Is Anything Not Political?
Dear Republican Congressional leaders,
I’m having more-than-average trouble following what you’re doing — supposedly on my behalf or even only on behalf of people who say they agree with everything you utter. All I see is partisan political attack.
Rather than deal with the issues we see topping the polls or affecting everyday life, you’re holding congressional hearings apparently called to beat up Dr. Anthony Fauci over origins of covid or to somehow hold him responsible for two years of enforced discomfort so that we didn’t get sick and die. Um, what was the point, other than to show off Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s penchant for rudeness in pursuit of reelection?
Indeed, at the same time we’re hearing rumblings about the early spread of avian flu to humans, you’re looking at perceived excesses of too much concern about public health rather than at whether we are best prepared now for another round of communicable disease. And you’ve been at it for a year, with hours of behind-the-scenes testimony, documents, and emails.
Yesterday, it was a similar rollout of grievances directly at Attorney General Merrick Garland which drew more steadfast ire from Garland than the sought admissions that the federal Justice Department was behind the New York prosecution of Donald Trump and was protecting embarrassing audio tape interviews of Joe Biden when we all have already seen and digested the transcripts. It was loose criticism and conspiracy without a legislative anchor.
How about a solution for whatever it is that you think ails us?
More directly, where is your total opposition to an immigration bill, or impeachment resolutions that go nowhere, or constant fluttering about China’s rising economic might getting done for us? After all the posturing about “weaponizing” Justice Department and FBI concerns about conservative causes, all you offer is more of the same, aimed at Democrats and people whom you believe don’t vote for you?
Hunter Biden is facing serious charges in federal court on gun registration charges to which he already had agreed to a plea deal. Congratulations. Can we get on to something of substance?
Jim Jordan Strikes
This week, we all got to see the letter from House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, proposing appropriations changes that include “defunding politicized prosecutions” that single out investigations against Donald Trump. It blithely crosses federal, state, and local lines over which Congress has no specific authority, all in blatantly partisan effort to seek retribution for verdicts and indictments that he does not like.
Indeed, Jordan’s pitch to the appropriations panel is a scattershot request that also includes unspecified changes to immigration law, cutbacks of funds for Justice, FBI and CIA, changes to protect selected (already protected) whistleblowers within federal agencies, adding broad protections of conservative online speech by private companies, and blithely addressing “rising crime” resulting from “defunding” of urban police departments.
That’s it. You can read Jordan’s letter, but you won’t see any marked up bills with specifics, just more political argument.
We all know that Republicans are outraged by a set of adverse criminal verdicts in the New York hush-money case against Trump. But launching personal vendettas against those whose job it is to prosecute or hear these cases won’t change that outcome, and the talk among Republicans is for more such efforts that they see as “kangaroo court” charges, just aimed at people they don’t like.
I would respect Jordan more if he wanted to take on Supreme Court justices for showing public bias in political cases or that recognized the sanctity and importance of jury decisions.
Governing
Meanwhile, in absence of a congressional bill that embraces a Senate compromise on immigration, we see Joe Biden issuing executive orders that will either be overturned in court or by an incoming Donald Trump, should he win.
We see dithering about support for our allies amid war, and then outreach to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address our Congress when he is having trouble persuading his own to continue the Middle East conflicts.
We see endless talk about efforts to kill Obamacare rather than any effort to shore up whatever might be seen as ailing the health systems, and there is nothing happening in Congress that will affect the prices in supermarkets. The same is true for Social Security and Medicare, and non-existent about policing issues, anything that addresses the proliferation of guns and violent crime.
In place of intelligent debate, we get Republican hearings on how college campuses should shut down any protest about U.S. policy concerning Israel and Gaza, eliminate efforts at diversity in race and identity, but force campuses to seek out more conservative voices.
It might be good to hear how we will avoid a repeat of Jan. 6 as a result of Republican cleanup of all outstanding election fraud, or about how Republicans in Congress will line up to back the winner of the November elections, regardless of outcome.
Curiously, the best case from our politics seems to be a message that our guys are less awful than those guys. It’s hard to see how an agenda that shuts its eyes to real issues is appealing.
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