Ross: If popularity creates immunity, maybe the ‘Belltown Hellcat Bandit’ should run for president

Everybody’s got their opinion about the Trump conviction, but I see a new day dawning in America. A new feeling in the land that the law shouldn’t stifle your dreams.

Trump’s jury came back with a unanimous guilty verdict the day after getting the case – which means it wasn’t even close. And yet a considerable part of the American electorate – including Mitt Romney, a traditional non-Trump Republican – is convinced that the case shouldn’t even have been prosecuted.

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A lot of completely normal Americans believe a guilty man should have gone free, and he probably will because of his popularity.

As for what happens when you’re unpopular – well, look at Hunter Biden. He’s about to go on trial for lying about his drug use when he filled out the ATF form to buy his handgun. How many “Leave Hunter Alone” rallies do you think we’ll see? How many gun owners see him as a martyr for the Second Amendment? How many people are asking: “What’s the big deal? It’s just lying on a piece of paper.” The cheering section is very quiet.

Which, believe it or not, brings me to the case of Seattle’s own Belltown Hellcat. He’s the guy who goes tearing through Downtown Seattle at night in his unmuffled souped-up Dodge Charger at 107 miles an hour.

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And as he explained to one cop who stopped him, he’s gotta keep doing it because he’s got 757,000 Instagram followers! That generates enough money to pay for his car and his downtown apartment! In the bodycam video, the cop couldn’t have been more polite.

“I’m an ASE Certified Master Technician as well as a cop, believe it or not,” the responding officer said when pulling over the Belltown Hellcat driver. “I have a car that would smoke yours. You just got to keep [the muffler] on. Why don’t you go to Pacific Raceways?”

Get yourself on the ballot, Hellcat. Run on a platform of cheap gas, and tell ’em you’re making downtown fun again. I believe the time is ripe.

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