The Democrats joined by some Republicans and independents seem ever to be saying this largely aspirational phrase.
But it is simply not true.
Most recently, Trump has proven it not true, with the help of all but one of the Republicans in the U. S. Senate.
Moreover, so has Barack Obama who has never been brought to justice for destroying Libya for no just reason with the help of the Europeans, and bringing death and destruction to Yemen as an ally of the Saudi despots.
And then there is George W. Bush with his deadly, useless and illegal invasion of Iraq, and his father, Papa Bush, for his murderous invasion of Panama to capture Noriega who had turned against the CIA; 500 Panamanians died so Papa Bush could keep one man from spilling the beans, as it were.
What of Bill Clinton’s bombing of Serbia? And his keeping the sanctions on Iraq that brought about the deaths of 500,000 children and the deaths of countless adults?
What of the “saintly” Ronald Reagan who never was brought to court for the heinous crimes committed in Central America by proxies he paid and otherwise supported, including the Contras? [William Barr under Papa Bush was later instrumental in getting those pardoned who were convicted in the Iran-Contra scandal.] Central America has never really recovered from the Reagan-supported maelstrom of violence.
I could conjure up further instances from the administrations of Carter, Ford, Nixon, Johnson and even that of JFK, but my stomach has already begun to turn from the sheer arrogance and iniquity of the high crimes that I’ve chronicled so far. I must pause a bit, to remember all the innocents murdered…
But what of those presidents like Andrew Jackson (whose portrait, I believe, hangs on Trump’s wall in the White House) who broke so many treaties with, and have the blood of so many massacred Native Americans on their hands.
These decades, no, centuries of presidential impunity served to prepare the way for the immoral, gaslighting, and obviously mentally deranged Chief Executive we now suffer to be in the “people’s house.”
Then over the years – many, many years – are the numerous police officers who managed to escape justice for actively or passively acting in the murder of children, women and men, mostly black or brown – we’ll soon see if injustice actually does happen in Minneapolis.
Even our most recent “hero of the day” against Trump, General James Mattis, never faced a court-martial for his troops’ war crimes in Falluja, Iraq and his shielding those troops from the hand of justice.
Of course, by dint of their numbers, I leave out the thousands of rich, mostly white, corporate criminals whose decisions or investments have brought hell to the majority of our citizens over the years of the Republic.
So, in view of all the above, I’d urge people, especially the media, not to use the “Law” phrase anymore. Instead, we should use the phrase, ”No justice – no peace!” and always act accordingly.
© 2020 Gregory V Driscoll
O'Driscoll's Take on the World 