Lock Him Up Already

I don’t know about you, but I stand in awe of the wheels of justice. When it comes to rich White guys, it seems they fell off of the cart about a hundred miles back and nobody’s in a rush to put them back on. Don’t you wish they’d get a move on? There’s a fresh shipment of democracy on that wagon that’s starting to stink and draw flies.

A year and a half and how many zillions of tax payer dollars later, the January 6 Committee is still gathering evidence that “might” be adequate to permit the Justice Department to “consider” an indictment of Donald J Trump, maybe, by the end of the year. Factor in the long dragged out process of actually getting the guy to appear, getting to trial, appeals, and if Donald is still alive by the time they are done, he will be working on his third term. It seems unfair sometimes that we are supposed to have a fair system.

There’s overwhelming evidence that Trump is guilty ten times over, yet, those who know it are afraid to act because half the country will never believe it no matter how much evidence there is. They’re worried that if they don’t cross every T and dot every I, the naysayers will claim Trump was railroaded for political reasons.

No matter how much evidence is piled on, though, the MAGAs will cry “witch hunt.” There’s no point trying to get them to even consider the facts. If Trump is convicted they will be very, very angry. They are the ones with all the guns, but kowtowing to Trump nation now could deal a fatal blow to the same democratic system that is protecting Trump.

At Passover, when listing the many things God did to help free the slaves from Egypt, the Jews list each one and say “dyenu“–any ONE of those things would have been enough. If you take any single crime Trump committed, dyenu to convict him for life.

When he outright asked Russia on national TV to put out more dirt on Hillary, dyenu.

When he kept his business under his control with his family as proxies, dyenu.

When he paid off Stormy Daniels with illegal funds and had his stooges threaten her if she went public, dyenu.

When he raked in the dough from foreign and US government entities at his little corner hotel, dyenu.

When he didn’t pay any taxes for years and somehow the IRS just couldn’t figure his returns out, dyenu.

When he met with Putin and kept their discussion secret (do you think Ukraine came up?) dyenu.

When he strong-armed Zelensky to go after Biden’s son, dyenu.

When he tried to replace acting Attorney General Rosen with Jeffrey Clark, dyenu.

When he told Georgia to “find” just enough votes to turn around the election results incriminating himself multiple times in a recorded phone call to Raffensperger. Dyenu

When he summoned the mob to DC and, knowing they were armed, told them to attack the Capital, dyenu.

When he didn’t do a freaking thing to call them off or call in peacekeeping forces, dyenu.

When he told the mob hours later that he loved them, they were “special,” and thanked them for their service, dyenu.

Personal use of campaign funds, dyenu.

Every one of his 30,000-plus blatant and absurd lies while pretending to be president? Dyenu.

But there are rules. High profile criminals are not the same as pregnant women. They get protection under the law. I can see it now. If he ever gets on the stand, here’s how the questioning will go:

Prosector: “Mr. President, isn’t it true that while the armed mob you assembled and sent down to the Capitol were breaking in and threatening to murder your Vice President and Congressional members, you sat in the dining room cheering them on, scarfing down scoop after scoop of chocolate ice cream and refusing to call in any law enforcement entities?”

Trump: “That is the worst lie in history. It was vanilla.”

Prosecutor: “Vanilla? In that case, Your Honor, the prosecution withdraws all charges.”

I hope I’m wrong but I fear we’ll see the equivalent of his famous murder on 5th Avenue scenario. Don’t be surprised if he gets off scot free and maybe even is elected in 2024 while the Justice department is still gathering evidence, the IRS continues flummoxed by his tax returns and the Supreme Court reverses any guilty verdicts lower courts in places like New York and Georgia may arrive at. Liz Cheney said “the damn is breaking.” I hope so, but so far our feet ain’t wet.

Due process and all that stuff has its merits, but give us a break. This guy is so damn guilty a trial should be a mere formality. An added bonus is that it would be a lot more entertaining than “The Apprentice.” One of my wife’s ancestors faced summary execution for allegedly helping the British. The order, interestingly enough, was issued by Benedict Arnold. Maybe Merrick Garland should take a page out of our family tree book.

As Trump said to Zelensky, “do us a favor.” Just lock him up already. Please.