What do the following quotes have in common, other than the fact they both consist of three six-letter words?
“Marcia Marcia Marcia.”
“Russia Russia Russia.”
Let’s see …
Oh, and other than the fact that the thrice-repeated words in both quotes end in i-a.
Both quotes are spoken by two of the most famous whiners in recent American history. One is fictional middle daughter Jan Brady complaining about her older sister, the other is Donald Trump, who to take a line from Kris Kristofferson, is a “walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction.”
Both are characters made famous by television, Jan in a long-gone sitcom, Don in so-called reality television. In fact, just as turning your television off essentially means Jan no longer exists, Trump is taking on some of the same characteristics. His New Hampshire “town hall” on CNN Wednesday evening was fascinating to the extent that he might eventually regret doing it.
Oh, I’m sure the Trumpanzees will love it, and if will probably result in more effective grifting for him for at least a little while.
But it’s almost inconceivable to me that anyone who wasn’t previously in bed with Trump will now say he has convinced them to support him in 2024.
As for “Russia Russia Russia” and being told to pay $5 million to E. Jean Carroll for sexual abuse and defamation, that’s where Trump gets really tricky. In both instances, he claimed he was acquitted of wrongdoing.
Not being able to prove something happened is not the same thing as proving it didn’t happen. Trump’s constant whining about “Russia Russia Russia” has led him to say the Muller Report proved there was no collusion. In fact, the report said there was not enough evidence to prove collusion.
Trump said he was exonerated.
The report specifically said he was not exonerated.
The rape charge is a little different since he denies the entire incident ever happened, but the ‘zees say he was acquitted of rape, but the jury said they convicted him of sexual abuse because there wasn’t enough evidence to prove rape.
Once again, no acquittal, although he lesser charge seems a little like pleading anal rape down to following too closely.
In fact, one of the problems is the way we define things in our justice system. The only choices are guilty and not guilty, which is not quite the same as innocent but has the same effect.
The British legal system has a third verdict. Along with guilty and not guilty, a jury can issue a ruling of not proven. In other words, a ruling of not being able to say someone is innocent but not not being able to reach the required standard of guilt required for a conviction.
That wouldn’t do much for Jan Brady, but it might make life a little more complicated for Big Don.