The Short Life (And Amazingly Fast Death) Of The FBI’s Mar-A-Lago Play

The Short Life (And Amazingly Fast Death) Of The FBI’s Mar-A-Lago Play. By Christopher Bedford.

The FBI’s news cycle just ain’t the same as it once was. …

Just a few short years ago, the Department of Justice would enjoy the benefit of the doubt, from voters and politicians alike. Seven short years ago, we would have wondered what Trump had done that was so bad the straight-shooters at the DOJ couldn’t even tell us.

Today, however, a plurality of independent voters, a strong majority of Republican voters, and 20 percent of Democrats believe the DOJ and FBI “are too political, corrupt, and not to be trusted,” according to Trafalgar Group polling. …

Years ago, when the attacks on then-candidate Trump first began, with articles the FBI placed in Mother Jones and Yahoo! News (before using those articles to “corroborate” and justify an FBI investigation), Republicans squirmed and called for more time; center-right reporters and pundits cringed and wondered; and the American people worried that Trump might have a dangerous relationship with the Kremlin. …

Along the way, lie after lie and hoax after hoax was thrown Republicans’ way. Justice Brett Kavanaugh was a gang rapist; Trump was ignoring Russian murder bounties on American soldiers; and on and on. Each time, fewer and fewer Republicans and center-right pundits went along.

Each time, the “good Republicans” made more of a mockery of themselves and their much-cited “principles.”

Each time, the movie was a little shorter. The years the Democrats and the FBI had once had to peddle their lies had turned to mere months.

The suspicion didn’t stop the lies, of course, but when the FBI finally raided the president’s home, they found those months had turned to mere hours. While Republican leaders who hated Trump, like Sen. Mitch McConnell, were still willing to give the feds a few days, within hours of the raid Republicans as mainstream as Sen. Marco Rubio and as pro-FBI as Sen. Lindsey Graham were denouncing the FBI.

In this new atmosphere, the movie played in fast-forward. When the DOJ’s accusations of misplaced records met broad scrutiny, they became accusations of nuclear danger. When even those met broad skepticism, they morphed into accusations of active Russian treason. No one was buying a ticket this time, though, and by the time a judge forced the FBI to release the affidavit they’d used to justify the raid, expectations were low.

When the FBI finally released its joke-of-an-affidavit, its antics had become a full-blown internet meme. …

 

 

Republican midwits can cite law and order to justify their servility and their ambitions all they like. In a healthy country, the people are deeply skeptical of opaque power — especially when it’s repeatedly used to lie and persecute political opponents. We’re far from healthy today, but a collective laugh at the FBI’s joke of an affidavit is a long-needed step in the right direction.

Perhaps the present strain of global leftism is approaching its use-by date.

hat-tip Stephen Neil