by Matthew Boose
Donald Trump’s historic arrest in Georgia Thursday evening was a virtual declaration of war on America. A former president was dragged into a filthy county jail behind enemy lines and had his mugshot taken, adding insult to the injury of an indictment for the bogus crime of challenging his political opponent. The dramatic moment followed days of buildup, as the “co-conspirators” in his “criminal enterprise” were methodically paraded in front of the country. These nefarious plotters include lawyers like John Eastman, a decent man whose “crime” is giving legal advice on a contentious constitutional question.
The Trump mugshot landed like a mortar: with his bold, instantly iconic expression, Trump denied his enemies a coveted triumph. What was meant as a humiliation of Trump and the half of the country he champions, instead flattered Trump and accentuated his power as one of the movers of history.
The left (and their accomplices on the right) have waited for this moment for years. And yet behind all their gloating, they are, undeniably, afraid. They are not reassured that Trump, and the America he represents, has been defeated. They know that, even as they plant their oppressive boot on Trump’s neck and the necks of countless Americans, “our democracy” is not safely established. Perhaps they sense, dimly, that they pushed things too far.
Between his four sham indictments, Trump is facing an antediluvian sentence of more than 700 years in prison. Only a great man could provoke his enemies to such ridiculous and desperate extremes. When Tucker Carlson asked Trump whether he expects to be assassinated next, it was no idle provocation. It was a logical question after eight years of continuous, hysterical escalation.
Those parochial, small-minded conservatives who dismiss Trump and the “drama” he creates betray their own insignificance and envy. The left certainly does not find Trump trifling; the trifling ones are those who believe a kitschy “family man” will save America from tyranny, rather than the man being persecuted before our eyes. The “drama” that these fools think they are above – because their eyes are too dim, souls too narrow, to comprehend anything not in front of their face – is called history. The pathetic, lifeless spectacle of Wednesday night’s “debate” has already been forgotten after the massive impact of Trump’s climactic return to Twitter. There’s no arguing with that kind of power.
Napoleon had his “cultists” too; and yet Napoleon was Napoleon. Like it or not, this is the era of Trump. It is a fact which neither friend nor foe can deny. He is the most famous, larger-than-life human being alive. He represents the hopes, and fears, of millions of people. Only the dullest person could watch his show trial unfold without a feeling of amazement. He is under pressure that would break lesser men, and yet, he is in good spirits. His Carlson interview was full of jokes. His enemies, even as they wield the full power of the state against him, are unhinged by his refusal to surrender. Commanded to kneel before the “law” and plead for mercy, Trump has continued to scorn the legitimacy of Biden and this entire moronic, degrading spectacle of “justice.”
If Trump returns to power, it will be despite incredible odds. And yet, it seems to contradict the law of history, to suppose that such petty, feeble minded mediocrities as Jack Smith, Fani Willis, and Alvin Bragg will succeed. These are people who, without their fussy titles and fake authority, would be less than nothing. Arrogant they may be, but they are weak and stupid. Trump’s mere name evokes fanatical love and hate; he is separated from his tormentors by an iron law of inequality.
Trump has already secured his place in history as a man who changed, and still can change, the world. It is not charisma alone that sets Trump apart, although he overflows with it; it is that rarest of qualities, greatness. With Trump, there is hope of dislodging the corrupt and evil regime that has taken over the country, and which, under Biden, has turned America into a Third World banana republic. Trump’s war with this regime is now all that counts; either he wins, and the regime is broken to pieces, or he is destroyed utterly, and America learns to live with a hated peace.
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Matthew Boose is a Mt. Vernon fellow of the Center for American Greatness and a staff writer and weekly columnist at the Conservative Institute. His writing has also appeared in the Daily Caller. Follow him on X / Twitter @matt_boose.
Photo “Donald Trump Booking Photo” by Fulton County Sheriff’s Department.
