A report on the state of our democracy:
Mark Sumner of Daily Kos reports a federal court has been considering the sentence appropriate for the crimes for which Roger Stone has been convicted. Stone is a nasty guy crony. He was convicted on lying to Congress and threatening a judge with death. When the US attorneys announced their recommended a sentence of 7-9 years (20 is max), the nasty guy tweeted his displeasure and threatened to pardon Stone. Attorney General William Barr instructed the Department of Justice to overrule the attorneys and ask for a lighter sentence.
Three of the four attorneys withdrew from the case in protest. One of those resigned from the DoJ. The nasty guy mocked and threatened them. Sumner wrote:
In a matter of just a few hours, every possible flare had been launched to reveal that the Department of Justice wasn’t just being politicized—it was being corrupted, turned into an instrument of Trump’s will.
And then Barr doubled down. As NBC News reports, Barr has taken “control of legal matters of personal interest to President Donald Trump.” That includes persecution of Trump’s enemies.
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And now the attorney general of the United States has officially made himself Donald Trump’s personal attorney—except that this personal attorney has the ability to protect Trump’s friends, persecute his enemies, and bring an end to the idea of apolitical justice in America.
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When the Republicans in the Senate voted to allow Trump to get away with abuse of power and obstruction, he did learn a lesson. But it was the same lesson he’d learned before—that he can do anything. There are no laws except the laws that Trump declares. No justice except that which he permits. No republic remaining except what he deigns to allow.
A day later the nasty guy went after the judge in the case. In a second post Sumner explained what is going on. The nasty guy could easily just pardon Stone and be done with it. But he is using the opportunity to assault the whole concept of impartial justice. He is putting the jury, judge, and prosecutors on trial.
After reminding us how many federal judges Moscow Mitch has installed (192) Sumner wrote:
Trump and company will use his case for those two all-important purposes: destroying the republic and fundraising.
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But the level of assault that Trump and Barr are staging on the remainder of the judicial system at this point demonstrates vividly that this is an endgame for democracy. Republicans didn’t do anything about Trump’s extorting a U.S. ally to cheat in the 2020 election. They’re not doing anything now about his abusing a judge, intimidating a juror, and tilting the scale of justice to favor his friends. They’re not going to do anything.
Except, perhaps, think about how nice elections will be when only Trump-approved candidates are allowed on the ballot.
Along the way Sumner reminded us of Masha Gessen’s Autocracy: Rules for Survival. I’ll list them and let you read her article for the details. The article was written the day after the 2016 election.
1. Believe the autocrat. Others will say he is exaggerating.
2. Do not be taken in by small signs of normalcy.
3. Institutions will not save you.
4. Be outraged. Prepare yourself for being the only “hysterical” person in the room.
5. Don’t make compromises.
6. Remember the future. Nothing lasts forever, including autocrats.
Sumner highlights rule 3. Gessen wrote:
It took Putin a year to take over the Russian media and four years to dismantle its electoral system; the judiciary collapsed unnoticed.Sumner adds:
Trump didn’t have to take over American media. Fox News came prepackaged before he even stepped onto the golden escalator. All Trump had to do was scream, “Fake news!” at every fact that squeezed onto a screen. The Republican Senate just upheld Trump’s right to disassemble the electoral system at his leisure. So now it’s time for collapsing that judiciary—and Trump isn’t even trying to do it without notice.
Sumner mentioned that the GOP senators aren’t going to do anything. Laura Clawson of Kos describes the non-action of individual senators, noting they are “barely even pausing to furrow a brow.” But this isn’t a little bit of bad weather that gets commented on and passes. This is serious.
Tami Burages describes herself as Aisle Treason Cleanup Crew. She tweeted a thread about what the Democratic and media response should have been and wasn’t.
* News networks stop covering the Dem primary in a tiny state and switch to how this is a rule of law crisis.
* Speaker Nancy Pelosi is covered on all stations as she announces how grave it is and that the Dems will have a response the next morning.
* Every single Dem calls on Barr to resign with the same gusto they did for Al Franken.
* The next morning the Judiciary Committee subpoenas Barr, saying this is not a request. Since they already found Barr in contempt they say a jail cell is ready for him, giving him a choice between resigning and jail.
* The Judiciary Committee also subpoenas the prosecutors to hear why they withdrew and resigned.
* By noon on the second day every Dem governor and state AG calls for Barr’s resignation.
* By that evening all TV networks apologize for not covering the Dem primaries because this is so much bigger.
* Dem candidates urge people to call their GOP senators saying their next vote depends on stopping Barr.
And what did happen? The House Judiciary Committee asked Barr to appear on March 31 – six weeks from now. That gives the illusion of doing something while not doing anything at all.
The nasty guy’s ranting about judge, jury, and prosecutors made Benjamin Wittes tweeted thread important. It is a variation of a well known poem. I hope you recognize the connection. Here’s the start and end of it:
First he came for @comey, and I said nothing because I was mad at @comey because of the Clinton email investigation and I blamed him for Trump’s election.
Then he came for Andy McCabe and I said nothing because there was this inspector general report that said McCabe lacked candor.
Then he came for Jim Baker and I said nothing because I had never heard of Jim Baker and the FBI director is entitled to his own leadership team anyway.
Then he came for @NatSecLisa and @petestrzok and I said nothing because they sent text messages and the president and Fox News kept reminding me that they had an affair.
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And then he came for Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and his brother, Evgeny Vindman, and I said nothing—because I was used to it.
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