OPINION: Goodbye Law and Order
To no one's surprise, Trump is going over, under, around, and through the law. How much longer will the rest of the world put up with it?
By Donnie Johnston
COLUMNIST
For the sake of argument, let’s say there was a man on a moped driving down I-95 and a California state trooper in a helicopter dropped a bomb and blasted him off the highway.
Then the helicopter lands, finds the man injured but still alive and shoots him in the head.
The first question in any ensuing investigation would be, “Why did you do that?”
Suppose the trooper replied, “Because he was carrying drugs to California.”
Then Virginia law enforcement officers would demand proof that there were drugs on the moped to which the California trooper would reply, “I don’t need proof. If I say there were drugs, there were drugs and I was completely justified in destroying both man and machine.”
A man on a moped carrying drugs from Virginia to California is about as ridiculous as a Venezuelan motorboat transporting drugs across the Caribbean to the United States. But that’s what Donald Trump and Pete Hegspeth would have us believe, that oversized rowboats are traveling 2,000 miles to bring illegal drugs to American shores.
Gimme a break!
Boy, do we look great in the eyes of the world. A superpower nation with the greatest navy on earth blasting small civilian boats out of the water and then, according to reports, killing any survivors, which is strictly against the rules of the Geneva Convention, not to mention the code of a civilized society.
We’re bombing civilian craft either in international waters or in another country’s jurisdiction. If a nation did that to us, we would be screaming bloody murder and declaring war. But then we seem to no longer have compassion for the rights and feelings of those of other nations.
Then there is the moral question. If our navy is bombing innocent civilians (no valid proof of a crime has been offered), just who is guilty, the soldier who pulls the trigger or the officer who gives the order?
In the past nine months we seem to have done away with the rule of law, the requirement that alleged criminal acts must be proven before there is punishment. We just pull the trigger and smile. No arrest. No indictment. No trial. Just capital punishment amid speculation. We become judge, jury and executioner.
Yes, “we”, because as president, Donald Trump represents every American. That’s the way it works in a republic. And if our navy kills civilians and murders survivors, we are all guilty. Even Hitler’s navy picked up survivors from ships they had sunk.
What gets me is that the rest of the world is allowing Trump to get away with this. But then the world allowed Hitler to get away with power grabs and atrocities in the days leading up to World War II.
Is Trump looking to invade and annex Venezuela? He has said he wants Canada and Greenland so now I suppose he has his eve on the South American countries.
Some speculate that Trump is seeking a regime change in Venezuela, to tear down the existing government and replace it with one America can control. First of all, that is against international law, although we have done it in the past, going back to Colombia-Panama when we wanted to get land for the Panama Canal.
But regime change efforts have not gone well in the past. We tried with the Bay of Pigs and created a mess in Cuba and our regime change in Iraq has all but destroyed that country and caused the death of as many as 200,000 innocent civilians. Then, of course, there was Iran when we put the Shah in power to gain access to Iranian oil. And let’s not forget the Manuel Noriega farce.
Where we need a change is leadership is in the United States. Trump and his gang are destroying our country, dismantling the law and spitting on the Constitution.
Again, the real bad guys in all this are the Republican members of Congress who refuse to restrict Trump’s power, ignoring the Constitution in the process. But then, this is a power grab for them, too.
The scariest part of this whole scenario is that the majority of the American people, the white Anglo population in particular, has become very comfortable with Trump’s trampling on the Constitution. After all, his actions are not affecting them.
That’s exactly how the German population reacted to the Nazis in the late 1930. Until Hitler’s actions affected them, they didn’t care.
We can blast rowboats and we can whup up on small countries like Venezuela, but somewhere along the line the world, as during World War II, may get tired of our arrogance and band together against us.
Then it will be too late. Then, as in Germany, we will all be affected.
And the United States of America may be no more. Abuse of power has destroyed many empires.
America is not immune to the lessons of history.
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Law and order exited the room a long time ago and the excesses are only becoming more and more blatant. Thank you for this piece which shares, in plain language and relatable examples, the shameful, no the atrocious, behavior, being demonstrated by our leadership --Signed, A white US citizen who is NOT comfortable
In response, please note that Virginia did not go for Trump in the 2024 election. Was it closer than it had been in previous elections? Yes. Was it a MAGA/Trump win? No.
Please note that Abigail Spanberger won in a huge landslide a month ago. The argument that this was only because of NOVA votes is incorrect. Even red counties that went for Earle-Sears did so with a smaller vote margin than in previous races. Ruby red Spotsylvania went for Spanberger, which speaks volumes as to how Virginians are voting and trending.
There are many excuses being bantered about by the MAGA crowd, including but not limited to, a "weak" GOP candidate, low GOP voter turnout, and even the typical cries of stolen votes (with no evidence). The bottom line is that Donnie lives in Virginia and more of his "neighbors," according to the votes, do not support Trump than do support him.
Donnie's concerns are real and they are concerns shared by many Virginians and many Americans. Should we, the Americans who are rightly concerned about this country's turn away from the rule of law, from human rights, and from the Constitution, ask questions and seek answers as to why many Americans and Virginians are turning their collective heads to the disturbing behavior of Trump and those in his administration? Of course we should. But here in the greater Fredericksburg area, the tide has begun to turn. I hope that continues.