While we observe, scrutinize, analyze and dissect the seemingly unending efforts to finally bring Donald Trump and his co-conspirators to account, we tend to overlook the tragic impact his depredations have on people.
His negative effects on people range far beyond the disgust and contempt that the majority of Americans register when contemplating him. His lies about Covid-19 and his inexcusable incompetence mismanaging the pandemic cost hundreds of thousands of lives and should have been more than enough to send him on the fast track to history’s rubbish heap. However, the damage he continued to do to everyday people did not stop there.
The 92-page, detailed Georgia indictment of Trump and 18 partners-in-(alleged)-crime plus 30 (thus far) unindicted co-conspirators elevates the devastating micro-effect of the character assassinations he so blithely hurls about, impulse control be damned, and fundamental human decency being a non-factor in his make-up. A few examples make the point:
Atlanta election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, mother and daughter, did their civic duty on election day and with respect to the ballot counting that followed. This is a selfless task that thousands of Americans undertake every election cycle, and is usually accomplished in total anonymity. However, instead of being commended for their non-partisan efforts, they found themselves in the center of the sh*t-storm of lies and false accusations hurled by Trump and his co-conspirators intent on overturning the actual election result. Trump mentioned one or both of them at least 18 times during his inflammatory speeches and rabble-rousing rallies. But the intimidation and harassment did not stop with the chief insurrectionist. Lapsed lawyer Rudy Giuliani accused them publicly of passing around USB ports “as if they were vials of heroin or cocaine” designed to “infiltrate the crooked Dominion voting machines” (they were actually sharing mints). They were also accused by both men of stuffing ballot boxes for Biden. Freeman was labeled “a known professional vote scammer and political operative.” She is neither.
These slanderous accusations turned both women’s lives upside down. They received a barrage of death threats and ever since fear going out in public. The costs to their mental health are incalculable.
During the course of a defamation lawsuit filed against Giuliani by Ms. Freeman, he admitted that he had defamed her and her daughter. The outcome of the case being no longer in much doubt, the sentence should hopefully reduce multi-millionaire Rudy to penury.
The lives of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his family have also been turned inside out. Since Trump’s January 2, 2021 taped phone call to Raffensperger in which he threatened, cajoled and begged the Secretary to find him “just enough votes” to overturn the Georgia result, Raffensperger’s family has received innumerable death threats and has had to engage a security service just in order to go about their daily lives.
These are only a handful of examples of the devastation wrought by Trump and his accomplices on the lives of ordinary Americans. There are many more folks whose lives have been disrupted and destroyed by this criminal gang. Undeterred by warnings from the judges in his innumerable pending trials, he continues to defame and threaten judges, prosecutors et al. Meanwhile, his followers post the names of jurors and jeopardize their lives and safety as well. For this alone, the entire lot deserve to rot in prison for the rest of their unnatural lives.
I have to pinch myself every day when I wake up and realize that Donald Trump, one of the vilest and most reprehensible individuals on the planet, could very possibly be returned to the White House next year. What kind of country is it that can countenance such a horrendous possibility?
Dick Hermann
August 18, 2023
His negative effects on people range far beyond the disgust and contempt that the majority of Americans register when contemplating him. His lies about Covid-19 and his inexcusable incompetence mismanaging the pandemic cost hundreds of thousands of lives and should have been more than enough to send him on the fast track to history’s rubbish heap. However, the damage he continued to do to everyday people did not stop there.
The 92-page, detailed Georgia indictment of Trump and 18 partners-in-(alleged)-crime plus 30 (thus far) unindicted co-conspirators elevates the devastating micro-effect of the character assassinations he so blithely hurls about, impulse control be damned, and fundamental human decency being a non-factor in his make-up. A few examples make the point:
Atlanta election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, mother and daughter, did their civic duty on election day and with respect to the ballot counting that followed. This is a selfless task that thousands of Americans undertake every election cycle, and is usually accomplished in total anonymity. However, instead of being commended for their non-partisan efforts, they found themselves in the center of the sh*t-storm of lies and false accusations hurled by Trump and his co-conspirators intent on overturning the actual election result. Trump mentioned one or both of them at least 18 times during his inflammatory speeches and rabble-rousing rallies. But the intimidation and harassment did not stop with the chief insurrectionist. Lapsed lawyer Rudy Giuliani accused them publicly of passing around USB ports “as if they were vials of heroin or cocaine” designed to “infiltrate the crooked Dominion voting machines” (they were actually sharing mints). They were also accused by both men of stuffing ballot boxes for Biden. Freeman was labeled “a known professional vote scammer and political operative.” She is neither.
These slanderous accusations turned both women’s lives upside down. They received a barrage of death threats and ever since fear going out in public. The costs to their mental health are incalculable.
During the course of a defamation lawsuit filed against Giuliani by Ms. Freeman, he admitted that he had defamed her and her daughter. The outcome of the case being no longer in much doubt, the sentence should hopefully reduce multi-millionaire Rudy to penury.
The lives of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and his family have also been turned inside out. Since Trump’s January 2, 2021 taped phone call to Raffensperger in which he threatened, cajoled and begged the Secretary to find him “just enough votes” to overturn the Georgia result, Raffensperger’s family has received innumerable death threats and has had to engage a security service just in order to go about their daily lives.
These are only a handful of examples of the devastation wrought by Trump and his accomplices on the lives of ordinary Americans. There are many more folks whose lives have been disrupted and destroyed by this criminal gang. Undeterred by warnings from the judges in his innumerable pending trials, he continues to defame and threaten judges, prosecutors et al. Meanwhile, his followers post the names of jurors and jeopardize their lives and safety as well. For this alone, the entire lot deserve to rot in prison for the rest of their unnatural lives.
I have to pinch myself every day when I wake up and realize that Donald Trump, one of the vilest and most reprehensible individuals on the planet, could very possibly be returned to the White House next year. What kind of country is it that can countenance such a horrendous possibility?
Dick Hermann
August 18, 2023
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