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They’re all unfortunate not to be “American”. Otherwise they probably would have gotten away scot-free.
One way to look at the rise of Donald #Trump is as part of a decades-long backlash among the American leadership class to the idea of #accountability. Since Richard #Nixon was forced to resign, powerful people in both political parties have worked assiduously to ensure that their leaders would escape the consequences of their actions.
Marcin Romanowski, the former deputy justice minister in the right-wing Polish government, is in hiding in Hungary, accused of misusing public funds. The former #PrinceAndrew — #AndrewMountbattenWindsor — became the first member of the British #royal family in several centuries to be arrested; he’s been accused of crimes related to his relationship with the late #SexTrafficking financier Jeffrey #Epstein.
They’re all unfortunate not to be “American”. Otherwise they probably would have gotten away scot-free.
One way to look at the rise of Donald #Trump is as part of a decades-long backlash among the American leadership class to the idea of #accountability. Since Richard #Nixon was forced to resign, powerful people in both political parties have worked assiduously to ensure that their leaders would escape the consequences of their actions.
#Trump has evaded punishment for #crimes both low (campaign-finance violations, for which he was #convicted, though he will serve no time thanks to his 2024 victory) & high (his attempted overthrow of the federal government in the aftermath of his #2020election loss, for which he was spared by #SCOTUS’ decision to grant him a kingly #immunity).
This is not just about #Trump; his #impunity is the product of a society that has worked hard to help the #rich & #powerful elude punishment for #criminal behavior.
Gerald #Ford pardoned his predecessor [ #Nixon] in the name of “healing,” but inadvertently set a precedent that executive lawbreaking was no #crime.
The #Reagan admin engaged in blatant violations of federal #law during the #IranContra scandal, in which it sold weapons to the #Iran regime & used the finances to support anti-communist death squads in #Nicaragua. George H. W. #Bush, the former head of the #CIA, pardoned nearly all of the officials implicated in Iran-Contra—a move that many Americans supported, because they believed that fighting communism justified extreme measures.
George W. #Bush’s admin broke laws fighting the “War on Terror” but almost no one faced consequences, because many Americans believed that fighting terrorism justified extreme measures.
Bill #Clinton lied under oath, was impeached, & then was acquitted—& many Americans supported that too, because they sympathized with lying about infidelity.
