in 2006, the Democratic party regained a majority in congress. they picked up a six seat edge in the Senate and a 31 seat edge in the house. in 2008, the pendulum swung even further to the left with the election of Barack Obama.
after he took office, there was a groundswell of opinion that the Left should pursue charges, should prosecute the architects of the Iraq Debacle and that those responsible for sending thousands of US troops to die in the desert should be held responsible for what was ultimately a mistake.
“no, no, no…” came the reply from the calmer voices now calling the shots. “we have to move forward, we have work to do that’ll be hindered by looking backward and rehashing those battles.”
so the lesson that the Right took away from the aftermath of the Iraq adventure was that – like the Nixon/Ford “arrangement” in the wake of Watergate, there would be no justice for those actually responsible…sure, Haldeman and Erlichman went to jail, but then as now, no one actually thought they were principally responsible for either the burglary or the coverup. and in 2009, the groundswell of voices demanding justice for the blunders of the previous administration never rose above a mumble.
now, over the past 8 years, we have watched Congress squander nearly a decade voting – over and over again – to repeal the ACA while knowing full well their futile efforts were nothing but posturing…because they lacked the power to override a Presidential Veto, and there was zero chance of actual repeal. they embarked on the Benghazi witch hunt, barely out of earshot of a dozen attacks on American embassies and consulates that resulted in over 40 fatalities during the Bush years that drew the ire of absolutely no one in the legislative branch, and…at every given opportunity, taking advantage of every chance to obstruct and block efforts from lawmakers on the Left in both the Executive and Legislative branches to move forward on any front.
last year, they found their own Pied Piper of Hamlin, whos’ promised them a ton of shit that he can’t deliver, whos’ convinced them that he has the power to turn back the clock to the 1950’s and restore America to its former Nick at Nite greatness – removing immigrants from the sidewalks of its pristine, ghetto-free cities and sending them off to their high-paying factory gig with their Thermos under their arm and lungs full of coal dust and asbestos.
somehow, enough of us collectively took leave of our senses to fall for his shit, and now – we’re all getting what they deserve.
but the wounds cut deeper, and don’t bleed as obviously as watching a bad haystack rant and rave about his electoral landslide three times a week on TV.
we now have the Right in charge in both houses of Congress – our last literal line of defense, as the battle lines currently stand.
let’s recap what they’ve done for us in the time since this nightmare started:
* they confirmed an Oil Man – the recipient of the highest civilian honor that the Russians can bestow on an individual – a man who’s worked his entire adult life for ExxonMobil – as Secretary of State.
* they confirmed an unhinged dumpster fire as National Security Adviser, who didn’t last a full month – but blessed us with a memorable WTF moment at a press conference before leaving in disgrace…and still may find his way to a prison cell, depending on future events.
* Six cabinet appointments from the Goldman Sachs roster.
* Jeff Sessions, deemed too racist for a federal judgeship back when Republicans were still a sane and reasonable political party, is now Attorney General. Voting Rights should progress nicely moving forward.
* Tom Price, known to have engaged in self-dealing while a sitting member of Congress, confirmed as HHS.
* Rick Perry. Ben Carson. Betsy DeVos. No explanation necessary.
* And soon, they’re going to vote to confirm Scott Pruitt, the Oklahoma Big Oil stooge whos’ sued the EPA more times than anyone can count, to head the EPA.
right now, Jason Chaffetz, the Lost Osmond brother, is refusing to investigate Trumps’ ties to Russia, refusing to investigate whether Flynn broke the law by interacting with Russia DURING THE CAMPAIGN, and feels that the situation “has taken care of itself”…but did find time, earlier today, to indicate his desire to press criminal charges against the IT guy who maintained HRC’s email server…AFTER the FBI found no evidence to press charges against HRC personally. That’s tantamount to someone arresting you for buying and maintaining the car that a thief stole and used to commit vehicular manslaughter.
Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell both realize, as a result of observing the dynamic established over the past two decades, that there will be no fallout as a result of their complacency. They know as well as anyone could that their voters are too disconnected from the big picture to give a shit about anything but their loyalty to CheetoJesus. Paul Ryan found out firsthand when his OWN CONSTITUENTS booed him at a public event in his district for daring to step off the Trump bandwagon, and Mitch has never had an original thought in his career, and his voters love him for that. Marco Rubio’s body would reject the transplant if doctors surgically implanted a spine in his lifeless body.
A few weeks ago, former Florida congressman David Jolly prophetically said to an MSNBC commentator: “this is 2017. The president of the united states can destroy a member of congress with a tweet. and that’s why no member of congress wants to speak out.” Every Republican on Capitol Hill has long ago learned the Lesson Of Michelle Bachmann, which states: If you’re not Michelle Bachmann, you’d better become Michelle Bachmann, or you’ll lose your seat to Michelle Bachmann in the primary.”
There’s a majority of seats on The Hill that are occupied by a herd of folks who realize a number of chilling notions…
They know that there are political gains to be made by clinging to CheetoJesus, and they’ve seen the disadvantages that can arise from rejecting his mandate.
They know that there’s no political price to be paid for making crazy assed statements like “you should get all your news directly from the president” (courtesy of Lamar Smith of TX, the HOUSE SCIENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN, FOR FUCKS’ SAKE) – and in fact, the nuttier you appear, the more endearing you become to the anti-intellect crowd.
and lastly, they know that there’s no post-political price to be paid for governing like an asshole and just generally being a shitty person.
they know this intimately, because the Party Without A Pair has shown it to them time and time again.
Right now, your President has unleashed Immigration and Customs Enforcement with a mandate that every undocumented immigrant is at risk of deportation. almost 700 have been rounded up already, including incredibly dangerous criminals with offenses like using a friends’ SSN to get a job at a waterpark 22 years ago, and the acting ICE director told congress, today, that – literally – every undocumented individual living in this country is at risk, whether they’ve committed a crime or not, at the determination of the jackbooted enforcers on the streets.
If you’ve read this far, I don’t need to rehash the damage he’s managed to do in less than a month, and you don’t need me to. That’s not really the point I sat down to make tonight, anyway.
Watergate may have been the last time that an actual price was paid at the top of the food chain for a prosecutable offense by a President. Reagan paid no price for Iran/Contra, and Bush paid no price for misleading the country into war. Clinton was impeached for lying about a blowjob, because that’s what stirs the imagination of a certain demographic within our country, and our leaders.
There are those who believe that Trump won’t make it four years, that he’ll quit or be impeached or…whatever. I suppose I might have been inclined to think likewise at one time, but at this point I don’t see any reason to believe that our Legislative body will do so much as lift a finger to remove Trump from office.
He’s here for the long haul.
If you’re watching, if you’re paying attention to the degree of what’s perfectly acceptable by the Party In Power right now, you may be coming to the same conclusion yourself.
Slimy Asshole Criminal Banker guy at Treasury? FUCK YEAH!
Serial Polluter in charge of the EPA? BRILLIANT!
Redneck Racist Voting Rights Enemy for AG? PERFECT!
Investigate campaign ties to Russia during the election?
GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!
Strap yourselves in, y’all. We don’t have a dog in this race to look out for us.
Let’s just hope that when…not if, but WHEN – we get the keys back, we don’t roll over and let them pat our tummies and let them off the hook next time.
...from the rear view mirror 