At times, the Left is a voice of mercy, compassion, and suspicion of federal law enforcement. Ever since the Trump era began, however, the chorus from the Left sounds less like the tunes of Jean Valjean and more like the proclamations of Inspector Javert.
This week, the “lock ’em up” Left has been loud.
First, there was the chorus of liberal journalists and Democratic politicians explaining that the government only uses its coercion power against ne’er-do-wells — that anyone fearing the feds is obviously a crook. Nervous? You must be hiding something.
An increasingly consistent Republican position:
Americans can have a little cheating on their taxes, as a treat. https://t.co/6nhDKf7Blp
— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) August 8, 2022
and
In case there was any doubt, conservatives are completely in favor of letting wealthy tax cheats get away with fraud. Trump, Manafort, Gates, Wynn, and on and on.
They hate tax enforcement because they’re the tax cheats. https://t.co/yBCypZUMGh
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) August 7, 2022
and
All of my GOP friends who are worried about 87,000 IRS enforcement agents coming after the little guy… How about just don’t cheat on tax returns? A fully truthful and accurate tax return is bulletproof in an audit. I never understood the fear of an IRS audit. Don’t lie. Period.
— Adam Markowitz (@adammarkowitzEA) August 5, 2022
Personally, I think that government power is terrifying. Immigrants, the poor, and the politically disfavored are vulnerable to persecution and abuse when the state strengthens its power to punish. At the very least, having to prove one’s innocence is cumbersome, exhausting, and costly.
Most IRS audits, of course, are of the poor and nonwhite — and out of power.
This is madness: The areas most heaviest hit by the IRS for audits? Black Belt MIssissippi and Alabama. The least audited area? The entire Northeast. https://t.co/KVMUpsrU55
— Deus Ex Mockina (@brentinmock) April 1, 2019
Then, while Trump supporters rushed to assert (without evidence) that the FBI raid of the former president’s residence was politically motivated, FBI supporters on the Left were just as quick to declare that the raid itself is proof that there is serious dirt on the former president.
One thing is very clear.
Garland would not have authorized this raid, and no federal judge would have signed off on it, if there weren’t significant evidence to warrant it.— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) August 8, 2022
An MSNBC piece said it wasn’t a “raid” and that with this non-raid, “things may be snowballing in the direction of accountability, and maybe even justice.”
This full-throated belief that the FBI would never improperly raid the home of a political rival has stirred liberals to declare who else they think should go to jail. Gun control champion Shannon Watts went out of her way to call Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot three men in self-defense, a “vigilante.”
Pay attention: The party that cheers extrajudicial convictions (“Lock her up!”) and vigilanteism (Kyle Rittenhouse) is upset the legal system is working the way it’s supposed to. Just look at the state laws they’re passing – they want lawlessness.
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) August 9, 2022
Republican attacks on the FBI are stupid and shortsighted, just as former President Donald Trump’s 2016 chant “Lock her up!” was vulgar and thuggish. These days, the loudest voices on the Left are full-throated on the side of the police, shouting, “If you don’t want to get harassed, just don’t do anything wrong!”
