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| Devin Nunes |
I have speculated for a while that an economic calamity could be the tipping point, a pivotal moment where we no longer just shrug about the cartoonish Trump presidency. Let's keep an eye on the conservative infotainment universe. That universe has kept supplying oxygen to the entertainment president. Will Trump go from being a curiosity to a true danger? Are we at a tipping point now at the start of March, 2018? The tariff talk looms over the financial markets.
The president teases us on gun control, looking momentarily like a hero, then succumbs to the usual gun lobby - business as usual.
The Republican party has been such a disaster. No bigger clown has emerged from this than Devin Nunes of California. Nunes is a notorious climate change denier. Is Nunes intelligent enough to know that when history records this epoch of American history, he will be near the top of the list of bad guys? He runs interference for Trump constantly, motivated probably by sheer fear of the Trump base. I'm not sure that base should even be described as "conservative." Jeb Bush is a conservative. Jeb is a patriot. Characterizing Trump is hard. The most accurate words would sound like personal attacks. Who cares? Trump himself launches personal attacks like the classic bully, calling Jeff Sessions "Mister Magoo."
Why can't skeptics return fire a little? I wonder if all those knee-jerk talk radio hosts are starting to lose a little sleep. They recognized at a certain point what their audiences wanted them to do. The audiences drove pickups with "Hillary for prison" bumper stickers on the back, like what I've seen right here in Morris MN parked outside DeToy's Restaurant in the morning. These are older guys supporting a political party that wants to diminish the social safety net, to undo the New Deal. But I doubt they really think about issues at all. They just fall for the Info-Wars premise that we ought not trust liberals, progressives or Democrats.
We're awakening a little
Special elections these days are showing us that people are scared and starting to vote Democratic. That's why Scott Walker in Wisconsin is trying to put the kibosh on special elections. Republicans don't even trust democracy anymore. They want to draw wild gerrymandering lines in Pennsylvania, and are so arrogant there, they threaten to impeach the state supreme court justices who felt they had no choice but to draw their own map. The Pennsylvania Republicans try to sell a gerrymandered map that comes off looking like "Goofy kicking Donald (Duck)."
Devin Nunes from California, a liberal state I might point out, grates on us as he appears on the news each day. I don't know his exact age but he certainly looks much younger than me. It may be a problem of simple immaturity, of failing to realize that Washington D.C. is more than a simple game of Republicans vs. Democrats. All of his quotes seem buried in that simple adversarial premise. He will be remembered as painfully obstructionist re. the Russia interference investigation.
Are Republicans favorably disposed to Russia and Putin simply because those forces intervened to put Republicans in complete charge? Us U.S. citizens will rue the day we even allowed that political party to take complete power. The GOP will create a house of cards that will completely come down, because they don't believe in government. They certainly don't believe in the social safety net. They let the gun lobby manipulate them because that lobby helps them get elected. There is no underpinning of idealism whatsoever. No sense of altruism, just a veneer of anger and resentment that reflects a shrugging of the shoulders about the welfare of average Americans. They feel everyone should simply be on their own.
The special elections at present show that maybe we've gotten awakened by smelling salts, as it were, but is it happening in time, after Trump has been allowed to install so many judges and a Supreme Court member? Remember that "infomercial" on TV for the announcing of Neil Gorsuch? I wonder if any new nominees would even agree to that type of ridiculous televised spectacle. As if Trump can manipulate the U.S. public just because of his feel for what works on TV. Isn't that fundamentally how he got elected?
Friends in high places
Nunes developed rapport with Paul Ryan because of their shared aim of applying a machete to the social safety net. He became fond of Michael Flynn and developed great rapport with the "lock her up" general. Nunes used these bonds to land on the executive committee of Trump's presidential transition team. Nunes became outright disgraced, or should have been, when he made his midnight run to the White House to be handed (by a Trump operative) some classified documents that could be used in putting forward the dubious claim of Obama wiretapping Trump Tower. Nunes at this point was like a bear with boxing gloves. He couldn't apply any finesse to make the claim credible, and even his own supporters recognized this. But he retained enough influence to be a prime "stooge" on behalf of Trump ever since.
Never mind we know Trump has a tendency to screw everyone he associates with. A number of people are still apparently willing to fall on their sword.
A flock has chosen to desert Trump. I spent all day yesterday seeing Hope Hicks' picture on the cable news TV screen. I was forced to listen to radio instead. Hicks was that pillar next to Trump, all 29 years old of her, looking like a fashion model more than a politico. And yet we accepted the premise that she was a key figure in helping lead the U.S. from the prestigious White House? She's leaving to pursue "other opportunities." What? A high position in the White House isn't good enough? Trump has reportedly called her "stupid" for her "white lies" quote.
Even if Trump chases away all his trusted advisors, he will still legally be president of the United States. Certain people will always want to be around him. He may end up with people motivated by their own shrouded interests. (Oh, maybe that's happening now.)
Why should a GOP-led government care if government has a purpose of helping the people or even ensuring the stability of our nation? Republicans don't believe in government, at least not on idealistic terms. They see government as an apparatus for furthering their own narrow, even personal ends. So we see cabinet members wasting tons of money for their own convenience and benefit. We see abuses with plane flights and office furniture.
I'm surprised not at all because I have observed political machinations all my life. Democrats can be wasteful but they believe in serving the public. That's the less of two evils now, as voters in special elections have been expressing. One thing is for sure: we are living in a period of American history that will be a treasure trove for book authors and movie producers in the future. First though we simply must survive it.
Too bad Bob Denver won't be available to play Carter Page in a movie.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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