...are engaged in an ideological war. And I really don't know why some seem to think Barr was ever an honorable person, that he has somehow soiled his reputation. His reputation was already soiled. Barr has long believed in the unitary executive. He also pushed for GHWB to pardon those involved in the Iran Contra affair. And he's a dominionist. And Barr belongs in prison.
As I wrote recently:
This is about undermining faith in government and undermining all democratic institutions, which has been the GOP's primary objective for more than 50 years. And this is a war of ideologies: we vs. me. "It takes a village" vs. "every person for themselves" (cheating permitted...nay, encouraged). The likes of Barr, Bannon, Pompeo et al. are especially dangerous--they're white nationalists, isolationists and despise secularization.
They've seen the writing on the wall (social progression, increased secularism, changing demographics, etc.), so their tactics have become increasingly extreme in recent years (intense voter suppression and gerrymandering, full-throated attacks on science and public education, persistent attacks on the "liberal media" to help shift the Overton Window, stealing a Supreme Court seat and packing the judiciary with right wing ideologues, aligning with dictators who share the goal of undermining democracy for personal enrichment, replacing the dog whistle with a bullhorn, and so on). They take comfort, though, in a tyranny of the minority system which, paradoxically, makes major structural reform nearly impossible to bring about for the very reasons why such reform is so desperately needed.
Also, I always feel the need to mention the Powell Memo of the early 1970s, which served as a sort of blueprint for modern corporatocracy.
If this current cast of characters is still in power after 1/20/21, the damage wrought may be irreparable.
Trump didn't happen in a vacuum. He's a symptom of a much larger problem (to which the GOP as a whole is contributing). All will not be well simply by getting rid of Trump. At the same time, it's vital that we remove Trump from office as soon as possible, as he's an especially diseased carrier pigeon for the ideologues who are taking full advantage of his narcissistic appeal to the tens of millions of racists, sexists and xenophobes. I wonder if seeing the big picture (or being helped to see it) would dissuade even a fraction of Trump's soft support (the portion that approves of him but not strongly) from continuing to support him. Are 100% of his supporters really okay with the world Republicans are seeking to realize? If so, they'll regret it.
Lastly, we must continue to recognize that there is an undercurrent of white male supremacy that maintains the Republican Party (i.e., without that, the GOP would cease to be viable). There was a Black man in the presidency, and millions of people (including elected officials) are absolutely beside themselves. The fact that Obama won so easily and is so popular gnaws at them day and night.
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