Guilty Until Proven Innocent

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Guilty until proven innocent seems to be the new legal standard for the Democratic party; unless, of course, it is a Democrat being accused.  Don’t get me wrong, the President has his flaws, (and they are many), but the opposition’s rage over him beating their princess in 2016 has all but destroyed the foundational belief in the rule of law that is supposed to serve as the glue to hold the nation together.

I guess since most politicians are now lawyers that old truth about lawyers (and politicians) should be routinely posted anytime one of them is talking.  If the media were honest and neutral it would be run on a chyron (that little scrolling bar at the bottom of a TV screen) every time a politician gets his sound-bite broadcast. 

“HOW DO YOU KNOW A LAWYER/POLITICIAN IS LYING?  -- THEIR LIPS ARE MOVING.”

After three years of hearing how President Trump a) colluded with the Russians to steal the election, b) colluded with the Ukrainians to steal the election, c) is viewed as a fool by other world leaders, d) is a mean and uncaring man, d e) blackmailed the Ukrainians into digging up dirt on the Biden family, the house settled on two pretty unremarkable and incredibly political charges.  Both based solely on partisan political opinion.

Of course, the outcome of this political circus is pre-ordained so in the end it is just so much theater to appease the masses and perhaps divert attention away from the critical business of the state where polarization makes the accomplishment of productive change unlikely.  In the end, with a partisan “trial” in the Senate where the outcome is known, we will return to the status quo – where the opposition will paint the President is guilty of all kinds of “High Crimes and Misdemeanors,” since he didn’t “prove beyond a reasonable doubt” he is innocent.

But for us, the average citizen, we should be deeply concerned that the government and ultimately the judicial system will now embrace this new standard and we will abolish the protections of the Bill of Rights.  We’ve seen evidence of how the powerful have attempted to bypass the protections in the past.  Usually in large Democratic-controlled cities with significant crime rates.  For example, the DNC is now decrying their new Presidential candidate’s decision, as Mayor of New York City, to have the police department “stop and frisk” people they thought were likely of doing something illegal.  In practice, this meant they routinely stopped African-Americans, Hispanics, and other groups they found suspect.  I assume they rarely, if ever, stopped well-dressed white business people because the political fallout would have been immediate.

Remember, under the new rules we remain Guilty Until Proven Innocent.