XbinaryBrwnfanartist

The reason why he's free and not in jail before he goes to prison in March is because he was released on $500,000 bond after pleading guilty in August. The sentence is three years in prison plus three years of supervised release--so this is actually a stiffer penalty than it initially seems--he'll be nearly 60 by the time he's completely free again. Plus $1.4 million in restitution, $500,000 in forfeiture, and $100,000 in fines.  Considering he's crowdfunding his legal fees, it doesn't seem like any of these penalties was just a drop in the bucket for him. 

My sympathy for him is not unqualified---he threatened a journalist--unconscionable considering the worldwide war on the press, and he threatened other people. It will also make me upset if Cohen's continued cooperation with the cops results in him not having to go to prison at all. And of course it's uncomfortable...to rely on the very same legal system that brutally oppresses Black, Brown, and the poor to also hold the powerful to account. But, that's where we are now. There are bigger things at stake---such as the fate of the planet, than to be angry at these particular cops and the criminal cooperating with them to bring down the single biggest obstacle to a healthy planet. So yes, because Michael Cohen allowed himself to be held accountable and went over to the people's side, I do find him to be heroic. 

The reason why he's free and not in jail before he goes to prison in March is because he was released on $500,000 bond after pleading guilty in August. The sentence is three years in prison plus three years of supervised release--so this is actually a stiffer penalty than it initially seems--he'll be nearly 60 by the time he's completely free again. Plus $1.4 million in restitution, $500,000 in forfeiture, and $100,000 in fines.  Considering he's crowdfunding his legal fees, it doesn't seem like any of these penalties was just a drop in the bucket for him. 

My sympathy for him is not unqualified---he threatened a journalist--unconscionable considering the worldwide war on the press, and he threatened other people. It will also make me upset if Cohen's continued cooperation with the cops results in him not having to go to prison at all. And of course it's uncomfortable...to rely on the very same legal system that brutally oppresses Black, Brown, and the poor to also hold the powerful to account. But, that's where we are now. There are bigger things at stake---such as the fate of the planet, than to be angry at these particular cops and the criminal cooperating with them to bring down the single biggest obstacle to a healthy planet. So yes, because Michael Cohen allowed himself to be held accountable and went over to the people's side, I do find him to be heroic. 

Also, in my last journal I mentioned that Paul Manafort was in prison, but he's actually in jail and hasn't been sentenced yet. 

So, on a systemic level, it's absolutely not fair that Michael Cohen gets to be free for a few months after sentencing, whereas most people, the Black, Brown, and the poor, are sent directly to prison, for much longer sentences for far less serious crimes. Furthermore, he stood by supporting the orange autocrat, his administration, and his policies, which have killed hundreds, resulted in the deaths of thousands, deported thousands, imprisoned tens of thousands, and caused the suffering of millions.

There have been various reactions to Cohen flipping on the orange. Some don't like 'rats' unequivocally, even if the one being snitched on is the world's most powerful man of the world's most powerful country: though it's patently clear that the orange is a criminal, the orange is a still under the complete protection of the so-called justice system and therefore snitching shouldn't hold the same weight it does in an ordinary criminal context. Others are right-wingers calling Cohen a traitor, or blames him because he's the lawyer, others are anti-Semitic, others are wary of him because of the terrible impact on human rights and feel it's too little, too late, others believe that just because Cohen's a convicted felon that he's incapable of telling the truth. 

So regardless of Cohen's reasons for flipping on his disgusting excuse for a boss--whether it was because he got caught and he wants to try to reduce his three-year sentence, whether he's had a sincere change of heart, whether he wants sympathy, whether he's trying to protect his family, whether it's to get more money from giving interviews on cable news, either for himself to pay his fines or to help his family, whether he was a confused guy led astray or he's a stone-cold career criminal, Cohen flipped and tweeted his sympathy for the Pittsburgh shooting, retweeted the progressive Andrew Gillum, and has decidedly moved center/center-left. (he probably won't move further left, as he honored Old Bush, but it's a start) His turning has resulted in enmity from those on the right formerly friendly to him, he can't expect sympathy from the left, he's done damage to his family and his community, and his status as a felon guarantees increased hostility from civil society in general. So, maybe the three month period of freedom before Cohen goes to prison isn't not necessarily a bad thing, because through these interviews and social media post Cohen's taking the opportunity to setting things right. 

Maybe you don't care that William Barr is just more of the same--anti-Black, pro-mass incarceration, anti-poor, anti-LGBT, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, anti-women's rights. But maybe some centrists might care that William Barr has pardoned certain U.S. officials of crimes---it's blindingly obvious why the orange man nominated him, so the orange man can insulate himself from the what it seems to be now inevitable charges. Though it seems only a handful of orange man's cronies will end up going to prison. Michael Flynn, a general in the Iraq and Afghanistan war illegal according to International Law, was only convicted for lying to FBI---and even for that he won't go to prison because he 'cooperated'. The U.S. legal system only serves the legally insulated and it seems that for some, legal insulation is complete and impervious. At least Manafort is in prison and Cohen will be going to prison. Every once in a while, there's cracks in the legal insulation---on the other hand, the ones who do take the fall are still just the cronies and not the big fish. 

Love and respect to Sunrise Movement and Extinction Rebellion for their calling attention to the urgent need to act on climate change. Nature/the environment should also not be pitted against labor--a just transition that doesn't leave workers behind is absolutely necessary. Even though it's extremely frustrating that so many people were only waking up to climate change when it hit cities in the U.S. while climate crisis has ravaged the Global South for many years now, it's better late than never. We must realize that for Paradise and other affected towns, climate change is no longer a hypothetical. Government inaction is gross but unsurprising, the most recent frustration is that despite Australia being on fire and its citizens calling for action, the government tacitly approved the destructive and self-destructive fossil-fuel-friendly policy of U.S., Saudi Arabia, and Russia (China is a mixed bag, but is at least trying) With the Pacific Islands vulnerable to sea level-rise in Australia's orbit, it's especially galling for Australian government to not to refuse the path of climate genocide.