Yo, Miss! (No. 22)

Don't Read the Comments

Jun 12, 2023

When you are an online political content creator, the golden rule is:

Don’t read the comments.

Like, ever.

This rule especially applied this past weekend after the news broke out on Thursday about the latest Trump indictment.

My comments section has been flooded with Trump supporters who are STILL in absolute denial that their Dear Leader has done anything wrong. I won’t bother you with what they are saying, but it is exactly what you’d expect.

In reality, Trump faces 37 criminal counts, including 31 counts of violations of the Espionage Act. You can click on this link to read the full indictment.

In a nutshell, the indictment alleges that

Trump shared a classified map related to an ongoing military operation
Trump improperly stored boxes containing classified documents at his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, including in a ballroom, bathroom and shower.
The former president is also being accused by federal prosecutors of a) defying requests from the Justice Department to hand over classified documents, b) making false statements to the FBI and c) getting his aides to help hide boxes of records.

This is a great explainer from Reuters about The Espionage Act and they highlight recent individuals who have been prosecuted using this law that originated during World War I. To put it in perspective, Reality Winner leaked one document to The Intercept alert Americans about Russian interference in the 2016 United States election. She was sentenced to 5 years and 3 months in prison. The Top Secret file that she leaked explained how Russian military intelligence officials hacked at least one supplier of voting software and tried to break into more than 100 local election systems before the polls closed in 2016. (actual election interference!). In response, the Trump administration had her charged under the Espionage Act.

As I mentioned above, this law was originally created during the First World War under the Wilson Administration as a means to punish people spying on the US during times of foreign wars and conflicts. Interestingly enough, Eugene Debs was imprisoned during World War I for violating the Espionage Act and ran for president in the 1920 election from prison. There's a chance Trump could be running for president from prison in the 2024 election.

Trump allegedly stole over 11,000 documents so if that's the case that is a lot more than 1 document and Reality ended up serving 4 years (of her original 5 year and 3 month sentence) So...let's see if there's equal justice under the law in the United States of America. (Also, I am still not satisfied with what we know about regarding Russian interference in the 2016 election and Trump's "curious" relationship with Putin.)

So, Donald Trump is preparing to surrender to authorities Tuesday and be arraigned at a federal courthouse in Miami, Florida.

The majority of Republicans are lying and say that this is “political” and connected to the Biden Administration as well as the 2024 presidential election campaign.

As I tweeted the other day:

It is exhausting to live in this timeline. It has been this way ever since Trump arrived on the political scene and announced that he was running in the 2016 presidential election.

@saribethrose INDICTED #TRUMP #MAGA #GOP #politics #trumpindictment #trumpindicted #greenscreen

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I try to not read the comments, but I often see Trump supporters write that I have “Trump Derangement Syndrome” meaning that I’m obsessed with Trump in an unhinged way.

I rarely respond to these comments, but here’s my reason for continuing to post about the danger Trump and his MAGA Republican supporters pose to the American democracy:

I am not obsessed with Trump.

I am obsessed with getting our country back on track.

I am obsessed with making sure Trump and all the MAGAs no longer sit in any seats of power in this country.

As long as they stay in power, we are held hostage by this hateful minority that is dedicated to fighting our progress. They are pushing against our path to becoming a multiracial democracy. They are also outwardly campaigning against our nation evolving into a place where everyone feels welcome.

I am not delusional enough to think that my tweets and videos will change their minds. It is like trying to get someone out of a cult. Nearly impossible and not my expertise.

However, I post for everyone else to remind them that this is not okay. To encourage them to speak out in their respective communities.

And, not to sound super corny, I post because I still believe in the United States of America.

We have a long way to go to meet our lofty ideals of liberty and justice for all, ideals that originally weren’t intended for a lot of Americans today.

However, I am not giving up on America yet.

So, I will try not to read the comments and just keep forging forward.