Make up your own mind, don’t follow
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send your username and password to you.
In My Humble Opinion
Jodi McDade
As much as I hate to, I have got to talk about national politics, the media, our law enforcement agencies, and our judicial system. I would hope that all of you; regardless of political affiliation, ethnicity, race, or age; would be concerned about the situation in which we find ourselves. We are all protected under the same Constitution as American citizens, and we should ALL be treated fairly and equally. But that is not the case currently.
We are coming in to an election again for the president of the United States, and the two front runners are both facing some legal issues. Former President Donald Trump has been indicted over having top secret/classified documents in his home in Florida. His trial date was set for August 14, but now the Justice Department is wanting to push it back until December – just before the primary elections begin. The investigation has been going on since last August, but he was not charged until June of this year. The FBI and DOJ have made this case a priority and moved quickly.
Top secret/classified documents were also discovered in the homes of President Joe Biden (stored in an unlocked garage) and former Vice President Mike Pence. Neither has been indicted or charged. The FBI and DOJ are supposedly still investigating.
There have been investigations into our current president, Joe Biden, and his son since 2017 for a long list of different things, including “an alleged criminal scheme involving then Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions,” not reporting income from foreign nations or citizens, bank deposits and transfers from foreign companies, and lying to investigators. Other than recent charges against Hunter Biden for tax evasion and non-payment of child support for his illegitimate child (verified through DNA), there have been no indictments to date.
The media have played an enormous role in how each of these men have been portrayed. The major news outlets, for the most part, have been reporting almost hourly on the investigations into Donald Trump for everything from paying off women, to his business dealings, to his family, to his supposed organization of the January 6 issues at the U.S. Capitol, to these classified documents.
These same news outlets have covered very little of the investigations into the Bidens, their finances, their connections to China and the Ukraine, their overseas travels, the coverage of the invasion being allowed on our borders, or other policy decisions that adversely affect us.
This is nothing new – the media have become the outlets used by both political parties to attack the other. I won’t go far back in history, but the media and federal law enforcement (attorney general and FBI) were deeply involved during the Obama administration covering up for Hillary Clinton’s mishandling of classified documents, emails and unprotected computer servers.
Then FBI director, James Comey, even admitted there was evidence she mishandled more than 30,000 emails, including some with classified information, and that foreign governments had possibly gained access to her computer. However, he determined that “no reasonable prosecutor” would bring charges against her. He did state she had been “extremely careless” in her actions.
So, the law is the law for some, but not others. Why? We have faced this in the general population when minorities and poor people are misrepresented in legal issues. People who could afford to pay huge sums or had political clout could get around breaking the law or facing false accusations. But the rest of us would only be able to use a public defender or less capable attorney to help us.
Justice is supposed to be blind and everyone treated equally under the law. Unfortunately, that is not the case in some instances. But it’s worse when it is such high levels of our government. Elected officials should be held to a higher standard because they are employees OF the people.
So, where are we now? We are in a political battle that will be played out during a presidential primary and general election. What we each hear on the television, radio and internet and/or read in the news outlets that are still available, will hear opinions slanted in one direction or another. There is no such thing as an honest, truthful, unbiased source for news anymore. The truth is hidden deep down under the layers and layers of innuendos and false/misleading accusations.
While I have been centering on the national level of politics and government, some of this is also seen on the state and local levels. It’s easier to discover because we are closer to those areas. In local government – towns, cities, and counties – we can see better for ourselves what is going on. But the spins are still there.
I’ll go with Dr. King’s adage of not judging a person by the color of their skin – or religion, ethnicity, family background – but judge them by their character. Of course, everyone has a skeleton in their closet, has made some type of bad decision in their past, or said something stupid or mean at some point. The most qualified person to vote for on any level is one who confesses their mistakes, explains the changes they have made and has shown they have changed. Unfortunately, not many people will do that.
Please take time to listen to or read the news – from all points of view – and then make your own decisions. Don’t be a follower just because “you were born that way,” “you were raised that way,” “that’s what my family (or spouse/preacher/boss) says to do.” Be that special person who makes up your own mind between right and wrong. I know it takes time and effort to do that, but it’s worth it.