The rule of law, one of the key components of the oldest representative democracy in the world, has suffered a grievous (but hopefully temporary) wound in a New York City courtroom.
The rule of law was a legacy the United States inherited from its English origins, and it has been so powerful that it was the central vehicle enabling American society to repair itself and become over time the beacon to the world for freedom, justice, and liberty.
Elsewhere in the world, persistent injustice, prejudice, and corruption have often prevailed. In Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America, various forms of dictatorship and other totalitarian forms of government have appeared, and many of them exist today. A key component of these corrupt regimes and the perpetuation of national injustices has been the imprisonment of their political enemies.
In recent years, Americans have looked on with disdain at various “banana republics” and totalitarian regimes, and on occasion even opposed them with military and economic force.
But with the travesty of a trial in New York City, alas – the U.S. (at least temporarily) joins the ranks of those nations which use the pretense of law to suppress legitimate political opposition by criminalizing illegitimately the opposition leaders.
The administration of Democrat President Joe Biden, the president himself, and many figures at all levels of the Democrat Party have made no secret of their determination to prevent the re-election of former President Donald Trump by any means, excluding a fair election this November.
At first, there was an attempt to keep Mr. Trump from being on the ballot in states where Democrats controlled the government. This was eventually ended by a unanimous 9-0 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Next, Democrat prosecutors brought criminal charges against Mr. Trump in four jurisdictions. Three of those trials have been delayed by appeals and pre-trial motions, and likely will not occur before the election, if ever.
The New York City trial just concluded has been branded as illegitimate by legal scholars of both parties, and even by those in the Republican Party who strongly oppose Mr. Trump politically. Many have regarded the trial itself as a farce, and it is widely expected the “guilty” verdicts will be promptly reversed and dismissed on appeal. Whether the New York state appeals courts will be any fairer than the one in which Mr. Trump was just convicted remains to be seen.
There is also an expectation that the trial and its verdicts will backfire on those who promoted them, propelling Mr. Trump to a clear victory he might not have otherwise won because voters perceived his political and judicial persecution as not only wrong, but also a clear and present threat to the rule of law.
Those who thought criminal convictions, however contrived and fraudulent, would turn voters away from Mr. Trump have perhaps made one of recent history’s great miscalculations.
Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. made their unjust imprisonment a badge of honor, as have so many other leaders unfairly put in jail.
Donald Trump might be less eloquent and polished than a Mandela or a King, but his cause is no less important to the survival of a free and just nation.
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