Time To Get Down to Business
Steve Dittmer | AFF Sentinel
Colorado Springs, CO
Originally sent to subscribers 06/02/24
We have written too often that we never expected to discuss so many Constitutional issues when AFF began.
We thought the challenges during the Obama administration were quite surprising.
But nothing prepared us for the bold level of overt attacks on business and private citizens’ rights, disregard for the rule of law and the sheer volume of attacks by this administration. From election process skullduggery to federal agency regulatory robbery to steamrolling DEI takeovers of corporations and universities, culminating in Kafkaesque show trials and indictments, this one takes the cake.
No one alive today remembers the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. Many of us remember the Cold War, the real one, not the version in Soviet propaganda “news” sources like Tass and Pravda. We knew about the show trials in the USSR from those who lived and wrote about them like Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. The upshot of the show trial was residence in a gulag, if you were lucky.
But even those of us who knew about those kinds of things read about them in our newspapers or in books or portrayed in movies. Young folks interested in learning through the latter should watch “Dr. Zhivago,” for an entertaining love story in the midst of the Russian revolution, if not ready for heavy reading.
We’re not sure any of the most pessimistic contemporary thinkers predicted communist show trials at this time in history in America. But most likely none of them, or us, fully realized the power of Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Dan Bongino characterized the state of the current judicial system as “selective tyranny.” He and others have referred to the authoritarian tactic of show me the man and we’ll find the crime.
Charging Trump on a misdemeanor whose statute of limitations had expired, twisted into a federal election law charge in a state court over a bookkeeping entry for a legal contract boggles the mind.
It obviously did not take a Philadelphia lawyer to figure out Trump’s trial did not provide proper due process nor followed the rule of law. Trump’s reception in the South Bronx, the man-on-the-street interviews with folks who were certainly not avid news hounds or students of politics revealed a deep distrust and fear of such miscarriage of justice. In addition, some commentators explained, anyone who has run afoul of the law’s processes, whether guilty or not, was appalled, frightened and suffered flashbacks -- observing the way a former and possible future President was treated.
Of course, in America’s system, we are counting on the appeals process to right the wrongs against the rule of law embodied in Trump’s case. Exactly how that will play out is still to come. Sentencing will come first and this judge recognizes no bounds nor respects the law.
Another commentator gave his answer as to why the left will do virtually anything to stop Trump: their evaluation that he’s the only one who can stop them. They will try every dirty trick they can think of to attain their goal to turn America into a socialist/communist/Marxist country, ruled by a handful of intelligent elites, with their power secured by the votes of those they’ve made dependent on government largesse.
Of course, they do not see that that arrangement will only last until they run out of money to give away, and since Soviet-style economies run out of money relatively quickly, that’s a short term fix to ruin a nearly 250-year old country. No such free market system we know of has been totally wrecked and brought back to life.
There have been many interpretations of the look President Biden flashed just as he exited stage left, without answering the reporter’s question to comment on Trump’s verdict. To us, it looked like the smirk mobsters used to flash leaving the courthouse after beating the rap, knowing they had the situation under control and the rest of society were just chumps.
The Democrats have constantly charged Trump and the right as attempting the “End of Democracy.” They don’t recognize America as a democratic republic. They do feel no one but their elite should have the power, so nothing is off the table to achieve and protect that power. Their actions the last three years prove that. It’s also obvious that they don’t care what we know or think. They have the power and they will use it any way they see fit.
Everyone ponders, will Biden still be the nominee? It turns out, we may know sooner rather than later, as the very democratic party apparatus is apparently going to nominate their candidate before the Democrat convention. They muffed it and scheduled their convention after Ohio’s deadline for getting on the ballot. So they will assume that power through some virtual process, rendering the convention powerless.
The decision will come down to whether they think Biden is the way to maintain their power. If not, their inclination will be to drag him kicking and screaming off the ticket. Remember, winning is power and power is all that counts.
But if winning is power, what does the rest of the country do?
Obviously, a whole lot of people have reacted by sending the Trump campaign money. Reports were that a third of the early $30 million was reported to be from first-time donors getting off the sidelines. By 24 hours post sentence, the total was some $50 million.
But regular citizens can help at the state and local level.
Since election integrity is critical, it might be time to contact your local election officials and volunteer for helping as election observers, workers, judges etc., depending on what your county processes are and what they need. Allowing this approach attributed to Stalin that it’s not who votes that counts but who counts the votes has to stop.
Encourage your state attorney general to see that voter rolls are purged of dead folks, non-residents or non-citizens.
We have much more confidence in the new people running the RNC that have put election integrity as their top priority.
We do not agree with those who say America’s republic is gone. It has been subverted, yes, but the power still resides in the people. The vote will be much more scrutinized this time. Many states have tightened their processes. And many more people are frustrated and angry about the last three years of economic stress and deterioration of the rule of law, of education and civil society.
Next time: One of California’s most erudite farmers has wise words and we’ll suggest ways you can help us help keep you informed and energized.
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