OPINION: Of Crazy Crooks and Crazier Elections
If you think crazy criminal stories are intriguing, then you'll love these crazy political stories with legal ties. November 4 can't come soon enough.
By Donnie Johnston
COLUMNIST
Let’s start today with some law-and-order stories. Some weird stuff has gone down recently.
There was the guy in a neighboring county, almost a career criminal, who was allegedly involved in a knifing on a Friday and fled to another town.
All weekend long law enforcement officers searched for him and all weekend long he taunted officers with posts on Facebook.
Frustrated lawmen were still searching for this guy on Monday morning when he walked into the sheriff’s office and turned himself in. Strange.
During the same week a man sneaked onto the property of a local feed store and allegedly stole a tractor trailer, making his exit through a grassy area because the gate to the parking lot was locked.
According to police, the guy then returned the vehicle, with a note of apology, in the middle of the night after he banged it up. Nothing like an apologetic criminal.
Then there was the story of the man who carjacked a vehicle, only to find that there was a toddler in it. Upon discovering the child, the villain immediately turned around and drove back to the couple from whom he had stolen the car and gave them a stern lecture about leaving a child unattended in a vehicle. He handed over the baby, then got back in the stolen vehicle and took off.
But one of the most intriguing cases I ever remember was nothing more than a police report that appeared in a local weekly newspaper many years ago. It read like this: “John Jones – indecent exposure.
“John Jones – assault with a deadly weapon.”
Makes you think, doesn’t it.
Speaking of justice, last week President Trump commuted the sentence (pardoned) of former U. S. Representative George Santos, who was serving seven years in federal prison after pleading guilty to fraud and identity theft charges.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department, following the apparent instructions of Trump, had John Bolton, his former national security advisor (first term), indicted for allegedly mishandling classified information. Bolton had spoken badly of Trump in a book.
That indictment come on the heels of similar indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both of whom were involved in prosecuting Trump after his first term.
The word for this is revenge, which is disgraceful enough, but to use federal agencies to do his dirty work is even worse.
No, none of the three is likely to be convicted of their trumped-up charges (pardon the pun), but there is the public indignation associated with being arrested and the expense of a legal battle. Lawyers don’t come cheap.
Trump has no legal expenses in his battle for revenge because you and I – the taxpayers of America – are footing the bill. A long legal battle can all but bankrupt the average person, even one of some means. And Trump, a billionaire who is playing with taxpayer dollars, knows it.
Finally, also in the legal realm, there is the battle between Democrat Jay Jones and Republican Jayson Miyares for Virginia’s attorney general job.
A good question here is whether the anti-Trump sentiment strong enough to carry Jones after his old texts came to light.
Another big question in next month’s election is whether or not Republicans have come far enough to elect a black woman, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, to the top office in the state.
Earle-Sears did herself no favors with her aggressive Trump tactics in her recent debate with Abigail Spanberger, often not allowing her opponent to even finish an answer.
This will be an interesting election in a number of ways.
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