John Bolton’s surrender to the Justice Department should be a warning to Republicans everywhere: you’re only on “the inside” until you’re not, and if John Bolton can be ousted from “the inside”, nobody is on “the inside”. At best, we’re subject to varying levels of apathy from the administration at any given moment if not actively in the crosshairs.
You’re not in the “big club”
You, the reader, are not a billionaire. You don’t own multi-billion dollar corporations. You are neither an ex-president nor a sitting president. If you were convicted of even one felony (never mind dozens), you wouldn’t get to say it was “unfair” and ignore the consequences.
You can even be selfish
If you aren’t swayed by the brutality and lack of oversight when it comes to ICE, at least be swayed by the self-interested desire to protect your rights by proxy via defending immigrants’ rights; whatever can be done to them can be done much more easily to you than it can be done to the people on the news and in office.
Nobody is above the lawlessness
John Bolton was a lifelong Republican who was loyal to Trump (up until he wasn’t). When you support a politician such as Trump, and when you cede rights away inch by inch to wield against those you perceive as below you on the social ladder, you’re giving the government the tools to someday turn on you as soon as it’s convenient.
Back to principles
If you’re someone who defends ICE on its stated principles, pause. If you voted for a convicted felon, you don’t support “law and order”. If you believe he was victimized by the system, and that his convictions weren’t “law and order”, that they were some sort of “lawfare”, then supporting him while he weaponizes (rather than reforms) that same system is logically still not “law and order”.
There is no logical path to both supporting the administration and supporting “law and order”.
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