The country is on fire. What can I do to reduce the heat?
(Letter from Donald Trump to Attorney General Merrick Garland)
Or “Nice country you have there. Sure would hate to see anything bad happen to her.”
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“Today, we face the greatest danger we have ever faced. The militant left has now seized control of our economy, our culture, and our country. When you turn on the news at night, do you recognize the country you see? Are you worried about your family? Are you worried for your freedoms?” US senator William Scott, Florida.
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The night it was announced that “protect American democracy” was now the #1 issue in the polls, every commentator on MSNBC reacting to the news assumed this meant that the 1/6 committee was finally getting through to people and that this was great news for Democrats. Not so fast, there! I’d be willing to bet at least 40% of those voters think the big threat to democracy is those 80,000 AR-15 wielding IRS agents and the Gestapo tactics of the FBI.
Just a small sampling of quotes in the immediate aftermath of the FBI search at Mar-a-Lago illustrates the depth of the problem — and the utter tripe that MAGA people are being fed.
"What the Biden administration did today was a shot between the eyes of this Republic," Mark Levin
“Was this the moment we fell apart or were we able to come together?” guest host Will Cain
Russ Voght of the Center for Renewing America told Laura Ingraham that Republicans need to “dismantle the FBI into a thousand bits” and “prepare for a Church-style commission next year if given a Republican majority.” [Senator Frank Church led the United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, which did a comprehensive review of intelligence agencies in the post-Watergate reform era.]
“Make no mistake, if you are associated with Donald Trump in any way, you better cross all your I’s and dot all your T’s, because they’re coming for you with the full force of the federal government.” Sean Hannity
"When we get power back, it's time to hold everyone accountable — the military leadership, the civilian leadership, the civil service, those in Congress who have abused their power — all of them have to be held accountable," said Fox's Laura Ingraham. "All of them."
This is a problem for liberals and Democrats. For the most part, the immediate issue stems from the “Big Lie,” the widespread belief among Republicans that Democrats are organized to steal elections and that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.
But this is only the latest evolution of a long-term trend. Republican leaders have been conditioned over many years to get ahead by selling ridiculous lies – Obamacare is a “federal takeover,” Democrats are using replacement theory to erase white people in a flood of illegal immigrants, critical race theory is routinely used in schools to teach children to hate America and be ashamed they’re white, Saddam was behind 9/11, Obama wasn’t born in the United States, an alliance between Antifa and black lives matter destroyed American cities and is now coming for the suburbs, -- and Republican voters have been conditioned to believe these ridiculous lies.
The most widespread republican complaints have been the “stolen election” and the “tyranny” of mask mandates and shutdowns to deal with the pandemic are dealt with elsewhere. But the current hysteria about the “FBI raid” is worth looking at.
“They didn’t go after Hillary.” Oh yes they did. Relentlessly. But the essential fact that’s basically been ignored is that THERE WAS NO CLASSIFIED INFORMATION on Hillary Clinton’s server. The whole fight was about one security officer’s claim that some of it SHOULD HAVE BEEN MARKED. The owner of the information (State) still says it was unclassified but even if it should have been marked, Hillary didn’t mishandle anything.
They can come for you. Yes, if you commit the most serious security breach ever, if you take hundreds of classified documents home and store them insecurely, if you resist demands to return it, and then don’t return it all and lie and claim you did, yes, you should expect them to “come for you.” And knowing what you now know, you still think it’s a problem, the problem is with you.
Did he declassify it? No, he didn’t. There’s no documentation, no declassification. But even if he had, it’s utterly irrelevant. There’s a reason there are offices to oversee “absolute” presidential powers like pardons, granting security clearances, or declassification. Just as there are people who should never be pardoned or given a security clearance, there is information that should never be declassified. From his Oval office meeting with the Russians to posting an intelligence satellite photo on social media to his continuing use of insecure communications after being repeatedly warned, Trump repeatedly showed complete indifference to security rules. But whether he declassified it or not, the damage is the same.
If it’s that serious, why did they wait so long? This is the richest objection yet. The people who have made a scandal of the “raid,” now pretending to believe it should have been done earlier.
Perhaps they should have moved quicker, but everyone knew what they were up against: the accusations of tyranny. Clearly, everyone in the loop recognized this was a hot potato, precisely because of the MAGA loyalists who are now declaring this to be a scandal. Accusations of disloyalty. Death threats. These are the people who set out to destroy careers. McCabe. Comey. Strzok. Vindman. Of course they were very cautious about it. So they asked pretty please. Then they subpoenaed it. Only then, a warrant.
Damage assessment. If the intelligence agencies are doing one, this is what it will inevitably conclude. Just on the basis of what was recovered in January, this is an extremely serious security breach, right up there with the most serious ever. Human sources have been blown, physical systems have been compromised, and technical capabilities have been revealed.
Why did he keep it? Given the revelations of how intentional this was, clearly, he had a reason. Does anyone really believe he wanted to read it? Or use it for his memoirs? Or keep it as a souvenir? The man who regularly skipped intel briefings. The one who they had to dumb it down to comic book levels. The one who missed no chance to show his contempt for his intelligence leaders. The one who missed no chance to monetize the presidency. There is no escaping the thought that he was planning to make money. It’s what he does.
One thing is clear: if you still think the problem here is the FBI raid, you’ve lost track of what it means to be a patriotic American.
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This series is written to promote political discussion and organizing. Permission is given to use this in fact sheets, talking points, letters to the editor, etc. We’d appreciate if you notified Gettysburg DFA (leonsreed@gmail.com) of any uses. Written by Leon Reed.
In case you missed it
January 6: Attacking the Line of Succession