We never know who exactly is the person to watch to try to see which way the wind in blowing in Dear Leader’s administration. Cabinet secretaries have announced policy only to have their announcements cut off at the knees the very next day. Other times people not affiliated with the administration make statements that suddenly seem to clarify administration direction.
In the vein of that latter instance, we have a very angry former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski going on Fox’s Lou Dobbs show the other night to claim that the counter investigation now being conducted by Attorney General William Barr will result in trials early next year for Dear Leader’s political enemies.
In case you have missed this chapter in school, charging your political enemies with trumped up charges followed by a very public trial to prove that the courts are “fair” and the Leader has indeed been wronged are standard fair for blossoming dictatorships. The next step is a conviction and then usually a very public execution.
In this case, threatening to hit his “enemies” with arrest and trial is no doubt in anticipation of a potential impeachment hearing. Hit your enemies ten times harder that he hits you has long been Dear Leader’s philosophy. Illegally using the the power and tools of the state to do his dirty work only enhances the reason to do it.
Not saying anything like that will happen, but the foreshadowing by Lewandowski is enough to send a chill up the spines of those who have in any way experienced dictatorships. From Michael Tomasky at dailybeast.com last Friday:
Here’s the transcript, although you really have to study his face and eyes and hear his voice to get the full Weimar effect: “They should be fearful, and I’ll tell you why. The person who has gotten a pass on this so far is Joe Biden. Because I believe that the investigation which was launched came from somewhere inside the White House to greenlight Clapper, Comey, and Brennan to start this investigation into Donald Trump for no valid reason. We now know the State Department, we’ve seen the contemporaneous emails that were put into place after Victoria Nuland did a meeting with Christopher Steele, then notified the FBI this person had no credibility. But it continued. Because it came from the highest levels of the government.
“And Joe Biden has not answered what he knew and when he knew it of how this investigation began. And when Attorney General Barr and Mr. Horowitz release that report in approximately a month I think we’re gonna see additional criminal referrals, with McCabe getting another referral, Comey a referral, Strzok and Page, James Baker, possibly Bruce Orr, and other people we haven’t even meant [sic] as household names yet—but criminal referrals. And I think what we’re gonna see, Gregg, is in March or April of next year, Jamey Comey, Andy McCabe, Strzok and Page will be on trial for the crimes they have committed against the Fourth Amendment, against this president, and we can’t wait.”
“Gregg” was Gregg Jarrett, sitting in for Lou Dobbs; he added helpfully as Lewandowski was winding down that John Brennan and James Clapper were due for their time in the barrel as well.
<<snip>>
But the second part of the rant was even more chilling. The plan here is to wait for the report from the Justice Department inspector general (that’s Horowitz) to hit next month, pry whatever passages they can out of that report to go on Pravda TV, and stitch together the appearance of a vast, deep state conspiracy to take Trump down.
If this plays out the way that many revenge minded Republicans believe it will, certain Democratic Party leaders (Biden in particular) and others that Dear Leader, Barr and Horowitz deem as “enemies” will be charged and be in the justice system around March or April next year. This is one of the reasons that the Senate majority Republicans and the administration have been so laser beam focused on confirming federal court judges.
Having these trials next spring will open up a lot of possibilities for the administration such as accusing Democrats in general of treason, opening further investigations and perhaps even bringing in to question the 2020 election. Refusing to leave office after an election that the administration claims is fixed is also a good possibility.
These possibilities may seem far-fetched, but so much of what has already happened during this administration is far-fetched. Children in cages at the border, who ever thought that would happen in America? NATO on the verge of collapse as the government spurns our friends and embraces enemies such as Russia. A president who gave state secrets to Russian agents in the Oval Office to show he was their buddy right after he fired James Comey. Who could have imagined.
There is one other aspect that Mr. Tomasky didn’t delve into. That is the total acquiescence of Republican elected and appointed officials in the face of all this. One, count them – One Republican has dared stand up in a meaningful way to Dear Leader in all the outrageous policies and shenanigans that the administration has been involved in. That of course is Justin Amash, congressman from Michigan, who has called for Dear Leader to be impeached. That is one elected official out of what – thousands around the country.
The fact that anyone over the age of 12 could believe anything the con man in chief says is a pitiful statement on critical thinking skills in this country. The fact that a whole party not only believes, but also follows and publicly defends his lies is scary. Anyone who believes such a con man seems too dumb to hold office. Yet we have a near majority of voters who gladly vote for people who promise to vote for this fool.
Those members of what has become the Trumpets Party have said nothing, nada, about the Barr investigation and the coming fiasco of show trials. Lindsey Graham has even called for these investigations to commence from his mighty position as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, just in case you thought age coming trials are a product of some fevered imagination.
Grassley Town Hall – Ottumwa
Grassley Town Hall – Centerville
New film documents Iowa’s battle with factory farms
