Donald Trump is a buffoon.
He never understood the ways in which Washington DC worked: he didn’t fully staff his administration with cabinet officers and advisors who would genuinely support his goals and help him succeed in the DC swamp; he never understood the role of the permanent bureaucracy (the military/intelligence Deep State) and its willingness to destroy anyone not supporting what it considers the accepted consensus; and he was openly motivated by personal gain and his own narcissism.
He is a small-time grifter who tried playing in the take-no-prisoners environment of the nation’s capital. And he’s going to pay a price for it.
There is little doubt that his 37-count indictment will lead to his conviction on at least some of the charges. Some of his actions and decisions were very troubling.
There is also no doubt this indictment is the capstone of a seven-year campaign to destroy his Presidency and stop any effort at him seeking re-election in 2024.
I suppose I could better believe the claim that equal justice under the law applies to everyone – even former Presidents – if the judicial system was as obsessive in its pursuit of other politicians, specifically Democratic ones.
That Hilary Clinton was given a pass in 2016 for her personal unsecured email server, and didn’t even lose her security clearance, continues to infuriate me. If it had been me – given I had been read into several compartmentalized programs – I would have been sent to a federal prison.
The FBI’s corruption, incompetence or malfeasance (take your pick) in terms of the business dealings of the Biden family reek of political considerations.
Whether it’s the Hunter Biden laptop; the role of Joe Biden while he was Vice President in getting a Ukrainian prosecutor fired in 2016; or the recent allegations of outright bribery of Joe Biden – it all feels like a big cesspool of political corruption and selective law enforcement that needs to be fairly and fully investigated and reported.
Could all of it be dirty politics directed at Joe Biden? Absolutely.
But all this is all against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and the seemingly open-ended commitment of Joe Biden and his administration to support Ukraine – even crossing red lines he had previously set.
The final red line is open warfare between NATO and Russia – and the risk of nuclear war.
I want to know we are not risking nuclear winter because the permanent bureaucracy fears that admission of the corruption of the Biden family means Kamala Harris becomes President at least until the 2024 election with a possible return of Donald Trump to the White House after that.
Tom, you appear to be promoting the same what-aboutism favored by Trump’s supporters on the right. I’ll grant you that Hillary Clinton probably should have suffered some legal penalty for her emails, but where is the evidence to support the allegations against the Biden family? In contrast, the evidence supporting the charges against Trump of mishandling classified material is abundantly clear.
Hi Ned,
I admitted to a personal bias on the Clinton emails; that Comey dismissed the seriousness of her actions and negligence and overstepped his bounds is maddening – this level of clearance presents grave risks to the US. Other people have gone to jail for much less.
In terms of Biden. As I said, it could all be dirty politics – I guess we’ll all wait to see what comes of it. The FBI has again earned a large measure of skepticism about its role as an impartial investigative agency, raising the same questions about the integrity of its actions that have existed over many of the last 60 years.
The issue I see is that an impartial investigation of the Bidens and the FBI, or even a Trump trial etc. may not be possible in the hyper partisan environment that now exists. everything is filtered through a Team D or Team R perspective. I am a member of neither.