As the Guardian notes in a morning newsletter:
Trump has been indicted on four charges:
* Conspiracy to defraud the United States
* Conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding
* Obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding
* Conspiracy against rights
I can think of a number of UK politicians who I would very much like to see face fairly similar charges here. The evidence is overwhelming in some cases.
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“similar charges”? – with the replacement of “United States” with “United Kingdom” it would become “identical charges”
The vile-tories have done all that & more, with supine Sir Kid Starver and his vile-liebore sitting on the sidelines – often in support.
Wholeheartedly agreed.
We all know he is guilty.
Unfortunately, in America obviously guilty, but rich and famous people frequently walk free.
Not that it is much better here.
Rebecca Brooks bragged to a Parliamentary committee that she illegally paid policemen for confidential information.
In Court she denied it and was found not guilty.
Anybody not sure how such a thing could happen obviously missed Murdoch’s pre-trial message to the Tory government that they could have Andy Coulson but not Rebecca Brooks.
And so it proved.
Trump will go to prison if there’s any justice at all. He has virtually no defence that will stand up in court.
The BBC had an extraordinary person on this morning to defend Trump, in their ongoing futile attempt to present every obscenity with balance. Sebastian Gorka was not only incoherent, spouting conspiracy theories against the US justice system, but he was aggressive and rude to put it mildly.
I had never head of him, but struck by his English accent, I googled, to find that he is indeed English born, of Hungarian refugee parents. He is a right wing nutcase, who claims to be an expert on international terrorism, most recently working briefly for Fox News, and before that for seven month for the Trump administration.
I imagine the BBC has a problem trying to find anyone rational who is prepared to defend Trump, but they really have scraped the barrel with this one.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_Gorka
If you follow the media history of this man you will find that the BBC has a long history of giving this person a platform.
People frequently complained and for a while the BBC came to their senses, but he now seems to be back.
Rather in line with some of their reporting from America that is sceptical about the charges against Trump and appears to consider Jack Smith the guilty party.
Richard,
As so often, glacially, the US usually gets to the right place.
Trump’s indictment is a profound moment (A recommended simple 42 page read); probably to be the most important trial in US history. Its sole focus on Trump affords the best chance of getting the trial done before the next election. Into the early hours, I watched MSNBC’s Ari Melber’s and Rachel Maddow’s analysis. Their command of presenting the indictment, having had less than 2 hrs to digest it, was extremely impressive and erudite.
But it struck me, I could not imagine the BBC mustering the same calibre of analysis.
We struggle to have the informed public we need (As per Brexit experience) without ready access to excellence in MSM journalism.
On climate, I constantly despair about the dearth of researched journalism; the BBC turning too often vox pops padding & ‘balance’ at all costs (Re Helen’s point about Gorka being wheeled out again). The points you make Richard, & others, here so well about MMT and the deficit myth, etc., are so important. 8 lost years after Paris we have failed to make needed investment to address climate’. But timely investment will not come while MSM journalism (& neoliberal Labour) wallows in myth; that includes the ‘make believe’ of CCS. One of the most enjoyable few minutes on Newsnight of last few months was Marian Mazzucato pinning back the ears of Kirsty Wark & instructing her about the deficit myth. She even seemed too stunned to interrupt.
Thanks for all your output and hope your exchanges with Molly Scott-Cato are fruitful in moving the Greens forward.
Thanks
MSNBC and CNN are less neutral than the BBC.
On the whole I agree with what I have seen of the American channels. I think the BBC people have equal ability but they are more constrained by their ‘boss’. I can’t prove it but that is my interpretation.
So true, the lack of expert journalism – the utter absence of BBC news seeking the truth and understanding rather the empty and ignorant ‘balance’.
Twenty years and more of climate change denial with Nigel Lawson and co.
Never an apology – or even a questioning of their record.
Thanks Richard We the Peoples says:
I was motivated to go look for that Marian Mazzucato and Kirsty Wark interview on Newsnight.
It was on 6 Mar 2023
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001jwbl/newsnight-could-corporation-tax-rise-harm-the-economy#new_tab
Well worth the time. She is really getting the message across.
😉
Trump is a monster but not without memes, e.g. “drain the swamp”. This extract expresses rather well the “trajectory” (see below for the link):
“The reality is that the far right, first under Donald Trump and now through hybrid mainstream and social media stars like Tucker Carlson, have appropriated the concerns of the progressive left – unaccountable corporate power, dysfunctional politics, media collusion with the establishment, the war industries – and harnessed them to their own cause.
Yes, they have done so for entirely cynical reasons. They understand that young people sense the political and media systems are rigged. They understand that declining living standards are hitting the young hardest. They understand that the planet’s eco-systems are collapsing. They understand that turbo-charged capitalism offers no solutions and are determined to deflect attention from its real crises.”
https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2023-03-10/i-once-admired-george-monbiot-but-his-grim-trajectory-shows-us-where-politics-is-heading/
The comments on the Guardian & Monbiot are interesting, as are the below the line comments. The fascists (Trump et al) are trying to hijack our concerns.
The trick you describe, the wealthy elite rigging the economy in their favour and then blaming it on their left-wing opponents is the fundamental trick at the heart of Trump and Brexit politics.
It works because in both countries the rich own both the mainstream media and Social media and a critical mass of those owners are prepared to publicise the lies that benefit them.
The current situation in the US where Trumps accuses obviously honest people of exactly the crimes of which he is obviously guilty, without a murmur from most of the media, being a fine example of how this all works.