Attorney General William Barr has decided, it seems, to let more than his belly hang out. He’s urging prosecution of the Mayor of Seattle. A report of his speech at Hillsdale College where he was speaking on “the constitutional hurdles for forbidding a church from meeting during Covid-19” reports: “‘You know, putting a national lockdown, stay at home orders, is like house arrest. Other than slavery, which was a different kind of restraint, this is the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history,’ Barr said as a round of applause came from the crowd.”

That he would be applauded for such pandering at Hillsdale College, a hive of religious and political reactionaries, is not remarkable. But his silliness drew a very different response from Rep. James Clyburn: “You know, I think that that statement by Mr. Barr was the most ridiculous, tone-deaf, God-awful thing I’ve ever heard … It is incredible that (the) chief law enforcement officer in this country would equate human bondage to expert advice to save lives.” It once would have been incredible that the Attorney General would say anything so stupid, but this is William Barr, Trump’s attorney, on a retainer paid by the U.S. Government. 

Barr rivals Trump and his minions in the spread of misinformation, always with a sanctimonious tone that makes him the darling of the religious right. Indeed, on Sept. 23 Barr is to receive an award at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast for “Exemplary, Selfless and Steadfast Service in the Lord’s Vineyard.” Really? I thought Bill the Hangman had been smashing the grapes. The National Catholic Prayer Breakfast is an annual reactionary binge where people who are more authoritarian than Catholic gather to celebrate their loyalty to the extreme right-wing. Barr’s receiving an award at the Breakfast is as unsurprising and as disgusting as his receiving a big round of applause at Hillsdale.