Greg Olear: Merrick Garland and the democracy-killing sound of silence.

[Nevilledog]

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Greg Olear
@gregolear
"This is an information war. The good guys are losing. The sooner the Attorney General understands this, the more swiftly justice will come. Democracy dies not in darkness, but in silence."

A Quiet Place: DOJ
Merrick Garland and the democracy-killing sound of silence.
gregolear.substack.com
3:14 AM · Jun 15, 2021

https://gregolear.substack.com/p/a-quiet-place-doj


I CAN ONLY IMAGINE what a mess Bill Barr made of the Justice Department. How much damage he did. How much of the infrastructure of that hallowed institution needs to be repaired before full function can resume. I can only imagine it, because no one working there has told me. On this topic, and almost every other, Merrick Garland, the Attorney General, has been silent.

In our discussion on the PREVAIL podcast, Glenn Kirschner, the longtime former federal prosecutor who worked with Robert Mueller, sang Garland’s praises, describing him as a “quiet killer.” That may well be true—but so far, we’ve only seen the “quiet” part. And quiet, at this stage of the game, is a killer. Once again, we are saddled with a supposed bringer of justice who leaves us in the dark.

If it feels like we’ve seen this movie before, that’s because we have. A couple of times.

It began with FBI Director James Comey, back in 2016. The Bureau knew that there were active investigations into both of the presidential candidates: Hillary Clinton, for using a private server to send some classified emails, and Donald John Trump, for working with the Russians to ratfuck the election.

Comey should have either told us about both investigations or followed the Bureau’s “Glomar” policy—We can neither confirm nor deny—and spoken of neither. Instead, he chose to notify Congress about only the first investigation. He did not hip anyone to the fact that Trump’s campaign was coordinating election strategy with the Kremlin, because—and this was stupid at the time and looks even more idiotic in hindsight—he felt that doing so would have jeopardized the investigation. In other words, to protect the FBI’s sacred detective work, he clammed up as a known Russian asset and inveterate tool of organized crime took the White House.

*snip*

[RegularJam]

1. Olear sounds like a spurned lover.

That is some truly horrible writing. I do appreciate how open he is about the fact he has no clue.

Didn't take long.

https://democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=15529753

[Budi]

3. K & R This is why Merrick Garland is our AG & Greg Olear Is NOT.

I don't know what motivates an online celeb with a ego vying for relevancy, to twist off the rails like in this way.
wtf, really!

Who would he rather have as our AG? Himself?

He does sound like a spurned lover.

[johnp3907]

5. This was what you meant by " horrible news for democrats?"

I was wondering about that.

[RegularJam]

9. Some seem to have hit the full blown "eat our own" stage.

The timing on this one couldn’t have been any better.

“ I can only imagine it, because no one working there has told me.”

[triron]

13. I think your statement may be premature. Let's see what happens. Olear may be the accurate.

[RegularJam]

15. I think the premature shot...

Is coming from the guy who made grand assumptions while admittedly stating he has no clue.

His writing is horrible at every level. When people use their own words to tell you they are a joke you should believe them.

[jalan48]

2. I agree with Olear on this.

To his credit, Garland appears to be more adaptable than Mueller and Comey. This past Friday, perhaps bowing to public pressure, he gave a policy address, the first of his tenure, on how he intends to protect voting rights at the DOJ. The remarks delivered that day are well worth reading, as he provides a history of U.S. voter suppression that does not shy away from the white supremacist fuckery that went on for decades after Reconstruction.

This was a nice start, but we need more. We need Garland to talk about the Insurrection, the previous administration’s sabotage of the pandemic response, and the revelation that Trump used the Justice Department to spy on his political rivals (a topic he covered yesterday, albeit in private meetings with members of the press). We need him to talk to us often, as Roosevelt did during the war, as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo did during the quarantine. We have been through major collective trauma because of Trump. We need reassurance by our nation’s top lawman that he appreciates the urgency of the moment, and that the villains who did so much damage to our country won’t get away with it.

This is an information war. The good guys are losing. The sooner the Attorney General understands this, the more swiftly justice will come. Democracy dies not in darkness, but in silence. Sometimes even quiet killers have to make a little noise.

[lagomorph777]

11. +1 Garland cannot take half-measures.

[triron]

14. Well said.

[BGBD]

4. That guy looks like he should

Have been some long lost relative on Its Always Sunny.

[MineralMan]

6. And Yet Another Pundit Writes Shit about Garland

Of course, it comes here and is posted for discussion. Here's my part of the discussion:

Greg Olear doesn't know shit about what Garland is doing or not doing. He is not part of the DOJ, and is just punditing for his own purposes.

Sorry, Greg. Substack is not a reliable source of news. It's a place for people to ramble on about their own theories.

[Nevilledog]

7. Kinda like Opinions in newspapers?

[MineralMan]

8. Kinda like opinions anywhere, really. DU, for example.

Greg Olear is a novelist turned political pundit. He's a writer. So am I. I've been making my living with my writing since 1974. I've written for very high-circulation magazines in multiple interest areas, several books, and even poetry and fiction.

I post about politics on DU. I don't get paid for that. I don't want to get paid for writing about politics. But, I follow politics and the news energetically, and sometimes write my opinions on those things. Some folks like what I write about politics. Some don't care for it.

I'm an opinion writer. Greg Olear is an opinion writer. I've seen nothing that leads me to believe that he knows any more than I do about politics. Some people like his opinions and post them here. I just skip that and post mine here directly. So, I'm not doing it to advance my career or make money with it. I have an opinion about Greg Olear. It's not a flattering one.

[Nevilledog]

10. I always value hearing your opinion.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

12. I approve of Gatland's policy

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