On Pessimism and Politics
Can we give ourselves permission to feel relief, even hope?
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May 30 was a historic day.
That was the day when a jury of his peers found Donald J. Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying records, and he became the first former U.S. President to be convicted of a felony.
As you might expect, the internet exploded with reactions.
Predictably, Trump called his conviction a “scam” and labeled the judge in his case, Juan Merchan, a “tyrant.”
Trump’s MAGA cadre supported their leader’s interpretation of the trial.
As far-right political commentator, Joey Marianno, sent a message on X that said, “As of today, with this fake guilty verdict against Trump, America is no longer the United States.”
Alex Jones of InfoWars told his followers, “Ladies and gentlemen, we see our republic on its deathbed right now.”
Charlie Kirk on X said, “This case was engineered for years, from the very top of the Democrat apparatus, to bring down Trump, using a rigged law in a rigged courtroom with a rigged jury.”
President Biden, for his part, said,
“It was a state case, not a federal case. It was heard by a jury of 12 citizens, 12 Americans, 12 people like you, like millions of Americans who’ve served on juries. This jury was chosen the same way every jury in America is chosen. It was a process that Donald Trump’s attorney was part of,”
Other expressed glee and jubilation at the verdict.
Popular late-night host Stephen Colbert led his audience in a chant of “Lock him up!” echoing the chant Trump led about Hillary Clinton at his MAGA rallies in 2016.
Others, though, were much more muted, even pessimistic in their responses.
On social media I posted about the news and asked people, “What are your thoughts??”
More than a hundred people responded. They made statements such as: “Hallelujah!”, “So relieved. So grateful”, “Justice is upheld,” and, “Finally something that makes sense.”
Others, though, seemed to see nothing positive in the verdict.
They wrote statements such as: “It won’t make a difference, sadly.” And, “His addle brained supporters will send him money because of this.” And, “Means nothing.” And, “Glad to see the charge but I don’t expect anything to change.
I understand the sentiment. There’s the conviction, but then there’s the sentencing, the appeal, and the election in November.
There are many off ramps from accountability.
At the same time, as people concerned about justice we need to learn to be as concerned about what is a win as what is right.
There’s a sense in which Trump’s conviction is both a win and it is right. But it’s not an unequivocal win. He can still, very likely, become president.
Yet is there any relief in the right being done (a conviction in this case)? Do we allow ourselves the space to be glad that a system works, even occasionally?
I get it. I study racism and justice all day, every day. We face a lot of setbacks, heartbreak, and resistance.
What is also true is that we occasionally catch a break. Sometimes light pierces the darkness of our political atmosphere. And we have every right to appreciate those moments.
There is no virtue in suppressing our feelings. Feelings are a compass that point to our most authentic thoughts.
Allowing yourself to feel a glimmer of joy and hope is not foolish. It is inward the spark of the Creator that reminds you of your humanity and that you can still imagine a better future.
I was leading a bird watching retreat when my friend and co-leader asked me in a whisper, "Did you hear the news? Guilty on all counts" I whooped out loud and started dancing in place - spontaneous, unadulterated joy that 12 ordinary Americans had found him guilty - the justice system had worked, the man had been held accountable for his actions. I was profoundly happy, and still am, regardless of how his cult is spinning the conviction. The verdict restored my faith in the intelligence of ordinary Americans. The 2022 midterms gave me hope - that the "red wave" was not actually a wave. That American voters had the intelligence and the sense to defeat many election deniers who had been running for office. We must continue to vote to defeat them.
Other moments in time that gave me hope: When the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School organized the March for Our Lives in Washington, DC after Nicolas Cruz killed 17 of their classmates on Valentine's Day (also Ash Wednesday) in 2018 to demand changes in our gun laws.
The Black Lives Matter Movement after George Floyd was murdered gave me hope that the country had finally had enough of white people killing black people and had come together to demand it end.
I wanted to do what I could to make sure citizens could vote fairly and safely, so I signed up to be an election official and worked at the polls on our state Primary Day and at the ensuing Runoff election. Witnessing the process of how our elections are executed reinforced my faith in the system - it is very hard, if not impossible to cheat with the rules and safegurads that are in place.
Thank you, Jemar, for the space to share our thoughts and feelings.
Clearly, Donald Trump his followers, and sympathizers, are entirely disconnected from the concept of democracy and our justice system.
Worse, when things don't go their way they resort to name-calling and threats, not only against participants in any action that exposes the errors in crimes of Trump, they also threaten the families of those persons. They even turned against their own who reasonably state that the rule of law should be respected.
This man needs to lose the election, and lose in a landslide. For the sake of our country, the MAGA faction, like the Tea Party faction that proceeded it, needs to be buried under a wave of common sense and true patriotic actions.