I was listening to any number of podcasts, clips, and so forth today about the January 6th Committee and the pressure being put on the Attorney General to “do something, anything!”. The answer seems to be “because the process takes so long. These are important cases about important matters and we want to do it right”.
But here’s my question: A man goes into a bank and robs the place. Police catch him in the act. He’s arrested and taken into custody. Then he’s arraigned and waits for trial, either in jail or not. No one asks him who put him up to it. No one asks about his state of mind and whether or not he had intent to rob the place. He committed a crime. He was caught committing the crime. He was arrested. Done, done, and done.
If a man commits treason, or assaults someone with words or actions, and he does it on live TV, in the Senate chambers or in the White House, he’s not arrested. In that case, we have to figure out if he did it, if he meant to do it, who put him up to it, and what other charges he might be guilty of and then arrest him… maybe.
Donald Trump said out loud, in public, on TV, “You’ve got to fight like hell or you’ll lose your democracy!” and tells them to go to the Capital building. Is he arrested. Jim Jordan is involved in the revolt, and Liz Chaney tells him, “You did this!”. Now, a year plus later, she’s proving that he did it. Has he been arrested? Has she had him talk to the police? Has he even been before the committee? No. Why not?
Crime is crime is crime. Isn’t it? Why does there need to be more of a process when a crime is witnessed by millions? Because I listen to Maddox, I understand the *history*/of why we couldn’t indict a sitting President, but that doesn’t make it just, or fair, or right. We were offended for 4 years of Trump because we saw what he did.
Rudy Giuliani lied publicly. Isn’t that fraud? Why is the big threat that he loses his law license? Why wasn’t he arrested? It’s not that we don’t see crime. We see it all the time. We get punished for it, so we know enough not to make that choice, though some of us clearly still do.
That’s life. Why isn’t it for them?
Why is there “white collar crime”? Why are government people “corrupt” and the rest of us “criminals”? Are some criminals more important people than others? Isn’t the law the law? What’s “equal Justice under the law”? Is the law a matter of “separate but equal”, or just unequal? That’s why we care.
Resisting with Peace,
John
Because It Matters 