What defense strategy did this guy use? I love when criminals plead for mercy… at sentencing. This guy “knows he did wrong”. Wonder when he had that epiphany. Right after the guilty verdict? 5 minutes before the sentencing hearing? Or is it a lie? I think we can assume he’d show exactly zero remorse with a different verdict.
I wonder if these last minute cries of regret are real. We can see on this board and elsewhere it is damn near impossible to change minds of those in the MAGA cult. If the cries are real, I am wondering what and when it dawned on them it was all bullshit?
It’s a good thing he never got to fight in the upcoming civil war. The baristas would abjectly humiliate him, steal his lunch money, make him cry and then drown him in a vat of vanilla soy latte.
It might at least be credible if they pled guilty. Esp when they are effectively caught red handed. The “Trump made me do it” defense overall never really worked on these cases, but it sure as hell isn’t the card to play at sentencing. That makes me wonder what his defense strategy was in the trial itself.
I do agree with one part of Rick’s argument here: these people are ultimately responsible for their own behavior. This mob did their thing without Trump even in attendance. That said, I don’t mean to completely exonerate Trump. I don’t personally see a smoking gun or guilt in these quotes from Trump, but if the jury finds otherwise, I’ll accept it. Frankly I think we should need a lot less than any of this to never want to hear from Trump again politically, regardless of his legal culpability, but clearly many disagree with me on this.
I don't, but will say that while the gun wasn't smoking and in his hand, it is crystal clear to me what he meant under the circumstances, Trump being Trump.
It’s an interesting question. In The Gulag Archipelago, Solzhenitsyn notes that in 1938, Stalin had some of his own party officers arrested for basically no reason. Many of these people spent years in the gulag, and amazingly (or predictably depending on your view) never wavered in their belief of the righteousness of the party the entire time. Solzhenitsyn, reasonably, surmised that this was because of the cognitive dissonance that would be generated by admitting so much of one’s life was dedicated to an evil end. For these proud boys et al., their burden is smaller. They didn’t commit nearly as atrocious acts and not for nearly as long. Yet, their burden is not zero. I’m not sure really what we should expect to be the minimum consequences requisite for truly turning their backs on their cause, but I do expect there to be one.
This guy was no follower. He was commanding people where to attack the police barricades. He was involved in planning the attack.
Agree completely. (Reluctantly irt Trump). Telling them to march on the capitol is pretty benign and lets be honest, he may not be smart enough to even get the "stand by" reference. As for these other dudes... Stupid games, stupid prizes.
When you're haranguing about a stolen election for months on end and getting people angry, and then holding a rally whipping an angry & paranoid crowd to march on the capitol, it is at the very least absurdly irresponsible for a president. Even having the rally in the first place is a big part of the problem, even if having a rally is fine per se. So while insurrectionists who broke the law should be held to account for their specific actions, it's not untrue that they were inspired by Trump. Trump lit the fire & kept pouring gasoline on it. Nothing benign about it.
actually Dear Leader did tell the angry mob to go the capital and he would accompany them. And yes the maga mob had plenty of weapons and attacked and beat men and women LEO.
All you have to do is ignore the war room in the Willard Hotel run by Stone and Bannon involved in organizing this whole thing. And I bet there are plenty of cell phone calls from the hotel to the White House.
