“It’s fitting that William Barr’s confirmation as attorney general happened just as two powerful law-enforcement figures were trading accusations involving President Trump. Mr. Barr’s greatest challenge isn’t antitrust deals, immigration policy or even handling special counsel Robert Mueller. His overriding challenge is to reboot a Justice Department that has shredded its reputation and lost the confidence of Congress and the public.
It’s hard to feel confident in law enforcement when a former deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Andrew McCabe, reveals that a small cabal of unelected senior law-enforcement officers held meetings in May 2017 to plot Mr. Trump’s removal from office. In an interview with “60 Minutes” that aired Thursday and a forthcoming book, Mr. McCabe says he and other officials, including Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, did head-counts of which cabinet officials might vote to declare the president “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office” under the 25th Amendment. Mr. McCabe claims Mr. Rosenstein repeatedly offered to wear a wire when meeting with Mr. Trump.
Mr. Rosenstein, who’s expected to resign soon, responded Thursday with a Justice Department statement blasting the claims as “factually incorrect” and highlighting that Mr. McCabe was fired for lying to the department’s inspector general. The rest of the statement was pure spin, in which Mr. Rosenstein never denied the McCabe claims.
That’s the Justice Department Mr. Barr arrives to lead—a hot mess of finger-pointing, leaks, planted press narratives, obstruction and extraordinary self-righteousness. Since the FBI presumed to investigate two active presidential campaigns, more than two dozen Justice and FBI officials have been fired, demoted or resigned.Yet no one in authority has acknowledged the mistakes that led to this bloodbath, explained how these institutions failed so spectacularly, or offered a plan for ending the dysfunction.
…Mr. Barr may be tempted to fob all this off on the investigations by the U.S. attorney for Utah, John Huber, or the Justice Department inspector general. But Mr. Huber appears to have done little by way of investigation, the inspector general’s report could still be a long way out, and in any event these questions merit answers from the nation’s top legal officer. Mr. Barr needs this job like he needs a hole in the head. But if he spends the next years rebuilding trust in federal law enforcement, he’ll have performed an immense public service.“
Right about now, we imagine Barr’s feeling a bit like Ray Stantz confronting the enormity of his challenge in Ghostbusters:
We only hope he’s up to the task…though we’ve great reservations he is.
Next up, also writing at the WSJ, Abigail Shrier highlights the undeniable, increasingly inextricable link between…
“The Democrats have an anti-Semitism problem, and it isn’t subtle. Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar tweeted Sunday that congressional support for Israel is “all about the Benjamins baby,” a slang term for $100 bills—a straightforward accusation that American lawmakers who support the Jewish state are being bought off. Who does she think is paying American politicians to be pro-Israel, the Forward’s opinion editor asked. “AIPAC!” Ms. Omar gleefully replied, notwithstanding that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee does not contribute to political campaigns.
House Democratic leaders—though none of the Democrats running for president—quickly condemned Ms. Omar’s smear, saying in a statement that her “use of anti-Semitic tropes and prejudicial accusations about Israel’s supporters” was “hurtful” and “deeply offensive.”Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said her “anti-Semitic stereotype” was “offensive and irresponsible.”
All true, but beside the point.
That Ms. Omar would slander Israel is disturbing not because of the feelings it tramples.Since her appointment to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, her statement raises alarm about how her enmity for the world’s only Jewish country—and the world’s largest Jewish population—might translate into policy aims. The issues for Israel’s supporters are security and survival, not hurt feelings, which are trivial in comparison. Assuming that all Jews love gefilte fish, play klezmer music, and suffer overbearing mothers? Those are stereotypes.Actively working to isolate Israel and accusing pro-Israel Jews of bribing Congress isn’t “insensitive.” It’s something far darker and more malevolent.
Talk of “tropes” and “stereotypes” betrays the left’s understanding of prejudice, which recognizes no distinction between threats and thoughts. Ms. Omar’s statements require no sophisticated parsing, nor a deep understanding of historical prejudice; real hatred rarely does.Hers is repeated, focused, overt and jubilant. It is bookended with musical notes, as her “all about the Benjamins” tweet was; it ends in an exclamation mark or is stamped with an arm-flex emoji, as was her “apology,” which ran under the defiant heading “Listening and learning, but standing strong,” and read in part: “I unequivocally apologize.At the same time…”
…As long as Democrats continue to condemn anti-Semitism while trivializing its presence within their party, this anti-Semitism is unlikely to subside. Melissa Byrne, a former aide to Sen. Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign, tweeted of Ms. Omar: “She is a new MoC”—member of Congress—“figuring out how to navigate calling out AIPAC (which is a terrible organization aligned with Bibi).” The soft bigotry of low expectations: Ms. Omar is new here! She didn’t know it was offensive to accuse pro-Israel Jews of graft.
Sometimeshate is just hate. But threats cause alarm because of what they hope to achieve, not because they are hurtful in themselves.Democrats should stop pretending that hatred is a matter of feelings and take Ms. Omar, Ms. Tlaib and their compatriots at their word.“
Then again, Democrats back in the ’30s didn’t take Herr Hitler at his word. Some in fact, positively presaged the increasingly ardent anti-Semitism of contemporary Progressives, having actively embraced…
…the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei…aka the National-Socialist German Workers’ Party…aka the NSDAP…aka the NAZIS.
Just an observation.
Since we’re on the subject of those studiously seeking to snuff out the life of millions of innocents, as the Editors at NRO inform us…
“In Rhode Island, legislators are considering a bill to put their state on par with New York by repealing nearly all existing protections for unborn life. It is part of a national campaign by Democrats to use deceptive marketing to enshrine a regime of elective abortion through all nine months of pregnancy.
…Anew Cygnal pollof likely voters in Rhode Island found that key provisions of these bills are highly unpopular with residents. Only 22 percent of respondents favor making abortion legal up until birth, while 69 percent oppose partial-birth abortions in all circumstances and 64 percent oppose all second-trimester abortion.
With similar bills pending in several states across the country — including Vermont, New Mexico, and Illinois — Democrats continue to reveal how radical their party has become on abortion. In Rhode Island, there is still time to stop them from putting their extreme and inhumane ideology into law.“
Sorry, but at the risk of sounding uncharitable, as well as begging forgiveness for featuring a video clip in which the Lord’s name is taken in vain, when it comes to those who support abortion on demand, let alone infanticide, Chuck Heston speaks for us…
…as we’ve no doubt whatsoever that’s precisely where the vast majority of them are headed.
Speaking of those whose purely political calculus has consigned them to the hottest levels of Hell, Jim Geraghty calls your attention to…
The great Geraghty left out #21: Gillibrand’s a political whore of the lowest level, jumping as she does from one position to another with the frequency of a cheap ham radio. She oozes all the candor of Bill Clinton telling an intern he’d still respect her in the morning combined with the supposed sincerity of the Smartest Woman in the World curiously failing to comprehend…
…the concept of “wiping” a server.
Which brings us to The Lighter Side:
Finally, we’ll call it a week with yet another sordid story straight from the pages of The Crime Blotter, and this update on what is looking more and more like another case of the Boy Who Cried Racism:
“Chicago police confirmed Thursday that detectives are talking to two persons of interest in connection with the alleged attack on “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett.
Multiple sources have told ABC7 Eyewitness News that police are investigating whether Smollett and the two men staged the attack allegedly because Smollett was being written off of “Empire.” A source familiar with the investigation told the ABC7 I-Team that Smollett failed to appear for an interview with detectives earlier Thursday.
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson contacted ABC7 to say they are continuing to treat Smollett as a victim and the investigation remains ongoing.
…A source briefed on the Smollett investigation confirmed to ABC News that Chicago police are questioning the two persons of interest — one of whom has appeared on “Empire.” The law enforcement official also told ABC News that the homes of the persons of interest were raided Wednesday night. Police removed shoes, electronic devices and other items they believe could help them determine if the two people played any role in the assault.
Chicago police said they “cannot confirm any of those reports.” No charges have been filed.
Earlier, police said the two persons of interest are not suspects and have not been charged. Investigators are only talking with them at this time. The two were picked up Wednesday night at O’Hare International Airport, police said.
…Smollett, 36, is black and openly gay.“
Here’s the juice: were Smollett any other color or sexual orientation, or lacked his minimal level of notoriety, Chicago police would have closed their investigation shortly after it started.
And the more he promotes his version of events, the more he reminds us of Sam Tipton from My Cousin Vinny:
Neither have we any further use for the misleading Mr. Smollett!
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