, and using the Democrats proposal

of doing just that to claim it is/was bipartisan.

PS the 13 justices argument is that it would align with the number of appellate court circuits.

[JanMichael]

49. If they do that it will prove we don't know how to fight them

It would be over

[B.See]

42. "I can't help but wonder what lies ahead for us in this rapidly shifting landscape."

What lies ahead? Everything some have been warning of... and worse.

[ITAL]

18. Trump is literally like the evil blob from the movie the 5th Element

Everything that gets thrown at him makes him stronger. It's unreal.

[LymphocyteLover]

13. there is no final decision-- I'm not sure what the fuss here is about

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/22/donald-trump-sentencing-hush-money-case/

[kimbutgar]

14. So if you are a rich white man who tried to overthrow our government because you were mad you lost

You have raped women and sold state secrets you get a pass?

Grrrr Merrick Garland !!!!

[republianmushroom]

25. Yup, money does have it's privileges,

rules of law forget it.

[Emile]

15. I guess we're weak on crime in this country.

[SharonAnn]

16. Good post! But I think you meant "palpable" not "palatable"

[angrychair]

32. Yep

That's what I get for not paying close enough attention to the word suggestions as I type. 🤣

[bucolic_frolic]

19. Let me put it to you this way, angrychair

Old money, and age old power, potentates and prime ministers, and royal houses that have not held real power for centuries, are making a mockery of our democracy, its Constitution, its system of written law based on trust and good will, on power for the lowest as important as the highest, on courts and appeals, on elections and patriotism. The United States always faced opposition, in youth with no national bank or credit or scrip, in seeking loans from 500 year old institutions, and civil rights from natural law and Magna Carta, from limiting power of the head of state. There is a fascist and Machiavellian underbelly to politics. We flexed our military prowess but failed to make our political institutions robust, prosperity for the few became our mantra. We lived off the resources of a virgin continent but had no more wisdom than ancient Rome.

The only hope is the inevitable crash of the new government which thinks plurality a mandage and has not the brainpower of a coconut. Our fate lies with a handful of Republican Senators and representatives willing to save us by rejecting extremism. Not impossible, but a lot of work.

[stumpysbear]

22. What made this country special, that "no man is above the law" turned out to be an utter fantasy

[SleeplessinSoCal]

23. Reading that McConnell was responsible for ousting Gaetz is odd.

It was McConnell who gave us the corrupt SCOTUS. So was his rejecting Gaetz just a personal grudge, with no concern for the health of the American legal system? Not to mention his cowardice over January 6th.

[J_William_Ryan]

27. "I'm not sure what the fuss here is about"

The ‘fuss’ is about the fact that Trump won’t be sentenced when he leaves office in 2029.

The fact that Trump will once again escape justice as the wealthy and powerful always do.

And the fact that not only will Trump not be punished for his crimes, but he’s also being rewarded for his corruption and crimes with an election victory and almost unlimited power to rule as despot and dictator for the next four years – if not longer.

That’s what the ‘fuss’ is all about.

[uponit7771]

29. Yep, people still defend Dept Of Jokes

[Prairie_Seagull]

30. Mea Culpa to those who indicated that they thought

TSF would never see a day in jail. I may have cursed your name (under my breath) and continued wishing our justice system will work.

It does if you have the money and the good sense to stay in the background. Wait or if you are a carnival barker.

"Ladies and Gentlemen..."

[D23MIURG23]

33. I wanted to believe in this country, but I'm losing my ability.

I've never thought as hard about leaving as I am now. It's not even about feeling unsafe here. I cut ties with a bunch of Trump supporter former friends earlier this year, because I found their views on society and government too disgusting to be around. I feel the same way about the country as a whole.

I believe in the stated ideals of our country but we've fallen so far short of them that they feel ridiculous, and I feel like an idiot for believing the powers that be would actually care about them. Those officials who claim to believe in our system of government are either averse to fighting for it or in to small a minority to get anything done, and our average voter doesn't know their ass from a hole in the ground.

[moniss]

47. Depending on certain people to stand up is fraught with potential for

disappointment as we found out during Civil Rights and Vietnam. Some of the biggest frustrations during the '50's/'60's was getting the ones who had some power to do something when they said they were on our side. We needed them to act and not just tell us in meetings how they agreed with us.

[jimlup]

34. we are at the brick wall ...

there is NO JUSTICE if you are rich and privileged.

That is the situation we are in.

[Orrex]

35. And at every fucking turn, the cheerleaders mocked those who expressed doubt

[A HERETIC I AM]

36. And how many young men sit on Rikers Island, charged with petty offenses....

some for YEARS without a trial, and the only reason they are there is because they are poor?

How many young men and women across this country sit in jails charged with or convicted of much less serious crimes that everyone knows Trumpy committed?

Greatest country in the world and all that bullshit.

[UTUSN]

38. Am angry with you - wait, angry accompanying yours, not *at* YOU.

[totodeinhere]

39. I am frustrated too but it is within our power to fix this.

We all know that politics is cyclical. Trump and the MAGA movement will flame out pretty rapidly I think. We should be focused now on taking back Congress in 2026. Then we need to have a robust primary and select a winning candidate in 2028 so we can take this country back. The MAGA crowd will do damage during the next 4 years but it can be undone once we get back in power.

[Aussie105]

43. If the legal system backs off on Trump, it will be seen as . . .

if the original charges were fabricated and a vindictive effort the 'get' Trump.

MAGAts will rejoice and proclaim that Trump is above the law.

Dems will go WTF!?!?

Trump will have destroyed both the government and the legal system.

By the time MAGAts realize they are in deep doo-doo along with Democrats - because Trump just doesn't care - it will be too late for them to change their vote.

[moniss]

46. It will get even worse and

the uneven application of law is about to really expand. The favoritism and harassment is going to get cranked to levels most people haven't seen before. But those of us who lived through the '50's/'60's know that times get bad and application of law or "fair treatment" becomes way less about facts and way more about who you are and who you know to an even much larger degree than usual.

[Emile]

48. Innocent until proven broke. Legal system for the wealthy.