MSNBC has an interview with Rep. Francis Rooney (R-Fla.), who calls for purging of the FBI and other agencies, presumably those that are investigating President Trump, of malcontents and other undesirables. Putting aside my foreign association of the word purge[1], I found this to be a clumsy, but possibly effective, use of the techniques described in The Persuaders. That is to say, he manages to also mention former President Obama, former Secretary of State Clinton, something about $82 million and the Clinton Foundation – which didn’t make sense to me – and something about ends and means, which I suspect was something about the old aphorism, which I personally hold dear, about the ends never justifying the means. He appeared to be trying to intimate that Obama, Clinton, and Special Counsel Mueller are all guilty of indulging in putting the ends before the means, to use what appears to be his phraseology.
Since this is precisely the subject of Mueller’s investigation of the Trump campaign, it’s quite the ironic little interview. He started out OK, but quickly became flustered. But for those who’ve been sucking down the Fox News propaganda or Trump’s Twitter feed, no doubt the dopamine flooded their brains and they believed every last drop.
But I think we should start a little list. Each time a Republican begins bleating about how the FBI needs to be purged or changed, or any other legal agency which may be investigating the Trump campaign, and how unfair it is, and, oh my, well, let’s stick him in the list called The 3rd-Raters Club, and we’ll know they’re the ones sweating that they may lose their sinecures[2] if Trump continues to go down in flames as his poll numbers indicate. Right now they’re hoping the fired up base of Trump will also vote for them, and if he’s gone or sorely wounded, they’re more likely to be swept out to sea, or at least a step closer to finding an honest job to support themselves.
Because right now they’re aiding and abetting a con-man.
1With Soviet/Russian activities which occurred during the Cold War, along with certain American activities rejected by the American public.
2Because they certainly don’t seem to be doing honest government work in this Congress.
