ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Attorney General William Barr has been magnificent in recent days.

In case you’ve missed it — in which case you better go back and do some reading — but in case you’re not up to speed, the fact is, Barr has been busily running here, speaking there, issuing warnings to local government about unconstitutional church worship crackdowns, sounding the alarm on federal and state overreach during times of national crises, hitting hard at that old Russia collusion case and the outrageous shenanigans of the FBI — even outright intervening in a bit of Mississippi madness that saw a mayor allowing police to set their cruisers perimeter-like around a church parking lot and fine car passengers $500 each for the crime of listening to their pastor as he preached.

Barr has been a steady supporter of individual rights among of sea of political and bureaucratic coronavirus-inspired crackdowns on individual, God-given, American rights.

He’s been just what the U.S. Constitution ordered — at a time when the doctors of the world have been egregiously ordering what the un-American globalists would prefer.

To Fox’s Laura Ingraham on a recent televised segment: “Religious liberty is the first liberty, the foundation,” he said. “I would hate to see restrictions on religion continued longer than they’re necessary.”

On Mississippi, where 20 to 30 people were just fined $500 for attending an Easter drive-in church service, Barr wrote: “The city of Greenville fined congregants $500 per person for attending these parking lot services while permitting citizens to attend nearby drive-in restaurants, even with their windows open. The city appears to have thereby singled churches out as the only essential service (as designated by the state of Mississippi) that may not operate despite following all CDC and state recommendations regarding social distancing.”

In response to the Justice Department’s intervention, the city dropped its fines, Salon reported.

In these chilling, anti-First Amendment times, where free assembly is stifled, free expression of religion is clamped, even free speech is widely attacked — that last, from those who view any critical questioning about government coronavirus case and death counts as a health danger to society at-large — it’s a ray of light to see the U.S. attorney general’s office not just talking the Constitution talk, but also walking the Constitution walk. And forcing others to walk the Constitution walk, as well.

Then there’s this, a hat tip that past evils have not been pushed to the side just because the new crisis of the coronavirus has taken over center stage: the latest on Russia collusion.

And maybe, just maybe, accountability is on the way.

On Fox, Barr called the Russia investigation into Donald Trump before he was even officially seated as the president, and that plagued him for years in the White House, as “one of the greatest travesties in American history.”

That’s pretty blunt.

“My own view is that the evidence shows that we’re not dealing with just the mistakes or sloppiness,” Barr went on. “There was something far more troubling here. We’re going to get to the bottom of it. And if people broke the law and we can establish that with the evidence, they will be prosecuted.”

Hear ye, hear ye. Accountability for the dubbed deep staters and anti-Trumpers of the world may truly be in the works — may truly be on the way.

“Without any basis … They started this investigation of his campaign,” Barr said. “And even more concerning, actually, is what happened after the campaign.”

He called it “sabotage.” Or at least, the having of “effect of sabotaging the presidency,” he said.

Yes, indeed. FISA-fueled sabotage. FISA court-funneled abuse of power. And it’s led undoubtedly to an erosion of trust in government.

The only way to rebuild that trust is to bring honesty and truth back into political leadership — and that begins by insisting on accountability.

So kudos to Barr.

At a time of great constitutional distress, the attorney general is proving to be a calm, cool comfort who doesn’t just preach a good message, but follows through and actually, well — acts.

• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter by clicking HERE.

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