The GOP guiding principle of team politics has been a subject of mine before, but riding hobby horses, as I tend to do, serves an important purpose in that it permits better evaluation as to whether the horse in question is really worthy of eventual enshrinement in the Horse Hall of Fame.
Or, for those who appreciate more direct prose, continual investigation of a hypothesis is integral to discovering its congruence with reality.
So as we sit in continual wonder at the incompetence erupting from the White House and the House of Representatives (an AHCA that could not be passed, and then was passed in such mutilated form as to cause cries of anguish from sober observers – and celebration from GOP leaders), let’s not forget Senator McConnell, who, according to NBC News, is still confident in the President:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he wishes there was “less drama” coming out of the White House following reports that President Donald Trump revealed classified information during a meeting with Russian officials last week.
In response to questions, McConnell said that he has not lost confidence in the president and that he still trusts him with classified information.
“I think it would be helpful to have less drama emanating from the white house,” McConnell told reporters, not directly responding to the latest controversy flowing out of the executive branch.
This more or less covers the putative leadership of the Party. Remember, McConnell is the same Senator who could not even be persuaded to give a hearing to Judge Garland for his nomination to SCOTUS – against all rhyme, reason, or Senate duty.
For the objective audience, the independents who are paying attention, this really seems like insanity. An obsessive loyalty to the leader of the Party, despite his many missteps and a few Impeachable Offenses. I shan’t detail these here as I’ve mentioned them elsewhere, and the media certainly has more details than I care to provide in a blog.
This is the result of team politics, as I’ve discussed several times before (hobby, meet horse). But at this point we can ask – how many independents are truly attracted to a Party of Insanity? Certainly not I – and I doubt most others are attracted at the present.
Better yet, how many moderate Republicans will continue to stick around as the vortex of madness swirls about them? Last year we saw numerous announcements of Republicans leaving the Party – no doubt, this continues to this day as the madness persists.
So on to the central point to this post – does Karma apply to political parties?
Or, to draw a parallel to Lord of the Rings for fans, remember how Frodo escapes the clutches of the Orcs in Mordor when held captive? It wasn’t the brave, madcap assault of Samwise. No, it was the various orcs killing each other over their differences and greed. Sam just showed up in time to pick up the prize.
J.R.R. was making the point that evil often eats itself because of its very nature. Is that going to be the result of the evil of team politics? A fragmented, ripped up party, perhaps still stumbling about, whining about traitors and apostates (quite literally, given the evangelical element), never realizing that one of its central pillars of organization … is the cause of its doom?
And will the Democrats and other parties see that lesson and do better?
