Either/Or?

Lindsay Graham, erstwhile Senator representing South Carolina, states firmly that if Trump is prosecuted in court, the American people will riot in the streets.

My question for Sen. Graham is, “Either we do that or what?”

Reality tells us that Americans rioted at the US Capitol Building, a shrine to America’s history and experiment with democracy against all odds. That experiment has had good years and bad ones. Although we would like to think that the USA is the best, biggest and most worthy nation on the face of the earth, the truth is that our country has been both good and bad. The bad, by the way goes all the way to evil. We don’t want to believe that, but historians will tell you that is the truth.

Of course, the press should be telling us this as well, but they don’t because the press is not free; it must pander to retain financial support in order to operate. That is a nasty truth none of us want to hear, but we must.

Americans rioted at the Capitol. Americans buy guns and kill other Americans daily. We are killing each other at the rate of 36,000+ annually. As a riot, I guess it doesn’t amount to much. But I say to Graham, the riot has been nonstop since 1776 and before.

If we want a nation of laws, truth, decency and justice, then all of us must fight for those outcomes. Today, only a few are in the fight for good. Too many of us are in the fight for bad. All too many of us are in the bad by failing to take any action at all. We have allowed others to define who we are as a people and nation.

Trump made a con game of his politics. It will take time for historians to assemble all the pieces of the story, but they will. The courts will sort some of this out before historians do, but the plot lines will eventually align. Trump brought all of this on us. And onto himself. Yes, he must pay for this infamy, treason, perfidy. And prison is what he deserves if found guilty in the justice system.

Americans will accept this finding and not riot. They will grumble, complain and piss in the win. Americans are famous for that ability. Not a pretty sight. But it is consistent with our investment in truth, justice and the American Way. All is not perfect.

If we want perfection, Trump would not have been in the White House in the first place. We all know this is true to varying degrees. Sure, there is disagreement, but we settled in knowing that Trump was not of presidential timber or morality. Not all previous presidents were, either.

At this precarious point in our nation’s history, for God’s sake let the government do its work and finish putting dangerous people out of the public’s harm. We deserve that. But we also need to work hard and define who and what we are. What do we want America to be remembered for? Something good? Or something ugly. The imperfections are everywhere to see. Let’s fix them.

For our own moral good, let’s fix the broken ship of state. Mr. Graham is one of the broken pieces to fix or put away.

September 2, 2022