Benedict Arnold sought to turn over the plans to West Point to the British during America's War for Independence.
Although that plan didn't work out, he did escape to redcoat lines and became an officer in their ranks for the remainder of the war.
Soon after Cornwallis' surrender, Arnold took a ship eastward to the Mother Country. He died there twenty years later. But it is worth noting that his death came after a period as a social pariah. The Whigs despised him and even the Tories thought it best to keep their distance.
Keep an eye on flights to Mother Russia. I think a Floridian golfer of orange hue may have the pilot of his private jet file a flight plan for Moscow soon.
The news of such a flight would be ... clarifying. And, although those who would prefer to see him wearing an orange jmpsuit will be disappointed, they may find cheering the thought that pariah-hood awaits him there.
Christopher, that's a very interesting thought; I've never seen it before. But why was Arnold despised in England, and why do you think that Trump would be despised in Russia? Another question would be whether Trump could get his assets out of the U.S., and what percentage of them he'd have to pay to Putin. He'd presumably have to pay before the trip, before the U.S. thought to freeze his assets.
ReplyDeleteAnother question: If Jack Smith reads your blog, then, after he has Trump arrested, will he ask the judge to deny bail because Trump is a flight risk?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI thought I had entered an answer to this earlier this morning, but it appears it didn't go through. I'll try again. Arnold was despised in England for roughly the reason rats are despised everywhere, even if one disapproves of the cause the rat originally served. Of course there were many Whigs who more-or-less openly approved of the cause of the revolutionaries, a philosophically diverse group ranging from Paine to Burke. But even among those who had no such sympathy, Arnold was treated like someone who had been won away from a bad cause by filthy lucre, so that both the stench of the bad cause AND the stench of the squealing still hung around him.
ReplyDeleteConsider Cornwallis' very different fate. After his surrender at Yorktown, Cornwallis ended up in India. The British East India Co was being transformed into an official colonial govt rather than a trading concern. It was also winning new territory. Cornwallis became part of this process, and it redeemed his reputation. At one point Arnold, in England, sought to enlist in the East India Co., and he was turned down. One official there assured him that he (the official) thought Arnold's motives in the American war "had been pure," but too many others didn't agree.
Jack Smith is a veteran of the war crimes tribunal and I doubt he cares for advice from me on such matters. But if he is listening, "Hi."