Today is a day that, while embraced by many, should not be celebrated by those that embrace democratic principles. The 45^th president of the United States will be indicted – for the second and probably not the last time – in a federal court in Miami for the crimes he (and I add this word simply in the interest of legalese) ALLEGEDLY committed. In a 37-count indictment, the Department of Justice and special counsel Jack Smith have laid out a thorough and damning case against the IMPOTUS. In that indictment, the special counsel has forcefully and clearly documented the haphazard storage of STOLEN classified materials (a trove that contained nuclear plans, troop placements, and defense strategies in and against certain nations) that the former president took upon his departure from the White House, how he flaunted these documents to those who had no right to see these pieces of critical information for the country, and perhaps even the dissemination of them to those who might do us harm.

What has been shocking through this – hell, since Orange Foolius slipped the mickey in the drink of the GQP back in 2014 – is how what is supposedly the “Republican Party” has embraced the lawlessness and, by extension, the authoritarian nature that he espouses. Remember, this used to be a political party that stood for “truth, justice, and the American Way,” fought against the “scourge of Communism” (a word they never have been able to understand, let alone define), and supported the rule of law. Today, this motley conglomeration of grifters and thieves that have become the GQP only wants power, and they don’t give a fuck as to how they get it or, perhaps most damning and saddening, how they want to keep it.

All you have to do is look at their reactions to the indictments of the previous occupant of the White House to see this in full bloom. Instead of saying “A person is innocent until proven guilty, so I (we) will reserve comment until there has been a trial,” the rabid mindlessness in following the Mango Menace is utterly astounding. They quickly bash the VERY INSTITUTION of law and order – the Department of Justice and the Judicial branch of government – and impinge on the work that dedicated people, professionals whose very JOB it is to investigate WITHOUT PREJUDICE the evidence as it is found. But what is perhaps most incriminating on those who call themselves “conservatives” or “Republicans” is their embrace of authoritarianism and the very actions of a system they once condemned.

In the 20^th century, the Soviet Union utilized a political tactic of “whataboutism,” which became the standard for decades of Communist theory up to and including today’s Vladimir Putin-run Russian Federation. Under this theory, instead of responding to certain situations that arise with a course of action or a position, the Communist Party would instead deflect towards how “someone else” did a similar action or perhaps even worse. This was used by Khrushchev to Gorbachev, and it has been utilized by the man who rose through the KGB to his position after the dissolution of the USSR, Putin.

A prime example of this is in the responses from those in the GQP when it comes to the current situation with #45. Note that NONE of these people, in defending the current frontrunner for the 2024 nomination by the GQP, are saying that he is innocent of the charges. NONE of these people, who claim to be for “law enforcement,” are saying that he didn’t commit any crimes (and, just as an aside, these are the SAME people who savagely attacked police officers with chemicals, battering rams, TASERs, and sometimes the police officers’ own protective equipment on 1/6, which has been proven in court). No, they go right to the “whataboutism” – that President Joe Biden or former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “has done worse.”

This is a familiar tactic of the GQP too. They talk about the “Biden Crime Family” and, before that, it was the “Clinton Crime Family” or the “Obama Crime Family” and the supposed lawlessness that these Democratic Party elected officials committed while they were in office. If you are to believe these folks, then there have been more criminal acts committed by the three Democrats who have run the country than the entirety of those who have “gloriously represented the Republican Party.” This is pretty easy to disprove from the start; PolitiFact has shown that there is no comparison between the administrations of Republican and Democratic leaders.

But OK, let’s run with this…If there is such criminal activity going on, then it should be readily provable in court, right? Then file charges – actually bring a case to court and try it in front of a judge and jury and, if there is something nefarious going on, then the courts can convict them of that crime. Strangely enough, this has never happened.

For more than thirty years, the Clintons have been the target of investigation into one situation or another. Over that ENTIRE period, there have been how many charges filed against either former President Bill Clinton or former Senator Hillary Clinton? Exactly ZERO. There have been no charges filed against either of these two, even though there has been a Republican in the White House, and in control of Congress, for at least twelve of the years since then.

Let’s look at Joe Biden. He has been a dutiful representative of the government, first as a Senator, then as Vice President under Barack Obama, and in the FIFTY years that he has been involved in the leadership of the country, there has never been a charge filed against him suggesting malfeasance against the nation. The same applies to Obama, who ran arguably the cleanest administration in recent history with ZERO charges filed against his administration and himself.

This even extends to former VP Pence. He also found, after he departed from office, that he had government documents in his Carmel, IN, home, that were classified, much like his former boss. He, like Joe Biden, IMMEDIATELY turned these over to the government, opened the doors of his private offices and home, and allowed investigators to search his property for any other documents that might have slipped by (just like Biden). The result? He was cleared by a special counsel of any further transgressions and his case was closed (as is expected to happen with the currently ongoing Biden investigation, including one by the Republican-led House of Representatives).

Here’s the kicker of it all…if there WERE transgressions by a Democrat, then Democrats would be more than willing to say, “Charge them and let the courts decide.” Hell, the Democrats have expelled excellent members of their party for much less than what #45 has done and not even WAITED for a court to act. Former Senator Al Franken of Minnesota was put out of office just for the SIMPLE ALLEGATION of touching a woman inappropriately (when a further investigation showed it was a joke amongst the former comedian and his USO-supporting group), and there have been other examples of the Democrats policing their own.

This is something that today’s version of “Republicans” seems to have forgotten.

Which brings us back to today’s indictments in Florida. It is not something that should be celebrated – it is an indictment of us as a country for electing such a cretin to the office that would even CONSIDER doing what has (allegedly) been done. It is an indictment of us as a country to think “Yeah, he’d be the right man to lead the free world.” It is an indictment of us as a country to not examine the reality of the situation and try to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

One side is doing this, and the other is refusing to look at reality. Thus, there is no equivalence between President Joe Biden, anyone in the Clinton family, Barack Obama, or even former VP Pence, and the person who occupied the seat of power in Washington, D. C., between 2017 and 2021, and this is why he is being indicted. There is only the criminality, which we are seeing displayed in cases stretching from New York to Georgia to Florida…and perhaps even D. C., which still is investigating the 1/6 Insurrection, and who knows where is next. To try to state otherwise is to ignore what has already been proven to be true.