Political Thoughts with Richard Bleil
Even as he faces the action of a grand jury in Georgia for allegedly attempting to illegally influence the outcome of the 2020 election, and continued investigation by the Justice Department for his apparent role in the insurrection, today, as this is posting, Trump is predicting his arrest in New York City for illegal use of election funds for hush money paid to Stormy Daniels and other women with whom he reportedly had had sex with.
Wow, so many allegations that it cannot be written except with a run-on sentence.
Since I’m writing this yesterday (assuming it posts as predicted), I honestly don’t know if it has happened or not. People have been predicting charges against Trump for years now, and so far to no avail. What makes this case different is that Trump himself made the prediction, and I would not be surprised if, as a courtesy, he or his attorneys were given some kind of advanced notice. I know that if he is arrested, it will make many people feel vindicated, but honestly, even being charged and arrested is a far cry from a conviction. I’m sure that he and his lawyers will assess the available evidence and, more than likely, if it’s sufficient to convict him, they’ll try to work out a settlement to help Trump to save face and keep charges off of his record. It’s just how he and his lawyers seem to operate.
But honestly, arrest or not, settlement or not, it’s not the point of this post. I’m rather disappointed and upset to report that, once again, Trump is calling for his followers to disrupt the lawful execution of the procedures should he be arrested.
The two-faced so-called “law and order” party is again backing Trump as he posted in his own and relatively lonely social media site “Truth Social” (which literally bans any of its users from speaking ill of Trump, the one truth that they cannot handle). His post read “the far & away leading Republican candidate and former president of the United States of America, will be arrested on Tuesday of next week, protest, take our nation back!”
The call to “take our nation back” is reminiscent of his remarks just before a violent mob of supporters stormed our nation’s Capitol in an attempted insurrection to over throw the US Constitution, and successfully interfered with Congress in its legal and constitutional duties to certify an election that Trump clearly lost if only temporarily. Now New York is preparing for riots in anticipation of supporters again heeding Trump’s call and interpreting it as a call for violence. As usual, Trump used phraseology where the meaning is clear and yet he cannot be held responsible for the results, but this time, his supporters seem cool to the idea of again putting themselves in legal peril after he failed to help them with legal actions against them from the last time.
But whatever happens tomorrow, his call is a spectacular example of supremely irresponsible political action in my humble opinion. And many Republicans are backing up the statement, although perhaps through hushed tones, calling the investigation and anticipated legal action a political action by liberals and Democrats as are many right-leaning and conservative news programs. This party of “law and order” is supporting calls for more violence against legal departments in the required execution of their duties just as they did during the insurrection that resulted in five deaths.
And it doesn’t surprise me. The Republican party, to which I once proudly belonged, has become the party of irresponsible and dangerous actions. Tucker Carlson, a conservative news host, has been showing videos from the insurrection with no violence, taking clips from parts of the building where there was no violence occurring or feces being smeared on the walls and using the highly selective and edited clips as “evidence” that there was no insurrection. Irresponsible journalism such as this is somehow legal in this nation and goes unchecked, as those following the calls of the Republicans face the legal consequences of believing every ridiculous thing they are told. In a nation fearful of revisionist history, these are the people falling for the worst public lies of all.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again because now, right now, we are seeing the difference between what people say and what they do. Actions should speak louder than words, and anybody who has voted Republican because they claim to be all about “law and order” should be taking note of their calls for violence. Those who watch Faux “News” because they believe they are the only truthful program out there should be noting their portrayal of an insurrection that cost the lives of law enforcement officers. And these lies and dangerous politics will continue until these people are voted out of office.
Bleil's Banter 