It Ends with a Whimper

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/03/nyregion/trump-sentencing-hush-money-case-ny.html

(“Judge Upholds Trump's Conviction but Signals No Jail Time")

And this is how it all ends. With a whimper.

The streets littered with the subpoenas he ignored, the lies he tossed out with disdain, the people he damaged, the crimes he committed.

The years wasted, the anger we feel that it has all come to nothing. Yes there were the two findings against him for his sexual abuse and defamation of E. Jean Carroll, the ruling that he was essentially booted out of NY for the frauds committed there and the criminal conviction from that Stormy, Stormy night . The hundreds of millions he stands to lose.

But it all leaves us empty and, even worse, deceived. Deceived into believing in the system. Deceived into believing his absurd actions in regard to documents removed from the White House would have consequences, that his outrageous actions on January 6th and before would remove him from the possibility of further destroying the basic underpinnings of our democracy.

As he heads back to the Oval Office, Donald Trump will undoubtedly feel he has won the war if not every battle. Having outlasted the law, beaten it into submission by a combination of delay, denial and deceit. Turning prosecution into persecution and the pursuit of justice into a mission impossible.