Department of Justice, Justice, Politics

We're Not Getting A Special Prosecutor Because Trump People Don't Play By Your Rules

There are no rules coming to save you.

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(Wikimedia Commons)

(Wikimedia Commons)

Shaka Zulu brought much of sub-Saharan Africa under his control or influence in the early 19th century because he had no respect for the rules. “War,” in that place at that time, was a highly stylized affair. It was more like a sport where people sometimes died. Shaka didn’t play at war, he fought at war. While other chiefs were essentially having high-contact dance-offs against rivals, Shaka was impaling his enemies.

He’s not the only one who changed the rules of the “game” while other people were fighting the last battle. He’s just one most white people know bugger-all about. Ask Lord Cornwallis how George Washington whupped his ass. Ask the Viet Cong to clearly distinguish their soldiers from their farmers. When somebody changes the rules of the fight, it takes a while for everybody else to catch up.

Donald Trump impaled the director of the F.B.I. last night, and Democrats are out here talking about “special prosecutors” like we are still a nation of laws. How stupid are we?

Liberals like to say that we’re playing chess while Trump is playing checkers. What’s really happening is that we’re playing chess, Trump just knocked over the chessboard, and Dems are screaming “technically, you just lost” while Trump shoves our king up our asshole.

The people who can appoint a “special prosecutor” are Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions, and technically Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. It should go without saying that Donald Trump is not going to call for a special prosecutor to prosecute himself. It should also go without saying that Jeff Sessions, who has in NO WAY “recused” himself from the Russia investigation, is not going to sign off on a serious investigation into whether he colluded with the Russians to influence an election.

The freaking Lannisters have more respect for the rule of law than those two.

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And if you are pinning your hopes on Rosenstein, know that he served up Comey’s head on a platter like he was probably ordered to do. There’s not going to be a special prosecutor. We are dealing with people who literally DGAF.

Congress could appoint an “independent commission” without approval from the executive branch. Of course, Congress is controlled by Republicans, and Republicans have been playing the “there are no rules” game since America had the audacity to put a black man in charge. Mitch McConnell decided that black presidents only get to be president for seven years, instead of eight, and won. “Deficit hawk” Paul Ryan passed a health care bill that will explode the deficit, and made people vote on it before they could read it and score it, and won. Everything that has happened in America over the past few years tells Congressional Republicans that they “win” when they simply ignore the “norms” of American governance.

You think they’ll change now? Why? WHY DO YOU THINK THAT? Again, they’re not playing a “game,” they have raw power and they are using it. Why do you think they’re going to lube it up for you? Democrats are getting force-fed with a feeding tube, and Chuck Schumer is up there crying about his spoon full of sugar.

I know it doesn’t always seem this way, but American-style government exists by consent. The governed consent to be governed, usually by somebody nearly half of them didn’t vote for. The military consents to be governed by a civilian commander-in-chief, who in turn consents to be checked by Congress and the courts, which have no military power. Elected and appointed officials consent to be governed by some old pieces of paper.

Trump does not consent. He doesn’t consent to your norms or your rules. There are only two questions Trump asks himself: “What can I do?” and “What can’t I do?” His power is not unlimited — eventually the world will rise up against him, even if Americans are too docile to do anything — but whatever power he has, he’s going to use.

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You’re not going to get a guy like Trump on some “legal” technicality. He’s not losing his empire because of tax evasion. He’s not an underworld boss, he’s the head of the most powerful military ever created on Earth. He controls the media (how many Sally Yates stories have you read today?). He controls the police. The legislature is afraid of him. He’s packing the courts.

Donald Trump is a TYRANT. That is his political classification. If anybody wants to do anything about that, they need stop calling for special investigations, and start calling for the goddamn barricades. They need to stop signing continuing budget resolutions, and start asking Enrique Nieto and Justin Trudeau and Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel what kind of “assistance” they might be able to provide if the time comes.

By continuing to “play by the rules,” elected Democrats are complicit in their destruction. If these rules and norms are so damn important to you, you should be willing to fight for them, by any means necessary. Anything less, and you are just part of Chuck Schumer’s Vichy America.

There are no rules coming to save you. Trump has smashed them. When will Democrats, liberals, and progressives catch up?

Elie Mystal is an editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

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