January 16, 2019
As we lurch into the 26th day of our country being held hostage by hatred, all that’s missing is the sound of Sonny and Cher belting out “I Got You, Babe,” from an analog clock radio. In a vain effort to distract from the shutdown’s effect on his poll numbers, the Creamsicle colored rodeo clown in The White House enlisted the championship Clemson football team in a ridiculous stunt. He invited them to The White House for a dinner of fast food burgers and lukewarm fries. The spectacle of the hapless felon grinning like a hyena while standing in his overcoat in front of the “spread” he had arranged was so risible that even one of the players was caught on camera admitting that he thought it was a joke.
While we were enjoying a bit of gallows humor, Trump’s Republican enablers were embarking on a stealth image reclamation project. First, the House Republicans belatedly stripped Rep. Steve King of his Committee positions, after literally years of his making overtly racist statements. Apparently, openly asking what’s wrong with white supremacy was a bridge too far for his Republican colleagues, (Source: “Republican’s Racism is Punished. Some Ask Why It Took So Long,” by Jonathan Martin, The New York Times, 1/16/19).
Kevin McCarthy’s declaration that King’s remarks are beneath the dignity of the party of Lincoln is a bit rich coming from a party that has been eerily silent in the face of Trump’s repeated racist demagoguery and whose policy has been to push laws that disenfranchise people of color and policies that disproportionately harm us.
Meanwhile, in the Senate, Attorney General nominee, William Barr, was enjoying respectful and decorous questioning from Republican Senators eager to shield his record from real scrutiny. On immigration, Barr backs Trump’s call for a wall, and has echoed the falsehood that sanctuary cities encourage criminals to come to the United States, (Source: “William Barr hearing: attorney general nominee’s immigration record aligns with Trump’s,” by Dara Lind, Vox.com, 1/16/19). In an astonishing exchange with Sen. Mazie Hirono yesterday, Barr evaded the question of whether the 14th Amendment protected birthright citizenship! (Pro tip: It’s in the plain text of the Amendment).
On criminal justice, Barr is the author of a 1992 Justice Department memo entitled, “The Case For More Incarceration.” Barr sided with Sen. Tom Cotton in his opposition to the modest criminal justice reform of the First Step Act, bipartisan legislation signed into law by Trump! (Source: “William Barr is Out of Step on Criminal Justice,” by Tim Lau, Brennancenter.org, 12/7/18).
As detailed in the NAACPLDF’s thorough report, Barr is an avid proponent of harsh punishment and long incarceration. He served on a Virginia sentencing commission that recommended the abolition of parole and increasing sentences for violent criminals by 700% (Source: “What You Should Know About the Civil Rights Record of William Barr,” NAACPLDF.org, 1/15/19).
Lastly, on the critically important issue of the Special Counsel inquiry, Barr’s record is troubling indeed. During his tenure as Attorney General for George H.W.Bush, Barr was a staunch proponent for sweeping pardons of six people involved in the Iran-Contra scandal. As Special Prosecutor Lawrence Walsh said at the time, those pardons “undermine the principle that no man is above the law,” (Source: “William Barr Supported Pardons in An Earlier D.C. ‘Witch Hunt’: Iran-Contra,” by Carrie Johnson, NPR.org, 1/14/19).
Barr’s record paints a picture of a man committed to a punitive approach to criminal justice, hostile to the rights of people of color and LGBTQ people, who believes that rich and powerful Republicans are, in fact, above the law.
Don’t be fooled by Barr’s avuncular manner. Don’t mistake the Republicans castigating King for Paul on the road to Damascus. They may be embarrassed by King’s overt racism. They may recognize that having a Klan sympathizing, diminutive martinet like Jeff Sessions as A.G. may have cost them some suburban women’s votes. It does not matter. Republicans remain just as committed as they have been for the last fifty years to a government run exclusively by, and for, rich white men. Everything else is window dressing.