Not at all… it’s just a bit irritating to have some act like those of us here who spend a lot of time discussing the problems of our criminal justice system are pretending like our system works. Plenty of us here have spent plenty of time both pointing out how Trump has been getting away with shit, and how skewed our systems are.
My point is that we’re fully aware of our own shortcomings, and being moralized about them isn’t particularly helpful.
How long was someone like Berlusconi able to avoid prosecution before finally being held accountable?
None of our systems are perfect, and most of us are fully aware of that fact. I just take issue with people believing we Americans are somehow unaware of our own shortcomings and need to be euro-splained to…
I’d be the first to say that Prince Andrew (and Tony Blair, and every PM since him who has sold weapons to Israel and Saudi Arabia to be used in genocides in Palestine and Yemen) should be tried in a court of law, and his/their wealth and power should be no shield against justice.
It’s fucked up that this will likely never happen. If it did happen though, I can’t imagine the CPS would be looking to give Prince Andrew jail time over his outstanding parking tickets, rather than, yknow, the crimes he obviously did.
As has been pointed out above, only focusing on some charges and ignoring others is not a good legal strategy. Charges for all of the crimes he did that can be proven in court makes it more likely that there will be convictions.
Sorry, that was absolutely not my intent and I apologise for coming across like that. I think it’s doubly frustrating for those of us on this side of the Atlantic because not only do we not get to vote for the Leader of the Free World, we also don’t get much opportunity to see the train-crash that is the US justice system moving in frame-by-frame slow motion.
FWIW, “my” country is currently trying to break international law in several different ways and I am absolutely disgusted by it, the government in power, and the bigots that vote for it. The UK legal system is its own quagmire of indefensible bullshit, and I welcome any and all criticism of it.
The disconnect is that this is not about any single individual here on BB, and what any of us “want.”
The reality is ‘what it is,’ and many of us here in the US are still relieved that any kind of negative consequences are finally happening, even if it’s not nearly enough…
By “disconnect” I meant the gap in the Euro and US media coverage of the indictment. The US media is (understandably, with the knowledge that this is a slow process and all bases need to be covered to ensure a viable prosecution) focussed on the “fuck yes!” while the EU media (because of our different prosecutorial systems) is erring on the side of “is that it?”
I mean, I know that’s not it, but for those of us who aren’t familiar with the US legal system and the state/federal split, it feels a little disappointing that the first charges against him are relatively obscure and don’t have legal precedence.
And it’s a bit why_not_both.gif for many USians. Hey, we got him! but considering all the decades he’s had wallowing in slime, it feels uncomfortably like we’re on a knife edge. Russian collusion and Ukraine quid pro quos felt impossible to ignore, and yet…
If you’re curious why this is “going first” it’s because it pre-existed all the other stuff, and pertains to campaign finance law. So, it’s relevant. Plus, we don’t know what’s in the indictment, but it looks like a total of 34 charges.
Really? Because we’re living through it. Many of us here could easily see just how corrupt he was from the get go…
It’s not like I don’t welcome criticism from people abroad… it’s that I’m not a fan of people acting like we’ve not been having these discussions on the problems that face Americans here for a long time, or that we’re unable to see them because of where we live.
yeah a LOT of us are pretty mortified by the level of corruption but also kind of elated that it’s not getting entirely brushed aside. I’m kind of just waiting until the more serious crimes in GA and beyond start getting prosecuted. The only thing I take from this case is that I should have good faith that there are ethical prosecutors who are willing to take this risky and dangerous case and push for justice. I was beginning to doubt that was even possible.
I am grateful for that but I won’t be celebrating anything about it any time soon.
Someone posted a tweet in one of these here threads (maybe the trump legal trouble thread) that Fani Willis is going to drop an indictment tomorrow… I too had been hoping Fulton Co. would get out their indictments first, but given how long we’ve known about the Daniels stuff, I’m not surprised that came first…
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene rallied supporters of Donald Trump outside the Manhattan courthouse Tuesday morning ahead of the former president’s arraignment.
A large crowd surrounded the Georgia Republican, once shunned by the GOP as a political pariah for her extremist rhetoric, as she made her way through a park where hundreds of onlookers and journalists gathered before the hearing.
Greene made a fast exit after getting a glimpse of the commotion where she was scheduled to speak. It was unclear whether she would return.
It might have been a strategic choice. Let the bigger city with its huge police department be the first and bear the brunt of any violence. Also more expensive to travel to NY and it’s perceived to be a bastion of liberal politics, so that may have cut down on numbers.
Very true, but ATL is in a state still known, erroneously, as conservative. We will probably never know if it was just timing or a purposeful decision. In either case, I’m glad to see the indictments coming down. I hope there is a flood followed by federal indictments.
