In a global sense, the hardest part of human existence is finding the balance between yearning for more and accepting what we have. People who simply settle are considered lazy or unambitious. People who constantly yearn for more are considered selfish or too ambitious. Somewhere in the space between there is a place where we should reside.

Donald Trump is never going to jail. Yes, he has 91 charges. Yes, he has committed any number of unspeakable crimes and there is probably another 100 he hasn’t been charged with and we can’t prove. Ken Paxton is never going to jail. Yes, he has been charged with crimes in federal court, but that was nearly a decade ago. The wheels of justice just roll differently for some people. Or don’t.

The Supreme Court recently decided to hear oral arguments on the claim that Donald Trump had absolute immunity to do whatever the hell he wanted as president of the United States. That doesn’t mean they agree mind you. I can’t think of any legal or historical justification for it, but I am only a mere political science major. I’m sure more learned legal and constitutional scholars could weigh in, but the notion that a president can be above the law is ludicrous on its face.

The Trump phenomenon is both fascinating from an academic sense and infuriating from a real life sense. Trump has managed to tap into everyone’s hate, fear, and insecurities all the while being the embodiment of that hate, fear, and insecurity. We have a two-tiered justice system. Everyone knows it and everyone feels frustration by it. How else could we explain someone getting charged 91 times and not going to trial for any of it? Yet, he is allowed to prattle on about it in his speeches and somehow the MAGAs see him as their warrior against it and not the ultimate recipient of it. It’s both fascinating and infuriating at the same time.

If this is normal then we have some serious problems. The truth of the matter is that it hasn’t been normal up until this point. Even if we take the Supreme Court and all of the lower courts at their word, they are treating this like it was business as usual. Yes, under normal circumstances we would want to delay criminal proceedings when those proceedings are political in nature. The trouble is that Trump presents a clear and present danger to the welfare of the United States. He clearly ran for president to avoid legal responsibility. It’s transparent. It’s disgusting. It’s incredibly demoralizing to watch it actually work.

Someone smarter than me once said that the universe bends towards justice. I can’t debate that eternal wisdom, but I doubt it every single day. I have no doubt that Trump will someday pay the piper, but it will likely happen in the history books. His children will be left with the bill. I’m sure there is some culpability there, but you have to wonder if that’s justice at all. I suppose in some sense it is and I suppose it is the best we can possibly do. Somewhere between the world we have and the world we want is a world we can strive for. Maybe someday that second tier of people that evade justice can finally reap what they sow. At least we can hope.