Noah Berlatsky: Then they came for John Bolton

[Nevilledog]

https://www.publicnotice.co/p/john-bolton-raid-trump-fascism-niemoller

Last Friday, FBI agents raided the home of former national security advisor and current Trump critic John Bolton, ostensibly to gather evidence about Bolton’s handling of classified information. But we know better.

Everyone understands that Trump has been using federal law enforcement to harass and bully those he perceives as enemies — former FBI boss James Comey, for instance, is under investigation for posting a picture of seashells on the beach. In that context, the Bolton raid is yet another fascist escalation in Trump’s authoritarian consolidation of power.

Bolton is a particularly appealing target for Trump, because, as an incorrigible warmonger and one of the architects of the horrific and unnecessary Iraq War, he is widely — and rightly — loathed. Seth Harp at Rolling Stone memorably characterized Bolton as “a black-pilled, death-worshipping ghoul drenched in the blood of Muslim children.” In 2019, Dexter Filkins at the New Yorker called him “the Republican Party’s most militant foreign-policy thinker” of the past two decades plus. He is not a man who is easy to sympathize with.

Luckily, we don’t have to sympathize with him. We do, though, need to extend him solidarity at a moment when he is under fascist attack. Bolton isn’t the first Trump critic who is facing persecution by the authoritarian state. Nor will he be the last. And the more divided the opposition is, the more power Trump will accrue.

*snip*

[BoRaGard]

1. "...nor will he be the last."

republicons have turned America into a shithole hellscape of fear and ignorance and mean spiritedness.

[Autumn]

2. He wasn't the first they came for and he won't be the last. Bolton will be fine.

He has a lot of support. Unlike others trump is coming for.

[Walleye]

3. And the stupid fuck still couldn't bring himself to vote Democratic

I don’t particularly have sympathy for any of the people he’s persecuting, but I do have a strong belief in the US Constitution. That’s what we must protect. That’s what the magas always miss. Of course we know they are deliberately stupid

[Wednesdays]

6. To be fair, neither did Liz Cheney vote for a Democrat

At least certainly not before 2020.

[Walleye]

7. Are all victims of the Republicant disease

These people who have spent their lives in politics in the United States and don’t even understand how it works. In presidential elections there’s no third way. You have to choose. I count them as cowards and deluded wimps, if they can’t vote Democratic. I’m not sure Liz didn’t vote for Harris. I don’t know where to find that info.

[mitch96]

8. Wow, I did not think of Cheney.. Will her and Kinzinger be next?? nt

[Arazi]

4. This is in Aaron Rupar's newsletter. Big recommendation for subscribing to this one

Smart articles with excellent contributors like Noah Berlatsky. If you’re looking for a good place to support independent journalism, take a bet on Public Notice.

Rupar is also the guy who regularly clips news bits for Bluesky (and X/Twitter).

[peggysue2]

5. I understand Chris Christie has been added to the Mad King's list

Christie is another politician who I've never liked. The bully-boy persona has always turned me off and Bridgegate was an example of that. Whether he knew or didn't know the details of the vindictive bridge closing is almost a side point. Christie set the behavior and decision-making standard for his inner circle. They followed his example.

To read Agent Orange rant and rave about no one is above the law and how justice must be served is self-parody. The most lawless President in American history wants to pontificate on the sanctity of the law?

You cannot make this shit up.

Christie's real crime is the same as Bolton's:

Both men had the temerity to criticize Trumpy-Dump in the public square. Crimes of the Century!

We're being tested with these continuing investigatory threats (or in Bolton's case an actual raid on his properties). Even those we loathe do not deserve this legal spectacle orchestrated by a weaponized DOJ.

If Bolton or Christie are muzzled, then we too will be silenced.