The Enemy, Not the Opposition

In response to the indictment of Steve Bannon for contempt, Republicans are threatening future political retribution, claiming that this is a sign of a politicized Department of Justice.

Once again, I will quote Robert Graves putting words into Germanicus Caesar's mouth, with the Republicans fulfilling the role of the Teutonic Tribes:

Spaniards can be impressed by the courtesy of the conqueror, French by his riches, Greeks by his respect for the arts, Jews by his moral integrity, Africans by his calm and authoritative bearing, but Germans are impressed by none of these things. They must be struck into the dust, struck down again as they rise. Struck again while they lie groaning, while their wounds still pain them; they will respect the hand that dealt them."

—Germanicus Caesar, Roman general
(15 B.C.- 19 A.D.)

These are not people that you can reason with.  I'm not sure how to excise this sort of political nihilism from the Republican Party, but as a good start, you need to actually prosecute their crimes, as opposed to, "Looking forward, not back," as was suggested by our generation's Warren G. Harding.  That only makes this worse:

Republicans are rallying around former White House adviser Stephen K. Bannon after his indictment on charges of contempt of Congress on Friday, warning that Democrats’ efforts to force Bannon to comply with what they say is an unfair subpoena paves the way for them to do the same if they take back the House in 2022.

………

Bannon is expected to turn himself in to law enforcement Monday ahead of a court appearance that afternoon. Democrats and a handful of anti-Trump Republicans argue that the indictment was necessary to enforce subpoenas issued by the Jan. 6 committee to Trump associates who are resisting cooperation and to witnesses summoned by other congressional panels.

Many GOP leaders, however, are seizing on Bannon’s indictment to contend that Democrats are “weaponizing” the Justice Department, warning Democrats that they will go after Biden’s aides for unspecified reasons if they take back the House majority in next year’s midterm elections, as most political analysts expect.

………

Democrats argue that the doctrine of executive privilege — intended to shield confidential communication between a president and his advisers — was never meant to apply to the kind of information the committee is now seeking. The panel is exploring conversations between Bannon and Trump that occurred when Bannon held no government position. And committee members say they are interested in interactions related to an insurrectionary attack on the U.S. Capitol, not in talks involving legitimate government business.

More broadly, they say that far from being political, the Jan. 6 committee is investigating an effort to overturn a legitimate election, including an attack on Congress that resulted in five deaths and injuries to some 140 law enforcement officers. Nine Republicans joined all House Democrats in voting to hold Bannon in contempt last month.

But many Republicans are dismissing such distinctions, and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) issued an especially direct payback threat.

………

On Saturday, Trump released a statement excoriating Republican members of Congress who had voted to either pass Biden’s $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan or hold Bannon in contempt, or in some cases both, listing the lawmakers individually and promising to support anyone who runs primary campaigns against them.

This is a natural consequence of nearly 50 years of sweeping political crimes under the rug in the name of "healing" and "unity", and it desperately needs to end. 

It will only end when crimes against the state are aggressively and universally prosecuted.