Indictment
What did we expect? Tuesday, for the first time in the history of the United States, a former President was indicted on Federal criminal charges. While that was no moment of celebration, it should be one of some satisfaction. Regardless of the “talking points” of Trump supporters (see Monday’s essay – The Difference), Tuesday’s actions demonstrated that for a least a brief moment, no American is above the law.
So when I woke up this morning, I guess I thought that somehow the world would be different. Somehow there would be a “sea change” in American attitudes. Somehow, we took a step towards a future of less partisanship, and less divide. But I was wrong. Nothing was different.
Old Friends
I sat with two old friends a couple nights ago, talking about track and field (I was at a track and field camp), the Cincinnati Reds, and life. But even after the momentous legal events of that day (which we avoided) there was little change in the “crisis” of politics. We spent a lot of time on the “woke culture wars”, coming from opposite sides, looking for some “middle ground”. But we found little. Our conversation was amicable, and both sides reached out to each other. In the end, we drank our beer (Coors Light not Bud Light) and called it a night. Safer to talk about the intricacies of track technique.
And I received a message from another old friend, reacting to the events of that day. His thoughts seemed to have little hope, seeing the indictments as cementing the divide. I am reminded of Patrick Henry’s speech to the House of Burgesses at the beginning of the American Revolution. “Gentlemen cry peace, peace, but there is no peace. The War is actually begun. The next gale that sweeps from the North shall bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms.”
Henry knew, as Caesar did crossing the Rubicon in open rebellion to Rome: “Alea lecta est, The die is cast”. History has passed a point of no return, there is no going back to other days. My old friend was sad, with little hope for an American future without divisiveness. There is no way back, and seemingly no way forward which avoids the hate, polarization, and rhetoric. For him, the indictments signal a new era of hate. He may well be right.
Whose History?
The rest of Patrick Henry’s speech charts his path forward into Revolution:
“Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
The only way forward is through it, through the future. Like our “old coaches” conversation, there is really no middle ground. As President Biden is fond of saying, there is simply a “binary choice”: Trump, MAGA, culture war; or Biden, “woke” (whatever that means) and inclusion.
It’s kind of funny. Biden was the definition of a man of the middle, a Senator known for reaching out to the other party, a man who would eschew partisanship to get an idea into law. And yet he becomes the leader of what really is a culture war, a war in our society (so far) without guns, but a war nonetheless.
And it’s also funny that the language of our history, from Patrick Henry to Abraham Lincoln will be used by both sides to defend their position. I guess the rebellious Confederates saw themselves walking in the father’s footsteps, fighting a revolution against tyranny in Jeffersonian terms (even as they protected the most tyrannical institution of all, slavery). Washington, Jefferson, and Lee were literally their “kin”. And so “… liberty or death” could be the “battle cry” of both sides of our looming “war”, both sides of the “binary choice”.
The Flag
There is nothing more American than both sides of a struggle trying to wrap themselves in the “flag”. And while the Star Spangled Banner has become symbolic of Trumpism, the history of our Nation is also one of increasing rights and struggles for freedom. Black Lives Matter, the LGBTQ rights movement, the children marching against guns all are just as big a part of the American tradition as those that want to turn the clock (and calendar) back to the oppression of the 1950’s.
There were indictments on Tuesday. More will come, in Georgia, in Washington, DC, and now rumored in New Jersey (I guess everything isn’t really legal in ‘Jersey’). While I see each indictment as a step forward towards justice and against corruption, my old friend is right. As each indictment is unsealed, it will further “seal” division in our Nation. And no one can know what the final outcome of that schism will be.
