Republicans and conservatives like to say we must reform the Justice Department and FBI.  I disagree.  If we win the majority in Congress, they both need to be gone.  That means completely gone, with no attempt to reform or rebuild them.  That may sound like an overreach, but the time to restore our constitutional republic is upon us.

Does any of us really believe we are somehow safer or more secure with an intact DOJ and FBI?  They are irredeemably corrupt.  Weeding out some of the more sinister miscreants within those organizations will not change the culture that has evolved over the past few decades.  We have already tried that, and it made matters worse.

We should thank Barack Obama and Joe Biden for clearly illustrating to the American people the dangers inherent in an enforcement arm of the federal government.  We are now living in a police state that will, through intimidation and force, move the country toward one-party rule and totalitarianism.

How many more lives must be destroyed before we all understand that we are under attack for what we believe, including (indeed, especially) exercising our First Amendment rights?  It has moved far beyond just Donald Trump and virtually anyone associated with him.  Now, if you sell pillows for a living and in any way suggest that you believe that the 2020 election was a fraud, then you're on the list for FBI harassment and possible arrest.  Never mind all that "free country" and "Bill of Rights" stuff.

Image by Andrea Widburg.

This is obviously not the American way.  It is, however, the type of behavior that was instrumental in stirring up the American Revolution.  We are witnessing a "long train of abuses and usurpations."  President Trump recently said that, if he were to serve a second term, he would fire 50,000 swamp creatures across several government agencies.  God bless him, but that number is woefully inadequate.  It literally needs to be upwards of a million pink slips if we are ever to restore our constitutional government.

I understand that people have become accustomed to the nanny state and that we need to move forward slowly, with respect for the Constitution and the rule of law, but we've been going in reverse for more than a century.  There are now well over 400 federal government agencies, and almost all of them are unconstitutional.  People are beginning to understand that the "nanny" can morph into an unholy witch at a moment's notice.  Our representatives need to start making big changes to try and unravel this mess before it consumes us.  Defunding it is a good place to start.

The Constitution clearly spells out the government's role.  Nowhere does it call for a government police force.  There is also little doubt that, as matters now stand, removing the DOJ and FBI would enhance domestic tranquility.  These rogue agencies consider half the American population their enemies.  That's hardly a recipe for domestic tranquility.  We did just fine without them for nearly a century, and we would be better off if they were gone tomorrow.

After all, the Constitution intended for the states to absorb the policing duties that are now assigned to the federal government.  If a state "department of justice" and its police force become corrupt, that does not affect the lives and rights of American citizens in the same way that it does at the national level.

It's also easier to fix corrupt agencies belonging to the individual states.  Those institutions are closer to the people and can more readily be protested or elected away.  If a state government becomes in any way oppressive, people have the option of leaving.  Most would not, but, depending on the level of oppression, many would.

You need look no farther than what is happening in California today.  A torrent of people is leaving the state.  This solution is not available at the federal level.  Most people do not have the means to leave the country and would not want to leave if they did.  They are Americans.

If the government needs lawyers to defend itself or to prosecute individuals within the government, they can be hired out of the private sector, as they were before the DOJ's creation.  Think of how much money would be saved yearly — somewhere in the neighborhood of a quarter of a trillion dollars.

What manner of ominous changes might we face without ten thousand government lawyers and their police force?  Perhaps, securing the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity?  Maybe an American renaissance?  The pre-COVID booming Trump economy was largely the result of his efforts at deregulation.  Downsizing the government is the ultimate form of deregulation, and what better place to begin than with the corrupt police state?

Frank Liberato is a pseudonym.