If our government does not respect the Constitution, we have no constitution. If the government refuses to stand behind the principles of free speech, the right to free assembly, the right to petition the government, the right to a speedy trial, etc., those rights don’t exist. Instead, we simply have rule down the barrel of a gun…a gun held only in government hands. I thought of that when I read about Doug Mackey, sent to federal prison for seven months because he insulted Hillary voters, and Ryan Kelley, given an extra-long prison sentence on a misdemeanor because he didn’t grovel sufficiently before his J6 hanging judge.

Briefly, in the lead-up to the 2016 election, Douglas Mackey sent out some silly memes telling Hillary voters to vote by text. Only a moron would believe that. There’s no evidence that his memes had any effect whatsoever, other than saying that he thought Hillary voters were morons. Moreover, what he did wasn’t original. Others have done it, too, including leftists.

Nevertheless, the moment Biden entered the White House, the DOJ came after Mackey. The other day, he was convicted and sent to prison for seven months for telling an obvious political joke. Matt Walsh covers the entire episode in great detail in his video, and I urge you to watch it. (It’s the very first segment.)

A Trump Supporter Was Just Sent To Federal Prison For A Meme pic.twitter.com/2Nh2NtPMF5

— The Matt Walsh Show (@MattWalshShow) October 19, 2023

In his monologue, Walsh calls out the Republican politicians who, almost to a man, have had nothing to say about the administration’s open disdain for the First Amendment or for this miscarriage of justice. He thinks they don’t care. I think so, too, but I’d add one other thing: They’re afraid. They’ve seen what the Biden administration is doing to Trump. They know that, once the socialists are in power, having been an elected representative of the people and exercising their own right to free speech is no defense when the Gestapo, KGB, or Stasi come calling.

Mackey wasn’t the only one who found himself a victim of the new regime’s thought-crime police. Ryan Kelley showed up at the Capitol on January 6. He did not go into the Capitol. Like Ray Epps, he remained outside. Unlike Ray Epps, he didn’t urge dozens of people to enter the Capitol. Instead, he said, “They can’t stop us all,” and he supported another person moving around a metal bike rack, ripped a tarp, and took a photo of blood on the Capitol steps. If he were Antifa or BLM, he wouldn’t even have gotten a ticket.

But because he’s a conservative, while in the midst of campaigning to be governor of the State of Missouri, Kelley, a father of five, found his home raided, at which time he was arrested in front of his wife and children.

Kelley was just sentenced to 60 days in prison…on a misdemeanor! We’re getting used to these sentences against people for daring to oppose the election outcome, something that’s obviously allowed only if you’re a Democrat protesting Trump. There’s one thing, though, that makes the sentence against Kelley exceptionally disturbing. The judge wanted Kelley to be broken:

Of course, it was decided by Judge Cooper that Kelley, who has no criminal record, should receive a harsh sentence for his misdemeanor charge because, in his opinion, the former Republican candidate for governor did not show enough remorse for his non-violent crime.

Kelley was sentenced by Obama-appointed Judge Christopher R. Cooper, who said he had “some serious concerns” that Kelley was “truly remorseful,” citing fundraising appeals Kelley made two years after the riot calling Jan. 6 an FBI set-up.

“He shouted into the already riled up crowd; he consistently beckoned the crowd of rioters forward, closer towards the Capitol Building and police; he supported another rioter as he was moving a metal bike rack towards the front of the mob on the Northwest stairs, towards those rioters who were closer to officers; and he took a photograph of human blood by the stairs,” prosecutors wrote.

The truth is, Kelley’s biggest crime was not blaming President Trump for his actions.

Kelley told the court, “It’s not his fault, the former president, for my actions that day. He did invite us there, but my actions are my actions, and I own those.”

When Queen Elizabeth I ascended the throne of England in 1558, she ended decades of deadly religious persecution. That started with her father, Henry VIII, who persecuted Protestants when he was a Catholic. When he broke with the Catholic church and became a Protestant, he went after Catholics. When his son, Edward VI, became King, Edward continued to persecute Catholics. When Henry VIII’s daughter, Mary I, became Queen, she switched gears and began burning Protestants. Elizabeth stopped this cycle, saying, “I would not open windows into men’s souls.”

Our American judges are not supposed to make windows into men’s souls. Kelley committed minor acts of vandalism and took responsibility for his acts. That should have been the end of it, but in the type of behavior we’re accustomed to seeing in despots, from British monarchs to all manner of socialist tyrants, Judge Cooper looked into Kelley’s soul and decided he needed to be punished for his wrongful thoughts. That’s deeply un-American and should scare us all.

One other thing: Could there be a better reason to get rid of judicial and prosecutorial immunity?

Image: Federal judges if you’re a Trump supporter (created using AI).