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By now maybe we will know if Trump was actually indicted and arrested on Tuesday. The NBC story and Trump’s subsequent Truth Social message spun everyone up and then he had to walk it back when it became a real possibility that the impending frogmarch was all nonsense. But the threat of this kind of frame job – and it is one, not least of all because this is a bogus legal theory that blows through the statute of limitations like its not even there. And it might as well not be, since that law stuff really does not matter. This is about getting a pic of Trump in cuffs. And it is about manipulating you.

It’s clear that these local DA’s who refuse to punish carjackers, perverts and, you know, actual criminals, are trying desperately to concoct some bullSchiff charge to ensnare Trump. It’s banana republic stuff that would embarrass actual banana republicans in that it does not even have the gauzy veneer of lawfulness, through the air is thick with plenty of hack cliches about the rule of law from this norm-busting’s supporters. What you need to do in the short-term is not be manipulated by it.

You are right to be outraged. It is an outrage. And being furious is mandatory. It’s adorable how some people still think there is a rule of law to protect by enabling the two-tiered justice system. It’s weak and its dumb to play along in a rigged game. Of course, the usual suspects are doing it, pretending that this Trump vendetta stuff is just a normal prosecution that we should treat normally. We should not treat this as normal, but we should also not react in a way that harms our interests. The scariest people are not those who lose control in the face of provocation, but the ones who do not.

They pick their fight.

They fight smart.

They fight to win.

Trump’s truth-tweet demanded that we mobilize in the streets to protest. Well, that went poorly last time. Here’s the thing – Republicans do not “take to the streets.” We have jobs and lives and something to lose. And in blue cities, where you cannot rely upon the law or the Constitution – speedy trials for January 6th political prisoners, anyone? – street action is even dumber than usual. Some commie jerk on some pinko station once put it really well – Republicans riot at the ballot box. Yes, riot at the ballot box by electing real conservatives with a mind for payback. That’s where the fight is, the decisive point, the center of gravity. That’s where we hurt them…electing more and more based Republicans who will do what Ron DeSantis has done and take the war to the enemy instead of wringing his hands over Muh Conservative Principles.

Trump loves spectacle, because he’s a showman. He wants to see people out there. He loves the visual of adoring crowds. He loved the January 6 rally. But then some guys got suckered into going up to Capitol Hill. Note that those guys were not the rank and file GOP voters. They were largely populists with less connection to the caucus than the candidate. They went there for Trump, not the GOP. GOP voters were at home.

Street action is not our thing. It’s a leftist thing designed to let angry young people act out and to get adoring coverage. The left knows how to use demonstrations as a tactic and it fits their purposes. It does not fit ours, in large part because the regime media is absolutely every time going to lie about it in an attempt to scandalize the normal people watching dumb network TV at home. For our side, mass protests are a suckers game.

Organizing and actually getting ballots in is not a sucker’s game. It is the way we have won and will win. I get tired of all the doomsayers about election fraud, which I realize exists, but the fact is that you cannot cheat when it is not close. All these dubious losses are razor-thin margins. How about getting Chris Christie-sized margins in our favor by doing the hard work to turn out Republican voters?

And there is another kind of manipulation at work. The Democrats are drooling at the thought of Trump getting the nomination like Kamala drools at the sight of a powerful man she can use to get ahead. They want Trump nominated because they think they can beat him. The regime media is helping. And make no mistake – they believe that this outrageous assault on justice is going to make you so mad that you vote for Trump in the primary just to show them what for.

Now, you may be a Trump supporter. There are good arguments for Trump. Some of my best friends are committed to Trump (I am committed only to vote for who I think is best in the primary when California votes in June 2024 and for the GOP nominee, no matter who he/she/xe is, in November). But if you vote for Trump because of this baloney indictment, if it happens, then you are letting yourself be manipulated. 

They think this will help him beat the guy they are scared of, Ron DeSantis, and then send the GOP hamstrung into November. Remember, you dumb conservatives love law and order so you have to vote against the guy with the indictment, no matter how bogus it is. Or so they hope. I doubt it would work on you in the general, but there are a lot of dumb people out there with Trump Derangement Syndrome who will choose the senile corruptocrat who may stagger us into nuclear Armageddon over the guy who sends mean tweets. It happened in 2020.

Think with your heads, not with your heart. You’re angry. You should be. But remember that revenge is a dish best served cold, and November 2024 promises to be very cold indeed.

Follow Kurt on Twitter @KurtSchlichter. Get Inferno, the seventh book in the Kelly Turnbull People's Republic series of conservative action novels set in America after a notional national divorce, as well as his non-fiction book We’ll Be Back: The Fall and Rise of America.

My super-secret email address is kurt.schlichter@townhall.com.

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