Obeying in Advance, or: "What Rats Won't Do"

 

#FBI Director Christopher Wray announces that he will step down at the end of the current administration.

Learn more: https://t.co/W7xY34F37h pic.twitter.com/FIJ5QIjI29

— FBI (@FBI) December 11, 2024

I hear scientists are starting to use lawyers instead of lab rats in their experiments. They do this for two reasons. For one thing, they become less attached to the lawyers. For another, there are some things lab rats won't do.    

 I get the idea that one shouldn't obey in advance, I really do.  And I get the argument that FBI Director Wray should have said "C'mon and fire me." Take a damn stand. Show Mr. Trump and the world what you are made of. 

But he did that. Remember when he shit-canned all the tips about Brett Kavanaugh? Because I'm not forgetting that. Remember when he took the job in the first place after Trump, Jeff Sessions, and Rod Rosenstein concocted a reason for Trump to fire Jim Comey that wasn't what Trump expressly told Lester Holt (and Sergey Lavrov) the reason was (to end the Russia, Russia, Russia investigation).

Christopher Wray has already been part of "Team Obey in Advance". That Trump can and will fire him and this time will need even less justification is already a foregone conclusion--he's just avoiding the drama. You all do remember what the justification they used in firing Comey was, right?

It doesn't matter, though. Trump didn't like the cut of his jib. Comey was too tall. It doesn't matter. Trump can just fire the FBI Director and making him do it isn't a stand, just a nuisance.

You know that advise and consent duty that the US Senate has? If you do, you may know more than a lot of our Republican senators do, but if Trump doesn't trust them, he'll figure out a way to just recess appoint googly-eyed goon Kash Patel. 

And let's talk about the alternative where Trump gives Wray a chance to play ball with TrumpWorld 2.0?  Just to show he really wants the job. Maybe a feeler has already been put out, you know? There are things lab rats won't do. There are things lawyers won't do. And maybe there are just things Wray wants to leave for Trump and any googly-eyed goons he cares to appoint to do. 

And that I completely understand. People will need to pick necessary battles, not unnecessary ones. Wray was never standing between us and Trump. Oh, maybe he could have once. But surely the heck not now.