Tea at Trianon: Hating Bill Barr

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, May 4, 2019

Hating Bill Barr

From The Federalist:

The day of Attorney General Bill Barr’s testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee this week, there was, as always, a selective leak dropped into the fray. With bated breath, we learned Special Counsel Robert Mueller had sent the attorney general a sternly worded letter grousing that Barr’s four-page March 24 explanation of the core conclusions of the Mueller report “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance” of the Mueller’s “work and conclusions.”

The customary histrionics followed. Posturing Democrats on the judicial committee gave long soliloquies on Barr’s treacherous behavior. Sen. Mazie Hirono (D–HI) accusedthe attorney general of abusing his office and lying to Congress, and many others demanded his resignation. The usual suspects called for impeachment.

Barr had apparently masterminded the most inept cover-up in history, first by accurately laying out the outcome of the special counsel’s investigation. Then, after some light redactions (none instigated by the president), by releasing the report to the public so everyone in the entire world could read it for themselves.

Now, if a fresh observer to the Russia collusion circus only heard from Democrats, he might not know that the Mueller report had been public for weeks—sifted through and debated extensively. He certainly wouldn’t know that no criminality was uncovered. But most people heard something else. And Barr’s greatest sin had been preempting the collusion spin for the first time. (Read more.)

From American Thinker:

With the appointment of Attorney General Barr and the conclusion of the Mueller investigation, a page has clearly been turned at the Department of Justice. The inspector general is concluding an investigation into possible abuse of the FISA court and the actions of former FBI director James (higher loyalty) Comey. U.S. attorney John Huber should be concluding his investigation into the FISA request to surveil Carter Page and whether the DOJ and FBI ignored allegations of Hillary Clinton's involvement in the sale of U.S. uranium rights to Uranium One. Attorney General Barr himself has initiated investigations into the underlying evidence presented for spying on a presidential campaign, leaks of classified information, and related crimes.

It seems clear that crimes have been committed. It is hard to imagine that there will not be indictments, trials, and convictions (perhaps many convictions). One has to wonder, however, what punishments exacted following convictions for various criminal acts can possibly be commensurate with the damage caused our nation through divisiveness, distrust, and literal hate created or intensified by the ordeal to which it has been subjected.

On Monday, Attorney General Barr met with the Senate Judiciary Committee to answer questions with regard to the synopsis and redacted versions of the Mueller Report — and, as it turned out, to defend himself from various and disparate charges questioning his understanding of law, his integrity, his decency, and his impartiality or lack thereof in his handling of the Mueller Report. One thing was made abundantly clear by Democrats on the Judiciary Committee: since the president has been cleared of the essential charge, criminal collusion, and is likely immune from further Democrat efforts to destroy him, William Barr has taken Trump's place at the top of the Democrat hit list.

It was absolutely necessary that Hillary Clinton be elected president in 2016. It was essential that Clinton control the levers of power to cover up the illegal machinations of the Obama administration. But she lost. Her electoral failure made necessary the destruction of President Trump. Impeachment was the goal, with irreparable disruption of his effectiveness as an alternative. While Trump's enemies came close to success, this also seems to have failed. The clear and present danger now is the unassailable William Barr. All of those things that must remain hidden — all of the dirty tricks, all of the leaks, all of the criminality — all is at risk because of William Barr. The Democrats and their sycophants in the media will be vicious in their efforts to destroy him. We have seen evidence of this since the day he released his synopsis of the Mueller Report. It will only grow worse. (Read more.)