Is Silence Golden?

He who shall not be named was miffed at me because I didn't mention Trump's indictment in my News Weakly last weekend. I'm not sure why. Even a casual reader of my blog will know that I'm no Trump fan. Nor am I a Trump hater. But I do have thoughts on the matter. On the surface, there is the concern about "executive privilege." Now, on one hand I would not want actual crimes committed by a president to go unpunished because he committed them in office. On the other hand, there is a serious concern that political opponents might turn the judicial system into a political weapon, and that is a concern. But ... this indictment has nothing to do with that.

So, what about Trump? And why didn't I include him in my News Weakly? Well, let's look. For what has the ex-president been indicted? It's tough to be certain because the indictment is sealed. First, he is not being indicted for something he did as president. He's being indicted by a Manhattan grand jury. So what is it? It appears to be about "hush money" paid to a woman who made it her life's aim to besmirch his reputation, but that seems odd since "hush money" isn't criminal. So it seems to be about how the payment was recorded -- as payment for legal fees. What is the evidence? We can't know; the indictment is sealed. If convicted, will this prevent him from running for president? No. Will he go to prison? Not likely. So this appears to be what the military would call a harassment operation. You send small squads out to nip at the heels of an enemy to distract or hinder them. And that sounds a lot like weaponizing the judicial system for political gain.

So this is big news. "The guy we love to hate is in trouble with the law!!" They, oddly enough, are not equally concerned, say, about Hillary's flouting of the law with her emails or Biden and son with their financial shenanigans, for instance. No, it's "the guy we love to hate," so even if this means very little and proves nothing regarding his presidency, past or future, it's a good thing. I, on the other hand, prefer not to pass judgment on charges without having the information, the evidence, the full story. You know ... innocent until proven guilty. That, unfortunately, is a long-lost concept in America today. Now it's "innocent as long as you're on our side; otherwise, guilty." So while we try to sound patriotic and all (from both sides), we proudly and loudly undercut our national virtues. It's not a good thing.