Merrick Garland is doing his job. Now it’s time to do yours.
AG Merrick Garland is going after Texas over its gerrymandered districts and voter suppression. It’s now clear that Garland intends to bust every state that’s trying these antics. Why did it take this long? The DOJ had to build a winning court case before making a move. Competent strategies take time.
The one real lesson from the Bill Barr era is that if an Attorney General makes rash moves without taking the time to build a legal basis for them first, those moves will usually get struck down in court, and nothing will have been accomplished. This is why most of Barr’s moves failed. Of course Barr wasn’t trying to win or accomplish anything. He was only trying to please Donald Trump in any given moment.
Of course Garland’s legal effort against voter suppression is only half the battle. We must pass federal voting rights legislation in the new year. If we do our jobs as activists, we can make it happen, just like we got the votes for infrastructure. It’s a long process that requires gradually wearing down the bad actors until they reluctantly cave and give you most of what you demanded. It requires presuming we’re going to win, and then putting in the work needed to win.
It’s now more important than ever that you stop whining about Merrick Garland, and start doing your job as activists. If you don’t do your job, it doesn’t matter what someone like Garland does or doesn’t do. These pundits who spend all their time whining about Garland, their dirty secret is that they’re not trying to win. They don’t want to win. Their brand is based on having something to whine about, which requires losing. They’re just pandering to your worst instincts. It’s crucial that you discard the doomsday pundits, so you can focus on fighting and winning. Garland is clearly all-in on winning. Are you?
