Thread by @1stLevelHuman

You know, the thing that really gripes me the most about Barr's behavior doesn't have a lot to do with Donald Trump.

I mean, it does, circumstantially, but as bad as Trump's grifting and lying is, Barr's performance as AG has been so much worse.

Let me explain this, or try to.

It's hard to remember, now, but committed Republicans weren't always firmly in Donald Trump's camp.

Back on November 9, 2016, as the presidential election returns came trickling in, not one of my Republican friends or family members was enthused about a Trump presidency.

I mean, sure, they all voted for the guy, but for them it was more about NOT making HRC president than a burning desire to see Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

They saw his faults

They knew what he was.

They thought it was awful that they felt like he was their only option.

But they voted for him, anyway, and when I asked them why I consistently got two answers:

1) They felt that filling the Supreme Court vacancy with a conservative justice for a lifetime appointment was more important than a four-day or eight-year presidential term.

And...

2) They were convinced that our system of checks and balances would constrain Donald Trump's worst impulses.

Of course, if you've been paying attention, you already know that there shouldn't have been a Supreme Court vacancy on November 6, 2016.

Months before Election Day, Barack Obama had nominated a capable and qualified centrist non-controversial federal judge to fill that seat.

The Senate abdicated its Constitutional duty to consider this appointment, primarily to ensure that this seat would still be a campaign issue on Election Day.

It was a nakedly political decision. There was no concern for the precedent being set, no thought of national interests.

In other words, our leaders had already decided that partisan advantage in an election was more important than their Constitutional duties-- consequences be damned.

And of course this doesn't bode well for the idea of our system of checks & balances constraining Donald Trump.

Which, of course, brings me back to Barr's execrable performance.

As Attorney General, Barr heads an organization which is designed to be insulated from presidential politics.

There are rules in place to prevent the White House from influencing DoJ operations.

These rules are essential for the preservation of an independent judiciary.

They're needed to uphold the rule of law.

These rules were put in place to serve as checks and balances-- as guardrails intended to constrain a tyrant's worst impulses.

Today our nation's ranking law enforcement officer testified that it was okay for the president to order a subordinate to lie.

That it was okay for the president to order a subordinate to create false documentation.

That it was okay for the president to dangle pardons.

Today our nation's ranking law enforcement official defended having misled Congress.

Defended having lied about the findings of an investigation into presidential obstruction.

Defended ruling, by personal fiat, that the president had been fully exonerated, despite the evidence.

Today our nation's ranking law enforcement official declined to recognize Congress' oversight authority over the department that he heads.

Declined to honor its subpeonas.

Declined to testify before the House committee most directly responsible for oversight over the DoJ.

Each of these precedents that Barr established today smashed through one of the checks & balances which were intended to constrain the worst impulses of a tyrant.

And these precedents were established for nakedly partisan purposes-- to protect the president at all costs.

In other words, once again, one of our leaders had decided that partisan defense of a corrupt politician was more important than our Constitutional system of checks & balances.

If this stands, those checks & balances will be erased for a long time, possibly forever.

Donald Trump's worst impulses are beating those checks and balances. The guardrails are losing.

And naked partisanship is eroding the basis of our Constitutional system.

And THAT's what really gripes me about AG Barr's behavior. Trump is small potatoes compared to that damage.

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