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Criminal Convictions and the Presidency
American Thinker ^ | 31 May, 2024 | Ben Voth

Posted on 05/31/2024 4:15:44 AM PDT by MtnClimber

Pursuing political prosecutions of candidates in order to interfere with an election is dangerous and likely to boomerang rhetorically upon those seeking their own ends in this abuse of power.

On Thursday May 30, a New York court led by Judge Juan Merchan convicted a U.S. President of 34 felony counts. Trump was not the first President to be arrested -- that honor belongs to Ulysses S. Grant when he was arrested in 1872 by a black police officer for speeding his horse and buggy through the streets of D.C. Trump is not the first Presidential candidate to be convicted -- that honor belongs to Socialist candidate Eugene V. Debs in 1918. The political prosecutions of candidate Trump bode ill for our most cherished civil right: freedom of speech. On the same day Trump was convicted, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of the free speech rights of the National Rifle Association. Liberal justice Sonia Sotomayor correctly inferred the proud civil rights tradition of the United States stating: “The First Amendment prohibits government officials from wielding their power selectively to punish or suppress speech, directly or, as alleged here, through private intermediaries.” The Supreme Court consistently rules that political speech lies at the heart of the most famous American civil right of freedom of speech as noted by Supreme Court justice Anthony Kennedy in 2010: “If the First Amendment has any force, it prohibits Congress from fining or jailing citizens, or associations of citizens, for simply engaging in political speech.” Pursuing political prosecutions of candidates in order to interfere with an election is dangerous and likely to boomerang rhetorically upon those seeking their own ends in this abuse of power.

In 1918, Socialist candidate for the Presidency Eugene V. Debs made a speech near Canton, Ohio against...

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Society
KEYWORDS: showtrial

1 posted on 05/31/2024 4:15:44 AM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

The atheist left lives on lies.


2 posted on 05/31/2024 4:16:06 AM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page. More photos added.)
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To: MtnClimber

Now that Trummp has convictions, Democrats are going to vote for him.


3 posted on 05/31/2024 4:20:42 AM PDT by DannyTN
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To: MtnClimber

It is obvious that the black prosecutors are getting back at the white man. This has all been orchestrated by the Biden Administration. At some point Biden will account for this.


4 posted on 05/31/2024 4:28:01 AM PDT by George J. Jetso
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To: MtnClimber

It’s the only tactic available to you when your ideology is lame and dated


5 posted on 05/31/2024 4:43:44 AM PDT by SMARTY (In politics, stupidity is not a handicap. Napoleon Bonaparte I)
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To: Taxman

ping


6 posted on 05/31/2024 4:44:13 AM PDT by Taxman ((SAVE AMERICA! VOTE REPUBLICAN IN 2024! SAVE AMERICA!))
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To: George J. Jetso

President Trump should aggressively woo all minority groups that make up the Dems base with his new “street credibility” of unjust convictions, showing solidarity with them and promising in great detail, how he will work to reform unjust application of the legal system when re-elected.


7 posted on 05/31/2024 4:45:52 AM PDT by desertsolitaire (Perhaps the Great Ape Lawgiver in the series Planet of the Apes was correct in his view of humans?)
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To: MtnClimber
“The First Amendment prohibits government officials from wielding their power selectively to punish or suppress speech, directly or, as alleged here, through private intermediaries.”

Tell that to the Jan. 6 patriots who have been rotting in the DC jails........

8 posted on 05/31/2024 4:49:55 AM PDT by traditional2 (lets go B*and*n)
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To: MtnClimber

Yesterday was a very Soviet day in America. All the lawyers and judges involved in the conviction should be disbarred.


9 posted on 05/31/2024 5:08:52 AM PDT by yldstrk ( )
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To: MtnClimber

When the Republicans impeached Bill Clinton, it all led to this.

Granted, the Democrats are the Evil Party. But short-sighted, strategy-free moves like that deep dive into Bill’s salacious sex life instead of focusing on ostensible matters of national security is why the GOP is the Stupid Party.


10 posted on 05/31/2024 11:07:22 AM PDT by Albion Wilde (Either ‘the Deep State destroys America, or we destroy the Deep State.’ --Donald Trump)
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To: Albion Wilde

And even if they drove Bill from office, we would have been stuck with Algore.


11 posted on 05/31/2024 11:08:25 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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