A Loose Cannon

Aileen Cannon, a judge Donald Trump appointed at the end of his term, is the judge in the documents case in Florida.

Of all the cases against Trump, many experts believe this one is the most provable. Trump took documents, many that are top secret, and failed to return them despite numerous asks by the National Archive.

While this is common knowledge, what many people don’t know is that Judge Aileen Cannon has announced that the trial is being delayed indefinitely. Why? Many motions made by the defense have not been ruled on. Judge Cannon, instead of ruling on them, has let them pile up, worse than rush hour traffic on the 405.

What many of us fear would happen in a second Trump administration is in fact occurring now.

A lawless ex-president is already powerful enough to imbalance the scales of justice. Trump’s “judge” is bending every rule to keep the trial from starting before the 2024 presidential election.

This is nor an isolated case. In Georgia, where the election interference case is supposed to start in the summer, is being delayed — an office romance means more then justice being served in a timely way — as is Trump’s insurrection case in Washington, where the Supreme Court is taking an inordinate amount of time to decide if a sitting president can stage a coup to stay in office.

What all of us are witnessing is a preview of a second Trump administration, grinding the rule of law in an amoral meat grinder. Where the law is violated as a rule, not the exception. And the legal guard rails don’t just bend but break.

There is a legal and  moral crisis that Trump and his enablers have set in motion. They don’t plan to stop. Should they gain the presidency they will support an autocrat.

Maga Republicans will deform American democracy into an unrecognizable antique of the 20th century.

When you hear Republicans say they won’t vote for Trump, that’s not enough. When Democrats say they will vote for Biden, that is not enough. Only when there is an awakening from the coma of apathy by the vast majority of the American people, will the tide turn.

Democracy is not a spectator sport. It is a daily commitment, a moral imperative to protect what the Founding Fathers worked so tirelessly to perfect: the American way of life, its institutions that people went to war and died for.

This is a battle for the soul of our country. A battle we can’t lose.