As President Trump Considers Pardoning Sheriff Arpaio, the Left Ups the Ante Spewing Falsehoods

in #politics7 years ago (edited)

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By Mark Anderson, The TRUTH HOUND
www.thetruthhound.com
Stop the Presses News & Commentary

When this writer sat down the evening of Aug. 22 to hear President Trump speak at a rally, it was especially interesting to see the packed event taking place in Phoenix, Arizona, located in Maricopa County. Of course, that sparked anticipation on what the embattled president might say about the fate of former longtime Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

This writer immediately texted one of Arpaio’s attorneys: Is the president, speaking in Phoenix of all places, intent on saying anything about possibly pardoning the veteran lawman, who was recently convicted in federal court without a jury trial essentially for doing his job to fight illegal immigration?

Minutes later, President Trump—in a nearly 90-minute speech in which he hammered the dishonest major media and reassured Americans that he’s trying hard to fulfill a list of campaign promises, especially to achieve real border security—all but confirmed that a pardon is waiting in the wings for Arpaio, who, at press time, was scheduled to be sentenced in U.S. District Court in Phoenix Oct. 5.

“We very much appreciate President Trump’s comments,” Mark Goldman, one of Arpaio’s attorneys, then responded in writing, as Trump’s speech continued. “Sheriff Arpaio didn’t receive a fair trial and it appears that miscarriage of justice is going to be rectified soon.”

Fox News noted Aug. 24 that the official paperwork for pardoning Arpaio is reportedly in order, awaiting Trump's formal action.

Absent a pardon, Arpaio is expected to be sentenced to six months behind bars for his recent conviction under Judge Susan Bolton for “misdemeanor criminal contempt.”

The judge, who didn’t even convene a court hearing to read the conviction to Arpaio in person, but instead issued her findings from her chambers, deemed him guilty of violating a 2011 court injunction, an order that allegedly made it clear to Arpaio and his Sheriff’s Department that they should stop arresting suspected illegal aliens and turning them over to federal authorities.

“Do the people in this room like Sheriff Joe?” President Trump beamed at the Phoenix rally, which drew loud applause. “So was Sheriff Joe convicted for doing his job? He should have had a jury trial, so I’ll make a prediction. I won’t do it [pledge to pardon Arpaio] tonight because I don’t want to cause any controversy . . . but Sheriff Joe can feel good.”

That apparent promise, coming as it did in the wake of the violent Aug. 12 Charlottesville melee, took considerable courage on Trump’s part. The major news media’s long-recognized malpractices, in several respects, have become an attempted sabotage of Trump’s presidency, especially when it comes to the media barrage regarding Charlottesville.

Under that assault, those who don’t want to erase the past and who harbor some respect or reverence for Confederate history, statutes and other landmarks, are blatantly and unequivocally labeled as “racist neo-Nazi bigots” by the media and its allies among a radical left whose leaders openly extol communism in some venues.

ANTIFA IS NOT ANTI-FASCIST

Strangely, many of the so-called "anti-fascist," or "Antifa" activists, who've been committing violence nonstop with minimal response from police ever since Trump's campaign, are reserving almost all their anger for a right-wing movement that gets no fair news coverage, and has very little money and power.

Yet, while fascism is a collusive, illicit partnership of government and corporate power, the Antifa movement collectively supports and does not oppose that same government and corporate power, including the corporate media. In other words, while some elements of the more splintered movement on the right perhaps need to be more closely examined in terms of their real motives, the Antifa movement---as the most visible, widespread part of the ultra far left---is literally fraud incarnate.

If these delusional masked marauders were interested in real debate and idea exchanges, that'd be manageable, but since they're not, their views and their empty "PC" proclamations are utterly without merit and should be bluntly dismissed. The only option would be for real progressives, not pseudo-leftist toadies, to unite with the right on suitable issues like perpetual warfare, dangerous vaccines, proper development of energy alternatives, cleaning up and stopping the privatization of water supplies, the usurious debt-based money system and the unchecked power of big banks, the need for healthy locally sourced food to battle big farms and "big pharma," etc.

But since such unity would be a major stretch at this juncture, the apparent leftist-launched libel sprayed like a firehouse on ever-widening segments of society has been extended to President Trump, who’s been branded as an ally of, and mouthpiece for, the radical “far right.”

Accordingly, at the Arizona rally, Trump reserved some choice words for the mainstream media. Beyond simply saying that the modern-day media apparatus peddles “fake news,” the president called the Washington Post little more than a promotional tool for Amazon and the New York Times a failing institution, while even going so far as to call some media personalities “sick people.”

And while reading from past speech scripts to prove that he believes he adequately denounced neo-Nazis and KKK members who some witnesses claim were part of the Virginia violence, he said that he understands the statues of George Washington and Teddy Roosevelt could even be on the broadening hit list of those on the left who want to remove key landmarks of U.S. history.

“They’re trying to take [away] our culture, our history,” Trump said of those on the left, to clarify that he has balanced criticism for all those who caused trouble during the Charlottesville rioting, and regarding the bigger picture of what’s happening in the wake of it.

WILL TRUMP'S FIRST PARDON CLEAR JOE?

Trump has not granted any pardons so far in his presidency, and given the nation’s hyper-sensitive atmosphere over the Virginia matter, Goldman has declined so far to comment at length, even while Arpaio is not yet at liberty to comment. But Goldman did say: “If Joe is pardoned, he’ll accept it. He has great respect for the president and he hasn’t requested anything.”

Goldman also noted that two motions were recently filed, before Trump's Arizona speech, in the U.S. District Court in Phoenix. One asks for a new trial by jury, and/or to vacate the judgment; the other seeks a judgment of acquittal. Time will soon tell if a pardon comes and negates the whole matter.

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