This Sunday, after an hour or so at jiu-jitsu, I do what I do every Sunday and turned on CSPAN radio - live-streaming. Its a live re-broadcast of the top 5 Sunday cable tv political talk shows. Available here, from 12-5pm every Sunday, east coast time: https://www.c-span.org/c-span-radio/
The main news was the Senate confirmation of Attorney General Todd Blanche.
To the degree there was any political dispute over the AG, the real issue boiled down to this: He spent some time serving on President Trump’s legal team. Somehow the Democrats conflated the AG’s prior employment with his capacity or willingness to perform in the very prestigious and crucial role of AG.
Let’s rewind and look at who this man is. Right out of law school he was hired as an attorney at DOJ (Department of Justice). For those who think this sounds run of the mill, let’s be clear: being selected for employment as a civil servant in ANY of our federal agencies requires a sort of small miracle. Being competent, qualified, surviving a highly intrusive background check, and being a loyal, dedicated American is just the baseline for someone to apply. But to be selected, you have to have done so well in school, and with other intellectual projects, that something about you stands heads and shoulders above your peers.
AG Blanche was selected and served our nation by prosecuting bad guys, and ensuring federal law was enforced apolitically for over 15 years. That is no small amount of time. Surviving in federal agencies requires a great deal of competence, but to thrive in one - requires yet another level of social skill, above and beyond simply being “good” at your job.
I spent some time looking at prior AG’s and thinking about those that I have met (only one the Honorable AG Barr, who was very impressive…taking time to ask me, a GS-14 in the Pentagon about my career) and wondered which AG in American History he will most resemble. Of course, it should be noted that thousands and perhaps tens of thousands of successes in his career, will never be seen in public.
Sometimes its hard to understand why. But let me put it this way, do we as a nation want to hear every time the FBI, local police, or federal agents take down a terrorist who is planning an attack, a criminal who is breaking our laws, or the few dozen other criminal acts that tear at the very foundation of our Republic? I for one, do not. There is enough negative news around, that I think most Americans are grateful that we have law enforcement and intel professionals, and our warfighters - keeping us safe when we go to bed every night. I will tell you from having served 15 years as a civil servant, it is often a thankless job - yet no less rewarding than those you can talk about.
So, setting aside the fact that the AG’s greatest victories in protecting our nation, will not make front page news (thank goodness - we do not need a political hack like the former FBI director who interfered in US Presidential elections by announcing investigations into candidates), it’s worth considering who AG Blanche resembles from our nations history.
So far, I would say - as a non-expert historian, that he most closely resembles President Reagan’s AG, who was also a trusted confidant of the President, who came from his inner circle.
Now, I realize, that reasonable minds can have rational disagreements about the “ideal” background of an AG. This is the U.S. where we can have those discussions and debates. I just want to note, that from my narrow window into DC and DOJ, it is far better to have an Attorney General (the “top cop”) be someone who the most powerful and important man in the world (President Trump) respects, and listens to, rather than whoever may be somewhat more politically popular with the opposition party who does not have a close relationship with the President.
Yes, it is true we are a nation of laws, and yes it is true, there are certain limits on how much our politics gets involved with law enforcement. The law is blind - by design (unless of course your name is spelled C-O-M-E-Y, than you use being the FBI Director to make baseless accusations against President Trump and Secretary/Senator Clinton - in order to mess up the general election). And yes, I have taken heat from people for repeatedly bringing up 2016 and how Director Comey messed with the election. I don’t apologize for doing so. Why? Well because, to my way of thinking, that was the act, more than any other single act, at least in my lifetime - that convinced Americans that our federal agencies do not work apolitically. He broke a norm, not just for FBI, not just for the Federal government, but for the first time in our nations proud history, we had a federal agency appear to endorse a political candidate for President less than 90 days from the election. That’s not something Americans soon forget.
Returning to AG Blanche, consider for a moment this: if you graduated from a top-tier law school, and had your choice between high end wall street law firm jobs and becoming a civil servant to ensure criminals are prosecuted, which would you choose? Be real with yourself. There are clear incentives to choose a higher salary. That is not what AG Blanche did. And while it may not make front page news, that a young lawyer felt the call to serve his nation, and to put that nation ahead of political considerations as he did - to me, it is the most important demonstration of patriotism and character.
We as Americans have a mixed history when it comes to respect for our civil service officers, law enforcement, intel or otherwise. It simply is not as easy to understand what they do to protect us. When we see police officers rescuing people from a burning car on an interstate, or firefighters putting out a fire in our neighborhood, we see tangible, measurable results from our shared investment in their noble professions. Knowing or being told that civil servants in DC, are protecting you at DOJ, FBI or intel agencies, is often - gratefully I would suggest - a step or two removed from what we, average Americans see every day.
Yet, I would suggest, having seen and worked with some of these incredibly patriotic civil servants, that many of them are as patriotic and dedicated to their Oaths of Office, as our military troops and officers.
I realize this is going out late, but i also wanted to add, that I did start a youtube channel, called "DCHardHat" - a reference to my rural childhood growing up on a dairy farm, and to other blue collar Americans. I will begin posting short videos tomorrow and continue to do so, every day for the foreseeable future.
Here’s to a great week ahead, and the fast approaching fall time, and Autumn leaves and warm fireplaces.
Yours Truly,
Carson