Are Dems dumb enough to bring criminal charges vs President Trump?

RealClearPolitics is an American political news website and polling data aggregator which has been publishing reasonably balanced analyses of the state of the disunion since 2000. In addition to being an editor for its sister publication, RealClearInvestigations, J. Peder Zane, contributes columns to RCP. "Are Democrats Really Going to Cross the Rubicon?", published yesterday,  is a must-read. If you haven't got time right now, the "Reader's Digest version" below answers Walt's headline question.

Little attention [has been] paid to the ineffably consequential decision by Democrats to go all-out in their assault on American democracy. 

Just as Julius Caesar invited civil war by crossing the Rubicon, the partisan House committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol let it be known that it will recommend bringing two sets of criminal charges against former President Donald Trump regarding the 2020 election.

Given how divided our country is, and the wide support Trump still enjoys, his indictment would be an incalculably reckless act. If Democrats had a slam dunk case against Trump, one could argue that they might have some justification for putting the nation at such risk. They do not. 

So far, their argument – which echoes the larger left-wing push to punish and erase all narratives that do not support their preferred version of reality – appears to be that there is a single truth, their truth, and that Trump’s unwillingness to embrace it is a crime. It is impossible to overstate the danger of this mindset, which is a profound assault on free speech and a dramatic escalation of the effort to criminalize political differences.

Politics in free nations is necessarily rough and tumble. It is a contest of ideas that often lack scientific precision. It makes room for debatable claims that may contain falsity as well as kernels of truth. The best evidence shows that Trump did not win as many votes as Biden in 2020, but also that it was a highly unusual contest filled with troubling irregularities. Prohibiting people from making that case is un-American. 

Once a precedent is set, it becomes the norm. Do we really want to go down this road of indicting – rather than just challenging and debunking – those whose only crime is holding problematic opinions? Why would Democrats place our republic in such peril? The answer is that they want this conflict.

As polls show their effort to transform America meeting ever wider resistance, they seem eager for a final battle that will allow them to vanquish the right once and for all. Unable to achieve their ends through democratic channels, they are intent on blowing up the system.

Democrats are convinced that only they possess the truth and that those who disagree with them are beneath contempt. They see their venomous tactics as virtuous. If you have ever confronted hard-core Democrats about these issues, you know there is no talking to them. All they have is their certainty. 

The incendiary path Democrats are heading down is unimaginably destructive, not just to the United States but to the world. As Putin continues his war in Ukraine and China’s saber-rattling regarding Taiwan intensifies, united American leadership is indispensable. Instead of bringing us together, criminal charges against Trump would burn down our house.

Further reading: Walt strongly recommends that you read every word of Mr Zane's column. Then read it again. If you know any Dumbocratic solons, you could write to them and tell them they're making a big mistake. Not that it will do any good. As Mr Zane says, there's no talking to them.