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Donald Trump campaigning
First, forget all that phony moaning in the media about what a tragic day it is for a democracy when a former U.S. president is criminally indicted charged with stealing hundreds of secret government documents and lying and scheming to keep them.
That’s a great day for American democracy. The tragic day was Nov. 8, 2016, when Donald Trump, a corrupt, hateful, pathological liar totally unfit for any public office, was elected president of the United States.
Trump hasn’t even been indicted yet for his worst crimes, but he will be. Jack Smith, the independent special counsel who charged Trump with violating the Espionage Act to hide all those top secret documents, continues to present evidence to a grand jury about Trump inciting the violent mob that attacked the Congress of the United States to overthrow President Biden’s election.
Smith calls it imperative to hold the former president accountable for his crimes saying: “We have one set of laws in this country and they apply to everyone.” Most Americans agree.
White House Felon
The failure of the federal government to do that the last time a Republican president committed felonies in the Oval Office was what led Trump to believe he could do anything he wanted as president because he was above the law.
After President Nixon resigned in the Watergate scandal to avoid impeachment for conducting burglaries and illegal wire taps to sabotage his Democratic opponent George McGovern in the 1972 election, his vice president, Gerald Ford, who replaced him as president, pardoned Nixon for his crimes.
Pardoning Republican presidents for committing crimes is becoming a tradition for the Republican party. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is eagerly doing his part. “Today is indeed a dark day for the United States of America,” McCarthy said, politically grief-stricken over the indictment. “It’s unconscionable for a president to indict the leading candidate opposing him.”
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Pathetic Response
But the most pathetic party response came from Mike Pence, Trump’s loyal vice president for four years until the very end when he refused to join Trump’s plot to overthrow democracy.
Pence appeared at a CNN town hall with Dana Bash on the eve of the indictment struggling to reconcile standing up for the Constitution while also arguing Trump shouldn’t be prosecuted for his crimes. “I hope the DOJ thinks better of it and resolves these issues without an indictment,” Pence began. “It would also send a terrible message to the wider world. I mean, we’re the emblem of democracy. We’re the symbol of justice in the world.”
The statement is nonsensical. Just the opposite, it would send a terrible message if the symbol of world justice failed to hold Trump accountable for breaking the law.
It got even worse when Bash pressed Pence. “Sir, I just want to clarify what you’re saying is if they (federal prosecutors) believe he committed a crime, they should not go forward with an indictment?”
Here is Pence’s actual response: “No, look, let me be clear that no one’s above the law. (Long pause) But with regard to the unique circumstances here, it – look – I – I – ”
After stumbling around some more, Pence conceded Trump “had no business” possessing classified documents after leaving office, but he never explained “the unique circumstances” that might justify treating Trump differently from other criminals.
Believe it or not, Pence thinks there’s a chance the Republicans who chased him and his family through the U.S. Capitol threatening to murder them will consider nominating him for president.
Equally Incoherent
Most of the other aspiring candidates for the Republican presidential nomination are equally incoherent trying to explain why Trump shouldn’t be prosecuted for refusing to return some of our nation’s most highly protected secrets.
There’s a reason why Republican cries against prosecuting Trump are primarily from presidential candidates desperate to win over mindless Trump supporters and McCarthy and his House crazies. The silence from Senate leader Mitch McConnell and U.S. Senators (except for Ted Cruz) elected by voters statewide instead of in small, gerrymandered districts is getting louder all the time.
That’s what a political party gets when it sells its soul to a constantly lying, totally corrupt conman. They thought they could control him by feeding his massive ego to get exactly what they wanted out of him.
That was the only major legislation passed in four years – a trillion-dollar tax cut over 10 years with 80% of the benefits going to the wealthiest Americans. Trump happily stuffed his own pockets.
But now Republicans are stuck with all Trump’s crimes. Trump toadies are no longer controlling the Justice Department to cover up for Trump and his friends. Federal prosecutors are doing what they’re supposed to when federal crimes are committed.
More indictments are coming for increasingly serious crimes. Going into an election year is a bad time for Republican politicians to be tying themselves into rhetorical knots over law and order.
