Trump was found guilty in hush-money trial. Let's take the win. | Opinion

This may not be the end, but it just might be the beginning of the end.

That is, until the next crisis rears its head. But for now, as the saying goes, I think we need to take the win. And consider the possibility that maybe, just maybe, the conviction of Donald John Trump in a New York courtroom on Thursday, May 30, 2024 on 34 criminal charges, related to a hush money payment that amounted to election interference, is a ray of light. And that maybe, when regular people are exposed to the sickening reality of who that man really is, they will believe it, and act accordingly.

And it is hardly insignificant that Donald John Trump is (was…?) an extremely wealthy white male with tremendous influence who used to be president of the United States, the most powerful nation on Earth. A man who, even after he lost an election four years ago, still managed to co-opt an entire political party and bend it to his will. Not to mention his legacy on the U.S. Supreme Court. In protest of Trump’s failure to win a second term, his minions stormed the nation’s capital and threatened the lives of Trump’s own Vice President Mike Pence, as well as a host of other elected officials, and police officers — with the tacit yet enthusiastic approval and support of Trump.

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Trump’s followers continue to threaten and harass any and all who would stand against their Dear Leader to the point where the jurors who rendered Thursday’s verdict had to be given special protection to conceal their identities for their own safety. The judge, Juan Merchan, received death threats regularly, as did members of his staff. Trump himself, despite repeated warnings from the bench, continued to denigrate the judge as well as his daughter, and effectively inspiring his followers to unleash havoc.

And yet, despite all of this, despite all the massive resources Trump was still able to command —despite no longer being president (because he was still a wealthy, influential and powerful white man in America accustomed to getting his way, and only his way) — the common sense of 12 individuals, combined with the power of a properly functioning legal system, managed to write one of the most powerful, painful and remarkable chapters in all of American history by forcefully reminding this rich white man that at the end of the day, he was no better than anyone else.

Now, on the flip side, we still need to acknowledge that this decision hardly closes the door to America’s dark underbelly that Trump exploded open. For starters, there are three other court cases against Trump that have — one way or another — so far been successfully sidelined.

In a fair world, all three of them should have made it to the courtroom before November. But instead, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis now finds herself trying to dodge death threats while also trying to fend off a full court press by Georgia Republicans to prevent her from getting her election interference case to court by any means necessary.

Meanwhile, Special Prosecutor Jack Smith has been hamstrung from bringing his case against Trump (where he stole and hid classified documents in his Mar-a-Lago residence) by a Trump-friendly, Trump-appointed, and Trump-obeying judge who has employed every legal trick in the book to delay the trial until after the November election.

And to top it off, we now have a Supreme Court in which the wife of one of the justices calmly flies flags in support of white supremacists and Jan. 6 insurrectionists outside their homes — and yet Alito sees no reason to recuse himself from the case ruling on whether or not Trump should be immune from prosecution because he used to be President.

So yeah. It ain’t exactly over yet. And, truth be told, the struggle for freedom and justice is a never-ending fight. There is no Promised Land. But every so often you get the opportunity to take a breather.

To take the win.

Free Press contributing columnist Keith A. Owens is a local writer and co-founder of Detroit Stories Quarterly and the We Are Speaking Substack newsletter and podcast. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters, and we may publish it online and in print.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: After Trump trial guilty verdict, maybe voters will see who he is