Twitter is overrun by right-wing trolls bemoaning the fact that Paul Manafort is in lockdown twenty-three hours a day in a VIP section of his prison. They characterize this as solitary confinement but it’s actually for his own protection. This is a topic of conversation because Manafort’s lawyers complained about it but the judge could issue a test by asking Manafort if he’d prefer to mingle with the other inmates. If he’s in his right mind, the answer would be “no, thanks, your honor, I like my VIP digs just fine.”

It’s a bit dangerous to be a famous person in prison and I remember when Mike Tyson was terrified that he be beaten up just so someone could have a notch on their belt. Add to that the fact that Manafort is suspected of treasonous behavior and that he worked for Donald Trump who never stops insulting racial minorities. Then there’s the problem that Manafort owes a mobbed up Russian oligarch approximately twenty million dollars, that the Russians don’t want him talking, and that he could bring down a presidency, and there’s a lot of risk that a contract could be put out on him. It would not be prudent to assume he’d be safe in the general population of any prison.

No one wants to be responsible for Manafort being assaulted or killed while he awaits trial and I strongly suspect that he is quite happy to be segregated.

But, the right has their talking point and now they’re using the qualms people have about the overuse of solitary confinement as punishment as a way to argue that Manafort’s human rights are being violated.

They’re shameless.