But other than that...

We use this phrase in my family a lot. When there are just a list of things that are wrong with something. You are having a bad day, the dishwasher leaked, the washing machine blew up, the car got a flat tire, you fell down and twisted your ankle...but other than that it was a great day.

And it can be you or the person you are talking to that says it. Often we do it in a sort of round. One person is listing the bad things about something, (me) it gets bad gas mileage, it's not comfortable seating, the colors are ugly, it's expensive... (C chimes in) but other than that... (Brent repeats) Other than that...(I finish) But other than that it's a great car choice.

That's all I could think of yesterday when the Manafort sentencing came down. When he got four years instead of the recommended 24. When the judge listed his crimes out and said that other than those things he's led a blameless life.

What?

Other than the crimes he was just found guilty of? Oh and did you forget the other ones he will be sentenced on in Washington?

Other than all of the things that have brought you to trial you're fine.

What a crazy thing to say.

What a crazy thing to believe.

That other than being a criminal you've really done nothing wrong.

The best online comment I saw about it was other than all of the women he murdered Ted Bundy led a blameless life.

It's like when people talk about accused abusers and say, "Well he didn't abuse this woman so he couldn't have abused that one."

Again, there were a lot of people that interacted with Ted Bundy who lived to talk about it.

Other than the criminal things he did he led a blameless life.

Four years.

And in the sentencing the judge made sure to mention that the real victims in this set of criminal activity were the American people who were defrauded out of tax revenue.

Well, as an American I'd like the punishment to be a little stronger. If you defraud me out of millions of dollars I'm not thinking that four years is good. I don't care if you are 69. I don't care if the judge thinks all of your other crimes are no big. I don't care if your gout is acting up. You lobbied for dictators. You lied to the FBI. You lived a pretty sweet life on fraudulent funds for a lot of years. Other than that...

I don't believe that Trump will ever face justice for the things he's done and the "blameless life" line makes me believe even if he ends up in court there will be someone waiting to let him off the hook.

Because other than all of the things Trump has done and lied about doing and gotten caught lying about doing and then continued to do he's really led a blameless life.