On Tuesday at 2:15p Eastern time, Ex-President Trump finally surrendered and walked into the Manhattan district court building surrounded by his lawyers and securities for his long-awaited arraignment. The proceedings were short and quick, catch and release case; no handcuff or a mugshot; it could have been easily done on Zoom saving American people millions of dollars and a big headache. Everyone wants an O. J. Simpson trial show with a helicopter hovering over Trump’s black S.U.V. for moment-by-moment live coverage. Some journalists worried about Trump inciting language asked Judge Juan Manuel Merchan, who presides over the case, if he would issue a gag order for Mr. Trump. The Manhattan Judge assured everyone that Mr. Trump would be tried as an adult and warned Trump from using any violent language.
Trump already called the prosecutor, Mr. Braggs, an animal and asked his supporters o social media to protest and raise hell. March 19 also called on his supporters to “protest” and “take our nation back,” resorting to the same rhetoric before January 6 Capitol riots. There were more reporters than protestors and 35,000 police officers and security services on guard. Mr. Trump sat down quietly and pleaded not guilty to all 34 charges against him at court. All steamed from his falsifying business records for hush money to a porn star and a paid a newspaper to stop a Playboy star story from publishing before his 2016 election for something called the “Catch and Kill” scheme. Trump denied all allegations and claimed that this trial was politically motivated by a “Witch Hunt.” I respectfully disagree with him; according to Muslims, Witches disappear during Ramadan, which started last week. How ironic that Mr. Trump, an Islamophobe who tried to ban Muslims from entering this country during his one term, is on trial in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Millions of Muslims worldwide observe the holy month of Ramadan by fasting not just from eating and drinking but from all other human vices that corrupt the body and soul, like lying, sex, cheating, and using foul language. Trump’s trial is all about sex, lies, cheating, foul language, and hush money to a porn star. Trump’s trial didn’t interrupt the Muslim celebration of Ramadan, Last Thursday at Marhaba restaurant, where about 100 people were breaking their fast. Trump, the first ex-president who is criminally indicted, headlines flash on one of the restaurants T., the calls for Azan to announce its time to break the fast on another T.V. The restaurant was full mostly of Somalis families and kids from the south Minneapolis area, concerned more about breaking their fast than the indictment breaking news. Starting with fresh dates handed out to everyone, you would think the Muslims at the restaurant were celebrating the indictment of Trump, but Muslims were consumed by breaking their fast and not the breaking news. T.V. pundits and political analysts were consumed by Trump’s trial, analyzing the ramifications, the procedures, and the future of democracy in America.” We are entering uncharted territories,” they warned the American people. A Somali family sits at a table nearby with a husband and wife and a few children. I asked the father what he thought of Trump’s indictment,
– When.. he asked casually.
– Now, on the news … for hush money paid to a porn star, they said
– Oh… for the adultery thing… he marveled. This is not a moral trial; not every sleazy act is illegal, and Thou Shalt Not Commit adultery commandant is replaced by the First Amendment.
Why are Americans putting Mr. Trump on trial for minor crimes and letting those ex-presidents who committed world crimes that caused the death of hundreds of thousands of people in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria? As my friend told me the other day, if you find yourself feeling useless, remember it took 20 years, trillions of dollars, 100,000’s death, and four presidents to replace the Taliban with the Taliban. American Ex-presidents are protected species and are shielded from criminal prosecutions. The only president, the Americans actually put on trial and convicted was Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.
Trump had been impeached twice but never charged for trials that cost taxpayers millions and generated millions more of a media circus! I’ll be the last one to defend Trump, a racist Islamophobe and white nationalist. But Trump didn’t invade other countries; he didn’t cause the death of hundreds of thousands of people. He is accused of paying hush money to a porn star to improve his election chances, as one Trump supporter said to the reporter, So Trump had sex with a prostitute and paid for it, who doesn’t. The case is not about sex or adultery; it is about a cover-up for illegal business recodes. Prosecutor Mr. Braggs assured the American people falsifying business records is a serious offense in New York, the world’s financial center. Our country is a country of laws, “No one is above the law,” goes the mantra; however, as Zygmunt Bauman explained in his brilliant book, Modernity, and The Holocaust. History tells us that most atrocities in the world are committed by people who follow the law: Ramadan Kareem, everyone.
Ahmed Tharwat
Host/Producer of Arab American T.V. show BelAhdan
He is working on his Film Documentary
The Coptic Grave
