There are millions of American citizens who absolutely hate Donald Trump. There many others who fear that he is a threat to the republic. This hatred and fear receive a daily feeding from the mainstream media, which appears to have lost all sense of integrity and fairness in covering the news. Because of this hatred and fear of Trump, the general public appears ready to accept serious distortions of law and due process in order to destroy him.

These people are making a terrible mistake. They are threatening the judicial foundations of our civil society..

Yes, Trump is often unpleasant. He is a braggart, often churlish, and tends to demand absolute agreement and support from his retainers. Over time he has alienated a number of individuals who were formerly close to him, and many members of the so-called establishment feel that Trump is not fit for high political office. This opinion is fueled in large part by the fact that Trump is an outsider, repelled by the ways of Washington, and does not hesitate to express his contempt for the bureaucracy and the news media.

Nevertheless, Trump has his good qualities. His personal life is not without problems, but he has a family of very accomplished children who appear devoted to him. He is a person of enormous energy and strength of will. He is an avowed patriot and seems to sincerely want what is best for our country. Though not a religious man, he instinctively supports Christian evangelicals and Catholics in the ongoing cultural battles, a stand that is completely at variance with the attitude of the Biden administration. Unlike many politicians, Trump obviously did not seek office for financial gain. In fact, his personal wealth has decreased during his time in politics. He is a highly accomplished businessman, and he brought his business acumen to bear during his time in office. He achieved much during his first three years as President in the face of constant and ferocious assaults from his political opposition and the media. He projected strength and confidence in his dealings with foreign leaders, and his fiscal policies promoted a rapid expansion of the American economy. Despite his many achievements, however, Trump’s personal shortcomings and unfair coverage by the media left him unable to win the hearts of little more than 40% of the American electorate, and when the economy began to regress because of the Covid epidemic Trump became vulnerable in the 2020 election.

Trump refused to play nice and simply exit the political scene. He believed that he had been cheated out of victory in 2020, and he was determined to rewin the Presidency in 2024. The new Presidental administration was horrified and began a campaign to destroy him. The Department of Justice was weaponized under Attorney General Merrick Garland, and it went after Trump with no regard for precedent or long established legal principles. For example, DOJ lawyers have trampled on the almost sacrosanct beliefs in attorney-client privilege and free political speech. The accusations of criminal activity on the part of President Trump appear entirely withot merit, and it is virtually certain that these charges will be thrown out upon appeal to higher courts. In the meantime, however, they are handicapping Trump’s candidacy. The very fact that the DOJ would attempt to prosecute the administration’s chief political opponent is frightening. Nothing like this has ever happened before in our nation’s history. Those citizens who cheer the admininstration’s unethical and probably illegal use of the DOJ to defeat Trump are wrong. They are allowing their hatred of of our former President to trump good sense, and that might come back to bite all of us.