Dismiss Trump indictment

OPINION:

America will turn 247 in July.

In all those years, we have experienced more than a few dark days, including the British burning the White House in 1814, the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the terrorist attacks of 9/11. All three were delivered by a foreign enemy, but last month a dark day came courtesy of our own: the indictment of a man who is not only a former president, but also the leading opposition-party candidate to the incumbent in 2024. 

I know the haters are gleeful about the charges against Donald Trump, but they are shallow thinkers. Ever since Mr. Trump announced his candidacy in 2016, Democratic Party leadership — which included a sitting president and vice president (now president), as well as the directors of both the FBI and the CIA — illegally conspired to prevent Mr. Trump’s election. When that failed, they conspired to undermine his presidency and, if possible, remove him from office.

But as bad as all that was, indicting Mr. Trump on fabricated charges (which, even if true, are less of a crime than jaywalking) is worse. This is the sort of thing that happened in Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Russia and is happening today in Brazil. When our law enforcement agencies are turned into political weapons, we have crossed a line from which we may never be able to retreat.

America has lasted nearly 247 years because of our commitment to equal justice under the law and free and fair elections. Losing one of these would be disastrous; losing both would be catastrophic. Unless the courts move swiftly to set aside Mr. Trump’s indictment and the other, equally baseless charges, I see a very dim future for America.

BOB SEGAL

Burke, Virginia