Federal Bureau of Escalation
No, the Whitmer kidnapping case outcome has little bearing on January 6
Or does it?
Before we lunge into concluding that the no decision in the Whitmer kidnapping case will impact on building a case for the January 6 attack, let’s explore the differences and the similarities.
First, to recap what happened last Friday:
Back in the winter of 2020, several anti-COVID-19 lock-down junkies started venting on Facebook how the Governor was ruining their lives and had to go. Some found kindred souls in the tiled halls of the State Capitol and showed their guns off to a social media audience.
During an “occupation of the State Capitol,” these folk were expelled from the public galleries. Amidst social media death threats, Michigan legislators started wearing body armor and refused to reveal their movements. Not exactly what these legislators expected as part of their representation assignment. Into this atmosphere aforementioned junkies grew bolder — now they could boast followers — and started hatching plans to capture and detain the Governor — not kill her exactly — just rough her up a bit, you know, to show who’s boss. If you can smell the weed wafting and the basement mold, you’re not far off. The end game sounded tantalizingly like a civil war recorded on YouTube featuring a dystopian landscape and video game-like fighters.
Kool.
Apparently unbeknownst to aforementioned junkies was a plant, a guy from the FBI named Chapelle, aka “Big Dave,” who convinced the gang of a military-experience-prowess. When the talk shifted to ‘let’s blow up the bridge to her vacation home, tie her in a boat and tow it out into Lake Michigan — you know, really scare her — “Big Dave” read “assassination attempt,” and blew the whistle before a Friday scheduled confab at the local BBQ Wings establishment.
The rest presumably would be settled in court and be a lesson to all.
Not.
On Friday, a grand jury, after a fraught week of deliberation, couldn’t find the criminal conspiracy evidence to deliver federal charges against four of the gang. Consider the upshot — federal charges proffer no parole — these lads would age in federal prison.
No decision. “Big Dave” by displaying his knowledge of these purported deeds had, you know, by “escalating the situation” and preventing the junkies from enjoying their high and their right to free speech — aka brandishing loaded assault weapons — deprived these lads of ‘justice under the law.’
‘Whose law’ one is not sure.
Consider the differences and similarities between the Whitmer kidnapping case and January 6:
1.The foiled kidnapping case occurred before January 6, 2021
2.The kidnapping case was not televised
3.The President was not directly involved.
4.Domestic terrorism at the time occupied a sliver of the public’s attention which has a short span to begin with
5.America did not experience the same “culture of escalation” in 2020 as America endures today
6.Freedom of speech — in both scenarios — is more commonly argued as an infringement of a right then as a prevention of a crime
7.America needs to look at the causes, as well as the consequences, of domestic terrorism
Now that the Monday morning quarterbacking is out of the way, what is the political impact for Whitmer? And for the Office of Governor?
One is reminded of another FBI fumbling the ball pre-election season when James Comey infamously re-released tapes a fortnight before the Presidential election of 2016. But this is not the New York Office of the FBI, and Whitmer is not running for President. Indeed, the grand jury in the kidnapping case was exposed to FBI opportunism (1), whereas the fallout for Clinton and Comey, was unfortunately an opportunity for her opponent.
To sum up political “fallout” of the de facto kidnapping charge dismissal:
1.Whitmer will ‘survive politically’
2.Merrick Garland is not ‘off the hook’
3. America has just scratched the surface of domestic terrorism, it’s scope, it’s grip on American politics… and it’s alleged ‘freedoms’
“The next time you ask why we can’t get good people to run for office, consider today’s verdict…This won’t be taken seriously until someone dies.”
-Michigan state Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, a Democrat, “noted on Twitter that a man who threatened to kill her in 2020 was acquitted.” (2)
Consider the irony of the moment in misinformation land: the same alleged motive for kidnapping the Governor — her handling of COVID-19 closures and reopening — is the same benefit Michiganders gained during the pandemic — her astute reading of medical case loads and advice from the epidemiologists.
Standing up to Trump’s bullying also helped.
What’s ironic and a bittersweet accolade for Whitmer’s trajectory during the pandemic is that Michigan is an example of what good governance during a pandemic looks like.
Listen to the data: though Michigan is among the thirteen most populated states in the country and has a modest vaccination rate, the state’s COVID-19 related cases per 100,000 is among the lowest half (3).
Comparatively speaking, that’s a win for Michigan by a third.
But who’s listening?
April 11
Footnotes
1-New York Times, April 9, 2022
2-”Following verdict in Whitmer kidnapping case, some see freedom and others danger,” Sara Burnett, Associated Press, April 9, 2022
3- COVID-19 Cases per 100,000, ranking by state, 2020-2021, Michigan ranked 23.
