Attorney General Garland finally seems to have remembered he was hired to uphold the rules of the land, regardless of who has broken the law. He, and many people in the chain of command, including a judge, followed the law and executed a legal warrant to search for documents stolen from the White House by Donald Trump et al. It was carried out outside the limelight in a respectful manner a former president might be afforded.
In some ways, this was the easy part. We already knew Trump had taken documents as some were collected previously. We already knew it was the National Archives pushing to go back when they discovered all of the documents hadn’t been returned. We already knew Garland would be hard pressed to take any action. From what one can gather, it wasn’t actually Garland who pushed to go back, it was the National Archives basically saying Trump has broken the law and we need those documents back. We have since found out to an extent, the nature of said documents, what he had was not good for the country.
What we don’t know is why Trump had the documents. Where they souvenirs as a reminder of what almost was? Where they to help augment his low retirement income as a former president? Where they to be used a revenge against a country he doesn’t seem to care about because the people voted him out against many odds? What we also don’t know is, who has he shared documents with and to what extent of damage has been done to national security.
The main question we don’t know an answer to is, will the Justice Department use its power to charge and arrest Trump? Will it follow-through with its charge of protecting the country and holding all citizens, regardless of rank or race, to the rule of law? Will Garland do the job he was hired to do as an Attorney General, and begin to right the wrongs perpetrated by Trump et al against our great country?
So far the answer has been no! It has been no even as we have seen Trump had the documents, which by itself has broken at least three laws. It has been no even as the FBI is now under attack for doing its job. It has been no even as Trump has gone on the airways to spew lies and rhetoric to stir up unrest with his ignorant followers. It has been no even as Trump has attempted to coerce Garland and essentially make it all go away.
Garland still has not acting upon the full faith and authority afforded him as the Attorney General of the United States! I will give him a small amount of credit for the search and seizure. However, so far he continues to be derelict in his duties and may yet be unfit for the role in which he has been placed.
I’m open to being proven wrong. The longer he hesitates to make the arrest, the more clear it will become of his commitment to honor and integrity, as well as his ethics. It will also be a sign of his character that he is willing to stand by while the country burns around him because he was afraid of what might happen if he makes the arrest. I’ve some bad news for him, we as a country are ever closer to severe violence being perpetrated by the dominionists, the authoritarianists, and white power vigilantes (see “livingblueTX” on Twitter for examples).
We are living the history to be written of our country as we speak. There is still time for history to say Biden and Garland were the people for the moment who saved our democracy. At this time, the only thing to say is, “We’ll see….”
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 