Weaponizing America
It is a well knows phenomenon in modern psychology that people project their own issues onto others. The people who are most likely to steal are often the ones you have to watch like a hawk because they are inclined to larceny. There is little doubt in America who in the political spectrum is pro-gun. Republicans have set the Second Amendment ahead of all others. Their less than strict and very self-serving interpretation of the Amendment leaves them no room for misunderstanding that they are entitled constitutionally to own as many weapons as they wish of whatever type they choose. Naturally, that ignores all interpretations to the contrary that speak to the fact that the Amendment clearly states that the allowance is intended to be for “a well-regulated militia”, not to people in general and on their own, for whatever they choose, however they choose. But the point is, those are real weapons and this country owns 434 million of them. Let’s be clear, with 332 citizens in the country, that means we have 1.3X the number of guns as we have people. But wait, only 32% of Americans say they own a gun. That means that those that do, own an average of four guns. But with only 25% of Americans being registered Republicans, and assuming every one of those own a gun (I recognize that may or may not be true, but it is probably close to true), that means that, on average, Republicans own 348 million guns where the rest of the country collectively own 95 million guns. Kari Lake like to remind us in her speeches that we who do not side with the MAGA crowd like her had better be careful because it is they who have the guns. That is a very real and very believable interpretation of the weaponization of the political environment.
Today, the most popular word in the rhetoric of Republican politicians is weaponization. The Republican leadership (if you can call it that) has gone so far as to create a specialized committee under one of the most reactionary of their group, Jim Jordan. It is called The Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, and it’s mandate is “To investigate the executive branch’s authority to investigate U.S. citizens and gather information, as well as its ability to obtain information from or shared with the private sector.” Needless to say, this is a very partisan effort aimed specifically to combat the efforts by the DOJ to bring to justice some combination of Donald Trump and those like the January 6th insurrectionists for their misdeeds of significance against our country. In the case of the insurrectionists, over 1,000 have been brought to justice and charged and some 57% have thusly been convicted (over 570). And then there is Donald Trump himself, who currently stands indicted in New York City of using campaign funds to pay hush money to a porn star as well as 37 counts in the Federal courts relating to his mishandling of top secret and confidential government documents. Those latter charges go so far as to charge him of conspiracy to suborn the Espionage Act and obstructing justice (one of Trump’s specialties as a believer that he and he alone is above the law).
The collective talking line on the campaign trail today by any but the most realistic and brave Republican candidates (so far Hutchinson and Christie) is that the Democrats are “weaponizing” the DOJ for political gain. They directly blame Joe Biden and his administration for this heinous and obvious act in their pursuit of the poor innocent, their rightful and righteous leader, Donald Trump. The party of law and order has decided that both law and order are misguided now under the Democrats as they “target” candidate Donald Trump. Of course, most of them realize but will not admit that the main reason Trump announced his candidacy so early is specifically to avoid indictment if possible or to at least be able to claim victimization, as they are doing, should the wheels of justice start to roll over him.
One of the funnier and more ironic parts of this Greek tragedy is that while accusing the Democrats of this weaponization, they conveniently forget that the 2016 campaign of Donald Trump focused heavily on the “lock her up” accusations against Hillary Clinton and was the very example of weaponization for which they are accusing the Democrats. Of course, they fail to mention that despite four years of a highly partisan DOJ under Jeff Sessions and then under William Barr, even tossing out James Comey at the FBI, they were unable to round up enough evidence to bring an indictment against her and indeed vindicated her. And then, the very subject that prompted Trump’s first impeachment was that he tried to weaponize both the DOJ and the rest of the federal machinery (including his henchman Rudy Giuliani) to cajole and threaten people like Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the Ukraine to phony-up evidence on Joe BIen and his family in order to cast him in the light of a corrupt candidate who had abused his power as Vice President for personal financial family gain.
The irony in all of that is so thick you can cut it with a knife. No one is a better example of conflicted self-interest than Trump and his family. And no one is a better example of trying to weaponize the federal bureaucracy against his opponents as he is. I would go so far as to say that he has redefined the limits of such activities through his extreme measures. Once again, this proves my first point of projection. Those who blame and accuse are most often the guiltiest of perpetrators, and that certainly seems to be the case here. Even the choice of the word, weaponization is a ridiculously transparent one since Joe Biden and Democrats are not only vehemently opposed to the weaponization and politicization of the federal bureaucracy for their political ends, but they are the ones that are also steadfastly intent on the de-weaponization of our country to through stricter gun laws and controls. It is indeed the Republicans who advocate most strongly with the help of the lobbying dollars provided by the gun companies through the NRA, against any restraint on the weaponization of America and the American population.
It has been often said that life is stranger than fiction and I think we have all heard the comment that you couldn’t make this stuff up and sound believable. The truly unbelievable part of the equation is that there are Republicans who have swallowed this line of bullshit hook line and sinker. I am sure some know it to be a false narrative and just feel that the ends justify the means and anything to reduce their tax bill and to retain control of our society is worth the bald-faced lying. But there are others who just don’t seem to know any better and take this narrative as gospel truth. And I do not use the gospel in vain here, they seem most often to be of the evangelical or ultra-right biblical Christian groups that feel that their white and righteous God must prevail at all costs to beat back the demons of homosexuality, gender identity, racial impurity and Godless killing of unborn children.
I do not believe, unfortunately, that any of this is an exaggeration. The forces of the right think they are legitimate in using any sort of weaponization of America that they must to get their way and dominate the country. So we go back to the campaign trail and should expect to hear a continuation of the weaponization theme from Republicans, all under the banner of heaven.