felon (bargument #5)
After I spent a full week acting like an MSNBC #Resistance Mom and celebrating the conviction of our 45th President, I couldn’t help but prepare for an eventual engagement on the topic. People know I like to argue, and people know I have opinions (oh they know) — so unsurprisingly the topic arose, and even less surprisingly I’d had a few Millers.
And with that, welcome back to reader-favorite series Barguments, where I summarize some key points of hot-topic arguments so I can keep them straight when it’s been a 6- or 8-beer night. I’m going to hammer off a few bullets on what I think left-leaning folks who want to see Joe Biden win should stay focused on.
Avoid the meta-argument
Stick to the facts
Ask questions
Jail is a red herring
Avoid the meta-argument
What impact will this have on the campaign?
Does this help Trump?
Are Democrats scared now?
None of these questions at their core, matter. Focus on the core issue; Donald Trump is a convicted felon by a jury of his peers, which included someone who’s only sources of news were Truth Social and X (the social media formerly known as Twitter).
Stick to the facts
There are a lot of facts in this case, and unless you’re up against a real MSNBC or QANON sicko you’re probably operating with the same base level of information. Trump cheated on his pregnant wife with porn star Stormy Daniels and then when faced with the potential of that affair becoming public during the period when he was running for president, he used money to kill the story.
Do we really need to dig deep to determine who the bad guy is here? Infidelity? Porn stars? Payoffs? Come on folks, these are all terrible.
There’s no need to slip in some non-important fact to make this case any worse than it already is! Just keep it basic and ask the person you’re arguing with if you think he’s innocent of being a shit person…none of us know New York State Law enough to have a serious legal opinion, but everyone can be a judge of character.
I’d rather stick to the well-documented facts of the case and avoid getting bogged down in a dispute on the margins.
Ask questions
I know this one is basic, and we covered a bit of this in the last bargument but sometimes it really helps to listen. What are they defending? Trump’s actions? Are they questioning Biden? Try and ask questions that apply only to the case, for example:
Felon Denier: I don’t know, this seems like an example of the Biden administration going after opponents
Felon Truther (bad option): Isn’t this what Trump asked for on his stages in 2016, to lock her up? Now it’s time to lock him up.
Felon Truther (good option): How did Biden influence the 12 jury members who unanimously convicted him? Both sides were given chances to exclude jurors, do you really think that the Trump defense team wouldn’t work to ensure as even as a jury as they could?
The first option is obviously bad (even though you hear it all the time) — it makes the argument about Hillary and muddles the issue. Trump was looking to unlawfully lock Hillary Clinton up for something she wasn’t charged with. This is much different, where a state government went after a prominent businessperson for a law that we now know he did break. One is targeting political opponents; one is enforcing the law. Stay focused. Ask questions, and not rhetorical ones if you can help it.
Jail is a red herring
Do you know what nobody knows? The meaning of life. How many licks it takes to the get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, and if Trump is going to jail.
This is not an issue worth your time. If someone asks what you think…just give them a yes or a no. It’s not really worth playing each scenario out1 and try and derive some meaning from it.
Oh, he goes to jail? Cool — let’s cross that bridge when we get there. I think the system has worked thus far and it will continue to.
Oh, he doesn’t? Makes sense, there are extenuating circumstances2. And again, I trust the system to convict him, I trust them to handle it appropriately.
It may seem enticing to get bogged down in the details and intrigue related to the case, but it’s just not worth it. Let Trump supports spin themselves silly with anecdotes about Michael Cohen or Seth Rich or whatever they want — make them look crazy by revealing that it doesn’t matter if Trump killed someone. He is above the law. Get someone to more-or-less admit that and you’ve surely convinced everyone around you.
To close, one of my favorite bloggers, Noah Smith, has a compelling narrative about our current times. He sees the 1960s as an analog for 2010s, a decade of deep social unrest and division. This comparison extends by citing Richard Nixon’s departure as the end of that era, and the Conservative’s commitment to distancing themselves from the Nixon administration led to a resurgent conservative movement in the 1980s. The Trump conviction is the Nixon departure. Either Republicans and voters at large can reject the crimes and policies of a Trump-presidency and America will experience a cooling off, a return to normality (if that exists) or there is a break from history. Who knows what will happen — but likely another four years of social unrest and culture wars.
This will be an unwelcome distraction for America. We need to focus on the major problems of era, climate change, an emerging and increasingly hostile China, and surge-pricing at fast food restaurants. God help us if we resign ourselves to another four years of distractions from the convicted rapist and felon, Donald Trump.
This is of course only advice if you’re not having fun or trying to win an argument. If you’re engaging in good faith with friends who want to have a conversation ignore this, and to be honest, much of my advice.
If you’re looking for my opinion on this issue — hell yes, he should go to prison. The 2016 election was decided by fewer than 80,000 votes across three states, or 0.06% of the total votes cast in 2016. I think that there is a non-0 chance that had the Stormy Daniels story gotten out there would have been some shift in the electorate. I don’t think that’s a crazy idea, and yes, cheating at the highest level of American politics should result in jail time.