THOMPSON: The wait to see if Donald Trump will be prosecuted | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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THOMPSON: The wait to see if Donald Trump will be prosecuted

 


OPINION


Most of us are familiar with the statue of Lady Justice…blindfolded, with a sword in one hand and the Scales of Justice held for all to see in the other. Of course, the symbolism is unmistakable: justice is blind except to the facts presented by both sides…which are weighed carefully by a jury of one’s peers…who then deliver a just verdict.

These are long-standing legal principles…and sometimes they actually result in fair and equitable decisions. Far too often, however, they do not. Those who are poor and powerless…who are people of colour or women…are less likely to be judged fairly. Those who are rich and powerful…and are white males…are most likely to be judged not guilty, even when they are.

The world will soon witness whether American justice is for all, or just some. Former President Donald J. Trump - an old, rich white guy - will be yet another litmus test of American justice. Millions of Americans are anxiously awaiting a decision by Attorney General Merrick Garland on whether the former president will even be prosecuted.

The evidence presented during the investigation by the U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack is overwhelming. It is clear that then-president Donald Trump led a conspiracy among high-level White House officials, Republican advisors and Republican members of Congress to illegally overthrow a valid, fairly elected government.

If anyone stood in any courtroom in America…accused of any crime…and the prosecution presented similar weight of evidence…the defendant would be found guilty. Any other decision would be a travesty.

But a huge majority of Republican voters and virtually all those they elected - bless their hearts - are so unhinged from truth and facts and Democracy…well, they want America to simply move on…pretending nothing untoward much less illegal…ever happened.

Jack Goldsmith, a Harvard law professor and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, typifies Republican thinking on whether Trump should be prosecuted, writing in a recent Opinion piece for The New York Times, saying it would “be seen by many as politicized retribution.”

He summed up by writing, “Along the way, the prosecution would further inflame our already blazing partisan acrimony, consume the rest of Mr. Biden’s term, embolden and possibly politically enhance Mr. Trump and threaten to set off tit-for-tat recriminations across presidential administrations.”

Really? Think about that logic. He’s saying Republican partisanship would worsen…worse than trying to overturn ObamaCare some 70 times? Perhaps an 11th hearing on Benghazi? More gerrymandering and voter suppression to sway elections?

All the Republican bullshit…and that is exactly what it is…might make you think they care about Democracy. If they did…in light of the overwhelming evidence…they would not refer to the attempted coup on Jan. 6 as Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde (R) did:

"You know, if you didn't know the TV footage was a video from January the 6th, you would actually think it was a normal tourist visit…just another day of visitors at the Capitol.” Hmmmm…just another day…when five people died and scores were injured.

Republicans who don’t stand up to the absurdity of their own party’s obvious lies…simply don’t meet the decency test for human beings.

We should keep in mind that almost every witness before the House Committee was a Republican. Most Republicans in The White House didn’t stand up for Democracy…fearful of prosecution after the fact…they deferred action and simply left the decision to other Republicans.

Lawyers advising Trump, like John Eastman, Jenna Ellis and Rudy Giuliani browbeat Republican officials in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Arizona for two months…trying to get them to take patently illegal actions to fraudulently keep Trump in the White House.

Rusty Bowers, a life-long Conservative Republican and Arizona Speaker of the House, unlike most Republicans…stood up to the lies and coercion of Eastman, Ellis, Giuliani and Trump.

Bowers spoke about the U.S. Constitution in reverential and spiritual terms…tears welling in his eyes…suffering the harassment of Trump crowds outside his house as his terminally-ill daughter lay dying. Bowers said Trump and his minions lied.

Trump attacked Bowers’ character before Bowers testified, saying Bowers told him the Election in Arizona was “rigged.” Bowers testified that, “Anywhere, anyone, any time has said that I said the election was rigged - that would not be true.”

Bowers said what almost no other Republican said or likely thought: “I do not want to be a winner by cheating. I will not play with laws I swore allegiance to.”

Trump lied publicly more than 20,000 times as president…thank you, but I’ll take the word of Rusty Bowers.

There’s another important reason to prosecute Trump and those who tried to overthrow the government…and it’s their effect on tens of thousands of poll workers - Democrats and Republicans and Independents - who are true patriots. Many have been harassed by Trump Republicans so much that thousands have resigned or said they won’t volunteer to help in future elections.

Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman - poll workers in Fulton County, GA - were among those persecuted and threatened. Donald Trump slandered the mother 18 times in one hour-long phone call he made to coerce officials in Atlanta to cheat for him.

“Do you know how it feels to have the president of the United States target you?” asked Ruby Freeman, her voice cracking as she testified.

These women - along with millions of other true Americans - surely scoff at the hand-wringing of Republicans over whether Trump and the rest of The Gang that Couldn’t Shoot Straight should be prosecuted.

Of course, there’s another reason to prosecute Donald Trump and his minions…the best reason: it’s the right thing to do. It’s called justice.

— Don Thompson, an American awaiting Canadian citizenship, lives in Vernon and in Florida. In a career that spans more than 40 years, Don has been a working journalist, a speechwriter and the CEO of an advertising and public relations firm. A passionate and compassionate man, he loves the written word as much as fine dinners with great wines.


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