[EL] Of Krakens and such

[John Tanner]

Never assume malice where incompetence is so obvious 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Dec 8, 2020, at 12:07 PM, Gardner, James <jgard at buffalo.edu> wrote:
> 
> 
> The consensus view of the Trump campaign’s late-stage thrashing about in court seems to be that it is mainly an inappropriately instrumental use of the courts for P.R. purposes – keeping the base fired up.  It is that, surely.  But I am struck by something else: the profound disrespect expressed by these actions for the rule of law.  In fact, the Trump strategy puts me in mind of a commonplace maxim of autocrats (usually attributed to Oscar Benevides, military dictator of Peru during the 1930s): “For my friends everything; for my enemies, the law.”  It seems as though important people in the Trump campaign sincerely believe that when they walk into a courtroom, the law shouldn’t matter, and the facts shouldn’t matter – all that matters is that you are a friend of Trump.  If you can demonstrate that, then by all rights you should win, and if you can’t, you should certainly lose.  I feel somewhat reassured (for now, anyway) that the alarming US slide into populist authoritarianism hasn’t penetrated quite that far into the judiciary.
>  
> Jim
> ___________________________
> James A. Gardner
> Bridget and Thomas Black SUNY Distinguished Professor of Law
> Research Professor of Political Science
> University at Buffalo School of Law
> The State University of New York
> Room 514, O'Brian Hall
> Buffalo, NY 14260-1100
> voice: 716-645-3607
> fax: 716-645-2064
> e-mail: jgard at buffalo.edu
> Faculty page: https://www.law.buffalo.edu/faculty/facultyDirectory/GardnerJames.html
> Papers at http://ssrn.com/author=40126
>  
>  
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