The Maddening Double Standard

 “Once factual truth is no defense in politics, all that remains is spectacle and force.” Timothy Snyder

Does the arc of the moral universe bend toward justice? Perhaps a better question might be: is there a moral universe at all? 

It’s comforting to believe that truth wins out, that justice matters, and that those who commit misdeeds, who lie, cheat and steal their way through this life get punished, but the evidence is scant and spotty. Truth is a leaky rubber raft floating on a choppy sea in a post-truth era like ours, always on the verge of being submerged. 

Donald Trump remains a free man two years to the day after inciting a mob to storm the US Capitol, and having carted off a trove of documents, some highly classified, that belonged to the government. Lesser mortals caught with government secrets have paid harsh penalties, including prison time. For lesser mortals, unauthorized possession of classified stuff brought swift and heavy consequences, unlike the deferential way Trump has been treated. In Trump’s case the wheels of justice are barely turning, as if too encrusted with mud, weeds and rust to turn, with no certainty, even if the wheels do begin to move, that the rule of law will prevail against him or his co-conspirators. We can be reasonably sure that deals will be cut, immunity granted, indictments deferred, perhaps pardons issued. Trump has never been held to account, which is why he treats the law with contempt, as something others are required to follow but from which he is immune and exempt. Like the proverbial playground bully, he’s daring someone in authority to bring the fire and fury. No takers thus far, though there’s plenty of speculation, analysis, opinion and guesswork. I’ll believe it when I see an indictment. From what jurisdiction it emerges I don’t really care. 

Why can’t Trump be exiled to a barren island that is being inundated by the rising sea?

It’s the double-standard that makes it all so maddening. Only rich and powerful people can defer accountability or evade it entirely; most of us have minimal defenses, and some of us have none. 

Will Vladimir Putin ever be held to account or pay any personal cost for his decision to invade Ukraine? Not likely any time soon. Justice for the victims of his aggression -- and it is Putin’s aggression, Putin’s atrocities, Putin’s death and destruction and suffering -- must wait. And wait. Did Stalin suffer any punishment during his lifetime for the millions of his own people that he caused to die? 

What penalty will George Santos pay for lying about every aspect of his professional resume? Santos rode his lies to a seat in Congress. What does that say about his voters, and soon, constituents? I don’t think I’d want to be represented in Congress but a complete phony; the representative I have is not a phony, but he is a politician. Some might argue that it’s the same thing. 

What about Trump’s last Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, will he ever feel the heavy hand of the law for his role in Trump’s attempted coup?

Perhaps the only form of justice we can reasonably expect is the poetic kind. Or the neatly packaged kind found in books and movies and reality TV shows. However, watching Kevin McCarthy, one of the most spineless, craven, mendacious, arrogant, power-hungry, shameless and nakedly ambitious political performers, repeatedly humiliated by members of his own party is deeply satisfying and poetic and deserved. McCarthy mortgaged his soul long ago, trusting it would lead to his being awarded the Speaker’s gavel, which must be the thing in the world he most craves given how much humiliation he’s willing to endure to get it, like Golum and the ring, but his extremist colleagues have other ideas. Probably because he’s burned them so many times before, promising one thing to their face, doing another behind their back, they relish thwarting him and watching him grovel and debase himself; time and again they thrust the knife in McCarthy’s side and giggle as he bleeds. To make the torment stop he will concede away most of his own authority and power. Instead of expanding the prestige of the Speaker’s Chair, McCarthy will shrink and neuter it. He’s no Nancy Pelosi, is he? 

Maybe all the arc of the moral universe does is double back on itself, traveling endlessly but without ever reaching its destination, seeking but never landing on justice. 

Justice in human affairs, like progress, isn’t inevitable. Organized people and institutions bring it about. But what do we do when people corrupt institutions? What have people always done? Protest, riot, wage war? Negotiate? How have human beings settled their differences throughout history? Is it a silly dream that people can solve their mutual problems without violence? A liberal fantasy? The result of smoking too much weed? 

Can there be a moral universe without facts? 

It’s the second anniversary of Trump’s failed coup attempt. The people are still waiting for accountability.