Prosecuting Trump

At the beginning of the week, I was prepared to argue that investigating and prosecuting Trump -- at the federal level, at least -- would be more trouble than it's worth. I don't want the Biden Administration to *also* be all about Donald Trump. Four years is enough, right?

Now I think he's a tumor that must be excised. It will probably cause a lot of pain, but there has to be a price for his wholesale assault on the integrity of the election, on top of his thoroughgoing corruption.

Comments

Andrew said…
1) What, exactly, would you prosecute him for?

2) What, exactly, would it achieve?

I see a lot of talk about this and I think this is for people who live in the past instead of the present. The *only* plausible benefit is to deter future presidents from being awful and obnoxious, maybe? I think that this is utterly wrong. Deterrence is the argument used to justify capital punishment and it has been shown to be wrong. Anyone that you should even consider for president will be deterred from doing *bad stuff* by having, I don't know, some morals. Someone without morals won't give a crap that they *might* be prosecuted for something years after they're done wrecking the country as president.

If pursued, this will drag on for years and years, and not to the country's best interest.

Justice is another word for revenge, as far as I can tell. Making someone "pay the price" is something to make *you* feel better. But it shouldn't make you feel better. It should give you pause as to your motivations.
November 20, 2020 at 10:18 AM
Joel said…
"Justice is another word for revenge, as far as I can tell."

No.

November 20, 2020 at 10:20 AM
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