Never Get High On Your Own Supply

lawfare goes to hospice

Midway through the former Obama advisor Norman Eisen’s anti-Trump lawfare book, A Case for the American People, an anti-impeachment witness faces a brutal grilling from a shockingly brilliant congressman — “one of the most talented cross-examiners among the members,” a Perry Mason figure who always labored so hard in the deep substance of the evidence that he never failed to inflict harm during hearings. That hardworking genius of a congressman, ladies and gentlemen, was Eric Swalwell. He’s a 21st-century Atticus Finch, courageously searching for justice from the depths of his exquisite mind.

Eisen keeps doing this. Everyone is shockingly, staggeringly, utterly brilliant.

Hunting the Great Orange Monster, Eisen turns to his brain trust. He draws from a deep well of legal expertise and political shrewdness, taking advice from the best of the best:

Finally, Trump is on trial in the Senate, and a moment of world-historically powerful drama plays out on history’s stage. Hush! Hush and draw near, the curtain opens:

Lightning flashes on the pages of history! One of the greatest orators in American history rises to his feet in the Senate chamber, and the world falls into an awed silence, hanging on his every thundering word — especially as the brilliant Adam Schiff speaks proudly of his deep commitment to bipartisanship.

We don’t know how the week will end, but all the soufflés are falling in one way or another. Donald Trump was supposed to be in prison by now: “In recent weeks, President Biden has grumbled to aides and advisers that had Garland moved sooner in his investigation into former President Donald Trump’s election interference, a trial may already be underway or even have concluded, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss private matters.” But there he still is, wandering the streets and holding campaign rallies, and the ludicrous case in Manhattan has descended into farce.

I’m reminded of 2016, when Hillary Clinton tried to secure victory in North Carolina by sending Lena Dunham to campaign for her there. What better way to convince American voters that the lawfare effort is a serious striving for justice than to send the star of Meet the Fockers to troll the defendant? The majesty of the law, you see.

As we wait for a verdict, I again suggest that you read the lawfare origin stories: Mark Pomerantz’s stupid book, Norm Eisen’s stupid book. They reveal an inability to think, and describe a classic case of tilting at windmills.

We’ll see how it ends. But we know how it started, and it started with an inbred political class that doesn’t see or hear itself. What we’re waiting for now is to find out when it crashes and burns, not if.