The New York Times’ Attorney General Robert L. Honig (R-New York) wrote: A New Yorker whose life has been touched by the Manhattan witch-Hunt
This weekly column can be signed up for as a newsletter. We’re looking back at the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and other outlets.
In 1971, an Ivy League graduate in his mid-20s rented a studio apartment on Third Avenue and 75th Street in New York City. The window looked out on an adjoining building’s water tank.
“I … tried to divide it up so that it would seem bigger. The apartment was still dark and dingy no matter what I did. Even so, I liked it, wrote Donald Trump in his book co-authored with Tony Schwartz. I was a kid from Queens who worked in Brooklyn and had an apartment on the Upper East Side. … I ended up being a city guy and not a kid from the boroughs.
Trump was not the last person to fall under the spell of Manhattan, with its fast pace, its soaring towers and its glamorous celebrities. He would grow his career, endure divorces and business bankruptcies, become a myth, and mount an unlikely campaign for president there.
As with almost everything about the former president, there’s no real precedent for the latest chapter of his story — and no way to tell how it will end.
In a legal analyst’s note, she said it had finally happened. “After multiple investigations over half a dozen years, former President Donald Trump has been indicted by a grand jury in New York, according to sources familiar with the matter. Trump warned of the consequences of the witch-Hunt and called the indictment political persecution.
Trump should be held accountable for the way he has conducted himself, and no one is above the law. The journey will be long but the first step is represented by these charges.
Trump can continue running for the Republican nomination for president in 2024 and if he can delay the prosecution and is elected, Rodgers pointed out, “expect him to argue that the case against him must be dismissed as unconstitutional based on the Justice Department’s 2000 guidance that a president cannot be indicted ‘or tried’ While in a job.
Elie Honig argued that the first hurdle for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is to overcome any motion by Trump’s lawyer to dismiss the charges. Even if he succeeds, his prosecutors have to convince the jurors to convict unanimously.
“Even if a case was tried in a part of the country where Trump isn’t very popular, statistically you are very likely to end up with one or more Trump voters on the jury of 12 people,” said Honig. “A judge would tell jurors to put aside their political views and personal beliefs — but I know from my days as a prosecutor that jurors are human beings, not robots — they’re subject to the same emotions, biases, and incentives as any person would be. And the legal bar at trial is far higher than in the grand jury…”
In the political arena, “there is a distinct possibility that Trump not only survives but also thrives,” wrote Julian Zelizer. The political career of Trump is built on punching back against the people and institutions he claims are unfairly attacking him and he has an instinct for using moments of peril to his advantage. He has already fallen back on the well-worn strategy of presenting himself as the victim of a corrupt establishment and rallying his supporters behind him.”
In the Washington Post, Henry Olsen wrote, “Anyone who cares about fairness in our criminal justice system should be queasy that Donald Trump will be prosecuted in one of the country’s most liberal jurisdictions. By all accounts, this should be a federal case.”
The judicial process of the state of New York is controlled by Democrats. Alvin Bragg, the district attorney overseeing the case, boasted during his campaign that he had sued Trump or his administration more than 100 times during his tenure in the state attorney general’s office, something he probably did to curry favor with primary voters who loathe Trump. Every New York state judge who would either try the case or hear an appeal is elected on a partisan basis, too. It would take a lot of courage for a judge to apply the law fairly and potentially ignore their voters’ desire for vengeance.”
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/02/opinions/trumps-manhattan-story-opinion-column-galant/index.html
The Crumbleys: What Do They Know About the Shootings in Nashville, Tenn., On Monday, September 15, 2015?
The emotions of grief, anger and frustration were felt after a school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday, where five adults and three children were killed.
“James and Jennifer Crumbley, who have pleaded not guilty, allegedly neglected cries for help from their son for months and dismissed serious concerns from the school the day before and the morning of the shooting. Yet even as they apparently ignored warning signs, the Crumbleys bought their son a gun and took him to target practice. Their son pleaded guilty in October to terrorism and murder charges, fifteen months after the mass shooting.
All of this raises the question of how to prevent shootings. They believe that the move to hold parents accountable is a positive development.
The parents of a teenager who shot and killed four students at Oxford High School in Michigan are due to be tried for involuntary manslaughter after an appeals court rejected their argument that the charges have no legal justification.
President Joe Biden touted efforts to oppose autocratic governments at last week’s White House democracy summit, co-hosted by Costa Rica, the Netherlands, South Korea and Zambia.
This makes the premise of the summit ring hollow, since the Biden administration abandoned 40 million Afghan people to the Taliban in a year and a half.
House Republicans are investigating the tumultuous US withdrawal from Afghanistan and there’s a congressionally mandated bipartisan commission examining the entire 20-year war in Afghanistan. Bergen noted that any examination of the US record in Afghanistan was a double-edged sword for Republicans, since the Trump administration signed the Taliban agreement in 2020 set the stage for the US to withdraw from Afghanistan.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/02/opinions/trumps-manhattan-story-opinion-column-galant/index.html
Why Israel is so popular, but what is going on social media? The Love Better campaign for children to help adults and children in Israel’s mental health
“It might seem arcane to start a huge popular uprising, but Israelis quickly realized their democracy was in danger and what followed was one of the most far-reaching, disciplined and determined waves of protests inside a democratic country in recent memory.”
Netanyahu agreed to delay the changes until the next legislative term on Monday, after nearly unbearable pressure. The crisis is not over.
“Breakups suck.” So goes the introductory video for a campaign that New Zealand is conducting to help people cope with relationships that have ended. “Our behavior doesn’t have to” follow suit, wrote Holly Thomas.
The nation’s Love Better campaign was designed to help young people recover from break ups. The campaign includes a dedicated phone, text or email helpline run by Youthline, an organization dedicated to supporting people ages 12 to 24.”
The survey of 1200 16-21-year-olds found that over 70% of them had experienced violence, self- harm, substance abuse, risky sexual behaviors, and violence as a result of rejection. With the breadth of potential damage, it is crazy that campaigns like these are rare in other countries as well. At the very least, it would improve our collective mental health. It might save lives.
Is Utah leading the way in fixing what’s wrong with social media? Kara Alaimo thinks so. Kids under the age of 18 need to get permission from their parents to have accounts on social media, because of new state laws.
Parents will be able to access their children’s accounts, but they won’t be able to use them after 10:30 pm and 6:30 a.m.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/02/opinions/trumps-manhattan-story-opinion-column-galant/index.html
The Story of Stan Lee and the Birth of World War II: An Essay on Kirby’s Contribution to Superheroes, and How he Built the United States
It is believed that the way Putin’s words have been spun in the West will be a very gratifying one for Moscow. Because Russia has already ‘used’ nuclear weapons. It’s used them highly successfully without firing them, by trading on empty threats about potential nuclear strikes to very effectively deter the West from fully supporting Ukraine against Russia’s imperialist war.”
A superhero was introduced a year before the US went to World War II, with the first cover of the comic showing him punching Hitler.
Schwartz wrote that Kirby’s son said “he was fearful and furious at the rise of Nazism in Europe and the US, especially after (British prime minister Neville) It was Chamberlain who appeased Kristallnacht. Kirby clearly stated that Captain America was his and that he and Simon created him. He said that when he drew Hitler, his own anger was coming to the surface.
superheroes fall out of favor after the war because Kirby wrote and drew other genres of comics. Stan Lee was asked to make superhero films again in 1961, the same year he came up with the Fantastic Four, the Avenger, Iron Man, the X-Men and Black Panther. He earned the title of ‘King of Comics’ due to his artistic innovation. It also made him one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.”
The CNN CNN-PollTrump Indictment: Why Do We Care About the Cohen-Don’t-Accede-To-Trump Discrepancies?
Almost 100% of Republicans see the indictment as politically motivated, and many think politics played a major role. Among independents, 52% say politics played a major role; that drops to 25% among Democrats.
CNN has reported that the former president faces more than 30 counts related to business fraud, but the indictment remains under seal and the charges were not publicly known at the time of the survey. The investigation relates to a $130,000 payment made by Trump’s then-personal attorney, Michael Cohen, to Daniels in late October 2016, days before the 2016 presidential election, to silence her from going public about an alleged affair with Trump a decade earlier. Trump has denied the affair. The Trump Organization and Cohen are under investigation for making a payment to Daniels.
Americans are split over the effect the indictment may have on democracy. About three in 10 say the decision strengthens US democracy (31%) and an identical share say it weakens democracy (31%). Roughly a quarter say it has no effect on democracy (23%) and 15% are unsure. Some Republicans think it’s weakening democracy. More than 70% of those who disapprove of the indictment believe politics played a role in the decision to indict. Most Democrats think it is a good way to strengthen democracy. Among those who approve of the indictment, 48% say it strengthens democracy and 30% that it has no effect on it.
The poll also finds that Americans split over the investigation launched by House Republicans into Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s handling of the Trump case, with 38% saying they disapprove of the GOP’s efforts to investigate him, 35% saying they approve, and a sizable 27% unsure how they feel about the investigation.
More than 9 in 10 Americans have heard at least a little about the historic indictment, with 51% saying they’ve heard a lot. More than half of Democrats say they have heard a lot about the charges, compared to less than half of Republicans and independents.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/03/politics/cnn-poll-trump-indictment/index.html
How many Americans approve of the indictment of the President Donald Trump? An analysis by state-by-state survey using probability-based methods
A random national sample of 1,048 adults were surveyed by text message on March 31 and April 1 after being recruited using probability-based methods. Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.0 percentage points. It is larger for groups.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect the correct percentage of independents who approve of the indictment of former President Donald Trump.