If President Joe Biden did something illegal regarding the current classified document matter, I want him prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Unlike the MAGA cult, which will never accept such a fate for their dear leader, we progressives should and must accept such an outcome. Doing otherwise only puts us in the same boat as them. And that is not a place I want to inhabit.
As the disgraced 45th president most famously proclaimed, he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue, and his people would still love and support him. Unfortunately, that statement is not a bunch of BS like most of what he says is. He spoke the truth, for once.
I, for one, am not the kind of person with Biden flags waving in front of my house. Nor do I have pictures of him transposed onto the body of a superhero. It’s pretty simple: I proudly voted for Joe Biden and would do it again in a heartbeat. But that’s where it ends. He’s my president – not my savior and hero who can do no wrong.
As you may have heard, a handful of classified documents were found at various places in the Biden orbit. Some of the sites mentioned are his home, think tank center, and garage. Supposedly they are from his time as Vice-President under Barrack Obama. Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed a special counsel to investigate the matter – A Trump appointee.
At first, I thought it was unwise for Garland to do this. But I’ve changed my opinion. In reality, he had no other choice. Garland is a cautious guy who tries to maintain his independence from the executive branch. Again, MAGA world wouldn’t support Garland’s action even if he’d appointed Trump himself. However, the rest of America should be confident that whatever comes out of the investigation will have some modicum of fairness.
I do not think that Biden violated the law. I doubt they’ll find wrongdoing, with the most likely outcome being that the documents were mishandled. Reckless and sloppy? Yes. Illegal? I doubt it. For it to be unlawful, the main factor to consider is the intent of the person who had the documents in their possession. Did he obstruct law enforcement, or was he cooperative?
The intent of the parties involved separates the Trump documents case from the Biden one. These cases are different, at least the facts as we presently know them to be. From the beginning, the former president has put roadblock after roadblock in front of investigators. He’s obstructed and lied throughout the ordeal. He even found an unqualified judge that he appointed to delay the case further. Luckily that judge was smacked down by other Trump-appointed judges.
So yes, the two cases are vastly different. But now we have two special counsels trying to get to the bottom of what occurred. And that brings me to an inconvenient truth that may upset some of my fellow progressives. I’m pissed at Joe Biden, and I hope you are too.
How could he let this happen? Maybe the documents are where they are because the folks in charge of the transfer during the Obama-Biden transition in 2017 screwed up. Let’s hope that’s the reason.
But what frustrates me the most, however, is what’s occurred in the last several months. Why, for instance, was a search of all Biden facilities or residences not conducted immediately after the Trump case became known to the public? His closest advisors and lawyers would have suggested such a thing at the time, right? We do not know what discussions were going on behind closed doors, but at the very least, an extensive search should have been considered.
Equally frustrating, though, is what the discovery of the Biden documents has meant to the ongoing investigation of the disgraced former president. Now, instead of howling and screaming at how badly everyone treats him, which he does daily, he and the rest of MAGA world can exploit the matter to their heart’s content. Now it looks like Biden is no better than the former president regarding classified documents. At least, that’s what the GOP wants everyone to think.
Fair and balanced folks know the difference, of course. By all accounts, Biden and his team are cooperating with federal authorities – unlike the guy in Mar-a-Lago. And it also appears the number of documents found in Trump’s possession far outnumber those found in Biden’s. But it doesn’t matter in the right-wing world. To them, even a slight similarity, in this case, is enough to make it equal. It’s a disingenuous take. But it’s precisely what they will do.
And for that, I must hold Biden responsible for this mess. In the long run, I’m confident he’ll be exonerated. But, as I said in this post’s opening, he must be held accountable if they find something illegal. To say otherwise puts me squarely with the right-wing zealots who kiss the ring of Trump as often as they can.
If, as progressives, we want credibility and proclaim to believe in the rule of law, we must accept the consequences, whatever they may be. I refuse to do as they do. I will not succumb to my decades-long loyalty to the Democratic Party. If a president or former president does something illegal, they must throw the damn book at him, regardless of political affiliation.
So now we’re about to be subjected to the rantings and ravings of the lunatic right-wing, especially those in the House of Representatives, who are in the majority. To say they’re salivating at the chance at show investigations and performance theater red meat for MAGA world is an enormous understatement.
Mr. President, did you have to make it easy for them?
Sigh.
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