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Letter: All men are not created equal

(Hasan Jamali | The Associated Press) In this Dec. 15, 2014, file photo, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi speaks during a press conference in Manama, Bahrain. President Donald Trump says the U.S. will not levy additional punitive measures at this time against Saudi Arabia over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Unless you are Jamal Khashoggi. In which case, your liberty to speak freely will offend someone, and this person will demand that your right to life be taken away, in turn denying you the opportunity to pursue happiness alongside your fiancée (now turned widow). Will justice be served? Will he who ordered the killing face consequences? No.

As it turns out, the supposed “leader of the free world,” the man we elected to champion principled leadership, President Donald Trump, disagrees with the men who founded our nation. All men are not created equal. Some can kill others without repercussion.

There will be no charges, there will be no due process, there will be no justice. Morals will not define the process moving forward. Money will.

Trump holds greater kinship to the murderer than the victim, because he and the murderer are cut from the same cloth. Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman are of a higher pedigree than you or I, than Khashoggi. They are heirs, born into status and wealth; they have never needed to work, struggle or test themselves. They are both pampered princes at heart, and they both believe they are above the law.

“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, OK, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?” – Donald Trump

Because we let them get away with it.

Trey Elvis Hansen, Salt Lake City

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