Dear America,
I am constantly amazed by Republican miscalculation. Think back to the attack on the Benghazi consulate when Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State. The Republicans were in control of congress and they initiated something like a dozen investigations into Clinton's official performance. None of them yielded anything inculpating about Hillary but they did reveal that the consulate's security personnel were too few in number in consequence of the "sequestration" that the Republicans had insisted upon. It curtailed the budget of the department of state insufficiently to necessitate staff cuts in both civilian and military security. I can remember Trey Gowdy on television trying to make something out of nothing when it was all over. And I can remember Kevin McCarthy trying to invoke that investigatory excess as a basis on which he qualified to be Speaker of the House, a preposterous notion then as in recent weeks. It was about the time of the investigations that I started making reference to the Republican foot-shooting pistol.
Well, McCarthy drew the foot-shooting pistol again when he ran for, and eventually received after a public repudiation of his qualifications in the form of opposition to his election within his own party, and he has refused to re-holster it. First, it has now been announced that Congressman Santos of Nassau County, New York--you know, the fantasist who's resume and personal history were at best fictitious and at worst, and more likely a function of psychosis--was asked by his fellow Long Island congressmen to resign. But McCarthy says that this lunatic should serve out his term and then let the voters decide whether he should be re-elected. What that seems to say is both that McCarthy cares not a fig about integrity within his party, and that he isn't concerned about insanity among its members. Bang...bang. McCarthy has shot the Republican collective foot twice despite the fact that some in his party have had the good judgment to call for the right thing, giving him cover if he just had the integrity and the intelligence to recognize it and seize it. And now, McCarthy and his fellow Republicans have stated their intention to investigate President Biden for his apparent retention of classified documents, and they should, but they don't realize that they have just reloaded their foot-shooting pistol.
Let's say that Biden has a good explanation for his mishandling of classified material. The fact that the Republicans will have gone far enough to find that out will emphasize their failure to do so in Trump's case. Bang. And in the alternative, say Biden has no justification for his actions. The consequence will like be that the Democrats will prevail upon Biden, or the Justice Department will, not to run for re-election. The result will be a more viable Democratic candidate for the presidency in 2024: someone younger, with less baggage (Hunter and all) and probably...and I hate to say this...smarter. Trump might actually beat Biden the second time they ran against each other, but I'm pretty sure that almost anyone else could now beat Trump the way that Johnson beat Goldwater. Goldwater was as far right as Trump, and Johnson wasn't that popular as I remember it. The war in Vietnam was just ramping up and the commitment of Johnson to induce the Vietnamese to wage their war instead of using too many American young men was easily contrasted to Goldwater's allusion to using nuclear weapons there. In general Goldwater was brash and unrealistic, and so far right that he seemed dangerous. In short, Goldwater was bizarre in some of the policies he advocated, many of which are reminiscent of Trump's reactionary stances in general, and Goldwater lost 61% to 39%; at that time, the worst defeat in American presidential electoral history. That, I believe, will be the Republicans' fate if they knock Biden out of the 2024 race and Trump, or even DiSantis is nominated by them. Even Kamala Harris would have a good chance of getting elected against those two, but Biden? I just don't know. So let the Republicans investigate Biden. All that would mean is...Bang.
I always think that the Democrats are their own worst enemies. If the Republicans just let them do what they shouldn't, or more aptly not do what they should, the we Democrats will often beat ourselves. But with the Republicans firing that foot-shooting pistol rapid fire...one time after another...we've got a good chance. So to the partisan zealots in the Republican Party, I say go to it. Keep doing what you're doing and we can't lose.
Your friend,
Mike.
I am constantly amazed by Republican miscalculation. Think back to the attack on the Benghazi consulate when Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State. The Republicans were in control of congress and they initiated something like a dozen investigations into Clinton's official performance. None of them yielded anything inculpating about Hillary but they did reveal that the consulate's security personnel were too few in number in consequence of the "sequestration" that the Republicans had insisted upon. It curtailed the budget of the department of state insufficiently to necessitate staff cuts in both civilian and military security. I can remember Trey Gowdy on television trying to make something out of nothing when it was all over. And I can remember Kevin McCarthy trying to invoke that investigatory excess as a basis on which he qualified to be Speaker of the House, a preposterous notion then as in recent weeks. It was about the time of the investigations that I started making reference to the Republican foot-shooting pistol.
Well, McCarthy drew the foot-shooting pistol again when he ran for, and eventually received after a public repudiation of his qualifications in the form of opposition to his election within his own party, and he has refused to re-holster it. First, it has now been announced that Congressman Santos of Nassau County, New York--you know, the fantasist who's resume and personal history were at best fictitious and at worst, and more likely a function of psychosis--was asked by his fellow Long Island congressmen to resign. But McCarthy says that this lunatic should serve out his term and then let the voters decide whether he should be re-elected. What that seems to say is both that McCarthy cares not a fig about integrity within his party, and that he isn't concerned about insanity among its members. Bang...bang. McCarthy has shot the Republican collective foot twice despite the fact that some in his party have had the good judgment to call for the right thing, giving him cover if he just had the integrity and the intelligence to recognize it and seize it. And now, McCarthy and his fellow Republicans have stated their intention to investigate President Biden for his apparent retention of classified documents, and they should, but they don't realize that they have just reloaded their foot-shooting pistol.
Let's say that Biden has a good explanation for his mishandling of classified material. The fact that the Republicans will have gone far enough to find that out will emphasize their failure to do so in Trump's case. Bang. And in the alternative, say Biden has no justification for his actions. The consequence will like be that the Democrats will prevail upon Biden, or the Justice Department will, not to run for re-election. The result will be a more viable Democratic candidate for the presidency in 2024: someone younger, with less baggage (Hunter and all) and probably...and I hate to say this...smarter. Trump might actually beat Biden the second time they ran against each other, but I'm pretty sure that almost anyone else could now beat Trump the way that Johnson beat Goldwater. Goldwater was as far right as Trump, and Johnson wasn't that popular as I remember it. The war in Vietnam was just ramping up and the commitment of Johnson to induce the Vietnamese to wage their war instead of using too many American young men was easily contrasted to Goldwater's allusion to using nuclear weapons there. In general Goldwater was brash and unrealistic, and so far right that he seemed dangerous. In short, Goldwater was bizarre in some of the policies he advocated, many of which are reminiscent of Trump's reactionary stances in general, and Goldwater lost 61% to 39%; at that time, the worst defeat in American presidential electoral history. That, I believe, will be the Republicans' fate if they knock Biden out of the 2024 race and Trump, or even DiSantis is nominated by them. Even Kamala Harris would have a good chance of getting elected against those two, but Biden? I just don't know. So let the Republicans investigate Biden. All that would mean is...Bang.
I always think that the Democrats are their own worst enemies. If the Republicans just let them do what they shouldn't, or more aptly not do what they should, the we Democrats will often beat ourselves. But with the Republicans firing that foot-shooting pistol rapid fire...one time after another...we've got a good chance. So to the partisan zealots in the Republican Party, I say go to it. Keep doing what you're doing and we can't lose.
Your friend,
Mike.
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