An OUTRAGE!

Posted on by under Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry

Roger Stone … he’s a nasty piece of work.  He’s part of the reason we are in the mess we’re in today, with a president who thinks he’s king, with the wealthy calling the shots while the rest of us are lied to and our rights diminished on a daily basis.  But let’s go back a little further …For many years in the 1980s and ‘90s, Stone was a lobbyist for Donald Trump on behalf of his casino businesses.  Stone has been involved in so many scandals that I’ve lost count.  Stone is also associated with Proud Boys, a far-right, fascist, white supremacist group.  He has been affiliated with Alex Jones’ Infowars, Breitbart, and the conspiracy theory that claimed President Obama was born outside the U.S.  Stone has linked his fortunes with so many nasties that it would take me the whole day to tell you about them all.  But his most recent crimes landed him, finally, in very hot water.stone-angryRoger Stone was largely responsible, along with Russian operators and Julian Assange, for hacking into Hillary Clinton’s emails during the 2016 election.  On January 25, 2019 Stone was arrested on seven criminal charges in relation to Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election:  one count of obstruction of an official proceeding, five counts of false statements, and one count of witness tampering.

On February 18, 2019, Stone posted on Instagram a photo of the federal judge overseeing his case, Amy Berman Jackson, with what resembled rifle scope crosshairs next to her head.Amy-Berman-JacksonAfter a week-long trial in November 2019, the jury convicted Stone on all counts.  His sentencing hearing was originally scheduled for February 6th, but his attorneys requested a delay until sometime after March 9th.  Stone’s attorneys have argued for no jail time, but only probation.  Yesterday, prosecutors recommended a sentence of between 7 and 9 years.  Immediately Donald Trump tweeted inanely …

“This is a horrible and very unfair situation. The real crimes were on the other side, as nothing happens to them. Cannot allow this miscarriage of justice!”

And now I come to the part of this story that should horrify you.

Stone-orange-suitThe Department of Justice plans to reduce its sentencing recommendation.  No word yet on whether they will recommend only probation, or perhaps a sentence of only a few months.  But think about this one, folks.  The man is a criminal, has been a criminal all his adult life, has been proven to have broken countless laws including lying to Congress and threatening a witness, and he is a large part of the reason that Donald Trump is sitting in the Oval Office today, though not through legitimate means.  And yet, because Donald Trump threw a hissy fit, the Department of Justice, under Trump’s lackey William Barr, is going to actually override justice to please the “president”.  In other words … we have no Department of Justice and Trump is now calling the shots.

Think about it … it can work in both ways.  Say I’m arrested outside the White House for protesting something that Trump has done … if Trump told William Barr he wanted me put away for life, no amount of arguing by my attorneys would change the verdict.  Is this what we’ve allowed to happen in this nation? Paul Manafort is serving a 7 ½ year sentence for his crimes … why should Stone get any less, for his crimes were every bit as serious as Manafort’s?

broken-justiceJustice.  It’s a funny word, for it’s open to interpretation.  There are grey areas, for sure.  But, when the ‘man’ sitting in the Oval Office can literally override the courts, can decide what he wants and the Department of “Justice” will accede to his whims and wishes, then … there is no justice.  If the court gives Roger Stone no more than a slap on the wrist for his very serious crimes, then this nation is in deep trouble … the last bastion of hope for salvation from a cruel dictator will have crumbled.

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76 thoughts on “An OUTRAGE!”

  1. I will say one thing, “This post is the best-written “Trump-Hater” piece that I have read in quite some time so kudos to whoever wrote it ….you writing is clear, clean, explicit and clear ….I do not agree with a word of it but I am impressed by the quality of it. One more thing about the Trump Economy …. The radical Dems may hate the President but I doubt they are refusing to cash their welfare checks …or their social security checks …. or their EBT cards ….By the way, folks, Bloomberg is going nowhere because the Gun Lobby will never support his gun grabbing progams ….. and, oh by the way, the reality is that the President can fire whomever he wishes if they fill one of those positions where the employe “Serves at the pleasure of the President.” But all in all, this has been an enjoyable post and thank you for sharing it.

    Liked by 1 person

    • First, thank you very much for the compliment on my writing! It happens that I am not a ‘radical dem’, but rather a moderate independent voter who has voted for both parties in my 68 years. I am, as you could have guessed, anti-guns … the U.S. has the highest rate of deaths by gun on the planet, and I have long advocated for strict gun laws. As for the economy … well, if you look at the national debt, you will see that this economy cannot last forever. There comes a time when that debt must be paid, and currently the burden of filling the national coffers falls on the middle class. And, as for Trump being able to fire whomever he wants … well, that’s debatable. Among the Founding Fathers’ chief goals was to do away with a government where the king was above the law and had absolute power over the lives of his subjects. In our system, the President, like every other citizen, is meant to be subject to the law. Trump has pushed that envelop more than a few times, and I truly see this democratic republic slipping into an autocracy where the president believes he holds absolute power. Think 1930s Germany. At any rate, I appreciate your respectful disagreement, and I hope you will drop back in for further discussion … civil discourse is always welcome here at Filosofa’s Word.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Thank you for your accepting open mindedness. When I spoke of the president being able to fire people I was talking about only those whose job descriptions include the stipulation, “Serves at the pleasure of the President.” If he becomes displeased with one of those employees with that stipulation in their job description, he can fire them at will.

        Liked by 1 person

        • I always welcome the opportunity to hear well-reasoned opinions that aren’t aligned with my own … how else to we learn? You are right that he can fire them at will, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the right thing to do. In the case of Vindman and his brother, as well as Sondland, it was simple revenge for them doing their duty to the country and putting country over loyalty to Trump. It seems that he wants all who work for him to swear an oath of fealty, and that bothers me.

          Liked by 1 person

          • In the case of Vindman and his brother, as well as Sondland, it was simple revenge for them doing their duty to the country and putting country over loyalty to Trump. —- I do not know this because I cannot get inside his mind — but it is one of the more popular Liberal feelings about the matter … and once they get something in their heads, there is no reasoning with them … so …. I will have to confess that I am not good at imputing an attitude toward someone I have no daily dealings with because I consider it to be judgmental and we aren’t supposed to do that … We are human and we are going to judge … but whether or not these firings were revenge or not, I cannot say — The thing is, If I were president I would want loyal, trustworthy people around me …Most of these people are holdovers from the Obama Administration and I cannot imagine why Trump kept them on when he took office in the first place ….

            Liked by 1 person

            • Well, of course we never know what is in someone’s mind, but there are times that an action follows another and it is just obvious. That said, we have no choice at times but to judge people based on both their words and their actions, else how would we ever elect any candidate? Trump’s history of lying and cheating makes him suspect at all times. As for the people being holdovers from Obama … a wise man doesn’t take a new job as manager and immediately fire the entire staff simply because they were hired by his predecessor. That would be, as my mother used to say, throwing out the baby with the bath water, for some of those people are obviously well-qualified for the positions they hold, yes?

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              • Most presidents clean house. Trump’s mistake was that he did not and several moles from the Obama era were held over and have been working against Trump ever since day one.

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    • Yes, exactly … a pile of rotten fish, and the republicans in Congress have decided that their own future matters more than that of this nation and We the People. They packed away their values in order to follow the madman. I hope they soon get just what they deserve, but I’m not holding my breath.

      Liked by 1 person

  3. I’m so discouraged…hard to feel anything but hopeless. It’s so obvious now what is happening…
    Trump will do whatever it takes to make sure he not only wins in 2020, but he alone will control the courts and all because of apathy among the people, brainwashing done by Fox News and the utter corruption of the Republican Party.

    I’m just disgusted.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Like you, I am discouraged and disgusted, but also angry … furious is more like it. I’m in fight mode now, ready to knock some heads. The democratic infighting, voter apathy, and Trump’s propaganda campaign are all hurdles, for sure, but I have to hold on to the hope that we can overcome those hurdles, else I would jump off a cliff! Hang in, my friend.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. It can’t be long now before we see a batch of commuted sentences as the wealthy realise they can buy heir way out of jail and before Trump realises there’s a profit to be made from owning US Justice.
    Cwtch

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  8. No doubt by now you have learned that 4 prosecutors have either resigned or withdrawn from this case : Jonathan Kravis resigned. Aaron Zelinsky, Adam C. Jed and Michael J. Merendo have all withdrawn. Unsurprisingly the DOJ maintains that their decision regarding the reduction of the intended sentence has nothing to do with Trump…about that bridge for sale, it’s still available at a very reasonable price, you might call it a steal! Thank-you!

    Liked by 4 people

  11. I have twice written about Bill Barr being a critical player in the descent to total injustice . (I’ve even done it in verse, but I don’t think I could marshal the levity to do that now.)
    Your outrage is justified. We must redouble our efforts to save our country!

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  13. Trump said a few years ago he would pardon those friends who had his back. Why he hasn’t pardoned Manafort yet I don’t know, but pardoning Stone before he is even sentenced is not surprising. Stone knows about more skeletons in Trump’s closet than Manafort ever could. So don’t be surprised when Stone is let free if a stray bullet gets lodged in his brain somehow. Alive he is a threat; dead men tell no tales…

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  14. So glad you touched on this Jill. I was contemplating doing the same. But you’ve done it better than I ever could. Stone is a scumbag. He’s the king of the ‘dirty tricksters’ and has a tattoo of Nixon on his back(that alone should tell us all we need to know about him). I fully expect a pardon by the idiot at some point. And, for good measure, maybe he’ll give him a presidential medal of honor a la Limbaugh.
    Please tell me when the subpoena is coming for Bill Barr. I’m waiting…and waiting. He needs to hi-tail it up to the Capitol and explain just what the hell he is doing. Between this and him saying he’s basically created a channel for Rudy to dump his dirt on Biden or whoever, this is really third world stuff here Jill. Any Republican ‘disappointment’ or ‘concern’ by chance? Fat chance. VOTE THEM ALL OUT!

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    • I had actually planned to reblog TokyoSand’s cartoons this afternoon, but when I saw this I knew I couldn’t be silent. Roger Stone deserves life in prison, in my book … he threatened physical harm to a witness, lied to Congress, and what he did helped put the damn fool in the Oval Office, thereby causing such great damage to this country that I don’t know if we’ll ever recover. Sigh. And the hell of it is that Trump already said he’d probably pardon him, so why did Barr feel the need to override his own people for this? The Department of Justice must be in severe chaos right about now. I do hope, though, that Judge Berman throws the book at Stone anyway, which she just might do, given how he has treated her. We’ll find out on the 20th. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

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      • Yep, and let’s hope Judge Sullivan does the same when it’s time to finally sentence Michael Flynn. I’d throw the book at his ass too. This just isn’t the time for passivity. I saw Schumer’s press conference…some of it anyway…where he expressed how ‘highly inappropriate’ Trump and Barr’s actions were. My God, can we get a little more excitement Chuck? A little more outrage? I think he ought to be reading Filosofa’s Word!!

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