The Color of Justice in America

The Hump Day Hot Topics!

If you have wondered where your daily Hobbservation Point posts have been, well, last Thursday evening, I dislocated my left shoulder and slightly tore a ligament while lifting kettlebells 😥. Friday's surgical procedure was a success and while there is still some pain, I am on the mend and extremely grateful for my family and friends who have checked on me and kept a Brother lifted in prayer!

While I was away, the news cycle across the globe has been-a-spinnin', so let’s get to it...

Trump Home Raided

While woozy on pain meds Monday evening, I was lucid enough to notice headlines that FBI agents had raided Mar-a-Lago, the swanky residence of former President Donald Trump in Palm Beach, Florida. 

At issue? From what's known at this time, the FBI is seeking to recover documents that the former president or his assigns allegedly removed when he left the White House in January of 2021. 

The Presidential Records Act of 1978 requires that an outgoing administration preserve, "any documentary materials relating to the political activities of the President or members of the President’s staff, but only if such activities relate to or have a direct effect upon the carrying out of constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties of the President.” The Act further proscribes, “Whoever, having the custody of any such record, proceeding, map, book, document, paper, or other thing, willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies, or destroys the same, shall be fined...$2,000, up to three years in prison, shall forfeit his office and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States.”

"What" documents were allegedly taken will remain a mystery for the time being due to the ongoing nature of the investigation. But "why" is where camp activity comes into play, with the majority of Democrats seeming assured that Trump has broken the law, is days away from being indicted and arraigned in a federal criminal courtroom, and will be disqualified from running for president in 2024. Conversely, Republicans, including several of Trump's potential 2024 presidential rivals, have already deemed the investigation yet “another witch-hunt" and are raising money and the ire of Trump loyalists. 

To be clear, just because the FBI or some other law enforcement agency launches an investigation (or serves a warrant) has never meant proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, which is why defendants walk out of court with charges dismissed or "not guilty" verdicts with far less fanfare than the bombast of their initial investigation or arrest.  

But I find it peculiar that Florida Gov. Ron Desantis, one who is constantly singing the praises of law enforcement when progressive protesters call cops out for beating, Tasering, or killing some unarmed Black citizen, took to the air to condemn the FBI raid as "an escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies.” Ditto for former Trump's Vice President Mike Pence, who said Monday evening that the FBI raid "...undermines public confidence in our justice system”—strong words from the man who still has yet to condemn Trump or the “Hang Mike Pence” minions who wanted him strung up on January 6th for not backing Trump’s silly lie that the election had been stolen.  

Now, would Desantis or Pence have made such strong anti-FBI statements if the Bureau had raided the offices of a Black Lives Matter affiliated group, or the home of an anti-police brutality advocates like Shaun King or Ben Crump?

Of course not!

Along those same lines, does it even matter to the knee-jerk Trump supporters that the current Attorney General, Merrick Garland, is a life-long Republican? Or that the current FBI Director, Christopher Wray, was personally vetted and selected for the post by Donald Trump in 2017?

No, I suppose "facts" like those will never get into the way of "feelings." But for now, I will withhold any judgment on the merit of the Trump raid until such time as the evidence is revealed and an indictment is unsealed—IF such events ever jump off. 

Still, while Trump remains popular among his devoted followers, there were lots of Republicans who saw the evidence of his Janaury 6th collusion and were prepared to move on towards a new presidential candidate in 2024. Now, due to their fear of the MAGA masses, this week's raid has only served to place Trump's GOP critics back into rather supportive stances amid MAGA hopes that the mercurial leader, one who holds the distinctions of being impeached twice, losing the popular vote twice, and still poised to make a run at another historical event—becoming the only president besides Grover Cleveland to serve a non-consecutive second term—pulls more legal rabbits out of his top hat.

The 5th Amendment

Speaking of Trump, his much anticipated deposition in New York Attorney General Letitia James’s probe into his financial empire ended with his refusal to testify per the 5th Amendment of the U. S. Constitution early this morning with the following statement: “Under the advice of my counsel and for all of the above reasons, I declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution.”

Trump arriving for depositions this morning…

While each American citizen can invoke the 5th to protect against giving answers that could land themselves in prison, I counter with some perspective from my very first boss, State Attorney Willie Meggs, who used to tell us: “An innocent person has nothing to hide!”

Stay tuned…

Insulin Blues

As I have written in this Blog before, I was diagnosed with diabetes back in October of 2018 and for the 18 months that followed, was forced to inject insulin shots twice daily. When I presented to the pharmacy for the first time to pick up the prescription, I thought that there was a mistake when the bill was close to $600 for two tiny vials of liquid—but it was no mistake. I thanked God that afternoon that I could afford the costs, but spent the ride home thinking "what happens to diabetics who can't afford $600 insulin?” (Trust, I know the answers…)

For as long as I can remember, the Republican Party has fancied itself the party of Big Pharmaceutical companies, which is why I am not surprised to see that only seven Republican U.S. Senators joined the Democratic Caucus to cap insulin costs at a very affordable $35 per vial.

The shame is that the Republican Party talks a great deal about populism and being for "the little person," and while I'm not so camp entrenched to foolishly believe that the Democratic Party gets it right all of the time, I do know that when it comes to the expansion of health care coverage over the past 60 years, that Democratic congressional leaders and presidents are THE reason that Medicare, Medicaid, and Obamacare exist to defray costs for services and medicines—and allow private coverage for people with preexisting illnesses.  

Now, if you are pondering who to support during the mid-term races this fall, I can assure you that the perfect candidate is not going to appear on any of your ballots. But when deciding, I suggest that you take inventory as to what is important to you and those you love and then juxtapose that inventory with where the two major parties stand on the issues.

2018: Insulin shot dependent Chuck

2022: Chuck trying to get in shape

Again, as a diabetic and former insulin dependent patient, I post the following 43 Republican senators who voted against the insulin cap below:

Hobbs Healthcare Wall of Shame

John Barrasso, WY 

Marsha Blackburn, TN 

Roy Blunt, MO 

John Boozman, AR 

Mike Braun, IN 

Richard Burr, NC 

Shelly Moore Capito, WV 

John Cornyn, TX 

Tom Cotton, AR 

Kevin Cramer, ND 

Mike Crapo, ID 

Ted Cruz, TX 

Steve Daines, MT 

Joni Ernst, IA 

Deb Fischer, NE 

Lindsey Graham, SC 

Chuck Grassley, IA 

Bill Hagerty, TN 

John Hoeven, ND 

Jim Inhofe, OK 

Ron Johnson, WI 

James Lankford, OK 

Mike Lee, UT 

Cynthia Lummis, WY 

Roger Marshall, KS 

Mitch McConnell, KY 

Jerry Moran, KS 

Rand Paul, KY 

Rob Portman, OH 

Jim Risch, ID 

Mitt Romney, UT 

Mike Rounds, SD 

Marco Rubio, FL 

Ben Sasse, NE 

Rick Scott, FL 

Tim Scott, SC 

Richard Shelby, AL 

John Thune, SD 

Thom Tillis, NC 

Patrick Toomey, PA 

Tommy Tuberville, AL 

Roger Wicker, MS 

Todd Young, IN

Carolyn Bryant to remain free

A Leflore County (Mississippi) Grand Jury considered seven hours of evidence and testimony regarding Carolyn Bryant Donham, the 88-year-old woman who falsely accused Emmett Till, 14, of whistling at her and grabbing her by the waist as she tended her family's grocery store in August of 1955—but did not return indictments for murder or kidnapping yesterday.

Till was brutally lynched by Bryant's first husband, Roy, and brother-in- law, J.W. Milam, after Carolyn allegedly pointed him out from among several cousins that lived on the sharecrop farm of their uncle, Mose Wright.

As a historian who grew up fascinated by the work of famed Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal, I had always hoped that Carolyn Bryant would be charged for her role in the kidnap and eventual murder of Emmett Till. Sadly, the United States has never actually squared its own racist history and what's worse is that today, all across the old South, southern Republican led legislatures and Republican governors have hijacked Black slang and the concept of "staying woke"—aware that racism is still alive—and are using "woke" as their trite phrase to attack the teaching of American history in all of its good, bad, and wicked forms.

While I am disappointed that "Missy" Carolyn won't meet her maker from a prison cell, I will continue to press on towards the mark of telling historical truths about her and others in these United States while invoking today's Scripture lesson as my guide: "And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” (Exodus 14:4)