Eugene Debs, an evangelistic American socialist, was the last presidential candidate to campaign from a prison cell.

He achieved 3.4% of the popular vote in 1920, while serving 10 years for sedition after denouncing US participation in the First World War.

His manifesto promised a pardon for himself if elected.

The charges on which a New York jury found Trump guilty — making him the first former president to be classified as a felon — are rather more ignoble: 34 counts of falsifying records to cover up a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Nor is this the end of the legal travails for the sole Republican candidate for the White House on November 5.

Trump faces dozens of other felony charges in three additional cases, two of them federal and one to be heard in Georgia.

Sentencing takes place on July 11, between the two TV debates. It will be a surprise if the former president is ordered jail time.

The intriguing questions are whether his conviction makes any difference to his chances of returning to the Oval Office, what impact it will have on swing voters, or whether they have already factored in the Trump persona at a discount.

The American constitution sets few eligibility hurdles for those who would wish to be president. They must be “natural-born” citizens, have lived in the US for 14 years, and be at least 35-years-old.

So far, Trump’s response has been to play to his character creation of a stand-up guy who can’t get a break from those Manhattanites.

The jury of five women and seven men, each one quizzed on their reading, social media, and news listening habits, were drawn from professional backgrounds and live in gentrified or affluent areas such as West Harlem, Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea, and the Upper East Side. The foreman was an Irish-born former waiter who now works in sales.

Trump’s trigger phrases have been in circulation for many months. The hearing was “a witch hunt”. The jury was “rigged”. It’s “a scam”.

The jurisdiction was one in which a Republican wouldn’t stand a chance, even if they were a candidate for beatification.

This is how he presents matters: 

I am quarry. I am victim. My predators are ruthless. That’s the only lens through which to view what’s happening. The only relevant prism. 

This representation of prosecution as persecution already sits comfortably with dyed-in-the-wool supporters, and there is nobody willing to knock him from his perch in his own party. The question is whether there are sufficient dissenters who foresee the dangers of returning the Donald to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Trump’s potential antecedent, Eugene V Debs, eventually had his sentence commuted, although he was not pardoned. 

Just before one of his prison terms — for organising the Pullman rail strike of 1894 — The New York Times denounced him as “a lawbreaker at large, an enemy of the human race". 

President Warren Harding, who released Debs from prison six years before his death, aged 70, said Debs was “a dangerous man” who had the personality to “mislead the unthinking and affording excuse for those with criminal intent” — a message which could be reloaded this autumn.

A question of credibility

That there has been a furore over the widespread distribution of an artificially created image of Rafah cannot surprise anyone with any understanding of history — or with an inkling of the capricious qualities of human nature.

The photograph — apparently constructed by artificial intelligence (AI), although not something which would be beyond the skills of a moderately talented human graphic artist — was shared (i.e. liked) by more than 42m Instagram users, including Irish celebrities.

It purports to show tents in a camp arranged to spell out the phrase ‘All Eyes On Rafah’. The city was the scene of an Israeli airstrike which led to the deaths of 45 people last weekend.

No sooner did it whizz around the internet than there was hubbub from people asking why an AI-generated image was gaining so much traction when there are real, often distressing, alternatives to view. The phrase ‘All Eyes On Rafah’ has gained currency through promotion by the World Health Organization, Oxfam, and Save the Children.

The creation of images and campaigns to provoke responses is, at its most honourable, a function of marketing.

At its worst, it is a component of propaganda and there have been countless examples through the centuries from the Ems Telegram, to the Zinoviev letter, to the antisemitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

It’s simple for someone to share an item on the internet.

It is for the receiver to question why it has been circulated, or to challenge its credibility, its timing, its taste, and to ensure that they maintain a shield against credulousness.

It’s the digital equivalent of caveat emptor.

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Auditing costs of medical ‘tourism’

That there are risks associated with what has become known as “medical tourism” is a familiar story for Ireland.

The country’s newspapers have covered the subject in some depth, revealing the ease with which surgery, often cosmetic or weight-related, can be obtained, and the sometimes unpleasant consequences.

This week, Cork coroner Philip Comyn warned of the dangers after inquests into the deaths of three women following procedures in Turkey and Latvia.

One woman died in Turkey, but a second autopsy was conducted in Ireland, at the request of her family, under a special provision of the Coroner’s Act. The other two women died in the Mercy University Hospital (MUH) in Cork following complications which arose from surgeries in Turkey and Latvia.

The two Turkish victims had visited for elective procedures in connection with weight loss. One had attended a hospital in Istanbul and the other in Izmir.

Given that the Irish health service is frequently required to step in with remedial work on operations which have commenced overseas, it is shocking that there is no reliable audit of the numbers and costs involved. Or the deaths caused.

One leading Dublin hospital said that it was dealing with a threefold increase in the number of patients presenting for treatment having undergone weight-loss surgeries abroad.

Another estimate is that major Irish acute hospitals are dealing with up to 40 patients each week with critical complications arising from botched gastric-sleeve procedures or bypasses.

Colm O’Boyle, a leading laparoscopic and bariatric surgeon at Cork’s Bon Secours Hospital, said it was vital that studies be conducted on the mortality rates associated with some overseas clinics.

He said Irish surgeons are worried that these are far higher than in Ireland or other EU countries.

Among the key drivers for people seeking solutions in other countries are cost and shorter waiting times.

However, this often comes with penalties. The vital pre-operative assessment as to whether surgery is an appropriate treatment may not take place. Responsibility for follow-up actions usually falls back on the home country.

Of course, medical tourism is a two-way street. While our own citizens may seek help elsewhere because they can’t afford it here, there is no shortage of visitors who have both the resources and the inclination to come to Ireland for their treatment. Indeed, this is facilitated by the Treatment Abroad Scheme, which operates under the EU Cross-Border Directive.

Patients must be referred for surgery by a public hospital consultant. It does not cover a patient to have surgical or dental procedures carried out in Turkey.

For people with money to spend, Ireland is proclaimed for its expertise in orthopaedic surgeries, cardiology treatments, and cancer therapies. It is also said to be increasingly popular for fertility treatments and cosmetic surgery.

Global mobility has enabled businesses to match supply with demand in a way envisaged by Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations. But as we have heard again this week, sometimes with unforseen, unmeasured, and tragic consequences.