By Sid Schwab / Herald columnist
Hinting time off last week was a case of premature evacuation. At the time, a national disgrace second only to Electoral Colleging Trump into a popular-vote-losing “presidency” had barely happened. Specifically, the action taken by the most dishonest, cowardly, hypocritical, craven, conspiracy-believing, election-lie promoting, violent-insurrection-excusing, enemy-supporting, legislatively inert collection of Republican representatives in the history of America. None had the integrity presumed by the creators of our Constitution to condemn censuring U.S. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. Too harsh? None.
Led by an invertebrate “Speaker,” they lacked the constitution to resist threats from a twice-impeached, twice-indicted, proven liar; a court-ordered payer of restitution for online scams (still scamming — Esquire: tinyurl.com/hescamsU), absconding bankrupter, daddied draft-dodger, disability-mocking, convicted sex offender; a document-stealing defiler of the Presidential Records Act, killer of thousands by pandemic dereliction, and calculated corrupter of democracy. Out of 215 House Republicans, not one. Standing for nothing, sheeped by his threat to primary anyone who’d vote no, they caved like Carlsbad. How long till we hear, “I was just following orders”?
Awaiting trial for 13 counts of fraud, Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., said his vote was “to preserve the integrity of the House.” (The Herald arrives late now; hopefully no readers were drinking coffee when they read that.) No censure for him. None for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, D-Ga., who said of President Biden, “You’re not a president. You’re a piece of s••t.” (She spelled it out.) Instead, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy made her speaker pro tempore.
Her disrespectful filth was, no doubt, greeted joyously by her gerrymandees and MAGA Republicans everywhere. It’s who they are and what we’ve become, post Trump: half a nation so impervious to truth that school board members resign after threats over non-existent teaching of CRT; poll workers quit in fear after mortal intimidation by believers in Trump’s election lies; where even weathermen leave after death threats for reporting accurately on climate change (Guardian: tinyurl.com/bye2weather). So of course they target a man despoiling their golden idol with the patina of truth.
The Republican Declaration of Dependence begins by lying that Schiff lied about Trump’s collusion with Russia, goes on to accuse him of breaking up families (because, well, because … something), and ends with a requirement that, if charged by the “Ethics” Committee, he pay a $16 million fine. Such are the decaying entrails of a party that once, putting country first, told Nixon to resign or be impeached and removed. Must we re-state the broad-daylight collusion that took place? (The Hill: tinyurl.com/2collude) Must we, yet again, explain what the Mueller report did and didn’t say about it? (Just Security: tinyurl.com/2collude2)
Schiff’s impermissible transgression was meticulously unclothing the emperor, stripping him clean. The hallucinatory charges against him can be read here: (Congress.gov: tinyurl.com/2chargeAdam) Trumpists seeking Schiff’s eloquent response will find it here: (YouTube: tinyurl.com/speakAdam)
Not satisfied with censuring the most effective exposer of Trump’s crimes, which they did because of his effectiveness, House Republicanss, with the approval of their semi-gluteal speaker, are moving to expunge Trump’s two impeachments, undeterred by the legal impossibility. (USA Today: tinyurl.com/nosponge4u) As they’ll soon vote to impeach President Biden for turning around the sinking economy, raging pandemic and staggering deficits Trump left him with, they’ll line up for that, too. The impeachments garnered bipartisan support, if anyone remembers; the second barely fell short of conviction in the Senate. Which is why they’d erase it, a burnt offering to their false prophet, groveling for his imprimatur, even as he treats them and their voters with a despot’s disregard for truth.
If the Republic survives Trumpism, historians may never unravel how the party of Lincoln came under the thrall of a life-long liar, an amoral, delusional, authoritarian-lite like Trump, who downplayed the pandemic, tarnished America’s standing in the world, and created fully a third of the total national debt; who coddled Earth’s worst dictators; who’s still lying about elections and stolen documents. How will historians explain Republicans cowering before a man like that?
Meanwhile, as those soulless sycophants scramble to save their sacred simulacrum from sentencing, an ex-FBI agent was ordered to prison for four years under the same Espionage Act as Trump’s charges, for the same crimes; except she didn’t lie about taking documents, flaunt them, force others to break the law, or ignore subpoenas (Kansas City Star: tinyurl.com/jail4her).
Decades ago, our democracy functioned by having two responsible political parties, opposing, but equally principled. It can’t continue when one has devolved into nothing but meretricious vindictiveness. Name a piece of legislation they’ve produced, let alone became law, that benefits average Americans; anything but “stick-it-to-the-libs,” “get-me-on-Foxmax” vacuity.
Yeah, me neither.
House Republicans have acted disgracefully since they squeaked into majority. It’s not just the disgracefulness that’s disgraceful: it’s how proud they and their voters are of it. The more Trump lies, the more crimes he commits, the further they lower themselves to defend him, placing party stratospherically above country. In censuring Schiff, they dishonor themselves and America. Count on much worse to come.
Prose too purple? We need more purple, not less.
Email Sid Schwab at columnsid@gmail.com.
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