CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) Vladimir Putin must laugh at American politicians. Our political leaders are slow to learn that the easiest way to beat your political opponents is to put them in jail.
Vlad did that to his main political rival Alexei Navalny, who, after an unsuccessful poisoning attempt has now been sent to a jail in the Arctic Circle. The charge against him: political extremism.
Donald Trump’s political opponents are also using the criminal process to try to make him ineligible for office as a convicted felon. All four of the cases against him are novel – using legal theories never applied to anyone before. Any convictions will certainly be subject to appeal, ultimately up to the U.S. Supreme Court. Imagine the chaos of a completed election, where we are waiting for the nation’s highest court to rule on whether the possibly winning candidate is legally able to take office. Further imagine the chaos if the court upholds a Trump conviction, denying the voters the candidate they elected.
We bemoan that the Supreme Court appears to be political in its rulings. How can it not be, considering the political cases that are put into the pipeline? In 2000, the court put an end to the counting of hanging chads in a very close Florida election. Some of the chads were falling off as ballots were brought into court. Some counties were counting dimpled chads or disqualifying punches that weren’t made all the way through. The Supreme Court was correct in putting an end to such a farse, at the expense of the narrative that the court “installed” George W. Bush as president. Not true. Al Gore was never ahead at any stage of the Florida recount. He lost, officially, by 984 votes.
So, fast forward 24 years, where Colorado’s supreme court rules that Donald Trump is an insurrectionist and is therefore ineligible to be on that state’s ballot. A week later Maine’s Secretary of State, a Democrat party hack, single-handedly rules Trump is ineligible. Where do Donald Trump’s opponents think these cases will ultimately land? Of course, the U.S. Supreme Court will restore order, and will be bemoaned as being a political tool.
There was a time when we settled our political differences at the ballot box. If we have free and fair elections, I can begrudgingly accept that oatmeal-brain Joe Biden might be the choice of my fellow citizens. But only if others can accept that Donald Trump might also be duly elected. After all, that already happened once before.
If the new strategy is to keep your political opponents off the ballot or throw them in jail… well, that’s the strategy that Vladimir Putin would embrace.
Chris Conley
Comments