A quick note from the editorial page
O Justice, Justice! wherefore art thou Justice?
A month or so back, it came to light that the Judge that is overseeing the case against James Comey is considering summarily dismissing the charges on the grounds that they are simply a means of politically motivated revenge. This is transparently obvious to all observers, as Donald Trump has all the subtlety of a three-day-dead otter.
For the ignorant, James Comey is the former FBI director who opened an investigation into the Trump campaign in connection with the Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
The world is in a weird state these days, and I am finding that I am actually in agreement with our ‘commander-in-cheap’. James B Comey should be locked in federal prison, but not for the offense of failing to acquiesce to Trump’s authoritarian whims.
As the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, his job was to investigate and arrest criminals who engaged in activities that fall outside the jurisdiction of state authorities. This agency is given vast resources to pursue individuals too powerful or too distant to be brought to justice via other means. This organization has the critical duty of being the last line of defense against the most dangerous of criminal threats.
Observers in 2016 might have viewed his behavior as trying to stay above petty political spats, and not influence voters with dramatic arrests during an active presidential campaign.
“Oh, how noble, how honorable and fair he was. How above the dirty, common infighting. How apolitical and proper he was…”
Bitch, you weren’t hired to be apolitical.
You were hired to pursue and arrest criminals. I don’t care which party is in the White House, if the president himself breaks federal jaywalking statues, your job is to march up to 1600 Pennsylvania avenue, and start slapping cuffs on people.
Lady Justice is depicted as being blind for a reason.
Am I to believe that Donald J Trump, one of the least cunning furry mammals who has ever lived, was so subtile in his machinations that you found NOTHING illegal in his dealings when you investigated him? Nothing at all?
Among other things, it sure looked like he was publicly colluding with the Russian government to break federal computer hacking laws during the 2016 campaign, when he called for them to break into Democrat computer systems. How is this not a blatant violation of the RICO act, conspiring to commit federal felonies?
An act, by the way, that was created to topple organized crime figures who used their power and influence to insulate themselves from punishment.
But what do I know? I don’t have the resources of the most powerful police force of the most powerful country in all of human history at my disposal. If they cannot ferret out Donald Tump’s subtile, devious machiavellian plots, who can?
Who can?
Those familiar with the inner workings of the justice system might argue that the FBI might have not made any arrests because the Justice Department felt that they would be unable to secure convictions.
This is a ‘cop-out’ in the most literal sense possible.
Their job is to collect evidence and arrest people breaking the law. The job of securing prosecutions is the Justice Department’s problem. If the FBI is to fail in its mission, it should not be through inaction. Is this an exceptionally difficult problem? Yes, it is. But leaders don’t get the easy problems.
You want to lead? Solve the hard problems or get out of the way.
Comey failed his job in a criminally inept fashion. He has put our entire nation at risk by allowing a suspect to go scott free, all in the name of ‘optics’. All of his (and our) current problems would not be as they are, if he had not been too timid to act.
Where is our modern day Jarvert?
When Victor Hugo penned Les Miserables, it was a scathing indictment of the French penal system. The character of Inspector Jarvert was a literal personification of a tireless, and merciless executioner of the letter of justice. Where are we now that such a despicable character seems like a welcome relief?
Perhaps your taste in metaphoric legal drama is more American. Where is our Sam Gerard, who will hound the fugitive Dr. Richard Kimble to the very ends of the earth?
Years later, actor Tommy Lee Jones, who played Sam Gerard in ‘The Fugitive’, co-starred in another film, ‘No Country for Old Men’. In that picture, he played a tired and scared old sheriff who was very reluctantly hunting a dangerous serial killer.
In looking at these two movies as a metaphor, the idealized American lawman went from a tireless hunter, to being jaded and very reluctant to open the door of a secluded motel room because he was afraid of what he would find there.
An accidental prophetic pattern, if you look hard enough?
James Comey is where he is because people like himself failed to take action. If you want the privilege of leadership, you also must accept the consequences of abject failure.
I relish your current plight Mr. Comey, for this isn’t the long arm of Justice you feel, but the heavy hand of Karma.