#361: I just received a $1 Million fine for speeding
No one may be above the law, but the law isn’t above us either
Imagine this, if you will. You are going down an empty expressway. No cars are in sight, and you push your vehicle to the limit. There aren't any issues with the weather, and you know that there isn't another exit for 10 miles, so you aren’t putting anyone in danger. Then you step on it, and open it up. You get to 120 mph for the first time ever. Phew, no harm or foul, and you slow back down to 70.
Several years later, you go to the mailbox, and there is a ticket from the State Police. Unbeknownst to you, the State installed cameras on that stretch of the expressway you were speeding on that afternoon so long ago. Inside the envelope is a picture of you in a car you no longer own, and a big, fat, fine.
The fine is for $1 Million.
You say hey, wait a minute, I didn't do anything wrong. No one was there to witness this, and there were no injured parties. Heck, this was almost five years ago. What's this all about?
Now you start to worry. You don't have a million dollars, and your assets are all tied up now. You may have been speeding, but everyone does it on that stretch of the highway, and they aren't getting tickets. What the heck is this all about?
Then you find out that the person in charge of fines for speeding tickets is an old enemy of yours from college. You stole his girlfriend back then, now your wife, and he never forgave you. He vowed that he would get you back one day, and it seems he has.
This is the United States, where due process and an 8th Amendment protects you from excessive fines. You'll take this to the court of appeals. Oops, you must pay the fine in your State before your appeal is allowed.
I can go on with this analogy, but I think you understand. These types of lawfare events are what is happening in the US at this moment. People in government are relentlessly going after individuals to convict them of anything they can find, to take away your choice as a voter.
I’m going to compare this to communism, you may not like it, but bear with me. During Joseph Stalin's reign of terror, his chief enforcer was Lavrentiy Beria. His famous quote was, "Show me the man, and I'll show you the crime." Knowing that if you look hard and long enough at anyone, you can find them to have done something wrong. Does this sound familiar? Does this scare you in any way? Tell me what is different between the various legal issues that the former President is going through. In one case, they even changed the law and statute of limitations, that allowed a person to sue for something nearly thirty (30) years ago!
I don't care which side of the aisle you are on; no one should be treated this way by the government. If they can do this to a former President, don't you think they can come after you? What's stopping your local Mayor or Police Chief, who you may not get along with, to start looking into you? The government can outspend you, out lawyer you, and drag you through the mud for years, forcing you to comply to whatever they want you to do. Is this the freedom that we established our country and Constitution on?
This country is falling farther and farther away from the concept of "We the People.” This government is getting stronger and stronger and trampling on our rights. Why do they have unlimited power when they go after an individual, and we are limited to whatever our assets are? They get years to develop a case, and allow us months to defend ourselves. Sure, they will give you a snot-nosed new lawyer as a public defender, but how can they fight against the government that has budgets measured in the trillions.
How much longer do you think this can go on?
Why am I writing about this in a leadership blog? Because this is leadership by intimidation, fear, and force. The exact opposite of what we try to write about and teach in these pages. I've dedicated the last 20 years of my professional life to studying leadership, and the current situation in our elected 'leaders' makes me sick.
You may be surprised to hear this, but the last time I felt this way was during the Clinton Administration. No, it wasn't the President's behavior. It was when Congress impeached him. They looked hard enough to find a crime, and they tried to get rid of him that way instead of trying to beat him at the ballot box. And here we go again.
I've been writing cryptically about the lack of leadership in DC lately, and I hope this gets through to some of you. We need to stop the us vs. them mentality. We need to stop the decay of decency and treat each other with professionalism and respect. We need the middle of the political spectrum to take over, and bring back the art of compromise.
By the time you read this, we may have a former President either having his assets seized or filing for bankruptcy for a crime with no victims. Suppose that were you, your neighbor, or the guy who owns the repair shop at the corner.
How would this make you feel? What would you do to help them?
Many people are saying, "Silence is complicity."
Don't be silent.