The Strange Case of Attorney General William Barr

An op-ed in yesterday’s New York Times by Emily Bazelon explores in depth the strange case of Attorney General William Barr, shedding light on why he would act so perversely in betraying his oath of office and constitutional responsibility by bringing the full weight of his power to protect a sociopathic president. 

     Thinking about it, I realized that Barr is not unprincipled. He’s very principled –– he’s a dedicated authoritarian. That he would allow this impassioned stance to control his conduct in betraying his oath of office is explained by his being steeped in an extremist longstanding antinomian interpretation of Christianity (in his case the Roman Catholic strand), which harbors the conviction that, by the grace of God, Christians are released from observing established moral law.