It continues to become apparent that the current Republican party has no real interest in actually governing. Their policies seem to consist of ‘slash taxes’, ‘absolutely no gun control’, and whatever culture war seems to inflame their base. Instead, they are concentrating all their efforts on 1) buying their way into power and control, 2) using the government to exact revenge upon their political opponents, and 3) and launching all kinds of investigations that so far have produced sound bites for Fox News rather than anything of substance.
The recent investigations into the Supreme Court have uncovered questionable ethical practices, some of which are skating very close to the edge of ‘conflict of interest’, involving wealthy Republican donors and Justices, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, John Roberts, and Brett Cavanaugh!! I have no doubt now that this Pandora’s box has been opened, there will be more unsettling revelations.
The fact is, I am currently reading a book, “The Shadow Docket”, by Stephen Vladeck, with a tag line on the cover that reads, “How the Supreme Court uses stealth rulings to amass power and undermine the Republic.” (Vladeck holds the Charles Alan Wright Chair in Federal Courts at the University of Texas Law School). It is a very sobering read and when taken together with these latest revelations about wealthy Republican donors’ relationships to members of the Supreme Court, one could easily reach the conclusion that the Republicans are trying to use money to put their thumbs on the scales of justice!
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives have undertaken myriads of investigations into everything from Hunter Biden, the FBI investigation into the potential Trump-Russia connections, the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, to the issues surrounding the Southern border. They have also included attempts by Jim Jordan, head of the House Judiciary Committee, to interfere with ongoing criminal investigations into former president Trump, an unprecedented abuse of that position.
So far, all these investigations have produced nothing more than sound bites for right-wing media outlets. Does anyone remember all the Benghazi investigations into Hillary Clinton. There were something like 7 different investigations with Jim Jordan leading the charge and they all came to zero!! John Boehner, the former Republican Speaker of the House, once referred to Jim Jordan as nothing more than a legislative terrorist. I find that description very apt!
The Republican-controlled House voted yesterday to formally censure the former Democratic Speaker of the House, Adam Schiff, for his role in leading the effort at Trump’s impeachment trials. Really? Many of these same Republicans continued to back Trump’s claims of voter fraud and a rigged election in the 2020 election, thus helping to propagate ‘The Big Lie’ which has caused irreparable damage to this country and now they vote to censure someone who was trying to uphold the constitution and fight against the absolute corruption and abuse of power exhibited by Trump. They voted to censure Adam Schiff for ‘lying to the American people’ regarding Trump. About the pot calling the kettle black!!
Lastly, we have the comical, Lauren Boebert, trying to bring articles of impeachment for President Biden, and four others to the floor of the House for a vote. This is clearly nothing more than an effort to garner attention given her waning poll numbers and decreasing popularity. President Biden and the others can only be impeached for ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’. They cannot be impeached because you disagree with their politics. If Trump cannot be impeached for his behavior in office (which included trying to overthrow a duly elected government!), this effort is just a waste of time and effort.
As I stated at the beginning, it has become clear that the Republicans no longer have an interest in actually governing but would rather spend their time and energy trying to buy their way into power and carry out Trump-style vendettas against their political opponents so they can push policies that are often widely unpopular (think about the overturning of Roe v. Wade) and will ultimately benefit the wealthy.
We are supposed to be a democratic country of ‘majority rule’, but the Republicans seem to be working very hard to change that via money, gerrymandering, voting restrictions, culture wars and vendettas against political opponents! I believe that 2024 will be a pivotal moment in the history of this country. The pendulum will either begin to swing back towards democracy or continue to swing towards authoritarianism and minority rule. It’s our choice. Let’s hope we make the correct one.
