Dear David, please do not waste your special intelligence and moral clarity on self recriminations for not guessing how low it could go. I am so grateful for your reporting. Succumbing will erode your clarity and capacity for joy.
Susan Collins here in Maine is THE master of the Tillis smokescreen move you describe, along with her friend and colleague Lisa Murkowski, and honed with the help of amoral vote counter Mitch, always with an assist from Riverboat Joe. And the voters keep falling for it.
DHS's apparent sop to "concerned" Susan Collins re: "suspension" of immigration-enforcement traffic stops lasted no longer than trump's next-day reiteration of the existing policy...well, maybe allowing a break in Maine only, to avoid more harm to Collins' re-election campaign. Give it a week or two or three, then the goons will resume business as usual, but perhaps with holstered sidearms.
The senate republicans are not ‘actively watching democracy slip away.’ They are actively, willingly, and happily aiding and abetting the destruction of democracy and the rule of law. There is nothing passive about their conduct.
Very perceptive, but also maybe something deeper. Tillis, Cornyn and Cassidy are still MAGA bitter enders (yes, I know Cassidy voted to convict Trump in 2021, but his relentless begging to come back into the comfort of Trumps massive bosoms was about as demeaning as someone can make themselves.) By that, I mean that their late arrival to a few crumbs of Trump criticism does them no good (Cassidy in his 3d place finish appealed to Democrats for help, and didn’t get any.) They are not the equivalent of Liz Cheney or Adam Kinzinger or even Nikki Hailey or Chris Christie, and know it and can hardly expect anything other than the recriminations of a Democratic takeover in 26 or 28. They’re also deeply entrenched white supremacists, though more Episcopal than Falwellian. Despite their showy principles, and a DC institutional press that tries to glorify and magnify them, they want and need Blanche to help Trump subvert the rule of law.
One would have thought — foolishly, it appears — that the reaming- out of Blanche by District Court Judge Kathleen Williams, including forwarding her comments to the New York Bar, as it considers sanctions against him, surely should have given pause to any "momentum" on the Senate Judiciary Committee's "consideration" of Blanche's AG nomination. But no, and David caught the amoral mindset perfectly here:
"And so GOP senators sit back once again — abdicating their constitutional roles and prioritizing their own self-preservation — while watching democracy slip away at an ever quickening pace."
And the same could be said as the epitaph on the late Lindsey Graham's grave.
Insofar as the hearings on Blanche, I realize getting republicans, even those who are leaving office, to vote against him is close to impossible, it seems the hearing could be better used by Democratic Senators to put their colleagues on trial vs. Blanche. Given the Kabuki nature of the hearings, and the Democrats having nothing to lose, why don’t they take aim at their colleagues on why they will accept Blanche vs. interrogating Blanche? It seems they could make a better example of their colleagues than try for a gotcha moment with Blanche. While Democrats on the committee might have a tough time letting go of the congeniality that seems to be a one-way street for Democrats, they could probably gain more politically going after colleagues and the GOP than try to land a punch on Blanche given their limited time.
Our increasingly fragile Democratic Republic is in the ICU, on the "critical list." That means death could occur at any time. Should Blanche be approved, the status of the patient will immediately change to "do not resuscitate." Then it's likely too late for WE THE PEOPLE to do anything.
Re the Blanche confirmation kayfabe: One can predict whatever the performance would be like but however that plays out, you know he's getting confirmed.
As for the ICE traffic stops stop: Taking Collins' word without more is like giving Trump the benefit of the doubt.
MM, and company, is not responsible for the depravity of fellow citizens or for not clocking said depravity instantly. This retired atty is left with FUBAR [ better than marbles ].
Dear David, please do not waste your special intelligence and moral clarity on self recriminations for not guessing how low it could go. I am so grateful for your reporting. Succumbing will erode your clarity and capacity for joy.
Susan Collins here in Maine is THE master of the Tillis smokescreen move you describe, along with her friend and colleague Lisa Murkowski, and honed with the help of amoral vote counter Mitch, always with an assist from Riverboat Joe. And the voters keep falling for it.
DHS's apparent sop to "concerned" Susan Collins re: "suspension" of immigration-enforcement traffic stops lasted no longer than trump's next-day reiteration of the existing policy...well, maybe allowing a break in Maine only, to avoid more harm to Collins' re-election campaign. Give it a week or two or three, then the goons will resume business as usual, but perhaps with holstered sidearms.
The senate republicans are not ‘actively watching democracy slip away.’ They are actively, willingly, and happily aiding and abetting the destruction of democracy and the rule of law. There is nothing passive about their conduct.
Very perceptive, but also maybe something deeper. Tillis, Cornyn and Cassidy are still MAGA bitter enders (yes, I know Cassidy voted to convict Trump in 2021, but his relentless begging to come back into the comfort of Trumps massive bosoms was about as demeaning as someone can make themselves.) By that, I mean that their late arrival to a few crumbs of Trump criticism does them no good (Cassidy in his 3d place finish appealed to Democrats for help, and didn’t get any.) They are not the equivalent of Liz Cheney or Adam Kinzinger or even Nikki Hailey or Chris Christie, and know it and can hardly expect anything other than the recriminations of a Democratic takeover in 26 or 28. They’re also deeply entrenched white supremacists, though more Episcopal than Falwellian. Despite their showy principles, and a DC institutional press that tries to glorify and magnify them, they want and need Blanche to help Trump subvert the rule of law.
One would have thought — foolishly, it appears — that the reaming- out of Blanche by District Court Judge Kathleen Williams, including forwarding her comments to the New York Bar, as it considers sanctions against him, surely should have given pause to any "momentum" on the Senate Judiciary Committee's "consideration" of Blanche's AG nomination. But no, and David caught the amoral mindset perfectly here:
"And so GOP senators sit back once again — abdicating their constitutional roles and prioritizing their own self-preservation — while watching democracy slip away at an ever quickening pace."
And the same could be said as the epitaph on the late Lindsey Graham's grave.
Insofar as the hearings on Blanche, I realize getting republicans, even those who are leaving office, to vote against him is close to impossible, it seems the hearing could be better used by Democratic Senators to put their colleagues on trial vs. Blanche. Given the Kabuki nature of the hearings, and the Democrats having nothing to lose, why don’t they take aim at their colleagues on why they will accept Blanche vs. interrogating Blanche? It seems they could make a better example of their colleagues than try for a gotcha moment with Blanche. While Democrats on the committee might have a tough time letting go of the congeniality that seems to be a one-way street for Democrats, they could probably gain more politically going after colleagues and the GOP than try to land a punch on Blanche given their limited time.
Our increasingly fragile Democratic Republic is in the ICU, on the "critical list." That means death could occur at any time. Should Blanche be approved, the status of the patient will immediately change to "do not resuscitate." Then it's likely too late for WE THE PEOPLE to do anything.
Except vote. And protest.
And protect the vote by volunteering to be a poll monitor.
Re the Blanche confirmation kayfabe: One can predict whatever the performance would be like but however that plays out, you know he's getting confirmed.
As for the ICE traffic stops stop: Taking Collins' word without more is like giving Trump the benefit of the doubt.
If only we had a pro-democracy party...
MM, and company, is not responsible for the depravity of fellow citizens or for not clocking said depravity instantly. This retired atty is left with FUBAR [ better than marbles ].