Has Donald Trump learned his lesson? – Pagosa Daily Post News Events and Video for Pagosa Springs Colorado

In February 2020, Maine Senator Susan Collins spoke to a CBS News reporter about the lesson then-President Donald Trump learned from his impeachment by the United States House of Representatives.

“I think the president has learned his lessons from this case,” she told Norah O'Donnell. “The president has been impeached. This is a very big lesson. I think he will be much more careful in the future.

Senator Collins later clarified her comments, explaining that she “hoped” President Trump had learned his lesson, rather than “believing” he had learned his lesson.

A big difference there. “Hoped” versus “Believed.”

I learned my lesson at age six, when I stole a yo-yo from the local dime store. My friend Larry had a Duncan brand red plastic yo-yo and had learned several impressive tricks. 'Walk the dog'. 'Around the world'. “Rock the baby.” 'To buckle the buckle'…

When I asked him where he got his yo-yo, he admitted that he stole it and also told me that shoplifting was child's play.

If I remember correctly, those are exactly his words. “A piece of cake.”

Following Larry's instructions, I managed to get my hands on a yellow Duncan yo-yo (yellow being my favorite color at the time) and embarked on the learning curve towards mastery of the yo- yo.

Unfortunately, my mother surprised me with my new toy and managed to extract a confession from me about the providence of the toy, which, much to my embarrassment, led me to go to the store to return the stolen merchandise and to apologize on my behalf to the store manager.

Nothing happened to Larry. He escaped unscathed.

So there were two lessons I had to learn, the first being: “Don't let your mother catch you playing with a stolen yo-yo.” »

The other lesson was, “Don’t listen to Larry. »

Many more lessons awaited me later in life. However, I'm glad I learned these particular lessons at age six, rather than at age 77, when the punishment (and embarrassment) might have been more severe.

I say “77” because that's the current age of a man who has been making headlines lately: former US President Donald Trump. (He will be 78 on June 14.)

We don't know, at this point, how many lessons Donald Trump has learned over his long political and business career, but we might wonder if he learned at least one from the recent “silence” trial that unfolded. finished last week in New York. , when a 12-person jury found him guilty of 34 crimes.

A possible lesson might be: “Don't have unprotected sex with porn stars while running for president.” »

In 2020, during a press conference following Mr. Trump's impeachment, an NBC reporter mentioned Senator Collins' comment and questioned whether he had indeed learned his lesson.

“Some Republicans have said they hope you learn a lesson from the impeachment,” said Peter Alexander of NBC News. “What lesson did you learn from the impeachment? »

Trump responded: “That the Democrats are crooked; they have a lot of twisted things. How vicious they are. That they shouldn't have done an impeachment. And that my poll numbers are 10 points higher because of fake news like NBC, which reports the news very inaccurately – probably more inaccurate than CNN, if that's possible.”

Trump then kicked the press out of the room.

This shows that different lessons can be learned from the same event.

The lessons I have in mind, however, are ones you might learn from a conviction for 34 felonies.

Former President Trump held a press conference after the verdict and clarified what he learned…about the judge, the prosecutors, the jurors, and Washington DC in general.

“They are bad people. In many cases, I believe, these are sick people…”

Bad people, like Larry. I know perfectly well how our former president feels.

“We just had one of many experiences where we had a conflicted judge. Very confrontational judge. There has never been a more contradictory judge…

“Now I'm under a silence order, a very nasty silence order, where I've had to pay thousands of dollars in penalties and fines, and I've been threatened with jail. Think about it. I'm the leading candidate for president, and I'm being kept silent by a man who can't put two sentences together…

“This is all done by Biden and his people. Perhaps especially by his people. I don't know if Biden knows too much, because I don't know if he knows anything… This is done by Washington, and no one has seen anything like this…”

The former president concluded his press conference by saying how sorry he was about the prosecution of his chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, who is currently serving time in New York's notorious Rikers Island prison for tax evasion.

Mr. Weisselberg pleaded guilty to 15 felonies, and as part of his plea deal with prosecutors, he promised to testify truthfully at the Trump Organization trial… to pay $2 million in back taxes… and to waive any right of appeal. Mr. Weisselberg admitted that he should have paid taxes on the unofficial compensation, which included a luxury Manhattan apartment, two Mercedes Benz car rentals and his grandchildren's private school tuition.

When my mother surprised me with the stolen yo-yo, it felt good to admit it and ease my guilty conscience. I imagine Mr. Weisselberg felt the same sense of relief. Perhaps an even greater relief, given the relative size of his tax bill.

However, during the press conference, Mr. Trump appeared confused about what exactly had happened to his friend, Mr. Weisselberg.

“They destroyed it. He was with me for many years. He was an honorable person, he was an honest man. And if you look at what he did, apparently that never happened. There has never been anything like this, for the education of his grandchildren, for… He did not declare that he had a car… or two cars, on his income.

“I don't know. I wonder how many people here [at this press conference] to have a car? I wonder how many people say, “Well, I have a car worth “x” dollars. How do you understand it? And I guess you have to report it, but I would say probably almost no one does…”

The lesson here is that yes, you probably have to pay taxes on your income, which includes a luxury apartment and personal-use luxury cars provided by your employer, and even if almost no one reports it, you may find yourself in the Rikers. Island prison.

So, like I said, I'm glad I learned my lessons when I was six.