Since the legal FBI search—not a raid—was revealed to have taken place at the Trump property in Mar-a-Lago, my phone has rung off the hook; what do you think, what did they get, who ratted him out? Since the punditry’s heart-pumping nonreporting began, leaning on former members of Trump’s inner circle and a battery of legal opinions from people I respect and some I do not, I have nothing to add. Merrick Garland has lived up to his reputation as a thorough, precise, reflective thinker. Above all else, he is not a chatty Cathy. Everything so far has been speculative and attempts by talking heads to get on air scoops.
After that self-righteous diatribe, let me rub my hands and join in on the speculation; how can I resist? I do want to come at it from a different angle. As I said, all we really know is that Mr. Trump’s home in Florida was searched by the FBI, including his safe. There is comfort in knowing that, at least for appearances, no one is above the law. I am dismayed by the fact that the mainstream press has so conflated politics with the rule of law that the political ramifications have overwhelmed the fact that a former, less than trustworthy, President of the United States was in possession of state secrets. Social media jugheads, with probably less information than the currently guessing press, are threatening civil war and murder. Misinformed gossip is feeding the beast of the crazy in America.
Expectedly, the GOP is adding to the frenzy because they have decided that their messiah is above the law, speculation, or investigation. Even when the evidence is floating in a toilet bowl, they collectively reach for the plunger. Watching Ohio Republican Jim Jordan almost pop a vein gesticulating and accusing the FBI and the DOJ of malpractice would be funny if not so damaging. I am not even sure they are listening to each other. In full campaign mode, Marco Rubio denounced the search as persecution. While simultaneously, the wannabe leader of the House, Kevin McCarthy, issued a Godfather-like threat to the current Attorney General Merrick Garland. McCarthy told Garland, “preserve your documents and clear your schedule,” clearly threatening to take Garland on a long Congressional ride (Leave the gun, take the Cannoli). Laura Ingraham called for investigations of the military, the civil service, and the Department of Justice. Nature and politics abhor a vacuum, and Republicans are taking full advantage of the moment to step on the past week of President Biden’s victories in hopes of firing up Trump’s congregation. The eyes, ears, and brains of modern conservatism—Fox News went into total freak out last night. All of the totems of the GOP were attacked, from a hysterical Dan Bongino to the acerbic Mark Levin.
Just when I thought the freak-out was complete, Georgia’s Marjorie Taylor Greene called for defunding the chief policing organization in the country, the FBI. The GOP faithful knows nothing that would convict or exonerate Trump or what the FBI collected, and neither do I, but the GOP are like sacrificial chickens running around the barnyard. They hope the farmer decides to take them for dinner, not the big turkey they worship.
Continue to Vote for Change.