The Thoughts of One Pessimist

What the New York Times reported on tonight freaks me out. It is one thing to distract but to use the Justice Department to distract is scary. And to criminally investigate folks that were responsible for an investigation of the President suggest political retribution.

The President has already removed much of these key participants who were supposedly engaged in this conspiracy. And now those same people will be criminally investigated by the institution they supported and were part of for 20. . . 30 years or more? These are the people we will now investigate. Rightly so I guess.

So we have that whole banana republic theme. That is one concern. Another theme is that if we destroy our justice system, then how do we work through anything with those we disagree with? If all sides distrust our justice system or worse see that system as evil, then how do we as a nation navigate the various disagreements that we have?

Perhaps, we do it the old fashion way, We saw it sadly in Congress yesterday. A mob physically invading another groups space. Of course the next step is violence. What we saw was not the action of a legislative majority or minority yesterday, but the action of a mob, a gang.

My son tells me I am a pessimist. I hope he is right. I am. There is no denying it. Regardless, 30% to 40% of the American population seem to support this President regardless of all of the above. They are demonized for their support of the President and likewise they demonize those who do not support the President.

And we are now watching our Justice Department perhaps self-destruct. Keep in mind that last year we saw a man be appointed to the Supreme Court who to half the country did not belong there. This spring and summer we saw a two-year investigation conducted by the Justice Department just slowly be dismantled and ignored, largely by the Justice Department and the executive branch. That is despite the people doing the work, the weight of the report submitted, and the indictments and convictions that the investigation resulted in.

If the result of all this is that neither side can no longer can use or rely upon our Justice system. If we will no longer accept the results of our justice system to diffuse the various disagreements Americans have. If we come to distrust or even hate or are simply unable to communicate with 40% of our fellow Americans. Well then. . . We got bigger problems than Trump. Trump is only the tip of the iceberg.