The Law And Order Party

 Marshall lays out how the GOP MAGAts are thinking about defunding the FBI and other law enforcement agencies because they are holding Trump accountable to the rule of law.

What's interesting about this is what it says about how certain political identities can nullify actual acts. What I mean is that the GOP has always been the "law and order" party. The Democrats' self-inflicted wound of "Defund the Police" - even though no major Democratic politicians endorsed it - was because it reinforced existing public ideas about the Democrats. People already suspected the Democrats tended to favor restricting the police - especially when it came to racial profiling and the like.

What's so interesting about the GOP's identity as the Law and Order party is that the first candidate to frame himself as that was Nixon. Who was - you may recall - a criminal. There's a chart about indicted and convicted Cabinet members from Democratic and Republican administrations and it's not a very balanced list. I think Henry Cisneros was the only Democrat who was indicted and he was acquitted. 

Why this is interesting is that when the GOP refers to itself as the Party of Law and Order, they are not talking about ALL the laws so much as a certain type of order. Tax evasion? That's fine. Shoplifting? Send'em to jail. Insider trading and embezzling? That's just private behavior. The increase in car thefts? That's the break down into anarchy. The myriad crimes that Trump has committed? Don't politicize the justice system.  Unless it's Hunter Biden's laptop or Hillary email server.

When Republicans talk about Law and Order they are talking about subjugating certain groups of people. Historically, this has meant Black and Brown people, but now it can include anyone who's a Democrat. 

Or to put it another way: Law and Order is about authoritarian control of certain ethnic and political groups. It's about the fascism.