“For my friends, everything. For my enemies, the law.” This is a popular saying describing Vladimir Putin. In the corrupt Russian system, friends of Putin get rich, are immune from the law and maybe even commit murder.

For anyone who criticizes Putin or whose assets Putin wants to take, it’s “the law.” This means that so-called “legal” processes are invoked to terrorize, criminally prosecute and take away assets from whomever or whatever Putin sees as a threat to his power.

Our Attorney General, Bill Barr, has served notice that he favors a Putin-style, politicized legal system. Barr – who was never a federal prosecutor in charge of cases – says he wants to decide who federal officials will investigate, prosecute and imprison. Career federal prosecutors who have devoted their lives to upholding the law will be ignored. They will be told by Bill Barr who to prosecute.

The FBI Director has stated that the left side of the political spectrum is not a dire threat to the US. While some do resort to violence, it is mostly an ideological movement. There is no organized “antifa” group.

Bill Barr disagrees. He claims that some protestors against the policies of Donald Trump can be charged with the offense of “sedition” – seeking to overthrow the monarch.

The FBI has also identified extreme right wing, neo-Nazi, white-supremacist groups as the most dangerous terrorist movement in America. Donald Trump disagrees. He says many in those groups are “good people.”

Who will Bill Barr target for prosecution? Barr says “political” considerations should be a factor. While Trump’s friends receive pardons and enjoy “everything,” who will feel the oppression of “the law?” Are we ready for a Putin style of “justice?” That is what Bill Barr says he wants for America. Will you be a target?