Donald Trump set the tone almost immediately after his election when he's backed off from his promises to prosecute Hillary Clinton for her crimes. Suddenly no more "lock her up", now instead the high road. Agreed.
I think there is something else going on with this though. Despite Clinton's (and many others) blatant criminality and self-dealing, I think that the powers that be took the position that prosecuting Her, and possibly several others like Biden, that it would completely up the ante on post election prosecutions. That is, we could fully expect that each succeeding administration would wield the full power of the government and their hundreds of thousands of laws and regulations to completely destroy those who participated in the previous administration, like you see in many other banana republics across the globe.
I think the problem with this line of thinking is that it's going to happen anyway. We have seen in recent years how utterly unhinged the left has become. Anyone who thinks that Trump would be able to just go back to his life in relative peace under a Biden (or any democrat) administration is not living in the real world. I fully expect for Trump to be hounded mercilessly by the entire apparatus of government at every possible level, because he had the gall to actually challenge the administrative state. He is most certainly not going to get the pass that Hilary received. They'll set the entire investigative apparatus of the government to find anything that they can hang on him, no matter how far they have to stretch interpretation of the law. He has to be destroyed utterly because he is a threat. I don't think they'll go as far as killing him, (though that is a possibility), because they want to set an example for anyone else that would challenge the State.
We are well down the road to being just another banana republic. I expect the trend to accelerate in all respects.
I agree with your analysis.
In fact I came to the conclusion long ago that Trump ought to pardon himself and his family and as many lead supporters as possible on the way out the door.
I have thought for some time that Nixon was essentially innocent of any charge that constitutes a crime not already committed by FDR, JFK and LBJ. His pardon might be seen as the political establishment of Washington setting the parameters of politics of that era. Our side (the establishment whether Democrat or Republican but especially Democrat) wins the political battle but then we do not pursue political enemies, that is, we do not criminalize politics.
That gentlemen's agreement was abandoned to some degree with Nixon in impeaching him for the same crimes committed by his predecessors but observed in the pardon. The impeachment of Bill Clinton was a borderline exercise because Clinton actually committed real felonies and so was impeachable but no national politician nor the special prosecutor himself thought to bring criminal charges. One could say the gentlemen's agreement held.
Now comes Trump and it is not clear what the rules of the game now are. Trump has broken so many rice bowls, Trump has generated such a visceral hatred that there is no telling what the present parameters are. Certainly the establishment powers brought a bogus impeachment, almost certainly they will bring criminal charges if they can.
In my view it is time to tear up the gentlemen's agreement, whatever it status today, and introduce a new concept: the rule of law. Nevertheless, prosecutions against Trump would be as bogus as prosecutions against Flynn and he should defend himself by issuing his own pardon.
