POLI•RANT: RIP Rule of Law
Some post mortem thoughts on how Trump worked the system.
Well, there you have it. The walking crime wave known as Donald J. Trump gets a 32-count slap on the wrist before marching back into the Oval Office to enact his retribution.
When it comes to Trump and The Rule of Law, it’s amazing to look back and see how much damage one man has done to our legal system. In a lame attempt to make things look “normal” our Supreme Court allowed the non-sentencing sentencing go forward, but let’s not pretend any of this is normal.
And even doing that was a 5/4 decision.
Not only did Trump’s various trials blatantly expose the flaws in our legal system reserved for rich people who can game it, the Court’s decision giving Trump immunity for basically any crime might be the worst legal decision in American history.
In another fake nod to “justice” it looks like the high court will also allow for the release of Jack Smiths reports. Thanks for the crumbs, oh enlightened ones!
Think about it. A POTUS trying to overthrow and election — effectively ending our Democracy — and then stealing top secret classified material when leaving office and we end up with a glorified book report.
Volumes have (and will) be written about all this and how it might lead to the demise of our Democracy. Maybe it doesn’t really matter at this point, but one of the things that has stuck with me through this entire mess is just how bad the good guys were at doing their jobs.
Both Jack Smith’s team and (to a slightly lesser extent) the New York prosecutors decided to “take the high road” throughout. That ended up being a tragic mistake when it came to the court of public opinion, which was (in hindsight) the only thing that was going to save us.
Yes, Jack Smith released “speaking” indictments that laid out the basic case against Trump. But, after that it was pretty much radio silence. The DOJ would do its speaking in court, not in public. That was the dignified approach and the approach most politicians took as well. God forbid that anyone might be portrayed as political while Trump and his MAGA minions railed against every aspect of the cases.
It’s said that a lie can go around the world before the truth can get its pants on, and that is very, very true. The entire Trump machine spewed lie after lie, day after day, while prosecutors and politicians adhered to a stupid vow of silence.
Why didn’t Jack Smith have a spokesperson making daily, on camera statements disputing some of the most egregious lies? I’m not talking about “trying” the case in public, but simply giving the facts on how the law works, and how Trump lied about basic reality.
At least the truth would have had a fighting chance.
I mean, look what has happened since January 6th. Virtually everyone knew how historically terrible that was in the days after it happened. Even Trump’s most loyal political followers. Now, after four years of brainwashing? It’s considered somewhere between a day of love and a peaceful protest that just got a little out of hand.
It’s true. What’s done is done. But how our system and politicians failed us then is a template for the future as we will literally fight for our Democracy. There is no reward for going high or being the better people.
If we don’t learn to fight fire with fire, we’re doomed.