1) The thread I posted yesterday has generated much outstanding discussion, and not a little disagreement. I want to thank all of you who disagreed and took the trouble to express it. I mean that with great sincerity. I worship on the altar of public discourse and exchange.
2) The events are occuring in real time, and many have mentioned the 48-hour rule to me, where one says nothing for two days for all kinds of very wise reasons. Then, on top of that, being such an emotional man as I am, people have commented to that effect in connection.
3) Not to be coy, today, only 24 hours later, I stand every bit as strongly behind my comments yesterday as I did when I posted them. And perhaps, even more so. Much information has come in since. As it rolls in, my thinking is deepening, and stiffening my resolve.
4) My thoughts today will go a bit slower, however, and will be process focused. I wish to share both more about how I do my work, as well as where my evolving thought is turning. As always, I will welcome your criticisms, should you be inspired to offer them.
5) So, let us begin to work our way through some nuances, fine points if you will. Here's the first. One may be both highly competent and still so guilty of insubordination as to merit firing, in spite of one's competence. For my part, I do not yet know how competent AG Barr is.
6) I've seen good outcomes from his work, and was for that reason among others, his hesitating fan. I really do like him, make no mistake about that. I like his style and strength, when he stands for law, as well as when he stands up for his boss. I respect that, and greatly.
7) Further, I'm more than happy to grant that his true competence is not visible to me. Perhaps he is doing amazing work behind the scenes. Maybe the Durham investigation will eventually make all these cases turn the right direction, etc. I'm willing to grant that possibility.
8) To be 100% clear, I do see the good that Barr has done, as much as has been made public, and am happy to grant the possibility he's really got this thing going in the right direction. I don't believe that, as if I knew it, but hypothetically, I'm happy to grant it.
9) And if I was the hatchet man brought in to cut him loose, I'd say all of that to him at the beginning of our "you're fired" conversation. I'll come back to that in a bit, below. But now we have to turn to the Principle of Replaceability. No one is indispensable. No one.
10) Just consider this simple fact. We're all going to die. What then? Oh no! The world will no longer have our...irreplaceable...capabilities anymore. All will be doom. Alas. I hope you catch my sarcasm. Once we're dead, we will most assuredly be replaced. It's inescapable.
11) I have to turn very serious right now, in illustration of this principle. It makes me begin to cry whenever I think about Justice Antonin Scalia. I won't argue the following point. I have no data, only judgment, so it's not worth arguing. I believe he was assassinated.
12) Be that as it may - and it enrages my soul every time I think about it - he died. And, by whatever means, dead is dead and it's where we're all headed. So, time to suck it in and look at what occurred afterwards. These things: Trump, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh...and so much more.
13) We know from 2016 that Mitch McConnell, whom I also do not trust, made one of the greatest political/constitutional decisions in American history by NOT allowing the Garland appointment to go through. What a decision. It was positively heroic.
14) I can't get stuck on that, but his analysis and strategy were not only genius, but led directly to Trump's election. We know that the coming appointment of a SCOTUS justice was without doubt the single most unifying element of Trump's campaign. It brought us all together.
15) I can easily speculate - I'm being nice, the right word is know - that if it weren't for McConnell's act, there would be no President Trump. The fight was too hard, the odds too greatly against us. Take that one element away and there simply is no victory possible in 2016.
16) I must add that, for all that I still don't trust McConnell. But I do honor and revere him. See what I meant about nuances, above? But let's forward the story. We end up with Gorsuch immediately, and then - and here enters Lindsay Graham - we succeed in appointing Kavanaugh.
17) We pause now on Lindsay. What a complicated character. Wow. During the 2016 debate cycle, I loved everything he said in public and didn't believe a word of it. I knew I truly liked him, however, after Trump doxed his cell phone number and he responded with a hilarious video.
18) That video was AWESOME! I won't dive into the other side of his story. I know how many of us hate and detest him, and I have some idea why. But, everyone should give credos to him over Kavanaugh. That was one of the great moments in dramatic political history. Honor for that.
19) Where we had one, now we have two. Scalia was a one-of-a-kind. I can't say that even both Gorsuch and Kavanaugh have completely replaced him. But, think about it, not only two SCOTUS justices in his mold, but also, our beloved POTUS. All that can be credited to Scalia.
20) One of the most beautiful words in the English language is legacy. Scalia's legacy is glorious. As America rolls forward through the coming centuries, Scalia's name will rise to the level of those, his fellows, who were the Founding Fathers. He sits well with them, forever.
21) In fact, the very idea of replaceability includes the idea of legacy. Once one is gone, one's legacy lingers, for good or ill. It is actually on all of us, his followers, to live up to Scalia's legacy. We must all read the Constitution, and make it our own as he did.
22) And here's the legacy I would offer to AG Barr, were I honored to be the man firing him. Your legacy, I would tell him, is in honor of the Principle of Insubordination. You will forever be remembered as the man who should have been fired in spite of all the good you're doing.
23) There are lines, I would say. And you crossed one. I might even ask, do you know the phrase, "a bridge too far?" The line you just crossed was that, for you. You went too far into enemy territory. You gave our opponents too much joy. You compromised your loyalty.
24) And once the firing was over, I'd demand all the help he could give in building his...replacement. I'd demand it. The transition will be smooth, and in that, you will recoup some of the honor you have lost. And that would be that.
25) My next phone call would be to McConnell. I bet you can guess how that would go. Mitch, my man, I need you and I can't fire you. We're friends. But I'm telling you, I do not EVER want to watch an interview like the one you did with Bret Baier ever again.
26) Mitch, I'd say. I have just let Barr go. I know, you're going to freak out. I know, it's not how we do things here in DC. I know. But after you cool down, you're going to see that it's time I start acting like the real, as opposed to the acting President.
27) So, what I'm going to do, right now, Mitch, is bring back Matt Whitaker as the acting AG. He and Bill will work well together in executing the transition, and we're not going to lose any of the wonderful work that Bill did. After that, I'm going to need your guidance.
28) I'll need your help, Mitch. I'm not sure if we just ride with Matt through the election, or if we need to commence an appointment process for the new AG. I need you to ponder that and get back to me. Thanks. Yes, you can leave now, Mitch. And thanks again.
29) And that would be that, friends. That is how you cut someone loose. You never, never ever, allow insubordination. Never. I'm tempted to keep repeating. I won't. Let's rise back up to the strategic level.
30) The Democrats will cry foul. Adam Schiff will be happy. Time for Impeachment 2.0, he'll dream and smile. So what. It is crystal clear that the President can fire for pleasure, and needs no cause. Maybe we need another impeachment in order to firm up our clarity.
31) And with that, we must roll over to the strategic question of McCabe. It ties directly, and make no mistake, it is both strategic and a hellaciously wrong strategic error on Barr's part. By the way, this is NOT a firing offense. Everyone can pick the wrong strategy.
32) Barr is just ill-informed in this strategy, and should be corrected. It's too late to do so, if he's fired, obviously. But, I know Trump isn't going to fire Barr, so let's go with that, now. How is this strategy so very, very wrong?
33) What I hear is that this infraction is too difficult to prosecute, and what everyone tells me is that coming prosecutions will make everything right, be patient, and above all, trust the plan. That's what I'm told. And, with apology, what I reject utterly.
24) I've said it before, and will again, I do not trust my own plans, let alone those of others, let alone those of others when I cannot see the plan, let alone those of others for whom there is no one who has seen this illusive plan. If it is there, I don't trust it.
25) A word on my relationship to my scores of Q following friends. I mean no disrespect. And I hope you can allow disagreement meant to be respectful, as such. I always reserve the right to be wrong. I may be completely wrong here. If I am, I will embrace my error and own it.
26) Back to McCabe, now. So, let's see if we have this. The precise same crime that Flynn has been tortured for...the exact same crime...cannot be prosecuted against McCabe since it's not strong enough, or since there are other, better crimes to prosecute later?
27) It beggars the imagination. Every conceivable nicety is extended to McCabe (not to mention Comey), while every tool of the inquisition is pondered over Flynn, and many incorporated. Come on. This is INJUSTICE in capital letters.
28) Perhaps the case may be made that the case would be difficult, and could not guarantee a conviction. Okay, I respond, and since when were convictions supposed to be guaranteed? You prosecuted an innocent man over this. Now, you won't prosecute McCabe? I cry foul, myself.
29) But the other crimes will lead to both certain conviction and be part of a grander scheme, I'm told. Then tell me the scheme. What secrecy must we honor at this point? Fie, I say. Pah. This stinks and I won't be made to keep my quiet about it. It stinks. Foul word deleted.
30) Consider the optics. That's a word that everyone in DC knows and reveres. An innocent man prosecuted falsely, persecuted and torn down from the position of National Security advisor, no problem. McCabe, can't prosecute him, that's too big a problem to solve. I spit on that.
31) Okay, I can see that I'm getting heated up again. And I promised we'd cooly discuss process. So here goes. There is a split between heart and brain, mind and emotions. And, by all means, they certainly do fight each other. Yet, we can approach even that mathematically. 
32) We allow A = Intellect; and B = Emotion. The intersection of A & B = OUTSTANDING ANALYSIS!!!
33) Yes, I get excited by an outstanding analysis, thus the highly emotive 3 exclamation points above. When assessing anything, we must know both what we think and how we feel. The process is complex. Our thoughts may be wrong. So also our feelings. Back and forth we go.
34) And what I'm telling you is that this non-prosecution of McCabe stinks to my mind, and it stinks to my heart, and never have their union been more aligned. They might as well be one circle, where the two circles have converged. This is wrong.
35) Countercase, I'm told, is that all will be well, later. And I respond again, but all is not well now. Later is possible. Now is real. Later is theory. Now is a fact. Facts always trump theories. Proper theories are always built upon bedrock solid facts, where we have them.
36) In theory, we fill in for missing facts. That is fine, allowed, the very purpose of theory. But theory must NEVER deny current facts. So, if you're going to prove my theory wrong, you must first address and explain my current facts. Are they not factual? Okay, then I'm wrong.
37) You don't deny my facts, but you're telling me my Circle B (emotions) has overridden my Circle A (intellect) and that I must calm down? Well, okay. But I'll need some facts to do so, or a far more compelling theory than my own. And, I'm telling you, I'm not seeing it.
38) Here's another logical problem with the McCabe situation. Let's assume there are far more easily won cases in the waiting, okay. And of course you can't tell us that, we're simply supposed to believe it...but letting go of that...assuming we believe it...why?
39) Or better, why not? Why can't we prosecute this case, win or lose, and then prosecute the next cases? There will be no guarantee we win those either. But, imagine we won this case, then, we might win those cases. Why in the world would we not prosecute now? It makes no sense.
40) Letting go of character, who's side anyone is on, the swamp, etc. It is bad law to prosecute one person one way, and another person another. Prosecution is NOT about conviction. It IS about justice. If the prosecution fails to convict, so what?
41) Strategically, the optics here are beyond horrible. They are an atrocity. And they are an atrocity right now. They cry out for judgment now. No, we must not wait. No, cooler heads are not required. We need hotter, not cooler heads. That's why we elected Trump.
42) Let's turn back now to Barr. He has defended the President over the Mueller Investigation hoax. Yet even there, he employed Rod Rosenstein to back him up. That stank. The outcome was good enough, but using Rosenstein stank and I know why he did it. I think I do...
43) I think this is Sessions 2.0. He doesn't serve the President, but thinks he must be his own man. Sessions recused himself, to show he was his own man. In reality, he simply handed all his power over to the President's enemies. He was their man, not his own.
44) Move after move so far, I see Barr contemplating how the Democrats will respond. Oh, oh, I have to bring up another historical example.
Justice Roberts. Obamacare.
Justice Roberts. Obamacare.
45) To appease the Democrats, in order to ensure that the Court was above reproach, was NOT political, Roberts gave Obama the greatest, and most tortured aid any President has ever received. Ever. No, the fine was not a fine, it was a tax. Congress has unlimited power to tax.
46) How is Justice Roberts NOT in complete and utter condemnation by every Constitution loving American? How did he NOT fail his Constitutional vow? Want to talk impeachment? We should impeach Justice Roberts for Obamacare. He doesn't deserve his frock.
47) This is precisely how the Constitution is shredded. Again and again we manipulate the law in order to be acceptable to Democrats and all their beltway-bandit co-conspirators. Emotionally, again, I say fie and pah. There's a dirty taste on my tongue.
48) The high bar of law is not merely the law itself, alone. It is the look, the feel, the emotion of trust. Law, in order to be equal, must be FELT to be equal. It has to address common sense, and not fine points of strategy or perfect convictability. It must be fair.
49) I hope that this new man Jensen will clear General Flynn. I will celebrate that, if it occurs, as will we all. But imagine the emotion the Flynn family felt when they learned McCabe will not be prosecuted, rightly, for the very thing Gen Flynn was prosecuted wrongly.
50) So I end up where I started, yesterday. Barr should be fired and replaced. McCabe's non-prosecution is wrong in every way. If future events turn out well, I'll celebrate them. But I 100% stand behind yesterday's analysis.
Okay, show me where I'm wrong, and I will thank you.
Okay, show me where I'm wrong, and I will thank you.
