Character Matters

Karen Shiebler
2 min readJun 11, 2024

Comparing the reactions to the two big guilty verdicts

lawcdh.com

There were two big political trials in the past few weeks. In one, a former US president and current leading presidential candidate was tried and convicted for falsifying financial records in order to support his candidacy. In the other, the admittedly drug-addicted son of the current President lied on a form so he could buy a gun.

Two crimes, neither one lethal. Two men, both accused of lying to get what they wanted. One man wanted the Presidency and one wanted a gun. But no matter, these were two bad choices and two men facing the consequences of their illegal decisions.

Both men were found guilty by a jury of their peers. Both went through the American legal system.

So far, things were pretty much the same.

But it’s the reactions to the two convictions that draws a clear distinction between the two cases.

When Trump was convicted by 12 average Americans who listened to both sides of the case, he reacted by calling the judge a “tyrant” and the trial an “unfair witch hunt”. He refused to admit to any guilt, or even to acknowledge the legal system of the United States is a legitimate institution. He reacted exactly the way an elementary school kid would react when caught punching a classmate in the face.

“I didn’t do anything! He started it! I didn’t hit him! It’s unfair.”

When Hunter Biden was convicted of buying a gun while being a drug addict, he reacted by stating that he was thankful for the love and support of his family. His father, the President of the United States said this:

“I will accept the outcome of this verdict.”

See the difference?

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Karen Shiebler

A Mother, a grandmother, a progressive voter. I write because it’s getting harder to march and because words are my weapon. I blog at momshieb.wordpress.com