Alright, I need a level headed response to a level headed question, because it’s one the right keeps screaming and I have not been satisfied with the answers I’ve seen. This isn’t a gotcha, or a lame attempt at deflection that the right is trying to do, I genuinely want to know if there is a good answer, because I have yet to hear one.
Why didn’t previous DOJ’s go after anyone?
The government has seemingly had an overwhelming amount of evidence going back at minimum to the days of Loretta Lynch as AG during the Obama administration. And they likely knew far before that. So why does the consensus seem to be that only the Trump administration is covering it up? I need a satisfying answer because when arguing with people on the right, I have no good response.
Unsatisfying answers I have heard:
“The DOJ was independent until the current administration” - Ok but there is a difference between being independent and allowing a massive coverup of this scale to take place right in front of your face. There should have been calls from the very top to prosecute the people in the files, and AG’s should have been removed if they didn’t do so. Or at least fucking something. Not just a “oh well. Nothing we can do. They’re independent after all.” as if the DOJ couldn’t, in any way, be held responsible for not doing their fucking job.
“Well both sides are complicit in all this” - Ok, but that means that when Bondi screams “why aren’t you asking Merrick Garland these questions?” she’s kind of right. I don’t want this to be the answer, because the thought of that woman being honest is laughable to me. But if it really is ALL of them, both sides, then it really does seem like a targeted punishment. Like, if everyone at your job regularly stole pens, and then one day you get called into HR for stealing pens, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to go “why am only I being targeted for this? Everyone was doing it!” And yes, stealing pens is a lot fucking different than covering up child rape, but the point stands. Why aren’t previous AG’s and officials being called in for questioning? Why only this administration?
“Well no one else was involved as much as Trump” - This one pisses me off more than any of the others, it’s not even an argument! So fucking what? What does that matter?! How does him being king of the monsters mean that they couldn’t have done anything until now, when he’s in office a second time? It’s childrape! They had the evidence! As disgusting as it is, it makes MORE sense for the current administration to not prosecute people in the files than previous ones! It’s the main perpetrator’s administration!
that means that when Bondi screams “why aren’t you asking Merrick Garland these questions?” she’s kind of right
That’s just it. Being ‘kind of right’ is what gives them so much license. This is why there’s this whole reactionary movement. They are right in some really key areas, they just offer anything but, if not the opposite of any solution.
Which is why policy matters. Longstanding policy of corruption lets grifters and opportunists have influence. And that’s why we’re here.
Alright, I need a level headed response to a level headed question, because it’s one the right keeps screaming and I have not been satisfied with the answers I’ve seen. This isn’t a gotcha, or a lame attempt at deflection that the right is trying to do, I genuinely want to know if there is a good answer, because I have yet to hear one.
Why didn’t previous DOJ’s go after anyone?
The government has seemingly had an overwhelming amount of evidence going back at minimum to the days of Loretta Lynch as AG during the Obama administration. And they likely knew far before that. So why does the consensus seem to be that only the Trump administration is covering it up? I need a satisfying answer because when arguing with people on the right, I have no good response.
Unsatisfying answers I have heard:
“The DOJ was independent until the current administration” - Ok but there is a difference between being independent and allowing a massive coverup of this scale to take place right in front of your face. There should have been calls from the very top to prosecute the people in the files, and AG’s should have been removed if they didn’t do so. Or at least fucking something. Not just a “oh well. Nothing we can do. They’re independent after all.” as if the DOJ couldn’t, in any way, be held responsible for not doing their fucking job.
“Well both sides are complicit in all this” - Ok, but that means that when Bondi screams “why aren’t you asking Merrick Garland these questions?” she’s kind of right. I don’t want this to be the answer, because the thought of that woman being honest is laughable to me. But if it really is ALL of them, both sides, then it really does seem like a targeted punishment. Like, if everyone at your job regularly stole pens, and then one day you get called into HR for stealing pens, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to go “why am only I being targeted for this? Everyone was doing it!” And yes, stealing pens is a lot fucking different than covering up child rape, but the point stands. Why aren’t previous AG’s and officials being called in for questioning? Why only this administration?
“Well no one else was involved as much as Trump” - This one pisses me off more than any of the others, it’s not even an argument! So fucking what? What does that matter?! How does him being king of the monsters mean that they couldn’t have done anything until now, when he’s in office a second time? It’s child rape! They had the evidence! As disgusting as it is, it makes MORE sense for the current administration to not prosecute people in the files than previous ones! It’s the main perpetrator’s administration!
That’s just it. Being ‘kind of right’ is what gives them so much license. This is why there’s this whole reactionary movement. They are right in some really key areas, they just offer anything but, if not the opposite of any solution.
Which is why policy matters. Longstanding policy of corruption lets grifters and opportunists have influence. And that’s why we’re here.