Procedural Fairness and Trump

"It ain't fair what people in this town are trying to do to you."
--Wilbur 'Shooter' Flatch (Hoosiers)

Prior to the 2016 election, these pages postulated that one reason for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump's rising popularity was growing support from fair-minded people who saw blatant bias against Trump during the campaign as a violation of procedural fairness.

Nearly two years later, here's a thoughtful piece from a former Democrat who walked away from her party because "even a flawed sinner like Trump doesn't deserve to be figuratively kicked every day in a manner that's often dishonest, exaggerated or out of context."

She further observes that because Trump ran as the most anti-establishment of candidates, "almost everything that political and media establishments have done since then have confirmed what millions of voters have realized: these establishments are out of control" and that this "post-election behavior has confirmed that a President Trump was necessary [emphasis mine] for this time in American politics."

She notes the hypocrisy of many on the left who pay lip service to civil liberty only to ostracize Alan Dershowitz, one of the few principled progressives who has stepped up to defend the rights of the Trump team.

"The striking thing is," she adds, "the side that has been accusing Trump of subverting democracy has been guilty of it themselves. In America, even a serial killer has rights and deserves due process. But in the eyes of the left, Trump deserves neither."

She concludes:

"But the public isn't dumb. Those of us who aren't hardcore Democrats recognize what's going on and have come to see something that seems counter-intuitive. This loud, brash president is actually a victim and an underdog in American politics today, and he hasn't been getting a fair shake since he won the election.

"And so we feel sorry for him, and angry and repulsed by his opposition."

When people think someone is not being given a "fair shake," they are naturally prone to begin pulling for him. Leftists seem incapable of figuring this this out.