Mehdi HasanDon't know whether to laugh or cry: Garland insisted today on how *independent* and *impartial* his pick for Special Counsel, Jack Smith, will be.
THE RIGHT DOES NOT CARE!
They are not good-faith actors!
Apppeasing them does not work!
A L Katz@mehdihasan Hear-bloody-HEAR!!!
Mathias@mehdihasan It would be a "witch hunt" even if The Pope was the Special Counsel
Garland is Weak@mehdihasan garland is a joke. An insult to the rule of law.
This Minute MattersWe need to create disdain for those that would profit from political discourse. Punditry is not a valid industry.
Paid punditry incentivizes division, conspiracy, and outrage. It turns our democracy into a supermarket tabloid as everyone scrambles to harvest attention to monetize.
Punditry is treason. It should be legal but culturally anathema.
Those on the "left" should make the first move to abolish for-profit punditry. The "right" is nothing but punditry, so it will never start there.
MSNBC, CNN, et al. should announce the elimination of ads from segments featuring political commentary.
Political discourse IS democracy, and it cannot be for sale.
JD@ThisMinuteMatters @mehdihasan CNN is just about as bad as Fox since ownership changed.
Nosuperhero@mehdihasan They’re not appeasing the right, they’re going for the jugular & don’t want to miss. Jack Smith released a statement today saying his appointment won’t slow the investigation. I think Garland has collected all the information, laid the groundwork & is now handing if off to this war crimes prosecutor to take down all of the conspirators. Dems may end up controlling the House after all.
Dr Nicklet's hope you are right.
what sort of time window would you reckon for how long is reasonable here?
and if we got to the end of that time window without big deal decisions and actions happening, what would you think then?
@DrNick @mehdihasan I don’t pretend to know the extent of the various conspiracies, the countries involved or the number of compromised US officials. I do believe these investigations involve transnational crimes & potentially war crimes against the USA. The complexity of these issues take time to investigate & to build airtight win-able prosecutions.
Sraik Doubter@Nosuperhero @mehdihasan Let's hope so.
Blinxeto
Alex Thornton (she/her) 🇺🇸🇺🇦💙@mehdihasan It has less to do with appeasing the right. You are totally correct that they aren’t good faith actors. More that Garland is conscious that with high ranking government officials there is always the office and the individual. The proper set up of an investigation, even for Donald Trump, is important b/c we are on the side of the rule of law.
TeelaResiststwo things
1. the words 'any and all'
2. trump, fake electors & a lot of GOP are stocking up on their TP supplies
it's gonna be a bumpy ride & quick we hope
😎
BullMoose23@mehdihasan You don't do things for Trump supporters in a situation like this. You do it because it is right. You do it for the integrity of the system. Otherwise, he has just further corrupted our way of government.
Phil Allsopp@mehdihasan appeasing violent authoritarians never works. Neville Chamberlain tried that with Hitler. All it did was to convey fear and weakness. So Hitler set about subjugating all of Europe & Scandinavia knowing that Britain had a weakling at the helm.
The same applied to Garland. Sadly he conveys the strength of character of a church mouse when what we need is a Lion defending the rule of law and, thus, our democracy.
Marcus@mehdihasan who cares what the right thinks.
Joe Turpin@mehdihasan, I think he nailed it. I understand and can appreciate your sentiment though. He's doing the right thing regardless of what anyone thinks. To quote from a recent speech he gave:
"...let us make a promise that each of us will protect each other and our democracy.
...
That we will do what is right, even if that means doing what is difficult."
ProtectiveHen@mehdihasan It's not about appeasing the magats - it's about doing the right thing, and trying to assure the average folks living their lives who don't follow politics much that this is legit.
Flower@mehdihasan We should always do the right thing, no matter who’s watching.
Phegan@mehdihasan the right stopped operating within the bureaucracy over a decade ago, the establishment left has no idea how to operate without it. How can you expect to win when you insist on playing by the rules, and the other player has been breaking them for a while now.
@mehdihasan Garland’s dereliction is appalling. His deep concern for appearances isn’t noble, it’s cowardly.
Moabas@mehdihasan That's the biggest issue. It's all a game to them. They are selfish and acting in bad faith. Which is sad because there is room for robust conservative discussion. There are other topics to champion instead of a culture war. But those issues are not exciting.
Roger Tansey@mehdihasan Like Robert Mueller, these old school prosecutors seem to assume good faith on the part of . . . criminals.
ራስ ባሪያው Rass Bariaw@mehdihasan Democrats never learn (yet, half the time agree with and work with Republicans.....tax cuts for the wealthiest, undermine social welfare, supporting wars globally)....