One POTUS, four indictments, 91 charges!

There was a time, not so long ago actually, when the Republican Party proudly called itself the "Party of Personal Responsibility."

Oh, how the Grand Old Party has steadily fallen!

With the latest unsealed indictment, this time in Atlanta, Georgia, one Donald John Trump, the 45th President of the United States, is facing a combined grand total of 712 years in prison—and six months to boot—after calculating his maximum exposure to the 91 criminal counts that hang over his head like the Sword of Damocles!

Whether Trump will get convicted in each case, let alone each count, is unknown at this time. But what is known is that the entire Republican notion of “personal responsibility” was and remains rank sophistry in that back when Ronald Reagan was popularizing the phrase, he was doing so to cast aspersions against poor people, particularly poor Black and Brown people, who he and his ilk deemed "Welfare Queens" and "Poverty Pimps" juxtaposed to the "hard working" (read-white) folks all across America. The same holds true today, as it disgusts me to no end to hear white Republicans, and their Black and Latino lackeys, criticize prosecutors for not going after “violent thugs” and gang members.

In fact, the Reagan era Republicans repeated the “personal responsibility” phrase so much that it still rings in my head as I watch the heir to his legacy, Donald Trump, rack up his fourth criminal indictment—91 criminal charges in all—from as far north as New York to as far south as the 45th president's adopted South Florida home. 

Besides being Democrats, what do former Presidents Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter have in common? Neither (NANN, NARY, ZERO) had a staff member or associate indicted for criminal behavior on their watches, according to PolitiFacts. Besides being Republicans, what do former Presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and Donald Trump have in common? Each had dozens of key staff members or associates indicted and convicted, with Trump leading the way with over 60 and counting—followed by Reagan (33), and Nixon (28).

Predictably, the old "Party of Personal Responsibility" continues in its modern version as the "Party of Personal Deflection," as few prominent party members are willing to call Trump out for his own criminal conduct during the waning days of his administration. 

Party members like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz who, last night, went on Fox News’ Sean Hannity Show right after the latest indictments were unsealed and yelled, "I'm pissed," before adding, right on cue, that “President Joe Biden is weaponizing the justice system because they are afraid of the voters.”

Yeah, ok, Teddy...

Ted Cruz wasn't “pissed” when Trump called his daddy an assassin and his wife “ugly” back in 2016, but he claims that Trump facing justice for his crimes makes him “pissed” today…

You see, Ted Cruz, the man, was actually more like a political gelding in 2016 as he stood like a wimp on debate stages and allowed Donald Trump to call his wife "ugly" multiple times while accusing his long deceased father of conspiring to kill President John Kennedy—and Cruz never even raised his voice or his fists in defense of his family honor, so I'm not surprised that he is now defending his abuser, Mr. Trump, because Stockholm Syndrome is real!

But Ted Cruz, the lawyer—a Harvard educated lawyer at that—knows fully well that Trump has been indicted in four separate jurisdictions not because of Joseph Biden, or the Democrats, but because Donald Trump can't follow simple rules, OR, keep his tiny Twitter fingers at rest, OR, keep his big mouth shut!

Lest we forget that it was Donald Trump who paid illegal hush money to a porn star and a Playboy Playmate—not Joe Biden...

Lest we forget that it was Donald Trump who foolishly removed highly classified documents from the White House, showed them off like county fair prizes to his friends, and refused to give them back to the National Archives—not Joe Biden...

Lest we forget that it was Donald Trump who spoke loudly while exhorting his followers to "March to Capitol Hill and Stop the Steal," with the alleged "steal" actually being his own "Big Lie" that the 2020 election was "rigged," this despite having been told by every single Republican with a shred of integrity that the election was lost fairly and squarely to Joe Biden. As a result, it was Donald Trump who directly aided, abetted, and encouraged tens of thousands of violent criminals who broke into the Capitol Complex, beat up on the Capitol Police, and threatened the lives of Republican and Democratic politicians alike—not Joe Biden...

And lest we forget that it was Donald Trump, caught on a rambling hours long phone call, demanding that Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger "help him find the votes" to overcome his huge loss to Joe Biden. When Raffensberger and Republican Gov. Brian Kemp refused, they drew the ire of an angry Donald Trump who blasted them as traitors to the party all because they refused to be traitors to the lawful democratic transfer of power! Again, that was Donald Trump on the phone conspiring to overthrow lawful election results—not Joe Biden...

No matter how much Trump and his fans deflect by saying that prosecutors should "go after real criminals" (again, poor Black and Brown folks), the overwhelming truth is that the former president's lack of self control makes him a real criminal—even if the crimes are white collar in nature!

And no matter how much that I hate to see this never ending carnival show continue in multiple courts across our nation, I understand that these prosecutions must go on because it is fundamentally unfair that the rich and the powerful typically avoid being held accountable for their criminal misbehaviors, while the middle class and the poor lose their livelihoods and often their very lives when they brush up against the justice system.

To be real, had Trump shown even the slightest bit of humility since leaving office, he, too, very likely would have avoided prosecution. But that's not Trump's nature, and because his nature is to poke the proverbial bear when he is in proximity, it causes me no stress to watch multiple bears do what bears do, which is to maul anything or anyone foolish enough to get trapped within striking distance.