Author: Admin

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Friends,

Trump’s first criminal trial — the first criminal trial of a former president, ever — is scheduled to begin Monday. The 34-count business falsification case may be the only case against Trump to reach a verdict before the November election.

Many people I speak with are worried that this is the weakest of Trump’s four pending criminal trials because it has to do with an illicit affair.

Wrong.

Although this case is commonly called the “hush money” case and referred to as Trump’s alleged “coverup of a sex scandal,” this way of describing it minimizes its importance.

This case is really an election interference case — just as are the criminal cases charging him with seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Together, they establish an ongoing pattern: Trump will do anything to gain and keep power, even if his actions violate the nation’s laws.

This case alleges that in 2016 Trump arranged to pay off an adult entertainer in order to hide his affair with her from the public. The important thing to keep in mind is that the money was given to protect Trump’s campaign for the presidency — not to protect his marriage or protect him from personal embarrassment.

The entire purpose of the payoff was to help Trump become president.

Had its sole purpose been to hide a personal sexual affair, it would not have been criminal.

It was criminal because Trump interfered in an election. He violated campaign finance laws. He deprived voters of information that might have affected their votes. Trump then sought to cover it up with false entries in business records.

The mainstream media keeps referring to Trump’s upcoming trial as based on “charges that he covered up a sex scandal.” That’s exactly how Trump wants it characterized. So it looks like the district attorney is tarring Trump with having had an extramarital affair with a porn star — a form of character assassination, not a crime.

But that’s not what the trial is about, and it’s not what’s at stake. Trump tried to keep relevant information from voters on the eve of the 2016 election.
This trial is about the integrity of our elections system.

As Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg explained, Trump was out to:

“bury negative information about him and boost his electoral prospects. Trump then went to great lengths to hide this conduct, causing dozens of false entries in business records to conceal criminal activity.”

In calling this the “hush money” or “sex scandal” case and implying that Trump was merely trying to hide his tryst with a porn star, the mainstream media is minimizing its significance and misleading the public.

The way Trump’s actions are characterized — the words used to describe what Trump has done to America — are critically important.

Please make sure you describe what’s at stake in the upcoming trial accurately, correct others when they misdescribe it, and write or email any media that misstate what it’s about.

Thank you.
-RR

From the NY Times Editorial Board
January 6, 2024

At the outset of this election year, with Donald Trump leading the race to be the Republican presidential nominee, Americans should pause to consider what a second Trump term would mean for our country and the world and to weigh the serious responsibility this election places on their shoulders….

Click here to read the rest of the editorial

Remember that all elections are local. Beyond donating to non-local candidates and organizations or writing letters or postcards to non-local voters, what can we do?

New York will almost certainly vote for the Democratic presidential candidate. But in 2022, four New York congressional seats flipped from Blue to Red, with horrendous results. We must start now (if we haven’t already) to flip any Republican congressional seat we can. If we are still in district 19 (redistricting pending now), we must defeat Molinaro and elect the Democrat – either Josh Riley or someone else. If, after redistricting, we are in district 18, we need to protect that seat and re-elect Pat Ryan.

So what can individuals do starting NOW?

• Make a New Year’s Resolution to take steps all year to save our democracy.
• When you are feeling anxious about the November elections, DO something.
• Working toward a victory is the best cure for that anxiety.
• Some people have a lot of free time, while others have little time to spare. But our democracy demands that we spend some effort ensuring that it continues and our country thrives and progresses. So whether you can give hours each week or just an occasional burst of activity, your efforts will add to our group effort – your contribution is needed.
• In March, gather signatures on petitions which enable our candidates to get on the November ballot.
• Commit to hosting a meet & greet for a candidate.
• Sign up to canvass in the fall. Then get invited to meet candidates, so when you go to the doors of voters you have tales to tell. We can do meet the candidate sessions before the heavy campaigning starts.
• Sign up to make phone calls in the fall. Again, come and meet the candidates.
• Send out letters to newly registered Democrats in Saugerties. All info and supplies to be provided. Approximately 15 to 30 letters per month.
• Send out happy birthday cards to pre-registered Dem voters on their 18^th birthday, A few each month.
• Be a co-captain of postcard and letter writing. Hold a monthly? Weekly? event at Inquiring Minds. Or starting at 6:00 before our monthly SDC meeting. At bookstore could be a daytime event.
• For those on Facebook, regularly check the Saugerties Democratic Committee Facebook page. Like, comment, and share posts. Same for Ulster County Dem page and our candidate pages.
• Write letters to the editors of the Daily Freeman and HV 1. Call in or email the Roundtable on WAMC.
• Send a letter to dual home owners who can potentially register to vote here, related activities.
• Send anti-Molinaro postcards.
• Find us affordable office space for next fall.
• Make yourself a list of email addresses of friends and family to whom you can send occasional messages about campaigns and candidates. (No need to share their names and addresses.) We will send suggested messages from which you can choose.
• Make yourself a similar texting list.
• Help find or develop messages for people to send to friends via email or texting.
• Bird dog Molinaro (search out or pursue with dogged determination) on social media platforms.
• Apply to join the SDC.
• Good computer skills? Commit to maintaining our email list of Dems.
• Even if not a committee member, come to SDC meetings.
• Bring a friend to an SDC meeting
• Become an election inspector (https://elections.ulstercountyny.gov/be-an-election-inspector/)
• Donate

From a NY Times editorial from Thomas Edsall:

“Republican leaders are now adopting increasingly autocratic measures, using the police powers of government to impose moralized regulations, turning private citizens into enforcement officers and expelling defiant elected Democrats just as county Republican parties, particularly in western states, are electing militia members, Christian nationalists and QAnon believers to key posts.”

Read the entire essay here