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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWilliam Webster: I Headed the F.B.I. and C.I.A. There's a Dire Threat to the Country I Love.
The rule of law is the principle that protects every American from the abuse of monarchs, despots and tyrants.
By William Webster
Mr. Webster is a former federal judge and the former director of both the F.B.I. and the C.I.A.
Dec. 16, 2019
The privilege of being the only American in our history to serve as the director of both the F.B.I. and the C.I.A. gives me a unique perspective and a responsibility to speak out about a dire threat to the rule of law in the country I love. Order protects liberty, and liberty protects order. Today, the integrity of the institutions that protect our civil order are, tragically, under assault from too many people whose job it should be to protect them.
The rule of law is the bedrock of American democracy, the principle that protects every American from the abuse of monarchs, despots and tyrants. Every American should demand that our leaders put the rule of law above politics.
I am deeply disturbed by the assertion of President Trump that our current director as he refers to the man he selected for the job of running the F.B.I. cannot fix what the president calls a broken agency. The 10-year term given to all directors following J. Edgar Hoovers 48-year tenure was created to provide independence for the director and for the bureau. The presidents thinly veiled suggestion that the director, Christopher Wray, like his banished predecessor, James Comey, could be on the chopping block, disturbs me greatly. The independence of both the F.B.I. and its director are critical and should be fiercely protected by each branch of government.
Over my nine-plus years as F.B.I. director, I reported to four honorable attorneys general. Each clearly understood the importance of the rule of law in our democracy and the critical role the F.B.I. plays in the enforcement of our laws. They fought to protect both, knowing how important it was that our F.B.I. remain independent of political influence of any kind.
As F.B.I. director, I served two presidents, one a Democrat, Jimmy Carter, who selected me in part because I was a Republican, and one a Republican, Ronald Reagan, whom I revered. Both of these presidents so respected the bureaus independence that they went out of their way not to interfere with or sway our activities. I never once felt political pressure.
I know firsthand the professionalism of the men and women of the F.B.I. The aspersions cast upon them by the president and my longtime friend, Attorney General William P. Barr, are troubling in the extreme. Calling F.B.I. professionals scum, as the president did, is a slur against people who risk their lives to keep us safe. Mr. Barrs charges of bias within the F.B.I., made without providing any evidence and in direct dispute of the findings of the nonpartisan inspector general, risk inflicting enduring damage on this critically important institution.
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H2O Man
(73,333 posts)Thank you for this.
bluestarone
(16,722 posts)A great ADD for the election year!! We need many adds to get votes!!
malaise
(267,824 posts)RFN!
NewJeffCT
(56,827 posts)though I'm not sure I'd consider Ed Meese an honorable person
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)BSdetect
(8,989 posts)usaf-vet
(6,094 posts)Case in point Sessions NOT willing to give him a big red full lips smooch ..GONE
BARR apparently willing to perform the unspeakable in this forum is here to ..STAY.
As long as 45 gets to set that standard we the everyday Americans are screwed.
N_E_1 for Tennis
(9,593 posts)Wawannabe
(5,580 posts)But I dont need Mr. Webster (who revered Reagan )...Or Malcolm Nance for that matter, to tell me of the dire straits this country is in. I have known this truth since Nov 9, 2016. Plain as the nose on my face!
Just who the hell does he think we the people are?
Hes just another bell ringer that shall be ignored by the masses.
Ill tell you what will get my attention! The first SOB that stands up to the mofo and his cronies in the WH and does something about it. Let me name two or three Democrats here now:
Nancy Pelosi
Adam Schiff
Jerrold Nadler
THESE people have my attention. NO ONE ELSE is doing shit! Even Chuck Schumer has laid down because he thinks he is cockblocked. Well whatever! I want people in powerful positions to begin to DO SOMETHING WITH THEIR POWER!
I DONt need no stinking article or interview that basically preaches to the choir. Cuz nobody else is listening. IT IS TIME TO ACT AND ACT BIG!
FakeNoose
(32,356 posts)... so we can assume a lot of those readers are not in line with DU. Many people are are still in doubt over the impeachment, mainly because they're getting their news/facts from Faux Snooze or some other conservative bubble. They're certainly not listening to Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff or Chuck Schumer.
We need to be patient and hope they will still listen to eminent scholars such as William Webster. Whether NYTimes really cares about changing peoples' minds is the question. Let's hope they still do care enough to keep posting articles such as this.
KPN
(15,587 posts)vented openly and, in my view, not inaccurately. Patience is good, but so is venting, especially when it is laced with truth.
stopdiggin
(11,095 posts)as far as discourse and public opinion?
I'd take one of these opinion pieces every day ....
Wawannabe
(5,580 posts)Statesman, laborer, homeless person, women...all have opinions.
ACTION! Its a beautiful word.
I know more laborers and women who have actually done something to protest or given up their jobs in disgust than any statesman you have on any pedestal.
Come on, patronize me some more!!!
stopdiggin
(11,095 posts)is duly noted
Wawannabe
(5,580 posts)Your condescension
MyOwnPeace
(16,888 posts)The problem is, we are NOT in positions of power! The ONLY one we have is the House of Representatives. THAT IS IT!
Senate? No
White House? No
Courts? Maybe some, but with appeals and intentional "delays" - nothing that will get us to "ACT AND ACT BIG!"
I have NO problem with William Webster's writings. We NEED this - we NEED to hear from "the opposition" that now sees the problems with our current situation. Consider the ancient proverb:
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
You may find that repulsive, but if it delivers one more vote against IQ45, the battle continues.
Wawannabe
(5,580 posts)Reality is this:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212787564
and action is needed in every way possible by every elected person in power because we gave them the power to ACT.
My request is to use their power to ACT.
Be tireless in finding the power to ACT.
wnylib
(21,146 posts)True Blue American
(17,972 posts)I caught that revered Reagan, too! Reagan and Bush held hostages to beat Jimmy Carter who was a thousand times more decent than Reagan or Bush!
kentuck
(110,950 posts)Oh, that William Webster !
coti
(4,612 posts)Garrett78
(10,721 posts)And Barr is a longtime piece of shit. Barr got GHWB to pardon Iran Contra perps.
I'll say it again, I welcome the criticism of Trump, but Never Trumpers are in deep, deep denial. 50+ years of increasingly cruel and unhinged rhetoric and policy made Trump possible. Trump didn't happen in a vacuum.
Hekate
(90,202 posts)lastlib
(22,981 posts)is, who will be the Minutemen at Lexington and Concord? Who will show up at the fight? Who will join with our Speaker and House Committee chairmen? They will be the heroes.
True Blue American
(17,972 posts)Just one!
wnylib
(21,146 posts)spanone
(135,636 posts)wiggs
(7,788 posts)instead a willful ignorance of the facts, consequences, and pressure even if from fellow republicans?
this should be read on the house and senate floors!!
maxrandb
(15,192 posts)I'm pretty sure the next Democratic President is going to appoint someone that is finally going to clean out the racist, right wing fucksticks that permeate the FBI.
I'm willing to bet the next Democratic President will appoint an FBI Director that will give Leningrad Lindsey, Moscow Mitch, and the Retrumplican biased wing nuts in the FBI the vapors.
You want to see some political bias?... Stand the fuck by.
There's a long overdue reckoning coming.
History is going to treat these pricks like it treated the SS.
So, if there is anything good to come from this shitshow, it will be to clean out the racism, sexism and anti- Democratic Party bias in the FBI that has gone unchecked since before the Nixon years.
at140
(6,110 posts)by the dictator.
scarytomcat
(1,706 posts)they need to wake up to the destruction they are heading us for
Nasruddin
(741 posts)PatrickforO
(14,516 posts)betraying allies, Russian interference.
Just sticking up for the FBI.
I mean, I can see him wanting to do that, but let's go just a little bit further, shall we?
UpInArms
(51,253 posts)I wept for my country
The wounds from this maladminstration may never heal