The "I was just being a good soldier" defense

Yet another dead-end move of blaming the boss

I leave it to others to dissect last night’s Weirdest Political Debate (which was missing the front-runner, who was busy planning his trip to Fulton County’s courthouse and jail so he can surrender to authorities).

Yes, I watched the debates.

No, I wasn’t lifted to higher planes by the rhetoric but then I cheerfully disagreed with just about every sentence that came out of their mouths, so whatevs.

While we await Trump’s arrival in Atlanta (today, we’re told), I want to look at the legal shenanigans of TFG’s last chief of staff, Mark Meadows, who is squirming like a frog on a griddle to get out of answering for his part in attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. (He is not, as said the New York Times yesterday, doing a “delicate dance.” There is nothing delicate about Meadows’ attempts to writhe out from under the law.)

Below is Meadows’ attorney seeking to get special dispensation for his client because he’s, well, special.

My God, the arrogance. Linked here is the state of Georgia’s (in the person of District Attorney Fani Willis’) response to Meadows’ attempts to move his case into federal court, where he apparently clings to the hope that he, as a former federal official, will enjoy some leniency. If you’re in a rush, let me lift out a few of the response’s pertinent bits. After acknowledging the facts of the case:

It is therefore unsurprising that the defendant now petitions this Court to remove the prosecution of his pending criminal case, in which he stands accused of participating in a criminal enterprise that conspired to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election in favor of Mr. Trump, invoking his status as a former federal officer.

and

In his Notice, the defendant makes no mention of the fact that every single one of the activities giving rise to his indictment constitutes impermissible political activity which a Chief of Staff may not lawfully perform “under color of office.”

and

Since the defendant was forbidden by law to use his authority or influence to interfere with or affect the result of an election or otherwise participate in activity directed toward the success of Mr. Trump as a candidate for the presidency, every single one of these activities fell outside the scope of his duties, both as a matter of fact and as a matter of law.

In short, the 22-page response says no, to the hell no, and there is no f-in’ way, Mark, that you can worm your way outta this. Respectfully.

But I digress. Another defense used by Meadows is that he was only doing what his boss told him to and so he cannot be held personally accountable. In other words, he was just following orders. There is no question his boss told him to do illegal things, but Meadows’ wormy, mealy-mouthed statement smacks (Nazi Alert!) of a 1962 letter by Adolf Eichmann, a leader in Hitler’s Germany. Eichmann, who was eventually executed for his crime of organizing the Holocaust in which the murderer wrote:

“There is a need to draw a line between the leaders responsible and the people like me forced to serve as mere instruments in the hands of the leaders.”

That explanation obviously did not work for Eichmann, who was hanged by the neck until dead, his body cremated, and his ashes thrown into the sea. The interesting thing Meadows’ legal team overlooks is that even soldiers have a duty to disobey when the soldier encounters an order that is illegal or unconstitutional.

So, too, did Meadows. He had a duty to say no, as did TFG’s other co-conspirators. But they didn’t, so on Wednesday, we got to watch, for instance, Rudy Giuliani shuffle up to the Fulton County Jail.

We await the next bit of nonsense from this sad crew. I’m trying to figure out how I can best display TFG’s mug shot, which I assume will be shared along with these others:

Smile, y’all!