Saturday, November 16, 2019

Attorney General Barr - A 21st Century Royalist

During the Revolutionary war the residents of what became the United States were divided into two camps.  The Revolutionaries who prosecuted the war and the Royalists who supported the King.

Even after the Revolutionaries won the war there was still an undercurrent of support among the folks that were well situated in life for the concept of a King, and many urged George Washington to become King.  The Royalist view is fundamentally if you can scramble your way to the top, or hang out with someone who has, you are untouchable.

Washington rejected the the notion the King of England, who was above the law, would be replaced by a King of the United States who was above the law.  One of our Constitutional Conventions most fundamental goals was to establish the no one in government is above the law.

Attorney General Barr seems to have failed to grasp this basic purpose of the revolutionary war and the subsequent adoption of the Constitution.  He regularly dismisses the investigations in President Trump's behavior, even though the pile of evidence continues to build that the President ignores the law, seeks to circumvent the law or simply outright lies about his behavior to hide illegal activities.  The Attorney General bases his notions on vague ambiguities in the Constitution that he believes prevent the President from being subject to the laws the rest of the Citizens of the United States are bound by.  He ignores one of the primary principles our nation is build on.

Mr. Trump is willful and runs on instinct, so he is not a good judge of character and as a result his administration has been marked by chaos and constant turnover in critical government positions.  The chaos has infected our foreign policy, and our economy

But in terms of protecting President Trump for the consequences of acting illegally the President hit a home run in appointing Attorney General Barr, a modern day Royalist who thinks King Trump is above the law.