NOW WE KNOW WHAT "ORWELLIAN" MEANS:  Yeah, George Orwell would have loved that performance by the Atlanta DA, late at night, announcing her grand jury's indictment of the immediate world, including, of course, former President Donald Trump.

Look, I'm not a lawyer, but I'm a citizen who thinks the justice system has to play it straight.  I'm not feelin' that right now.

Consider this:  President Trump has now been hit by his fourth set of indictments.  And ain't it the truth – all four sets have arrived in a small number of months, right before the start of a presidential election campaign.  Just dedicated law-enforcement professionals doing their job.  Stop laughing please.

Alfred Hitchcock, the great suspense director, once said something that is relevant here.  He was asked about the idea of coincidence in a motion picture.  He replied that people will accept a coincidence at the start of a story, but not at the end.  And what are we seeing now?  We are seeing the end of two stories in our political theater – the story of Donald Trump, and the story of Joe Biden.  We will know the fate of both men in not many months.  And as these stories end, the American people are being subjected to that long list of indictments.  I can imagine a guy in Brooklyn looking at his TV – remember Hitchcock's admonition – and asking, "Are you kiddin' me?  Are you tellin' me that this is all a coincidence?  You think I'm a damned fool?"  And you can be sure that millions of voters, probably tens of millions, are already thinking the same thing.  Are you kiddin' me?

That is the paradox here.  As the legal attacks on Trump become more strident, his supporters become more defiant.  This is one of the great political stories of our country's history.  Will Trump survive as a candidate, and even go on to win the presidency again, or will he be forced out of the race?  Will Biden, despite his physical frailty, win another term, with the public knowing that his Justice Department destroyed his main opponent, Donald Trump?

It has never happened before.

In "All About Eve," Bette Davis announced, "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night."  For America, that describes the next year.

August 14,  2023