Lawrence Donegan

Donald Trump, convicted felon.  All roads in the life of the former President of the United States, a man  who has long lived on the fringes of legality, who has played fast and loose with the truth for the duration of his personal, business and political life, led to that irrefutable judgment from a jury of peers in New York on Thursday. Guilty. Thirty-four times guilty.

The suspense is almost over for those waiting on the outcome of the Donald Trump “hush-money” case, which is likely to end later this week with a decision  from the jury in New York.

Of all the hapless branded products and marketing scams Donald Trump has landed on the American public over the years, from inedible steaks and undrinkable wine to phony “university” degrees and bankrupt casinos, the one least grounded in reality is that the presumptive Republican nominee is the greatest political debater of the era.

Mike Pence had the worst job in the world and he’s got the cratered career to prove it. Vice-president to President Donald Trump for four soul-sucking, pride-swallowing years. The hospital pass to end all hospital passes. (Almost) literally. Famously, his term in office ended with him hiding in the basement of the US Congress while Trump’s loyal followers roamed the building on January 6, 2021, with malicious intent, chanting “Hang Mike Pence”. “He deserves it,’’ Trump reportedly responded when told of the danger his Presidential deputy found himself in that day. The 45th President would rather eat an endive salad than apologise so, naturally, his attitude towards his former vice-president (and former loyal friend) has only hardened in the years since. Traitor, loser, coward, liar, delusional - pick an insult, Trump has thrown it in Pence’s direction, like so much rotten fruit.

History echoes across Sproul Plaza on the UC Berkeley campus. Generations of activists have gathered in this place in support of free speech, civil rights and Black Power, and to protest against the Vietnam War, racism and George W Bush’s misadventures in Iraq. Cops have beaten up protestors here, flags have been set alight, Left and Right have fought pitched battles. Martin Luther King spoke from the steps of Sproul Hall in May 1967, railing against “White America, but not all white Americans” for deserting the fight for racial justice.

Joe Biden was right. The women of Florida are about to find themselves with fewer rights than their mothers and grandmothers had and that’s just a fact. From Wednesday, a six-week abortion ban will take effect in the state. This could cost Trump

Lawyers for Trump have littered the hallways of the New York Supreme Court with paperwork aimed at delaying Monday’s start of his trial on charges of falsifying business records.