Donald Trump’s Sue-Happy Vision for America

It hardly comes as any surprise that Donald Trump has been involved in more legal actions than any other presidential candidate in history.  The sheer numbers though are shocking.

3,500. That's how many.

If that number seems suspiciously round, that's because that's only the legal filings USA Today had time to analyze when putting together their report. (http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/06/01/donald-trump-lawsuits-legal-battles/84995854/).

No other major party presidential candidate even comes close. In fact, not counting legal work done in the capacity of an attorney, Trump has been involved in more legal cases than all previous presidents combined.

This should matter for a couple of big reasons:

First, Donald Trump was the defendant in 1,450 of the cases USA Today looked at. I'm not a legal scholar, but if you've been sued 1,450 times I'm going to guess that at least some of them are because you are actually crooked. That assumption is at least as fair as "most illegal Mexicans are murderers and rapists".

The second reason is where I'll try to appeal to disaffected conservatives who've been flim-flammed into believing Trump would make a good president. I'm now addressing you Trump supporters. I know the county's changed a lot recently and maybe in ways that you're not comfortable with. And, I'll bet you think part of the problem is that we've become too damned litigious. You probably think it's a shame that really rich people are able to use their fancy, high-priced lawyers to push around the little guy. Am I right?

Well, if that sounds like you, you'll be so glad that I've warned you before it's too late and you've done something we'll all regret. Donald Trump is completely sue-happy. He's been the plaintiff in 1,900 different legal actions. Of the ones USA Today had time to review, of course.

Now, you may be saying "Well, he's a rich businessman with many different businesses. Lawsuits are bound to pop up". But I'm not talking about those lawsuits. I'm talking about the ones Trump has done or threatened to do just because he likes doing it.  He loves suing people.

Like the time he said, on TV, that he wanted to sue Rosie O'Donnell because "it would be fun" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d32577Hom08)

There's the time me sued Bill Maher for saying he looked like an orangutan (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izlS15orhP0).

He threatened to sue The Onion for writing a satire piece about him. Yes, he sued The Onion (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C90zrOyXogA). When most elderly people confuse The Onion for an actual news site they just post a link on Facebook. Trump initiates legal action.

He threatened to sue Ted Cruz for saying mean things about him during the campaign. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GSzw2XdpJo) If you happened to see even three minutes of any of the Republican debates you know who the one saying the meanest things actually was. (Hint: NOT Ben Carson)

My typing fingers are getting tired. Here's a video of Donald Trump threatening to/or actually suing a lot of different people, sometimes for very silly reasons.

Come on, soon-to-be-former-Trump-supporters. This isn't an aspect of America we like or respect. The courts should be used when people have been seriously injured or when their reputation has been grievously wounded. Lawsuits aren't something a bully should get to wave around like a pair of nun chucks to keep people from criticizing him. I know you're with me on this , guys.

've saved the most chilling example for last. What would it mean to have a guy who's just ga-ga over suing people as the chief executive of our country? I'll let him tell you.

If you couldn't or didn't watch the video, that was Donald Trump telling a crowd at one of his rallies that, if elected, he would change libel laws to make it easier to sue The New York Times if they wrote something that hurt his widdle feewings.

I must hand it to him, Trump is at least upfront about wanting to intimidate the press and curtail the First Amendment. Stalin, Castro, Mao...not even old Adolph had the nerve to say what they were up to until after they'd seized power.