“Unprecedented” and “surreal.” These are just two adjectives we’ve heard a lot lately from the chattering class about former President Trump’s indictment on four criminal charges over the January 6 riot. Yet no one should be surprised at the turn of events Trump brought by what we now know is a completely politicized federal law enforcement bureaucracy. None of us should consider this unprecedented or surreal at all– this is the same federal government that paid for, in part (via the FBI), promoted, and used the Russia dossier hoax against Trump—even though the FBI knew it was false – at the beginning of his 2015 campaign for the presidency.
That charade can only be described as a whole of government effort to derail Trump’s campaign and then to undermine and derail his presidency. As the details dripped out in the ensuing years, the astounding politicizing and corruption of our law enforcement agencies was shocking to the conscience. So it is not surprising or surreal that the same system would engage in multiple efforts to criminalize Trump’s comments, statements, and belief that the 2020 election was an unfair process. Instead, it is par for the course.
As this is being written, Trump is in a federal courthouse in Washington DC pleading not guilty to all four federal charges brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation of the January 6, 2021, capitol riot. He’s pleading not guilty because he’s not guilty. There have been innumerable excellent criticisms and analyses of what can only be fairly described as another star chamber focused on Trump and those who support him.
Jack Smith, it should be noted, has a somewhat less than illustrious history of getting things right. Smith’s conviction of former Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell on a federal bribery law was unanimously vacated in 2016 by the Supreme Court of the United States, ruling Smith stretched the law to get his way. CBS News reported at the time: “Justices on both sides of the ideological spectrum had expressed skepticism about the rationale behind the conviction, cautioning that the case presented a potentially slippery slope for criminalizing politicians’ behavior when it comes to exerting political influence for supporters.”
Ultimately, it took 3 years and $29 million dollars for McDonnell to find justice, but it ended a political career during which he was considered possible GOP presidential material. It’s likely the Democrats consider that mission accomplished.
Immediately after the arraignment, Trump made a few remarks on the tarmac as he headed for his flight back to New Jersey. He noted this was the “persecution of a political opponent. This was never supposed to happen in the United States,” he said. He then noted he is the leading candidate for the GOP nomination for the presidency and that he is leading Biden as well, then concluded: “If you can’t beat him, you persecute him or you prosecute him. We can’t let this happen in America.”
The details of what Trump is facing will be discussed ad infinitum by analysts and at our dinner tables. But the real question is whether or not we want politicians using the behemoth of government to kneecap their main political opponent to be established as normal in our country.
Consider the remarkable statement from Joe Biden in the aftermath of the 2022 midterm elections. Trump was widely expected to announce another run for the presidency which compelled a reporter to ask Biden at a November 9, 2022, White House press conference what he would do to “reassure” world leaders that Trump “will not once again take power in the United States.” Biden answered, “We just have to demonstrate that he will not take power by…uh… if he does run, making sure he — under legitimate efforts of our Constitution — does not become the next president again.”
This clearly had been a decision that Biden felt comfortable stating in public, at the White House, in his capacity as president, standing behind the presidential podium. The Biden administration, ergo the Democrat Party, and by all intents and purposes, the federal government, had decided they would do whatever they had to stop him from running. The significant importance is worth noting that Trump remains the only Republican of whom the bureaucratic and totalitarian state are terrified.
None of what is happening was supposed to happen in the United States. And yet political commentators across the spectrum continue to marvel at how Trump’s popularity remains high “despite” multiple indictments (and likely more to come). They’re gobsmacked that Trump is like Teflon, and his popularity continues to rise. What could it be? How is this happening? They wonder and whine.
But it’s not that Trump is so popular or the new Man of Steel – it’s that we saw what the government was doing to us even before Trump, and we were appalled and disgusted. We saw the two-tiered system of justice; we saw them weaponize the government against the average person; we saw them grow rich and powerful on never-ending wars; we saw the IRS blatantly target conservatives; we saw our bank accounts dwindle; our police forces destroyed; our southern border erased; our faith maligned; our children targeted; our sovereignty and citizenship thrown in a dumpster. We saw the quality of our lives get pushed off a cliff as the political class grew fat and happy.
Then, and only then, did we elect Donald Trump. It’s never actually been about him, per se. It’s been about us, our loved ones, our families, and our futures. And it still is.