Late last month a jury in New York City convicted former President Donald Trump of financial fraud. It’s an ignominious verdict. For the first time in U.S. history, a former president has been found guilty of a criminal offense. Many liberals are happy, since they view it as vindication for Trump’s disastrous one term in the White House. Conservatives are outraged, as they consider the entire affair nothing but political shenanigans at the hands of hateful Democrats.
And, just when everyone thought it couldn’t get any worse (or weirder), a jury in Delaware has found Hunter Biden, President Biden’s youngest son, guilty of purchasing a gun while hooked on illegal narcotics. He apparently lied about it, when completing the form – a felony. The younger Biden has long admitted his battle with drug addiction. His ex-wife and former girlfriend testified about his drug use. I’m not surprised that gun-rights advocates aren’t running to his defense. They oppose any limits to gun rights, even remaining silent when people with a clear case of lunacy obtains firearms, and dismiss the severity of every mass shooting with their usual “thoughts and prayers” bullshit. Regardless, it is the first time that a child of a sitting U.S. president has been convicted of a crime – another dubious moment in the annals of American politics.
Now that Trump and Hunter Biden have been successfully convicted, each awaits their respective sentencing. They could face jail time, but I doubt either man will be incarcerated. A former president and the son of a current president qualify as scions of the political elite – and they always seem to get away with even the most egregious of antics. Remember, Richard Nixon didn’t go to jail.
I view this mess with absolute disdain and even sadness. This is not a good thing for the United States – the self-appointed beacon of global democracy. In many ways the Trump fiasco resembles the sham impeachment of Bill Clinton a quarter century ago. Back then Republicans tried everything possible to undermine Clinton’s presidency – only to land on a rather minor issue: lying about a sexual tryst with a White House intern; in other words, sex!
With Trump, Democrats tried two impeachments, amid a bevy of other tactics; ultimately arriving at one thing: paying off a former adult film star to keep quiet about an alleged sexual tryst; in other words, sex!
I’m old enough to remember Watergate and Iran-Contra, as well as many contentious Supreme Court confirmation hearings. But Clinton’s impeachment fiasco was a new low for the U.S.
Until now.
In the morass that is the American political diaspora, many things have changed. But so much else has remained immobile. Conservatives keep pushing the myth that more guns make society safe, and liberals keep pushing the myth that merely throwing wads of cash at a problem will solve it or just make it go away. Both groups are wrong.
We have so many problems in the U.S., the wealthiest country in the world. A recent study by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey showed something extremely disturbing: food and clean water security for American children has dropped significantly since the turn of the century. I’d heard of food insecurity, but clean water insecurity is a new dilemma for me. As with many other things, such as education and health care, racial disparities are particularly acute.
Throughout the previous century, food and water security had improved, as the nation’s overall health infrastructure advanced. But in 2005, 4.6% of all children in the United States experienced both water and food insecurity. By 2020, researchers found that the percentage of children nationwide who faced both problems rose to 10.3%.
That should make everyone with any sort of conscience understand the nation’s true priorities. But in the halls of our elected representatives, the primary concern seems to be the next campaign and what they can do for themselves. I don’t really care that Donald Trump fucked a porn star or that Hunter Biden bought a gun while high on crack. Their problems aren’t mine and neither are their visions of reality. Whether it’s food insecurity or jobs, Americans need to focus on the issues that affect them directly and personally. So do politicians. But I don’t hold out hope for the latter.
Chief Writing Wolf 