Politics has always been a nasty business. Mark Antony had Cicero's head and hands nailed to the Rostra in Rome's Forum. Leon Trotsky fled to Mexico to escape Stalin but ended up with an ice axe in his brain. American politics haven't gotten quite to that level - yet.

But there are those who see how dirty the Democrats are willing to play just now, and putting forth the idea that what is going around should be coming around.

...[T]the Democrat effort to criminalize their political enemies has reached its climax in 2023. Republicans have sat and watched as four separate indictments have come down from three separate prosecutors, all with the same purpose: imprisoning Donald Trump and as many of his political allies as they can get away with. Monday’s indictment out of Fulton County, Georgia, is the most extreme yet, seeking to ensnare not just Trump but 18 of his associates for the “crime” of contesting the 2020 election through the courts and legislative process. 

The goal of all these indictments is simple: rig the 2024 election in the court system before a single ballot can even be cast, and criminalize the MAGA political movement Trump has built. 

It has, apparently, come to this.

Sure, it would be preferable if American national politics was the sane, measured, collegial process it has been since... well, never. But this use of lawfare is something rather new. And there's an argument to be made here, namely that the GOP needs to apply a little sauce to the goose.

Nobody should want to see this happen. But neither should anyone be willing to have the GOP just sit back and let the Left walk all over them, dragging them into court on phony indictments and making them spend small fortunes defending themselves against bull leavings.

The cases against Trump and his associates aren’t the product of a reasoned criminal inquiry. They are the product of years of work that started from the premise of “investigate Trump for literally anything, and bring whatever charges you can come up with, even if they’re invented.” 

That premise can be equally applied to any Democrat official, and for the time being, it should be. Given how many lawmakers fudge their federal taxes (or don’t pay them at all), what are the odds they’re paying their state taxes properly? What are the odds that congressmen representing deep-blue cities in red states are perfectly clean in all their dealings? That’s a good place to start. Send out subpoenas, demand records, fish constantly for anything remotely questionable. 

“Investigate first, define the crimes later” should be the order of the day. And for even the most minor of offenses, the rule should be: no charity, no goodwill, no mercy. After all, it’s what Democrats have practiced the past seven years.

There's a lot the GOP could have to work with here; not only Hunter Biden but his uncle James Biden, the Black Lives Matter mansions affair, and let's not forget about the Clintons.

Here's the question that should be troubling folks that are looking past the next election: Where does it stop?

Granted, now the focus of the Left is on Donald Trump, and whatever else one might say about Donald Trump, in the public arena he's one hell of a bare-knuckled brawler. He can hit with the best of them, and that's the only reason he has lasted in this as long as he has, despite being at times thin-skinned and prickly (or maybe because of that). And there's reason to think this whole thing may backfire on the Democrats, badly. Former President Trump's primary polling numbers just seem to keep improving no matter how many indictments the Democrats toss at him; it's kind of wonderful.

But most of these folks aren't Donald Trump.

At what point does it become routine for seated politicians, especially Presidents, who control the Department of Justice, to seek to have their political opponents jailed? What caliber of persons will we get seeking elected office, if that's the case? (Granted the bar is already set pretty low.) Just how bad could things get, and what impact can all this have on the regular folks outside the Beltway? The silver lining behind this particular crowd is that, if the crowd in Washington is busy fighting each other, they may leave us alone for a while; but it wouldn't be prudent to count on that. There's always time to hit us with some new taxes and regulations, especially if the Democrats come out on top. 

One thing is clear: Any pretense of collegiality would be gone if both sides engage this way, and it will be slash-and-snap time at the zoo.

Another former GOP Presidential hopeful once summed up the worst case pretty well.