Using the FBI to go After Political Opponents

There is growing split between Dems and Repubs as political opponents beyond just beliefs. The chart (below) comes from a March 2022 PEW report. Notice the shift of Republicans to the right. I always thought Newt Gingrich was the cause of the split between Dems and Repub House members with the Repubs moving further to the right. Dems have pretty much stayed where they were in political beliefs. This in the House and the Senate.

The one antagonist feeding the growing split today is trump who is pretty basic in his approach to politics and those who oppose him. As Kareem notes in his latest substack commentary, trump’s rhetoric would not have been tolerated not that long ago. Newt laid the foundation for such a rise in demagoguery.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar‘s take on “Trump suggesting he would use the FBI to go after political rivals if elected in 2024,” The Guardian, Sam Levine

SUMMARY: Donald Trump has suggested he would use the FBI and justice department to go after political rivals should he return to the White House next year in a move which will further stoke fears of what a second period of office for Trump could mean.

Trump made the comments during an interview with the Spanish-language television network Univision. The host Enrique Acevedo asked him about his flood of legal problems saying: “You say they’ve weaponized the justice department, they weaponized the FBI. Would you do the same if you’re re-elected?”

“They’ve already done it, but if they want to follow through on this, yeah, it could certainly happen in reverse,” Trump replied. “They’ve released the genie out of the box.”

“…[I]f I happen to be president and I see somebody who’s doing well and beating me very badly, I say go down and indict them, mostly they would be out of business. They’d be out. They’d be out of the election.”

“Trump suggesting he would use the FBI to go after political rivals if elected in 2024,” The Guardian, Sam Levine

Kareem: Ho hum. Donald Trump has just admitted he would use his office to persecute political rivals just like every dictator in history. What else ya got?

Years ago, that statement alone would have whipped up such outrage that it would have disqualified him from running for office. Ever. But in today’s morally indifferent America, we have the super-wealthy pushing for his election because he will dismantle the IRS, the EPA, the FDA, and any government agency guarding the people from abuses. We also have the super-irrational, who want a king who will unburden them from making decisions on their own. He once swore to uphold the U.S. Constitution, yet most of what he’s done since that day has been to undermine and destroy it.

After taunting veteran POWs as losers, Trump had the gall to give a Veteran’s Day speech:

“In honor of our great Veterans on Veteran’s Day, we pledge to you that we will root out the Communists, Marxists, Fascists, and Radical Left Thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our Country, lie, steal, and cheat on Elections, and will do anything possible, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America, and the American Dream.”

I’ve never before seen so many Americans who actually hate America enough to support someone so determined to destroy it. It’s like a family watching their home burn inviting the arsonist standing beside them with gasoline and a lighter to run the Neighborhood Watch.