The gleeful enthusiasm with which his party has rallied to his defense shows how invested Republicans have become in T____’s personal narrative of oppression, one that is notable for its distance from anything that might affect the lives of the Americans whose votes T____ might soon be seeking again.

Let’s keep in mind one vital fact about the FBI’s action Monday: No one you see commenting on this matter — not the angry members of Congress, TV hosts or the pundits aplenty — knows precisely what crime the bureau is investigating or what evidence was presented to the judge who approved the search warrant [although the ex-president could make the search warrant public if he wanted to].

That hasn’t stopped T____’s defenders from assuming [no, saying, not assuming] that he can’t possibly have done anything that would justify the search. After all, we know how careful he has always been about following rules, particularly with regard to classified information.

… In order to get a warrant, the FBI had to convince a judge that it had probable cause to believe a search would locate evidence of a crime. One would like to think that if T____ had committed crimes, even Republicans would admit that it would be appropriate to investigate.

But the nearly universal [fascist] response has been that the search can only have been politically motivated, despite the fact that no one commenting knows what the FBI was looking for or what it found [Republicans are fond of politicizing the Department of Justice, so figure Democrats do it too].

“I stand with President T____ against this outrageous action of the FBI,” said Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.). “The Biden Admin has fully weaponized DOJ & FBI to target their political enemies,” tweeted Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.). House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said, “The Department of Justice has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization.” On Fox News, the hosts and guests all but lost their minds in rage. Kari Lake, the T____-endorsed GOP nominee for governor of Arizona, thundered in a statement that “We must fire the Federal Government,” whatever that means…..

There’s no question that this was an extraordinary action for the Justice Department to have taken, which is why it’s almost certain that it came after lengthy deliberation and in the belief that a crime (or multiple crimes) had been committed. The department [including the FBI Director nominated by T____] had to be fully aware of the political firestorm that would erupt.

Attorney General Merrick Garland is hardly some kind of hothead, and the other top Justice Department officials likely to have been part of the decision-making aren’t the collection of knaves and buffoons T____ had gathered around himself…. In this Democratic administration, the officials in charge are serious people.

And of course, the reaction of T____’s defenders was going to be political. But the way that they’re making their case shows how profound a hold T____’s cult of personality still has on his party.

… What are Republicans saying to you right now, besides “D____ T____ should be above the law”? [And everything bad in the world is Biden’s fault while he’s had nothing to do with anything good.]

… Some did make a halfhearted effort to link T____’s personal oppression to some hypothetical future oppression you might experience yourself [note that these are House Republicans with a special interest in the proper functioning of the legal system]:

What’s the “it” here? Execute a search warrant approved by a judge to investigate unlawful seizure of classified materials, and perhaps other crimes as well? … The federal government might do that to me or you, but I confess I’m not particularly worried.