Into the Woods

A big problem with posting about current events is that it’s almost impossible to find photographs that are in the public domain. For a long time now, the world has been waiting for a criminal indictment of Donald Trump that comes with a mug shot. Police mug shots are public record and are therefore in the public domain. For whatever reason, no mug shots were provided with Trump’s previous indictments. But now, in Georgia, we’re promised that that will change.

According to Axios, the sheriff of Fulton County has said that Trump will be treated the same as any other person charged with a crime. “Unless somebody tells me differently, we are following our normal practices, and so it doesn’t matter your status, we’ll have a mugshot ready for you,” the sheriff said.

Time Magazine wrote a piece back in March saying that a genuine Trump mug shot would be a fundraising boon for Trump. That may be, since some people are that stupid. But for the rest of us, a Trump mug shot will lead to a grand outpouring of memes like nothing ever seen before. There will be a great feast and festival of snark and schadenfreude.

We know that Trump has until August 25 to turn himself in, but so far there has been no word on when his arraignment will happen.

I can’t wait.

By the way, speaking of feasts, the media have been feasting on polls saying that the Trump indictments cause Trump’s popularity (among Republicans) to rise. This is bunk. Trumpists are still in the anger and denial stage. Those who respond to polls of course say that the indictments make them more likely to vote for Trump. It’s the only way they can register their anger and denial. Polls fifteen months before an election are meaningless anyway.

I closely monitor the Facebook group of the Republican Party in my county. This county voted 78 percent for Trump in 2020. That Facebook group provides some insight into the state of mind of Trumpists in red, red counties. Mostly they’re not even talking about Trump. Very few Republicans even post anymore — only the most radical and angry ones. My impression is that it’s all starting to sink in. They’re figuring out that they’ve been deceived and taken for a ride by a con man, and that they’re now accountable for everything they’ve done and said in the past. The smarter ones may have started reaching the depression stage of grief, which I would call demoralization, when the grief is political. There is absolutely nothing in sight for them to lift their spirits or give them a win. Their future is lose, lose, lose, as far as the eye can see.