Well, that’s it then. The rule of law is dead. Officially dead. Medically dead, legally dead, dead in every meaningful way. Stone dead. Dead as Marley’s ghost. Deader than that, in fact, since Jacob Marley at least came back in an attempt to set things right. That’s not going to happen here. The rule of law in the United States is as dead as the Wicked Witch of the East. Not only merely dead, but really most sincerely dead.
Comrade Donald Trump killed it. Attorney General Bill Barr helped. Trump pushed it out the window and left it crippled and bleeding in the gutter; Barr finished it off by dropping a cinder block its head.
I’m not a fan of the FBI, although I recognize their dedication and, to some extent, their sincerity of purpose. What they did to Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn was no different from what law enforcement officers at all levels–federal, state, county, and municipal–do every day. They gathered their facts, they interviewed the suspect, they gave him a chance to tell the truth. He didn’t.
That’s routine interviewing technique. Say you arrest a kid for shoplifting. You have him on the store’s CCTV sliding a pair of expensive sunglasses up his sleeve. You detain the kid and say, “Tell me what happened.” If the kid fesses up, that tells you something. It shows some contrition and you take that into consideration when deciding what to do. If the kid lies, that also tells you something. You know he’s still hoping to get away with it, and you take that into consideration.
Flynn got caught. He was given a chance to tell the truth, and he lied. He pleaded guilty to lying. Then he tried to take it back. Then he re-affirmed his guilty plea. Then he tried to take it back again. That tells you something. He was still hoping to get away with it. And hey, he did.
He betrayed his country, and thanks to complicit political appointees in the Department of Justice, he got away with it. Never spent an hour in jail. Nor will he.
The only hope this nation has of returning to some semblance of the rule of law is if voters turn out in massive numbers–numbers large enough to overcome whatever barriers are put in place to hamper voting. Because if we know one thing for certain, it’s that Trump will cheat. He’ll lie, cheat, steal, connive, do anything he can get away with to win. Because he’s learned there’s nothing to stop him–not the Department of Justice, not Congress, and certainly not his conscience.
Ain’t nothing going to stop him. Unless it’s us.
Wash your hands. Wear a mask. Stay alive. Vote your ass off.
gregfallis.com 
Wish we didn’t have to wait until November. I’m scared for what might happen as election day draws close.
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You have valid reasons to be scared. I’d like to think we can have a fair election, but I certainly have no faith that will happen.
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What on earth are you talking about. Did you read the memos? They targeted Fynn, They said in the memo they were trying to entrap him and get him in a position to lie.How on Earth can you support this behavior by any law enforcement?? THousands of cases have been tossed because of this type of behavior by law enforcement.
I guess you are in favor of big government and a police state.
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Hey Billy. Yes, I have read the memoranda. I’m not convinced you have, based on your comments.
They targeted Fynn
Yes, they did. Flynn was targeted by the FBI after Stefan Halper — a foreign policy expert who’d served in the Nixon, Ford, and Reagan adinistrations — became alarmed by Flynn’s “close association with a Russian woman” who had connections with Russia’s GRU. He informed the CIA, who informed the FBI. It was completely appropriate for them to investigate 1) a member of a presidential campaign who had 2) been fired from the Defense Intelligence Agency and had 3) created a lobbying firm (the Flynn Intel Group) that represented Russian interests, and was 4) suspected of being engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a women with connections to Russian intelligence.
They said in the memo they were trying to entrap him and get him in a position to lie.
No, they didn’t ‘entrap’ him. The ‘memo’ was just notes made during a meeting in which the FBI talked about the strategic purpose of the interview — which is entirely appropriate and common in political cases. Here are some of those notes:
— What’s urgent? Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?
— I don’t see how getting someone to admit their wrongdoing is going easy on him.
— If we get him to admit to breaking the Logan Act, give this to DOJ and have them decide. Or, if he initially lies, then we present him [redacted] and he admits it, document for DOJ, and let them decide how to address it.
That’s not entrapment. They gave him a chance to tell the truth, and he lied. The FBI has NO obligation to inform a suspect that they shouldn’t lie.
THousands of cases have been tossed because of this type of behavior by law enforcement.
No, there haven’t been thousands of cases tossed because of this. This is an exceedingly common policing technique. It happens all the time, as I said in my post.
I guess you are in favor of big government and a police state.
I am in favor an honest government that punishes corruption. Not one that promotes it.
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I’m more frightened of what the deranged madman and his followers will do after he’s voted out. They can wreak a lot of destruction in those 11 or so weeks between Election Day and Inauguration Day, and you KNOW neither he or his legion of zombie right-wing cultists are going to go quietly into the night.
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Yes. That’s fucking terrifying. But if he’s voted out, we should be able to weather the storm — and it’ll be worth it to get rid of Trump.
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The Republican party is deeply deeply guilty of destroying this country. And they HAVE to be voted out across the board. But then there’s the 50-whatever percent of this country that (a) doesn’t care, (b) doesn’t think government has anything to do with them, (c) is terminally cynical—or just plain tired. I do not understand how people can not see the CRISIS we are in.
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They can’t see the crisis we’re in because, as you point out, they (a) don’t care, (b) don’t think government has anything to do with them, (c) are terminally cynical.
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“Laws are maintained in credit, not because they are essentially just, but because they are laws. It is the mystical foundation of their authority; they have none other.” ~ Michel de Montaigne
“When law and morality contradict each other the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his sense of morality or losing his respect of the law.” — Frederic Bastiat
“Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it.” ~ Albert Einstein
There were some people in the 1940’s who chose “rule of law” over rule of conscience. They called themselves Nazi’s and their decision to ignore their conscience got them hung.
The “law” is such a beautiful justification for busybodies to initiate violence.
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The rule of law in this country died when we made the Atty Genl and the head of the FBI serve at the pleasure of the president.
In what universe is that compatible with a republican form of govt? Monarchs, not nice polite constitutional monarchs like the Queen of England, but real monarchs like the Saudis, have officials who serve at their pleasure.
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I can’t agree with this. Throughout the history of the US the staff of the executive branch have served at the pleasure of the president. That includes more than 450 people — all the aides, advisers, and assistants, all the cabinet members, all the U.S. attorneys.
The problem is the president is corrupt. A decent, honorable president appoints people who serve the American people, the Constitution, and the office of the president — not the president himself. The flaw isn’t so much in the design as it is in the venal, amoral jackass who’s sitting in the Oval Office.
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