The Real Dilemma Facing President Biden And Merrick Garland

The Real Dilemma Facing President Biden And Merrick Garland. 

Based on the most credible reports and leaks coming from those involved in the House January 6th Committee, they will not be recommending that the Department Of Justice launch a criminal investigation of Donald Trump and his alleged co-conspirators for attempting to overturn the election. They will present the findings of the committee to the public in a six day process that will both horrify and thrill those of us comprising Trump's opposition, and will mean absolutely nothing to members of the  Trump cult, who will continue to harden their arguments in defense of the Insurrection itself. 

What then is the ostensible reason for the committee to not make such a recommendation? The presumption is that it would be redundant and muddy the waters for an ongoing Grand Jury probe initiated by DOJ to investigate the months long plot to overturn the election results, which actually began long before the vote in anticipation of Trump's loss.

Remember that the substance of Trumpworld's "Big Lie" campaign was operative years before, in fact even pre-dating his inauguration when he claimed Hillary Clinton's larger popular vote was due to millions of illegals being bussed in to vote into Democratic cities. He has always been on the record claiming that if he ever lost an election, it could not be honest. 

Therefore the purpose of the committee releasing it's findings is to create a political environment in which Trump's GOP is weakened going into the November mid-terms, based on the popular perception that Trump is indictable, that he is likely guilty of crimes, and to obstruct his drive to retake the Presidency. Congress, as we know, is solely a legislative body which cannot administer Justice, and they are stepping back to leave it in the hands of Merrick Garland. 

There have been numerous public figures and pundits in recent weeks echoing a certain line coming from the Democratic establishment which begins and converges at the same point. "Be patient, patience is the key, Garland is a fearless and honest man, who absolutely would indict Trump if he is able to take the time to build a solid, airtight, evidence based case, and the reason it's taken so long is that such indictments cannot be rushed or have the appearance of being politicized."  In effect, since it is so politically supercharged, it has to be made to look "apolitical."  

There is nothing in this argument which is on the surface untruthful or unreasonable. Garland himself appears to be a person of strong character. The evidence of the crime is as irrefutable as the nine minute long video of Derek Chauvin strangling George Floyd to death on the street, two years ago. So, you are asking, "this could work, right?"  Americans will be further outraged at the committee's revelations, GOP "moderates" will continue distancing from Trump, it will cut into their vote this November, possibly enough to obstruct a GOP majority using the same tactics they used to obstruct Biden, Trump will be indicted, angry Democratic constituencies will mobilize a huge "get out the vote" drive of people upset about Roe vs Wade, mass shootings, and "The Great Replacement, " and "Justice will prevail." Trump, MAGA, Fox, all of them will get demoralized watching Trump's trial and just "fade away, and 2024 could see a revival of Democratic government and values.

The aforementioned "line" going around is, "Merrick Garland is coming for Donald Trump." 

You are better off swallowing Prozac than this. 

The premises for this thinking are twofold. First is that an indictment, trial, and conviction of Trump will finish him off, take the wind out of the GOP's sails, and strengthen Trump's GOP opposition. You'll recognize these folks by their commentary on how the GOP primary results show Trump's influence weakening, because of victories of non-Trump endorsed candidates, and therefore means that if indicted he won't run again. The second premise is that there will actually be an indictment. 

I'll start with the second premise. Does anyone remember the "Mueller Probe"? Remember after how many months, DOJ manhours, millions of dollars, truckloads of physical evidence and witness testimony, Mueller supposedly couldn't find enough evidence of obstruction of Justice to recommend indictment? Trump fired the FBI Director for refusing to run a cover up of his collusion with a hostile foreign power.  Was there not enough evidence that James Comey was fired? Trump delegated his son, Don Jr., son-in-law Kushner and campaign manager Manafort to meet with Russian officials in his own office tower to arrange a transactional agreement to lift Russian sanctions in exchange for dirt on his opponent, Hillary Clinton. Was there a lack of evidence that the meeting happened? And not least, I'll ask if there was not video footage of Trump publicly asking the Russian government to release Clinton's hacked emails? Apparently not, because Robert Mueller either didn't see any of this, or concluded it was not courtroom worthy evidence. 

So, our second premise stands on a foundational belief that Merrick Garland is a better investigator, more diligent prosecutor, is of stronger character, has more solid evidence (and will act on that evidence) than Robert Mueller, and that Garland has the support of his President to administer Justice, rather than obstruct it. That is all very nice. Very logical. As logical as the arguments that Impeaching Trump twice would finish him. 

So now, back to that first premise, that an indictment would politically finish off Trump personally, and leave the GOP headless and floundering. The problem here is the continued denial and delusion regarding Trump's personal capacity for unmitigated evil, division and chaos. Secondly is the denial of the immensity of his personal control over the minds of tens of millions of his cult followers, and the implications of that control. Most people just cannot let themselves go into the uncharted dark territory of Trump's mind to envision what he might do in response to an indictment. For most of you, the fear level is too high to go there. 

I do go there, which is how, after tracking Trump's career going back to the 80's, I forecasted for three years in over thirty different articles (all on my blog) that he would unleash a violent rebellion by his fascist militias to overturn the election result.  Merrick Garland and Joe Biden have also, because "going there" is their life's work and what they signed up for. They know what Trump is capable of. And that is why I fear there will be no indictment, that even if there is, it will not have the intended effect. 

An indictment of Trump will radicalize and harden his base further, double his fundraising, do nothing to deter him from running again, will have no effect on Biden's approval ratings, and will never find a jury which does not have on it one or more supporters of Trump who will hang the jury. And even in the best case of conviction, remember that Adolf Hitler was convicted in 1924 for Treason and jailed, which only served to strengthen him and his Nazis. Trump could run for President from jail, a fact I am most familiar with personally for reasons I'll write about in my upcoming book.  

But these are just academic exercises which avoid the reality of where all of this ultimately leads. If Trump is indicted and convicted he has nothing to lose, and only one card left to play, and that is to call for civil war. He is no Gandhi, King, or Alexey Navalny. He will retaliate with calls for blood. 

There are more than 400 million weapons owned by Americans. 70% of them are in the hands of Trump supporters. Among them, millions of heavily armed Fox News watchers, QAnon members and religious zealots are waiting for a "go signal" as were the leaders of the Oathkeepers on January 6th. One must also consider that Texas, Arizona, and other hard core Trump states might be triggered to begin a process of seceding from the Union. 

Biden and Merrick Garland know this, and without them saying it, I'm certain that it is the largest factor in their deliberations on the future consequences of an indictment and trial. Those who believe otherwise are kidding themselves. 

So, that all brings this back to something I've been hinting at for two years now, which is that if they are serious about the DOJ "coming for Donald Trump", then they also have to be seriously considering invoking the 1807 Insurrection Act, and using the Military to disarm Trump's fascist militias by force. That is how you'll know that a possible indictment is real, because that is what it will open the door for. 

All that said, if this is what it will take to save our Democracy, let it happen. But those who are cheerleading today for an indictment which could trigger a bloody Civil War had better be damned ready to do their part in it themselves.