Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Trump Is The Insanity That's Contagious

I like Charlie Pierce, but jeebus! Sometimes he needs to stick to baseball! We'll start there and work our way back up. First and foremost: we don't impose "representative sentences" on people.  This was the first case to reach sentencing (why I honestly don't know; but it did).  That does not make this case "representative" of the 500 or so cases that will follow.  Each case is individual, particular, and peculiar.  And contrary to the sentiments of the former and almost-universally despised President, "LOCK HER (or HIM) UP!" is neither a legal principle nor a judicial one.  So take a deep breath and step away from the electric Twitter machine.  These cases are handled by professionals, not "Bad Legal Takes."  Thank the lords and the low creatures.

Working backwards from there:  I didn't realize the USAG was obligated to keep Mr. Pierce, or any one of us, personally informed on any of his activities, decisions, or the process of administering the DOJ.  I don't mean press conferences and press releases, I mean the intimate, detailed communications that would satisfy Mr. Pierce or persons similarly situated as to just what AG Garland was doing to satisfy Mr. Pierce's sense of justice and general ignorance of what the DOJ does and how it does it.

Yes, Bill Barr was a grossly corrupting influence.  But Barr also appointed an investigation into how the DOJ was conducting business with regard to the Mueller investigation, which report either is not finished or has never been publicly reported, and sounded more like a witch hunt or the Starr investigation than anything else.  I don't think we improve on Trump's record by being like Trump except on "our" side.  I don't have the first clue how the DOJ operates, but I assume it has a culture and a capacity beyond the reach of even William Barr (who wasn't there for four years; we have to remember Jeff Sessions, no shining star of jurisprudence and equal justice, was fired by Trump for not being the toady Barr was.  And Trump wanted to fire Barr at the end for insufficient toadying.).  The urge to see the stables flushed out with the Potomac as the water supply may be compelling, but it really doesn't work that way, and it really doesn't need to be done either on a blanket basis ("Prosecute 'em all, let the courts sort 'em out!  But only if they give the sentences we think should be given!") or just to fumigate the place from Trump stink.

How long has Biden been in office now?  And yet he may get an infrastructure bill passed, at least, this year?  The prospects for 2022 actually look good, despite the fact we're supposed to worship at the altar of inalterable history.  And whatever Trump did to the government, the solution to it is restoring proper governance.  It is not hurling people out of windows and mass arrests and pogroms.

Jeebus, people, calm down.  Football games are worth getting upset over.  The ongoing pointlessness of the Olympics, exposed in the time of pandemic, is worth serious consideration:
But complaining because Merrick Garland doesn't keep you in the loop and fully informed about all the challenges he faces administering the DOJ?  Or the judges don't call you and ask:  "Kill him now, or later?"  Godamighty, you sound like Trump.

I still contend that if Trump does us any good, he'll force us to pay attention to how we sound when we're whinging, and maybe make us decide not to do so much of that anymore.
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