Former president Donald Trump has been indicted by a politicized Manhattan grand jury handpicked by New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg for misclassifying a purported political expense, a settlement payment to a porn star, as a business and legal expense, while former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her campaign staff and attorneys, who were in fact sanctioned for classifying the funding and distribution of the infamous Steele dossier as a legal expense, not only got a pass, but publicly revel in the difference.  As does most of the corporate media, as do Democrats everywhere.

So, aside from political affinities, what is the difference between these two situations?

Well, the Trump situation involved an issue not necessarily tied to politics and thus, not illegal in any sense.  It could well have involved an expense classifiable as involving business or personal factors and should perhaps be classified as the response of a victim of blackmail and extortion entitled to protection under the penal system.  On the other hand, there is no doubt about the nature of the Clinton expenditure, a political expense involving a fraudulent campaign disguised as a legal fee, thus, the case against Ms. Clinton and her campaign organization is much stronger.  Other than that, not one thing.  Well, Trump is despised by the Deep State and Mrs. Clinton is their idol although both Mr. Trump and Ms. Clinton are unpleasant and unsavory characters.  But justice is supposedly blind, albeit purportedly in a positive sense, stressing its neutrality, not in a negative sense involving utter incoherence, hypocrisy and malfeasance.

The 2016 electoral cycle was a wakeup call, but not in a good way.  The People, fed up, reacted in a manner much different than that anticipated by the corporate media and traditionalist politicians in both major United States political parties.  They made it clear that they were prepared for real change.  But rather than correct the injustice, inefficiency, corruption and misfeasance that led to the revolt by the electorate, from both the left (the Sanderistas) and the right (the Tea Party), a massive reactionary campaign was launched by traditionalist politicians in both major political parties to silence populists of all bents, to censor opposition to Deep State (i.e., Democratic Party) candidates, to facilitate a market in electoral ballots, and thus to assure a satisfactory, predetermined electoral outcome.  Further, in order to preemptively quell furor over the foregoing, a massive prosecutorial campaign was implemented, with agent provocateurs insidiously planted, to insure that electoral protests would not be permitted to spread.  Instead, the bureaucracy, the judiciary and the justice system spread a veil of silence, promptly dismissing, usually on procedural grounds, all legal actions seeking to demonstrate the existence of electoral irregularities, making it impossible to determine if enough irregularities took place to change electoral outcomes.  Something we will now never know, although many have strong suspicions.

The results of the 2020 elections were profoundly satisfying to the Deep State.  Mission accomplished.  The attempted mini-revolt that seemed brewing in 2022, was at least minimized.  Now 2024 is looming, and the Deep State, fearful of another revolt in 2024, as implied by most polling data, is seeking to limit opposition to its candidates, not just through control over available information, but also through abuse of the legal system, and it may work. 

Mr. Trump, to the dismay of many, the disgust of some and the panic of others, is once again running for president.  But unlike 2016, he seems a much stronger candidate; certainly within the GOP.  That is in large part because of the horrendous performance of the Biden administration in every possible sense, but, it’s loyalty to the Deep State is unquestionable, hence, Mr. Biden will also apparently run again.  And Mr. Trump may well defeat him, if given a chance to run.  Which is why litigation, both penal and civil, is being resorted to by those who have good cause to fear his return to power.  Mrs. Clinton?  Much as she might wish she were still relevant, she seems to have been consigned to a role as an embittered relic of days we wish were gone-by but which, unfortunately, have just changed some of the cast.  Of course, perhaps one should beware of the “walking dead”.

What a world in which Messers. Trump and Biden and the ghosts conjured by Mrs. Clinton are the candidates offered up to lead the purportedly free world, especially when there are people like Tulsi Gabbard and Dennis Kucinich and Even, Joseph Kennedy IV available as alternatives, but there you have it; we are collectively up the creek with no paddles in sight.

Sooo, in conclusion, an imprisoned candidate in the United States is precluded from conducting a political campaign, and in many states, from being on the ballot.  That, clearly, seems to be the Deep State’s ultimate backup strategy for 2024. 

Which explains all the Trump related litigation and the dichotomy in Mr. Bragg’s approach to law enforcement.
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© Guillermo Calvo Mahé; Manizales, 2023; all rights reserved.  Please feel free to share with appropriate attribution.

Guillermo (“Bill”) Calvo Mahé (a sometime poet) is a writer, political commentator and academic currently residing in the Republic of Colombia (although he has primarily lived in the United States of America of which he is also a citizen).  Until 2017 he chaired the political science, government and international relations programs at the Universidad Autónoma de Manizales.  He is currently the publisher of the Inannite Review, available at Substack.com.  He has academic degrees in political science (the Citadel), law (St. John’s University), international legal studies (New York University) and translation and linguistic studies (the University of Florida’s Center for Latin American Studies).  However, he is also fascinated by mythology, religion, physics, astronomy and mathematics, especially with matters related to quanta and cosmogony.  He can be contacted at guillermo.calvo.mahe@gmail.com and much of his writing is available through his blog at https://guillermocalvo.com/.