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Air Rik's avatar

Hi Pauli,

Apparently we're living in "times of trials"...

Franz Kafka died a hundred years ago (to the day) on June 3, 1924.

Here are some quotes from his famous novel "The Trial":

“Guilt is never to be doubted.”

“There is no such thing as innocence; only degrees of guilt.”

“The trial is a spectacle, a circus where the accused is the main attraction.”

“The court is a mirror reflecting the absurdity of existence.”

“The trial is not about justice; it is about power.”

Fast forward 100 years, to June 2024, and it seems like our country has been dragged - like it or not - into another trial, that will also be remembered for many years: the Trump trial. It will be interesting to see - in time - what the history's verdict will be, but it has become obvious, already, that the current jury's verdict is rather telling - not about Trump, but about things much more important than one political candidate.

The Trump trial is perceived by over half of the country as unfair, unjust, and politically motivated. And it's precisely events like this one that make people - almost force people - to lose any remaining trust in the system.

From the failure of the Soviet Union we learned (or could have learned) that a system only works if enough of people believe in it. It is truly scary to consider that public trust in our own federal government, which has been low for decades, is currently the lowest in nearly seven decades of polling (PEW RESEARCH CENTER).

Here are just two short video clips (around 10 minutes each) of Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, who was a lifelong Democrat. He still is a Democrat, and a strong Biden supporter. He voted for Biden, and says will vote for him again, because he doesn't like nor support Trump. Clearly, it took a lot of moral courage for him to expose the Trump trial for what it is: a politically motivated persecution.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qRa1dVQ96d0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsjXSIT9_4s

I am personally not a big fan of Dershowitz, but I am a big fan of Glenn Greenwald, who is among our best - if not THE best - of our journalists and political commentators. Here is what he had to say:

https://youtu.be/JlQy6Hw-VYA?si

Regardless of what one might think of Trump, it will be hard to dismiss Dershowitz's and Greenwald's strong and convincing arguments.

P.S.

Suggested summer reading: Franz Kafka, The Trial (published in 1925, a year after Kafka's death).

Best regards,

AirRik

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