In an article for the Wall Street Journal, Holman W. Jenkins wrote about the recent search (raid) of our 45th president's Mar-a-Lago palatial home.  Jenkins's long-winded analysis concludes: "Don't put it past Mr. Garland's inherited crew of bumblers to end up electing Mr. Trump a second time."

This "objective assessment" is not far from the observations made by former N.Y. governor Andrew Cuomo, who thinks this type of Justice Dept. and FBI overreach may generate a lot of sympathy for Trump and thereby dilute the credibility of the Jan. 6 House "investigation" (actually, a Soviet-style show trial that calls no defense witnesses).  Jenkins and Cuomo are looking exclusively at the political implications of this latest abuse of power and conclude that instead of its putting Trump in a bad light, the opposite may be the result.

Chris Christie, former governor of New Jersey, is not as concerned as Jenkins or Cuomo about the raid generating support for Trump.  Instead, he seems to think this raid is no big deal.  He states that breaking into safes is standard operating procedure for operations of the kind that took place in Florida, but — ho hum — we'll just have to wait and see how it plays out.

So the Wall St. Journal, Cuomo, and Christie have in common being oh, so detached and "objective."  What has happened in Florida is just another political and legal procedure that will run its course.

Their conclusions — that FBI and DOJ "bumbling and meddling" (more accurately to be called corruption) might have certain unintended political consequences or is a type of merely legal limbo — are devoid of integrity.  What all three of the above fail to see is the disintegration of the rule of law in the USA taking place before our eyes.  This search of Trump's Florida home should be seen as a collapse of integrity in and by our Justice Dept.  The lack of integrity of public figures coast to coast and in government has been exposed.  It is clear that this is a monumental ethical crisis and not mainly a political or legal crisis.

Not a finger was raised to stop this travesty while it was in progress.  Justice Dept. and FBI employees did not resign en masse.  Greg Kelly on his Newsmax show on August 9 expressed his view that this would be in order, but it has not occurred.  Ron DeSantis did not call up the National Guard to confront the FBI in Florida to thereby intensify and expose the crisis for what it is.  Nor did he go to Mar-a-Lago to personally stand with other public officials (or perhaps with governors from other states) to personally object and argue with the FBI at Trump's residence.  Rather, the FBI's right to execute this nefarious action went unchallenged.

FBI overreach has increasingly been in the news the past few years, but we have not seen any real pushback by our elected or appointed officials.  We see that an FBI agent was present but drove away from the attempt a few years ago to assassinate Pamela Geller by Islamic extremists.  Aware of this intention because of a deftly placed agent (or perhaps he was the instigator), nothing was done by the FBI to prevent this attempt, which was stopped by a local sharpshooter in Garland, TX.  Gov. Whitmer of Michigan was supposedly the intended victim of a kidnapping plot, but two of the accused were acquitted, and a mistrial was declared for the other two.  Not only was it some of the worst investigative work in the history of the USA, but serious questions were raised as to whether the FBI, rather than the indicted men, actually set up the entire project as a false flag to allow the arrest of certain right-wingers.  It  may have been (and this writer believes it is likely) that this was part of an ongoing FBI plot to make the right seem dangerous and out of control.  With weapons and an excessive show of force, the FBI arrested Roger Stone, Peter Navarro, and Simone Gold, showing unnecessary aggression.  Our ship of state is sinking faster than the Titanic.

Where are the religious leaders of Christianity and Judaism, screaming to high heaven about the breach of the commandment "Thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor"?  This is the basis in law for our laws against perjury but also for our belief that justice is and should be "blind" — i.e., even-handed in its application.  Has it already been forgotten that we are not to bear false witness against our enemies any more than against our friends?  The DOJ and FBI are taking steps, according to Joe DeGenova, former attorney general for Washington, D.C., to indict Pres. Trump.  I am already imagining a grim photo op of Trump being led to an FBI vehicle in handcuffs.

Some of our senators and congressmen were vocal and insistent in questioning Christopher "Pretty Boy" Wray or Merrick "Dried Prune" Garland recently in the formal halls of Congress.  But, after an egregious event of this magnitude in Florida, why do not some of these so-called conservative or right-wing senators and congressmen  as a group go to the homes of Garland or Wray or to restaurants where they eat and confront them to express how offended they are?  Why are we not seeing the leaders of various conservative groups and Protestant denominations and churches, as well as the Conference of Catholic Bishops, picketing the DOJ and FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. with signs saying "Tell The Truth," "Follow the Ten Commandments," "Love Your Country," "Be Men of Honor," or "Corrupt Officials Must Resign"?

We have reached a crucial turn in the road, but those driving the truck of state appear to be asleep at the wheel.  Our spiritual leaders are also dragging their feet and sluggishly accepting the status quo.  Without pro-active leadership, the truth will be corrupted and then expunged.  Lies and deepening injustice will increase.

Image via Pixabay.