If the polls have it right, the indictment of former President Donald J. Trump on fraud charges based on a hush money payment to Stormy Daniels is pretty popular among Americans. Count me among those interested in seeing politicians led off in handcuffs, though I think the experience should probably be a rite of passage for everybody who holds government office.
But there's a warning in those polls: Beyond the fact that they were conducted before we knew precisely the charges faced by Trump, they also reflect widespread belief that the indictment is politically motivated. That's troubling for the legitimacy of the proceedings, and a hint that we could see more similar indictments in the future than would suit even my appetite for political spectacle.
