Like the old Johnny Carson skit, Carnac the Magnificent, Donald Trump apparently held classified documents to the side of his forehead and made magic. Let us take a trip down memory lane and recall the excuses as to why an ex-government employee stole documents that belong to the American people. At first, he claimed they were his property like a bank robber counting his loot. Then he said he did not have them. Once the FBI executed a search warrant, he said the FBI planted the documents. When that ruse failed, in a feat of prestidigitation worthy of David Blaine, he magically declassified them retroactively. Of course, all of these excuses are ridiculous, and in the words of ex-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, something a “child” would say.
Having been born and raised in Washington, DC, a fleet of shiny limos zooming by on closed streets holds little excitement for me. Thankfully that spared me from the exhausted voices of tv talking heads describing how many motorcycles were in the motorcade as they escorted Donald Trump to a Miami courthouse. The one encouraging thing was that violent Trump supporters learned a bit of a lesson, and ironically that is precisely why the former President should be and needs to be prosecuted. During his CNN Town Hall moment, Mike Pence reiterated the need for the law to be a deterrent. Maybe the site of Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and Oath Keepers grand puba Stewart Rhodes hauled off to jail due to their participation in the insurrection, and rioting cooled the ardor of future protesters, possibly deterring them to the point of not wanting to be seen in the view of cameras.
A lot has been said about the unprecedented nature of Trump’s indictment, but had Gerald Ford not pardoned Richard Nixon, we would be closer to the credo that no man is above the law. Every crime at some point in time was unprecedented. The first man to steal a caveman’s wheel was unprecedented until it happened. When said caveman caught and bashed in the head of the thief, someone grunted murder. Either we are a country of laws, or we are not. We have adopted a posture in America that if you are powerful enough, jail is only suitable for their underlings. Yesterday two “fake electors” were seen scurrying out of court in Washington, DC, speculatively after testifying about Trump’s attempt at election fraud.
The pardons, jail time, and loss of careers suffered by people connected to Donald Trump are legion: Michael Cohen, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Alan Weisselberg, Steve Bannon, George Papadopoulos (the coffee boy), and now Waltine Nauta’ s head is on the chopping block. Historically in America, prosecutors always wanted the big fish; although they got Nitti, they wanted Capone. Sammy the Bull was collateral damage on the way to John Gotti. Trump’s lieutenants are replaced by more lieutenants willing to bite and take the bullet. Carnac was funny; Trump is dangerous. If the country allows him to become a punchline and not a precedent, a more intelligent, more shrewd Trump will destroy America.
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