By Medicine Hat News Opinon on November 1, 2017.
Today is the Feast of All Souls, a day to remember to dearly departed and those laid peacefully to rest in their graves who we have known over the years. The day itself has two spiritual purposes: First, to remember the departed and reflect on the fleeting nature of life, and secondly, (deep down), to pray the dead will stay at rest and not return to haunt the living. If only there were similar ceremonies which could be conducted to ensure the living can’t come back to haunt the living, some in the Trump administration must be thinking today. With the indictment of Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort and Manafort’s assistant Richard Gates, and the plea bargain signed with George Papadopoulos, a significant figure with in depth knowledge of candidate Trumps anti-Hillary operations during the last election, unsealed Monday, massive political shockwaves have been eddying and emanating throughout Washington D.C. the past few days. Much like North Korea’s collapsing mountain-based nuclear test facility, there is no question damage has been done to Trump’s presidency, the only question is how far the fault collapse will go. Right underneath the White House itself? Or just around the periphery? It is no secret President Trump and his entire staff have been known to play fast and loose with the truth, and have, by and large, been extremely successful a fomenting half-baked conspiracy theories which distract attention from their own inner turmoil and from external problems. But with a federal indictment and a guilty plea filed with the courts this week for two key figures in the Trump campaign, special counsel Robert Mueller is sending a clear signal that habitual lies and “alternative facts” will not distract the FBI or the American justice system from hunting this fox all the way back to its den. The hounds have been unleashed in Washington. Those with something to hide better start talking or find themselves the ones with pack’s teeth at their throats. All the dirty little secrets hiding under the stone of Russia’s interference in the last presidential election campaign will come out. There is no evidence, as yet, linking President Trump himself to any wrongdoing when it comes to Russian collusion, but the FBI, whom Mueller is the ex-head of, doesn’t work that way. They don’t come at you straight up. Notorious gangster Al Capone was never convicted for his more horrendous crimes such as murder, extortion and bribery of public officials in 1920s Chicago. He went to jail for tax evasion. President Trump may have no indictable links to the Russians waiting for him in his closet, but a man of his notoriety, excess and history of odd and failed commercial deals may have other indictable things waiting within his business interests from before his presidency. As Mueller demonstrated this week, he will turn over every stone, and whatever criminal things he finds there, related to Russian campaign interference or not, will be brought to light and charges will be laid. (Tim Kalinowski is a News reporter. To comment on this and other editorials, go to https://www.medicinehatnews.com/opinions.) 10