14 February 2024 — 1145 mst
Brief notes: a sad day in Washington, Rosendale and
the “Uniparty”, Lindsay Graham brownnoses Trump
Mayorkas impeachment. The homeland security cabinet secretary was impeached by Republicans the U.S. House yesterday by one vote. He’s not accused of high crimes or misdemeanors. That’s because he didn’t commit any. His sin was carrying out immigration laws the Republicans, and their cult leader, former president Donald Trump, don’t like. Thus impeachment was debased to a censure of not even unacceptable personal conduct but as a statement of disagreement over public policy.
Democrats control the Senate. Conviction requires a two-thirds majority. Mayorkas won’t be convicted, but there will be a trial (not constitutionally required, but a political necessity) during which he and President Biden will be dragged through the mud by gleeful House prosecutors.
This leaves a permanent stain on the House.
Rosendale and George Wallace. At the Montana Free Press, Eric Dietrich reports that
As Rosendale tells it, the national capital is a broken place where mainstream Democrats and Republicans alike constitute an establishment “uniparty” working to enrich themselves at the expense of the rest of the country.
The “uniparty” fantasy reminds me of George Wallace’s 1968 campaign in which he claimed that Democrats and Republicans were so alike they were two peas in a pod. According to his obituary in the Washington Post:
By 1968, Wallace was a true national figure who had become the leading spokesman of forces opposed to civil rights. As a third party candidate, he opposed Republican Richard M. Nixon and Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey in the general election, maintaining that there was not a “dime’s worth of difference” between the two.
Inflation not withstanding, I find myself wondering whether there’s a dime’s worth of difference between Wallace and Rosendale.
Lindsay Graham abandons Ukraine. According to the Washington Post, Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) now supports Trump’s position that all foreign aid should be a loan, not a gift.
That so called gift is an investment in our enlightened self-interest. Almost all the Money allocated for Ukraine (and Israel) will go to American arms manufacturers, whose products will be shipped to Ukraine, where Ukraine’s military will use them to repel Putin’s invaders. It’s a good bargain that puts money in the pockets of American workers, puts ammunition in the hands of the Ukrainian military, and puts bullets in the bodies of Russian soldiers that have no business in Ukraine.
I think there’s still a strong majority in Congress that recognizes what pursuing our enlightened self-interest requires, and that aid for Ukraine and Israel will pass if brought to a vote in the House. But getting the Senate’s bill to the floor of the House will take some Republican wisdom and courage, two assets in short supply in that political party turned personality cult.