This week in the saga

The week the calendar decides everything. Wednesday he is still gagged — thirty-four convictions behind him, a presidential ballot in front of him, and no right to say a word about either. Friday the Manhattan judge moves the sentencing to the twenty-sixth of November: three weeks after the country votes. The punishment does not go away; it simply steps aside and waits for the result, and a man who has spent two years being dragged toward a date is suddenly running ahead of one. Saturday he posts a warning to anyone thinking of counting the votes creatively, and by the weekend the only argument left is about the furniture — no boxes, no lifts, you are the height you are. Tuesday night, Philadelphia.