EDINGTON, England – ‘Twas the day before the Manhattan jury found Putin’s bestie guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in his hush money trial.
“Do you think they’ll convict Trump?” a guy asked me between sips of his beer on the patio at The Three Daggers, which doubles as an inn and Edington’s local pub.
He’d heard my western Kentucky drawl. So he knew, as we say back home, I “wasn’t from around here.”
“God, I hope so – Trump’s a fascist,” I replied, not sure of his response. Edington is a tiny village in rural, conservative Wiltshire, country not unlike my neck of the Bluegrass State woods.
“He’s a Nazi,” the guy declared. “And a liar – fake news,” added his beer drinking buddy, sitting across the table.
My cup runneth over, figuratively. We were staying at the inn and I was off to photograph my favorite quarry: wild birds and trains, both of which are abundant hereabouts.
I don’t know if the two “Moonrakers” — the old moniker for Wiltshire folk — represent majority opinion here in southwest England. Their comments were gratifying nonetheless.
Time will tell if the verdict will shake the faith of many, if any, MAGA souls. I hope it will but fear it won’t.
“I AM NOW MAGA MORE THAN EVER,” a western Kentuckian posted on Facebook in all caps. “MAGA” was spelled in Stars-and-Stripes letters.
The post quickly notched 69 likes and loves.
“Wish I could vote twice for Trump,” lamented a commenter. She is apparently unmindful that would be voter fraud, of which her freshly convicted hero says only Democrats are guilty.
“KY Republicans blast Trump hush money trial guilty verdict: ‘Sad day for America,’“ declared the headline atop a Lexington Herald-Leader story.
We live in the most westerly corner of Rep. Jamie Comer’s First Congressional District.
He “branded the jury’s decision as a Democratic Party pursuit to ‘weaponize the courts, abuse America’s judicial system, and target President Joe Biden’s political opposition,’” the H-L story said.
Nary was heard a discouraging word from any of Comer’s Capitol Hill GOP sidekicks from Kentucky or from anyplace else.
At the risk of stating the patently obvious, had Biden been in the dock, the Trump toadies would be heaping high praise on “America’s judicial system.”
Anyway, I’m with our son’s congressman and fellow Louisvillian, Morgan McGarvey, Kentucky’s sole Democrat in either house of Congress.
In a statement, he said:
“In the end, the jury heard the evidence, deliberated for more than nine hours, and came to a decision, which is how the system is designed to work. In the same way, elections allow voters to consider the choices before them with full information, then freely cast their ballots.
Mr. Trump tried to sabotage elections and the criminal justice system — both of which are fundamental to American democracy — when he thought they might not produce the outcome he wanted. So far, they have proved resilient enough to withstand his attacks.
The jurors have delivered their verdict, as the voters will in November. If the Republic is to survive, all of us — including Mr. Trump — should abide by both, regardless of the outcome.”
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