The federal government, assorted Democratic Party politicians, media organizations and academia are all united in their outrage over an obviously political indictment that is making global headlines.
The indictment has been called a breach of an "unwritten rule," "shocking," and authorities should "drop charges against him."
Even Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. ( or D–Cultural Decay) called the indictment "really despicable."
Does this mean former president Donald Trump has finally caught a break and can breathe easy over his Manhattan indictment for essentially being Donald Trump?
Not hardly.
Sen. Schumer, Sideshow Karine Jean-Pierre, the U.S. State Dept., the University College of London, The Wall Street Journal, Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists were all outraged over the Russian arrest of WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich.
Trump’s indictment only goes to show the system works.
One surprising development, among many, was that the left appears to have adopted at least some of the Catholic philosophy of Subsidiarity.
In government, according to Merriam–Webster, Subsidiarity means, "A principle in social organization holding that functions which are performed effectively by subordinate or local organizations belong more properly to them than to a dominant central organization."
Hence, local Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicts Trump instead of U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Local or not the indictment has made national headlines.
Thursday Tucker Carlson devoted his entire Fox News show to the left’s latest move and completely missed the point.
Carlson kept wondering where the prominent national members of the Democratic Party were?
Why weren’t they condemning this obvious and damaging big step down "Road to Banana Republic"?
We have bad news for Tucker.
He won’t be able to have a panel of Democratic politicians agree the indictment is Ukrainian in its authoritarianism, but he can save a seat for Fmr. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.
Then he has a guest who was wringing her hands at the thought of Red State attorney’s general targeting Democratic officeholders for retaliation!
Leftists continue to commit outrages and violate political and government norms because they never pay any price.
Red State indictments of Democratic officeholders would be a valuable and instructive price, but the Unilateral Political Disarmament Caucus wants to take that off the table.
We aren’t that kind of people.
No, we are the kind of people who bovinely allows themselves to be crushed.
For a brief period, Trump himself appeared to recognize the danger the indictment posed to the future functioning of the legal system in the U.S.
He issued a statement calling it "Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history."
He went on, "Never before in our Nation’s history has this been done. …weaponizing our justice system to punish a political opponent, who just so happens to be a President of the United States and by far the leading Republican candidate for President, has never happened before. Ever."
On Truth Social Trump became even more vehement, "This is an attack on our country the likes of which has never been seen before."
Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., issued a statement in response to the indictment that read, "Florida will not assist in an extradition request given the questionable circumstances at issue with the Soros–backed Manhattan prosecutor and his political agenda."
A statement we thought was entirely too washing-my-hands-of-this wimpy.
If Red State conservatives aren’t going to draw the line here, where are they going to draw the line? We thought DeSantis should have said that he will actively block any attempt at extradition and work to form a coalition of Red State governors to join him.
And then it all became a moot point.
Tiger Trump and his claims of the "attack on our country" morphed back into Paper Tiger Trump and he announced he will meekly travel on his own dime to Manhattan and submit to the kangaroo indictment to be followed by a kangaroo court.
By knuckling under Trump gives the indictment standing it does not merit.
If the indictment is "Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history" why doesn’t he reject Bragg’s authority and stand his ground in Florida?
Just in case Trump has forgotten about the year’s long legal attack on his businesses, the pre-dawn SWAT raid on his home at Mar-a-Lago for classified documents and the leak of his tax returns by the IRS we would like to remind him the two–tiered justice system only applies to him and his supporters.
Does he or his legal team have some bizarre hope that a leftist Manhattan judge will throw the case out before it goes to trial?
That’s not going to happen.
Here's what will happen.
Handcuffs or not, we predict a leaked photo of Trump being fingerprinted.
Followed by pre-trial maneuvering extending his conviction until late this year or early the next.
That will be followed by an appeal of the conviction that will drag along until after the election, giving the left plenty of time to use the description "Convicted Felon" each time Trump’s name is mentioned.
Unfortunately, Trump only views this through the lens of Trump.
All other considerations go by the wayside and that includes country, culture, and conservatism. If Trump won’t stand up for himself, what hope is there for officeholders and conservatives who are viewed as a threat.
Well, we guess you could ask Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.
Here’s our final prediction today. The indictment probably guarantees Trump’s nomination, followed by another Trump defeat in November 2024.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Michael is an in-demand speaker with Premiere speaker's bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with added humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.