MAGA patriotism and the other kind | Commentary | thestatehousefile.com – The Statehouse File

INDIANAPOLISA federal judge ruled that former President Donald Trump probably committed a crime with his desperate attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

John Krull, publisher,TheStatehouseFile.com

The judge called Trumps myriad lawsuits, fulminations and efforts to foment an insurrection a coup in search of a legal theory. The former presidents desperate attempt to hold onto office likely constituted an obstruction of a legal proceedingand not just any legal proceeding.

He was trying to stop free people from choosing their own government and their own leadership.

Thats MAGA-style patriotism for you.

Right on the heels of the judges ruling, the nation learned that more than seven hours of Trumps phone records from Jan. 6, 2021the day insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol, attempted to stop the certification of the 2020 election and tried to hang Vice President Mike Pencewere missing. The records that have vanished cover the hours when the mob roamed the halls of Congress, assaulted police officers and trashed the building that is the living symbol of Americans determination to govern themselves.

In the days and hours before the sacking of the Capitol, the former president and his allies urged the rioters to gather. Just before the attack on our temple of representative self-government, Trump spoke to the crowd and vowed to march with them to the Capitol. (He didnt.)

More MAGA-style patriotism.

How did Donald Trump respond to these damning stories?

The way he usually does when confronted by any evidence suggesting he is a demagogue, conman and blowhard.

By pointing his finger somewhere elseanywhere elseand trying to redirect attention away from his own offenses.

In an interview, the former president begged Russian autocrat and butcher Vladimir Putinyou know, the guy who is slaughtering men, women and children in Ukraineto help him.

After all, whats more importantthe death of thousands of innocent people or Trumps political fortunes?

And why shouldnt a former commander-in-chief cozy up to a tyrant who has made not-so-veiled threats to use nuclear weapons against the United States if he doesnt get his way in Ukraine?

Again, MAGA-style patriotism.

Trump said he wanted Putin to cough up dirt on Hunter Biden, the wastrel son of President Joe Biden.

Lets deal with this right way.

Hunter Bidens alleged transgressions should be investigated.

Contrary to Trump backers feverish charges that everyone is ignoring the younger Bidens unseemly activities, the Department of Justice has been and is investigating the whole mess. The investigators have been going through Hunter Bidens records, interviewing his associates and even interrogating the mans old girlfriends.

So far, no one in the Biden family seems to have called the investigation a witch hunt or invoked the Fifth Amendment, which protects one against self-incrimination, even once, much less hundreds of timesas Trumps children and associates have when theyve been questioned under oath.

If there is evidence that Hunter Biden has committed a crime, he should be charged and tried. If found guilty, he should suffer the consequences.

But this shouldnt be an either/or proposition.

If Hunter Biden did something wrong, that doesnt mean Donald Trump and his cabal of family and cronies who tried to stop the American people from ruling themselves should receive a pass.

They, too, should be investigated.

And if there is evidence they committed crimesas it appears there isthey should be charged and tried.

If convicted, they should suffer consequences.

Being president isnt a right.

Its a privilege and a duty.

One of the responsibilities of the job involves putting the nations interests ahead of ones own.

Doubtless, Joe Biden is not thrilled that the Justice Department is investigating his son.

But hes not whining about it at every opportunity. Hes not complaining that any attempt to inquire into his dealings is a form of persecution.

And he isnt begging foreign dictators and murderers to save him from being held accountable for his own actions.

Thats why Joe Biden never will stir either sympathy or respect from the MAGA crowd.

Hes not a MAGA-style patriot.

Hes just a patriot of the old-fashioned sort.

You know, the kind that puts country ahead of self.

John Krull is director of Franklin College's Pulliam School of Journalism and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

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MAGA patriotism and the other kind | Commentary | thestatehousefile.com - The Statehouse File