The following is an essay from a concerned citizen.
How can a man like Barr (and so many others) convince themselves they are honorable, that they are correct in their judgement and overt efforts to subdue transparency, and allow injustice to prevail? Long ago and early in their lives men like Barr decided or were coerced to be Institutionalists. The institutions are much larger than any man and any blip in history. The institutions must be preserved at all costs. According to men and women like Barr, Mueller, and Rosemary Collyer, the most honorable action is to preserve the institution, to see beyond the temporary injustice, to tolerate “petty” corruption, to sacrifice a few of the pure and good. For the sake of: thousands of loyal agents and employees, decades and perhaps centuries of development, and a purpose that cannot suffer a loss of confidence from the masses.
Obviously, this mentality can and will become warped at some point. Our founding fathers and notably Abraham Lincoln warned us of these matters of power. The corruption that they knew was so very natural, that they foresaw, and wrote extensively of is now on steroids. Our Institutions are operating only through corruption – rotten from surface to core. The Institutionalists are blind to how extensive these matters are because their DNA and entire mental framework can only think of protecting their precious institution. Every injustice will be perceived as necessary thus just, corrupt acts as good or at least ok in the long run, and truly evil deeds as rare therefore inconsequential. This naivety lays the ground work for the predators, those that hunger for power and nothing else, those that are ruthless and have zero loyalty to anything but themselves. The Institutionalists through self preservation and their own warped calculus of doing the “right” thing will enable and empower the most terrible people on this planet.
The Institutionalists trouble me, but what I find more disheartening is the apparatus of common men and women that will support these institutions. The events of August 8th should be an absolute wake up call and so troubling that an exodus is triggered, particularly from the FBI. My read is a ripple versus a tsunami of outrage and if nothing else severe concern. Just more political theater and folks remain parked in their partisan corners. The IRS, FBI, CIA, and DOJ will continue on their merry way departing from the vector of freedom and enlightenment, well funded, stocked with fellow countrymen eager to make $150k a year, provided additional authority with less accountability, and nothing on the horizon for any serious reformation.
The Institutionalists are not evil and I personally can understand how they convince themselves that their actions are honorable. Nevertheless, I think history gradually demonstrates how misguided they are. In the meantime, tyrants thrive and the ruthless rape everything they can get away with taking for themselves, while common people are divided into two groups: those that are conscious and endlessly concerned with what they see unfolding before them, and those that are blissfully unaware of the sophisticated and powerful apparatus at play and the constant degradation of personal liberties that must always be fought for by common folks.
Amen!
Do not cave into them.
You are not alone.
You can make a profound difference.
God speed!