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Carnes: Garland doing the right thing

It’s the proverbial apples to oranges.

On one hand, we have crates full of oranges supporting the Florida hotel owner’s ocean of denial, his stalling, nonsensical alibis, claims of ownership, ignoring of requests, claiming executive privilege, having lawyers take it to the Supreme Court, requesting a Special Master and dragging it out for an entire year resulting in a grand jury subpoena.

He claimed the documents were his, not theirs, and besides, he had declassified them with his mind, making the entire issue moot.



On the other, we have an apple box in a garage immediately turned over to the proper authorities by the current president’s own lawyers. No denials, no stalling, no alibis.

One’s a mountain, the other’s a molehill, yet they’re of equal height when it comes to Attorney General Merrick Garland’s priorities. His integrity and insistence to “Do the right thing” keeps the transparency bar raised high above petty politics.

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Spike Lee must be proud.

Like Damar Hamlin asking, “Did we win?” and the Virginia school teacher asking, “Do you know how my students are?” after each experienced devastating traumas, Garland made the correct decision when he said, “This appointment underscores … the commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters, and to making decisions indisputably guided only by the facts and the law.”

OK, so I admit it’s nowhere near as emotionally dramatic, but multiple times more important and defining for the long-term ramifications to an entire nation.

After Hillary Clinton’s lazy misuse in ServerGate, the hotel guy’s blatant theft in Mar-A-LargoGate, and now President Biden’s ignorance in GarageGate, it’s painfully apparent the executive level of our government has a serious issue maintaining control over classified documents, and monumental changes need to be enacted.

Biden’s problem is, of course, the first batch was found two days before November’s election and they didn’t make it public until last week, a painfully obvious attempt to shield Democratic candidates from unfair correlation.

I seriously doubt it would have made any difference, but the optics are terrible for Biden and will in all likelihood be a determining factor in his ability, or lack thereof, to run in 2024.

Who knows, perhaps the whole thing was a strategy behind closed left doors by those not wanting him to run in the first place.

Either way, these document issues are going to take months, if not years, to play out. Meanwhile, of much larger concern, is this Thursday’s statutory debt limit once again being reached. Yet House GOP members seem intent upon focusing on nonsense like saying they’re going to eliminate the IRS and foaming at the mouth, working each other into a frenzy, over the complete fabrication of Biden outlawing gas stoves.

Neither has as much chance as Minturn has of ever straightening out the “S” curve on the north entrance to town.

In the meantime, Garland has the power to continue doing the right thing for our country and letting all the chips fall wherever they must, regardless of political consequences.

Richard Carnes, of Avon, writes weekly. He can be reached at poor@vail.net


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