The crime party, folks. https://t.co/LknTMA5rWT
— SK Media???? (@SpaghettiKozak) April 27, 2024
… He’d never have outlived his part in the Iran-Contra GOP insurgency, much less his second AG stint under TFG. Bill Barr’s lifelong career has been using ‘the Law’ to hide bodies, not all of them metaphorical, for the Republican Party. He’s not gonna give up that gig at this late stage, at least while he sees the glimmer of a chance that he and his fellows will get to rewrite whatever history exists after a second Trump stint in the Oval Office.
William Barr endorsed Donald Trump but didn’t use his name, saying, ‘I will vote the Republican ticket.’ Trump demands total submission and wrote a Truth Social post mocking Barr — who failed to produce evidence of election fraud — as fat. https://t.co/UcYvSqa5jy
— Intelligencer (@intelligencer) April 25, 2024
Jon Chait, at NYMag — “Donald Trump Snatches Final Shred of William Barr’s Dignity“:
Barr’s place in the Trump firmament is peculiar and unique in a way that challenges the expectations of both men. The universe of Trump officials is broadly sorted by its levels of complicity. At the high end of the scale are those officials who went to work for Trump to limit the damage he could do to the country (James Mattis, John Kelly) and who became despised deep-state traitors. At the bottom end are those who enlisted willingly in his most criminal and authoritarian schemes (Rudy Giuliani, Steve Bannon) and who left as MAGA heroes.
Barr defies the scale. He enthusiastically supported Trump’s efforts to pervert the Justice Department into a tool of personal abuse (which Barr justified on the basis of his constitutional theory that presidents should properly exert direct control over the operations of the entire bureaucracy, including law enforcement). Barr bought Trump’s idea that he was the victim of a vast deep-state plot and threw himself into the task of rewriting the department into a machine to protect the president and investigate his enemies. His sole request was that Trump allow him to maintain the appearance of propriety by abstaining from public demands that Barr prosecute certain targets and let go certain allies.
Trump, characteristically, refused to grant Barr this fig leaf. Barr, characteristically, gave Trump what he wanted anyway…
Barr’s whole strategy since leaving the administration has been to reframe his service as a strategic effort to advance conservative-movement principles. Barr called Trump unfit and incompetent and pushed Republicans to choose a more effective nominee. His grounds for opposing Trump always pointed toward an eventual reconciliation, though. He opposed his former boss not on the grounds of being an authoritarian but on the grounds of being too ineffective…
He really is ghastly, and not much different from the evangelicals who think Trump is somehow God's instrument. https://t.co/7lJDzgsr6E
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) April 27, 2024
There was another catch-and-kill: when Bill Barr told Manhattan not to investigate because the feds were, and then he sat on the investigation for a year and did nothing.
Bill Barr caught and killed the federal prosecution of trump.
— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) April 30, 2024
Bill Barr closed a kleptocracy investigation into Mykola Zlochevsky from Burisma Holdings, which had been open since 2016.
Such a move was worth a $6 million bribe in Ukraine.
What'd it cost here in the USA? pic.twitter.com/KOMfHuRRML https://t.co/gzQs5DAA4g
— thee nasty rougarou in the machine (@theerougarou) April 30, 2024
As astonishing as it is to keep reposting things like this, it’s really important to remember: the people who know better, such as Barr, don’t care because they want what they want from another Trump administration. (Judges.) and Trump’s cult doesn’t care because: cult https://t.co/zL8H05PXGe
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) April 27, 2024
mrmoshpotato
Wait. Bill Barr (I mistyped it as Barf, excellent.) had dignity? When?
Citizen Alan
There are no republicans who have any moral charactor or decency or any redeeming characteristics at all. Absolute garbage, every single one of them.
VFX Lurker
Bill Barr, Mitch McConnell, Republican voters, Putin, Fox news, talk radio, social media, voter suppression in red states, the Electoral College…it’s not just TIFG. All his accomplices brought us to this point.
Another Scott
@mrmoshpotato: +1
When you can’t even rise to the standards of Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III, well, you’ve got some pretty rock bottom standards.
Grr…,
Scott.
eclare
TIFG looks and sounds pathetic in that last video. How his cult worships him as some god-king I will never understand.
cmorenc
The one bright side to Trump’s feelings of disrespect for Bill Barr is that Trump would likely never nominate Barr for a seat on SCOTUS, should one come open. The downside is that there is no shortage of ambitious sociopathic Fed-Society assholes for Trump to pick from who would actually be far worse than even Barr
But if we’re going to play fantasy bad RW Scotus pick, which would be worse – Barr or Aileen Cannon? Let’s hope this exercise will forever be in the domain of fantasy rather than reality.
Suzanne
@Another Scott: Speaking of…. what is the Keebler Elf doing these days?
LadySuzy
My concern: he has a high profile and he may give “psychological permission” to a lot of “not crazy” republicans to vote for Trump.
I hope Liz Cheney strikes back HARD at him. VERY HARD. She is even more high profile than Barr.
Barr is totally blinded by ideology. And has always been a partisan hack. He must have always told himself that every action is justified if it keeps conservatives in power.
The man is intelligent. But he is an extremist and has been able to disguise it in the past. No more.
patrick II
Did he succeed?
no.
So, let’s give him another chance.
Jackie
@eclare:
He is their personal Whiner god. He whines on their behalf.
rikyrah
Not capable of shame.
MSM:Stop helping that slimy piece of garbage with his rehabilitation tour😠😠
eclare
@Suzanne:
He ran for Senate in 2020, but he lost to Tuberville in the primary. True to form, TIFG endorsed Tuberville and sent out derogatory tweets about Sessions.
When will these idiots learn that loyalty only goes one way with TIFG? I guess never.
Another Scott
@Suzanne: I was wondering too.
He gave a speech to Alabama college Republicans in January.
Party first, as always. Even when a monster takes over.
He’s still a monster.
Cheers,
Scott.
Dangerman
So, this is what it would be like living in a Blazing Saddles world.
Morons.
Talk me off the ledge, but I think Trump could be convicted, serving time in either More-A-Larceny or some prison, and he is still getting re-elected. Because Judges and Morons. He will lose the popular huuuuuugely but will get enough Swings to pull it off.
VFX Lurker
From Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo today, regarding TIFG’s narcissistic approach to foreign defense (gift link):
Jackie
Is anyone watching the NYPD entering Columbia University? It seems low key at the moment…
Ksmiami
@Citizen Alan: completely. Amoral, power hungry assholes. All of them
RaflW
“Which is incapable of solvin’ even the sollest problem. We are an institute in a powerful death penalty. We will put this on.”
There’s so much to be furious and depressed about, but the failure of the press to report on Trump’s rapidly decaying brain is among the worst. Adding in the obscene obsession with Biden’s age just makes it deadly farce.
The Pale Scot
Egad!! The mice have been performing devious experiments on us all along..
Lab mice might be doing their own experiments
Another Scott
Meanwhile, … TheHill.com:
Good, good.
Cheers,
Scott.
Mike in NC
So fucking tired of reading about Fat Bastard and his malevolent henchmen.
Timill
@The Pale Scot: “Suddenly running down a maze the wrong way, eating the wrong bit of cheese, unexpectedly dropping dead of myxomatosis” – that sort of thing?
prostratedragon
@Jackie: Saw some earlier. Amazingly uneventful, fortunately.
SpaceUnit
@Jackie:
You made me start watching.
I watched the protest and arrests at the USC campus the other day, and it was one of the most polite and cordial things I’ve ever seen. Both the police and the protesters were extremely restrained. Seemed as though the reporters were disappointed.
ETA: That protest ought to set an example for both protesters and law enforcement.
moonbat
@Mike in NC: I’m with you. Call me when he’s defeated (again), jailed or dead. Otherwise I’ve had my fill of all things Drumph.
RaflW
@prostratedragon: Per Bsky (via a CCNY prof), the crackdown at City College is pretty bad. Not getting the media coverage of the elite school less than a mile away.
The Pale Scot
@Timill:
As per, I’m cleaning up my parents long neglected abode. The amount of towels they have is fucking unbelievable. They were fucking ready for sher
Parfigliano
Fuckin shitheel national press still trying to keep scum like Mattis and Kelly viable for future GOP admin positions by peddling the lie that they worked under Trump to limit the damage that could be done.
Jackie
👿
I so hope it’s overturned! AND overturned in time for this Nov.
Jackie
@prostratedragon: I’m hoping it stays uneventful!🤞🏻
Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)
I wonder, when did Barr lose his moral compass? No doubt it was long before he lost his virginity.
Sorry for the image. It made me reach for another vodka bottle, myself
NotMax
@The Pale Scot
Per Douglas Adams, be prepared.
Quadrillipede
Here’s a 6 minute video of Sean Carroll (theoretical physicist, philosopher and science communicator) discussing entropy:
Parfigliano
@Boris Rasputin (the evil twin): Barr is Opus Dei to the core. He never had a moral compass to lose.
Quadrillipede
@The Pale Scot: That is fascinating…
Sister Golden Bear
@SpaceUnit: I don’t know about USC, but UC Berkeley has plenty of experience dealing with protests, and likewise — at least when I attended — protests (and occasional arrests) were usually orderly affairs. The trouble usually happened when protests got really big and the campus police ended up using mutual aid to call in outside cops, who were prone to head-cracking approaches.
NotMax
@Quadrillipede
A six minute … rundown?
;)
SpaceUnit
@Sister Golden Bear:
The USC protest seemed as though it might have been coordinated between the protest organizers and the police.
HumboldtBlue
@Another Scott:
No shit.
wjca
Which would be better:
Yes, the media are falling down on the job, big time. But, as a matter of electoral tactics, which works better for winning the election?
HumboldtBlue
@Quadrillipede:
Thank you.
prostratedragon
@RaflW: Oh, really?! With all the cops at Columbia, gotta wonder who’s left? I noticed some response vehicles arriving from uptown direction on Amsterdam; maybe they were coming from there.
…
Seems the clearances began at CCNY a couple of hours after Columbia. Since there are many fewer student residents, the place might be a lot quieter for now. WABC news report.
HumboldtBlue
California sent a few hundred law enforcement officers to Humboldt, and they cleared out the week-long protest without incident.
zzcool
I tried an interesting* experiment with my almost 5 year old son the other day.
I held a chocolate Easter egg in front of him and I asked him “imagine that you could do absolutely anything you wanted in the world, but if this egg ever comes to life and says ‘that’s not allowed’ then you aren’t allowed to do it. It is the only thing stopping you from doing what you want. What are you going to do with this egg?”
His response:”eat it”
Which is what infuriates me about the whole presidential immunity question in front of SCOTUS at the moment.
It is a concept that even a child understands.
If the only obstacle to a fascist president committing crimes is the impeachment and conviction by Congress, then they will eat that Easter egg.
HumboldtBlue
Late night TV ain’t what it used to be (and for the most part it wasn’t even all that), but there are still some laughs to be found.
prostratedragon
Some video clips and photos from CCNY. Not clear from this why the police behavior is so different. Might have to do with lingering institutional memory of 1968, which was far worse than any of this.
prostratedragon
Gee, it’s mi-i-ighty quiet in here …
“How Columbia’s Student Uprising of 1968 Was Sparked by a Segregated Gym”:
Finally, on April 30, 1968 the University gave NYPD the go-ahead:
Maybe it’s the feng shui of Hamilton Hall, or maybe both sides decided in the end not to go back there again.
Chet Murthy
@prostratedragon: [btw, link doesn’t work]
A segregated gym in NYC in 1968? Really? Wowsers. I was 3yo, in India, so I really have no basis to judge, but wow, that’s surprising. I know there was de facto segregation of various sorts all over the North, but I didn’t realize that explicit segregation could still be attempted.
Princess
@Parfigliano: I don’t know about Mattis but Kelly is a stone cold racist who was fully down with the Trump agenda. He just thought Trump himself was an unreliable buffoon. Barr is pretty much the same. He’s looking for a Salazar-type dictatorship with a scotus fig leaf. There’s no real difference between him and the Evangelicals except his autocracy is Catholic-flavoured.
Sister Golden Bear
@SpaceUnit: I wouldn’t be surprised. UC Berkeley protests were often coordinated between the organizers and the campus cops.
Anne Laurie
‘Explicit’ does not necessarily mean ‘codified in law’ — it can mean quite the opposite!
When I was growing up in NYC (I would’ve been 12 or 13 in 1968), I was told there was an African-American saying: In the South, they don’t mind how close you get, as long as you don’t get too high; in the North, they don’t care how high you get, as long as you don’t get too close. As a white kid, I wasn’t aware which gyms might have been (unofficially, but no less strictly) segregated by race. Since I had no Black neighbors or schoolmates, I had the luxury of not *having* to be aware. But I do remember protests about various segregated public & semi-private spaces, and my reaction was Oh, yeah, not exactly surprising in this case.
Such sites — parks, gyms, swimming pools, ‘good’ schools — were gradually, often painfully, desegregated when Black people started protesting their exclusion. Not being able to use a college gym ranked, I would assume, lower on the priority list than (for instance) getting admission to the college.
Change doesn’t happen ‘organically’, and often not nearly as quickly as we assume it must’ve…
lowtechcyclist
@The Pale Scot:
Nothing will come of it. The best-laid plans of mice…
Baud
@Anne Laurie:
Yeah, I feel people nowadays forget how long things take and then depressed when progress doesn’t happen more quickly.
Baud
@lowtechcyclist:
Nice.
AM in NC
@Boris Rasputin (the evil twin): When he was appointed AG it was reported that he bullied Jewish students in high school. Bullied them because they were Jewish.
He’s always been an Opus Dei fascist determined to Lord it over anyone and everyone he can.
SFAW
@AM in NC:
So, Pat Buchanan, with a (slightly) less annoying voice, and (slightly) less obvious hatred of people not like himself.
ETA: OK, I don’t really know if Buchanan was/is an Opus Dei nutjob. Po-TAY-to, to-MAH-to.
RaflW
@prostratedragon: NYPD has over 30,000 officers, so I think they can crack heads at more than one Uni in a day.