“You’re too honest” — Donald J. Trump
“I fought the law and the law won” — Sonny Curtis
This commentary is by Bob Stannard of Manchester, an author, musician and former state legislator and lobbyist.
As much as I would prefer to not write about the former, twice-impeached and now three-times-indicted president, regrettably I feel compelled to do so.
This past week, the disgraced former president was indicted on four counts of trying to steal the 2020 election. Ironically, the mantra that this man helped to create, “STOP THE STEAL,” was exactly what he was doing.
This should come as no surprise as, for as long as this man has been alive, he lies about everything and he constantly projects what he is and what he’s doing onto others. When he came out with the moniker “Crooked Hillary,” it was actually he who was crooked. His latest nickname for special prosecutor Jack Smith is “deranged thug.” The reality is that Trump is the real thug and it’s becoming clearer by the day that it is he who is deranged.
None of this is a surprise to the majority of Americans who thankfully voted this authoritarian wannabe out of office. We have known for years what a lying phony and a fraud the man is. In what could only be described as Opposite Day, his lawyer, Alina Habba, praised the former president for being “the most ethical American” she knows.
This would cause the average American to have to stop and think: Just how many Americans does this woman know? Does her circle of friends consist of Vladimir Putin, Kim Jung Un and the late Idi Amin?
Donald J. Trump is arguably the least ethical person in America. He had to pay out $25 million to settle the fraud cases for Trump University. He had to pay $130,000 to a porn star with whom he was having an affair while his current wife was nursing their newborn son. Prior to this, he had cheated on every wife he ever had. He’s a very far cry from “the most ethical American.”
It’s really not about him, though, is it? Isn’t it about the millions of Americans who blindly follow and support this corrupt man?
We should remember our past. On Nov. 18, 1978, one of the most atrocious acts of murder of the century took place in Jonestown, Guyana. Jim Jones, a charismatic, deranged thug of a leader convinced hundreds of people to follow him and his beliefs, which they gladly did. His followers consisted of some bright folks, but many, if not most, were wayward souls who were looking for something better than what they had.
They saw Jones as their ticket to a better life. Sadly, following this man led to their demise.
Would Trump’s supporters sacrifice their lives for him? They had no problem attacking our Capitol in hopes of thwarting one of the most free and fair elections in our history. They have no problem sending their hard-earned money to this self-proclaimed billionaire. They have no problem comparing him to the Messiah or some sort of superhero. If given the command, would they go the extra step, the most extreme step, and give up their life for him?
Stranger things have happened in this world. I’m not old enough to remember Hitler’s rise to power, but I’ve read a lot about it. Hitler, too, was a charismatic leader who reached out to the disenchanted and disenfranchised and convinced them to commit the most heinous crimes known to man. Through chaos and fear, Hitler was about to coerce his people into thinking one segment of society had to be completely eliminated. As insane an idea as this was, his people obliged.
The parlor game occurring in America today is: What might another Trump presidency look like? If he were to win, clearly his first order of business would be to halt any and all federal indictments (or convictions) against him. State convictions are another matter, but is it truly hard to imagine that he might well incite riots or violence against those who may have successfully prosecuted him and found him guilty? No, because he’s already setting that stage.
He’s attacking special prosecutor Jack Smith, and Smith’s wife, publicly. He’s attacked New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg for having the audacity to prosecute him. He’s attacked judges and virtually anyone who opposes him. saying, “You come after me, I’m going after you.” Would his cult-like supporters be willing to carry out his wishes? It’s hard to believe that they wouldn’t.
Every real American knows that what happened in Guyana on that fateful day was wrong. Every real American knows that what happened to our Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was frightening and based on lies — lies told by their (not so) fearless leader.
We’d like to think that these sort of horrible things cannot happen here, but folks, they sure can, and the only way to ensure that they don’t happen here is to vote like your life depends on it — because it just might.
It appears as though we’ve reached the point where you either fight back or wish you had. Here’s hoping the law wins.
