this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2024
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politics

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Summary

Merrick Garland’s failure to swiftly prosecute Trump for inciting the January 6th insurrection allowed Trump to run for president again in 2024.

Garland’s slow-walking of the investigation undermined the seriousness of Trump’s actions and normalized him as a Republican front-runner.

Garland’s inaction contributed to the current state of the republic, where Trump is poised to return to the White House.

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[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 8 points 1 hour ago

💯

He could have just arrested Trump on day one for his innumerable crimes.

[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 8 points 2 hours ago

I remember when Garland was nominated by Obama, and of course he was a olive branch to the unhinged teabaggers - who then pronounced him to be the second coming of Karl Marx or something. And now we see what a fire-breathing liberal he actually was.

In any case, the kid-fucker has not held the office yet, so judging if he'd be the worst or not yet is a bit premature even if Garland was unbelievably milquetoast in the fact of an insurrection and a coup attempt.

[–] twistypencil@lemmy.world 10 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Since when does Gaetz.get on an equivalency test?

[–] nothingcorporate@lemmy.today 4 points 48 minutes ago

Since corporate media wanted to normalize ghouls.

[–] mx_smith@lemmy.world 12 points 5 hours ago

Biden should have made Jack Smith AG then we might have seen justice.

[–] Delta_V@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

American propagandists trying to pin blame on an individual instead of admitting the problems they're having are symptoms of capitalism, and I'm not buying it for a second.

[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 6 points 1 hour ago

This is a bad take.

I. our system, we have people that are singularly responsible for somethings.

Merrick Garland was one of those people.

You "not buying it" changes nothing about the situation.

[–] Restaldt@lemmy.world 8 points 2 hours ago

There is more than enough blame to go around to pin some on individuals

Garland deserves a loooot of blame

Biden does too

DeJoy does

Whomst ever decided campaining with the cheneys and advocating for 10 year old GOP policies/talking points instead of leftist economic policy deserves tons of blame

[–] FlowVoid@lemmy.world 60 points 11 hours ago (3 children)

Just for comparison, the Feds indicted some random person for selling pirated TV shows in 2019 and didn't get a conviction until this month. That's five years, and the SCOTUS wasn't even helping him drag the case out.

Federal cases take a long time when defendants insist on going to trial and dragging things out.

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 29 points 7 hours ago (3 children)

Marric Garland didn't even start the poccess until over 2.5 years after it happened.

for a better comparison, go with Jack Teixera- the Discord Leaks Guy. After they were discovered, it took all of a week to figure out his identity, arrest him, and secure further leaks.

It took over 6 months to get the documents back- when they knew exactly who had the documents. No investigation necessary. but he didn't want to be "political."

And by the way, those documents are literally damning evidence of violating several laws for which most Americans would be hanged.

Also, remember, they didn't actually get them all back. Some of the worst secrets are still missing.

[–] Pips@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 2 hours ago

I'm curious where this narrative that the case only began in 2023 came from. Smith was appointed in November 2022 and the investigation doesn't necessarily start when the public finds out or when the prosecutor (special or otherwise) is announced.

[–] FlowVoid@lemmy.world 7 points 3 hours ago

Jack Teixera- the Discord Leaks Guy. After they were discovered, it took all of a week

The leak occurred in 2022, he was indicted in 2023, and he was sentenced in 2024.

And he pled guilty.

[–] JaymesRS@literature.cafe 5 points 3 hours ago (1 children)
[–] tacosplease@lemmy.world 5 points 2 hours ago

This is what people don't get. Garland started immediately. They don't make big announcements when they start investigating criminals for obvious reasons. The issue is our legal system as a whole.

[–] Zaktor@sopuli.xyz 28 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

The idea that there can be no special cases that demand high priority, even when the case is itself about an attack on the republic, is the failure of blind institutionalism. The public also has a right to know that trials will resolve in a timely manner, especially when the trials are about attacks against the People themselves.

"Justice takes time, let Mueller/Garland/Smith work" was the mantra of failure. There was a fetishization of a higher path, where the machinations of law take as long as they need to, with no deadlines or pressing public questions, but instead of leading to a purer and incontrovertible justice, it led to no justice at all.

Garland (and Biden as the one who appointed him) have a very direct responsibility for the loss of degradation of the American republic. Even should Trump's term just pass as a bad four years, long-term damage has been done through this failure.

[–] FlowVoid@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago

Special cases cut both ways. Judge Cannon and the SCOTUS would agree with you that Trump was a special case, thus delaying the case further.

Judge Chutkan insisted on treating Trump like any other defendant. I think she had the right approach.

[–] errer@lemmy.world 17 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

This is why Trump can say the government is broken and it resonates with people. These things should not take years and years. “Right to a speedy trial” needs to be upheld.

[–] WoodScientist@lemmy.world 9 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

The key word there is "right to." If someone is willing to have a plea deal or move quickly to trial, they can. But if you want, and have the resources to pay for a lawyer, you can delay the process out for a very long time. Just because you have a right to a speedy trial doesn't mean you have to exercise that right.

[–] themaninblack@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

I suggest that we make everyone use a public defender. Problem solved, at least in criminal cases. Nationalize lawyers.

[–] Pips@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 2 hours ago

Why would that change speedy trial? Plenty of defendants with PDs waive speedy trial.

[–] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 72 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Nah Gaetz will be worse, don't test it. Garland simply allowed the USA to choose to harm itself, which the whole of the USA have done of their own accord.

[–] RestrictedAccount@lemmy.world 9 points 4 hours ago

Gaetz will be worse.

Garland had a job to do and he stood and wrung his hands instead of pursuing justice.

if Garland had done his job, we would not be in this position. He gets credit for both.

[–] leadore@lemmy.world 33 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

Garland was the biggest mistake Biden made.

[–] huskypenguin@sh.itjust.works 4 points 4 hours ago

I can think of a few that are bigger. But it's up there.

[–] ME5SENGER_24@lemmy.world 33 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

They’re exactly the same. Biden didn’t act to maintain the status quo; same deal with Garland. You don’t play nice with shitty people, like Trump. You need to be more ruthless. The world watched Jan. 6th happened and the people put in power did nothing to nip it in the bud. Now, we’ve got a second Trump term and it’s all because of inaction because people were scared to ruffle feathers. Those mf’ers deserved to be Randy Johnson’ed

[–] GreyYeti@lemmy.world 20 points 10 hours ago (3 children)

To this point- Biden is still the president for 62 more days. Trump has shown what he plans to do with power, and what is Biden doing? The headlines from today were going to the rainforest and awarding CHIPS act money. Not rallying the resistance or doing anything to meaningfully protect us. It’s hard to imagine Biden doing it, but I could see a more energetic and youthful leader actually trying to be a speed bump for Trump. What a shame we’re here.

[–] ripcord@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

Yeah, he went to the rrainforest so, uh, that's cool.

Definitely not a playing fiddle while Rome burns kind of thing.

[–] BlitzoTheOisSilent@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago

But he did his best, and that's all that matters at the end of the day. 🙄 God was I livid when he fucking said that.

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world 16 points 9 hours ago

Yeah, Biden was the exact wrong president for this era.

The US and indeed the world needed someone bold to take decisive and transformative action to right the ship.

Instead we got an ancient creature of the establishment rearranging the deck chairs and yelling at people to shut up about the icebergs.

[–] ohlaph@lemmy.world 17 points 10 hours ago

Two people can both be terrible at the same job. Let's not forget Gaetz. Garland is terrible and would Gaetz.

[–] Jumpingspiderman@lemmy.world 10 points 11 hours ago

Garland was at best cosplaying a law enforcement official. And doing a real shit job of it. Decent people should spit in disgust if they ever find themselves unfortunate enough to have to speak that Quisling’s name