“What’s good for the goose is also good for the gander.” — Proverb

This is a piece I am dedicating to my conservative friends and family. So, feel free to read from that perspective. Consider this a love letter of sorts. If you are calling this a sham trial I have only one thing to tell you. If you would be screaming for a Democrat to be prosecuted under the same circumstances then you have no leg to stand on and I would politely invite you to shut the hell up. There is a reason why I opened with the proverb I did.

If you don’t believe me then I invite you to consider the drawn out case of John Edwards. I didn’t hear anyone at the time scream political prosecution. I certainly didn’t hear that for Rob Blagojevich was sent to the slammer. Current senator Bob Menedez is in the midst of his own corruption trial. I don’t hear anyone screaming about political sham trials there.

As we sit, the Republican party is being led by a convicted felon. An independent district attorney’s office decided to bring charges. An independent judge presided over the case. Twelve independent citizens listened to the evidence and cross examinations and voted unanimously to convict. It’s time to stop this fantasy of Joe Biden being both a drooling mental deficient and mastermind that controls every Democratically elected district attorney in the country. It cannot be both. You have to choose one. Choose carefully.

The answer is that the second one definitely isn’t true. This has always been Trump induced projection. He wanted to control the justice department. He wanted them to be his own personal attorneys. He strong armed them into doing things they shouldn’t have done. So, he naturally assumes everyone does it. He assumes it because he has no idea how any of this is supposed to work.

Here is my plea. It is not too late. On July 15th we will likely know what the Trump penalty will be when the Republican National Convention is underway. Nominate anyone else. Nikki Haley would appear to be the most logical choice but it could really be anyone at that point. You can cite any reason you like, but the reason should be that you don’t want a felon as your party’s leader.

Since I know this is not likely to happen I have a secondary plea. I know the calendar won’t be your friend here, so you can feel free to do this the Wednesday after the election, but it is time for a Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, or a Jeff Flake to step up and form a new conservative party. Their ideals could be simple and fairly similar to what Republicans used to stand for.

Would Nikki Haley do better than Trump at the polls? My political instincts and training say likely not. The hardcore MAGAs would likely stay home and depress the GOP vote. You may even see some show up and vote for the lower ticket races and leave that spot blank in protest. She would get people worried about Biden’s age and mental acumen that would still vote for him if it were Trump running against him. That’s a hard race to predict for these reasons.

What I will say is that you wouldn’t be poisoning yourself for 2028. You would remain a viable party and if you were able to either silence or shun the rest of MAGA then your party could return to normal and possibly survive. If you don’t do this you become a zombie party if you haven’t become that already. Sure, you take some seats due to gerrymandering and demographic advantages in certain areas of the country, but you cease to be a governing party.

This event is one of those cataclysmic events that turns an entire election on its ear. My personal belief is that Trump will have reverse coattails. He will cost Republicans down ballot races. A Nikki Haley might not. She might not galvanize the forces for a red wave, but she will stave off a blue wave. That might be your best bet and your best hope right now.