One sentence about the fundamental importance of
When Judge Amy Berman Jackson today sentenced Paul Manafort to 73 months in prison (30 of which will run concurrent with his prior sentence), one phrase in her lengthy pre-sentencing comments stood out for me above all the rest.
As she spoke about the context and background for the thinking behind her sentence, discussing the seriousness of the conspiracy and lying and witness tampering that occurred (and pointedly dismissing the dog-whistle jabber about «no collusion» as a «non sequitur» irrelevant to the case at hand), there was one particular phrase in her remarks that resounded with the hard smack of a gavel on wood:
«Court is a place where facts still matter.»
Indeed they do. And should.
This sentence from Judge Jackson will reverberate far beyond her Washington courtroom.
Think about it:
Court. Is. A. Place. Where. Facts. Still. Matter.
As opposed to, say, the rest of the country, where we all swim in a sea of «alternative facts,» led by a president, who, by the Washington Post’s careful count, made over 8000 «false or misleading claims» in his first two years in office.
A president whose Orwellian management style is founded on a premise of never admitting fault and routinely bending facts to suit personal needs.
