Adrastos, Congress, Fog Of History, Fog Of Scandal, Law/Justice, Political Crack, The Darnold

Through The FBI Looking Glass

The right-wing campaign against the FBI is out of control. How dare they investigate the Indicted Impeached Insult Comedian? It’s their job. The whole argument is as surreal and as phony as the ugliest Dali fake.

The notion of the FBI as a “woke leftist’ organization is a bad joke that fails both the laugh and smell tests. The FBI has never been led by a registered Democrat. It’s an inherently conservative organization but facts and history are strangers to the Trumpified GOP.

When I was growing up, J. Edgar Hoover loomed large in the nation’s imagination. He was a hero on the right and a villain on the left. And that was before the revelations of FBI abuses surfaced in the 1970’s. But the idea of abolishing the FBI never occurred to Hoover’s foes. We need law enforcement at the federal level and even under Hoover the FBI did a lot of good work.

Trump appointed the current director Chris Wray after he shitcanned James Comey. Wray is a cipher. Other than identifying the dangers of domestic terrorism, he’s kept his head down seemingly fearful that it will be chopped off by the rabid pro-Trump right.

Rolling Stone is reporting that Trump wants the heads of those in the FBI and DOJ who had the audacity to investigate him. Purges are what dictators like Stalin do. Does this make Trump the Stupid Stalin? Beats the hell outta me.

One thing I know for sure is that this credible report is the best example yet of why the former should never be removed from former President* Pennywise’s title.

I dig this response by MSNBC legal analyst and chicken lady Joyce Vance:

While screaming witch hunt, Capitol Hill wingnuts are conducting one of their own against the FBI. J. Edgar Hoover would be appalled: the FBI did the witch hunting in his day, especially during the second Red Scare when Hoover was in cahoots with drunken wingnut Senator Joe McCarthy. Hoover was a shrewd bureaucrat who excelled at playing both sides against the middle thereby avoiding blame for his failures. That’s why LBJ said this after reappointing Hoover:

LBJ was famous for his inelegant but apt comments. Trump and his lackeys are pissing on the tent itself in the hopes of destroying it. Another reason that the Kaiser of Chaos shouldn’t even be allowed to take the White House tour. He might lock himself in the bathroom and refuse to leave…

The FBI is not now, nor will it ever be a “woke leftist” organization. It’s not the paragon of virtue portrayed by the old Efrem Zimbalist Jr. teevee show or these even older movies featuring stars such as Jimmys Cagney and Stewart:

Hoover had veto power over the scripts of the old teevee shows and movies. Chris Wray is unlikely to be consulted by the producers of the current FBI series. Hoover was a historic figure; Wray is a cipher, but both are Republicans.

Repeat after me: The FBI has never been led by a registered Democrat.

I wonder what hallucinogens wingnuts are taking to feed their fever dreams. Their image of the FBI bears even less resemblance to the real agency than that of the old movies. Their trip through the FBI looking glass gets curiouser and curiouser all the time.

The last word goes to John Hiatt: