So you may have heard something about this on Friday, you know, typical news-dump on a late Thursday afternoon.
A former U.S. President was convicted of 34 felony counts in a New York City courtroom.
Thirty-four counts. That’s kind of a lot. A couple thoughts on this unprecedented moment in American history:
— First, this Manhattan case was said by most legal experts to be the weakest of the four indictments Trump is facing, the least dangerous for him. So the fact that he was convicted on all counts on this case makes me think he’s in legit trouble of being convicted in the other three as well.
— It’s laughable in a way to, in 2024, say the phrase “Well, the Republican nominee for President is a convicted felon, that won’t affect his chances for election.” But that’s what everyone seems to be saying since the verdict, that all his voters will stay with him no matter what, as long as he has a pulse.
I know I’ve proven wrong before on Trump, but I have to believe it will have at least SOME effect. There have to be voters in swing states like Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, etc. who don’t love Biden, but can’t bring themselves to pull the lever for someone convicted of 34 felonies. There don’t have to be a ton of these people, just enough to swing the Electoral College vote in their state.
— The idea of Trump in prison delights me: the man who exhorted millions to “lock her up” now should be seeing an orange jumpsuit in his future (hey, it matches his complexion!)
He probably won’t see it in this case, but maybe in the other three.
— If I’m President Biden and the Democrats, I’m reminding voters every single time I speak in public that his opponent was convicted of 34 felonies. Every single time. Drill it into everyone’s skull.
— Finally, it is so, so important, even more so now, that Biden win this election. Because if Trump wins, those other 3 cases will disappear into thin air, and this unbelievably arrogant con man will never be truly held accountable for his crimes.
Thirty four for thirty four. That’s one hell of a batting average for the Orange Grifter.
**Next up, I love how Simone Biles seems to be completely recovered from her disastrous 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. She completed her amazing return to the top over the weekend at the U.S. Championships, winning gold in every event, including with this vault. The Olympics are six weeks away, and it would be so great to see this incredible athlete come out on top yet again.
**Finally today, I must vent for a little bit about my beloved New York Rangers, whose incredible season came to an end Saturday night, in a feeble hail of missed shots and blown scoring opportunities. The Florida Panthers 100 percent, absolutely were the better team in this series, so there’ll be no bellyaching from me about bad bounces or missed ref calls or anything like that that usually happens when a series is as close as this one appeared to be.
Instead, I want to rant about the complete disappearing act by the Rangers stars in this series. Mika Zibanejad, Artemiy Panarin, and Chris Kreider, did bupbkis. Zilch, zero. Kreider had one goal, Panarin had one very late in Game 6 goal, and Mika was shut out. That CANNOT happen in the conference finals! I don’t care that the Panthers were good, suffocating on defense, tenacious on the forecheck, all of that is true.
But for the Rangers stars to no-show at the biggest points of the season, yet again, just makes me mad. Igor Shesterkin played out of his freaking mind in goal, like, he was incredible, the only reason the series was as close as it was.
And just as my boys did throughout much of Henrik Lundqvist’s prime, it went to waste. Six freaking wins away from the Stanley Cup, and still can’t get it done.
OK. Thank you. In the big picture, it was an incredible season, and getting to two conference finals in three years is pretty damn good. But this was going to be THE YEAR. The year the 30-year Cup drought ended.
Why do I even bother getting my hopes up?
Wide World of Stuff 