A grand jury upholds the rule of law

There is a long history in this country of folks saying one thing and doing another. From the man who wrote “All men are created equal” owning 600 people to professed Christians seething with intolerance, betrayal of humanity has been the id battling America’s superego for 247 years.

The latest example is Donald Trump. Using what conservative columnist George Will once called feral cunning, Trump has played our lowest impulses like a virtuoso.

Fortunately, American history also includes freedom struggles and course corrections. On March 30, Trump, whose privilege and brazenness long permitted him to flout the law without consequence, finally experienced what many people feared would never happen: a criminal indictment.

It surprised no one when the GOP, which has long portrayed itself as the law and order party, circled the wagons around the former president. Determined to hold onto power, regardless of election results, they have embraced Richard Nixon’s statement to David Frost: “When the president does it, that means it is not illegal.”

Republicans think their contradictions don’t matter. They invoke freedom in opposing an assault weapons ban even as they push bans on abortion, vaccines, literature, history and drag queen reading time. Thus they ignore real threats in favor of culture war incitements.

Another ploy is the quaint assertion that it is unseemly to bring a former president to justice. Any concern about unseemliness should also extend to Trump’s unseemly behavior as president.

Respect is a two-way street, and he did much to disrespect the office of president. We do not have kings; the president is a public servant, and when he so egregiously serves himself instead, failing to hold him accountable sets a dangerous precedent.

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg persuaded a grand jury to indict Trump on 34 felony counts, demonstrating what most Americans believe: that presidents and former presidents are not above the law. Trump pleaded not guilty and will have an opportunity to defend himself in court.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr said it would be a bad idea for Trump to testify at his own trial. As journalist Brian Krassenstein wrote, “Trump’s own attorney general thinks he ‘lacks all self control,’ yet Republicans want him to control the nuclear codes.”

MAGA minions are forever trying to impose their alternate reality. For example, those exploiting the Nashville school shooter’s reported gender identity to engage in group blame ignore what the Human Rights Campaign noted: “that transgender and non-binary people are much more likely to be victims of violence, rather than the perpetrator of it.”

Republicans, intent on dividing the country to gain power, respond to tragedy by seeking scapegoats rather than solutions.

Trumpists are flooding the zone, especially on social media, with projecting and gaslighting. One tactic to “keep your head above Twitter” is frequent muting and blocking to reduce noise from right-wing trolls.

Prior to Trump’s April 4 arraignment, New York Mayor Eric Adams warned protesters, “Behave yourselves.” Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene appeared briefly outside the courthouse. Earlier she saw fit to compare Trump to such arrestees as Nelson Mandela and Jesus Christ.

There are signs that Trump’s hold on his supporters is weakening, despite his dramatics and the media circus of news helicopters following his motorcade, a scene that recalled O.J. Simpson’s car chase with police in 1994. But voter suppression and election denial remain in the Republican playbook.

One rather desperate tactic on Trump’s behalf is the claim that his indictment boosts his gangsta cred. Benny Johnson of Turning Point USA said after the indictment, “Democrats just turned Donald Trump into Tupac.”

Really? Not even a little!

The man who demanded the death penalty for the Central Park Five — and refused to apologize after their exoneration — deserves no glamour, only comeuppance.

Not that he will go quietly. His lawyer in the Stormy Daniels case, Joe Tacopina, tried to grab a document from Ari Melber during an interview on MSNBC. The consigliere in The Godfather had greater decorum. Tacopina and his client deserve each other.

But the rest of us do not deserve either of them. If the Republican Party wins the next election after doubling down in defense of a compulsive liar, grifter and wannabe dictator, the rule of law will be gone.

Let us rise to our best to defeat the fascists, for we may not get another chance.

Richard J. Rosendall is a writer and activist at rrosendall@me.com. Copyright © 2023 by Richard J. Rosendall. All rights reserved.