We live in interesting times, to be sure. We certainly live in times where democracy is threatened and the rise of fascism is no longer the stuff of dystopian fiction but rather something which is right around the corner, if not already here.
Once again, Georgia is political ground zero. The good ole boy system is gearing up to help Donald Trump because after all, he may be on the top of the GOP ticket. Gotta protect him, right? If he gets back in, who knows, maybe a few more SCOTUS seats or maybe the GOP just pulls a coup and no more elections. And I would be astounded if that possibility has not already been discussed. I would bet my bottom dollar it has. Although I must say, if you had told me Brian Kemp would protect Trump I would have said, “Hell no, he won’t. He’ll throw Trump to the wolves and support DeSantis.”
Brian Kemp’s brother-in-law, Bill Cowsert, was one of the state senators who voted for the passage of Senate Bill 92, which Kemp has said he will sign into law. The bill mandates creation of an oversight committee with the power to remove elected district attorneys if they are found to have committed “willful misconduct” in office, or failed to prosecute certain crimes. Simply, Fani Willis’ investigation against Trump could be derailed in an authoritarian coup in Georgia. Rachel Maddow has a great explanation if you haven’t seen it already.
The bills are being debated as Willis, who has been investigating if Trump committed a crime in his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, could soon make a potentially historic announcement about whether to indict the former president. Trump has frequently called Willis’ inquiry a politically motivated “witch hunt.” Willis’ own future possibly hinges on whether any oversight committee decides to remove her for apparently failing her duty, or weaken her current position.
Willis has noted the timing of the bills as her investigation into Trump draws to a close. “For the hundreds of years we’ve had prosecutors, this has been unnecessary,” Willis told The New York Times. “But now all of a sudden this is a priority. And it is racist.”
Trump has frequently accused Willis, who is Black, of being “racist” towards him with her “witch hunt” of an inquiry. The former president repeated the accusation in a post on Truth Social on Sunday noting the Fulton County prosecutor’s objections to the bills.
“The Racist District Attorney in Atlanta, Fani T. Willis, one of the most dangerous and corrupt cities in the U.S., is now calling the Georgia Legislature, of course, RACIST, because they want to make it easier to remove and replace local rogue prosecutors who are incompetent, racist, or unable to properly do their job,” Trump wrote.
“This is a great development for Georgia, but also other parts of the Country. Congratulations to the Georgia Legislature for having the courage to act boldly, fairly, and fast.”
Of course Trump is tickled vermillion — what you get when you mix orange with pink. He’s feeling higher than he does after cheating at 18 holes of golf and hitting the Adderall with the Diet Coke. Things are looking up and the ketchup bottles have stopped trembling for the first time in a long time.
My knee jerk reaction is that even if the bill is signed into law, toppling Fani Willis is not going to be that easy. The Old Guard GOP is making its last stand and this could get as bloody as Gettysburg.
Straight out of the Fascist handbook.
All to try to protect a man that couldn’t give 1 single shit about them. Fascist traitors. All of them
I wonder if she goes public with an indictment, will this fascist move be in time to stop or reverse it? It’s high time folks took the fascist takeover of America seriously. We have time to stop it with the vote. So did the Germans until they suddenly found themselves staring at a loaded gun. Just watch the fascist in Florida, and especially Trump, and then try to convince yourself that they wouldn’t commit atrocities. They already have even with limited power and time. But this is America you say. Yep. A country that hasn’t fought a significant war on the mainland since 1865. Now some dumbass lost kid has more firepower than can be imagined. Time to right the ship but the people presently in power need the will to do so. I’m afraid the general public knows more about reality TV than the unpleasant realities of history, especially how dictators come to power in functioning governments, and then turn them into a personal hand puppet to do whatever they want without repercussions. Hungary anyone? Denial is not a viable option. Never was. Never will be. Hard to win a war with a population that is asleep. An indictment of Trump would be a good jolt to our failing hearts. Sooner, rather than too little too late. You know…before fascism IS THE LAW OF THE LAND. Then it’s back to governance at the point of a gun.
of course, it could also be targeting any rational prosecutor who doesn’t go after every woman (of color) that loses a pregnancy, deliberately or not.
Of course it’s going to work. It’s Georgia. I was born there, I’ve lived there, I have family there. For the most part, it’s a lunatic asylum for the uneducated, astonishingly racist redneck. A great place to be from. WAY FAR AWAY FROM!
If I were ms Willis, I’d drop the indictment today and take my chances with the process. Wait too long and the Republicans will END IT! That’s one fact you can count on. Any criminal in the world would love to have the power over the prosecutor indicting them. Goddamnit! Are all you reputable attorneys going to sit on your thumbs while fascism becomes the law of the land? Is this Germany in the late thirties? Those who don’t learn from history are doomed, repeat, DOOMED to repeat it. We are clearly on the wrong road.
They better pass that law fast because this legislative session ends 3/29.