New Orleans The power of the presidency is a powerfully intoxicating drug. In the wake of the midterms, clearly the White House hasn’t come down and sobered up yet.
Trump, of course, takes no responsibility for the Republicans being blown away in a defeat the likes of which hasn’t been seen in decades. Predictably, he said the odds would have been different, if he was on the ballot, forgetting that he had told friend and foe to vote, as if he were on the ballot. In a few rare moments of clarity, he thought perhaps his Iran war might have been a factor and that perhaps the immigration and detention program had been “too tough” for the American people and, dare I say, the world.
These were passing thoughts that evaporated in the hot air. To prove that he and his team learned nothing, he then appointed Stephen Miller, the architect of the immigration disaster and so much more, as his new chief of staff, essentially running the government on a day-to-day basis. Unbelievable!
It’s more than that though. Having completely lost the House of Representations and the Senate with his enemies amassing around him in every direction, rather than simply circling the wagons and looking for the fire to ebb and some peace to settle, it keeps getting worse. Hegseth, the incompetent Secretary of Defense, ignored the Hatch Act, restricting partisan activity for federal employees, and gets the department and his staff to do a weird attack video to try and hold onto his job, even as a Republican Congressman filed impeachment articles against him. Attorneys for the Justice Department issue a warning, if you can believe this, to Congress to be careful that investigating the activity of the Trump administration could be a crime, despite clear constitutional language that gives them exactly that job. They even send a letter to 3000 conservative groups (who knew there were so many?) warning them to button up and paise the king, no matter the verdict of the voters. Wow!
Speaking of learning nothing, maybe the Democrats, still giddy from their victory, should concentrate less on retribution and more on reform. Investigations and impeachment just seem like more of the same that we’ve seen from the Trump team for the last two years. There are many other fields to plow with deeper support from the American people. Furthermore, as one commentator noted, “If they issue subpoenas, who will enforce them? Typically, the Justice Department would. But since …Trump has remade the department as his personal law firm, congressional Democrats shouldn’t expect Attorney General Todd Blanche to suddenly oblige them.”
Seems kind of a fool’s errand, doesn’t it? Might be best to leave that kind of thing to the White House and fully employ the real powers that still exist in Congress, rather than tilting at windmills. Until the dusk settles so that progressives and the Dems can make a real plan to prove that power in governance actually benefits people, maybe some advice from “Top Boy” makes sense: “say less.”