I’ve never been one to want to see Donald Trump in jail merely because he’s Donald Trump. But, on the other hand, he did many horrible things that I hold him accountable for — for example, the negligent killing of 600,000 people by COVID-19.
But we can’t just throw him in jail for being a negligent and horrible president, even if he lied about COVID-19. We may be incensed and infuriated, but there’s no legal avenue for us to explore there. We can’t lock up Donald Trump for being Donald Trump. That would be a bad precedent.
What would also be a bad precedent is if Merrick Garland, the Attorney General of the United States, didn’t investigate and charge those involved in the insurrection. It’s a day we’ll never forget. There have been two major modern terrorist attacks on the United States, and January 6 is one of them. Just viewing the footage is enough to make one cry. Insurrectionists beating police officers with the American flag, people trampling others, Eugene Goodman’s courage as he tricked the rioters into getting away from the chambers. It’s horrific footage. Well, depending on who you ask.
Congressman Andrew Clyde (R-GA) stated, “Watching the TV footage of those who entered the Capitol and walked through Statuary Hall showed people in an orderly fashion staying between the stanchions and ropes, taking videos and pictures. You know, if you didn’t know the TV footage was a video from January the 6th, you would actually think it was a normal tourist visit.
These are pictures of Clyde on January 6.
Donald Trump, however, described the rally where he incited the violence at the Capitol as a “lovefest” filled with “great” and “peaceful” people. He even bragged about the size of the crowd. He has also previously said that those at the Capitol were kissing and hugging the police officers. I do not see any hugging or kissing going on here.
I surmise that Biden’s Department of Justice doesn’t want to take the political hit by investigating those in the House, Senate, and Executive Branch — specifically Donald Trump. He’ll whine that it’s a “witch hunt” — it’s not — and independents may just agree with him and vote Republican in 2022.
I want to take the political hit. I’d much rather lose a few elections and do the ethical thing, which is to investigate and charge all of those involved than set this precedent. What Merrick Garland is saying by not investigating the main guys involved is that this is okay.
We do have the investigation in the House of Representatives, which the Republicans are already turning into a joke. Still, these men need to be federally prosecuted, federally charged, and end up in federal jail for sedition.
Garland needs to stop playing politics, stop setting a bad precedent, and do the moral thing.
Citations
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/05/18/clyde-tourist-capitol-riot-photos/
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-boasts-to-fox-news-about-tremendous-crowd-size-at-jan-6-lovefest
