gracchusdixit

The last of these commentaries concerned itself with the bigoted religiosity of the current Attorney General of the United States, William Barr, which causes him to distort history and misrepresent the Constitution for the purpose of imposing upon the nation what can only be called a medieval theology.  I have never before discussed the same subject on two consecutive occasions in these pages.  I must depart from that practice now, because it is abundantly clear that William Barr is quite prepared to break every rule and forsake every norm that once defined the foremost duty of the nation’s chief law enforcement officer—which is to administer justice dispassionately, without fear or favor, putting aside personal prejudice or political parti pris.  Not only has William Barr failed to honor this duty, he no longer bothers even to pretend.  

Ten days ago, Barr delivered a speech to the Federalist Society, a right-wing legal think tank that is responsible for picking the conservative judicial nominees with whom Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell have packed the federal courts.  Barr’s speech was more than the predictably conservative screed one would expect from such a man speaking to such an audience.  It was a declaration of holy war—against liberals, against the legislative and judicial branches of government, against anyone who dares to challenge the actions or question the legitimacy of Donald J. Trump.   This shrill jeremiad made four assertions: 

(1)  The framers endowed the presidency with sweeping executive powers.  Not only is the presidency “one of the great and remarkable innovations in our Constitution,” it has “more than any other branch…fulfilled the expectations of the framers”.

(2) This “great and remarkable innovation” has been under “unscrupulous” attack for decades by the legislative and judicial branches of government, with the result that executive power has been weakened, “to the detriment of the nation”.

(3) Liberals and Democrats are engaged in “a scorched-earth, no holds-barred resistance” to Donald Trump’s presidency, which Barr condemns as “dangerous” and “incendiary,” because it aims to “cripple, by any means necessary, a duly elected government”.  In Barr’s telling, “no other president has been subjected to such sustained efforts to debilitate his policy agenda”.

(4)  The political left, not the conservative right, is responsible for “the systematic shredding of norms and the undermining of the rule of law”.  According to Barr, “conservatives tend to have more scruple over their political tactics and rarely feel that the ends justify the means”.  This, he claims, “puts conservatives at a disadvantage when facing progressive holy war, especially when doing so under the weight of a hyper-partisan media”.  

If William Barr were an ignorant simpleton (as so many of Donald Trump’s spellbound and gawking followers undoubtedly are), these assertions could be dismissed as laughable absurdities.  Since he is neither ignorant nor simple, the only possible conclusion is that he is being deliberately dishonest.

In trying to justify his claim that the framers intended the presidency to have sweeping powers, Barr scrounges for arguments, like a partisan pig in search of truffles. One of his favorite truffles is the 17th century English philosopher John Locke, who, more than anyone, influenced the framers of the Constitution.  For all Barr’s scholarly pretensions, most of what he has to say about John Locke is not only wrong but laughably so. 

He contends, for example, that Locke was more fearful of a tyrannical parliament than of a tyrannical king.  Nothing could be more ridiculous.  Locke’s parents were Puritans.  His father fought on the side of parliament during the English Civil War, which ended with the beheading of the Stuart king, Charles I.   When another Stuart king was restored to the throne, Locke fled to Holland, where he published his most significant political works, because he did not dare to do so at home.  He returned to England only when the “Glorious Revolution” had expelled that king.  Barr’s attempt to turn John Locke into an advocate of unbridled executive power is nothing less than absurd.

Even more absurd is the fact that he all but ignores the words of the Constitution itself, perhaps because it says next to nothing to support his claims.  

Articles I and II of the Constitution establish and define the powers of the legislative and executive branches of government, respectively, and it is inescapably clear that they intend the legislative branch to be preeminent.

Article I runs to 2,367 words and spends 435 enumerating 19 specific powers that are solely the prerogatives of the legislative branch.  Article II, on the other hand, runs to a mere 1,068 words, most of which concern electoral process, limitations on presidential power, and potential reasons for impeachment.  It dedicates a mere 233 words—less than half a page—to the actual powers of the presidency, which, no matter what William Barr would like us to believe, are few and limited.  Nowhere does Article II mention “executive orders,” “executive privilege,” or “presidential immunity”.  Barr’s assertion that the “great and remarkable innovation” of the presidency was endowed by the framers with sweeping powers is the  figment of a febrile imagination.

Barr’s claim that the presidency has been systematically weakened by the legislative and judicial branches of government “to the detriment of the nation” is worse than febrile, it is preposterous.  Far from being weakened, the powers of the presidency have metastasized from the very day our republic was founded.  From Jefferson to Jackson, from Old Abe to TR, from Nixon to Reagan, from George W. Bush to Donald J. Trump, one greedy president after another has expanded the powers of his office—some would say “unconstitutionally,” others might even say “to the detriment of the nation”.

Barr condemns completely legitimate opposition to Donald Trump, because, in his view, it aims to “cripple, by any means necessary, a duly elected government”.  Note the slippery phrase, “duly elected government”.  The bitter truth William Barr does not admit, a truth that no Republican will ever admit, is that Donald Trump is not, in fact, the democratically elected President of the United States.  Not only did he lose the popular election by three million votes, his razor-thin win in the electoral college (itself an anti-democratic and antiquated institution) was the result of Russian interference.  The rhetorical charade that Donald Trump heads a “duly elected government” is a duplicitous distraction.

But then, duplicity appears to be William Barr’s specialty.  When he asserts, with a straight face, that “no other president has been subjected to such sustained efforts to debilitate his policy agenda,” the only sane reaction is to laugh in his face.  

What exactly does he think Republicans tried to do to Franklin Delano Roosevelt‘s New Deal during the depths of the Great Depression?  What were Ken Starr and his protégé Brett Kavanaugh doing when they wasted years and millions of taxpayer dollars “investigating” Bill Clinton’s sexual peccadilloes?  What was Mitch McConnell up to when he declared that his sole objective was to make Barack Obama, who had been elected not only “duly” but “democratically,” a one-term president?  Far from being the victim of a uniquely villainous attempt to undermine his presidency, Donald Trump, whose personal corruption and criminality are on full display each and every day, has been given a free ride.

Finally, there is Barr’s jaw-dropping proposition that liberals are responsible for “undermining the rule of law” and that conservatives have “more scruple over their political tactics and rarely feel the ends justify the means”.  One can only ask:  What planet does William Barr live on?  Has he ever attended a Trump rally?  Has he ever watched the political apparatchiks who spout pro-Trump propaganda on Fox News Channel?  Who, exactly, does he think he is kidding?  If he trying to kid himself, he deserves our pity.  If he is trying to kid us, he deserves our contempt.  

Whatever the truth may be, William Barr has discredited himself by dishonoring his office.  He is no longer qualified to serve as the Attorney General of the United States.  No less than the dishonest demagogue he serves, he deserves to be impeached.