# Merrick Garland for FBI Director **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 15, 2017, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merrick-garland-for-fbi-director/786624 "2017-05-15T02:37:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merrick-garland-for-fbi-director/786624/21 "2017-05-15T08:47:46Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > 60 million voted for Trump, why wouldn’t some? Which sort of makes my point. Most of the base aren’t politically sophisticated enough to get beyond “who’s Gerrik Marland?” They don’t know enough to recognise him as a supposed compromise candidate. If they do recognise him, that probably means that they follow politics and will see through the ruse and admire what they see as Republican cleverness. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2017, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merrick-garland-for-fbi-director/786624/22 "2017-05-15T11:49:26Z")
So, are we all in agreement that the Republicans are just plain trolling us now? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merrick-garland-for-fbi-director/786624/23 "2017-05-15T12:31:21Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > So, are we all in agreement that the Republicans are just plain trolling us now? So far as I know, nobody but me (and Mrs. Bricker) has suggested this. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merrick-garland-for-fbi-director/786624/24 "2017-05-15T12:51:06Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Strategically bad for Democrats, yes, but would he meet the bill as someone who Democrats would trust? Sure he would; I don’t think that’s at issue, but 1. It’s a very, very, very, very bad sign that this is even a question that has to be asked. The chief of police shouldn’t have to be someone whose primary qualification is being politically trustworthy, it should be someone who’s good at being chief of police. 2. Trump wouldn’t appoint Merrick Garland in ten bazillion years; he will appoint someone who is sufficiently sycophantic. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merrick-garland-for-fbi-director/786624/25 "2017-05-15T12:58:01Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > So far as I know, nobody but me (and Mrs. Bricker) has suggested this. [Not just you](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/05/12/the-merrick-garland-for-fbi-scheme-shows-why-liberals-lose/?utm_term=.f8b9fe520e9e). > [@](#): > > We live in a golden age of political stupidity, but I’m not being hyperbolic when I say this: The idea of pulling Judge Merrick Garland off the D.C. Circuit federal appeals court and into the FBI is one of the silliest ideas I’ve seen anyone in Washington fall for. It’s like Wile E. Coyote putting down a nest made of dynamite and writing “NOT A TRAP” on a whiteboard next to it. It’s also an incredibly telling chapter in the book that’s been written since the Republican National Convention — the story of how Republicans who are uncomfortable with the Trump presidency gritting their teeth as they use it to lock in control of the courts. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merrick-garland-for-fbi-director/786624/26 "2017-05-15T14:03:26Z")
Wow. Not sure if I feel better or worse. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merrick-garland-for-fbi-director/786624/27 "2017-05-15T14:43:41Z")
It doesn’t make sense for anyone to take a job where they could be fired by Trump unless they are significantly raising their profile and/or are out of a (significant) job at the time anyway. In the first case you gain a lot even if you get fired, and in the second case (e.g. Christie, Guiliani) you don’t have much to lose anyway. But for someone like Merrick Garland, he already has the job he wants, and has about as high of a profile as he’s going to get. There’s nothing in it for him to take this type of job, where he’d have Trump breathing down his neck at best and get booted next Trump-tantrum at worst. It’s hard to see him taking the offer. I tend to suspect the Republicans talking up the notion are aware that it’s a non-starter but think it sounds nicely bipartisan if they even talk this way. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merrick-garland-for-fbi-director/786624/28 "2017-05-15T15:34:28Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > I’m guessing that Donald Trump will pick somebody who has never investigated anything in their life. I think Jared Kushner is the obvious choice. He needs something to do in between finding peace in the Middle East, revamping the entire federal government, solving the VA problem, and everything else that Trump has assigned to him ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merrick-garland-for-fbi-director/786624/29 "2017-05-15T15:35:27Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > [Not just you](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/05/12/the-merrick-garland-for-fbi-scheme-shows-why-liberals-lose/?utm_term=.f8b9fe520e9e). _It’s like Wile E. Coyote putting down a nest made of dynamite and writing “NOT A TRAP” on a whiteboard next to it._ 🙂 That was good! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merrick-garland-for-fbi-director/786624/30 "2017-05-15T15:57:19Z")
So, your point is that the coyote species should be eliminated, so that massive herds of roadrunners will strangle our nation’s highways? Yes? ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merrick-garland-for-fbi-director/786624/31 "2017-05-15T17:23:04Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > It doesn’t make sense for anyone to take a job where they could be fired by Trump unless they are significantly raising their profile and/or are out of a (significant) job at the time anyway. In the first case you gain a lot even if you get fired, and in the second case (e.g. Christie, Guiliani) you don’t have much to lose anyway. > > But for someone like Merrick Garland, he already has the job he wants, and has about as high of a profile as he’s going to get. There’s nothing in it for him to take this type of job, where he’d have Trump breathing down his neck at best and get booted next Trump-tantrum at worst. > > It’s hard to see him taking the offer. > > I tend to suspect the Republicans talking up the notion are aware that it’s a non-starter but think it sounds nicely bipartisan if they even talk this way. Actually, the reason for him to take the job would be as a martyr/test case: take the job, take a hard stance on “honesty, not loyalty”. If he then gets fired, it’d be very compelling evidence that Trump thinks the FBI should function as a loyal servant to the executive branch. However, if there’s any man on earth that shouldn’t be asked to take a job he very likely won’t ever really be able to do just to serve as a living illustration of a political point, it’s Merrick Garland. Let the poor man be–he did his bit. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merrick-garland-for-fbi-director/786624/32 "2017-05-15T17:45:32Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > So far as I know, nobody but me (and Mrs. Bricker) has suggested this. I heard Michael Medved promoting the idea last week. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merrick-garland-for-fbi-director/786624/33 "2017-05-15T17:53:13Z")
More than a few U.S. Senators have now suggested this. One of the key question is whether he would, in fact, have to abandon his judgeship. I read a few things suggesting he can take a leave of absence if asked by the President to take another government post. Of course, this is all just funsy. The chance of Trump ever nominating him is about equal to the chance Trump will resign in order to play more golf. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merrick-garland-for-fbi-director/786624/34 "2017-05-15T17:58:41Z")
It’s an idea that might have had merit (Merrick?) if Republicans had done anything in the name of good faith or esprit de corps toward Democrats in oh, say, the past 9 years. But they haven’t. So no. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merrick-garland-for-fbi-director/786624/35 "2017-05-15T18:40:37Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > Actually, the reason for him to take the job would be as a martyr/test case: take the job, take a hard stance on “honesty, not loyalty”. If he then gets fired, it’d be very compelling evidence that Trump thinks the FBI should function as a loyal servant to the executive branch. I don’t think that would tell anyone anything about Trump that they didn’t know already. Not much in it for him to make a sacrifice like that for. > [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > One of the key question is whether he would, in fact, have to abandon his judgeship. I read a few things suggesting he can take a leave of absence if asked by the President to take another government post. > > Of course, this is all just funsy. The chance of Trump ever nominating him is about equal to the chance Trump will resign in order to play more golf. I disagree. Trump doesn’t have anything personal against Garland. It would be a great PR move if Garland would take the job, and if there’s one thing Trump likes - and could use right now! - it’s a great PR move. Mitch McConnell has already expressed support, and I can imagine Trump’s advisors who are reeling from the blowback (and whose jobs are said to be in jeopardy over this) would be supportive. As previous, if it involves Garland giving up his current job he’d be nuts to even consider it. But you’re suggesting he can keep his current seat on the court - in that case it sounds like a reasonable possibility. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merrick-garland-for-fbi-director/786624/36 "2017-05-15T21:12:53Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > So, your point is that the coyote species should be eliminated, so that massive herds of roadrunners will strangle our nation’s highways? > > Yes? mmmmBEEP BEEP! I’m sure Garland would be just thrilled to facilitate Trump getting some good PR. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merrick-garland-for-fbi-director/786624/37 "2017-05-16T10:26:01Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > I’m guessing that Donald Trump will pick somebody who has never investigated anything in their life. Heck, Trump will nominate someone whose record suggests they want federal law enforcement abolished entirely. What’s Cliven Bundy been up to lately? ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merrick-garland-for-fbi-director/786624/38 "2017-05-16T17:49:12Z")
Well, we can put this gripping drama behind us today: [Merrick Garland Says, “No, thanks.”](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-fbi-mcconnell-idUSKCN18C1X0) ---
**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:** [May 16, 2017, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merrick-garland-for-fbi-director/786624/39 "2017-05-16T23:41:36Z")
> [@Tee](#): > > What prompted his name? The desire by republicans to get rid of the chief justice of the DC circuit court of appeals so he can be replaced by a Trump nominee, shifting the DC circuit court to the right. That is the real reason he is being called upon, it has nothing to do with bipartisanship. It is just a way to shift one of the more important appellate courts to the right by removing Garland (who was nominated by Bill Clinton) so Trump and 52 GOP senators can pick his replacement. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merrick-garland-for-fbi-director/786624/40 "2017-05-17T01:12:53Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I heard Michael Medved promoting the idea last week. God, I liked that man so much better when he was just a lousy movie critic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merrick-garland-for-fbi-director/786624.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/merrick-garland-for-fbi-director/786624.md?page=3)