I normally avoid writing about national politics. There’s no shortage of such commentary, but the 34-felony-count conviction of former President Donald Trump is just too earthshaking to avoid.
Those on the right howl “selective prosecution.” Those on the left say “justice served.” What’s the truth?
Although I am a free market conservative, it’s hard for me to join the noisy right-wing chorus that shrieks “All those lefties are a bunch of idiots.” I have always found it easy to see the other point of view and that goes for both the right and the left.
The first question most people ask: Does that mean Trump can’t run for President? The answer is no. These felony convictions don’t prevent Trump from running and being President. This is a testament to the divinely-inspired wisdom of our founding fathers, whom I like to call the Beatles of constitution writing. They were that good.
In their amazing foresight, our founding fathers focused most on the balance of power. If the judiciary could eliminate candidates for President through selective prosecution, they could control the executive branch and upset the balance of power. For that reason, a criminal conviction is no bar to being President.
I was quite surprised there was not a hung jury. I figured at least one of the 12 jurors would refuse to convict.
Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker called the conviction a “perversion of justice.” Governor Reeves called the conviction “lawless.” Congressman Michael Guest was more circumspect and said the conviction was “politically motivated, and the evidence presented against him did not arise to the level of reasonable doubt.”
This reminds me a bit of the right wing’s denial of 60 court cases in the last Presidential election. Trump lost all 60. My conservative friends say, “That’s because the courts are corrupt.”
Let me ask you this: What is the alternative to not abiding by the rulings of the judicial system, as imperfect as it may be?
Let me tell you the answer: Chaos, mayhem, fighting in the streets, anarchy, death, destruction and the collapse of the United States. There is no alternative to the rule of law.
So when I see our top leaders undermining public confidence in our judicial system, I cringe. The proper thing to say is this: “The judicial system, though not perfect, is the law of the land and we must respect and abide by the will of the jury until the appeals process is exhausted.”
I have read accounts of the flaws in this legal action against Trump by veteran journalists whom I have read for years and respect. The main criticism involves selective prosecution and stretching legal theories to get Trump.
This is why we have appellate courts. If a judge gets out of line, more senior judges can overrule the conviction and reprimand the judge. This is a normal part of the judicial process. Trump is certainly entitled to using this appeals process to his full advantage.
I hope the conviction is overturned, because as an American citizen I am embarrassed that one of the two main party candidates, and a former President, is a convicted felon. How can this be? What a huge black eye on America.
As for selective prosecution, when has that not been the case? Every prosecution is selective. As a candidate for President of the United States, Trump has put himself in the spotlight, especially now that he has embarked on a never-ending campaign to embarrass and denigrate the judicial system. How could he expect to not be selectively prosecuted?
At every turn in the trial, he pushed the limits of decorum by calling the whole process a joke. He dared the system to convict him and convict him it did.
Twelve carefully selected jurors sat for 22 days listening and reviewing a mountain of evidence. Trump had excellent defense attorneys. He was well represented. These jurors know about a 100 times more than you or I about what went down. You have got to respect their decision.
An impartial, fair judicial system is one of the great foundations of this country, which is, by far, the greatest country in the history of the world. Is it perfect? No. Is it one of the best in the world? By far.
Do you know how many judicial decisions have been written just on the rules of evidence and civil procedure? Thousands. Each once carefully crafted with logic to create the fairest legal process possible. Our judicial system deserves respect, not derision.
And then there is the subject matter. Trump having casual sex with a porn star and then paying her hush money (and disguising it) so it wouldn’t hurt his election chances? That is disgusting. How could we allow a man of such low moral character to be the leader of our nation? We turned down Mike Pence for that? Really?
They say that in a true democracy the people get the leader that they deserve. If that’s Trump, Americans need to get back to their moral roots and start showing up in church each Sunday morning. Forgiveness requires repentance.
This has nothing to do with politics. I’ll put my true conservative values up against anybody’s. This has to do with what kind of moral leader we want running our country.
But Biden is corrupt too. But the Democratic Party has weaponized the FBI and the IRS. Those claims may be true. And the only way to prove them is in a court of law. And if Biden is convicted, so be it. But as of yet, it is Trump, not Biden, who is the felon.
So it’s yet another year of ribald American politics and deeply partisan debates. It’s been this way since the start of the country and will always be so. That’s the nature of the beast. Let’s thank our founding fathers for designing a government that could withstand the heat of the kitchen.
