Ask about an assumption that everyone has a right to equal justice under the law, and most of us would answer, “Yes, of course!”  But the reality is that many of us, particularly partisans from the other side, won’t suspend their hatred for all things Trump.  For these individuals, a two-tier system is just fine.  

Former President Trump has little chance of getting a fair shake by our judicial system.  Between venue shopping, judge shopping, and DA shopping, a corrupt judicial system is perfectly okay, letting people off the hook for murder in some blue states.  Still, they are more than willing to stop Trump from running or, at a minimum, hamstringing him should he move forward in the nomination process and beyond.  

This conflict can be compared to feelings concerning the abortion issue.  You either have a visceral distaste for killing babies or don’t see a fetus as a living being until that baby draws its first breath.  Abortion and Trump highlight our ability to support emotional judgments over logic and the law, which is on full display as we are culturally and socially divided.

A women’s right to choose is inviolate, according to some misguided individuals.  I say misguided on purpose because I don’t fully trust someone with such a different idea on a subject as consequential and final as whether to kill a fetus/baby in the womb for personal convenience or when the likelihood of pain to the baby can reasonably be foreseen.  What else might they believe could be dangerous or untenable to my way of thinking?  Maybe these same people think it is fair to redistribute wealth because they have a profound belief in ‘fairness.’ What limits exist for someone who does not think logically and relies on their heart to tell them what is true and fair?  

Why do I compare Trump and Abortion?  For people who hate Trump and are okay with abortion, there’s a common disconnect.  Their inability to put aside logical arguments in favor of irrational thought.  Many people who hate Trump because he’s a loudmouth and lacks subtlety find it impossible to argue their position on the merits.  They are the same as people who shout slogans when interacting with those who profoundly disagree with them.  They spout cliches, poorly formed arguments, and high emotion, trying to make those actions substitute for logic.  For them, that’s all that’s required.

Trump has faced hundreds of lawsuits before, during, and after his Presidency.  Lawsuits, too often without merit, are engaged in by some to counter their losses at the ballot box.  Tragically, Donald Trump was never allowed to govern.  During his second try, the Destroyers ensured that what was heard was negatively edited to fan the flames of hate for those predisposed to listen to the worst.  

Today, an outlier, i.e., New York’s legal system, is leading a vendetta against Trump on various legal fronts.  Unsurprisingly, they win in a city with New York’s liberal reputation and deep pool of tainted jurours.  Dredging up 35-year-old claims without actual physical evidence, running an old TV clip, and having a couple of camp followers say he did seems enough to convict in a Trump-hating city. 

Am I crazy?

I’ve been listening to CNN daily for two solid weeks.  I have yet to hear anyone mention anything about corruption within Biden’s family.  But CNN frequently alleges that Jared Kushner’s deal with the Saudis is somehow illegal.  Not at all the same or even similar!  Thousands of words and messages, even by Biden acolytes, would lead any thinking person to believe that Biden should at least be suspected of influence peddling.  I found that CNN isn’t interested in that consequential possibility.  Listen to the many shocking excerpts from Hunter Biden’s laptop or Bobulinsky’s testimony.  There are significant differences between the situations of Hunter Biden and Jared Kushner. 

 For example, what has Hunter accomplished in life compared with Jared? 

• Hunter Biden: Hunter was discharged from the U.S. Navy Reserve shortly after his commissioning due to a failed drug test.  Since late 2018, Hunter Biden’s tax affairs have been under federal criminal investigation.  Hunter Biden’s life is graded an F by the 1 Plus 1 Foundation.
• When I read the summary about Jared Kushner in the mostly woke Wikipedia, there was no real dirt to uncover.  Jared Kushner gets a solid –A. 

Who would you want watching your back in a pinch between these two? 

Building a foundation for my following takeaway is essential.  I talk to people regularly and know no practical way to test their true beliefs.  How to tell if they believe what they espouse?  How much of what they so easily say is just populist rhetoric?  

I remember that what we said used to say mattered.  In too many examples today,  the equivocation and sound bites frequently emanating from people’s mouths appear to be nothing more than Group Think.  It’s far too easy to speak without thinking, for spouting off has few consequences today, and it’s part of the genre today to appear hip. 

Is that another way of saying, “I’m Woke?” It seems evident that a proper degree of thought and contemplation is essential.  But don’t tell that to the millions who can’t complete a simple sentence.  What comes out of our mouths today is either a passport to riches in certain circles or the doorway to some cancellation waiting room for you and me.  

Consider our educational problems, the social restraints that most acknowledge, and those who don’t want to know the truth is, because if they did, they would, in good conscience, be forced to act to change things.  Our homeland and her citizenry are in deep trouble. 

We have passed the point of our system being simply corrupt.  We have moved beyond partisanship; we now have leaders who concocted a Russian Narrative, among many falsehoods still believed by some to this day.  No longer strictly politics, we are at war with ourselves and have become as thoroughly divided as we were at the commencement of the Civil War.  And that is the way our enemies want it to be. 

In 1946, Martin Niemöller wrote this often-quoted meme:

“First, they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out–
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out–
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out–
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me–and there was no one left to speak for me.”

As I reread these familiar words, I think of my friends who see Trump as unworthy of traditional American due process.  I see hatred, dismissal, and more.  I see an American President elected once who lost his re-election bid under unusual and unique circumstances.  Were those not in play,  he would have been elected again with more than the 76 million votes he received, millions more than his first time. 

Yes, Trump is very much a bully, a braggart, full of himself, and an individual who many can’t stand.  But, we must not lose sight that he was the duly elected President brought low by his detractors and enemies in the court of public opinion.  He was never judged for the many exemplary accomplishments of his Presidency.  Are we forever doomed to mediocrity in the highest office in our land, or even worse as we are with Biden?  

What exactly is it that we do want of our leaders?  We all need to decide before we dismissively reject the Donald Trump portrayed to us by his enemies.  It is true that, even with a Grand Jury, if no one goes to bat for the defendant, a ham sandwich might be indicted if the intent is dishonest enough.  We must decide what we expect from our highest leaders, seek out the best of us, and support and defend them at all costs.

God Bless America!

Allan J. Feifer

Patriot