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The weird thing about Barr is that his intellectual positions about the executive branch are extreme but not outrageous/unique, but his approach to public politics is so combative, contemptuous and transparently partisan that it destroys all credibility or benefit of the doubt.
Like, if Barr was writing a law review article about his views of the role of the AG and the hierarchy of DOJ authority within the unitary executive, you& #39;d be like, "Ok, this guy has an extreme view, but it& #39;s totally plausible and very well me be correct under current caselaw."
But then he goes on TV and couples that intellectual argument with a completely bombastic slash-and-burn approach to every individual policy issue, and seems to revel in being a hatchet-man for the president& #39;s political ambition.
Like, Barr& #39;s “My thinly veiled contempt for liberals and dissent and democracy isn& #39;t a thirst for authoritarianism it& #39;s just what the unitary executive theory demands” t-shirt has people asking a lot of questions already answered by the shirt.
And part of this is that Barr seems to not only believe in the unitary executive as a courtroom legal theory, but *actually is trying to implement it aggressively* in practice at DOJ.
Which is pretty novel, because in practice the unitary theory of the executive just isn& #39;t how political power actually operates in the executive branch in most cases. https://twitter.com/MattGlassman312/status/1002910150687121408?s=20">https://twitter.com/MattGlass...
Like, does he really believe this? If not, does he actually think this is strategically good public politics for the AG?
It is just insane on the merits *and* an insane way for an AG to approach this sort of policy issue where he has discretion. https://twitter.com/ShimonPro/status/1306420805564334082?s=20">https://twitter.com/ShimonPro...
It is just insane on the merits *and* an insane way for an AG to approach this sort of policy issue where he has discretion. https://twitter.com/ShimonPro/status/1306420805564334082?s=20">https://twitter.com/ShimonPro...
Ha, yes: https://twitter.com/joshchafetz/status/1306581255824306177?s=20">https://twitter.com/joshchafe...
