Op-ed views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

In George Orwell’s classic tale, Animal Farm, an allegorical story about the Russian revolution with all of the characters being animals on a farm, there are two pigs who are the leaders of the revolution. They are Napoleon and Snowball. Snowball, a hardworking pig is ousted from the farm due to the Machiavellian methods of his competitor, Napoleon. Napoleon uses political forces at his disposal to get rid of Snowball and is successful. America is seeing a similar situation arise in the numerous indictments of the biggest threat to the Democratic Party: Donald Trump.  

At this writing, Donald Trump has been charged with crimes in four states that include New York, Florida, the District of Columbia and Georgia. Arizona also might be weighing whether or not to indict the former president. In the four states, over 91 criminal charges have been filed against him. When Charles Manson orchestrated the murders of Sharon Tate and others there were 27 counts filed against him, and when Al Capone was indicted there were 23 counts filed against him to give some perspective on the fact that America’s Most Wanted appears to be Donald Trump.  

Former President Trump has been accused of inciting the January 6th attack on the capital, Russian collusion, (the Mueller Report found this to be unfounded) paying a bribe to Stormy Daniels and many other things.  It is surprising that Democrats didn’t leak photos to show that he was also present on the grassy knoll in Dallas, November 22, 1963 or show Trump buying a ticket to Ford’s theater on the night of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. 

Donald Trump is the first president ever to be impeached twice and has endured constant attacks not only from those on the left, but also from members of the Republican Party. Mike Pence, a political rival, has turned on him, and even the Republican governor of Georgia (who dislikes Trump) has refused to come to his aid when Fulton County DA, Fani Willis, filed the most recent, questionable charges against him) Donald Trump is well-liked among supporters and well hated by his detractors, yet he has a double-digit lead over all the Republicans who have declared their desire to be the Republican Party nominee in the 2024 presidential election.

Contrasting the former president’s legal woes is the situation surrounding Joe Biden’s apparent insulation from serious charges alleging that he used his name and position as vice president to secure millions of dollars from foreign companies for his son, other family members and himself. Both Biden and Trump took home documents, but Biden’s home wasn’t raided by the FBI, which is what happened to Trump. Unlike what has happened to Trump, the investigation of Biden has moved at a snail’s pace and despite testimony from whistle-blowers, bank records and other evidence the Republicans have taken five years and numerous hearings to pursue legal action against the president. Democrats, for the most part, have spent this time actively defending and making light of the charges as well.  This unified effort on the part of democrats to actively defend and support Biden is in direct contrast to the fragmented support that Trump has been given by republicans, who could be renamed: Republican’ts.

The multitude of criticism and charges against Trump has created a constitutional crisis for America. The Biden Administration has been accused of mobilizing the forces of the Department of Justice against Donald Trump. Attorney General Merrick Garland has been under fire from several members of Congress for his role in what has amounted to a circus of charges that have led to the appointment of a partisan special investigator (selected by Garland) to determine if the former president is guilty of election subversion.  

One of the main charges made by numerous individuals is that Trump is guilty of being an election denier. Is this a crime or is this simply Trump questioning some very odd circumstances that occurred in his 2020 election loss? Wouldn’t any reasonable person wonder what happened when the state of Georgia took an additional 17 days to count ballots and certify the election?  What about other democratic politicians who contested elections, why haven’t they been prosecuted? When Stacey Abrams lost the Georgia 2018 gubernatorial election to Brian Kemp and said, “…the 2018 governor’s race was stolen from the people.” Doesn’t the use of the word “stolen” imply election impropriety? When former President Jimmy Carter (also from Georgia) said, “He (meaning Trump) lost the election and was put into office because the Russians interfered on his behalf” referring to Trump’s defeat of Hillary Clinton on 2016, why wasn’t he charged with being an election denier?  Hillary Clinton did numerous things to be charged with a variety of crimes when she was the secretary of state, and when she lost the election she said, “Trump knows he’s an illegitimate president.”  Yet, Hillary has never been charged with any crimes. Why?

The January 6th insurrection was a serious problem for America, but so were the ANTIFA riots that took place in many cities over many days, yet, the treatment of lawbreakers in both situations was not equal or just. If Trump has broken the laws, he should be charged and have his day in court to defend and either be found innocent or guilty, as that is the American way. However, if the charges against him are merely an opportunity to hurt his chances of being nominated, reduce his campaign funds, draw attention away from news about the investigation of Hunter Biden or to prop up the careers of zealous democrats (like Alvin Bragg in NY, who downgraded 52% within an 11 month period from when he took office, but had time to go after Trump) then this is a very dangerous time for America. This is an issue that is more than whether or not you like or hate Trump. Authoritarian dictatorships, like the fictitious one depicted in Animal Farm engage in this type of activity, and this is the antithesis of American values.

Most Americans, who have not been blinded by partisanship, believe that the system of justice needs to be applied fairly to all regardless of race, religion or political affiliation. Yet, in this time of identity politics and ad hominem logic that has infected American culture the bigger picture must be visible even to the simple-minded people who allow their feelings to determine right from wrong instead of the facts. The big picture is that if someone can be vilified for saying things that others find unpopular or be criminally charged to remove an individual from running for office we are one step away from despotism.

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