Laws And Elections Matter

William Barr has now become something even more dangerous than a soggy diaper covering Trump's ass and hauling Trump's water. Barr is threatening to become for Trump what comrade Lavrenty Beria was for Joseph Stalin. I know that sounds like an exaggeration but I cannot overstate the danger posed to our democracy by a lawless president aided and abetted by an attorney general who deems the partisan interests of that president to be more important than the constitution and the rule of law.

We all know William Barr is a liar. He demonstrated that when he lied about what was in the Mueller report. How shamelessly partisan and dangerously unethical Barr has now become is far too evident. In the January 17, 2020 issue of the New York Magazine Intelligencer there is an article entitled, “William Barr Going After Trump's Enemies One By One.” The author, Jonathan Chait, began by reporting that “...the Department of Justice is exploring yet another probe of James Comey, the former FBI director turned Trump antagonist,...” As Mr. Chait wrote:

 “No single case is egregious enough to prove bias on its own. The pattern of selective prosecution under Trump’s Department of Justice, and his fanatically partisan Attorney General William Barr, has become evident in a series of cases that all resemble this one. The connecting thread is that Trump’s enemies are scoured for any violation that can be found, and held to the strictest letter of the law, while his allies are given broad latitude...”

The contrast between the DOJ dropping criminal charges against Michael Flynn and overruling the Justice Departments own sentencing recommendations for Roger Stone while going after Andrew McCabe, James Comey and other perceived Trump enemies could not be clearer. And it does not end there. As Mr. Chait points out:

“... Barr has appointed John Durham to undertake another even broader investigation into the FBI and the intelligence community’s Russia investigation. The probe appears to be aimed at other Trump antagonists, such as former CIA Director John Brennan. Barr has thrown his weight behind the probe, visiting foreign countries and asking their cooperation.”

In regard to demonstrations and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances Mr. Barr would appear to condition that right on a partisan basis. As Maggie Jo Buchanon wrote in a very important article in American Progress:

“When armed protesters stormed the Michigan state legislature to protest public health orders, for example, Barr was largely quiet—a stark contrast to his willingness to quickly denounce the Black Lives Matter protests occurring throughout the country as “hijacked” by far-left extremists without providing evidence to back up his claim.”

Even public health has been politicized by Trump and Barr:

“Just days after Trump specifically ramped up attacks on Democratic governors for their public health orders aimed at ending the spread of COVID-19, Barr announced that the DOJ would formally begin reviewing and challenging state public health orders.”

If all of that does not send a chill down your spine consider this report by Ms. Buchanon:

“... given what these actions suggest regarding Barr’s willingness to use the might of the Department of Justice to support Trump’s political allies, it is important to keep in mind that the DOJ has recently requested emergency powers from Congress. 

While Congress did not give in to Barr’s request, the scope of what the attorney general sought was sweeping. Under the proposal, the DOJ would have been able to petition individual judges at the district court level to indefinitely suspend certain court proceedings—effectively, giving the department wide latitude to significantly delay certain arrested individuals’ ability to appear in court.”

So much for the sixth Amendment. And then, as if this was not bad enough, we were treated to the spectacle of peaceful demonstrators being attacked with tear gas, rubber bullets and men on horse back so that Trump could stage his ill advised photo op in front of St. John's Episcopal Church while holding a bible upside down! It was William Barr who personally ordered those protesters cleared!

Add to this outrageous attack on peaceful demonstrators Trump's June 1 remarks to the nation in which he, Trump, positioned himself as "the president of law and order" and promised to dispatch "thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel and law enforcement officers" to cities across the US. and you have a threat so grave that it caused General Mark Milley, the top US commander, to issue “a memo to military leaders reminding them of their oaths to protect the US Constitution and the "right to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly".

I urge everyone to heed the words of General Mattis who honestly called Trump a "threat to the constitution."  All soldiers take an oath to defend the constitution, but, in spite of many former military leaders now speaking out against Trump, we cannot depend on generals and admirals to oppose their commander in chief even when he is breaking the law. That means it is up to we the people to defend our democracy from would be despots. Anyone who does not vote Trump and his soggy diapers out of office this November is failing to protect the constitution, the rule law, and our democracy.