“Except For REPUBLICANS”
Those three words aren’t in any criminal statute listed in Title 18 of the U.S. Code. As a result conservative’s knickers are in a twist (more like an atomic wedgie) so they have been and will continue to flood public discourse including the news with louder and crazier claims of Democrats “Weaponizing” government. The mashup of irony and hypocrisy is stunning in and of itself and countess things have been written and said about it that include examples of Republicans having done so so often in the past against Democrats. I won’t rehash it here. Instead, since this is about laws, specifically crimes and federal law I want to as actual lawyers would say keep “on point.”
And the point is sharp – federal criminal statues don’t include the words “Except for Republicans.”
That’s the rocket fuel for the fury we are (again) seeing from the GOP. Those three words not appearing in criminal statutes included in the United States Code. Title 18 of the U.S. Code lays out federal criminal law. If like me you’re a layman who’s a sometimes legal nerd you can read actual sections here. Title 18 lists all the federal crimes, the elements that make up something being a crime (and even some things that might seem part of the crime but can’t be used or applied to prosecutions) and of course punishments for the various crimes listed. There’s stuff about criminal procedure too but the main point is that somewhere the law(s) that make something a crime and the punishments for those crimes has to be published somewhere so that the laws can be uniformly enforced.
Republicans you see have a problem with that. The “uniformly enforced” part. Always have. Call me mean spirited if you wish but I happen to take pleasure in the too rare instances where some GOPer draws themselves up and incredulously asks “What? You mean I (or Trump) will be charged because I (or Trump) broke a law(s)? How DARE you!”
It’s flared up again because in their minds it’s a travesty, an injustice, an OUTRAGE that, the law and Constitution be damned, their Mango Messiah, the flaming orange human shaped rectum known as Donald J. Trump wasn’t allowed to, despite getting his butt kicked “bigly” at the ballot box in November 2020 remain President. Not even after he committed the crime of election interference directly and inspired and plotted with others to do so in numerous states. (i.e. the Fake Elector scheme) Not even after pressuring then Attorney General Bill Barr to use DOJ to stop certification of the results. Not even after Trump inspired an insurrection, a RIOT complete with not only violence and destruction but death at the U.S. Capitol to stop the before then fairly routine procedure of accepting and counting the Electoral Votes. I could go on but you get the point.
All those federal (and state too) crimes and damn if he didn’t wind up having to vacate the WH and head down to FL. Albeit not before stealing a whole bunch of stuff that belonged to the American people and should have been handed over to the National Archives. Or classified NATIONAL SECURITY documents and other things too – which should have gone back to the entity that created them. Which is why he’s now under indictment by the feds.
Republicans, including some with positions of power and possessing megaphones in the form of certain Committee assignments (even chairmanships) on Capitol Hill, especially in the House are in their official positions using the levers of government, and access to Right Wing friendly news outlets expressing their RAGE every single day. Over people who committed crimes on January 6 winding up being convicted federal felons! “Oh the humanity!” they cry out from the rooftops. But as bad as all that is to them far, far worse things have been afoot and the really big bills are coming due. VIRPs, as in Very Important Republican People have been under investigation for crimes and are in major trouble.
Including and especially because they are terrified he’ll say some mean things about them and ruin their political careers the leader of the Republican Party, there’s a collective anger and even outrage that Donald J. Trump is finally behind held accountable under the law. If you’re old enough like me you remember the original SNL and the Mr. Bill sketches. (some younger folks who took advice and looked up some of that know about them too)
DOJ and especially Jack Smith are Sluggo and poor little Trump is Mr. Bill:
Trump has always been a farcical character brought to life, albeit not a funny one like Mr. Bill. A real life Sluggo to rip off the Mr. Trump/Bill head or crush him like those old skits is long overdue. GOPers fall into two groups – those who secretly hope and pray someone (not them of course because they don’t have the guts) will come along and be the Sluggo that crushes Trump for them. And the rest of us. The other group is increasingly fearful that that’s just what’s about to happen. However, the entire GOP is afraid of the consequences for their Party if Trump gets what he deserves.
So, for today’s GOP, the law, via Title 18 of the U.S. Code has taken form via people at the DOJ who have some silly (to Republicans) notion about no one being above the law. That despite their personal political views and voting patterns (and make no mistake, like state and local LE federal agents and prosecutors lean strongly conservative in their politics) do their jobs according to the Oath they took.
Not to Trump or any other Republican President, but to the Constitution!
The crimes spelled out in Title 18 all lack those three words at the top of this article:
Except for Republicans!
You’re goddamned right there is outrage among conservatives. The Party that for so much of my life defined itself as being morally and ethically superior as “The Law and Order” Party was never quite that. It’s true that many Republicans were disgusted by the actions of Nixon and his enablers but what’s been forgotten by too many is despite all that was learned (around sixty of Nixon’s people did get convicted of federal crimes and the bulk of them did time in prison) there remained a core of conservatives who were pi$$ed off that Nixon was driven from Office. Despite knowing what he’d done and the damage it caused to institutions they claimed to value.
MAGA, and the Republican leaders who curry favor with MAGA are those die-hard Nixon supporters on steroids amplified by Incredible Hulk induced gamma radiation. To Republican’s way of thinking rules and laws are only meant to apply to Democrats!
I used to spend most of my time on another political blog before making PolitiZoom my home. (still comment there sometimes even if I no longer post “diaries”) On Daily Kos an acronym became widely used. IOKIYAR. Cumbersome so it never as far as I know took hold outside that forum, but what it stands for is “It’s Okay If You’re A Republican.” Just as things in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) which is distinct from the U.S. Code can in the minds of conservatives be ignored if inconvenient (or costs them money) for a Republican, the same hold true for criminal laws!
All of this outrage, this “Weaponization of Government” crap is because DAMMIT! – the laws defining federal crimes don’t specifically EXCLUDE Republicans! From Trump on down the Party Line is “It’s soooooo effing unfair that Republicans who break laws should be held to account under the law like EVERY Democrat should be.” They are also outraged there’s no law allowing them to lock up anyone who is a Democrat and or criticizes Republicans, Republican policies and especially Trump but that’s a whole new article to try and write.
For today’s GOP it’s simple. The Constitution (they claim) is clear that rules, regulations and especially criminal laws can be ignored by or don’t apply to Republicans, including and especially Trump. “It’s right there!” they insist. It might not say so in black and white but “the INTENT of the framers is clear as a bell!” Don’t get me started on the “plain textualists” or “terms must be applied today as they were understood back then” (well, conservatives interpretation at least)
Conservatives have, thanks to Trump and the unleashing of MAGA increasingly been saying, shouting even the once quiet stuff out loud. So they might as well go ahead and when it comes to crimes as defined in Title 18 of the U.S. Code when they they talk about justice and accountability admit out loud their belief crimes and punishment are important, unless the accused is a Republican. Especially Trump.
Funny how people who talk up their “real American man tough and plain spoken guy/gal” credentials they don’t have the guts to say that federal criminal laws should ALL include the words “Except for Republicans” after language that define crimes.
So they are in full-on toddler tantrum mode (just like their leader Trump) huffing & puffing, stomping their feet and screaming and shouting because the rest of us don’t believe what they do which that only REPUBLICANS get to use the government and especially the DOJ was a weapon against people they don’t like.
There is Title 19. Rarely seen or talked about… 19 20 … whatever. Basically in which liberals, progressives et al … can respectfully tell RW “Christian “ fascist kkk GQP qanon NOT-C “conservative “ reactionary lugnuts/Luddite to pound sand and take a hike to go jump in a big lake (and expressed with zero fu::s to give.
Most of the really loud defenders of the Mango Mussolini are afraid they will soon be defendants in the J6 indictments to come. The others are just scared, TFG could torpedo their “career” w/ one snarky nickname on his bargain basement social media site. Cowards, spineless, yellow-bellied, evil – descriptions that fit them all.
Great and very accurate article! Time for the D’s to stand up and shout it from the rooftops!
The GOP made the mistake (which will ultimately prove fatal to the party) of thinking they could “normalize” Trump and mold him into a traditional conservative. Go back and read articles from 2016, post-election: “Don’t worry, Trump will listen to his cabinet members and advisers.” Corruption and a sense of privilege have always run through the veins of the GOP, but now they’ve completely taken over.
There are SO MANY white haired elders in the rotten GOP … Counting their money takes so much effort, the knock on their door, when the marshals show up with their personal invitation to court next week, might just be enough chaos in their day-to-day counting/collecting to pass some gas on Trump …
Trump, with his new freedom from Jack Smith, will probably abuse that as well and exacerbate the list of charges even more …
In Trump’s, “perfect mind”, he still shows his imperfect timing and hurry to make derogatory comments about others, expanding the field of pundits salivating for the next punchline …
Trump cannot help himself, no one else can either, he continues to ignore warnings and good advice … He does something stupid, sees the bad results, then wonders why others failed to work with his astute deals …
The fart face is going down, seems like a daily increase in velocity … Smith and the 01-06 committee need to name names of active participating GOP stupid’s so the public will understand, (NOBODY IS ABOVE THE LAW), nobody …
No! The Republicans HAVE NOT forgotten the shame they suffered because Nixon was impeached. Their goal ever since has been to do dirt to the Democrats to match that Nixon outrage. Until they achieve that they feel that they cannot truly hold their heads up and take their rightful place of honor.