I am awaiting the difficult cases arising from January 6th. The hallowed DOJ and the eminent Judge Garland have disappointed me. Yes, the DOJ has charged or indicted a couple of hundred persons shown on videos forcibly entering the Capitol. That is sort of like giving a traffic ticket for a broken tail light. It is, or it is not broken. They are on video, and they can whine about their lot, but they are on video. These are EASY cases to prove.
But what about the hard cases. Merrick Garland is a plodder. His history is mainly judicial, although he apparently did some “corporate” litigation – which probably involved pushing paper. He apparently oversaw the prosecution of the Murrah building. Was that a difficult case? It was a slam dunk, which is his specialty. You make a move when the case is a slam dunk. As a judge, he could hear cases and sit on them as long as his heart desired, then issue an opinion – which is what he is doing as AG. He probably wants a memo every time someone wants to do their business.
And then there is the DOJ. In looking at some of the persons involved in the Trump matters, it looks to me to be a place where everyone knows their retirement date and what benefits they have coming up. They dress up and come to work with their shoes shined and look in the mirror with satisfaction on the way they look. They then go get a cup of coffee and shuffle some papers, and walk around their area. They talk lovingly about the institution, and how they want to protect its reputation. The easiest way to protect it is to do nothing because you never lose.
Stonewall Jackson is quoted as saying “Never take counsel from your fears.” That is one of the weaknesses of some lawyers, the DOJ and Merrick Garland. Trump’s lawyers made the most outlandish claims in various courts with no consequences – except they lost. They were not afraid to charge in blustering goofy claims, which for the most part carried no consequence.
I am not saying that Garland and the DOJ should make goofy claims. I am saying that sometimes you prepare, and you do your best and possibly you win and possibly you lose – but you don’t sit on your ass, and do nothing. As General Patton said “digging a foxhole is digging a grave.”
To goal is to advance – to move forward. Yes, you might make a mistake, but you change course. If you cannot take the uncertainty, then you should not be Attorney General.