-
Screwtape’s Little Sermon
April 13, 2013 | 0 comments
-
Screwtape Gets Real
March 16, 2013 | 0 comments
-
James Buchanan, 1919-2013
January 11, 2013 | 7 comments
-
Waiting for the Gods
December 7, 2012 | 67 comments
-
Rex Quondam, Rex Futurus
October 25, 2012 | 36 comments
The C.S. Lewis Spectator
Screwtape Talks Tactics
Democrat demons have come into their own.
(Page 2 of 2)
On taking office, an incoming president might replace all incumbent U.S. Attorneys, as was done without comment in 1993. The appointments require Senate confirmation, and individual senators have by tradition had a strong say in who will serve, but it cannot be beyond the wit of a president to place several of our friends in office, and then let nature take its course.
One saw a hint of what this might mean in the 2012 election campaign, when an Obama campaign manager suggested that the Republican nominee had committed a felony under federal securities law. “Either Mitt Romney, through his own words and his own signature, was misrepresenting his position at Bain to the SEC, which is a felony,” she said, “or he was misrepresenting his position at Bain to the American people to avoid responsibility for some of the consequences of his investments.” The charge went nowhere, except as one more element in a happily effective campaign. What was remarkable, however, was that no one much noted that the campaign had ascended into Khodorkovsky territory.
That’s not to say that presidents will throw opposition leaders into jail, as they do in Ukraine. However, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that right-wing press lords, investigative magazines, and major opposition donors will find themselves under criminal investigation. Or that IRS tax audits and Labor Department investigations will be shaped by political considerations—if only because all that seems to happen now.
Perhaps Act III is not so far away after all.
Your affectionate uncle,
Ebenezer Screwtape
P.S. I liked you better with the mustache.
About the Author
F.H. Buckley is Foundation Professor at the George Mason University School of Law.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (18) | Leave a comment
More Articles by F.H. Buckley
http://spectator.org/archives/2013/02/07/screwtape-talks-tactics
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
Aristocat| 2.7.13 @ 6:49AM
If Romney can be accused of a felony, which of us is safe? DOJ is obviously controlled by left wing political operatives such as Holder, who see no problem with Black Panther intimidation of voters, not to mention multiple felonies by Obama and Holder himself.
Stan Redmond| 2.7.13 @ 3:55PM
We are all criminals now. Even the most innocent of children are treated as heartless lunatics with pink guns that shoot bubbles.
Appleby| 2.7.13 @ 6:57AM
Everyone can be accused of anything or nothing in these days of social media, and well before the truth can be assembled and tossed out into the mix, each of us can be convicted because, of course, if you see it On Line, it's gotta be true.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 2.7.13 @ 8:18AM
While damage to reputationthrough rumor can be real, painful, and can carry a monetary cost in terms of lost business or credit, the power of the government to charge criminally not only carries the cost to defend (which is something a civil plaintiff can inflict up to a point), but the threat of deprivation of liberty in the form of incarceration (along with the associated costs to the individual so afflicted).
JimH| 2.7.13 @ 8:22AM
I’m sure Satan would like nothing better than to have us lower our guard and assume all of the demons to be on the Dem side of the aisle.
Al Adab| 2.7.13 @ 8:30AM
Good point Jim:
He doesn't need to spend much time or effort with those he already owns. We need to guard our own house and make sure he never infiltrates there.
atilla| 2.7.13 @ 1:32PM
are they not???
Don L| 2.9.13 @ 11:00AM
Yup that Judas fellow and a whole lot of spittle hurling fiscal cons, but socially liberal folks come to mind. "Give us our thirty pieces of silver and you can take that guy, the source of all goodness and truth and do with him what you will," seems to reflect a lot of their midse...er..soul-set.
Pecos Pete| 2.7.13 @ 8:50AM
KingO's future Executive Order to the Justice Dept.: If they own a gun, they go to federal prison.
Sort of like King O's Death by Drone Program.
KennesawJack| 2.7.13 @ 10:34AM
So damned depressing. (and it's a rainy day in Georgia, to boot)
Petronius| 2.7.13 @ 11:50AM
Consider your places of exile or rebel and fight. What's it gonna be?
KennesawJack| 2.7.13 @ 12:14PM
Considering my advanced years, the latter appeals to me.
TLP| 2.7.13 @ 12:58PM
I thought that The Black Panther Case, was The Holder Memorandum.
I thought that George Zimmerman is a Filthy, Half White Racist, was The Holder Memorandum.
I thought that Running Guns to Mexican Drug Cartels, was The Holder Memorandum.
I thought that Not Prosecuting Illegal Immigration, was The Holder Memorandum.
Or is Sueing Credit Rating Institutions that Downgrade our Credit Rating, because our Economy is going to Hell in a Handbasket full of Increasingly Worthless Printed Money, The Holder Memorandum?
I don't get it.
Kingofthenet| 2.7.13 @ 2:02PM
Seems Mr. Buckley may have committed a Federal Crime, but I do like it when NeoCons coddle criminals.
Stan Redmond| 2.7.13 @ 3:57PM
You are right. Republican leadership has yet to persue and prosecute Obama and Holder for their constant violation of federal law and the US Constitution.
Belianis | 2.10.13 @ 12:30PM
Give the Demon-cats rope! Give them even more and more rope! Give them enough rope to tie them all together by 2014, the Year of Reckoning, after which the entire bundle will go down, along with the Emperor Jones of Chicago!
Commander Kelly | 2.7.13 @ 4:22PM
Funny stuff! http://americanconservativeinl.....pot.co.uk/
Don L| 2.9.13 @ 10:56AM
Sheer Genious! I hope you start a series like this. What a marvelous format to whack the Godless control freaks in all the diabolical things they do.