GUEST COMMENTARY - I keep hearing the refrain from Evita– the song made popular by Madonna – “Don’t cry for me Argentina”
Someone accused me of “being prejudiced”the other day and I admitted that I am. I have a prejudice against phony patriots, liars and crooks I told them. Then I added they come in all shapes, colors and genders. I particularly can’t stand it when liars try gaslighting me by accusing me of what they themselves are guilty of doing. There’s plenty of this going around, inspired by the twice impeached, sore loser, ex-president who just had his mansion raided in Palm Beach, Florida by the FBI. It couldn’t have happened to a more deserving individual-one.
Once again, he’s putting on the victim mask calling this latest investigation another “witch hunt” like he’s done so many times before. The echoes of “lock her up” seem to be resonating in the halls of justice with a gender modification.
One needs to contemplate whether this time somebody or anybody will get to the bottom of all his misdeeds, i.e. Russia stealing the Democrat’s data in 2016; the Ukraine Just do me a favor before we sell you arms deal; or “just find me the votes in Georgia”? Or his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection along with the rest of his alleged financial crimes.
In the background I keep hearing the refrain from the song that Madonna made popular, “Don’t cry for me Argentina.” Don’t pull the Eva Perón act on us Don. She was the wife of a fascist dictator.
So yes, I have my prejudices about leaders who wrap themselves in the flag, carrying the Bible and then sell out our country. The term is traitor. I have no patience for the “it’s-both-sides” argument, that all politicians are corrupt, or Biden is just as bad as him. You don’t get to plead innocent just because you say somebody else did the same thing. That’s just not the way our justice system works.
And for those who complain about the legal system being used against a sitting president, Bill Clinton was investigated over a bad real estate deal by the Republicans. He ended up getting impeached for lying about receiving a blow job in the Oval Office. So much for high crimes and misdemeanors– that was more of a low blow. Trump gets impeached for attempting to blackmail a foreign leader into slandering a political rival and Republicans throw a fit and deny witnesses! He gets impeached again over Jan 6 and it’s another “witch hunt.” There were seven Benghazi hearings that lasted longer and cost more than the Mueller investigation and Hilary testified without taking the fifth. Instead, she calmly answered every question and they found nothing.
The Republicans started the political vengeance and theatrical power plays and cannot stand it when the tables are turned. The American people want to actually see someone be held to account and go to jail.
Then there’s this report from the New York Times that Donald Trump sent an ally with access to the Justice Department to "pass along a message" to Attorney General Garland that "the country is on fire" and Trump is willing to act "to reduce the heat." The unusual attempt to secretly back-channel with the DOJ, after Trump's home was searched and as he is the subject of multiple investigations. This comes amidst "a spike in threats" to police identified by FBI director Christopher Wray, and several alarming incidents and arrests and a call for “civil war” by his followers. Clearly the ex-president is still trying to bully his way out of being indicted by any means possible.
And the Republican backlash against the FBI continues even as this report gets buried in the news.
On the morning of July 29th, the FBI conducted raids at multiple locations, including the Uhuru House in St. Petersburg, Florida, the private residence of Omali Yeshitela, founder African People's Socialist Party, in St. Louis, Missouri, as well as the Uhuru Solidarity Center, also in St. Louis. The FBI employed flashbang grenades and handcuffed Yeshitela and his wife while the house was raided. The FBI says that the raids are connected to the federal indictment of a Russian man, Aleksandr Ionov, alleging that he has been working to spread "Russian propaganda" in the United States.
Now just think for a moment the contrast between that raid and the raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago and it being called an “unprecedented assault”― an assault in which no one was arrested and the FBI didn’t use flash bang grenades. I’m surprised that in the later case the agents weren’t offered coffee and donuts by the hotel staff.
On Monday, the DOJ returned the confiscated passports, which is probably a bad idea, for once it looks imminent that he’s going to be convicted, I fully expect him to flee to Russia, a country with no extradition treaty. This will be the one and only action he takes that could possibly Make America Great Again, rid us of this false patriot or at least give us all a collective sigh of relief.
Still, the great hypocrisy about this is all of the Republicans who in the past supported the use of force against Black Lives Matter protests that called for “defunding the police '' but who now are chanting the refrain “defund the FBI.”
Yeah hypocrisy is up there on my list of prejudices too.
(James Preston Allen, founding publisher of the Los Angeles Harbor Areas Leading Independent Newspaper 1979- to present, is a journalist, visionary, artist and activist. Over the years Allen has championed many causes through his newspaper using his wit, common sense writing and community organizing to challenge some of the most entrenched political adversaries, powerful government agencies and corporations.)
