A Civil Liberties Election
The Harris Administration harasses and imprisons its opponents, from President Trump himself to his aides to protesters and journalists. What else do you need to know? (600 words, 3 min.)
The Harris Administration prosecutes its opponents, and then uses transparently political convictions as evidence that the opposition is criminal. From “34 felonies” for one underlying allegation (paying an alleged mistress), to jailing even peaceful January 6 protesters, this administration has weaponized the legal system (it can no longer be called a “justice” system) against the opposition party.
As I wrote yesterday, the “our democracy” people have it exactly backwards. Abusing the legal system to target the opposition party and its nominee is the opposite of the rule of law. The Harris/Biden administration believes half the country to be “fascist” MAGA extremists, and wishes to exclude them from the realm of legitimate political life.
Many use that expression to mean a strict or severe enforcement of the law, when in its original sense, deriving from the English legal theorist A.V. Dicey, it refers to an equal application of the law without regard to personal identity or political allegiance. This is clearly not how the law is applied to Trump, nor to his supporters, and not even to conservatives as a group, all of whom are targeted for arbitrary prosecutions.Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro went to prison for the same supposed offense that Hunter Biden and Merrick Garland did not go to prison for, with the sole exception that Bannon and Navarro were found in contempt of a Congressional committee that violated established precedents that permit the opposition party a voice.
Anti-abortion protesters have been jailed. Parents concerned about gender ideology were called “domestic terrorists,” and the administration only backed off when there was a public outcry.
Political opponents like Tulsi Gabbard were put on terror watch lists. Critical journalist
of was visited by IRS agents on exactly the same day he testified before Congress. Journalist James O’Keefe was arrested by the FBI, and the contents of his devices leaked to The New York Times. The IRS and the FBI punish whistleblowers who complain about politicization.What will happen if Harris is reelected? She (or whoever is making decisions) will be unconstrained by the media, that one-time opponent of arbitrary power, which now swallows the Administration’s narratives whole. She will have four more years to appoint more judges and more prosecutors, including special prosecutors, to pursue vendettas against opponents. Anyone who protests against this administration or its policies will risk being labeled an insurrectionist or a terrorist or an extremist, and arrested and imprisoned on spurious charges. Lawyers who defend them will face professional and career consequences, and the press has shown itself unconcerned with the civil liberties of deplorable garbage people.
This is the conclusive argument against Harris: if re-elected, this administration will have unchecked power, supported across the left-dominated institutions, from law enforcement, to the intelligence agencies, to the unelected bureaucracy, to the legal profession, to much of the judiciary (including especially the all-important DC courts). The regime will have the full support of the media, which no longer scrutinizes power but instead runs interference for it, and the tech companies and social media as well.
Reasonable people can differ about tariffs or taxes. But with an administration that arrests its critics, those issues are beside the point. This is a civil liberties election, and President Trump is the only candidate who has never arrested his political opponents.