URBANNA — What a mess. The polarization of this nation is tragic and the frustration is real with about half the nation in its perception that federal agencies are helping to elect Democrats to the White House. This perception, whether true or not, is tearing the nation apart.
It cannot continue. The problem has become even more apparent with the arrest of past president Donald Trump over his possession of classified material in his home in Palm Beach, Fla.
But the charges go further than mere possession, he is charged with multiple counts of espionage. If proven, such charges could send the past president to prison for many decades.
Not only does President Joe Biden’s justice department want to send a past president to prison — it wants to eliminate Trump as an opponent in the next election. If this sounds a bit like the action of a thug government knocking out political opponents in a Banana Republic… well, don’t blame me for the suggestion.
I am not a Trump fan. I dislike his bully personality but I like some of his policies — for example, I agree that we have to have control on the numbers of immigrants coming into the U.S. over the southern border and I think fencing is a good idea. I reference Robert Frost’s great poem, “Mending Walls” and his belief that “good fences make good neighbors.”
I became aware of the government bias against Trump while reading the Durham report and can understand why some people, in particular federal employees, dislike Trump.
Trump earned the animosity with his own mouth, which he doesn’t seem to be able to control. I have heard him numerously refer to Washington, D.C., as “the swamp,” and promise he would “drain the swamp” if elected. Easy to see why bureaucrats aren’t wild about Trump.
But, whether we like someone or not should never be related to justice. I fear he is not being given fair treatment by those very people that he has so antagonized.
The elephant in the room regarding Trump’s arrest, of course, is the others who have had classified materials and were not raided or arrested for possessing them.
I recall Sandy Berger, national security advisor (of all things!) under President Bill Clinton who reportedly stole material from the National Archives. He was charged $10,000 for his crime but a judge boosted the fine to $50,000.
Hillary Clinton was suspected of having classified information on both her cell phone and a special server in her home. When questioned, thousands of her messages went missing. It was even odder when some of this classified material appeared on Anthony Weiner’s laptop, who at the time was married to Hillary’s assistant. While she was secretary of state she was also collecting great sums of money, (it was rumored to be millions) from foreign nations as contributions to the Clinton Foundation.
President Clinton was found to have classified material after his presidency later discovered in his sock drawer.
U.S. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., who led a House Oversight and Accountability Committee investigation, announced in a news release that a judge decided that presidents could possess classified materials and declassify it at any time, but were the only people in government that had this right.
President Biden has been found with classified material, boxes stored in his garage and at other sites. The disturbing part of this latest discovery is some of the classified material was reported to have been obtained while he was senator and again while he was vice president.
Rep. Comer has also reported in a news release discovering millions of dollars in payments going to certain Biden family members through various LLCs from foreign nations. The committee is concerned these payments were related to special favors received from Biden.
With these recent circumstances one can understand why so many are wondering why Trump has been the only politician indicted?
A better way to handle this controversy rather than to have singled out Trump and cast a blind eye to others is to treat possession of classified material as a group and not as an individual.
The FBI’s investigation should ask these questions: Who had it, how was it obtained, why was it taken, where was it stored, what was the reason for possessing it and did the person receive any special favors, use the material for blackmail or bribery or receive monetary benefits for himself or members of his family? That would deliver the full picture.
Trump has said he took material that he thought he had the right to have and planned to go through the material to keep personal memorabilia and return the rest to the national archives. That sounds understandable.
Biden’s use of his justice department that has already been shown to be hostile to Trump to indict him and remove him from the coming election is most alarming. We don’t do that in this country. Our elections are decided by voters at the polls, not by judges and juries in a courtroom and on ideas rather than indictments.
What applies to Trump should apply to Democrats. End political bias in our federal agencies and allow voters the right to nominate and vote for the candidates of their choice.
© 2023