Anyone but the Other Guy

On the one hand, one hears Joe Biden is too old, too sick, too unaware of what is going on. On the other hand, he himself has never indicated that he won’t run again for President. In a Western country, one would assume that his party supporters would ask for a different candidate next time.

 

But, as Andrew Sullivan wrote earlier, in a super-polarized America, with the prospect of Trump trying again to be President, Democrats are OK with anyone. Just not Trump. Even Biden for a second time.

 

The FBI raids on Trump’s home recently may have just added fuel to that fire, writes Sullivan. Did the FBI find what they were looking for? With no official word, it’s great for Trump:

“Appropriate official silence allows him to flood the zone with his own bullshit, gin up his fevered base, and burnish his case for returning to power as a triumphant victim of the Deep State.”

 

Why didn’t Trump return the documents in question? Why did he resist the subpoena? With Trump, nobody can tell:

“It looks fishy — but with Trump, it always looks fishy. He acts like a criminal even when he isn’t committing a crime… He could be guilty, but he could also be innocent; or guilty of something not-so-bad.”

 

Sullivan then asks a question which I thought applied only in countries like India. Right or wrong, he asks, was the raid necessary?

“I have no idea why the FBI really had no option but to do this — given its huge political risks… There is, of course, the rule of law; but there is also prosecutorial discretion. To go after a former president in such flamboyant fashion in a deeply polarized polity is an inherently political decision.”

Did that sound strangely close to accusations we see in India that the ruling government (BJP, Congress, Third Front) of the day uses investigative agencies as political tools?

“The conclusion, if it ever emerges, will be what it has consistently been: messy, absurd, and without that cathartic “We got him!” moment.”

 

Lastly, no, this isn’t limited to Trump and a fringe element:

“The Pavlovian response on the right — instant shock! horror! rage! — exposes just how deep our crisis of legitimacy runs. When conservatives propose defunding the FBI, when a governor like Ron DeSantis uses terms like “the Regime” to describe a duly elected administration, and when calls to outright civil war flood the Twitterverse, you begin to see how far tribal hatred has completely eclipsed the notion of the rule of law in our teetering republic.”

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