Scrambled Eggs (Yesterday)
"Just like a chicken can't lay a duck egg, because the system of the chicken isn't constructed in the way to produce a duck egg, a duck can't lay a chicken egg." -- Malcolm X
Malcolm X understood systems. He knew a system can only produce from what it contains, hence chickens lay chicken eggs, and ducks produce duck eggs. We can apply that logic to other systems. For example, one can order lobster at a McDonald's counter, but never be served anything that can be mistaken for lobster. (To be fair, however, McDonald's does serve what a surprising number of people mistake for food.)
In recent months, forum members have increasingly focused on the system known as the Department of Justice. The DOJ is headed by the Attorney General. It has divisions, programs, and offices, and also oversees the FBI. It is a bureaucracy, that by nature follows tradition.
Let's look at a few statistics. Since 1961, there have been 23 AGs, and 17 "acting" AGs. (Some "acting" would be confirmed at some point.) Of these, 12 served Democfratic administrations, and 25 republican administrations. There have been 19 white men, two non-white men, one white woman, and one black woman. Twenty-two were christians.
I think that some were pretty darned good, some were criminals, and most were average bureaucrats. I think that John Mitchell, though after resigning, became a convicted felon, was more honest than most others in republican administrations who served as AG. He was merely convicted for conspiracy, obstruction, and perjury.
It is worth noting that only one AG since 1961 is remembered for leadership beyond bureaucracy and tradition. That was Robert F. Kennedy, Sr., who served in his brother's administration. Those who worked with him found him to practice charismatic leadership. He was willing to try new avenues, for example, in going after organized crime.
At various times since 1875, there have been "special counsels" appointed for cases where there might otherwise be conflicts of interest. These were formerly known as "special prosecutors" or "Independent counsel." Despite the different titles, they are all of a similar nature. Perhaps those of most interest have been those apppointed since the days of Watergate.
Since Nixon, there have been some versions of these in the Carter, Reagan, Bush1, Clinton, and Bush2 administrations, before Jack Smith was appointed during the Biden presidency. Some of these have resulted in criminal prosecutions, which added to the numbers of convictions that administrations from Nixon to the felon have had. Let's consider the numbers from Nixon to Obama.
Tricky Dick was the champion of corruption. There were 76 indictments and 55 convictions from his 5.6 years in office. With President Obama's administration, there were zero indictments or convictions. During the Carter years, there was one indictment and zero convictions. Ford and Bush the Elder both rank with one indictment and conviction, though this number for Bush was largely due to pardons. Reagan had 26 indictments, with 16 convictions. W had 16 and 16. Thus, if we view this in terms of a sporting contest, the republicans win, 120 to 3 in indictments, and 89 to 1 in convictions.
Note: I am not listing the Congressional investigations here. But we have seen serious ones, from Watergate to Iran-Contra to the J6 Committee. We have also witnessed bullshit ones, such as Benghazi. It is worth noting that despite absolutely clear grounds for impeaching and convicting Reagan on Iran-Contra, Democrats -- led by Ted Kennedy -- were convinced that it would hurt the country to do so that close to the Nixon disgrace.
I'll end by saying this. Merrick Garland is, by definition, a bureaucratic leader who follows the traditions of the DOJ. President Biden picked him, in my opinion, to attempt to bring stability to the DOJ following the felon's damage to it. Upon being sworn into office, I fully expected Garland to dress in black jeans, shirtless under a black leather jacket with the DOJ colors, mirror shades with a blunt hanging from the left side of his mouth, to ride a Harley into mar-a-lago, and to grab the scruffy sociopath by the nucha, and drag him to prison.
Instead, he viewed the situation as the DOJ always does, in the Cynafin model of "ordered" (simple or complicated), "unordered" (complex or chaotic), or "disordered." Investigations into each are done by way of the pyramid method of starting at the bottom and working up. Gosh darned him for not recognizing that the felon would not only run again, but that he would be elected in 2024. Clearly, he was out of touch with how stupid the American public is.
And how about this Jack Smith character? Is that even his real name? I think we can all agree that he alone is responsible for that shit-stain on the fabric of justice, Judge Cannon. More, it is entirely his fault that we now have the most corrupt Supreme Court in modern history. So now, here we are. We're at a crossroads as a party. One choice is to remain ignorant about how the system works, including why it at times fails to bring about justice, and focus all of our bitterness on Garland and Smith. Or we can take the time needed to understand an imperfect system.
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