L&T Publisher Earl Watt
No matter the verdict in the New York vs. Trump case, we can never go back to the United States we had.
A republic like ours can only survive when we practice self discipline. This trial has shown that political restraint no longer exists.
It may have taken almost 250 years, but George Washington’s fears about partisanship are now coming true.
In some cases, we have seen restraint — like the FBI choosing not to charge Hillary Clinton despite the overwhelming evidence that she intentionally destroyed evidence and colluded with Russia to produce a fake dossier against her political rival Donald Trump. We have seen restraint when the recent special counsel investigation into Joe Biden’s handling of top secret documents determined that Biden violated the law but would not be prosecuted because jurors would be sympathetic to an old man losing his memory.
While restraint has been used in those cases, the opposite has occurred when it comes to Trump. Prosecutors ran for office with the promise to find some reason — any reason — to charge Trump with a crime.
That lack of political discipline will forever change America, and not for the better.
The lack of political discipline is why I have been saying for the past several years that we are on a collision course for civil war. Liberal stalwart Bill Maher has also come to that realization and wrote the final chapter of his new book about it.
When one side of the aisle has finally decided to prosecute the other side, and only in areas of the country where that one side has a decisive majority are political cases taking place, there is no way a free nation can survive in tact.
There are already plans to immediately charge Joe Biden in conservative pockets as soon as he is no longer president. This is again the flawed concept of condemning the man and seeking a crime to connect to him, just like what is currently happening to Trump.
And some may believe Trump to be guilty of something. But the FBI’s James Comer said Hillary Clinton’s actions were criminal, but no charges would be filed. Biden’s possession of classified documents was criminal, but no charges filed.
This infuriates the nation built on equal justice under the law. Either they all face prosecution or none, but when only one political party is facing jail time while the other is given a pass, we cannot coexist.
A mass migration will take place in the event of a national divorce simply because some people will become political targets. How many non Democrats will want to stay in New York City when they know they have been relegated to second class citizens by the justice system?
And because of retaliation that will surely occur after this verdict against Trump, which will most likely be guilty despite the overwhelming evidence presented during the case that no crime has been defined or committed, what liberal will want to remain in a conservative area knowing they will be under the judicial microscope?
There is no going back to the time when we all trusted the judiciary to properly ascertain facts by an impartial district attorney’s office and tried by an impartial judge in front of an impartial jury. What we’ve seen in New York has shown us that partisanship is reflected in our common courts.
And when we give up on the concept of blind justice, we cannot have a republic dedicated to the concepts of freedom and liberty.
Should Trump be convicted, many believe this will assure his presidential victory, because polls indicate that a majority of Americans believe the charges were politically motivated. While most Americans on both sides detest this abuse of the system, they are powerless to stop it because of the partisanship that has devoured the nation.
Fani Willis cruised to a primary victory in Atlanta and will easily be re-elected. Alvin Bragg is a folk hero in Manhattan despite relying on a convicted perjurer as his star witness in the first-ever case against a former president.
The glue that holds the states together relies on the concept of fairness and justice. Not since the Civil War has that glue been tested.
The difference this time is the lack of a desire to stay as one. It is highly likely the division may occur without a shot being fired. Just like college conferences realigning, America will realign along political value lines, with those in the northeast and West Coast seeking a nation far different and socialistic compared to the middle of America and the South who are still dedicated to the concepts outlined in the Declaration and Constitution.
I always believe this could be headed off with better leadership in Washington, D.C., but the trial in New York has shown that this problem cannot be solved at the federal level. States are flexing their muscles to advance political convictions. That leaves only retaliation in the form of boycotts, which will grow.
California is already limiting trade with other states that won’t comply with their energy policies. When we no longer recognize interstate agreements, we start down an irreversible course to separation.
This lack of political discipline is now accompanying poor leadership incapable of compromise, and without leadership restraining its own members, the vastness and diversity of a nation cannot survive. Units will become smaller, less diverse and demand political conformity. The question is no longer if but when, and then when will conflict trying to compel these differing neighbors to comply begin? What is forced back together will in no way resemble what we once had.
