# I'm listening to Trump speak about ending the 'weaponization of the justice department' **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [January 20, 2025, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-listening-to-trump-speak-about-ending-the-weaponization-of-the-justice-department/1013168 "2025-01-20T17:29:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2025, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-listening-to-trump-speak-about-ending-the-weaponization-of-the-justice-department/1013168/1 "2025-01-20T17:29:13Z")
Which anyone with a brain knows is a dog whistle for ‘the DOJ will protect republicans when they commit a crime, and make up crimes to prosecute and intimidate opponents of Trump and his cronies’. Fuck this stupid country. Fuck it to death. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2025, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-listening-to-trump-speak-about-ending-the-weaponization-of-the-justice-department/1013168/2 "2025-01-20T19:09:16Z")
Every accusation is a confession. ---
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2025, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-listening-to-trump-speak-about-ending-the-weaponization-of-the-justice-department/1013168/3 "2025-01-20T19:25:31Z")
Fuck, I’m just so fed up with evil, stupid, fucking insecure peices of shits. Putin, and many other, objectively bad humans, are partying today. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2025, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-listening-to-trump-speak-about-ending-the-weaponization-of-the-justice-department/1013168/4 "2025-01-20T19:34:35Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Every accusation is a confession. In a nutshell. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2025, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-listening-to-trump-speak-about-ending-the-weaponization-of-the-justice-department/1013168/5 "2025-01-20T19:44:03Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Which anyone with a brain knows is a dog whistle for ‘the DOJ will protect republicans when they commit a crime, and make up crimes to prosecute and intimidate opponents of Trump and his cronies’. As someone once said, “Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.” ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2025, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-listening-to-trump-speak-about-ending-the-weaponization-of-the-justice-department/1013168/6 "2025-01-20T19:59:14Z")
Frank Wilhoit, FWIW. Not that Frank Wilhoit; the other one: > **[The Pithiest Critique of Modern Conservatism Keeps Getting Credited to the...](https://slate.com/business/2022/06/wilhoits-law-conservatives-frank-wilhoit.html)** > > “Wilhoit’s Law” was coined by a different Frank Wilhoit. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2025, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-listening-to-trump-speak-about-ending-the-weaponization-of-the-justice-department/1013168/7 "2025-01-20T20:04:10Z")
Kash Patel is talking about how there are hundreds of thousands of rapes in this country every year. I wonder how many of those rapes were committed by Donald Trump. In between Katie Johnson, Ivana Trump, and E Jean Carroll, its a minimum of 3. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2025, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-listening-to-trump-speak-about-ending-the-weaponization-of-the-justice-department/1013168/8 "2025-01-20T20:06:28Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > > > Which anyone with a brain knows is a dog whistle for ‘the DOJ will protect republicans when they commit a crime, and make up crimes to prosecute and intimidate opponents of Trump and his cronies’. > > As someone once said, “Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.” Yup. Trump is convicted of 34 felonies and he gets literally no punishment at all during sentencing. Meanwhile, the DOJ is going to start inventing crimes to crack down on Trump’s enemies. They are going to increase the domestic spying on Trump’s critics. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2025, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-listening-to-trump-speak-about-ending-the-weaponization-of-the-justice-department/1013168/9 "2025-01-20T21:02:54Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Which anyone with a brain knows is a dog whistle for ‘the DOJ will protect republicans when they commit a crime, and make up crimes to prosecute and intimidate opponents of Trump and his cronies’. It’s not even that complicated. It just means he’s definitely going to weaponize the DOJ (again). ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2025, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-listening-to-trump-speak-about-ending-the-weaponization-of-the-justice-department/1013168/10 "2025-01-20T21:22:57Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > (again). Full on this time. As 45 he asked the SecDef if protestors could be shot in the legs, and that guy said “No”. Reckon he’ll even ask this moron? I know he likely already pardoned most of the Jan 6 insurgents. Has he also pardoned the felonious assault on DC police convicts? If he does - and even if getting away with that involves gifting DoD assault gear to cops around the country - then he is King on Day Zero. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2025, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-listening-to-trump-speak-about-ending-the-weaponization-of-the-justice-department/1013168/11 "2025-01-20T22:09:47Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > Full on this time. As 45 he asked the SecDef if protestors could be shot in the legs, and that guy said “No”. Reckon he’ll even ask this moron? I think he’ll start asking the question, and Pete will go “FUCK YEAH! HELL, I’LL DO IT MYSELF!” ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2025, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-listening-to-trump-speak-about-ending-the-weaponization-of-the-justice-department/1013168/12 "2025-01-20T22:30:33Z")
Of course it’s appalling and disgusting. But it may help to remember how age-old a tactic this—DT being so relentlessly and shamelessly vicious and awful—really is. Search “exhaust people” and either democracy or tyranny or autocracy, and you will get miles of hits on how this tactic has been used over the centuries. Example: > [@](#): > > … What authoritarian movements do is they grind people down, they _exhaust people_ , and they intimidate people into retreating from public spaces. … > **[Transcript - Trump’s Back, This Time Without Guardrails.](https://slate.com/transcripts/aEJMK0ZGMmZNZHA4VWpwWVdubmZYb1dDcHdiYTdtMEMyeFJDOWRRMnpmOD0=)** > > Transcript of Trump’s Back, This Time Without Guardrails. Goal: to get everyone who cares about democracy, justice, fairness, integrity, and the survival of the USA, to just…give up. Just say “I can’t even” and go play video games. I’m tired of Trump’s awfulness. But damn if I’ll check out, because that lets him win. And, yeah: he’s totally weaponizing the DOJ. (I’m not sure what Democratic Senators could have said in the Bondi confirmation hearing that might have broken through the nation’s slumber … but they didn’t say it.) ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2025, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-listening-to-trump-speak-about-ending-the-weaponization-of-the-justice-department/1013168/13 "2025-01-21T00:11:40Z")
The thing that seems odd to me is that these cabinet members do not seem like collaborators/co-conspirators. Where is the Ehrlichman or Haldeman (Nixon) or Casper Weinberger (Reagan) - smart guys who knew they were criminals. I only saw the SecDef and Tammy Duckworth lit into whatshisname about how clueless and inept he was. Cheney and Kissinger were both qualified (knowledge outranks evilness) Nixon ordered his Attorney General to fire Archibald Cox and Richardson said no, and resigned. Then Nixon ordered Ruckelshaus to do the same and he too said no and resigned (I guess that turned out to be the same) Trump, as the smartest, fittest president ever doesn’t need a cabinet or so his big brain thinks. Fire this guy, make this guy resign in disgrace, lock this guy up forever. I want all of my sons to star in a movie about my greatness and if you can’t get Spielberg, you know what to do with his horse. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2025, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-listening-to-trump-speak-about-ending-the-weaponization-of-the-justice-department/1013168/14 "2025-01-21T00:21:47Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Goal: to get everyone who cares about democracy, justice, fairness, integrity, and the survival of the USA, to just…give up. Just say “I can’t even” and go play video games. > > I’m tired of Trump’s awfulness. But damn if I’ll check out, because that lets him win. > > And, yeah: he’s totally weaponizing the DOJ. (I’m not sure what Democratic Senators could have said in the Bondi confirmation hearing that might have broken through the nation’s slumber … but they didn’t say it.) You can fight against the administration without constantly being emotionally overwhelmed. Vote in every election (general, primaries, federal, state, local, etc) Donate money File lawsuits Refuse to comply in advance Assist people trying to escape oppression Find ways to make sure Trump supporters bear the brunt of his policies (aka snitch on them) etc. People don’t have to spend the next 4 years in fight or flight constantly. You can resist without being so emotionally overwhelmed that you tune everything out. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2025, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-listening-to-trump-speak-about-ending-the-weaponization-of-the-justice-department/1013168/15 "2025-01-21T00:41:56Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Refuse to comply in advance > Assist people trying to escape oppression What do you mean by “refuse to comply in advance?” Also, to your second, if you are not complying or protesting lawfully, you should have the number of a lawyer or a legal advocate who will answer the phone any time of day. My brother is an advocate for a united protesting group and usually just his appearance will get you out of cop-jail. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2025, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-listening-to-trump-speak-about-ending-the-weaponization-of-the-justice-department/1013168/16 "2025-01-21T01:09:28Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > Nixon ordered his Attorney General to fire Archibald Cox and Richardson said no, and resigned. Then Nixon ordered Ruckelshaus to do the same and he too said no and resigned (I guess that turned out to be the same) What I fear is that Republicans have studied very carefully what happened to Nixon, Reagan, Bush, and concluded that the mistake in every case was in admitting fault, in having the smallest scruple, in letting their circle of cronies be divided, in not counterattacking twice as hard. I want to reassure myself by telling myself at least there won’t be any surprise because this battle is already in the open. But the fact that it’s already in the open means that it’s already half normalized - people will think, how wrong or illegal can it be if he’s doing it right in front of our faces? I can’t think of any silver lining right now, no loopholes or even cold comfort. Maybe somehow we come back from this, but I don’t think we’re coming all the way back. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2025, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-listening-to-trump-speak-about-ending-the-weaponization-of-the-justice-department/1013168/17 "2025-01-21T01:15:40Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > What do you mean by “refuse to comply in advance?” Popular quote going around right now from Timothy Snyder, [On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century](https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/54882949) > [@](#): > > Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do. If that seems abstract, just look at people like Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Bill Gates. The most nauseating might be Joe Gebbia (AirBnb co-founder) who publicly backed Biden-Harris and is now down on both knees kissing Trump’s ring. They’re very powerful men! Trump hasn’t even publicly asked anything of them and they’re already signaling surrender! Do not obey in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2025, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-listening-to-trump-speak-about-ending-the-weaponization-of-the-justice-department/1013168/18 "2025-01-21T01:22:10Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > What do you mean by “refuse to comply in advance?” Don’t do what Chuck Schumer and Mark Zuckerberg have been doing, basically. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2025, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-listening-to-trump-speak-about-ending-the-weaponization-of-the-justice-department/1013168/19 "2025-01-21T03:02:22Z")
Okie doke. I’ll have to talk to my brother the advocate in NYC about that. If he also compares Shumer to Zuckerberg I have not been informed. I lived in St. Petersburg, Russia from 2010 to 2015. There were always small protests, yet after the invasion of Crimea they increased and the OMON - a sort of paramilitary police in cameo would attend and haul away a busload. I’m a foreigner so I’m not taking photos and am not participating. There was usually a 75+ year old woman protesting they’d always arrest. As there were photographers they weren’t too rough. I knew it was time to leave that country forever when a 20-somtething girl just held up a blank piece of A4 paper and was arrested. I dunno who first said “slippery slope” - and of course Russia has never been friendly to protesting and revolutions - yet for some reason Alexei Navalny flew into Russia - was poisoned on the way in Germany - and they kept on bringing him to trial till they locked in a good 50+ year sentence. America is not Russia. The Constitution will protect your civil rights. Yet don’t do what the Democratic Senator from New York or the Facebook guy does. Okie doke. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2025, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-listening-to-trump-speak-about-ending-the-weaponization-of-the-justice-department/1013168/20 "2025-01-21T06:23:50Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Do not obey in advance. I get it now. I was thrown off by rich people and Senators being duped/played for fools to tout this sort of thing. “Have you gotten your protest card, yet? It makes getting busted for protesting much easier. Show your card, pay the fine and you’re on your way” In St. Petersburg - and this is 10+ years ago - if you wanted to organise a protest you needed to apply for a permit, like in the USA if you wanted to have a block party or a parade. After filling out all the details of your protest and naming some names the location of your protest, if allowed, would not be in the usual Field of Mars or Nevsky Prospect, but somewhere way outside of town. Knowing the OMON police would be there meant a good chance you’d spend a few nights in perhaps some makeshift fenced in area (unless you were connected/important.) Insidious and brilliant all at once. Apply for your protest card today. It’s the American way our founding fathers would support. I’d prefer just to throw some tea into Boston Harbor. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-listening-to-trump-speak-about-ending-the-weaponization-of-the-justice-department/1013168.md?page=2)