Bill Barr Humiliates Democrats As He Engages In Impeachable Corruption by Robert Covington Jr.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” -George Santayana
On June 24th, 2020 I was watching MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell show and he had Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin and legal contributor Neal Katyal discussing the latest abuse of power scandal surrounding Attorney General Bill Barr. As Raskin was talking, he expressed frustration with the rampant corruption that has overwhelmed the Department of Justice. But what was particularly striking was his affect and expression of learned helplessness as he rattled off Bill Barr’s circumvention and disdain for congressional oversight, along with his blatant refusal to testify under subpoenas given over the past year. To add insult to injury, Raskin implied that he anticipates a similar cancellation by Barr for his scheduled July 28th, 2020 hearing.
Congressman Raskin sounded like a broken man that has accepted defeat at the hands of an unrepentant white collar sociopath Bill Barr. Raskin’s posture of weakness reflects the larger Democratic position that they have taken when it comes to Bill Barr and his ongoing abuse of power. Yet, we have seen this storyline before. Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team idly, passively and reprehensibly did little to nothing for two years as Donald Trump committed impeachable acts in broad daylight and on levels never seen before in American presidential history. It wasn’t until a whistleblower came forward regarding the Ukraine scandal that showed Trump trying to pressure a foreign government to help him hurt his political opponent Joe Biden that Democrats moved forward with impeachment.
By waiting so long, they allowed Trump to gain a further hold on the Republican Party, created unnecessary tension within the Democratic Party and falsely convinced many Americans into believing that Trump’s impeachable acts were not actively eroding democracy, the rule of law and consistently violating the constitution. It was a decision that haunts America to this day.
Unfortunately, Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats have made, and continue to make the same mistakes with Bill Barr and because of it, Barr continues to enjoy humiliating Democrats as he does everything possible to destroy democracy and the rule of law.
Democrats have watched Barr lie about the most consequential special prosecutorial (Mueller) report ever written given the magnitude of its findings and only complained in public. Democrats have watched Bill Barr engage in some of the most egregious acts of corruption and cover ups ever done by a government lawyer and have failed in their responsibility to hold him accountable. The Michael Flynn, Roger Stone and newly reported handling by the New York Times on the Michael Cohen cases are the more widely known acts of corrupt behavior.
Democrats can see Bill Barr is a man that has similarly dangerous characteristics as Trump. Barr enjoys taunting and hurting others that he sees as his enemy. Barr has gone on record stating that he sees liberals and the vision of a multiracial democracy as a threat to his own existence. Democrats have seen Barr exhibit no shame or guilt in his abuse of power. Democrats have seen Bill Barr unmoved by former DOJ lawyers and his jurisprudence alma mater, George Washington University calling for his resignation. Barr, just like Trump is driven by the concept of winners and losers that is racialized and incentivized by maintaining Republican white men in power.
Democrats continue to not learn the lessons of history. Nancy Pelosi recently stated that she will not push for impeachment of Bill Barr and will allow Barr to do as much damage to democracy and the rule of law as possible between now and the presidential election. Bill Barr knows that he may have criminal liability and that it is totally in his self-interest to see Trump reelected. Barr will do every possible to aid and abet Trump’s reelection campaign. This will likely include turning a blinds eye to more constitutional violations of foreign interference, going after Trump’s enemies, spouting conspiracy theories on behalf of Trump and encouraging Trump to engage in further lawless actions without repercussions.
Bill Barr’s humiliation of Democrats that do little to stop him comes at an enormous cost to the nation. It’s a tradeoff that we should not accept. Call your Congressperson and demand action. Bill Barr MUST GO! NOW!
Follow me on twitter: @robcovingtonjr
