Capitulation, Collusion, and Real Estate Ventures
Birds Of A Feather: Trump Expected to Pardon Blagojevich
Up next on Trump’s pardon list is Robert Blagojevich. He already commuted the former governor’s sentence in his first term, and is now ready to issue a full pardon. This is not surprising, given that immunity for Republicans, and only Republicans, from charges for government corruption seems to be the only item on the agenda for President Trump. It was not enough to secure a packed Supreme Court- he must erase all wrongdoings against which his actions could be held from the record books.
It also must be said that the charges against Blagojevich in particular must feel all too familiar to Trump. He was convicted for attempting to sell Obama’s vacant senate seat, and for shaking down a children’s hospital. Injecting money where it doesn’t belong in American politics and unethical behavior when it comes to caring for the sick are directly out of the Trump family playbook. Then there’s the time that Trump literally funneled donations for children with cancer into his other endeavors, mostly his golf courses. This move continues the trend of Trump’s second term pardons (including 1,500 January 6th participants and 14 proud boys), all of which go to show that his second term is one giant parade proving that Donald Trump can do whatever he wants forever, and stay out of jail.
I believe we can use who Trump pardons as a guidebook for what else he will try to do- if the Proud Boys are scot-free, then racism, antisemitism, and hate will continue as a through-line of his second term. With Blagojevich pardoned, more money where it doesn’t belong in our fair and free (so far!) elections are coming soon to a theater near you. None of this is news; this man has shown us who he is time and time again, but I will be checking the trends in pardons and executive orders. I suspect he isn’t just going down a list of people Democrats don’t like.
Turn Right- It Will Set You Free
This afternoon, AP News reported a memo from the Justice Department, ordering that the charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams be dropped. It seems unprecedented in Trump World- letting a Democrat Mayor (who also happens to be a Black man) of a liberal city off the hook for political corruption and mismanagement of funds and abuse of power is off-brand for Trump.
When the story initially broke I was concerned that the story would be political fodder for pinning political corruption on Democrats as an impetus for his radical changes and abuses of the system. However, it appears that Adams has, since being charged, the mayor has been inching to the right on an issue that is a pillar rather than a plank of the MAGA platform- immigration. Trump has claimed that Adams was treated unfairly, hinted at pardoning him, and said that the charges were not for any wrongdoing on Adams’s part, but because he was critical of Biden’s immigration policy. Adams says he is willing to dismantle New York’s sanctuary city status, and to assist Trump in his mass deportation efforts.
This is the only possible way, I believe, Trump would defend a Democrat or a man of color from criminal charges. Nevermind that the charges came before Adams made any comments on Biden’s presidency or immigration policy. Facts don’t matter! What does matter, however, is that letting Adams off the hook to accomplish his own deportation agenda seems to be the very most Trump is willing to do. Apparently the order from the DOJ left open the possibility that once he has done what he needs to do to help the Trump administration, Adams could be subject to the charges being refiled. This development proves the capitulation to Trump’s craziness could come from anywhere, and that unless they prove otherwise, people from both parties are for sale, at any price. Anyone here believe the art of the deal isn’t willing to buy, if it makes him look good? Yeah, me neither.
Real Estate For The Future, Disregarding A Treacherous Past
I need Ron Howard to narrate and Jason Bateman to try to get everyone in line when I read how this story unfolds. A clearer case of arrested development is hard to find, than in the man currently enjoying his Look At Me World Tour, which so far includes forbidding Palestinians from returning to the Gaza Strip and attending the Super Bowl. To be entirely clear, he has not done anything yet, but the collusion of dictatorial personalities going on between Trump and Netanyahu does not bode well for the region.
Trump has said that he plans “ownership of the region”, and contradicted officials who have scrambled to walk back his comments. While Trump is most likely drawing up blue-prints for a casino in the shape of his face, many have tried to say that he only meant the current occupants would need to temporarily relocate. As of today, he has doubled down, stating plainly that current occupants would have no right to return. While claims of antisemitism and hatred of Palestinians plague the country he is elected to lead, Trump makes it clear that the only thing he cares about is himself. Rest assured, he does not care about the Zionist Jewish concerns in Gaza, and he does not care for the Palestinian people whatsoever. He wants to be viewed as the man who solved the conflict, and got a monument to his own amazingness put up in the process.
I am betting that if the plans for the development and Trump’s ownership of the Gaza strip goes through, he will tell Fox News that it was all Israel’s idea, and they love him so much. Meanwhile synagogues in America will burn, and Trump will say “There are fantastic people on both sides.” The tragedy on the domestic side is that far too many American voters will believe every word, and people that live the day to day experiences of the conflict will be left trying to convince people that denouncing genocide and terrorism is not an inherently anti-Palestinian or anti-semitic belief. I’m ready to keep shouting into the void.
