Where in the hell is Merrick Garland now — physically, politically, or morally?
That question demands an answer because his actions in office have rewritten the rules of our republic in a terrifying manner. For the first time in U.S. history, an Attorney General, Merrick Garland, took it upon himself to indict and prosecute a former President of the United States who was also a declared candidate running against Garland’s boss, Joe Biden. This isn’t just novel. It’s unprecedented.
Imagine the magnitude of that conflict of interest. Imagine the danger to democratic norms when the chief law enforcement officer in the land lines up against a political rival of the President. Garland has crossed a boundary that previous Attorneys General would never dare. Whether he chose this path or was ordered down it, we must hold him accountable either way for abuse of power.
He must face disbarment and the loss of his law license.
The Indictment That Shook the Nation
Garland’s indictment wasn’t built on rock-solid, long-established legal doctrine. No, it was stitched together from dubious facts, speculative theories, and novel legal arguments untested in federal courts. He, or whoever is whispering in his ear, decided to drag a former President into a courtroom, even while that person was campaigning against Biden.
That move is a moral and constitutional disaster. It creates the optics and the reality of law enforcement being wielded as a political cudgel. When prosecutors blur the line between justice and politics, the very foundations of the rule of law crack.
The GOP Fecklessness
Here’s where the Republicans must answer for their own lethargy. The GOP is too willing to “forgive and forget.” Time and again, when their institutions or leaders are assaulted, they choose polite finger-wagging over real pushback. That passivity sets the stage for perpetual escalation by Democrats.
By normalizing the weaponization of federal institutions, we are creating perverse incentives that could lead to future abuse. If Garland got away with this, anyone in power can use the DOJ, the FBI, or other agencies as blunt tools of political warfare. The GOP’s inaction is tantamount to surrender.
The Precedent Is Poison
Two wrongs don’t make a right — but damn it, they can make the score even, and they can act as a deterrent. If the playing field is tilted, we must level it by whatever means necessary (within the law). Garland’s precedent must be smashed. America should be appalled, not complacent.
We must hold him accountable for collusion and abuse of power. The progressive-communist Democrats claim they’re “saving democracy,” but they have shown time and again they’re willing to destroy it to save it. Garland is their legal pit bull, unleashed to enforce their will.
Heisman-worthy defenders of constitutional sanity must demand answers: Why him? Why now? Who is pulling his strings? Who granted him the audacity to weaponize the DOJ against political opposition?
Where Is Garland Today — In Spirit, in Shadow
He might be physically walking the halls of Arnold & Porter, where he is a partner in their Appellate & Supreme Court practice group. But he is elsewhere in spirit. He is involved in the court filings, indictments, and legal memos that have been drafted to push novel interpretations. He inhabits the gray zone where law and politics congeal.
In American memory, Merrick Garland stands today as a warning sign: once a respected appellate judge, now the man who assaulted the boundary between politics and law. He has stained his reputation, and unless we remain vigilant, he will stain the republic.
Bottom Line
Yes, two wrongs don’t make a right. But when one side establishes a brutal new weapon, indicting political rivals under questionable legal theories, you do what it takes to check it to protect the future. Garland’s actions tilted the field; we must tilt it back.
America must not accept this as normal and customary. We must demand reckoning. We must strip from Garland (and anyone like him) the de facto mandate to play prosecutor-in-chief. We must punish the precedent, if not only to rebalance, but to deter future abuse.
Let me be clear: We are so screwed if we don’t act.
— Steve
