Thursday Reads
Posted: January 14, 2021 Filed under: just because 49 Comments
Good Morning!!
Yesterday Donald Trump was impeached for the second time, and this time ten Republicans voted yea. There won’t be a trial before Joe Biden is inaugurated, but one must be held after Trump leaves office. Furthermore, despite what James Comey says, Trump must be prosecuted for his crimes.
Grant Tudor and Ian Bassin at The Atlantic: Of Course America Prosecutes Its Executive-Branch Leaders.
Against the recent spectacle of an American president and his allies inciting an insurrection, such criminal misconduct by other chief executives appears almost quotidian. Illegally lining one’s own pockets is never good, but extorting public officials to manipulate election results is more than a difference of degree. One might assume, then, at this stage of things, that accountability for lawbreaking would be uncontroversial. And yet debate over the appropriateness of prosecutions for possible wide-ranging criminal behavior at the most senior levels of government is in full swing.
Various commentators have warned that prosecutions would “set a dangerous precedent” of punishing political opponents. Others have cautioned against the risk of creating martyrs or exacerbating polarization. After January 6, some changed their minds. But many others have not, speculating that the risks are still “just not worth it.” Even President-elect Joe Biden has made clear that he hopes to avoid “divisive” investigations. Although he has committed to a Justice Department that will operate with independence, “he can set a tone about what he thinks should be done,” as one adviser put it. And the president-elect has indicated that he “wants to move on.”
This would be a mistake. It not only contradicts the available evidence on how best to guard against the recurrence of serious transgressions, but also stands in odd contrast to how our own “laboratories of democracy”—the states—deal with misconduct by powerful executive-branch officials. Indeed, federalism provides the privilege to test government actions on a smaller scale in order to base more consequential federal decisions on evidence, not speculation. And the evidence from U.S. states is clear: When the rule of law runs its course, it typically prevails, and without precipitating a crisis.
A chief reason states prosecute their most powerful public officials is that prosecutions help deter future lawbreaking. Insofar as the law is applied consistently—without regard for the profile of the person in question—prosecutions send clear signals. Beliefs about the probability of punishment operate forcefully on people’s decisions.
Criminal affirmance—the tacit condoning of dangerous behavior in the absence of prosecution—also sends a clear signal. Research shows that, especially with elite criminal behavior, not pursuing punishment works to undermine confidence in government by visibly carving out exceptions in the rule of law, and broadcasts to other powerful actors that criminality is rewarding. As Mary Ramirez, a former trial attorney with the Justice Department, observed in the aftermath of the 2009 financial crisis: “A petty thief that evades prosecution has virtually no impact on the rule of law, but a CEO that evades prosecution … is an advertisement.”
Read the rest at The Atlantic.
An example of prosecution of a former public official being prosecuted for crimes committed in office is taking place now in Michigan. AP: Ex.-Michigan Gov. Snyder charged in Flint water crisis.
Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder was charged Wednesday with willful neglect of duty after an investigation of ruinous decisions that left Flint with lead-contaminated water and a regional outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease.
The charges, revealed in an online court record, are misdemeanors punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
The charges are groundbreaking: No governor or former governor in Michigan’s 184-year history had been charged with crimes related to their time in that office, according to the state archivist….
Besides Snyder, a Republican who was governor from 2011 through 2018, charges are expected against other people, including former officials who served as his state health director and as a senior adviser.
The alleged offense date is April 25, 2014, when a Snyder-appointed emergency manager who was running the struggling, majority Black city carried out a money-saving decision to use the Flint River for water while a regional pipeline from Lake Huron was under construction.
The corrosive water, however, was not treated properly and released lead from old plumbing into homes in one of the worst manmade environmental disasters in U.S. history.
Despite desperate pleas from residents holding jugs of discolored, skunky water, the Snyder administration took no significant action until a doctor reported elevated lead levels in children about 18 months later.
Trump cannot be allowed to escape accountability for the damage he has done to the country, no matter how long it takes. In addition, Republican Congresspeople who aided and abetted Trump in his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election should also be punished, ideally by expulsion from the House and Senate.
Did some lawmakers go further by actually helping the rioters who attacked the Capitol on January 6? The Washington Post: Democrats demand investigation of whether Republicans in Congress aided Capitol rioters.
More from Buzzfeed News: Capitol Police Officers Said They Wouldn’t Be Surprised If Members Of Congress Helped Plan The Attack.
After seeing one of their colleagues killed last Wednesday, Capitol Police officers are angry that Republican members of Congress refuse to submit to the security changes put in place since then, and say they wouldn’t even be surprised if some lawmakers helped organize the attack.
Officers told BuzzFeed News that members of Congress often see security as optional. Even after last week’s deadly attack, some Republican members refused to go through metal detectors, pushing their way past Capitol Police officers.
“Officers are fuming and there are mumbles of several walking off the job,” one officer with more than 10 years on the force told BuzzFeed News — just as Republicans took to the floor last night to rail against even basic security measures. At one point today, officers set up tables around the metal detectors in an effort to block Republicans from just walking by them.
One of the officers said it’s not unusual for members of Congress to bring dozens of people at once and insist that visitors be waved past security. Officers’ concerns were echoed by some Democrats who have been speaking out about the state of security at the Capitol, and the potential involvement of members in the planning of the insurrection….
Two of the officers who spoke to BuzzFeed News said it wouldn’t surprise them if lawmakers had been involved. “There are definitely some members who need to be held to account once an investigation shows the totality of circumstances,” one said, in a sign of how betrayed some officers feel in the aftermath of the assault on the Capitol.
Yesterday, massive numbers of National Guard troops were stationed at the Capitol and other sites in DC. The Washington Post: Security footprint grows in nation’s capital ahead of inauguration.
Evidence suggests that the attack on the Capital last week was planned rather than spontaneous. Evan Perez at CNN: 
peej
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Sky Dancing 
The Daily Beast: Trump Rants in Near-Empty White House: I’ll ‘Never’ Say Biden Won
Those pictures of the massed nat’l guard perplexes me, and makes me ask-who the hell is in charge here? Before the storming of the capitol, last week, there was obviously a minimal presence of police behind the barricades and they were easily overrun. The pictures from last week should have looked more like what we saw yesterday.
I agree with having a build up of security for yesterday’s events but there’s no large mob outside the window so the response seems way overblown. And I agree the security needs to be robust for the weekend and the inauguration. But that’s days away.
Are those poor nat’l guards going to be sleeping on the floor all week, lacking most amenities and having little to do except sit around. I would think this would anger them and possibly fan disgruntlement with the government.
Whoever decided on these deployments of security seems incompetent at best or willing to fuck it up for some agenda at worst.
I was sort of thinking along those lines myself – i.e. are the toilet facilities at the Capitol going to be overrun, and how on earth can they ask these guys to sleep on the floor for any length of time. What’s the point maintaining a presence of so many if half of them are unconscious? They ought to make Dump put them up in his hotel for free.
I’m not so sure about that. The way to prevent a bully from doing his thing (gendered pronoun on purpose…) is to give him the impression he’ll be swatted down if he so much as tries.
The MAGAts are bullies. These are not Alexei Navalny-types who’ll throw themselves at tanks (or poisoners. Have you heard he’s going right back? :boggle:) because their hearts are pure and they have the strength of ten. (Old cliche. Maybe it means nothing these days?)
Anyway, point being, have a huge show of force is the easiest way not to have to use force with those gumballs.
I agree with having a well-publicized show of force. But there should be some arrangement for reasonably comfortable sleeping places when they’re off duty.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/dem-reps-cots-national-guard-troops-capitol
Good to see,someone also saw those pictures of guard sleeping on the floors and requested cots.
The buildup of troops is mostly in anticipation of the Inauguration, I think.
Those pictures are amazing … thanks!
BTW BB, I can’t find any official confirmation about if Jordan was one of those but the tag on twitter is reconnaissance tours
I’ll keep watching. He is an obvious candidate.
Wow these pipo are dummer than a bag of hammers:
https://susiemadrak.com/2021/01/14/way-to-go-ladies/
Bragging about their participation in the riot on dating sites….
Dumber *and* less useful.
LOL!
Thank you for this important post.
I had missed the opinion piece by Mr. Comey. Really, hasn’t he done enough damage to this country? Must he attempt more damage with his illogical musings?
Without his improper rant when announcing there were (rightly) no charges against SOS Clinton and without his equally improper announcement that he was reopening the (bogus) investigation, there would have been no President Trump. I believe that tipped the scales for some and reduced Democratic turnout.
About 400,000 Americans would be alive today and we would not have had armed insurrectionists at the Capitol.
Btw, there is a video of a Rep. from Oregon opening a Capitol door to the insurrectionists. He should be added to the list of those being investigated.
I think that video was from the Oregon capitol, right? I did see it.
Story about it at the WaPo: Rioters stormed the Oregon Capitol in December. Video shows a Republican lawmaker let them in.
I haven’t seen an opinion piece by Comey either, but saw a mention that he thought Biden should pardon Trump. Is this really so? Pardoning someone for inciting insurrection would be a perversion of justice. Comey acts like a loose cannon.
I think he expressed the opinions in his new book, which you couldn’t pay me to read.
Me neither.
I’m not sure why any one thinks he has anything to add. The one interview I’ve seen isn’t kind’ve pathetic. He looks like a sadsack and just sorely out of touch .
Can’t have peons sharing a bathroom with royalty, apparently.
They have six (6) goddamn bathrooms. They don’t even need to share. Just let them use one and limit yourself to the incredible hardship of only using five.
(And just to defend (the concept of) royalty for a second, *officially* true royalty shares the burdens of the citizenry during hard times. Sort of like the Queen Mother staying in Buckingham Palace during the Blitz. She had only a small staff of a few hundred but, still, she did remain in the same danger during the bombings.) These scum are power-mad, power-grabbing tyrants.
Her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, even served in uniform during WWII.
Have read in several places that the panic buttons had been secretly removed ahead of the invasion from several Dem offices, including AOC’s.
That is mega-bizarre…. The only reason to do that is if they (the Coup Klux Klan) planned on murdering them in their offices.
?????
Republicans, spreading disease anyway they can.
I’d heard about that. So nice to have a few heartwarming things happen during this whole glacier of madness.
I want to see Major and Champ escort the Trumps out of the White House.
WSJ: Man Who Allegedly Threw Fire Extinguisher at Police Arrested on Federal Charges
Good to see these insurrectionists get identified and arrested. Lock them up!
Glad to see Captain Sedition got caught. I can’t tell you how much I want to throw up every time I see that awful flag and knowing where it’s being waved. It violates the deaths of all the soldiers who died and were severely wounded in the Civil War fight for the country vs. out and out TRAITORS.
I agree with Tudor and Bassin, prosecute the bastards. from top to bottom. The Republican/Trump party, Maggats will resist any Biden actions to unite anyway. So why bother.
I worry that Biden will try to be a lame “peace-maker” and forego showing strength and force which is the only route to take. Trump and his lunatic fringe aren’t likely to be persuaded to change, which is an understatement. Americans need to bind together and apply endless pressure for accountability, punishment, and strict enforcement of laws. For, if we don’t let law rule, our democracy will vanish, replaced by autocracy, and will take generations to re-establish if it’s possible with the lunatics Trump has unleashed.
Yes, I agree with you. If Biden takes the peacemaker role,someone else needs to take the heavier handed role and push for accountability.
I’m assuming that Kamala Harris was in the Senate preparing to vote Jan. 6 and, being terrorized by the mob invasion, will gently push Biden to strongly support prosecutions and to not pardon Trump.
Note it’s the Congressional medal, and not the corrupted Presidential medal.
Thank god he did what he did. It could have been so much worse.