I just had to laugh after reading Gary Sargent’s description of the maneuvering by the GOP to not, not, NOT vote against President Trump when it comes to his self-admitted faux-national emergency:
A few Republicans believe that with this declaration, Trump is abusing his power, so they are threatening to vote to terminate it. They currently have the numbers to succeed. But Trump would then have to veto the measure. This would get him and his voters very, very angry, which is intolerable.
So Republicans have hit on a solution: They may try to pass something designed to create the impression that they care about the general issues raised by Trump’s declaration — while leaving undisturbed the actual abuse that Trump is in the process of committing. …
The Post and the New York Times report that Senate Republicans are negotiating a measure that would limit the power of presidents to declare national emergencies, by requiring a congressional vote every 30 days to keep them going.
This measure would not terminate Trump’s national emergency, and the 30-day provision wouldn’t even retroactively apply to it. As Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) put it, this would allow Republicans to “express their concern” about Trump’s use of the emergency power, while simultaneously giving them a “way to express their support for the president.”
In other words, Republicans are openly and unabashedly stating that the whole point of this exercise is to give the very same senators who profess deep concern about Trump’s national emergency a way to support it, while also appearing to care about the underlying issues it raises. (Republicans must vote on whether to terminate Trump’s emergency, which they will do on Thursday, because the House already voted to terminate it, and under the law the Senate must act as well.)
Yeah? If they’re honest, they’d be talking about simply cashiering this law that lets Trump rearrange the country’s finances. Retroactively. Maybe a new version, but only after responsible, sober, public debate, none of this writing it in private shit. From either side, either.
But, and far more importantly, we’re starting to see the peak toxicity of Team Politics. All it takes is a dim bulb of a leader, and you’re set for a ride you won’t believe. But these poor Senators, they can’t vote against Trump, and it’s not necessarily because of the base.
It’s because if they demonstrate disloyalty, that tells their perhaps reluctant supporters that it’s OK to dissent.
Republican power is built on, among other things, team play. It’s all for one, but don’t complete that quote, because the other half doesn’t always apply, especially if someone up the line from the guy you just voted for makes a decision that doesn’t work for you. You’ve been taught the liberals are evil, and you’d better vote conservative.
It’s a sad and damning commentary on the conservative mindset these days.
