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There is something very wrong in a purported democratic republic when


There is something very wrong in a purported democratic republic when  

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Author: TheCrow   Date: 8/11/2022 9:59:57 AM  +3/-0  

There is something very wrong in a purported democratic republic when 1 person and 1 party is held to be above the law.

The "Party of law and order" attacks our countries' premier law enforcment agency- the FBI? The DOJ?

Führerprinzip-  "the Führer's word is above all written law"????

The DOJ Crosses the Rubicon

"DEFUND THE FBI"

 
(Photo by ALEX EDELMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

I had planned to devote this newsletter to Our Very Stupid Politics, but after the events of last night, I had to call an audible, and so will instead devote today’s Morning Shots to our Extremely Stupid Politics.

Happy Tuesday.

Make sure you read Kim Wehle’s piece in today’s Bulwark: “The FBI Search of Mar-a-Lago: Five Takeaways and Questions.”

Here is what you need to keep in mind: (1) We don’t know what we don’t know about this investigation, (2) We really don’t know exactly what they were looking for or what they found, (3) And no, an indictment of Donald J. Trump is probably not imminent.

But…

(1) This is a BFD historic, political, and legal moment, (2) The FBI raid would not have occurred without a green light from a federal judge who was persuaded that the evidence warranted a raid on the home of a former president of the United States, (3) Nothing like this has ever happened before, (4) But it is a reminder that in our country no one is above the law — including ex-presidents.

The search obviously took Trump by surprise and set off a political firestorm (about which more in a moment), but it’s safe to assume that Attorney General Merrick Garland, the FBI, and a federal judge, all knew that it would set off this kind of reaction.

And they pulled the trigger anyway.

They also must have known that by raiding Trump’s home, the DOJ would be crossing the Rubicon… there’s no going back now.

As I wrote last week:

Minor criminal charges will not spark a minor political reaction. Bigger charges are not actually more incendiary that middle-of-the-road charges because the rage meter is always dialed up to 11.

For the MAGA right, any charge — technical or major — will be a Flight 93 moment all over again.

So this is not a moment for the faint of heart or the naïfs who think they can bring a pen to a gun fight.

If anything, I think I understated the case, because it is about to get very ugly.

**

But while it was predictable that the MAGAverse would erupt in incandescent, spittle-flecked fury, the reaction of the anti-anti-Trumpers and the GOP “establishment” is more telling — and perhaps decisive — for our deplorable political future.

Trump has spent years sowing distrust of federal law enforcement and the “deep state,” and last night we saw how deeply his campaign of subversion has penetrated into the GOP ranks.

Elected Republicans, who frequently remind us that they are the party of law and order, could have (1) Adopted a posture of strategic silence, or (2) Given the FBI the benefit of the doubt while they conduct a court-sanctioned investigation. Instead, they gave us this sort of thing, including threats of retaliation against the attorney general:

Twitter avatar for @GOPLeaderKevin McCarthy @GOPLeader
Attorney General Garland: preserve your documents and clear your calendar.
Image

The usual GOP suspects jumped in:

Twitter avatar for @RepStefanikRep. Elise Stefanik @RepStefanik
The FBI's raid on President Trump is a dark day in American history. My full statement 👇👇👇
Image

Meanwhile, US senators accused the government of (checks notes) acting like a Communist dictatorship.

We got a lot more of this sort of thing from the party that “Backs the Blue”:

Twitter avatar for @MarshaBlackburnSen. Marsha Blackburn @MarshaBlackburn
I stand with President Trump against this outrageous action of the FBI.

Of course, we also heard from the usual fluffers:

And this bold new slogan for GOPers:

Twitter avatar for @RepMTGRep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 @RepMTG
DEFUND THE FBI!

…which was echoed by one of the right’s more prominent convicted criminals: ‘We Need to Choke Down the FBI’: Steve Bannon Rails Against ‘Gestapo’ Feds After Mar-a-Lago Raid

And, of course, Dinesh….

And Paul Gosar, “We must destroy the FBI.”

**

Meanwhile, others used the raid as a pretext to demand retribution:

For some of the right, payback includes full-blown purges“Laura Ingraham Demands Republicans Purge the Government if They Retake Power: ‘Military Leadership, the Civilian Leadership, the Civil Service, Those in Congress…”

**

Irony is, of course, dead.

**

ICYMI: The anti-anti-Trump Fair-Haired Boy also weighed in, hitting all the right MAGA notes about the “regime.”

BONUS: Make sure you read Amanda Carpenter’s latest piece in this morning’s Bulwark: “Ron DeSantis Endorses Election Deniers.”

Exit take: The GOP now fully embraces the notion that Trump should, indeed, be above the law, and that Trump 2.0 will be a bonfire of vengeance.

 

 

 


 
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There is something very wrong in a purported democratic republic when +3/-0 TheCrow 8/11/2022 9:59:57 AM